Unopened Gifts - Part 2: Renewal

Unopened Gifts Pt. 2:  Renewal

You can see it in the leaves.  In the cold of winter.  In the warmth of spring.  In the heat of summer.  The world itself reveals it, nature and all her creatures participate in it, but do we?  Renewal is a gift to all of us, an essential part of life and a biological process that happens all the time.  Our bodies, for instance, constantly renew vital cells and structures in our bodies, and if they didn’t, we would die very quickly. 

But renewal of the mind, of the spirit in us, is far more vital than we know.  Its process was started not by biology, but by the very power God used to raise Jesus from the dead, according to Ephesians.  That power working in us changes us in ways we couldn’t possibly imagine.  And yet, renewal is a gift that often goes unopened.  The deadness of sin, the drag on our souls and hearts from the world around us, can block renewal from taking place.  We can essentially lose the important process begun when we were plunged into Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection when we believed in Jesus and were baptized into His name.

As we continue our series on unopened gifts, the gift of renewal is so vital to our spiritual well-being as Christians we cannot ignore its purpose in our lives.  And yet, do we really understand renewal and what it takes to continue to be renewed through God’s power?

Romans 12

I beseech^[a] you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your ^[b]reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

So how does renewal work, and how do we open the gift of renewal to use it in our lives?

Renewal starts with sacrifice

·         Our renewal begins with a decision:  That our physical life must be met with sacrifice in order to be acceptable before God – Priesthood, what a priest had to do

·         To find renewal we are kept holy by God’s grace and mercy, but that also comes with constant attention to our spiritual state:  Ephesians 4:22-24

²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

·         Renewal then is a form of radical worship, where we give an offering of self to God each day so that we live daily in God’s presence:  What famous people cost

Renewal continues with transformation

·         There is no renewal unless there is a willingness and an effort to change:  Conformed v transformed…how often do we look at the outside of a car to determine its worth

·         When we resist transformation we naturally conform to the world, and that conformity enslaves us to the world’s pattern:  Ephesians 2:1-3

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ² in which you once walked according to the ^[a]course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

·         To find transformation and renewal we need to know two things:  What needs to be transformed and how we go about being transformed:  How many plans do you make and carry out each day?  Think about one thing that needs changing in your life right now…

Renewal is fulfilled in proving God’s will

·         The question we ought to consider when it comes to renewal is why?  Why do we need renewal?

It’s amazing how food is prepared through fulfilling your will for the ingredients

·         If we want renewal God already has a place in place, if we’re willing to look for it:  Jer. 29:11

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

·         The promise of God’s will is that through renewal we can find out all the wonderful things God has prepare for us here and get a preview of what we have promised in heaven:  Big lego set

God Bless,
Michael