Do you ever wish there was a reset button for your day? Or maybe your life?
We make the same mistakes over and over again and think we can never change. We give in to worry, anger, pride, envy, laziness, or any number of sins, and we feel trapped. We are ashamed and feel separated from God.
Even believers feel this way sometimes because they have forgotten the freedom they have in the Gospel: Jesus provides our reset button.
Prophesies made to Israel in the Old Testament point us forward to this hope that we have in Jesus. In Him, every believer has freedom from sin, having received a new heart, a new spirit, and a new home.
God's People Needed a Reset
When Ezekiel was a prophet among God’s people, they definitely needed a reset. Their kings had failed, leading the entire nation into sin. They rebelled against God, disobeying His law and worshiping idols. Eventually, discord even caused them to split up into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. But dividing the kingdom did nothing to resolve their sin problem. They were stuck in their sin. Because of their faithlessness, God allowed first Israel, then Judah, to be captured by their enemies and taken into exile.
In Ezekiel 36:22-24, God used His prophet, who was living in exile in Babylon, to assure the people that He would save them and restore them to their land. He would do it, not because they deserved it, but so that he could bring Himself glory among His people and all the nations.
He went on to say in verses 25-28 that He would cleanse them from their sin and give them new hearts and spirits that delighted in obedience. He promised to make them a home in the land of their fathers and to dwell with them as their God.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules, You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Ezekiel 36:22-28
Jesus Provides Our Reset
These promises were not just for God’s people living in exile during the 6th century B.C.. This prophecy predicts more than a return to a physical place, but the restoration of all of God’s people (including you and me) to a right relationship with God. Even if you feel trapped by sin, restoration is made possible through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
A New Heart
Jesus’ blood washes and cleanses us from our sin. The sinless Son of God takes on our transgressions so that we might be seen as righteous before the Father (2 Corinthians 5:21). Instead of hearts that are hardened in rebellion, we are given new, soft hearts that will respond to God’s just and gracious leadership.
A New Spirit
The Spirit of God dwells inside us so that we can be sanctified: transformed into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). God’s law is written on our hearts so that our very desires change: we delight to do His will (Psalm 40:8).
A New Home
We are also not rejected or sent away from God. Instead, we are welcomed into His family as dearly loved children (Ephesians 5:1). We are also promised a future, perfect, eternal home with Him on the New Earth:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:1-4
Have Hope
If you feel trapped in sin today, remember the promises God has given to each and every believer. We have a new heart, a new spirit, and a new home, so that we don’t have to feel stuck anymore. We have hope. Jesus gave us a reset. If we pray that God will remind us of these truths and give us faith to believe them, He will faithfully do so as He continues to transform us into the image of Christ.
Precious Father, thank you for sending your son to make me clean from my sin. Help me not to be tempted by sin and worldly idols, but fulfill your promise to make me more like Christ: a brand new person. Give me a new heart that is soft and responsive to your Word. Fill me with the Holy Spirit so that my greatest desire is to obey you with joy and gratitude. Thank you for adopting me into your family, and preparing a home for me in eternity. Amen.
Respond
How should our understanding of the new heart, spirit, and home that Jesus offers change the way we live? How can we remind ourselves of this truth when we feel stuck in sin?
