A new heart

587 a new heartThe 53-year-old greengrocer Louis Washkansky was the first person in the world to live with a strange heart in his chest. He was operated on for several hours by Christiaan Barnard and the 30-strong surgical team. On the evening of 2. December 1967, 25-year-old bank clerk Denise Ann Darvall was brought to the clinic. She had suffered fatal brain injuries after a serious traffic accident. Her father approved the heart donation and Louis Washkansky was taken to the operating room for the world's first heart transplant. Barnard and his team implanted the new organ in him. After receiving an electric shock, the young woman's heart started beating in his chest. At 6.13 a.m. the operation was over and the sensation was perfect.

This amazing story reminded me of my own heart transplant. Although I did not undergo a "physical heart transplant," all of us who follow Christ have experienced a spiritual version of this process. The cruel reality of our sinful nature is that it can only end in spiritual death. The prophet Jeremiah says it clearly: «The heart is a defiant and despondent thing; who can fathom it? " (Jeremiah 17,9).

Given the reality of our "spiritual state of the heart", it can be difficult to have hope. On our own, the chance of survival is zero. Amazingly, Jesus offers us the only possible chance of a spiritual life.

"I want to give you a new heart and a new spirit in you, and I want to take away the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36,26).

A heart transplant? The question always arises: who donates his heart? The new heart that God wants to implant in us does not come from an accident victim. It is the heart of his Son Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul describes this freely given gift of Christ as the renewal of our human nature, the transformation of our spirit and the liberation of our will. Through this all-encompassing salvation, we are presented with the miraculous opportunity to exchange our old, dead heart for its new, healthy heart. A heart filled with his love and eternal life. Paul explains: “We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that from now on we do not serve sin. For whoever died has become free from sin. But when we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him »(Romans 6,6-8).

God has had a wonderful exchange in Jesus so that you can live a new life in him, have fellowship with him and participate in fellowship with the Father in the Holy Spirit.

God implants your new heart and breathes you with the other, new spirit of his son. You only have life through the grace and mercy of the Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ!

by Joseph Tkach