Changing the World
Ephesians: Fulfilling God's Purposes • Sermon • Submitted
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This series is about finding fulfillment, and we look for at in alot of places: relationships, work, education, wealth. These can provide temporary satisfaction, or the wrong kind of satisfaction, but we find our true fulfillment - our true satisfaction in God.
When I was a teenager, I had a love hate relationship with God. There was the God who was powerful, the God who was angry, and the God who punished. He was a cosmic kill joy, and really didn’t bring anything to my life except maybe a little fire insurance for when I die.
Alot of the change in my life has been from reading the Bible. I want you to see one of the passages that changed my life:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
back to fulfillment
Jesus to me wasn’t the way, he was in the way. Here the Word of the Lord this morning.
(e.g.) working against and finding it painful); already used the metaphor of the river, so here’s another one:
(e.g.) working against and finding it painful); already used the metaphor of the river, so here’s another one:
I’m not good at this - maybe this isn’t what I’m supposed to do - not finding fulfillment in this
We do not exist for our own sake, but for the sake of the world
We do not exist for our own sake, but for the sake of the world
Series is about living according to God’s plan
The Bible makes clear again and again that when we don’t live according to God’s plan and purpose, we don’t just disappoint God. If we are working against God it can be painful. As a pastor if I am talking with someone about their pain, this is not the first thing I say: you’re feeling depressed? You’re not following God’s will.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
Acts 26:14
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Acts of the Apostles b. His Calling and Mission (26:12–23)
A goad was a sharp-pointed stick used to move animals in a particular direction
finding our purpose in God:
finding our purpose in God:
finding our purpose in God:
weddings: no other ties more sacred than those you now assume - the most important relationship you will have - neglect that and your marriage is in trouble:
the most sacred ties you have is with God: neglect that relationship and you will suffer: pain, lack of fulfillment
our primary commitment, relationship is with God
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
Sermon Intro
Sermon Intro
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
today’s sermon is about the starting point to all of this: the foundation, the building block to finding your fulfillment in God, by following God’s plan for your life: it’s about salvation
Sin?
The problem is when we don’t understand the problem. We can’t appreciate the cure if we don’t see the illness.
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
We can’t appreciate forgiveness if we think we haven’t done anything wrong.
not going to be a sermon about an important topic like being busy, relationships, managing money, raising a family and forgiving others. It’s about something even more important than these things. Salvation is something that provides a foundation for all of these.
beneath our pain there is a spiritual root; beneath our problems, there is a spiritual problem; beneath our error and confusion there is a lack of spiritual knowledge
We don’t accept the help if we don’t think we need it.
I’m not saying that if we become religious our pain will instantly go away, our problems will quickly disappear, all of our confusion will be lifted away; (e.g. psychologist - don’t neglect the spiritual)
what I’m saying is that God did not intend for us to suffer, God did not intend for us to be at war with each other; God did not intend for us to have toxic relationships, God did not intend to make ourselves sick with overconsumption, God did not intend for us to be in debt; God does not want us to be miserable in our sin; God wants to save us from these things. You may not have all of these problems, but I’ll be surprised if you don’t struggle with at least one
This sermon is about the central theme of the Bible: salvation. This is not going to be a sermon about an important topic like being busy, relationships, managing money, raising a family and forgiving others. It’s about something even more important than these things. Salvation is something that provides a foundation for all of these.
The word “salvation” appears over 120 times in the Bible. Even when you don’t see the word, the theme is preached. Entering the kingdom of God. Forgiveness and freedom from sin. Receiving eternal life. For all of these, faith is a necessary condition. Without these things our lives are headed towards pain, death and destruction.
what are we...
Saved from:
Saved from:
morpheus / neo / red pill, blue pill; altar calls
Have you been saved? From what? An eternal place of torment?
Have you been saved? From what? An eternal place of torment?
Sin?
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.
I’ve mentioned things like broken relationships, damaged emotions, depression, bitterness, family problems, but at the root of all of these problems is sin.
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
The problem is when we don’t understand the problem. We can’t appreciate the cure if we don’t see the illness.
Ephesians 2:
We are saved from our sin. we are saved from ourselves
The word “salvation” appears over 120 times in the Bible. Even when you don’t see the word, the theme is preached. Entering the kingdom of God. Forgiveness and freedom from sin. Receiving eternal life. For all of these, faith is a necessary condition. Without these things our lives are headed towards death and destruction.
Appears over 120 times in the Bible. Even when you don’t see the word, the theme is preached. Entering the kingdom of God. Forgiveness and freedom from sin. Receiving eternal life. For all of these, faith is a necessary condition. Without these things our lives are headed towards death and destruction.
Have you been saved? From what? An eternal place of torment?
Sin?
The problem is when we don’t understand the problem. We can’t appreciate the cure if we don’t see the illness.
We can’t appreciate forgiveness if we think we haven’t done anything wrong. We won’t seek healing from our pain and our past if we medicate it with drugs, alcohol, or any form of addiction. We don’t accept the help if we don’t think we need it. We won’t seek salvation through Christ if we don’t think we have sin in our lives.
Caveat: What is sin? - “you are a sinner” or “you have sinned”
judgmental; not as bad as we can be, but we fall short of who or what God intended us to be
We don’t accept the help if we don’t think we need it.
patuxent - white shoes; v. pools along the path
sin is not always a cesspool: sometimes it appears a clear, beautiful, refreshing lake: it is enjoyable, fun, gratifying, pleasant for a season, but leads to death; sin is self centered ness; sin is disinterest in God and interest in temporary pleasures
sin is not always a cesspool: sometimes it appears a clear, beautiful, refreshing lake: it is enjoyable, fun, gratifying, pleasant for a season, but leads to death; sin is self centered ness; sin is disinterest in God and interest in temporary pleasures
sin is not just things we do, but things we fail to do: (the poor, ignoring our walk with God; not serving, not listening to God)
“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.” Alcoholics Anonymous step #1
without Christ we are dead in our sins; incapable of having a relationship with Christ; incapable of having victory over our sins, living a self centered life; forgiveness from our past; healing from our hurts; finding true fulfillment; making a difference in the world
we are saved from…sin
Saved how:
Saved how:
God’s part:
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
born again Christian - redundancy
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
redundancy
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
dead to alive:
"while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."
Our part:
God’s reaching out with a gift, you have to accept it:
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
Francis Collins, director of NIH, former atheist,
Grace - undeserved
Faith -
For me, that leap came in my 27th year, after a search to learn more about God's character led me to the person of Jesus Christ. Here was a person with remarkably strong historical evidence of his life, who made astounding statements about loving your neighbor, and whose claims about being God's son seemed to demand a decision about whether he was deluded or the real thing. After resisting for nearly two years, I found it impossible to go on living in such a state of uncertainty, and I became a follower of Jesus.
became alive
born again Christian -
Saved for:
Saved for:
Ephes
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
saved by faith alone, not faith that is alone
not for the afterlife; not fire insurance, but for living God’s purpose: God wants to transform your life: your desires, your priorities; your baggage, your faith: not just for your benefit but for the world:
guy on the top of the choir: drinking, partying, family, approached by an evangelist: now he is the evangelist:
C.S. Lewis once said “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.
to do good works - now
to do good works
How?
Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name.
this is our foundation for transforming the world