Brand new.

The feeling of touching, smelling, receiving, or purchasing something brand new can ignite a dopamine response in your brain that simply makes you giddy with excitement. The feeling of the material on brand new shoes. The smell of a new car interior. Opening a gift on Christmas. For me, it's sometimes opening a pack of sports cards. The sensories are filled with 'new' experiences and gifts that we have in our lives.

 

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul says this:

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"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is  here!"

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In Christ, when we accept His sacrifice in our lives, we become like new people. Through the Spirit's work, we give off the goodness of the sweetest fruit picked fresh from the orchard, as described in Galatians 5:22-23. As much as those new shoes can make you feel like an improved person and give you pride, eventually they will get scuffed, wear out, and make you purchase new ones.  It's cyclical. But Jesus' sacrifice doesn't need to be repeated for you to feel new. His sacrifice was one and done. The 'new' feeling and experience in Christ doesn't wear out or lose effect. It only gets sweeter and more exciting!

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This Christmas season, as your kids open gifts and become thrilled with the presents they may see under the tree, remember to talk about how those gifts will only provide excitement for a season. But it is the new life in Christ that will far outlast any physical good or service that we could ever purchase in this life. We celebrate that newness today because of the grace and mercy of Jesus!

Praying for your family today,

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Pastor Austin