“And now for something new!”
We are often drawn to things that are new. A new car will
often grab our attention. A new song might get a close listen. New ideas get
discussed, considered, and thought through.
What about when God does something new? What does that
look like?
The gods of this world always demand sacrifice of their
worshipers. That message runs through Neil Gaiman’s masterpiece, American Gods. Ultimately, worship … and
power … come from sacrifice to that god. Therefore, the ancients offered
sacrifices to Baal, to Odin, to Khali, or, as Gaiman astutely notes, to new
gods like Technology, Media, and Transportation, the gods of modernity. And,
yes, the ancient Israelites offered sacrifices to Yahweh to atone for their sins
and to display their love for him.
Then God (Yahweh, the God of Israel, and the Father of
our Lord Jesus), did something new. He offered the sacrifice to atone for the
sins of his people and to display his love for them. That sacrifice was his
only begotten Son.
This is the new thing. It turns everything on its ear. It
even ushers in a new creation which we will experience fully after the
resurrection.
Maybe that does not seem so new to us. After all, Isaiah
prophesied six-hundred years before Jesus was born. We live almost two-thousand
years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. This message is preached Sunday
after Sunday in churches all around the world. How is this new?
It is new because the gods still demand their sacrifices.
But God offers life and salvation freely by his grace as a new gift every day,
every hour, every moment of our lives. His sacrifice of his Son even makes us
new.
Do you ever feel that the message of Jesus’ death and
resurrection is old, worn, and too familiar? How might reconsidering Jesus’
sacrifice for us, remembering and meditating on this new thing God has done,
help us experience Jesus’ salvation as something new and fresh?
O God, you have
done something new in giving your Son as the sacrifice of atonement for our
sins. Thank you for breaking the chains the gods of this world had placed on us,
which forced us to sacrifice our lives to them. Forgive us for losing our sense
of newness in your salvation. Fill us with faith and hope in Jesus’ salvation.
Make us new again and again in your grace and forgiveness. Let the joy of your
salvation fill each moment of our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Comments