Better Than New

My mother and I took our visiting friends from England to New Orleans this week.  As I strolled about the French Quarter, I noticed a statue being renovated.  The passing of years and of weather had made the statue dull and splotchy in places.  It was easy to see, that with the renovation, the statue was going to be made to appear as it did when it was made — it would look like new.

A thought came to my mind — thoughts about the person who becomes a Christian.  Two things happen:

First, we are told in II Corinthians 5:17 that, “Old things are passed away and all things are become new.”  What a wonderful promise.  Jesus begins His work of making us into His own image.  He puts His thoughts into our minds.  He puts His desires into our hearts.  He gives us His own peace to face all situations.  He gives us courage and joy.  He fills us up with His love.  We are indeed made new, but not like the statue, restored to it’s original state; no, we are made even better because we are forgiven of all our sins.  The things that made our hearts blackened by sin, Jesus cleans up and presents us before God as if we had never sinned at all.  What love!

Second, we are given a promise of what is to come when we leave this earth.  II Corinthians 5:1 tells us, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, that is, when we die and leave this earthly body, we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands.”  What a hope.  Life for the Christian is filled with promises from God to give us all the holy assistance we need as we travel the road of our lives; then, when we reach the end of the road, our eternal home awaits us.  It’s a home where there are no more tears, no death, no pain — it’s a place of eternal peace.

When God does His restoration work in our lives — nothing at all compares to the wonder of it all!  How amazing is that!