04-01-04 II Cor 5 16-21 A Fresh Start

A Fresh Start

II Corinthians 5:16-21

Keith Gaines

Sunday, January 4, 2004

First Baptist Church

Albany, GA

INTRODUCTION

The idea of a fresh start is intriguing to our world. Two movies with the theme…

“50 First Dates” – due out February 13 – Henry Roth (Adam Sandler), a veterinarian at an aquarium in Hawaii, falls in love with a girl, Lucy (Drew Barrymore), with short-term memory loss, but he has to keep getting her to fall in love with him every time they meet in order for them to have a relationship, since she never remembers the last time she met him.

In the 1993 movie – “Groundhog Day” – Bill Murray plays an arrogant, self-absorbed character named Phil who is doomed to repeat the same day of his life. Every time Phil goes to sleep he awakens to find that it is Feb. 2 all over again and that he must face the same things today that he faced yesterday. He is the only one who remembers that Groundhog Day has already happened. Just imagine what you could do in 24 hours if there were no consequences and if no matter what happened you would just wake up again at 6 a.m. to Sonny and Cher singing "I Got You Babe" on the old clock radio. At first it was fun and then it became a terrible burden. After hundreds of Groundhog Days, Phil decides that the only way out of this mess is to kill himself but, you guessed it, he awoke the next morning to Sonny & Cher on the radio. The allegory is that Phil's repetition of Groundhog Day is like the daily grind that most of us experience: the same old job with the same people in the same situations with little variation.

Perhaps it feels like your life – every day is the same as the one before and the promise of a fresh new day seems to be but an empty dream.

(Note - I am not commending either of those movies necessarily – just illustrating how we fantasize about a fresh start.)

Paul speaks of such a fresh start in our text:

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (RSV)

16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of view, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 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 So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech 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.

Did you catch it? We can have a true fresh start – become a new creation – experience the newness of everything! THIS IS NOT SOME PIPE DREAM!

How do we experience it?

I.               We Cannot Make it Happen!

a.    By declaring ourselves new or by wishing ourselves new

                                         i.     What we get is like the old product at the grocery store with the new label – there may be more or less in the can or the label may be more attractive

                                       ii.     We may be a little more of this or less of that but we’re still basically the same in our essence

                                     iii.     We may look better but the condition of our heart is the same

                                     iv.     You can put a dress on a pig but he’s still a pig!

b.    By resolving to do good

                                         i.     There is no lasting strength in our resolution

1.     Every New Year the story is the same

a.     Huge numbers of people flood the gyms resolved to get fit!

b.    But give it a month or two and the vast majority of us will have lost our resolve!

                                       ii.     We may be very sincere in our resolve to be and act differently and we may even succeed in some ways with our issues of physical fitness and personal habits but…

                                     iii.     We cannot ultimately overcome by our own will the fact that we are sinners facing the penalty of eternal separation from God because of our sin

But there is good news!

II.            God Has Made it Happen In Christ!

(vv.18-19)  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.

a.    By sending Jesus Christ to us

                                         i.     It is fitting that the celebration of Christmas should span two years

                                       ii.     He comes into our journey while we are on the burdensome trek, loaded down with our sin

                                     iii.     But he comes to lead us to the fresh start of a new eternity – reconciled to God!

But our sin separates us from God – how does He reconcile us to Him?

b.    By forgiving us of our sin

Our text says, “not counting their trespasses against them”  (v.19)

The use of this term “forgive” in the financial world comes closer to its true meaning in God’s Word than does our social use of it! – God forgives by “not counting [our] trespasses against [us]” – the picture is one of a bookkeeper figuring the books at the end of the day – determining who owes what!

Psalm 103:10-12 (RSV) 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

                                         i.     He doesn’t give us what we deserve!

1.     People tend to believe just the opposite – that God is out to punish us!

                                       ii.     The Psalmist gives us a different image

1.     of a loving God whose greatest desire is not to zap us but to be in fellowship with us!

2.     of a God who offers us something other than our just reward – because of His great and steady love for us!

                                     iii.     He removes our sin from us!

1.     as far as east is from west

2.     Corrie Ten-Boom – God takes our sins and places them at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean and puts up a no-fishing sign!

                                     iv.     We can never do that for ourselves!

III.         In Christ We Can Experience It!

17 Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.

a.     Not by doing but by being!

                                         i.     He doesn’t say, “If anyone is a good person” or “If anyone does enough good things”

                                       ii.     He says “If anyone is…” followed not by an adjective describing what we do but…

                                     iii.     Followed by a phrase indicating association or relationship

b.    “in Christ”

                                         i.     like “in the Marines” or “in the know”

                                       ii.     our behavior is affected but

                                     iii.     the focus is on our relationship with Christ (the Marines, or up-to-date knowledge)

c.     Not improved but new!

                                         i.     Not just a better version of the old

                                       ii.     Not just a cleaned-up old model but…

                                     iii.     Brand new!

1.     “a new brand”

2.     “a new creation”

How do we experience this newness?

Unlike joining the Marines there are …

·       no physical requirements

·       no age requirements

·       and no limited terms of participation

We experience the newness God offers us…

·       By “putting your stock” in Christ

·       by joining up with Him to be a part of what He is about in the world

·       by accepting His invitation to come and follow Him

·       by accepting His claim on your life

·       by putting your faith and trust in Him as your Boss and Rescuer or Lord and Savior – not for a three-year term nor a twenty-year career – but for eternity!

·       By confessing to Him your sin and your need for Him

I John 1:9 (RSV) 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And you will be “a new creation!”

The classic John Bunyan allegory “Pilgrim’s Progress” is the story of a man named Christian who escapes the city of destruction carrying on his back a huge burden – a massive sack of incredible weight – of which he desires to rid himself. To do so he must travel to the hill of Calvary. After a long and arduous journey he arrives at the cross, there confesses his sin and immediately the burden he has been carrying falls off his back and rolls into the tomb – forever sealed – and he experiences the fresh start that we all seek – not as a result of carrying the weight of his sin on such a long journey but as a result of confessing it to God!

Are you tired of carrying the burdensome back-pack of your sin?

Do you want a fresh start today?

PRAYER

INVITATION

Not a Christian? Experience the fresh start of salvation today!

Christian stuck in the mire of mundane living? Re-fresh your life by renewing your life “in Christ”

Looking for a Church home? Experience a fresh start today by joining with this Body of Christ as we seek together to be the ambassadors for Christ that He has created us to be!