2 Corinthians 5:16-17

We Need Jesus To Be A New Creation In 2010

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NIU UBF 1-3-09
Key verse 5:17 Shp Kevin Jesmer

" Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone,
the new has come."

In our ministry it is the season of key verse testimonies. These are kind of like Christian New Year’s resolutions, where a person reflects on the previous year to see the grace of God in their lives and find areas in need of spiritual growth. We also search out prayer topics and a Bible verse that best reveals our spiritual goals in 2010. People in this world make New Year’s resolutions, but few actually carry out with them. Let’s listen to some interesting facts concerning making changes in our lives in the New Year. About half of all American adults say they are at least somewhat likely to make a New Year's resolution this year. Their top vows are to lose weight (19%), quit smoking (12%) and exercise more (10%). Out of these three mine would be to lose weight and to exercise more. The same poll states that while 65% of people who made a resolution in 2008, kept their promise for at least part of the following year, 35% never even made it out of the gate. We can all agree that people are full of weaknesses. There are days when I find it hard to fulfill the basic activities of my daily life. Indeed, on the first day of a New Year - or decade - resolutions to change seem both an excellent idea and an impossible dream for most…but not for all. Christians don’t have to carry out their resolutions alone. They have a source of power and strength that the people of this world can not know. They are loved and assisted by an all powerful loving Father, who hears their prayers and stands by their side, helping them to keep their resolution and decisions of faith. In short we have an all sufficient Savior by our side…his name is Jesus. Mostly, a Christian’s New Year’s wish is to be a new creation. They want to leave their old selves behind and walk with Jesus in newness of life and heart. This message will focus, not so much on what it means to be a new creation in Christ, but mostly why people need Jesus to keep their spiritual decisions that they make in the New Year. The message will focus around our key verse, verse 17, “" Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."
Reference (http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100101/hl_time/08599195051100http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100101/hl_time/08599195051100)

1. We Need Clear Direction To Make New Beginning.

I think that one of the problems of making a change is that people don’t know what the change should entail, nor the direction that they should change their life to. Like the latest study states, most people want to quit smoking or exercise more. But in Jesus we have clear spiritual direction and goals to aim for. For example, we want to be more like Jesus. We want to grow as shepherds of God’s flock. We want to engage in a discipleship ministry and embrace ways that will help us to grow in faith and in our knowledge and love for God. We choose clearly defined ways to please God. 2 Corinthians 5:6 reads, “9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.” Thank God, that in this world of confusion, we have clear direction in Jesus.

2. We Need To Have Faith In the Almighty Creator God.

The problem with making decisions is that we do not have power to carry through with our decisions. How can we go beyond the hard task of simply surviving in this world? Psychological experts will tell us to make our goals more realistic. In some ways this is true, but God also encourages us to make goals that are not attainable by our own human strength. He wants to fulfill his will in us so that he may build faith in us. Jesus once said, "…Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’" (Matt 17:20) We need to hold onto these goals and come to Jesus with believing hearts. God can make the impossible happen.

3. We Need To Have God’s Hope.

Sometimes we can not keep our decisions that we make in Christ because we loose hope. When we loose hope in ourselves and in God we give up. Think about Abraham. He was an old man of 75 years old. His wife was 65 and barren. They could not have any hope, beyond being a small time sheep herder and die as unknown people and be buried in the deserts sands of ancient Mesopotamia. But God came to Abraham and planted his great and wonderful promises in his hearts. He came to him, in his fruitlessness and said, "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” (Gen 12:2) He left his land, his people and his father’s household to go and live by faith in an unknown land. He wanted to give up many times. Against all hope Abraham believed God. Romans 4:18 reads, “ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." When he held onto God’s hope he could continue to live by faith. He did not give up and all of God’s wonderful promises were fulfilled in Abraham’s life.

4. We Need To Have God’s Forgiveness.
We need to experience God’s forgiveness if we are to be set free to begin a new life of faith. When we discover things in our lives, that we want to change, we tend to punish ourselves for our sins and weakness. Don’t get me wrong, we need to feel some remorse for our sins and failings, but this should lead us to healthy repentance and an acceptance of the grace of God. We should never dwell in our self condemnation. If we do then we basically locked in a prison cell. Research shows that punishment is a poor motivator. It sets people up for even more failure. If all you do is punish yourself for failures you won't stay motivated to change for very long. You remain stuck. We need to come out of the darkness of self condemnation and come into the light of God’s grace and forgiveness. Then the slate will be wiped clean and we can be set free to keep our decisions of faith. There was once a woman caught in the act of adultery. Others condemned her, but mostly she condemned herself. Jesus came to her with the wonderful words of life, in John 8:10-11, “Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." She could have strength from God to get up and leave her old life and begin a new life as a forgiven child of God. Let us accept God’s overflowing grace so that we can leave our lives of sin and live for the glory of God.
5. We Need To Know Our Present Condition.

A major reason why people can not keep their decision of faith is that they do not know themselves. People tend to look at others and criticizing others without giving a thought to themselves.The most important thing is to be honest with yourself. Jesus helps us to see ourselves and this is a good thing. The word of God is like a mirror which Jesus implores us to look into, even daily, so that we never loose sight of who we are. James 1:23-25 reads “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” Let us continue to look into the mirror of the word of God, daily and see ourselves, not walking away. When we do we will see our worldly image change into the wonderful image of Jesus in the coming year.

6. We Need To Trust In God’s Faithfulness.

Sometimes it seems that growing spiritually is slow going. In the song, “He’s Changing Me.” one of the lyrics says, “Sometimes it’s slow goin’ but theres knowin’ someday perfect I will be.” This statement is a declaration of God’s faithfulness. Have you read the Bumper sticker, “Be patient, God hasn’t finished with me yet?” God is faithful. We see that again and again in the lives of God’s people in the Bible. Jacob was an unlikely candidate to be Patriarch of faith. He sought after human love, wealth and honor. He deceived people to get what he wanted. But God was faithful to lead him and work in his life. At the end of his life he declared, “"May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,” (Gen 48:15) Indeed, God who is our faithful shepherd will bring about all the good things he has planned for us, in his way and in his time.

7. God Gives Us A Reason To Try To Make A Change.

Before I became a Christian I tried to make changes in my life with my human willpower. I decided to exercise more and stop smoking, study harder in school and to party less. I would make decisions and try hard to make it happen, but I could not stop. Do you know why? When I would cut back on smoking to 2 cigarettes a day, I would say, “What harm is this going to do?” When I cut back my partying to once a week, I would say, “I need to have social life.” When I got a GPA that was a little better than those around me, I would comfort myself saying, “That’s good enough” or “I’m healthy enough.” It was all relative. After making excuses, I would eventually fade back into my old ways. In other words, I had no absolute reason to sustain my decisions.
Since meeting Jesus I have learned the importance of holding one’s self accountable before God. We can not just excuse away our sin by comparing ourselves with others. 2 Cor 11:12 reads, “We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise” Those who compare ourselves with others are not wise and have no strength to rise to new heights in their spiritual lives. Recognizing this can also be a critical step toward behavior change. We must make Jesus our absolute standard and then we can keep our decisions of faith.
Faith in God gives us absolute reasons to decide to keep our decisions. What is that reason? It is to live for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31 reads, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 reads, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” When we know that we are created to bring glory and honor to God in all that we do, and accepting this fact, we can keep our spiritual decisions without excusing ourselves or lowering the bar.

8. Jesus Provides An Environment For Us To Change

Many fail in their decisions of faith because they need to surround themselves with spiritual friends. Consciously and unconsciously, people tend to imitate those around them. That's why the latest research shows that things like happiness, quitting smoking and obesity can spread like a contagion through social networks. So, surround yourself with friends who can also be role models. "Make sure that people you hang out with are people who look and act the way you would like to. Social imitation is the easiest form not only of flattery but of self-improvement," says Stanton Peele, author of Seven Tools to Beat Addiction. (Read "In Old Age, Friends Can Keep You Young. Really.")
Christian social support is critical to changing all kinds of behavior. Christian friends can not only help you through slip-ups, but they can also help keep your decisions of faith. There are several verses that encourage Christian fellowship. 2 Tim 2:22 reads, “ 22Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” Hebrews 10:25 reads, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” There are so many reasons to not surround ourselves with other believers, but Christian fellowship is crucial to our lives of faith. Let’s not avoid Christian fellowship, but cherish it because through it we can remain strong in the lord and continue on in the right direction in the coming year.
8. Substitute Worldly Things For Spiritual Things.
Many people get focused on the don’t’s of spiritual life. Don’t do this and don’t do that. We end up despairing and not doing anything. It bring s us down. But we need to focus on all the good things we have in Jesus and substitute God honoring things in our lives. When you do you'll simply have less time to crave or engage in the behavior that you want to reduce because you will be engaging in things that please God. Jesus tells us what these things are.
9. Keep The Focus On The Goal
People usually give up on their resolutions because they loose sight of the goal of their quest. But Christians have a clear goal. What is the goal? Is it not Jesus? Hebrews 12 :1-3reads, “ 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.:” Our lives of faith is like a race. We need to keep the goal view and not loose heart. Focus the eyes of your heart on Christ and God will see you through.
There are so many points being made here. It is hard for us to keep everything in our minds. But here is a summary page that we can use to cover the major points with corresponding key verses. There are probably many other reasons why Jesus is necessary to make us into new creations, but I think ten is enough. May God bless you in 2010 to grow in ways that God has laid upon your hearts.

1. We Need To Have Clear Direction “9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.”( 2 Corinthians 5:6)
2. We Need To Have Faith In the Almighty Creator God. “He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matt 17:20)

3. We Need To Have God’s Hope. 2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” (Gen 12:2)

4. We Need To Have God’s Forgiveness. “10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." (John 8:10)

5. We Need To Know Our Present Condition “25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”(James 1:24)

6. We Need To Trust In God’s Faithfulness. ““"May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,”(Gen 48:15)

7. God Gives Us A Reason To Try To Make A Change. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

8. Jesus Provides An Environment For Us To Change “ 22Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Tim 2:22)
9. Jesus helps us to Substitute worldly things for spiritual things.
10. Keep the focus on the goal. “2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)