Newness of Life

Good afternoon, everyone.

As we often like to do, we sometimes, we at times, start off with a question. But I can’t take credit for the question that I’m going to use to initiate the message today. I can’t take credit for it. Let’s begin with a question that, actually, King Solomon, the son of David, King of Jerusalem, asked. Let’s turn in our Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter one. A question that follows a verse that is very familiar to most people.

I even remember hearing this statement made when I was a young boy, and oftentimes the Bible, people don’t know, is the source of many phrases. Familiar ones such as “One bird in the hand is worth more than two in a bush,”, “A little birdie told me so,” “A man after my own heart.” This phrase is very familiar, but let’s read the question here in Ecclesiastes one verse ten again, to start off the message.

“Is there anything,” in verse ten it says, he asks, “Is there anything whereof it might be said, See this is new?” It’s a question that he posed. This is a rhetorical question, correct? The answer must be no. There is nothing whereof it might be said, this is new. Now, if that’s our position, I would ask the question, could we be applying this a little too broadly? Is there truly nothing new under the sun, as it says in verse nine? A phrase we’ve all heard at some point in our lives, or could there be something new?

At the end of the message, could we see that the context here is a little tighter in terms of creation, riches, man’s vein pursuits? We’ll see, but that is the question. Is there anything whereof it could be said, this is new? Well, brethren, we’re in a time of year when we repeatedly examine Israel’s journey out of Egypt. I would ask why? Well, we know of two very good reasons. One, in first Corinthians ten, recall the Apostle Paul tells us not to be ignorant about Israel passing through the Red Sea. So we shouldn’t be ignorant. We must know what happened, the events that took place back then. Second, not just should we know, but understand those events because they hold within them valuable lessons to learn in our lives and to apply.

Those are two very good reasons, and particularly during this time of year coming out from the service at Passover and the days of unleavened bread and we look forward, we still look repeatedly at what happened with Israel back at that time so that we can learn profound lessons that we could apply to our own lives. Exodus fourteen. Exodus fourteen. So let’s go there and see what we can learn and let’s not forget, we’re trying to dig and see if we can find if there’s something new.

Exodus fourteen. A verse that we’ve read here in recent days, and verse twenty-six, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea that the waters may come again on the Egyptians and their chariots and their horsemen.’” I believe it was six hundred choice chariots that Pharaoh sent in between the waters of the Red Sea to chase after the Israelites.

And verse twenty-seven, “Moses did exactly what God instructed him to do.” He stretched forth his hand and the sea returned to its strength at dawn as the sun rose and the Egyptians were trying to flee. And the Lord, it says, overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Continuing in verse twenty-eight, “And the waters covered the chariots.” We know this account, the horse and all the host of Pharaoh that entered into the sea after them, not one remained, it said. Every single one of Pharaoh’s horsemen, chariots, the men that were riding on them, not one survived. Verse twenty-nine. “But the children of Israel,” it says, “Walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall on their right and their left-hand sides.”

Verse thirty. It says, “Thus.” Now, sometimes the smallest words in the Bible speak powerfully to, for example, myself, to you. We’ll see some small words that if you understand the meaning and what it’s tied to, it can lead to astonishing understanding, knowledge. That word “Thus” means “in that fashion; by that means.” And that automatically popped a question in my head. It says, “Thus the Lord saved Israel out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.” They visually witnessed that, and Israel saw that great work which the Lord did to the Egyptians. And it says the people feared the Lord, believed him and his servant, Moses.” Now this is an astonishing event. God delivered Israel out from Egypt, and he did so in dramatic fashion. Try to imagine yourself in that scene seeing exactly what took place.

You’re running with your children, all of your belongings, your relatives, in a direction and you can hear the thundering sounds of the chariots, and when you cross the other side, you just see they’re coming through the exact same way in which you took to escape, and you see in the distance, Moses raised his hand, and then the waters come crashing down. In a matter of seconds, an entire army that provoked fear, if you will, in the world because of its size and its stature, were instantly destroyed.

Now as we bring lessons from Israel’s experiences, one important question came to my mind when I read that word “Thus.” Why did God do it in that fashion? Why did God do it by that means? I’m not just referring to the event at the Red Sea. Why did it take the tenth plague to ultimately accomplish God’s will to free Israel? Exodus chapter twelve. Exodus chapter twelve.

Remember, we’re looking, we’re digging to see if we can uncover something new. Exodus chapter twelve and verse twenty-one, “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Draw out and take a lamb according to your families and kill the Passover. And you shall strike,” in verse twenty-two continuing, “The lintel and side post with the blood.” In verse twenty-three, “For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood, the Lord will pass over and not come into your houses and smite you.”

Picking it up in verse twenty-eight, “And children of Israel went away and did exactly as the Lord had commanded.” Then we come to verse twenty-nine. “And at midnight, the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. From the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne to the firstborn of prisoners that were in the dungeon.” And it says, “Even the firstborn of cattle”. Dropping like flies in the middle of the night. And you could hear screams from the families, from the mothers, from the fathers as their firstborn were dying one after the other after the other.

Why would God go to such extreme measures, brethren? Twelve chapters. If you go back and read it, twelve chapters are dedicated to detailing Israel’s deliverance by God. That’s extraordinary. From Exodus chapter three to verse two, when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses and laid out the plan that God had to free Israel from the bonds of Egypt, all the way to Exodus fourteen, thirty, which we just read, “Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians.”

But again, why use such extreme measures? What was God’s goal? What was so important that God used plagues of epic proportions to free and wrench Israel out of the grips of Egypt? Was it because God wanted to bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, as it says in Exodus three, eight? Yes. Is it because God in Exodus five, one, reveals that He wanted them to hold a feast to Him in the wilderness? That too. Yes. Would a reason be that God wanted them to do sacrifices to Him, as it says in Exodus eight, eight, all contained in those twelve chapters? Yes.

Oh, and did God use the death of every firstborn to free Israel to serve Him, as He said in Exodus seven, eight, nine, ten, et cetera? Brethren, yes, yes, yes, and yes. For that reason, we can read the following in verse forty-one, “And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day, it came to pass that all the hosts, all the people that the Lord wanted to remove from Egypt went out from the land.”

But Brethren, I do not want us to miss why these events happened the way they did. These events all point to something in the future. Something extraordinary. Let’s stop in Isaiah forty-three before we go to the New Testament. Isaiah forty-three. I just read two of the miraculous events associated with Israel escaping. But why? Isaiah forty-three, verse fifteen, “I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.” I don’t know if there’s too many more places where God speaks and identifies Him with such powerful titles.

Verse sixteen, “Thus says the Lord, the Holy One, the Creator of Israel,” we could say the Creator of us too, spiritual Israel, “your King, who makes a way in the sea.” Now He’s conjuring up memories through Isaiah regarding what happened, what we just read back in Exodus. “Who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth the chariot and horse, army and power. They shall lie down together and not rise. They are extinct.” And it says, “Quenched as a toe.”

That means, essentially, if you can imagine licking your fingers and extinguishing the wick on a candle, the flame. That’s what God did. He sets them up for verse eighteen. “Remember not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold,” verse nineteen, “I will do a new thing.” Interesting. “It shall spring forth, shall you not know it?” God asks, again, through the Prophet Isaiah. And He set up that question and that statement about doing something new by reminding them what happened back during those days of unleavened bread.

So after God identifies Himself, powerfully, He reminds Israel that He rescued them out of Egypt. Well, why? Well, He begins to reveal His overarching purpose. He says, “I will do a new thing.” The question today, brethren, is, shall we know it? Shall we not only know it but understand it to the extent that we can apply it in our lives as we come through these days of unleavened bread. I hope so.

Because God certainly rescued Israel from Egypt by these miraculous events, killing the firstborn, guiding them through the Red Sea. He did indeed bring them into the promised land where the land was flowing with milk and honey. He did that. Israel experienced that. They did hold feast for forty years. They did that too. They sacrificed to Him and served Him in the wilderness. Again, yes, yes, yes, and yes, all passed. So what new thing did God have in mind? Let’s see what parallel the Apostle Paul drew from Exodus, the same apostle who spoke to us in First Corinthians ten telling us not to be ignorant about Israel passing through the sea. What new thing might have sprung forth?

Let’s turn to Romans chapter six. Is there something new under the sun, brethren, what was the new thing the Lord, the Creator, the King, did? What knowledge can we gain? What lessons did those events point to for us to understand, appreciate, and apply in very tangible ways? Romans chapter six and verse three, “Know you not that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ...” recall First Corinthians ten tells us that Israel was baptized under Moses as they passed through the sea. Let me read again, “Know you not that as many of us as we’re baptized into Jesus Christ, we’re baptized into His death. Therefore, we are buried with Him, Christ, by baptism into death that like as Christ who was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life.”

Paul is drawing powerful parallels between physical Israel, and us, brethren, spiritual Israel. The great new thing God had in mind beyond the feasts that they kept, beyond the feast that we keep, beyond the sacrifices that they kept, beyond the sacrifices that we make in our own lives living this way of life, beyond the service that they did toward God and beyond the service that we do toward God every day. The great new thing, brethren, was newness of life. God gave them new lives.

Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore. They did not die as they went through the waters. Israel saw all of the miracles, but they could not see or appreciate like we can, the newness of life that we have been given. And brethren, this time of year pictures it so wonderfully, but regrettably, many spiritual Israelites over millennium failed to see that, failed to see what, not only the newness of life represented, but how they could live it out to the very end. God called many to bring them out of this world by an event more dramatic than those detailed in Exodus, and that event was Christ’s sacrifice.

God in flesh killed as the Passover, as it says in First Corinthians five. When we accepted our Passover Christ, when we accepted his blood sacrifice, and when we entered into His death by baptism for our sins, which by the way, Isaiah calls the former things, the things of old. God gave each of us a desperately needed new life. Brethren, Paul instructs us what to do with that newness of life. He says, “Live it.” Today, we’re going to look at what it means to live in newness of life, and it’s not easy, brethren. Why would it be?

The churches of the world, the protestants, the Catholics, the nondenominational churches of the world, they think it’s easy street to live this newness of life. By no means is it easy. Newness of life has implications that the world wants to ignore. But brethren, the Bible contains many examples of individuals whose lives we could look at, who walked in the newness of life that God gave to them, intended for them. Take Moses for example, he questioned himself and his ability to represent God, to lead a nation. He was slow in speech, but his new life including leading others, an entire nation, being the greatest prophet of Israel who spoke to God face to face.

Think about Rahab and Mary Magdalene. Rahab was a prostitute, but Rahab’s new life including being the great-great grandmother of David, lineage of Jesus Christ, and mentioned in the hall of faith. Mary Magdalene, she was possessed by seven demons, and it says suffered from infirmities, plural. But her new life, including being healed of those infirmities, freed from those demons, and becoming one of Christ’s most devoted followers during his earthly ministry. I could go on. Simon, Saul. I like to mention the son of thunder.

All of these men had to learn what newness of life meant, and they had to live it out. Simon cussed out girls. He cut off an ear, but his new life included a man who became Christ-like, submissive, honorable, unoffending, truthful. Saul who tried to destroy the Church who was a self-righteous religious zealot who acted like a crazed killer as he pursued Christian brethren to condemn them to death.

But Paul became the very man who built churches that he tried to destroy. The son of thunder was self centered, self promoting, suffered from fits of rage. He actually asked permission to rain down fire on an entire village to destroy man, woman, and child because they didn’t want to receive the good news of the gospel that they were listening to. But the Apostle John’s newness of life, including being known for thousands of years as the apostle who was loved. And he, like many of these men that I talked about, died for Christ.

Those are palpable examples of newness of life that Paul instructs us to live. Second Corinthians chapter five. Second Corinthians chapter five. All of these individuals had pasts, some worse than ours, arguably. In that way, they’re no different. Second Corinthians chapter five and verse fourteen, “For the love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge.” That means this is how we think.

“If one died for all, then all were dead. He died for all so that they which live should not henceforth live unto them yourselves, but unto him which died for you and rose again. Wherefore we know no man after the flesh...” yes, “Though we have known Christ in the flesh, we know Him no more. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away.” Think about Isaiah forty three, all things are become new, not some, brethren, all.

What I find fascinating about this is that Paul was sharing with us what he likely reminded himself of regularly. He had a terrible past. You and I, and we, we need to remind ourselves at times that we too, in Christ, we became new creatures, and that word, new creatures means original formation. It’s not an improved version of who we are, it’s an original creation or original formation given to us by God. And God speaks of it and inspired the scriptures to speak of this original formation. Brethren, we’re not trying to live our lives in an improved version of who we used to be. No. We are new creations, original formations, created by God to live the newness of life that Paul told us we all must live.

The greater point here is that to live in newness of life means old things are past. Remember that God commanded the Prophet Isaiah, to tell the people to forget, to not remember the former things, nor even consider the things of old. Brethren, God did a new thing with you and me. We became new. We are the new thing that sprung forth. Galatians chapter six. Galatians chapter six, brethren, we are the new thing, but what does that mean? Galatians six and verse eleven, “You see how large a letter I have written to you with my own hand, as many as desired to make a fair show. That means they’re showing off in the flesh, they constrain or they’re forcing you to become or be circumcised, only less they should suffer. And the only reason they’re doing it,” Paul says, “Is to avoid persecution for the cross of Christ, for they themselves who are circumcised do not keep the law.”

Paul’s saying, look at what they’re trying to do, and they don’t even keep the law. Being circumcised doesn’t help you keep the law. We’ll read that a little bit in a moment here. Verse thirteen, “For they themselves who are circumcised do not keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised that they make glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

There it is again, brethren, nothing mattered to Paul. Nothing else should matter except living in newness of life as a result of becoming a new creation in Christ, period. Nothing avails except the newness of life that we have been given as original formations of God in Christ. What does newness in life mean? What should it mean to you and me? How can we live in newness in life? What does that look like? For the balance of the message, I’m going to go through several elements of what it takes to live in newness of life.

Let’s go back to Isaiah forty-three, where we were. We have been given this newness of life, but what does that mean? This is where we distinguish ourself, brethren, from the fluffy messages that we hear in worldly churches. This is where the rubber hits the road for us as new original formations in Christ. Isaiah forty-three, let’s pick it up right where we left off moments ago, verse eighteen, “Remember not the former things neither consider the things of old. Now that is a command by God. And that’s not all that God has to say about that matter.

If you skip down to verse twenty-five, this is powerful, He says, “I,” and I like that the translators put the word even in there, “I, I” is what God said, but the translators put it in as, “I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for my own sake...” that’s an interesting comment, interesting statement by God, “And will not remember your sins.” Brethren, to live in newness of life, number one, we must remember to forget our past. The things of old, don’t even consider them. We can wonder about what God meant by saying for His own sake, but we don’t have to ponder. It’s not hard to understand why we need to forget and not even consider the old things for our own sake.

Because once we have asked God for forgiveness of the sins that we confessed, we took the time during the pre-Passover period to examine ourselves. We allowed God to reveal to us the areas where we were falling short. We confess them, admitted to them, and we committed to change. God then forgave and it says, “Forgot them.” We must forget our sins for our own sake.

I’d like us to consider very seriously, we spend time examining our lives. We took the Passover symbols, we came through the days of unleavened bread. We committed to changing and purging out sin in our lives, so we must. It isn’t not that we simply should, we must forget that past because we’ve got other things to attend to, brethren. If I didn’t make this first point, we couldn’t go on to discuss all the other points. If we’re busy remembering our sins, the ones that we just asked for forgiveness for, and we’re not forgetting them as God commands in Isaiah forty-three, then we can’t occupy ourselves with the things that we must do to continue living newness of life.

If we keep remembering them, here’s something illogical, are we not disobeying God? If we continue dwelling on our past, considering the old things, are we forgetting or worse yet rejecting the power of Christ’s sacrifice? That would be illogical. We would find ourselves needing to repent for remembering what we repented for. Wouldn’t make sense, we’d be constantly in this circular argument unable to get out of it.

Brethren, if God can forgive and forget for His sake, then He through His spirit, can help us forgive and forget our sins for our sake. What’s at stake is living the newness of life. Again, I like how God repeated I for emphasis. “I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions.” That sounded really familiar to the exchange that Christ had with the woman who was caught in adultery, if you remember. Remember after he dispatched these men who were ready to stone her, this is what He turned and said to her, “Neither do I, even I,” I could add, “Do condemn you.” Now He did add, “Go and sin no more.” But what He didn’t add is, “Remember this moment, remember what you did.”

He said, “No. Go, move forward and sin no more. Focus on the newness of life, because not even I condemn you. The same thing that God said in Isaiah forty-three.

Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians four. In verse twenty-two, we’ll just jump into the thought here, “Put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man. Created...” listen to this very carefully, “Created in righteousness and true Holiness.”

Remember the original formation that we talked about? That original formation, it says here, that is a new man created, manufactured, fabricated in righteousness and true Holiness. Rather than if, number one, was to live in newness of life, we must remember to forget our past, number two would be to live in newness of life, we must put on the new man. Our new man was fabricated in righteousness and true Holiness. There’s more to hear than meets the eye. These are just not words that we read occasionally. We have to look at the Greek to understand the power of Paul’s command here because it is a command.

First, that phrase, the former conversation, is better translated “Former way of life.” Then there should be a comma. Former way of life, the old man. Meaning that the former way of life and the old man are exactly the same. They’re synonymous. You can’t distinguish the two. That phrase, “Which is corrupt,” it should be actually translated, “Is being corrupted.” Present tense, as in present progressive, if you will. It is impossible for our old selves to escape being corrupted by this world. We may try and think that our old self can’t be corrupted, but Paul says it is being corrupted. Our former ways of life are being corrupted by the world that we’re surrounded by.

Now, this reminded me of a story of my parents that they shared with us when we were young boys and took us to New York City. I must have been about eight or nine, maybe ten years of age at the time. And one of us, I can’t remember who it was, one of my brothers, we noticed a bag lady. How many of you know what a bag lady is in New York City? Okay. For those of you who don’t know, it’s essentially a homeless woman, in this case, a bag lady. That’s what we called them back then, I think in the 1970s. Bag lady.

They wore layers of clothes. All the clothing that they had, they wore. You see layer after layer of layer of clothing. I remember this particular event because she had a grocery cart, and it carried everything that she possessed except for maybe a kitchen sink. She would just walk around New York City and we’re curious to say, “What is that?” My mother and dad were explaining that it was a bag lady. Bag lady, well, I recall vaguely two large purses lodged ever so perfectly right about in this region of her body. She had two purses tucked in her layers of clothing. I think that’s maybe in part why they came up with the bag lady.

It was quite a sight for an eight, nine, ten, eleven-year-old. And I looked back at that and think back and I say, “How ridiculous she looked.” Well, brethren, why would I tell that story? If you look at the phrase in verse twenty-three, “And be renewed, and that you put on the new man,” those two phrases, they’re not translated very well either. Those should read, “To be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” The other phrase should read, “To put on the new man.” Brethren, those are objectives. Those are goals, what we should be striving to achieve.

We should be striving to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. We should be striving to put on the new man. That means, and it’s antecedent, everything that Paul set up until that point, the only way we can do that, to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, to put on the new man is by first putting off the old man. In other words, you cannot wear both at the same time. It’s absolutely impossible to do. You can’t wear the old man and the new man at the same time in our lives. To God, it looks as ridiculous as the bag lady looks to me in my mind when I think back to her. We have to choose which outfit we are going to wear every single day of our lives. We cannot wear our old selves and the new one that God created, by the way, in righteousness and true holiness at that same time.

Continuing here in verse twenty-five. Let’s see how Paul describes it. “Wherefore, putting away lying,” old man, “...speak every man truth with his neighbor,” new man, “For we are members one of another.” So you put off lying so that you can put on truth. You can’t lie and tell the truth at the same time. It’s absolutely impossible. “Be angry and sin not.” That’s the new man. “Let not the sun go down in your wrath,” because if you do, that’s the old man. Don’t go to bed angry with wrath. “Neither give place to the devil,” old man. “Let him that stole,” old man, “...steal no more,” new man. “But rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good...”

Here’s a powerful point. Talk about living newness of life. I’ll just insert that here. He wants the person who was stealing, the old man, to steal no more so that he can work with his hands the thing which is good that he may have or I want to have, but why do I want to have? It says here the good man or the new man, “...may have to give to him that needs.” That’s newness of life brethren. The reason that I work with these hands I labor is so that I can have to give to who needs.

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,” old man, “...but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers,” that’s the new man. “Grieve not the Holy Spirit,” that would be the old man, “...whereby you are sealed to the day of redemption.” The Holy Spirit can’t work with the old man. The Holy Spirit will only work what was manufactured by God in righteousness and in true holiness, the new man.

“Whereby you are sealed to the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.” You know what that describes? A bitter, angry, clamoring, foul-mouthed old man. Paul says you can’t wear that and be kind to one another. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake. Brethren, that’s worth underlining. Remember said God, I blot out your sins. I blot out your mistakes, even I for my own sake. Here it says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.” Wow.

Isaiah forty-three, for my own sake, and God said for Christ’s sake he has forgiven you. Brethren, if you are living God’s way, you will find yourself throughout the day, every day, in the process of removing the old man and putting on in any situation the new man. That is our life struggle and at times we don’t even realize that we’re wearing our old man, our old selves. But I’m glad we have people close to each other, close to me that helps me see that. That is in part why Paul told the Colossians the following. Let’s turn to Colossians three verse nine.

“Lie not to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, in all.” Brethren, that word lie, it does mean lie, but it can also mean attempt to deceive. So I like to read it like this. Try not to fool each other. We should not try to appear as though we are dressed in our new man when in reality we are wearing our old man, our old self.

And I’m grateful that I have my wife and my daughters who probably know my old man better than anyone else. But maybe you don’t have a wife or children that know your old man, that can identify him more quickly and easier than anybody else, but ministers can help. It’s not hard to identify. We just saw some of the identifiers that we all have, as in our old man or old selves. Brethren can help us realize.

Have you ever asked anybody, “How does this look on me?” Well, I don’t even have to ask. I enjoy the fact that my wife and my daughters and anyone else, when they see that old self, they make that slight indication that you might be wearing your old man. You may need to change your outfit. They don’t say it in those words, but the way in which they communicate with me. I’m grateful for the men and ladies with whom I work closely every day because they’re great at helping me get out in any situation of my old man, and to quickly put on my new man.

Brethren, sometimes we don’t realize it, and that’s why we help one another in love. And when it happens, regardless of whether we realize it ourselves that we have the old man on, or if somebody else indicates that for us or helps us recognize that we are wearing the old man, what I’d like to say is we have the ability to pull Superman. We can change into our superhero outfit in an instant. It’s a conscious decision that we make. And verse ten reveals a monumental importance of putting on our new man. It says, our knowledge of God is renewed when we do that.

And we can ask all day long, I want to know God. I want him to reveal the deep truths of his scriptures. I want to understand God’s mind. It can sound a little bit like, you know, if you remember Peanuts, the old cartoon, the teachers, waah, waah, wah, wah, wah. We struggle and we strive to know the deep things of God, his mind, and all the truths that he can reveal to us. Why don’t we just work really hard every single day to keep that old man off and dead where he belongs and put on that new man every single day?

And we know what the new man looks like. All we have to do is jump up to verse one. “If you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on the things of the Earth. Put on, therefore,” this is a description of the new man, same work language, “...as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. And above all things put on love, charity, the bond of perfection.”

That’s what the new man looks like. We don’t have to guess. Our new man, our new woman, if you will, is dressed in mercy and kindness, humbleness, meekness, long-suffering. I could add the other fruits of the spirit. When we are wearing these, brethren, we look spectacular. We look great. We throw on those accessories or main pieces of clothing like love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, temperance.

We had the dinner dance recently, the spring dinner dance. What a wonderful event. People were dressed to the nines, the ladies looking beautiful in their dresses. The men pulling out, some of them, their best suits, bow ties, nicest ties they could wear. We all looked wonderful. No doubt about it. But what I saw that day out on the dance floor at the dinner tables, were people dressed in these. They shine brighter. I put in my notes they shine brighter than Cinderella or Prince Charming because they were wearing the new man.

Ephesians chapter two, verse eleven. Paul is talking to the Ephesians as Gentiles who were without Christ. He says, and they were aliens from the promise of… to the promises to Israel. But in verse thirteen it says, “But are now in Christ Jesus, his blood.” Think of the Passover, the Passover lamb that we talked about at the beginning of the message.

Paul then says that Christ sacrificed, in verse fifteen, abolished animosity between Gentile and Jew, but we could say anyone who is in Christ, brethren. It continues by explaining the overarching purpose, “...to make in himself one new man.” So making peace between people of all races, languages, and cultures. In verse sixteen, “That he, Christ, might reconcile everyone unto God into one body.”

Brethren, the third way in which we know and can live the newness of life in its greatest application, I think, it means that we are one new man, not many. We spent several minutes just now talking about each of us striving to put on the new man by putting off the old man and his ways. But did you notice this wonderful truth? When we individually put off our old man and live in newness of life through our new man, we become one new man, one body. That’s what it says.

Paul reveals that Christ is making one new man in himself to present one body to God. So let me just say it plainly. God is not receiving, let’s say you over there, you back there, you up here, and me up here separately. It says God is receiving all of us as one new man. That’s how God sees us. That’s Christ’s goal. And at times, it’s hard to wrap our heads around that concept.

We think of our individual lives. Every tub does sit on its bottom, but when we sit on our bottom and we live our newness of life by way of the new man that was manufactured and fabricated in righteousness and in holy truth, Brethren, we become one man, one body. That’s what we learned during the Passover service; that Christ’s body was broken so that we become one.

If we were to go to Ezekiel eighteen or Ezekiel thirty-six, God speaks again and again about a new heart, a new spirit. But Ezekiel eleven I think puts it best. You don’t have to go there. Let me just read it to you. Verse sixteen. You can take note of that. “Therefore, thus says the Lord God, although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them,” speaking of Israel, “...among the countries,” again, speaking of Israel, “...yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.” Verse nineteen, it says, “And I will give them one heart.”

Brethren that means united. And heart here is in the masculine singular, what I just read to you. Not a bunch of hearts. And he says, “...and I will put a new spirit.” God has one spirit, and he wants to give to His Church, Christ’s body, one heart. So if that prophecy in Ezekiel applied to physical Israel, how much more does that principle apply to us, God’s spiritual Israel?

Acts chapter two. It does, and in very tangible ways. Here’s what newness of life requires. Acts chapter two and verse forty-two. A verse we’re all familiar with, but it’s worth repeating. “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, breaking of bread, and in prayers.” “And all that believed were together and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods and parted them as every man had need.” I have because there are needs. “And they, continuing daily,” an important word that we’re going to build off of now, “...with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,” it says. “Praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily,” there it is again, daily, “...such as should be saved.”

Brethren, during the Passover, we were instructed to discern Christ’s broken body. Think, we also memorialize that in Christ, we are one man and one heart. That is what newness of life means, unity. One of the greatest indicators that we’re living newness of life is that we feel unified to each other. If you’re not feeling that way, check which man you’re wearing. It’s that simple. If I’m not feeling unified, because unity can provoke feelings, I feel unified. But if you’re feeling like you’re being distanced or you’re being separated from everyone or anyone, then check your old man. Make sure you put them off and put on your new man because a new man in you, newness of life means one man. So newness of life in its greatest application means that we are one new man, not just many.

Number four, living newness of life is necessary every day and in every way. This is where it gets hard for the world. For worldly Christianity. This is the part where the burden gets too heavy. Where it separates, if you will, the men from the boys. The women from the girls. Isaiah fifty-eight. Isaiah fifty-eight. Here’s how we can live newness of life every day in every way. Isaiah fifty-eight and verse two, “Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.”

Now although it goes on to reveal that Israel is doing it wrong, there’s a lesson to be learned. Living in newness of life, friends, brethren, means seeking God every day. And there are several ways to do that. Psalms eighty-eight. Psalms eighty-eight. Seeking God every day. These are quick points because we hit this all the time. One of the most important ways we can seek God daily as we live newness of life, Psalms eighty-eight, verse one, “O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you. Incline your ear to my cry.” [verse 9] “My eyes mourn by reason of affliction. Lord, I have called daily upon you.”

We seek God daily through prayer. If we want newness of life, that is a requirement. But there’s something worth repeating that we’ve often heard. Prayer is not just for bad times. It is for all times. Again, I don’t want to oversimplify prayer, but I sum prayer up, again, I want to oversimplify it as a series of thank yous and please. Of course, there’s more to prayer, but this is a good guideline.

How often would we want our children to use these words? Please and thank you. When it comes to prayer, I like to maybe think of it as putting it in the opposite order. Thank you and then please. A lot of thank yous and please sometimes works better. So if we would want that from our children, how do you think God feels about us, as a part of our vocabulary? And one important thank you that you can include is thanking God every day for the newness of life that he has given you. The new man that was created in righteousness and holy truth. And one please related that you can ask or request is that God continues to give you his Spirit, the strength, to continue forward in this newness of life and apply what we just said, forgetting our past, putting off the old man, putting on the new man, becoming one new man, not many.

Brethren, another way we seek God, obviously, is daily Bible study. It says in Acts seventeen, we know that the Bereans, they were considered more noble. Why? Because they searched the scriptures daily to prove the truth. To live newness of life, we must search the scriptures to prove the truths that we’ve been taught by God’s leader supported by his ministry. We approach the Scriptures as new creatures wanting to prove, seeking to prove again and again in reinforcing and renewing our minds the truths that we have been taught. Many fail because they do not approach it that way. So brethren, seeking God entails praying and looking at the scriptures to prove the truth.

Here’s another way that we can daily live our newness of life. First Corinthians fifteen. Those two are vital, but I know people in the world who pray and read their Bibles. I don’t know a ton, but I know some. But this next way, however, is a separator. First Corinthians fifteen, verse twenty-nine, jumping into the thought, “What shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?” In other words, why are we doing this? “And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?” Not just daily, every hour, Paul was standing in jeopardy. ‘“I protest by your rejoicing,” or I announce by your rejoicing, “...which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”

Brethren, living in newness of life requires dying daily. It’s almost the opposite, right? Illogical. For me to live newness of life every day, I need to die every day? That’s why it doesn’t make sense to the world. And why can he say this? Well, what did Christ say when he asked who do you say I am to the disciples? Just recall. Christ said you’re the Christ of God. And here’s what Christ’s reply was. We know it. He said to every one of them that was there listening. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross...” How often? Every other week? Just at the Passover? During the Holy Days? Lord Christ said, “...take up his cross daily and follow me.” And I’m absolutely confident that Paul was taught and understood these words of Christ. So, Brethren, I ask if dying every day was good enough for Paul, being in jeopardy if necessary every hour for the life that we’re living, isn’t it good enough for us?

And here’s one way that it applies, and we could apply this in many different ways. Think about it. We just gave an offering, two offerings we give during the Days of Unleavened Bread. We tithe off of what we earn. Well, each time we do that, brethren, each time that we give because we’re employed because God has given us employment, it is first and foremost to advance God’s work, not advance myself, not advance ourselves. We’re advancing God’s work. Did you ever think that each time you tithe and give offerings, pay common, your old self is dying? We’re actually putting it to death. That’s how we put the new man or the old man off.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying good things in life, but each time we give, we are letting our old self die more and more. Each time that we decide to treat a person with respect even though they may not deserve it, or every time we decide not to strike out in anger and we treat the individual with gentleness and goodness, each time we love our enemies rather than hate them, brethren, we’re putting our old man to death. We’re taking up our cross daily.

Romans chapter six. Romans chapter six and verse five, “For if we’ve been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead,” brethren, “...is freed from sin.” Verse eleven, breaking into the thought, “Reckon yourselves also to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Old man dead, new man alive. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you,” and it continues.

Brethren, the more years that I live in newness of life, the more I discover how much I dislike my old self. I don’t like him, and I’m sure a lot of you feel the same about your old selves. I’m sure some of you would agree with me that we prefer those old selves dead. I can speak for my old self. Why? Because my old self, as it indicates here, was and will always be a slave to sin. That’s what Paul was telling the Romans. Again, our new man was made in righteousness and true holiness. And when we live this newness of life, we’re capable of yielding, it says here, ourselves to God.

What better lifestyle, what better commitment could a person have than to live a life that is yielding to God, his laws, his commandments, his judgments, guided by his Spirit of truth. Newness of life in every way includes, brethren, praying daily, proving the truth through Bible study daily, carrying our crosses and dying daily, and yielding to God. It’s a lot, isn’t it? I said it wasn’t easy. That’s enough, right? Wait, Psalms sixty-one, just when you thought we had this under control, we’ve got it, we’re going to add something else to this newness of life. We wouldn’t want it any other way.

This is a powerful one. Sometimes don’t think about it much, but Psalms sixty-one and verse eight, great Biblical principle. “So will I sing praise to your name forever,” verse eight, “...that I may daily perform my vows.” Brethren walking and newness of life should also include remembering God’s promises, praying and praising him, that he gave us those promises, including this newness of life but the best way to show our appreciation for his newness of life, the one that he gave us, is to keep promises we make. That’s what newness of life requires, not just to God, but to each other and other people that we make promises to.

Matthew five, thirty-seven puts it this way, we don’t have to turn there for the sake of time. Christ instructs us, “Let our yes be yes and our no be no. Anything more than that comes from evil.” Simply saying what it says in the Psalms, newness of life means our yeses are yes, our nos are nos. When we make a commitment, we fulfill it. Of course, not commitments that break God’s laws. We don’t make those kinds of promises.

James five, twelve. It isn’t just Christ who said it, James in verse twelve, just write that down, repeats it a little differently. “Let your yes be yes and no, be no to not fall under condemnation.” If we want to avoid condemnation, if we want to avoid having to go before God and confessing that we have not kept our promises because he is a God that keeps his promises, then let our yes be yes and our no be no.

Brethren, I hope you’ll better understand what living in newness of life means and understand ways that we reflect it. We forget the past. We individually put on our new man because we can’t wear the old man and the new man at the same time, and we become in that process one new man, one body. We daily seek God through prayer, prove truth, carry our crosses to die, yield to God in our new man, and praise him for keeping his promises, and we also keep ours. Brethren, those are just snippets of what the newness of life means to God and what it should mean to us.

I told you it wasn’t easy, but as we look beyond the days of Unleavened Bread, beyond the time of self-examination, beyond the time that we took together at Passover, this is what we are commanded to do. God brought Israel out of Egypt to give them new lives. God brought us out of the world to give us new lives, to live newness in life. If we live this way, here’s what, brethren, we can expect. Because our God is a God that rewards for those who are faithful, committed to this way of life, not their own version of what they think God’s way of life is, to his way of life.

Lamentations chapter three. In verse twenty-one, “This I recall to my mind, therefore, have I hope. Because of the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” Verse twenty-three, “They are new every morning. Great is God’s faithfulness. Great is your faithfulness.”

Brethren, circling back to where we began, we miss the mark at times. We will miss the mark trying to live this newness of life in the ways, some of the ways in which I shared with you today. But God’s compassion and mercy are new every morning if you take hold of it. If you recognize your fault, confess it, commit to change and carry forward in your newness of life, taking off your old man every day when it’s necessary and putting on your new man. I thank God that his mercy is new for us each and every day. I need it. If Christ told Peter that we should forgive each other seventy times seven, what should we expect? If we confess, commit to change, what should we expect from God? Anything different?

Psalms sixty-eight tells us another benefit. Just write this down. Psalms sixty-eight and verse nineteen, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.” God loads our days with benefits. Brethren, newness of life means no matter the circumstances, our glasses, even though we may not see it and we suffer, our glasses are always full if we stay committed to living the newness of life the way God intended us to. It’s not a quarter full, it’s not half full, it’s not three quarters full. Our glasses are full because God says he loads our lives with benefits each and every day. We may not be able to see them all the time, but newness of life is an attitude that, yes, I’m going through this trial, but I’m going to stay committed.

Brethren, why would Paul, why would we dedicate our lives to this newness of life? And I’ve only shared snippets of it. Why would we do it in the midst of persecution and trials, attacks from every side, from all sides, every day? This is about new things. Revelation twenty-one. Yes, God daily gives us his mercy, compassions, and benefits, but if we stick to this newness of life, brethren, here’s what awaits us.

Revelation twenty-one, verse one, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” Brethren, the words of the preacher, King Solomon’s question will no longer apply, because we won’t have the old sun, we’ll have a new one. We won’t have the old earth, we’ll have a new one. This verse here, if you read verse five, “And he that sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And he said, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.’” Brethren, we can trust in the truthfulness and faithfulness of this promise. God will make all things new.

One final verse, Revelation fourteen, talking about new things. Verse one, “And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.” Verse three, “And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders, and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand which were redeemed from the earth.”

Brethren, I hesitate to claim that this is the most exciting new thing that awaits us, but it certainly is up there. It is a unique eternal reward reserved for those who live according to this wonderful newness of life that God has given you and me, by doing all the things and more than what we talked about today. And the reason I say I hesitate to claim that this is the most exciting new thing, why? Because it is also written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the hearts of men the things,” I would add new things, “...which God has prepared for them that love him.” Brethren, talk about the ultimate newness of life. What we learned today is just the beginning.