Turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter
5. It says in verse 17, Therefore, if any man, no distinction, no
class distinction, no race distinction, if any man, whether it be rich
or poor, young, old, if any man, and that covers women,
any man or any woman, if any man or woman be in Christ, here's
the key, in Christ, that person, he is a new creation. You are a new creature. You are
a brand new creation. October the 11th, 1954. I did
not exist. I did not exist. This world had
gone on without me up until then. I did not exist. October 11, 1955, I came into
the world. There was a new person born into
this world. There was a new person born into
the Chapman family, the fourth one. But up until then, I had
not existed. And in this new creation, in
this new creation, It is really a new creation. It is a new person
that did not exist before. Now, in the mind and purpose
of God, we did. But in reality, in experience,
we did not exist. But one day, one day, God commanded
life and life. Just like he did back in Genesis
chapter 1. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. And God said, let there be light.
And there was light. And then he began to create all
this that we see. And one day, one day, I was born of God. Think about
that. Do you believe the gospel? That
was your birthday. My birthday on this earth will
sooner or later be wiped out. It'll be written on a tombstone
when I was born and when I die. It'll be on my tombstone. But
my birthday, my spiritual birthday will have no end. There'll be
no tombstone. There'll be no date on there
when I die. Not at all. It's an eternal life. It's the
life of God. And it never ends. And it's a
new creation. He said, therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. The
old things that we loved. And I can say, by experience, and according to
God's Word here, I can say that I love things now that I once
hated. And I hate things now that I
once loved. I hate there's a there's a there's
a real part of me. There's a real part of me I hate.
Paul said that which I do, I allow not. He said, I wish I wish you
wouldn't do it, but I can't keep from it. I wish over and over
in Romans chapter seven, I hate that. I hate that old man. I hate that old nature I was
born with. I hate it. I hate that old life. I hate it. And I love Christ. Peter, do you love me? There
was a time I didn't. There was a time you did not
love Christ. None of us were born into this world in love
with God. We were born into this world
with a natural enmity in our hearts to God. We came into this
world enemies of God, hating God, despising God. Religious, yes. Religious. You can tell people that are
religious. You know, the Jews were religious. And you tell
them they hate God? We looked at this last Sunday.
Christ said, you're of your father the devil. They hated him for
it. Oh, they said, God is our father. No, God's not your father. If you're not in Christ, God's
not your father. God's only the father of those in Christ. But
these old things are passed away. And I tell you, it might be better
read like this. These old things are passing
away. There's some of these things, they don't pass away too fast.
Like Lazarus, when he came out of the grave, the Lord said,
take those grave clothes off from him. And sometimes it takes
a while to get the grave clothes off. It takes a while to get that
off. And these old things are passing away. They're passing away. And behold,
all things are become new. I tell you, you know, when you
learn the gospel, it's new, but I tell you what, It's new to
you every time you hear it might sing the story or sing the song. Tell me the old, old story. It
is an old, old story, but it's also new and fresh. There are
times when I'm not dull of hearing and there are times I'm dull
of hearing and it just it doesn't affect me too much. I'm telling
you the truth. But there are times when I'm
not so dull of hearing that it's like I heard it for the first
time. There are times I'll listen to Henry again on the internet
or the CD I have, listen to him, and it's like I heard him for
the first time. It's new. Jeremy reads a book to Cole Madison at nighttime
when they go to bed. He lets him pick out a book.
You know, they've got a lot of books, and he lets him go pick out a
book. Madison picks out a different book every night and gives it
to him. Cole picks out one book. a snake
book, every night, same book. And last night, Madison said,
Cole, that's boring. You read it every night. But
he listens to his dad read that book as if he read it for the
first time every night. And when you hear the gospel,
and you're not dull of hearing, you're not slumbering, God has
woke you up. When you hear the gospel, even
though it's an old, old story, it's new. It's fresh. It's fresh. All things are become new. Our
understanding of God has become new. I'll tell you what, what
I know of God now is not what I used to think of him. He said
to those Jews back over in the Psalms, you thought I was altogether
like yourselves. That's the way I used to think
of God. I thought of him too much with human reasoning. That's
not the way I see him now. I see him as he's revealed in
the scriptures. The sovereign, the king. The one who's righteous
and holy, who can do no wrong. He can do no wrong. I don't understand
a lot about what he's doing, but I know this. I was telling
Jason last night, we were talking about this. I said, son, I can't
understand why the Lord does a lot of things, but I do know
this. He does no wrong. He does no
wrong. And I live with that. And I live
with that understanding. He's sovereign. He's right. He's
God. He's eternal. And that's a new
understanding. I did not have that. That comes
by revelation. And that's only given to that
new creation. The old man fights against that. The old man fights
against the sovereign on the throne. Because he wants to be
on the throne. God has to dethrone us in order
to save us, bring us into the dust in order to raise us, strip
us in order to clothe us. He must do it. And listen, verse
18, in all things are God, all these things. You know, when
God created the world, he created it just like he wanted it. He
didn't consult with the heavenly host. He didn't consult with
anyone but himself. Do you know anyone better to
consult with than infinite wisdom? He created Adam last. Adam couldn't
have any input in. When he created Adam, all was
done. It was finished. And that's the
way salvation is. Our Lord cried, it's finished.
All is done. And He did it all. He said to
you, as I read to you over in Ezekiel 36, I will. I will. Let's turn over there.
Over here in Ezekiel 36. You notice this as we go down
through here. He said, Therefore, say unto
the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for
your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy namesake, which
ye have profaned among the heathen, whether ye went. And I will sanctify
my great name. I'll sanctify it. Then you go
up here in verse 24. For I will take you from among the
heathen. I'll call you by grace. I'll bring you out from among
them. You are my people and I'll call you and I'll take you from
among the heathen and I'll gather you out of all the countries
and we'll bring you into your own land. There's no trying here,
is there? There's no. We never read where
God tries to do something or where God tries to save someone.
I will and you shall. I said it and it will happen. Then in verse 25, then will I
sprinkle clean water upon you. I will do this and you shall
be clean. You shall be clean. From all
your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.
A new heart also will I give you. A new spirit will I put
within you. That's the new creation. That's of God. And that new creation
that's of God is holy. It does not sin. That's of God. It cannot sin. It's of God. He created it. And I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a
heart of flesh. I'll give you a heart of compassion.
I'll give you a heart that can feel. I'll take away that stony
heart and I'll give you a heart of repentance. And I will put
my spirit within you. You know, back in verse 26, he
said, a new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put
within you. Then he says, then I'll put my spirit within you. Then I'll put my spirit within
you. Because I'll tell you what, until that new creation, there's
no place. There's no place for him. Not
in that old man. Not in that old nation. Not in
that old heart. There's no place for it. There
is in that new. There is in that new. And I'll
cause you to walk in My statues, and you will keep My judgments,
and you shall dwell in the land that I give your father, and
you shall be My people, and I will be your God, and I will also
save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the corn. You
get the idea. I will do this. I will. All things
are of God. He created all things. Everything
that happened today was of God. All things that happened today,
all things that have happened to this day, all things that
will happen after this day are of God. God's purpose is in it. God's glory is in it. We may
not be able to see His glory in a lot of things going on,
but ultimately His glory is in it. all things in salvation from
beginning to end, from choosing us, calling us, Christ dying
for us, bringing us to final glory, that is all of God. It's all of God. All things are
of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and
hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. What a ministry
we have. It's not one of condemnation.
It's to be reconciled to God. Be reconciled to God. It's a
ministry of reconciliation. That is to say that God was in
Christ. God was in Christ. He is the
God-man. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto Himself. Not imputing their trespasses
unto them. Well, who did He impute it to?
Well, we find that out in verse 21. Our sins were imputed to
Him. Our sins were laid on Him. Not
imputing their trespasses unto them, and have committed unto
us the word of reconciliation, the word of peace, the word of
the gospel. Be ye reconciled to God. Look
to Him. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. Man, I tell you, what a message
we have. What a message we have to priests in a lost and dying
world. I thank God that He sent a man one day and a congregation
that put forth the money to put him on television to preach the
gospel. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I'm thankful for that. He's committed unto us the word
of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ. We represent Christ. We are here
on a mission also. We are here representing Him
also. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. And here's the gospel in a verse,
right here. For he that is God the Father, we have
three people in this verse, he, him, and us. We have those three
people in this verse, he, him, and us. He that is God the Father, he's
the one who chose us. He's the one who gave us to his
son. He's the one who loved us. He hath made Him, His Son, Jesus
Christ. And you and I can't even begin
to enter into this. The agony, the agony that He
experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was being
made sin. He sweat great drops of blood.
This actually happened. He hath made him to be sin. And
it really reads like this. For he hath made him sin for
us. I can't enter into that. I can't
explain it. I cannot explain it. But I'm
telling you this. When God dealt with His Son,
He dealt with me. And He was made to be what I
am. He hath made him sin for us,
Christ who knew no sin. Listen, here's the mystery of
the gospel. Even when he was made to be sin for us, he knew
no sin. He never sinned. He never had
an evil thought. He never had an evil thought.
Only God can do this. It would just be futile for me
to try to figure out how this is done. God did this, and this
is between God and God. It's between God and God. The Father made the Son sin for
us. The Son who knew no sin, even
while He was being made sin, And the purpose of it is that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. God could have
nothing to do with me or you apart from this substitution.
Couldn't do it. Sin has to be dealt with. God
cannot wink at sin. He cannot just like you and I
can. You and I can just say, OK, let's
just move on. God can't do that. Sin has to
be dealt with. Adam sinned. You know, he committed
that one sin. He sinned a lot after that, but
he committed this one sin and the whole world came under condemnation. He said, well, that's just a
bit strict. That's way too strict. That's God. That's God. And when his son was made to
be sin, he dealt with him as a sinner. He dealt with him on
the cross as if I was hanging there. I was hanging there in
him. It wasn't just as if I was hanging there. I was hanging
there in my substitute, in my representative. In Christ, I
was hanging there. The whole body of Christ, the
whole church of Christ, every believer from beginning to end
was hanging on that cross, in that representative. And God
dealt with it. And He put an end to sin. And now we are made, listen now,
we are made the righteousness of God in Christ. We are not
looked upon as the righteousness of God only. We are truly made
the righteousness of God in Christ. We are righteous in Christ right
now. Not going to be right now. We're
righteous in him and we're made that way. That new man, that
new man that's in Christ is righteous, he's holy now. And one day you and I are going
to lay, God's going to lay this body down. God's going to put
this body of corruption, this body of sin in the grave and
that new creation, that new man is going to glory. And that old man is going to
be extinguished. Gone. He'll bother us no more. We'll
never have to worry about being troubled by sinful thoughts or
temptation. That's all gone. Because that
old man's gone. He's finally buried and he's
finally done away with. And all's left. is that new creature
created in Christ Jesus. That's all that's left. That's good news. Now you tell
me that old, old story again Sunday and next Wednesday and
next Wednesday and the next Sunday until we finally go home. And we sing praises unto Him
and give unto Him all the glory that's due unto His name. That's all I've got to say.