Good afternoon. If you have your bibles with you, please turn to Genesis chapter 45. We will read verses 8 to 24. As you’re turning to Genesis chapter 45, I want to greet everyone a Happy Lord’s day, happy New Year as well. You know, whenever we start the year, there’s that urge to do things better or to do things anew, right. Feel like okay, we need to commit to something, for example, let’s take a picture one day a year, one out of 365, or we commit to go to the gym at the beginning of the year, we commit to eat well or better, we start a Bible reading plan, right.. which usually, it stops at Numbers or Leviticus. I hope not.
But most of the time, we don’t complete such goals, right. When it’s December and January, pag malapit na ang January, we feel like we need to start something new. We need to do these projects again. Every year is like a renewal for us. Now in chapter 45, while it’s not like the New Year in the time of Jacob, it seems like they’re also being renewed. There is an opportunity to have a renewed life in Genesis chapter 45. They’re being invited now to live in a foreign country, to live in Egypt. And they will be given what? new things, there will be a new culture, new neighbours. So for Jacob and his family, everything will be new. So if you have your Bibles we will read Genesis chapter 45: 8- 24… verse 9- 24 rather.
Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. There I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come, so that you and your household, and all that you have, do not come to poverty.’ And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Have no concern for[a] your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’” The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels[b] of silver and five changes of clothes. To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.” The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand and forever.
And so Joseph revealed himself to his brothers upon seeing signs of repentance. He showed who he was. He was the Prime Minister or governor of the land of Egypt. And now the brothers learned that it was their brother whom they have persecuted many years ago. Now, Joseph assured them that again in the previous sermon, we mentioned that Joseph assured his brothers that it was was in fact God who sent them despite them in fact selling Joseph, right. His brothers sold Joseph so Joseph would go to Egypt and yet ultimately, Joseph is saying it was indeed God who sent Joseph to go to Egypt for the protection of the people of God. And so because Joseph their brother was with them, Joseph mentioned that he would… that Joseph in fact promised to take care of them, that he will provide for them. That’s what he said in this chapter. And for the family of Jacob, as they heard the promises of Joseph that they will be given a new land, a better one that they will be near Joseph and Joseph will provide for them for their family, that would be a very big decision, right. To go to a different country, their way of life will change. They will be subject to the authority of a ruler. That’s what this means. If you go to Goshen, Goshen is in Egypt. Egypt is ruled by Pharaoh. If they go there, they will be under the rule of pharaoh, moving forward. In fact, they will also what? wear new clothes. That’s the reason why Joseph gave them new set of clothes. Clothes that will be fit for Egypt, okay.
Clothes that would not identify them as people of Canaan or even Israelites. People that would identify them as part of Egypt. And they will what? learn the language as well just as Joseph learned the language in Egypt. So they will be living a new life from now on. A new country to live in, a new culture, a new land will be given to them. In fact, that is the best land of Egypt. Egypt during their time, Goshen was the richest region in Lower Egypt. But see most importantly, again like I said, they will have a king, a ruler, pharaoh to lead them. Now we’re not really familiar how to live under a king. We can’t relate to their experience of how as civilians of Egypt, how they lived under the rule of pharaoh. What we have in our time are presidents. There’s a difference. So again, we can’t relate to what they have experienced. But we have to understand that living under such a ruler during that time means that your life and your death depends on that ruler. For example, when a king conquers another kingdom, that conquering king may decide whether to kill everyone, and you as a servant of the conquered.. of the one who was conquered, you would ask will this conquering king also kill us or will he just adopt us as servants of his kingdom? If you live in such rule, I mean your life depends on that ruler. If we go to the church of England, they had queens back then. Queen Mary the first was a devout Roman Catholic. She expects the worship of the entire England to be Roman Catholic. And then afterwards come Queen Elizabeth, the first who was by the way a calvinist. And so the Puritans during that time were very happy, right. So again, it affects the life of those who lived in that place. They were what? dependent on the rulers. This is what happens when you have a ruler, when you have a king in their time. Pharaoh, your life and death depends on that king. And Jacob’s family they will be under this human king, pharaoh. They will have a new life in Egypt, of course permitted by God. Same with us brethren. Are you under in fact a greater Authority? Are you a servant of a greater King? The King of kings, the Lord of lords. Well this new King, gives us not a portion of Earth or a land. He’s better than pharaoh, He’s better than all kings. He in fact gives us the whole earth.
Matthew Chapter 5 those who are meek will inherit the earth. So this King, Jesus Christ gives us what? new clothing as well, right. It is His robe of righteousness, this King Jesus Christ most importantly, just like pharaoh who gave new lives to Jacob and his family, this King, Jesus Christ gives us new lives.
Everyone who believes in Christ in fact has a new life. That is our message this afternoon. That is our assurance that we have in this growing, cursed, sinful world, that In Christ, We Already Have The New Life In Us. Just like Jacob and his family as they enter Jacob, they are expecting new kind of life, new ruler, new clothing, new rules, new place. In Christ everything also is new. And while everyone in Christ is given a new life, of course we know that this new life is not a perfect life. No one here is perfect. Therefore, there is still battle within. So let me give you two points. First ,there’s a battle between Earthly and Heavenly and secondly there’s the Old Versus the New.
Let us consider the first point, Earthly versus Heavenly. Let’s go back to the story of Joseph. Joseph’s brothers again will have a new life. And in this new life, they will be given a new place. Joseph told them to live in Goshen, the richest region, where Joseph will be near them, so that Joseph can provide for them.
They were given new clothes, new provisions on their way back. Not only this— Pharaoh also commanded Joseph to load their donkeys. And it seems as if Pharaoh was not just giving them Goshen. You read in the text, Joseph wanted them to have Goshen, which is the best in fact. But Pharaoh wants to give them more, right. It says in verse 18: I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you shall eat the fat of the land. This was the kind of favour, the blessings that the family of Jacob was to experience during that time. Now you have to remember, Jacob, although that was a time of famine, Jacob was a wealthy man. He inherited the wealth of his forefathers, Abraham and Isaac. Abraham was a very wealthy man. If you go back to Genesis, remember their spoils when he was trying to rescue Lot. And there were Kings who allied with him and there were kings who whom he defeated and they had a lot of spoils. Mayaman si Abraham at minana iyon ni Isaac at ganundin ni Jacob. Jacob was in fact wealthy. In verse 20, Pharaoh told them that when they arrive, imagine of course there was famine but Jacob had I mean marami pa rin siyang mga ari-arian na pwede nya pa ring ibenta. In fact you remember that when they wanted to bring back the..yung money, they did not even spend the money because meron pa rin silang wealth doon sa Canaan. So verse 20, Pharaoh told them that when they arrived to Canaan and then kapag susunduin na nila ang kanilang tatay, si Jacob, they were to come back to Egypt. And Pharaoh said this verse 20 have no concern for your goods for the best not just Goshen, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours. And the word concern here meant compassion. Don’t ever have compassion toward those things that you will leave behind. He meant it’s okay if you leave them behind, he’s saying. It’s okay if they’ll be gone, that’s what he meant. In fact pharaoh was saying: you better leave them behind. Pharaoh was saying don’t ever bring them here. There’s no need for your old things. He’s saying don’t ever look back… that’s what he meant. It’s like during the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. When Lot and his wife and his family were commanded to leave Sodom and Gomorrah because fire and brimstone will rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and specifically, they were told not to look back. And we know what happened, right. His wife had concerned about their goods. She wasn’t prepared to lose everything and she looked back and she became a pillar of salt. The people of God in Genesis chapter 45 were favoured by Pharaoh. But ultimately, the favour comes from God. It was God who ultimately wants them to be in a new place, right. Yes, God promised Canaan, but God has a purpose for them to.. for for the rerouting to Egypt. It was neither Pharaoh nor Joseph really. It was in fact God who ultimately want them there, who ultimately provides for them during the time of famine, not Pharaoh, not Joseph. It was God who who wants them to live in a foreign land and it’s like in the words of Jeremiah when Israel will be exiled in Babylon 29:11 (Jeremiah) for I know for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. So we see God’s favour there. And we see also the warning to not have any concern about what you have. You have everything here in Egypt.
Don’t ever look back; have no concern about your goods. Isn’t that true also for God’s people who in fact were given favour from God? But we are not, I mean we are so favoured by the Lord, that we in fact have greater blessings unseen, but they remain greater than whatever we have. And yet even in scripture, we are warned to hold them. Kumbaga kapit na kapit tayo sa ating mga goods. Isn’t it true that God gives favour to people, especially in our time, to the church, to whom He has chosen, to whom Christ died for? Christ brought better riches.
Christ brought, in fact Himself to save us from an eternity of spiritual famine. And this is not an eternity without food, this is an eternity without God. And this is something all men deserve because of our sin, because we sinned, because we continue to sin, and sin is against our holy God, and yet God brought us Christ. Christ brought Himself, the bread of life that nourishes and this bread of life was broken for us. He suffered and died on the hands of men and He rose from the dead to shower us with such spiritual blessings. What spiritual blessings before you have a relationship with God as a creature of God of Creator. That’s your relationship with God. Even an non-believer has a relationship with God. Creature to Creator relationship. But now, child and a Father. That’s a spiritual blessing, a greater blessing than you have. Better than what you have materially. Before, you had filthy rags, your works are but filthy rags according to scriptures. Now, He changes your clothes and puts.. and He puts Christ’s robe of righteousness on you. You have been accepted by God and there’s no greater blessing than that. These are the spiritual blessings not seen but they are greater than what you currently have materially.
But if you are not in Jesus Christ, you don’t have such blessings. You may in enjoy material blessings and you may indeed have compassion or concern for your goods, if we use the the words of pharaoh. You may enjoy them while you’re living on Earth. That’s the common grace of God. But you need God’s special and loving grace to receive such spiritual blessings. God is capable to give better blessings than whatever you enjoy now in life. And such blessings will not end. It in fact will extend up to eternity. And whatever material blessings that you are enjoying now, may katapusan yan. But if you are in Christ, you may have the riches of this world, and yes they are indeed blessings. You may be like the brothers of Joseph who had goods in Canaan. And yet in Christ, you have greater spiritual blessings. If you’re not in Christ, these greater spiritual blessings of forgiveness of sins, removal of your sin and guilt, being accepted by God, being justified in His eyes, not being condemned anymore because of your sins, these are available in Christ. Run to Him! Turn away from your sins and come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And again if you are in Christ, you already have these greater spiritual blessings and we are called to always desire for such spiritual blessings. For these unseen spiritual blessings, and not put our hearts and dependence on what can be seen. The spiritual blessings in Christ are more superior than the Earthly things. And we can say that sin is an Earthly thing, yes.
Specifically we’re dealing with the material things that you make an idol, yung ginagawa mong idol, etong mga material things na ito. Kaya challenge sa atin ngayong hapon, is that Let Not The Earthly Things, the material things, let not your possessions Possess You, And Cultivate Desire For The Heavenly Things!
Paul says in Colossians 3: 1-2: If then you have been raised with Christ, If you are in Christ what are you going to seek while you are living on Earth? He says seek the things that are above, seek the things that you don’t see. And when He says seek the things, He meant have faith in them that they are true. Totoo sila sa iyo. That these blessings are for you. Seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. In other words, have no concern about your goods. I hope goods tayo doon. No concern, brethren. For God has given us the best of all the blessings and that is Christ. Seek the things, meaning desire those things. Set your minds, meaning think of them, meaning meditate on them, on what you already have in the Lord. Do not be like the rich fool in Luke chapter 12 who was thinking more about where he would store his crops, saan ko kaya ilalagay itong mga crops ko. He was thinking more of how, thinking of tearing down his barns and building larger ones where he will store all of his grain. He’s thinking of how he’s so secured because of all his riches. And then God responds to him: fool! this night, your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? You think too much, you worry too much about your material things. You won’t bring them to eternity when you die.
Again, let’s be clear, there’s nothing wrong with material things.
The Puritans have lots of work, written work about the blessing of material things. But they also have written work about the danger of material things, the danger in putting your dependence on them. One of them was Richard Sibbes and he said: “where the world has got possession in the heart, it makes us false to Go and false to man. It makes us unfaithful in our callings and falls to religion itself.” He’s saying when we are, when our possessions possess us, our eyes become more blind to the better blessings we already have. Let us also not be the ones Paul was talking about in 1 Timothy chapter 6 who love money more, who have in the words of Paul, wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs because of their love for the material things, specifically for money which Paul said love of money is the root of all kind of all evil. They have wandered away from the faith, imagine.. to the point that they in fact were already pierced. Natinik na sila ta’s hindi na nila matanggal yung sarili nila sa pangs.
So do you put your trust in what you see, in what you own? Do you highly depend on them? Do you think you are secured in life because of them? Do you worry too much about material things, about money, about your house, about your job, about your business, about all things visible? Well let the better blessing of knowing that we are in Christ, that even at times of being brought low, it is for the good of those who love God. Let the better blessing of… the fact that we are in Christ and the providence of God is good for us. Let the better blessing of God’s sure love for us, God’s delight in us, God’s favour in us, trump all your worries about earthly things. Again, if you’re not in Christ, then you must worry. Worry is a sin, but yung… get worried! But in Christ there’s really no reason to be worried. You already have the best of the best blessings. But because of sin, you are hindered to understand how blessed you are in Christ already. And you know what, because of sin, you want more. You want what you can see. And we’re not called to live by seeing, but we’re called to live by faith, having faith in what we have in Christ. Not just what we have… in fact in what we are in Christ.
When difficulties come in life, we know that in Christ it is for our good. That’s a greater blessing. You know what the best evaluation is of how we appreciate the heavenly things more than the Earthly? It is being in the Lord’s day where the heavenlies are proclaimed to be more beautiful than what’s outside. That is what’s happening here. We’re weekly reminding everyone, brothers and sisters, there’s something more beautiful here. Christ is preached here, Christ is given to you, and Christ is more beautiful because of His holiness, rather than whatever is outside, rather than the material things that you have, which are incomparable to what you have. The more you are here, the more you’ll cultivate that desire for Christ and for heavenlies, then the more you will loosen your grip on the earthly things. And so how are you doing now with that cultivation of heavenly desires? Or are you in the verge of being pierced by its many pangs? If you are in Christ, you will never be pierced. But maybe, maybe it is something to evaluate in your life. Maybe you have been loving the material, the earthly more than the spiritual. Evaluate yourself. So brethren, again, let this command, and I believe that God even used pharaoh, let this command or challenge or charge be in our hearts and minds this week. Have no concern for your goods for the best of all the blessing is yours, the blessing incarnate Jesus Christ.
And for my last point, there’s another battle, and that is The Old Versus The New. And so Joseph, again, was clearly gracious to all of them especially to the brothers. His brothers sold him to Egypt. Instead of punishing them, Joseph was merciful by not punishing them. Joseph was gracious by giving them blessings.
But we can see clearly here the difference of how Joseph treated his brothers specifically Benjamin. Verse 14 you look at the verse it says Joseph fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And then verse 15 were his brothers, and by the way his other brothers were not named. Joseph kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. There’s a greater burst of emotion when he approached Benjamin. That’s what the writer is showing us. Not only that.. in verse 22 it says Joseph gave all his brother brothers a change of clothes, but to Benjamin, 300 shekels of silver and five changes of clothes. And to his father, he sent 10 donkeys loaded with good things, 10 female donkeys loaded with grain bread and provisions. Well, the brothers may understand why Joseph gives more to their father, Jacob. I think that’s understandable. But to their fellow brother Benjamin, I mean he’s getting more than us.. but we can say that that’s because Benjamin was the real brother of Joseph, right.. in the sense that they have the same mother who was Rachel, and the others were just half brothers. But there’s more to it, brethren. Joseph was repeating what happened before. Joseph, remember Joseph was receiving more from Jacob. Joseph was given the robe of many colours, Joseph was trusted more by Jacob. He was in fact given a job to manage his brothers. And then when he went to Egypt, he was given a job to manage Potiphar’s household. And what was his brother’s response when they saw that Joseph was more.. was the favourite of their father Jacob? They of course, we know that they responded in a sinful way, right. They were jealous, their jealousy grew into having murderous hearts. But now, it’s happening again. Benjamin is receiving more, more blessings. He is more favoured than the other brothers. Now seeing that another brother was being favoured more, what would their response be? That is why Joseph said in verse 24 he said oh, do not quarrel huh. do not quarrel on the way huh, right. Do not quarrel on the way he said. Do not argue anymore, Joseph said. Do not fight over this small matter again. See, if his brothers were truly repentant, then this shouldn’t be an issue for them anymore. Joseph was in fact saying: to be in this new life in Egypt, for you to be near me, it’s not just having a new place, new provision… but new life means your old lives must be gone, brothers. Do not argue huh. Huwag niyo nang uulitin yung nangyari before. If you’re going to live here, your lives before should be gone. What the brothers did to Joseph must not happen anymore as they live now in Goshen.
Brothers and sisters, this also echoes the new life we have in Christ. We have been given as mentioned earlier, greater blessings in Jesus. But this new life in Christ also means that the old has gone. It is God that you have been made new. This was clear in Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5: 17 Paul says Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[b] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. And Paul was in fact making a radical statement here. An absolute statement. In the original language, it is in fact, what it means is that— if anyone is in Christ, a new creation. That’s what Paul is saying. If anyone is in Christ, a new creation. Means, since Christ came, new creation also came. That’s what it says. Meaning, all the realities of the new creation that was to come in the future has already come because Christ has come. He ushered the new kind of creation where there will be no sins anymore. And He started it now.
Now let me be clear. We are all living in the old creation; in this old creation, there is sin. But Christ brought the new creation by living a life without sin and by dying on the cross to punish sin, and Christ brought the new creation into us by redeeming us from sin so that we will also pursue holiness and defeat sin like Christ. In this old creation, kung saan tayo naninirahan ngayon, where we live, there is still death. But Christ also brought the new creation by rising from the dead and having a body that is imperishable. And He also brought the new creation into us that when we die, we will also rise from the dead just like Him and we will also have imperishable bodies. Yes, we are all waiting for Christ to return to finally complete this recreation. He’s basically recreating. And it is true that we’re waiting for it, but that’s not false language in 2 Corinthians chapter 5:17. Again, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, ngayon ito, a new creation. The old has passed away behold the new has come. This means that the recreation has started. Christ is already populating this world with people who would desire holiness over sin, people who would mortify their sins. So it’s like we’re living in two creations: we’re still living in the old creation because there’s still sin and death, they still exist, but at the same time, if you are in Christ, a new creation has come, and if you are in Christ, you are part of that new creation.
Now if you are not in Christ, yes you are a creation of God. But to be specific, an old creation. It is only in Christ where we can see the realties of the new creation. And so repent now of your sins and come to faith and be part of the new creation that Christ is ushering in this world. But if you’re in Christ, you have been made anew. If you are in Christ, you are again living in two creations. You are still living in the old, but there’s, where there is still sin, but you’re also living in the new creation where sin is to be defeated. And since you live in both, there’s still remaining sins. That is the reason why you still have sin. You’re waiting for the consummation of all things for the recreation to finally be complete. But it has started because of Christ. There’s still sin, brethren. Our newness in life that we have now in Christ does not mean that sin is no more. But brethren, here’s the promise: while there’s remaining sin, there is no sin that reigns. The remaining sin that you have as a Christian, hindi nagre-reign iyan. Si Kristo ang nagre-reign, hindi ang sin. Ikaw ay kay Kristo na. You are now in Christ. The old has passed away.. the old has gone. You are now in Christ. You should not be identified as someone who is guilty of his sin, of her sin. You are now in Christ, and all the blessings that comes with Christ are all yours. You are justified in Christ. You are now being sanctified in Christ, waiting to be glorified in Christ; that is your identity! The old has gone. That is your promise. Even though you don’t see it, right. Even though there’s no change visibly in how you look like, you’re not yet glorified, and yet you have that promise. You know by faith, you have been made new. Yes, there’s still sin remaining, but it doesn’t reign. Christ reigns in your life, in our lives, we are in Christ. That is your hope. That is a promise that you can cling to. That is true if you are a Christian.
You know when someone is sick and the doctor tells him that he’s getting better; in fact he’s getting better. Even it seems as if his body is getting weaker, but because of what the doctor said, he is assured. There is that glimpse of hope, right. It’s like you’re swimming at nalulunod ka and you see that bright light. You have that hope you’re always going that to that light. And the doctors message of you are actually getting better, it doesn’t look like, but you are getting better . Yan yung glimpse of hope mo, kakapit ka doon. That is your anchor, that is your only hope. Same is true for us. Sin continues to weaken us, to make us weak. And no matter how it looks like, we are assured that the old has passed. We are indeed better because we have been made new. We have a new identity in Christ. And that is my challenge this afternoon for all of you: Do Not Go Back To Your Old Ways, Rather Ponder On The New Identity You Have In Christ. The Gospel is a gospel of moving forward. The gospel is a message of hope that by the power of the Holy Spirit through the work of Christ, we can indeed move forward. Don’t believe the lies that you’re stuck there.. you’re stuck. The gospel reminds you that Someone rose from the dead, Someone did the impossible. Why is it impossible to move forward and stand on your feet? It is a lie, brethren. Ponder on the reality of your new life in Christ. But remember this new life is truly manifested, it should be seen, right. I mean are we proclaiming to have a new life in Christ and yet still have that old life? Are we proclaiming that we are victors in Jesus Christ and yet we allow sin to reign in our lives? We must, in the language of Paul, put sins off. He’s using the language of clothing. Put your sins off, tanggalin mo iyan and mag-damit ka. Put the righteousness of Christ on. But we are putting sin to death because Christ has already put it to death. We are continuously putting on the righteousness of Christ because Christ has already put His righteousness on us.
You know every new year, like I said, when I began the sermon, there’s that sense of having a fresh start, right.. having a new hope. I promise to be better this coming year, I promise to commit to reading or to whatever you plan to do in the coming year. It’s like every year we commit to be more faithful. But see, the gospel tells you not to wait for the next year. The gospel tells you now, you have been changed. It happened. Because you are a new creature in Christ, therefore continue to be new in Christ. You don’t have to wait. That’s the good news that we have in Jesus Christ. A Christian does not wait, a Christian does not wait, does not need to wait for the new year. Christ already brought the new creation. You can now live in the new creation by putting to death your sins and putting on the righteousness of Christ. Don’t believe in the lie that you cannot forgive, do not believe in the lie that you cannot mortify your pride, do not believe in the lie that you’re stuck in sexual immorality or any other sins. If you are indeed in Christ, you are not defined by your past. Your identity lies on the cross.. on the cross where you can say there’s my sin and it is punished. Your identity lies on the cross.. and you can say there’s my righteousness! The righteousness of Christ given to me, gifted to me. Your identity lies on the cross of Christ where your old self is put away and at the same time, where your new self in Christ is; that is your identity. So brethren, when sin reminds you of the former guilt that you have, the cross of Christ brings you back to the reality that the new creation has come. Hindi lang siya dumating mga kapatid. This is what I want you to understand: it has come, and the new creation has been brought to each and everyone’s heart who have faith in Christ. May the word of God enrich our knowledge of Him and may it stir us to live in light of these truths.
Let us pray. Our most high God and heavenly Father, thank You Lord. Lord, truly You love us. Lord, You showed Your love for us by choosing us before the foundation of the world. And you continue Lord to love us. Lord, You have given us our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sins and You have given us your Spirit to seal us Lord to, to assure us of Your work of redemption. Lord, may we always be reminded of the new life that it has brought us. Lord, that since we have been given this new lives in Christ, we can indeed put off sin just as our Saviour has defeated sin. We can indeed put on Christ’s righteousness as He has gifted us with His righteousness. Lord, may we always be reminded also that we are.. Lord, we are new, we are… our identity lies on the cross that we have this new identity. We are not defined by our sin. In fact our sin has been punished already on the cross. Lord, may this give us strength, give us comfort and hope in our everyday lives. And Lord may we desire all the more to hunger for Christ and for His righteousness. So Lord we thank You. We praise You in His Name, amen.