Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
General Christian
Relationships and Religion
Hat•cha•la cha•da•sha : What New Life Means For Believers

Hat•cha•la cha•da•sha : What New Life Means For Believers

Last updated on: August 28, 2023 at 8:29 am by Martin Thomas Johnson

0 Comments

Hat•cha•la cha•da•sha : What New Life Means For Believers 2023-08-28T08:29:29-04:00 Martin Thomas Johnson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This week the big news was the indictment of Donald Trump. The saddest part is he continues to refuse to change. His ego continues to blind him to his wrongful actions.

Donald Trump

Image by Pixaby

Constantly lying
Pride
Refusing to change his ways

Don’t get me wrong we all sin and make mistakes, but the wise learn from them and change their ways. The Bible says foolish people refuse to change their ways (Proverbs 14:7- 9).

I had to learn this the hardway. For six years I lived life my way and refused to listen to godly friends. My pride made me think I knew better than everyone.

It took God’s tough love to break me and free me from the temporary pleasures of this world.

All of my old friends expressed how I was different. My best friend who was Hindu was the first to tell me,” You’re different now.” The truth is the old Martin died in that car accident. God has given me a fresh start and a new life.

New Life

After my accident, I was excited to get back to life—my new life. I knew I had to make changes. One of the fundamental Christian teachings is when we encounter Jesus; He changes us from the inside.

Martin Thomas Johnson

Image by Martin Thomas Johnson

Jesus makes us new beings; we must be “born again” as believers. The old man must pass away. The concept of being born again and having a new life isn’t exclusive to Christianity.

Hat•cha•la cha•da•sha

In Judaism, this new life is called Hat•cha•la cha•da•sha and the idea here is simple, it is a fresh start and new beginning with no mistakes or blemishes.

Our Jewish stepfathers experienced this fresh start time and again after God forgave them for their trespasses (Psalms 107:2, Isaiah 1:18, Jeremiah 31:3). We serve a God of new life.

Flag of Israel

Image by Wikipedia

We have all fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). The concept of new life and fresh starts is embraced by other faiths. Below are a few faiths that believe in new life through reincarnation. The term reincarnation derives from a Latin word that literally means “fresh start.”

Sikhism
Buddhism
Jainism
Kabbalah Judaism
Hinduism

Interestingly, not all Hindus believe in reincarnation, but only that there is an afterlife where our souls return to God. It is a universal idea that mankind will be restored to a right fellowship with God after this life.

At Calvary, Jesus promised the thief on the right that he would be with Jesus in paradise where man’s relationship is restored with God (Matthew 27:38-44). The thief on the right repented and was given new life by God.

In Judaism, repentance is known as Teshuvah and it literally means to return to God (Hosea 14:2). In today’s world, who doesn’t want a fresh start?

Return

In Christianity, repentance means turning from our old lives and ways and returning to God, who saves us from our sins and mistakes. We experience new life in Him. It took God humbling me through my accident to get me to repent and return to Him.

Repentance

Image by Pexels

New life in Christ is returning to God’s original plan and purpose. The old is removed to make room for the new. This is why Jesus said we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24:-26). When we return to God, He gives us new life.

Health
Dreams
Skills
Purpose

Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless we are born again of water and Spirit,” we cannot enter Heaven (John 3:1-21). We must return to God to have true Hat•cha•la cha•da•sha.

Jewish

Previous Post

August 23, 2023

Bereishit : In the Beginning God

Next Post

August 30, 2023 Ru•ach Ha•kó•desh and Who the Holy Spirit Is

Which writer besides Solomon and David contributed to Proverbs?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses Nathan Agur Asaph