TOPIC:"Let Christ Make You New"
TEXT:II Corinthians 5:17-21
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed
away; behold, all things have become new" (II Corinthians 5:17, NKJV)
It was a number of years ago that I came upon a very interesting story of a little girl who used to come to her father every morning with this request, "Daddy, please tell me something." When the father would ask, "What shall I tell you?" the child would answer, "Something you have not told me before." Here was a little girl who wanted to hear something new and fresh from the lips of her father. Today I want to speak on something new.
To be sure, if there is one thing that throngs of people desperately need to hear and experience at the beginning of this new year, it is those fresh and vibrant words of the Apostle Paul as found in our text: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." Phillips in his translation gives us this beautiful rendering: "For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether - the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new."
But let us never forget that this newness of which Paul speaks is not found in a PLACE - New York, Chicago, Minneapolis or Los Angeles - and it is not found in a PROFESSION - being a lawyer, doctor or a dentist, it is found in a PERSON - the Lord Jesus Christ. When we receive Christ as the Savior and Lord of our lives, He implants this newness of which Paul speaks within us. For remember only Christ Himself is able to make us a new person, give us a new peace, and equip us with a new power.
If the question is asked, Of what does this newness of which Paul speaks consist? I shall mention four things.
For one thing, this newness of which Paul writes consists of . . .