God’s Secret to a Total Makeover
A New You for a New Year – Part 6
02-16-14 Sermon
“May the God who
gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being—spirit,
soul, and body—free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (TEV)
“Be made new in the
attitude of your minds.” Ephesians 4:23 (NIV)
“Do not conform any
longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind.” Romans 12:2 (NIV)
C : to make or become the
same; to behave in a conventional way by accepting without question the
customs, traditions and prevailing opinions of others.
T : to change the condition,
function, nature, character or personality.
C : to say the same
thing God says.
R : to change the way
you think.
“Against you and you only have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight; so you are proved right when you speak and
justified when you judge.” Psalm 51:4
“If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (NIV)
Every Renovation
begins with ________________________
“For the word of God
is living and active. Sharper than
any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints
and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
“Some sat in darkness and
deepest gloom imprisoned in iron chains of misery. ‘Lord, help!’ they cried in their troubles. And he saved them from their
distress. He led them from the
darkest and deepest gloom. He
snapped their chains. Let them
praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for
them, for he broke down their prison gates of bronze and he cut apart their
bars of iron.”
Psalm 107:10-16
God isn’t asking you to a
promise that______ .
He is asking you to a
promise that .
“I am convinced that God,
who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion.” Philippians 1:6 (GW)
My Faith Confessions
“I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins and
rose again from the dead on the third day.”
(1 Corinthians
15:3-4)
“I am crucified with Christ and I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20)
“I count myself dead to sin but alive to God
in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:1-14)
“I am a new creation in Christ; the old life
is gone, a new life has begun.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
“The Son has set me free. I am free indeed!” (John 8:36)
“The Word of God is at work in me.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
“My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:19)
“I am being transformed into Christ’s
likeness with ever increasing glory.”
(2 Corinthians 3:18)
“I can do all things through Christ who gives
me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)
“He who began a good work in me will be
faithful to complete it.” (Philippians 1:6)
“There is now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
“Nothing can ever separate me from the love
of God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:38-39)
“In all things God works for the good of
those who love him.” (Romans 8:28)
“God is faithful. He will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
“He is able to keep me from falling.” (Jude 1:24)
“Greater is he that is in me than he that is
in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
“God has not given me a spirit of fear, but
of power, love and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
“My light and momentary troubles are
achieving for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
“He is able to do immeasurably more than all
I ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within me.” (Ephesians 3:20)
“God is for me! Who can be against me?” (Romans
8:31)
God’s Secret to a Total Makeover
A New You for a New Decade – Part 6
02-16-14 Sermon
This morning I am
finishing this series on A New You For a New Year. The change that God wants to make in us – this new you for a
new year – has to be more than just on the outside. If it’s only on the outside, it’s really not going to make
any difference. Because if you’re
annoying now, and you go on a diet to lose weight, you’re just going to be
skinny and annoying when you’re done.
You’re just going to be a skinnier version of the old you. There’s a change that God wants to make
on the inside of us. Because as wonderful
and beautiful as we may become, the physical part of us, as we all know, is
just not going to last. We may
think it is, we may wish it could, but it isn’t going to last. It’s the character; it’s the inside
that really does count.
And God wants to
make the change in our lives from the inside out. So that’s what we’re going to talk about today. The total makeover of the person.
Let’s begin by
looking at this verse, 1 Thessalonians 5:23. The Bible says “May
the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being
– spirit, soul, and body free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” He says spirit, soul,
and body. He puts them in that order
because it begins in the deepest level of our person and works its way out to
the outer most extreme of the person.
Spirit, soul, and body.
Ephesians 4 – this
will be sort of our key verse for the morning. “Be made new in the
attitude of your mind.” It’s
great to clean out the fridge and it’s really good to get all the junk food out
of the pantry. But what about the
junk food that’s still in our heads, the lies that we still believe, the old
tapes that we listen to, those empty values and the false perceptions that we
built our lives on that are not true and that we no longer need to live with? Those are the things that need to go so
that we can be made new in the attitude of our minds.
Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The transformation starts in the
renewing of your mind, changing how you think.
We need to clarify
some terminology so I want you to write some things down.
Conform
– to conform means to make or to become
the same. Not different, not
new, but to make something to become the same or to behave in a conventional
way by accepting, without question, the customs, traditions, and prevailing opinion
of others. It’s just going on
about life and saying, “I guess this is
ok because this is how everybody else is doing things. This is the new normal.” Paul is saying don’t live that way. Don’t conform that way. God wants us to stop and think about
what we’re doing.
Then he goes on to
say, don’t conform but be transformed.
Here’s what transformed means: Transformed
means to change the condition, the function,
the nature, the character or personality of something.
So to conform is from the outside. It means to try to fit into a mold. But to transform is from the inside.
It means to change the nature and the character of something, to make something
completely new.
So God is talking
about a total new you from the inside.
Really becoming a new you for a new year. It begins in how we think. It’s not just somebody who looks different. But it’s someone who speaks and thinks
and acts differently. A new you who’s
taken a hundred eighty degree turn from the old way of living and is now walking
in a whole new way of life.
How does that
happen? I’m going to talk about a
couple of things. Two words I’m going
to use this morning quite a bit. They
are words that are really uncomfortable for a lot of us to think about. They make us feel defensive. They make us feel uneasy. Sometimes they make us feel guilty. But we need to talk about them anyway
because we’re going to turn those words on their heads. But in the beginning we’ve just got to kind
of look at them.
Here are the two
words: confession and repentance.
The reason they
make us feel uneasy is because we immediately go negative. We immediately think of the guy with
the sandwich board on, pointing his finger at us and telling us to stop doing
whatever it is that we’re doing. That’s
what we think about when we think about confession and repentance. We immediately go negative.
But if we get into
what the words actually mean we find that they’re actually very positive, freeing,
hope-filled words. I want you to
write this down.
Confess means to say the same thing God says. That’s
what it means. Confess doesn’t
mean you’ve got your arm twisted behind your back and you say, Ok!
I give! I give!
No. That’s not what confession is. Confess means to say the same thing
that God says. Not arguing with
him, but agreeing with him. It can
be positive or negative. It can be
confessing, saying what God says about what I did. Or it can be confessing what God says about who he wants me
to be. Confession is just saying
what God says.
Repent means to change the way you think. Repent
actually does not just mean to change what you do. It means to change how you think. So to repent is not just changing your behavior, because you
can’t just change your behavior. If
all you work on is your behavior, it isn’t going to work. You have to change your mind, you have
to change the way you think.
Confession,
saying what God says, leads to repentance,
thinking the way God thinks. If
you want to think like God thinks then you’ve got to say the kinds of things that
God says. And saying what God says
is what enables you to change your thinking, to learn to think differently. That is what will change your behavior. That is what will change the way you
live.
So confessing sin
is just saying the same thing God says about my behavior and saying God you’re right. What I did was not right.
In fact, David in Psalm
51, his famous prayer of confession, this is what he says: “Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your
sight; so you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” So confessing sin is agreeing with
God about behavior.
But if you stop there
it’s not going to change anything.
While it is true that we do need to confess our sins, and while it is
true we do need to change our ways, I don’t believe that confessing sin changes
behavior. I really don’t think it
does. It is necessary for
forgiveness. In fact the Bible
says this in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us
from all unrighteousness.” If
we confess he will forgive. So confessing
sin leads to forgiveness, but it doesn’t change behavior.
Does this sound
anything like you? I don’t know
how many times I have said, “Lord, I did
wrong. I confess. I’m sorry and I promise I’ll never do
it again.” Then two days later
I’m back. “God, I did it again, but I promise I’ll never do it again. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.” Then two days later I’m back: “God, I did it again.” Am
I the only person who has ever done that?
Elbow the person next to you and say, he’s talking about you!
So we can wind up
in this circle of guilt and get to the point where we either just can’t live
with ourselves or we just get calloused to it and just give up all together.
But there is another
kind of confession that does lead to a change in our behavior. It’s confessing your faith.
Confessing your faith. Not
just saying what God says about what you did,
but saying what God says about who you
are in Christ. Making that your confession. Because confession, saying what God
says about you, leads to repentance.
It changes the way we think.
And that is the secret to a total makeover. If all we do is focus on behavior, it is never going to
happen. Real change has to come
from the inside out.
So when the Bible
says, “Be made new in the attitude of
your mind,” when the Bible says “Be transformed
by the renewing of your mind,” God is reiterating the truth that every behavior
begins with a thought. Every
behavior begins with thinking. So
if you want to change the way you act, you have to change the way you think. And confession – saying what God says –
changes how we think and leads us to repentance.
When I confess my
faith, I’m no longer focusing on what I once did. Instead, when I confess my faith, I’m focusing on what I
believe to be true, and how things could be, based on the Word of God. Not thinking about all the wrong things.
I’m now redirecting my thoughts to
focus on the right things. I
direct my energies in that way, according to the Word of God.
When a builder is building
a building, he may use an instrument called a plumb line. A plumb line is just a string with weight
on the end of it. The whole thing
works off of gravity. It’s very
simple. But it’s actually quite
profound and has a profound influence on the integrity of the structure. Because that plumb line, that straight
string with a weight at the end, tells you based on the law of gravity, what is
straight, what is perpendicular. Then
everything else has to live up to the standard of that plumb line. If it doesn’t then the walls could be
crooked and the building could fall over.
The integrity of that structure is at risk. When the builder is satisfied that the walls are all in line
with that plumb line he says that they are true. That’s the word that’s used for something
that is straight. It is true.
In the makeover of
our lives, God has given us a plumb line.
Something that is true. Something
that we can measure all of our thoughts, our decisions, our choices, our actions,
our reactions, every challenge that we face, every question that we face, we
can measure it against the standard truth of the Word of God and say how does
this that I’m facing right now, how does this match up? How does it compare to the standard of
truth that I find in God’s Word? Because
then we’ll have a measurement of what is true and what is right.
So now we have to go
back to our key verse here from Ephesians 4, “Be made new in the attitude of your minds.” The word “made new” there, the Greek word, is actually better translated as “renovate.” Anybody ever do a renovation on your house? It probably took longer and cost more
than you thought it would! You
know that any renovation has to begin with a demolition. Before they can start building the new
stuff they’ve got to tear out the old stuff.
So every renovation begins with demolition. The Word of God first demolishes the
old ways. It demolishes the old
lies. And God wants to demolish
those old lies that we’ve been believing.
He wants to demolish the old tapes that we’ve been listening to in our
heads, the things that people said about us that shaped how we saw ourselves
from that moment going forward. He
wants to demolish those things. He
wants to demolish the old values and the old beliefs that have resulted in a
crooked building that’s about to fall over. He wants to tear all of those things out. So the first step in being made new and
being a new person for a new decade is the renovation. Being renovated in the attitude of your
mind.
The Bible says this
in Hebrews 4, “The word of God is living
and active. It is sharper than any
double edged sword. It penetrates
even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” And the Word of God can smash any
stronghold; it can break any chain.
It can uncover any lie if we will allow it to do its work.
Have you ever seen
how huge elephants can be tethered to a stake with a band around their ankle
and a rather weak looking chain?
Have you ever wondered about why they don’t just break that chain and
walk away? Well, it’s all about how a circus trainer trains an elephant. He starts with the elephant when it is
a baby. He puts a shackle around
its ankle and a chain on that shackle.
You’ve probably seen this in the zoo too. The other end of that chain is hooked into an iron hook
that’s set in concrete in the ground. That little elephant, every time he tries to pull against
that chain, it starts to rub against his ankle and he can’t break that chain. He learns pretty quickly that he can
only go as far as that chain.
That’s all that he’s going to be able to do because he’s chained to the
ground. As he grows and he’s still
chained to that hook that’s in the concrete he just comes to believe, this is
my life, this is all I can do.
When the elephant
becomes full grown, the trainer can unhook that chain from the hook in the
ground. But because the elephant
still feels the shackle around his ankle he thinks the chain is still attached
to something. He doesn’t realize
that he’s free and he actually could go anywhere he wants to. But instead, the elephant spends the
rest of his life chained to nothing.
He spends the rest of his life believing a lie. But if he knew the truth he would know
that he is free. That chain is no
longer attached to anything.
Just like that
elephant, there are still chains that so many of us still believe are attached
to something, that are still holding us back. When in reality, the only power those chains have is the
power that we continue to allow them to have. Because we don’t realize that the Lord has already set us
free. “He whom the Son has set free is free indeed.” We are free to go from those things if
we will just get up and walk in that freedom.
Let me ask you. What are the chains that are still
keeping you tied to the past? Is
it guilt for something you did? Is
it regret for something you didn’t do?
Are there some old tapes still playing in your head – “I’m not good enough. I’ve messed my life up too much. I will never be able to do anything for
God. I’m not smart enough. I’m not rich enough. I’m not nice enough. I’m not spiritual enough. I’m not strong enough.”
I would just say, enough! Enough of that! You don’t have to believe those things
any more. You are not worthless. You are priceless to God. He gave the life of his Son for you. You are priceless to him. And he has made you free.
Listen to what the Bible
says about your chains, Psalm 107, “Some
sat in darkness and deepest gloom imprisoned in iron chains of misery. ‘Lord, help!’ they cried in their
troubles. And he saved them from
their distress. He led them from
the darkest and deepest gloom. He
snapped their chains. Let them
praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for
them, for he broke down their prison gates of bronze and he cut apart their
bars of iron.”
The Lord has
already set you free. You are free
indeed and you don’t have to live believing those lies. You don’t have to live carrying guilt
and condemnation anymore for the things you did or the things you failed to do.
Romans 8 and 2
Corinthians 5, “There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… [and] Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. [Does anybody here belong to Christ? Then you’re a new person. That’s what the Bible says. Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new
person.] The old life is gone. A new
life has begun. So don’t conform
any longer to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind.” Be made new in the
attitude of your mind. Don’t live
by the old rules. Don’t live
according to those old lies any more.
The past is past. Now it’s
up to you to get up and walk in your freedom, to be made new, totally new in
how you think. Because when you
know the truth, the truth will make you free.
So I put together
some confessions of faith, to show us how to start doing this. I put them on the back of your notes. These are Scriptures that tell us what God
thinks about us. This is what God
says about you. Remember confession is saying what God says. If this is what God says about you, then let it become
what you say about you. If this is what God thinks about your life then let it become what you think about your life.
What I’m going to
have us do is, I’m going to have us read all these aloud together. To let them start to become the way we
think. These are the words of God
about you. These are powerful,
life changing words. So read them
with power and let them change your life. I am going to have Peg project them
on the wall one by one.
“I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose
again from the dead on the third day…
I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me… I count myself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus…
I am a new creation in Christ; the old life is gone, a new life has begun… The
Son has set me free. I am free
indeed! … The Word of God is
at work in me…
My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit… I am being
transformed into Christ’s likeness with ever increasing glory… I can do all
things through Christ who gives me strength… He who began a good work in me
will be faithful to complete it… There is now no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus… Nothing can ever separate me from the love of God in Christ
Jesus… In all things God works for the good of those who love him… God is
faithful. He will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear… He is able to keep me from falling… Greater is
he that is in me than he that is in the world… God has not given me a spirit of
fear, but of power, love and a sound mind… My light and momentary troubles are
achieving for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all… He is able to do
immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to his power that is at
work within me… God is for me! Who
can be against me?
This is the Word of the Lord. This is the Word of God. This is what God says about you. So let it be what you say about you. Let this become your confession of
faith and change the way you think and thereby change the way you live and
truly make you into a new you. Not
just for a new year but for the rest of your life.
So confession leads to repentance. These words, these truths can be the foundation
on which you build a new life. They
can be the plumb line on which you build your new life. So that every thought you have about
yourself, about life, about your family, about your co-workers, about anything,
you can always bring it around and say, how does that compare with the truth of
my confession of faith? You can
build your life according to what the Word of God says. Believing who he is, believing who you
are according to his Word and then living like you believe those things are true.
So start every day by
reading these things to yourself. Put
them someplace where you will always see them, where they’re always available. So that, at any moment, when you are
feeling any kind of doubt, read these words again. When you are facing fear, read these words again. When you are in confusion about a decision
to make, read these words again. Read
them to yourself. Read them to God. Read them to the devil! Let the water of the Word of God wash
away all the junk and all the lies from the past. This is what true repentance is about. Because, as I said, if you just try to
start with your behavior, you’re not going to make it. Lasting change has to come from the
inside and it all starts with God, about taking God at his Word.
Write this down on the
front side of your notes. This is
very important. God is not
asking you to make a promise that you cannot keep. You’ve tried that way too many times. He’s not asking you to make a promise
that you cannot keep. God is
asking you to receive a promise that only he can keep. And God always keeps his promises. When you confess your faith you are
receiving God’s promises into your life and he keeps his promises. When you confess your faith you are
taking God at his Word.
You can do that. He loves you. You have his Word on it. He cares about your life. You have his Word on it. He has a plan and a purpose for you. You have his Word on it. He will meet all of your needs. You have his Word on it. Your sins are forgiven. You have his Word on it.
So take God at his Word
and as you build your life on the Word of God, he will truly make you into a
new person, a whole new person. A
total makeover from the inside out.
What God starts he will finish.
Look at this verse: “I am convinced [the Bible says] that God who began this good work in you
will carry it through to completion.”
But let me warn you about
something. You can expect to be
challenged. Because you have an
enemy who hates you. His name is
the devil. He hates you and he doesn’t
want you to be free. So he will come
along and rattle those chains. He
will start to whisper those old lies and try to bring doubt back into your mind. He will try to remind you of your failures
in the past and all the things you’ve done wrong and make you feel lousy and
guilty about yourself. When the devil
comes along and tries to remind you of your past, you just remind him of his
future! And begin to confess your
faith and say, no, that is not true. This is true. This is what the Word of God says about my life. And begin to confess your faith to
yourself, to God and to him. Then
start acting on that truth.
Confessing, saying what God says, leads to
repentance, thinking what God thinks.
Every behavior starts with a thought. So as those thoughts change, you’ll
find your behavior begins to change, and the old ways start to go away and
they’ll be renewed and replaced by new ways. And that will truly result in a new you for a new year.
Prayer:
As we turn to the Lord in
prayer, let me ask you, what chains need to be broken in your life? The Bible tells us “If you confess your sins he is faithful and just
and will forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.” By the authority of the Word of God I say
to you, your sins are forgiven. They’re
forgiven! It’s ok. It’s forgiven. It’s covered. Just pray: “Father, I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins. I believe he rose again from the dead. And I receive your gift of forgiveness. Father, I believe that I’m crucified
with Christ because your Word says I am.
I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Therefore I am a new creation in Christ. The old life is gone and a new life has
begun. Father, I believe your Son
has set me free. And I am free indeed. And Father, I believe that you began
this good work in me and that you will be faithful to complete it. So I make this confession now in the
name of Jesus Christ and Lord, I ask you to give me strength to build my faith,
to walk into the future that you have planned and designed for me, to hold on
to your Word and to build my life on the truth of your Word. I do this in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.
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