At the beginning of each year, people all over the earth make resolutions. I am going to lose weight, I am going to stop smoking, I am going to have more patience, I am going to get out of debt, I am going to be more compassionate.
I believe the majority of us start out well, with good intentions of really making it. We all have a born desire to be better, to do better and have a better life. I believe that New Year’s Resolutions are good, they give us a goal to achieve that will ultimately help us to be better people.
Statistics show that the majority of these resolutions that we make each year usually are broken within three to six months.
Why do we do this? Is it because we are taught since birth that new is better and old is bad? Most of us like things that are new, especially useful things. We like new cars, houses, clothes and so on. But for most, when the newness wears off, we start craving and seeking something newer. I believe it is our flesh that cries out for the next best thing in life, new is better and we must have the newest item and we gotta keep up with the Jones’.
Just as we discard things when the newness wears off, we do the same with our resolutions.
- “A New Year’s Resolution is something that goes in one Year and out another.”
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17
God has given to us something that continues to stay new from the day we accept it. And it will never grow old. Many of us here this morning have accepted this newness, this new life that shall never grow old or dull.
We gave our lives to Jesus and we became new creatures, full of life and excitement. We dove into the Scriptures, spent time in prayer, never missed a church service, listened to Christian music and we even talked about God, Jesus and this new life we received to our friends and family.
But something has happen since then hasn’t it? The newness of our faith has diminished and we no longer have that excitement that zeal. With each year that passes us by, we grow a little further from God and the Life Resolution that we made becomes old a little less important to us.
As we sit here at the dawn of a new year, what is it that we can HONESTLY say that we can give to God?
VIDEO: “This Year”
Why is there always such a huge gap between what we resolve to do and what we actually do, especially in matters of faith?
Christian, God wants us to look at our Life’s Resolution that we made and non-believer’s God wants you to make your Life’s resolution today. God desires us to keep our Resolution in Serving Him fresh and new. What better time to do this then now as we look to a new year.
Scripture tells us that we can have a new life, "a new beginning". When we are born again, we become God's "new creations". In this we come to possess several things as a result of God's grace.
First of all……
I. We Have a New Position
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ..."
A. The phrase "in Christ" contrasts with what we were before our faith came and did its work. Our old position was "without Christ".
1. There is one question that has plagued many believers for years. It is a question that has been brought to me on several occasions. “If someone claims to be a Christian, why do they act as if they’re not”?
Illustration: One dying heretic was quoted as saying: "God will forgive me... it’s his profession." The heretic had no intention of repenting of his past; he was just flippantly declaring that God would have to forgive him, because that was what God was known for.
2. This is the problem. For many of us, we only hear what we want to hear as far as God’s Word. We seem to change the Christian belief into our belief. We want it tailored to fit us and how we want it.
3. A lot of people’s actions betray what they claim to actually believe in and follow as believers in Christ.
4. They’ll go to church on Sunday
… but on Monday they gather with the guys down at the water cooler and tell dirty jokes
They’ll go to church on Sunday
… but on Monday they’re sitting at the computer looking at things they ought not to be looking at.
They’ll go to church on Sunday
… but on Monday they’ll speak badly of the woman down the street they don’t like
They’ll go to church on Sunday
… but on Monday they’ll lose their temper and curse a blue streak.
They’ll go to church on Sunday
… but on Monday… well, you fill in the blank
5. You cannot give your life to Jesus and live as you once did. Once you have given your life to Him, you say good bye to the old life and embrace the new life.
6. I believe that for the majority of people that have given their lives to Jesus, more than likely gave Him their life when they realized that the life they were living was not working out.
7. For some of you maybe you can relate to this? Life had lost its flavor. Problems engulfed you and life was caving in on you. You needed something more out of life because you knew that the life you were living was just not working and you were heading down a one way street or perhaps you had already came to the end of the road. You knew you needed change, you knew you needed JESUS!!
8. You were living without Christ and then you accepted Him you chose a new life, a new position in this world, to serve Him, and to live differently as you said good bye to the old life. Once we said good bye, we we have a new position in life and we have a new character!!!
II. We Have a New Character
"...the new creation has come:"
A. One who becomes a "new creation" is not "new" in the sense of time, but in the sense of quality. They are a different character than the old person. Also, the word "creature" suggests a divine creation. Even as God created Adam and Eve, it is He who creates "new creatures" from old sinners.
1. We asked Jesus to live within us and as He dwells within our hearts we see a different character about us.
2. We have changed, the old has been buried and the new has risen. We act different, we see things and people differently, we have a different perspective on all things of this world because Christ Jesus resides in us and we are no longer living of the world.
Illustration: When I think of the transformation that Jesus makes in us once we accept Him. I think of the Disney movie, “A Bug’s Life” Who has seen it?
It’s a cute movie about the life of ants and their enemies the grasshoppers. There are other characters in the movie as well. There is a stick bug, some rollie pollies, and even a caterpillar named Heimlich.
Heimlich is a fat well fed slow caterpillar that desires to one day become a beautiful Butterfly. At the end of the movie Heimlich finally gets his wish and goes into a cocoon. Watch as Heimlich exits his cocoon and is transformed.
VIDEO: “Heimlich”
3. My point is this: Physically Heimlich really didn’t change did he? Sure he grew some shriveled small wings that didn’t serve a purpose but other than that, he physically he didn’t change at all.
4. This is very much how we change once we receive Jesus into our lives. Physically we do not change. It is an inner change as Christ dwells within us our character changes and our perspective on live changes in every area.
5. We realize that with God in our lives, all things are possible and the rotten dead end road that we once were on has been beaten and we now see that skies the limit for us. We believe that we can fly and we realize that we are truly beautiful in His sight. We are Loved and we have a new life!!!
III. We Have a New Life
"... The old has gone, the new is here!"
A. Once you give yourself to Jesus, the life you once lived is over. “The old has gone”.
1. You receive a new life but for many of us we still cling to that old fleshly life and we
find it difficult to move on and simply except the newness that comes with Jesus.
Paul writes:
“By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:2-4
2. In order to be a Christian you have to die…
- you have to die to your past
- you have to die to the way you used to live
- you have to die to the way you used to think
And when you die to your past… then Jesus can raise you up and give you a new heart and a new mind. And He can give a new way of living and thinking.
3. When you became a Christian did you die to your past??? (yeah you did) Well, what do you do with dead things? You bury them! Once you accepted Jesus I hope that the first thing you did was go to Him in Baptism.
4. Soooo… when you died to sin, you were buried in the waters of Christian baptism. But you didn’t stay buried. Because, then you were lifted out of the water as if you were rising from the dead. AND you rose up from that grave of water. And this symbolizes for us the fact that you became a new creature. Jesus had given you a new life!
5. Now, why would God use such a simplistic tool like baptism to teach us this?
Because God knows we are a very visual people. And it helps to have something visual like this when we’re struggling in our faith.
Illustration: A story is told of a farmer who became a Christian after a long sinful life.
But after his salvation, this farmer would often be troubled with the memories of the things that he was now ashamed of.
He’d be out plowing the field and the guilt and shame of what he’d done in his past would just roll over him in waves till he could hardly stand it anymore.
He was a good church goer, and he knew that his feelings were wrong. He knew he’d been forgiven of all of that. And that the guilt was just Satan’s way of whispering in his ear. And Satan was trying to tear him down and get him to doubt his salvation and the new life that Jesus had given to him.
He knew all that… but he couldn’t quite conquer the feelings that would come on him now and again.
One day as he was out plowing in the field, the old doubts came back to haunt him.
He became angry and decided he was tired of Satan bringing up the past again and again
So he got down off the tractor, went out back of the barn and drove a stake into the ground. And there beside the stake he knelt down and confessed his sins all over again to God. Then he went back out to field and began to plow again.
From that day on, whenever his guilt came back to visit him he’d go out back of the barn and he’d point to that stake and he’d say: “Satan, you get out of here, because there lies my sins. Don’t bring them up again, because I’ve been forgiven.”
6. What that farmer learned was what God wanted us to learn from our baptism.
Whenever we’re faced with the guilt and temptation of the past, -We need to mentally revisit our baptism and say to Satan: “Satan, you get out of here, because there lies my sins. Don’t bring them up again, because I’ve been forgiven.”
Conclusion: You are a new creature; you have a new life, a new position, and a new character. Let’s bury the old and welcome the New.
Being reborn is something that God does in us. The power for new birth comes from the blood of Jesus. And because this new life comes from God - and not from ourselves - the changes in our lives will only be truly effective when we look to Jesus and not ourselves for the strength to overcome our failures.
A new beginning in Christ. You've begun life at least once. If you have never done so, it is time to begin again. If you have already made a new beginning, live your new life with the new focus which comes to light in the gospel. Let this be your New Life Resolution this year!!
