A New World View!

\Repent (Metanoeo,) then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.\  Acts 3:19 NIV

Metanoia is the Greek word that is translated repentance.  According to dictionaries of Biblical Greek languages, metanoia means: 

 A complete change of attitude, spiritual and moral towards God
 To change one\'s mind and purpose
 To change one\'s way of life as a result of a complete change of thought and attitude with regard to sin and righteousness.

In other words, when we repent, we take on a new world-view; a paradigm change, a sense of \I got it\!  I remember when I first studied the Bible to become a Christian; there came a point in the studies when I could legitimately say \I got it!\  After hearing and understanding the message, there was a major shift in my view of the world.  This was similar to what Nebuchadnezzar experienced when after being strongly disciplined by God, he said, \I raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored.\  (Daniel 4:34)  NIV

\Metanoia\ is when we go from believing and behaving like we are the center of the universe (self-centered) to understanding, believing and living with the conviction that God is the center of our lives!    This is much like the change that happened in society when the Ptolemy theory of Earth being the center of the world changed to the Copernicus teachings that the Earth revolves around the sun; when we have \metanoia\, we stop thinking and acting like everything is about us, and realize that everything needs to be about God and His will.  What a revolution of good news this brings to our lives.  Our world-view, our perspective, and our paradigm radically shift.

Through reading Edward Anton\'s book on Repentance, I have gained a deeper understanding of \metanoia\ and how it should be viewed as such good news!  John the Baptist and Jesus came and preached a message of repentance (metanoia) that was described as \good news\.  (Luke 3:18, Mark 1:14 NIV)  They said, \metanoeo\ (verb to repent) for the kingdom of heaven is near.  I remember hearing the message of the kingdom and understanding that my values needed to change.  Jesus is calling us to change our world-view, our paradigm, our priorities...He is calling us to metanoia and make the decision for him be the king and lord of our lives!

As Jesus\' disciples, we must ask ourselves if we are truly living lives that reflect metanoia.  Instead of just adding religion to our lives, has there been (and is there still) a change in world-view and in our priorities where God is truly at the center?   The good news is that we can begin to reflect metanoia immediately.  And as we allow Him to be at the center, may we preach metanoia the way God intended: as good news!

(Editor\'s Note:  You can hear Javier\'s entire sermon on \Metanoia\, click here to download the MP3.)