He Makes All Things New

He Makes All Things New

by Ann Doupont

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation – one that never before existed. He has been born again. Old things are then passed away, and all things are become new. There is something about the word “all” that I like. It includes everything. Nothing is left out. The key then, according to the verse in 2 Corinthians 5:17, is to be “in Christ.”

We will know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. (See 1 John 3:14.) We may not do it perfectly, but there is a change that has taken place on the inside of us that will make us want to do right. The way we used to do things before we were saved, has passed away. It is gone forever.

We are renewed day by day to a whole new way of thinking – His way. We let go of the past and reach forth toward the future (Philippians 3:13-14). We begin to learn and recognize that we are not our own. We belong to Another. We have been bought with a price – the precious shed blood of Jesus. We are therefore to glorify Him, not only with our spirits but also with our bodies, which are His (1 Corinthians 6:20).

We learn to lay aside every weight and the sin which had previously so easily beset us; and we look unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of faith. For the joy that was set before Him (the salvation of souls), He endured the cross. (See Hebrews 12:1-2.)

He does not ask us to endure His cross but to pick up our own cross and follow Him – to die daily to our own natural desire. When we are free of sin, we are able to win. When we confess our sins to God, He is so faithful and just. He will then forgive us for those sins we have confessed to Him and will also cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (See 1 John 1:9.)

Freedom comes through our acknowledgment of our sin. Pride stops the process. As we truly humble ourselves, and pray, and seek God (seek to be in His presence) and also turn away from doing things our own way, it is then (and only then) that the Lord has promised to hear us from Heaven. It is then that He will forgive us and heal our land. (See 2 Chronicles 7:14.)

Sometimes we have run ahead of God. We find ourselves “out on a limb,” so to speak, all alone. We then wonder what happened and what to do about it. We need to return to the tree, where it is safe; that is, to return to a close walk with Jesus.

Jesus said that if we are weary and heavy-laden, we are to come to Him and to take His yoke upon us. It is then that He will give us rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30). If we find ourselves yoked to other things, we need to be freed from them. Jesus is the Freer of mankind. He is the great Liberator.

When we know the truth, we are then free from the error we had previously believed.

We are not to use our liberty as an occasion for the flesh (Galatians 5:13). We are freed so that we can walk in the Spirit and do what we are really called to do rather than what man has said. We have been forgiven for our past sins and offenses against God. They are gone forever.

As we look to Him and make our calling and election sure, He will see to it that we will not fall. There is then an entrance into God’s eternal Kingdom provided for us. (See 2 Peter 1:10-11.) In His Kingdom, there is freedom. In His Kingdom, there is newness of life. We do not have to wait until death to enter into it, but as we are dead to our own natural desires, we will experience it here on earth.

It is by faith and trust in God that these things are accomplished. As we trust in the Lord with our whole hearts, not leaning to our own natural understanding, but acknowledging Him in all of our ways, we have the assurance of Him directing our paths (Proverbs 3:5-6.)

As we are still in His presence, having quieted ourselves from all that distracts, we will hear His thoughts. There are many distractions and disturbances on the earth. There are many voices competing for our attention. (See 1 Corinthians 14:10.)

We are not to be anxious about anything, but to come to Him and be set free. Whom the Son sets free is indeed free (John 8:36). We are freed to be, and to become, what we were born to be. Our destination changes. We now have purpose in our lives. We recognize that we are not insignificant or ordinary, but that God has an extraordinary and supernatural plan for our lives.

He excites us and then ignites us to bring it to fruition. Step by step we gain ground. Little by little we grow and become who and what God created us to be.

People might think that we are strange because we are no longer interested in doing the things they do. In a sense, we are strange. We are creatures that never before existed, aliens on the earth looking forward to our eternal destination – Heaven.

We are called to be peculiar (Titus 2:14); that is, different. We do not act like others, but instead we follow the Master, marching to the beat of a different drummer than the majority of mankind. In that, we are a minority. There are fewer of us than there are of them. Some will want Him because of us, but others will think that we are just too strange and talk about us.

Because of the persecutions and afflictions that come for the Word’s sake (Mark 4:17), some will not continue on the path and therefore not reach their final destination. The path is narrow that leads to eternal life and few people find it. There are many who remain on the broader path which leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).

Each one is given a choice. God does not play favorites. He sets before us life and death…and then tells us which one to choose – life. (See Deuteronomy 30:19.) Although He will coax us to do what is right, He will not force us. Neither should we try to force others.

As we share the good news, that Jesus saves people from their sin, and we also live the life before them, some will be saved. Not all will follow, but thank God for those who do.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), and He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). What He said to His disciples then, remains true for the disciples of today. He said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (See Matthew 4:19.)Then watch us become all that we could, should, and shall be…

Ann Doupont

Author of: Surrendered, Irons in the Fire, and

God Can Heal Anything!