As we end one year and look forward to the next, I would like to speak to you about some of things we can do in order to experience a new life in the upcoming new year. If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal savior, I pray that you will get to know Him today. For those of you who do know Him, try to spend more time with him in this new year, growing in your knowledge, thanking Him for allowing us to see another year.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

• Christians are brand-new people on the inside.
• The Holy Spirit gives them new life, and they are not the same anymore.
• We are not reformed, rehabilitated, or re-educated.
• We are re-created (new creations), living in vital union with Jesus Christ.

Jesus says; Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. John 5:5-7

At conversion we do not merely turn over a new leaf. We begin a new life under a new Master. The Apostle Paul said; My counsel for you is simple; go ahead with your new life. You have received Christ Jesus, the Master, now live for him.

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7

Receiving Christ as Lord of your life, is the beginning of your new life with Christ. But we must continue to follow his leadership by being rooted, built up, and strengthened in the faith. Christ wants to guide us and help us with our daily problems.

How We Can Live for Christ

• Commit our lives to him and submit our will to him.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a brand new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 LB

• Seek to learn from him, his life, and his teachings.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Colossians 3:16 -17

• Recognize the Holy Spirit’s power in us.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8

Paul uses the illustration of our being rooted in Christ. Just as plants draw nourishment from the soil through their roots, so we draw our life-giving strength from Christ. The more we draw our strength from him, the less we will be fooled by those who falsely claim to have life’s answers. If Christ is our strength, we will be free from human regulations.

We Are to Walk in Love

And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. Ephesians 5:2

We Have a New Commandment

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
John 13:34

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1 John 4:7

Our Pattern of Living

• As I’ve heard some say, it takes a lifetime to build a testimony but only a minute to destroy it. We should be mindful over our pattern of living.

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye 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 ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:17-32

What to Expect as a Christian

• Friends and family members may no longer want to be around you.
  
• Trouble and trials in life.
  
• There will be some cross bearing.
  
• God wanting to use you.
  
• A hunger for God’s Word.
  
• A desire to fellowship with God’s people.

Some Character Changes

• Peter the profane fisherman becomes, a man whose shadow heals. Acts 5:15
  
• The restless demonic becomes, the quiet disciple. Mark 5:15
  
• John the vindictive Jew becomes, the Apostle of love. 1 John 4:7
  
• Woman of Samaria with a bad reputation, becomes a witness of truth. John 4:29
  
• Saul the persecutor, becomes the tender hearted brother. Acts 21:13
  
• The cold hearted Philippian jailor becomes, a sympathetic friend. Acts 16:33

SALVATION BRINGS A CHANGE IN AND OF LIFE!!!   If we live as we lived before salvation, something is wrong.

For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 1 Peter 1:23 LB

• This life from our earthly parents ends in death.
• The new life in Christ will last forever.
  
• We never die, a promise of God and Christ to us.
  
• We can talk to our Lord.
  
• We can trust our Savior to always be with us.
  
• We can expect him to make a way for us as we are led by his Spirit. We can be sure he loves and cares for us.
  
• When this life ends, we will be received into heaven.

What We Are Told

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
1 John 2:15-16

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, tha whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

How do we become a new creation? Faith in Jesus Christ as one’s own personal savior.

Look how faith changed the lives of the first disciples. Look how it changed the life of Saul of Tarsus, who later was the Apostle Paul. His life was completely turned around. Look through the scriptures and you will find many, who after they came to know the Lord Jesus Christ were never the same. None of them ever regretted becoming followers of the Savior. Down through the last two thousand years, millions of believers have lost their lives because of their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. All because they accepted the Lord, and he became a reality in their lives. In life there may be many trials and sorrows, but the apostles knew, as we should know, that earthly life will end and one day we believers will be with our Lord. May I ask you, has Jesus changed your life? Please read the following scriptures carefully;

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10

or by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man shall boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2: 8-10

I would like to remind everyone, we do not need “religion.” We need only Jesus. When we are saved we are given salvation. We are given the Holy Spirit. We are given eternal life. We are promised that our needs will be met. What a Savior! Don’t you realize how much we need only Him, and should desire to get to know him better. Are you enjoying Him? Do you love Him? Are you serving Him, today?

Father in heaven, we thank you for the Savior who gives us life, by faith in who he is, and what he has done for us. We pray that many may come to know the Savior and know what real life is in this sin cursed world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. Preacher