Break from the past and become what you really are. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon

Lately, I've devoted my sermons on casting the vision for our church under the premise of Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” In my vision casting, I’ve challenged us out to subject our church under the supremacy of the gospel. I’ve challenged us to embrace and to live out the explosively powerful gospel. And to do this we have to make changes. We cannot do church the way same we’ve been doing for over a decade. Because the gospel must go out beyond the boundaries of cultures, ethnicity and races, we must build our church towards multiethnic/multiracial vision. Because the gospel must go beyond maintaining and perpetuating the familiarity of biological family ties and because it must create spiritual families, we must answer to God’s call to evangelize. The reality is that we cannot subject ourselves to the supremacy of the gospel unless we as church are willing to change. And, willingness to change requires willingness to count the cost and willingness to boldly risk.

Having spent so much of time seeking God’s vision for our church, the big picture for our church, I believe it is now time for us to decide. I know that we are up against skeptical minds who cannot envision how small church like us can really survive and thrive on our own. But, I believe that 15 to 20 is more than enough to build the kind of church that is for our generation if that 15 to 20 are committed to the biblical vision for the church.

Two paths are before us, one is to become a Korean church and the other is to freshly envision the new course for CMC. Each of you must decide. I believe that some of you are better suited to serve in English ministry of Korean church. No doubt there is need for that. But, I believe that for many of you including myself and my family, we are created to be like apostle Paul to become all things to all so that by all possible means we might save some (1 Corinthians 9:22). And, to realize this, we cannot do the church the same way anymore. We need to radically step out and change in order to embrace the explosive power of the gospel. So, it is time that you decide.

Now, let me switch the gear little bit. So, far I’ve concentrated on the vision casting to help you see what God can through our church. Here is the reality check. We can envision all we want about what God can do through our church, what we can offer the world. But, unless you and I experience the gospel personally, we have nothing to offer. The vision casting for our church tells us that we can be the lighthouse that can shine the light of the gospel broadly and far. But, without first the gospel brightly shinning here at home, here inside of each of us, the light won’t shine far.

In order to shine far, our lives must brightly shine. To burn brightly, we need to break away from the past and become what you really are. There are things from the past, unless we put them to death, they become hindrances, major stumbling blocks to embrace God’s vision for our lives.

Perhaps, I can use another analogy… Before we can invite people to enjoy our home, we got to do spring cleaning to do. We got to break away from the past and become what we really are.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "Do you know not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." 

• The past…

Let’s read the list again: the sexually immoral (sex before marriage), adulterers (sex outside of marriage), male prostitutes (sex for money), homosexual offenders, idolaters (worshiping anything other than God), thieves, greedy, drunkards, slanderers (badmouthing others falsely), swindlers (cheaters)… Paul said these are what some of the Corinthians were. Before the gospel came to them, before they became Christians, they were defined by how they perpetually behaved. Their sexual promiscuity defined them sexually immoral, adulterers. Their love of money defined them thieves and greedy. Their lack of self-control defined them drunkards. Their words of hatred defined them slanderers while their selfish behaviors defined them cheaters.

Here is a little background about the Roman and Greek culture of their time; these out of control behaviors of sexual promiscuity, selfishness, hatred, and drunkenness and idolatry were tolerated and practiced readily. Another word, the bar of standard was set pretty low. Living in the morally comprised environment, many of the Corinthians were defined by these behaviors. They were enslaved by these behaviors.

• Break from the past.

But, once the gospel infiltrated their lives, they were no longer under the power of these behaviors. Once the gospel shined their hearts, they were now given power to break away from what once consumed them, behaviors marked by self-serving, self-indulgent and self-destructive attitude. Once the gospel infiltrated their cords, they had to reject their society’s low standards of morality. The bar was no longer set by what their peers tolerated and practiced. The bar was set by the holiness of God. So, Paul called for the break from the past. What mastered you yesterday, what you were enslaved by yesterday no longer holds power over you today when you stand in Christ. That’s the message of the gospel. In Christ, you can break from the past.

Not only can you break from the past, but more than that, you can

• Become what you really are.

As a Christian do you know who you really are? Are you becoming what you really are, one who is washed, sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God?

You are justified. This speaks to what you really are your true identity. To be justified means you are declared righteous. When Satan, the accuser tries to define you by the past behaviors, you have to remember that he no longer has power to call you anything. Satan has no power to define you anymore. It is now Jesus Christ who defines your identity. Every day when you rise, every night when you go to bed, every moment between them, Satan’s going to hunt you down in order to pull you back to your past, yesterday’s sins, yesterday’s wickedness. So, today, you must actively recall in your mind what you really are. You are not a wicked person. No you are a righteous person in Christ. That’s who you are, righteous person.

You are sanctified. This speaks to becoming what you really are. Since in Christ, you are not a wicked person, you don’t do wicked things. Since in Christ you are now a righteous person, it means you become righteous person by doing what’s right.

You are washed. This speaks to the spiritual reality of baptism. To be baptized in Christ Jesus is to identify with his death and his resurrection. This is what it means to identify with Christ’s death. You are dead to sin. Meaning, you no longer respond to sins. When sins walk into your life, what they are should find is that they walk into a morgue only to find a dead body on a stretcher. That’s what it means to be dead to sin, to identify with Christ in his death.
To identify with Christ’s resurrection means, you are alive to righteous. You are rewired now in such way that you respond to righteousness.

Breaking from the crippling past, breaking from the sin infested identity, breaking from the power of sins and becoming what you really are in Christ is what the gospel is all about.

While I challenge you to envision new way of doing church, you must also envision new way of doing life. We must not live by the past. God paved the way for you to break from the past, from sins, from addictions. God pave the way for you to become what you really are. Do you believe it? Do you believe that in Christ you can be dead to sinful impulses and behaviors? Do you believe that in Christ you can be alive and responsive to godly impulses and behaviors? Do you believe?