The Bible is an incredible book. The Bible contains the truth that God has chosen to reveal to us. The Bible teaches us how to relate to God and how to live on this earth. The Bible contains many simple truths, but also is deeply profound. God’s Word is so simple that a child can become a believer in Jesus, yet so advanced that theologians write huge books about it. Your success in life depends on your knowledge of the Bible and your application of it’s truths to your life. Yet, for many people the Bible is a confusing book. The Old Testament seems to teach some things different than the New. Sometimes, one part of the Bible seems to saying something different than another part. Why is that?
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
The truths of God cannot be understood purely with human logic. The truths of God’s Word are revealed through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. This is most evident in what theologians call truths in tension. These are truths that appear to be contradictory according to logic, but are both clearly taught by God’s Word. It is only by the Holy Spirit that we can understand and apply truths in tension to our lives.
Currently we’re in a message series called “How God Sees You.” A proper understanding of how God sees us is a key to applying truths in tension to our lives. Remember God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. When we understand how God sees us, than we can see ourselves in the right way. We can also see other people as God sees them. Let’s look at a verse that tells us how God sees believers.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
That’s a wonderful truth, isn’t it? If you’re a believer, than God’s Word says that you are a new creation. The old ways that you once lived in are gone, the new way of life has come. But, if you’re a believer and you’re honest, you know that the old isn’t completely gone, is it? If the old was completely gone, we would never sin, yet we still do. If you’ve read a fair amount of the Bible, you also know that the Bible calls on believers to not live as the world does. So is a believer a new creation or not?
Today, we’re going to talk about a truth in tension called “Old Yet New.”