2 Corinthians 5:14-17
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
There was a game we use to play as children called Starting Now. What it was is a restart to a contest that was going wrong. So no matter the sport, game, or activity, if you started losing too bad, all you had to do is declare we’re starting now, and the past play was wiped away. Perhaps in some cases we were more intuitive as children then we are as adults.
I present to you two challenges this morning. Challenge #1 is to truly and honestly see ourselves as new creations in Christ Jesus. We are challenged to abandon our former selves and embrace our new selves: the new you, me, us. The second challenge is a bit more challenging. Challenge #2 is to discover, explore and embrace the new you; and dedicate yourself to being that authentic new self.
First, let me tell you why challenge #2 is so difficult. We’ve been preconditioned to think of Jesus as something more than a man. We have a hard time wrapping our heads around him being a regular human. Truth be told, after all these years, many of us struggle with the image of Jesus whipping folk and knocking over the tables of the money changers in the temple. We understand their activities were ungodly; but the response of Jesus goes against what we image a Christian should do. Especially Jesus. We don’t discuss this, but we’ve made the man Jesus into something other than what he was. And the danger here is by giving him attributes he didn’t have, we diminish the graces he did display. Graces he has shared with each of us.
Allow me to further clarify what I’m saying. As believes, striving to become Christians (Christlike), we wrestle with discouragement and anxiety when we fail to live up to the expectations we’ve set in our minds. If the expectations are unrealistic and untrue, we’ve set ourselves up for failure. Only when we actually see ourselves as Christlike Children of God can we confidently walk in victory. Our failures and mishaps are not the product of our new birth, but rather remnants of our old nature. That’s the old selves we battle daily to destroy.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, ‘well, I’m not Jesus’. That’s a defeatist attitude. He died specifically so we could become just like him. He actually demonstrated what was possible when a person totally and completely gives themselves over to the authority and control of God. It wouldn’t make sense for Jesus to live a life of impossibilities and then direct us to be like him. He demands we be like him because he’s given us to power to do so.
But this all starts with the honest recognition that we are what the Word of God says we are. And we can do whatever the Word declares we can do. So when the scriptures declare, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. The case is closed and the subject resolved. We are what God says we are.
Dear People of God, I know someone right now is thinking, but what about what I did last week? Yesterday? This morning? I would on,y admonish you to confess to the Lord, repent, and begin again..Starting Now!
God Bless
