Saul couldn’t really blame them. If he were in their shoes, would he have trusted someone who had raided their homes, rounded them up for prison, and stood by while an angry mob stoned one of their own?
He had met the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. He had been saved, set free, made new, and now he had given his life wholly and completely to the work of the gospel. But he could understand the skepticism of the Christians in Jerusalem. If anyone was outside of God’s reach, surely it was him.
But, of course, no one is outside of God’s reach. The Lord can take hold of anyone, no matter what wickedness lurks in their past.
Barnabas knew that. So, this “Son of Encouragement” vouched for Saul, and he took him to meet with the apostles in Jerusalem. As impossible as it seemed that a persecutor of the church could become one of its fiercest defenders, Barnabas understood that God is in the business of making things new.
More than seven hundred years prior, the prophet Isaiah recorded these words from the Lord:
“Stop dwelling on the past.Don’t even remember these former things.I am doing something brand new, something unheard of.Even now it sprouts and grows and matures.Don’t you perceive it?I will make a way in the wildernessand open up flowing streams in the desert.”Isaiah 43:18–19 TPT
God is indeed making all things new (see Revelation 21:5). That includes creation, which is groaning for the day of its rebirth (see Romans 8:22), but it also includes us. In fact, Saul, writing later as the apostle Paul, put it this way:
“Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.”2 Corinthians 5:17 TPT
He, of all people, would know. Paul had been completely transformed. His Pharisaical past was buried and gone, and the new life of freedom given to him by Christ sprawled out before him into eternity. And so, as he stood next to Barnabas and listened to his friend plead his case, he knew that the argument being made had nothing to do with his inherent goodness but rather with God’s.
You see, God is infinitely creative—a Master Storyteller and Artist—so he’s always breaking boundaries, taking bits of clay and transforming them into iconic masterpieces. A childless nomad into a father of nations. A shepherd boy into a mighty warrior-king. A fisherman into an apostle of the church. He does things no one expects.
Now, I realize that when I speak in Bible stories, most of us are inclined to nod our heads in agreement. Isn’t it amazing what God did back then? we say. And when I describe the heart change that takes place within a soul that has come to Christ for the first time, we stand up and cheer. I was there once too! we announce. He saved a wretch like me! from the old hymn we echo.
And yet, here we are, standing on the white shores of a new year, and if we’re honest, it’s hard for most of us to see how God can transform our world. Of course, we know he can do it; it’s just that the darkness seems so thick. We look around at all the problems—problems in government, in education, in the economy, in the media, and in Hollywood. Then we turn around and see more problems in the church. At times, it’s so overwhelming that we might even find ourselves longing for the good ol’ days.
But remember: God is in the business of making things new. He doesn’t go backwards. And that’s okay, because there is no situation so far gone that he cannot redeem it. In the beginning, it was into the darkness that God spoke light into being. So, while it seems dark right now, it’s also prime time for God to speak new light.
It may be that our role in this crazy moment is to be the Barnabas in our communities—that is, we are to testify to God’s power to make things new. In doing so, we are to be people of hope, ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven. At times, we may even find ourselves trying to convince the church that no person and no situation is beyond God’s loving grasp. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have not been given a green light to give in to fear.
While it’s true that a new year is just a date on the calendar, in this season God has our attention. So, let’s not waste it. God says, “I am doing something brand new, something unheard of. Even now it sprouts and grows and matures. Don’t you perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19 TPT).
The truth is, God is always doing a new thing. That’s just who he is! We only need to lift up our eyes and take notice.
About the author
John Greco has spent the bulk of his career futzing with words in the Christian publishing and ministry worlds. He geeks out over the Bible and loves the God whose heart can be found in its pages. He and his wife, Laurin, live just south of Nashville, Tennessee, where they daily wrangle their three boys and dream of someday being the ones who get to take all the naps.
Formerly the content director for She Reads Truth, John is the author of several books for adults and children, including The Easter Lamb: Jesus, Passover, and God's Amazing Plan to Rescue Us (2024 ZonderKidz), Rediscovering Christmas: A Twelve-Day Journey to the Manger (2024 B&H Books), and The Ascent: A Devotional Adventure through the Book of Psalms (2022 BroadStreet). He is also editor for the He Reads Truth Bible and New Testament theological editor for the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible.