Renewed Part 4 – Life

How many of you at some point in your life you’ve been dissatisfied with your behavior?  You don’t like the way you acted.  You’re occasionally dissatisfied with yourself. When we think that we faired badly in comparison to how we should behave as Christians, at the back of our mind, we would say, “Why am I like that?”  We all know that we have to try harder.  We have to be better. So we try to find ways of how to change.

Religious behavior may make you NICE, but only Christ can make you NEW.  You can go to church. You can act like other religious people.  It will make you look nice.  But only Christ can make your life NEW.  In fact, when we genuinely follow Christ, we’re not just better, He makes us NEW.

NOT JUST BETTER BUT NEW

2 Corinthians 5:16b-17 – “16…At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (NLT)

 Paul said, “At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view.” Maybe, some of us look at Jesus from a human point of view.  Perhaps, we look at him as a great teacher, or he’s a great moral leader.  Jesus is a nice guy.  He says so many nice and cool things. 

We look at Jesus in a human point of view, which is very limited.  This is why we don’t change.  A lot of people knew Jesus.  A lot of people believe Jesus is a prophet.  But their view is limited to human point of view…so they don’t change.

BELONGS TO CHRIST

 Then, Paul goes on and say, “How differently we know Him now!”  Take note, Paul didn’t say, “We know about Him.”  He said, “…we know Him now!” I love the words Paul used here.  He didn’t say anyone who BELIEVES in Christ. Why?  Even the devil believes in God. It is sad that we often use the term BELIEVER of Christ. And we seldom use the term DISCIPLES of Christ.  BELIEVERS just believe but they don’t act according to the word of God. But DISCIPLES have FAITH that they act on what they believe on.

Paul said, “Anyone who BELONGS to Christ.”  BELONG means the person has fully surrendered to Christ. Anyone who BELONGS to Christ is not just better but NEW, because the person allows God to be His Lord.

What happens when you nail something on the wall?  It sticks there.  So it doesn’t move anywhere else.  This is the same with our life.  If we are crucified with Christ, our life is nailed with Christ.  It becomes new and it should not go back to its old ways – the old has gone, the new has come.

Is it possible that we don’t change to become a NEW version of us because we haven’t fully surrendered our life to God?  If we belong to God, our life no longer belong to us.  This is why Galatians 2:20 said, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (NLT).”

A NEW LIFE HAS BEGUN

God accepts you as you are.  But He will not leave you as you are.  With Christ, God makes all lives NEW!  I believe some of you  may feel that change is impossible in your life, having a new life in Christ is farfetched.

Maybe, your parents gave up on you.  Perhaps, your LIFE group leader has given up on you because you’re hard headed.  I would just like to share to you Isaiah 43:19, “For I am about to do something NEW. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland (NLT).” 

OUR GOD CAN MAKE A WAY when there seems to be no way!  God is talking to all of us right now, “I am doing something NEW.” We serve a God who can make a way when there seems to be no way.  We serve a God who can pick us up when we fall.  We serve a God who can give us NEW LIFE.  We should never insult God with small thinking that certain people that you know are hopeless. 

We should never insult God with small thinking that certain people can no longer change. We should be reaching out to people to bring them to Christ.  Never stop inviting.  Never stop encouraging.  Never stop promoting Jesus. 

John 1:45-46 – “45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” “Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied (NLT).”

 Check how a new life works.  A person who has received a new life will not be satisfied until he shares the good news to other people.  This is what I love about you when you bring people to the church so that they can receive Jesus and experience new life.  You just have to tell them, “Come and see!  Come and see what God is doing in our church.”  They may give you comments, they may criticize your faith, but just tell them, “Come and See!”

John 3:3-7 – “3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” 4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” 5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’” (NLT)