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Rev. Dr. Levi Howard Wright, Pastor & Founder
January 21, 2007
“Can A Man Become A New Creature?”
Text: 2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
“Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new”. (Contemporary English Version)
Introduction
This a message about “Regeneration” and how a man can be made a “New Creature in Christ.”
The new birth or regeneration is an inner recreating of newness to fallen human nature by the Holy Spirit.
It changes the disposition of lawless, godless self-seeking into one of trust and love.
The new birth or regeneration is repentance for past rebelliousness and unbelief.
The new birth or regeneration enlightens the blinded mind to discern spiritual realities and liberates and energizes the enslaved will for free obedience to God.
The new birth describes and emphasizes two facts about a change.
The first is….. The regenerate man has forever ceased to be the man he was; his old life is over and a new life has begun; he is a new creature in Christ, Buried with him out of reach of condemnation and raised with him into a new life of righteousness.
The second fact emphasized is….. that regeneration is due to the free and mysterious exercise of divine power.
Infants do not induce or cooperate in their own procreation and birth; no more can those who are dead in trespasses and sins prompt the quickening operation of God’s Spirit within them.
If I had a car with the engine that was ready for the grave, I’d have a new engine put in. I’d take the car into a mechanic who would put it in for me. If when I got that car back, it ran just as poorly, I would begin to wonder if the old engine really had been replaced or just cleaned up. It is no different with our new lives in Christ.
1. Can A Man Become A New Creature?
What does it mean for a man to become a “new creature”? Very simply, it means just what the Scripture says: the man actually becomes a new creature—his whole being, nature, life, and behavior changes:
Whereas a man was dead to God....... as a new creature he becomes alive to God.
Whereas a man had no relationship with God........ as a new creature he is given a relationship with God.
Whereas a man was not sure about God....... as a new creature he is absolutely certain about God.
Whereas a man never fellowshipped and communed with God..... as a new creature he fellowships and communes with God all the time.
Whereas a man was living in sin and immorality...... as a new creature he lives in righteousness and holiness.
Whereas a man had to face death...... as a new creature he never has to die.
Whereas a man was doomed to judgment and eternal separation from God, as a new creature he is destined to live eternally in the presence of God.
2. How does a person become a new creature?
Note the words of this Scripture: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.”
It is being “in Christ” that makes a person a new creature.
When a person truly believes in Christ, God places and positions him in Christ, in all that Christ is.
Christ lived and died and arose, so to be in Christ means that a person lives, dies, and arises in Christ.
The person who believes in Jesus Christ is identified with Christ: that is, he is counted and considered to be “in Christ,” accounted and credited as “in Christ.”
Spelled out in a little more detail, when a person believes in Christ, God places and positions the believer “in Christ”.
The believer’s faith actually causes God to identify the believer with Christ...with a “New Identity”.
• If you are “in Christ” the Lord counts you as being sinless and righteous because Christ was sinless and righteous.
• If you are “in Christ” the Lord counts you as having died in Christ. Therefore, you will never have to die in...... John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
• The penalty and condemnation of your sins are already paid for in the death of Christ.
• If you are “in Christ” the Lord counts you as having been raised in Christ. Therefore, you have received the “new life” of Christ. Just as Christ had a new life after His resurrection, even so the believer receives the “new life” of Christ when he believes in Christ.
To be in Christ means that you......“walk and live in Christ day by day.”
It means that you do not.....“walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).
It means that you.....“denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, you should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:12).
It means that you will bears......“the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23).
It means that you will.......“abides in Christ” and let Him becomes attached and connected to your life.
If a man is “in Christ” he is a “new creature.” This is what is meant by such Scriptural terms such as being “born again” and becoming a “new man or a new creature.”
However, no better words describe the experience than the words of this verse: “old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
If a man is “in Christ” he can start life all over, no matter how corrupt he has become or how far down the road of ruins he has fallen. God still loves him and longs to make a new creature out of him.
“Jesus said....... Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).
When I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ I became a ......“New Creature in Christ”.
When I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ my..... Hands became New. I don’t touch the things I use to touch.
When I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ my..... Feet became New. I don’t walk the way I use to walk.
When I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ my..... Eyes became New. I don’t look at the things I use too look at.
When I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ my.... Ears became New. I don’t listen to the things I use to listen too.
When I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ my.... Tongue became New. I don’t talks the way I use too talk.
When I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ my..... Mind became New. I don’t think about the things I use too think about.
When I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ my..... Heart became New. I don’t love doing the things I use too do.
I am a New Person now...... because the Lord saved me.....Amen.....Amen.....Amen.
To anyone who want the chance to start over again in life…. Jesus Christ will give them the opportunity.
No matter what you have done in the past….. or who you may have been…… when you accept Jesus Christ…… your past is totally forgiven …. and you become a brand new person with….. a totally new identity in the Lord.
It does not matter what you were in the past.
You could have been a Failure
You could have been a Loser
You could have been a Drunkard
You could have been a Sexual Predator or Pervert
You could have been a Crack Head or Prostitute
You could have been Addicted to any number of things
However, once you have received Jesus Christ into your life….. you get a chance to start all over again with a “New Identity”.
You are a “Brand New Creature” in Jesus Christ. You have a “New Identity” and a “New Name written down in Glory”.
Conclusion and Climax
A story was told about a business man who was selling a warehouse and its property. The building had been empty for months and needed repairs. Vandals had damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash around the interior.
As he showed a prospective buyer the property, the business man took pains to say that he would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural damage, and clean out the garbage.
"Forget about the repairs," the buyer said. "When I buy this place, I’m going to build something completely different. I don’t want the building; I want the site."
Compared with the renovation God has in mind for us, our efforts to improve our own lives are as trivial as sweeping a warehouse slated for the wrecking ball.
When we become God’s, the old life is over (2 Cor. 5:17). He makes all things new. All he wants is the site and the permission to rebuild the temple.
Rebirth or regeneration is done by God and by God alone.
A dead man cannot cooperate with his resurrection. Lazarus did not cooperate in his resurrection.
Regeneration is a sovereign act of God in which man plays no role.
After God brings us to life, of course, we certainly are involved in "cooperating" with Him.
We are to believe, trust, obey, and work for him.
But unless God acts first, we will never be reborn in the first place.
We must also realize it is not as if dead people have faith, and because of their faith God agrees to regenerate them.
Rather, it is because God has regenerated us and given us new life that we have faith.
Once there was a brier growing in a ditch and there came along a gardener with his spade. As he dug around it and lifted it up the brier said to itself,
"What is he doing? Doesn’t he know I am a worthless brier?" But the gardener took it into his garden and planted it amid his flowers, while the brier said, "What a mistake he has made planting me among these beautiful roses."
Then the gardener came once more and made a slit in the brier with his sharp knife. He grafted it with a rose and when summer came lovely roses were blooming on that old brier. Then the gardener said, "Your beauty is not due to what came out but to what I put in."
Amen…….Amen……Amen
