OceanSide church of Christ
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WHAT WE’VE BECOME
SERIES
A New Creature in
Christ
Victor M.
Eskew
INTRODUCTION
A.
To become a child of God,
one must experience the new birth (John 3:3-5).
Jesus answered
and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his
mother’s womb and be born? Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
B.
After baptism, one is a “new
creature” in Christ (II Cor. 5:17).
Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.
C.
This new creature has the
obligation of walking in newness of life (
Know ye not,
that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his
death? Therefore we are buried with
him by baptism into death: that
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so
we also should walk in newness of life.
D.
The progression was
simple: new birth, new creature,
and newness of life. However, as a
new creation in Christ, what is expected of me?
I.
GROWTH
A.
The new creature begins as a
babe in Christ. To be all that God
wants us to be, we must grow (II Peter 3:18).
But grow in
grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever.
Amen.
B.
This growth happens in time,
but it will not happen by accident.
It is as intentional as the growth of a newborn
infant.
1.
It begins with proper
feeding (I Peter 2:2).
As newborn
babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow
thereby.
a.
Many children of God have a nutrition problem: 1)
Their eating habits are sporadic;
2)
They nibble only on the things they like; 3)
They refuse to eat their meat and potatoes.
b.
As a new creature, we must learn “how” to study. Then, we must study well and study
often.
2.
Growth is also facilitated by exercise (I Tim.
4:7).
But refuse
profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto
godliness.
a.
Exercise involves the application of things learned (James
1:22).
But be ye doers
of the word, and not hearers only deceiving your own
selves.
b.
A
person could watch golf all day long, but he will never compete with Tiger Woods
until he takes his clubs to the course and exercises his knowledge of the
game.
C.
The greats of the Bible
grew.
1.
Abraham: idolatry to man of faith to friend of
God.
2.
Moses: shepherd to law-giver to leader of a
nation.
3.
David: shepherd to warrior to
king.
4.
Esther: orphan to queen to savior of her
people.
5.
Peter, James and John: fishermen to apostles to fishers of
men.
6.
Paul: rabbi to apostle to
persecuted.
II. PUT OFF THE OLD
MAN
A.
When we become Christians,
the old man of sin is put to death (
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.
B.
That old man and his sinful
ways tries, at times, to resurrect himself in our lives. We, therefore, have to “put off’ that
old men (Eph. 4:22).
That ye put off
concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts.
1.
“Wherefore putting away
lying” (Eph. 4:25).
2.
“Be ye angry, and sin not”
(Eph. 4:26).
3.
“Let him that stole steal no
more” (Eph. 4:28).
4.
“Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth” (Eph. 4:29).
5.
“Let all bitterness, and
wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all
malice” (Eph. 4:31).
C.
There are many children of
God who want to hold on to some of their old, sinful ways.
1.
A
beer, a few curse words, a night out with the boys, my gossip circle, skimpy
attire, etc.
2.
God wants a “new creature,”
not the old man of sin with a shave and a hair cut.
3.
Romans
13:13-14.
Let us walk
honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and
wantonness, not in strife and envying.
But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the
flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.
III. PUT ON THE NEW
MAN
A.
Having removed the old man,
we are to put on the new man (Eph. 4:24).
And that ye put
on the new man, which is after God created in righteousness and true
holiness.
1.
“Speak every man truth with
his neighbor” (Eph. 4:25).
2.
“Neither give place to the
devil”(Eph. 4:27).
3.
“But rather let him labor”
(Eph. 4:28).
4.
“But that which is good to
the use of edifying” (Eph. 4:29).
5.
“And be ye kind one to
another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ sake hath
forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).
B.
The key to putting off the
old man (Eph. 4:22) and putting on the new man (Eph. 4:24) is found in Ephesians
4:23.
And be renewed
in the spirit of your mind.
1.
All actions spring forth
from the mind (Prov. 23:7).
2.
Therefore, Satan and the
Christ are competing for our minds.
a.
Satan wants to corrupt our minds (II Cor. 11:3).
b.
The Lord wants every thought brought under His obedience (II Cor.
10:5).
C.
We must make the
choice. It is our decision to
either conform to the world (
CONCLUSION
A.
II Corinthians 5:17 sums up
all that we have said.
Therefore if any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.
1.
“In Christ,” we are a new
creature.
2.
The old is passed
away.
3.
All things are become
new.
B.
Are you “in Christ”? If not, you are still living as a man of
sin.
C. As a new creature, have you put off the old and put on the new?