Sermon Cloud

Eph 1:15-23. Paul prays that God’s Spirit would illumine their minds so that they could grow in their knowledge of God. He can pray this because something decisive has happened in their hearts – v18: ‘since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened.’ We were blind to the beauty of the Gospel, but he enlightened the eyes of our heart. In 2:1-5 he speaks of being dead and God making us alive. Our hearts were dead and indifferent toward God; they were alive to so many other things, but dead to him. But he made us alive, caused our hearts to beat with new conviction to trust Jesus and a new capacity to treasure Jesus. We were made alive, given new life. But like all new lives, it is imperative that growth happen. A newborn should grow. When you mature by coming to know God in a personal experiential way, some realities begin to explode in your heart that renew you.
 
We are Called to Hope. The storyline of the Gospel is all that was tragically lost in the fall, when sin entered the creation as a violent intruder and vandalized the “very good,” will be regained in the end. It is not simply forgiveness of sins and a home in heaven wherever heaven is, but the healing of all creation, including us. The point of 1:9-10. “God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 10) And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.” Christian Hope: The world is headed to a great finale where all that is wrong will be made right; all that is fallen will be raised up; all that is broken will be made whole; all that is wounded will be healed; tears will be forgotten and death will be no more. Evil will be uprooted. It will all be resolved. Future: Titus 2:11-14 the blessed hope, the appearing of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is bringing it in the future when he comes again, though in his first coming hope made a cameo appearance. This Hope has broken in on the world and is here with more coming. Sally Lloyd-Jones in the Jesus storybook bible tells the story of the raising of Jairus' daughter: “‘Honey’ he said, ‘it’s time to get up.’ And he reached down into death and gently brought the little girl back to life… Jesus was making all the sad things come untrue. He was mending God’s broken world.” Hope was here, showing us what the world is destined for, but not here in full force. That is for later; it is coming in full force and will finish what it started. So, the hope we have in the Gospel of Jesus and that in the midst of our struggles we know that God will resolve all of this dissonance in our lives and the story will be even more beautiful for once having been so broken; one day all this sadness will be drown out with song. Some doubt the Christian faith because of pain and suffering. But pain and suffering are doomed in the Christian faith. If I reject this story of hope, I’m not left with much else. We can’t find this hope anywhere. We could shake every pocket of this world empty, but we will find nothing like what God is promising us here. This hope is present; steady confidence we can have now that melts our anxieties and strengthens our loyalty to Jesus. Confident that we are forgiven and will not be judged by God; God is for us and not against us; that God sees and hears us and cares for us; that God is working all things together for our good; that God has given his Spirit to us help us and strengthen us; that we will be honored for our faithfulness to Jesus; Confidence that our sufferings are light and momentary compared to the glory that is to be revealed. Our lives exists in the context of Hope because of Jesus who is called our hope. Don’t despair or be anxious.

We are Prized by God. We are his glorious inheritance…appreciate the extraordinary value that God places on us; God has gone to great lengths to have us for his people, his own special possession, and we are what he looks forward to enjoying forever. Paul prays for us to know this because it produces a radically new kind of life. (1) Creates genuine love for God. When you see that God loves you apart from your record, (unlike any love) and at infinite cost to himself (unlike any love), it creates a genuine love and submission in our hearts (that should be unlike any love we have for any other – we should love God supremely because by him we have been supremely loved). We say with the hymn writer, “Love so amazing so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”  When you are convinced God is for you, you will accept God over you. Those who don’t want God over them, have not seen that God is for them. Where can we find a love like this? (2) Creates great freedom. Most of us are driven by our need for approval and acceptance. Paul wants us to be free from this bondage by seeing how prized and valued we are by God and to live to please him in light of his love and acceptance of us in Jesus. When it defines us, it free us. This is Grace motivation vs guilt motivation.

We are strengthened by Power. The power that raised Christ, exalted Christ to a place of supreme authority and unparalleled honor, over every imaginable power or authority, including earthly rulers and spiritual powers, even over death. The immeasurable greatness of his power, the supremacy of his authority is toward us who believe. (1) We don’t have to stay the same. As we come to know God more personally, and experience him more, we come to know his power at work in us more. This power will one day renew the entire creation, but it is God’s plan to renew our lives with that power now. That power will one day banish all greed and selfishness and lust and pride and cruelty and neglect from this world, and it is his desire that by the working of his power in our hearts we might be rid of those things now. You? Anger, jealousy, greed, lust, addiction, depression? There is a power available to you, unleashed in intimacy with God that can change you. That power will establish…It is his desire that his power unleash the flourishing of those things now. Do you have a vision for who you can become as God works in you to change you? Has your imagination been captured by that. (2) This world doesn’t have to stay the same. That power is power that triumphs over evil and heals brokenness and it is unleashed through the Church. That means confronting darkness and addressing the brokenness of this world, seeking to make it more now what it is destined to become. We have more than sufficient resources in Christ to help bring about a better world.  In our city we are always aware of exciting things going up all around us. Are you aware of the new world that is going up; that God intends to establish? We can’t close our eyes and ears to the groanings of this world, but enter it with a vision of what it is destined to become and work toward it. The people of Apostles are constantly breaking the huddle and entering the world with the message and mercy of Christ. Join a community group and do this together.  

Conclusion: Knowing God deepens our hope, assures us of his love, and sets off a chain reaction of renewal in our lives, community and city.