WHAT’S NEW?

February 23, 2024

Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away.
Behold, the fresh and new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17 AMPC

1. A NEW CREATION. You are a new creation in Christ – a species that never before existed. I don’t believe the naturalist worldview that we are just a species amongst many species, an apex predator mammal in the animal world. God made us in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). We are the crown and glory of His creation. The book of Psalms says, “You have made him a little lower than God” (8:5). Artificial Intelligence will never be able to replicate the human soul. It can amass information like a brain and regurgitate information; AI can even collate information in a way that seems original and creative. But let me tell you something: you and I are fearfully and wonderfully made, and God – the unique person of the universe – breathed into you the breath of life. First, in Adam with creation, and then Jesus came and offered us salvation – a new beginning and a rebirth. 
 
Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Romans 6:17-18 NLT 
 
2. A NEW IDENTITY. I remember in the 1970s, a Texas pastor shared on Romans chapter six, which shows how we went from being slaves of sin to slaves of righteousness. This pastor explained that before we were saved, we were chained to sin. We did good things occasionally, but sin was our habit and go-to default. But when we became Christians, the chain to sin was broken, and instead, we got tethered to righteousness. Now, righteous living is our habit, and we have become ruined to sin. While we have these earthly bodies, we will have to contend with the tempter, temptation, and tendencies of the flesh, but we are no longer identified with sin.
 
For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Romans 6:4 NLT 
 
3. A NEW LIFE. Jesus deals with the sin problem that nothing else can resolve. There are some notable philosophies and beautiful self-help procedures. Even some world religions, according to C.S. Lewis, “contain at least some hint of the truth.” But only Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). Self-help can’t assuage the sin condition. Philosophy can’t deal with the darkness that comes from our captivity to sinfulness that separates us from God. Only Jesus can eradicate sin. Nothing is more significant than the redemptive work and the power that resulted from what Jesus did on the cross for us. Jesus is the master stroke of the best thing that has ever happened to humanity. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!
 
God bless you! 
Pastor Jeff Perry

DAILY CONFESSION:
I am dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ, so I walk in newness of life. Since I am in Christ, I am a new creation, a new creature altogether. The old has passed away, and the fresh and new has come! (Romans 6:11, 4; 2 Corinthians 5:17)

new, adj.
Not existing before; made, introduced, or discovered recently or now for the first time.

^{Copyright © 2024 St. Louis Family Church, All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. lockman.org. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2009.
 “New, Adj.” New Oxford American Dictionary (3 ed.), Oxford UP, 2015, https://www-oxfordreference-com.slcl.idm.oclc.org/display/10.1093/acref/9780195392883.001.0001/m_en_us1271187?rskey=sDLNPL&result=1.}