New Creations

I was speaking to a friend recently and he mentioned how difficult it can be to understand passages in the Old Testament. The God described in the Old Testament who “crushes the godless peoples” (verse 13, The Message) seems so different from the God we see in the New Testament, who dies on the cross for us.

Confusing though the stories may be, the overarching message we receive from the Old Testament and this passage is that God is present and actively redeeming all of creation. Our lives are woven into the biblical narratives and God is redeeming us as well.

We can rejoice in the fact that we belong to God and since we are in Christ, we are new creations. The old has gone and the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) God takes the broken parts of our lives, redeems them, and makes them beautiful.

What is one way God has redeemed your life? How can you live as a new creation today?

Thank you, Lord, for your redeeming work in this world and in my life. Thank you that I am a new creation in you. Amen. — JL