Friday, October 21

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2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Years ago my father participated in a ministry at a Kentucky state prison. One of the men who attended the meeting was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder. My father remembers that this fellow was the meanest, most violent-looking man he had ever seen. But to everyone’s shock and amazement, that man responded to the message that day and repented of his sin and gave his life to Christ.

A week later my father and the other ministers went back to that same prison to hold another meeting. This time the same prisoner stood up and told his story. He admitted his crime and his sin and then how, just the week before, he had suddenly realized that Jesus loved him and had died on the cross to pay the penalty for his sin. He said he asked Jesus to save him and give him the gift of eternal life. Then he finished by saying, “You men know the kind of man I have been, and I dare any one of you to say that over this past week I have not been a changed man!” My dad says that no one moved a muscle – for two reasons: First, they were all scared to death of this guy; and, second, what he said was, indeed, true!

This is what Jesus meant when he said:

“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” John 3:6

This is what Paul meant when he wrote:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

The Holy Spirit of God; the RUACH of God; the breath, the wind, the word of God is a power that both creates and re-creates! It’s a gale-force wind that blows into the rubble of a broken and twisted life and, rather than destroy, creates something of infinite worth and beauty.

At FBCG we call these “faith-stories” – and I wish I could share the dozens – no, hundreds – of stories I have been privileged to hear and see over the past 25 years! Perhaps none of them are as dramatic as the inmate my father encountered in that prison – but each one is the story of a life made new by the power of God through his Holy Spirit.

Thank God for the gift of new life through faith in Christ; and ask him to empower you by his Holy Spirit to live out this new life in a way that others can see!

Pastor Brian Coffey