My Past Defines Me

Good morning and welcome to CCC.

I pray you have a wonderful week growing closer to Jesus

I pray you were able to witness to someone who needs Jesus this week

I pray that you lived a life of submission and obedience this week due to your love for Jesus!

Before we get going this morning I wanted to play two videos

This is the trailer for the study that the Women’s Discipleship group is currently studying that takes place on Monday nights at 6:30 pm in the fellowship hall

PLAY Warrior Women Trailer

This is the study that we will begin on Wednesday night in our Men’s Discipleship group that meets from 7 to 8:30 pm in the fellowship hall

Play Play the Man trailer

God is moving

Hearts are changing

Men and Women are growing closer to each other and God on Monday and Wednesday nights

Make an excuse to be a part

Pray

Start OBS

This week we continue with our Bait of satan sermon series by looking at the lie my past defines me

So many Christians, maybe even a lot of you, struggle with your past

Society says that your past defines you

If your past is good you are good

If your past is bad you are bad

Society says your behavior defines you

Your mistakes define you

satan wants you to truly believe that and apply that to your life

If you truly believe your past defines you then you will repeat your past

you will believe that you are doomed because of your past

If you truly believe that because you have been”good” in your past so you are good then it is easy to believe that you don’t need Jesus

satan wants to kill you

steal from you

and destroy you!

This morning I want to dive into

II Corinthians 5:14-21

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“14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

There is a lot going on in this section of scripture and I want to dive in because the truths contained in this scripture should change your life if you still believe your past defines you

1. Christ died for all

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I Peter 3:18

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“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,”

I John 2:2

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“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Romans 6:10

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“For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.”

I used all three of these together because I want you to see that Jesus died once for ALL people

Regardless of your past

Regardless of you mistakes

Regardless of your sin

Regardless of how you define yourself

Regardless of how the world defines you

JESUS DIED FOR YOU

Why does that matter

Why does it matter that Christ died once for all mankind

Hebrews 9:26-28

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“for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Prior to Jesus, Old Testament time, there had to be repeated death, repeated sacrifice, repeated blood spilled to cover sins

In Jesus the perfect sacrifice, He died once, He was sacrificed once, His blood spilled once for all mankind

It is finished

The work is done

Forgiveness is freely offered

If you have accepted Jesus,

His death

His sacrifice

His blood

That is what defines you!

Not only is that what defines you but Jesus is coming again one day for YOU!

That not only defines you but gives you hope!

Stand on the truth of the Gospel!

2. Spiritual Being and being transformed

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I Corinthians 2:13-16

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“And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”

You must understand that when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior you leave the physical and join the spiritual

You are no longer a citizen of this world but a citizen of heaven

If you are a Christian here this morning you are a spiritual being

Period

Not if

Not maybe

Not sometimes

YOU ARE A SPIRITUAL BEING as a Christian

When you are saved you receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit

That makes you spiritual

He then begins the transformation inside you

I want you to understand this

The world doesn’t want you to understand this

satan wants you to believe you can live however you want and claim to be a Christian

The problem is that is not truth

John 3:5-8

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“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.””

You cannot enter the kingdom of God with out being born of water and Spirit

If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then you do not have the Holy Spirit

You are not born of water and the Spirit

Why does that matter Pastor Josh

Romans 8:9-11

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“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Listen church

If you are a Christian you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit

God Himself dwells in you

You have life because of the the Holy Spirit

All have committed sin and the wages of that sin is death but in Christ you can have life!

If you do not have the Holy Spirit you are not saved

That is why satan wants you to believe you can live for you

satan wants you to believe you only live once

satan wants you to believe you can live your best life

satan wants you to believe that no one cares about you so you have to look out for number 1

satan wants you to believe that you can sin whenever you want

satan wants you to believe that you can just think God forgives you

satan wants you to believe that you don’t need to confess and repent of your sin because God is love and God loves you so He won’t send you to hell

That is why the road to heaven is narrow and the road to destruction is wide

You cannot be in the flesh and be saved

As a Christian

you are dead to your old self

you are dead to your sin

you are dead to your past

You are a new creature!

3. New Creation-Old is passed away

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II Corinthians 5:17

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“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

You and I are new creations in Christ

Why

Jesus became your sin

Jesus became my sin

Jesus became the sin of the whole world

When He became our sin He bore God’s punishment and judgement

He paid your price so when you accept Him as Lord and Savior you are fully and completely redeemed

Your past is paid for

Your present and future are fully secured in Christ

This is why you must place your faith in Christ

He is the only way to the Father

All true Christians are new creations

John 3:3

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“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.””

This is Jesus

These are His words

Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God

Are you born again?

satan wants you to believe because of your past that you must earn salvation

satan wants you to believe because of your past you must work and work to be better to get to a place you deserve salvation

You can’t earn salvation

You can’t deserve salvation

Titus 3:5

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“he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,”

You are saved because of God’s mercy not your works

Even works in righteousness

Good works

religious works

feeding the hungry

clothing the naked

looking out for widows and orphans

doing all the things that one thinks God wants them to do

He does by the way want you feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and looking our for widows and orphans but those are a result of salvation not an attempt to gain salvation

God sent Jesus to the cross because of love

because of mercy

out of His grace

You are saved by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

again no Holy Spirit no salvation

He changes you from the inside out

He changes you to conform to the Word of God

I John 3:9-10

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“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”

You are going to sin

I am going to sin

That is not even a question

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

All will continue to sin while living here on earth

That is not what this scripture is talking about

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning

God cannot stand sin

God didn’t even look at Jesus when He became your sin and my sin and the sin of the whole world

If the Holy Spirit lives inside of you, you are incompatible with sin

You will sin but you will not continue to live in sin

Sin will cause you to mourn

Sin will cause you to be heartbroken

When you realize that you have sinned you will sprint to the cross and confess and repent

Your fruit proves whose you are

Some may still struggle with anger

Some may still struggle with addiction

Some may still struggle with the love of money

The difference is when you live in that sin

When you practice sinning

You don’t care that you are sinning

If you have the Holy Spirit you will be convicted of that sin

You will confess that sin

You will repent of that sin

You will do all you can to not do that sin again

How

How in the world pastor Josh do we do it

I John 5:4-5

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“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

If you have been born of God

If you have accepted Jesus

If you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you

You have overcome the world

Because Jesus has overcome the world

You fight from victory not to obtain victory

You are a new creation in Christ

Church if you are a Christian not only does your past not define you but you must put it off

You must die to it

Ephesians 4:20-24

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“But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

God brings to mind, through the Holy Spirit the things that need to be confessed and repented of

God brings to mind, through the Holy Spirit the ways you must change

the things you must leave

the things you must reject

the things you must do

Your thoughts

Your beliefs

Your actions

Your ways

They all change because of Christ

You put off the old self

This is not a suggestion

This is the work of God through the Holy Spirit

If you are saved

If you are a new creation

This will happen in your life because you will never stop God from being God

You will never stop God from doing what He wants to do

You must put off the old self

You must die to your flesh

You must die to your past

If you do not see spiritual fruit being produced in your life you must question your eternity

If you are saved you have the Holy Spirit

If you have the Holy Spirit then spiritual fruit will be produced in your life

You cannot stop the Holy Spirit from producing fruit

Put off the old self and live

Keep the old self and die

Not my words God’s words

Here is the thing it is

4. All from God

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Romans 5:10

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“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

You and I were enemies when God through Jesus reconciled us

You didn't do anything

you cant do anything

to earn it or deserve it

NOTHING

It is all from God

I Corinthians 8:6

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“yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

Again all from God

This is not from me

These are not my words

These are from God

These are God’s words

all things exist through Jesus

period

I want to end and spend most of our time on this final truth

5. Ministry of Reconciliation

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Ephesians 4:17-24

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“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

First notice again your walk matters

You are no longer to walk as the Gentiles

You are no longer to walk as the sinners

You are no longer to walk as the world

It is futility to walk as they walk

If you decide to continue to walk as the Gentiles, sinners and world you will be given up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity

Look around you

This is happening all over the place

Look at Washington DC......they are driven by lust and greed

Look at Hollywood......driven by lust and greed

Look at the music industry....driven by lust and greed

Look at corporate America…driven by lust and greed

Get the picture.....without Jesus

Without the Holy Spirit

you are also driven by lust and greed and will be given over to it if you continue to practice it

Leave this world behind

You are not of the world

Look at where they are

Darkened in their understanding

alienated from the life of God

I can’t imagine being alienated from the life of God

God is so good

God loves you so much

Can you truly imagine being in a place where you do not have access to the life of God

Is that where you want to be

Is that how you want to live?

That is a scary place but so many of you are willingly headed there

That is exactly where you live without Jesus

That is exactly where you live when you walk in sin

live in sin

continue to practice sin

Listen to the words of God

But that is not the way you learned about Christ.....put off your old self which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through the spirit of you minds

STOP WALKING IN SIN

PUT IT OFF

LEAVE IT

DON'T JUSTIFY IT DON'T LOVE IT DON'T LIVE IN IT

LEAVE IT

PUT IT OFF

THEN LIVE FROM CHRIST

II Corinthians 5:20-21

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“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

When you accept Jesus

When you are born of the Spirit

When the Holy Spirit lives inside of you

You are an ambassador for Christ

Again not my words God’s words

God is making His appeal to the lost, to the world, to those dying and going to hell THROUGH YOU

Be reconciled to God

The power of the Gospel is the power to change lives

You must be changed as a Christian

You must put off your old self

You must lived a changed life

You, putting off your old self

dying to your past

living a changed life is what God uses to make His appeal

That is what people are looking for

the addicted

the proud

the greedy

those who love money

those who commit adultery

those who live in sin

They really do want change they just don’t know how

They really do want change they just do not know Jesus

They are looking for truth

They are looking for real change

They are looking for authenticity

They are looking for Jesus

If you live a changed life they will see Jesus in you

That is your ministry

The ministry of reconciliation

Again all done in and through God

Your ministry is to live the life that God calls you to live

Be real

Be authentic

Be available

Be open

You will sin but you will confess and repent of that sin

Christ became sin

He knew no sin but became sin

Your sin

To save you

To give you the Holy Spirit

To make you righteous

He calls you to live in a way that points the lost to Jesus

Where are you?

Where do you stand?

Have you put off the old self?

Run to Jesus

STOP OBS

Invitation Run to the Father