Made New 2 Corinthians 5:14-17

Good Morning everyone and welcome to this gathering of Mercy Gate Church. My name is Brad Green and I am the associate Pastor here. Pastor Andy asked me to preach the Word this morning, and being that it is a few days before the new year, we are going to spend some time today talking about how we can be made new in Christ. Please get out your bible if you brought one, and i hope you did. If not there should be one under the seat in front of you. Let’s turn to the book of 2nd Corinthians Chapter 5 and we’ll start in verse 14. READ PASSAGE

Opening Prayer

Introduction

New Years is a time where many people make New Year’s resolutions. The tradition of making promises that you will change things in your life, to improve yourself on the first day of the New Year stems all the way back to the ancient Babylonians around 4,000 years ago. They did not celebrate in January, but in mid-March when they planted their crops. They held a massive 12 day festival called “Akitu”, where they would either crown a new King, or reaffirmed their loyalty to the current King. They also would make promises to their false gods, and they believed if they kept their promises their gods would have favor on them, and if they didn’t keep the promises they would fall out of the gods favor.

In around 46 B.C. Roman Emperor Julius Caesar changed the calendar and made January 1st the first day of the new year. He named the month of January after the false god “Janus”, who they believed to be a two faced god who inhabited doorways, they believed this god would look forward into the coming year and backwards into the previous year. At New Years time, the Romans would offer sacrifices to this false god, and make promises of good conduct for the upcoming year.

For the Early Christians the first day of the year became a traditional occasion for thinking about your mistakes over the last year, and praying to do better the next year. in 1755 John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church Denomination, created a “Covenant Renewal Service”, usually held on New year’s eve or day. This is also known as a night watch service and included scripture reading, singing hymns and taking the Lord’s Supper.

This tradition is still quite popular today especially in predominantly African American churches; because it was given a new significance on January 1st 1863, when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which legally freed the slaves in America. On September 22nd 1862 President Lincoln issued the executive order known as the Emancipation Proclamation, that declared enslaved people in the Confederate states to be legally freed. But the order would not take effect until midnight on New Years Eve. So many slaves in the confederate states gathered in churches and homes, to pray and worship and wait for the New Year where they would have freedom.

One of the most popular New Years tradition today is to make new year’s resolutions. 3 in 10 Americans made a resolution in 2024. 95% of resolutions are fitness related, and 43% of people expect to give up on their resolution in the first month. And 90% expect to give up on their resolutions by March. If true change is dependent on our own efforts, we are in trouble. Most people think of themselves as a “good person”, but Romans 3:12 “All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.””. Our problem is that we make resolutions that we will “do better” and “be a better person”, but don’t realize that it’s not a lack of effort, it’s a heart problem. Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” You don’t need to make new years resolutions to be better; no amount of your own effort will achieve anything truly good, you need to be MADE NEW, you need a new heart. Ezekiel 36:24–27 “I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” Notice WHO is doing the cleansing, it’s God not you. You need to be made new, and to be made new, you must be “in Christ”, and that’s what we are going to learn about in 2 Cor 14 today.

There are 3 things that Paul is teaching about what it means to be “in Christ” in this passage;

1. Christ’s Love Controls Us (vv.14)

And the first thing is that if you are in Christ, His love controls you. Read VERSE 14 AGAIN.

So what does it mean to be controlled by Christ’s love?

The last half of that verse can be kind of confusing. Read VERSE 14 AGAIN All have died? Of course all people on earth had not died when Paul wrote this letter. He was writing this letter to a group of people, who were alive, so how could all have died? Several places in scripture talk about being crucified with Christ.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Colossians 3:3 “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

2 Timothy 2:11 “The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;”

To find out what Paul is talking about when he says the believer was crucified with Christ, let’s turn to Romans 6:3-14 .

So, to be crucified with Christ, means that your “old self” died with Christ and was set free from sin at salvation. When verses 3-4 are talking about baptism, it’s important to note that doesn’t refer to water baptism. Verse 3 says “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized INTO Christ Jesus were baptized INTO His death? The word “baptize” means “immerse”, so in this verse Paul is saying those of us who have been immersed into Christ, were immersed into His death.

Just like you could say someone is immersed in their work, when they are focused; All Christians have been spiritually immersed in Christ, meaning united and identified with Him. 1 Corinthians 10:1–2 “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,” Just like the Israelites were baptized or immersed into Moses, indicating their solidarity with their leader; Christians are baptized into Christ, in solidarity and identification with Him.

This is what we call “spiritual baptism”; Where your “old self” is buried with Christ, and your “new self” is raised with Christ. It’s at this moment where you are “born again” like Jesus says in John 3:3 must happen for you to be saved. You also receive the Holy Spirit at this moment, Ephesians 1:13–14 “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

These two verses in Ephesians 1 lay out the chronological order of salvation, first it says “In Him”, so first God chose you to be “In Him” Ephesians 1:4 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”.

Second you heard the word of truth, which is the gospel. You have to hear the gospel in order to be saved. Romans 10:14–17 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

So let’s talk about hearing the word of truth for a minute…… there are two kinds of revelations God uses to reveal himself to humanity. General Revelation, and Special Revelation. General Revelation is described in Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” God has made his existence and power clearly known through observing the universe. Creation itself tells you that there is a creator. You could live on a deserted island completely alone for your whole life, and figure out that someone or something must’ve created all of this. Special Revelation on the other hand, refers to all the times God revealed himself through physical appearances, dreams, visions, His Word and most importantly, in the person of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 1:1–3 “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”. The Word of God tells us how we can be saved, and this is something that had to be revealed to us. This is why it’s called special revelation, if you were on a deserted island your whole life you wouldn’t ever figure out that you needed to repent and believe in Christ to be reconciled to the creator. You would know there must be a creator from the general revelation, but you’d need the special revelation to know who the creator is and how you can please Him.

Next in the order of salvation Ephesians 1:13 says you believed in Him; you must hear the gospel, and believe the gospel to be saved. John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”.

And finally at the moment you truly believed, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. This means the Holy Spirit, the 3rd person of the Trinity, came to indwell you and serve as the guarantee of your heavenly inheritance, until you acquire it at death. So to be spiritually baptized, means you are immersed into Christ, identified with Him, and immersed in the Holy Spirit, meaning the Holy Spirit begins to dwell in you.

So, back to 2 Corinthians 5:14 “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;”

When the verse says “one has died for all” the “one” is Christ, so it’s saying Christ has died for all. So what does Paul mean by the word “all”? Did Christ really die for every individual person who would ever live? If Christ died for every person who would ever live, that would mean he paid the sin debt of everyone who would ever live, and so everyone will be saved. If God were to send someone to Hell to pay for sins that Christ already paid for in full, God would be unjust; Psalm 89:14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.” Justice is the foundation of God’s throne, so we know for a fact, He is not unjust. If Christ paid for the sins of every person who would ever live, then every person who would ever live would be saved. But Jesus says in Matthew 7:13–14 ““Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Jesus just said that the narrow gate that leads to life will be found by few, meaning more people will go to Hell, than to Heaven. So is Paul contradicting Jesus?

We just need to look at the next few words in the same verse to learn what Paul means by “all”, 2 Corinthians 5:14 “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore ALL HAVE DIED;” He uses the word “all” again; Did Christ’s death cause every person who would ever live to die in some way? No of course not, death entered the world because of our own sin, not because of Christ. But like we talked about earlier; Christ’s death did cause the believer to die to his sin; Romans 6:2 “How can we who DIED TO SIN still live in it?” So it’s clear that when Paul says Christ died for all, and all have died, he is referring to all who would ever believe, not every individual person who would ever live.

2. We Live For Christ (vv.15)

The second thing Paul is teaching about being “in Christ, is that those who are in Christ, Live for Christ. READ VERSE 15 AGAIN

All people live for something; Parents might live for their children, husbands and wives may live for each other, some may live for success. But for the believer this can’t be so. The believer no longer lives for himself, but for Christ.

Jesus himself talked of the great costs it would take to follow Him READ LUKE 14:26-33

Luke 14:26–33 ESV

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

So, again Luke 14:26 ““If anyone comes to me and does not HATE his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

So is Jesus really teaching here that you have to literally have hatred in your heart, towards your own family, and even yourself in order to follow him? Of course not, Matthew’s account in Matthew 10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” what He is teaching is that you must love Him so much, that the love you have for yourself and your family seems like hatred in comparison to the love you have for Christ.

John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””

Jesus makes it clear that there is a cost to follow Him, and like Luke 14:28 said, you should sit down and count the cost of following Christ beforehand. This world we WILL face tribulations, but Christ has overcome the world, so the tribulations will all be temporary.

The Apostles are great examples to us, on what it looks like to live your life for Christ:

In Acts 3 Peter and John came upon a lame beggar at the gate, and when asked for alms Peter replied in Acts 3:6 “But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”” The man was instantly healed, and walked away praising God. Later on in Acts 4 Peter and John were arrested and questioned on this healing by the elders and rulers and the high priest; and they charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied in Acts 4:20 “for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”” The elders and rulers threatened them further, then let them go. Later on in Acts 5 the Apostles were again arrested for preaching about Christ, and the high priest questioned them again saying in Acts 5:28 “saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” Peter and the Apostles replied Acts 5:29–32 “But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.””

As you can imagine, the high priest did not like the Apostle’s answer, in fact verse 33 says they were so enraged they wanted to kill the Apostles, but Gamaliel, one of the Pharisees warned the other elders and rulers to be careful with what they do with the Apostles, in case the Apostles were telling the truth, and they ended up opposing God; and the elders and rulers took Gamiliel’s advice and called the Apostles back in, and beat them (without killing them) and let them go. And in Acts 5:41–42 “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.”

So, they were arrested multiple times and beaten and had their lives threatened for preaching Christ, and right as they were released, they immediately rejoiced that they had the opportunity to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ, and went right back to teaching and preaching Christ again. They counted the cost, and were willing to pay the cost to follow Christ; and they lived their lives FOR Christ.

So, to live for Christ in one way is to be willing to suffer tribulations for His name, like the Apostles did. Not necessarily always physical tribulations, you might be mocked, teased, left out, family members or friends cutting you off; these are obviously not as bad as being physically beaten or killed for your faith, but they are still tribulations none the less. And when you face them, like all believers will; you can follow the example of the Apostles and rejoice that you were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of Christ.

Another way to live for Christ, is to follow his commands; John 14:15 ““If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

Living for Christ also means only having one God, the first commandment Exodus 20:3 ““You shall have no other gods before me.”

We make idols out of almost everything; Living for Christ means to be continually searching your heart for idols that steal your time and affection away from Him. We all carry a device in our pockets that can certainly steal lots of time and affection away from Him if we let it. It can be a great tool, but don’t let your phone be your god.

Living for Christ also means studying his Word diligently. 2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” Daily devotional time is critical if you’re going to rightly handle the word of truth.

Living for Christ also means using your gifts to serve Him and His people. Matthew 20:28 “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” Like Pastor Andy says all the time “We serve God by serving others”, if you aren’t serving God’s people you aren’t serving God; imitate Christ and be a servant: I would encourage you all to get plugged in serving here if you aren’t already, it’s critical to living for Christ. It only makes sense that we would serve God, who has provided the greatest act of service: which is salvation from sin and eternal life with Him in heaven.

3. Made New In Christ (vv.16-17)

And the third thing Paul is teaching about what it means to be “In Christ” is that if you are in Christ, you are made into a new creation. READ VERSES 16-17 AGAIN

Verse 16 says that we should no longer regard anyone who is in Christ, according to their flesh. Just like the Apostles used to think of Christ as the physical man that walked with them and taught them, now that Christ has died and resurrected, they think of Christ as the resurrected god-man that they watched ascend into Heaven. So we should not think of fellow believers as what they were before salvation, but as the new creations that they are now. And you should also think of YOURSELF as a new creation, and not as what you used to be. If you were saved out of drug addiction for example, you should not go around calling yourself a former addict, you should call yourself a new creation in Christ. Don’t identify yourself as your past sins, identify yourself with Christ!

Just like on January 1st a new year will begin, your life as a new creation began the moment you repented and believed in Christ. There are several different words used in scripture to describe being made new; Regeneration, born again, born from above, quickened, being made alive with Christ, and others.

The word Regeneration is used in Titus 3:5 “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,”

The english word Regenerate comes from the Latin word “Regenerare” which means to create again. So Titus 3:5 is telling us that God saved us according to His own mercy, by creating us again as new creations. So how does God decide who He will regenerate? James 1:18 “OF HIS OWN WILL he brought us forth by the word of truth” So it is by God’s own sovereign will that he decides who He will create again. Like Titus 3:5 said, it is NOT according to any works done by us, but according to His own mercy, which he distributes according to His own will.

Jesus himself said in John 3:3–7 “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 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 phrase “born again” is translated from the Greek words “Gennao Anothen”; Gennao meaning “to be made” or “to be born”, and “Anothen” meaning both “from above” and “again”. So, Jesus is telling Nicodemus he must be made again, from above. So is being born again something you can accomplish yourself? No, from the definition of Anothen, we see that it is from above, it’s a gift from God. And notice how Jesus says you must be born again to SEE the kingdom of God, meaning to see or understand the kingdom of God you must be born again first. 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Until a person is born again, the Gospel won’t make sense, it will just be folly.

Ephesians 2:1–3 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” We can see in that passage that natural man that hasn’t been reborn, is DEAD in sin and trespasses and is carrying out the passions of the flesh. Can a dead man see or understand anything? No, he must be brought back to new life by being born again, for the Word of God to make sense to him.

1 Corinthians 2:10–14 “these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 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 Holy Spirit that indwells every believer interpets spiritual truths for him. No one understands the thoughts of God except the Holy Spirit, and until you are born again, you don’t have the Holy Spirit to interpret the truths of scripture to you, so these things will be folly to you.

You cannot make yourself into a new creation, any more than Lazarus could’ve raised himself from the dead. Just like Lazarus, you were dead in your sin, and without God doing a work in you first, you would be without hope. Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” We are saved by God’s grace, which means unmerited favor, meaning that we didn’t do anything to earn it; But God by His own Grace, regenerated your heart, making you a new creation with new desires to please Him, that natural man does not have. Hebrews 11:6 says “without faith it is impossible to please him”, and so by God’s grace you were reborn with a desire to please God with faith in Him, and through the faith that you will now have in the atoning sacrifice of Christ you are saved.

Call Worship Team Up

Conclusion

So, we’ve been talking about what it means to be “In Christ” and how when you are “in Christ” you’re a new creation. And you may be wondering, How can I be born again? I want to be saved, but how do I know if God will save me? If you want to be saved, that is the evidence that God has regenerated your heart, and given you the desire to be reconciled to Him. Romans 3:10–11 “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” This is speaking of natural man, naturally no one seeks for God, so if you are seeking for God, then God is doing a work in you; and Philippians 1:6 says “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” There is no one who wants desperately to be saved, that won’t be saved. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

If you feel the desire to be reconciled to God today, that is the Holy Spirit drawing you to Himself. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The payment that we all owe for our sin is death, both a physical death and an eternal death in Hell. And that is why Christ had to die on the cross, and when he gave up His spirit He said “It is Finished”, meaning paid in full. We all owe death for sin, but when you repent of your sin, and put your faith in Christ’s sacrifice as the sufficient payment for your sin, God will put your sin onto Christ, and put Christ’s perfect righteousness onto you. Romans 10:13 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” So call on His name, and be saved.

Closing Prayer