RESOLVE TO REFOCUS (on the gospel)

Introduction

Question: How many of you have made at least 1 new years resolution for 2021?

Come on Be honest!!!

I don’t usually like to do this because I always seem to fail by the middle of march.

At the beginning of a new year, people often evaluate their lives don’t they? We all like to assess our past decisions and consider how we are doing in areas of our lives.

Have you been doing this this past week?

Have you been assessing your life and making personal commitments to do things better.

Have you said to yourself- “starting January 1,

Im going to read 20 books this year

Im going to loose 30 pounds this year

Im going to spend less and start saving more

Im going to start being faithful at church this year

Im going to read the Bible all the way through this year.

New Years resolutions seem to be something that we all consciously or subconsciously do in our lives at the start of a new year.

DID YOU KNOW......? (THE FACTS ABOUT NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS)

that the practice of making yearly resolutions was something The Babylonians began to practice 4,000 years ago? their new years celebration was called AKITU, and they would make yearly resolutions to keep themselves in good standing with their gods. They believed that by committing a year to changing something in their life that it would bring blessings from their gods.

it didn’t stop with the Babylonians

When The Romans took over the world, and started their new AD calendar - similar to the calendar we use today, They continued this practice of making NY Resolutions at the beginning of each year.

Today cultures around the world all celebrate the new year by making Resolutions for their lives.

We all love to have a fresh start, Don’t we? a do over with the things that we have not been doing well in our lives.

I was reading a study this week on the The top 10 NY Resolutions People made for 2021

10- learn something New

9- Travel More

8- Get organized

7- give more time and money to charity

6- Get a new job

5- be a nicer human being

4- Save more money

3- Read More books

2 - Loose weight

1- start Exercise more

This is a time of year were many of us look at our lives and evaluate where we have gone wrong, and set a plan to get right again. We refocus our attention on what is good.

We resolve to exercise more because we know that it is good to our bodies

We resolve to be more generous because it is good for our hearts

We resolve to read more books because it is good for our minds

TODAY OUR BIG IDEA IS THIS: Resolve to refocus on the Good News of the Gospel.

We al. must understand this morning that in order for us to move forward in our walk with Jesus we need to remember who we are in Jesus.

We must remember that the gospel that saved us is the gospel that sustains and is the same gospel that secures us for all eternity With Christ.

The one thing in our lives that is always good is the gospel of Jesus.

This morning I want each of us to make a resolution to let the gospel be central in our lives.

Turn with me in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 15:1-11.

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.”

The gospel of Christ is not just for our salvation, but it is central to our walk with Jesus.

I believe our text this morning gives us three ways a that the gospel of Christ must be central in every Christians life.

READ vs 1-2a ““Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, (1) which you received, (2) n which you stand, (3)  and by which you are being saved,

Paul begins this text by saying- I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you

We can not move forward in our walk with God if we loose sight of the gospel in our lives!

In order for us to live gospel centered lives we must first .....

#1 REMEMBER OUR GOSPEL FOUNDATION (vs 1-7)

The Gospel “Which YOU RECEIVED “

in verse 3 Paul describes this gospel that he preached. The gospel that is the foundation of all Christians faith,

Listen to what he says “3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, “

To live a life that is centered on the gospel we must remember the magnitude of Grace that God bestowed on us as his enemies.

He chose to save us despite our hatred for Him.

Do you remember the gospel that brought you salvation the gospel that freed you from the bondage of sin?

Isaiah 64:6 “We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a filthy rag in God’s sight. We all wither like a leaf; our sins carry us away like the wind.”

reiterates this depravity of mankind in Romans 3:10 “just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one,”

Even if we add up all of our good works it still leaves us short of God’s Perfection.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

“to fall short “means missing the mark.

.This is an archery term that means anything less then a bullseye is short of the mark.

The Bible calls missing the mark of God’s perfection “Sin”-

This means that even with your goodness, with all the good you have ever done this world works , your sin still leaves you short of God’s demand for perfection.

If you are like me- it doesn’t take me to long to realize that I have failed at living a perfect life and I have fallen short of what God requires for eternal life.

Romans 6:23 tells us that missing the mark requires us to spend an eternity apart from God Forever in a place called hell.

Rom. 6:23 “For the payoff of sin is death,

Notice it doesn’t say ‘ the payoff of a life filled with sin is death, but what it is saying is that the payoff of every sin that we have ever committed is death.

The Bible is speaking of Spiritual DEATH = Seperation from God forever in a place called Hell

The Bible Describes hell in a very real and vivid way.

I believe that we need to understand the magnitude of what God thinks of our sin, and so I don’t share these verses to scare you from Hell but for all of us to understand how much God hates sin and how amazing his grace of forgiveness is in our lives.

Matt. 13:50 “and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Mark 9:48 “where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.”

Revelation 20:15 “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire. forever”

Revelation 14:11 “And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever.

We need to remember this morning that God Hates sin and there is no place for sin in Gods perfect heaven.

Our natural self is sinful and this keeps us from being acceptable to God.

MAN’S DILEMMA-

Our dilemma is that not only does our own sin keep us from being acceptable to God, But it also condemns us to an eternity in hell apart from God and there is absolutely nothing we could ever do to escape our fate.

WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED FOR A SAVIOR

and this brings us to the gospel

God’s Solution-

The good news of Gods redemtive love.!

Listen to the words in Ephesians 2:4 “But God, -

GOD OFFERS THE SOLUTION TO MAN’S DILEMMA!!

listen to the 2 most precious verses in alll of Scrpiture

Ephesians 2:4-9 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ....by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast.”

Do you hear the gospel story here?

God.....

The perfect creator- The God of the universe

The own whose greatest desire is for all men to live with Him in heaven for ever,

God offers us his mercy- He withhold the eternal punishment that we deserve because of our sin,

God offers us his grace- He gives us eternal life something we don’t deserve.

John 3:16 so beautifully describes this supernatural miracle that God offers us in Salvation

For God [the supernatural Holy creator] SO loved the World, [ that’s us - Dead in our sins, and completely hopeless in our humanity , He loved us so much that he said I would do whatever it takes to redeem you from your eternal debt. and so what did He do? ] He sent His only Son Jesus[ a perfect supernatural solution to our dilemma. and whoever BELIEVES IN JESUS- Will not Perish [ in hell] but will have ever lasting life in Heaven with God.

The Bible is so clear on this gospel— There is only ONE WAY for you debt of sin to be paid in full and that is with a perfect sacrifice. There is ONLY ONE WAY for you to receive the righteousness that God demands from you to enter into heaven.

John 14:6 Tells us the only way that is acceptable to God is through Jesus - “Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

In order to go from DEATH in Hell to life Eternal you must go through Jesus.

In order for your debt of sin to be paid in full- you must go through Jesus

“Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Transition: If we are going to live gospel centered lives we must first remember the gospel that brought us from death to life.

The second thing we read from our text this morning is that we must ....

REMEMBER OUR GOSPEL TRANSFORMATION (vs8-10a)

The gospel is not just an event that happened in the past. Its not just what saved us from eternal damnation in hell. but it is something that is active in every believers lives daily.

look again at our text this morning1 Cor 15: 1 “Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received (past tense )and on which you stand,- Present tense”

The gospel is so much more than the saving grace of God- it is what our faith is all about.

The gospel is what transforms believers into the image of Jesus .

This divine process of mankind become more like Christ is called sanctification-

We tend to teach that sanctification is accomplished through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Which is partially true.

Galatians 5 describes the fruit that the H.S. produces in a person who is being sanctified.

Love Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

These are the proof that someone is being lead by the spirit.

that someone is being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

But we also need to understand the way the H.S. produce this fruit in a believer’s life is to continually point them to Christ, and the Gospel.

God the Spirit powerfully transforms us by pointing us ever more clearly to the Gospel of Christ .

The more we understand the good news of the gospel

the more we become like Christ.

The more we fall in love with Christ

and the more we desire to look like Christ in the world around us.

We desperatly need the gospel in our lives daily.

We continually need God’s unconditional grace in our lives as believers

We need to remember the good news that God loves us and is transforming us into the image of His son.

Transition: If we are going to live gospel centered lives we must remember the gospel that saved us, the gospel that transforms us , and finally the gospel that glorifies us.

REMEMBER OUR GOSPEL GLORIFICATION (vs.10a)

1Cor. 15:1-2 “Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel that I preached to you, that you received and on which you stand, and by which you are being saved,

Our salvation is completly securefor all eternity in the gospel that is saving us

The gospel that forgave us is the same gospel that sanctifies, and is the same gospel that secures our destiny for all eternity.

Look at the words of Jesus in John 10:27-29 “My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; no one will snatch them from my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them from my Father’s hand.”

The good news of the gospel is that You can not loose your salvation because God himself holds us in his hand, our eternal security as His children is based on His perfection and not our imperfection.

and that is good news.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast.”

Our gospel transformation is all about God- and nothing about us.

Our gospel sanctification is all about God and nothing about us

and Our gospel glorification is all about God and nothing about us.

It was Gods grace that drove him to save us as his enemies’,

it is God’s grace that causes him to sanctify us as His children

and it is God’s Grace that secures us for all eternity as His friends.

and Brothers and sisters in Christ _ this is the good news of the gospel. for our lives.

Conclusion

We have so much to be thankful for as the church today-

We live under the grace of God- Gods grace is the gospel in our lives.

The Gospel is just as vital for your life today as it was for your initial justification.

In other words, the Gospel is for believers just as much as it is for unbelievers.

as this new year begins. Let’s resolve to live gospel centered lives.

lets allow the gospel to penetrate our hearts, and flow from our lips.

Let’s allow the gospel of Jesus Christ to flow through us so that we as church can make and equip followers of Jesus Christ in our community.

CLSOING

as I close I ask you this question: What does the gospel mean to you today?

Have you accepted the good news of Salvation in your life.

If not not waste another day living outside of the grace of God

Christians have you lost site of the power of the gospel in your life?

Not waste another day with out the gospel transforming you into who God wants you to be.

Love the gospel- Study the gospel- Proclaim the gospel and let the gospel transform you to be more like Jesus.