New Creation

A homily preached at morning prayer on the Sunday after Christmas, 29 December A.D. 2013.

Isaiah 41:8-20; Psalm 132; Colossians 1:1-20

Introduction

I speak to you in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Amen.

On Christmas Eve we heard the great introduction to John’s Gospel describing Jesus Christ’s coming into the world  as nothing less than the New Creation.

John writes, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness  and the darkness has not overcome it.

The point here is that the birth of Jesus in that little town of Bethlehem  some 2000 years ago, was no ordinary birth. Rather, in this baby, the very Word of God who spoke heaven & earth into being, who breathed life and shone light into all creation, scattering the darkness, became flesh and dwelt among us.

And friends, the significance of this for you and me cannot possibly be overstated. If this all-powerful, creative Word, if this Life, if this Light of the world has become a person like one of us, then there’s a new beginning  for people like you and me. All who believe in Him and receive Him will have the Word made flesh in their lives; they will have new Life; and they will shine with new Light; any darkness that hovers over them will be scattered.

St. Paul puts it best when he says, Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new is come (2 Cor. 5:17).

Colossians 1:1-20

So what does it mean for you and I to be a new creation? What does that look like in our lives?

Well, I think the answer is found in today’s reading from Colossians; in Paul’s prayer for the Christians there, which we can also understand as a prayer for us.

Paul begins by giving thanks to God for our faith in Christ Jesus and our love for one another; and he prays that we would continue to grow in this faith and love by increasing in four areas:

1. Spiritual knowledge;
2. Holiness;
3. Spiritual strength;
4. and Thanksgiving.

Let’s look at each one of these very briefly:

First, Paul prays first that we would be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Paul wants us to know what God’s will is for our lives as individuals and as a congregation. To get that knowledge we’ll need spiritual wisdom and understanding. This is not just book-learning about the Christian faith (although some of that will help), but rather a deeper sense of who we now are in Christ.

In other words,  he wants us to gain a more vivid appreciation & awareness of the new life that we have received through our faith in Christ. Nothing else we do here really matters unless we have this: We can have Sunday service after Sunday service; We can try as hard as we can to be good people; but unless we have this keen sense of God’s loving hand shaping & re-creating our hearts & lives in this new way, then we’ll never grow as genuine disciples of Jesus.

And I don’t think there’s anything we can do to get this knowledge, wisdom and understanding other than to ask God for it in prayer and to seek it in His Word.

Second, Paul prays that we would grow in holiness, or in his words, that we would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

The new beginning, the new life that God gives us in Christ will lead to a new lifestyle, which brings God delight because it reflects His glorious intention for His human creatures.

God wants us to flourish and bear fruit that brings nourishment to our families, church, workplace and community; We do so by living lives which are pleasing to Him, not just by doing good in general, but by living out and putting into practice that knowledge, wisdom and understanding that is particularly rooted in the Christian Gospel.

This is about believing and receiving  the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh; and then having this creative & life-giving Word made flesh in our hearts, minds, lives, relationships, behaviours, habits and so on, so that God can look at us, His new creation, and see that it is good.

This brings us to our third point, because if we’re going to bear fruit of Christ-like holiness, we’ll need to be strengthened with all power, according to [God’s] glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy. This holiness of life requires a new strength that is not our own, but that comes directly from God’s power and might. It doesn’t depend on own our hard work and determination.

Now to be sure, living out this holiness in our lives in the face of many temptations will be a struggle that will require hard work and resolve, but the energy for this will come from the power of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit at work in or lives.

Only this will bring about endurance and patience with joy, as Paul says, because if it were up to us and our own strength to live holy lives, we would not experience a deep and abiding joy, but would rather swing back and forth between achievement and failure, pride and shame.

Finally, Paul prays that we would give thanks to God the Father, who has qualified [us] to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

More than anything else, Paul wants us to grow in gratitude – gratitude to God for the new beginning and new life He has given us in Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Just as He did at the beginning of Creation, through His Word and His Sprit,  God has made us a new creation. God promises to scatter the darkness that hovers over our lives (in whatever form that may take for you); and He promises to shine His light upon us and to breathe new life into us, so that we can grow to maturity in Christ, in knowledge, wisdom, understanding, holiness, strength, endurance, joy and thanksgiving.

For that, thanks be to God. Amen.

Sources quoted:

N.T. Wright, ‘Colossians,’ The Prison Letters (WJK, 2004).