The Power of the Gospel! Pt. 2
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.
Introduction: First, there is:
I. THE WORK OF TRANSFORMATION -- "...old things are passed away ..."
a. Our view of Jesus
Paul's view of whom and what Jesus was changed radically on the Damascus road and so will ours when we meet Him. This would include but not be limited to selfish, carnal views of Jesus. Jesus becomes more than a name in history, the name of a good teacher or moralist, a name used as a swear word. There are those today who would make Jesus less than what the Bible declares that He is the one and only Son of the living God, the creator, sustainer and governor of the universe.
b. Our view of ourselves
ILLUSTRATION... High Opinion, Our Daily Bread, July 3, 1989
Ill - A man who had a high opinion of himself stepped on a coin-operated scale that dispensed a card, giving his weight and comments about his personality. After reading the card, he handed it to his wife and said, "Here, look at this!" She took it and read aloud, "You are dynamic, a born leader, handsome, and much admired by women for your personality." Giving it a second look, she added, "Hmmm, I see it's got your weight wrong too!" We are egocentric and that changes in Christ. This egocentricity must be replaced by Christo centricity! We must die to self and self-interest, and be raised with Christ and be Christ-absorbed.
c. Our view of others
We live in a world where people look at others as objects to be used, manipulated, and then discarded when we get what we want. When Christ comes in that view has to go. When we become new creatures in Christ then we see all men as souls for whom Jesus died souls with value and worth and dignity.
II. THE WONDER OF TRANSFORMATION -- "...all things are become new..."
a. In the area of our purity
We are all capable of the worst kinds of conduct including various forms of impurity thinking and behavior. Paul gives a catalog of these "works."
Galatians 5:19-21 The works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.
But that changes in Christ.
Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
b. In the area of our personality
We have all kinds of negative personality traits. We can be rude, selfish, judgmental, critical, harsh, and the list goes on and on. John Wesley was such a person. He was asked to leave the Georgia colonies by Governor Oglethorpe because he was difficult and hard to get along with. Later he wrote in his diary that he had gone to Georgia to convert the Indians and instead found that he was not converted! It was not until his Aldersgate experience where he felt his heart "strangely warmed" that the change in his personality began to happen. Many who profess to know Christ have negative personality traits that need to be submitted to the work and ministry of the Holy Spirt so that He can smooth off "the rough edges!" Every part of our personalities must be insulated by the love of Christ.
c. In the area of our priorities
Our priorities are the things that we spend our time, talent and treasure on. We often quote from Matthew 6:33 when we speak of priorities but when we come to Christ the Lord hits the "reset" button and completely rearranges our priorities.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Life Is Like A Jar Of Rocks
ILL -- A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2 inches in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The students laughed. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. "Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. "The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff." "If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important. "Take care of the big rocks first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
III. THE WAY OF TRANSFORMATION
a. The making of a transformed life
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Butterflies undergo complete metamorphosis. Their life cycle consists of four stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (cocoon or chrysalis), and adult. Only in the stages of the caterpillar and the adult butterfly do they live and move among the rest of the living creatures of the world. I believe we can learn much about the physical and spiritual life of all believers by looking at caterpillars and butterflies. There has never been a single baby butterfly born. Each butterfly has to be born a caterpillar and go through the transformation or rebirth process before becoming a butterfly or a "NEW CREATURE". When a caterpillar becomes a butterfly there is a complete change in the life of the creature, and it is such a change that it is irreversible. No matter what happens in the life of the butterfly, it will never be a caterpillar again. Paul writes:
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed (metamorphoō) by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
b. The marks of a transformed life
1. There are new appetites
We are born with the wrong appetites but Christ gives us new ones!
Wolf Licks Bloodied Knife To Death
Ill - Radio personality Paul Harvey tells the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin.
"First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood.
"Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood.
"He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the Arctic night.
"So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue. Nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his own warm blood.
"His carnivorous appetite just craves more--until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!"
2. There are new activities
We are sinners by nature and do the things that sinners do but Christ changes all that.
1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Ill - There's an ancient document from the second century called the "Epistle to Diognetus". It's a letter from a Christian to a prominent pagan named Diognetus, in which the author, who is unknown, is describing and defending this strange new religion of Christianity. It reads, in part:
"The Christians are not distinguished from other men by country, by language, nor by civil institutions. For they neither dwell in cities by themselves, nor use a peculiar tongue, no lead a singular mode of life. They dwell in the Grecian or barbarian cities, as the case may be; they follow the usage of the country in dress, food, and the other affairs of life. Yet they present a wonderful and confessedly paradoxical conduct. They dwell in their own native lands, but as strangers.
"They take part in all things, as citizens; and they suffer all things, as foreigners. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every native land is a foreign. They marry, like all others; they have children, but they do not cast away their offspring. They have the table in common, but not wives. They are in the flesh, but do not live after the flesh. They live upon the earth but are citizens of heaven. They obey the existing laws, and excel the laws by their lives.
"They love all, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown, and yet they are condemned. They are killed and are made alive. They are poor and make many rich. They lack all things, and in all things abound."
3. There are new attitudes
When a person comes to faith in Christ there will be some evidence of this faith in their lives. You won't see perfection in a Christian, but what you will see is something different in that person. You will see some evidence that a person has a relationship with Christ.
Now it's very important to we understand that we aren't talking about being saved by works. You aren't a Christian because you don't curse or smoke or cut people off in traffic or because you go to church or give money to charity.
Everyone sins and falls short of God's glory, but through Christ we are forgiven of those sins. A Christian is someone who calls on Christ to save them from their sins. (Rom 3:23-26)
You'll see these differences more clearly in some Christians than in others -- we're all a work in progress and we all grow in Christ at different rates. But eventually the person who is following Christ will be like Jesus. Some Biblical scholars believe that when Paul penned Galatians 5:22-23 that he had Jesus in mind and that each of these spiritual fruits where perfected in Christ and would be developed in the life of the believer.
Galatians 5:22-23 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
4. There are new affections
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
Conclusion: "Though no one can go back and make a new beginning - anyone can start from now and make a brand new end." -- Carl Brand
Ill - We have all heard the "Good New"..."Bad News!" aphorisms. Here's one with a little different twist. I have some "Bad News...Good News...Best News!" for you...
The bad news, you are dying! It's no joke, biologist tell us that every day, to some extent, each of us are dying...The cells and atoms in our bodies are dying. In fact, every atom and every cell that is now in our bodies will die off within the next seven years. In essence, we are experiencing a daily dying of our physical being.
The good news, you are being restored! Just as the cells and atoms in our bodies are dying, likewise new ones are being created to take their place. It is my understanding, (and I make no claim to being a biologist) this process makes a complete transition every seven years. In one way, every seven years, you completely become a different person. So, when someone tells you, you're not the same person you use to be, there is a whole lot of truth in it. I find this whole idea of our bodies continuously dying and being restored a rather refreshing thought. But, even with this good news...we will eventually taste physical death, the bad news!
The Best News! You don't have to wait seven years to be made a "new person". And the Best news...this time, the "new person" will live forever. The Bible says if anyone be IN CHRIST, he is a NEW creature; old things are passed away; all things become new.
Byron Maynard
Conclusion: In one of his meetings, D.L. Moody was explaining to his audience the truth that we cannot bring about spiritual changes in our lives by our own strength. He demonstrated the principal like this: "Tell me," he said to his audience, "how can I get the air out of the tumbler I have in my hand?" One man said, "Suck it out with a pump." But Moody replied, "That would create a vacuum and shatter it." Finally after many suggestions, he picked up a pitcher and quietly filled the glass with water. "There," he said, "all the air is now removed." He then explained that victory for the child of God does not come by working hard to eliminate sinful habits, but rather by allowing Christ to take full possession.
