Maybe because I just had two molar implants, I’ve got teeth on my mind. I even thought of a New Testament truth related to the dental world, in fact.
But first, let’s talk teeth. When children reach the age of six they start to lose their baby teeth. Their original teeth get loose and fall out, and new adult teeth take their place. Whether you believe in the Tooth Fairy or not, we can all agree on some dental truths.
1. Nobody would try to keep an adult tooth from growing in. The bigger kids grow, the more they need adult-sized teeth.
2. Adult teeth function better than baby teeth because with more enamel, they’re much tougher and more resistant to decay.
3. No one would save their baby teeth to have as back ups—just in case they had an adult tooth pulled years later.
Once a young person has new adult teeth replace their old baby teeth, they don’t look back. They don’t deny or doubt having a “new” larger mouth with appropriately-sized and more capable teeth. The new has been established and the person lives accordingly.
When people come to faith in Christ, they receive something much greater than a new set of teeth. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified Version) says, Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. God sees them as a completely new being. It’s similar to that old set of baby teeth being supplanted by a brand new, vastly superior set. What used to define (and limit) that person is gone, and something entirely new has taken its place.
Much of what Paul wrote to believers starts with a reminder of the new creation we have become. But because we didn’t feel an emotional change or see a physical difference (as we could with new teeth), we may draw the incorrect conclusion that very little has changed and that it must be our fault. We assume we need to make ourselves new and improve on our dismally old condition. That’s just as fruitless as a silly attempt to make baby teeth into adult teeth. The truth is God already changed us in our spirit. That’s why Paul encourages us to walk according to this new life in the spirit. It’s reality now. As we accept that by faith and believe what God says about us, we’ll stop acting as if nothing has changed. And just like those strong adult teeth grow in and fill that new mouth, we’ll start to see His gift of righteousness reflected in every area of our lives, unveiling a bright, attractive smile!
Here are a few verses to chew on:
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).
Therefore I . . . urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called (Ephesians 4:1).
Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up . . . (I Thessalonians 5:11).
Easter is a time to remember the fact that all things have become new in us. And God has empowered us to live out that newness. (Just don’t eat too much Easter candy. It will ruin your teeth!)
