The Old is Gone

I once gave a sermon called “The Crucifixion of Andy Nelson.” When the title screen came up for the PowerPoint people laughed because of the oddity of the title. During the message I focused on the astounding reality that the old Andy Nelson, the one who existed before Christ, was gone. He had been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20). What does this mean practically? It means that the young boy who had lived life under slavery of sin no longer existed. In fact it was as if he had never existed to begin with. Not only were my poor decisions erased, I was also erased and reconstructed spiritually. I was given a brand new spiritual core. The Old was gone.

            “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

I think Christians can spend too much time reflecting on the life they had before Christ. A little introspection is fine of course and can lend perspective, but too much can create problems. There are some sins that I committed before Christ that haunt me if I focus on them. I often think, “Wow, how could I have been so vile? How could I have had such thoughts?” I find that the longer I focus on these past events, the more prone I am to forget my crucifixion with Christ.
When we are raised with Christ we are given a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). In the biblical context the heart is the innermost core of the person. It is the very foundation of who we are. When we believe in Jesus, God performs a spiritual heart transplant. We don’t see it, and likely don’t even feel it, but it happens. Christ describes the work of the Spirit in this way:

            “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
In other words we cannot see the Spirit’s work, but we can see the result of the Spirit’s work. When He changes us, we may not see it right away but we will see evidence of this change. It may not look exactly the same way it does for someone else. Some people may show immediate signs of change, such as quitting some sinful habits cold turkey. Others may take time to escape, in practice, the habits of sin. This is why we must be patient with one another as we all figure out exactly what it means to have a new heart.      

- Andy Nelson