Press Forward and Leave the Past Behind

Introduction

"Leave the past behind." The title of this message fits into five words, and yet almost everything hinges on them. This Sunday, the sermon opens with an intuition you know well: sometimes you feel like decisions made ten years ago carry more weight than the ones you're making today. As if your past mattered more than your present and your future.

But the Bible says the exact opposite. The preacher lays down the foundational text, 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new." Then he adds Paul's race in Philippians 3:13-14: "forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

This sermon invites you to something simple and demanding: to accept that the blood of the cross truly erases your past, and to rise up for the rebuilding God is preparing today.

Article outline

1. The inner battle: why your past feels so heavy
2. A new creation: what 2 Corinthians 5:17 really changes
3. Paul's race: forgetting what lies behind (Phil 3)
4. The season of rebuilding: preparing, having a goal
5. Mark 5: the demon-possessed man of Gadara, a life completely rebuilt
6. New wineskins for new wine (Matt 9:17)
7. Today: letting go of the rope and trusting

1. The inner battle: why your past feels so heavy

The preacher begins by naming something you know well: we've made so many mistakes in our lives that it feels like the decisions we made ten years ago carry more weight than the ones we're making today and tomorrow. "Who told you that? Isn't that a lie?" He invites you to turn the question around: why stay chained to your past, to its mistakes, to its failures, when the Lord died on the cross, his blood was poured out, he rose again, and his blood erases your sins?

The devil, he says, wants us to believe our past is worth more than our present and our future. The Bible says the opposite. That's the first line you have to cross: in your mind, what God is preparing for your today and your tomorrow has to weigh more than what you may have missed yesterday.

2. A new creation: what 2 Corinthians 5:17 really changes

The text carries the message: "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new." That's not a pretty phrase: it's a statement of fact. In Christ, your status has changed. The old things aren't simply set aside, they have passed away. The new has begun.

The preacher then takes a detour through tennis. He mentions Roger Federer: in a player's mind, there are those who lose a point and immediately turn around and win the next. "Every new point is a new beginning." The old point is over, marked on the scoreboard, you can't go back to it. Your Christian life works the same way: the past is marked down, but every new point God gives you today starts from zero. You're playing ahead.

3. Paul's race: forgetting what lies behind (Phil 3)

Next comes Philippians 3:13-14: "Brothers, I don't regard myself as yet having taken hold, but one thing I do: forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

The preacher warns: sometimes we read this verse as though Paul wrote it effortlessly, "so full of the Spirit." Remember who's speaking. Paul was a Jew, trained in the school of Gamaliel, a recognized teacher. He had persecuted Christians to the point of death. His transformation was anything but superficial: it took time to "deconstruct" everything he had learned before, and start over. And yet, once transformed, he preaches the gospel and confides: "I forget what lies behind and I stretch toward what lies ahead."

From this the preacher draws a simple rule for your morning: "Every day when you get up, think about this: what you're going to do today and tomorrow. What's behind you is behind you." Your past doesn't get to write your schedule.

4. The season of rebuilding: preparing, having a goal

The message insists on one word: rebuilding. An intimate rebuilding with the Lord, and an overall rebuilding of every area of your life. It's a construction site. And for a construction site, you need to prepare.

"Preparing means being ready for anything." If you don't prepare, you'll miss the train. You need a goal, an objective: what has the Lord revealed to you? What's rising up from inside you? It's up to you to pack your bag.

He adds an image he had already shared at a prayer meeting: "If the closet is full, you first have to empty the closet before you can put the new clothes in." Sometimes rebuilding requires a prior deconstruction, that patient dismantling of whatever is taking up the space. Without that, the new things have nowhere to go.

This rebuilding isn't just a motivational slogan. It rests on a conviction: the Lord has plans of peace and blessing for you. The prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel announced rebuildings that seemed impossible in the darkest moments of captivity, and they came to pass.

5. Mark 5: the demon-possessed man of Gadara, a life completely rebuilt

The preacher opens Mark 5:1-20: the man among the tombs in the country of the Gadarenes. A man whose life was literally rebuilt. He lived among the graves, cutting himself; Jesus arrives, drives out the legion, and the man is found "sitting, clothed, and in his right mind." He got his family back, a purpose for his life.

Two details strike the preacher. First, this is one of the rare times Jesus goes toward someone: usually, people come to him. Here, it's Jesus who crosses over to reach one single man and one territory. The Lord's love goes looking for you where you are, just as he went looking for that man.

Then, Jesus doesn't ask him to stay at his feet: "Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you." (v. 19) The rebuilding begins in intimacy, in the family. This man will become an evangelist in the Decapolis: when Jesus passes through there again later, crowds will be waiting for him because they had heard his testimony.

The message also notes that Mark 4 comes right before this chapter: the parable of the sower, the calming of the storm. He reminds us that chapters and verses were added later: sometimes you have to keep reading, because the answer is a little further along. Your own story, too, has to be read without stopping at the first difficult chapter.

6. New wineskins for new wine (Matthew 9:17)

The sermon closes on Matthew 9:17: "Neither do people put new wine into old wineskins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

The new wine is the Spirit; the new wineskins are you, made new. If you want to receive what God is pouring out in this season, your life has to be made new, the rebuilding carried out by the great architect, the one who made you.

7. Today: letting go of the rope and trusting

The preacher tells the story of a Christian mountain climber who had to descend in the middle of a storm. The rope was holding him, but he couldn't see the ground or the rock face. He had to let go of the rope to reach a ground that was, in fact, right beneath his feet. Without letting go, no rebuilding. Maybe today, what you're holding onto won't let go because you no longer trust the one holding you on the other end.

He also brings up another verse: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20). Two actions: hearing and opening. If you hear this message today and you open, he comes in. The rebuilding starts there.

Key takeaways

• Your past isn't worth more than your present. The blood of the cross erases your sins: today's decisions carry more weight than the ones you made ten years ago.
• New creation isn't a slogan. 2 Corinthians 5:17 states a fact: in Christ, the old has passed, everything has become new.
• Forgetting what lies behind is a daily choice. Paul did it after fourteen years of deconstruction; you too can stretch toward what lies ahead.
• Rebuilding takes preparation. You need a goal; sometimes you have to empty the closet before you can put the new things in.
• Jesus comes looking for you. Like the demon-possessed man of Gadara, your life can be completely rebuilt and become a testimony for others.
• New wine needs new wineskins. The Holy Spirit doesn't pour into a life that refuses to be made new.

Personal application

1. Which decision from your past still weighs more heavily in your mind than the ones you're making today? What makes it feel so heavy?
2. Where do you need to "empty a closet" in your life (a relationship, a habit, an inner dialogue) to make room for the new?
3. What specific goal do you think God is setting before your eyes for this season? What have you started preparing?
4. Like the man rescued at Gadara, who in your close circle can you simply tell "what the Lord has done" for you?
5. Is there a "rope" you're still holding onto out of fear of the empty space below? What would happen if you let it go today, trusting Christ?

Verses cited

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 · foundational text: in Christ, a new creation
• Philippians 3:13-14 · forgetting what lies behind, pressing toward the goal
• Mark 5:1-20 · the demon-possessed man of Gadara set free and sent to testify
• Matthew 9:17 · new wine in new wineskins
• Revelation 3:20 · I stand at the door and knock
• Hebrews 12:1-2 · lay aside every weight and run with perseverance

FAQ

Is my whole past really erased when I come to Christ?

That's the very message of 2 Corinthians 5:17: in Christ, "the old things have passed away, all things have become new." The practical consequences of past decisions may remain, but before God your condemnation is removed. The blood of Christ erases your sins. The preacher insists: the voice that tells you "your past outweighs your future" is not the Father's voice.

Concretely, how do I "forget what lies behind"?

The preacher offers a simple practice: every morning, as you get up, think about what you're going to do today and tomorrow. What's behind you is behind you. Like a tennis player, treat every new point as a new beginning. This doesn't mean denying your story: it means no longer letting it dictate how you play.

What if I don't know what "goal" God has for me?

Start by preparing even before you know everything: empty your closet, let the Holy Spirit point out what needs to go. Open the Word, pray, serve where you are, tell the people close to you what the Lord has already done for you. The man of Gadara didn't have to invent his ministry: he went home and he told his story. The rest fell into place.