Last Sunday, we said that "another name for Christian is "Friend"... I think I might be on to a series here about "another name for Christian".....
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. v18 And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation; v19 For we know that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and now He has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. v20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, and God has called out to you by us, that you become reconciled to God. v21 For He was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
The name "Christian" should match our “New Creation” reality!
In one Polish city there is a street named Beautiful. It is probably the ugliest street in town. Unpaved, it is filled with ruts and potholes, and to drive faster than five miles an hour would be unthinkable, and your car would be a candidate for the junk yard. Obviously the street didn't turn out the way the folks who named it had hoped it would be. Too often people who claim to be New Creation believers, talk as if God is real but act as if He were not. Their lives are full of ruts and potholes. How are we going to convince others to follow Christ, if our own lives are a mess. We are the mirror that people will look at and measure the one that we claim as deliverer, healer, savior and Creator…..
What if one day you were walking down the sidewalk and you came face to face with Winnie, and you were shocked, because she was dressed in ragged clothes, her hair was a tangled mess, and she was dirty and smelly…. You would say… “WINNIE, WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED“? You would be shocked, because she’s very careful about her appearance. What if she said, “I just got tired of dressing up, and cleaning up”!!! You would think, “My God, she’s gone, gone, gone.” Is it any different when we just decide we’re not going to act like the “New Creation” that we are, and go back to the old ways…..
Being "a NEW CREATION" is about being totally convinced that when we come to Christ … anything is possible, all things become new … and when the world outside of Christianity takes a look, it will show even before we tell anyone....the world, the Church, and our family and friends! I can’t help but think that people would rather be around the joy, the hope, the faith, the positive outlook, than anywhere on earth. If 2 Corinthians is right about this “New creation” thing, then the world deserves to see lives that have been transformed by God's power. Paul says that we are to be living letters enjoyed by everyone….
If you see a great movie, read an amazing book, or hear a fantastic concert.. You’ll insist that everyone get a chance to enjoy it to! You’ll tell all your friends and contacts. In a great resturant, good food is important, but if the service is aweful, and the place is untidy and the waitresses are indifferent and you feel like no one cares if you are there or not, you probably won’t come back or tell anyone about it….When folks visit Eagle's Rest, don't we want them to go out and tell everyone...."Those folks are the friendliest, the happiest, and the most caring people I've ever met!!!???
Listen, until we are the largest church in the keys, we can be the most loving.... the friendliest, most caring, and most joyful church in the keys!!!
An article in a San Francisco newspaper reported that a young man who once found a $20.00 bill on the street determined that from that time on he would never lift his eyes while walking, so he wouldn't overlook any money. The paper went on to say that over the years he accumulated, among other things, 29,516 buttons, 54,172 pins, 12 pair of old shoes, 4 dead cats, 39 keys, a bent back, and a miserable disposition. But he also lost something—he lost the glory of the sunlight, the radiance of the stars, the smiles of friends, and the beauty of blue skies.
Where are you looking?
The psychologist says: Look Within!
The opportunist says: Look Around!
The optimist says: Look Ahead!
The pessimist says: Look Out!
God says: Look Up!
We will find what we’re looking for….
Paul wants us to look up and live above the world. We are in the world, but we are not of the world. We are called to live a life "worthy of the calling" we have received in Christ. A life that would reflect all the best that defines the Kingdom of God…..
We flesh out God's forgiveness, His favor, His love, and His faithfulness! It’s not an automatic, cruise control thing, No, we smile and we’re cheerful and we extend our best appearance even when we don’t feel like it, because we defer to one another and we want that other person to have an encounter with Jesus, and we don’t want our old self to hinder the “New creation” experience!!! We put the principles we believe into practice, and we flesh them out!!
Paul speaks about the differences in our gifting and at the same time he speaks about unity in the flow of it all. He’s telling us that in a “New Creation” society of believers, our differences don’t have to be a source of division, but he is saying that there is unity in Diversity! Our diversity is not meant to divide us, but to unite us as a multi-faceted extension of God’s all encompassing grace.
There is no place for cultural, racial, gender, or religious bias in the “New Creation” Christian’s heart. All the fishermen around the Florida Keys understand that you can’t clean fish until you get them in the boat, and usually when you get them to the dock…. Why do we try to clean up people before they are even saved!!! Why do we put round pizzas in square boxes and eat it in triangles? Leave the bias and the preferences for someone else… as for you, God loves them, so let’s love them and blow them away with kindness…. I said last week, the best way to get rid of enemies is to make them your friends, (what a novel idea)!!!
Growing up I heard the statement that someone was wearing their position like a cheap suit…. I didn’t fully understand what they were saying until I got a tailored suit… It was made for me and fit me perfectly, I believe that instead of wearing Christianity like a “New Creation”, there are folks who are wearing it like a cheap suit! The same thing happens when we try wearing someone else’s garments. It may look good on them but it looks terrible on us, because it was made for them….You were born an original, don’t die as a copy of someone else! You’re a New Creation!!!
There are Many who attend God’s house every week across this land, week in and week out, who have fallen into the hitchhiker mentality. I guess there must be hitch-hiker spirits that get on people...Their hitch-hiker thumb says, "You buy the car, pay for repairs and upkeep and insurance, fill the car with gas--and I'll come ride with you. But if you have an accident, you are on your own!" There are others who will give me a ride….That’s not a “New Creation” mentality. We must be different than this.... We are all in this together for mutual benefit and growth.
A man went to an asylum for the criminally insane. He was a bit surprised to find that there were only three guards to take care of a hundred inmates. He said to one of the guards, "Aren't you afraid that the inmates will unite together, overcome you, and escape?" The guard said "Lunatics never unite." Locusts unite, fish unite, bees unite and birds unite. Because they understand the power of unity in diversity. (Speaking of unity in diversity) Ephesians 2:18 “For through Him we all have access by one Spirit unto the Father. v19 Now therefore we are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God. v20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone. v21 In whom all the building is fitly framed together and is growing into an holy temple in the Lord. v22 In whom we also are being built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit”.
The scripture says we have been grafted into the vine and receive the life of the vine.... We don’t need salvation to live like we lived before we met Christ. When you truly are a “New Creation”, Your life will show it! You believe that you can do what you couldn't do before.... In the old life, we made excuses, but in the “New Creation” life, we let the God of all hope speak the outcome…. Adam said “It’s her fault, the woman gave me to eat.” God said, “But I will have seed of the woman to crush Satan’s head.” Moses said, “Lord, I do not speak well enough to go to pharaoh.” But God said “I go before you, and I will be in your mouth.” Samuel said, “Lord, these are the best and preferred sons of Jesse.” But God said “I do not look on the outward man, but I look at his heart”, and He chose David…. Elijah said, “Oh God, I am afraid, kill me now!” But God said, “I shall feed you and give you rest so you can go in my power.”…. Peter said, “Lord, I will never deny you.” But God said “Even though you deny me, I call you a rock, and you will feed my sheep.”….. There are many who have said, “I am too far gone to be saved, God can’t love me.” But God has said, “ What is impossible with men is possible with God, Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest”.
Some years ago, I met a young man who dives for exotic fish for aquariums. He said one of the most popular aquarium fish is the shark. He explained that if you catch a small shark and confine it, it will stay a size equal to the aquarium it is in. Sharks can be six inches long yet fully matured. But if you turn them loose in the ocean, they grow to their normal length of eight feet. I believe that can happen to Christians who limit the potential they have as “New Creations” in Christ. The world needs "proof" of the power of the Gospel that can only be shown through New Creation Christians! Guess where they need to find it… IN US!
They will compare us to the cheerful service they get at their favorite restaurant, to the open acceptance they find at the bar, and by the joy they find in being with their friends.
The world needs more examples of godly people, whose marriage and family life may have struggles, but they can’t question their love and devotion…. who’s work ethic is second to none, whose personal life and character may have glitches, but they’re open about it and are working on it with Brothers and sisters….. What they don’t need are more arguments about everything they’re doing wrong! You can put lipstick on a pig but it doesn’t make it a runway model!! But it is love, ginuine concern and being a friend, not lipstick that will transform the pig.....(now I'm not calling anyone you know a pig)
If I were getting on an airplane, and I saw a man in a captain’s uniform, with a name tag, and I said, “Good morning, Captain” and then called him by name, no one would be surprised, because the proof of who he is, can be identified by his uniform and name tag. If I saw a young lady dressed like a stewardess with a name tag, and asked her for a coke, and called her by name…. no one would be surprised because I can read. It’s the same with “New Creation” Christians…. You should be able to identify us because everything in our lives declares that we act like, speak like, and look like it!!! Let them say, “I see Jesus in you”!!!
Gen. Omar N. Bradley said, “We have too many men of science, too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. ... Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about really living”.
The world won't be changed by TEXTBOOK LECTURES and commercial advertisement, as much as it will be changed by TRANSFORMED LIVES!
Someone might say, There's a lot of two faced people in the bible.... “How do we explain the fact that Noah, a Godly man, once got comatose drunk? How do we explain that Samson, a man chosen of God, had a fatal weakness for the opposite sex? How do we explain that Peter, the great apostle, once denied our Lord three times with swearing and cursing? When a person is converted they are a new creation. They are not both old and new. In Christ we are a new creation, but we all must have our minds and our thinking transformed by the word of God. It is the word of God that brings our new nature in line with our thinking so that our will is established in new values and principles. It is our will that determines our actions. When we act different than our “New Nature” the problem is that we have not allowed our old values to be transformed by kingdom values. Sow a thought, and you reap an act….Sow an act, and you reap a habit… Sow a habit, and you reap a character….Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.
Let me use the example of a hot air balloon… There are sandbags which weigh it down and keep it on the ground. But if you want to get it up in the air, you have to fill the balloon with enough hot air to overcome the weight which pulls it down. The more hot air you put in it, the higher it will rise. But if you stop putting hot air in it, it will come down. We need to continually, pray, read and meditate on God’s word, and choose to fellowship with other Christians in order to overcome the weights that would pull us down, or we will cave into the flesh. Henry G. Bosch wrote the words….”I'm pressing on the upward way, New heights I'm gaining every day --Still praying as I'm upward bound, Lord, plant my feet on higher ground."--
We show proof of the New Creation, when we forgive, when we do unto others as we would have them do unto us, when we go the second mile, when we exercise discipline in our emotions, when we love our enemies, and when we can still keep our joy when everything is falling apart around us…. Corrie Ten Boom said ‘Look around and be distressed…Look inside and be depressed…..Look at Jesus a find peace and rest. If you put a potato in a pot hot, boiling water, an egg in another pot of hot, boiling water, and coffee in a third pot of hot, boiling water, you will find that the potato went in hard and came out soft, the egg went in soft and came out hard, but the coffee instead of being changed by the hot water, transformed the hot water that it was in, into a dilicious drink! We can either be changed by our challenging circumstances or we can transform the circumstances we are in!!! (Because we are New Creation people)
Do others know that you are different since you found Christ? Is the old self dead and is the new self demonstrating proof of God's power over your hot water?
A turkey farmer, found a wounded eagle. He patched it up and it lived with the turkeys. It ate with the turkeys, slept with the turkeys and hung out with the turkeys all day long. It began to think it was a turkey until one day some eagles flew overhead and called out. The turkeyfied eagle answered that call and rose into the air to meet them and never returned. No matter what may come your way, don’t forget who you are…you are a “New Creation” eagle christian!!!
After I had put the finishing touches on my message for today, in the afterglow, I wrote these words which I close with.... 2 Corinthians10:5 " Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exaltes itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
Obedience cannot wait. What will it take to flip that switch of obedience? What will it take to begin the transformative steps to re-invent your self and move toward your best self? It has to do with where and what your treasure is..."Where your treasure is, there your heart is also"..... Our treasure is usually the thing that will take us where we go even if it is not what is best. We need to line our treasure up with our core vision. Only then are we going to be motivated to stretch ourselves to do what we need to do. We must be constantly re-inventing ourselves and to do this we must let go of the self that is less than our vision, so we can move to the next level. 1 Samuel 15:22 "And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than your choice offerings."
Conversion means becoming something NEW - it is a process of becoming what we are called to be in Christ, a NEW MAN or NEW WOMAN! It means "change" - from the old ways to the new ways, God's ways! How's the development and progress of the "NEW CREATION" going in our lives? -
Prayer….. “Lord Jesus, Thank You that you have redeemed us and made us to be "New Creation" believers. Thank You for the Holy Spirit that you have sent to be our Teacher, our Guide, our Comforter, and our Encourager. Lead us and guide us by Your light and truth as we walk in the light of Your revealed word of truth. When circumstances come that could shake us, lift our head through faith that we may walk in the joy of the Lord. Lord, we ask You to show us through the Holy Spirit any hindrances to receiving all that You offer to us. We choose to ask, seek, and knock on the door of Your promises, until we receive all that the You desire to bring to us. Shine through us in these dark days so that we may be a light to our world. We ask for revelation from the Holy Spirit in order that our eyes can see You as You really are and know You as we are known of You. We cast off the spirits of intolerance, anxiety, anger, betrayal, resentment, distraction, denial, rejection and unbelief, so that it is not our will but your will that is accomplished in our lives. We choose to seek first Your Kingdom, as the world is crumbling around us. Thank You for all your many gifts and Your grace, which gives us strength to persevere in love and obedience. Strengthen us as we stand fast on the Rock of Your truth. Lord, we choose to turn over to You all our failures and discouragements in life. Thank You Jesus that You give us your power, authority and dominion as we hand You all our dreams and ambitions. We speak and declare Your truth, which releases the anointing for success and prosperity. We can do all things through your finished work which overwhelms all lack, and insufficiency in us. May all power, glory and honor be Yours forever and ever. In Jesus name we pray, Amen”.
