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Sermon of the Week 
Wednesday, December 30 2015

A New Covenant for a New Year

Because if we can grasp the New Covenant, then we can activate the New You which the New Covenant makes available….and if that happens *….. then we can declare a Happy New You, and not just a Happy New Year…. The Truth is that we all have areas where the “Old You” is seeking to step into and acquire the “New You”…. I’m talking about all those areas that seem to be just beyond reach, but we know that some how there is a way to make it there, if we just knew the way and could find the right combination, that door could be unlocked and opened…. Let me introduce you to the one who said that He was the door….

John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

The Greek word for pasture is (nom-ah', and it is simply a place to be sustained or nourished) but the Greek word (nom'-os, is a place where the Shepherd leads us, protects us and provides for us)

There are places that God has provided for us, that can only be reached and entered into, when we follow the Shepherd, and He brings us into it, so we do not get discouraged and we don’t quit and give up, because so many things are paving the way for what is to come…. There is a progressive element which means that what you have and what you are now, may not be what you will have and what you will become, but it is the stepping stones which are bringing you there….YOUR TEST IS PART OF YOUR TESTIMONY!

STAY WITH THE SHEPHERD, TRUST THE SHEPHERD, He knows how to get you there! Don’t just follow the sheep that are following the shepherd. Paul said “Follow me as I follow Christ”.

Look at Hebrews 8:6 “But now He (Jesus) has obtained a more excellent ministry, by which also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. v7 For if that first covenant (the old testament) had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second (the new testament).

Instead of talking in terms of resolutions, we need to talk in terms of Covenant. There are covenants we have with others, there are covenants we have with ourselves and there are covenants we have with God.

A covenant is a binding contract, a mutual agreement, an “if you snooze you lose”, commitment, it is usually a guarantee backed by viable collateral, it’s also referred to as a pledge, a bond which can only be redeemed when the terms are fulfilled, it’s known as a pact and in bible times it was an oath sealed by blood, it is also an arrangement based on the character and integrity of those entering into the contract.

The document drawn up may be a deed, a lease, a law, a marriage license, a certificate of ownership or the record God has given us called the bible. When I grew up, a man’s word was his bond or covenant….When God speaks, covenant is established. He means what He says and He says what He means….

Covenants are agreements that bring about a relationship of commitment between people or God and his people. The Jewish faith is based on the biblical covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David.

There’s a vast difference between resolutions and covenants…. Resolutions declare that a person will attempt to do a thing, but there is nothing binding about them. A covenant declares that a person will do a certain thing and there are consequences if they do not.

When we come into covenant with God, Jesus covers us with grace, mercy and favor…. But when we break our covenant through denial, disobedience and then rebellion, we place ourselves under the law and step outside of grace. And the law is a cruel task master….it’s what Satan uses to attack us with, because no one can fulfill or measure up to the law! Only Jesus could fulfill the law….when we repent, He brings us out from under the penalty of the law and under grace….

A man named Bill, was a month late, for a long overdue neurological exam. The doctor said, Bill. How can I get you to understand that nervous disorders require prompt and regular attention." "Well”, Bill said, “I was simply following your orders, Doc, you told me to avoid all the people who irritate and upset me". (Resolutions can’t overcome denial)

Resolutions are like bringing a pig inside the house, putting it in the bathtub, scrubbing it, polishing its nails, putting a ribbon in its hair, brushing its teeth and dousing it down with Chanel No. 5. But what's going to happen the first time you open that door and pretty little pig sees a mud hole? She's going to go right straight to the mud hole and wallow to his heart’s content. Why? Because she likes it. Because it's in her nature. There has to be something more than just think better, do better, and look better, that is involved. There has to be something more.
Fred Craddock, who is a veteran pastor, has said that what he would do differently if he had his ministry to do over again, would be to " have a clear and concise governing metaphor. A governing metaphor is a view of life that would provide a mission statement, which would define his approach to preaching and a perspective for his entire life."
What did he mean? Well, you've probably heard some of these governing metaphors recently "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get." That was a governing metaphor of life for Forrest Gump.

Someone else might say, "Life is like a script, already written”. God opens up the heavens, drops down His will and it is unchangeable, it is eternal and you are not going to go until your time comes, and everything is predetermined, no matter what." Life is like a script. Some people live their lives by that governing metaphor.

The governing metaphor of others might be, "Life is like a battle." For someone who’s a recovering alcoholic, or a guy who has lost his job and can’t find work, or maybe the single mother, who’s scrapping by every day with bills and children to care for, or maybe the person with a prolonged illness, or a homeless person who’s destitute and looking up to see the bottom. Life is like a non-stop battle.

For some folks, their governing metaphor is "Life is like a journey." This has probably been the most common Christian way of looking at life. Even our language reflects it. "We've come to the end of the line." "We've come to the forks of the road."

"We're sojourners in this life." “In the sweet by and by, we will meet on that beautiful shore”. Or “We’ll understand it better by and by”.. We read of Abraham and we read of Paul's missionary journeys, and we talk of Jesus walking to and through the area of Jerusalem and that region…."Life is like a journey."

My question is, “What was Jesus’ governing metaphor”? And I believe it might be Luke 17:20 “And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come with observation, v21 Neither shall they say, Lo it is here! or, lo it is there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you”.

The kingdom of God, the very character, the very personality, the very essence of God himself, can be ours, and He is within us, in the here and now!

We need a new view for a new you, that will govern everything we do and say in this New Year of our life. Not just to do better, look and think better, but what we need is transformed thinking that will be our new Governing metaphor.

That's what Jeremiah talked about when he said, "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. I will put my law in their minds, I will write my law on their hearts."

It will be an internalization of the true substance of faith. It will be at the very core of our being and at the heart of our existence. It will be characterized by a relationship with God which will reflect in our relationships with one another and the world around us. He said, "I will be their God and they will be my people."

It will be a relationship that we can have with the living, eternal God. We can know God more accurately, without the distortions of a long distance relationship mentality. We can talk to God and listen to God. God will be our constant companion each and every moment for the rest of our lives. No longer a “somewhere out there God”…. Or a “God up in heaven” God…. But “Emmanuel”….. God with us and in us! That’s not just something you put on and take off… it is part of what makes you who you are and why you do what you do….

In one comic strip in the cartoon section of the paper….the daughter who is very environmentally informed, is offered a large check. A wealthy CEO, has made a $120 million profit from an idea that the daughter gave him and he wishes to give her a ten percent share. But the money represents ill-gotten gains from polluting and violating the ocean, so the daughter says she wants none of it.

Later the daughter apologizes to her dad for not taking the money. Her father replies, “I understand, it’s OK. But we really could’ve used that $12,000.” When she explains to him that ten percent of $120 million is not $12,000, but $120,000, the dad has a heart attack.

The dad’s bad math makes me think of Christians who don’t appreciate all that Jesus has done for us and made available to us. Christians must have some bad math, because they don’t know what makes the new covenant new, they assign a low value

to grace. It’s only worth $12,000. It’s a nice gift, but hardly enough to live on.

Then when they learn that God’s gift is worth far, far more than that, they’re in total shock, at what was always available to them, but they have failed to enjoy it and experience it.

If I were to lay a key on the platform and tell everyone that the first to come pick it up could have it…. Probably no one would take the offer because no value has been assigned to it. But if I told you it was the key to a new Porsche and whoever took the key would own the Porsche….I think there would be a stampede. Jesus told us that He had made available to us, the keys to the Kingdom of God, and whoever took the keys would have access to the kingdom… Now we have value that is ascribed to the key…and Jesus is the Key to the kingdom! If you receive Him, you have access to the kingdom!

“Emmanuel”, is a name, which is also the description of a new covenant, which God entered into with us…. it’s the A.D. covenant….Written in the flesh and blood gift of God the Son… We no longer think B.C. “Jehovah”…. But the A.D. expression of the God head…. “Emmanuel”, God with us and in us!

We are part of a covenant that has “forgiveness” at it’s core….we live in the shadow of forgiveness… That means we are a transformed people. Our covenant of forgiveness doesn’t just mean we do better, think better, look better. These things become true because He has made us better with the transforming power of Jesus' death on the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit within our lives, within us, living at the very core of our being, giving us not only the desire to obey Him, but the inner power to reflect Him.

The contracts we enter into with others and the contract we enter into with ourselves, all become possible because of the inner covenant power, we have with and through Emmanuel!

Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. V25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”.

The word “live” is a verb, therefore it always shows action and that action is possible because of the liberty which is ours through the forgiveness we have received, and the grace which originates in God and not in us….

Because of the new covenant….

There’s Grace and Favor…. in the old covenant, you did it, to get it, but in the new covenant, Jesus did it and you get it all….

There’s rest…. in the old covenant, it was do, do, do,… in the new covenant, it is done, done, done!

There’s new life…. in the old covenant, scripture tells us there is always a veil over the face, but in the new covenant, the veil is removed and the full glory of the Lord is revealed.

There is union and intimacy…. In the old covenant God lived in a temple you could never enter, but in the new covenant, you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, where He has taken up residence….His presence alone, changes a shack into a palace, a failure into a success, a poor boy into a “there’s much more” boy, sickness and frailty into wholeness and vibrancy, Dead people into fully alive saints of God!!!

We see the Father’s heart…. The old covenant was about obligation, but in the new, we love and we forgive and we show mercy, because He first us, showed us mercy when we were far from Him, and forgave us.

If you don’t see God as your loving Father and see yourself as his dearly-beloved child, you have not fully apprehended all that Christ accomplished on your behalf and what is still waiting for you to experience and enjoy.

Before Jesus, no one called God Father. After Jesus, every New Testament writer used this term of endearment and relationship.

God is not writing a new covenant on paper somewhere, to add to the mountain of documents in the files and vaults of Religion. He's not printing it on something that we can hang on our wall. He’s putting the covenant within our character and within our personality, changing the very essence of who and what we are. And who we are is FORGIVEN!!!

Colossians 2:9,10 "For in Him," (that is, in the Man Christ, who is our nature, our Head, our root, our flesh, our bone), "dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"

So we see that Jesus is the full expression of God….

And we also see in John 1:16 "Of His fullness have all we (believers) received, and grace for grace".

God is fully in Jesus and Jesus is fully in us and has qualified us and positioned us for new life in Christ in this new year….!

It’s the same for all of us…. we come before Him and we confess, "God, I'm a sinner, I'm lost and I cannot do for myself what only you can do." We confess our sin, then we turn from our sin and turn toward God.

We turn from a life that is against God, to a life that is toward God. We start walking in a new direction, because we’re not that person anymore. Our life takes on new meaning and purpose as we walk in repentance, confess what He can do through our lives, and ask Jesus Christ to come in as the Lord of our life. He comes in, and He does what we cannot do…. He FORGIVES, and His forgiveness brings transforming power into our lives as we receive the touch of redemption!!!!

Isaiah 9:2 “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined”.

All over the world, people of every race, color, and creed have been celebrating the light that shown over Bethlehem. That light has grown in it’s brilliance until the whole earth has heard of it’s power. In every language, in every form of the arts, the light has been celebrated.

It overpowers the darkness of fear, doubt, ignorance, denial, rebellion, religious distortions and error, and now that light, leads the way for us to enter a new year of hope, and of possibilities yet unseen or imagined.

As a matter of fact as I was meditating on the new year… I heard an inner voice saying “ I will do more than you have ever seen, in 2016”.

Mr. Sutherland's walked the boarding areas of the train station on a frequent basis. You see his only son, Wilfred, was a soldier in the War, shot down in the conflict. They did not know if he bailed out or if he was captured or if he died. The father never gave up hope. Within his heart was a hope that his son was still alive. On Christmas Day, he thought he saw his son in a crowd around a train station, but before he could get there the individual was gone. The father felt in his heart that his son was still alive.

There was still hope that possibly he was suffering from some kind of amnesia. So the father liquidated all of his resources and began making posters with his son's picture, putting his own name, address and phone number on them. He looked and looked for his son. Every Christmas would find him at that train station with a heart of hope, watching and waiting for his son to come home.

Like that father, God has been waiting all our life to introduce Himself to us as He truly is and He’s waiting for us to know the power of His forgiveness, and He is eager for us to know Him as “Emmanuel” God with us and in us.

He’s waited in the good times and the bad times, in the ups and downs, in the highs and the lows. He’s waited in the agony and the ecstasy of our lives…. He desires to be more than a good up there, or out there….He desires to be the God in there, not far off, but within us by Divine covenant that is stronger than any document on earth.

This New Year, Instead of resolutions, may we have a revelation of a new covenant revolution!

Prayer…. Lord Jesus, as I enter into this New Year, may the witness of Your Spirit saturate my heart and mind. In all that I do, I acknowledge your holy presence and give thanks for the wisdom, strength, and peace, which you give to me. Father, thank you that your constant Presence in my life, is a faithful witness to me, giving insight, and inspiration, and gently guiding me in making wise and compassionate decisions.

I know that nothing can touch my life without Your permission. I choose to resist the enemy of my soul and submit myself to You. I know that You only desire and have already provided what is best for me in everything, at all times, and it is planned by the Father, purchased by the Son, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. In You Lord, we have A love that can never be fathomed, A life that can never die,

A righteousness that can never be tarnished, A peace that can never be understood, A rest that can never be disturbed, A joy that can never be diminished, A hope that can never be disappointed, A glory that can never be clouded, A light that can never be darkened, A purity that can never be defiled, A beauty that can never be marred, A wisdom that can never be baffled, and resources that can never be exhausted. Thank You, In Jesus' name…. Amen

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