"A New You"
Pastor Chang Kim
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Introduction: As we enter the new year, a question that has been on my mind and I would like for ourselves to ask the same question to ourselves.
Did I make the most of 2025?
Paul gives us great words of hope. What we can look forward to in making the most of 2026 is to know we are “in Christ.”
As we live in a secular and selfish society, where me is prevalent, Paul says there is hope to make the most of 2026.
Let Go of the Old verse 17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away
1. Old Traditions
When you look through the Old Testament and especially the book of Leviticus, you will read many things about sacrifices. These sacrifices needed to be done exactly the right way.
The Pharisees in the New Testament took these traditions to greater extremes. Instead of keeping the law as it is, they added to the law and made it more difficult and burdensome for people to try to worship and praise God.
Hebrews 10:14 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
2. Old Righteousness
Romans 3:10 “None is righteous, no, not one.
Isaiah 64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. In other translations it says of our righteous acts, that they are like filthy rags.
In 2026, let us let go of our old habits. Not to do things to obtain our own righteousness, but to please God and believe in Jesus who alone is our righteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:21 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2. Receive the New verse 17
17 behold, the new has come.
God as He is reaching down to us, offering us a new name, a new life, a new hope, and a new home. All these things can be found in Christ, our righteous one, by receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
One of the greatest misunderstandings about being a believer is that we have to be perfect, that we can’t make mistakes, we can’t have faults. We fall into the trap of perfection.
2 Samuel 12:13 “I have sinned against the Lord.”
David knew what he had done and repented of his sin.
Adrian Rogers, a pastor who passed away back in 2005 said it this way: If you are saved, you will have a desire to be Holy, a hunger for the Word, the inner witness of the Spirit, and a desire to share Jesus. These are the birthmarks of a believer.
Questions we need to ask ourselves as we start this new year is this:
1. Have we surrendered to God?
2. Do we depend on Him?
3. What is our passion?
English actor Macready. An eminent preacher once said to him: "I wish you would explain to me something." "Well, what is it? I don’t know that I can explain anything to a preacher."
"What is the reason for the difference between you and me? You are appearing before crowds night after night with fiction, and the crowds come wherever you go. I am preaching the essential and unchangeable truth, and I am not getting any crowd at all."
Macready’s answer was this: "This is quite simple. I can tell you the difference between us. I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction."
What would people say of our faith in Jesus? Truth or fiction?
Conclusion: Let go of the past, receive the new. Reaching up to hold the Hands of God to be our sustainer, our provider, our Sovereign Lord.