Maybe you can remember a time when you were in trouble with your parents and for a few minutes or even hours, they seemed only to scowl at you and their very presence made you feel both guilty and uncomfortable. What you wanted was for them to forget about your transgression so that things could get back to normal. You wanted a second chance and a sense of being forgiven and reclaimed. Really, isn’t that what we’re seeking from God as well, whether we have lived in sin for years or merely detoured into it a few minutes ago? God offers the kind of renewal that lasts.
I. Emerging from Hopelessness
A. Apparent Hopelessness
1. Job apparently lived during the early years of the patriarchs and was a worshiper of God when there weren’t too many others; his knowledge of God, however, is limited by this early stage of development and his ignorance about eternity is vast
2. as he suffered from the devil’s inflicted trials, he wished to be dead and lamented the fact that there was no device by which he could be vindicated or even realistically hope for a better existence than one marked by pain, disappointment and anguish
3. even his friends were no help, because they thought God was punishing Job for some sinful secret he was concealing from them
4. and so Job complained that there was no justice for him, not realizing that there was (Job 14:1-22)
5. writing later, Moses embraced a greater sense of hope for renewal, but he didn’t see any of it outside of having a relationship with God (Psalm 90:1-13)
B. Finding Renewal in God
1. renewal is an improved state of mind and affairs in which hope dwells and communication with the heart of God is restored; the spirit soars as it transcends the hardships of earth and contemplates the glory of eternity (Psalm 103:1-5)
2. no matter how guilty, wayward, skeptical, sinful, discouraged or disappointed you feel or are today, restoring your relationship with the Lord will rejuvenate you (Isaiah 40:27-31)
3. the reason that so few people take advantage of renewal is that they are dishonest with themselves, with others and with God, hiding their shortcomings and transgressions for fear of exposure and embarrassment, but also siphoning off the power of forgiveness and clarity
a. David hid his affair with Bathsheba in this way, until his friend, Nathan, convinced him to come clean (Psalm 51:7-12, 17)
b. centuries later, when David’s kingdom has completely fallen to ruin, the survivors begged for the same kind of second chance:
But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. Why do you forget us forever, why do you forsake us for so many days? Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old – unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us. (Lamentations 5:19-22 ESV)
C. The Cross
1. the hope of renewal is entirely at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ and there is no other path to forgiveness or reconciliation with the Lord (Second Corinthians 5:17-6:2)
2. the cross is where we confess our faith and turn from rebellion:
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. (Acts 3:19-21 ESV)
3. many will try to find a second chance elsewhere, but will ultimately come up empty
II. Renewal Like the Eagle
A. Born Again
1. it was renewal that Jesus had in mind as he discovered a population in Israel that was harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd
2. he exceeded every possible metaphor for the second chance by comparing it to being born again (John 3:1-8)
3. being born again of water and the Spirit is a process of regeneration, re-creating your life and identity as a child of God rather than a stranger to the covenant of peace (Titus 3:3-7)
4. the greatest possible renewal is the one that wipes the slate clean and allows you to start over fresh and innocent; the conversion of a penitent believer is fully accomplished when he or she is washed in the spiritual bath of baptism, where the old person of sinful pursuits is buried and a new identity is created (Colossians 2:11-13)
B. Transformed Mind
1. this renewal can transform your mind so that your perspective on things is radically changed (Romans 12:1-2)
a. this is not merely some mystical operation that does not require your participation, but one that presumes you will take responsibility for faithfulness and spiritual growth
b. Paul says your reasonable service is to test every decision so that you might better discern the will of God and only engage in behaviors that are good, acceptable and perfect
2. transformed thinking leads to transformed behavior, the kind of change that is evident to the people around you as much as to yourself, the kind of change that makes your relationships better and your life more useful
3. the Christian is raised with Christ from the place where they shared in death – baptism – and learns to follow Christ in demeanor and behavior (Colossians 3:4-10, 12-17)
C. Renewed Life
1. renewal touches on every facet of the Christian’s life, including his ability to resist the temptation of deceitful desires (Ephesians 4:19-24)
2. before one comes to the cross, there is much less resistance to the evil things of this world, especially the ones that seem harmless and instantly gratifying, but when one follows Christ, the heart is softened and touchable by teaching and reproof (see Hebrews 3:13)
a. sensuality (a)seÑlgeia, pr. as-elg'-i-a) is “unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence”
b. impurity (a)kaqarsiða, pr. ak-ath-ar-see'-ah) is “lustful, luxurious, profligate living … impure motives”
3. Paul told Titus, “To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled” (Titus 1:15).
a. a person is not enjoying renewal if he is still enslaved to the same old passions that troubled him prior to conversion and which entangle much of our selfish world
b. renewal means finding the strength to control oneself, body, spirit and mind
D. Renewed Vision
1. the old saying is that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and that bit of worldly wisdom is what gets in the way for Christians who ponder the pleasures immediately available to them against the mere promise of heaven that awaits in the distance somewhere if the Bible is true
2. it is renewed vision when someone can think like Moses and ask to be taught to count his days against the eternity of heaven and hell, or like the patriarchs who made immediate sacrifices in the interest of a better inheritance (Hebrews 11:8-16)
3. we are seeking that kind of perspective on the pleasures available to fleshly man as opposed to the rewards of faithful living (Second Corinthians 4:16-18)
E. Beware Apostasy
1. renewal sounds like something confined to the initial stages of faith, but remember that it is a daily, spiritual and reasonable way of life
2. unless the mind and spirit are treated to constant renewal in worship, praise, prayer and fellowship, the vigor tends to wane and the threat of apostasy increases
3. it is even possible that the believer might grow so cold that he would abandon his faith on the altar of impatience (Hebrews 6:4-8)
Conclusion
Renewal is a second chance and yours awaits.
Questions For Review
- Why did Job feel so hopeless and helpless?
- What was the point of Moses’s psalm?
- How did David feel after he finally repented?
- What is prerequisite to times of refreshing from the Lord?
- What does it mean to be born again of water and the Spirit?
- How is one’s mind renewed day by day?
- What changes the Christian’s perspective on this life?
Jeff Smith