A new heart
Am 3. In December 1967, the South African transplant team led by Christiaan Barnard performed the world's first human heart transplant in Cape Town. The patient, Louis Washkansky (Waschkanskie), had a heart that was not viable.
The Bible describes the heart as the basic motivation of our life. The heart directs all our thoughts, words, actions and influences our behavior. When choosing the king from among the sons of Jesse, God looked directly at the heart: "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or his height; I have rejected him. For it is not as man sees: man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'" (1. Samuel 16,7).
We humans look at the external. We cannot recognize the state of our heart from within ourselves and are also not able to change it with our own strength: "The heart is stubborn and timid; who can fathom it? I, the Lord, fathom the heart and examine the reins, and reward each person according to his deeds, according to the fruit of his works" (Jeremiah 1).7,9-10).
Only God can judge our hearts, influence them and heal them. The will of God - his law - must be written directly on our hearts: "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And they shall not teach each other, nor brother each other, saying, 'Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,' says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 3).1,33-34).
It is God who wants to change our deceitful heart: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and keep my rules and do them" (Ezekiel 3).6,26-27).
How wonderful our Creator is. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, all our debts have been forgiven, we are reconciled with God. Therefore, God gives us a new heart, a new motivation for life, by writing his law in our hearts:
"For this reason, from now on I will not judge anyone by human standards, not even Christ, whom I once judged in this way (Paul is talking about himself). So if a person belongs to Christ, he is already a new creation. What he was before has passed away; something completely new has begun" (2. Corinthians 5,16-17 Good News Bible).
Imagine if for a day and a night Jesus guided your life with His heart while your heart was given a break. You are experiencing a metaphorical heart transplant in which the heart of Christ controls your life. His priorities guide your activities and His desires shape your decisions. His love directs your behavior. Consider the kind of person you would be then. Would your fellow human beings, your family, and your coworkers notice a change? How would the poor and helpless be treated? Would your friends experience more joy and your enemies more mercy? How would you feel about yourself? What effect would this change have on your stress levels, mood, mood swings, and emotions? Would the heart of Jesus affect your attitude toward death, taxes, or other drivers? Would you keep your planned activities for the next twenty-four hours? Review your schedule, commitments, and appointments. Would anything change if Jesus took control of your heart? By imagining Jesus guiding your life through his exchanged heart, you can see what God’s will is: “Have the same mind among yourselves as Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2,5).
Before God's intervention, we were slaves to sin, we all served sin and we had an immeasurable desire for it. We have been redeemed from sin through the sacrifice of Jesus and no longer have to obey sin, but our new Lord Jesus Christ: "Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not indebted to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall into fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption, by which we cry, 'Abba, Father!' For the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 1:14). 8,12-16).
Jesus has redeemed us from sin. We are now children of God and belong to our Creator. God's will is our law and he has written this law directly into our hearts. We now belong to God, no longer to ourselves! It is God who now determines our way of life and he works directly from our hearts: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God with your body" (1. Corinthians 6,19-20).
We should never forget how high the price was with which God had redeemed us: «For you know that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ» (1. Petrus 1,18-19).
We are God's most precious possession. He has invested everything in us and given us a new heart so that we do not fall back into the slavery of sin. When we are aware of our identity in Christ and that we are God's possession, our whole attitude to life changes. If I, as a company owner, hire a worker, then I can expect them to represent my interests during working hours and not to use the time for personal activities. It is the same with God. We belong to him and he has the say in our lives! If you were a car, God would demand control of your engine. If you were a computer, he would lay claim to the software and operating system. If you were an airplane, he would sit in the pilot's seat. Because you are a human being, he wants to change your heart. The new person lives with Jesus, who has taken up residence in his heart: "But be renewed in the spirit and mind of yourselves, and put on the new man, created after God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 1:14). 4,23-24).
This new heart, this new attitude, should have an impact on our lives: "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and sanctify your hearts, you double-minded" (James 4,7-8).
God has given us a new heart. God is happy when we return his love in gratitude! Our body is spiritually dead because of sin. It is the new heart, Christ in us, that makes us spiritually alive. Paul writes that it is no longer he who lives, but Christ in him: "For through the law I died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. For the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 1:14). 2,19-20).
If our hearts have been transformed to new life by the Spirit of God at baptism, then we are safe in Christ Jesus: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 8,1-2).
In Christ we are sinless! "But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but your spirit is life because of righteousness" (Romans 8,10).
Our body is dead, crucified with Christ. We no longer have a sinful nature, but sin lives on. It can tempt us to sin because it is still part of this world until Jesus returns. Let us be guided by the Spirit of God and let Christ live in us. Let us be aware in every situation that Jesus lives in us and is our new, exchanged heart. That is true life, that is our hope and security. A heart that is filled with his love and his eternal life: "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be slaves to sin. For he who has died has been set free from sin. And if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him" (Romans 1:14). 6,6-8).
Let us recognize our calling as beloved children of God and as his special property. Let us dedicate our whole life to him as a living sacrifice, since he has already redeemed us and made us alive in Christ: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, that which is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 1).2,1-2).
Our way of thinking, our innermost desires, our motivation for life find their origin in our new heart that God has given us. Our life is in Jesus Christ and in his presence in us. His life will increasingly affect how we speak, behave and act. Through Jesus Christ, God has carried out a wonderful exchange of your heart so that you can live a new life in him. In fellowship with Jesus, you can also participate in fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He has implanted a new heart in you and enlivened you with the spirit of his Son. Your life is based solely on the grace and mercy of the Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ! Thank God again and again that he lives in you and that you are filled by him. Your gratitude allows this significant fact to take shape in you more and more!
by Pablo Nauer
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