Good morning. Pretty cool to preach preach in
this church for the first time. So let's go, let's do it.
Well I was wondering what was going to happen with Cole over
here like a like he just like walked over here in the middle
of that song with a bag of What are those?
Are they sour sour worms. Sour Patch Kids.
I was I was hoping that Joseph was going to be like the a
teacher and be like Cole. If you bring something in the
class you need to share with the whole church.
Did he give you some Dirk? No, he didn't accept.
Okay, well, that's okay. Anyway, let's get to see all of
you. Welcome to 2023 right?
We We made it through 2022. So as Cole mentioned this
morning, we're starting a series on the spiritual disciplines.
And if that's ounds like a really churchy word, you're not
familiar with it. When we say spiritual
disciplines, what we're talking about is basically we want to
build spiritual muscles in this church.
And the spiritual disciplines are like doing a spiritual work
out like working out our spirituality and basically
growing spiritual muscles. Exhorts the church throughout
the Epistles to discipline themselves in godliness.
No, I don't want thank you. Thank you.
I love being interrupted in that way.
Thank you. Paul tells us to discipline
ourselves and godliness, not the eating of sour worms.
And as a church, we fought we, as goal mentioned, we have five
ways in which we do that, five basically spiritual workouts,
that we do as a church to build ourselves up in the faith, we
practice the intake of scripture, the practice of
solitude in praying, the practice of Sabbath thing, and
resting in Jesus of self-denial and fasting.
And in also, in the practice of the seasons, orienting our
calendars around the spiritual practices.
And today, what we're going to be doing, we're going to be
doing is not necessarily starting just talking about
those spiritual disciplines in individually.
But we're going to get down to the foundation down to the
basement layer of the spiritual disciplines and see what's at
the bottom of them. And I believe that if we can get
to the bottom of those, well, our experience in practicing,
the disciplines will, I believe be filled with joy, because
sometimes it's difficult, and a lot of times it's difficult, And
so I want to do that with you this morning.
So in 2016 there was a newspaper article that came out that sent
little Ripples and waves through the health and wellness movement
in America, they published a study showing that 70% of gym
memberships. Have no one showing up to the
gym. Which is crazy, right?
Seventy percent of people who have a gym membership never show
up. Now I'm not interested in
painting old Jim's the same and I'm sure the one you go to is
better than this. So I'm not here to and you know,
being a bigger guy that is out of shape.
I don't have an agenda here to shut down the health and
wellness industry. But this struck me, 70% of gym,
memberships are basically just donations.
Who have better odds going to Vegas playing Blackjack at 40%
of a chance of winning the go into a gym and getting in shape,
something's up with it. Well it's just got me thinking
and I'm like I said, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from
getting gym memberships. I need one right.
But there's a point here, really a question.
What is going on that? So many people are buying
memberships but not showing up. And I think the answer is
simple. Change is hard, change is really
freaking hard. It's really hard and apparently
changes somewhat rare room. And we all know this whether
it's gym, memberships a diet, whether it's reading through the
Bible in the year, how many of you made it through the 2022?
Reading through the Bible in the air plan.
I see a couple hands good for you guys.
You're rare. A lot of us started and didn't
make it. Our prayer life is our prayer
life. Did we pray as much as we
intended to in 2022? New, Year's resolutions, are
like this. We make commitments.
We want to make changes. We want to make improvements,
but we end up finding ourselves in the 70%.
Because change is hard. How do we end this?
So the question that keeps coming to my mind as I think
about this as they think about the disciplines is, how do we
escape the black cloud of the seventy percent and is it even
possible? Or is it just based on like
personality type, those who are naturally disciplined?
This is there really any Hope for Change.
Or to put it another way is practicing.
The discipline is just another way to feel like a failure.
Is it just another way to realize?
I didn't stick it out. What does that say about me as a
person? Well, I have good news for you
this morning. I have good news.
God, I believe wants to fill you with hope.
This morning. He wants you to know that your
efforts to grow as a Christian or not in vain.
He wants you to know. That you already are what you
aim to be in Jesus. You already are what you aim to
be in Jesus, that change has already occurred.
And you already are what you aim to be in Jesus.
Look at your neighbor and tell them you already are.
When you aim to be in Jesus. Change is not just possible for
a Christian. It is absolutely certain and I
want us to see that in the text that we're going to be looking
at together this morning. So stand with me as I read.
Second Corinthians 5:16 down to 6:1.
Paul writing here, says in verse 16 of second Corinthians chapter
5. From now on therefore we regard
no one according to the flesh even though we once regarded
Christ, according to the flesh, we regard him.
Thus no longer. Therefore if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away and
behold. The new has come all, this is
from God who through Christ reconciled us to himself and
gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
That is in Christ. God was reconciling the world to
himself not counting their trespasses against them and
entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ.
God, making his appeal through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God for
our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin.
So, that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.
Working together with him. Then we appeal to you to not
receive the grace of God, in vain, you could be seated.
The word of the Lord. It is good and it is true.
I think everybody loves a good locker room speech.
Everyone loves a love. You go to YouTube, you could
type in locker room speech and you get these scenes and Locker,
especially in football locker rooms or gets loud and Rowdy and
got a coach there yelling. And you got, you got the
inspirational music behind you. We all love inspiration like
this. But I want you to know.
I want to make clear here that Paul does not give us a locker
room speech here. It is not just like a
motivational. You can do it speech.
It's not a believe in yourself kind of Passage.
It is also not a new law that you're just going to struggle to
keep. It's not a get it together,
figure it out people, this passage is about two things,
it's telling us who Jesus is, and what a difference, he makes
in your life, what change? He brings into your life.
You see the difference between a locker room, speech, and this
passage is at the focus is not so much on what you need to do.
But on what Christ has done and what he's doing in you because
he wants you to know you already are what you aim to be in Jesus.
So Paul Starts Here by helping In verse 16, to reorient our
thinking about ourselves, he wants us to know who we are
because you and I, if you're like me, I feel like a failure.
I feel like, I'm reminded of the many things I intend to do, but
don't, but Paul wants us to reorient, our thinking about
ourselves and to reorient, our thinking about one another in
the church, he wants to speak to you about your identity.
Who are you? What are you?
And he says there in verse 16, from now on therefore, we regard
no one according to the flesh. We're not to understand
understand ourselves. We're not to know ourselves or
one another as just average basic humans.
We're not average basic people. Paul is saying, we don't regard
one, another as the normal person in the world, we're not
the 70%. In other words, we're not, we
are something different and I'm wonder and this question, I felt
this. Do I really believe that?
I'm not just the average Joe Do I really believe that?
I am not just the normal 70 percent and Paul here to help us
with this. He uses Jesus as an example to
help us think through this uses Jesus there and verse 16.
He says even though we once regarded Christ, according to
the flesh he was just the son of Mary, a carpenter who lived who
came from Nazareth. Just, he appeared in many ways
to just be a regular dude who also happen to really like the
Bible. But when he dies for sin and
raise us from the dead, we realize, oh, he's not just a
regular guy. He is not just a dude, from
Nazareth, he's the Lord, he's the Christ, he's God and do him
in his do worship. And so we don't just regard him
as a regular person. Paul is saying in a similar, but
different way we should not be regarding one.
Another as just regular people, we shouldn't regard ourselves as
a regular person in verse 17. He tells us how we should regard
ourselves. Elves and how we should regard
one another. he says in verse 17, therefore if you are in
Christ, Your what? A new creation.
You're Something Different. You aren't a normal average.
Joe you aren't just a regular person.
You aren't the 70%. That's not you.
You you have a different identity.
We're a new creation. Do the resurrection of Jesus.
His identity as God In the Flesh, was put on full display
and our Union to Christ by faith allows us to share in the
miracle of his resurrection, which is being changed into a
new creature. His resurrection brings us the
ability to be a new creature. Experiencing the work of New
Creation in our hearts. And You know, that can just
sound like a bunch of religious nonsense if you leave it there,
you know, we put this, we put verse 17 on coffee cups.
We scribe it on our walls. You know, we memorize it and we
it becomes a slogan. Oh we're new creatures in Christ
but what does that actually mean?
What does that actually mean? And because I think if we get
get to the bottom of this, it will really help us in
particular as we think about the disciplines, Genesis 1 and 2 are
amazing chapters in the Bible. God creates the whole world.
He declares a good, he creates Adam and Eve he declares them
very good and so we get this picture of a pure sinless.
And really kind of Utopia in Genesis 1 and 2.
It's it's flourishing and happiness and joy.
It's what we all would want. It's what we all long for
they're in, loving relationship with one another and their
loving relationship with God and God walks with them in the cool
of the day. It's, it's beautiful.
It's what everyone wants. Creation was good and was all at
peace and joy. But then when we come to chapter
3 in Genesis, we see Adam and Eve fail they sin.
And as they sing God, banishes them from the garden.
He banishes them from his presence and all the flourishing
goes away, sin and death rain. And the question at the bottom
of every book, when you get, when you go through the Old
Testament, from Genesis 3 on is Is there any hope that any of
this is going to change? Is there any hope that we could
get back to Genesis 1 and 2? Is there any hope that Genesis 3
could be undone? Is it possible to get
flourishing life and peace and joy back?
Or we just destined to fail? And into that desperation into
that question comes. Jesus Paul makes explicit
reference to this earlier, in our passage, in verse 14, where
he says, who for our sake or their sake Christ, died and was
raised from the dead. He makes explicit reference to
Jesus being the second Adam in Romans 5, that added, that
Christ was just another atom coming to do what Adam couldnt
do, living the perfect life pleasing.
God living in peace with God. And with his people, he did what
Adam couldn't do. And then he paid for our sin
dying and raising from the dead. You see in Christ, God is
redoing Genesis 1 and 2. Jesus is the re-imagining, the
redoing, the new creation of Genesis 1 and 2.
Jesus was the new Adam and he did not sin and instead brings
life and flourishing. And here's my thought.
Here's my struggle with this. Okay, God's bringing New
Creation in Jesus. Flourishing, peace and joy.
That's great. But my life doesn't look like
it. And a lot of ways I struggled in
the less and if I'm honest I'm just waiting for Genesis 3 to
come again. Just waiting for the shoe to
drop for Genesis 32 come again be banished from God's presence
and be out of luck. That's that, that's the struggle
that I have. So what Paul does here then is
he wants to help us. He he wants to help us to see
that if you fail to read your Bible every year.
And that Genesis 3 is not coming knocking at your door.
He wants you to understand that you are a new creature and it's
not just Genesis 1 and 2 over again.
It's an entirely New Creation. And so I Paul goes on and that
we do not have time to unpack everything that's here but Paul
goes on and he I'm just going to pull out three things quickly,
three things that Paul uses to describe to us what being a new
creation means what it is and how it works.
He's going to show us that as new creatures were reconciled
that were righteous and that were fruitful.
So those are the three things he's going to show us here.
First, he shows us that were reconciled in verses 18 to 20.
He shows us that we are reconciled to God.
He says, all this is from God who through Christ reconciled us
to himself were reconciled, he gave us the ministry of
reconciliation that he made us reconciled people.
You are not a failure. You are reconciled to God.
God is not angry at you, and your job is not to make him
happy with you. You are reconciled with him
through the work of Christ. Jesus through his life, his
death and his resurrection, made peace between us and God, he
reconciled. What was broken in Genesis
chapter 3? Genesis 3 is the story of how
our relationship with God, went bad and in Jesus him stepping NG
in. He makes it right in Christ.
You are reconciled to God. Being a new creature means that
you are perfectly reconciled with God.
You don't need to try to fix your relationship with God
Jesus. Did, you don't need to try to
maintain your relationship with God.
Jesus did and he does, you don't need to improve your
relationship with God because it's already perfect in Christ.
You already are what you aim to be in Jesus.
You cannot read enough of the Bible to make God more happy
with you than he currently is. You cannot pray.
More to God, to make him more happy with you than he already
is in Jesus. In other words you are already
what you want to be with God in Jesus your reconciled.
So when you fail to pray, as your should, or read your Bible,
as you should practice the disciplines as you should, Do
you need to be reconciled with God?
Do you need to, you know, go to him and try to figure out a way
to make peace with them. The answer is no because Jesus
already has for you. In Jesus, you are permanently
perfectly and eternally at peace with God.
He did it, it's done. You don't have to worry about
it. You can rest in him.
In fact it's not just something that's done.
It's your identity. It's who you are.
It defines you as a being. You are a new creature in a far
better place than Even Adam and Eve.
Were you see? Adam and Eve were at peace with
God in the garden in Genesis 1 and 2.
The problem was was they were capable of being at odds with
God and the ended up being at odds with God in Genesis 3.
But what Jesus Does If he gives us a far better situation, he
comes in and he reconciles with God and us with God.
In a way that makes that reconciliation permanent.
We cannot be unreconciled with God, because our reconciliation
is not based upon us or our Behavior, our, our practice of
the disciplines are reconciliation, is rooted in the
work of Jesus, which gives us a very secure Foundation, which
means that when you tried to go practice the disciplines you
could do so without Fear God is not going to be upset with you.
If you don't do what you think you need to do with the
disciplines. You are rooted, you are a
reconciled person as a new creation creature.
You don't have to fear Genesis 3 happening to you again.
Second, you're not only reconciled but you're righteous
verse 21. You're not only reconciled, but
in verse 21 for our sake, he made him to be sin Christ to be
sin, your sin, and my sin. He made him to be sin who knew
no sin. So, that, in Christ, we might
become the righteousness of God. You are righteous.
You're not just reconciled God. It's not just that.
God, you're at peace with God. You are righteous before him.
And that's your very identity. You are a righteous person.
You are not the 70%. You are righteous before him.
So many of us think that if we read more of the Bible that that
will make us more righteous, you cannot be more righteous than
what Jesus has made you. If we pray, more will be more
righteous if we practice more fasting, that'll make us more
righteous know you are righteous in Christ.
You cannot add to it and you certainly cannot detract from
it. You are already righteous and
change has already come at. The question is not is chains
possible. The question, the reality is
change has already happened. It's already happened.
You aren't the old has gone. The new has come.
You are righteous. You have the very righteousness
of God, the righteousness of Jesus.
This is why this is why we just quoted in, in our confession,
that we have the Jesus robe of righteousness.
We wear his righteousness, where his righteousness Adam and Eve
were righteous and they were without sending the garden.
But it was their own righteousness, which means that
it could be lost and it meant that it could be corrupted.
Note, here, we are given God's. Righteousness is what he says in
verse 21, that we might become the righteousness of God.
We don't have our own righteousness, we have God's
righteousness. So what that means is, you can't
mess it up. The change has happened and it's
permanent its effective, and it's forever.
You cannot fail. You are already righteous, you
are already what you aim to be in.
Jesus. Look at your neighbor and remind
them that you are already, what you aim to be in Jesus.
many of you are tired of failing because you've tried discipline
and you've stopped You've tried to read the Bible, then stopped,
you tried to pray and then quit. You tried to stop a particular
sin and you failed. You've tried to improve your
marriage but failed, you've tried to find joy in Jesus and
just feel stuck. No, this you already possess
every good thing you have in Jesus.
You're reconciled Your Righteous.
You're already changed. You're guaranteed to succeed,
you're not your failure, your failures, do not define you, the
righteousness of Jesus does, you're not your mistakes?
Your sins. Your Righteous and Jesus today,
right now, and in him, you are everything wants you want?
You are everything. God wants you to be already.
This means that when you strive to grow, you strive to be
disciplined. You can't fail.
And that's the gospel. That is the gospel.
The gospel is not just Jesus died for your sin and rose from
the dead so that you don't have to go to hell.
It's true. That's not all.
It's also that you have the righteousness of God and you
are, you're not just guaranteed future, change your changed, and
that change is working itself out in your life right now.
He does not demand you to be righteous as if your efforts
are, what will get the job done? He did it for you.
And all we, what we get to do as Christians is living to that
reality. You don't know how many of you
have had friends like, like I think we've all seen this and
maybe I'd been this person but you have a friend who you like,
you love them, you appreciate them.
And that friend is not convinced and so they try to convince you
to be their friend when you're already their friend and they
kind of act in exaggerated ways. They're just kind of like, what
are you doing? I already like you.
You don't need to impress me. I think God might feel that way
about some of us some time, especially with the disciplines
We don't need to get do anything to get him to like us.
We're already righteous. He already loves us, were
already reconciled. Our practice of the disciplines
is not to get his attempt positive attention.
We already have it. If you already have it, it's
already there. And much more.
It means that being being righteous.
Now, listen to this. For some of us, this is a real
struggle being righteous is the authentic version of us.
It's the authentic version of us.
I've heard some people say well I would pray more but that's
just not me. I mean, I would I would be a
fake version of myself. Like I'm putting on
spirituality. Nope.
The authentic version of you is a righteous person who prays the
authentic version of you is the person who loves the god of,
with the word of God and stays in it.
The authentic version of you is the person who worships
passionately and and God is inviting you into that without
fear. Because you don't, you can't
fail and and it is your future that's who you are.
That's who you are and what you will be or people will think.
Well, I feel like a failure because I have really failed.
And so it just be inauthentic for me to come in and pretend
like I'm not a not a failure. Well again your failure doesn't
Define you the righteousness of Christ does.
So be authentic, you comes in to spite, your failure and worship.
Jesus and praise and reads the Bible, you don't practice the
disciplines to get better or to be a reflection of who you are.
The old self, we do it as a reflection of who we really are
in Jesus, which is Reconciled and righteous people.
You see? Genesis 3 is not coming again.
Because in Jesus Your Righteous and will be perfectly forever.
Adam, and Eve had the capability of being unrighteous.
You do not in Christ, you are righteous end of story, it is
who you are. You are already, what you aim to
be in. Jesus, the last thing then we
see here is that we are fruitful and chapter 6 and verse 1.
He says, working together with him, then we appeal to you to
not receive the grace of God in vain.
In light of what Paul is just said, he tells the church to act
to work together with God, he suggesting that we work with
God. So, what he's, what he's
envisioning here is that our identity, our identity, and
Jesus has reconciled and righteous people should produce
activity. Should produce effort should
produce effort, like, living out the disciplines, like, fighting
against sin like striving to make our marriage.
Better, whatever it may be. Because being a new creature
does not produce lazy people. It just doesn't, it doesn't
produce people who sit back and say, well, I'm reconciled and
righteous, there's nothing for me to do it.
Produces people who then are free.
And happy to engage the work that God has called us to do.
Because we're not trying to earn anything, but because we can
joyfully and freely live in. Do we already are in Jesus.
Freedom yields work and you all know that freedom yields work.
You all know this because well, My wife and I go on vacations
from time to time freed from the restraints of our labor during
the week freed from the restraints of normal life.
Having to clean the house, we got a hotel room and the maid
can do it freed from having to make our own meals.
The restaurant can do it freed from keeping an agenda.
We get to set our own agenda, it's amazing.
And then what happens when you get home, From vacation after
all that freedom. I need a vacation from my
vacation, don't you all feel that way?
I need a couple days to recover from the work of vacationing
before I go back to work. It's a real thing because
Freedom makes you want to go out and do things with your freedom,
it breeds work. And that's what Paul's
envisioning here. The freedom you have is
reconciled and righteous people is going to make you want to do
things because now you do, You're not inhibited.
Now I'm not inhibited with, I can't fail and reading the
Bible, I'm not just going to read it through.
Once I'm gonna read through three times this year, that's
the idea that Paul has in mind here.
I got ahead of myself. This is the kind of thing that
happens in the Christian Life when Jesus makes you a new
creature. You don't use that new identity
tube out of life and stare at a screen all day.
It leads to work too, good work and context here that leads to
the ministry of reconciliation. Bringing New Creation to the
world around us and to others around us.
But for our purposes today it means working out the
disciplines. It means getting after it and
prayer and Bible reading fasting, the seasons and resting
in Jesus's accomplishment for us.
Note here, he says that working together with him.
Our work won't be in vain. Look at that in verse verse 12,
not receive the grace of God in vain mean, meaning that your
efforts are going to be worth. All the work you're not wasting
your time. That's really good news because
that means, that means that if you intend to read through the
Bible this year and you make it to February, that there's good
fruit in that. And God is working through it
and he's using it and it's not a waste of your time.
Well, I didn't make it through. I'm a fail.
You know you're righteous and your work is fruitful.
God is going to use it to bless you and serve you.
So I don't know if you're tending to read through the
Bible in the air, the through the year and this year.
But if you do, take that word of Hope, don't fear failure.
Jumping. God will make your work.
Fruitful your work is already fruitful.
You are a fruitful person in Jesus.
It is part of your identity. It's part of the reality.
Be of being a new creation. Paul says, this another way a
couple chapters earlier in chapter 3 and verse 18, mm might
be up on the screen if the if it's in the computer still back
there. He says this, he says we all
with unveiled face beholding, the glory of the Lord are being
transformed into the same image from one degree of Glory into
another. That as Christians, we look at
who we are in Jesus and God takes our little meager efforts
from one Glory. He to another and we grow.
And so we might not get through the Bible in a year this year.
That's just one Glory. There's Mo so many more to come.
God is great. God is working through you to
make sure that you are fruitful, you will realize and become the
righteousness that you already are in Jesus, it's coming.
It's certain, you cannot fail with it.
You don't make progress becoming you don't make more progress
becoming more righteous. You don't make progress becoming
more reconciled with him. You make progress, living into
your true self as a person who was already righteous You live
in to the reality of who you are as a changed, person a righteous
and fruitful person who's deeply loved by God.
So as you can see here Paul doesn't just give us a I hope
it's not perceived as just a motivational speech.
He wants to reorient your vision of who you are and how that
works out in your life. It's not just a TED Talk.
He helps us to see our true identity in Jesus and to live
out of it. In 2007, Georgia Tech.
They were an underdog football team at the time.
Not very good. They didn't have a team that on
paper, look, the best and they went to go play Notre Dame.
They were a team, Georgia Tech was team, just riddled with
injury and illness. And before they went into that
game, the the team chaplain, he got up and gave a speech.
He grabbed a big hammer, and if you watch this on YouTube, they
got like real inspirational music behind it.
He standing there with this big sledgehammer, and he's talking
to him. And he goes, we're gonna fight
until we can't fight no more. We're gonna lie down and we're
gonna bleed a while. Then we're gonna get up, and
we're gonna fight some more and the cheapest, and they go crazy,
and they go out and they win the game, right?
It's great. So it's a great locker room
speech. It's exciting.
It's motivating. Run through wall with a football
helmet. Like it's great but it's not
gospel. It's not gospel.
Here's how Paul would say it to us.
We're going to fight until we can't fight no more but Jesus
was already beat down for us. He bled to death, then he got up
from the dead and he fought to give us the victory that he
already won. You've already won so now just
go out and play like it just go out and play like it because
it's done. God wants you to know you
already are what you aim to be in Jesus.
So practice the disciplines with the freedom and the joy.
That that truth gives you. Let's pray and ask him for help
to do that. God, we thank you for the hope
that we have in Jesus. Good night without it.
A world of Genesis threes would just be looming over our heads.
I just pray Lord that this year, as we think about the
disciplines, as we strive to live for you that 20:23 would
just be a year of even greater glory than we could imagine.
As we behold your face together, we pray and ask this in Jesus
name. Amen.
I just pray Lord that this year, as we think about the
disciplines, as we strive to live for you that 20:23 would
just be a year of even greater glory than we could imagine.
As we behold your face together, we pray and ask this in Jesus
name. Amen.