The Gospel Means New Creation

The scripture reading comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

Please follow along in your bulletin or on the screen.

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.

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 to 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.

This is the word of God.

Thanks, Jefferson, for reading our passage today.

Can everyone hear me okay?

Yeah.

Okay.

Ed can always hear me.

Good morning again.

If you don't know me, my name is Oscar, and I serve as one of the elders here at Watermark.

It's great to see people back from holiday and also to see some new faces here as well.

Now, before I give today's sermon, I'm going to pray what we call the pastoral prayer.

And I would love for all of us to pray this prayer together.

Jesus said there's an amazing power when two or more are gathered in his name to pray.

So as I pray, please don't zone out.

Please focus your hearts and minds and let us pray this prayer together.

Father in heaven, Holy Spirit, Lord Jesus, we give you praise this morning.

We worship you.

We adore you.

You are the sovereign God, the most high, the great I am.

There is truly no one in this world or in heaven that can compare to you.

You are our creator, our provider, our sustainer.

But then you also gave your life for us while our backs were turned firmly against you, God.

You died for us.

Thank you, Jesus.

This morning, God, we want to pray for the leaders here at Watermark, our staff, elders, and community group leaders.

Above all the practical day-to-day responsibilities and duties,

I pray, God, that our first love will be our Lord Jesus.

May the awe of God and the love of Christ drive the way we serve and lead.

And help us understand what it means to be a true servant leader.

Please give us humble hearts that are soft and willing to admit mistakes, faults, and sin,

because we realize that Jesus has already paid the price for all of these things.

And I pray for unity among our leaders, that with one heart and one mind may we labor together to disciple and build up your body.

And Father, we also want to remember the people who have been affected by the flooding in Indonesia,

the volcanic activity in the Philippines, and the fires in Australia.

We pray for those who have lost their homes or even family members.

Oh, God, would you please comfort these people.

Show them your tender love.

And would you protect those who are now exposed to polluted water or polluted air or toxic ash.

Oh, God, have mercy on them.

And may your common grace fall upon all those affected in these countries.

And Father, as we consider the sermon this morning, we ask that you speak to us from your word and by the power of your spirit.

As we continue learning about the gospel of Jesus this morning, would your spirit teach us, rebuke us, correct, and train us in righteousness

so that we would be equipped to do your work.

Help us to see the depravity of our sin.

But would you also open the eyes of our heart to see the beauty of Christ.

And would you cause us to be in awe of you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Anyone know where this picture was taken from?

No, it's not a Sunday morning worship service here at Watermark.

It's not a Bruno Mars conference.

Did someone say retreat?

Our retreat?

Nope.

This picture has nothing to do with Watermark at all.

This picture was taken from the Masters of the Century Seminar,

held last October in Singapore.

And at this event, over 5,000 people came from all over the world,

paying up to 12,000 Hong Kong dollars a person

to listen to a number of so-called celebrity motivational speakers speak

about how to become better versions of themselves.

I'm very tempted to give my opinion on this conference,

but I will refrain from doing so, at least up here this morning.

Ask me later.

But what I will say is that when I read about this conference,

two things came to mind.

The first is that many people are desperate to become better versions of themselves.

Usually the goal is to make more money,

which I think was the theme of this conference in Singapore.

But we also desire other things as well.

We want to improve our relationships.

We want more discipline.

We want to be in better physical shape.

Think about all your New Year's resolutions.

You probably made and broke already.

Generally, we desire to be better versions of ourselves.

And second, many people will look to the teaching of a person

or a group of people to help further this goal

of becoming better versions of themselves.

Now, if you've been with us since the beginning of the year,

you'll know we started a new teaching series called Watermark Essentials,

talking about what we believe as a church and why,

talking about our core values,

which are gospel, community, and mission, right there.

Kevin kicked us off over the past few weeks on the gospel,

while we must continue to teach and preach the gospel as a church,

while we must continue to bathe ourselves in the gospel as individuals,

and how the gospel changes us.

And this morning, we'll be continuing to focus on the gospel,

but perhaps from a slightly different angle.

Whereas last week, Kevin spoke about how the gospel changes us,

today, as we consider this passage from Paul's letter to the church in Corinth,

we'll look at the process of this change,

the process, and what this looks like day to day.

And to do this, we'll slowly walk through this passage from 2 Corinthians

to try to extract what God's word is trying to tell us.

That's where we're going this morning, in case you're wondering.

Now, a little background on Corinthians and this passage.

Around AD 50, when the Apostle Paul planted the church in Corinth,

Corinth was a thriving, cosmopolitan city in Roman-controlled Greece.

As you can see on the map, because of its strategic location,

on a narrow strip of land connecting the southern peninsula to the Greek mainland,

Corinth controlled sea traffic from both the east and the western seas,

and was therefore a hub of trade and finance, kind of like Hong Kong.

And so Corinth attracted people from many different socioeconomic,

cultural, and religious backgrounds.

There were wealthy Greeks from the mainland, there were Roman nobles,

but there were also poor immigrants from Egypt and Syria as well.

Temples of worship to both Greek and Roman gods stood side by side in Corinth

and were probably in close proximity to the church that Paul planted.

And the church that Paul planted was also probably a microcosm of broader Corinth

with people from all different kinds of backgrounds.

But the problem with the church in Corinth was that instead of being a light to the city,

instead of influencing the city, the church in Corinth was being influenced by the city.

And when we read Paul's letters to the Corinthians, particularly the book of 1 Corinthians,

we see Christians whose lives are pretty out of whack with the teachings of Christ.

Disunity and division were widespread among congregants.

Disculpting and divorce were encouraged.

And there was very little care for the weak and the helpless within the community.

And when we read Paul's letters, we can sense his pain.

After planting the church, he left after 18 months to continue planting churches around the region.

But when he heard about how the church in Corinth was living deeply out of step

with the teachings of Christ, he wrote to them a number of times,

encouraging them, but also challenging them in the gospel.

Paul says to them, hey guys, we're saved by the very blood of Jesus Christ.

We're saved by his grace.

We can no longer think and act like how the world does.

Our lives must fundamentally be different.

And looking at today's passage, Paul starts off by saying, if we can turn to verse 16,

from now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.

One of the struggles Paul had with the church in Corinth,

at least at the time of writing this letter of 2 Corinthians,

was that the church was being influenced by false prophets, false teachers.

And as a result, some in the congregation were saying of Paul,

hey, look at him.

Look at Paul.

Look how weak he is.

He has no money.

He's so poor.

He's always getting thrown in jail and getting persecuted.

How can Paul be a true apostle of Christ?

Shouldn't a real apostle be wealthy, have a nice slick hair or white teeth and a fancy car?

Those that slandered Paul were valuing or judging him according to the flesh,

i.e., based on their worldly perspective.

But what Paul is saying is that when we become followers of Christ,

we no longer judge or size up people according to worldly standards.

People are no longer put into the categories of wealthy or poor,

Republican, Democrat, blue or yellow.

You know, we've heard churches in Hong Kong where community groups,

small groups have broken up because of such extreme political views.

Paul would say that's crazy.

He spent one and a half chapters in 1 Corinthians rebuking the church

for putting their pride ahead of their love for their brother and sister in Christ.

For when we see people through the lens of Christ,

we see them for who they truly are,

broken and in desperate need of a Savior.

Look at how Jesus interacted with people when he walked this earth,

whether it was a Roman officer or a wealthy Jewish Pharisee

or the woman caught in adultery.

Jesus cared and loved every single person that he met.

For to Jesus, we're all the same.

We're all inherently messed up, unable to save ourselves.

The gospel really is the great equalizer

because we're all broken and in desperate need of a Savior.

But if our lives are in Christ,

we're all equally and lavishly loved by God.

And this relates to those we love, those we hate,

and those that we're indifferent about.

It's easy to love those we love, right, by definition.

It's much harder to love those we hate

or those to whom we're indifferent.

So next week at that Chinese New Year dinner

when you're seated next to that annoying uncle

who's lecturing you about something random,

remember, he's broken and in desperate need of a Savior.

Remember that.

And that waiter or waitress who's serving you

that you may ignore or maybe you're being rude to

because she's a bit slow,

remember, she's broken and in desperate need of a Savior.

Paul continues and says in the second half of verse 16,

Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh,

we regard him thus no longer.

What Paul may be referring to is perhaps his own experience

prior to his conversion.

In his former life, Paul believed that the teachings of Jesus

were a threat to the standing of Judaism

and so Paul persecuted many who followed Christ.

But when Paul says here in this verse,

we once regarded Christ according to the flesh,

he may also mean that your understanding of Jesus

is either too narrow or totally wrong.

Paul is saying the way you live your life reflects this.

You say you love and follow Jesus,

but your pride and arrogance causes you

to slander your brother behind his back

and to gossip about your neighbor.

He says you say you love Jesus,

but you remain indifferent to the poor.

You hoard all your wealth to yourself.

So how do we view the person of Jesus Christ?

Is he a moral teacher?

He taught us, he can teach us some good values

or how to be better versions of ourselves.

Or is Jesus like the genie in the bottle

where we pray to him when we're desperate for a new job?

Or we're lonely, want a relationship?

Or do we see Jesus for who he truly is?

The son of God.

The one who formed the earth with his very breath.

The one who was both king on his throne

ruling over heaven and earth,

but also the one who died

and gave his life for sinners like you and I.

The one from whom if you lost everything in this world,

you would still have tremendous hope, peace, and joy.

Because the truth is,

if Jesus really is who he says he is,

the savior of the world, the Messiah, God himself,

our lives must be fundamentally changed forever.

And so, for those of us here

who have put our faith and hope in Christ,

those of us here who call ourselves Christians,

our outlook, our worldview, the way we live and act

must be radically different from that of the world's.

Paul says in verse 17,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

A new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold, the new has come.

Nicky Cruz was a hardened gang member.

Born in Puerto Rico,

Nicky was beaten as a three-year-old boy

by parents who practiced witchcraft.

His mother even called him the son of Satan.

At the age of 15, Nicky moved to New York City

where he joined a violent street gang,

eventually rising to become their leader.

He committed numerous violent crimes

and was caught up in both drugs and alcohol.

But one day,

a young pastor by the name of David Wilkerson

from Indiana

started preaching to Nicky.

He shared with Nicky about God's love.

At first, Nicky threatened to kill David.

He spat at him and said,

Don't come back.

I'm going to kill you.

But David persisted.

Day after day,

he went back to Nicky

sharing about God's love.

And after a while,

Nicky's heart softened

and he confessed

that he had messed up.

That he was messed up.

And he gave his life to Jesus Christ.

And for the past 60 plus years,

Nicky Cruz has traveled all over the world

sharing his testimony

to over 50 million people.

Countless others have been dramatically,

have been inspired

and their lives have been changed

by God's testimony

through Nicky's 17 books.

Nicky's life,

his testimony,

is an amazing example

of what the power of the Holy Spirit can do.

Right?

An example of someone

whose life has been dramatically changed

after giving his life to Christ.

But what about those of us here today

who are already Christians?

Those of us here

who are already supposedly new creations?

Why don't we feel so new?

Why do we still struggle

with the same old habits and sins?

Why do we feel shame?

Why do we feel like we're never good enough?

Well,

Paul didn't say,

hey, listen to this, right?

Paul didn't say that

if today our lives are in Christ,

we are a perfect creation.

He didn't say that, right?

He says,

if anyone is in Christ,

he is a new creation.

For those of us here today

who have given our lives to Christ,

we aren't perfect,

but it's okay.

The day we confessed,

repented,

and professed our faith in Christ,

we started a new life from zero.

And we don't go to 100 overnight.

What did Jesus say?

Jesus said that we were born again.

Think about that analogy,

like babies, right?

What do babies know

when they're first born?

Nothing.

Right?

We have two babies.

They're going to fall 100 times

before they can walk.

They have a lot to learn.

And so do we.

And then Paul says,

the old has passed away.

Behold,

the new has come.

In some ways,

this is a prophetic statement,

referring to the future

when the old will really pass away.

The old world,

the world as we know it,

and our old bodies,

our existing bodies,

will be exchanged

into a new earth

and our new glorified bodies.

And Christ says the same thing

in Revelation

when he says,

I am making everything new,

referring to the new heaven

and the new earth,

where there'll be no more death

or mourning

or crying

or pain

for the old order of things

will be passed,

has passed away.

If today our lives are in Christ,

one day

we will

be perfect.

But

between now and then

we will remain imperfect.

But not stagnant.

When Paul says

the old has passed away,

behold,

the new has come.

He's also referring to

this process

in this life

of sanctification,

of constant

heart renewal,

of becoming more and more

like our beloved Jesus

over time.

And how does this happen?

This happens

when our love

for Jesus deepens.

As we go more in love

with him

and as the gospel

gets deeper

into our hearts,

our old habits,

our old ways,

our old addictions

are left behind.

But it's a constant

continual renewal process

which happens

over the course

of our entire lives.

It's like when a snake

sheds its skin.

Snakes shed their skins

to promote growth

and to remove parasites.

But they don't just do it once.

Snakes shed skins

many times a year

and many,

many more times

throughout the course

of their entire lives.

I've been a Christian

since I was a child.

But if I'm honest,

as a teenager

and into my 20s,

I don't think I had a clue

about the gospel at all.

My thought as a Christian

was that it was

what I needed to do.

It was about my hard work,

my holiness.

I needed to work hard

to be a good person.

It wasn't about

what Christ

had already done for me.

And it wasn't until

I came actually here

to Watermark

and I learned about

gospel-centered teaching

that I realized

that actually

I was much worse

than I thought I was.

But I was much more loved

and cherished

and precious to God

than I had realized.

And in this process

of confessing sin

and growing more in love

with Jesus,

I have seen a newness

in parts of my life.

Many years ago,

I struggled with

an addiction

to poker.

It sounds funny,

but it was actually

pretty bad.

I loved Texas Hold'em.

I would play in casinos,

I would play in poker clubs

in New York and Hong Kong,

I would play in people's homes,

I'd even have games

in my own home.

I loved the competitive

aspect of it,

the strategy,

trying to outwit

your opponent,

bluffing.

I would go online

and listen to YouTube videos

of professionals

to get better,

I read books,

I knew all the odds,

mathematical odds

of poker

to gain an advantage.

But looking back now,

I can admit that

I loved poker.

I was so deeply invested in it,

I was so focused on it.

I loved poker

more than I loved Jesus.

It was an addiction.

It was an idol.

But it wasn't that

I woke up one day

at rock bottom

where the only direction

I could go was up,

and it wasn't like

I had some amazing

God moment.

It's that over time,

as I became aware

of my own depravity,

I realized I needed

Jesus' death on the cross

more than I'd realized.

And then as my love

for Christ grew,

my appreciation

and love for Him grew,

there wasn't space

in my heart

to love this poker.

And so that love died.

And even in recent years,

as my love for Jesus

has grown,

stuff that was so important

to me in the past

just isn't anymore.

I used to think

that life was about

doing well in school,

getting good grades,

getting a great job,

winning tennis matches

along the way,

and moving up the food chain

to the top

so I could make

a lot of money.

And in recent years,

as I've loved Christ more,

my drive to succeed

in these worldly things

has sort of diminished.

Don't get me wrong,

I still work hard

and I still respect work

and I appreciate it,

but I guess what I'm trying

to say is here

that its former place

that was up here

has been de-elevated.

It's now down here.

Because I think

as our love for Christ grows,

God's Spirit gives us

a bigger heart

to love what He loves

and who He loves.

He wants us to love

our families,

our wives and our children well,

to cherish them.

He wants us to love

our community here

at Watermark,

to sacrifice for them.

He wants us to love

our neighbors.

He wants us to love

strangers.

He wants us to love

widows and orphans,

the poor.

But also,

as our love for Christ grows,

there is no room

to love that which

Christ hates.

And what does He hate?

Idols,

addictions,

and sin.

Whether it's an addiction

to poker,

to alcohol,

pornography,

the idol of our kids'

education,

the idol that money

can give us happiness,

these things diminish

when our love for Christ

increases.

This is what happens

when the gospel

gets deeper into our hearts.

We become constantly renewed,

a new creation,

so that today

we're more like Christ

than we were yesterday,

and tomorrow

we'll be more like Christ

than we are today.

This is the power

of the gospel,

as Paul says

in Romans 1, right?

And we're not renewed,

right,

by some wise words

or some celebrity

motivational speaker

that says how to live

or how to think

or act, right?

We're renewed

by the very power

of God,

by His Spirit.

But again,

we're not yet perfect.

And in case you had the view

that I'm some sort of saint,

well,

you should ask the elders.

Better yet,

ask my wife

or daughter.

They know me well.

I'm not sure

if I shared this story.

Late last year,

Celeste and I

were driving

to my cousin's wedding

in Kuntong.

We were already late

when I took a wrong turn

and I went down

a one-way street

and I was stuck.

Excuse me,

one second,

excuse me.

So I was stuck

down a one-way street

and the only way

to get out

was to turn around

the way I came.

But the only way

to turn around

was to reverse

into this driveway

of a car park.

And there's one

of these orange cones

blocking the driveway

so I got out

of the car,

picked the cone up,

put it to the side,

but as I got

back into my car,

the manager

of the car park

picked that cone up

and put it right back

in the middle

of the driveway.

So I'm like,

dude.

Well, I didn't say dude.

I said, sir.

I just need

a couple seconds

to reverse

so I can get out

of here.

You can see

I'm stuck, right?

Obviously,

he knows I'm stuck, right?

And he goes,

sorry,

no one can come in

unless they pay.

I said,

I don't need to pay.

I don't need to come

into your,

I don't need to park.

I just need a couple seconds

to reverse

so I can get out

of here.

I'm late for my cousin's

wedding.

Come on,

have some pity on me.

He looks at me

with arms crossed.

No one comes in

unless they pay.

And so I flipped out.

I yelled at him.

I didn't curse,

I didn't swear at him,

so just make sure

you understand that.

But I definitely

wasn't gracious,

I wasn't kind.

I yelled at him

and I'm not proud of it.

I'm not proud.

My voice was raised

and my anger burned

at him.

I still have a lot

of renewing to do

over the course

of many years.

But thankfully,

God has made a way

for my heart

and for your heart

to be continually

renewed.

And this renewing

is only possible

because God

has reconciled us

to himself

through Jesus Christ.

Let's look at

verse 18 and 19 now.

And Paul says,

all of this is from God,

referring to being

a new creation,

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 our trespasses

against them.

The fact that

reconciliation is needed

indicates the fractured

relationship we have

with God

because of sin.

Paul writes in Colossians

that apart from Christ,

we are enemies of God.

God.

In Ephesians,

he writes,

we are aliens

and foreigners

to God's household

because of sin,

because of our trespasses.

We absolutely cannot be

in the presence

of God.

But God himself

has made a way.

Notice Paul writes,

all this is from God

who through Christ

reconciled us

to himself.

See,

we can't reconcile

with God.

It isn't like

when we husbands,

you know,

say something mean

to our wives

and, you know,

in an attempt

to win them back,

so to speak.

We buy them chocolates

or flowers

to win them back,

right?

It doesn't work

this way with God.

We cannot reconcile

with God.

There is nothing

we can do

to reconcile

with God.

It's only through

Christ's blood

poured out on the cross

that you and I

are reconciled

with God.

And being reconciled

means we have

a relationship

with Almighty God.

We can know him.

We can commune

with him.

Even now,

during this service,

we are communing

with God

as he speaks

through the songs

or through the scripture

or through the message.

We respond to him

in confession,

in worship,

in adoration.

And then,

in verse 21 here,

Paul ends

with one of the

most significant statements

in the entire Bible

explaining how it is

that you and I,

if our faith

and hope

is in Jesus,

we can be reconciled

with God.

Verse 21,

for our sake

he made him

to be sin

who knew no sin

so that in him

we might become

the righteousness

of God.

This is the gospel.

This is the gospel.

Jesus' death

on the cross

enables us,

Jesus' death

on the cross

enables us

to be reconciled

with God.

The cross

is the bridge

which provides

a pathway

to God,

a pathway

to know God,

to be in a relationship

with him.

But the sacrifice

of the cross

cost Jesus

everything

and his death

reveals three

fundamental points

at the heart

of the gospel.

The first point

is that sin,

the sin in our hearts,

the darkness

that resides

in each

and every

single one

of us

is much worse

than we

understand it

to be.

If you think

about yourself,

perhaps you've

never committed

murder

or robbed a bank,

but I imagine

every single person

here has burned

with anger

against someone.

Maybe your boss,

maybe your parents,

maybe the manager

of a car park.

You may have

never committed

adultery,

but I imagine

most if not

every single person

here has lusted

after someone

who they weren't

married to.

I know I have.

But Christ

was very clear

when he said

that the sin

we commit

in our heart,

that secret sin

that no one else

knows about,

he knows,

and that's still sin.

And the second point

is that God

is much holier

and just

than we understand

him to be.

In fact,

I would be remiss

to think I can even

find the word

to describe

God's holiness.

But one implication

of his holiness

is that God

absolutely

cannot stand sin.

And I don't just mean

murder and grand larceny,

I mean all those sins

that you and I

commit in our hearts.

There is not one

single sin

that will go unpunished

by God.

God demands justice

for each and every sin

because of his holiness.

So yeah,

if our sin wasn't that bad

and if God

wasn't that holy,

then sure,

in that pretend

parallel universe,

maybe we can get a pass

for our sin.

So when Kevin and Claire

were considering

moving from Cape Town

to serve here

at Watermark,

they came on a brief

trip to Hong Kong.

And on one of those days,

my wife Celeste and I

took them out

on a sightseeing tour.

We were heading

towards Causeway Bay,

but I missed the exit.

And so I made the quick

and wrong decision

to cross a double line

to make the exit.

And of course,

very soon after that,

the police,

the lights were flashing

in my rear view mirror.

I was getting pulled over

by the police officer

asking me for my license.

But somehow,

miraculously,

by the grace of God,

the police officer

just said,

don't do this again.

And he let me go.

Amazing, right?

I got in the pass.

But it doesn't work

this way with God.

The God of the Bible,

whom we worship,

cannot give a pass

to anyone.

Every sin must be punished.

Every evil thought

and action

will be accounted for.

But,

the story doesn't end there.

If it did,

it's pretty depressing,

isn't it, right?

It doesn't end there.

The beauty of the gospel

is that God

didn't just give us a pass.

Instead,

he made a way

to satisfy his own wrath

through punishing himself.

I mean,

who does that, right?

He made him to be sin

who knew no sin.

Jesus Christ,

who was equal to God

in every way,

the radiance of God's glory,

the one who never sinned,

and the one who was perfectly holy,

became sin.

That is to say

that the sin of the world,

your sin,

and my sin,

were literally put

on the shoulders

of Christ

so that Christ

became our substitute.

Instead of you and I

facing the just punishment

of God,

Jesus on the cross

hung in our place,

bloodied

and bruised

and facing

the terrible wrath

of God.

And he did this

for us

because he loves us.

And through his death

on the cross,

the perfection

of Christ,

his righteousness

has been given to us.

It has been imputed

to us.

We now have

Christ's righteousness

if we confess

and repent of our sins

and put our faith

and hope

in Christ.

When God the Father

considers us,

when the almighty,

powerful God

looks at us,

he doesn't see

our sin,

he doesn't see

all the nasty thoughts

in our hearts,

he doesn't count

against us

all the times

that we have messed up,

he doesn't see

our addiction,

our greed,

our pride,

our lust.

What he sees

is he sees

Jesus Christ,

the perfect,

unblemished Christ.

When God considers us,

he sees Jesus.

And what this means

is that God

doesn't just

put up with us.

He doesn't just

sort of like us

but wish we'd go away

like an annoying

dog.

He loves us

deeply

because he loves

Jesus.

Remember in Scripture

when Jesus

was baptized,

God the Father

said about Jesus,

this is my Son

whom I love,

with whom

I'm well pleased.

The Father

loves the Son

and yet put him

on that cross

for us.

And through the cross

and only through

the cross,

when God considers us,

he sees Jesus,

the one he loves.

And therefore,

he loves us.

And here we come

full circle.

When the gospel

of Christ

gets deeper

into our hearts,

the implications

are huge.

We aren't perfect today

but we absolutely

cannot be

the same person.

That is why

Paul says,

if anyone is in Christ,

the old has passed away,

behold,

the new has come.

As our love

and appreciation

for Jesus grows,

our hearts become

constantly

and increasingly

renewed

because in Christ

we are

a new creation.

And what freedom

this gives us.

What a release.

No more shame.

No more

having to

hide all your

secret sins.

No more

having to be,

no more

holding bitterness

against our brother

in our hearts.

Instead,

we can confess

our sins.

We can say,

sorry.

Can we make up?

I messed up.

We can be sacrificial.

And in this process,

God renews

our hearts.

Let me close.

Brothers and sisters,

our hope

is that

this year

and for many more

years to come,

the message

of Jesus Christ

and his gospel

will sink deeper

and deeper

in our hearts.

It doesn't matter

whether or not

you don't know

Christ today.

It doesn't matter

or not

whether you have

been a Christian

for 90 years.

The gospel of Christ

must get deeper

into our hearts

as every day

goes on.

For his message

is not from some

celebrity motivational

speaker

who's here today

and gone tomorrow.

And this message

of the gospel

is not from Kevin

or from me

either.

This gospel

is the very power

of God.

the good news

of Jesus Christ,

the one who is

eternal,

the one who always

has been,

the one from everlasting

and the one

who has proven

his love for us

beyond any shadow

of a doubt

on the cross.

And the gospel

of Christ

is our ultimate

hope in this world.

And as it sinks

deeper into our heart

and as our love

for Christ grows,

we are compelled

to be continually

renewed.

We're compelled

to love people

that aren't lovable.

We're compelled

to shed old habits

like a snake

sheds old skin.

And yes,

we're still imperfect.

We will still mess up.

And we all need

community around us

to sharpen each other,

to encourage

and challenge each other

in the gospel

like how Paul cared

for the church

in Corinth.

And that is why

we exist as a church

in Hong Kong,

to grow each other

in mutual faith,

to make disciples

of Jesus Christ

who impact Hong Kong

for the glory

of God.

So let us walk

this journey together

with joy and hope,

always pointing each other

to Jesus Christ.

Let's pray.

Oh Father,

thank you so much

for Jesus,

for sending him

into this world

all those years ago

to live a perfect,

unblemished life,

a life of holiness

and perfection,

and going to the cross

to die in our place

as our substitute.

And thank you God

that as a result

of the death of Christ,

we now have

his righteousness,

God,

and that we can live

freely in Christ.

And I pray God

that your Holy Spirit

would continue

to do a great work

in our hearts, God,

to cause us

to hate our sin

but to love,

cause us to hate our sin

but to love you deeply,

Father.

I pray for revival

in our hearts, God.

We need revival, God,

in our hearts.

And for those of us

here today

who have not yet

given our lives

to Christ,

I pray that you

would speak to them

today, God.

The message

that only you

can speak, Lord.

Reveal yourself

to them.

Tell them how much

that you love them

that you always have

so much so

that you died for them.

Help us all

today, God,

to see Jesus

for who he really is,

Savior of the world,

our Messiah,

the one who loves us.

Open up our eyes

to see him.

To see him.