You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24[1]
I bet the idea of “being made new” might not sounds so good right about now. Life is coming at us so fast; we just can’t keep up. Change keeps coming and coming. What was new yesterday is oh so old fashion now. Will we ever stop getting updates to our phones?
So, when God offers to make us new, we might hesitate. But God’s idea of “being made new” is more than just buying a new phone, putting in replacement windows, or adding a deck to your house. It’s a process of growing up to greater closeness to God. This newness is a restoration back to God, making us to be complete and transparent with him.
We need to “be made new” because we’ve worn out ourselves. Our bodies, our minds, our spirits are all tarnished, broken down, used up, and ready to be thrown out. There’s no more fixing them up. They’re broken beyond repair.
It’s both a calling and a journey at the same time. We were made new when we accepted Christ. We are in the process of being made new each and every day throughout life with Jesus. And, when we see Christ, we will be made new once and for all.
Our “being made new” journey has to with how we approach life from the inside. How we think. Our letting God’s Holy Spirit empower and guide us throughout the day. And those individual “being made new” moments add up to putting on the new self that God wants for us.
God has a new self for us to become. Yes, God does love us just as we are. He died for us right where we were in relationship to him. It wasn’t based on our getting better, coming up to some minimum spiritual requirement before he’d love us.
His love for us is eternal and overwhelming. The endgame is to return to how he originally made us. We are to reflect his nature, his character, his person. We were originally made in his image[2] and that’s where we’re headed back to.
This new mind, this new self, is not to be found at the end of a checklist. It is not found by looking inside ourselves for the answers or power to change. No, this new mind, this new self comes through the power of God’s Holy Spirit coming into and living within every believer. Once the Holy Spirit comes in, he never leaves, he never forsakes, he never abandons.
When God comes in, he’s focused on two things in our lives.
Righteousness – God made the universe, the world, and us in a certain way. In his divine power, we are designed to live within the loving lanes he’s put in front of us. Since he made life, and has given us life, he has the right to say what’s right and what’s not.
Holiness – how God’s life is lived, how it’s “fleshed out” throughout our daily life. We have the choice whether or not to live life in accordance with how he made us, his righteousness. We will either be separated to God, or not. While God deeply wants us to chose for him, he will not force us.
You’ll see many different types of righteousness and holiness being thrown around. Just look and listen to what’s being posted on the internet. Commercial television and radio are also filled with a bunch of different ideas about how and what we were made for.
God’s answer is really pretty simple: we were made for him. Period.
Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.
Augustine of Hippo[3]
Augustine was right. We are restless, and we will stay restless until we come back to God. Back to our maker. Back to the one that loves us. Back to the one who died for us. Back to the one who fulfills us. All the other things in this life are a very distant second in comparison to the overwhelming and ultimate fulfillment that we find in him. He truly completes us.
So, how’s your restlessness going? Is there a lot of restlessness bubbling over in your life? Do you suddenly find yourself frustrated, angry, dejected? Are you looking for something more? Something better? Something different? Someone different?
If the answer is yes to any or all of them, then let me point you to the one who cares so much more than you could possibly imagine. The only one that can make you whole again. Remake you into the person you were made to be. Make you new again.
Noodling Questions
Describe what “being made new” means to you.
List some of God’s victories where you’ve been “made new.”
What are some of your frustrations about “being made new?”
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