All Things New
2 Corinthians 5:14-17
Introduction:
Joke: A old country church was baptizing folks down by the
river on a cold November morning. One
man who had been a notorious liar all his life had just gotten saved. Many of his friends came to see the proof
that he had “got religion.” The Pastor waded into the cold stream and motioned
for the man to come down. Gingerly he stepped into the water and sucking his
breath as he went he went to the preacher.
He was properly dunked and made his way to the shore. One of his old friends asked him as he got up
on the bank, “Claude, was the water cold?”
“Naw, he said, “It wwwweren’t tttttoo bbbad.”
The man called out to the pastor. “Better dunk ‘im again
preacher! He’s still lying.”
The truly amazing thing about Christianity is its promise of
newness of change for the better. We
experience a new birth, our sins are forgiven and forgotten by God, even our
physical life can so change as to make us totally different people. The wonder of this newness is more than just
a new birth though. It is also the
reality of newness every single day. The
power of such a truth is seldom realized in our lives. We don’t really grasp what we can do since we
can be made anew at any given moment.
How can we grasp the reality of becoming new? This passage
tells us three reasons why we as Children of God, can be new every day. If I believe these principle found in God’s
Word then the future is unlimited in its potential and completely unhindered by
the past.
The first reason is the reality of a change in Ownership.
The second is a change in Knowledge.
The third is a change in Self.
Change in Ownership 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus
judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all,
that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him
which died for them, and rose again.
Paul’s Conclusion
The love of Christ constrains (presses us, holds us, impels
us) because if Christ died for all, (in our place and taking our punishment)
then we were all dead (dead in sin, guilty before God.)
Christ died for all so that they which live should not live
for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Christ died for us paying the
penalty of our sin therefore if we believe then we cannot live for
ourselves, but for Him. We have risen together with him to a new life, a new
purpose.
Baptism, that we will celebrate, today is a symbol of this
truth. As we read in
Romans
6:4-6 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like
as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we
also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in
the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Paul’s Conclusion Should Be Our Conclusion
Christ died for me because I was a sinner. When I accepted
him as Savior I begin walking in a new life. Things that used to own and define
us no apply.
Your past does not own you. Your habits, character flaws and
weaknesses do not hold you. Your job, career or ambition does not own you.
These things cannot own you because Christ paid the price of His life, bought
you with His blood and now you belong to God!
But understand this the ownership of the world is automatic,
we are born in sin but if we are to experience the newness of Christ then we
must make a conscious, spirit led decision to choose God. Once in order to be
saved forever and experience a new heart and soul but we must also make that
choice daily in order to make everyday new in Him.
Let me give you Three Ownership Tests.
Are you
alive in Christ? John 5:24-26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the
Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in
himself;
Are you
living for Christ? Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to
this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Are you
living for others? Rom 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with
brotherly love; in honour preferring one another
Illustration: Same houses new owners
Once on vacation I took my family by some of the houses I
had lived in growing up. Some looked worse, some looked better, one was torn
down, but all looked different. Why? The owners had changed and the person on
the inside made the outside look different. They showed their ownership by the
appearance of the house. The same is true for us and who owns us. Christ’s
ownership will show itself in us and in our actions.
Change in Knowledge 2 Corinthians 5:16
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea,
though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no
more.
A New Knowledge
Paul says this change in ownership, this change in
relationship with God changes everything he knows. Even his mind, his knowledge
is new. He no longer sees man kind in just the light of the physical, the
fleshly but in the knowledge that they are sinners before God. It does not
matter their wealth, their rank, their power or their status. Paul see them all
as needing Christ.
Even his knowledge of Christ has changed. Though Paul looked
for a descended of David, to fill the role of Messiah and take the throne of
Jerusalem and reign as King from Mt Zion, he now knows that physical sight was
short sighted. Jesus of Nazareth, that died on Calvary, rose again and called
him to be an apostle was much more than just another King to sit on a man made
throne.
Paul no longer has just a physical knowledge but now a
spiritual knowledge through his relationship, his ownership change. This new knowledge
changes the way he sees, thinks and understand everything him.
A New Way of Thinking
We should also have that new knowledge, that spiritual
vision and thought life that come with our new life.
In our thoughts our dreams, our aspirations are we more like
Clint Eastwood saying “Make my day, punk!” or like Paul saying, “I am crucified
with Christ”? Do we want to be a
superstar athlete like Tom Brady or like John a fisher of men? Do we wish we were in a rock and roll band or
in a Bible Study group?
When you're on the highway and someone driving like a maniac
speeds by and cuts you off, is your first thought like Paul saying, “I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me” or like Capt. Kirk, “Fire all
forward phazers, Mr Sulu!”
Are your expectations set by movies, music and the internet or
by God’s word, God’s house and God’s will?
Seeing the world with knowledge under God’s control is very different.
Examples of that New Knowledge, that new thought life.
Paradox Principle
Matt 23: 11-12 But he that is greatest among you shall be
your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that
shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Faith Principle
John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth
on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall
he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name,
that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask
any thing in my name, I will do it.
Supernatural Principle
John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot
receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Love Principle
1 Cor 13:13 Now abideth faith, hope and love these three,
but the greatest of these is love.
Change in Self 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old
things are passed away; behold, all things are become new
In Christ, New
Let’s break this down phrase by phrase.
If any man be in Christ, this is a universal promise of
salvation and reconciliation to any and all who believe.
He is a new creature.
This means we are given a fresh start, a new beginning, literally it
means we are a new creation.
Old things are passed away. This is in the aorist tense
meaning it is a completed past action. In other words, in God’s eyes your past
no longer exists.
Behold. Look at this, see the wonder, the amazement of such
a thing. Or if you are younger, “Check it out!”
All things are become new. This is in the perfect tense, meaning
permanent never ending newness.
Quote:
In the natural world it is impossible to be made all over again, but in
the spiritual world it is exactly what Jesus Christ makes possible. - Oswald
Chambers (1874-1917)
Be In Christ, New
How do you become new in Jesus Christ? How do you stay new
in Him? Lets look at this last question in two perspectives, those not in
Christ, who have never been made new and those who are in Christ, who have lost
that sense of newness.
To those not in Christ
2 Corinthians 5:19-21 To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;
and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in
Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him.
This is not turning over a new leaf but turning over your
life to God.
To those in Christ, does newness stop at the new birth?
For some
unfortunately it has, but it shouldn’t. Every day in Christ is a new day, a brand
new fresh start.
Ephesians 4:22-24 That ye put off concerning the former
conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your
mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness
Put off the old lifestyle, (like taking off your old dirty
clothes) and
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind (made new through your
understanding of what the Spirit of God in you can do)
Put on the new man (lit. the brand new man a new man who is
remade through the power and in the model of God.)
Illustration: Augustine and the Prostitute
Soon after Augustine's conversion, he was walking down the
street in Milan, Italy. There he accosted a prostitute whom he had known most
intimately. She called but he would not answer. He kept right on walking.
“Augustine,” she called again. “It is I!” Without slowing down, but with
assurance of Christ in his heart, he testified, “Yes, but it is no longer I.”
Conclusion:
Several years ago, I heard the story of Larry Walters, a
33-year-old man who decided he wanted to see his neighborhood from a new
perspective. He went down to the local army surplus store one morning and
bought forty-five used weather balloons. That afternoon he strapped himself
into a lawn chair, to which several of his friends tied the now helium-filled
balloons. He took along a six-pack of beer, a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich,
and a BB gun, figuring he could shoot the balloons one at a time when he was
ready to land.
Walters, who
assumed the balloons would lift him about 100 feet in the air, was caught off
guard when the chair soared more than 11,000 feet into the sky--smack into the
middle of the air traffic pattern at Los Angeles International Airport. Too
frightened to shoot any of the balloons, he stayed airborne for more than two
hours, forcing the airport to shut down its runways for much of the afternoon,
causing long delays in flights from across the country.
Soon after he was
safely grounded and cited by the police, reporters asked him three questions:
“Were you scared?”
“Yes.”
“Would you do it
again?”
“No.”
“Why did you do
it?”
“Because,” he said,
“you can't just sit there.”
Listen to me, you can’t just sit there! You can’t just sit there in your sin
and sorrow. You can’t just sit there in your pain and troubles. You can’t just
sit there in your same old ruts and routines. It’s time to tie your chair to
the Gospel and soar to new heights. Time to find that God’s Word is true and
All Things Can Be New. If only you’ll just trust Him.
Lost
person, trust Him. He wants to save your soul and change your life.
Change your vision, change your very mind.
Saved person, trust Him.
He wants to make every day and everything new for all your life. Don’t settle
into the ruts of routine, ask Him to renew you and this day will be as new as
the day you accepted Him as your savior
No comments:
Post a Comment