You just got back, so. Ah. Thank you. Gotcha. Yes, there we go. Oh, sure. Pick it. Want candles, too? That'd be fine. So before we read, let me have you imagine with me, if you will, that you are a farmer. You have a vast avocado orchard. Business is booming. In fact, Subway is one of your smaller customers. Then late one night, you're awakened by a phone call. You're told that a massive fire is headed towards your orchard. You scramble together some of your friends, some employees, and you work tirelessly with firefighters to move every tree to safety. No tree or any of its fruit was lost. But was it enough? Unfortunately, in the coming weeks, you get a report or hear a report that comes out that says there's a dangerous virus that affects some avocados, and instantly your avocado business immediately starts to die. Now, you have loyal customers. They call you. They still want to do business with you. They still want you to supply their needs. In fact, they're calling you, asking not for avocados, but do you have any cucumbers? So even though you saved the trees from destruction, your business died because of the wrong production. Those fruitful trees couldn't produce the right fruit. So what about when an unbeliever is saved from destruction, from hell, from the wages of sin? Is it enough? Well, that's one of the questions we wanna answer today as we study 2 Corinthians 5, 17. So before we do, let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word that is powerful, it's active, it's able to divide our soul and show us the things we need. It's able to energize us, empower us to live the Christian life. There's things in there that we know so well that we hear them and we almost yawn. Help us to be afresh, anew, reminded of things that we already know to be true, but are we embracing them? Are we enjoying them? Are we letting them drive us in our dependency and in our walk of faith so that we might be able to do the things that you called us to in your power and by your strength through your son. And it's in his name we pray. Amen. So you should be in 2 Corinthians 5.17. Let's go ahead and look at this verse. I'll start in verse 17 and read through there. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now I like to, when I'm studying a passage, start to compare it with other translations. These are other Greek scholars who have thrown in their two cents to say what they think this passage should be rendered as. So let's look at a couple other translations. Barclay had this translation for the same verse. The result is that if a man is in Christ, he has been created all over again. The old things have passed away, and lo, they have become new. And note the emphasis there is, has been created all over again. Mace's translation says, therefore, if any man be a Christian, he is in a new creation. The old state of things is changed to one entirely new. So his emphasis, or the translator's emphasis, is the old state of things. And so if you're reading this verse from any of these translations, one thing is sure, God wants believers to know when you became a believer, something has changed. And even though this is only one verse that we're going to unpack tonight, there's a lot happening in this verse. We do well to examine it and to let it sink in. Let's start with the first word here. We see the word therefore, which points us back or makes a conclusion. Well, in this case, it points us back to verses 14 through 16 in chapter 5, where we see Paul saying this. Paul says, And he died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer. So these verses 14 through 16 kind of set the framework of this immediate context. They set us up for the declarations that are going to come in verse 17. And I'll talk more about declarations here in a moment. These verses, they illustrate that the believer has potential for growth and transformation after salvation. Paul paints a picture of contrast of his life before and after he was saved. His motivation before, his judgment of others before he was saved has changed now that he's saved. His motivation was he lived for himself. Now he lives no longer for himself. So if you're a believer, you have potential to have a different motivation for living. a selfless, others-oriented life, motivated by the risen Savior, motivated to live for the risen Savior. Paul's judgment of others, including Christ, had changed. Before he was saved, he regarded people according to the flesh. He thought Christ was a criminal, and now, as a believer, he no longer judged people after the flesh. no longer based on their appearance, no longer based on their ethnicity, no longer based on their activity, their bank account, their status in society's circles. Those fleshly, worldly, corrupt bases or standards were no longer how he judged people. He underwent a transformation. How was that possible? Well, we see a hint here because what was true of him was that he was identified with Christ in his death and life. And if this is true for Paul, that's good news for us. That means there's hope. Paul was now compelled or driven by the love of Christ instead of self-love. And so we still need to flesh out more meaning from this passage of how transformation is possible for a believer like it was in Paul's life. Verse 17 gives us that answer, tells us that there's a new creation, a divine creation. This verse tells us how new that creation was. Paul paints a powerful contrast that helps highlight the unique qualities of the new creation God has made you. He declares that it's not an old creation, but a new one. Something has changed. Now, when I say the word declare, there's kind of a hint of what we see here. This passage is a declarative, and that's, let's take a little detour here, and I want to give you a general, very loose definition of what's called a declarative and imperatives. So in the Bible, there are things in the Bible where God tells you these things are true of you. These are statements that are called declaratives or declarations. When it comes to you and I and our position in Christ, many times those declarations are unconditional, unearned, they're fixed, or unchanging in their value. Like our verse here. The declarative is, you are a new creation. Who did this? Who caused this? This is a divine act, you did nothing. This happened by God's power. And like our verse, A new creation is what happens to you. So it's like the arrows pointing down from heaven. This is what represent what God has done, what God has said, what God has declared, or what God is doing. And so when you see declaratives in scripture, in fact, you can go Google, based on the Bible, what are declaratives for a believer in Christ, you'll find dozens of them. We do well to learn these things that are true of us because we're in Christ. And there are also things in the Bible that God tells us to do. These are called imperatives, or commands, or instructions. Like in John 13, 34, where he says, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. Not where the arrow's pointing, they're pointing up. These represent our response, our responsibility, us doing what we're called to do. So there are things that are true of you from God's perspective given to you, they're declaratives, and there are things that are you and I are to do. Simply say it, we can say it this way, declaratives come down, imperatives go up. And that's a very loose definition and usage. But it sets the table for some of the points I'll be making. So as a new creation, many times Paul starts a passage with the declarative, like we see here in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. Again, he says, you are new. And so we want to look at three things today. We want to look at the fact that if you're in Christ, God declares that you have a new position. You are a new creation. He also wants you to realize there's some truth about that new creation, that he uses a powerful contrast to say it's not old, it's completely new. Something has changed. And your not knowing this can affect your practical walk. And then there's some things we need to keep in view as we begin to live out the true you. The new you. This is that practical side of what is this passage? How does it affect us? And so there's something new, something true, something to have in view. So that's our basic outline. So let's talk about what's new. Let me ask you the question, what is new, believer? Oh yeah, we're in the Northland. No one responds in these. That was a real question. I was trying to get some interaction here. No, really, I'm asking you a question. What's new? Well, what does the verse say? It says that, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. So, according to this verse, the answer to the question is, you are. In other words, what's new is you. All believers are new creations. Now I know this is a basic truth and you're going, who asked this guy to come here? I get that. But what do we break down in? Where do we break down? We break down in the basics. And so before you turn off your brain, before you shut me out, you may be thinking, oh, I know that. I know this. I know that if anyone is in Christ and has trusted Him as their Savior, the moment they believe, they've experienced a new birth. They're born again. I know this, Pucci. I know that they've been placed in Christ and they've become a new creation. I already know this. Do you know this? All right. He says he knows this. Let's pray. We're done. We're going to be done. No, we know this, and that's good. It's an obvious fact, but we need to unpack it and examine it. We need to allow ourselves to think a little deeper about this new creation God has made us. But first, let me ask you a very important question before I continue to dig a little. Do you believe it? Asterisk of that question, do I believe this? Do I even believe that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation? Now, I'm sure we all agree that we're new in Christ, that God wants us to live a life that is different, set apart, holy, as we saw in our opening verses in chapter five, verse 14 through 16. But the question is, how is it possible? So let's dig a little deeper. Let me ask you another question to help get your thinking here. And I'll let the kids, there's hardly any kids in here, so adults, you're off the hook. Let's see, we got one, one. Well, I guess it's you. Here we go. You can phone a friend. Why does God make us a new creation? When we get saved and become a Christian, why does God change us into something new? Does he even need to change us? Why not stop at changing our destiny from hell to heaven? Why not stop at saving us from destruction? Why make a new you? You want to throw it out there? You don't have to. It's kind of rhetorical. We're sinners. It's a good start. Now, when I was a kid, I used to hear this discouche. You guys help me out here. I'm looking for some interaction. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Thank you. So is something broken in us, needing a replacement? What does the verse tell us? What does it say? It doesn't say it directly in the English translation, but it does say what is true of every new creation, that the old things have passed away. Old things compared to what? New things. Again, I mentioned Paul uses this powerful contrast of old versus new to help highlight the unique qualities of your new creation. This contrast helps solidify what is true of you now that you're in Christ. Old things have passed away. The old is gone. When you see the word old, it refers to the original version. This is referring to your old man, all that you wore in Adam, that version of you that existed before you became a new creation. That person no longer exists. And things specifically refer to the past times or states or affairs or state of affairs which were broken as a source of righteousness. In other words, they could not produce the right fruit. So according to this verse, the old version of you had to go out of use, to go away, to go out of existence. Why? Because something was wrong in that old creation. It was broken. And that's why Christ came. He came for broken people. He came and he died. Because before we were saved, you and I were guilty sinners needing a savior, not reformation. You couldn't save yourself. You weren't perfect. And the wages of the sin are falling short of perfection is death or separation from God. So a sinner who is separated from God here and now who dies, their separation continues on for all eternity in hell. And as sinners, you and I couldn't fix this. Being religious couldn't fix this. Showing up every day at the church, doing good works. None of those things could fix this. You and I needed saving, rescuing. And that's why Jesus was sent by God as a ransom, as a substitute for sinners like you and me. His death on the cross fully paid for all sins for all time, fully satisfied God's righteous standards, His holy justice. Christ became sin for us. He was judged. He died, he was buried, and God proved that he accepted Christ's payment because three days later, he rose again from the dead. And as a risen Savior, he could now offer to anyone and everyone eternal life. The forgiveness of sin, freely based on grace. He says this of himself, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So this deliverance of great, this deliverance of death is all by grace. And you heard things like cheap grace, people try to diminish grace. See, grace isn't leniency. It's a provision supplied by a sufficient, suitable, sinless substitute. It appears lenient because the offer is on the table. It's free for the taking, but it was secured by the payment of Jesus' very own life. Let me ask you, have you trusted in that payment? If you have, then when you believed in the gospel and you trusted in the finished work of Christ, you were saved from destruction, which is a good thing. But is it enough to produce the right kind of fruit? And we know it's not. God had to remake us because, as you said, the old creation, the sinner, did not have the capacity or the potential to please God with his own abilities. This is true for both the unbeliever and the believer. They don't need religion. They don't need reformation. They need saving. They need new birth as a new creation. All right, so I'm going to try to do some illustrations here and get you guys actively involved in this with me. And the clock here is completely wrong. I have like two and a half more hours. It says it's only 525, so we're going to be here a while. But anyway, let's do this. All right, come on up here. You're the young one. Come on up. All right, so here's what I'm going to do. Stand right here in front. Put your arms out. Turn around. OK, you're an apple tree, right? All right, there we go. Try not to drop that. All right, so let me review our opening story. Massive fire is coming. OK, you got to jump because you look way bigger than I can handle. I move you out of the way. He has been rescued from the oncoming fire. Now he has his tree, everything is in place. He's completely saved. He can walk around and tell people, I'm saved. I'm saved. Right? Go ahead. Now, if I see him the next day and I say, hey, good morning, Mr. Apple Tree. I'm feeling kind of a little different today. Can I have some oranges? Well, can you try harder? Right, so his being saved, as good as that was for him, was it enough to change his ability to produce a different fruit? You can have those, good job. All right, thank you. No, it's not possible. It's because he doesn't have the capacity to yield a fruit that doesn't match his DNA. Being saved from destruction doesn't change the fruit that is yielded from a person, no matter how hard they try. To produce a new type of fruit, they need to be not only saved from destruction, but a new creation with a new nature in order to yield a fruit that's different, that's acceptable. I could say all day long, give me oranges, give me oranges. He's going to continue to say, but I can't. I'm just an apple tree. But if he gets a new nature, things change. So the old nature is broken. That's what we see with Paul in Romans chapter 6. He says in chapter 6, verse 1 through 7, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus, we're baptized into his death now? Baptized here, you guys know this, doesn't refer to water baptism, but to being fully identified with Christ in his death and burial. That's why verse four goes on to say, therefore we were buried with him through baptism to death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Now he's gonna start to give some purpose statements connected to this new union with Christ in verses five through seven. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him. that the body of death should be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin, for he who has died has been freed from sin. So we've been freed from that body of death that was incapable of producing righteousness, did not have the ability to produce the right fruit. And so how was that possible? We were two things, united with him both in his death and his resurrection. So this death took out the old man. Not talking about your dad, right? Talking about the old man you wore in Adam. That old man was crucified. It was done away with. What resulted was now you're no longer a slave to the sin nature as a source. You've been freed from the sin nature. And those are amazing declaratives. Right there in scripture, nothing is required of you. God did all the work. It's true of every believer. And we should be meditating on these kind of truths and starting our thinking, where am I at and what has God accomplished? Letting those things sink in. So again, your identity in that old man is dead. The old self, the identity in Adam is no longer existing. And the source that controlled that old man, the sin nature, is still there, but it's right to rule over you has been broken. And so it can't claim control of you unless you yield it. It can't obligate you to obey it. It's dominion over you, it's rule over you has been rendered powerless, all because you trusted in Christ. And again, the sin nature's there, it's just, it's vile, self-righteous nature, that relationship you have with it has changed. And so as a new creation, you are fully identified with Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. And so again, we are talking about some simple truths, but we need to remember those. So let me ask you, what's new, believer? Thank you. It's the North, man. I know we're all kind of shy here. But you can declare it in your heart. I'm a new creation because I'm in Christ. Now the question is, do you believe it? It's true whether you believe it or not. It's true whether you feel it or not. And it would greatly benefit you to embrace this truth. If you are a new creation, this is a game changer. You're not stuck. God has something more for you. And what's true about you regarding your old things or the old things? They've passed away. You were saved from impending destruction, but that original part of you which could not produce new types of fruit has passed away. That old identity is gone. That relationship to the old power sources and nature has been changed. It's right over you to rule over you has been rendered powerless. And again, you may know this. You may have it in your notes from 19 blah, blah, blah, but are you experiencing it? That's the reality of theology. It's the study of God, not for filling our notebooks, but to know the God who does these things, he says he is and does. So let's look at the other side of Paul's contrast. He said that there was the old, and now he says there's something true of the new you. He says, behold, all things have become new. This line starts with a command. Behold means to take a look, see something. What does God want you to notice? He wants you to notice that if you're in Christ, all things have become new. This is every entire thing, the complete package has become a new state. So we're not talking about home improvement or remodeled. We're talking about spanking brand new. You are a new creation, completely changed. It's a state that never existed before. And again, it's a divine creation. I love the illustration of the chrysalis, how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. All things are changed. If you've ever seen one emerge, it's an amazing sight. You're looking at something that looked like it was just a little cloth, and then all of a sudden this beautiful thing emerges from it. But the caterpillar goes from one state to a completely different state. It's not refreshed or reformed. It becomes something it was not before. It becomes something entirely new. The caterpillar is metamorphosed. But is its nature metamorphosed? Or is it just a converted caterpillar with new ambitions? Well, let's look at some comparison between the two. We have things like body shape. We see coverings, feeding habits. We see habitat and some different things that show us there's a contrast between the caterpillar and the butterfly. So guys, yell out real quickly, what does a caterpillar do to move? Crawls around. Yes, how does a butterfly move? He crawls. Oh no, he flies, there you go. So what does a caterpillar eat? He eats leaves, right. What does a butterfly eat? Nectar. Why is there a difference? Because he has a new nature. How does a caterpillar see? He sees in black and white, simple. What about a butterfly? He has complex eyes. Actually, we have complex eyes. And we see millions of colors. Butterflies have even more ability to see, even more than that. So is there a difference? Yes. Why? Because you have two completely different natures. And so these are all things we get. But do we get it? You know, what's odd to see is if you're at the state fair and there are a bunch of butterflies not flying, but crawling around. Be like, what is going on here? Why? Because it's different than what they were created to do. Crawling in as a primary means of transportation was not their creator's intention for their new nature. They have wings now. They were made to fly. This behavior does not match who they are since they were metamorphosed. In fact, that life on the ground is more dangerous for them than flying in strong winds. What about you, believer? There's many new things that are true of you now that you're in Christ. Let's contrast a few of those true truths before and after. Regarding your nature, you had a sinful nature, fallen nature, separated from God. Now you have been transformed possessionally and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And we'll see that this transformation is to continue in another little bit here. What about your desires? You had cravings, sinful desires and worldly pleasures. It could have been moral, it could have been outright evil, but it was always selfish. And now you have a desire for God, his righteousness, for holiness. And so there's this change. The sin nature controlled that old man, the new man is to be controlled and influenced by the spirit of God. The desires now no longer for fleshly things, now they are for the things of God. It's pretty amazing. What about our minds? We have a mind that was enrenched and trapped, and it could only be conformed to the pattern of this world. Now that mind can be transformed by its renewal through Christ. And so you have this new creation that you are, whether you know it or not. We could go on and on. These are just a few of the things that have happened since you trusted in Christ. So a key thing to remember is that the old man didn't have a choice, but as a believer, you do. The old man was a slave to sin. Now as a believer, you can be yielded and a slave to Christ. And so what would be odd to see is If you're a believer in Christ and you're walking around, what would be odd to see in a believer's life would be seeing believers crawling around like converted caterpillars. That's why Paul said, if you're doing such and such and such, are you not carnal, fleshly? I hope this isn't you. I hope you're learning that you're a new creation. I hope you're learning that God wants you to learn to use your wings, to learn to fly. to be able to enjoy that newness of life. And so, what's new, believer? I am. I'm new. You can say that every day of your life, and it never changes. What's to be true of the old things? The old things have passed away. This includes your identity in Adam. It's gone. And the relationship to the old power sources in nature has changed. What's true about new things is all things have become new, not just some things. This is a new ballgame. And so you're spanking brand new. You're a new creation with new properties, a new nature, new desires, a new power source. Everything has changed. So these are basic things that we need to remember. Now, what are some things we need to keep in view as we think? about these. These are positional truths, but now we need to be thinking, what about the practical walk? How do we use this? Let's talk about progress, power, posture. Before I do that, let me just remind you again that three-tenths of salvation, we know that there's a past, present, and future-tenths to how we're saved from the power of sin. But let me put our little illustration of the caterpillar in here. So by God's divine power, you became a new creation by believing the gospel. You went from being a caterpillar with no ability to interact with God to being a butterfly. And now God wants you to progress progressively transform into Christ's image by the Holy Spirit as you abide in Christ and you behold him. And one day we're going to be fully conformed, not transformed, to his image at the resurrection and glorification. And so we're moving from, I've been saved at a point in time, I'm now a butterfly, to how do I start to grow in this new position? Well again, there's some things we need to remember as we progress here. Let's go back to one of our illustrations earlier. There are imperatives and there are declaratives. And so, when you and I are thinking about progress in our Christian life, where should we start? We should start with imperatives or declaratives. The scriptures would start us with declaratives. There are things we have to do. There are responsibilities we have to do, but we need to keep the arrows of sanctification pointing in the right direction. We need to notice the huge difference even in words. The word metamorphosis is translated different ways. It says metamorphosis in one point, it says transformed in the other. And just looking at those two words, you can see who's the power source behind the progress. There's a big difference between metamorpho and metaschema. Metamorphosis is something that God does, it's passive. Metaschema is something that man does. One is what is genuine and one is counterfeit. And so when you look at a verse like 2 Corinthians 11, 13 through 15, this is talking about Satan and his false apostles. Look what happens here. Let's decide which word is being used there. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves, and to apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to the works. So who's doing the work? They are. They're changing. They're disguising themselves. They're appearing to transform their appearance. But it's fake. It's not real. The appearance is manufactured. It's manipulated. It's done in their own power. And that was meaning that it was a counterfeit. And believers can fall into this trap. I know for me, when I'm struggling, I like to dress up. I like to sit in the front row. I like to be to church early. I'm the religious guy. And so I'm gonna look like I'm still doing the abiding, but the metamorphosis is human-based. I remember one time somebody, we were singing a song at church and I just, sometimes people think you're, you know, if you sing a song that your family doesn't sin or something and somebody came up to me and said, oh, I just love you guys' song, it was so great. I said, oh yeah, we were fighting in the car. I was trying to diffuse and demystify this walk. I'm like, by the grace of God, we are what we are. Anything you see that's amazing, just point to Jesus Christ. But when those arrows are pointing down, and I'm receiving from God what he has, there's no surprise that I can have what 2 Corinthians 3.18 promises. Now this is where it gets fun. But we all, 2 Corinthians 3.18, with unveiled face, beholding, that's arrows up. We're looking. As in the mirror, the glory of the Lord are being transformed. There's a passive word again. It's arrows down. This is what God does. As I look to him, he transforms me into the same image from glory to glory just as the spirit of the Lord. That's where God wants my attention. That's where my focus should be. Because I'm a new creation, I need to remember. I need to look to him. We also see this in Romans chapter 12 too, it says, and do not be conformed to this world. That's, arrow's up, this is the imperative, don't be conformed, but be transformed. There it is again, that passive thing that God does when you depend on him. How? By the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So you have this new nature that has new desires. You have all these things you want to do now. You, as a caterpillar, could care less unless you were religious about the things of God. Now you want to fellowship with people. I had a guy who comes to our Saturday morning group. He goes, since I've been saved, I want to be around people. I don't like people, but I'm around them. I just want to be around them. I'm like, that's your new nature, man. You got to manufacture that. That's who you are. He wants to grow in his relationship with the Lord, and he sees the value of fellowship. You have this new nature that wants to learn the word of God, that has a burden for the lost, that wants to build people up. That new nature is one in the things of God. But what about the power of that new man? Where does it come from? Progress can happen in your life, but how? Well, Paul says it wasn't about willpower. In fact, let's turn here and look at this together so you can see it. Go to Romans chapter seven. Romans chapter seven. I want you to see this. Think of Paul as someone who wants to really serve the Lord, do things right, and he's just getting hit left and right with failure. He walks us through this power struggle. Romans 7 verse 15, he says, for what I will to do that I do not practice, but what I hate that I do. If then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good, but now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells, for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do, but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now, if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. Verse 21. I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. So he sees that he has something new. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Now if we stop there, that would be pretty much most people's experience. But Paul didn't. He goes to verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ. So then with my mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." So Paul's willpower wasn't enough. It wasn't the solution. The solution was through Jesus Christ. It was letting God do the heavy lifting. All right, I gotta get, keep you guys awake. Here we got another illustration here. Okay, who's really strong here? All right, come on up here, Papa. You got it, all right. So we're gonna teach you how to do backwards lunges. You ever done those? All right, what are you gonna learn today? Okay, so backwards lunges. I'm gonna show it to you first like this, okay? This is why everyone sits in the back at church. That's right, that's right. So you just go backwards, you touch your knee down, and you come up. And you go backwards, and come up. Can you do that? All right. All right, don't do it yet. OK. You've got to hold this 25 pounds. All right. 25 pounds. I think that's about 50 pounds. All right, so we've got to do 25 of these. And we don't have much time left. One. Man, look, make it look easy. OK, each one of those is half of one. So you're only on one and a half. You're doubling that up on me. No, you've got to do, OK, that's two. All right, keep going. Okay, he was supposed to make it look this easy, so I don't know how long I'm supposed to do this, but it doesn't look like it's hard. It's harder than it looks, isn't it? Okay, well, you're up to four. We got a lot, a lot. We got to keep going. All right. No, there you go. Okay. I better stop you. No, no, keep going. Here's the difference. Now keep going. Go ahead. Now, is that a little easier? Yeah. Now, here's the key here. Keep going. You're doing great. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You sure? Yes. So the key is, it wasn't about not having responsibility. That's where grace gets misaligned, and people say, oh, I just wanna be grace-oriented and have anything to do. No, the key is, Jesus, who was your sin-bearer, now wants to be your burden-bearer. He didn't say stop doing it, he was the one that was gonna carry the weight. So it was like you need to depend on him now as you are a mom, as you do your chores, as you go to work, as you're a student. This is not a question of getting out of it, this is a question of being dependent in it. And that's where we miss it sometimes in our grace circles is we think, well, I can't do it and I'm not gonna try. And so the key is to learn to be dependent on God. not to be dependent on ourself. And that key verse, again, that we saw there was through Jesus Christ. I want to do one more illustration here. This is just another way that I taught the kids in my Sunday school class how this reality of the powerless... Well, let me ask the question first. I almost gave you the answer. Okay. So, this is what I asked my kids. Actually, I got asked this, and I got it wrong, so don't feel bad if you get it wrong. I remember being in Romans, and I remember when this question was asked, I threw my hand up, and I thought I was tearing it up. Here we go. Here we go. All right, so we're going through Romans, and he says, OK, guys, question for you. I'm trying to sound like I'm from the Northland. All right, so if the new man and the sin nature have a battle, the sin nature and the new man have a battle. That's terrible. Anyway, if the new nature and the sin nature have a battle, who's going to win? New man and sin nature. You can say new nature and sin nature. Who's going to win? Now, I threw my hand up. I was like, I got this one. I'm about to tear it up. I'm new from St. Louis. I know this one. Anybody want to throw out an answer? Someone said, the one you feed the most. Well, that doesn't fit, Greg. Thanks. Next. No, I'm just kidding. Here's the wrong answer. This is what I said. I said, the new nature will win, and was waiting for the applause. And it was like, err. Oh, never going to answer another question. Here's the issue. The new nature has desire, but no power. Right? You have a new nature if you're a new creation. But you don't have any power. Do you know that? Are you still trying to pull it off? And so, one more time. Come on, young man. Come up here real quick here. All right, here. We got to get you a little hospital bed here. OK. Lean up on there. All right. OK. Sit down. We'll break your arms. Break your legs. Strap you in. You can't move. All right? Your mouth can move. So he's sitting in the hospital. Nurse Poochie's here. How you doing today? You doing good? Nah. OK. But you're thirsty. Tell me you're thirsty. I'm thirsty. OK. I didn't hear him. So he has a thirst, which is a desire. Does that satisfy him? Did he now get the water because he has expressed his desire? Say it again. OK, you've got to respect me. I'm Nurse Pucci. Just kidding. But even if he yells nurse, really yell nurse, does that satisfy? See, the desire expressed doesn't make his thirst go away. Not until he gets the water, and it has to be brought to him, because he doesn't have the ability. He just has a desire. Not until he gets the water does the action. No, you don't drink after me, that's scary. Thank you, good job. So that new nature has a desire for God. You want the things of God. But are you empowered by God to do those things? That's one of the key things. We have to remember that. We can't pull it off. We need the burden bearer. We need the power source to be God. I love this illustration that I used earlier. One of the things that's important to note about when they butterfly first emerges from the cocoon is that many times it comes out and its wings are wet and too heavy to fly. They're crumpled as you see here in this picture and it has no choice but to be still to orient itself to its new surroundings, to let its wings dry. And as it does that, it pumps blood through there to get strength and expand its wings. This is what we tell new believers when they first come out to church. Why don't you just come up? and hear the Word of God. Learn to walk by faith. Learn the riches you have in Jesus Christ. Learn about what God has done for you so you can learn to walk by faith. And so, new believers need to get situated in their new surroundings. They need to learn the Word of God. They need to spend time with other transformed, transparent butterflies who say, just be still. Or, as you do this, remember who the source is. So they don't get overwhelmed and discouraged. They need to learn that those imperatives that God has for them, they are there. There is responsibility, but they need to learn the declarative things, the power source. What has God done? You have limitations, you can't pull this off. And so your new creation, things are different, but remember your limitations. One of the words I remember learning when I was younger was trust and obey. And my definition of trust and obey was always focused on doing things. And so I want to kind of end with this last little bit about talking about posture. Talking about posture. So you've got a new position in Christ. You have now the posture That part of it needs to happen, but you need to remember that there's progress that God wants, and there's power that needs to move in that direction, but what's the posture you need to have as a believer? Well, the word obey, I love it now because it used to cause me to scream legalism when I heard it. When someone said, you gotta be obedient, I'm like, I can't be obedient, I'm powerless. Here's what you have to remember. Most words that we define wrong is because somebody didn't do their homework. This word is a beautiful word in the Old Testament. It's the word shema. It literally means to hear and to understand. I was reading it. In the Strong's Concordance, it says, hearken submissively. To obey is not what you do. It's what you do before you do. It's the first domino that leads to the action. It's like a waiter. A waiter is coming to the table, and their focus is How may I serve you? And they're listening with a posture that says, what you're going to say, I'm going to take note with the desire to do it. But the obedience is that posture that says, I'm listening. And that's the posture of the new creation. You have to have a posture that comes before God's word and says, what do you say, God? What do you think? Not like one time I was ordering food, and the waitress was so distracted. And I just felt like I had to almost like, hey, I'm here. They came in. Could have put a phone in her hand. They just seemed distracted. They weren't being obedient. And they couldn't fulfill my desires or the requests because they weren't listening. So the key again is the posture. God wants us to have a posture that says, what are you wanting? I'm hearing, I'm listening. I want to understand so that I can do what you say. And that doing is the end result of the obedient posture. And so, those are kind of some of the things I like to clear up in my thinking, because I'm like, this word can't be all wrong. What needs to be clarified? Well, let's end with looking at all of these things kind of put together as we look at Titus chapter 3 and summarize what we've seen tonight. Titus chapter 3. So we've seen that there's an old, there's a new, There's a calling for progress. You have to have the right power and the right posture to pull it off. And actually, to let God pull off. Titus chapter 3, verses 1 through 7. We see here, Paul tells Titus, remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities to obey. There's that posture, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men, for we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy and hateful and hating one another. There's the fruit of the old man. Verse four, but when the kindness and love of God our Savior towards man appeared, not by works of righteousness, we didn't pull this off with what we could do, but according to his mercy he saved us from destruction through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the spirit, and now we have This saving and this destruction and production is what the cross and what the new life now does. Verse six, whom he poured out, he did this to the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, that having been justified by his grace would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. See, you and I will have no joy in being a new creation if it's just saving from destruction. You're not going to hell. I'll see you at the finish line. But if you've been saved from destruction and given a new nature, then production is possible. You just have to remember those things. You have to remember this is a position. This is something that God has done. This is a progress that can happen as I continue to be metamorphosed, transformed in my thinking. letting His power live in and through me, and that posture is to be one of humility, so that we can say, if anyone is in Christ, anyone in this room, He is a new creation. The oldest pathway, behold, all things have been made new. This is a message if you're talking to someone who's troubled, who has lingering sin, who thinks they can't get over it, who thinks they're stuck. This is a message for them. This is a message for the believer that's working their tail off, struggling, trying to be better, like Paul in Romans 7, doing everything with no power, powerless ministry opportunities. And you can go on and on. Each one of those persons need to know that there's hope. The key to this is being in Christ, knowing that you are new, knowing you have a power source, and yielding with a humble posture to let the Lord do it through you. So the question is, what's new? You are. Now, what's your focus? Are you a butterfly that's flying, that's enjoying Jesus Christ, that sees what you have, or are you crawling around eating leaves? not learning how to walk by faith, not trusting that the God who saved you now wants to teach you to fly, even in turbulent winds, because that's where you were made to be, that rest of faith, that joy through believing, Romans 15, 13. Instead of being fearful of those trials, you are having wings that say, Lord, I want to learn how this divine power works in my yieldedness. So hopefully this is in your thinking, what's true, what's new, what's true, and what's in view. You see that you're new, you see that the old is gone, and you see the need to walk humbly with your Lord. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your grace. It's sufficient. We thank you so much for the fact that it doesn't just merely save us from a destruction, but it actually saves us to holiness, blameless holiness, as we see in 1 Thessalonians. This is a setting us up to be used by you with your power. Any calling you have, you will equip us for, so we don't have to pull this off in our own strength. We thank you for that. We thank you for believers that are demonstrating in front of us that powerless strength of 2 Corinthians 12 9 that in our weakness your grace is sufficient so we see people who are actually being transformed in their weakness and so we pray that you would just allow us to enjoy this walk together remembering simple things like we're a new creation and remembering that we have no power We just have a desire that needs to be yielded to you. Let your word illuminate. Let your word be in our mind. May we give you free course. May we come out and hear the word of God, speak about the word of God so you have something to use in our thinking. We thank you for this body here in Itasca. I pray these believers will be encouraged as they fly together, as they learn to trust what is new in them, and as a body. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Are we dismissed, Mike?