Now what?

Most of us are very familiar with what we were before Christ came into our life. And, most of us are not very happy with what we were. The problem for us started when Adam and Eve sacrificed what they were to get what they should not have had. Our problem began with a man and a woman, who were in the likeness of God, sacrificing that status on the altar of self-indulgence and self-determination.

What was left was a substituted condition. Adam and Eve may have been created in God’s image but everyone after them was found in Adam’s “own likeness” (Genesis 5:1-3). That meant that all of us “were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient…” (Ephesians 2:1-3, NRSV).

This substituted condition is the reason people do what they do. The life people live, the mistakes people make, the consequences people suffer stem from this fallen condition. The problem is not behavior per se, the problem is condition. We cannot change people’s condition by changing their behavior. Behavior can only be changed as a person’s condition is changed.

Simply believing in God is not the mechanism that moves us back into the preferred status though. Being born again through the power of God is. The issue is born of God v. born of the flesh. We are saved from this fallen nature “not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit…” (Titus 3:4-7, NRSV).

But, now that we find ourselves with a blank slate and a fresh start, what now? Now that yesterday is taken care of, what do we intend to do with tomorrow? What should we do with our new lease on life? What should we be 1 year, 5 years, or 10 years from now? What should we have accomplished? Whose life should we have contributed to in immeasurable ways? What will we have started and seen through to completion?

Can I suggest it is not enough to know God, we must do exploits through God (Daniel 11:32). Can I suggest that maintaining the status quo is not a good definition of success? Now that our past is under the blood and we are new creatures in Christ, help us Lord do something substantial and consequential with tomorrow.