Well, good morning. Got a Bible? Go ahead and open with me to Second Corinthians, chapter five. Second Corinthians, chapter five. While you're turning there, I want to ask you a question. You do not need to answer this one out loud. All right? Have you ever thought, if I didn't have to deal with people, life would be way easier? Now, we did have people raise their hands at 8:00am all right, you're wiser here. If you didn't have to deal with people, life would be a lot easier, right? A lot less headache and heartache. If we could just kind of deal with Siri and Alexa and Google. Most of the time, they don't talk back. Right? They're less selfish. They're less moody. Unfortunately not. Unfortunately, that's the wrong word. The truth is people are part of life. You're not getting out of that one, right? You're not getting out of that. People are part of life. Humans were created as superior to the rest of the creation because they were created in the image of God. And so we should be seeing people as image bearers of God. But unfortunately, because of sin, sin has kind of marred that image. Sin in our own heart, sin in the hearts of others, Our image of others, the image of God, has been messed up. And oftentimes, instead of seeing people as image bearers, we kind of put these ugly filters on our eyes, and the way that we understand and perceive people gets pretty gross. I'm going to give you three examples. First would be the idolatry filter, where we elevate people as gems of society, and then we worship them, where we take celebrities and influencers and popular people, and we look at them and say, oh, I want to be like that, and if I could be like that, life would be better. So we take and we look at people, but we, like, we make them more than image bearers. We make them gods. And there are so many things that happen as a result of that. We live in tremendous comparison traps. There are deep insecurities that become rooted because we see people that way. We have a $50 billion cosmetic surgery industry because we want to be like others. We want to look like others, and so we start seeing people that way. So there's the idolatry filter. Then second filter, just an example here would be the objectification filter, where we people as objects and we treat people as things to accomplish whatever we want. So we don't idolize them. We actually look down upon them because we go, I'm just going to see if you're useful or useless to me. And maybe we look at people in a, maybe in the service industries that way. Maybe we look at women that way. Maybe you look at your spouse that way, maybe you look at your kids that way. Maybe you look at your employees that way. And when we start to objectify people, it leads to awful results as well. We've got a pornography industry that is bigger than Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NFL combined because we treat people as things and as objects. So we idolize people, we objectify people. And then there's just the superficial filter where we see people based on their looks and their ethnicity or their class. And as a result, we look down upon them. And that has led to incredible amounts of racism in our world. It has led to multiple genocides throughout the world because when we've looked at people, we've seen them as less than image bearers of God. Guys, the reality is that people have been viewed in these ways all throughout history and they're still viewed this way today. And what's really unfortunate is that many so called Christians would treat people and see people the same way. And that's messed up. It's messed up. Now, I'm hopeful that most of the people in this room, you don't see people that way. I'm hopeful that most Christians don't see people in those ways. I think that most Christians actually know how they should see people. But I think a lot of Christians are missing why they should see people that way. And that's the question that I think our text is going to answer this morning is why? Why do Christians have a unique way of looking at people differently than how the rest of the world looks at people? How do, why do Christians have a unique way of looking at people differently than the rest of the world and how they look at people? So let's go second Corinthians, chapter five. We're only going to be in verses 16 and 17 this morning. We'll start at the beginning of verse 16. It says, from now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Now there's a big connecting phrase right there. From now on, therefore. So it's connecting it back to Paul's previous thought from verses 14 and 15. Let's read that for the love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this, that one has died for all. Therefore all have died. And he died for all. That those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised. So there is a reason that Paul is Saying, I'm no longer going to regard people according to the flesh. And the reason is because he's made this conclusion, and this conclusion is that Jesus has died and he died for all. And that those people who believed that would no longer live for themselves, but they would live for Christ and have his new life in them. And he goes, so because Paul has been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ and he's compelled by the love of Christ, the result is that he would regard nobody this way any longer. Now, this is not just a way of life for Paul, though the Apostle Paul, when it says, from now on, therefore, we, the we it's referring to is Paul and his ministry partners. Now, I think it applies to all of us as who would call ourselves Christians, though for anybody that's been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, he says, we regard no one according to the flesh. Now, what's this idea of regard? It means to see, to know, to understand the word picture of the original language is to grasp the meaning of something. So if we need to grasp the meaning of a word, we go to the dictionary. We go to the dictionary, what do we find there? A definition. Right? So we no longer regard or define people according to the flesh. He says, we no longer regard who. We regard no one. Now, in the Greek, you've got to understand this, no one means no one, all right? Means no one. We don't look at anybody this way anymore because our lives have been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We look at people differently, we define them differently. He says we no longer regard them according to the flesh. This was a phrase that the Jews would know that for us means from a human point of view, from a human perspective. So in the past, we would look at people that way, but now we don't look at people that way. We don't look at people from a human perspective or a human point of view. What they look like, what they have, what they're connected to, how well known they are. And guys, this flew in the face of the Corinthian culture. We've talked about this over and over as we've been in this book, that the Corinthian culture boasted an outward appearance. Paul said it earlier in verse 12. It's not going to be on screen, but we are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you calls to boast about us so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not what is in the heart. He's going, your culture Corinth Boast in the outward appearance. That's what you care about. You're obsessed with health and wealth and status. And because of it, Paul and his apostleship has been questioned, it's been rejected, it's been disregarded over and over. Why? Because he was weak in appearance. He was weak in his speech. He continued to suffer regularly because they looked at him and said, whoa, whoa, whoa, this is not how we look at people. You don't look like what you're supposed to look like. And this was the culture that Paul is surrounded by. And, guys, this is the culture that each one of us are surrounded by in our day and age. An American culture obsessed with looks, obsessed with the flesh, obsessed with what people have and how well known they are and who they're connected to and what they look like. Obsessed with appearance, obsessed with their presentation, what people see. Our American culture is obsessed and defines everything from a superficial perspective. Now, this is not new to 2024 though, right? I think back to even the late 80s, early 90s, there was a commercial for Canon cameras that came out. Some of you are like, what's the late 80s? I don't even know what that is. Right? Canon cameras came out with a commercial with the tennis player Andre Agassi. And the slogan was image is everything. Image is everything. Late 80s, early 90s, we're saying image is everything. Could that slogan be put on just about anything in America today? Image is everything. Guys, there's nothing new under the sun for the Corinthian culture. Culture. Image was everything. Image was everything. But not for Paul, not for the Christian, not for the person whose life has been transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When your life has been transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, image is not everything. Because there's so much more to a person than just what you see on the outside. And we've seen this play out even in Second Corinthians this far. All these verses aren't going to come up on screen. But chapter four, verse 18, Paul says, hey, make sure that you're looking to the unseen, not to the seen. In chapter five, verse one, hey, remember that earthly tent of yours, Your body, it's going to be destroyed at some point. Verse 7 and chapter 5, let's make sure we're walking by faith, not by sight. And like I just read from verse 12, don't glory in the outward appearance, glory in the heart, as people who have been transformed by the gospel, who are controlled by the love of Christ. We do not define people superficially. We do not look at them and define them as rich, as poor, as white, as black, as brown, as poorly dressed, as a country club member, as popular or unpopular. That's not how we operate as Christians. That wasn't the case. That wasn't always the case for Paul, though. That wasn't always the case. Look back at the rest of verse 16. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. So Paul's saying, I know don't define people just based on superficial outward appearance. But at one point in my life, I even define Christ that way. I define Christ that way. And I think he uses the word Christ there really intentionally and doesn't just put Jesus there because Jesus was a pretty normal name. When you attach Christ to it, he's the Messiah. He's the one that the Jews had been waiting for. He's the anointed one. And the anointed one the Jews would kind of attach to the idea of a king and a priest. Like, he is this guy, something more than just a guy, right? He's the Messiah. He's Lord, he's master, he's ruler. And he goes, I once regarded and defined Christ according to the flesh. Now this is where we have to zoom out from the words of scripture. And I want you to remember who's actually writing this. Not just what he's saying, but who's writing this. The Apostle Paul wasn't always the apostle Paul. If you grew up in church, you may even know about the Apostle Paul. Maybe you even heard about Paul. If you didn't grow up in church. The Apostle Paul grew up in a really strong. With really strong Jewish heritage. He even described himself in Philippians 3 as a Hebrew of Hebrews. He's like, if you want to see what a real Jew looks like, look at me. I'm zealous about the law. I'm from this special tribe of Benjamin. Like, if you want to look at somebody that looks really good on the outside, look at me. This was the culture that he grew up in, a culture called Pharisees that Jesus once condemned. Many times condemned, actually, not just once, but Jesus condemned these Pharisees, the people, the same people like Paul. And he said, you know what you do? Pharisees, you are great at cleaning the outside of the cup, but you don't clean the inside of the cup. You look all at the superficial stuff, but you miss what's going on inside the heart. You actually are like whitewashed tombs. You do A great job cleaning tombstones and making them really good when what's inside the tomb is dead. This is the way. This is the upbringing that the Apostle Paul had. And you know what it led him to do When Jesus came on the scene and Paul thinks he's leading this rebellion against Judaism, he looks at him as this, like, mere man. Not just a mere man, a poor carpenter man who's claiming to be the Messiah, the one that all Paul's people have been waiting on for a long time. So Paul looks at him and is like, oh, you're just a man claiming to be the Messiah. I don't even know if you're a mere man. You sound like a madman. Right? And this guy who claims that he's the Messiah is hung on a cross. And Paul, being a great Jew, would know the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy, it says that if someone is hanged, he's cursed. You know who would one day write in Galatians, hey, he was hung on a tree as a curse for you. He was cursed because you deserve to be cursed. Now, how could a guy named that we knew as Saul, who was persecuting Christians, who led the rebellion and persecution against Christians one day write like, no, no, no. Christ has died for you because he was transformed. He used to look at people according to the flesh. He used to look at Christ according to the flesh. And for a Corinthian culture who was obsessed with health and wealth and status to know that Paul is saying, I want your lives to be changed by a guy that was homeless, that had nowhere to lay his head. I want your life to be changed by a blue collar carpenter who associated with the elite and associated with the worst of the worst. It went totally against the Corinthian culture. But isn't that what our world does today? We see Jesus and we go, oh, he's just a man. He's just a good prophet. He's just a good teacher. And we judge him according to the flesh, and we define him according to the flesh. And guys, if we define Jesus this way, it will only lead to our death. It will only lead to our death. I mean, think about it. Led to Jesus death. When people define him this way. Oh, yo, you're the savior of the world. We're going to lay down our palm branches and we're going to lay down our coats when you come into the city riding on this donkey and this is going to. You're awesome because you're going to save us from Roman oppression. And a few days later, they're all yelling, crucify him. Crucify him. Because they saw him as just somebody that was going to save them from government oppression when he was so much more. He was the Savior of the world to save them from their own brokenness and sin. Guys, I'm concerned that there's probably people in this room that you love, Jesus the man, but you don't trust Jesus the Messiah. And it shows up in how you treat people and how you see people. You don't trust God and who he is, so you obsess over what other people look like and you idolize them. You don't trust that Jesus is who he says he is. And so you look down on people and you treat them poorly. But if you remember Paul's life in Acts, chapter nine, Paul is going. He's on his way to persecute more Christians. And as he's going to persecute more Christians, this light from heaven comes down and says, saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It's the Lord himself. He encounters the Lord and God changes everything about his life. His whole perception of God, his perception of people. Everything changed when he encountered the Lord Jesus Christ. And guys, that's the why that we've got to have as Christians. We have to be transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what's going to truly transform the way we see people. Because I bet there are a ton of non Christians who would teach their children, hey, don't judge a book by its cover. Don't be shallow and superficial. Like, that's not good. You know what? It's not good. Paul's saying, I don't do it that way. But the reason Paul did it or didn't judge people according to their flesh was very different from the reason the world doesn't judge people according to the flesh. So let's see. Why. Why did Paul do it this way? What is the Christian why that makes us different? Verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Therefore, so. So that as a result of this Gospel that's transformed him and how it's changed his view of people, he no longer defines people the way he used to, particularly believers here, because he's saying, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Now there are ramifications for how we should see all people, but particularly, here he goes, he's talking about believers. You should see believers differently. They're new creations in Christ. But you need to see every person that you encounter as a potential new creation in Christ. Every person, the person that you think is too far gone, they are a potential new creation in Christ. The person that has hurt you. A potential new creation in Christ. Your co worker that annoys you and you wish they would quit. A potential new creation in Christ. Paul's no longer seeing them from a world's perspective, but now he's seeing people from the new realities of them being in Christ. In Christ. Because there's something that Paul's seeing internally. And we see this prophesied about in Jeremiah, chapter 31. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts. We talked about this in Second Corinthians, chapter three. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they shall all know me. From the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. So what is Paul looking at? A transformed heart with a new covenant in Christ where there's new obedience and there's a new relationship with God and there's new knowledge of God and there's new forgiveness. And how in the world does this happen? It says if anyone is in Christ, there may not be two words that you need to know more in Scripture than those two words, little words in Christ. Somebody said this is one of the most mysterious things about Scripture, but it's one of the greatest things about Scripture that humanity can be in Christ. Paul uses this phrase or a phrase like it over 160 times in his writing this specific phrase, over 60 times in Christ. Because there's a difference between you knowing about Christ, believing on Christ, or being saved by Christ. When it comes to being in Christ, the idea is to be in the atmosphere of Christ, but not just in location, but there is an intimate union between Christ and those he has saved. You are united with Christ. You get his life. Galatians 2:20, right? Like I've been crucified with Christ, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Christ the Messiah. God lives in you. That's incredible news. And it's incredible news that changes the way we look at people. It changes everything. Now as new creations in Christ, we have a saving connection where we are united with Christ. The dead have been risen to new life and now they share the spiritual life of Christ. And the Bible illustrates this in several different ways. I'll give you a couple of the ways it describes the union between Christ and his church, between the union between a husband and a wife. We're in covenant with each other. It describes this union as God, Jesus being the vine and us being the branches, right? That we're connected and apart from him, we can do nothing. We are in Christ talks about us being a body. Jesus is the head of the church and we are members of his body. Like, this is the incredible news of union with Christ. And guys, this is vastly different from other religions. Vastly different from other religions. You go, oh, you're a leader. We even treat you like a God. But nobody says, you're in Buddha, you're in Muhammad, you're in Joseph Smith. Like, that's not how it works. But now we get to be in union with Christ. This is awesome, guys. This is the real difference making mark of someone saved by a Christian. We're in covenant with Christ. We're not in covenant with Adam. In fact, Paul says this in 1st Corinthians 15. For as an Adam, the first man, old man, all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. When we are born in Adam, covenant, first man in sin. Under the power and the authority and the sway of sin, we all die. But in Christ, through his death and his resurrection, we can be made alive. This is something tremendous, guys. And he says if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation or a new creature. Just like bringing the world into existence by the power of his spoken word, new creations in Christ are brought into new existence by the power and grace of our God, guys, the same power. The only power that can create a world can create a Christian. The only power, Jesus. God made the world out of nothing. There was nothing there. It was void. And he created the world. Charles Spurgeon said it's actually probably harder to make a new creation because the world there was nothing. But in an old man, there's a lot of opposition. And we want to push back over and over and over. And we don't want to be made a new creation. We want to do it on our own. But what does God do in his power and in his grace alone? He makes us new creations in Christ. And this idea for new here. There's two ways that the New Testament uses the word new, new in time. So you're transformed over time or new in kind. You have a new status, a new nature, a new position before God. And that's what he's talking about here, a new status before God. When you stand before God, because you are a new creation in Christ, you have a new status. You're no longer seen as unrighteous, but now righteous in the righteousness of Christ. So he's not talking here that we're new creations, all about our change in behavior. He'll get to that at some point. He's talking about, you have a new status, a new position. It's. Everything's fresh. Your life is fresh. Imagine it this way. Imagine you walk into your pantry one day and you grab a cracker out of the pantry. When you grab the cracker, you bite into it and you're like, ugh, this is not fresh. Or maybe it's gluten free. I'm not sure, right? Like, they have a gluten allergy in our home. Chill out. Like, right? But you bite into. You go, that's stale. That's not fresh. Like, how's it. I want to spit it out. It's not good. And there's no way to make that cracker fresh again, right? You can't. You can't renew it. No matter how much rehabilitation you put in Reformation you put in it, you're not going to do anything with it. That's the same thing is true for our lives. No matter how much you think you're going to reform your life and rehab your life, it's not going to work until you become a new creation in Christ. And Jesus, by his power and his grace alone, transforms your life and gives you a new life, and you just receive it. That's incredible news, right? Good news. It's about receiving new life. And this is the big theological word we would call regeneration. The work of God in the heart of a person to make them new. Regeneration, the work of God in the heart of a person to make them new. Jesus described it another way in John chapter three. This Pharisee came up to him, this guy named Nicodemus, and he wants to be a part of the kingdom of God. And what does Jesus response to him, hey, you need to be born again. You need to be born again. And Nicodemus looks at him like, what? How does that happen? He goes, well, you need to be born in the flesh, but you also need to be born of the Spirit. There needs to be a new rebirth that happens in your life. This is the truth about people in Christ. New birth. When I was in seminary in New Orleans, and when I was in seminary down there, my second year of seminary was 2005. If you know what happened in New Orleans in 2005, a little hurricane hit, right? Hurricane Katrina hits. It floods buildings on our campus to the second floor. And it's just a mess. It was awful. And there are parts of New Orleans that could be repaired. There were other parts of New Orleans that couldn't be repaired. And so people in New Orleans often talked about rebirth. A rebirth of this city, a rebirth of this city that couldn't be repaired. It had to be born again. Where did they get that from? They just came up with it. No, it's from the scriptures. Like, things are so far beyond repair that somebody had to intervene and give it a rebirth. Guys, that's what Jesus Christ does for us. That's what Jesus does for us. May we never, ever lose sight of God's power to change people. And may you never, ever lose sight of God's power to change. You don't lose sight of it. If he can speak the world into existence, he can absolutely make you a new creation in Christ. So what happens when that change occurs? Go back to verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Now, let me be a nerd for just a second here. I'm going to teach you about the tense of this word passed away in Greek, all right? It's really important to understand this and one that's coming soon. But this tense of the old has passed away is a single punctuated, completed event. All right? It happened. It's done with. You are made into a new creation instantly. When you are in Christ, he transforms and the old has passed away. The old has passed away. Your old way of knowing Christ passed away. Your former way of defining your sinful life passed away. Your sinful status in Adam passed away in a moment. Your old way of viewing people passed away. Like, this is not how it works anymore. Because you are a new creation. Your life is now. The trajectory of your life is now godward and heavenward. Okay? This is critical for us to know when we are new creations in Christ. The old man, our old nature has passed away. Has passed away. But it doesn't stop there. Because what is. What does he say from now on? Therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he. He is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. Somebody said that word behold doesn't just mean look. It's like a divine highlighter. God's saying, pay attention to this. Behold, the new has come. Not simply did your Life change in an instant. Your position before God did it not just changed in an instant, but now new life comes. And this is where. This is a different tense to this verb. Alright? It's not just this single completed action, but there was a single completed action that has continuing results. A single completed action. The old's gone, but there's continuing results. The new has come and it continues to grow and mature. Now, the technical way, if we were to like translate this exactly, it would say they are become new, they are become new. We have a new identity. That's who we are. It's a past action that has continuing results. Guys, we don't evolve into a Christian. We are transformed in Christ. Our position changes, but then it's an ongoing journey before we are completely made new. When we are with him in heaven. It's this, we've talked about it before. You're justified before the Lord. You're declared right before the Lord in an instant, but you don't experience justification, that complete newness, until you are with Him. Because there's a gap that we all live in between justification being declared right and actually being made right at glorification. And that's this period of sanctification where everything changes in a moment, but the results continue over and over and over. Guys, rebirth is simply the starting point. Our position before God changes from unrighteous to righteous, from in Adam to in Christ. But there will be a struggle, I can guarantee you, until glorification, until all things are made new. And when we're reborn, we start out as infants. And do you know the emotional roller coaster that an infant lives his life or her life on? Some of you with kids, you're like, yes, I know that last night, right? That one moment an infant is giggling and so happy, and the next moment they're crying and you're like, what just happened? And they can't ever tell you, you don't know, but they're just immature. They're infants, they're babies. That's the same thing for us as Christians. There's a life growing in maturity where we're often on an emotional rollercoaster as infants. We're so excited about this. Oh, this is awful, right? But one day it will be fully made right before God because we are new creations in Christ. Guys, when your position before God changes because you were in Christ, that doesn't mean that temptations cease. That doesn't mean perfection. In fact, this is how Paul would describe it in Romans, chapter six. For if we have been united with him in A death like his. So here's this union with Christ. We shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. It says brought to nothing. It doesn't say died in other translations. It might say rendered powerless. The old man has been rendered powerless. But we sure do feed the old man and give it a lot of power if we don't walk in the Spirit and we continue to walk in the flesh. So there's going to be this ongoing struggle, guys. But we're saved from the penalty of sin. Our position changes in that moment when we become in Christ and when our position changes, what is true of Christ becomes true of his new creations. That we are accepted by God and we no longer need to prove ourselves to others because we have God's acceptance that we are secure in Christ. That we no longer need to elevate others as idols out of our insecurities. Because when we are in Christ, we inherit eternal life and all spiritual blessings. So we don't need to see people based on their social status and their wealth, because we have all the riches of Christ. This is how new creation, new birth for the Christian changes everything, including the way you see people. The way you see people is evidence of you being a new creation or not. The world in all its self centered ways and the way it outwardly defines people. That's not how we live anymore. In Christ. God has changed our position before him and our perception of people. You could say it this way. See others in the world differently because of how God sees you in Christ. See others in the world differently because of how God sees you in Christ. How God sees you in Christ, it changes how you see everybody in the world, particularly Christians. Every person is capable of being transformed by the power and the grace of God. Anyone, if anyone, is in Christ, anyone means Paul, the guy who would describe himself as the chief of all sinners is now a new creation in Christ. We've got to see people through this lens. We've got to see them through the lens of the cross of Christ. Because then it changes how we view everybody. Galatians chapter three says this. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, There is neither slave nor free. There is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. And then Paul would say this in Colossians 3, here there is not Greek or Jew, Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians, Scythian, slave free. But Christ is all. And in all this is the result of how we see people. So what do we do with this? Number one, stop seeing people according to the flesh. If you are a new creation in Christ, stop seeing people according to the flesh. Number two, start praying earnestly for those people that you think are too far gone. Start praying earnestly for people that you think are too far gone. Including you. Including you. Start praying earnestly for your co workers that you want to quit. Start praying earnestly now for the family member that you don't want to see on Thanksgiving because they are a potential new creation in Christ. So stop seeing people according to the flesh. That's not how Christ saw you. Start praying earnestly for those that you think are too far gone. And then finally, praise God, when you were too far gone, you became a new creation in Christ. Praise God for that. Can you picture a church if we lived out those applications? Can you picture that? That every person who walks through these doors on a Sunday is treated like a new creation in Christ or a potential new creation in Christ. And every person that encounters one of us in this room that is a new creation in Christ, we treat them as a new creation in Christ or a potential new creation in Christ. Because this is how Jesus chose his followers. He didn't choose the elite of society. He chose the tax collector and the ordinary fisherman and the doctor and the person who would deny him three times by grace and grace alone. And he chose the chief of all sinners, Paul. And guys, it's not just people that are new creations in Christ because they experienced the resurrected Lord, but it's anybody who's been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I started to think about people in our congregation, leaders in our congregation that at one point I bet people would have written off as too far gone. And so I wrote down just a couple descriptions of some of our elders before Christ, our pastors, our staff, volunteers in kids ministry, youth ministry and beyond. I'll start with the one standing before you today who is a self righteous Pharisee and God made me a new creation in Christ. We have an elder and a pastor who I would describe as a fundamentalist farmer. Christ changed his life. We have abuse victims who are now new creations in Christ. We have former professionally bound athletes who are now new creations in Christ. We have adopted children and arrested alcoholics and shopping addicts and rebellious teenagers and disordered eaters and atheist engineers who were leaders in our church. By the grace of God and the grace of God alone, you are not too far gone. God has the power to change your life and God has the power to change anybody's life that you may know. Do not think less of God. He is worthy of our praise. And if God can create the world out of nothing, he can absolutely make a new creation in Christ. And when that happens, we become a humble church full of prayer, dependent prayer that God would do that in other people's life. And we become a worshipful church because we remember who we were pre Christ and we praise him and we worship him because he is the only one worthy with the ability to change a life. Amen. God, you are awesome. God, you are the only one that can transform somebody's life. And Lord, I pray that you would do that today for somebody in this room. And Lord, if you choose not to do that today, Lord, may we still worship you because you've done that in our lives. Father, thank you that we are accepted and secure and pleasing to you because of what Christ has done. May you be glorified with our worship.