New Creations

New Creations. Baptism of Chris Andrews. 13th June 04 pm WBC

2 Cor 5:17-6:2

If anyone is in Christ¡K (PPT)

Illustr: Real life event told by Fred of Kingsbridge: A local services man had gone to the local toilets as it was time to lock them up. As he was preparing to do so, in came two bikers fully clad in leathers, helmets etc. He waited for them to come out...waited and waited to the point of embarrassment. Eventually went inside to check the loos- they’d gone! The two people who had left in suits earlier were them... they had got changed!

1 He is a new creation (PPT)

changed!

- not personality transplant¡K but

- ¡§new creation¡¨

- hardly recognisable in SOME ways

o Illustr: reading of a man trying to sell old warehouse. As prospective buyers came by he tried to persuade them to buy : ¡§I¡¦ll mend the windows, clear out all the rubbish, replace the roof¡¨ he would say.

o Got him nowhere, until one buyer said : ¡§forget about the repairs¡K. when I buy this place, I¡¦m going to build something completely different. I don¡¦t want the building; I want the site.¡¨

o Compared with the renovation God has in mind, our efforts to improve our own lives are as trivial as sweeping a warehouse that is slated for the wrecking ball.

o When we become God¡¦s, the old life is over, He makes all things new. All he wants is the site and the permission to build.

- Maybe He¡¦ll use the old structure¡K maybe not. Whatever- trhe end result is BETTER¡K best

o = ¡¥fullness¡¦ (Jn 10:10). What He intended us to be like

o Illustr: Michael Campbell. Police record. Tremendously effective pastor in one of churches from St A¡¦s. Gentle giant. Remarkable man.

- Old has gone. New has come

o = so noticeable. Illustr: Dad watching me like a hawk in 82.

When? How?

- not always instant. Nor are we saying we¡¦ve ¡¥arrived¡¦ (perfect)

- but 2 keys here that mark the START. Definitely

o ¡§In Christ¡¨

o ¡§new creation¡¨

- ¡¥in Christ¡¦ means ¡¥joined to Christ¡¦

o ie when YOU link up with Jesus

- ¡¥new creation¡¦= when GOD (the creator) does something in you.

This is what has happened to Chris

- & this is what Baptism signifies

o out of water-> new life!

o Dunked/immersed/ saturated in water -> in Christ (+HS)

You will never be the same again!

2 All this is from God (PPT)

Truly- can¡¦t happen without a work of God. Connecting with Him

- Illustr: Haslam conversion from ¡§I believe in Preaching¡¨, John Stott P263

- ¡KA remarkable instance is that of rev William Haslam. Ordained to the church of England ministry in 1842¡K. But he was not satisfied¡K

- then in 1851, nine years after his ordination, while preaching from the day on the text ¡¥what think YE of Christ?¡¦, the Holy Spirit (in answer, no doubt, to many prayers) opened his eyes to see the Christ of whom he was speaking, and his heart to believe in Him.

- The change which came over him was so obvious that a local preacher, who happened to be in church jumped up and shouted ¡¥the parson is converted! Hallelujah!¡¦, at which his voice was drowned was drowned by the praises of 300 or 400 of the congregation.

- As for Haslam, himself, he ¡§joined in the outburst of praise, and, to make it more orderly¡K gave out the doxology¡K. And the people sang it with heart and voice, over and over again¡¨

- The news spread like wildfire ¡§that the parson was converted, and that b y his own sermon, in his own pulpit!¡¨. His conversion was the beginning of a great revival in his parish (in Cornwall), which lasted for nearly 3 years, with a vivid sense of God¡¦s presence, and conversions almost daily, while in latter years God called him into the most unusual ministry of leading many of his fellow clergy to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Your life will be transformed when you let GOD do it¡K and accept His way¡K His Son

- all this FROM GOD!

- It¡¦s not about being nice, or religious. LET God make you a new creation. Let Him thoroughly convert you!

How this ¡¥miracle¡¦ of new creation can happen is explained in v21

(some call it the ¡¥great transaction¡¦¡K or ¡¥great transfer¡¦)

- Can we agree on something?:

o World is a dark place

o I¡¦m far from perfect. I have the potential to do good as in D-Day, but also to commit many of the horrors that necessitated that deliverance. Both sides had concentration camps! Serbs & Croats genetically similar!

o You, too, are far from perfect (nice, though you may be)