NEW HEART

NEW HEART
(Ezekiel 18:3, 36:26  - 2 Corinthians 4:16)

The Bible speaks often of the heart. The word heart can mean different things depending upon the context. Most often, the heart refers to the soul of a human being that controls the will and emotions. The heart is the “inner man” (2 Corinthians 4:16). The prophet Ezekiel makes several references to a “new heart” (e.g., Ezekiel 18:31; 36:26). An oft-quoted verse is Ezekiel 11:19 where God says, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” So what does this mean?

In Ezekiel 11, Yahweh is addressing His people, the Israelites, promising to one day restore them to the land and to a right relationship with Himself. Yahweh promises to gather the Hebrews from the nations where they had been scattered (Ezekiel 11:17) and give them a new, undivided heart (verse 19). The result of their receiving a new heart will be obedience to God’s commands: “Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their Elohim” (verse 20). This prophecy will be fulfilled in the millennium, when Yahshua the Messiah rules from Zion and Israel has been restored to faith (Romans 11:26).

Someone whom Yahweh has given a new heart behaves differently. Saul is an example of this in 1 Samuel 10:1 and 9. Yahweh had chosen Saul to be the first king of Israel. Saul was a nobody, but Yahweh chose him anyway and sent the prophet Samuel to anoint him king. “Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, ‘Has not Yahweh Elohim anointed you ruler over his inheritance?’” Samuel made several predictions to prove to Saul that Yahweh had sent him, and verse 9 says, “As Saul turned and started to leave, Yahweh gave him a new heart, and all Samuel’s signs were fulfilled that day.” The new heart Yahweh gave Saul transformed him from an average nobody to the king of Israel. Not only was his status changed, but his entire outlook was transformed by the power of Yahweh Elohim.

The human heart was created to mirror Yahweh’s own heart (Genesis 1:27; James 3:9). We were designed to love Him, love righteousness, and walk in harmony with Yahweh and others (Micah 6:8). But part of Yahweh’s design of the human heart is free will. That free will carries with it the opportunity to abuse it, as did Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:11). Yahweh desires that we choose to love and serve Him. When we stubbornly refuse to follow Yahweh, our hearts, which were designed to communicate with Yahweh, are hardened. Yahweh compares rebellious hearts to stone (Zechariah 7:12). A heart of stone finds it impossible to repent, to love Yahweh, or to please Him (Romans 8:8). The hearts of sinful humanity are so hardened that we cannot even seek Yahweh on our own (Romans 3:11), and that’s why Jesus said no one can come to Him unless the Father first draws him (John 6:44). We desperately need new hearts, for we are unable on our own to soften our hard hearts. A change of heart toward Yahweh requires a supernatural transformation. Yahshua called it being “born again” (John 3:3).

When we are born again, Yahweh performs a heart transplant, as it were. He gives us a new heart. The power of the Holy Spirit changes our hearts from sin-focused to Yahweh Elohim-focused. We do not become perfect (1 John 1:8); we still have our sinful flesh and the freedom to choose whether or not to obey it. However, when Yahshua died for us on the cross, He broke the power of sin that controls us (Romans 6:10). Receiving Him as our Savior gives us access to Yahweh and His power—a power to transform our hearts from sin-hardened to Yahshua Ha Masiach-softened. When we were separated from Yahweh with hardened hearts, we found it impossible to please Him. We tended toward selfishness, rebellion, and sin. With new hearts we are declared righteous before Yahweh (2 Corinthians 5:21). The Holy Spirit gives us a desire to please Yahweh that was foreign to us in our hardened state. Second Corinthians 3:18 says that we “are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from Elohim, who is the Spirit.” Yahweh’s desire for every human being is that we become like His Son, Jesus (Romans 8:29). We can become like Yahshua only when we allow Yahweh to rid us of our old, hardened hearts and give us new hearts.

Let His Divine Blessings Flow
Testament are ONE not Divided