Easter Conference 1979-03 New Creation — Aldy Fam Fanous

And Christ is risen and I answered them and said, welcome to you, thank you so much, Christ is risen indeed. Praise the Lord, friends, I'm delighted to be with you. It's a joy and a privilege to be among God's people and there is no difference at all.

We praise God, there is no barrier among God's people. My only regret tonight, if I have any, is the fact that my wife has not been able to come with me. We have a 16 year old son and somebody has to keep the force with him.

My other regret is that I'm not able to speak to you in my own tongue, in the Arabic language. Although, believe me, it is a very easy language. It is very easy little children in English to speak Arabic.

And I just would like to quote one verse in Arabic to you, to give you a touch of how it sounds. But be careful, you have to repeat it after me. John 3 .16 لأنه هكذا أحب الله العالم حتى بذل ابنه الوحيد لكي لا يهلك كل من يؤمن به بل تكون له الحياة الأبدية John 3 .16 in the language of angels.

Don't ask me which kind. Well, they say Shakespeare was an Arab. His name was Sheikh or Sheikh Fear. And he went to England and mastered the Arabic English language. So, it just gives you an idea how easy the Arabic language can be.

Well, it is a language spoken by 125 million people in the Middle East. And as I said to the young people tonight, each one of them without exception is loved by God. For God so loves the world. And the Middle East is part of the world.

Christ's Resurrection and the New Creation

We have been thinking especially today of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He rose again from the dead. I have no dead Christ. I have a living Christ. As I said to the young people, I have no religion.

Christianity is not a dead religion. Christianity is a living Christ. And there is a vast world of difference between religion and Christianity. Religion is man's search after God. Christianity is God's search after man.

The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. And if there is any message on Easter Sunday, it is this. Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen. Christ is risen to give you life.

He was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And in the portion of Scripture read to us tonight, look at verse 17, please. Therefore, because Christ is risen, because He's not in the grave or the tomb anymore, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. It is not religion, therefore. It is a new creation. You want to be acceptable to God. You must be born again. In Egypt, when the children of Israel were there, the firstborn had to die unless he was redeemed.

It's either the firstborn or a new birth. Redemption through the shed blood sprinkled on the upper post and the two lintels. Or rather, two posts and the upper lintel. We praise God for Him who was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Creation as a Pattern for Spiritual Renewal

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. You might ask me, how do I become a new creation? What does it take to become a new creation? What must I do to become a new creation? I want to take you to God's order in creation.

God follows a special order in His creation. Share with me, please, to a great, great chapter. Genesis, chapter one. How did God create this world? And there you see also the steps in the new creation.

Because the creation of grace is much more important than the creation of the old world. To give you an idea, please, there is a chorus we sing especially at Christmas time. Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given.

And the government shall be upon his, what? Shoulders. How many shoulders? One. In the singular number. The government shall be upon his shoulders. What government? The government of the whole material world.

All this world. All this universe. On one shoulder. But when the good shepherd finds the lost sheep, where does he carry him? On his shoulders. In the plural sense, please. In the plural form. What does the Holy Spirit want to say to us?

One soul in the sight of God is worth much more than the whole material universe. That's why Christ came to this world. To seek and to save that which was lost. Isn't this a thought expressed in our Lord's words?

What shall profit a man if he gains a whole world and lose his own soul? How to become, therefore, a new creation? Turn with me to Genesis chapter one, please. What was the thing that God created on the first day?

Light, Salvation, and the Entrance into Righteousness

Look at verse three. And God said, Let there be light. And there was light. Let there be light. And there was light. Up till very recently, there were three fundamental concepts in all mathematical operations.

The length, the breadth, and the height. Until Einstein came and said, No. There was a fourth dimension, which is the basic, essential, very important, and that was the speed of light. I'm no mathematician.

Don't be misled. But he said the speed of light. And he formulated a theory. E equals mc squared. E, energy. M is mass. C is the speed of light. Light is very important. Oh, I wish I had time to go into the details of the importance of light.

And in the spiritual sense also, friends, it is light that is most important. It is light that is basic. Because by nature, you and I are darkness before God. And we become light when we accept him who is the light of the world.

I am the light of the world. He that has commanded light to shine out of darkness. He shines in your heart and my heart to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, my Lord. What is the cry of all the ages?

In America, in the East, in the West, in the North, in the South, among the educated, among the not so educated. What is the cry of the world? Turn please to Psalm 118, and let us read just two verses.

That is Psalm 118. We are going to read only two verses. Verse 19 is the cry of all the ages. Everywhere, open to me the gates of righteousness. I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord. He is a man who is seeking.

He wants gates of righteousness. Going to church, prayer, giving alms to the poor, fasting. All these are man-made gates. And man thinks he can get into righteousness through these gates. What is God's answer to this?

Verse 20 please. This gate, not in the plural sense, but in the singular number. This gate of the Lord's righteousness will go into him. This gate. There is no gate, friends. There are no gates for righteousness.

There is one gate only. And this gate is the Lord Jesus Christ's entrance. I am the door. By me, if any man enters, he shall be saved. He shall go out, and come in, and find pasture. Have you entered by this gate?

Jesus Christ, my Lord. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Have you accepted him? Have you come to him? Have you entered by the door, by the gate? There is only one gate, one door.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. And Christ had to die for you to live. Christ had to go to the cross of Calvary that you and I might have life. And praise God, he is not in the tomb today. He arose.

We have been a number of times to the Holy Land. As a matter of fact, when we were in Beirut, we lived within driving distance. Only 350 kilometers. That is what? Hardly 225 miles. And how many times we have been there?

One of the best places. Oh, I would love to be there again. It's the garden, too. Those of you who have been to the place, know the place very well. And every single time, without exception, we went to that place.

We went inside the tomb, and sang, Up from the grave he arose, With a mighty triumph over his foes, He arose a victor from the dark domain, And he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose. He arose.

Hallelujah! Christ arose. Praise God for the way of salvation, the open door for Christ. He is the way, the door, the only way. Secondly, what did God create on the second day? Look at verse 6, please.

Separation and the Christian Life

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, And let it divide the waters from the waters. God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, And it was so.

God called the firmament heaven, and the evening and the morning were the second day. The elegant word for firmament simply means expanse. On the second day, God created the expanse, the atmosphere. Such expanse that it's not a blue sheet, the firmament.

It's the expanse. God created the expanse on the second day. And what was the most outstanding characteristic of this expanse? Of course, the atmosphere is very essential for light. No light can be diffused without the atmosphere.

You cannot smell if the atmosphere was there or not there. You cannot hear if the atmosphere was not there. You cannot see. As a matter of fact, there are so many important uses for the atmosphere. But, what was the most outstanding characteristic that God mentions here for the atmosphere?

Let it divide. Let it divide the waters above from the waters below. The waters below we know. In the lake, in the sea, and the river, and the ocean, and the waters above, are those billions and billions of tons of water sailing in the sky in the form of clouds.

The atmosphere divides. In other words, on the second day, God created this separation. And this is an essential step in the life of a Christian. We hear a lot about salvation by grace, and we praise God for so it is.

By grace are ye saved through faith. And that thought of yourself is a gift of God, not of words that any man should boast. But, we need to hear more about a separated life, a life of separation. Young people, old people, brothers and sisters, everyone, you are saved to live a separate life unto Christ.

I know the call and the thought of the world, which can be very great indeed, but greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. I am calm that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

It is this more abundant life that is the message of Easter Sunday. He arose a victor from the dark remains. Are you a victor in Christ, or a victim? You have to decide. To me, to live is Christ. Christ lives in me.

This is the message of Easter Sunday morning. Oh, young people, are you living a defeated life? Turn with me, please, to a chapter that I want to point on. First of all, let me tell you something. In the old economy, the first born in the family enjoyed three very important privileges.

A. He had the double portion of the inheritance. B. He was the priest of the tribe, or the mediator between God and the tribe. C. He was the leader, the judge, if you please, the president of the republic, if you please, the king, if you please.

Three very important privileges. A double portion of the inheritance. The priest of the family, the judge of the leader of the family. All right. Turn to 1 Chronicles 5, please. At 1 Chronicles 5. We're going through a tragedy there.

Look at verse 1, please. 1 Chronicles 5, verse 1. Now, the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, for he was the firstborn, but forasmuch as he defied his father's bid, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel.

And the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. This man was the firstborn of Israel. Reuben was. But, for the sin, for the transient pleasure of one moment, he lost the two portions to the sons of Joseph.

He lost the priesthood to Levi. He lost the leadership to Judah. He lost all. Lost stock and barrel. Why? Because he didn't know the principle of separation. He was evicted. He was overcome. What kind of a life are you living tonight?

What kind of a life are you living today? Could you say to me to live it thrice? Antony is gay. Don't fool with sin, my friend. Don't fool with compromise, my friend. The way of compromise is a one-road, one-way road, and it leads to a precipice, and there's no turning back.

On the second day, God created separation, division. Come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord. This is God's order for you. This is God's order for me. Turn, please, with me to 2 Corinthians, chapter 4.

The fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians. For God, verse 6, please. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to see, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

And you can do that as you live a life of separation unto God. Praise the Lord for this glorious fact that you and I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I don't have time to go through all the days of creation, but let me go very briefly.

Fruitfulness, Holiness, and the Spirit's Fruit

Look, please, at verse 9. What did God create on the third day of creation? God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called the heat seas.

And God saw it was good. God said, Let the earth bring forth grass. The earth yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth. And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and the earth yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself after his kind.

And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. What did God create on the third day? Fruit. And this is inevitable. When you have seen the light of Christ, when you have become light in Christ, and when you live a separated life unto Christ, you will bring forth fruit to the glory of God.

The tragedy is we want to bring the fruit before the salvation, and it's not acceptable to God. And that person who is not living a separated life unto Christ, he cannot bring fruit that will please God.

In the Old Testament there were clean and unclean animals. Clean and unclean animals. What was the clean animal and the unclean? The animal that had a cloven lip and a cloven hoof, or cleft lip and cleft hoof was clean.

Like a sheep for instance. Sheep had a cleft upper lip. Have you seen a sheep? If you haven't, try to see one. And examine him. Or examine it. Like the upper lip is cleft. Cleft. Cloven. And the hoof is too.

That was a clean animal. But take the rabbit for instance. He had an upper lip which is cleft all right, but not a split hoof. Therefore unclean. What does the Holy Spirit want to teach us? There are people who talk and don't walk according to their talk.

They are not clean before the Lord. Not clean before the Lord. The fruit is not acceptable to God. Life is not separated. They don't know there is principle of separation. Come out from among them and be separate to the Lord, and I will accept you.

Yes. Yes indeed. The third step to the glory of God in the life of the Christian is bringing fruit to the glory of God. And we have a number of fruits. You read Galatians chapter 5 and read the fruit of the Spirit.

And what is the first fruit of the Spirit? Love. Love. Oh yes, I love my friends. I love brother so-and-so and sister so-and-so. But do you love all the brethren? Has Christ loved us? I know sometimes we rub shoulders or rub noses and things are not easy to love.

Things are not easy to love someone who is not just loving. But listen. We love the brethren. We love all. Christ loved the church when the church was not to be loved because they all left Him and ran away.

But His love does not change. And then I should proceed on to more days. On the fourth day God created something. Please turn with me to verse 14. God said let there be light in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years.

Witness and Growth in the Christian Life

In other words, God created witness. It would be for signs and witness to the glory of God. And you and I should be witnesses. Ye shall be my witnesses. Not bear witness of me. Living witnesses. The Lord did not say ye shall bear witness of me.

Ye shall be my witnesses. Witnesses unto me. Your life shall witness. Your words shall witness. Your message shall witness. Ye shall be witnesses everywhere. Where? In Jerusalem. In Judea there is growth.

In Samaria there is growth still. To the uppermost part of the world, of the earth. Yes, you bear the witness to the saving grace and the keeping power of Jesus Christ our Lord. Let me go on to further days.

On the fifth day God created movement. Verses 20 to 25. But let me skip very quickly because my time is running short. In the sixth day what did God create on the sixth day? Look at verse 26 please. Genesis chapter 1 and verse 26.

The Image of God and Restoration Through Christ

God said let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea over the fowl of the air over the cattle over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image in the image of God created him male and female created he then. Here we see that God created man but three times in two verses he mentions a statement as much as to say pay attention look here in his own image.

Now you and I have heard many interpretations about how can man be in the image of God. May I suggest another one? What does it mean to be created in God's own image? Say for instance I have a mirror here in my hand and I look at this mirror what do I see?

I see my image. It looks exactly like me. That's not saying very much but it looks exactly like me. The hair style is the same the color is the same the features are the same everything is the same it is just a perfect image.

Perfect in the sense that it is exact. Alright. But what is the most outstanding characteristic of this image? You know what? It's obedience. If I smile it smiles. If I frown it frowns. It does not frown when I smile or smile unless there is something wrong.

But it exactly obeys the person. The most outstanding characteristic about the image is obedience to the person. And this is exactly what God intended man to be obedient to God mirroring back his image and man telling the very same thing he was created for.

He disobeys. And because of the disobedience of one man all were made sinners all were made disobedient. And unfortunately we lost the image of the creator. We lost his image. We are not mirroring back his image.

You pick up a magazine today or a newspaper and read about who killed who and who did that and who did that. That's not the image of God. We are not mirroring back the image of God. But did God leave us there?

Praise the Lord, no. Something was done. Some provision was made. For Christ, the second Adam obeyed was obedient unto death. Even the death of the cross. He is the express image of God. He is the express image of the Father.

And he was obedient unto death. Even the death of the cross. To restore back unto us the image of God. We praise God as we fellowship with him day by day. As we go day by day and fellowship with him we are transformed.

We are changed from glory to glory into the image of God himself. As we fellowship with him day by day. Yes, friends, and we praise God the day is soon coming when as we are born the image of the earth we shall bear also the image of the heavenly to the completed, finished work of Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Rest, Fellowship, and Christ's Lordship

I praise God for that triumph. It is finished. It is finished. What was finished? All the prophecies were finished in him? Completed in him? Yes, praise God. What was finished? Man's treason and man's evil and man's mischief?

Yes, I know, I know. But what was finished? The work of redemption was finished. And today to you is presented a complete finished work in Christ. What happened on the seventh day, friends? What happened on the seventh day?

God rested on the seventh day.

And this is inevitable too. When there is light in the Lord when there is separation in your life when there is fruit of the glory of God when there is movement and growth when there is this and that and when you are able to mirror back the image of God why, you will find rest.

You will enjoy the rest which remains for the people of God. Why is it that there is no power today in the life of many? Why is it there is no rest today in the life of many? Simply because there is not that constant unbroken fellowship with God.

I said to the young people tonight if I, as a man from a different culture if I am asked to summarize the life of the U .S. in U .S .A. in one word I would say hurry. And if I am asked to summarize it in two words I would say hurry, hurry.

That's life here. That's life in the U .S .A. Hurry, hurry and wait. That's right. You've got a wonderful system of highways but you have to be quick to read the signs because if you don't you've had it.

And I have had it many times. Yes. Quick, hurry, hurry no time. Seven o 'clock there. Five after seven there. Ten after seven there. How much time do you spend with the Lord? How much time do you spend in fellowship with the Lord?

This is the most important thing in life. Mary learned a lesson and sat at Jesus' feet and she chose that path which can never be taken away from her. Praise God. And the same principle holds true today.

Holds true today. You want rest. You want peace. Let me say something. I'm not a mind reader. I'm not a prophet. But I can say from my experience there isn't one single person here tonight who has not some kind of a difficulty of some description or another.

Right? That's true. We all agree on the fact that we agree in this. We have our difficulties. We have our troubles. Where should we go? Where should we go to the feet of Jesus Christ my Lord? There is peace.

There is rest. There is peace and rest. And friend, He is worthy of it. Come unto me. Come unto me. You don't belong to yourself. I belong to Him. I don't belong to myself. I'm bought with a price and the price is the precious blood of Jesus Christ my Lord.

Therefore I belong to Him. I must come to Him always at all times because I have no peace but in Him. There is a verse. It has been a great blessing and a great stand-by to me in all my life. Turn with me please to it in John chapter 12.

Abiding Fellowship and the Lord's Supper

John chapter 12. You know what happened in chapter 11? Lazarus was raised from the dead and the sisters Martha and Mary were jubilant. And I'm sure Lazarus was happy too. And in recognition of what Christ had done to them and to Lazarus we read in verse 2.

Verse 1. Verse 2. Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany where Lazarus was which had been dead whom He raised from the dead. There where at Bethany they made him a supper and Martha served but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.

Most unusual verse. Most unusual. Read it again please. See how unusual it is. There they made him a supper and Martha served but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Whose house was it?

Lazarus' house. So Lazarus was the host and Jesus Christ our Lord was the guest. What does it say? It doesn't say that Jesus was one of them that sat at the table with Lazarus. It says quite the contrary.

It says Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with Jesus. As much as to say Lazarus was the guest in Lazarus' house and Jesus was the host in Lazarus' house. And this is exactly what should the case be in your life and my life.

He is all in all. He owns me. He owns you. You are his by creation, by purchase, by indwelling. You are his three times. You are his always. Is he in possession of his inheritance in the same? Isn't this the same principle the Lord expressed in Revelation 3 .20?

Behold I stand at the door of knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and sup with him. You watch the rest of the verse. And he with me. Right. He comes in and I sup with him.

He comes in and becomes Lord. He is not only Savior. He is Lord. He is Lord. Is he Lord of your life? Come to him. There is your rest. There is your peace. There is your success. There is your prosperity.

The only safe place for me as a child of God is in the center of God's will for me. Step out of the God's will for you, and you're in for trouble. No rest. No peace. Your rest, your peace is only in the center of God's will for you.

Restoration, Confession, and Fellowship with God

I will remember very well indeed and experience a new thousand this personal experience. Some time ago I fell from a bus and broke my elbow. And not only broke it, it was out of joint too. And it was very, very painful.

I went to the hospital and if you please, the doctor put it back without the use of anesthesia. And I couldn't cry because there were two nurses standing by. Crying. And I thought below my dignity, crying.

Well, it's a very painful experience. And this is exactly the same thought expressed in Galatians 6 .1. Brethren, any man is taken innocent, ye who are spiritual restore. And the word restore in Arabic is put right in the medical sense as if a broken or a dislocated elbow, dislocated shoulder put back in place.

A dislocated member of the body is a source of pain to the whole body. And a person, a brother or a sister after the will of God in the assembly is a source of trouble to the whole assembly. And there's no peace to him or to her or to the whole group until he's brought back into fellowship with God.

Where are you standing tonight? Where are you standing tonight? Come to the place of fellowship with the Lord, friends. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The Call to Accept Christ and Walk Closely with God

Shall we pray? Our loving Heavenly Father, we bow before Thee now in the hush and the quietness of this hour. Speak, Lord, for Thy servant hears. Father, we pray that tonight may be the turning point in some life who has not yet accepted Thee as Savior.

We pray that this one here tonight.

May meet with the Lord Jesus Christ and accept Him as His personal Savior.

And, Father, we pray for every brother and sister tonight that this night may be a night of blessing for a deeper, closer walk with Thee. For Christ's sake we pray. Amen.