***A man went to real estate agent to buy a house. He was shown several houses, and afterward asked, “Can I change the rooms around, or make the roof a bit more the way I like it ?” The real estate agent told him that the houses come as they are. Good features, bad features, they all come as previously built homes. The man says, “But, I want certain features that none of those houses has.” The agent then said, “You need to have a custom-built house.” “Yes, that’s what I want,” the man replied. God wants a new you. Not the way someone else wants you, but the way HE wants you.
THERE IS REALLY NOTHING TRULY “NEW.” BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT ARE NEW TO US. AND WE SHOULD BE EXCITED ABOUT THEM !
Ecclesiastes 1:9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
1. WHEN GOD MAKES SOMETHING NEW, IT IS BETTER THAN WHAT WAS BEFORE.
A. MAKE SURE THAT YOUR APPRECIATION FOR GOD’S MERCIES DOES NOT GET OLD.
Lamentations 3:22-23 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
B. GOD HAS ALREADY GIVEN US MANY NEW THINGS.
Ezekiel 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
2. GOD HAS MADE US NEW.
A. HE DOES NOT ALLOW US TO REMAIN THE SAME AS WE WERE BEFORE SALVATION. HE MAKES US NEW.
2 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.
Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Ephesians 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
B. HE GIVES NEW LAWS WHICH GO BEYOND THE OLD LAWS.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
- IF WE WERE LYING DOWN, HE SAYS TO GET UP. (Man at Bethesda)
- IT WE WERE TOO BUSY, HE SAYS TO SLOW DOWN. (Martha)
- IF WE WERE TIMID, HE SAYS TO BE BOLD. (Peter)
- IF WE COULDN’T SEE, HE SAYS OPEN YOUR EYES. (Blind Bartamaeus)
- IF WE WERE HUNGRY, HE SAYS, BE FILLED. (The 5000)
WHATEVER OUR CONDITION, HE MAKES US DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE WERE.
3. THERE IS GREAT DANGER IN MAKING THINGS NEW WITHOUT THE LORD.
A. TERRIBLE THINGS BEGIN TO HAPPEN WHEN WE NO LONGER DEPEND ON GOD.
WHEN TIME PASSES, AND WE HAVE NOT ANCHORED OUR FAITH PROPERLY, WE CAN ACTUALLY CREATE NEW GODS.
Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
B. SEEKING NEWNESS JUST TO HAVE SOMETHING DIFFERENT CAN RUIN YOUR LIFE !
DANGER IN SEEKING SOMETHING NEW ALL THE TIME WHEN YOU HAVEN’T PERFECTED WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE, OR HAVEN’T GROWN IN KNOWLEDGE FROM WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE.
Acts 17:21 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)