The New Normal
Be the Church! • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 52:16
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· 18 viewsWhat would happen if part of the world’s “new normal’ were to realize our “new normal” in Christ?
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This year our 2020 theme is “Seeing Spiritually.”
We are looking to see with both natural eyes and with spiritual eyes, to see what God is doing.
Now, we are fighting this “unseen enemy” - COVID-19.
Last week I voiced some of my thoughts and concerns about this current crisis.
One of my biggest concerns is for how we are to “Be the Church” in the absence of being able to go to church.
We saw how in the book of Acts, when the church was scattered, they didn’t cease to be the church, but rather, the church spread and grew .
I believe that we, as a church, can grow and increase our influence through this crisis!
So in these next few weeks, we are going to look closer at what it means to “be the church.”
America is talking about how to get back to normal.
Guidelines and timelines are being suggested for getting people back to work and to school.
Some people are saying that things will never go back to normal.
It’s true that events like this often change the way we do some things permanently. We saw this after 9/11.
Each time we go through a crisis like this we experience a “loss of innocence.”
For example, we were not used to seeing other people as “dangerous.”
How do we undo this? Should we undo this?
Church leaders and church consulting groups are telling pastors to prepare for “the new normal.”
We may change some things in the future now that we have a greater sensitivity to people who are vulnerable to infection, not just this virus but any infection.
We may continue to do some of the things that we have implemented during this time.
Live streaming is likely here to stay. It gives an option for people who feel the need to stay home.
And I would be surprised if people are reluctant to attend large venues for some time and smaller churches, like ours, suddenly experience an influx of new people after this is over.
Last week we talked about “Living Beyond Redemption,” that you were redeemed for a purpose beyond yourself.
Jesus’s death and Resurrection was also an earth shattering event - the most significant event of all time!
Somehow, I don’t think we have fully realized just how significant this has been.
Once you realize it, life can never be the same. You are forever changed by that event - at whatever point you finally “get it.”
As believers, we are living in a “new normal” and it’s a really good thing!
What would happen if part of the world’s “new normal’ were to realize our “new normal” in Christ?
The New Motivation
The New Motivation
11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 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.
Know who you are.
Who you really are may be invisible to others, but it is visible to God.
We all try to make ourselves look good on the outside, but does anyone really know who you are on the inside?
You as a person are more than just your outward image, you are made up of your deepest thoughts, feelings and desires.
The word that is used twice in verse 12 and is translated as “known” literally means to make the invisible visible.
You are God’s child; made in His image.
That image may be hidden, but God wants us to let it show.
What if every thought that you had would appear as a bubble above your head?
What would people learn about you that they wouldn't know otherwise?
What would you learn and finally have to admit about yourself?
God already knows you inside and out; and He loves you!
When you realize this you can stop hiding from God and let Him work in your life.
More that that, you can be transparent with other people and let them see how God is working in you.
This is what happens when you are focused more on God than on yourself.
Know what (or Who)holds you together.
Apparently, the Corinthians are hearing some conflicting reports about Paul which he is having to explain.
Have you ever run into someone that you knew before you became a Christian and you are awkwardly trying to explain that you are the same person but you are really not the same person.
Well that’s sort of what Paul is doing here.
The whole boasting thing has nothing to do with bragging.
When you introduce somebody it’s customary to say something about them so that people will know something important about them. Like, “Meet my brother, he’s a doctor.” or “Meet my Pastor, he’s a really good preacher!” (Yes he is....he is an awesome husband too!—his wife, also the proof reader, usually. Love you dear.)
Paul is simply recognizing that the Corinthians are struggling to know how to identify or describe him because the things the used to be important (titles, name-dropping, etc.) aren’t important anymore.
What if someone said, “Meet my friend, he is so loved by God and loves God with all his heart!”?
What’s important is Christ in us!
So, Paul says, if you think I’m crazy (literally ecstatic) you’re right. I’m crazy for God!
But if you think I’m making sense, then you’re also right because I’m talking to you!
Why, because I know God’s love for you!
Christ’s love controls us.
Some translations say it “compels” us.
The literal meaning is to “hold things together.”
One might say that Christ’s love has gripped us and won’t let us go, so that we can’t let you go either.
Louie Giglio has a popular teaching on the Laminin molecule. It is a protein which holds certain body membranes together and it is made up of three shorter arms and one long arm which approximates the shape of a cross.
There are long debates as to whether or not this proves God’s existence, that He would put His signature on our very cells.
The argument as proof may not be a compelling one for some sceptics. But for those who know the love of Christ which holds us together is it a compelling illustration for what we already know.
17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.
So much of the world is focused on their own survival, but do they even know what they are surviving for?
If God didn’t so love the world, there would be no purpose.
If God had not sent His son into the world to redeem the world, there would be no point to living.
Know what you live for.
Jesus didn’t loose His life, He gave His life.
There is an important difference. He was not defending Himself.
When Jesus was on trial He didn’t speak in His own defence.
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
What Jesus demonstrated for us is a life that is abandoned to God.
Instead of self-protection, self-promotion and self-preservation, our lives are an offering to God for His service.
This is our appropriate response to God who gave His life for us.
What do you live for? What is the first thing on your mind when you wake up in the morning? What makes you get out of bed? What makes you feel alive?
15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
The New Creation
The New Creation
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.
A new creation has a new beginning.
Whole sermons have been preached on just this one verse because it’s loaded with meaning.
“New creation” looks back to the original creation, specifically to God’s creation of order out of chaos, everything out of nothing.
This is essentially what God has done again in Jesus Christ.
God has turned the tables on sin and made it possible to live according to His design.
The absence of a verb gives it the “pow” effect.
The amazing miracle of creation happens again whenever someone is remade in Christ.
A new creation has a new perspective.
What does it mean that we don’t regard anyone according to the flesh?
We don’t use this language normally, so it can be confusing.
Since Paul uses the same term to describe the sinful nature, is that what this is talking about?
It’s much simpler than that:
16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!
Now that we are new creation we are also seeing spiritually.
We still see things from a human perspective, but we don’t only see the human side of things. We also see what God is doing.
Does this mean that we see angels and demons and spiritual warfare? I can mean that, if that is what God is doing.
What have we learned that God is always doing? God is always redeeming - turning bad things into good things.
In some circumstances it may be difficult to see God working.
Some situations look more like the world before creation - chaos, formless and void.
God wants us to bring Him into those situation, literally to speak life into the chaos.
A new creation has a new story.
What do we do with this verse about old things passing away and new things coming?
Does that mean that the past doesn’t matter? Yes and no.
It means that the past is just that, past.
You can’t change the past. What happened, happened.
But what happened is not necessarily what is happening now and it is no indication of what will happen in the future.
Jesus does not change what happened in the past, but He does change what you believe about your past, feel about your past or have concluded from your past and because of that you can have a completely different future!
Your story is still being written.
The chapters that are already written may be full of conflict and the characters may be dark and foreboding, but your story is not over yet.
The word “behold” is meant to get your attention. Prepare for what is coming next because it may surprise you.
“New Creation!”
Paul uses different words but essentially restates the same thought: “new birth” and “new genesis” a restoration of what God intended in the first place.
Your story has not concluded yet, just watch and see what God will do!
The New Vocation
The New Vocation
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.
What is your vocation? Do you consider yourself a minister? How about an ambassador? A mediator?
Regardless of your professional occupation, if you’re a follower of Christ, you are all of those things!
A vocation is not just a job, it’s a calling.
Definition of vocation
1a: a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action especially : a divine call to the religious life b: an entry into the priesthood or a religious order 2a: the work in which a person is employed : OCCUPATION
God calls us to use our gifts and talents in many different ways.
Most of us will spend the majority of our time outside of church.
Some people will work in offices, others in factories, some people will spend their day running around from place to place and still others will work from home.
Everywhere you go, you are a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You are a minister, an ambassador and a mediator for Jesus.
Your coworkers don’t want to listen to me, but they are watching you.
My job is to help you do your job, but I can’t do it for you.
God has called you to glorify Him in whatever you do.
23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,
What if serving God is not just about going to church?
What if it is not just telling people about your faith. It’s demonstrating God’s character by your own example.
What if God wants to use what you do to glorify Him:
If you’re an electrician, you can be a conduit for God’s power!
If you’re a nurse, you can be an expression of God’s care.
An insurance agent can help people find real security.
A mechanic can help people who are broken down.
God wants to use you to make things new.
This last verse is not just about atonement, it’s so much more than that.
Look at the context, Paul is talking about the reconciliation of the world to God.
He’s talking about the restoration of all things to God’s original design and purpose.
Now, with that in mind, let’s take another look at verse 21:
21 For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
First of all, if there is any doubt in your mind that God loves you, that He forgives you and that you are worthy to be called His child, this should settle that once and for all.
Jesus’s death on the cross was a divine exchange.
It was all of Him for all of you.
He took all your sin (past, present and future) and gave you all His merit.
You can’t earn your salvation, you can only receive it!
The concept of righteousness is closely related to that of justice.
This is not just about everything being OK between you and God, it’s about you working with God to make everything right.
We have been reconciled to God and now we help to reconcile others.
We have been restored to life, now we help to restore others to life.
We have come to know the love, favor and goodness of God, now that is what we have to give to the world around us.
God is looking to establish a new normal, it’s the way things were originally supposed to be and then sin messed it up.
New creation may seem like a foreign concept to the rest of the world, but for those who are in Christ, it’s the new normal.
Questions for Reflection:
Questions for Reflection:
Who are you …really? Is your answer informed by what God says about you? Jesus gave His life for yours. So what are you living for?
What does it mean to you to be a new creation? Does your story have a dramatic shift or have the changes been more gradual? What chapter in your life is currently being written?
What is your calling in life? How does what you do each day relate to that calling? How has that changed in this season? When everything else goes back to normal, what do you want to change?