We should turn back to Galatians
chapter 6. I want to preach on a new creation. While you're turning there, I
want to give this quote that I gave to the Sunday school class this
morning. Lynn saw this quote the other day, and I thought
it was so worth sharing. Real love, I guess this is in
thinking of Valentine's Day, real love is not based on romance,
candlelight dinners, and walks along the beach. In fact, it
is based on respect, compromise, care, and trust. That's beautiful, isn't it? We
ought to be romantic and thoughtful. I was telling Andy and Megan
this. They were at the house the other
night, and Megan said, yeah, you're just getting somewhere
you don't have to do anything. And so don't want to be that
way. Don't want to be that way at all. But we ought to be romantic
and thoughtful toward one another. But anyone who has been married
a long time knows real love is based upon respect, compromise,
care and trust. Happy Valentine's Day. Shirley,
good to see you. Seeing her, I thought I saw that
red hair. Let's read Galatians chapter
6 verse 15 once again. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth
anything. nor uncircumcision, but a new
creation. Ask God to give me the grace
to preach this message and that God would give you the grace
to hear this message. A new creation. In Christ Jesus. Now this prepositional phrase
in Christ is found 164 times in the epistles of Paul. That
gives us some idea of its importance in Christ Jesus. And the key to understanding
the Bible, the gospel, and God's salvation hangs on this phrase,
in Christ Jesus. And this is what made Paul cry,
oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him. That's all I want God to see
when he sees me. I want him to see me in Christ
so that all he sees is Jesus Christ. In Christ Jesus. Now, God really only deals with
two people. You listen to me carefully. either
in Adam or in Christ. He only deals with two people. 1 Corinthians 15, 22 says in
Adam all die. Romans chapter 5 verse 12 says,
By one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, so that death
passed upon all men, in that all have sinned. When Adam sinned,
I sinned. I'm not charged with a sin, I
didn't commit. Being in Adam, when he sinned,
I sinned. because I was in him, being an
Adam, whatever he did, we did, and all that he did, we did. That's what the Bible says. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, so that
death passed upon all men in that all sin. It doesn't simply
say his sin was charged to me. It says I sinned. When he sinned,
I sinned. Turn with me for a moment to
1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 22. For as in Adam, 1 Corinthians
15, 22, for as in Adam, What happens? All die. Even so. in the precise same manner as
in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Just like everybody in Adam died,
no exceptions to that. Everybody in Christ was made
alive, no exceptions. Now this prepositional phrase,
in Christ, speaks of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him,
is being one with Him, is being united to Him, and what glory
there is in being in Him. You would enjoy this week, if
the Lord gives you grace to see what's being said, you would
enjoy this week to read carefully Ephesians chapters 1 and 2, because
in those two chapters we're given all we have in Christ. All spiritual blessings, I'm
just going to name these things real quickly and you can go read
them when you get a chance. All spiritual blessings, we're
chosen in Him, accepted in Him, redeemed in Him, forgiven in
Him, we have an inheritance in Him, we're predestinated in Him
to be like Him, We have a trust in Him. We're sealed in Him.
We have faith in Him. We have love toward Him. We have
the power that's in Him because of His resurrection, the same
power that's exerted in us that was exerted in His resurrection
to give us the new birth. In Him, we're seated in heaven.
In Him, we're a new creation created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. We're made nigh to Him. We're
the temple of God in Him. We're actually the habitation
of God in Him. Now what blessing there is being in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now somebody may be thinking,
how do you get in Christ? What a blessed place to be. That's
the place I want to be. How do you get in Christ? The
only way I know to answer that is to say, of Him are you in
Christ Jesus? 1 Corinthians 1.30. I can't tell
you how to get into Christ. I can say this, of Him are you
in Christ Jesus? And the only way you're in Christ
Jesus is if God has put you in there. And I know that there's
one evidence that God has done something for you and put you
in Christ. And that evidence is faith. Faith. is the substance
of things not seen, the evidence of things yet hoped for. Faith,
that's the evidence that you are in Christ. If you look to
Christ only right now, if you say, God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you look
nowhere else, you are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in our
text, back to Galatians chapter six, I want us to notice what
Paul says. In Christ Jesus, Neither circumcision
avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. Now in Christ
Jesus, circumcision doesn't avail at all. Now in the book of Galatians,
what circumcision represents is law. Salvation dependent upon
what you do. And he used the example of Abraham
and Sarah and Hagar and Ishmael to illustrate this. You'll remember
that God promised Abraham a son through Sarah. Many years pass,
nothing happens. Sarah says to Abraham, now, God's
promise is not gonna come to pass unless we do our part. We've
got to do our part. So here's what you need to do.
Go into Hagar, that's us doing our part, which is all that was
was sin. But you go in and do your part, we'll do our part,
and God's promise will be realized that way. Sounds good. Abraham
did it. They had Ishmael. God never acknowledged
Ishmael to be a son. He said, through Sarah shall
thy seed be. Through Sarah. Now Sarah was
already gone through menopause. It was totally impossible for
her to have a child. Abraham went into her and they
had the promised child. That's God doing his part. That's
salvation by grace. And In Christ Jesus, circumcision,
what you do, what you do avails nothing. You believe that? In Christ Jesus,
what you do avails nothing. It has no strength. It has no
power. It avails nothing. But somebody says, I know that. I know that. I believe that.
I believe the Bible doesn't teach salvation works. I know that.
I believe the doctrine of grace. I believe in total depravity.
I believe in unconditional election. I believe in limited atonement.
I believe in irresistible grace. I believe in perseverance of
the saints. I believe the Bible teaches those things. I really
do. I believe those things. You don't follow vows with God?
Nothing. absolutely nothing. You can be
a five-point Calvin and split hell wide open. That avails nothing. What you do avails nothing. The things you say you believe,
really that avails nothing with God. But what does avail with
God? Well, look what he says in verse
15. For in Christ Jesus, Neither
circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new
creation. Now here is what avails with
God, a new creation. Now what is creation? In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. In creation, God did what only
God can do. He created something from nothing. I repeat, in creation, God did
what only God can do. He created something from nothing. And it's no different in the
new creation. He creates something from nothing. No man is born
an atheist. We know intuitively from the
creation. All we got to do is look at the
creation and we know somebody created this. It didn't just
happen. It didn't just come into being.
God created the heavens and the earth. As a matter of fact, Romans
1 20 says, the invisible things of him from the creation of the
world are clearly seen being understood by the things that
are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are
without excuse. All a man has to do is open his
eyes and he sees God is. Now, somebody may be an atheist.
But they didn't begin that way. You had to close your eyes. You
had to turn off the sound. You had to make yourself believe
that way because you didn't want there to be a God. You may be
a brazen and a bold atheist, but you weren't born that way.
You weren't always that way. Men intuitively know that God
created the universe. Now, only an all-powerful God
can create something from nothing. God had no help. There was no one he took counsel
with. There was nothing to help him. He had no raw materials to work
with. He had nothing to work with.
As an act of his omnipotent and sovereign will, he spake the
universe into existence. He said, light be, and the darkness
fled away. By an act of His own will, He
created. You know, there was a time when
there's nothing but God. There wasn't any stars, there
wasn't any sun, there wasn't any angels, there wasn't any
creatures of any kind. All there was was God and the
Trinity of His sacred persons. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. There wasn't anything else, and
God had no need to create, but He did. He did. And when he created,
he spake the world into existence from nothing. Now, the believer
is called a new creation. Now, what's the old creation?
Well, it's the work of God alone, isn't it? He had no help. He had nothing to work with.
It's the work of God alone. His sovereign will. Now my hope, my hope is first
of all in the word of God. This is where I base all this
hope from. My hope, here's where my hope
is. This is where the hope of every believer is. It's in the
word of God that God spake. And what I believe is what he
said. Nothing else. My hope is in the will of God.
that He willed my salvation. My hope is in the work of Christ. That's where my hope is. The
Word of God, the will of God, and the work of God in His Son. That's the only place my hope
is. I've got no other hope. But I like my hope being there,
don't you? My hope is in the sovereign, creative act of God. The believer is called a new
creation, and the word new is not new in respect of a chronological
order and sequence of events. It's not new in the sense of
we're talking about time. The word here, new, means recently
made, fresh, recent, unused, unworn. of a new kind, unprecedented,
novel, uncommon, unheard of, a new creation, something that
was not there before. It's called the new birth. regeneration, being born from
above, and this is the sovereign work of God. Would you turn with
me a moment to John chapter 3? John chapter 3. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, The same came to Jesus
by night. Perhaps he was ashamed to be
identified with the Lord, but I think what it means more than
anything else, he was in utter darkness. He came to Jesus by
night with absolutely no spiritual light, no spiritual understanding. The same came to Jesus by night
and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest
except God be with him. Jesus answered and said, I'm reading between the lines,
Nicodemus, you know nothing. You know nothing. You talk about
what you know, you know nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a man be born again from above, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, how
can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verily,
verily, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of
the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto you,
you must be born again. The wind blows where it wills. That's what the word listeth
mean. It blows where it wills. It's sovereign. And thou hearest
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or
whether it goeth. So is every one that's born of the Spirit. Now, how much help did God have
in the old creation? None. What he did, he did by
himself. How much help does God have in
the new creation? Same as the old. What he did,
he did by himself. How much was your physical birth
dependent on you? What did you have to do in order
to have that life come? Why, absolutely nothing. And
what do you have to do with this new creation, this new life that
comes? Is there something you need to
do in order to get it? Absolutely not. This is the sovereign,
irresistible, invincible work of Christ. James 1.18 says, of
his own will begat he us through the word of truth. Listen to
this scripture, John 1.12 and 13. But as many as received him,
to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even
to them which believe on his name, which were born, not of
blood, You're not a Christian because your mommy and daddy
are Christian. Not of the will of the flesh. Not because a bunch
of men got together and prayed till you ended up being saved.
Not of the will of man, not as an act of your free will, but
of God. This new creation is just as
much the work of God alone as the old creation is. Now, this
is a spiritual creation. You know, you may be born again,
birthed by God in your body, and you may have cancer. You
may have cancer in your body right now, and God gives you
new life. You know what? That cancer ain't
leaving. It's still there. This is a spiritual creation.
It's not a physical creation in any way. It's a spiritual
creation. And beloved, It's a radical,
comprehensive creation. You know what that means? That
means it affects everything about you. There are no rooms and compartments
in your life which are shielded from this powerful work of grace. It affects the heart. It affects
the mind, the intellect. It affects the affections. It
affects the will. It's comprehensive. There's no
part of you that this new creation doesn't affect. If there's some
part of you that it doesn't affect, then you've never had it. This
is comprehensive. And it's instantaneous. This
new creation, it's not a process of things you go through. It's
instantaneous. God speaks and you live! Lazarus, come forth! He that was dead came forth.
He didn't have any choice. It wasn't a process. He just
lived. When he said, Lazarus lived,
Lazarus lived. When he said, Lazarus come forth,
Lazarus came forth. And this creative act is individual. You know, there are no twins
in the kingdom of heaven. God deals with everybody one
by one. If he deals with you, it's as
if you're the only one he's dealing with. It's individual. And beloved, it's irreversible. Once born, you cannot be unborn. Once created, you can't be annihilated. It's irreversible. And beloved,
it's noticeable. It's noticeable. Should I tell
people that God saved me? It'll leak out on you. It will. It's something that
can be noticed. And if it's not something that's
noticed by others, it is not real. Listen to these scriptures. This
is not just some isolated scripture. By grace, Ephesians 2, 8 and
10. Matter of fact, let me have you turn there. Ephesians chapter
2. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship created. created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. Look in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 24. You have put on the new man which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. Would you turn there? 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. Verse 17. Therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation, a work of God. All things are passed away and
behold, all things have become new. Now, this is not some isolated
text. This is the teaching of Scripture.
The believer is a new creation. He's new. He's something he was
not before. Old things have passed away and
behold, all things have become new. Old things have passed away.
They're gone. They're abolished. Now, I have
heard people say when you're saved, you no longer have the
same sinful tastes and sinful desires that you had before you
were saved. If that's true, you and I aren't
saved. If that's true, You and I are
not saved. We still have the old man and
he's none the better when the new man comes in. Somebody that
makes that claim is lying to you. I remember hearing a preacher
saying, well, when God saved me, I quit having those same
sinful desires. And I wanted to cry out, you
liar, you lying hypocrite, you're not worth the, well, I thought
even worse things than that. But the point is, we still have
the old man, the same wicked evil desires, the same wicked
evil tastes. Still got the old man, but all
things have become new, unprecedented. They were not there before. All
things become new. Now, the old man's still there,
but there's something new. There's something there that
was not there before. Regeneration is not the old heart
being changed and worked upon and improved. Regeneration is
God making something new, something that was not there before. Now, how can that be? Well, in
Revelation chapter 21, verse 5, Christ said, Behold, I make
all things new. Old things have passed away,
and behold, all things have become new. It's called the New Testament. It's called the New Covenant.
Turn with me for a moment to Hebrews 8. Verse 7. For if the first covenant,
the Old Testament, had been faultless, then should no place have been
sought for the second, the New Testament, For finding fault
with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah. And one of the things I love about the
new covenant, it's a whole lot older than the old covenant.
This is the covenant that was made before time began, but it's
always new. It's always powerful. It's always
fresh. Verse 8, For finding fault with
them, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers
in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of
the land of Egypt, because they continued not in my covenant. And I regarded them not, saith
the Lord. You know, God taking your hand isn't enough. You know
why God taking your hand isn't enough and him dragging you wherever
he wants you? Because the hearts are still
the same. Him taking you by the hand, even giving you a new heart.
Well, I need a new heart. Now let's go on reading. This
is the covenant, verse 10. This is the covenant that I'll
make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord.
I'll put my laws in their hearts and I'll, and let me say, let
me say this. That doesn't talk, that's not talking about 10 commandments.
Everybody's got the Ten Commandments in their heart when they're born.
Everybody knows it's wrong to lie, wrong to steal, wrong to
kill, wrong to commit adultery. Everybody knows those things
are wrong. Everybody's born with that understanding
and that knowledge. And that's why it kills me when
preachers, you know, we're trying to teach people how to live.
Everybody already knows. Everybody already knows. Everybody knows
that stuff's wrong. Everybody knows that stuff's
great sin against God. Now, he's not talking about putting
the Ten Commandments in your heart. He's talking about putting
this new heart, this new nature, these new, these laws of righteousness
and faith and the law of Christ and the law of love and the law
of, just on and on. It's the regeneration is what
he's talking about. Everything that's involved in regeneration.
He says, I'll put my laws in their mind and write them in
their hearts and I'll be to them a God. Oh, I want Him to be my God,
don't you? If God be for us, who can be against us? I'll be
to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall
not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord. For all shall know me, from the least to the
greatest. Now this is the knowledge of God. This is eternal life,
that they might know thee. The only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. It's a true knowledge of God,
not just knowing stuff about him, but knowing him. You know,
when Brian was reading, Abraham, my friend, Abraham, my friend,
I'm God's friend. Through the gospel, that's true
of every believer. He says in verse 12, for I will
be merciful, and the word is propitious. I will be propitious
to their unrighteousness. I'll remove my reason for anger
by removing the sins and their iniquities. Will I remember no
more? That's called the New Testament,
the New Covenant. Now, I am a new person. I am a new person, and this new
person is the real me. And this person was not there
before this new creation took place. There was a time when
I wasn't this person. I was all by myself. I had no
spiritual light. Now I'm a new person, and I have
a new heart. Ezekiel 36 says a new heart,
a new heart will I give you. Now that old heart is not changed.
It's still there. I, this is so important. The
new birth is not God working on the old heart, making it better
and changing it and improving it. And it just gets better and
better. No, not at all. That old heart never gets any
better, but I've got a new heart. a new heart that he gave me. Somebody says, won't you give
your heart to Jesus, beloved? He doesn't want it. It's no good. It's evil. It's wicked. What
would he do with that thing? Why would he want it? You ask
him, he'll give you a new heart. That's what I want, a new heart.
David said, create in me. There's the language, create
in me. Clean heart, oh God. Mine's filthy. I can't make it
any different. The only hope I have is that
you'll do a mighty creation and create in me, just as you created
the universe. You would create in me a clean
heart, and that's the Christ. Create in me a clean heart, oh
God, and renew a right spirit within me. Now, this new heart
is the mind, the affections, and the will. I have a new understanding,
an understanding that I didn't have before. Turn with me for
a moment to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3. Verse 9. Lie not one to another. Don't project yourself to be
something you're not. seeing that you've put off the
old man with his deeds and have put on the new man, the one that
was not there before, which is renewed in knowledge. Now, this new man has a new knowledge. He has a new understanding, which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him. You see, this new man was created,
wasn't he? And what is this new knowledge that the new man has
when God created in him a new heart? Verse 11, There's neither Greek nor Jew.
Circumcision nor uncircumcision. Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free. But Christ is all. In all. Now this is the new knowledge
that every believer possesses. That Christ is all. Christ is all that God is. Christ is all this book has to
say. Christ is all in my salvation. Every aspect, every bit of my
salvation, Christ is all. God doesn't look for a thing
out of me. Christ is Now the only way Christ can be
all to you is if you are nothing. If you're nothing, Christ is
all to you, isn't he? Now if you've got something,
Christ can't be your all. But if you've got nothing, oh how
easy it is for Christ to be all to you. Now that is the knowledge,
that's the spiritual knowledge given in the new birth. I have a knowledge of God that
I never had. I have a knowledge of self that
I never had. You see, I've got a new mind. Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians
2, 16, we have the mind of Christ. You know how Christ thinks? That's
how we think. You know why? Because we actually have his
mind. You know, Christ knows his own glory is essential. He
knows he gets all the glory. We know it too, don't we? He
loves himself getting all the glory. We do too, because we
have the mind of Christ. We have new affections. I now
love what I once had no love for. You know, for instance,
I love the absolute sovereignty of my God. I love the fact that
he's in control of everything and everybody's in his hand and
salvation is of him. I love that. I love Christ. There was a time when I feared
him. I thought he was going to judge me. Now I love Him. I love
His salvation. I love His way of saving. I love
God the Holy Spirit giving me this new heart. I had no love
for the things of God. I do now. I've got a new love
from something that was not there before. I have a new will. I
have a new will. I think of where Paul said in
Romans chapter 7, he said, that which I would, I don't do. What I would not, that's what
I end up doing. But the thing, the point is,
he's got a new will. He's got a new will. My will
is to be perfectly conformed to his image. That's what I want. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. That's the glory of God that,
you know, just the thought of making somebody willing. You
can't make somebody willing. I can't make you willing. I can't
make myself willing. But he can, and he does, and
we're given a new will. Paul said, to will is present
with me. I have this will of wanting to
be found in Christ, of wanting to be made like Christ. I've got a new will that was
not there before. I have new eyes. I can now see
things that I formerly could not see. I have new eyes. I have new ears. I can now hear
the gospel. There was a time when all I could
hear was law. All I could hear was threatenings. All I could
hear was what I need to do. Now I can hear the gospel. I
don't hear do. I hear it's done. It's done. I have a new nose. I can now smell the sweet fragrance
of Christ. and I can smell the stench of
salvation by works. I've got a new nose that I didn't
have before. I have new feet, which walk by
faith and not by sight. I have new hands with handle
of the word of life, just like John said. I've got a new book. This book in front of me, it's
a new book. You know, it used to be a rule book, now it's a
hymn book. And I really see that he's all
in the scriptures. I have a new perspective. Back
in 2 Corinthians, would you turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter
5 for a moment? Verse 17. Therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away, and
behold, all things are become new." And let me make another
comment upon that. People say, you know, you're different once he saves
you. Yeah, you are. You are. But that doesn't mean
the old nature is different. But I tell you what, my old standing
before the law of God has passed away. It used to be guilty. It's
not anymore. It's not guilty. I used to have no love for the
gospel, no understanding for the gospel. Not anymore. I do
now. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And here's this new perspective.
And all things are of God. That's the perspective of the
new nature. All things are of God. He controls everything. Salvation's of God. Everything
that happens in Providence is of God. Working together for
my good and his glory. Got a new perspective. And this,
I believe, might be my favorite. They're all my favorite. I love
them all equally. But I've got a new history. I've got a new history. No sin in that history. That's
what justification is. Justification is a new history. From September 9th, 1959 till
the present, no sin. perfect righteousness. God is
pleased with me because I've got a new history. You see, the old history was
nailed to the cross. The old history was punished. The old history was
put away. and now I have a new history
of nothing but righteousness." Because he said, behold I make
all things new. Now if any man be in Christ,
that's the place to be in it, in Christ. If any man be in Christ,
He is a new creation. And don't ever forget what creation
is. Creation is what only God can
do. He had no help. He counseled
with none. He had nothing to work with.
And you know in the new creation, he has nothing to work with,
does he? Not in you. Not in me. He has nothing to
work with. But he does it as an act of his own free and glorious,
sovereign, powerful will. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. Old things have passed away,
and behold, all things have become new. Now, in Christ Jesus, circumcision, what you do, avails
nothing. Neither does uncircumcision.
Somebody says, I understand that. That doesn't avail anything either.
The only thing that avails with God is a new creation. Now I hope that everybody in
this room will pray from the depths of their hearts, Lord,
make me a new creation. And that's really praying the
same prayer that David did in Psalm 5110 when he said, create
in me a clean heart. Let's pray.