Your actions reveal your future
A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday Evening, January 15th 2025, byEvangelist PAUL ACQUAH,Live on MZ Radio London, London UK. Your actions tell a profound story about your eternal destiny. Every choice you make, every step you take, shapes more than just your present – it echoes into eternity. This truth is powerfully captured in two key biblical principles: the certainty of judgment and the transformative power of faith. While it is appointed for all to die once, and after that judgment, our response to Christ’s message can fundamentally alter our trajectory. This isn’t merely about performing good deeds or accumulating religious credits; it’s about a deep transformation that begins with faith and manifests through our actions. Like signposts on a road, our actions point to our ultimate destination. And just as a tree is known by its fruit, our future is revealed through the choices we make today. In today’s message titled “Your actions reveal your future,” Evangelist Paul Acquah shares a powerful reminder that we have the power to choose the direction of our lives. Be blessed as you listen! There’s future judgement: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9;27). John 5:24 says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life” (John 5:24). A future time is coming when God will pour out His wrath on all the earth. 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Revelation 6:17). I hate to be in that moment where you realise everything I have lived for and worked for was worthless. Earthly life is not all there is to our existence. Man is sinful: “The heart is deceitful above all things, And [d]desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9). Even in the context of the natural world, evil invites negative consequences and disaster. In eternity, judgment on unGodliness is absolutely guaranteed. The nations were angry, and Your [h]wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth” (Revelation 11:18). It’s a different story for the believer. The believer in Christ will stand with joy before the throne of God. We participate in the joy of the Lord when we stand before him. “His Lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord” (Mathew 25:21) . We share in his joy. “Looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” ( Hebrews 12:2). Most people say, when you stand before the throne, there’s going to be terror, it’s going to be fear you’re going to be judged. But for the person who’s a believer in Christ, you are going to have joy standing before the throne. Not because you deserve it, and not because you did everything right but because Jesus totally washed away your sin. There’s no more atonement for your sin. He’s already forgiven all of your sin: past, present and future and for the believer, when we stand before the Lord there’s actually going to be joy. ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16). The gospel is good news indeed. God so really, so richly loved the world in giving his Son for the world. What an amazing grace, that the great God should love such a worthless world! He has given us Christ to receive him as our Lord and saviour. And here’s the great beauty of the gospel, that whoever believes in Christ, shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life. To believe in Jesus means to have faith in Jesus Christ that He is God (John1:1; 10:30; 14:9) and that He saves you by His crucifixion (Eph. 2:8, 9; 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 3:5). If you continue to believe that you can somehow earn your salvation, you have never been truly born again. However, when you truly place your faith in Him, you receive His gift of eternal life. (John 6:40; 17:3).Eternal life is something that all born-again believers possess.“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 16:17-20). This shows the joy of all true believers; He who believes in Him is not condemned. Though, they had been sinners, yet they aren’t dealt with according to what their sins deserve. While Jesus says that all judgment has been committed to Him (John 5:22), He assures us that He did not come to earth to judge us but to save us. What that means is that we are already forgiven. When we place our faith in Jesus, we are accepting that He has already fully and successfully taken our punishment upon Himself. Think about that: Standing before God almighty and all of the wrong, stupid, evil things that we’ve done, we’re still going to be
What does the future hold for you?
A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday Evening, January 8th 2025, byEvangelist PAUL ACQUAH,Live on MZ Radio London, London UK. Have you ever stood at the edge of a new chapter in your life, wondering what lies ahead? Perhaps you’re there right now – facing decisions that could reshape your tomorrow, carrying dreams that seem just beyond your reach, or wrestling with uncertainties that keep you awake at night. In a world filled with change and unpredictability, how do we find the courage to move forward? Where can we place our hope when the road ahead seems unclear? Today, we’re diving into the timeless promises of God – truths that remind us that the One who holds the future is also holding us. Through Scripture, we’ll uncover how faith in God’s plan and His word will bring peace to our present and confidence in what’s to come. Let’s join Evangelist Paul Acquah as he shares on the sermon titled “What does the future hold for you”. Be blessed as you listen! Do you have security about your job, your future and your finances? All of us have uncertainties in our lives. A person goes to work, and they say, “You know, we don’t need you anymore”. Jobs are uncertain. Health is uncertain. Relationships are uncertain. Families are uncertain. Everywhere you turn, everywhere you look, you look around and you ask yourself the question: What is security? What is certain? What is for sure anymore? But let me assure you that in all these uncertainties, your future can be brighter than you think. God has given every one of us a great future but we need to accept that good future he has for us. God looks at your future, so take him seriously. What does God say about your future? “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV). The KJV translation says it this way: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (KJV) When the time has come for Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension to heaven, he comforted his disciples with the following statements: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many [a]mansions; if it were not so, [b]I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:1-6) Do you know where you are going? Do you know what the future holds for you? Are you a believer in Christ Jesus? God says He will lead you to an expected end. Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also”. When you understand what you possess, and where you’re going, you have a supernatural spiritual perspective over everything that’s happening in your life. All of a sudden you realise that it doesn’t matter what’s going on, I know what the future holds for me, I know where I’m going, and this is really, really important. As you see things get darker in the world, you can begin to be afraid of what’s going to happen even as a believer in Christ because yes, you know where you are going in the end, but there’s a lot of junk in between now and then, for people to get to a place where Jesus comes back and get us. When again you know what you possess, who you belong to and where you’re going, it starts to remove the fear of how things are going to get darker and darker. I’m no longer of this world and so as I’m in this world right now, I see the lost and they’re imploding on themselves and it will only get worse. But at the same time because it’s getting worse that means you and I standing up for the truth is even more profound, is even brighter, and is more contagious than ever before. That’s when you let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Let this shape our thoughts, emotions, and actions and impact the way we live our lives. We can then gain new insights and find divine solutions to life’s challenges. When you know where you’re going, then it doesn’t matter if you get persecuted, it doesn’t even matter if you get killed for your faith. I know this seems heavy to hear but sorry it doesn’t matter if you get murdered for your faith. This is where you are in a position where you realise that it doesn’t matter what the enemy tries to do, it doesn’t matter what people say about me, it doesn’t matter if somebody is trying to ruin your reputation or even take your business or trying to undermine your family or your marriage. You fight for those things, you fight with the word of God, but at the same time those things are not your definition because you know you have a heavenly reward. You know you have a bright future. What’s easy is in this moment your fear begins to leave and you
NEW THOUGHTS, NEW LIFE
A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday Evening, January 1st 2025 by – Evangelist Paul Acquah, Live on MZ Radio London, London UK. Our thoughts hold incredible power. They shape our perceptions, guide our actions, and ultimately determine the direction of our lives. The Bible tells us in Proverbs twenty-three seven, ‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.’ Our inner thoughts define who we are and the life we experience. In Romans twelve two, we’re reminded to ‘be transformed by the renewing of our mind.’ It’s through this renewal that we align with God’s perfect will for our lives and step into the fullness of His promises. In this new year, through the power of God’s Word and the renewal of your mind, you can uproot the weeds of negative thinking and plant seeds of truth that will bear fruit in every area of your life. Join us as we discover how this transformation is possible in today’s message by Evangelist Paul Acquah titled “New Thoughts, New Life”. If you renew your mind, you will renew your life. I want to encourage you to spend more time in the word of God as we see what we’re seeing in our lives right now, in our generation, in this culture with everything that’s happening economically and just all of the stuff happening in the world. It’s really good to get more time in the word of God as opposed to less time. Proverbs 23:7 is such an important scripture, “As [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he. Your way of thinking determines your way of life. Where your mind goes, that’s where you go.And like the writer of proverbs says, the way we think determines how we live and who we are. That’s why we need to “think about what we’re thinking about.” Romans 12 1-2 is a very familiar scripture for most of us, but let’s take a look at it again today. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed”. How? “By the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. From this text of scripture, we discover that God does not want us to be conformed to the ways of the world or in other words, how the world thinks. He says if we will renew our minds with the word of God, we’re going to be able to actually live differently from the way the world lives. We’re going to be able to live transformed lives instead of conformed to the world’s way of thinking. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the [a]course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:1-5). Before we believe in Jesus, we are dead in our spirit to God, blind to His ways, unable to communicate with Him, and eternally separated from Him because of our sinful nature. When we are not born again, we are used to being directed by our soul because our spirit is dead, we don’t have a spirit that’s alive unto God when we are not born again. The soul is used to being in control and what happens for many in the world is they go by the popular notion. They hear things like, whatever feels good, do it. Whatever you think is good, do it. And that’s the problem, we’re so used to those patterns in our lives that they become familiar to us to where it feels normal. We cannot change any of this by our own works. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins”. Dead people can’t help themselves. They can’t move, talk, or respond in any way, because they have no life. The only thing that can change our condition is a new spirit and a new life—which is Christ’s gift to us when we believe in Him as our Saviour. We were given life through Christ when we were dead in our sins. When you get born again, God takes that dead, corrupt spirit out of you and you don’t have that demonic sin nature on the inside of you anymore. You’ve got a brand-new nature. This was an act of grace independent of our efforts and works (Romans 3:27 and 11:6). God gave Christ’s life to us who were dead in sin. Truly, salvation rests in the work of God through Christ alone. 17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new “(2 Corinthians 5:17). I know sometimes you’re thinking well, wait a minute I still got a lust for some things. It’s not because your nature is that way anymore, it’s because you haven’t renewed your mind. Your mind is very similar to a computer and it was programmed to be selfish, it was programmed to think only about yourself, it was programmed to only look at things from your own selfish perspective, it was programmed to just do things on your own and only turn to God when you’re in absolute dire situation. Your mind was programmed raw and you’re going to continue to have some of the same lust and desires and things that you had before you got born again until you renew your mind through the word of God. God says to us there’s a process that needs to happen once we have been called out of darkness into his marvellous light to where we actually
IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON
A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday evening, March 23rd, 2022, byEvangelist PAUL ACQUAH, Live on MZ Radio London, UK Are you living with regret over the time you’ve wasted, the opportunities you’ve squandered, the sins you’ve committed, and the relationships you’ve destroyed? You see, the reason so many of us never get where we’re supposed to be in life is because we don’t want to leave where we are. But so often in the plans of God, letting go is the door to your destiny. Holding onto regrets will always hold you back from living the life God wants you to live. When you focus on your past mistakes, it causes you to run from the life God created you to live. It’s a new day with a new opportunity to get your life together and move on to greater things, so don’t waste it looking back in regret! The purpose of this message is to encourage you to break free from regret to avoid missing your destiny by holding on. We all deal with missed opportunities, regrets, sorrows, and disappointments. No one is exempted. You can look back and feel sad about what you should have done, shouldn’t have done, would have done, couldn’t do, or didn’t do. But know that God can restore you. God can do more with your future than you could do if you were to live your past all over again. That’s the kind of God we serve. Regret may come, but godly sorrow leads to repentance—not destruction. “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Cor. 7:10). God wants you to move on with the life He has given you no matter what has happened in the past. Are you dealing with the loss of loved ones? This is something that there’s no escape from unless you go to heaven first. The longer you live, the more people you are going to know that pass away, and this can come with regret that you didn’t love them or show your love enough. Jesus wants us to be happy and filled with joy. That’s why He comforts you when you mourn. He wraps His love around you. He said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4). I heard this testimony about a lady who was happily married and had three children. They were on a family trip, and she fell asleep at the wheel while driving. The van crashed, and her husband and middle child died. She nearly lost her mind due to grief and guilt. But she gave herself to the Lord, went to Bible school, studied the Word—and four years later, she remarried. God set her free. Her new husband said she is one of the happiest people he has ever met. If she could get over that, you and I can get over our regrets too. It’s God in us who gives us strength, courage, hope, joy, and tools to face life’s battles. Not our strength, but His strength in us. His Holy Spirit is our greatest weapon. With Him, we can overcome anything—including depression, anxiety, and regret. “Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:5–7). “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness” (Psalm 30:11). That’s powerful. Mourning is a real thing—based on real loss—but God can turn it into dancing. He replaces the sackcloth of grief with garments of joy. He clothes us with gladness—not worldly gladness, but His divine joy. You can move on with your life. God will put off the clothes of mourning, disappointment, and regret, and replace them with joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Christ is the only Savior of the world. Have you received Him? If you will, please pray this prayer sincerely from your heart: Dear Lord,I recognise that I am a sinner and need to be saved.I understand that Jesus died in my place and suffered the judgment of all of my sins.I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and He is at the right hand of the Father.Lord Jesus, I surrender my life to You.Come and live in my heart and be my Lord and Saviour.Thank You for saving me. Amen! Evangelist Paul AcquahPaul Acquah is the founder of Christ Is All Ministries (CIAM), an evangelical ministry meeting the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of people. He is passionate about seeing people transformed by the Word of God and making heaven more crowded! Read More
Living Without Sadness, Depression, Disappointments And Regret
A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday evening, March 9th, 2022, byEvangelist PAUL ACQUAH, Live on MZ Radio London, UK We’ve all experienced situations that left us feeling disappointed, discouraged and frustrated. Every morning, Christians all over the world wake up discontent with life and wish they could trade it for a different one. But whenever life throws a curve ball, you have to learn to turn to God’s word and search for solutions that you can put into action to change your attitude and perspective. As believers, we are called to live by faith and not our emotions. And yet, so many of us choose to live by something else, our feelings. You see, in the middle of pain, disappointment, and suffering, it is faith that whispers this isn’t permanent. Maybe you’re going through something at the moment. If so, my hope for you is that you’ll allow this message to speak life into your current situation. In life, every one of us is going to experience sadness, regret, disappointment, and anxiety or depression, no matter who you are and where you live. These are realities of this broken world, but we know they never come from God. Where do they come from? Sometimes we experience sadness and disappointment through regret. Regret is sorrow or guilt over something that has happened or something that we have done. Regret can also be a sense of disappointment over what has not happened, such as regretting wasted years because of what you should have done or shouldn’t have done. There are other reasons why we experience sadness, regret, disappointment, and anxiety. It could be the loss of someone, a personal failure, an unfairness or injustice, or a tragedy of life. We’ve all been there. Everyone is on some level of sadness, regret, disappointment, or anxiety. It seems that we all made mistakes in our past. There are things that we did that we shouldn’t have done, and there are other things that we didn’t do that we should have done. And so, sadness, regret and disappointment affect all of us. This is where many times we face regrets. When you are changing seasons in your life, when you are going through a transition, it’s natural to look back. If you are completing school, if you are completing college or you are graduating from university or are about to marry, or you are transitioning from married life to a single life, it’s easy to look back and feel you could have done things differently or better. One might say; I could have studied better; I could have done this or that better, I wished I had done this, I missed this opportunity. What I’m doing with this message is applying the redemption that Jesus has provided for us to the soul, which is where sadness, regret, disappointments, and anxiety will be. You get saved and forgiven of your sins. You get spiritual rebirth for your spirit. We believe that by His stripes we were healed, and we apply that to our bodies, but also the soul is part of man and that’s where regret, sadness and sorrow, disappointments, anxiety and grieve reside. We can apply what Jesus did to our soul so we can be totally free from these emotional experiences just like we are free from guilt. When you apply the word to your past sins, then you are free from sin and guilt. We can apply what Jesus did to our past mistakes, experiences and whatever has happened in our past and be free from any kind of emotional distress. There can be areas in your past that you sometimes look with fondness at, and other areas that you pause to take a breadth with sadness at when you think about them. You may be thinking that you are supposed to feel that way because it happened and you think it’s going to be a scar in your life that’s never going to be completely go away. Know this, God is not going to let your past affect your future. We are not going to be sorry for anything for the rest of our lives. The reason God can do that is because Jesus has already paid the price. We can apply these truths now and be happy. You can be happy again no matter what has happened in your past. You can take the word of God and apply it and be happy and be filled with joy. You have to get over the past, if you want to go into the future that God has for you. Are you mourning? “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Mat. 5:4 NIV). In this text of scripture, Jesus gives a beautiful promise. ‘They will be comforted’. He doesn’t want us to be sad. He doesn’t want us to mourn for long and have sorrow and regret as part of our thinking. In the Bible, God repeatedly promises us that when we experience sorrow, He is going to give us comfort. God sees you in your sorrow, He knows your tears. God is with us and He wraps His love around us. In our darkest night, God gives us hope. Psalm 30 says ‘weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning’. You can be comforted today when you experience sorrow. When you mourn, God will comfort you. God sees those who mourn, and He promises to comfort them. He will bring healing to your heart when you grieve or experience disappointment or regret. He gives hope to those feeling hopeless, and strength to anyone feeling overwhelmed. He is so close to you in the midst of your sorrow, regret and disappointment. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13). If you allow the Holy Spirit, He can provide strength when you
You Must Look At Life Positively
A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday evening, March 2nd, 2022, byEvangelist PAUL ACQUAH, Live on MZ Radio London, UK The thoughts you think help determine the direction of your life. You can’t dwell on defeat and expect to see victory. You see, one of the best things you can do for your future is to learn to be kind and positive towards yourself. Don’t limit your potential by dwelling on the negative. Too many people go through the day worrying and full of fear, focused on their problems, not expecting anything good. And unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens. We draw in what we constantly think about, just like a magnet. But God wants you to be aware of more than your fears and failures; He wants you to realise the potential you have in Him. The more you master the art of looking at life positively, the further you’ll go in life. Don’t underestimate the power of expecting good in your future. Today’s challenge is to get up in an attitude of faith and have a positive outlook in life. You get saved and forgiven of your sins. You get spiritual rebirth for your spirit. We believe that by His stripes we were healed, and we apply that to our bodies, but also the soul is part of you and that’s where regret, sadness and sorrow, mourning and grieve reside. We can apply what Jesus did to our soul and we can be totally free from regret, sadness and sorrow, mourning and grieve just like we are free from guilt and sin. You have been specially delivered. There isn’t anything that God can’t deliver us from. We have been delivered from this evil world (Gal. 1:4). Therefore, we can look at life positively. The devil and the world are constantly trying to rip off the covering of love and grace that God freely gives us. But Jesus died to save us from this evil world. “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father” (Gal. 1:3-4). Here the apostle mentions grace, then peace. True peace comes from God and there cannot be true peace without God’s grace. God has blessed us with His grace. Grace includes God’s good will toward us, and peace implies comfort and prosperity which we all need. All these come from God our Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. This gives you every reason to look at life positively no matter your current situation, or whatever circumstances you are in today. Christ has redeemed us from the current world system ruled by Satan. Our future is bright and full of hope. Notice that Paul did not say Jesus gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the evil world to come. He said “this present evil world.” He died to rescue us from this evil world. Even though, there is a better world to come, our salvation is effective in this life, too, not just in the one to come. Some of us have downgraded all the benefits of salvation to “when we all get to heaven.” But that’s not so. Through the atonement of Jesus, we have been delivered from this present evil world. People can be fine in their bodies, they can look perfectly normal, they can be Christians, but in their souls, they can be broken hearted, depressed, sad, and hurting over broken relationships or something in their past. They can be hopeless and helpless. They can be seeing life negatively. But Christ has delivered us from all of these. We need to get free from that. We can apply the power of God through His word to these areas of our soul and be totally free from anything that has happened. So, we can look at life positively. No matter how much you have done right, Satan will try to focus your attention on something and cause regret, sadness, disappointment, and depression to remain. He wants to keep you looking back, but on the other hand, no matter how much you have done wrong, Jesus can set you free. That’s the kind of God we serve. See life positively because the Saviour came to deliver you from this present evil world. He can turn things around for the better. He will lead you to a hope and a future. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11). You may be saying to me, “you don’t know what I have done.” And it’s true, I don’t know what you’ve done, but I know what Christ has done, and what He did is greater than what you did. “Christ gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father” (Gal. 1:4). It’s time to move forward with your life. It’s time to press on towards the goal. Forget the past regrets, mistakes, failures, successes, disappointments, sin, and guilt. He heals the broken hearted. “Jesus said He came to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18). Can you imagine? There’s no doctor in the world who can heal the broken hearted. There’s no drug or medicine in the world that can heal a broken hearted. There’s no psychiatric in the world who can heal a broken-hearted person. There’s no surgeon who can operate and heal a broken-hearted person. Jesus can heal a broken heart, and He is the only one that can. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor.