I am reading a book called “God’s Timing for Your Life,” by Dutch Sheets and I’m finding that I’m rereading a lot to not only try to understand what it means, but to also evaluate what my thoughts have been. This is illuminating much about my walk with God, and His purposes for the way He unfolds things through time for me. One of the first things that I am trying to wrap my hand around is His desire for us to understand our newness in Him.

Sheets goes into detail about the language used in three verses in Isaiah about God’s timing and transition into new seasons.

Isaiah 48:6
“You have heard; look at all this.
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.

Isaiah 43:19
“Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 42:9
“Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

Sheets describes that the phrase “springs forth” in the last two verses is describing a shift in time. God is asking us “Will you not be aware of it?” How much is God revealing to us, that we are not aware of in the moments we recieve? Is it because our gaze is distracted and it causes us to not recognize, or is it that God reveals it to us when we are ready to understand?

After we see the springing forth, the author calls us to notice the word “new,” which also speaks of a coming shift. What was interesting was that in the New Testament, two Greek words are translated “new,” despite their different meanings. The explanation of the meanings opens up a lot for me.

“The word neos means numerically new but not different.” Sheets gives the example of a brand new car of a certain make and model, which although is a new car, it’s not unique, because there were thousands of the same year, make, and model of car that were produced. Then, “the other Greek word for “new” is kainos, which means not only numerically new but also qualitatively new.” So, what this means like comparing a new car made today to a Model T years and years ago. The new car is not only numerically new, but qualitatively new because it’s different.

When we look at the different definitions of these two words – neos and kainos is important to understanding Scripture. 2 Cor. 5:17 says that we are new (kainos) creations in Christ. Not duplications, or replicas of something else, which would be neos. We are new in a completely different way, like a Porshe to a Model T. Sheets says, “We are new creations- brand-new in kind and quality. God has put a different nature in us, transformed us and put the power of His Spirit in us. When we’re born again, we’re not just the same people with a few changes; we are kainos- brand-new on the inside.

In Matthew 9:17 we find that Jesus used both of the Greek words in one statement. “Neither do men pour new (neos) wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new (kainos) wineskins, and both are preserved.” This new wine of the Spirit is not different, but more of the same, because the Holy Spirit can’t change or improve qualitatively. The Spirit desires to put more of Himself into us- numerically new wine. The wine isn’t different, it is the wineskin that needs to change, to be kainos, qualitatively new, in order to get another dose of His Spirit poured into us. Sheets describes that, “we must be transformed and changed from one stage to another. If we don’t become different- qualitatively new- we won’t be able to hold the new wine He is pouring out. We will miss this new “time.” So… the crux is that, “in order for God to prepare us for the new season, He changes us.”

So, it’s like a lobster (even though I think he meant to say crab, or do lobsters really abandon their shells?), and how they have to leave their shells in order to grow. So it’s a quandry, they need the shells to protect them, but the need to leave their shells to find bigger ones so that they can continue to grow. The dangerous time for them is when they are between shells, where they are left vulnerable to the currents, predators, and environmental hazards. So we, like some lobsters (crabs?), need to change to grow, and shed our shells, structure, comfort zones, etc. that we’ve depended on, and leave them behind as we explore becoming new with Christ.

lots more to come… on the divine shift, renewal, and joining of the seasons.