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timing of Christ's return has and may yet still
change, dependent upon factors like the
freewill repentance of Israel; God may plan
one line of possibility for someone or a whole
nation, e.g. Nineveh or Israel at the time of
Moses - but change His stated intention in
response to human prayer and repentance.
This open-ended approach simply can't be
squared with the "old" set-in-stone approach
of the Old Covenant. The same message is
taught by the next parable - new wineskins
are required, because the New Covenant
wine is fermenting, they need to be soft and
flexible enough to change; if they are old and
set, they will burst because of the movement
and dynamism of the new wine. The wine of
the Lord Jesus is therefore not about tradi-
tion, about a set pattern; but is rather a call
to constant change and evolution. Yet para-
doxically, religious people become set in
their ways more than any, and seek stability
in those traditions; whereas the activity of
the Lord Jesus is the very opposite. Each
wineskin expanded slightly differently in
response to the fermenting of the new wine
poured into it; no two wineskins expanded to
an identical shape or form. We, too, will
individually and uniquely respond to the new
wine.
We must change. If His new wine is not
totally accepted, if it is mixed with the old,
then lives will be destroyed through further
schism. The only basis for avoiding schism is
a total acceptance by all parties of the blood
of the new covenant. When we read that the
wine otherwise “runs out”, this is the same
word translated “shed” concerning Christ’s
blood (Lk. 20:20). Especially significant is the
reference in Mt. 26:28 to Christ's blood of the
new covenant being “shed”. Failed spiritual
life, the life which only partially accepts the
new wine of Christ but refuses to change,
refusing to be new containers for it, results in
the blood of Christ being as it were shed, the
blood of Calvary wasted in the dust, and
Christ crucified afresh by our apostasy (Heb.
6:6). This is the final tragedy of refusing to
change upon receipt of the new wine.
God in Search of Man
We must change, but we do this by letting
Him change us. Of ourselves we don’t have
the steel in our will, the iron in our soul, to
do so. Admittedly, the Lord had our nature,
and He did. But we, from years and decades
of observed personal experience, simply
do not. When we read of the process of
‘conversion’ in the New Testament, the idea
is not simply of our changing. It is equally of
allowing Him to convert us. God may appear
distant and passive, but once we grasp the
doctrine (and it is that) of the work of His
Spirit in human life, we are left in wonder at
the scale and detail of His work. And He
works globally, in different ways in different
lives, sensitive to the unique personality,
history and situation of each of those He
would have as His children. He offered a sign
to Ahaz to develop his weak faith; He was
angry that Zacharias wanted a sign to prove
that his frequent prayers to have a child
would actually be answered; and He willingly
responded to Gideon’s request for signs
regarding the fleece, and then took the
initiative to give Gideon more signs when he
overheard the conversation of the enemy
soldiers. We each have weaknesses in
different areas, needs for spiritual develop-
ment in different aspects, different talents
and varying amounts of them granted to us;
He works so actively in our lives according to
a personal progress plan which He has been
developing from the beginning.
Man is not alone in this world. Beyond the
steely silence of the skies, there is God and
His Son, working (or seeking to work) power-
fully in our lives, every moment. Job realized
this, in one of those flashes of insight born
from deep suffering and internal turmoil:
“You visit him [man] every morning, and try
him every moment” (Job 7:18). It’s not that
we are simply seeking for God and somehow,
sometimes and in some ways we find Him. We
are indeed in search of God, but God is in
search of man. His Son is seeking “goodly
pearls”, the Father is looking and hoping for
the return of His Son, out looking for workers
Editorial | We Must Change