New Creation - December 9th, 2008

Romans 6:23 - “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” I spoke on our identity in Christ at the Men’s Retreat this past weekend. I asked the guys 3 huge questions: 1) Who would you be without all God has blessed you with - what if you had never had the opportunity to know Christ, didn’t have a loving family, weren’t physically and mentally healthy, didn’t have your needs met, had never had any of your prayers answered, had no education, had no access to modern technology (ex. travel, communication), were born in a different country and were, just for the sake of imagining, one of the 2.9 billion people making under $2/day (65% of Americans make over $29,000/year which puts them in the top 1% of wealthiest people on the planet)? 2) Who would you be if God had not saved you from what might have been - think of all the generational sins which run in your family which God has saved you from: drug and alcohol abuse, physical, emotional, sexual or verbal abuse, sexual sin (including porn), abandonment, single parent homes or any of the many other generational sins and all the other issues related to them (ex. violent crime related to substance abuse, etc)? 3) Who would you be if God had not saved you from what you once were - remember who you were before Christ (consider both your natural weaknesses, sinful tendencies and natural consequences of those actions)? If I consider those 3 questions and imagine the type of person I might very well have been and then extrapolate from there what I might very well have become (the sin nature gets more sinful over time) it is simply shocking to compare with that who God has made me to be (2 Cor.5:17), realizing that instead of what could have been (spiritual and quite possibly physical death) He has saved me and is developing me daily into His very nature and character through His Holy Spirit (2 Cor.3:18). All that leaves me with an attitude of humility and a sense of complete dependence on Him, thankfully realizing that it is only by the grace of God that I am what I am (1 Cor.15:10), that I have been saved and made like Him, to fulfill His purpose (Eph.2:8-10).