A Changed Life (Part 1)

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0:00OK, so January 2026, it's the it's the month of new gym memberships, diet and exercise plans, resolutions. I won't ask for a show of hands, but I am kind of curious how many people in the room have got some kind of thing that they have adopted that they're trying to do. We do this. Why? Because we're we're in the new year. We're hoping for some change. Right. Maybe we see some things we want to change, improve about ourselves. Maybe we are looking outward at other people around us and hoping that they would adopt some resolutions. I don't know.

0:38New year, new possibilities. It's these are these are good things to go after. I'm I'm not I don't personally do a lot of resolutions, but I'm pro resolution. That's great. It's it's it's good to go after and seek after improvement and change. It's good to want change as long as we remember this church. Real change is possible through God. Real change is possible through God. Our willpower only goes so far. It can only change us so deeply. Real change happens in and through Christ and through God.

1:16But we should seek the newness and the change that he intends for us. So to remind us of this, we're going to do two weeks this Sunday, next Sunday in John nine. So just a little two week thing here. It's an account of somebody who meets Jesus, an account of a changed life. So that's the two weeks today and next week. John nine, part one and part two, a changed life. We've spent time in Paul's letters recently in the Psalms, before that, Hebrews, Ezekiel's prophecies.

1:53I wanted to start the new year with with with with a little bit of time in the gospel narratives. The the narratives in the Bible, they teach us through character, through action, through dialogue. It's just a different way of learning from the scriptures, a different way for God to teach us. As we start this new year, this chapter gives us a picture of what a changed life looks like. And how it happens. So turn with me to John nine. It's in your bulletin.

2:28It'll be behind me on the screens. It's the third book of the New Testament or the fourth book of the New Testament. Sing the song or something. Um, let's attend diligently to the word of God. It is the very word of God. It is not man's words about God. It is God's word to men and women, to young and old. So let's all pay attention to it and receive it with diligence and attention and with great faith and hope. Because God wants to help us. It's good news.

3:04John nine, one through 17. As he, Jesus, passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind? Jesus answered, it was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

3:45Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent. So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, is this not the man who used to sit and beg? Some said, it is he. Others said, no, but he is like him. He kept saying, I am the man. So they said to him, then how were your eyes opened?

4:24He answered, the man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, go to Siloam and washed. So I went and washed and received my sight. They said to him, where is he? He said, I do not know. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, he put mud on my eyes and I washed and I see.

5:03Some of the Pharisees said, this man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath. But others said, how can a man who is a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, what do you say about him? Since he has opened your eyes. He said, he is a prophet.

5:28Pray with me. Lord Jesus, you speak to us by your word. You change us by your word. Thank you that you do this ministry in us, Lord. We cannot really change ourselves, but you can and you do change us. It's your will to bring people in darkness out into the light, to make blind people see. So, Lord, do that work in us. Help us to see ourselves more clearly, to see you more clearly, to run after you with purpose, conviction, faith. Lord, do this work for our good and for your glory.

6:10In your name we pray. A Changed Life, Part 1. In the light of Christ, we see ourselves differently. So, I miss the days when TV shows had theme songs. I grew up, those were the days. The great theme songs, TV shows. Cartoons had theme songs. Saturday morning shows had theme songs. Thursday night. I forget what they called that when it was like Family Matters and all those shows came on back-to-back on Friday. TGIF. TGIF. All those shows had theme songs.

6:56I especially miss the theme songs that gave the whole backstory. The whole premise of the show was in the theme song. In just like 45 or 90 seconds, you had a fun little ditty you could sing along with that gave you the whole backstory of the show. If you tuned in for the first time, you could figure out what's going on with these characters. Just by listening to the theme song. If you're around my age, plus or minus 10 years, you can recite one of the great theme songs.

7:25The theme song to, of course, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. This is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down. That's John 9. That John 9 is a story all about how this guy's life got flipped, turned upside down. John 9 is the theme song. Now, we don't really know much about this guy's life from this point forward. We just get the theme song. But that's what this chapter is. It's an account of how his life got completely changed.

8:02And what happened immediately after that? Jesus came into town and this guy's whole life changed. Everything about it. Next week, we're going to look at the shape and the direction of new life in Christ. But for today, we're going to look at this. We're going to see how Jesus changes how we see ourselves. Jesus, in the light of Christ, we see ourselves differently. That's the theme for today. There's three parts to this. He changes how we see our story.

8:35He changes how we see our identity. And he changes how we see our role. Our story, our identity, and our role are all different in the light of Christ. So let's start with the first one. Our story in the light of Christ. Everyone has something about themselves they don't like.

8:58It might be physical characteristics, shape, size, features. It could be your temperament. Something that you struggle with. That you wish you didn't. It might be a handicap. It might be some way your body, your mind, just doesn't work the way that you know that it should. Or it might be something in your past. Something painful. Something difficult that happened to you.

9:32Whatever it is about yourself that you don't like, I think in your quiet moments, we all sometimes ask God, why? Why am I like this? Why is this a part of my story?

9:51Now that might be what a certain man was thinking almost 2,000 years ago. But then Jesus showed up into town. The man knows it's Jesus only because of what he hears. He hears the commotion, the murmuring of the crowd, people stirring, raising their voices, moving. The man had to rely on his ears because he was blind. He had been blind from birth.

10:21Jesus sees the blind man, the text tells us, but it's the disciples who speak first. Rabbi, who sinned? This man or his parents that he was born blind? I can only hope the man didn't hear them. Because ouch. What a thing to hear. What a thing to say.

10:48Their question is really insensitive, no doubt. But it actually, theologically, it's not that far off. It's insensitive, but it's theologically not that far off. The disciples are right about one thing. Disabilities, like a baby born blind, are a result of sin. That is correct. That is biblical. The problem is that their scope is too limited. To them, it's either the man or his parents that sinned, that he was born blind. Those are the only two options to the disciples.

11:28Jesus says, no, it was not that this man sinned or his parents. Those are not the correct options, Jesus says. The truth is, Adam sinned. Adam sinned. That's why this man was born blind. In God's original design, people are not born blind. Or deaf. Or crippled. Or limbless. There was no disease, no disability in God's very good creation. None of it. But when Adam disobeyed God, the curse fell on humanity and on nature. Afflictions like blindness that afflicted this man, the afflictions that some of you deal with, many of you deal with, they come because we are born into a fallen world.

12:26They are a result of sin. Now, that's the correct answer to who sinned. But Jesus doesn't answer that question. He skips over the question of how did this happen, and he skips all the way to the, because he wants to talk about a different question, he wants to talk about why did this happen. Not how, but why. He skips all the way to the big why. Jesus says this man was born blind that the works of God might be displayed in him.

13:05This is an astounding statement. It's a bombshell. The very affliction that this man had that he felt was disqualifying that made other people look down on him, cast him aside, ostracized him, that very affliction is the very place where God was going to display his power.

13:34All of those times as a child, at home with his parents, wondering about his future, what he would do, how he would make it. All the hardships he suffered when he was ignored, when he was left out, when he was mocked, when he was begging on the streets to make ends meet. All of this was leading up to the moment when Jesus walked into town and saw him.

13:59That's him, Jesus said to himself. That man will be a sign for the power of God and for who I am. Not despite of his blindness, but because of his blindness. Because he is blind. He's going to be a sign.

14:21We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. Jesus said that to his disciples, and today was the day for the work of God to be the restoration of this man. Jesus came looking for him so that God's power and his healing would be put on display so that the Savior would be revealed.

14:47Brothers and sisters, friends, do you see yourself in this man? You should. See yourself in this man. Jesus came looking for you. He came into town looking for you. Looking for the very affliction that you want to hide. And he's saying, no, no, no. That's the place I'm going to show up in your life. That's the place I'm going to show my power and my glory.

15:23The very thing that you don't like about yourself, that you hide about your story, that's the place that I'm going to intersect and I'm going to show who I am. This account should change how we see our story. Including and especially the brokenness. The problems. The struggles. Your life is a stage to display God's life-giving work. Your life is a stage to display God's life-giving work. This is a change in perspective. That we need to adopt. You know, I've been to a lot of concerts.

16:04I've left a lot of concerts. No one leaves a concert talking about the stage. Boy, wasn't that a great stage? It was big. It was wide. It was flat. It had lots of plugs on it. What do they leave talking about? The show. The people on the stage. What they did. Right? But in your thinking of you and God, who is the stage and who is the performer? Is God the stage and you're the performer?

16:40Too often we think that way. That God is a platform to elevate us. When we set aside all of the brokenness, the weakness, and we bring our best selves and we stand on that stage, that's what we think. But look at this man.

17:00God is the stage. I'm sorry. We are the stage. Totally got that backwards. We are the stage. God is the one who shows up on that stage and displays Himself. Invert your thinking. We are the stage and that means our brokenness that God comes along and works on, it's not something we have to hide anymore. That is the very place where God is going to and show off His greatness. Center stage is our weakness, our need, our brokenness. That's where He displays His best work.

17:44I've learned that in my life as a kid who grew up with a speech impediment, as a kid who parents divorced when he was in middle school, times that I had no friends, times when I alienated the friends that I did have, the weakness, the brokenness, the parts about my story that if I could push a button and make them disappear, I probably would.

18:18But God doesn't give us that button and you know why? Because that's the place where He is going to show up His greatness. So don't hide your brokenness. Bring it to Jesus and wait for Him to show off His own power and His glory. Your unique struggles are the unique setting for God's work. It might be a troubled mind, an anxious heart, some deep trauma that you suffered. Maybe it's a physical handicap or a learning disability. The broken home that you come from.

19:00The broken home that you live in. In Christ, those places where He does His work and shows up and shows and displays His great power. And it's not just the things that God heals now. I know we can read this and be like, well, that's great for that man. He was blind and now he can see. I'm still waiting on my healing. My brokenness feels very present and ongoing. Remember, Paul was given a thorn from God. Some type of affliction, we don't know exactly what it was.

19:42He asked three times for God to take it away. But listen to this from 2 Corinthians. God said to Paul, My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. That's what I'm talking about. And it wasn't healed for Paul. So it might not be healed for you right now. Still, bring those things to Him. Don't hide those things. Your brokenness, every part of your story is a place for God to show up.

20:25Your life story, it's taken twists and turns. There have been plot twists and tragedies and tears. Trust Christ, seek Him, and God is going to display His work in you. And here's the second thing, our identity. Our identity. The blind man didn't ask for help. The disciples didn't suggest helping him. Jesus takes the lead in healing. But He does it in a very strange way. He makes mud with His spit. Kind of gross.

21:01Putting the mud on the man's eyes. Telling him, go wash in the pool of Siloam. This trip would have been uncomfortable, right? Mud caked on his face. Drying, cracking. It would have been humiliating. Maybe people laughed at him as he was walking. Look at that blind guy. He must have fallen in something. All the while, he's not healed yet. He can't see yet. That's a walk of faith. We would all prefer an instantaneous, easy, quick healing. Right? Don't make us walk, Jesus, with mud on our face.

21:43But like this man, many times He asked us to walk by faith, mud on our face, trusting, waiting for His healing. This man did it and he came back and his story now takes another turn, a turn that carries us through the rest of the chapter. This man's right back where he was before, where Jesus found him. Probably very close to where he lives. But many people can't even recognize that it's him. Remember, these are people that knew him his whole life.

22:19He probably hasn't moved anywhere. Hard to move when you're blind in the ancient Near East. He's around people that have known him since he was a baby, since he was a little boy. They know what he looks like. They know his height, his weight, his features better than he does. They've seen him often. There's only so many blind men around. And yet, they ask, is this not the man who used to sit and beg? Some say yes, but others say no. No. It's just someone who looks like him.

22:53He had an identical twin that we never knew about who can see and he's walked into town. That's more plausible to them than this is actually the same guy and he's healed. The change is so dramatic, so remarkable that people think that a twin wandered into town. The man's first testimony is simple, but it's really bizarre. I am the man. And not like bragging, I'm the man. Yeah, guys, it's me. It's really me.

23:27Here's the point that I'm getting to. God's work should make us unrecognizable. God's work should make us unrecognizable. When he has his way with us, some people won't recognize us anymore.

23:45Once there was a group of friends, all Christians, hanging out together, joking around, and the joking was getting more off color, more coarse, more inappropriate. And then one guy said, hey, guys, I don't think we should be joking like this. Record scratch. All eyes turned to him. He was the last guy anyone would have expected to say that, to push back, to put a stop to what was happening. But he had been getting more serious about his faith. Jesus was at work on him, and so there he was in that moment unrecognizable to everyone else.

24:36The deepest and most profound change doesn't come through resolutions. It doesn't come through pills. It doesn't come even through a 12-step plan. It comes from the Spirit of God when we're submitted to Him. An intemperate person who always seems to overindulge becomes self-controlled. A selfish and inconsiderate person begins to put others first. An angry person is somehow able to react calmly in a situation that they used to blow up in.

25:13Church, in 2026, you've got to hear this. Nothing about who you are before Christ is able to withstand the power of God. Nothing about who you were before Christ is able to withstand the power of God in your life. Don't say something that's impossible for God. It's not. He reforms our identity. Those temptations, those habits, those scars, they don't define us anymore. He defines us. He says who we are. He changes our identity. We don't form it ourselves.

25:52He gives it to us. And our identity is a new creation in Christ. How has He changed you? Can other people tell the difference? How are you unrecognizable from who you were before Him? Or from who you would be without Him?

26:18And the most central and important change, of course, is to go from condemnation of sin to the forgiveness of God. To be cleansed and reconciled to the Lord who made you. Remember, we too are blind from birth. Ours is a spiritual blindness. Sinners who were born guilty before a holy God, we naturally oppose Him. We do our own thing and we give Him none of the worship and devotion that He deserves. but God took the initiative. Just like with this blind man, Jesus came as the light of the world to bring sinners like us out of the darkness.

27:01His death was the atoning sacrifice for our sins so that any and all who trust Him have forgiveness in His name. If you have done that, He's changed your identity. Don't go back to your old identity. Don't look at that and think I'll never change. Don't seek to form your own new identity. Receive the one that He has given you. That He is forming in you for you. You are no longer condemned but forgiven. No longer slaves but adopted children of the King.

27:35Seek no deeper and greater identity than the one that He's given you. But don't stop there. Go further. How do you want to be different this year? How do you want to get to the end of 2026 and say, I don't even recognize some things about myself from when this year started?

27:56Look to the Lord for the ongoing change in your life. You just might have someone say, you know what, you're different than you were when the year started. If you want that, if you hope for that, go to the Lord. Make your resolutions. Go to the, you know, keep your gym membership intact, keep going, but go to the Lord. All the resolutions and plans that you and the vows that you take, without the Lord, they won't come to fruition. But in the Lord, great change can happen.

28:34Here's the last one. Our role. Nikki and I and the girls took a trip to New York years ago and I learned there something that I had forgotten. When street performers ask for volunteers, think twice before you put your hand up. You're going to be part of the show if they pick you. Maybe for the whole show. So it is with God and His kingdom. If He saves you, He sends you. You can't take the healing and reject the assignment. It just doesn't work that way.

29:11If He saves you, He sends you. Jesus sent him to the pool called Siloam, which means sent. That was part of His new identity. You are a sent one. And by the way, when He goes off to wash Himself, where does Jesus go? He kind of retreats from the whole scene. Where's Jesus? Where'd you go? Nobody knows. All He has to face Him when He comes back is the inquisitive crowd. He has no choice. It's just Him. After He convinces them that it's really Him, the questioning begins to shift.

29:50But then, how were your eyes opened? A lot of people think that people back then were unscientific, they were gullible, they would believe anything. Look at them, acting a lot like a modern person, saying we want an explanation. We want to understand. We don't really believe this. Walk us through how this happened and maybe we'll believe it. Explain yourself. But He can't. Right? They're looking for a rational, natural explanation. His account won't satisfy them.

30:25In fact, it's going to make him look foolish. It sounds ridiculous, but He says it anyway. He doesn't embellish what he can't explain. He doesn't alter the facts to make it more respectable to people who really want a proof here. He doesn't add anything. He lets it stand. He doesn't disguise the fact that it was a supernatural event.

30:58He names who did it. The man named Jesus. They take him to the Pharisees, the religious leaders. They're upset. Typical. Because the healing happened on a Sabbath. We're going to get into that next week. For now, I want to point out that they asked the same question that the crowds did. How did this happen? Same question, but now it's a more intimidating crowd. These are men with power. These are men with influence. They can say who can come into the synagogue and who's barred.

31:31But the man doesn't flinch. He gives the same answer even though the stakes are higher. The same supernatural answer. When they can't decide what they think about Jesus, they ask him, what do you say about him since he opened your eyes? Another opportunity to speak. He says he is a prophet. This is a bigger claim than just the man named Jesus. Do you see how it's progressing for him? This man is under pressure and he's getting bolder with his testimony.

32:07He's owning his role in the kingdom of God. He's not shirking back from it. I don't know where is Jesus. I've got to go, guys. What a remarkable turn for this guy. Going from the sidelines, everybody looking apart from him, not wanting to get within earshot of him, to now he's front and center, talking about Jesus, to powerful men in the town. Christian, those whom God saves are sent into his work.

32:52dish that costs a dollar. I'm just going to go to the dollar store and just get another one. It just goes in the trash. When God finds broken people, he pieces us together. He repairs us, puts a new glaze on, he cleans us and he puts us right back on the dining room table. He repairs us to be used.

33:27Be prepared this year, brothers and sisters, to speak of the supernatural work of God in your life. Be prepared to speak about it. Resist the urge to somehow explain away the change in your life so that it's more respectable to the world, to people who could scoff if they hear a supernatural explanation. When somebody asks you something like why do you seem, I know things are going on in your life, but why do you seem peaceful about it? Don't say, oh I don't know, I read some books and I'm just trying to slow down, take one day at a time, remember what's important.

34:15That's what those who don't know Jesus say. Speak the truth. Jesus is at work in my life. I don't know how, but he is giving me peace in the middle of this complicated and hard situation. Speak about Jesus. Make the supernatural plain to people who are curious, to people who want to hear. The world is asking, what do you say about him? Take your stand on the supernatural work of God and speak the name of Jesus. Testify to his healing, to his work, because even when people aren't asking, they're wondering.

34:59They're wondering. Get ready for the questions and take the risk to bring him up before someone even asks. He's opened your eyes. If you have faith in him, he's opened your eyes. He's given you a future and a hope. He's given you a role in his mission. This blind man was thrust into the work of God even before he knew what Jesus looked like. That sounds like you and me. The change we need is found in the light of Christ. Trust him and see yourself in a new way.

35:42See him the way he sees you, the way he has made you.