If it were possible to start
all over again, if you could push the rewind
button to your life and start from scratch, start all over with a clean record, slate white, absolutely clean. Not only start all over with
a clean record, but start all over with a clean record impossible
for you to defile, impossible for you to corrupt again. Would
you be interested? For some of us, that's a fact,
not a dream. I pray God will make it so for
you today. My text this morning is 2 Corinthians
chapter 5, verse 17. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse
17. My subject is the new creation. We read in Genesis 1 how that
God created the heavens and the earth. In Jeremiah 32, We're
told that the Lord God created a new thing in the earth. A woman
shall compass a man. When the Lord Jesus came into
this world in our nature, God created his holy humanity, created
him a man, a man to whom Godhood was forever joined so that God
and man become one in him. And by his obedience and death
as the sinner substitute, The Lord Jesus put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself, brought in everlasting righteousness,
and glorified everything God had revealed about himself in
his law, fulfilling every jot and tittle of the law in the
room instead of his people. And then we read in Isaiah 65
that soon, in the last day, God's going to create a new heavens
and a new earth. But if you would enter into that
new heaven, into that new earth, you must be made a new creature
in Christ Jesus. Second Corinthians chapter 5
verse 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. As we look at this vast declaration
of grace and seek to know the message of God the Holy Spirit
in this one verse of scripture, I pray that God the Holy Spirit
will both be our teacher and that he will perform this wondrous
work for you here who do not know our God, who are lost without
God, without Christ, and without hope in this world. Oh, would
to God we might all leave this place, new creatures, in Christ
Jesus. Well, that's too much to expect.
It is, if anything, depends on man. It is not because everything
depends on our God. Son of God, send your spirit
and do your work this day. All right, let's look at this
text word by word. Number one, therefore, therefore,
this is a connecting word. It connects this passage, this
statement in verse 17, with everything that Paul has said up to this. It points us back to the immediate
context, particularly. It's also a word of conclusion.
Paul is saying this is the conclusion. This is the only reasonable conclusion
that can be drawn from what I just declared. He's telling us that
this is the conclusion of my argument, the conclusion of the
things I have given you for your instruction and comfort and edification
in this passage. His conclusion is this. All old
things, Even those of divine appointment, once they have served
their purpose, they wax old and they pass away forever and are
of no value. All old things in the old covenant
All old things with regard to the law, with regard to ceremonial
worship, all old things in the carnal dispensation have passed
away. They've served their purpose
and they're gone forever. They're never to return. But
he speaks here of the experience of grace particularly. He's telling
us that we must be made new creatures in Christ Jesus. if we are to
enjoy that which he has just described in verses 14, 15, and
16. This word, therefore, then directs
our minds back to verse 14. For the love of Christ constraineth
us. The love of Christ constraineth
us. The love of Christ is the force.
that drives us. The love of Christ is the impulse
that moves us. The love of Christ is the inspiration
that revives and refreshes us. The love of Christ constrains
us. Like a mighty river flowing from
the throne of God in its mighty tide, the love of Christ sweeps
us along in the course that it is directed for us. Turn to Psalm
46, verse 4. Psalm 46, verse 4. We're talking about the love
of God to his elect, the peace and joy that's found only in
that ocean of God's infinite, distinct love. Psalm 46, verse
four, there is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city
of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
This river is talking about God's infinite love. In Revelation
chapter 22, we're told that this river flows from beneath the
throne of God. And thus it speaks of the sovereignty
of that love. It is a love that proceeds from
God's throne toward God's people for a specific purpose and it
directs us in all our paths. The love of Christ constrains
us. It constrains us because we thus
judge. This is the thing about the love
of Christ that moves us. This is the thing about the love
of Christ that inspires us to walk with God in faith, to do
what we do for God's glory, to seek to serve our God and Savior
in our generation. We thus judge that if one died
for all, then we're all dead. That reads a little awkwardly.
This is exactly what it's saying. The love of Christ constrains
us, Merle. We don't need law to whip us.
We don't need rewards to entice us. The love of Christ constrains
us because when Christ died, we died. When Christ died, we died in
him. If he died for us all, not everybody out there in the world,
not everybody, perhaps even in this room. But for all who were
represented by Him, then all for whom He died, died when He
died. And now we're crucified with
Christ. We died in Him. We died with Him. And now we're
dead to the law. So the law exhausted all its
claims upon us when our Savior was sacrificed by the hand of
justice. We're dead to sin. So the sin
lost all its damning power over us when Christ our surety died
and put away sin. Sin as we may, sin as we must. God's fixed it in his infinite
wisdom. He's fixed it so that while we
live in this world, Bob, we can't avoid sin. Sin as we may, sin as we must,
our sins can never damn us because of this infinite love that sacrificed
himself for us. The love of Christ constrains
us. Because of his great love for us, he came here, assumed
our nature, took on himself our sins, became what we were, and
died under the justice of God in our room instead, and we died
in him. And now, nothing can mar his
finished work. Now look at this, verse 15. He
died for all. I know I'm giving the right interpretation
to verse 14, because verse 15 interprets it just that way.
He died for all. that they which live should not
henceforth live unto themselves but unto him which died for them
and rose again Christ Jesus died for us the just for the unjust
that he might bring us to God and calls us to live unto God Oh God give me grace to live
unto God, to live for His glory, to live in obedience to Him,
to live seeking His majesty and His honor to be displayed. He
died for all, that they which live as the result of His death
should not live any longer unto themselves. We do too much of that, don't
we, Skip? Soon, that's going to end. But
He didn't die for us to live to ourselves. That's not the
object of His love. That's not the object of His
death. His death is that we should live unto Him who died for us
and rose again. As the redeemed sinner is brought
by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit in irresistible
mercy to experience this blessed union and communion with the
Lord Jesus who died for us, who loved us with an everlasting
love as we're brought into experimental oneness with him. Now, when it's
theory When it's all just something you got locked in your head,
when it's all just something you studied in a textbook, all
something you've just read in a theology book, if it's all
theory, it doesn't have any effect on you. Oh, but when you begin
to experience what it is to be one with Christ, to be one with
Christ, then you're moved by the love of God. Irresistibly
compelled by the love of Christ. Marvelously, wondrously forced
by the current of that stream to move in the direction of that
stream to God's glory. So that you no longer live to
yourself, but to him who loved you, died for you, rose again
for you, who intercedes in heaven for you, who is ready always
to take up your cause, always to undertake for you, always
to help you, to succor you, to meet your every need. Now look
at verse 60. Wherefore, wherefore, because
now we know Christ, in the experience of grace because
we have been moved by his love and compelled by his love in
the course of his love because we've experienced this life in
him. Wherefore, henceforth, knowing
no man after the flesh. What a mercy. What a mercy if
the love of Christ constrains us. If the love of Christ is what
moves us, if the love of Christ is what carries us in the course,
the love of Christ is the inspiration and calls of the way we live
and of our actions, then we're no longer on the lookout for
the infirmities of our brethren. We're no longer looking to judge
God's children as they hobble along in this world dragging
this body of sin and death with them. We're not ready to judge
God's children after sight, according to the flesh and outward appearance,
but rather we know no man after the flesh. We look upon God's
people as they really are, as they really are in Christ Jesus,
one with Christ, holy, unblameable, Unreprovable. You remember how Noah's two sons,
Sham and Japheth, reacted when their brother Ham saw their daddy
Noah drunk? You remember the story. Noah's
in the vineyard, drunk as a skunk. I mean, he just, he's falling
down drunk. Don't I don't have any idea whether
Noah had just now for the first time begun to find out what happens
when wine is exposed to the sun. I don't have any idea whether
it's the change that took place after the flood. It doesn't matter.
Noah is just falling down drunk. And Ham saw it. And Ham said,
look here! I always knew that it was a fake.
I always knew he was hiding something. Look here, look at the old man
and his shame. And Sham and Japheth took a blanket
and went backwards into the tent and covered Noah's nakedness, all the while walking backward,
refusing to look upon their father's shame. Why is that? the love of Christ constrains.
They knew the meaning of what happened in that ark. They knew
they'd found grace in the eyes of the Lord, like their daddy
Noah. And they knew that Noah, in Christ
Jesus, was one with Christ, accepted with him. And they refused to
look upon, let alone discuss, their father's shame. Ham was
anxious to expose it. They acted like they didn't know
anything at all about it. They acted like they knew nothing
at all about it. Richard, you mean we ought to
do that? Yeah. That's just how y'all treat each
other. Did you see Bob out at Temple? Oh, Bob doth her. No, I didn't see that. I didn't
see that. Do you hear what he said? No,
I didn't hear that. No. Well, you were sitting right
beside me. I didn't hear it. I don't know what you're talking about. I
don't know what you're talking about. Well, that's not honest. That's
real honest. That's real honest, because he's
in Christ. And this is how he really is,
without sin, holy, unblameable, unreprovable, one with Christ.
We, henceforth, No man after the flesh. No man. This is what
the book says. Love covereth all sins. Only an ungodly man diggeth up
evil. That's what the book says. Only
an ungodly man diggeth up evil. So much then for church discipline
committees. So much then for your rules and
orders. Read on, verse 16. Yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Few there are who have not known
Christ after the flesh. Few. Not many people are that
ignorant of history. Few have not known Christ after
the flesh. Most everybody knows, at least
in this country, after the flesh. If you're interested, along about
1st of December, start watching some of the history discovery
channels that they run out of other things to show, and they'll
try to find out the real Jesus, and they'll tell you about Christ
after the flesh. Most everybody knows about Christ after the
flesh. know that he at least said he came here from heaven,
that he's the son of God, that he was incarnate God in human
flesh, that he lived in righteousness, that he died upon the cursed
tree, and that he rose again. Most everybody knows about Christ
after the flesh. But Paul says now, though we
have known Christ after the flesh, that's not how we know him anymore.
That's not how we know him. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, do
you remember Paul said, I determined to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and him crucified? And he said, my speech and my
preaching was not with the enticing words of man's wisdom. I didn't try to argue you into
believing something. I didn't try with intellect and
reason and logic and powers of persuasion and emotional stirring
stories to get you to say you agreed with the doctrine I taught.
No. I just told you who Christ is,
what He did. I just preached Jesus Christ
and Him crucified to you. Because I'm not interested in
you knowing Christ after the flesh. There are some in our
day who avowedly decry and denounce the supernatural work of God
the Holy Spirit in regeneration. Now they don't stand in the pulpit
and say we don't believe in regeneration, we don't believe in new birth.
They deny it by the doctrine they teach. They teach what their,
these modern heretics teach exactly what the Gnostics taught in the
Apostles day and that is that salvation is nothing more and
nothing less than the acquired knowledge that you get by studying
the Word or by somebody else teaching you the Word and you
come and arrive at this spiritual plane of knowledge that other
people don't have. One such heretic, about 30 years
ago, not quite, oh, 25 years ago, down in Albany, Georgia. He had decided there was nobody
preaching the gospel but him and three other fellows. And
soon two of those were out. But he wrote an article. He said the apostles were lost
until after the resurrection. They didn't know God left the
resurrection. They were just religious. They were lost folks because
they didn't have enough knowledge to have really been saved. And
I wrote to him, thought about reason with him. I said, let
me ask you some questions. And I listed 30 or 40 questions.
I've forgotten. I've got them somewhere, I'm
sure. But these questions, are you telling
me that the Lord Jesus told lost men to rejoice because their
names were written in heaven? Did the Lord Jesus tell lost
men that they had the keys of the kingdom of heaven? Did the
Lord Jesus tell lost men that their sins were forgiven? And
I said, now when you get these answers, I've got 30 or 40 more
questions of the same kind to ask you. Well, that's nonsense. Well, but they didn't understand
what he taught them. They didn't know. Matter of fact,
the only person who really seems to have understood clearly what
he said concerning what he was about to do while he was on this
earth was Mary Magdalene, who came and anointed him for his
burial. She's the only one who really understood He's about
to die right here and rise again. She's the only one who understood
that. I don't have any idea what the apostles knew or didn't know,
but they were the Lord's people. They knew Him. They knew Him
as God, their Savior. They knew Him. Salvation is not
merely historic fact. Saving knowledge is not merely
doctrinal understanding. Saving knowledge is not just
religious knowledge. That which can be acquired without
the Spirit of God is not the work of God's Spirit. That's
worth remembering. That which can be acquired without
the Spirit of God is not the work of God's Spirit. Spiritual
knowledge is heavenly. It's not earthly. It's knowledge
that's acquired by the knowledge of Christ, our Redeemer, in his
heavenly character as our accepted Savior. In John chapter 20, we
won't take time to look at it this morning. In verses 11 through
18, I think it is, you find Mary Magdalene at the tomb. And while
she's at the tomb, she's looking for the risen Redeemer. But she's
looking for him in the regions of death. He's not revealed there. He's revealed in the regions
of life. And finally, the Lord came to Mary and spoke to her
and asked what she's doing there. She said she thought he was the
gardener. She's looking at him. But this
is the same woman now. This is the same woman who anointed
him before his burial. But now he's risen and he's standing
before her and for some reason hides himself from her. And he
said, what are you doing here? And she said, if you've taken
my Lord away, tell me where he is. Tell me where he is. And
the Lord Jesus said, Mary. And immediately she's Lord, oh,
rabbi, my master, the one who's won my heart, the one who holds
my affections. And apparently, she started to
reach out and hug him. Wouldn't you? And he said, don't
touch me now. Don't touch me now. Don't find
your gratification in this carnal appearance, in this carnal knowledge,
in this carnal understanding. Don't touch me, for I've not
yet ascended to my father. He's saying to her, Mary, Set
your heart on things above, not on things on the earth. Set your
affection on Christ on the throne, your Redeemer, and set your affection
there and learn of me there. And so it is for us. Our Savior's
heart was in heaven with the Father, and he would have hers
there and ours there as well. Where's the place of your true
commitment? Where's the place of your true
communion? Your true communion with God. I'm talking about where
you learn from God. Paul was translated to the third
heaven, and he saw and experienced such grace, such wonders, that
he could not put it into words. He couldn't put it into words. That's where the believer walks
with God, as he sets his affection on things above. Did you ever
notice in the book of Ephesians, Paul, throughout that book, talks
about heavenly places, heavenly places. Various translators and
commentators translate that different ways. They say heavenly things,
heavenly experiences, because they They can't quite put their
finger. I just can't sit down and define
this thing. So the same man will give several
translations of it in heavenly places. We're blessed with Christ
in heavenly places. We're glorified together with
Christ in heavenly places. We're resting with Christ, risen
with Christ in heavenly places, in heavenly places as we come
together in the church. In chapter three, we're told
that we here as we worship God, not just here in this physical
building, but as we are now gathered with the saints of God at Mount
Zion around the throne of God and we come to the heavenly Jerusalem
and we come to the to the general assembly church of the firstborn
around God's throne and gather around God's throne with the
spirits of just men made perfect and the angels of God. The angels
of God. Read for yourself Hebrews chapter
12. It doesn't say you're going to come. You do come. You have
come. So that when we come together
and worship our God, we don't worship at a carnal material
altar. We worship yonder. We worship
at the altar, Christ Jesus, the Lord. And there we teach the
angels the wonders of redemption. Ephesians 3, verse 10, in heavenly
places and in heavenly places. In heavenly places, you can look
at it in Ephesians 6, 12, there the word is translated high places
because the word, it just threw them into context here. In Ephesians
6, 12, it's in heavenly places that we wrestle with principalities,
powers, with powers of wicked men. and rulers in this world. It's there that God's people
do business with God all the time as we worship Him. All true
knowledge is knowledge we acquire from the throne of God by the
Spirit of God in a supernatural way. All true spiritual knowledge,
all true worship, all true direction, that's how we get it. in the
heavenly places. Mary must not linger among the
shades of darkness, desertion, and death. While her body was
upon the earth, the Lord would have her spirit in heaven, and
so it is with us. Buffeted by Satan, burdened with
sin, bowed down under the weight of the body of this death, look
up, children of God. Christ is in heaven. Let your
heart be there as well. Someone once said that the cross of Christ is God's
monument erected over the grave of all carnal things. Let it
be so with you and with me. We meet together and sing our
hymns Our hearts are moved with the words of the hymns and moved
by the prayers of God's saints. And as we hear the gospel proclaimed
by faithful men, but the heart. Must be lifted up by the spirit
of God and Christ revealed if indeed we worship him. Otherwise,
there's no real communion with God, no real identification with
Christ. Therefore, If any man be in Christ. In Christ. To be in Christ. Is to be one with Christ. Not. Two joined together. What? To be in Christ is to be one
with Christ. To be in Christ is to be one
with Christ in Christ, one with me. Oh, what a position of him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and
righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. To
be in Christ is from eternity a secret thing. We're in his
hands as our surety. We're in his heart as our priest,
as our husband, we're in his body as our mediator. We're one
with him in Christ, united to him from everlasting. So that
as long as he has had being as our surety, we've had being in
him. All gods elect are in Christ
by God's sovereign purpose. in Christ by special redemption,
in Christ by the Spirit's special call, in Christ by the purpose
of God, the purchase of God, and the power of God, to which
Jesus and the chosen race subsist the bond of sovereign grace that
hell with its infernal trade shall ne'er dissolve nor end
in vain. Hail, sacred union. firm and
strong, how great the grace, how sweet the song that worms
of earth should ever be, one with incarnate beauty in Christ's
secret name, in him before the world was made, in him when he
came into this world and assumed our nature. in him when he walked
on the earth in obedience to God, in him when he died in our
stead, in him when he rose again, one in the tomb when he arose,
one when he triumphed over his foes, one when in heaven he took
his seat while Sarah sang all hell's defeat. This living union,
oh, what a blessed privilege this is. If any man be in Christ,
he's justified and accepted. If any man be in Christ, he's
alive. His sin is put away. For him,
death has been abolished, and life and immortality is brought
to light through the gospel. If you're in Christ, if I'm in
Christ, we're one with Christ, and we're one in Christ. For
in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision.
So that God's people, being one in Christ, are one with each
other. Now that makes it a whole lot
easier for me to look at Bob and say, no, I didn't see that.
I didn't hear that. Because I'm real good at excusing
myself, aren't you? I'm real good at justifying myself,
aren't you? I'm real good at finding a reason for how I behave,
even when it's bad, aren't you? That's me. We're one in Christ. We're one in Christ. That's the
practicality of this thing, this union with Christ. We are one. God has, by the obedience and
blood of Christ, broken down the middle wall of partition
that separated us. And now there are just two kinds
of people in the whole world. Just two kinds. Those who are
in Christ and those who aren't. Those who are redeemed and those who
aren't redeemed. Those who are justified and those who aren't
justified. Those who are elect and those who are reprobate.
And all who are in Christ are one with Christ and one in Christ. Now, therefore, if any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature. If anyone is in Christ in the
blessed experience of God's saving grace, if anyone is in a living,
vital union, a union of God's making, he's a new creature in
Christ. A new creation. A new creation. What does it take to create?
What does it take to create? Well, the fella, he gathered
up some materials and look what he created. No, he didn't. He
just made it. What does it take to create? It's not making or
forming a new thing out of an old one. It's not changing something. It's not transforming an object.
It's not converting something from one state to another state. A new creature is not the old
creature, renovated, adorned and made pretty. It's not the
flesh with all its corruptions and lust, trimmed and trained
and made to look good. A new creature is a new divine
nature, with spiritual blessings and immunities and privileges
that cannot be denied that new creature and that new nature.
It's not taking old Adam and washing him, clothing him and
adorning him, making him religious and making him appealing to the
eye. Oh, no, that's not it. The new creation is a work altogether
new. If I'm in Christ, I'm partaker
of a new nature. How does the book speak of that?
Partaker of divine nature. If I'm in Christ, I'm a partaker
of his resurrection life, Ephesians 2, 6. I was raised together with
him. If I'm in Christ, I have a life
put in me that is according to the promise of God accomplished
at God's appointed time. So that now, in the set time
of God's love, He has communicated to me life. Now, how's this done? How's this done? Well, I'll tell
you what. Ron, when you can explain to
me exactly how it was that in the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth, then you can start on this. How's this
done? I dare say no new creature really
knows when the creation was done or how the creation was done.
I dare say none do. The only ones who pretend to
do so are those who have been confused by preachers who like
to judge after the flesh, after the outward appearance. And they
set up rules and committees and they start to judge things. We're
going to have some folks here, Brother Sadler and his wife,
Ms. Dix, Brother Joe and his wife, Cynthia, want to unite
with the congregation. Now, I know churches where you
just can't do that, not until you've passed muster. You've
got to go and explain now, how is it that you came to know the
Lord? Because if your how-to is not the same as my how-to,
then something's wrong with you, and you must not have. And we
can't have that, so folks start to listen. Now, Brother Don,
how was it that you told me about your experience of grace? Someone
asked me the other day, said, I'd sure like to hear you talk
about how the Lord brought you to Himself sometime. And I said,
you're not likely to hear that. And if you do, it'll just be
very brief and just passing. Because just as sure as you hear
it, you'll try to imitate it. How is it this new life is communicated?
God commands and life is given. No more and no less. And you
know when you got it? When you got it. It's that simple. We are like that man in John
9. I don't know. I don't know. I think I was 16
years old when God first made himself known to me. Not quite
17 years old when he saved me. But I wouldn't depend on that. I had some good experiences after
that. Man, I had some eye-popping experiences after that. I don't
know. I don't know. I don't know. And I don't care. I don't care. You know, I have
never looked at a calendar. I've been tempted a time or two,
but I never have, so I can tell you this. I've never looked at
a calendar to see what day of the week I was born. Never have. I have never even driven by the
place to my knowledge where I was born. I've been by it a number
of times, but I've never looked at it, never asked it. Is that
where it was? Never have. Because I don't want to know.
I don't want to know. How come? It's insignificant. Well, how
do you know you're alive? If you can't take me to the time
and show me the place. How do you know you're alive?
Watch this. Ah. Yeah, I'm alive still. Much to
the chagrin of some. I'm still here. I'm still here.
How do you know? Here I am. How do you know you're
in Christ? God's given me life and faith
in Him. And faith in Him is the breath
of life in my soul. That's all. That's all. What
about yesterday? Yesterday is totally insignificant. Totally meaningless. This one
thing I know, once I was blind to God and His Christ and to
His salvation, His atoning blood and His righteousness, blind
to His grace and His mercy, blind to His election and His providence,
blind, blind. But now I see. Oh, I like what
I see, don't you? Now I see. And I know that this
is not natural. This is what God's given me.
A new creation is found only in union with him who has made
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And this new creation is a divine nature. It's not merely an influence. It's not just a principle. It's
a real existence. It's a real person. Well, you're
confusing God, the Holy Spirit, with God the Son. No, I'm not.
I'm not an idiot. This is not the Spirit of God
dwelling in us. No, no, no, no. How was the humanity
of our Lord formed in the womb of the Virgin Mary? The Holy
Ghost shall come upon thee. The Almighty God shall overshadow
thee. The power of the highest created
that holy thing. in the Virgin's womb by which
our souls would be redeemed. But the Holy Spirit who created
that holy humanity in the Virgin's womb is not that holy humanity. and the Holy Spirit dwelling
in us in His powerful grace, regenerating us by His mercy,
forms Christ in us, makes us partakers of the divine nature,
but He is not that nature. Rather, that which is born of
God is born of the Spirit, and being born of the Spirit cannot
sin. It's that holy thing in us. Oh, how can we even begin
to talk about this union? Turn to John 17. John chapter
17 I've read everything I can Everything
I can find that I will continue to about this union that I was
with Christ. I Haven't found anything to come
close to this in describing it verse 21 the Lord Jesus says
that they all may be one as Thou father art in me and I in thee
That they also may be one in us. I that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me and the glory which thou gavest me I
have given them that they may be one even as we are one what? I in them and thou in me that
they may be made perfect in one that the world may know that
thou hast sent me and hast loved them as thou hast loved me oh
what glorious oneness as the divine three-in-one God are equally,
eternally, and essentially one. So, Jesus Christ and this man
chosen and redeemed and called by grace are essentially, eternally,
equally one. One with Christ by Mediator,
one with Him. That means as He is, so are we
in this world. Old things are passed away, old
things. That old thing's sin, gone. How? Christ put it away
by the sacrifice of Himself. That old thing, the curse of
the law, passed away. How? Christ redeemed us from
the curse of the law. He is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believe it. That old thing, condemnation,
has passed away. How's that? Because Christ said
to sin and law and condemnation and death would salt me. He says
concerning all his own, if you seek me, let these go their way. And there's therefore now no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. That old thing,
that holds men in terror. Death is passed away. I am in union with Christ. That
means Bob Punster. He is life. And I'm life in him. He that liveth and believeth
on me shall never die. Never die. Not possible. When
this body of flesh is dissolved, I will then begin to live as
I've never really imagined living before. All things are become new. Now, in Christ, I have a new
name, Jehovah Sedkinu, Jeremiah 33, 16. Adam, he calls me himself. Jehovah's again, Jehovah, the
Lord, our righteousness in Christ. I have a new nature, a holy nature
that cannot see it. It resides in this body of flesh
and lives with this old man in me. But this new man, this new
man, holy, created in righteousness and true holiness in Christ. I have a new record, complete
obedience, perfect righteousness. a record that can never be marred by anything I can do. You know why don't you, Lindsay?
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. That'll make you want to go out
and live like hell. If it does, you probably will. Oh, no. The love of Christ constrains
us. I have a new hope. Not my feelings,
emotions, or doings, but the doing and dying of the son of
God. I have a new inheritance. I got a new family. God's my
father. Christ is my brother. The Holy
Spirit's my comforter. And this, my mother, my sister,
my father, my son, my daughter. That's what our Lord said concerning
his church, isn't it? This is my family. I've got a
new family. I have now a totally new relationship with God. I'm no longer enmity against
God, but one with God. Christ the Lord. If any man be
in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away and
behold all things are become new. Oh God make you a new creature
in Christ Jesus. Amen.