All Things New

"The old has passed away; behold the new has come! All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the ministry of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us." (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

As we say at Sojourn, we do what we do because we are who we are, and we are who we are because of what Jesus has done.  We have discussed how, through the Gospel, Jesus brings sinners out of darkness, giving them a new identity as they trust Him, follow Him, and place their faith in Him.  However, this transformation doesn't end here.  Our effectiveness in proclaiming the Gospel to the world around us will be intimately connected to who we are in Christ.  A new identity naturally results in the birth of a new person with a new purpose.  God makes us into an entirely new creation. Jesus calls sinners to give themselves up so that, as He makes us new, the world around us is made new as a result.

The story of the Samaritan woman in John 4 is a beautiful illustration of this truth.  Prior to meeting Jesus, this socially marginalized woman had not lived up to the moral standard of the day.  But Jesus approaches her nonetheless, and the conversation quickly becomes an issue of identity: "How is it that you a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" This woman was as an outcast due to her gender and her race and, as Jesus points out a little later, her many husbands.

Jesus' answer is extraordinary: "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink', you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.'"  In effect, Jesus tells the woman, "If you knew who I am and what I have come to do for you, it would change everything.  You would approach me because you would know who you are in relation to who I am.  You would beg me for what I've come to give you."

As the woman's identity is uncovered and laid bare before the Lord, she slowly begins to recognize Jesus for who he is.  And what happens as a result?  According to Scripture, she leaves her water jar and runs into the town, telling the people to come to Jesus. This is the same woman who went to draw water during the heat of the day because, due to her moral failures, she could not bear the shame of going with the other women. In a matter of minutes, her shame and guilt turned to confident, faithful evangelism!  And many Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony: "They said to the woman, 'It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

This story shows that faithful mission begins with a humble surrender of ourselves, a sober understanding of who Jesus is, and a continual reminder of the gift He has brought to us.  Our identity fuels our evangelism.  If we're honest, we likely have more in common with the Samaritan woman than we'd like to believe.  Thankfully, our identity is not found in what we have done, what we currently do, or what we plan to do in the future.  In the Gospel, we see that we're more flawed and sinful that we could ever dare imagine, but at the same time, we're more loved and accepted than we could possibly hope.  This truly changes everything.  

When we recognize who we truly are because of what Jesus has done, the Gospel cannot help but fall from our lips.  When our identity is established by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, we begin to, through the Spirit, reflect his character to the world. Missional living is the natural result of a life surrendered to Jesus, the spring of living water welling up to eternal life.  May we be a people who beg of the Lord to "give [us] this water," and may it overflow into the lives of those among us!

"And He who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'" (Revelation 21:5)