25 Minutes to a New You
2 Cor. 5:16-17
July 13, 2008 FBC, Chester Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction
A Men, most of your mothers-in-law don’t think you’re good enough to be married to their little girl. Ladies, most of your mothers-in-law don’t think you’re good enough to be married to their baby boy.
1 It’s hard to change the way people see us, and we see others.
2 (IL) One springtime sometime before the Civil War, a boy in search of work came to Worthy Taylor’s prosperous Ohio farm.
a Mr. Taylor didn’t know much more than the boy’s name was Jim, and he gave him a job.
b Jim spent the summer cutting stove wood, bringing in the cows, was useful in the kitchen, slept in the hayloft.
aa Before summer was over, Jim had fallen in love with Taylor’s daughter.
bb The father refused to allow him to marry his daughter (no money, no good name, & a very poor future).
cc Disappointed, he packed up his carpetbag & disappeared
c 35 years passed before Taylor began to tear down his old barn to make way for a new one. In the rafters above the hayloft he discovered that Jim had carved his full name-James A. Garfield, then President of the United States.
d It’s hard to change...
B One of Paul’s biggest hurdles at Corinth was how people viewed him.
1 He’s not a real apostle, teacher, we know how he rolled back in the day.
2 When Paul saw Jesus for Who Jesus was, Paul received a personal makeover.
a "I am crucified"...new creature, old things passed away
b He saw Jesus differently, church differently, lost people
aa Life
bb For me to live is Christ, & to die is gain
3 Paul understood that his yesterday/past did not determine his tomorrow/future
C Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor 5:16-17 (NASB)
I Understand the way God sees us
A When a person becomes a believer by faith, there is a new act of creation on God’s part.
1 The old things have passed away (passed out of existence)
a Those "old things" are what characterized/conditioned our lives before we got saved (B.C. days)
b There is an antithesis between old/new things, born of the flesh/born of the Spirit
2 New things have come (perfect indicative, completed in the past, but has continuing results)
a What new things?
aa When I was saved, my body/physical appearance was unaffected
bb My body/physical appearance does not determine who I am before God.
b I am new in virtue of my relationship with God.
aa I didn’t have to do a thing to be in a new relationship with God.
bb I had to stop trying to do some things...moral conduct, better behavior, more religious, go to church.
c He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit...Titus 3:5 (NASB)
aa When we accept by faith the grace & mercy of God through Christ, the Holy Spirit creates a new life that was not there before.
bb God didn’t give you something refurbished, pre-owned, redecorated.
cc I didn’t have to "do" anything, but I had to be somewhere...in Christ.
B I’m new because I’m in Christ.
1 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Col 3:3 (NASB)
a Jesus died so that we might live (Amen), He also died so that we might die.
b You are in Christ, and Christ is in God...where does that put you?
2 "I’m trying to find myself"-you get in Jesus, and you’ll know exactly where you are.
Our new relation to God brings us into a new relation, not just with Him, but also with the world around us. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. (transitional sentence)
II Understand the way God wants us to see others. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer
A My new relationship with God should not/cannot be without effect on my behavior.
1 The principle area of the changed life is the way we see other people.
a We see lost people differently
aa Not the enemy-victims of the enemy
bb Not as sinners-as lost sheep in need of a (my) Shepherd
cc You see them in a whole new light-the light of the cross
b We see saved people differently
aa They are members of the new creation that you belong to
bb Don’t see them for amount of education, race, money, position in society.
cc There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:28 (NASB)
2 Our new relationship to God is a gift & a task
B It is work to see people the way God wants us to
1 The good news is that it isn’t a work of the flesh, but a work of the Spirit.
a ...and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him...Col 3:10 (NASB)
aa "Created" is an aorist participle...done, completed
bb "Renewed" is a present participle...continued, repeated action
b I’ve become a new creation once, I’m to be renewed over & over
c As long as we live with/around people, we need that new self renewed
2 How do we get daily renewal?
a However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:9-13 (NASB)
b The source of this inner renewal is the Spirit of God who dwells & works in the Christian.
3 We’re not saved by our works, but we’ll work if we’re saved
a Ministry (yes)-default mode
b Heart
Conclusion
A Called my old phone number
1 One day 30 years ago, Satan tried to hold me accountable for my sins under my old number, and heaven’s operator said to him...
a "We’re sorry, the name Mike Fogerson changed, & his new name is in Jesus Christ. If you feel like this recording is in error...you’re wrong."
b You’re wrong because Mike Fogerson has a new life in Christ...new purpose...new song...new beginning
2 Prior to the resurrection, Jesus represented God to man; after the ascension He is representing man to God.
B Aren’t you exhausted...
C God can do something...do it somewhere else
