New Creation
We fall into the trap of thinking that new things will make us happier.
Jeremiah 18:1-6 “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
What does it mean to be in Christ?
- Apostle Paul uses the phrase 82 times in the New Testament.
- It has to do with belonging together.
Jesus prays for his disciples:
John 17:9-11 “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.”
Jesus prays for future believers (Us):
John 17: 20-21 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
The concept of being in Christ is more than joining together – Ownership.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
When you join the army you sign your signature and they OWN YOU:
- You are no longer a civilian.
- You are expected to act differently.
- How many times do you hear someone say “they went in a boy and came out a man”?
When you enlist in the army you:
- Sergeant – Forms a team of four soldiers
- Lieutenant – Forms a platoon (2-3 teams, 16 to 44 soldiers)
- Captain – Forms a company (3 to 5 platoons, 60 to 200 soldiers)
- Lt. Colonel – Forms a Battalion (3 to 5 companies, 300 to 1000 soldiers)
- Colonel – Forms a Brigade (3 or more battalions, 1500 to 3200 soldiers)
- General – Forms a Division (3 brigades, 10,000 to 16,000 soldiers)
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Three parts in this verse:
- Be in Christ
- Let go of the old
- Accept the new
Caterpillar vs. Butterfly
Ephesians 3:14-20 “For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every familyin heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,”
We are to leave our old ways behind and accept his plan for us.
