The RevivalSample

New Creation

The wondrous thing about how God revives us is that He doesn’t only supply us with new strength. Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that, through Jesus, we actually become new creations. Our old lives – lived in sin, rebellion, and disregard for God – are done. And the good news gets better: because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, this radical change is for anyone. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done. If you come to Jesus by faith, He doesn’t just forgive you. He also transforms you into a new creation. You might still look pretty much the same on the outside, but the Holy Spirit will change you from the inside. When we’re willing to submit to God, we leave behind us the attitudes and actions that characterized our lives before we’d turned to Jesus.

I’ve realized that living as a new creation is something God works out in us through our will and our choices. In other words, we must both receive the gift of being a new creation and be challenged to live the life of a new creation. We live like a new creation by trusting the Holy Spirit to convict, comfort, challenge, prompt, remind, and lead us. And of course, being a new creation doesn’t mean we’ll be perfect. Rather, we’re in a continual state of being refined: we’re not what we were, and we’re not all we will be.

Be warned: the enemy will look for opportunities to accuse you of your past misdemeanors. When this happens, remind that liar: the old you is dead and buried. You’re a new creation. I don’t know about your past, but mine is littered with many stupid decisions – and this has me clinging to the truth that in Christ the old me is in the grave and this new life I now live is about Jesus living in me. Perhaps today you need to be reminded of this. Perhaps you need to step into this truth for the first time. Pray either one of these prayers:

Jesus, revive me by reminding me that in You I am a new creation and the old me is dead. Restore to me the joy of that truth!

Or,

Jesus, I want to be found in You – renewed and revived! I want to leave my old life behind and surrender to Your will for my life. Amen.

First the Word – now the Workout:

Try to do 5 sets and rest for 2 minutes between sets:

5 reps bench press

10 reps lateral raises

Plus:

30-minute jog