I Need A New Name

Romans 7:18 (NIV84) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

Romans 8:2 (NIV84)  because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Good morning Zebras.

All of us have two natures, the sin nature that we were born with and the spiritual nature we inherited when we accepted Christ and although the sin nature is dead, crucified with Christ, it sure can cause a lot of trouble when we resurrect it.

I have been reading Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur.  It is about the disciples and how God chose ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. There is a chapter on each man and in the chapter about Peter, MacArthur makes an interesting observation.

We all know God changes people’s names.  In Genesis 17, God changed Abram to Abraham and his wife Sarai to Sarah. Then in Genesis 32, after he wrestled with God, Jacob became Israel. The name change signified a change in their relationship to God.

And In Matthew 16, Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter. He does it in response to Simon’s answer to the question: “Who do you say I am?’

When Simon answered: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus responded with:  “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock (the truth of Christ) I will build my church.

But here is the interesting part, according to MacArthur, when Peter messed up Jesus still called him Simon,  and even when he was doing well the others, especially those who had known him his whole life, often referred to him as Simon Peter.

It was as if the two people lived side by side. Peter, who knew the truth of who Christ was and would go on to be a great leader in the early church, and Simon the impetuous man who often spoke and acted before thinking.

And I thought that was so cool. The perfect picture of where we all live. Striving to become what God has called us to be and yet influenced by the patterns and habits of a life time.  But take heart, like Peter, with God’s help, we too can overcome!

If God has been “encouraging” you to deal with some areas of sin and disobedience in your life, this may be why.

Like Peter, we can’t be who we used to be and still become who God wants us to be.  One or the other has to go.

Love,

Jill