Out With the Old, In With the New

Main Scripture: Romans 8:28-30

Support Scripture: Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5; Ephesians 4:18-24

(Use the illustration about the vertical love with our Father)

Context

We see that Paul here is the hope for believers to be sustained by the Holy Spirit when they are in weakness and in prayer. 

Every believer can be confident in praying to the Spirit when they are weak. 

If God knows every thought of every person, then He is quite capable of understanding the Spirit’s prayers for His children. 

This provides the basis of what Paul will say in verse 28. 

This shows that believers will suffer on this side of heaven, but in our weakness and going to the help of the Holy Spirit, God will come and give strength to the believer. 

When we get to verse 28, it shows that believers do not always know how to pray or what to pray for, especially in a difficult time. But even in that, God understands as the subject in light of His active role in calling and saving His people. 

Because God is both sovereign and loving, all things should be understood comprehensively. Even the tragic circumstances that believers undergo are part of His loving design for their lives; for them, He brings good! 

Our key verse for today is v. 29. It shows the word “foreknew,” which means to determine ahead of time to enter into a loving relationship with someone. 

This is a determinative foreknowing, where His foreknowledge brings about what is foreknown. 

Then we see the word predestined. This refers to the final eternal goal of His active foreknowledge, which is believers being conformed to the image of His Son on their way to their eternal destination. 

This is where saintification comes in. This word is not in this verse, but it is explained here. 

We see this when it says being conformed to the image of His Son. 

Sanctification is the process by which, according to the will of God, we are made partakers of his holiness; that it is a progressive work; that it is begun in regeneration; and that it is carried on in the hearts of believers by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, the Sealer and Comforter, in the continual use of the appointed means—especially the Word of God, self-examination, self-denial, watchfulness, and prayer” 

This includes a vast number of findings, the restoration of the human race through Jesus’ work. 

With all that, it ends with a call (v.30). This call is the believer’s experience of God’s foreknown and predestined plan. 

So God has always been doing good for His people. God has predestined that those whom He chose beforehand would become like Christ. 

That means God will finish what He has started, and He uses His people to be molded like Christ. Which leads to our first point

God Knew You Before You Were Born

In scripture, we see in multiple ways God uses weak people for His powerful Kingdom purpose. First one is Jeremiah 1:5(Read it) 

We see God announce to Jeremiah that He had appointed Him a prophet to the nation. 

God is calling Jeremiah to be set apart for preaching God’s word. He is to be a prophet to the nation, not just to Israel. And He decided this even before he was born that He would use him. 

We continue to see Jeremiah protest to God that he didn’t know how to speak like Moses did in Exodus 4:10, but God used Jeremiah, just like Moses, for His Kingdom purpose! 

Or even like Psalm 139:13-16, David here affirms that God had not only created him, but he had actually knit him together in his mother’s womb. 

This shows that you are a work of God that He put together. No matter the circumstances, no matter your race, gender, or existence, it is intentional. You are created in the image of God with purpose and meaning, and the truth is through the Father. Your existence is no accident. 

So my question for us is, why do people still go to the world for their identity instead of the God who had a plan before you were born? 

I really want to ask that question of ourselves. Why is that? Cause I myself was trying to find identity in the world, but it was here all along. 

So are we going to the world to see who we are, or are we going to the Word of God? 

Which leads to our second point

2. We Discover Who We Are for the Kingdom

When we go back to Romans, we have a helper as we wait for our sanctification. The Spirit helps us in our weakness, and He helps by praying for us! 

The Spirit of God translates to the Father our needs and helps us to the Father. 

With the help of the Spirit, we know that all things in our lives will work together for the good of those who love God. 

Now, most people just ignore verses 29 and 30, but we must bring it all together. God is working in our lives for our good, but not so that we live an easy life. We must get that out of our heads that life as a Christian is supposed to be easy. It is for us to be good according to His Kingdom purpose! 

And God desires for our lives to be conformed in the image of His Son! 

So this means if believers are not loving God and progressively being molded to the image of Christ, they will not see things working together for the good of the Kingdom! 

That is why it is key that we are in line with the Father through His Son! Because if not, you may miss the Kingdom and only use His name. 

That is why it is important that we are followers of Jesus, and when we follow in the Spirit, we will discover who we are for God’s Kingdom purpose for heaven and earth! 

Now, as followers of Jesus, how are we to continue to be molded in Christ? 

3. Put Off your Old Self, and Into the New Self

Read Ephesians 4:17-24

Paul says the Ephesians should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, which means those outside of Christ. 

Some translations term “walk” as “live.” It’s an expression that refers to your lifestyle, your conduct, the direction or course of your life. 

Those who are in Christ are no longer to conduct themselves like the mass of humanity surrounding them. 

Paul uses the idea that people outside of us do not have a divine perspective. Their hearts are hard, leading to every kind of impurity with a desire for more and more. But for followers of Christ, being molded into Christ, we do have a perspective, a purpose, a Kingdom purpose! 

It is more than just learning about Christ, but entering a relationship with Christ! Jesus is the truth, and everyone who is of the truth listens to Him! 

The better you know Jesus, build a relationship with Him, the better you will make sense of truth. 

Bring it to the Cross

So I love fashion (freestyle)

So that means, in this relationship with Christ, YOU HAVE TO CHANGE! When you were saved, you received a new wardrobe. 

But to put on the new clothes, you have to take the old ones off. When God makes your inside clean, you want your outside to match as well. 

How does this happen? Paul uses words like “thoughts, understanding, ignorance.” The common denominator is your thinking. Your lifestyle, too, is controlled by your brain. Which, when we remember that repent means to change your mind. 

So the key to taking off the old and putting on the new is to be renewed in the Spirit of your mind! 

So that means, followers of Jesus must not go back to the worldview they had before Christ. To “put on the new self” requires a new way of thinking, a renewed mind. Out with the old and in with the new! 

Because Jesus bought us with a price, and that price was His blood! 

That He went on this earth, lived the life we could not live, died the death we should of died, and rose on the third day so we might get to heaven! 

When we accept this, we have to change! We don’t be in a relationship and stay the same, we need to change, we need to grow! 

This is why it is key, to put on the new clothes and represent Him!