Change in Life – Ps. Suresh
The sermon starts with a story attributed to King Solomon recorded in Israel’s history books. The king once asks his minister to bring him something that will make him happy when sad and sad when he is happy. The minister has no idea about how this could even be possible. But a blacksmith makes him a ring which has “this too shall pass” engraved on it. The king is satisfied as he got what he had asked for. There is comfort when bad things pass away but distress if it is the other way round.
Rev 21: 1-5: “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” God has called us to change.
2Cor 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. God is creating a new us that is much more difficult to handle than the new heavens and earth
Ez 36:26: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” We usually want others around us to change but that is something God has to deal with. God changes our heart, whole body and mind. God picked us up from eternal condemnation not to give us a comfortable life but to change us like Him. Change is unavoidable. There is nothing in us which He loves to keep. He will transform us completely but the problem is that we all fear the change.
We all want change for a better life, better house. God does not perform miracles to do such changes. Jesus performed miracles during His ministry to give God the glory. But we expect a miracle for our benefit. Nothing happens with a snap of finger. We feel the worship service is good when we are filled with tears but God is pleased only if we come with a sacrifice of our broken heart unto Him. If the Spirit of the living God comes upon us, it will break, mould and change us. Freight train will have its way… God is will have His way no matter what. The change will happen.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Like how a father knows if his children fake-cry, the Father in heaven knows our inner intensions. God is still willing to forgive if we confess our sins knowing that we are going to do that again. He will work through you till we throw that sin out of our system. Hold on lightly to everything. Do we really mean the songs we sing / prayers we pray?
God gives what we need not what we want. Transformation doesn’t happen easily. Each person has a different path and God answers with suffering. Change is slow because the habit we built is there for quite some time. The old things are dead and gone. But we are half dead most of areas. Gal 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; 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 for me.” The crucifixion is the most excruciating death and only when this happens, Christ lives in us. Usually it’s only some parts of us that are crucified and other parts in us are living the way we want to. We have to die fully. Rom12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. God demands for a ‘living sacrifice’ where we wilfully lay our life at the altar to be sacrificed. God is trying to make us in His image and being nailed to the Cross is likeness. The journey from the Red Sea to the Promised Land was 11 days and not 40 years. But to discipline them He made them walk for 40 years. God is relentless; He will chase us and kill you so that He can live in us. It’s better done in His way.
Ecc 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. As for God, His way is perfect and our inadequacies shall pass by His grace.
Sermon Reflections by Reena Thomas