One story from Christmas past helps me understand what it means to be made new in God’s kingdom.
When it came to Christmas presents, I never knew what to get for my dad. It seemed an impossible task to find something he actually wanted or needed.
One Christmas I asked my mother what she thought he might like. She said, “He could really use some new flannel shirts for wearing around the house. The ones he has are really torn and ratty.” So I went to Sears, bought two thick, warm, colorful flannel shirts, and wrapped them up in red and green paper, anticipating a smile on my father’s face when he unwrapped the package.
But when my father opened the box, he said, “Why do I need these? I’ve got a whole drawer full of new flannel shirts at home!” My dad kept wearing the old, ratty shirts even though he had brand-new ones available.
Sometimes we are that way with our spiritual clothing as well. We learn all about new fashions for our soul, but keep wearing the old ones. How can we be made new?
Colossians 3:10 talks about the new self, the new person God wants to fashion us into:
Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Did you notice that the word new actually appears twice in this short, little verse? First, God tells us to put on the new self and then He tells us that this self is being renewed.
It turns out that the words translated new in Colossians 3:10 are from two different Greek words. The first one, in the phrase “the new self,” is translated from the Greek word neos and means new in relation to time. This is like the new flannel shirts I bought for my dad. He already had flannel shirts, but he had worn them for a long time. I bought the same kind of shirts, but they didn’t have the holes the old ones did.
The second new in the word renewed is anakainos in the Greek. The root word is kainos which means new in relation to quality. If I had bought my father kainos new shirts, I would not have purchased fifteen-dollar flannel shirts like he often wore. I would have splurged on a custom-tailored, polished-cotton shirt with French cuffs.
On our own we can only put on the neos new. We can brush on mascara and style our hair. We can buy new clothes and refashion our image. We can even try to change our behavior by reading self-help books or making New Year’s resolutions. Still, inside we are the same person.
But when God works His makeover miracles, we become kainos new. He transforms us from the inside out. He alters the quality of our character and the value of our lives. In fact, the change is so dramatic that we begin to look like our Designer. Colossians says that we are being renewed in the image of our Creator.
I wish I could say that my divine makeover is complete. That I already look “just like” my heavenly Father. But I still mess up. I still make mistakes. I still wear my old self sometimes.
It’s then that God reminds me I am being renewed. It is a continual process. But it can be a process of joy and discovery.
Next step: How have you experienced God’s kainos new lately? Thank God that is transforming you from the inside out. In Him you are made new.
To learn more about a spiritual makeover check out Divine Design: 40 Days of Spiritual Makeover on Amazon or at CPH.org.