Theme: The New Creation
Text: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Rev. 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn. 14:23-27
Love today is only a word that is often spoken and not demonstrated. We hardly hear of news that relate to love but very often of news that relate to hate. We hear of violence, crime and wars. We hear of retaliation and inflicting pain. We hear of wars of liberation justified by freeing people from evil rulers and their torture chambers. We hear of liberators using those same torture chambers to torture other innocent people. We hear of and actually see human beings cutting off the head of another human being and having no feeling at all. What makes human beings behave in such a way? The reason is simply that people find themselves in darkness because they do not know Christ, the light of the world. All these atrocities would not be taking place if the world would love Jesus and keep His words. These atrocities are in reality revealing to us the state of the world we live in, a state described in the Scriptures as one of darkness. It is in such a situation that the world needs the light of God. In our time of darkness - when we need Him the most, God is right there, waiting for us to turn to Him, waiting to create life in an otherwise dark world. He creates something new in our lives. The Bible tells us that "anyone who comes to Christ Jesus is a new creation - Behold, the old things have passed away and all things are made new."
The reference to a new Creation means that there had been another Creation and that something had gone wrong with it to require a new One. The old creation began when the light of God dispelled the darkness. The old Creation, however, was corrupted by sin. Sin plunged God’s perfect Creation into darkness. God is holy and sin always separates us from a Holy God. Instead of being “filled with all the fullness of God,” and having an overflowing cup, sin makes us inwardly empty, lonely and in darkness. God loved us so much that He would not leave us in such a condition and the result was a new Creation. Creation began when God spoke the words “let there be light”. This light was not the sun and moon kind of light, but a divine light that was present on the earth 3 days before God made the sun and the moon and the stars. The New Creation also began when God said, “Let there be light”. He begins to work in our lives by filling us with a divine light. It is the Word of God that brings light. “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” If you are saved there was a time in your life when you were in darkness but the Holy Spirit led you to Jesus Christ, Who is the Word. When we have lived long enough in the darkness and we are ready for God to come in and recreate us and give us new life, He does so by first preparing our hearts. He does this by pointing out the things in our life that will destroy our new lives and this is why confession and repentance are so important. As the light of God begins to shine in our lives, it reveals our sin, the sin that Christ died for, the sin that was forgiven on the cross of Calvary. Through confession and repentance we become a new Creation.
A businessman once told the story of a warehouse property he was selling. The building had been empty for years 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, he 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, our efforts to improve our own lives are as trivial as sweeping a warehouse slated for destruction. All God wants is the site and the permission to build. Yes the new building will need to have new windows - in other words the new life that Christ wishes to work in us will be a life marked by right living, and that will require cooperation on our part with what the Spirit means to do in us, but that transformation is a response to His new construction not a replacement for it. And all construction costs have been paid in full at the cross. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord, sin is dealt with once and for all. It is dealt with by what God had already done on the cross in Christ. Christ Himself becomes our new life, indwelling and empowering us. Are you a new creation or are you still living in darkness? What kind of fruit is your life bearing? It’s time for us to be this new creation that Jesus had to pay for with His life.
God formed man out of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. He was created in God’s own image and likeness and given dominion over all creation. Nothing was left outside his dominion. This dominion, however, was only possible when man remained in the image and likeness of God. When he lost that image as a result of sin he could no longer fulfil God’s divine purpose. So God did all that was possible to restore His image and likeness in man. God had given man dominion over all Creation and God does not change His mind. He was bound for all time and eternity by His Word. So only a man could restore this dominion but that man had to be in the image and likeness of God, i.e. without sin. This is the reason why God had to become a man, live a sinless life and be offered up as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sins. On the Cross Christ was made sin with our sinfulness that we might be made righteous with His righteousness. Christ does not only want us to know this but wants His Spirit to work Christ into us to manifest His character. We are to put off the things that characterise the old man and put on the things that characterise the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. This new nature should bear the right type of fruit. An orange tree does not bear pears and neither does a pear tree bear oranges. Both trees planted side by side and given the same care and nourishment will each bear its distinctive fruit? Likewise those who have the new nature of Christ are to bear the fruit of the Spirit. We bear this fruit by reading the Word of God and applying its truths to our lives. Warren Wiersbe says it in these words “when the child of God looks into the Word of God and sees the Son of God, he is changed by the Spirit of God into the image of God for the glory of God”. As believers we are to experience a change in the quality of our lives as we become more like Christ. Others should increasingly see Christ in our lives as we grow in knowing Him. The better we know Christ the more we will become like Him.
When God created man - Adam and Eve - he created them to have fellowship with Him. When He gives us New Life - it is again to have that intimate fellowship with Him. If you want to know real love, real joy and real peace - it can only be found in Jesus Christ. That is the life that God gives us when we allow Him to “create in us a new heart.” God doesn’t just give us a new life; He also gives us a purpose. God wants our lives to bear fruit. One of the most discouraging and depressing things in the whole world is a life without purpose. Have you ever met a man or a woman who is going through life without bearing the fruit of Spirit? All believers believe that in the next age they will function in a totally different way. They will be set free of many of the limitations of their physical body. They will have a different kind of body and a totally different lifestyle. God’s new Creation has a taste of this lifestyle in this present age. According to Paul in Ephesians, the Holy Spirit is God’s deposit in us for the next age. It is the down payment of the life in the next age and it is also the guarantee that Christ is coming back with the rest to complete the purchase. From this we realise that salvation is immediate but sanctification is a process that lasts a lifetime. After salvation we are to make our new position in Christ a daily experience fulfilling all His divine requirements. Adam and Eve, and each one of us, were created for a divine ordained purpose. First of all, they were to fellowship with God. Secondly, they were to be fruitful and multiply and they were to subdue the earth." And finally, Adam and Eve were to be the original caretakers of God’s creation. God has the same purpose for us. God wants us to have an intimate relationship with Him. That is the principle reason Jesus died on the cross. He died for us so that we could receive eternal life through Him and be adopted into God’s family. God desires that intimate relationship with every one of us. We are created in His image so that we can fellowship with Him. He also wants us to be fruitful. Jesus said; "I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. Isn’t that what we said is wrong with much of the world today? Our lives are empty and there is darkness all around us. But, in Jesus Christ - we have purpose - we have meaning. Do you want to know what it really means to have “life”? Do you want to know real peace, real joy, real love – you must come to Jesus Christ. You see, only the God who created the world can create real life.
There are three different types of people in the world, the natural man, the carnal man and the spiritual man and each one of us fits into one of these types. The natural man is a person who has never known God and therefore does not love God or others. He finds pleasure in gratifying his fleshly desires. He enjoys his many possessions and affluence, and appears happy and secure. But because of the darkness that surrounds him he cannot see the disaster ahead. The carnal man is a person who attempts to please God by his good works or right actions. The spiritual man, the new Creation, is the person who realises he is under grace and is filled with love towards God and others. They are the ones who enjoy the grace and favour of God. Just as God at Creation breathed His Spirit into that figure of clay and transformed it into a living soul, so in like manner Jesus breathes His Spirit into us sinners to make us new Creations. He breathes into us the breath of His resurrected life, a life that had triumphed over all the forces of evil, sin, death, hell and Satan. God loves you, and no matter how desperate you become, he wants to take away that darkness and fill it with light. He wants to take away the emptiness and fill it with life. He wants to take away the void and fill it with purpose. He will do it, if we will allow Him to. That is God’s desire for every one of us. To become a new Creation i.e. to begin a new life in Jesus Christ is as simple as ABC. A - we must admit that we are lost and need God. We must admit that we have messed up our lives without Him and have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. B - we must believe that God loves us and sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins. We must believe that through Him, we can have newness of life. C - we must confess our faith in Jesus Christ. We must confess that He alone is our Saviour and our Lord. Let us become a new Creation today. Amen!
