2 Corinthians 5
Notes
Transcript
New Year, New Creation
New Year, New Creation
Last week we talked about the new year coming and so many people make resolutions, but I had challenged you to make commitments to God this year. A lot of times when we look at the New Year, we think about the new us. The Bible also talks about newness as well. Today we are going to look to see what the Bible says about being new when we are in Christ. When we are in Christ it means we have had true repentance. True repentance results in a turning from sin and an inner renewal which can only be brought about by God, who draws people to himself and who, through Jesus Christ, gives forgiveness and new life.
A. Turning back to God
We have all been born into a sin nature and it is God who calls us back to him. But we must remember that he does not make us come back to him, but rather, it is by our own choice.
When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
You know, when looking at these two verses here, we see that it starts off with when you are in distress. I don’t know about you, but it seems like we are always under distress of something. But check this out, it tells us when we turn to the Lord our God and obey His voice. See, this is a two-part thing. We can’t just turn to God and do our own thing, we must obey His voice as well. But when we do that, what happens? He will not forsake us nor forget the covenant of the fathers which He swore to them. This was the solemn commitment to fulfill the promises He made to the patriarchs.
And check this out, let’s see what Luke has to say in Luke 1:16-17
And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Now check this out. This was coming from the angel when he was speaking to Zacharias before Jesus was born. The angel was telling Zacharias about John. Can you imagine having a testimony such as his that he would turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord? He had the job of preparing Israel for the coming Messiah. Guess what folks? We have the job of preparing the world for the coming Messiah. Now, I know you might think, pastor, the world is a big place, how could I possibly help prepare the world for the coming Messiah? It is easy, it starts with one person. There are on average 12-15 people here each week. Each one of us knows at least one person outside of this church. We probably even know of at least one person who is not saved outside of this church. If we were intentional about praying for that person, for talking with that person, for discussing salvation with that person, they could possibly turn from their sin and follow Christ. Then, guess what would happen? That person could start on their one person, and so on! We have the capacity to change the world!
Guess what James 5:19-20 says
Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
See, we are to help our fellow christians as well. Now, does that mean that we are to be snooping into our friends lives looking for something they have done wrong? Absolutely not, after all, we are to be concerned about the plank in our own eye before we worry about the speck in our neighbor’s eye. but if we see something that is just wrong, that we know goes against what God teaches us, then we definetly need to say something. there is a saying that a lot of schools use, it is “If you see something, say something”. Christianity is a lot like that too. Do we want our neighbor to fall into a ditch? If you see someone struggling, you are going to help them. If you see something, say something.
B. Turning from Sinful ways
If we are going to turn back to God, then we must turn from our sinful ways. We cannot serve God while living in sin. It’s like the phrase goes, you can’t shack up with the devil and expect God to pay the rent. It just doesn’t happen that way! I love what it says in Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
This gives us a few steps that we must do. The first thing we see is that we need to seek the Lord while he may be found. We must seek His word. How do we do that? Well, I am going to give you the “Sunday School” answers. Pray, read your bible, go to church. But we can’t possibly know what God wants if we don’t seek him. How can we stand up for the truth if we don’t look for the truth? But regardless, when we seek him, and return to him, He will have mercy on us, and he will abundantly pardon. That is such wonderful grace. It isn’t like God says, I am only going to forgive a little bit, but he abundantly pardons. But the thing is, we have to forsake our way, which brings me to our next point.
C. It is linked to repentance
What does it mean to have repentance? According to dictionary.com, it says “the action of repenting; sincere regret or remorse. Now, this was an eye-opener to me, they also have a thing showing the words usage over the years. It starts in 1800 and ends in 2019 and it is kind of scary. Now, granted this is showing based on use in books and things like that, but it went from a high percentage to almost none. It makes me think that we don’t talk about repentance near enough!
Acts tells us straight forward what we must do in Acts 3:19
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
What is so great about this is that the refreshing. It refers to restoration of strength and nourishment. Strength is restored when hope is restored. Peter challenged the people to repent and be converted, to change their thinking about Jesus as their Messiah and to serve Him.
D. It is linked to coming to faith
And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.
When we turn from our previous sins, we will be turning to the Lord. This passage is from the book of Acts and talks about the people who were coming to the new knowledge of Christ. This goes back to what I said earlier about us changing the world. It started with just a few people. They were changing the world with just a few people.
E. It results in a transformed life
When we become saved, when we have that fellowship with Jesus, it gives us a transformed life.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
So let’s look at this a little more. This starts off with if anyone is in Christ. This means to be united to Christ by faith. To become part of the vine, to derive all its nourishment and support from it, and to be sustained entirely by it. To be in Christ denotes a tender and close union. It implies that all our support is from him. Now, we also know that this is not just certain people, but it says anyone. That means if anyone does this, then he is in Christ. When we do this are old things have passed away. Our selfish wants, desires are gone. This means our former prejudices, opinions, habits, and attachments pass away. Our love of self passes away. Our love of sin passes away. All things become new. We are no longer what we were, but we are now in Christ. WE should live daily to be more like him. We are no longer our own, but we are in Christ.
It is my prayer that everyone has come to this saving knowledge of Christ, but if you haven’t then I would encourage you during this time of invitation to come and speak with me.
If you would like to join this body of believers, then I would encourage you to come talk with me as well.
Maybe you need a few moments to reflect in your life and make sure you are leaving the old where it needs to be. I would encourage you to pray, the altar is open but you can also pray at your seat.
Let’s close in prayer.