Your Best Days are Ahead of You – Part 2 – New Creation

Continuing Michael’s New Year’s message, he writes: How do you know a Christian?  God did not call us to be judges, rather he called us to be fruit inspectors ... Jesus said, by their fruit ye shall know them. Look for their good fruit. When we keep score of our own shortcomings and judge ourselves unworthy, we must approach the cross of Christ. The Adversary is the accuser, the devil. He will remind us how far short of God's righteousness we have fallen and of our great debt of sin. However, Jesus paid the price for our sins at the cross of Calvary. He who was without sin became the sinless sin sacrifice on our behalf, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.  Jesus Christ who knew no sin, for the joy that was set before Him endured the pain and shame of death on the cross.  Because of His love of God's people, Jesus did not impute their trespasses unto them, but became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Jesus, who was the sinless sacrificial lamb, became the perfect sin sacrifice on our behalf to make us worthy ... to balance the scales of God's righteous judgment.

Our best days are ahead. Therefore forsake your trophies and your failures. The things of this world are fleeting ... this too shall pass ... that which is seen is temporal but that which is unseen is eternal. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, all things have become new. He has reconciled us unto himself and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we now have peace with God, having been reconciled back to God through the price paid by Jesus Christ on our  behalf. Our country values freedom.  However, freedom isn't free. Some say that freedom is priceless ... it's price is far above the price of diamonds and gold. The price of freedom from sin was paid for by the precious and priceless blood of the Lamb of God, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Focusing on the problem of sin and dwelling on debt and transgression digs us deeper into the hole of condemnation. Jesus Christ is the solution to the problem of sin.  Therefore look not on the things of the world. For what the commandments could not do in that they were weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh that we may be made the righteousness of God in him. Our father has called us to his mercy, grace, and peace through the supreme payment of the sinless sacrifice of the innocent blood of his son Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 – 21 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

Morning has broken, like the first morning ... God's re-creation on the new day.  Our best days are yet before us.

May God richly bless you in 2017.
Your brother in Christ, Michael