The truth is that we have a variety of selections as to who we are going to be in life. However, Jesus is the spiritual expert and He can transform our hearts if we say yes to Him. As believers in Christ, we are under the process of a spiritual makeover.
The new year is around the corner and many people are pondering this past year, as well as preparing for the next. There is always something a little emotional about saying goodbye to a year. You realize that those dates and that season are over and you cannot get them back. However, with closure from the past, you can walk forward into the future with anticipation about what lies ahead.
When we ponder our spiritual walks with the Lord, we are constantly growing and being changed. As we await 2024, we can reflect on Bible verses about being made new.
Created Very Good, but Now in Need of a Spiritual Makeover
I used to love watching a show called “How Do I Look?” A fashion expert would be presented with a client to help her shop and find a style better suited for her personality and figure. This would include hair, makeup, and wardrobe. The host and two family members or friends helped the client try something new.
The truth is that we have a variety of selections as to who we are going to be in life. However, Jesus is the spiritual expert and He can transform our hearts if we say yes to Him. As believers in Christ, we are under the process of a spiritual makeover.
God is Creator. He made us with a purpose. He created Adam and Eve, and they were very good. Genesis 1:31 says, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.” Although humanity was very good, we chose sin. Due to the consequences of the fall, we became sinful, broken, and dying creations. We could no longer stand in the presence of the Holy Creator.
Isaiah 64:6 - “All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment; all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.”
When we recognize that we are unclean and have nothing to offer the Lord, it humbles us. This opens our eyes to the fact that we need to be made new. There are many wonderful Christian songs which tap in to this concept of a spiritual transformation in Jesus.
There was a Lincoln Brewster song released a few years ago called, “Made New.” Verse 2 says:
“You're taking me deeper
You’re making me whole
With grace You redeem me
You restore my soul.”
Another great worship song called “Old for New” by Hannah McClure speaks to this subject. In the song, Hannah sings during the chorus:
“Joy begin to rise and hope begin to light the dark
Our God exchanges old for new, yes.”
Just like the “How Do I Look” contestants are made aware of their need for a new wardrobe, we are made aware of our need for a new heart. Jesus gives us the ability to be refined by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Being made new means that we are willing to be changed. It is an act of surrender and excitement.
New Creation Verses
Here are some specific Bible verses about being made new. We are called new creations in Jesus.
Isaiah 43:18-19 - “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Ezekiel 11:19 - “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-17 - “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Ephesians 4:22-24 - “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Colossians 2:13 – “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.”
Verses about Being Born Again
We are called to a rebirth by Jesus in John 3. This visual reminds us that in Christ, there is a transformation which takes place.
My friend just had her baby girl, her second child. They are delighted at her precious face, tiny toes and little hands. She brings a lot of joy into their home. We are all sinners and have been born into a sinful world. However, with the Holy Spirit, we can live out this new life in Christ. We have been reborn into His family. We are now called children of God.
John 3:3 - “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”
1 Peter 1:3 - “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
1 Peter 1:23 - “For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”
Questions for reflection:
1. How has Jesus made you new? What specific struggles has He freed you from through His death and resurrection?
2. In what ways do you hope to be refined like Christ this coming year?
3. When you think about God’s new mercies every morning, how does this enable you to start afresh today?
We are all a work in progress. We are undergoing sanctification every moment. However, we who are in Christ have been justified. We do not have to wonder about our salvation. He has done the work that we could not accomplish. We need Him. With the power of the Holy Spirit in us, paired with the Word of God, we can rest in His transformative power.
If we are ever tempted to believe that we no longer need to grow, we are missing out on a beautiful process which the Lord intended for all His children. He tells us that He is the Vine and we are the branches. Our only potential for spiritual growth is by Him. John 15:5 says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
With the help of God, we can go into the world each day with surrendered hearts to be changed by His Spirit to live out His purposes.
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