My Old Life Is Gone; A New Life Has Begun!

December 22, 2014

My Old Life Is Gone; A New Life Has Begun!

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ 

has become a new person.

The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

2 Corinthians 5:17

As I recall, it was William Barclay who wrote of two friends walking home from a Christmas Eve Service. It was the custom of their church to hold a combined service on Christmas Eve with a small church they had founded out in the countryside. At the conclusion of the Service, members of both congregations would kneel together at the Altar to receive Holy Communion. As the two men walked along, one commented, “I noticed you took Communion next to old Tom. That’s quite a miracle to see Tom at Communion.” Old Tom was a convicted criminal, and the man’s friend, a judge, had sentenced Tom to prison. After his parole, Tom began attending the small country church. Certainly it was a miracle that the criminal had come to faith in Christ, and now shares the sacrament, side-by-side, with the judge. The judge shocked his friend by replying, “Yes that is a miracle, but a greater miracle still is that I was at the Altar. “How can that be?” his friend asked.

The Judge replied, “Old Tom was raised in a broken home in a very rough neighborhood. There was little hope his life would avoid prison. However, in prison it is not that unusual for a man to turn his life around. On the other hand, I was born into a loving family and never lacked for anything. I was afforded a fine education and a good start in life that led to my legal career. For one such as me, to come to the place where I recognized that I desperately needed new life in Christ, every bit as much, if not more, than Old Tom; that to me is a greater miracle.”

At Christmas, the astonishing enormity of God’s love being birthed in a manger is proclaimed far and wide. As we bask in the light of such love, let us never lose sight of the truth that God became flesh in Christ Jesus because humankind was desperately in need of a Savior. Without Christ, regardless of our worldly acclaim, or lack thereof, we are destined to die. Our only hope is to affirm with the Apostle Paul, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Will you join me in my Christmas prayer?

“My old life is gone; a new life has begun! Thanks be to God!”

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.