Kingdom Original

Nothing Beats the Original

My Mom loved Elvis. I still remember that Christmas did not officially start until mom started listening to his Christmas album. I even took a school picture with an Elvis shirt on. I remember day that Elvis died. I was playing with army men on a dirt pile in our yard and I went into get a drink and my mom was sitting at the kitchen table sobbing.

Even after his death my mom listened to his music and would sing his songs around the house. So it was pretty exciting to her when we went on vacation and Dad took us to see an Elvis impersonator. He sang all the songs and had most of the look of Elvis but in the end he was not Elvis. So no matter how Good he was he could never quite be like the original.

There are good impersonators like the one we saw on vacation that year and not so good like on this slide.

There is nothing wrong with Elvis impersonators, they are fun and they remind us of the real thing but there are good Elvis impersonators and bad Elvis impersonators…but impostors are never as good as the original.

When it comes to living our life it is important to understand that God does not call us to be impostors. We are not supposed to fit an image the rest of the world sees as valuable we are supposed to live as Holy Originals.

When we accept Jesus saving grace we are made into this new creation.

We are Called to be divine originals not worldly impostors.

God wants to make you and I divine originals.

2 Cor 5:14b-17

2 Corinthians 5:14b–17 NLT

14 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 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. 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! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

The key to this passage is verse 17.

17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

The Greek for a new person is Ktisis which is translated a divine creation brought into existence by God.

I think this is as interesting and exciting as it gets in scripture but it also gets glossed over becuase well…it is one of those mystical things that tend to boggle the mind.

No matter how many people I have seen come to Jesus this is the one thing that is hardest to believe. The idea that Holy Spirit in the moment we say yes to Christ grants us a re-birth. A do over…an opprotunity to stop being worldly impostors but kingdom originals.

Jesus eluded to this truth when He was speaking to Nicodemus In John Chapter 3 as well.

New Living Translation Chapter 3

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

Jesus goes on to say that it is not a physical transformation but a transformation of Spirit. Our human nature that which drives our emotions, thoughts and actions.

Jesus and Paul say that in order to be saved, or once we accept Jesus gift of salvation we are agreeing to allow the Spirit to transform the core of who we are.

We are not just allowing Jesus to be part of our life…we are allowing Holy Spirit to make us new creations.

Salvation is not only a yes to God but the death of our former life.

All of our former life. All of the things that drive our emotions, thoughts and actions must be different than they were before.

This is where things get hard. Not becuase we do not love Jesus but becuase of the fear we have of letting go of what has formed us to this point.

Our life before salvation worked for us even if it was dysfunctional. It may not be great but it is somewhat predictable. But a new life is well scary. The closest thing I can think to what has to happen is what happens when someone enters into witness protection programs.

Officially called the Witness Security Program, it provides protection for government witnesses who are at risk due to testimony they've given about terrorists or criminals.

A witness not only has to deal with leaving his entire family, but he has caused their spouse to leave their family; they have caused their children to leave their grandparents. They can't communicate. They can't see each other. But the driving force is 'If they go back they will be killed.' “

People entering into it must accept being completely cut off from everyone they know. Wives, children, grandchildren -- "They are in it for life.

Not one person that stayed in the program has ever been harmed. However many who have chosen to go back to their old life have been killed or maimed as a result.

The need to go back to everything that was familiar outweighed the safety they were enjoying.

Salvation is not about a ticket to heaven or safety but an invitation to be restored or recreated into the image of God. Salvation is regenerative work in the heart of anyone who has accepted Jesus as the saviour of their life.

To stay true to this transformation is to say yes to eternal life and yes to living a mission centered life. This is a lot…so much in fact that a lot of people struggle with the idea of transformation and try to live a life of impersonation.

Our Manuel says this about this reality

We as a Church believe that regeneration, or the new birth, is that gracious work of God whereby the moral nature of the repentant believer is spiritually quickened and given a distinctively spiritual life, capable of faith, love, and obedience.

At the moment of salvation we are capable of faithfully living as God’s New creation. This is exciting news. Once we have accepted Christ as our saviour we are instantaneously changed.

We are not destined to continue in the same life we once had. When we accept the saving grace of God the Holy Spirit begins the work of making us a new creation. Changing our hope, dreams, and our desires for the future.

I remember when I first accepted Jesus as saviour. It was not only a moving experience where people gathered around and prayed for me it was a significant time of change of my life.

The next day when I woke up I knew that something had happened however even though that moment changed me it did not change my circumstance. I still had to go to school, deal with teachers, family, bullies, and everyday life.

But becuase I had changed I knew even as a third grader that I needed to allow God to change the way I dealt with life. The way I learned about how to do this was by being discipled by the children's workers of that little church.

Then it happened the day came when I had to leave that little church and move away…it was during this move and all of the turmoil and removal of all my spiritual support as a child that I began to live as one who forgot that my life was changed.

I lived this way for many years embracing a worldly view of who I was and chasing after and image that would make me worthy in the eyes of other people. I was imitating the world instead of living as the Kingdom Original I was created to be.

There is nothing worse than trying to gain temporary acceptance when eternal acceptance is yours for the asking.

So today maybe you are at a place where you have forgotten that you are a new creation.

Or maybe you have never really accepted Jesus saving grace for your life.

You can today....You can begin your first day as a new creation…Pray with me.

Prayer

Communion