We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Romans 6:4
“Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
Colossians 2:12
I don’t know about you, but I love it when things are new. New car smell is one of my favorite scents. (It’s real!) Stepping into a new pair of shoes is an other-worldly kind of experience. (Especially if they’re new basketball shoes. For some reason, I never got blisters.) Opening a brand-new box of cereal brings me more joy than it probably should. All this is to say that I love it when things are new.
Our Lord loves it when things are new too. In fact, he has made a habit of making things new. From the beginning, God made things that they might live, move, and have their being in him. He made them so they might flourish and be new always.
We know that his creation didn’t remain brand spanking new, though. When the curse of sin entered the world, all the things that God had made new began growing old. God lamented that. He grieved that. Maybe you’ve felt a small piece of that lament when something you wished would be new forever started to deteriorate. (I wish I never had to throw away a pair of basketball shoes. It breaks my heart.)
God decided he wouldn’t let His creation waste away. God enacted a plan to renew it all and return it to its “fresh outta the box” state. He did that in Jesus when He raised him from the dead. Jesus took on the curse of sin and walked the way of deterioration toward death. He willingly went to the place where creation was destined to waste away, but He then walked back out resurrected and renewed so that the rest of creation might walk back out with Him.
In Baptism, you walk the way of deterioration toward death with Jesus. Paul says that in Baptism we were buried with Christ into death. But just as Christ walked back out resurrected and renewed, so we too walk out of our burial in Baptism as God’s renewed children. The way we now walk is the way of newness of life.
You are new because of your Baptism. Not only are you forgiven. Not only do you have the Holy Spirit. You are someone new! You have received eternal life in Jesus, and you have the opportunity to begin living in that eternal reality today. Yes, you do remain in this fallen, sinful flesh, no doubt. And you will walk the way toward death (unless the Lord returns before then) but know that you will pass through death and be fully renewed and restored just as Jesus is.
That’s who you are as a baptized child of God. You have an identity that is brand-new – one earned for you by the risen Lord himself. Our God loves it when things are new. He loves to make you new.
Prayer
Father in heaven, you created us that we might live eternally in you and you have renewed us in your Son, Jesus, that we might flourish in you forever. Guide us as we walk in this newness of life by your Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen!
Questions
- What are some of your favorite new things? What of yours do you wish you could make new again?
- What does it mean for you today to walk in the newness of life that comes from your baptism?
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