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Since
we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died
to the old life we used to live. He died for everyone so that those who receive
his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live
to please Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped
evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought
of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I
think about him now! What this means is that those who become Christians become
new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life
has begun!
(2 Corinthians 5:14-17 NLV). Not long ago a friend of mine told me about a floor covering installer who had come to him with an offer for free maple floors for the men’s dorm at his retreat. It seems that he had been tearing the old floor out in this house, and before he threw it away, he decided to call them and see if they might have any use for it. Of course they were pretty excited about his call because of a project where they needed a new floor. The installer said, "I want you to know - it's pretty ugly. But it's good solid maple wood." Good to his word he delivered several pallets of that wood, and he was right. It was pretty ugly. Those old floorboards had several coats of paint on them. They were dirty and gouged from years of use. They had several coats of paint covering them. They were kind of beat up. Actually, they looked like they might only be good for firewood. But the installer pointed out that wood was an inch thick and that he could sand off all the damage and still have plenty of wood left. After the project was completed, he emailed me a picture of the dorm floor. There didn’t appear to be any trace of the damage. It was a smooth, beautifully stained wood floor! The restoration was amazing! Isn’t that a lot like the work of grace in our lives? That wood was ready for the dumpster, until the skilled restorer worked on it. The ugly was gone. It became like new. Jesus does that for us in our lives. We're all damaged wood, with layers of dirt and scarring from years of use. But Jesus restores damaged wood. Our
reading for today gives us that very promise. "If anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" From the moment you
put your life in the hands of Jesus, the Master Restorer, He begins to repair
and transform the damage that's been done by years of sinning and being sinned
against. We all carry the damage done from our sinning, from mistreatment, from
bad choices, maybe from abuse or addiction or anger. Jesus is a Savior for a
person who is tired of the guilt, tired of the pain, tired of the burden. Maybe
a person like you. And He is more of a Savior than you could ever imagine. The
prophet Isaiah describes the total restoring work He came to do: "The Lord
has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners… to comfort all who mourn, and
provide for those who grieve… to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of
ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead
of a spirit of despair."(Cf. Isaiah 61:1-3). He is a Savior who wants to
turn your captivity into freedom, your grieving into comfort, the ashes of your
life into beauty, the mourning of your life into gladness, and your despair into
praise. There is no one else that can do that, no religion and no
self-improvement program. Only the Savior can restore the damage of sin. Turn to
Him today!
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