Once there was a man who lived in the cemetery. This man could live no other place. He was a demon possessed maniac. His mania was so great that when the local people could get hold of him they locked him in shackles and chains. He never stayed chained for long. The devils inside him would strain his body until he broke the restraints. The demons would then drive him into the wilderness. As a result, he lived naked among the tombs on a hillside by the sea of Galilee. One day this wild man met Jesus. This encounter permanently transformed his life.

Christ drove out the demons. The next time the terrified townsfolk saw the crazed man he was sitting quietly listening to Jesus teach. The mad man was clothed and in his right mind. No more mania, no more demons, no more violence, no more terror. He had been transformed by Christ. When Jesus left town the once demon possessed man was unable to go with Him. The demoniac went through the whole town telling everyone what Jesus had done for him. This man’s life was radically, permanently and eternally changed because one day he met Jesus.

You may not have been a demoniac. You may not have lived in a graveyard. You may never have been chained and driven out of town, but you needed a life altering encounter with Christ. Those who meet Jesus and receive His salvation are permanently and eternally changed. None need live in sin. None need live in despair. None need to live bound to addictions. Jesus offers a radical change that begins with forgiveness of sin, remodels the heart, continues by transforming the life and ends with a perfection of the person. The change Christ makes in all who trust Him is a change as great as that given to the once demon possessed maniac. The change Christ makes in a life is a change from life to death, from despair to hope, from condemnation to reconciliation.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17