All Things New

I have fantastic news for you today...

Revelation 21:5 NKJV

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

Jesus Makes All Things New!

He makes all things new - what does this mean? Is it really all things???

-Who you are (everything starts here)

-Your thoughts

-Your ways

-Your level of living

-Your financial outlook

-How you respond to life and it’s challenges

-Your relationships

-Your eternity

-If you were “born wrong” you can be born again

-Yes, even your physical body

-Everything

Jesus will, literally, make all things new…if we let Him

Did you know we can stop God

That’s right,

Your will is more powerful than God Himself - because He made it that way.

For example:

God wants every person to go to Heaven, but He is not going to force them to make the choice to choose Jesus who is the only way to get there.

Decide to Embrace Change:

Jesus will make all things new means that He makes all things change!

Why do we keep talking about change?- because believing something is not the same as DOING it!

Actually,

The Devil believes in Jesus more than most Christians

James 2:18–20 NKJV

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

The work of faith we demonstrate is a changed life.

It is going to take CHANGE to move from where we are to where God wants us to be.

Staying put is comfortable, but growth demands change

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

We can’t be new and old at the same time.

We have to move out of the old to live in the new

This authentic new life is not about being the old us just doing new things

- can’t wear old bibadee’s Bibs, (BVD’s) and just put new ones over them

We gotta get rid of the old in a great exchange for the new.

The naked in-between can be the uncomfortable time.

Don’t stop in the middle…go all the way!

Your Old Life is Charging You Rent:

•The way I have done things has worked for me all these years…but has it though???

- it’s like learning to adapt your golf game to a terrible slice instead of getting all that extra yardage down the middle - if the slice was so beneficial, why don’t all the people who get paid to play golf play with a nasty slice all the time.

Romans 6:4 NKJV

4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

By staying where we are, we are losing out on what we could be having -OPPORTUNITY COST!

"Until the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change, we will stay the same” - Unknown

The old life really wasn’t THAT great!

We seem to only selectively remember the highlights

In fact, if you don’t want your new life in Christ, you can always have your old life back.

Don’t Live on Memory Lane:

Isaiah 43:18–19 NKJV

18 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.

This verse is telling us to make a conscious choice to not remember the past.

Philippians 3:8 NET

8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung!—that I may gain Christ,

Some of us have created shrines to the old us & how “bad we used to be.”

Remember = To Mention

In fact, if you find yourself talking more about who you used to be than about who you are now and how great your future is, maybe you haven’t stopped enshrining the old.

Letting go of the old things will allow the new thing to spring up

Have you ever had someone try to hand you something when your hands were already full? - You can’t grab the new while you’re holding onto the old.

If we’ll purposely leave the past behind, all of a sudden there will be roads & rivers in what were the wilderness & desert areas of your life.

Haggai 2:9 NKJV

9 ‘The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”

The old life and the old you doesn’t hold a candle to who you will be if you’ll totally let go of the old and totally grab onto the new.

"Thank God I found the GOOD in goodbye"― Beyoncé Knowles

Just One Thing:

We cannot expect to have the amazing plan of God for our life without total change from the old life we lived! Let’s begin to say, “That old life was not good enough & has nothing to offer me!”

Discussion Questions:

What is a clever example of misdirection you’ve seen?

What aspect of your “Old Life” or part(s) that are not God’s best for your life is/are the hardest to let go of? Share a little bit about why.

Please read Isaiah 43:18-19 & Philippians 3:8 and share about what these verses mean to you & how you will practically apply them to your life.

Can you identify any clear “Opportunity Costs” you are experiencing by not moving & changing into the new things God has for you? Explain a little.