God can change you
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.
Another translation says, “Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.”
Another says, “So there is a new creation when any man is in Christ. The old life has passed away, behold, the new is come.”
Now please go with me to St. Luke 19:1-10
1 ¶ And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.
6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which
was lost.
Here we have the familiar story of a sinner seeking for Jesus.
He was a Chief among the publicans who presided over other tax-gatherers, or who received their collections and transmitted them to the Roman government.
The Jews hated these dreaded tax-collectors. For they were often times guilty of extortion, overcharging the people, making huge profits for themselves and general misuse of authority.
The Jews regarded all Publicans as great sinners, and the chief of the publicans, therefore, they regarded as especially wicked. It would appear also from Zaccheus’ confession that his character had been that of an oppressive man.
Verse three says that he sought to see Jesus who he was.
No doubt he saw the great crowd and heard the commotion as Jesus was entering the city of Jericho. So he was just curious.
What’s all the commotion about going on in the street?
Zaccheus wanted to see what the center of attention wasn’t able to do so because of the multitude of people blocking his view.
So what does he do? He climbs up a sycamore tree so he could get a better view.
Lo and behold Jesus walked by and saw him perched in the tree. He said, “Zaccheus come down from there, for I’m going to your house.”
What a strange mixture of passions must Zaccheus have now felt, hearing one speak, as knowing both his name and his heart!
The chief publican climbed from the tree and started confessing.
“Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”
Jesus said, “This day is salvation come to this house.”
Ole Zaccheus’ life was changed that day!
His attitude was changed! His disposition was changed! His temperament was changed! His character was changed! His responsibility to others was changed! And more than anything, his heart was changed!
Ole Zaccheus was never the same after he met Jesus! He was a changed man.
He was a new creature in Christ Jesus. His old pattern of behavior had passed away. The old established custom he had over the years was gone instantly!
I think of another individual whose life was changed.
We don’t even know her name. She was just called a woman of Samaria.
But her life was empty and meaningless. She had suffered through five broken marriages and wasn’t married to the man she was now living with.
She must have been the talk of the town. No doubt people whispered and pointed their fingers at her as she walked by.
She had probably resigned herself to a life of hopelessness and shame.
That is until she went to the well to draw water that day.
I can only imagine how she felt as the carried her water buckets to the well.
Another tiresome day! Another day of hopelessness! Another day of loneliness! Another day of emptiness and worthlessness!
Little did she know that a life changing event would take place when she arrived at the well that day!
You know the story! Jesus was waiting for her!
He already knew about her emptiness and pain. He already was aware of her hopeless condition.
He knew about the emptiness and void in her soul.
And he offered her living water!
Jesus was careful not to bring condemnation, because the law had already condemned her. But he didn’t dodge the issue. She was lost! She was a sinner! She was filled with condemnation and guilt.
But Jesus offered her something that would not only fill the void and emptiness she felt in her soul, but he gave her hope for the future.
He gave her living water! She would never thirst again!
She would never again have to walk in the shadows trying to conceal her guilt and shame.
For now she is a changed woman!
As 1 John 2:8 says, “……..because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.”
1 Peter 2:9 says He “hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”
The woman of Samaria was in darkness! She thought the miserable life she was living was the best she could have.
The thought of changing her life probably never crossed her mind, because she had imbedded herself in a slimy pit of sin.
But then she met Jesus who “pulled her out of the miry clay and set her feet on a solid rock.”
She left the well that day filled with living water! She left her old water pots at the well! She was a changed woman!
Can God change you? Do you want to change? Does your life need changing? Do you need a new direction in life?
Are you filled with guilt, anxiety and condemnation? Do you want to change, but you don’t know how?
Have you tried to change only to find yourself back in the same old rut you were in before?
God can change you! He can take an old rough sinner and transform him into a child of God.
He can take a worthless piece of humanity and change him or her into a priceless treasure.
You might say, “Pastor Lowe, I could never change! My life is already messed up! I’ve gone too far now!”
May I remind you of our scripture text, “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.”
“The phrase ‘new creature’ is equivalent to the expression in Eph 4:24: "The new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
It means, evidently, that there is a change produced in the renewed heart of man that is equivalent to the act of creation, and that bears a strong resemblance to it--a change, so to speak, as if the man was made over again, and had become new.
That a change is produced so great as to make it proper to say that he is a new man. He has new views, new motives, new principles, new objects and plans of life.
He seeks new purposes, and he lives for new ends. If a drunkard becomes reformed, there is no impropriety in saying that he is a new man.
If a man who was licentious becomes pure, there is no impropriety in saying that he is not the same man that he was before.
There is a change so deep, so clear, so entire, and so abiding, that it is proper to say, here is a new creation of God--a work of the Divine power as decided and as glorious as when God created all things out of nothing.” (Albert Barnes NT commentary)
So God can change you! If you are a sinner God can change you.
If you have sinful habits, God can change you.
If you are dishonest, God can change you.
If you are a habitual liar, God can change you.
If you are a drunkard, God can change you.
If you are filled with hate, God can change you.
If you are filled with bitterness, God can change you.
If you are filled with jealousy and envy, God can change you.
If you cannot forgive someone, God can change you.
If you addicted to pornography, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or anything other addiction, God can change you.
The first thing you must do is to be willing to change.
Then you must set your mind and heart to change.
Then you must place your confidence and trust in God.
Have a sincere determination not to ever go back to where you have been.
You can change! When you place your trust in the life changing Lord, you can change.
You can walk out of here a changed individual!
John Newton had a rough life growing up.
The son of a commander of a merchant ship which sailed the Mediterranean.
When John was eleven, he went to sea with his father and made six voyages with him before the elder Newton retired.
In 1744 John was impressed into service on a man-of-war, the H. M. S. Harwich.
Finding conditions on board intolerable, he deserted but was soon recaptured and publicly flogged and demoted from midshipman to common seaman.
Finally at his own request he was exchanged into service on a slave ship, which took him to the coast of Sierra Leone. He then became the servant of a slave trader and was brutally abused.
Early in 1748 he was rescued by a sea captain who had known John’s father. John Newton ultimately became captain of his own ship, one which plied the slave trade.
During a raging storm when it appeared the ship would sink, John Newton cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us.”
Later he began to think about how God showed mercy and grace and gave his life to God.
He sat down one day and penned the words to this song, Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
On his tombstone are written these words he wrote himself before he died,
“Born 1725, died 1807
A clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he once long labored to destroy.
The word libertine means an immoral person, a degraded individual, a person unrestrained morally.
Yet God changed John Newton’s life. He became a minister of the gospel.
God can change you!
