New Creation Sunday

Morning, it's good to see you guys.

Historically here at Frontier, this first Sunday after Advent

is what we call New creation Sunday.

And this year happened to fall before the new year.

So right, new creation before the new year.

And Cole had just, he had sent out a text.

He's like, hey, who wants to, who wants to preach this?

You can preach any sermon. And I was thinking I was going

to pull a fast one on him and just start Genesis, the creation

story a week early. But I just, I decided not to do

that because he, he gave free rein.

But anyways, I want to pray and then we'll, we'll read some

scripture and and dig into who we are in Christ this morning.

Lord, I need your help this morning.

It seems like more than any other morning of the whole week,

even when I didn't have a voice until recently.

Basically, we just need your help to focus on you, to look to

you, to remember that all these kids with us this morning are

they're, they're here for you too.

And we can look at them and see your new creation in them as

they learn and as they grow too. And just pray for your hearts,

for our hearts to receive your word, to be able to see Jesus

clearly, clear, clearer even to go forward in the new year than

we have previously in Jesus name, Amen.

Too often our picture of the Christian hope has been shaped

more by probably by cartoons than by Scripture, as if the

goal is to escape this world rather than see it be renewed.

But the Bible knows nothing of this kind of escape from the

world. Heaven, OK.

From Genesis to Revelation, God's promise is a renewed

creation, a physical world made new, where resurrected people

dwell with King Jesus forever. And if you would just stand with

me, I'm actually going to read out of two sections out of

Second Corinthians this morning. So if you'd please stand, we're

going to be in 2nd Corinthians 4 and then 5.

And the Scripture will be up here, should be up here on the

screen. So I'm in 2nd Corinthians 4

verses 16 through 18, and it'll be 514 through 21, so out of 2nd

Corinthians 4. So we do not lose heart, though

our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed

day by day. For this light momentary

affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory

beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen,

but to the things that are unseen.

For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that

are unseen are eternal. And so see here, Paul's not

saying ignore your suffering or harshness of life because

someday you'll leave all this behind.

He's saying, don't lose heart because all of this is headed

somewhere. And part of what carries us

forward is where this renewal is headed.

So then we're going to this is where we'll spend our time this

morning is here in Second Things 514 through 21 verse 14 for the

love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this

that one has died for all, therefore all have died and he

died for all that those who live might no longer live for

themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised

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 in 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 he might

become the righteousness of God. He can be seated.

So everything Paul is saying here that we're reading this

morning hangs around 1 reality. And that reality is that God is

creating something new by reconciling sinners to himself

through Christ. So we want to see God's

reconciling work, which is the foundation of new creation.

He starts off really with what controls US.

Verses 14 and 15, right? We just read it for the love of

Christ controls us because we have concluded this, that one

has died for all, therefore all have died and he died for all

that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but

for him who for their sake died and was raised.

So our obedience to God flows from reconciliation and not just

obligation. And God has already acted.

We responded in love. It's this idea like the, the

love of Christ controls us. It compels us, it pushes us

forward. I'm not, I'm not just talking

about like this idea that, you know, love of Christ is there

for me. It's literally brings us life

and carries us forward and pushes us forward.

And he knew that we wouldn't always have feelings that line

up with that reality because love feels different, distant.

And he's not saying to look inward here.

He tells us to look at the cross.

He's saying to contemplate Christ who loved us and gave

himself up for us. Look carefully at Christ.

If you're if you're here this morning, you're struggling to

feel God's love for you, then contemplate his work through

Christ and truly think on these things in order to come to a

deeper and deeper realization of the implications of the gospel.

We we think on what He has done for us as we study his word, as

we worship in our own hearts, as we worship here together and as

we do the richness of the person and work of Christ penetrates

our minds and our hearts and gradually is transforming our

lives under the influence of the Holy Spirit as we desire more

and more to serve Him. So what this might look like is

tomorrow when you wake up because your kids woke you up at

3:00 AM and you're feeling short and you're tired and you're

apathetic. You have this little piece of

paper with you that says Galatians 220.

It says the life I now live in the flesh.

I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave

himself for me. And so you're reminded that how

much Christ has loved you. So you have the ability to then

love your kids or love your spouse because the overflowing

love of Jesus, you're able to see that more clearly so that

you can have patience and have kindness and have love yourself.

And then Paul tells us how God's work changes how we perceive the

world because of this compelling love.

We see others as those, he's as those.

He is also reconciling. Verse 16 says, 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. So that means reconciliation

with God doesn't just change what we believe, it changes how

we see in Paul's writing from the standpoint of he's lived

this. He used, he at one point

evaluated Jesus externally. He's he at one time called Jesus

a fraud, right? He only knew Jesus according to

the flesh. And you know what he said?

He said that he was a false Messiah.

He was a problem to Judaism. He deserved to be crucified.

Who's the one holding the coats when they stoned Stephen that we

read about in the New Testament? It's Paul.

He judged Jesus by his appearance, by his power and

expectations. And Paul realized he was

completely wrong. That's what he's writing this

from. So new creation corrects our

vision, and we stop seeing people as merely political,

social, or behavioral categories.

We see them as eternal souls. People.

God is either reconciling or calling us to be his ambassadors

of reconciliation. So that changes how we think

about our kids, our neighbors, our spouses, the people we don't

agree with. We don't look past

responsibility, but we look through the behaviors.

We look to the heart and we see a heart that needs to feel the

love of and be compelled by the love of Christ.

And this is where reconciliation and new creation of me, and this

is what I really love. Verse 17.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come because

God doesn't just reconcile us so that we can be forgiven and just

kind of wait around for heaven, be kind of semi good people.

He reconciles us that the life of the age to come begins

breaking into the present because if anyone is in Christ,

he has a new creation, not just destined for renewal someday,

but already being remade now. So the hope that the Bible

offers us is not just that Jesus gives up on the earth and

rescues souls out of it. It's that he renews everything.

Bodies that don't decay, a world without death and life live

fully in God's presence. And this future isn't just

something we wait for, it's a vision that pulls us forward.

Right? The New Testament speaks of

believers having a new mind, a new will, a new heart, a new

inheritance, a new relationship, a new power, new knowledge, new

wisdom, new perception, new understanding, new

righteousness, new love, new desire, new citizenship, and

many other new things, all of which are summed up in newness

of life. And it's not just something we

wait for. It's a vision that pulls us

forward. But the reality is, is I'm

talking about all this newness. And we're hearing and we're

seeing this newness, but we know something isn't right, right?

We know that's not the case. And it's because we are in

what's called the already, but not yet.

So when Paul says new creation, he means something has already

begun, but it's not yet finished.

Christ has decisively acted, but the world still groans.

So we are truly new, even as we still struggle.

That tension explains why we suffer without losing heart.

The future has already invaded the present, but it hasn't yet

been fully revealed. We live between the already what

Christ has done. Looking forward to the not yet

what He is still yet to do. And that helps us realize that

while our experience of God's grace in Christ is real, there's

a part of it that's incomplete. Because we still live in a

fallen world and we're still in a battle every day.

And it can be tough. And we may experience suffering

and loss, we're promised, we're going to experience opposition.

But the important thing to remember is this, that the

decisive battle in victory has already been won by Jesus in our

lives too. And one day he's going to come

again in glory. And we are already more than

conquerors through him who loved us to reconcile us with God.

And as a new creation, we're not supposed to see ourselves as

earthly citizens anymore. And Paul's explains it and shows

us in and how through why we're sent.

Verses 18 through 20 say 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, 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.

Did you see that? All this is from God, not us.

So reconciliation begins with God's initiative and is

accomplished through forgiveness, not by just

ignoring our sins, but dealing with it fully in Christ.

And we see that shift with the message we're supposed to carry

because Paul calls US ambassadors.

He's reminding us that we belong to a Kingdom that is coming and

is already arriving. Because ambassadors live in a

place that isn't fully home yet, right?

They they speak with an accent, they live differently and their

lives point beyond themselves to the King.

They represent ambassadors who know the only way that God can

reconcile with sinners is by not counting their trespasses

against them because he has to set our sins aside.

And really, that's why we talk about sin.

If we never talked about sin, there would be no, no need for

reconciliation. There would be no clue that

there's something that's keeping us apart from God.

It's not just pounding the fact that we're sinners and then and

there's not a hope. It's the fact that we have to be

able to see our sin and understand that we need to be

reconciled with God to be able to experience him, to experience

all the joy in the life, this new creation, this new person

that that He's showing us we are in Him.

It's not sharing sin and we're not just announcing self

improvement like that's not what New Creation Sunday is about is

just being an improved person in the new year.

We're looking at having actual peace with God And as this

thought is coming to completion. Paul wants us to get a picture

of new creation to see Christ in verse 21 he says for our sake he

made him Jesus to be sin who knew no sin so in him we might

become the righteousness of God. So Christ took all of what we

were and gave us all he what all of what he is before God because

he knows, remember, he knows that 15 minutes from now, this

being compelled by the love of Christ probably isn't going to

feel that way. And when that love feels

different, it's not we're not supposed to look at ourselves

and look what we need. Look at these things.

It's to look to Christ, look at the cross, look at what look at

Christ's love for you. Look what he gave up for you,

him his entire self. He took on all of your sin and

it's and it's not enough just to know this.

It's are you compelled with the idea?

I'll be the first to admit when I was up last night at midnight

with my 2 year old, I wasn't compelled with the love of

Christ, but because I was prepping this, I was sitting

there holding him and I'm like, oh, just go to sleep.

I want to be rested for the morning.

And then I remembered, Oh yeah, the love of Christ compels me.

Jesus. Jesus has rocked me time and

time again when I've been sinning.

I can love Hayden right now and be patient because God's patient

with me and it totally just flipped it for me.

So I'm not talking about just knowing, but then even just

being being amazed by it. Like are you amazed by the fact?

Are you walking around amazed by the fact that Jesus gave all of

himself for you? Thinking about that is going to

take care of so many of these other things that we come up

against and it's not minimizing the suffering, it's not

minimizing the hard things we go through.

But when it comes to the sin that we face, it conquers that.

So look at Jesus, have that scripture in your back pocket,

contemplate Jesus work and come back to being amazed because if

you're amazed, then Jesus love will control you because you see

that more and more amazed at how every time you're you're angry

for the wrong reason. Christ took it.

Because if we're controlled by Jesus love for us, imagine being

freer from people's opinions, your own revenge, your own

agendas that you have. Being more intrigued than

irritated with people, quicker to repent and forgive than judge

others and hold grudges. Where your thoughts, your words

and choices would be shaped more by God's grace than by your own

impulses and sin. Being more generous and less

selfish, more faithful and less fearful, more trusting and less

suspicious, more present and less busy.

All of which is yours if you're in Christ.

And so we don't lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting

away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us

an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we

look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are

unseen. As we look to Jesus.

For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that

are unseen are eternal. So if you're in Christ this

morning, you're a new creation. The old has passed away.

Behold, the new has come. Let's pray.