Organisations tend to go through a process called rebranding for various reasons. The decision is often based on changing the perception of their customers, especially where their products or services have been the subject of negative publicity. Some rebrand because they have been bought over by other organisations and the new owners have decided to change the branding in line with their own brand.
Recently, the popular social media company, Facebook, announced that it had changed it’s company name to Meta. Although they gave reasons for this name change as a reflection of the company’s growing ambitions beyond social media, the fact that this decision was made following a series of negative stories based on documents leaked by an ex-employee has raised eyebrows.
When companies rebrand, it does not necessarily mean anything has changed internally, they usually just want to give the impression of change. As I thought about this, my mind went to a special kind of branding mentioned in scripture.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) My paraphrase of this verse is, “When Christ comes into a man, he does not get rebranded, he becomes brand new!”
When Jesus comes into the life of a man, He does not just stamp his brand on him to change the perspective of people about him, rather, He makes him brand new so that people can see the real difference between what he used to be and what he is now.
Paul the Apostle, who wrote the book of 1 and 2 Corinthians knew what it meant to experience a brand new life. He was a very religious man who thought arresting and supporting the murder of Christians was the right thing to do. When he had his encounter with Jesus, his life changed. Imagine the shock on the faces of those who had been at the receiving end of Paul’s (Formerly known as Saul) attack on them when they saw him preaching in the synagogue that Jesus is the son of God (Acts 9: 20, 21) Physically, they were still seeing Saul the antagonist against Christians but his behaviour and action was the opposite of the person they had known and dreaded! This is the transformation that occurs when Jesus comes into the life of a sinner.
The process of transformation differs from individual to individual. While some may experience an instant and drastic change as was the case of Saul, there are others who may go through weeks, months and even years of being transformed into the image of Christ.
This is the difference between rebranding and a brand new creation. Rebranding does not necessarily mean a change within, it only tries to project that a change has occurred but a brand new creation replaces the old.
If you have given your life to Christ, do not let anyone discourage you. Even when they remind you of who you used to be, let it be an opportunity for you to give thanks to God for giving you a new life in Christ. Eventually, those who see what you used to be, will begin to see impact of the brand new life you have received.
If you are reading this and do not know what it means to have a brand new life in Jesus, let me give you an invitation, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NLT) I would like you to focus on the word, “everyone”. God does not want anyone left out so he extends this invite to everyone, that includes you. Will you accept the invite and experience what it means to receive a brand new life?
