1997-01C

SERMON NOTES

TITLE: A NEW BEGINNING - A REBIRTH, A RESTORATION, A RENEWAL, AND A REFILLING.

TEXT: 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (NIV)

INTRODUCTION: In Christ, we can begin over in 4 areas which I wanted to mention to you; one is a rebirth, and another that you can be restored, which I have covered previously. This morning I want to tell you that we can be renewed; we can be refilled which I will cover later.

What does it mean to be renewed? Just how do we need to be renewed, and in what areas?

First, the dictionary says that to be renewed is be made new or as if new again; to give spiritual strength to; to cause to exist again, reestablish, revive; to replace with a fresh supply; to start over again. Renewing is done by replacing that which is worn or old. There are some synonyms, which mean about the same, but are still somewhat different in meaning. It is different from renovating, which means only to replace enough worn or old parts to put back into good condition. It means something different from restoring, which means to bring back to an original or unimpaired condition. It means something more than refresh, which implies a restoring of depleted strength and vigor, or rejuvenate, which means to restore to a youthful appearance. Yet each of these words contain something which is contained in the word "renew."

Now as pertains to human beings, they certainly need to me made new again. This is what we call being born again, or having a rebirth. But once something has been reborn, though it may have problems, it does not need to be reborn, but rather needs to be renewed, to be made as if it is new again. This is what happens over and over in our Christians when we fail or sin, and come to the Lord asking for forgiveness. He renews us, makes us as if we are new again. Though we need to have old or worn parts replaced, we really need more than a renovation. We do many times need to be restored, brought back to an original or unimpaired condition, and the Lord does that frequently for us. We do need to be refreshed, to have our depleted strength and vigor restored; we do need to be brought back to a place of youthful strength in the Lord. Yes, many times in our lives we will need to be renewed.

The good news is that we have a promises from God that this can happen in our lives.

PART III: In Christ, we can be renewed. (2 Cor 4:16)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (NIV)

Taken in context here, Paul has been talking to the church at Corinth about the difficulty they might have in serving God. He has talked to them of being hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; stuck down, but not destroyed. He has talked to them of being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that Christ's life might be revealed in our mortal bodies. In all this, Paul said he knows that the one who raised Jesus from the dead will also do that for us, and present us to God. Because of the working of God, they were reaching more and more people.

Now because of all these external pressures, Paul said that though he was wasting away outwardly, he did not lose heart, for he knew that inwardly, in the inner man, the part which counts, he was being renewed day by day. He knew that the light afflictions he was currently going through were gaining him an eternal glory that outweighed all them.

Now what are some of the areas in which we need to be renewed. Let us just consider the main three; those components which comprise the human being. We need to be renewed in our physical bodies, in our minds and in the spiritual man.

1. God renews us through healing our illnesses, sicknesses and diseases.

Psalm 103:1-5 says, "Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's." (NIV)

Here, we are told that God gives benefits to us. He forgives our sins; many times, when sins are confessed, forgiven, and abandoned, healing and renewing comes to the physical body as a natural consequence. But many times, God takes an active hand, and He does the healing. He heals and renews our physical bodies.

As a result, our lives are redeemed from the pit in which they were by our God of love and mercy. He even gives us the desires of our hearts when we seek Him totally, and these all combine to make it as if our youth has been restored or renewed.

Isaiah 40:31 tells us: "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. NIV)

Here, God again promises help with the physical renewing that we need. He promises renewed strength. Our strength and youth will be restored by our mighty God. Those who trust in Him fully, even with their lives, will receive His help. God's strength will revive them in the midst of exhaustion and weakness, suffering and trial. They will be given the ability to rise above their difficulties like an eagle soars in the sky; they will have the ability to run spiritually without tiring, and to walk steadily forward without fainting at God's delays. God promises that if His people will patiently trust Him, He will provide whatever is needed to sustain them.

Romans 12:2 tells us, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)

And Ephesians 4:23 instructs us "to be made new in the attitude of your minds; (NIV)

while Colossians 3:10 says: "and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (NIV)

1. God does not want our minds, which control our attitudes and actions, to be formed according to the pattern of this world. That would result in worldly attitudes and actions, in being like the world. We must realize that the present world system is evil, under Satan's rule.

2. God instead wants to renew our minds by the working of the Holy Spirit in us. He wants this so we will be able to determine the will of God for our lives. We must stand against the prevailing and popular forms of the spirit of this world, proclaiming instead the eternal truths and righteous standards of God's Word for Christ's sake.

3. God wants to renew our minds also by the knowledge we gain from the study of the Word of God. The Word has a renewing effect on the human mind. It brings the mind of the human into agreement with the mind of God. We must learn to despise what is evil, and love what is good; we must refuse to yield to various types of worldliness which surrounds the church, such as greed, selfishness, expediency, humanistic thinking, political maneuvering for power, envy, hatred, revenge, impurity, filthy language, ungodly entertainment, tempting and immodest dress, immorality, drugs, alcohol, and worldly companions.

Instead our minds must be conformed to God's pattern; to His way of thinking. This is done by reading and meditating on His Word. We must learn to have our plans and ambitions determined by heavenly and eternal truths rather than by this evil, temporal, transcient age.

Titus 3:4-7 says, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." (NIV)

David prayed for God to work in his life after his sin with Bathsheba, in Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (NIV)

Paul says that the thoughts of the advantage his soul would reap by the sufferings of his body kept him from fainting; and in 2 Corinthians 4;16 says "Though our outward man perish, our inward man is renewed day by day."

Now we all realize that the inward man, as opposed to the outward man, is the spiritual man rather than the physical man which we see when we look at someone. The spiritual man is renewed, is revived and receives a daily dose of the light and life of God. And as we receive these infusions of light and life, we become more holy, more happy, and more ready for the glory of heaven each day.

Adam Clark, in his commentary remarks: It was an opinion among the Jews that even spirits stood in need of continual renovation. They say that "God renews the angels daily, by putting them into the fiery river from which they proceeded, and then gives them the same name they had before? And they add, that in like manner he renews the hearts of the Israelites every year, when they turn to him by repentance. It is a good antidote against the fear of death to find, as the body grows old and decays, the soul grows young and is invigorated. By the outward man and the inward man Paul shows that he was no materialist: he believed that we have both a body and a soul; and so far was he from supposing that when the body dies the whole man is decomposed, and continues so to the resurrection, that he asserts that the decays of the one lead to the invigorating of the other and that the very decomposition of the body itself leaves the soul in the state of renewed youth. The vile doctrine of materialism is not apostolic.

Now this renewing of the spiritual man is not without effort on our part, nor is the renewing of the mind. Colossians 3:9-10 says this to us: "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (NIV)

But it also has the work of God. Lamentations 5:21 says, "Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old." (NIV)

Habakkuk 3:2 says, "LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. (NIV)

CONCLUSION: This morning, if you are unsaved, you can be reborn. If you have once known the Lord, and turned away from Him, you can be restored. If you are tired, weary, disappointed, or discouraged, you can be renewed in body, mind, and spirit.

What kind of renewing do you need for yourself this morning? Do you need the renewing of the physical man? Seek the Lord. He is able to heal, and to minister strength to the physical man.

Do you need the renewing of your mind? Are you suffering from mental stress or depression? The Lord has the answer to that also; He can and will restore your mind through the work of the Holy Spirit, and through His Holy Word. He is able to minister health and renewal to your mind.

Do you need the renewing of your spiritual man? In this area, God is the Master Craftsman. He can do here what no other power can do. He can make anew your spiritual man if that is necessary. He can restore the spiritual man, He can renew the spiritual man, bringing your spiritual part back again to the state in which it was created. God is the Master of spiritual renewal. Allow Him to renew you again today.

Osage Gospel Lighthouse, Linn, MO 1-26-97 am

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