The new me

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” ESV

What does the word “new” imply? If I need a new car does that not assume that the one I currently have is old? The word “new” assumes that there is an old. I go to Wal-Mart™ to buy new jeans because the old pair has worn out knees; I buy a new toothbrush because the bristles on the old one have gone soft. The Apostle Paul uses the phrase “new creation” in 2 Cor. 5:17 juxtaposed against the old. Look at the second part of verse 17, “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This isn’t the only time Paul does this.

Romans 6:4 “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” ESV

Ephesians 4:22-24 “…put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” ESV

Colossians 3:9-10 “…you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” ESV

“New” is a key word, used throughout Scripture. We read of a new song (Ps 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isa 42:10; Rev 5:9; 14:3), a new heaven and a new earth (Isa 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1), a new Jerusalem(Rev 3:12; 21:9), a new covenant (Jer 31:31; Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25; 2 Cor 3:6; Heb 8:8, 13; 9:15; 12:24), a new commandment (Jn 13:34), a new heart (Ezek 36:26), and so on. Jesus Himself said in Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (ESV) These uses of the word “new” beg the question, “What is wrong with the ‘old’?” Speaking of ‘old’, there is an old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Another version of the same would be, “Let well enough alone.” But, what if it is broke? What if it isn’t well enough? Let’s go back to the beginning and investigate this possibility.

Genesis 1:1-2 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” ESV

Out of nothing, our eternal God created everything that we can see and everything that exists beyond our sight. Following this great work, His assessment was this, “It was very good (Gen. 1:31).” A good, holy, just God cannot call something “good” that isn’t good, so we can trust this assessment as accurate; it truly was “very good.” That assessment included mankind. The fact that God was able to take in the entire scope of creation and call it “very good” is nearly unfathomable next to the state of that very creation today. But at one point, it could not have been improved. Imagine that. So what happened? Did it just succumb to the same deterioration over time that my jeans suffer? No. “Very good” excludes the possibility of deterioration. The fact that something can decay negates God’s original assessment. So what went wrong? Why this context of decay?

The blame belongs to God’s image bearers. That’s us. Genesis 1:26, 27 states that we were created in God’s image. Dr. Bruce Ware says that “There is an intentionality expressed in these words, indicating that man, more fully than any other part of creation, will reflect and represent what God is like. Although the heavens declare the glory of God (Ps. 19:1), only man is made in God’s image (Bruce Ware; Father, Son, & Spirit: Relationships, Roles, & Relevance [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Book, 2005] p. 132).” This sets man apart from the rest of creation. That is why in Genesis 1:28, man is commanded to subdue and have dominion over the rest of creation. We were granted authority and we misused it. Our first parents, Adam and Eve, gave into temptation and directly disobeyed God (see James 1:14-15). What was “very good” had now become tainted and marred by sin. Steve Jeffery writes that “Creation has been corrupted by human sin. God’s good work of creation has been undone, a ‘decreation’. What is needed therefore is a work of recreation (Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, Andrew Sach; Pierced For Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2007] p. 104-105).”

The effects of “decreation” are all around us and in us; clearly we are undone. It is right that we echo the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Woe is me, for I am ruined (Is. 6:5)!” This includes all of us; the Apostle Paul said that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).” So, what went wrong? We went wrong and as the stewards of creation, introduced it to decay and ruin.

Romans 8:20-21 “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” ESV

This is why the old needs to pass away. It is no longer “very good” and therefore must be destroyed or remade. The Bible says that “the wages [or result] of sin is death (Rom 6:23).” You sin, you die. We are not talking merely about physical death; there is a spiritual death as a result of the Fall. That is why Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (Jn 3:3).” Spiritual death will eternally separate creation from Creator. This is tragic news.

Now we turn to the good news. The Apostle Paul wrote extensively on the subject; let’s begin with his words:

Romans 7:24-25 “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” ESV

Paul acknowledges that he is, in fact, a “wretched man” and that he needs delivered from his “body of death.” He then abruptly shifts gears and begins to thank God… for what? What did God do through His Son, Jesus Christ that answers Paul’s question in the previous verse?

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” ESV

For our sake, God the Father sent God the Son to die on the cross, in our place, for our sin. He did this because He loves us.

John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” ESV

Romans 5:8 “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” ESV

Jesus set aside glory to walk and live right alongside us (Php 2:6-8; Jn 1:14). The Bible says that he was tempted in every way that we are, but was without sin (Heb 4:15). He did what we couldn’t do and in so doing redeemed us from the curse of sin. Paul said that He actually became a curse for us (Gal 3:13).

Romans 8:3-4 “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.” ESV

The connections we could make and the places we could go in Scripture in regards to this topic are far too great for one session. What a great gospel. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom 7:25).”

In closing, let’s return to the passage of Scripture with which we opened this session.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. ‘The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.’” ESV

In Christ, the old you is gone; God judged the old you in His Son. Therefore you are new; you have been and are continuing to be remade in the likeness of the Son. And Paul affirms that we can be confident that God is going to finish what He started in you (Php 1:6). This is the new you. Paul said, “You are no longer a slave, but a son [daughter], and if a son [daughter], then an heir through God (Gal 4:7; c.f. Rom 6:15-23; 8:12-17; Jn 8:34).”

Therefore, Jesus Christ has granted us a new identity. This is who we are. This should produce in you great joy. You are not defined by what you do for a living, the kind of car you drive or the house you live in; you are not defined by your vacation spots or hobbies. You are defined by the Son of God. This reality is how Paul was able to look at his life and all its pursuits and call it garbage next to the “surpassing worth of knowing Christ (Php 3:7-8).”

Philippians 3:12-14 “I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” ESV

The Gospel and a drive-thru

Theologians have often referred to the hand of God. I will not pretend that I am a theologian, so I will merely speak of His thumb. The Bible says in Hebrew 12:2 that, “The Lord disciplines the one he loves.” I have often felt the thumb of God pressing down on me. Now, on the one hand, I am encouraged because that means He loves me. On the other hand, like any child subjected to discipline, I hang my head.

The aim of this blog post is to reveal the tender spot in my life that is currently under the thumb of God. My heart is both heavy, due to the honest look into it, and joyful, due to the hope that God is faithful to finish what He has begun in me (Phil. 1:6).

I always thought I was committed to the Great Commission. I went to Bible College and later entered the ministry full time; what greater evidence was there? Many times I have preached, with conviction, on Matthew 28:19. With passion and enthusiasm, I have called people. I have exhorted people to set aside the ordinary life and serve Jesus on His mission. Along the way I somehow bought into the idea that I was exempt from that exhortation. I was already “on mission”. I was making disciples every time I took a platform and opened my Bible. I don’t want in any way to discredit the call to full time ministry. I am more convinced that I am called to it today than ever before. But, I had allowed my vocation to somehow let me off the hook for personal sacrifice in regards to making disciples. I had made disciples on the clock and after work I plopped down on the couch and turned the TV on like everyone else. I was preaching to them and not to me.

There are many facets to discipleship and disciple-making. However, I want to focus on the one side that is currently the tender spot for me. I like my down time. I like it a lot. I like my home and I like to be there, by myself. For the past few years, I have been preaching discipleship through community but I have not been personally living that call. I have been pushing and pushing people towards relational environments, but I have been just shy of avoiding them completely myself. Long story short, God began to press on me. I became burdened with this thought, “There should be no one in this church that invites people to church more than me.” I have had to learn personally what is means to be a fisher of men (Mt 4:19).

So, I decided a handful of months ago that I would become a regular at a local restaurant. I would learn names; I would smile big and be as friendly as my insecure self could. I didn’t really have the money to go big, so I picked Burger King™. I began to hit the drive-thru about 3-5 times a week. I ordered the same thing every day; a sausage, egg and cheese croissant and a cup of ice. (At the time I was drinking Pepsi One® because of the Splenda®, but no one carries Pepsi One® in the fountain, so I would get a cup of ice and pour in my own can of Pepsi One®.) It didn’t take long before they recognized my car and would beat me to the order. I learned that when your order is obscure, they are quick to identify you (the “cup of ice thing” soon identified me). I did this for several weeks and began to get discouraged. In frustration, I remember asking my wife this rhetorical question, “How am I supposed to get to the Gospel in a drive-thru?” It became clear that I had the same fears as everyone else; pulpit or no pulpit. I would greet those in the window every day, but it was nothing more than a “Howdy” and a “What’s up?” I kept at it, hoping that some opportunity would present itself.

One day, my daughter was with me and that presented a problem. They typically recognized my car and would place my order without my help. I didn’t want to throw them off, so I decided to go inside. As soon as I entered the restaurant, it was clear God was at work. Jim (not his real name) was there. He wasn’t working, he was just there to eat with his son. We stood on the same side of the counter together waiting for our orders and a great conversation ensued. It wasn’t long before he asked me what I do for a living. “I am a pastor here in town,” I said. At that point he immediately began to unload his feelings about God. He was angry. His best friend (his son’s namesake) died of cancer a few years back and Jim hadn’t gotten over his death. He said he had tried a church in Salem awhile back, but ended up moving to Lebanon. God’s sovereignty was very evident. It became clear that the church he had visited in Salem was a recent addition to the Acts 29 Network (of which we are a part), and it was through that church that Jim had started to listen to a young preacher in Dallas, TX named Matt Chandler. In a moment’s time, I had credibility.

Jim has since begun coming to Valley Life Church. We have had several long conversations together, both at my office and out front of Burger King during his breaks. I am brought to tears even as I type. The Gospel is beginning to transform him and I see a hungry man.

One Sunday morning I was greeted by someone visiting our church. He was an old friend of Jim’s; the one who had originally invited him to church in Salem (Outward Church). He told me that he had been praying for a long time that Jim would get connected to a church in the area. He was extremely grateful. One of the other pastors in our church informed me later of something this man had said to him: “I have been praying that Jim would get connected in a church and God sent Patrick through the drive-thru.” I am humbled.

The Great Commission is accomplished in the context of relationship. I have preached that for years… Now I know it.