II Corinthians 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.
Last week we found out that we can begin again, not physically but spiritually. It’s the re-birth; the bible calls it being born again. Then we can begin again. This brings the “all things” I want to talk about. Regeneration is defined as to bring into existence again; re-establish on a new basis. Becoming a Christian we now have a new life established on Christ.
New Life, New Father (we serve either God or the devil; you can’t straddle the fence. Either God is your father or by remaining unsaved you serve the devil and he is your father.) New Destination (heaven is where the Christian is bound; the unsaved are bound for hell. That was us before the re-birth.) New Family: we don’t always get along with family; neither do we always agree with our family in Christ. I’d rather have you all as family, even with your faults. We need to overlook the faults of others, always remembering we have faults of our own.
All things work together for good. Romans 8:28 reminds us of this. God wants to make us more like him. Bad things happen to good people. God causes these to work for good in our life. We have to remember to trust in HIS power, HIS wisdom, HIS omni-presence, HIS promises. The bible is his promissory note; we accept it by faith in the ONE who issued the note. What works together for our good? The prayers of other Christians. I need your prayers. You have mine. The Lord also intercedes for us with the Father. Temptation is in the bad category of things that happen but overcoming it will help us. Chastisement tastes bad at the moment but it helps us down the road. Affliction works for our good. No one likes to get sick but it’s through suffering that we are drawn closer to God. We react to these things. Some surrender and just give up. Some become hard and cynical. But if we accept it and profit from it we will see it work for our good. All things happen as God allows. Remember Job. Satan had to get permission to do what he did to Job. God helped Job overcome.
Remember to give thanks for all things. Paul tells us In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. (I Thessalonians 5) What? We can always be thankful it wasn’t worse. Even give thanks for what we don’t understand and trust the Lord to know what’s best for us. Hebrews 4 tells us all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. All things are seen by God. He has all-seeing eyes. You can’t cover up anything. You can’t hide from God. Just trust him in all situations.
Let’s do all things without griping. We read how the children of Israel griped and complained shortly after leaving Egypt, pretty much the entire way to the Promised Land. Griping is a sin. Being around those who continually gripe is depressing. The bible tells us to dwell on good things. Gripers seem to stick together. Stay away. Griping is socially accepted today, but we should avoid it. Remember it is contagious and destructive.
With Christ’s help we can do all things. Philippians 4:13 says I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. We can overcome temptation. We can overcome our worries. We can overcome weariness. We can build a church. Don’t believe the devil’s lies. Trust Christ knowing we can do all things through HIM.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 