Alright brethren, let's turn
in our Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Our text is just one verse, 2
Corinthians 5.17. It says, Therefore, if any man,
this is true of all who God saves, be in Christ. This is where salvation is found,
in Christ. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. The word is creation. He is a
new creation. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. Now today we're baptizing our
brother John Keller, a public confession of Christ in believer's
baptism. And this is a very, very appropriate
scripture to come to in this study of 2 Corinthians on a day
when we're going to be baptizing someone. When a sinner is born
of God and brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he is
God's new creation. He's God's creation. God has
created him. All brand new. And so, from then
on, old things are passed away and behold, all things become
new. Now that's what John will be
confessing today in water baptism. That God has created him anew
and that all things are passed away and all things are become
new. Now let's jump right into this.
I want to ask the question, what is it to be in Christ? He says, therefore if any man
be in Christ, well sinners do nothing to be in Christ. We do nothing to be in Christ. In eternity, Scripture says,
God the Father blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. How did He do that? According
as He hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the
world. that we should be holy and without
blemish before Him in love. God chose His people in Christ. But now in our text, specifically
in the context, He's been talking about the heart, He's been talking
about the constraint of the heart, and He's talking here about being
in Christ in our experience of God's grace in the new birth.
being born of God in the new birth, we experience this grace
whereby we are in Christ. 1 Corinthians 1.29 says this,
now listen carefully, that no flesh should glory in God's presence. God will have no sinner glorying
in His presence. But of Him, of God, are ye in
Christ. It's of God by which we're in
Christ, who of God is made unto us. That means God has to reveal
Christ unto us. It's of God we're in Christ,
and of God is He made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. That means He's made all unto
us, because that is all. And so the Scripture says, therefore,
He that glories, he that wants to glory, let him glory in the
Lord. So it's of God that we're in
Christ. Now to be in Christ is to have
Christ in you, in spirit. To be in Christ is to have Christ
in you, in spirit. Listen to John 14, 20. This is
an experimental, a mysterious, a vital inseparable union we're
talking about here. In John 14, 20, the Lord said,
At that day you shall know I am in my Father, and ye in me, and
I in you. You take the picture of a...
He gave the illustration of a vine and its branches. Christ is the
vine. We're the branches. Well, we're
in Christ just like a vine is in the branch. You can't see
where one ends and the other begins. They're one. And that
life is coming from the vine into the branch. That's how the
branch has life. You sever that branch from that
vine and that branch will die. It will wither and die. Christ
said, ìI am the vineî and He said to His disciples, ìYouíre
the branches.î He said in John 17, 23, ìI in them, I in them,
and thou, Father, in me, that they may be made perfect in one.î
Thatís in Christ. that the world, and He's talking
there about those that He's going to call out and make one with
Him, that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me and hast
loved them as Thou hast loved Me. So this oneness is for Christ
to be in you, to make you to know that you're in Christ. That's
the only way we're going to know we're in Christ is when Christ
is in us. Now today, by believers' baptism,
John's going to be confessing publicly that of God he is in
Christ. He's not saying by this baptism
that he did something to be in Christ, he's saying of God is
he in Christ. And it was of God that Christ
was made unto him all, all things in his salvation. He's saying
he's not glowing in himself, he's glowing in the Lord. And
he's saying also that now all things are passed away and all
things have become new. So what does that mean? To be
a new creature. What does it mean? He says, therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. What is that? Well, it's to be God's new creation. to be God's new creation, created
by God without any contribution from the sinner. Listen to Isaiah
57, 19. The Lord said, I create the fruit
of the lips. If there's going to be some praise
coming out of these lips, praising God, who's going to create that? God said, I the Lord create the
fruit of the lips. I create peace, peace to him
that is far off and to him that is near, saith the Lord, I will
heal him. Now God entrusted this creation
to His Son in eternity. We believe one God, one God in
three persons. God the Father, God the Son and
God the Holy Spirit. God the Father entrusted the
whole work of creation to His Son in eternity. In Colossians
1.15 it says that Christ is the image of the invisible God. You
can't see God. God the Son took a body and came
into this earth and when you see Christ, you behold the invisible
God. He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature. That means He's the firstborn
of all creation. Now what does that mean? Listen
to the Scripture now. were all things created by Christ. All things that are in heaven,
all things that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by Christ and for Christ. And He is before
all things, and by Him all things consist. What's the purpose of
that? He is the head of the body, the
church. Who is the beginning? He's the beginning. If we're
going to have a beginning, it's going to be in Christ, the beginning.
He's the beginning. He's the firstborn from the dead. There were some raised from the
dead. Christ is the firstborn from the dead. And the Scripture
says that in all things He might have the preeminence. That in all things He might have
the preeminence because it pleased God for all fullness to dwell
in Christ. So God entrusted the whole work
of creation to Christ. It was God in Christ in the beginning
that said, let there be light. It was God in Christ that created
the heavens and the earth and said, let there be light and
He created all things. And it's Christ Jesus who will
be the creator who creates this new creation in a sinner. It will be Christ who creates
this newness in a sinner to make him a new creation. Christ is
the one that does that. When we get to glory in the end,
everything that will be in heaven, will be the creation of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It will be all righteous and
all holy and no sin will be there because it will all be the creation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in Isaiah 65, 17, Behold,
I create a new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not
be remembered nor come into mind. but be ye glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem
a rejoicing and her people a joy." When he talks about Jerusalem,
he's talking about his people. He's talking about the people
that make up that new heavenly Jerusalem. This new heaven and
new earth is all the creation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said, behold, I want you to see this scripture. Go to Isaiah
43.9. He says, I'm sorry, 19, Isaiah
43 verse 19. He says, Behold, I will do a
new thing, and now it shall spring forth, shall ye not know it? Listen to this, I will even make
a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. You know who the
wilderness is? You know who the desert is? That's
you and I in whom He gives this life. That's us. Here's another
description of us. The beasts of the field shall
honor me, and the dragons and the owls. That's sinners in whom
Christ creates this new man. We were wild beasts by nature
in our sin. And He said, I'm going to bring
these wild beasts to honor Me, because I give waters in the
wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to My people,
My chosen. This people have I formed for
Myself. They shall show forth My praise. Now that's the purpose for which
this creation is all of God, all of the Lord Jesus, to show
forth His praise. Now, being a new creature means
that this new man that's created within a sinner is an entirely
new creation that was not there before. It was not there before. And God made it not from anything
that was already there. This is an entirely new creation. God made the heavens and the
earth in the beginning out of nothing. He didn't use anything
that was available. And He makes this new creation
entirely of Him. He called on people one time
in Ezekiel 18 and He said, cast away all your transgressions
whereby you have transgressed and make you a new heart and
a new spirit. For why will you die, O house
of Israel? And you know what they did? They went right on
their way in their religion and didn't do a thing. He said, make
you a new heart, make you a new spirit. man left to himself,
man by nature, man born of a woman, born in sin. We can't make a
new heart and a new spirit. We just can't do it. If we did
it, we'd be working with something that's already there. And he
said this, the heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool, where's
the house that you're going to build under me? Where's the place
of my rest? All those things my hand made.
And all those things have been, saith the Lord. But to this man
will I look, him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and
trembleth at my word. But there's a problem. Because
you and I are conceived in sin. We're conceived in sin. That
means when life started in your mother's womb, you were conceived
in sin. You were sin. When you were conceived,
you were sin. You were made of corrupt seed.
You were sin. And because we're sin, we cannot
make a poor and a contrite heart that will tremble at God's Word.
Instead, we have a stony heart that hates God's Word. I defined grace to somebody recently. We were talking and I defined
what grace is to them. And the person replied to me
and they said, No, I don't believe in salvation by grace. I want
it to be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. And I said, You do realize that
you're going to stand before God in the day of judgment and
that's how He's going to judge you. You want justice, you want
strict justice. An eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth. That's how God shall judge you. They said, yes, that's
the way I want it. And my reply, the only thing
I knew to reply was, you are an illustration of fallen man. That is an illustration of a
stony heart. And I know what it is. I'm not belittling a person
and I'm not holding it against them. I know what it is to have
that stony heart. That's all I had by nature. A
man can't help but feel that way. till God does this work
in his heart. There's nothing positive and
there's nothing negative that you and I do to make this new
creation. Nothing. That's why Paul said,
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision
but a new creature. You got to be made new. That's
got to be done from outside of us. Christ must send the Holy
Spirit of God And He sends that Holy Spirit and He creates a
new man, a new spirit within these bodies of death. And in
that new man, He teaches us the gospel. In the new man, He teaches
us the gospel. Cody quoted it, the Lord said
to Nicodemus, except a man be born of water and the Spirit,
God the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born
of the capital S Spirit, that which is born of God the Holy
Spirit is little s Spirit. That which is born of God the
Holy Spirit is the new spirit that God promised to give to
His people. And He said, don't marvel at
this. Nicodemus, he marveled at this. He could not understand
how a man, a sinner, can be born again. And Christ said, marvel
not at this. You must be born again. All you can do is marvel at this
until you're born again. Because you will not understand
it. Believe it until you're born
again. Christ illustrated it this way.
He gave two really good simple illustrations. He said, no man
puts a piece of new cloth onto an old garment. For that which
is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, the rent is
made worse. Here is what he is saying. When I was a little fellow,
I used to always have holes in the knees of my pants. And my
mother, if she took a patch and took new cloth and patched up
that old garment, as soon as you put that in the washing machine,
that new cloth is going to shrink. And when it does, it is going
to rip away from that garment and it is going to be a worse
hole than you had to begin with. And the Lord said this, neither
do men put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles will
break and the wine run out and the bottles perish. They put
new wine in new bottles and both are preserved. I know a dear
brother, I won't say his name because I don't want to embarrass
him, but I know a dear brother that decided he'd make some wine
one time. And he made some wine. And he
put that wine in some old bottles. New wine in some old bottles.
And it was pretty. And it lasted a little while.
As soon as that new wine started to swell, those bottles all busted. Everyone up. So there has to
be a new man made and that gospel put into that new man. You can't
do it in this old flesh. He said, I will give them one
heart and I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the
stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart of
flesh. And what I'm saying to you is
what Paul said in Ephesians 2, where God's workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. Christ prays the Father who sends
the Holy Spirit and Christ is formed in you and then we are
made partakers of the divine nature. Whatever God makes is
like God. Like begets like. You have children and your children
look just like you and act just like you. I have children and
when Will Curtis was born, there was no denying that child was
my child. And the older he gets, there's no denying that child
is my child. When you're born of God, you're
going to have a nature like your Heavenly Father. You'll be a
partaker of the divine nature. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed. This new birth is not of that
same kind of seed you were born with naturally. But this is born
of incorruptible seed by the Word of God that liveth and abideth
forever. And this is the Word whereby
the Gospel is being preached to you right now. Wouldn't it
be amazing today if God actually spoke this Word into somebody's
heart and a new man was conceived within? This is how he does it. This is how he does it. So we're
at God's mercy. You say, well, if a sinner can't
do anything about it, why aren't you doing what the rest of the
preachers are doing in the world? They're begging sinners to do
something for Jesus. Because my Jesus is God. That's
why. And you're at His mercy. He's
not at your mercy. You're going to have to be brought
to bow to Him and be brought down to see, I need Him to have
mercy on me. I need Him to give me life. And
so we're at His mercy. A sinner will never, and he can
never, even believe that God's Word is God's Word until this
work is done. Much less believe on God. Most
people don't even believe this is God's Word. You'll read on
this Word. You'll show them this Word. And
they'll say, I don't believe that. That's God's Word. This is the Word of God we're
talking about. I don't believe that. and won't
even believe this is God's Word until this work is done. So now let me ask you this. When
Christ creates this new creation, what does He do then when this
work is done? He makes us to know that old
things are passed away and all things are become new. He makes
you to know this. No doubt that He's going to make
you to know this. Now what I want to do is I want
to go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 3. And I want to review what
we've seen as we've gone through 2 Corinthians. And you'll see
right here from Paul's own pen, the Holy Spirit giving him the
words to write, you'll see exactly what was on his heart and what
he meant in this letter by all things being passed away and
all things being made new. Let's see it now. 2 Corinthians
3. When Christ creates us anew, He makes you to know that the
old covenant is passed away. What do I mean by that? I mean
He makes you to know for the first time that you're not saved
by your works. And He makes you to know that
you're under the new everlasting covenant of grace. Look here
in 2 Corinthians 3.6. Paul said, He made us able ministers
of the New Testament. That word is a new covenant.
Everything is made new. It's a New Testament. Not of
the letter. It's not of your flesh, it's
not of the letter, but it's of the Spirit. For the letter killeth,
but the Spirit giveth life. You remember what we saw that
little S Spirit means? Christ said, the words, I speak
unto you are Spirit and life. What it means is, as this Gospel
is being preached, Christ our Head from Heaven's glory speaks
this Word into the heart of His people and that's how you have
this new life. He has to speak the Word. Me
speaking the Word, He's going to use an earthen vessel, but
He's got to speak the Word to make it effectual. And He says
here, but if the ministration of death, that was the old covenant,
if the ministration of death written and engraved in stones,
that's the Ten Commandments, If it was glorious so that the
children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of
Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away.
That wasn't to last. That covenant was not to last.
It was to be done away. Look, how shall not the ministration
of the Spirit be rather glorious? If that old ministration was
glorious, how much more shall this one be? Read on. For if
the ministration of condemnation be glory... You know what that
just said? That just said the law was given to condemn you
and me. That's what it was. It was the ministration of condemnation
to condemn us. Well, if it was glorious, much
more does the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
This new covenant is God ministering righteousness to His people apart
from our works. Look, for even that which was
made glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the
glory that excelleth. This glory, this New Testament
is so much more glorious, that other covenant doesn't even have
glory compared to it. Look, for if that which is done
away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. You see, when He works this work
in your heart, for the first time you're going to find out
you're not made righteous by keeping the Ten Commandments.
And you'll find out you've never even kept the Ten Commandments.
Not once. I haven't and you haven't. There's
one person that has. That's God's Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the only one that ever kept the Ten Commandments.
And He's going to make you to see that you're not righteous
by reforming your life and turning over a new leaf. We need to be
transformed, not reformed. And He makes you rejoice in this.
This is what Romans 10 says, Christ is the end of the law
to everyone that believeth. It says, with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. That thief on the cross was doing
no works. That thief on the cross had his
hands nailed to the cross and his feet nailed to the cross
and he was not doing any good works. And as far as the world
was concerned, he was just a criminal. But in his heart, Christ did
this work and he believed unto righteousness. He was perfectly
righteous before God because he trusted Christ. You see, the
Scripture says we don't make void the law through faith. That's
what we're accused of. They say, you're an antinomian.
If you don't tell sinners they have to keep the law, I'm telling
you, you can't keep the law. I'm telling you who did. Christ
did. But I'm not making void the law
by what I'm telling you. Men who tell you you have to
keep the law and that you can, they're making void the law because
they're going to have to bring it down to your level to make
it so you can keep it. And that's just going to be outwardly.
But I'm telling you, no. And I don't make void the law.
Through faith in Christ, we establish the law. Because He established
the law for His people. This is what I'm talking about.
He brings you to see that all the old ceremonies and the priests
and the offerings and all the old covenant works and even the
gospel precepts here, none of that's given for you to work
out a righteousness and present yourself to God with it and say,
well, didn't I do the best I could? None of that. Everything in this
book is to bring His people to Christ who is the righteousness
of God that God's provided for His people. He is the Risen. And when you are made to see
that, you'll know I'm under a new covenant. It's called a covenant
of grace. It means Christ did everything
required in this covenant so that I don't have to do a thing.
I am saved. That's good news. Now here's
something else. By this new creation, Our old
bondage of blindness is passed away and we have a new liberty
of spiritual sight now. Look down at 2 Corinthians 3.15. Even unto this day when Moses
is read, when the old covenant law is read, the veil is upon
their heart. Most people read the Scriptures
and the veil is on their heart and they can't understand what
the Scriptures are saying. But watch this, nevertheless, when
that heart shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken
away. Now the Lord is that Spirit and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And here's
what happens, we all with open face beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord. The Spirit enters and He gives
us liberty from this veil being on our heart now. And look down
at chapter 4 and verse 6. Here's how we have this liberty.
For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. See, this is
a comparison of creation here we're talking about. When the
same Lord that said, let there be light in the first creation,
says, let there be light in our heart and we have liberty to
behold the Lord in all His glory in the face of Christ Jesus.
For the first time we understand what the book is saying. And
we understand it's all glorifying Christ Jesus, the Son of God,
who is the righteousness of God, who declared God just and the
justifier. And we for the first time rejoice
to behold with new eyes, with spiritual eyes, with spiritual
faith, the glory of God in Christ Jesus. This is when that old
deadness of blindness and darkness fades away and that new sight
enters in and you can see Christ. Behold Christ. If the Son therefore
shall make you free, you will have liberty indeed. Now, before
we were created anew, we were only the old fallen image of
Adam. That's all we were, was the old
fallen image of Adam. We got it from our Father, His
from His, all the way back to Adam. You notice when you read
the Scriptures, Adam was created in the image of God. As soon
as Adam had a child, it says Seth was created in the image
of Adam. Not God. He came forth a sinner. A sinner. But that old man of flesh, now
he's still with us, but it's no longer that we're only that
old man of flesh. No longer they were only the
image of Adam. Being only the image of Adam has passed away
now. Now we also have a new man with a new image created within
us. Look back at 2 Corinthians 3.18. We are with open face beholding
it as in a glass the glory of the Lord Jesus are changed into
the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord.
God predestinated every one of His chosen people to undergo
this creation right here, to undergo this change right here. He said, whom He did foreknow,
that is who He foreordained, He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that His Son might be the
firstborn among many brethren. You see, everything God's doing
is to glorify Christ. This is so that Christ will be
the firstborn eldest son in the whole family of God and get all
the glory because the Father trusted the salvation of the
whole house into the hand of His elder son. And God predestinated
us at the appointed hour to hear the Gospel and this work of the
Spirit be done in the heart and each one that He chose for us
to be conformed in spirit to the image of Christ. He predestinated
this. Turn to Ephesians 4. Ephesians
chapter 4. Here is what God does. Christ
makes us do this right here. Ephesians 4.22. He makes you
put off put off concerning the former
conduct, the old man. That's the fleshly man. That's
what you are by nature. He makes you put that off. It's
corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. And He makes us to be
renewed in the spirit of your mind. And He makes you put on
the new man which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness. You see, this is the work of
God. If God creates something, it's righteous and holy. Go to
Colossians 3. Colossians 3. He makes you do
this right here. Colossians 3.10. He makes you
put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image
of Him that created him. This new man is renewed in knowledge
after the image of Christ who created the new man within you.
You see, Christ is not the new man that's created and renewed
within. Christ is not created. Christ
is not renewed. Christ is Christ. He's eternal. It's true we're told in places
to put on Christ. But brethren, This new man is
the new image of Christ. It's a new man created in the
image of Christ that Christ Himself created. And that's important
to note because some people are saying that we're just old sinful
flesh and now you have Christ in you. Well, who's believing? Who's repenting? What part of
me is believing and repenting? Christ is not doing it for me.
Christ and this new man are one. They're inseparable. But there
is a new man in which He grants you repentance and faith and
teaches you this gospel. And you believe and you repent.
Scripture says if Christ be in you, the body is dead because
of sin. but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. And it says in thee, capital
S, Holy Spirit bears witness with our little s Spirit. You
see, there's two, there's one, they're inseparable. This new
man's in the image of Christ. But we are believing in this
new man that's given. Now that's not to give you glory
and give you something to boast in. I'm just saying to you that
God has done what He promised to do. He's created a new man
in you and at the same time I'm trying to tell you Your old dead
flesh don't do a thing. And to say that it does is to
preach free will works religion. It don't do anything. Everything
is done in this new creation by God. That's a must. That's
a necessity. And so for the first time, you
hate everything about your old sinful flesh. and you begin to
delight in Christ for the first time and in all the things that
He's accomplished for you and in walking before Him and pleasing
Him. You rejoice, you hate the things about yourself and about
your sin and you love everything about Christ. And this is the
result of this work. And one day, it says He's not
only going to quicken us in that spirit, He's going to do it in
our mortal bodies. And we're going to be in His
image perfectly without sin in body and spirit. Now, go to 2
Corinthians 4. For this reason, because this
work is done. We use new honesty now in declaring the Word of
God, and our old dishonesty in dealing with God's Word is passed
away. Look at 2 Corinthians 4.1, Therefore,
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we
faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness, not handling the Word of God deceitfully,
but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. You see that? We're not
handling this Word deceitfully anymore. Now we're preaching
the truth. Now we're declaring the truth
of Christ. Why? Because that old dishonesty has
passed away. This new honesty has come because
Christ has made us honest, to deal with His Word honestly.
And look at this, our old way of glorying in ourselves has
passed away. Now, there's the new way of glorying
only in the Lord. Look at verse 5. We preach not
ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves, your servants
for Jesus' sake. Do you know what a difference
that is in Paul? Before Christ did this work in
him, all Paul did was preach himself. All he did was preach
man's works. You go to Philippians 3 and read
that list of things that he said he had confidence in. But now,
he says, we don't preach ourselves anymore. All that stuff is nothing
but dung to me now. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ the Lord. We want Him to have all the glory. And look down at verse 7. He
says, not only do we preach Christ, but we have this treasure in
earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. We're not only not preaching
ourselves, we're not even saying we have any ability to make you
believe what we're preaching. You see, that's wanting Christ
to have all the glory. That's giving the glory to Him
and none to the sinner. That's new. That wasn't there
by nature. That's new. And then look, in
all God's providence, the old way of looking at when we would
suffer or anything would take place, there was an old way we
looked at everything. Oh, we got down and we got upset
and it was the end of everything good because we weren't going
our way. And that old way of looking at
things is passed away. Now we have a new way of looking
at things. Look at 2 Corinthians 4.18. Why,
we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which
are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. How do you walk like this? Look
at verse 7. For we walk by faith, not by
sight. We're confident, I say, willing
rather to be absent from the body to be present with the Lord.
We didn't have that by nature. That wasn't our sight by nature.
That wasn't how we walked by nature. See, that old way of
walking has passed away. You still have that old flesh
with you and you still pine away at the things of this world,
but Christ comes and makes those things continually pass away
and makes you look to Him at God's right hand and see there
is where your home really is. And then look at this, our old
selfish motive of living for ourself. That's passed away. We have a
new motive to live to Christ. Look at 2 Corinthians 5.14. For
the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that
if one died for all, then we're all dead. That means if one died
for all, then all for whom Christ died are dead. And that He died
for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again.
Now we know the Gospel. Now we know that when Christ
died, all His members died in Him. That is, all His people.
Now we know that we're dead to the law because it's exhausted
everything it demands on us when it exhausted it on Christ. We're
dead to sin's power to damn us because Christ satisfied divine
justice. Our scapegoat, all the sins of
His people were laid on our scapegoat and our scapegoat took our sins
away to a land not inhabited so that before the judgment seat
of God, God remembers them no more. God says our sins are passed
away. If you take a compass and you start going north, there
is a magnetic field that God made on this earth. And if you
start going north, when you get to the North Pole and you start
going south, that compass is going to turn around and show
you now you're going south. You're no longer going north
anymore. When you're going north right here, it's going to show
you north that way. When you get to the North Pole
and cross over it, that compass is going to turn around and it's
going to show you north back that way now. But if you go east,
That compass won't ever change. It will always be pointing north
and there will be no point at which you start going west. And
if you go west, at no point will you start going east. And he
says our sins are cast away as far as the east is from the west. They have no turning back. They
are gone. They are passed away forever. And now we are risen
with Christ at God's right hand and that means we are complete
in Christ. We are as He is seated at God's right hand, complete
in Him. And so now we are taught by this to no longer live unto
our flesh, but to live unto Christ who loved us and gave Himself
for us, who died and rose again. Paul put it this way, I am crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life I now live, I live
by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself
for me. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, because if salvation come by works or by law, then
Christ died in vain. So I don't frustrate God's grace
in the least bit now. I used to. That's all I used
to do. But old things are passed away
and all things have become new. And then since we are now constrained
by Christ's love for us, our old way of knowing men after
the flesh and glowing in the appearance and thinking that's
what made us to differ, that old way is gone. And now we have
a new way of glowing in the heart and knowing men after the spirit.
In verse 12, 2 Corinthians 5.12, He said, He spoke of our old
way of glorying in appearance and not in heart. And then in
verse 16, He says, Wherefore henceforth know we no man after
the flesh, although we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now
henceforth know we Him no more after the flesh. Go to Galatians
6. I want to show you something
real quick. We used to constrain other people. And we used to have to be constrained.
That was the only way we could do anything in religion, is to
promise me a reward and promise me I'm going to get whipped if
I don't do it. That used to be the only way you could get us
to do anything in religion. But it's not that way anymore.
Look here, Galatians 6.12. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised. Our constraint now is by Christ
loving us and it's in our heart now. But He said, they that want
to make a fair show in the flesh, they want to make an outward
show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised only lest
they themselves should suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ. They won't preach what I'm preaching to you now because
they know that they'll get kicked out on their ear if they do.
Look, for neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the
law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may
glory in your flesh in appearance. Now, that's the old way. That
way is passed away. Here's the new way. God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as many
as walk according to this rule... This is the rule we are under
right here. Many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them
and mercy upon them. It's the rule of God. You know
what He's saying to us? Colossians 3 over there, we talked
about being renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created
Him. He says now, there's neither Greek nor Jew. To a believer,
when we're dealing with fellow believers, one might have been
raised a Jew and claim to be of the Israel of God. Not to
believers anymore. One may be a Gentile, there is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision,
there is neither barbarian or Scythian, bond nor free, but
Christ is all and in all. We know no man after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. In Christ we are one. Believers
are one. You want to cure racism? Preach
gospel. Preach Christ Him crucified.
Let God give a man a new heart. That will cure it. It won't cure
it in the old flesh, but it will cure it in that new man when
that old way passes away and all things become new. So, this
is why Paul comes now to 2 Corinthians 5.17 and says, Therefore, therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. And the next phrase says, and all these things are of God.
Now, John, I'm going to tell you something. I want you to
listen to me. We continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge
of Christ Jesus the same way we start, by hearing this gospel
preached. by His grace, by His Spirit,
He continues to grow us in grace and knowledge of Him. And so
Peter says, Wherefore, lay aside all malice, and all guile, and
hypocrisies, and envies, and evil speakings. What's he talking
about there? See, there's still an old man
of flesh and all these brethren sitting right here. And they're
going to constantly do things that you could, if you wanted
to, You could do something malicious, you could do something full of
gobs, full of hypocrisy, full of envy, you could speak evil,
because they'll do something to warrant that from you. And
you've got an old flesh that wants to do that. But if we're
going to have this gospel right here, and keep it here, and keep
hearing this Word, and keep growing in this grace, He says, lay all
that aside. Put off that old man. And do
what? And as newborn babes, As a newborn
baby, desire the sincere milk of this word that you may grow
thereby. The same way you started is how
you're going to grow. And that's why all these put
on as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies
and forgive one another and be long-suffering one another and
let the Word of God dwell in you richly. All those exhortations
are for this reason, so that nothing will separate us from
one another so that we all together can have this gospel and continue
under this gospel and be grown by our Lord. That's the purpose. Now one day, One day, I want
you to go to Revelation 21, I'm done. One day, we're going to
hear what the Apostle John heard when he saw that new Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
I saw that yesterday. I saw Kristen coming with her
dad and she was prepared and adorned. She was a bride adorned
for her husband. One day we are going to see this,
that last elect child is going to be created anew by Christ.
And we are going to see New Jerusalem coming down. All eyes are going
to see Him. He is going to come down from
above, from that holy mountain of God, New Jerusalem. And He
is going to come down. This is what Apostle John saw,
and he heard him say something. This is what he said in Revelation
21.3, I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the
tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them,
and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with
them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. Why? Look at
these next words. For the former things are passed
away. Old things are passed away. And
He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, It is done. Verse 6, It is done. I am Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the end. I'll give unto him that's
of thirst the fountain of the water, lie freely. And he that
overcometh shall inherit all things. And I will be his God,
and he shall be my Son. Listen to this warning, but the
fearful. and unbelieving, and the abominable,
and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters,
and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Won't it
be good, brethren, when all our sin is gone, and all the sin
of our brethren is gone, and there's nothing else to mar this
or interfere with this? We're just all the complete new
creation of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what that'll be? That'll
be heaven. That'll be heaven where everybody
there is the creation of Christ righteous. Won't that be something? I can't even imagine it. It'll
be good though. It'll be good. That's what it
means by being made a new creation. Alright. We're going to, just so everybody
knows,