As the holidays draw to a close every year, most people begin to contemplate, “What’s my New Year’s resolution going to be this year?” While you inevitably grow and make changes all throughout the year, there’s something refreshing and definitive about resolving to make changes at the beginning of a brand-new year. Many people even have a standing New Year’s resolution that they commit to anew every January, only to lose momentum somewhere along the way. Diminished resolve and motivation are common for everyone.
Top Ten Resolutions …
Go back to school… Get a better job… Get in Shape… Make a Difference… Go Somewhere… Quit Smoking… Reduce debt / save money… Get Organized… Find someone special… Focus on Important Relationships.
I. New Treasures
a. Matt 13:52 He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."
b. My Bible – God’s Word written to me!
c. A Bible that's falling apart probably belongs to someone who isn't.
d. A man who loves his wife will love her letters and her photographs because they speak to him of her. So if we love the Lord Jesus, we shall love the Bible because it speaks to us of him.
God's Book is packed full of overwhelming riches; they are unsearchable-the more we have the more there is to have. Oswald Chambers
I study my Bible as I gather apples. First, I shake the whole tree that the ripest might fall. Then I shake each limb, and when I have shaken each limb, I shake each branch and every twig. Then I look under every leaf. Martin Luther
II. New Birth
a. 1 Peter 1:3-6 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
b. Nicodemus
c. John 3:3-7 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 4 "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" 5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
d.The world laughs at the phrase “Born Again” … the world does not understand the things of the Spirit!
The Bible is a universe of revelation facts which have no meaning for us until we are born from above; when we are born again we see in it what we never saw before. We are lifted into the realm where Jesus lives and we begin to see what he sees.
III. New Creation
a. 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
b. Walk into a dark room and flip on the light switch.
If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all he can do is to tantalize us, to erect a standard we cannot attain to; but when we are born again of the Spirit of God, we know that he did not come only to teach us, he came to make us what he teaches we should be.
IV. New Person
a. Eph 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
b. Col 3:8-10 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
The craze on daytime television has become to have a celebrity make over. They bring out a member of the audience. Dressed in their everyday casual attire. The producers take the individual backstage and give them a new hairdo, They give them a manicure and a pedicure. They take them shopping and buy them new clothes. Then they do the big reveal… ta-dah! A new person. New only on the outside. What lies beneath the skin the true person is still the same .. unchanged. When Christ does a makeover, He starts on the inside. He changes the heart. Even dressed in the same cloths you can tell by the face that it is a new creation in Christ!
V. New Teachings
a. Mark 1:21-27 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. 23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!" 25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!" 26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. 27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching — and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him."
As a starving man in front of a banquet feast, we partake of Christ as though we will never get enough. Having been satisfied we go out to find others also starving and bring them in to enjoy the feast.
The more I experience my life in Christ … the more I want to experience!
VI. New Command
a. John 13:34-35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
b. The Old commandments demanded obedience out of a motivation of fear. The New Commandments enlist obedience out of a love relationship with God.
c. Do you love your children? … enough to die for them?
d. Do you love your parents? … enough to die for them?
e. Do you love your spouse? .. enough to die for them?
f. Do you love Christ? ….
VII. New Life
a. Rom 6:3-4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
b. A person may go to heaven without health, without riches, without honors, without learning, without friends; but he can never go there without Christ.
In new birth God does three impossible things: the first is to make a man's past as though it had never been; the second, to make a man all over again; and the third, to make a man as certain of God as God is of himself.
VIII. New Covenant
a. Luke 22:20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
b. What debt would you owe someone who saves your life?
Someone asked Luther: "Do you feel that you have been forgiven?" He answered: "No, but I'm as sure as there's a God in heaven. For feelings come and feelings go, and feelings are deceiving; My warrant is the Word of God, naught else is worth believing. Though all my heart should feel condemned for want of some sweet token, There is One greater than my heart whose Word cannot be broken. I'll trust in God's unchanging Word till soul and body sever; For though all things shall pass away, his Word shall stand forever!" -- Martin Luther
IX. Everything New
a. Rev 21:2-5 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new !"
Have you ever bought a new car? … I mean showroom new. You sit in it and enjoy the new car smell. Did you know that smell comes in a spray can? New can be an illusion in cars but I know what new true will be.
b. New is when God makes everything new.
X. New Song
a. Rev 14:3 And they sang a new song before the throne …
b. Moved to sing.
While driving to a meeting the other day, I felt as lifeless as the white sky and frozen roadway stretching before me. Where was joy? I wondered. When would I sing again? Right away, God gave me fresh perspective. Looking up, I noticed telephone wires suspended horizontally across the highway like a musical staff. Birds at various levels punctuated the lines like little black notes. As I sped by, insulated by my car's closed window, I couldn't hear them, but I knew they were singing. Reassured, I remembered the psalmist's words, "Sing to the Lord a new song" (Psalm 96:1), and I knew God could give me a song, too.
A man said … My three-year-old son, Grant, told me he learned a new song in children's church about goats on the mountain when Jesus was born. I hadn't heard that one before, so I asked him to sing it. He began, "Goats tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere. Goats tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born."
