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- - Isaiah 43:18–19NIV2011
New Year New Heart
Ezekiel 36:26–27
Happy New Year!
There is something about a new year
We wish people a Happy New Year
Every new year comes with fresh hopes.
This will be the best year yet.
We make resolutions.
We set goals.
We promise ourselves, “This year will be different.”
A new diet
New habits
New priorities
A new focus
There is overwhelming evidence
Most of us have lived long enough to know this truth:
A new calendar does not automatically produce a new person.
The problem isn’t the year.
The problem isn’t effort.
The problem isn’t information.
The Problem is the Heart.
Ezekiel 36:26 NLT
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
Ezekiel 36:27 NLT
And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
Here’s why this is such a powerful promise
God is not offering behavior modification
God does want a better you!
But not one you can get from the latest self-help guru.
God is offering a transformed heart.
Ezekiel is speaking to Israel in exile.
They had failed God repeatedly (stony, stubborn heart)
God resists the proud
Yet God is speaking hope
This is God’s grace
God Promises a New Heart (v. 26)
“I will give you a new heart…”
Not a repaired heart.
Not a better heart.
Not a more disciplined heart
Not one with more willpower.
But a new heart
A heart that is transformed by the gospel
A renewed heart
A renewed mind
Romans 12:2 ESV
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The Problem: A Heart of Stone
“I will take out your stony, stubborn heart”
A stone heart is…
Hard toward God
Unresponsive to truth
Resistant to conviction
Comfortable with sin
You can hear truth and feel nothing.
You can worship and feel unmoved.
You can know what’s right and still not desire it.
The Promise: A Heart of Flesh
This new heart will be restored to God.
It will be cleansed of sin.
The Holy Spirit will come and dwell in your new heart.
There will be a renewed relationship to God.
This new heart will see sin for what sin is.
This change takes place on the inside.
God Provides a New Spirit (v. 26)
“I will put my spirit in you”
Lowercase “s” spirit (our spirit)
God doesn’t just change what we feel
He changes who we are.
A new heart and spirit are not self-improvement
It is spiritual resurrection
You don’t need a better version of yourself
You need a new you — and only God can give that.
God Places His Spirit Within Us (v. 27)
“I will put my Spirit in you”
This is God’s Holy Spirit
This happens at salvation
But that spirit can become neglected.
Our hearts can drift towards hardness
God’s Holy Spirit is always there.
A transformation must take place
God does not merely forgive you.
God does not merely clean you up.
God comes to live within you.
How to fix it.
These five things happen to us.
Distraction (the cares of the world)
Doubt
Disappointment
Discouragement
Destruction
The 5 D’s of the devil
Change begins with…
An act of grace
An act of faith
Faith is surrender (here am I send me)
God calls, God provides
As we step into a new year, here’s the question that matters most:
Am I asking God to help me try harder…
Or to change me deeper?
God specializes in heart transplants.
If you’ll come to Him
If you’ll surrender
If you’ll trust Him
- - Ezekiel 36:26NIV2011
- - Ezekiel 36:27NIV2011
- - Romans 12:2NIV2011

Isaiah 43:18–19NIV2011

Happy New Year!

The Problem is the Heart.

God Promises a New Heart (v. 26)

But a new heart

The Problem: A Heart of Stone

The Promise: A Heart of Flesh

God Provides a New Spirit (v. 26)

God Places His Spirit Within Us (v. 27)

How to fix it.

Change begins with…

An act of grace

An act of faith

God calls, God provides

Ezekiel 36:26NIV2011

Ezekiel 36:27NIV2011

Romans 12:2NIV2011