Made New: Moving Past Our Past

Philippians 3:13–15 (LSB) Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way; and if in anything you think differently, God will reveal that also to you.

Last week we discussed how it is our faith in Jesus that makes us new.

That when we confess with our mouths that Jesus is our Lord, and when we believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved.

That is the Good News of the Resurrection, 2000 years ago.

That is the Good News of the Resurrection for today as well!

This morning we look at the far-reaching effects of the Resurrection.

One of the incredible results of our faith in Jesus is that we are given the power to move past our past — especially the failures of our past.

Through the power of Jesus operating in our lives, we are not defined by those failures.

One of the greatest obstacles to growing in our faith, to operating in the calling to which God has called us — is the inability to fully receive the forgiveness of God.

However, our mistakes, shortcomings, and failures do not have the last word and final say over us.

My past does not define me. God does.

Our living Savior is the one who has the last word and final say.

LIVE BY THE WINDSHIELD, NOT THE REARVIEW MIRROR

The Apostle Paul apparently felt the pull of his past — we see it in our text.

We can all feel held back by our history from time to time.

However, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has changed everything.

These events prove God’s love for us.

It makes available God’s grace for us.

In the name of Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.

Paul knew what that was.

Before Paul had an encounter with Jesus, his name was Saul.

He was a persecutor of the Church and an enemy of God’s people.

He did many things that were sources of shame and guilt.

1 Timothy 1:12–13 (LSB) I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, … 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. …

It would have been easy for Paul to be hung up in his past.

Instead he said (a few verses further down in 1 Timothy): 1 Timothy 1:15–16 (LSB) It is a trustworthy saying and deserving full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost. 16 Yet for this reason I was shown mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Christ Jesus might demonstrate all His patience as an example for those who are going to believe upon Him for eternal life.

The Apostle Paul addresses his approach to his past again as we read what he wrote to the church in Philippi.

Look at it again:

In this passage, Paul first acknowledges that he has not arrived.

The destination to which God has called him to is still before him — even though he has been in ministry for decades at this point.

He is a work in progress.

The way in which he is committed to allowing God to finish his work in him is to forget about what is behind him.

All of the evil things he had done to the early Christians, he was forgetting about.

All of the wonderful things he has done in the past — he forgets about them, too.

Concerning the bad things he had done, he was not trying to somehow sidestep responsibility, but instead he was confident that God had

forgiven him

and had great things ahead of him.

He knew that if he spent his days focused on what HAD happened, he would not be prepared for what was yet to come to pass.

Paul was choosing to live through the windshield of life rather than the rearview mirror.

Many of us in this room, or listening to this video, find ourselves stuck in a rut because we cannot or will not receive the grace of God, and in turn, forgive ourselves.

The truth is that there is no way to rewrite history.

What is done has been done.

When we relive our past by saying things like we would have, we could have, we should have — we are not bringing about any kind of meaningful change.

We are living in the past — living in regret.

We are robbing ourselves of the good work Jesus has done in our lives through his sacrifice on the cross and the good work He wants to do in our lives as he calls us onward and heavenward.

We become like a sailboat on the water with no wind.

We become stagnant, with no source of power with which to move forward.

TO MOVE PAST OUR PAST, WE MUST PUT IT TO DEATH

As we saw last week in:

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) … if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Being made new is no easy task.

We are often tempted to peek behind us and feel regret.

In order to take full advantage of the power available to us in the resurrection, we must align ourselves with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Galatians 2:20 shows us how:

Galatians 2:20 (LSB) “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

According to this passage, our past mistakes, sins, shortcomings, and missteps must be crucified with Christ.

They must be nailed to the cross and put to death.

Colossians 2:13–14 (NIV) When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 [HOW?] having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

In the same way, WE must die to our old self in order to come alive to all of the new possibilities and opportunities that God has ahead of us.

The old self must be removed so that Jesus Christ can take up residence in us and live through us.

Scripture tells us that this is possible only by faith in the loving grace of God.

In fact, scripture says that aside from the grace of God, there is no way to be made new.

When we put to death our past by nailing it to the cross of Christ, we are then released from its power over our lives.

We are made new.

We are made clean.

MOVE FORWARD IN FAITH

Scripture gives us the secret to how we are to live in light of the forgiveness of God.

In the Galatians passage we read earlier; Paul says that he now lives his life by faith in the Son of God.

However, just because our past has been forgiven, does not mean that we will not make mistakes in our future.

In order to live into the newness of life that Jesus offers us, we have to move forward in faith.

This faith gives us a confidence that it is because of God’s love that we have been forgiven, and it is because of God’s love that we can receive forgiveness in the future.

Reminds us: Psalm 103:8–10 (NLT) The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. 10 He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.

God is abounding in love.

It is because of this love for you and for me that our past is covered.

Sometimes it is helpful to imagine in our minds the face of God before us.

Some people see disappointment on His face.

We imagine him to be cosmically frustrated by our sins.

However, the Bible tells us that God’s countenance toward us is approval, acceptance, forgiveness, and affection. Not because of anything we have done, but because of what Jesus has done on our behalf.

I have heard a great quote about this that says,

“Grace is the face that love wears when it meets imperfection”.

We can move past our past because of the grace of God.

We may need to seek forgiveness for something that happened.

We may need to put boundaries in place.

We may need to choose to live differently in the future.

What we don’t need to do, however, is to carry around guilt and shame.

The cross allows us to move past our past.

PRAY

God, I receive your forgiveness and grace for me. I know I do not deserve it, but I know that Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection has made it available to me. Free me for joyful obedience as I seek to live life your way. Thank you for making me new. Amen.

The Lord’s Supper

Let’s celebrate the way Jesus allows us to move past the past of sin and failures, by remembering HOW we do so:

Through His Body beaten for us.

Through His Blood, shed for us.

Preparation

1. Before Jesus instituted this New Covenant at The Lord’s Supper, He sent His disciples to prepare.

2. Matthew 26:17–19 (NASB95) Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” ’ ” 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

3. More accurately they prepared for the Passover meal that would become The Lord’s Supper.

E. Preparation was part of the Lord’s Supper then and it is STILL part of this meal.

1. 1 Corinthians 11:27–28 (NLT) … anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.

2. 1 Corinthians 10:15–17 (NLT) You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true. 16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17 And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.

3. 1 Corinthians 10:21 (NLT) You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too.

4. Prayer of self-examination.

F. Invitation and Distribution

1. You don’t have to be a member.

2. Come, break off a piece of the bread, receive a cup and hold till ALL can partake at once.

3. Stand here at the front together.

G. Bread:

1. Matthew 26:26–30 (NASB95) While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

i. This bread stands for the Body of Jesus:

a. No leaven- Sinless

b. Stripes – He was beaten for our healing

c. Pierced – He was pierced for our transgressions

ii. Prayer before we partake of the Bread:

a. Prayer over bread.

iii. End prayer with prayer from Seder: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who brings forth bread from the earth.

H. The Cup

1. Matthew 26:27–30 (NASB95) And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”

2. This cup stands for the Blood of Jesus.

i. The blood that cleanses us from sin.

ii. The blood that, According to Revelation 12:11, gives us victory over the accuser of the brethren.

3. Prayer before we partake of the Cup:

i. Prayer over the cup.

ii. End prayer with prayer from Seder: Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the fruit of the vine.

I. Matthew 26:26–30 (NASB95) After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.