Sermon Tone Analysis

In his book, The Pursuit of Excellence, Ted Engstrom opens with a folk tale gleaned from the North American High Plains Indians.

The story tells of a warrior who found an eagle’s egg that had tumbled out of its nest.

Curious about what would happen, he took the egg and placed it in the next of a Prairie Chicken.

The Eaglet hatched with the brood of Prairie Chicken chicks, and grew up with them.

All his life, the foundling eagle, thinking he was a Prairie Chicken, did what Prairie Chickens do.

He scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects to eat.

He clucked and cackled.

And when he flew, he flew with a brief thrashing of wings and a flurry of feathers no more than a few dozen yards at a time and never more than three or four feet off the ground.

After all, that’s how Prairie Chickens fly so that’s how he flew.

Years passed.

And the foundling eagle grew very large and very powerful, and though he certainly didn’t look like a Prairie Chicken he acted like one.

One day, he happened to look up and saw a magnificent bird far above the prairie grass.

Hanging with graceful majesty on the powerful wind currents, it soared with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.

/“What a beautiful bird!”/ exclaimed the foundling eagle to a fellow Prairie Chicken.

/“What is it?”/

/“That’s an eagle – the greatest of birds,”/ clucked the Prairie Chicken in reply.

/“But don’t give him a second thought.

You could never be like him.”/

So the foundling eagle when back to scratching for seeds and bugs and never gave the eagle a second thought.

And he died thinking he was a Prairie Chicken.

The moral of the story is that you become what you believe you are.

When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see a Prairie Chicken, or do you see an Eagle?

How do you believe God sees you?

How you live the Christian life depends on how you answer those two questions.

Your concept of God, and your concept of yourself fundamentally determines whether you will go scratching through life like a Prairie Chicken or soar on Eagle’s wings.

!

I. BELIEVERS ARE A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST

#. over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to share the gospel with many people

#. on several occasions, I’ve had a lost person say to me, /“Preacher, if I could just start over, I’d live differently.”/

#. what an opening that is

#.

my response to them has always been, /“You can start over!”/

#.

God has made it possible for sinners to have a brand new life through His son Jesus, who is the Christ

#. the Apostle Paul wrote that if we are in Christ then we are a new creation

* /"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."/

(2 Corinthians 5:17,NASB95)

#. what does the Apostle mean when he says we are a new creature?

#. do we change physically?

#. do we suddenly get taller?

#. do we suddenly get thinner?

#. do we become better looking

#. obviously this is not what the Apostle meant

#. do we change intellectually?

#. do we suddenly become smarter?

#. are we suddenly nominees for the National Honor Society or MENSA?

#. obviously this is not what the Apostle meant

#. do we change philosophically?

#. do we suddenly become a conservative Southern Baptist?

#. do we suddenly become a right-wing Republican?

#. do we suddenly become a Rush Limbaugh fan?

#. well – as factual as these might be, no, this is not what the Apostle means either

#. the Apostle Paul is not talking about any outward physical change, or an intellectual change, nor a philosophical change

#. the Apostle Paul is referring to a dynamic encounter with the living God that resurrects our soul from the dead

#. the lost person may be alive physically, but their soul is dead

* /"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, "in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

"Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."/

(Ephesians 2:1-3,NASB95)

#. in his letter to the Ephesian Christians, the Apostle Paul reminds them of their spiritual condition before coming to Christ

#. he reminds them that they were dead in your trespasses and sins

#. he reminds them that they walked according to the course of this world

#. he reminds them that their god was the prince of the power of the air

#. he reminds them that they were sons of disobedience

#. he reminds them that they lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind

#. he then immediately reminds them of the great work that God has accomplished in their lives by making them alive in Christ

* /"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, "even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), "and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, "so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."/

(Ephesians 2:4-7,NASB95)

#. who made us new creatures?

– But God, being rich in mercy

* ILLUS.

v. 18 tells us that it is God who took the initiative to make us new creatures

#. why are we new creatures?

– because of His great love with which He love us

* ILLUS.

Here is God’s great motivation for making you a new creation.

#. how are we new creatures?

– when we were dead in our transgressions, [he] made us alive together with Christ

* ILLUS.

v. 19 tells us that in reconciling us, He does not count our trespasses against us

#. what for are we new creature?

– in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us

* ILLUS.

Examine the lives of believers in ages past and see God’s kindness toward them.

#. in Christ, your soul has been made alive and the Spirit of God has given you a heart of flesh to replace your old stoney heart that was unresponsive to God

#. the transformation wrought by the new birth is not only an instantaneous miracle but also a lifelong process of sanctification

#. for those so transformed, everything changes ...

#. old things have passed away – old values, old ideas, old plans, old loves, old desires, and old beliefs vanish

#. new things have come – God plants new desires, new loves, new inclinations, and new truths in the redeemed

!

II.

SEE YOURSELF AS GOD SEES YOU

* /"Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,"/ (2 Corinthians 5:18,NASB95)

#. if you’ve been reconciled to God through Christ God sees you in a totally different way

#.

He sees you as sons

* /"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,"/ (John 1:12,NASB95)

* /"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

"For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba!

Father!”"/ (Romans 8:14-15,NASB95)

* /"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus."/

(Galatians 3:26,NASB95)

#. in Christ you are no longer lost sinners doomed for destruction, but saved sons destined for glory

#. you are no longer Prairie Chickens, but Eagles!

* /"Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, "Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary."/

(Isaiah 40:30-31,NASB95)