“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NRSV)
When my iPhone started misbehaving a while back,… we did a hard reset. It’s also known as a factory reset because the iPhone is restored to the original manufacturer’s setting it had when it left the factory floor… All the settings, applications, and data are wiped clean. It’s a fresh start. It’s a new phone.
You are a new creation [in Christ]… New as in factory reset. It doesn’t mean like new. It means brand new! It’s new in time, new in nature…
When you put your faith in Christ, it’s a hard reset. It doesn’t just clear the cache. It completely clears your history, as if it never happened. That’s what the word justified means -- just as if I’d never sinned.
That’s more than a mnemonic device. It’s more than a paradigm shift. It’s a factory reset.
At the cross, Jesus turns if only regrets into what if possibilities. He sets us free from sin and the shameful feelings that go with it. The prison doors of past guilt and future fear fly wide open… They cannot coexist with God’s perfect love. His love reboots our heart, our soul, and our mind so that we can be fully alive, fully present… Amazing, isn’t it?
-- Mark Batterson in “If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God’s What If Possibilities”
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