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REFLECTION

“Take off the old and put on the new” is the theme for our reflection. To Take off the old and put on the new is an admonishment to live the transformed life. We shall reflect on the fact that taking off the old and putting on the new refers to the transformation of our mind and sinful nature into God’s nature of righteousness and holiness.

Beloved in the Lord, there is no true transformation unless there is a renewal of our minds and spirits. It is for this reason, Paul admonished the church of Ephesus, “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:20-24). We experience true transformation that please God when our minds and spirits encounter Jesus Christ and He becomes our souce of truth and ultimate reality. In other words, we can not put off the old and put on the new to please God unless the source of our transformation is Jesus Christ, for He has assured us that ““I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7) Again, Paul also admonishes us in Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Paul in Philippians 2:5 also emphasizes the important of having the nature of Jesus in us as the source of our transformation when he wrote “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” Dear friend, can we boldly declare that we have been transformed after we encountered Jesus in our lives? Has knowing Jesus shaped our thoughts, character and respesonse to issues, temptations and challenges we experience daily in the world? Who do people say we are at church, workplace, home and society? Taking off the old and putting on the new must reflect in our relationship with the people we meet daily. Our faith in Jesus and our impactfulness and integrity as believers will let the world know that indeed through Christ, we have put off the old and have put on the new nature of God.

Dear friend in the Lord, it is when we have experienced or encountered the transformation of the mind and spirit through Jesus Christ that we can boldly share in God’s nature of righteousness and holiness. Through Jesus, we “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:24). It is, for this reason, we have to practice the spiritual principle of “Di Yesu tutuutu!”(Ewe). In English, it means “reflect the perfect image of Christ!” He is our only source of transformation and standard when it comes to pleasing God and reflecting His true righteousness and holiness.

Advent seaon remind us of the importance or putting off the old and putting on the new because when Jesus returns the second and final time, He shall come to save only those who have lived the transformed life through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. It is for this reason, Paul admonished us in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 that “…do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” The choice is ours to make today, may the Holy Spirit help to live a transformed life that is pleasing to God.

In summary, we have deliberated on the theme “Take off the old and put on the new” We have discovered that to take off the old and put on the new refers to the transformation of our mind and spirit or sinful nature into God’s nature of righteousness and holiness through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.

PRAYER

Thank you, Jesus, for showing us the way and the truth to living a transformed life that pleases God. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to live a righteous and holy life to the glory of God so that at the second advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be heirs to the everlasting inheritance. Amen.