Transcript: Discover True Transformation in Jesus Christ: A New Creation

Music For our subject today, we are going to talk about something that is a most exciting mystery, which has been hidden for ages and generations from angels and men, and has been revealed through Apostle Paul, who was chosen by God to share and make known this awesome secret of Christ in you, the hope of glory. Let's turn to Colossians chapter 1 and begin in verse 25. In it, I became a minister in accordance with the divine stewardship that was entrusted to me for you as its object and for your benefit to make the word of God fully known among you. Verse 26, the mystery of which was hidden for ages, generations, from angels and men, but is now revealed to his holy people, the saints, to whom God was pleased to make known how great for the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ within and among you, the hope of realizing the glory. Well, one thing we must first off know is Paul was introducing something entirely new to the Jews that in simple terms we could say upset the apple cart. In sharing a little background or history of that time, our chosen apostle was telling them that what he had revealed to them had once been a secret, but now was no longer a secret and was to be shared. This long-awaited revelation had once been so much of a secret that no other mind was it known to but to our holy God. He was the only one that knew. And it has been known now throughout the ages in Paul's epistles to the Ephesians that this mystery was hidden in God. The particular mystery which Apostle Paul stands amazed at is the introduction of the Gentiles to have equal privileges under the gospel with the Jews, and in particular to this privilege that Christ should make his glory also available to them by dwelling in them as well as in the Jews. Now, this is what caused Paul to be at odds with his people and caused a great stir. They had no problem with many of his introductions of new truth that he brought to them. But stand back now, because when he threatened their pride of separation and sharing God's glory with infidels or pagans, they began to attack him. Paul could talk as he would of God and speak about sin and forgiveness. But when they heard that he was bringing the heathens into the temple, and when they saw that he was speaking about there was now no need of a temple anymore, they became livid. The worshippers at Jerusalem were suddenly transformed into a murderous mob from whose hands and hold Paul had to be rescued by the Roman soldiers. when Paul speaks of the mystery of Christ for which I am in bonds and chains in Ephesians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4 he does not vaguely mean the gospel but rather he means the freedom in the gospel and its revelation of the mysteries he declares in Colossians chapter 4 verse 4 that I may proclaim it fully and make it clear, speak boldly, and unfold that mystery as is my duty. But now the day had come, and Paul felt his time was short for all he had to do in letting the people know that the great and merciful God was actually for them and not against them and longed to come and live within them and make them a living temple of their Creator. Christ in you the hope of glory is found again in Colossians chapter 1 verses 26 through 29 which I repeat declares the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations has now been revealed to his saints to them God willed to make it known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory Verse 28, him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. To this end I also labor, strive according to his workings, which works in me mightily. Apostle Paul worked laboriously in an effort to make clear that God's glory should not be underestimated or taken lightly in understanding. God's glory, dear listener, should be noted that it is not simply located in heaven and is not entirely future that we may embrace it, but rather it is now in our lives that Christ's glory may live in us as we live in him. Understand, Jesus Christ in us is the hope of the full manifestation of our character in the love of Christ that can never be achieved here. But you must know that it begins here. agape or godly love begins to awaken within us as we recognize and understand that our precious lord first loved us and we can see in the examples of the immature faith of how an individual like Peter may fail, falter, and fall, but in God's magnificent grace and mercy, he can appeal or cry out from the very failure of his weakness to the heart of his Lord's love and three times cry out like Peter did, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Or Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, You see, yours and my victory is gradual. We go from strength to strength to where the image of the old man is gradually blotted out and the image of being created in the new man or new woman is growing in perfection which in the Greek means maturity or the fullness of Jesus Christ. In spiritual experience, we are conscious of the indwelling of Christ or we are not. there begins to be a yearning and a longing for God in knowing him in holiness and his love kindness and tenderness as well as becoming more aware of growing in a passionate consecration to him and fervent in our worship of him and longing for a deeper fellowship with him. This is a mouthful of desire dear one. But love for God and his ways is contagious. And we become more aware of our relationship to our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord and how we relate to them. Do we have compassion and true godly love for them? I have come to see during these years of growing in my precious Lord Jesus Christ that a true measure of our developing maturity begins right in our own household with those whom we dwell with. How do we treat our loved ones? Wives, how do you treat your husband? Do you show love, compassion, and respect for him? Husbands, how do you treat your wife? Do you show her kindness, compassion, and treat her with respect? In other words, is God's love and maturity in the members of the whole household exemplifying Jesus' nature, his love and kindness? Or is it a battleground every day with works of the flesh, which Paul describes in Galatians chapter 5, beginning in verse 19, when he says, Now the doings, the practices of the flesh are clear. They're obvious. They are immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, ill-tempered, selfishness, divisions, dissensions, party spirit, factions, sex with particular opinions and heresies. Verse 21, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Verse 22, but the fruit of the Holy Spirit, the work which is his presence within accomplishes, is love, joy, gladness, peace, patience, and even temper, forbearance, kindness, goodness, benevolence, faithfulness. Verse 23, gentleness, meekness, humility, self-control, self-restraint, continence. Against such things there is no love that can bring a charge. Verse 24, and those who belong to Christ Jesus, the Messiah, have crucified the flesh, the godless human nature, with his passions and appetites and desires. If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit. Verse 26. Let us not become vainglorious, self-conceited, competitive, and challenging, and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another. Jesus said that all who abide in me and I in them bring forth much fruit. You see, the life of Christ that does not find expression in ways of humility, holiness, unselfishness, it is false, a counterfeit, and it's worthless. Jesus again says by their fruits you will know them I believe one of the most revealing scriptures sums up what we have been speaking of is found in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17 therefore if any person is engrafted in Christ the Messiah he is a new creation a new creature altogether and the old, previous, moral and spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and the new has come. Hallelujah. You see, what we're talking about in Christ begins and ends in him. The ending and beginning in Revelations chapter 1, verse 8, Jesus declares, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord. Dear ones, have you ever thought about all around us? How many things are constantly ending and beginning? For example, today will be the end with the beginning of night. And night will end with the beginning of tomorrow. our Lord Jesus Christ is both the beginning and the ending of everything it's just the way it works and our scripture in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17 speaks to us about some endings and beginnings within our own lives therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature Old things are passing away and all things are becoming new. For the believer, there is constant change going on. Life is being reshaped and it begins in a new birth experience as we grow in the Lord. This new life constantly changes as we're reshaped into the image of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. There's a testimony. It is called, Needy Children Always. The author writes, quote, Some people have the idea that once the relationship is established between God and man, nothing more is needed. This is a mistake. When a child is born, it has the general nature and characteristics of his parents, but does it not continue to need their loving care? It could not live without it. And so it is with God in us. He gives us of his nature, his fullness, and we become his children. But we need him constantly and uninterruptedly if we are going to go on living spiritually. Our lives as Christians cannot be maintained at all unless he maintains them This is unlike our earthly parent relationship in one sense however In our relationship with God we never outgrow our need to be dependent on him And though in the New Testament, Christian maturity is enjoined on all believers, this process of spiritual growth never brings us to a point where we may become independent of God. we are given to understand that our relationship to him is always that of children. Woe to anyone who ceases to be a child of God in his own estimation and thinks that he has grown up sufficiently to be independent of him. End of quote. So very true that we as God's children will always need him and his Holy Spirit, whom he has so graciously given us as his needy children to aid us in his growth and development as his child. Dear listener, I would like you to think of this as though you were an only child, and you had an adoring and devoted parents who loved you so much that you knew without a doubt that you were dearly loved by them. There was no doubt in your mind about this love. They shared with you how much they prayed to God for a baby, and you were the one that he picked to come into this world and do wonderful things for him and his kingdom. Can I tell you that you are one of those children God called and chose to be faithful to him, first in your growth and development in him because he has a plan for your life? Remember, you and I are called to be faithful. The scripture talks about being called, being chosen, and also being faithful. Jesus Christ will never live within us if we are not faithful followers of his. I had a mother some time ago say to me in a very arrogant and pompous way that she doesn't baby or pamper her children. And knowing this mother for some time, I thought, but your children would love to have felt and know your gentle, kind, and tender touch as a mother. Sadly, none of them ever experienced the warm embrace of a mother's love because she didn't have it to give to them. But you see, God's Holy Spirit is like a mother to us when he comes to live within us, being our gentle guide, being our kind teacher, and also our tender-hearted comforter. One of the main duties of the Holy Spirit is to build Jesus Christ in us and make us totally new creatures or creations, as some translations say. and we saw in our opening scripture today in Colossians chapter 1 verses 26 through 28 that God willed to make them known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you the hope of glory God longs to make known what are the riches of his glory of the mystery among believers. Did you catch that? This understanding begins with knowing that Christ lives within you. With this understanding, the true believer must know and comprehend what the old man or the old sinful nature looks like within and looks like to God. god the holy spirit works favorously for each one and every one of his redeemed children to have a rude awakening within to know that sin is absolutely not acceptable to him and thus and therefore people who profess to be believers but coddle a secret sin that seems to be pleasurable to them are not acceptable to him romans chapter 8 verse 5 declares for those who are according to the flesh are controlled by its unholy desires set in their minds and on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh but those who are according to the spirit are controlled by the desires of the spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the holy spirit you see the natural man or the unregenerate individual does not perceive, know, or understand God and his ways. So consequently, he cannot please God. And further down in Romans chapter 8, verses 7 and 8, the scripture declares, that is because the mind of the flesh, with its carnal thoughts and purposes, are hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God's law, indeed it cannot. So then those who are living a life of flesh, catering to the appetites and impulses of their own carnal nature, cannot please or satisfy God or be acceptable to him. You must know it is Jesus Christ only who makes the difference of the internal miraculous change that takes place in a true believer's life. Jesus Christ must actually indwell us for this to happen. John chapter 17 in verses 22 and 23 Jesus tells us I have given to them the glory and honor which you have given me that they may be one with us even as we are one. Verse 23 I in them and you in me in order that they may become one and perfectly united that the world may know and definitely recognize that you have sent me and that you have loved them even as you have loved me. Verse 26 I have made your name known to them and reveal your character and your very self and I will continue to make you known that the love which you have bestowed upon me may be in them felt in their hearts and that I myself may be in them. What a precious Savior. What a mighty God. When Jesus speaks of giving us his glory, we need to understand what this is in part, what it is speaking to us. Glory in the Greek word means no heko. And it's found under number 1380 and also number 1391. That is in the Greek. The word glory in this context means to be accounted or pleased or to be of good reputation. In Greek number 1391 the word is called doxa and it means dignity glorious honor praise and worship magnified Can I tell you that God is looking for every one of these wonderful attributes of himself to be in each one of us who proclaim to be his child? Romans chapter 8 verse 10 declares, But if Christ lives in you, then although your natural body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the Spirit is alive because of the righteousness that he imputes to you. Further, scriptures define this relationship with our precious Savior and what he looks for in each one of us who claim to know him. In Galatians chapter 2 verse 20, Paul declares, scriptures, make it clear that our relationship and fellowship is with our Lord and Savior by faith. He said, I live by faith and complete reliance and trust in him who loved me and gave himself up for me. We should do like Apostle Paul and take this in a personal context and claim the Lord as our very own, just like the maiden in the Song of Solomon who cried out in chapter 6, verse 3, saying, I am my beloved, and my beloved is mine. And also referring to being made a new creation in Jesus Christ is going back to Colossians 1.27, where Apostle Paul worked feverishly and exhaustively to make this point known today. I wish to make this point known today and I'm belaboring, I know it, by repetition to bring it deeper into your heart, deeper into my own heart. The fact that if we do not grasp by the divine working of the Holy Spirit who is our teacher, who labors to make the fact of this mystery which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, truly known. We will be like those in the outer court, thinking that they're in the inner court, who work and labor from soul power and works, instead of being in the inner court, truly, genuinely worshiping and glorifying the King of Kings from sincere and pure hearts, that is being made new in the image of the one whom our hearts desire and long to know more deeply. After Apostle Paul, in Colossians 1.27, stated the secret mystery, which is Christ in you. In the verses, he continues expounding on this most important teaching. In verse 28, he declares, Him we preach and proclaim, warning and admonishing everyone, instructing everyone in all wisdom, comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God. that we may present every person mature, full-grown, fully initiated, complete, and perfect in Christ, the Anointed One. Verse 29. For this I labor unto weariness, striving with all superhuman energy, which he so mightily enkindles and works within me. And dropping down to chapter 2, we read of Paul's fervent and devoted heart in desiring that the brethren understand this deep insight into the mystery of this truth. For I want you to know how great is my solicitude for you, how severe an inward struggle I engage in for you, and for those believers at Laodicea, and for all of you, like yourselves, have never seen my face or known me personally. For my concern is that their hearts may be braced, comforted, cheered, and encouraged as they are knitted together in love, that they may come to have all the abounding wealth and blessings of assured conviction of understanding that they may become progressively more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly the mystic secret of God, which is Christ, the anointed one. In him, all the treasures of divine wisdom, comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God, and all the riches of spiritual knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden. Verse 4. And I say this in order that no one may mislead you and delude you by plausible and persuasive and attractive arguments and beguiling speech. Verse 5. For though I am away from you in body, yet I am with you in spirit, delighted at the sight of your standing shoulder to shoulder in such orderly array and the firmness of the solid front and steadfastness of your faith in Christ, that leaning of the entire human personality on him in an absolute trust and confidence in his power, his wisdom and goodness. In verse 6, as you have therefore received Christ, even Jesus the Lord, so walk, regulate your lives and conduct yourselves in union with and conformity to him. Wow. What an appeal. and what responsibility we all have in our journey of faith as we endeavor to become acceptable to God. Because of the nature of this subject, that it is so serious in understanding, I have decided to do a part two series. Our effort in partaking of the change from the old nature to the new creation in Jesus Christ is prime or principle or the greatest beginning in truly knowing our precious Lord. There are too many Christians in name only who sit in the pews each week doing their duties, but do not truly know or cherish the one who died for them. They do not long to have a genuine relationship or true fellowship of worship with him. God forbid that we should be one of these who will miss out on the greatest opportunity to inherit the gift of salvation which is promised to those who love the Lord Jesus Christ with all of their hearts, all of their souls all of their minds and all that is within them Thank you.