Surendering our Desires for God’s Design
Notes
Transcript
As we continue to recalibrate in 2024: We want to renew our focus on Jesus: His will, His plan, His peace, our living hope, our eternal inheritance through Christ.
Renewing our focus on Jesus through prayer as we see God’s limitless power and authority. Spending less time being anxious and worrying and more time worshiping, more time being thankful…
We spend less time focusing on what we don’t have and focusing more on what we do have through Christ.
Prayer reminds us of our identity, that we are no longer sinners but we are now saints, we are no longer orphans but we are sons and daughters of God, we are no longer helpless but we have been given God’s limitless authority through Christ.
Prayer is that act of surrender where we bring HIM the impossible things, the things that are bigger then us but also the things that are super small. God wants us to bring everything to HIM in prayer.
Through prayer God is able to move mountains, break strongholds, bring back the prodigal, bring freedom to the addict.
Renewing our focus back on Jesus through prayer and getting in the Word, we will begin to look more and more like Jesus. We die to our desires daily, we live that resurrection life surrendered to Christ, and rest in God’s perfect design knowing that we are HIS masterpiece in the making.
Ephesians 2:1–10 (ESV)
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
PRAY
As we renew our focus on Jesus we will have peace in God’s plan and desires even in suffering and pain.
Through Christ we have HIS forgiveness, HIS grace, HIS resurrection power, HIS strength, HIS peace, HIS love and the more we focus on Jesus, the more we can reflect God’s image.
That means we must choose to recalibrate our focus back on Jesus.
Following Jesus begins as we DIE to our DESIRES.
Following Jesus begins as we DIE to our DESIRES.
As followers of Jesus we can no longer follow what we want but what Jesus wants for us.
Our desires must die to what what Jesus desires. That’s why we need to allow the Lord to renew our focus on Jesus, to establish our relationship with Jesus.
We waste so much of our mind space, heart space, our emotional space on things that feed our own desires.
Social Media, listening to others or gossiping and slandering, political commentary, worrying about what others say or do.
Let those sinful desires die and remember that our life is now in Christ. Real life begins when we are dead to our own desires because through Christ we can now live what God desires for us.
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
This is talking about our past, not presently dead but you were dead. Just like Jesus was dead for 3 days but Jesus is now alive.
Before Christ, we were Dead. Not sick, not dying, not having an off day—dead.
What can dead people do to help themselves? Absolutely nothing. That is why God, in his mercy, had to reach out to us in HIS love sacrifice HIS only Son for us.
People who are spiritually dead have no communication with God. These people are physically alive, but their sins have rendered them spiritually unresponsive, alienated from God, and incapable of experiencing the full life that God could give them.
Without Christ, we are dead because or old sinful passions and desires…
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Before Jesus saved us we were under God’s judgement.
Living like the rest of the world
Following the mighty prince of the power of the air - Prince of the air, satan
Though Satan’s influence is great among unbelievers, his power is limited because he is a defeated foe. He cannot separate believers from the love of God.
The evil powers that are at work rival the work of the Holy Spirit.
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Those who have not surrendered to God or decided to obey HIM… those who actively disobey God because they live in constant rebellion and opposition to God are influenced and energized by the power of evil.
They were enslaved to “gratifying the cravings of [the] sinful nature”
For all of us, we were at one time separated from God because of our disobedience.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The fact that all people, without exception, commit sin proves that everyone has a sinful nature.
We are lost in sin and cannot save ourselves.
Sin corrupts everything—our actions, thoughts, desires, will, intellect, and reasoning.
The phrase “objects of wrath” is a Jewish idiom for those who deserve God’s punishment.
However, the word “wrath” contains a seed of hope. Those who were once “objects of wrath” can accept Christ and experience redemption and salvation. That occurs “by grace”. However, those who persist in their rebellion against God, whether Jews or Gentiles, will experience the wrath of God.
ADDICTED - Those addicted to drugs report that the first encounter with heroin or crack or alcohol is a thrill, a rush. But afterward, it ceases to be fun. From then on, the addict is just killing the pain.
Sin is like that. The first time, it—whatever “it” is (lust, greed, lying)—is a thrill. After that, it becomes a tyrant, a heartless slave driver. You don’t use it; it uses you.
Allow God to set you free from their tyranny by the power of his love, his light, his grace.
We must died to our own desires by confessing your sins to God, acknowledging your inability to control them. Thank HIM for the provision he made through the cross of Christ. Take those sins that have enslaved you and owned you and leave them there.
Following Jesus requires dying to our desires… because…
Resurrection life is only possible by GRACE through FAITH.
Resurrection life is only possible by GRACE through FAITH.
Aren’t you glad that is not where we end. Our story is not finished yet.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
We were lost, hopeless and dead… but God…
God saw us, and did what only HE could do. HE gave us HIS resurrection power.
Each believer has been
(1) made alive with Christ,
(2) raised up with Christ, and
(3) seated with Christ.
Each of these three phrases begins with the same prefix in the Greek, sun, on the verb. The prefix means “together with,” indicating that each believer will share these experiences with all other believers and with Christ himself.
God made us alive. “Made alive” means that we are “saved.”
When Christ rose from the dead, so did all the members of his body by virtue of God’s uniting them with Christ.
But God who is rich in mercy, great in love… saved us and resurrected us, those who were dead.
God could have left us spiritually dead, in rebellion against HIM and in bondage to our sins. But HE didn’t.
HE did not save us because of, but rather in spite of, what HE saw in us.
Our response needs to be thanks. Thank you Jesus for what YOU have done for us.
Our response toward other people needs to reflect humble patience and tolerance.
We may encounter those who seem unworthy or undeserving of our love and compassion. They may be spiritually dull, rebellious, and even antagonistic toward God. So were we; but God loved us anyway.
God also acted on behalf of humanity because of His great love.
The Greek word for love here is agape. This love means the selfless love that seeks the best for others.
While God could have simply destroyed all people because of their sin, he chose instead to show mercy and love.
Since Jesus freely forgives, freely loves, freely blesses we must also forgive, we must love difficult people, we must be a blessing to everyone.
You’re thinking that this is an impossible endeavor. It’s the resurrection power of Jesus that gives us the power to live what God designed and purposed for us.
There is an expression: “When you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he didn’t get there by himself.”
As Christ followers, as Christians we are that turtle sitting atop fence posts.
How can we be sure that God is as loving and gracious as God says HE is?
Look at the church—flawed, sinful, capable of stupidity and faithlessness. Through the church, God demonstrates HIS infinite patience and mercy.
How else would a group of such obviously fallen men and women get together and do anything for the glory of God?
Who else but God would use people like us?
You are a display case for the grace of God.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Our salvation comes from God’s grace alone. “Through faith” could refer to:
God’s faithfulness to his promises,
Christ’s faithfulness in his obedience to God by dying on the cross… or…
People’s faith in accepting salvation.
And not of yourselves; it is a gift of God - absolutely nothing is of our own doing (not of yourselves)—not salvation, not grace, not even the faith exercised to receive salvation—everything is the gift of God.
Salvation does not come from our self-reliance or individualism but from God’s initiative. It is a gift to be thankfully accepted.
People find it difficult to accept something so free. We want to feel as though we did something, we did our part, that we somehow earned our salvation by our merit.
Paul makes it crystal clear… …if salvation is by God’s grace and is accepted through faith, then it is “not of works.”
If salvation could be earned by good works, then people would, by nature, “boast” about their good works.
If salvation could be earned then what would be “good enough” for salvation? No one could ever be good enough to please a holy God.
He casts aside all human effort and pride by offering salvation for free to all people by simple acceptance. People are given salvation on the grounds of God’s grace alone.
We are created to be on DISPLAY as God’s MASTERPIECE.
We are created to be on DISPLAY as God’s MASTERPIECE.
Why would God do it? Why would he sacrifice his only Son for sinners like us? so that we could be living, breathing pictures of his grace and mercy.
10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
The verb “created” is used only of God—for only God can truly create. As he created the universe from nothing, so he creates new, alive, spiritual beings from the old, dead, sinful creatures we were.
VIDEO - GOD’S CHISLE
In order for God to work on us, we have to trust HIM with everything including our desires, our addictions,
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
It’s God alone who creates. He can make something brand new out of nothing but we are in that process. It takes time to create a masterpiece. We don’t always like what God needs to do, sometimes there is pain involved when HE cuts things out of our life, shapes us and breath new lif