God's Answer

God's Answer  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  31:43
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Introduction

The ability to choose is the mark of humanity.
From the creation man has been given an element, a characteristic that makes them different from all of creation.
Genesis 1:26 ESV
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God’s Master Plan

Man was made by God

Created in
++His Image
++His Likeness

Why did he make man like him?

God is the source of our purpose.
++Existence is of little value without purpose.
++People will live out their lives in pursuit of purpose.
We see purpose
++As an occupation
++As a career
++As an accomplishment
The source of True purpose
++Is not found in us
++Is not found in what we do
++Is found in God
Acts 17:28 ESV
28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Man was created for God’s purpose

Man was to
++Exercise dominion
++Steward God’s creation
Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV
13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Why Us?

Man was
++Not the strongest
++Not the fastest
++Just dust
Genesis 2:7 ESV
7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

God chose dust

Dust is
++A common thing
++Readily available
++Nothing special

God breathed on what he formed

God’s breath
++Brings connection
++Brings transformation

He changes the common to the chosen

1 Thessalonians 1:2–10 ESV
2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. 9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
Paul addresses the church
++Not as new believers
++Not as unlearned
++Not as disciples or student
++As mature saints
1 Thessalonians 1:2–4 ESV
2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,

They had a good reputation

He commends them for
++Their work of faith
++Their labor of love
++Their steadfastness in hope
The three enduring things
++Was what had marked them
++Was the banner of their relationship
++revealed their relationship to Jesus

They were God’s answer to their generation.

They were Chosen

1 Thessalonians 1:6–7 ESV
6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
When you are chosen
++You follow good examples
++You put in the work
Newsweek 2015
Michael Jordan
++32,292 points
++Six NBA Championships
++Five NBA MVP Titles
++14 All Star Games
++Called the Greatest basketball player to have ever graced the court
He didn’t start that way
++In 1978 he didn’t make the roster
++He was 5’10” and couldn’t dunk a basket
++He was in tears with embarrassment
Psalm 126:5 ESV
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!

His tears became his motivation.

His embarrassment
++Could have broke him
++Could have crippled him
++Motivated him
What is holding you back?
++Failure
++Fear
++Fate
When you are chosen
You follow good examples
You put in the work
++You become an example
1 Thessalonians 1:7 ESV
7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

You have been Chosen

You are chosen to
++To Know
1 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV
8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.
You cannot know
++Without the word
Psalm 119:130 ESV
130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.
1 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV
13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
They had to
++Hear the word
++Receive the word
++Let the word work
You cannot know
Without the word
++Without faith
Hebrews 11:6 ESV
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 4:2 ESV
2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
You are chosen to
To Know
++To Grow
2 Peter 1:5–8 ESV
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our growth in God
++It starts with faith
++It ends with love
These qualities lead to effectiveness..
++If they are yours
++If they are increasing
++In the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ

Do you know him?

You are chosen to
To Know
To Grow
++To Give
Philippians 2:5–7 ESV
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Matthew 20:28 ESV
28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
You are chosen to
To Know
To Grow
To Give
++To Go
1 Timothy 4:12 ESV
12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
Hebrews 4:11 ESV
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

I believe therefore I declare

1 Thessalonians 1:9–10 ESV
9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
I declare with my
++Words
++Walk
++Work

I belong to God

1 Corinthians 6:20 ESV
20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Peter 2:9 ESV
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
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