The past month or two we have been singing a new song by Bethel Music called “Old for New”. I really love this song because I love the picture it paints of the redeemed. I love how it shows God making beauty from ashes. I love how it puts to music how God takes a person that views the wickedness of the world and hates rightness, transforms that person into a “new creature” and then becomes a person that loves rightness and hates wickedness. It is a song depicting, in my opinion, the greatest miracle of all…regeneration!

Here are few verses that the song is built on:

2 Corinthians 5:16-17  16.)From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17.)Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Isaiah 61:3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

Revelation 21:5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

To be clear, the understanding of this characteristic of God is not a “better life”…. more stuff, more things. The understanding is that God takes the broken and mends hearts. I saw a “meme” the other day that said “Life doesn’t get better… you do”. I like it but I would amend it. Life may not get better, but God can take your heart and change it to find the joy in His goodness…. I know, not quite as quippy 🙂

Soli Deo Gloria

Jesse Horne