02 Oct “Star Note”

To stay connected with the neighborhood, I try to have breakfast at a diner just down the street from the church at least once a week. During my most recent visit, a server and another customer were having a conversation that caught my ear. The customer was explaining that he had received as change a “star dollar.” I had never heard of such a thing. I googled it and quickly learned what he was talking about.

What the gentleman had is called a “star note.” It is a banknote that is printed to replace a faulty one. It allows governments and monetary authorities to know the exact number of banknotes being printed. The star is at the end of the serial number of the replacement bill. It almost always has a different serial number from the damaged bill. It occurred to me that all who have accepted Christ into their lives are also a “star note.”

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

We are marked with the star of the Holy Spirit, and we are Christ’s. But, unlike a star note, we have the same serial number as we did before salvation. New, yes. But not yet perfectly new. William MacDonald explains in “The Believer’s Bible Commentary:

“This verse is a favorite with those who have recently been born again and is often quoted in personal testimonies. Sometimes in being thus quoted, it gives quite a false impression. Listeners are apt to think that when a man is saved, old habits, evil thoughts, and lustful looks are forever done away, and everything becomes literally new in a person’s life. We know that this is not true. The verse does not describe a believer’s practice but rather his position.”

MacDonald points out that the words “in Christ” are key. In Christ old things have passed away and all things have become new. But in me? Well, that’s a work in progress. The more we grow in Christ, the brighter the star becomes at the end of our serial number. As we surrender more and more to the Holy Spirit, the old things continue to pass, and more and more things become new.

No, old habits, evil thoughts and lustful desires aren’t magically gone. But my desire is that how I live more closely matches my perfect standing in God each day. So, never doubt that the star of the Spirit behind your serial number means that you are a new creation in Christ. Patiently trust Him to finish what He has started in you. As MacDonald puts it, on the day Jesus returns the two will be in perfect agreement.

— Pastor Jerry Bader, Samaritan’s Heart Mission Church