A New Creation

I'm going to cheat again and copy the sermon notes from youversion, hope you don't mind.

A New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 NIV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Woman at the well

John 4:28-30, John 4:39-42 NIV
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?" They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

A New Creation

We all mess up. We say things we later wish we could take back. We do things we wish we could undo. We miss opportunities. This happens in all spheres of our lives. Sometimes we make mistakes at work, sometimes we hurt the people we love, sometimes we disappoint God. Because of this we many of us enjoy opportunities for new beginnings, to start over. Have you ever felt like you had given up all hope? Read the story in the gospel of John, chapter 4:28-30, 39-42 This woman had learned to live without hope, but the scripture does not agree with this feeling. But rather we read in 2 Cor 5:17 about a new beginning. When someone has decided to dedicate their lives to Jesus, Jesus begins a new “act of creation” in their lives. Eventually the woman at the well realises that she has met the Messiah and that He has begun to recreate her. Outwardly she looks just the same, but inside—inside she is a new creation! When we meet Jesus as our personal Messiah, then our lives are filled with a deeper purpose, then we become His ambassadors, then we are entrusted with the message of reconciliation.

My Comments

New Years is a time to look back at our achievements and to set goals for the next year. Sometimes when we look back there are things that we would like to take back or do over, but what's done is done, whatever has been said can't be unsaid.

Sometimes we think we have messed up so bad that we think there is no hope (like the woman at the well), but the Bible tells us that there is hope. We are promised that Christ will make us new creations and all we have to to is accept Him as our Lord and saviour.

May God bless you richly this week.

Richard.