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| | From:  desertdawnie (Original Message) | Sent: 7/15/2006 12:02 AM |
An Inheritance—vs. 2.
July 16, 2006
Ephesians 1:3-14
How many of you know the story of the Mutiny on the Bounty? The Bounty was a British ship that set sail in 1787, bound for the South Seas. The crew was sent to plant fruit trees and to make some of the islands more habitable for colonization. And they did just that for the first six months on the islands.
When it came time to leave, however, the sailors rebelled. They liked the native girls and the warm weather. So they set Captain Bligh and a few loyal men adrift in a tiny boat. Soon after, the British government sent an expedition to punish the mutineers. Fourteen were captured.
Nine mutineers, however, along with the Tahitian men and women who accompanied them, found their way to Pitcairn Island, a tiny dot in the South Pacific only two miles long and a mile wide. Ten years later, drinking and fighting had left only one man alive--John Adams. Eleven women and 23 children made up the rest of the Island’s population.
Around this time, Adams discovered the "Bounty’s" Bible in the bottom of an old chest. As he read it, God’s love and forgiveness transformed his murderous heart forever. He began to teach the children from the Bible until every person on the island was transformed. And that transformation still takes place 200 years later. In 1988, with a population of slightly less than 100, nearly every person on Pitcairn Island was a Christian.
The Bible is powerful; it transforms people. It answers those hard questions of life: Who am I and why am I here? It changes our perspective and gives us direction.
Now, I know that this summer is busy. You have many things going on. But none is as important as our connection with God through the Bible. So, as we begin this Bible study of Ephesians, I ask you to pray with me and commit yourself to studying this life-changing message with us at every opportunity.
The Bible changes us first of all, by reminding us who we are. And Ephesians starts right there. It reminds us that we are the wealthy Children of God.
“What?�?You say, “I’m not rich!�?I’ve got more bills than bumps on a pickle. I’ve got a mortgage that I will still be paying when my great grandchildren pass away. I’ve got a job that could disappear tomorrow.�?BR>Unfortunately, we so often measure who we are by what we have or don’t have. We are something if we have the hottest car on the block. We are “all that�?if we are advertising Abercrombie and Fitch on a nappy looking t-shirt. We have something if our garage is packed full of junk. We are something if we can travel the globe. And if we don’t have, our lives seem so empty. Even when we have, it’s not all we want or think we need. How short-term and shallow we can be!
The people in Ephesus (the Ephesians to whom Paul wrote) probably had similar faults. You will notice that Ephesus was on the coast of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). It was a thriving port town of over 300,000 people. It was the most important trade center in that part of the world. It was a city of culture and proud history. Money was everywhere. People talked about it, dreamed about it and prayed for it. It was their life.
Do you know your net worth? Your net worth is calculated by adding together all your ASSETS and subtracting all your LIABILITIES!
How much would your net worth be; a couple of hundred bucks, Thousands ore even more than that. You’d be surprised! However, those calculations are really only a PARTIAL PICTURE!
Your real net worth is discovered “IN CHRIST�?You’re Balance Sheet in the Bank of Heaven
You are not an accident! Your birth was no mistake or mishap! Your parents may not have planned you, but God did! He was not surprised at all by your birth. In fact, He expected it! And I myself am so glad to know that.
It is not by fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this moment. God never does things accidentally or haphazardly
The purpose of your life fits into a much larger purpose that God has designed for eternity.
The day-to-day challenges we face will cause us to lose sight of our purpose, BUT GOD DOES NOT!!!
“You are who you are for a reason.
You’re part of an intricate plan.
You’re a precious and perfect unique design, called God’s special woman or man.
You look like you look for a reason. Our God made no mistake. He knit you together within the womb, you’re just what He wanted to make!
The parents you had were the ones that He chose, and no matter how you may feel, they were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind, and they bear the Master’s seal.
No, the trauma you faced was not easy. And God wept that it hurt you so;
but it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into His likeness you’d grow.
You are who you are for a reason;
you’ve been formed by the Master’s rod.
You are who you are, beloved, because there is really a GOD!�?BR>You and I are to be for the praise of His glory!
You have God’s GUARANTEE - the Holy Spirit! (vs. 13-14) which indicates - a FINISHED TRANSACTION Like a notary seal on an official document verifies the truth of the document, that the action spoken of in the document really happened, so the Holy Spirit “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.�?(Romans 8:16)
The Holy Spirit in your life indicates - OWNERSHIP. It is not so important who you are or that you have enough degrees after your name that you are running a fever. Or that it might look like the whole alphabet was deposited behind your name. What is important is WHOSE YOU ARE!!!
The Holy Spirit in your life also indicates AUTHENTICITY. Just as a signature on a letter attests to the genuineness of the document, so the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life
proves that you are the real thing! It is not our religious activity or our good works that make us a Christian, but God actually places His Holy Spirit with in you to prove “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.�?(I Cor. 6:19, 20)
Since you have all these assets in your account, what are the liabilities? The liabilities to your account are ZERO!
That’s probably one of the reasons Paul starts his letter to the Ephesians this way in verse 3: “How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him.�?He wants to remind us that, no matter what we have, we are the Wealthy Children of God. We are richer than we could ever imagine �?past, present and future.
First of all,
1. We were chosen by God in the past. Look at verse 4-6: “Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.�?BR>We were never the kind of kids who planned ahead. We were always clambering to put cards together on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day’s or birthday; we were in our bedrooms the day of coloring, cutting and pasting desperately before the folks could get in our room.
And there was definitely something missing, especially when dad got wet glue on his hands while opening his card.
God’s different. He’s the kind of God who plans ahead. He’s never spontaneous about you. Paul says that he chose you before the Creation of the world. Billions upon billions of years ago, he planned for your arrival. Knowing everything you were going to be and do, knowing about that about that blurry year of college and that rotten relationship and that tempestuous temper, he planned to love you anyway, adopt you and take care of you the best way his infinite mind could dream up.
In other words, the captain of the eternal kickball team chose you first, long before the bases were even plopped on the field. You weren’t the last one left after all the good kickers were picked. God didn’t say, “I guess we’ll take her.�?You were part of his eternal, loving plan. You were first on his mind before the birth of the stars. Man oh man. That’s rich!
But you’re even richer yet, because Paul says,
2. We are “in the know�?right now
Look at verse 7-10, Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.
“We’ve all been there. Since it was Halloween and you got invited to the party, you assumed everyone would be wearing costumes to the party. So, you show up as Speedy Gonzalez, complete with sombrero and whiskers only to find everyone else in casual clothes.
Or, you drive all the way to the zoo, only to find out they’re closed on Sundays. Or, pulling into the parking lot at Silverwood, and your spouse says, “I thought you were going to bring the tickets.�?It would have been nice if someone told me. There are certain things it would be nice to know, certain things it’s comforting to know, and certain things it’s necessary to know.
Our passage puts us “in the know�? God has lavished complete forgiveness on us through the blood of Jesus. The word “lavished�?literally means “given us abundance.�?In other words, God has given you more forgiveness than you will ever need! You cannot out-sin God’s undeserved love. Get that…you cannot out sin God’s love.
After one of those days when you got nothing right, when every good intention of faithfulness got flushed down the toilet, when you were infinitely crabbier than Christian, you are still forgiven as you climb into bed. And there is still enough forgiveness for tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that. Big sins and small sins included which are actually the same size sin. A sin is a sin is a sin. They are equal.
2 Corinthians puts us even further in the know: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.�?(5:19) God reconciled whom? The rich? The well-dressed? The good-looking? People with goatees? Bald headed people? No, God reconciled the world. That means you.
Someone once wrote, “Isn’t it great to be included? Universities exclude, businesses exclude, sports exclude, but God? Never!�?
The whole world has more forgiveness than it will ever need. But most people don’t know that. They’ve heard a few rumors that God is love. But they wander around wondering if they’ve ticked him off. They hope they can do enough to make him happy, but they’re never quite sure.
Not you. Our loving God has put you “in the know,�?a mystery that brings eternal joy: You are totally forgiven today. And you will be tomorrow, too. That’s rich!
But you’re even richer yet. Why? Because�?BR>3. We are sealed for the future in Christ.
Look at verse 13 and 14:
It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life
You ever heard of a “Movie Crook?�?Me neither. I just made it up. But a “Movie Crook�?is someone who gives up the ending to a movie you would like to see. He says things like, “I really cried when Shelby dies in Steel Magnolias.�?Or, “I didn’t realize that Darth Vader was Luke’s father.�?Gee, I hope you all already knew that.
It stinks to know the end of a movie before you see it. But when it comes to life, it stinks not to know the ending. It’s nerve wracking not to know if you will be carried to heaven or hell when you die.
God knows that. And he loves you too much to keep you hanging. So he gives you assurance for the future. Remember, Ephesus was a trade city. The people were constantly talking about deals, steals, agreements and contracts. They knew all about sealing a deal.
God is reminding you, that through faith in Jesus, your deal with him is sealed. You are guaranteed heaven. Although you can always jump out of his hand, Jesus himself said, “Nothing can snatch them from my hand.�?Trouble, trials, tribulations and tormentors can do nothing to take you away from Jesus or snatch you out of heaven. Your future is guaranteed in him.
In fact, God has even put a deposit down on you—the Holy Spirit, who lives in your heart. He is the down payment for your spot in heaven. The word which Paul used for deposit is arrabon. In Modern Greek, an arrabona is an engagement ring—it’s a deposit, a guarantee that a man is going to marry a woman. When Ron gave me my engagement ring, it was his deposit, his guarantee that he was going to marry me. It was the warning that if I wanted to run, I’d better do it soon! And Ron is still paying for me…he still is putting his deposit into our marriage, into our relationship. And we pay that price together. The deposit of our love is earning a high yield interest.
Through faith in Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord has made a guarantee that he will take you to heaven. You need not be afraid, even of the future.
Hetty Green could be called “America’s Greatest Miser�? She ate cold oatmeal because it cost to heat it. Her son had to have his leg amputated because she delayed so long looking
for a free clinic that his case became incurable. She died of an aneurism which occurred while she was arguing over the value of drinking skimmed milk. Yet when she died in 1916, Hetty Green left an estate valued at over $100 million! She had plenty but lived as if she didn’t have any!
How about you? Having all this, how will you live your life? Will you live it as one who is bankrupt or as a child of the living God who “has everything he
needs for life and godliness?�?BR>What is your inheritance? What have you received and what shall you give?
Are you starting to catch on yet? Do you know who you are? You’re the Wealthy Child of God! You’re rich! You may not have all you ever desired, but our Father desires to have you above all. That’s why he chose you in the past, put you in the know and sealed your future in Jesus. You are rich! Let that wonderful message about who you are transform you. Let it change your perspective as it did for John Adams all those years ago on Pitcairn Island.
Are you letting yourself be open to God’s hope, God’s grace…are you spreading the word of that to your island of people? Are you investing…or divesting?
My friends…beloved people…don’t wait, don’t tarry…open yourselves to the riches that are before. Don’t be miserly in spirit but be rich in God’s gift to you. Be rich…be rich…amen.
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