The New Life - Part 4

A New Understanding

• Luke 12:13-21 – Jesus’ parable to give understanding.
  
  • To the powerless
    
  • To the penniless
    
  • To the faithless
    
  • Parable addressed to the powerful

I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. Ephesians 1:16-17 Message

Spiritual Formation

• Galatians 4:19 “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you”
  

1. Realize that this is a lifelong process.
   
2. Realize that this is an ongoing walk.
   
3. We must follow Him.

3 Keys to begin

Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Psalm 92:13 “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God.”

James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

All New

A New Identity

• Galatians 3:26 “For you are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus”
  
• Revelation 5:10 “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

A New Nature

• Galatians 4:6 “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’”
  
• II Peter 1:4 “partakers of the divine nature.”

A New Power

• Ephesians 1:19 “And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power”
  
  • It is the same power that raised Christ from the dead.
    
  • It is the power to live uprightly as a child of God, and to express His likeness.
    
  • It is the power to do whatever He has called us to do.
    
• Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

Living:
Work like you don’t need the money.
Love like nobody has ever hurt you.

The New Life - Part 3

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe Him.
Ephesians 1:19 NLT

A New Power

• A new power inside of us through the Holy Spirit.
  
• The same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
  
• The power to live uprightly as a child of God, and to express His likeness.
  
• It is the power to do whatever He has called us to do.
  
  • Christian prosperity: “Having ALL you need to do ALL His will.”

Spiritual Formation

Galatians 4:19 “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you”

1. Realize that this is a lifelong process.
   
2. Realize that this is an ongoing walk.
   
3. We must follow Him.

The Station (video)

Where to begin - 3 Keys

• First – Come to God – Seek Him!
  
  • Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
• Second – Get planted in a church
  
  • Psalm 92:13 “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God.”
• Third – Be obedient
  
  • James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

All New

God’s Power - God’s Promise

• The Promise of Forward Momentum
  
  • Ephesians 4:15-16 ”but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
• The Promise of a New Start
  
  • II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
• The Promise of Effectual Faith
  
  • Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ live in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”
• The Promise of Completion – Closure
  
  • Romans 8:29a “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”
    
• The resurrection is the climax of the believer’s transformation!
  
  • Romans 8:11 “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
    
  • Galatians 6:8 “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

The New Life - Part 2

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
old things are passed away;
behold, all things have become new. II Corinthians 5:17

The Promise of a New Life

• A Do Over
  
  • God has made this a reality through your commitment to & faith in Jesus Christ.
    
  • We still have the same name, address, and family, but we have begun a new life.
    
• II Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
• Romans 6:6 NCV “We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin.”
  
  • It was condemned – Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
    
  • It was crucified – Jesus died for the sin of all humanity.
    
  • It was crushed – The power of sin was broken - At the cross, Jesus Christ triumphed over sin and broke its power over all those who receive Him.

How Do We Become New?

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ live in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20

• By being forgiven
  
  • I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
    
• By being born again
  
  • John 3:5 “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
    
• By living a life of faith
  
  • I John 4:5 “And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.”

Sin is Forgiven:

• Past Sin
  
  • proto-prophecy of Genesis 3:15 & fulfilled in the cross
    
• Present Sin
  
  • Ongoing continual forgiveness
    
  • Proverbs 28:13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
    
• All Future Sin
  
  • Sanctification
    
  • Hebrews 13:12 “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”

What Becomes New?

• Romans 8:29a “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”
  
  • The Lord has sent His Spirit into our lives to accomplish this renewal.
    
• The Holy Spirit will convict us in those areas that He is targeting for change.
  
  • As we yield ourselves to Him, He will begin the work of recreating us according to God’s design.

Spiritual Formation

Galatians 4:19 “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you”

1. Realize that this is a lifelong process.
   
2. Realize that this is an ongoing walk.
   
3. We must follow Him.

Life and Music

Growing Up

• Ephesians 4:15-16
  
• High in the Alps is a monument raised in honor of a faithful guide who perished while ascending a peak to rescue a stranded tourist. Inscribed on that memorial stone are these words:
  HE DIED CLIMBING.

Where to begin - 3 Keys

• First – Come to God – Seek Him!
  
  • Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
• Second – Get planted in a church
  
  • Psalm 92:13 “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God.”
• Third – Be obedient
  
  • James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

All New

A New Identity

• Galatians 3:26 “For you are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus”
  
• Jesus’ ID = John 13:3 “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God”

¿ SELF ?

• We live in a time where we are obsessed with:
  
  • Our self-actualization
    
  • Our self-image
    
  • Our self-worth
    
• We major in cultural blame-shifting and self-deception.
  
• Our philosophy is “I’m OK, you’re OK.”

People who continually congratulate themselves on their own OK-ness are not good candidates for grace. Need is the best incentive to entice us to the all sufficient Christ. Those who know they are spiritually hungry are swift to find the bread of God.
--- Calvin Miller - Into the Depths of God

Image Bearer
...for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Philippians 2:13

A New Nature

• Galatians 4:6 “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’”
  
  • From innocence to guilty to redeemed!
    
• II Peter 1:4 “partakers of the divine nature.”
  
• What happens in the new birth is not getting new religion but getting new life.
  
  • “Christ showed us an entirely new way to be human.”
    --- Maximus the Confessor

The New Life

Awake sleeper, rise from the dead, and Messiah will give you light!
Ephesians 5:14

Spiritual Formation

• Galatians 4:19 “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you”
  

1. Realize that this is a lifelong process.
   
2. Realize that this is an ongoing walk.
   
3. We must follow Him.

Growing Up

• Ephesians 4:15-16
  
• Philippians 3:12-14
  
• Change:
  
  • When change is successful we look back at it and call it growth!
    
• II Peter 1:5-8

The Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen!

The Senility Prayer
Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do,
and the eyesight to tell the difference.

Where to begin

• When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we receive the gift of eternal life.
  
• I Peter 1:23 – We have been born again by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God.
  
• Hebrews 4:12 “His Word is “living and active”

Where to begin - 3 Keys

• First – Come to God – Seek Him!
  
  • Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that
  • He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
• Second – Get planted in a church
  
  • Psalm 92:13 “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God.”
• Third – Be obedient
  
  • James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”