Skip to main content

New Diaper!

2 Correnthians 5:17 & 18
"17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;"

This is the second week of Advent, the time of year we celebrate Jesus becoming incarnate, we are studying; A Baby Needs A Change. This is not something we normally think about; Jesus needing His diaper changed! But, He did. It would be good for us to remember this moment was also very earthy.  It was "natural" child birth in a barn, where cows, sheep, camels and more were living. There would have been many barnyard smells and animal sounds. Something that looks good on the screen or in a painting but being immersed in this setting is ANOTHER experience. 

To see a great perspective on this subject we turned to the Apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians. Here Paul surveys his life and accomplishments and counts them VERY LOW next to his FAITH in Jesus and the Salvation given by God's Grace! "...I have suffered the loss of ALL THINGS, and do count them but DUNG, that I may win Christ,"

No matter our age and situation; we are all like babies with dirty diapers needing to be changed. We have sinned and messed up the things we are living in. AND! We get our own change; Baptism is a washing and a cleaning. We become clean by this SACRAMENT.  We are born dirty and God changes us. The old is gone and the new comes. Even though we are changed we sin again and need to confess our sins. AND, Jesus will change us again, and again.

Today's verses; "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become NEW." To continue our analogy; we get a clean diaper wrapped around us! We are changed and refreshed!! Praise be to God!!! "And all things are of God, who hath RECONCILED us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of RECONCILIATION;" That dirty diaper (sin) is the reason our relationship with GOD was broken. GOD is good and Holy and we were alienated from Him by our sins and willful wrong doing. Without any of our effort or initiative Jesus was sacrificed on the cross for our wrong doings and we are given His right doings in exchange!?! It is an amazing great exchange that defies all explanation!!!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

obedient unto death

Philippians 2:8 "And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Are you offended? The creator of the universe became incarnate and walked with people. He served people. He sacrificed Himself for you and me. Was this work beneath Him? Did He have to do this? Why is THIS God's plan? Who am I to question GOD'S plan? In this letter, Paul's Holy Ghost inspired writing tells us to put others’ interests ahead of our own. Paul tells us to live from a spirit of selflessness, compassion, and unity, reflecting the character of Christ and His love for humanity. A love that is truly "MIGHTY!" "MIGHTY" is one of the names the prophet Isaiah recorded for the Messiah. This is NOT the typical way to be "MIGHTY." Jesus is GOD, and all the glory and majesty that comes with that. And God came down from heaven to be born into the family of people. GOD lived with us and died for us. ...

the donkey

Luke 19:32-34 "32 And they that were sent went their way, and found even as He had said unto them. 33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt? 34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him." God's Grand Plan is your REDEMPTION! Since GOD can make that happen, getting a donkey to ride into Jerusalem is easy! Before the celebratory crowd is shouting "HOSANNA!" Jesus sent 2 Disciples to get a donkey. What is described in today's verses is exactly the way Jesus said things would unfold. Here we can see Jesus is in charge of ALL creatures. The people and the donkeys!  In the verses leading up to here we can read that the Disciples are not getting it. They are thinking the Messiah was going to take David's throne. Take Israel back from the Roman occupation. People did not understand God's Grand Plan. Even though Jesus told them all. On their way to Jerusalem they pass through Jericho. Zacheas was there, the...

encouragement

Ephesians 6:10 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." We continue our study of the Lord's Prayer. This week, "Deliver Us From Evil." is also translated as "Deliver Us From The Evil One." We need to remain "sober" and "vigilant." A big part of this is studying the Holy Scriptures, like we are doing. We want to form a solid united front against Satan.  For the heart of our studies we turn to Paul's letter to the Ephesians. It was one of four letters Paul wrote while in prison in Rome. Paul cared deeply for the Ephesians. He lived with them for three years as this church was forming. He wants to encourage them and help them become successful. His words can help you and me today.