The Old and Hidden Things

                                                      “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the 
                                                        new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

                                                      It is really beautiful when we read this passage, but unfortunately we have not
                                                      seen it in the Church of the Lord Jesus. Many so called "brothers and sisters" do
                                                      not leave behind the old things, the old person and the old nature is still within 
                                                      them.

FOR EXAMPLE: The person keeps inside the lie, the theft, the deceit, the malice, the bad eyes, the old habits, the gossip and how many others pretend to be someone that they are not? Just like a Chameleon, they are a changeable or inconstant person.

What Color is a Chameleon? A Chameleon is able to change its skin color quickly. This lizard may be green, yellow, or white one minute, and brown or black the next.

The person might change according to the circumstances that she is facing. One day the person says I am very strong, the other day she says I am very week, today she says I will do it but tomorrow she gives up. Today she is happy, tomorrow sad, to gain some benefits she pleases everyone, when she gets it, she despises everyone.

The person that is like a Chameleon always shows something that she is not.
The person’s life become like a closed book with many things kept and hidden inside. Things that nobody knows, secrets that only the person and God knows. Things which were suppose to be buried and forgotten, however these things are kept alive inside of many people, and worse, sooner or later everything ends up being revealed to all.

As it is written: “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.” Luke 8:17

This causes us to reflect and come to a conclusion that many people are in the churches, they are of a Christian denomination, fulfill their weekly religious obligations and apparently they already did their part by going to the church on Sundays, but they are not in Christ. They belong to a church but they do not belong to the body of Christ yet, they are still slaves of the past, sin and evil.

Of course, the Apostle Paul did not write this to the unbelievers, but for the Christians and he said more: "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." 2 Corinthians 2:15

We all know that when someone uses a good perfume, the fragrance is exhaled and wherever that person passes, it will leave the fragrance in the air. If I am the fragrance of God, of course I have to show God wherever I go. If you are the fragrance of God, you cannot live your life like you lived before, old things must end, the old man has to actually die and be replaced by a new man.

To go to a church is easy; to become a religious and replace the signboard of the church is very easy too. But to be born of God it is possible only if there is a sincere desire to change.

May God enlighten you and if you are still in a Christian denomination, following and respecting the religion, but the old things still have not passed, the old self is still inside you, look for the true deliverance with all your heart and seek for the new birth as someone who is in the desert without water, then God will make a great miracle to happen within your heart, the greatest miracle of all, the miracle of becoming a new creature, a new being.

May you become the good perfume of God in this world.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Be blessed in Jesus’ Name.


                                                                                                                                             Pastor Marcelo Rocha                                                                                                                                       pastormarcelo@uckg.co.nz