Changed

TITLE: Changed
DATE: January 13, 2019
TEXT: 2 Corinthians 5:17   -  (ESV) - 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[a] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
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Most of you have seen the movie Titanic.  

If you have not seen the blockbuster movie Titanic, then you most certainly will have seen some television specials about that sunken, unsinkable ship. In both the movie, and the specials, it’s pretty obvious no expense is spared telling the story of the ship and her passengers. In the movie the carpets matched those of the ship, the woodworkings and plates are all accurate.

But the Director forgot to tell the spiritual side of the sinking.

What? You never thought of the spiritual side of the sinking? I am not surprised. Nobody ever mentions the spiritual side. About the only story which ever gets told is that of the musicians on the deck playing, “Nearer My God To Thee.”

But there is more. That “spiritual more” is told in the lists of the survivors. Let me tell you what I mean:
You know that Scripture declares anyone who is in Jesus is a new person. The old is gone; the new has come.

That was certainly the case with the folks on the Titanic. Consider, one after another, time after time, men, Christian men, motivated by the love which Jesus had shown them, looked at their wives and said, "I love you" and put them into a lifeboat. They were fully aware that they would never see them again. Not in this life.

Paul’s words, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself” were not just words.

They were a mandate, a call to action.

One after another, time after time, fathers, Christian men, motivated by the love of Jesus, patted their children's heads in blessing and with a prayer, placed them into a boat to be rescued.

What does that mean in practical terms?

It means this: on the Titanic, nine women were saved for every man. And without Jesus? In 1996, a boat carrying thousands of passengers sank off the shores of Indonesia. Like the Titanic, hundreds died. Like the Titanic, there were not enough lifeboats. But without faith in Christ, without this example of care and compassion, women and children were pushed aside so the men could be spared. Christ made a difference

It is the kind of difference the kind of change which ought to be seen in every Christian.

We who have seen the Savior allow Himself to be arrested tried, beaten lied about and condemned are changed at His display of heavenly grace. WE KNOW He has given this gift of Himself so  we might be moved from damnation to salvation; from hell to heaven.

And to those who are forgiven and believe, THOSE CHANGES ARE ENOUGH. They are everything.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord,  I give thanks the Holy Spirit Who has called me to faith. May these faith-based changes in my life glorify, and point people to the Savior. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.;

The music which introduces and concludes our devotions was written by Guy Baumann, one of my long-ago confirmands. He is singing with three brothers. This song comes from the album: The Baumann Brothers which may be ordered here: http://thebaumannbrothers.com/index.html