Old and New

When I'm scrolling through my Twitter feed on my iPhone, they'll occasionally make their way into my mind. Or when I'm driving down Nashville streets, taking in the scenery that's only four years old to me.

Memories. Things I remember... Parts of me.

Like weekday afternoons in the Summer, in my grandparents' backyard. The way the hose sounded, as my grandmother watered the tomato plants. The buzzing sound of the wood-saw, coming from my grandfather's workshop. Fresh tomato sandwiches for lunch, sitting on their back porch - and popsicles that melted down your arm.

Like the fabric, zipper-covers that used to hold my Bible, pens, and colorful youth-group promotional materials all safe and sound. Somehow through the years, they became "not trendy"... and I think that's sad, because they really were quite functional.

Like the night, nine years old, when I sat on our front porch under a blanket of stars and spoke out loud to God for the first time. When I accepted His love for me, and dedicated my life to Him.

Like evenings with my brother, upstairs at our old house. Me in college, he in high school... sitting on the floor in my room, playing guitar while we talked. I can still remember the way he looked, nine times out of ten: contemplative but easy-going, baseball shorts, white t-shirt, with his blonde hair somehow always messy in the back.

I remember.

Each of those memories, and thousands of others, have made me who I am. I grew up in a culture, in a home, in a church, that formed me. All of it has prepared me for the life I live now - and I wouldn't (and couldn't) be the woman God designed me to be, without that context.

- - -

Our church just started a new sermon series about identity in Christ - so over the past few days, I've found myself thinking a lot about what happened when Christ made me new. I've been digging into the story of Nicodemus in John 3, and wrestling through this concept of new creation. Specifically, I've been thinking about what happens to each of us - and also what doesn't happen - when He makes us new creations.

How much of our "old" selves do we maintain, or are we "allowed" to keep, when we become new creations? What is the correct perspective we should have about our pasts, our heritages, and the things that (up until the moment of salvation) have very much made us and impacted who we are?

And here is the corresponding enigma, viewed from a different angle...

How do we recognize the newness of a redeemed life, as such?

We are a culture well-equipped for re-making ourselves. Want a new career path? The American dream has made that possible. Want a new hair color? Skin color? Bra size? With a bit of cash, all those things can be attained.

Ready for a new set of friends? A new church or community? Use your GPS, send a few emails, and find a way to get there.

Create a new life.

With a few swipes on a touchscreen, we can create a brand new Instagram account, blog layout, web design, wallpaper screen, etc. We can impact what others think of our appearance, with a few photo edits.

So if all these things can be re-made so easily... then how do we truly recognize the newness of a  redeemed life? Galatians 5:22 tells us we can recognize a redeemed life by its fruit - but even fruit takes time to grow. At the onset, how can we (or can we, or is it even our job to) discern if Christ is at work, or if what we're seeing is merely a renovation, rather than a death and resurrection?

- - -

Scripture is clear (in multiple places, situations, and contexts) that when we become followers of Christ, we are made new. (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 2:20; Ezekiel 11:19-20; 2 Corinthians 3:18)

But what I find interesting, is that we are not made new to suit our own purposes.

We aren't made new in order to better suit our new lifestyles, new philosophies, or new relationships - rather, we are made new for God's purposes, which do sometimes eventually impact our lifestyles, philosophies, relationships, etc... But the order of the transformation is important.

One re-creation is of Christ - the other kind is of our own making. As Christians, we need to be careful and discerning of those changes attributing themselves to the redemption of Christ, but which are actually merely a parallel act to an ongoing lifestyle of renovations.

- - -

Our God is a gracious God. The Psalmist David knew this and proclaimed it, when he wrote Psalm 139:13, "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb." And Jeremiah's testimonies say the same, in Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Both of these proclamations imply that God created us, at least in some part, exactly the way He intended for us to remain. The way He thought was beautiful, which would bring glory to His name.

New though we are, we still remain the product of those good things which He always intended to make us unique and well-equipped for the specific path we now clearly see He has set before us. We are still a culmination of years, memories, heritage, and hard-wiring. A story.

This is the part we cannot remake. These are the parts He used to draw us, when He bid us come and die - but they are also the parts He uses to continue drawing us, once He has re-made us!

After He has made us new and given us new eyes to see, we are better-equipped to look back upon the memories of our life and see His presence in every nook and cranny... beckoning. We will see His kindness, at every turn. We will see His grace, reaching out to us, in all those places we didn't recognize before. We will acknowledge His guidance in our lives, through the wisdom of parents, friends, and people who He placed in our path.

We will remember... and by remembering, we will continue to be re-made by Him. But it isn't by our own effort - it is Christ who will do any remaking in us that He sees fit. It will be His work in us that testifies to His name. It will be His fruit that others will see.

By remembering, and giving Him the glory for all the things He did for us even before we called upon His name, we will see even clearer how greatly He was always providing for us...

And how greatly He always will.