NEW LIFE
Today, we witnessed people publicly telling others of their commitment to the Lord by being baptized.
Beautiful picture of dying to our old life, and becoming new in Christ.
You may wonder, now what?
Will I be completely different?
What happens when I don’t always feel close to God?
Look at what it means to have a new life in Christ.
…At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 2 Corinthians 5:16
17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
WHAT IF I DON’T FEEL NEW?
WHY WE DON’T FEEL NEW
OUR PAST: What we did.
OUR PAINS: What someone did to us or we did to ourselves.
OUR PATTERNS: What we continue to do.
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Romans 7:18-19
We are not changed by our feelings—we are changed by our faith in our God.
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HOW DOES CHRIST MAKE US NEW?
1) HE FORGIVES US FROM OUR PAST.
In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace… Ephesians 1:7
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you…
20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
22 the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.
Luke 15:11-23
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. Isaiah 43:25
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
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HOW DOES CHRIST MAKE US NEW?
2) HE HEALS US FROM OUR PAIN.
(The Lord) has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. Isaiah 61:1
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
HOW DOES CHRIST MAKE US NEW?
3) HE FREES US FROM OUR PATTERNS.
21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:21-24
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4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. I John 4:4
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
In Christ…we are
Forgiven
Healed
Freed
9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
Colossians 3:9-10 NLT
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
