by
Mary Ahlborn

“I am making everything new!”
Revelation 21:5

                                                                 The New Birth
When Nicodemus inquired of Jesus concerning spiritual things, the Lord began telling him he would have to be “born again” to enter the Kingdom of God. It would be impossible for him to understand what the Lord was saying in his present state. He would have to have new spiritual eyes, ears and a new heart; becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus. Also, when speaking of the new Kingdom of God, Jesus mentioned none of the old traditions would work, for only the new covenant could bring about the change necessary to understand and live a life pleasing to God. Christ was creating His New Kingdom and a new people to dwell with Him, forevermore.
Scripture References: Luke 5:30-39  John 3: 1-21  James 1:18)

                                                              New Creature
God has designed His creation to teach us His ways, and with children this is easily done as in their minds and statues they are closest to understanding this truth. I am reminded how Jesus taught using analogies and metaphors of nature to get across His point. And so it is, the more I learn about the metamorphosis of the butterfly, especially the Monarch, I am convinced He does make everything brand new and nothing of the old remains. How amazing are His ways, and He has not hidden them from us. When a butterfly completes the metamorphosis from caterpillar, none of his old self remains. Scientists now have a microscopic view of the transformation and it is amazing. When the caterpillar sheds its skin, there appears a Chrysalis, and within this entombed environment it completely liquefies and miraculously develops into a flying, winged creature. Nothing of the caterpillar remains. It has become a new creature, and is capable of doing new things.
Scripture References:Mark 10:14  Matthew 6: 28-34  2 Corinthians 5:17
Romans 1:20
Resources: Evolution Before Our Eyes

                                                         Application
Recently, I encountered this practical truth.  While attempting to revise and fix three things I experienced new difficulties each time and I was continuously going back again and again with the problem unresolved until I decided to start anew.
Our family likes to play games on Christmas, so I found an online Jeopardy PowerPoint template and began creating the questions and answers. It worked fine up to a point, but then I began experiencing problems with linking some of the questions with the answer slides whenever I needed to make changes. I don’t know how many times I attempted to fix the places in that template to make it work, but finally in frustration, I gave up. So, as the Lord encourages, I prayed and it dawned on me to begin over, start a new game from the beginning and go from there. Will, I soon got through creating the game and I was also given the Lord’s grace on displaying it on my Apple TV, which was not happening before. The Lord was teaching me a valuable lesson. Go to Him first, and behold, He makes everything work in His way, new and also successful.
Scripture References: John 16:24  Luke 10:38-42  Romans 8:28

Again, I ran into a similar problem while creating the Nursery Guidelines for our church. I volunteered to direct the Nursery by organizing the environmental structure and researching online policies. When I went online, I found complete guidelines. Not all of the policies would work for us, so I downloaded the PDF files, converted them to Word and began the revision. Immediately, I encountered problems with the PDF text images and it just caused me more work. The copy and paste feature was not working. Again, after praying about the situation, the Lord’s Wisdom dawned on my limited brain power and I decided to delete the copied file and began making a “brand new” document. Soon, I was making rapid progress with the mechanics and even received inspiration applicable for our small church.   Starting new and fresh was more productive and I continue to make headway into completing the task.
Scripture References: James 1:5   Mark 11:24

Again, our Nursery facility is cramped and it is my motivation to make the most of it for our little ones while also making it safe. I tried working with the furniture already in place to hold the supplies, toys and other Nursery items, but I wasn’t successful. The children would take all the toys off the shelves, making it a walking hazard on the floor. They could easily open the cabinets and access the cleaning articles. I kept changing the environment by petitioning the supply area from the play area, but with each change, new safety issues would arise. I became exhausted trying to make it work until it was suggested (which I already knew to do myself) to purchase cabinets with doors instead of using the play-yard petition and open shelves. I haven’t purchased the cabinets as yet , but I know having the articles safely stored within the enclosed cabinets will certainly work.
Scripture References: Mark 2:21-22

                            A New Way of Governing in the United States
I believe God is also doing a “new thing” in answer to our prayers concerning our country. It is futile revising the old agenda, legislation, and laws that are incapable of working because of corruption. By repenting of ungodly behavior and dedicating our country back to God it will come about through true repentance and a new people restoring what was lost. The Lord will weed out the corrupt and replace it with the godly. The two never mix and will never come to agreement. What is ungodly will not compromise with what is good, and what is good will only become corrupt by compromising with the ungodly.  The transformation has to be completed according to God’s wisdom and ways. He will restore the original intent of our constitution based on His standard of righteousness in a “new way”.
Scripture References: 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 119,
Resource:Faith of our Founding Fathers

                                 God’s New Covenant and Promise
God has created a “new covenant” with all of mankind. While the old covenant was in place – it required the blood sacrifice of animals for the atonement of sin. Therefore the old covenant requiring mankind to offer an animal in substituion was never enough to satisfy the requirement for reconciliation to a Just and Holy God. It was a temporary provision pointing to the coming of His best in Jesus Christ; God’s only begotten Son, the only sacrifice that could atone for our sin. This is the new covenant and promise; not by any sacrifice of man but only through faith in God’s sacrifice of His precious righteous Son can we be reconciled to God. It is His gift. We cannot carve out a way acceptable to a Holy God for the forgiveness of our sin. The only way of salvation and reconciliation which leads to eternal life is the way of Christ. The old is gone, the new is here expressing itself within the life of all believers through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Scripture References:, Isaiah 43:19  John 14:6  Acts 2:4, Acts 1:8
Ephesians 2:8-9
Resource:   What is the New Covenant?

                                                                    New Age
Today there is a counterfeit to the Truth. It is called “New Age”. It promises happiness and fulfillment through self-actualization, discovering the god within and discovering the hidden secret of prosperity. It is a lie taught in college orientations and subtlety in school classrooms across our nation. There are many books written in different forms propagating this deception, making merchandise of those who follow this path. But it is a baited lie and a carrot enticing the ignorant, uninformed and unbeliever. The end of it all leads to disillusionment, disappointment and death contrary to the purposes and plans of God.
Scripture References: Jeremiah 29:11, 3 John 1:2
 Resource: New Age

                                              New Bodies- New Heaven and Earth
Just as Jesus turned the water into wine, He will turn our bodies into a new body, for the old cannot contain the new. In the same way, He will also create a new heaven and a new earth to contain the new creation for the imperfect cannot contain the perfected.
Scripture References: John 2: 1-11    Mark 2:22  Revelation 21:1  1 Corinthians 15:52

                                                     Brand New in Christ Jesus
The same is true for all who repent making the decision to make Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior. At the very moment of our confession, we are made new creatures in Him. Nothing of our old nature will remain; He is dedicated to do it, completing and conforming us to His character and transforming us into His image. And when He returns our mortal bodies will be changed into immortality and we will dwell with the Lord forever more.
Scripture References: Philippians 1:6   Philippians 3:20-21

Happy are they who have made Jesus Christ their Lord and  Savior, eternally, and throughout the “New and coming Years”!
Romans 10:9

Other Resources:
Book: Christianity and the Constitution by John Eidsmoe

Bible Hub: biblehub.com