NEW CLOTHING FROM THE LORD
Luke 5:36-39 Parable: “No one tears cloth from new garment and puts on old garment; he will both tear the new and new piece will not match the old. No one puts new wine into old wineskins; the new wine will burst the skins and be spilled and skins will be ruined. New wine must be put into fresh wineskins. No one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’” Jesus says that no one fixes an old garment with the new one. The new cloth would not match the old and the new would be ruined because it would be cut up. The old one would simply be thrown out and the new one put on. No one puts new wine in old wine skins. Old wine skins are stiff and inflexible. New wine still has a life in it from fermenting. New wine requires a flexible wine skin; if put in an old wine skin, it will burst under the pressure. Both will be lost. He also says, the problem is that a man thinks the old is good enough. He is accustomed to it and sees nothing wrong with it. Jesus is talking about a man as if wearing an old garment or as if he were a wine skin. He is saying that something in a man needs to change. That change is not a patch, but a replacement. Is man wearing something that needs to change? Gen 3:21 God made garments of animal skin and clothed them. They were clothed in glory of an animal. Man was supposed to have dominion over the animals, but they submitted to the snake. They should have told the snake to “GO”. But instead they listened to the snake and thus submitted themselves to it. They became the lowest animal on earth, for they were below the lowest animal. Gen 3:6-7 They took from the tree and ate. Their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. This is because they were clothed with the glory of God but lost it as a result of sin. Proof of this is that Christ was sent to redeem what was lost. Thus in Galatians we see what was restored; man’s clothing. Gal 3:27 If baptized into Christ, we have been clothed with Christ. Therefore, after they sinned and lost their first glory, that of God, He clothed them with the appropriate skin. It was animal skin. Man became a creature of instinct. Aggressive, competitive and driven by self-preservation. Blaming; first act of self-preservation: Gen 3:11-12 “Not my fault”. “It was that woman, You gave me”. Gen 3:17-19 Curse on the man is that he has to live by the sweet of his brow. Life by force! QUESTION: How is God going to restore to man his proper clothing? He must show man that the clothing he has is not satisfactory! 1. God Writes Reality God’s clothing (eternity) in our Hearts: Eccles 3:1-8 Makes it obvious that everything here is temporary. It has a time to begin and a time to end. Eccles 3:11 Reveals that a man has desire for eternal life but doesn’t understand it. There is a conflict in the observations of a man. Everything around him has an end and yet he knows
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Matthew 11:25-30,
“25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 26 Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27 All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” People are all wanting to know God and are asking Jesus who He is. (see previous verses). The miracles Jesus performed should have made it very evident that Jesus is God the Son. —The “wise” and “intelligent” people can’t perceive this —“infants” have this revealed to them —People are weary and heavy-laden trying to figure out God —Come to Jesus and I will find rest —If I participate in Jesus’ work—learn from Him—then I will find rest for my soul To know God, and to find rest, I have to surrender to Jesus. **Backpacking example…instead of stuffing my pack with a bunch of books (this world’s instructions on how to live this life—even spiritual matters), a kitchen sink, and other things I think will help me know God and survive this life, I should empty the pack, get in, and let the Lord carry me, just as an infant would. EVERYONE is burdened with having to answer the question, "Who is Jesus?" He is willing to take that burden off us as our Lord and Savior. Correlating verses—the Lord has always wanted to carry His people! Deuteronomy 1:30-31 Isaiah 40:7-11 Isaiah 63:7-14 |
This is the blog of Tyler Shepard, the Associate Pastor for Centre Union Church in Yeagertown, PA.
I hope you are encouraged and challenged to walk more closely with Jesus Christ! Archives
September 2023
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