Isaiah in this passage pictured a new exodus that would take place through a desert, and we have been through our desert. His point was that past miracles were nothing compared to what God would do for His people in the future. As Christians, we are called to know that because Christ died for us, we too are also dead to our old lives. Former things have passed away, and we no longer live to please ourselves; we now live to please Christ – we are “DOING A NEW THING IN CHRIST.”  The Holy Spirit gives us new life and we are not the same anymore. As one scholar puts it, “We are not reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated – we are recreated.”

In 2010, God calls us to ‘Do A New Thing in Christ!’  We are not like caterpillars, crawling in the dirt and devouring leaves. Nor are we cocoons hanging on branches waiting for transformation.  We are now butterflies! Through Christ our ministry is “reclaiming lives, recreating people, and reconciling hearts.”  At our conversion, we don’t merely turn over a new leaf; we become new creations – who know God is doing a new thing in us, with us and through us!  Therefore, He calls us in 2010 to begin this new decade as new creations. We have been transformed and reconciled with the privilege of encouraging others to do the same. “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced He died for all, therefore all died” (II Corinthians 6:14). We now are not controlled by our possessions; we share them, to ensure no one among us is in need. Thus we are those who take seriously the gift Christ gave us in our “Ministry of Reconciliation.”

 

In Christ,

Reverend Dr. R. Joaquin Willis, Pastor