19 Sermon Illustrations on New Creation

Queen Victoria once paid a visit to a paper mill. The foreman showed her and her attendant over the works without knowing who his distinguished visitor was. She finally went into the rag-sorting shop where men were employed in picking out the rags from the refuse of the city. Upon inquiring what was done with this dirty mass of rags, she was told that, sorted out, it would make the finest white paper. After her departure, the foreman found out who it was that had paid the visit. Some time later, Her Majesty received a package of the most delicate white stationery having the Queen's likeness for a watermark, with the intimation that it was made from the dirty rags she had inspected. That illustrates Christ's work in us. He takes us, filthy as we are, and makes us into new creatures. Receiving Christ is becoming Christ's. After receiving Him, we are as different from what we were before as pure white paper is from the filthy rags from which it was made.

Incredible as it may appear to ignorance, on whose admiring eyes it flashes rays of light, science proves that the diamond is formed of the very same matter as common dull black coal. It boasts no native light; and dark in the darkness as the mud or rock where it lies embedded, it shines, if with a beautiful, yet with a borrowed splendor. How meet the emblem of the priceless jewels that adorn the Saviour's crown!

— Dr. Guthrie

The first formation of this spiritual as well as of the natural man was hidden and secret: it was curiously wrought, and in a way no more liable to observation than that of framing the child in the womb, as that is as hidden as the concoction of minerals or precious stones in the lower parts of the earth. No secrets of nature can outvie the mysteries of godliness. Its growth is also by very insensible degrees, as it is with the products of Nature; but its arrival to perfection is infinitely more strange than any thing in Nature ever was. How sudden and wonderful is the change, when, in the twinkling of an eye, the blessed soul instantly awakes out of drowsy languishings and miserable weakness, into perfect strength and vigor! John Howe.

This man "born of God," "begotten of God after his own likeness;" this hero; this son of God, — was born to conflicts, to victories, to triumphs. While he is yet but in his growing age, "he overcomes the world," as Hercules the serpents in his cradle; "overcomes the Wicked One;" and is, at last, "more than conqueror." John Howe.

London businessman Lindsay Clegg told the story of a warehouse property he was selling. The building had been empty for months and needed repairs.

Vandals had damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash around the interior.

As he showed a prospective buyer the property, Clegg took pains to say that he would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural damage, and clean out the garbage.

"Forget about the repairs," the buyer said. "When I buy this place, I'm going to build something completely different. I don't want this building; I want the site."

Compared with the renovation God has in mind, our efforts to improve our own lives are as trivial as sweeping a warehouse slated for the wrecking ball. When we become God's, the old life is over (2 Cor. 5:17).

He makes all things new. All he wants is the site and permission to build.

It was a TV show a long time ago, and it's a TV show again. The idea must still have some life in it! It's called "To Tell the Truth" - maybe you have seen it. Three contestants all tell the panel their name - and they all claim to be the same person. The host reads a little background on the person, and then it's up to the panel to try to figure out which one is the real one. The climactic moment comes when the host says, "Will the real Joe Shlobotnik please stand up?" They all shift in their chairs, but finally one stands up. The real one!

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Will The Real You Please Stand Up?"

For many people, the struggle to identify which person is really them is a deeply personal one - one that rages within us. It's very important that you decide which of three identities is really you. In fact, the identity you choose will determine much of how you make your life choices and whether you feel significant or insignificant.

Identity #1 is you, the victim. Now if you've been hurt, betrayed, maybe abused, or abandoned, or neglected, it's possible to live your life thinking of yourself as a victim. Which means you will spend much of your life feeling worthless, depressed, distrusting, maybe negative, or self-pitying. And your relationships, your decisions, your goals will all be shaped by choosing "victim" as your identity.

OK, Identity #2 is you, the sinner. While the victim focuses on their pain, the sinner focuses on their failures. You are frequently reliving the things you've done that were wrong - maybe very wrong, in some cases. If you decide that the "you" that is going to stand up is you, the sinner, you're also going to feel worthless much of the time ... and ashamed ... and never good enough. You'll accept and you'll expect a little life because you think that's all you deserve. And your shame will cause you to feel, "What's the use?" - and that will set you up for more and more mistakes.

But there's a third identity you can choose. It's spelled out in 2 Corinthians 5:17, our word for today from the Word of God. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" There is an amazing transformation that takes place when a person gives themselves to Jesus Christ - from that moment on they have the right, they have the spiritual power to live as a new person!

So if you belong to Jesus Christ, the real you is Identity #3 - new person in Jesus Christ! You don't have to be defined by your past pain. You don't have to be defined by your past sin. You are now defined by your relationship with Jesus - you are a child of God ... a servant of Christ ... and a Make A Difference person! Because you are forgiven ... you are clean ... you are free from the shackles of the past. You're about your future now, not your past! Don't miss, don't forget who you really are! It's time for the real you to stand up!

And if you've never given yourself to the Man who died so you could be forgiven and new ... if you're ready to begin your life-changing relationship with Jesus, would you tell Him that right now? And I hope you'll let me send you the booklet I wrote about this relationship, called "Yours For Life." Just let me know you want it.

From today on, your life can be about whose you are - defined by your relationship with the Son of God, Jesus Christ - the Healer, the Forgiver of the past, and the author of a whole new beginning!

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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'

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When a caterpillar is transformed into a butterfly it becomes a

totally new creature. A metamorphose takes place. "Therefore, if

anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new

has come!"

- Unknown

Galatians sermon series Galatians 6:14-18

START FRESH

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I. The ultimate.

II. The cross stands before us.

A. Rather grim symbol.

B. The cross is all or nothing.

III. The power of starting fresh.

A. Real religion is not rituals.

B. People can be re-made. Galatians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 7:19

IV. Has a real change of heart accompanied your faith?

V. Many believe, but fewer change.

An important manuscript long thought lost was rediscovered last week hiding in a Pennsylvania seminary on a forgotten archival shelf. The recovered manuscript was a working score for a piano version of Ludwig van Beethoven's “Grosse Fuge,” which means “grand fugue.” Apparently, grand is an understatement. The work is known as a monument of classical music and described by historians as a “symphonic poem” or a “leviathan” — an achievement on the scale of the finale of his Ninth Symphony. The work is one of the last pieces Beethoven composed, during the period when he was completely deaf. The markings throughout the manuscript are in the composer's own hand.

In fact, such markings are a particular trademark of Beethoven, who was known for near obsessive editing. Unlike Mozart, who typically produced large scores in nearly finished form, Beethoven's mind was so full of ideas that it was never made up. Never satisfied, he honed his ideas brutally.

A look at the recovered score portrays exactly that. Groups of measures throughout the 80-page manuscript are furiously canceled out with cross-marks. Remnants of red sealing wax, used to adhere long corrections to an already scuffed up page, remain like scars. There are smudges where he rubbed away ink while it was still wet and abrasions where he erased notes with a needle. Dated changes and omissions are scattered throughout the score, many of these markings dating to the final months before his death in 1827.

There is something encouraging about the labored work of a genius. Beethoven WRESTLED notes onto the page. For him composing music was a messy, physical process. Ink was splattered, wax burned, erasers wore holes in the paper. What started as a clean page became a muddled, textured mess of a masterpiece ever in progress.

At times when I read the words of 2 Corinthians 5:17 I am jarred by the finality of it: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Upon calling on Christ as Lord, we have been made into something new. Before we have even tried to live well, before we have labored as disciples, the marred and muddied scene of our hearts has been made white as snow. God has handed us the masterpiece of his Son and told us that when He looks at us He sees perfection.

Though I stand amazed at his grace, it is also easy for me to stumble at the thought of it. I imagine God handing me a clean paper and asking me to hold it in a world full of ink and dirt. And I immediately wish I would have been more careful. I picture the white page given to me and think of all of the smudges and eraser marks I've added to it, some of them from lessons learned the hard way, others merely from bumping into life as I walk along.

If truth be told, life is messier than I'd like it to be. People get angry and depressed and sick. We struggle with remaining hopeful in the dark and seeing through bouts of self-deception. Our lives don't turn out how we planned them, and the roads we choose aren't as straight as we'd like them to be. Even so, God is faithful through the mess. “For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Someone has called Beethoven's masterpieces works of “three-dimensional” art. There is a texture and a character to his manuscripts that display an artist who went beyond merely writing the notes, but stretched himself, and the page itself, to make a symphony. All the more, our life in Christ is fleshed out of us. Our scuffs and blotches are wrought with the work of one who descends into the mess of life to shape us. Like a composer willing to labor over his pages, the potter's hands are not afraid to get dirty. Our lives, which may be glued with corrections and shaped with notations, are marked with the signs of the master at work.

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Copyright © 2005 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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Think about you in seventh grade. You say, “No, I'd rather not.” Well, think about you. I mean, what a hunk! Right? Miss America! Probably not. Our daughter had a funny experience in her senior French class in high school. There was some down time, and some girls were comparing their wallet pictures, including our daughter. She had out her senior picture out and her seventh grade picture right next to it. The teacher asked what everybody was laughing at. Well, now our daughter has always had a beautiful smile, but I have to tell you, in seventh grade it was decorated with braces, she had glasses, her hair was kind of kinky and curly and all pulled back, and she looked like a seventh grader. Well, her French teacher looked at that particular picture of our daughter, the seventh grade version, and then to the very beautiful senior in her graduation picture ... no glasses, long hair, carefully curled hair, big blue eyes unconcealed by glasses. That teacher had a simple two-word reaction, (French teacher, of course) “La Miracle!” Well, our daughter could laugh with her friends and her teacher at the seventh grade picture. Hey, it wasn't her anymore.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “It's Not Me Anymore.”

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Corinthians 6, where we read about people with a past, with a reputation, with a record. Listen to these verses. It starts out with some pretty bad news. “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolater nor adulterers nor mail prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy, nor the drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God.” Well, that's a lot of guilt there, a lot of shame, a lot of pain. But listen to 1 Corinthians 6:11. Here's the good news: “And that is what some of you were, but you were washed, you were sanctified.” That means made special again. “You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.” These are people who are cleaned up, made special again, made right with God - only one possible way - in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's like our daughter and her seventh grade picture. She couldn't laugh at it when she was that person, but she sure could as a senior, because that photo represented who she was then - not now. That's the miracle - “La Miracle” - of being a new creation in Jesus Christ.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “When you are in Christ you are a new creation, the old is gone and new life has begun.” He not only changes your eternal future from hell to heaven, and makes your present meaningful, but He miraculously makes your past sins irrelevant. Maybe you're sometimes pursued by a past you wish you could do over or erase. The Bible says, “Repent and turn to God, and your sins will be wiped away, and times of refreshing will come from the Lord.” It's gone! God treats you like a whole new person. Why don't you treat you that way? Maybe you've even held on to some of the old you, because you just didn't believe it ever could be different.

But the Bible says, “He carried our sins in His own body on the tree that we might die to that sin.” There's no reason for you to still be wearing the braces and the glasses of a person you don't ever have to be again. If you've never been to His cross to get your sins forgiven, tell Him right now, “Jesus, I want you as my personal Savior for my personal sin.”

And now, on the other side of going to that cross, you can live beyond the guilt, beyond the shame. All those snapshots of who you were just don't matter anymore. It's not you anymore.

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Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. "Practical Answers to Real Life Issues"

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[Original illustration here was a duplicate in HolwickID 25837-26027]