WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.920 Verse 16. 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:08.640 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:15.000 Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:18.920 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:21.199 The old has passed away. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:23.480 Behold, the new has come. 00:00:24.420 --> 00:00:26.920 All this is from God. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.920 Well, as I'm sure you know, one of the central features of Paul's theology is the phrase in Christ. 00:00:39.460 --> 00:00:43.280 It occurs frequently throughout the writings of the apostle. 00:00:43.480 --> 00:00:46.340 You'll find it in his epistles in different contexts. 00:00:46.340 --> 00:01:02.220 And to be in Christ for Paul is very much a central feature of salvation, of both its formulation in Christ before we were born and of our experience of it as we come to Christ and come to know him. 00:01:02.219 --> 00:01:15.719 And it would be wrong for us to think that the phrase in Christ is a phrase that begins to be real for us, to be true about us when we come to put our faith in Christ. 00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:20.239 In Christ is something that begins back in eternity. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:25.079 You go to Ephesians, for example, chapter 1 and verse 4. 00:01:25.180 --> 00:01:38.599 This is how Paul gives thanks to God the Father who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. 00:01:38.599 --> 00:02:04.859 In other words, not only before we existed, human beings, but before the world existed, God's people, God's chosen people, God actually had his elect people placed in Christ so that he would actually come when he came to this world to die for them, to rise again from the dead for them, represent them as being in him. 00:02:04.859 --> 00:02:10.439 They are carried in him through all that he himself achieved for them. 00:02:11.139 --> 00:02:16.060 And you can see how Paul goes on to speak about that in Ephesians as well. 00:02:16.780 --> 00:02:20.240 Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 5 to 6. 00:02:20.979 --> 00:02:31.099 Again, you see he's saying there, he has raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:32.620 In Christ. 00:02:32.620 --> 00:02:35.360 In Christ being chosen in him. 00:02:35.640 --> 00:02:37.780 In Christ when he died on the cross. 00:02:38.200 --> 00:02:40.520 In Christ when he rose from the dead. 00:02:41.300 --> 00:02:54.379 God's own people that were chosen in him before the world began are in him as he comes into the world, are in him as he dies on the cross, are in him as he rises from the dead, are in him as he ascends up to heaven. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:03:00.480 You can see from that that that's a covenant connection, a covenant in Christ. 00:03:00.479 --> 00:03:11.879 We didn't actually exist ourselves as actual human beings living the life we now live, but we were found in him spiritually, federally, covenantally. 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:17.740 Even from eternity into his work for his people in this world. 00:03:18.620 --> 00:03:26.000 And then when you come to Ephesians 2 verse 10, Paul carries this forward into our actual experience of salvation. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:28.680 For we are his workmanship. 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:35.020 He's talking about being saved by the grace of God, not our own doing, but it is the gift of God. 00:03:35.640 --> 00:03:41.800 For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. 00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:50.920 In other words, he's talking now about God's creative work within his people, within us actually as human beings in this world. 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:58.319 He creates in us the life that we have by virtue of being rooted in Christ from all eternity. 00:03:59.159 --> 00:04:07.699 But we come to actually have life from him when God creatively works by his spirit to bring us to life. 00:04:08.739 --> 00:04:11.659 In other words, regeneratively, regeneration. 00:04:11.659 --> 00:04:21.019 You see, all of that as it follows through from eternity itself in Christ chosen into Christ's work in the world in him. 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:27.719 And in him as he rose from the dead and then created in him unto good works. 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:39.519 And that's how the apostle regards that string of facts and of wonderful truths that are the portion of his own believing people. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:46.579 And that really brings us to the text this evening, where he talks here about being in Christ, where he says, 00:04:46.899 --> 00:04:48.799 we regard no one according to the flesh. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:53.879 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:04:54.539 --> 00:04:55.799 And Paul likes to compare. 00:04:56.180 --> 00:04:57.979 You'll find it back in chapter four as well. 00:04:58.759 --> 00:05:04.799 He has to compare the actual creation of the world, of the universe by God. 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:12.400 He compares that to the work of creating us a new spiritually in Jesus Christ. 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:19.300 And chapter five here speaks of the experience of us coming to know Christ. 00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:30.060 We've come to know Christ, as we've seen there in chapter two, by God's workmanship taking place within us in a union with Christ. 00:05:30.060 --> 00:05:34.620 That's what it comes to as we experience what it is to know Christ. 00:05:35.620 --> 00:05:42.340 And that's why he now really says that because of all this, we who live might no longer live for ourselves, 00:05:42.340 --> 00:05:47.160 but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:50.319 In other words, he is saying that we don't exist for our own sake. 00:05:51.180 --> 00:05:53.800 Christians don't actually exist to please themselves. 00:05:53.800 --> 00:05:58.660 The end of their life, the purpose of their life is for his sake. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.319 It's to bring glory to him and to the Father. 00:06:02.540 --> 00:06:04.759 And he draws two conclusions from that. 00:06:05.540 --> 00:06:12.560 First is that we regard no one according to the flesh, even including Christ himself. 00:06:13.259 --> 00:06:15.540 We regard him thus no longer. 00:06:15.980 --> 00:06:17.120 That's the first conclusion. 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:19.080 See the word therefore there. 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:24.519 From now on, therefore, follows that we regard no one according to the flesh. 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:25.879 We'll need to look at what that means. 00:06:26.919 --> 00:06:28.959 And secondly, the second conclusion. 00:06:29.240 --> 00:06:33.539 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:06:34.099 --> 00:06:35.419 The old has passed away. 00:06:35.560 --> 00:06:38.219 Behold, the new has come. 00:06:39.819 --> 00:06:41.699 So that's the first thing he speaks of here. 00:06:41.899 --> 00:06:47.019 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. 00:06:47.019 --> 00:06:50.180 What is it to regard someone according to the flesh? 00:06:50.279 --> 00:06:52.939 What do these words according to the flesh means? 00:06:53.180 --> 00:06:59.680 Because he comes to apply them to how we regard Christ as well, or how we come to know Christ. 00:07:00.180 --> 00:07:03.399 Therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. 00:07:04.579 --> 00:07:11.019 Because of what's taken place in our regeneration, because of God's work within us, that we are his workmanship, 00:07:11.019 --> 00:07:15.079 it has changed our whole perspective on life. 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:24.159 To actually have something seen or regarded according to the flesh really means to assess something with an unregenerate mind. 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:29.039 To assess something in our unconverted lost condition. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:33.399 To assess, indeed, according to worldly standards. 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.740 We don't judge, he says, anymore by worldly standards. 00:07:37.740 --> 00:07:47.079 We don't take the standards or the ways of the world looking at things to be how we see through the prism that we see the world. 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:50.480 It's not the world's own standards, but it's Christ. 00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:54.860 It's from the perspective of being in Christ. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:57.680 It's not wealth. 00:07:58.319 --> 00:08:00.079 It's not social status. 00:08:00.780 --> 00:08:02.519 It's not gender issues. 00:08:02.519 --> 00:08:07.120 And indeed, you go to Romans 8 and you find very clearly that the apostle is saying, 00:08:07.479 --> 00:08:10.120 here is the mind of the flesh, the carnal mind. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:16.099 And it's indirect enmity to the mind of the spirit, to the regenerate mind. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:22.219 To the mind that knows Christ now in a way that's different to how we knew him before. 00:08:24.060 --> 00:08:27.740 That's the great distinction between the Christian and the world. 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:30.840 That's what makes up the essence of the difference. 00:08:31.620 --> 00:08:37.039 That we do not regard things according to the flesh the way we once actually did. 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:51.659 In other words, being in the flesh or seeing things according to the flesh is the way that our minds and our conclusions are governed by our unregenerate lost condition. 00:08:51.659 --> 00:08:59.939 How we treat people, the kind of language we use in conversation. 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:04.779 Whether we self-deny or not. 00:09:05.819 --> 00:09:11.980 All of these are issues and many other things that have to do with the mind and what kind of mind we've got. 00:09:12.039 --> 00:09:19.939 If we've got a carnal mind, the mind that we have before we are regenerated, before we are actually coming to know Christ for ourselves. 00:09:19.940 --> 00:09:23.280 Well, of course, that's the mind of the world. 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:25.220 The fleshly mind. 00:09:26.480 --> 00:09:28.740 But he says, from now on. 00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:31.660 From the point of coming to know him. 00:09:32.300 --> 00:09:35.160 From the point of being a new creation in Christ. 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:38.820 We know no one according to the flesh. 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:40.540 And he doesn't leave it there. 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:45.280 He goes on to say, even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh. 00:09:45.560 --> 00:09:47.700 We regard him thus no longer. 00:09:47.700 --> 00:09:52.680 He's even going as far as to say, this is how we once, and he includes himself in it. 00:09:52.700 --> 00:09:56.460 He's saying, we regarded Christ according to the flesh. 00:09:56.560 --> 00:10:00.640 Now, he doesn't mean by that physical sight of Jesus. 00:10:00.759 --> 00:10:06.140 We don't know if Jesus, if Paul ever saw Jesus physically or not. 00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:07.180 Perhaps he did. 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:07.700 Perhaps he didn't. 00:10:08.680 --> 00:10:10.740 Maybe he had opportunities to see him. 00:10:10.780 --> 00:10:11.960 But we're not told for sure. 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:17.460 There's nowhere that tells us one way or the other whether he saw Jesus physically or not. 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:19.700 But it doesn't matter because that's not what he's talking about. 00:10:20.379 --> 00:10:24.060 What he's talking about is a spiritual assessment. 00:10:24.440 --> 00:10:27.639 A spiritual sight and assessment of Jesus. 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:35.440 And the way Paul is writing to the Corinthians here, obviously, is not the way he once saw Christ. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:39.440 And you've only got to go back to Acts, for example. 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:42.760 He writes similarly many places. 00:10:42.860 --> 00:10:49.080 But let's just take how he speaks there, how Acts speaks of Saul as he was then Saul of Tarsus. 00:10:49.560 --> 00:10:59.180 Look at Acts chapter 8 and verse 1, where the execution of Stephen is spoken about in the previous chapter. 00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:03.919 Saul approved of his execution. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:10.379 And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:13.419 And then you can leap forward to chapter 9 and verse 1. 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:18.759 Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, 00:11:19.239 --> 00:11:24.139 went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, 00:11:24.139 --> 00:11:31.379 so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 00:11:33.699 --> 00:11:35.779 And then comes the great change. 00:11:36.319 --> 00:11:41.699 On his way, on this journey and on this mission that he was so zealous about, 00:11:42.539 --> 00:11:45.139 going to create more havoc for believers, 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:48.480 Jesus met him. 00:11:49.259 --> 00:11:51.799 As he went on his way, a light from heaven flashed. 00:11:51.799 --> 00:11:54.599 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying, 00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:57.079 Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:11:57.199 --> 00:11:59.000 And he said, who are you, Lord? 00:11:59.579 --> 00:12:05.339 And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 00:12:06.859 --> 00:12:11.519 You see, the Lord instantly put his finger on the problem with Saul. 00:12:12.319 --> 00:12:14.459 He was looking at things according to the flesh. 00:12:14.939 --> 00:12:18.539 He was hearing about this Jesus, even if he had never seen him. 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:20.519 But what he heard about him, he didn't like. 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:22.399 He didn't like these followers of Jesus. 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:23.720 He thought he was an imposter. 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:32.620 He thought it was a threat to real religion, as it was then with the Jewish people. 00:12:33.139 --> 00:12:36.879 And he was concerned that others would not follow in this way. 00:12:38.019 --> 00:12:43.659 Until Jesus said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 00:12:43.659 --> 00:12:49.539 And he later came to describe this when he was speaking to Agrippa. 00:12:49.699 --> 00:12:53.939 Remember, near the end of Acts there in chapter 26. 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:59.839 He came to 26 and at verse 12, when he was there speaking with Agrippa. 00:12:59.939 --> 00:13:02.539 Agrippa had him there to interview him. 00:13:03.059 --> 00:13:04.459 This is what he said to Agrippa. 00:13:04.460 --> 00:13:13.639 In the course of his talk with Agrippa, he said to him, the king knows about these things. 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:20.379 To him I speak boldly, for I am persuaded that none of these things has been done in a corner. 00:13:20.379 --> 00:13:30.100 And he had been speaking there about how he had once persecuted the church, same as he did previously in his defense otherwise as well. 00:13:30.659 --> 00:13:33.899 And in all of that, you can see Paul's reflection. 00:13:34.120 --> 00:13:36.539 And there is Luke's account of it in the book of Acts. 00:13:36.539 --> 00:13:41.559 He once saw Jesus according to the flesh. 00:13:42.299 --> 00:13:43.539 He hated him. 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:46.799 He thought he was an imposter. 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:54.860 It would be better for the world, certainly for the Jewish people to be rid of him. 00:13:56.500 --> 00:14:05.559 But now he says, even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 00:14:06.539 --> 00:14:18.779 In other words, what Paul is now saying is, to know Christ according to the flesh is really equal to not knowing him at all. 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:22.879 Or knowing him only knowing certain facts about him. 00:14:23.059 --> 00:14:24.379 But not knowing him personally. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:27.319 Not knowing him in a personal relationship with him. 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:29.259 Not knowing him by trusting in him. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:34.259 Not knowing him in such a way as to love him and depend upon him and serve him and worship him. 00:14:34.259 --> 00:14:37.600 That's where he is now, though, as he writes this to the Corinthians. 00:14:38.139 --> 00:14:43.860 From now on, therefore, we regard Christ thus no longer, even though we once did. 00:14:44.919 --> 00:14:49.460 And you can apply that in some measure, as I can, to our own experience. 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:53.500 We may never have been persecutors of the church. 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:58.039 We may have had a very civil relation to the gospel, in fact. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:00.279 Maybe even an appreciation of it. 00:15:00.279 --> 00:15:07.899 But you know in your heart of hearts, you tonight who are a Christian, you who are following Christ, you whose life has been changed by him. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:13.159 You know that there's a radical difference between how you then saw him and how you now saw him. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:17.100 Or how you saw him before your conversion, even if you had a measure of respect for him. 00:15:17.819 --> 00:15:20.659 And how you came to see him after he changed your life. 00:15:21.379 --> 00:15:24.220 You once saw him according to the flesh. 00:15:24.220 --> 00:15:35.420 But from that moment that your life changed, even if it was a gradual change, very unlike in many ways what happened to Saul of Tarsus. 00:15:35.680 --> 00:15:38.240 Nevertheless, the change is real and it's radical. 00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:47.420 It's a change from looking at life, looking at the world, looking at yourself, looking at Jesus, looking at the gospel, looking at the church according to the flesh. 00:15:47.419 --> 00:15:50.399 And looking at the church and looking at the church and looking at it very differently. 00:15:51.599 --> 00:15:57.479 Looking at it from the perspective of being in Christ, not outside of him. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:01.620 And isn't that what persuades you? 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:07.259 That going to remember him in the Lord's Supper is the least you can do. 00:16:07.259 --> 00:16:14.240 To express your thanks for that change that you know he has brought into your life. 00:16:15.299 --> 00:16:20.059 A change that perhaps none of us can adequately describe to others. 00:16:20.059 --> 00:16:26.860 And this is one of the things that I'm sure bothers some people that have a thought of going to the Lord's table. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:29.539 And know they need to meet with the elders, with the Kirk session. 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:34.519 And have questions about that, that they perhaps don't feel adequate to do that. 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:39.019 How are you going to explain this what's in your heart now to the elders? 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:42.100 Perhaps you won't be able to do it adequately at all. 00:16:42.319 --> 00:16:43.480 Maybe you won't get the words. 00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:45.000 Maybe you'll stumble through it. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:47.279 Be persuaded of this. 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:55.639 The Kirk session knows if a person has changed or not. 00:16:55.639 --> 00:17:11.339 And whatever hesitation you might have tonight in coming to the Kirk session in order to make it known that you are now in Christ and not looking at things according to the flesh. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:14.420 Let the Lord take care of that. 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:22.860 The change in your life is obvious, not just in terms of how able or not you are to speak about it. 00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:26.560 But in the way that your life is now lived. 00:17:26.940 --> 00:17:29.000 And it's not lived according to the flesh. 00:17:29.800 --> 00:17:34.460 But according to the pleasing of God and to the pleasing of Christ. 00:17:34.580 --> 00:17:35.880 That's the burden of your life. 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:46.880 So that you no longer live for yourself, as verse 15 puts it, but for him who for your sake died and was raised. 00:17:47.620 --> 00:17:51.340 We regard no one according to the flesh. 00:17:51.480 --> 00:17:53.920 Our confidence, friends, is not in ourselves. 00:17:53.920 --> 00:18:03.240 And the more we go on in the Christian life, the more we can assuredly say that our confidence is less in ourselves now than it ever was. 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:14.500 Because the more you learn of yourself and the more you learn of Jesus, the more you come to be persuaded that you must live in dependence upon him. 00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:17.800 In dependence and reliance upon what he has done for you. 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:21.259 In dependence on his spirit that he has placed within you. 00:18:21.259 --> 00:18:27.460 And that in order to live to his pleasing, you live by his power. 00:18:28.859 --> 00:18:33.539 We know no one any longer according to the flesh. 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:39.879 And secondly, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:41.720 The old has passed away. 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:43.980 Behold, a new has come. 00:18:45.180 --> 00:18:50.259 Now, there's a really interesting and significant emphasis in Paul as well. 00:18:50.259 --> 00:18:51.500 Not just in Paul. 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:52.579 You find it elsewhere too. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:54.420 The new creation. 00:18:55.299 --> 00:18:56.920 It's right back into the Old Testament. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:01.619 Remember Isaiah 65 and verse 16. 00:19:02.180 --> 00:19:03.019 Just read that. 00:19:03.859 --> 00:19:05.500 You'll be aware of it, I'm sure, yourselves. 00:19:06.059 --> 00:19:08.700 Where he talks about a new heavens and a new earth. 00:19:09.339 --> 00:19:16.799 Where Isaiah, in chapter 65 and verse 17, in his prophecy, prophesied as follows. 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:19.879 Where God, through Isaiah, was saying, 00:19:19.879 --> 00:19:24.759 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. 00:19:25.159 --> 00:19:29.419 And the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. 00:19:29.899 --> 00:19:33.919 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:39.440 For behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy and our people to be a gladness. 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:43.919 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:46.259 There is God saying, here is the future. 00:19:47.019 --> 00:19:48.779 Things are bleak in the days of Isaiah. 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:55.840 And this is carrying Isaiah's mind and through Isaiah the mind of the people forward into the future. 00:19:56.920 --> 00:19:59.600 And I create, he says, a new heavens and a new earth. 00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:10.019 Now, that's not going to be actually completed until the whole creation has been brought once again to be the new heavens and the new earth. 00:20:10.019 --> 00:20:16.119 And, of course, that's what you find in 2 Peter, chapter 3, and at verse 13. 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:24.920 Where the creation will be restored to a pristine condition in Christ or through what Christ has done. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:29.539 And the interesting thing is that each regenerate individual. 00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:30.460 You see what he's saying here? 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:34.200 Everyone, anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. 00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:38.819 If you think of that, the whole of the creation restored and renewed. 00:20:40.299 --> 00:20:42.140 Sin is no longer a part of it. 00:20:42.220 --> 00:20:44.680 There is no pain, no suffering, no darkness. 00:20:44.980 --> 00:20:45.740 None of those things. 00:20:45.819 --> 00:20:46.860 These things are all gone. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:50.440 They're all vanished at the end of the age. 00:20:50.440 --> 00:21:05.900 But every individual believer, meantime, is a microcosm or a miniature of that whole creation that's going to be finally renewed and restored. 00:21:06.620 --> 00:21:11.600 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:21:11.600 --> 00:21:19.400 He's part of that overall redemption that issues in a new creation by the power of God in Christ. 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:33.019 And he says here, if anyone is, every individual who has come to know the power of Christ, who has come to be brought to know Jesus as their Savior, they are a new creation. 00:21:33.940 --> 00:21:38.259 They are a reflection of the new heavens and the new earth, of the created order. 00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:40.740 They themselves are a miniature of it. 00:21:41.800 --> 00:21:43.660 Tonight, in Christ, you are such. 00:21:43.660 --> 00:21:57.400 You are a small fragment, but important fragment, of this overall new creation that God is bringing about and will accomplish finally and bring to its completion. 00:21:58.180 --> 00:21:59.080 You see what he's saying here? 00:21:59.140 --> 00:22:02.740 The old has passed away. 00:22:02.840 --> 00:22:05.560 Behold, the new has come. 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:08.400 The old has passed away. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:12.640 What we actually wear prior to our regeneration. 00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:16.980 The flesh, sin, lostness. 00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:20.180 All of that is now gone. 00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:23.759 Yes, you know there's still sin in your life. 00:22:24.180 --> 00:22:27.400 You need to come for washing daily to the Lord. 00:22:28.120 --> 00:22:30.740 But you are nevertheless in Christ. 00:22:31.180 --> 00:22:33.420 The old has been done away with. 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:34.580 You're not what you wear. 00:22:34.579 --> 00:22:50.319 Isn't that what John Newton was saying in these verses shortly before he died, where he was thinking about the fact that he was not what he should have been, what he was, was not what he would want to be. 00:22:50.859 --> 00:22:52.799 I am not what I should be. 00:22:53.139 --> 00:22:55.619 I'm not what I would like to be, what I would want to be. 00:22:55.619 --> 00:22:58.720 But I thank God I am not what I was. 00:22:59.319 --> 00:23:02.319 By the grace of God, I am what I am. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.539 See, that's the great thing. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:06.939 I'm not what I was. 00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:12.279 I don't belong to the old world of sin and lostness. 00:23:12.339 --> 00:23:14.200 I belong to the new creation. 00:23:14.460 --> 00:23:15.700 I am a new creation. 00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:22.599 And you see, this word behold is such an important word in the context. 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:25.459 Behold, the new has come. 00:23:25.699 --> 00:23:26.980 The old has passed away. 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:35.500 Because that word behold is the means by which Paul exclaims his sense of wonder and of joy. 00:23:36.359 --> 00:23:41.679 You have to dwell on that word behold because it carries its own emphasis and its own meaning. 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:46.160 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:47.580 The old has passed away. 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:51.400 Behold, wonder story, amazing. 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:53.440 The new has come. 00:23:53.960 --> 00:23:57.160 And be better translated, all things have become new. 00:23:58.340 --> 00:24:00.100 All things were once old to me. 00:24:01.080 --> 00:24:02.980 I saw everything according to the flesh. 00:24:02.980 --> 00:24:06.299 I saw nothing there really worthwhile. 00:24:07.579 --> 00:24:10.240 Nothing really there to attract me. 00:24:11.339 --> 00:24:13.039 But then the change came. 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:16.559 And now old things have passed away. 00:24:17.339 --> 00:24:19.279 All things have become new. 00:24:20.539 --> 00:24:26.579 And you come to the Lord's Supper to express your sense of wonder and your sense of praise. 00:24:26.579 --> 00:24:32.699 That you form part of this great movement of redemption in Christ. 00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:37.319 He's given you so much that is new. 00:24:37.919 --> 00:24:39.960 And the tenses that he uses here are important. 00:24:40.659 --> 00:24:42.779 The old has passed away. 00:24:42.859 --> 00:24:44.059 The old passed away. 00:24:44.539 --> 00:24:47.319 The tense he uses there is something that's done and that's it. 00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:49.119 And then he goes on. 00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:52.819 All things have been made new. 00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:54.299 Or have become new. 00:24:54.299 --> 00:25:00.099 And that's the kind of tense that in the New Testament means something happened. 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:01.879 But it continues in being. 00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:03.240 And will carry on. 00:25:04.279 --> 00:25:05.980 The old has gone. 00:25:06.659 --> 00:25:09.279 The new, all things have become new. 00:25:09.559 --> 00:25:10.819 And that's how they remain. 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:12.799 What has he given you? 00:25:12.980 --> 00:25:14.980 He's given you a new heart. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:18.139 He's given you a new song. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:19.519 Like the words of the psalmist. 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.319 He put a new song in my mouth. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:24.039 Our God to magnify. 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:25.079 Why is it new? 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:27.139 Because it belongs to the new creation. 00:25:28.059 --> 00:25:29.659 It belongs to that new order. 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:31.319 To that new relationship with God. 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:32.259 And with Christ. 00:25:32.659 --> 00:25:33.799 With the Father through him. 00:25:35.180 --> 00:25:36.700 He's given you a new family. 00:25:38.059 --> 00:25:38.940 Here is your family. 00:25:39.659 --> 00:25:41.159 That doesn't mean you neglect, of course. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:43.779 None of us neglect our natural family. 00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:49.200 But nevertheless, we are adopted into the family of God. 00:25:49.420 --> 00:25:52.980 And we come to share with God's redeemed people. 00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:54.539 All the things that belong to us. 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:56.059 As a spiritual family. 00:25:56.420 --> 00:25:57.319 A new heart. 00:25:57.879 --> 00:25:58.839 New knowledge of him. 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:00.779 A new song in your mouth. 00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:01.379 In your heart. 00:26:01.779 --> 00:26:02.639 A new family. 00:26:03.019 --> 00:26:04.240 And he's given you a new home. 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:07.099 Your home. 00:26:07.099 --> 00:26:09.899 Before you came to know him. 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:13.399 As you saw all things according to the flesh. 00:26:14.899 --> 00:26:16.399 Your home was in death. 00:26:17.399 --> 00:26:18.459 In the grave. 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:20.719 In the lost eternity. 00:26:21.879 --> 00:26:23.819 You were the children like the children of wrath. 00:26:23.879 --> 00:26:24.439 As he puts it. 00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:26.179 As others were. 00:26:26.180 --> 00:26:28.299 Now. 00:26:29.340 --> 00:26:31.980 All things have been made new. 00:26:32.900 --> 00:26:34.320 And you've come to enjoy. 00:26:34.840 --> 00:26:36.440 Belonging to a new home. 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.460 That's awaiting you in heaven. 00:26:39.420 --> 00:26:40.320 As Peter put it. 00:26:40.600 --> 00:26:43.220 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:26:44.180 --> 00:26:45.060 Why is he blessed? 00:26:45.160 --> 00:26:46.160 Why is he praising him? 00:26:46.680 --> 00:26:48.400 Who according to his abundant mercy. 00:26:48.980 --> 00:26:51.500 Has begotten us again to a living hope. 00:26:51.500 --> 00:26:54.140 By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 00:26:54.140 --> 00:26:56.920 To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. 00:26:57.440 --> 00:26:59.600 And unfading that's kept in heaven for you. 00:26:59.800 --> 00:27:01.320 Who are kept by the power of God. 00:27:01.640 --> 00:27:03.160 Through faith unto salvation. 00:27:03.460 --> 00:27:05.200 Ready to be revealed in the last time. 00:27:08.360 --> 00:27:10.740 That's what's properly yours in Christ. 00:27:11.540 --> 00:27:12.480 That new home. 00:27:13.100 --> 00:27:14.240 That new home in heaven. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:16.880 That lasting wonderful inheritance. 00:27:17.600 --> 00:27:18.340 No wonder he's saying. 00:27:18.980 --> 00:27:19.500 Behold. 00:27:20.340 --> 00:27:22.300 All things have been made new. 00:27:22.299 --> 00:27:25.559 Everything about you as a Christian is new. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:28.200 Even though you still await perfection. 00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:32.940 And won't have it until you finally appear with Christ in glory. 00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:35.180 So in Christ. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:37.259 He's saying if anyone is in him. 00:27:37.319 --> 00:27:39.599 He is a new creation. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:42.339 You no longer look at things. 00:27:42.839 --> 00:27:44.099 According to the flesh. 00:27:44.919 --> 00:27:46.019 You look at things. 00:27:46.279 --> 00:27:47.599 From the point of view of. 00:27:48.099 --> 00:27:48.740 A new creation. 00:27:48.879 --> 00:27:49.500 I often wonder. 00:27:49.899 --> 00:27:51.259 Though it's not recorded for us. 00:27:51.259 --> 00:27:53.579 What was Noah's. 00:27:54.359 --> 00:27:54.799 Reaction. 00:27:55.680 --> 00:27:57.400 When he stepped out of the ark. 00:27:57.460 --> 00:27:58.420 When the flood was over. 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:01.359 He knew what the world was like. 00:28:01.420 --> 00:28:02.660 Before he went into the ark. 00:28:03.579 --> 00:28:04.660 It was corrupt. 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:07.279 All flesh had corrupted itself on the earth. 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:09.059 So the Bible describes it. 00:28:10.140 --> 00:28:11.180 But then God. 00:28:11.859 --> 00:28:13.980 In his destructive power. 00:28:13.980 --> 00:28:14.619 And judgment. 00:28:14.619 --> 00:28:16.839 Swept the earth clean. 00:28:16.939 --> 00:28:17.419 As it were. 00:28:18.939 --> 00:28:19.799 And the world. 00:28:20.239 --> 00:28:21.119 While it was still. 00:28:21.239 --> 00:28:21.559 Of course. 00:28:21.779 --> 00:28:22.419 In many ways. 00:28:22.479 --> 00:28:23.779 The same physical world. 00:28:24.639 --> 00:28:25.000 Nevertheless. 00:28:25.619 --> 00:28:27.099 When Noah came out of the ark. 00:28:27.639 --> 00:28:28.399 In many ways. 00:28:28.439 --> 00:28:29.659 It was a very different world. 00:28:29.659 --> 00:28:29.719 In many ways. 00:28:29.719 --> 00:28:29.739 In many ways. 00:28:29.740 --> 00:28:32.920 He was coming to a new chapter. 00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:33.839 In his own life. 00:28:34.359 --> 00:28:35.640 It was in many ways. 00:28:35.940 --> 00:28:36.900 A new heavens. 00:28:36.900 --> 00:28:37.700 And a new earth. 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:37.980 Although. 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:39.000 Not of course. 00:28:39.039 --> 00:28:40.019 In the spiritual sense. 00:28:40.099 --> 00:28:40.920 We've been thinking of it. 00:28:40.980 --> 00:28:41.099 But. 00:28:41.720 --> 00:28:42.900 It perhaps gives you. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:44.160 Something of an idea. 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:44.839 As to why. 00:28:45.099 --> 00:28:46.099 The apostle is really. 00:28:46.279 --> 00:28:46.599 Saying. 00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:47.279 Behold. 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:48.680 All things have been made new. 00:28:49.160 --> 00:28:49.519 That you. 00:28:49.579 --> 00:28:50.079 You could say. 00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:50.879 That that was really. 00:28:51.879 --> 00:28:52.399 Noah's. 00:28:52.859 --> 00:28:53.420 Perspective. 00:28:53.660 --> 00:28:54.200 On the world. 00:28:54.279 --> 00:28:55.079 He was coming into. 00:28:55.200 --> 00:28:55.500 Now. 00:28:56.059 --> 00:28:56.539 That God. 00:28:56.619 --> 00:28:58.079 Had actually cleansed it. 00:28:59.059 --> 00:28:59.799 All things. 00:28:59.799 --> 00:29:00.680 Had been made new. 00:29:01.399 --> 00:29:02.200 The old world. 00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:02.920 Had disappeared. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:05.200 Even though. 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:05.799 It wasn't. 00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:07.440 A perfect world. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:07.960 As it soon. 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:08.619 Showed itself. 00:29:09.539 --> 00:29:09.980 Even. 00:29:10.420 --> 00:29:10.720 Shortly. 00:29:10.839 --> 00:29:11.519 After that. 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:13.899 But all things. 00:29:14.379 --> 00:29:15.519 Have been made new. 00:29:15.619 --> 00:29:16.619 So how does that relate? 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:18.319 To the Lord's Supper. 00:29:18.460 --> 00:29:18.660 Then. 00:29:19.660 --> 00:29:20.559 Let me just conclude. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:21.599 With that. 00:29:21.700 --> 00:29:21.859 Well. 00:29:22.779 --> 00:29:24.200 Being a new creation. 00:29:25.259 --> 00:29:26.220 Is something. 00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:28.139 That involves. 00:29:28.319 --> 00:29:28.940 Being within. 00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:30.839 The new covenant. 00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:31.559 Provisions. 00:29:32.019 --> 00:29:33.399 That God has made. 00:29:33.720 --> 00:29:34.399 With his people. 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:34.940 Remember. 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:35.879 Back in Jeremiah. 00:29:36.519 --> 00:29:37.519 Jeremiah 31. 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:38.160 It's an easy. 00:29:38.500 --> 00:29:39.259 Verse to remember. 00:29:39.420 --> 00:29:40.879 Jeremiah chapter 31. 00:29:41.420 --> 00:29:42.399 And verse 31. 00:29:43.019 --> 00:29:43.480 Where. 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:44.700 The apostle. 00:29:45.019 --> 00:29:45.799 Where the prophet. 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:46.099 There. 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:46.920 Looking ahead. 00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:47.380 To the future. 00:29:47.480 --> 00:29:47.759 Behold. 00:29:47.800 --> 00:29:48.220 The days. 00:29:48.220 --> 00:29:48.740 Are coming. 00:29:49.080 --> 00:29:49.980 Declares the Lord. 00:29:50.300 --> 00:29:51.039 When I will make. 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:52.140 A new covenant. 00:29:52.140 --> 00:29:53.279 With the house of Israel. 00:29:53.700 --> 00:29:54.800 And the house of Judah. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:55.860 Not like the covenant. 00:29:55.860 --> 00:29:56.400 That I made. 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:57.180 With their fathers. 00:29:57.700 --> 00:29:58.539 On the day. 00:29:58.620 --> 00:29:59.240 When I took them. 00:29:59.300 --> 00:29:59.940 By the hand. 00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:01.160 To bring them out. 00:30:01.180 --> 00:30:02.000 Of the land of Egypt. 00:30:02.160 --> 00:30:02.759 My covenant. 00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:03.580 That they broke. 00:30:04.340 --> 00:30:05.259 This is the covenant. 00:30:05.600 --> 00:30:06.500 That I will make. 00:30:06.539 --> 00:30:07.400 With the house of Israel. 00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:08.660 After those days. 00:30:09.060 --> 00:30:10.660 I will put my law. 00:30:10.700 --> 00:30:11.220 Within them. 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:12.560 I will write it. 00:30:12.560 --> 00:30:13.259 On their hearts. 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:15.120 I will be their God. 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:16.839 And they shall be my people. 00:30:17.500 --> 00:30:18.699 And no longer shall each one. 00:30:18.779 --> 00:30:19.539 Teach his neighbor. 00:30:19.919 --> 00:30:20.739 And teach his brother. 00:30:20.859 --> 00:30:21.879 Saying know the Lord. 00:30:22.419 --> 00:30:24.199 For they shall all know me. 00:30:24.899 --> 00:30:26.219 From the least of them. 00:30:26.500 --> 00:30:27.339 To the great. 00:30:27.419 --> 00:30:28.219 To the greatest. 00:30:29.059 --> 00:30:29.919 Declares the Lord. 00:30:29.959 --> 00:30:31.879 And I will remember their sin. 00:30:32.839 --> 00:30:33.419 No more. 00:30:33.500 --> 00:30:34.539 That's the new covenant. 00:30:34.719 --> 00:30:35.500 And how did Jesus. 00:30:35.899 --> 00:30:37.339 How did Jesus set. 00:30:37.339 --> 00:30:38.939 Or institute the Lord's Supper. 00:30:41.039 --> 00:30:42.539 Well one of the things he said. 00:30:42.639 --> 00:30:43.359 Was when he took. 00:30:43.919 --> 00:30:44.500 The cup. 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:45.299 He said this cup. 00:30:45.419 --> 00:30:46.359 Is the new. 00:30:46.819 --> 00:30:47.299 Covenant. 00:30:47.779 --> 00:30:48.819 In my blood. 00:30:49.819 --> 00:30:51.179 And Paul picks that up. 00:30:51.259 --> 00:30:52.699 In 1 Corinthians 11. 00:30:52.919 --> 00:30:54.359 The warrant we usually read. 00:30:54.480 --> 00:30:55.980 For when we come to. 00:30:56.299 --> 00:30:57.459 Observe the Lord's Supper. 00:30:57.539 --> 00:30:58.019 As we do. 00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:00.299 That he. 00:31:00.959 --> 00:31:02.439 The very things that Jesus. 00:31:02.659 --> 00:31:03.579 Had passed on to him. 00:31:04.019 --> 00:31:04.779 Is what he had taught. 00:31:04.879 --> 00:31:05.319 The Corinthians. 00:31:05.319 --> 00:31:07.740 Now that he. 00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:09.220 Regarded this cup. 00:31:10.419 --> 00:31:11.619 This cup of wine. 00:31:11.779 --> 00:31:13.399 As emblematic. 00:31:14.299 --> 00:31:15.539 In a covenantal way. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:17.460 Of the blood of Christ. 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:19.799 This is. 00:31:20.519 --> 00:31:21.339 The new covenant. 00:31:21.639 --> 00:31:23.599 In my blood. 00:31:24.919 --> 00:31:25.839 You see you belong. 00:31:26.259 --> 00:31:27.720 To the new creation. 00:31:28.599 --> 00:31:30.039 So you belong to the. 00:31:30.439 --> 00:31:32.139 Circumstances of the new covenant. 00:31:32.460 --> 00:31:34.399 To the relationship of the new covenant. 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:36.080 That you have with God. 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:37.280 In Christ. 00:31:38.180 --> 00:31:38.820 And the. 00:31:39.460 --> 00:31:40.300 Lord's Supper. 00:31:40.800 --> 00:31:41.380 Is the. 00:31:41.500 --> 00:31:43.140 The covenantal meal. 00:31:44.019 --> 00:31:45.200 Of the new creation. 00:31:45.940 --> 00:31:47.480 And it will remain like that. 00:31:47.940 --> 00:31:49.040 Until it's replaced. 00:31:49.740 --> 00:31:50.940 By the marriage. 00:31:51.420 --> 00:31:51.780 Supper. 00:31:51.980 --> 00:31:52.759 Of the lamb. 00:31:53.340 --> 00:31:54.900 You have it in Revelation 17. 00:31:55.540 --> 00:31:57.000 Verses 7 to 9. 00:31:58.500 --> 00:31:59.720 And who is it for? 00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:03.360 Who is the Lord's Supper for? 00:32:04.740 --> 00:32:06.640 It's not for an elite. 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:09.420 It's not for a small. 00:32:10.140 --> 00:32:12.279 Group of superior people. 00:32:13.799 --> 00:32:15.039 It is for. 00:32:15.600 --> 00:32:16.200 Anyone. 00:32:16.740 --> 00:32:17.940 For everyone. 00:32:18.940 --> 00:32:20.500 Who is a new creation. 00:32:20.500 --> 00:32:23.640 It's for everyone. 00:32:23.640 --> 00:32:24.740 Who knows the Lord. 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:26.980 No longer after the flesh. 00:32:28.359 --> 00:32:29.279 For everyone. 00:32:29.420 --> 00:32:30.539 Who is in Christ. 00:32:31.519 --> 00:32:32.519 A new creation. 00:32:33.660 --> 00:32:34.140 Do this. 00:32:34.220 --> 00:32:34.640 He said. 00:32:35.579 --> 00:32:36.279 In remembrance. 00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:38.000 Of me. 00:32:38.660 --> 00:32:39.259 May God bless. 00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:40.799 These thoughts on his word. 00:32:40.940 --> 00:32:41.400 To us. 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:42.779 We're going to conclude. 00:32:42.900 --> 00:32:43.380 Now this evening. 00:32:43.480 --> 00:32:44.660 Singing in Psalm 32. 00:32:46.660 --> 00:32:47.339 Psalm 32. 00:32:47.339 --> 00:33:03.039 Who is a new creation. 00:33:03.039 --> 00:33:05.500 What is the creator? 00:33:07.679 --> 00:33:08.679 Who is a new creation. 00:33:08.980 --> 00:33:09.980 The spiritual creation. 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:11.019 God bless. 00:33:11.259 --> 00:33:12.639 In the beginning. 00:33:12.899 --> 00:33:13.879 I want toyori. 00:33:14.159 --> 00:33:14.619 ы