1 2 nd Sunday of Easter 23 rd April 2017

Transcription

1 1 2 nd Sunday of Easter 23 rd April 2017 TRANSFORMED LIFE Week 1: Brand New Eph A magician was working on a cruise ship. The audience was different each week so he did the same tricks over and over. The problem was, the captain's parrot saw all the shows and began to understand how the magician did every trick. He started shouting in the middle of the show: 'Look, it's not the same hat. Look, he's hiding the flowers under the table. Hey, why are all the cards the ace of spades?' The magician was furious but, as it was the captain's parrot, he could do nothing. Then one day

2 2 the ship sank and the magician found himself floating on a piece of wood with the parrot. They glared at each other but said nothing. Finally, after a week, the parrot said: 'OK, I give up. Where's the boat?' Having had a dad who did magic tricks and was a member of the magic circle, I wish we d had that parrot to explain the tricks he never explained! This week, unbelievably, a General Election campaign commenced and the magic promises by the politicians have started. Give me a bigger majority and we ll get the perfect BREXIT solution. Elect us and we ll give you a soft BREXIT. Elect us and your NHS and schools will get more money.

3 Another General Election!!! 3 Magic promises for voters... Magic promises which often disappear with power, like that boat! Another General Election!!! Magic promises for voters... Politicians can change our lives, though often not in the way we d like. But whilst our circumstances can be affected, the hearts and minds of the people are rarely transformed.

4 4 People seek transformation for their lives in so many areas, sometimes politics, but more often in their diet, exercise, relationships, surgery, houses, jobs...and yet most of these changes only affect our external circumstances and have little permanent effect on how we are. People look for transforming their lives... Years ago Bill Hybel s, the Pastor of Willow Creek Church, in his book Courageous Leadership, writing about just this issue, said The local church is the hope of the world. Why? Because we have the message that can introduce people to the God who truly can transform lives. Our heavenly Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit, can transform our lives in ways that

5 5 nothing else can, because He has the power to heal, restore and create. Because only God can truly transform lives Over the next 7 weeks we will be looking at the first 3 chapters of Ephesians, and considering what a transformed life in Christ actually looks like. The talks draw on the highly acclaimed Transformed Life Course and there is a course book with 50 daily reflections from Easter to Pentecost which I know

6 6 some home groups will be using. I hope these next 7 weeks will truly prove life-changing for us all. In Ephesians Ch1-3, Paul answers three of the most important questions in life: who am I? where do I belong? what am I living for? These are questions of identity, belonging and purpose. And in the 2 verses which form the greeting in the letter, Paul introduces these 3 great themes. The 3 big questions of life answered in Ephesians 1-3: Who am I? IDENTITY Where do I belong? BELONGING What am I living for? PURPOSE

7 7 If I were to ask you the question today who are you? I wonder what range of answers we would get. There can be so many things we will draw our sense of identity from: - for some it s a role we play husband, wife, son... for some it s what they own or what they can do for others it might be what other people have said about us or even what we ve achieved Who are you? Even the most successful of people can find themselves on a roller coaster ride in this area of identity, as they gain their sense of identity from their work, and that can cause problems when people retire or are made redundant.

8 8 When I went to theological college having given up teaching, I experienced a profound sense of dislocation. Being behind a student s desk taking notes, as opposed being the one leading the lesson, was deeply unsettling for me. And that was because I had unwittingly made my primary identity something I did, rather than who I am. And it s a key problem for most of us if we re honest. I believe that if Paul had been asked who are you?, his answer would probably have been, I am who God says I am. For Paul it was very simple for those who have experienced the transformed life that the Holy Spirit brings, our sense of identity comes not from what we do, but from what God has done. Notice what he calls his readers To the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus. (v1)

9 Who are you? I am who God says I am Paul To the saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus. (v1) 9 What do you think of when you hear the word saint? For many people the word saint is associated with a status that is conferred on people after they die, or on the basis of things they have done while alive, with the sense that being a saint is reserved for a very few people special people and difficult to attain. Who is a saint?

10 10 But Paul addresses all his readers as saints! He s saying that this word saint is not reserved for the few, but for everyone who is in Christ based not on what they have done, but on the fact they have been made brand new. When we were placed in Christ we now take on the same status before God that Jesus had! Who is a saint? Every Christian! The implications here are huge. Your identity is not to do with what you have or haven t done, but with what happened when you became a Christian. Whenever that took place, you received a complete change of identity you became brand new. You were just a sinner, but now you re a saint! Set apart for God one of His consecrated people.

11 11 So often we get things the wrong way round we think, if I could just be a bit more holy and get more things right then I might become a saint. No what the Bible teaches is the other way around you are a saint now live like one! Paul was very aware of the amazing change that had taken place in his own life. From the moment he gave his life to Christ he ceased to be merely a sinner and became a saint, he ceased to be Saul the persecutor of the Church, and instead became Paul, an apostle of Christ. And he made a choice not to allow his identity to be rooted in his old behaviour, but in his brand new identity. When Paul came to faith, he was no longer Saul the persecutor of the Church... but Paul, an apostle of Christ, and he chose to root his identity in this truth.

12 12 Many of us still allow ourselves to let our sense of identity be shaped by all the wrong things. Maybe you ve had others put labels on your life failure, reject, orphan, loner, bored, useless, ugly. But those labels don t have to define us any longer. As a Christian God gives you a new set of names: saint, beloved, precious child, son/daughter of the King. I wonder what identity you are living out of today?

13 13 The second great theme Paul introduces here is the sense of belonging. If I were to ask you today, where do you belong?, I wonder what you would say. Paul would have said, I fit in God s family. There is a fundamental need in all of us to find a place where we belong. I m sure this is part of the reason for the success of TV series like Friends or The Waltons. Where do you belong? I fit in God s family Paul Show youtube clip Everyone wants to belong it s often said that people come first to church to belong and believing follows afterwards. Well if you ve ever felt you don t belong, you need to know that when we became a Christian we

14 14 became part of the greatest place of belonging on earth the family of God. Why is that so great? Well firstly the head of this family is no less than Father God, see v2 where Paul refers to our Father. When you got placed in Christ it wasn t some administrative act, but the choice of a loving Father you were adopted by Him, chosen by name, and you can now come to Him at any time of the day. We have access to the Father all the time through His Son Jesus being our Saviour. What s so great about God s family? a) Father God is our Father (v2) He chose us and through Jesus we can come to Him at any time... And when Paul uses the phrase our Father he s referring to the fact that this Father is head of a household that extends right across the nations. You

15 15 have fellow brothers and sisters from all over the world, on every continent and from every kind of background and age imaginable. In Ephesians 2:19, Paul puts it like this Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God s own people, consecrated and set apart for Himself); and you belong to God s [own] household. (Amplified Bible) What s so great about God s family? b) He is Father of a household over all nations... Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, aliens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God s own people); and you belong to God s [own] household. Eph 2.19 (amp. Bible) If you re in Christ you are no longer an outsider you re a citizen as part of God s own people. You belong to God s household! Do you know the intimacy of being in God s family?

16 16 The third great theme Paul introduces here is the critical question, what are you living for? To make the most of life we need to know what we re living for, or indeed where we are going. Albert Einstein was taking the train to speak at a meeting. The conductor stopped to punch his ticket, but the great scientist couldn t find it anywhere. Not in his pockets; not in his briefcase. What are you living for? The conductor said, not to worry, sir. I know who you are, Dr Einstein. I m sure you bought a ticket. As he moved away he looked back to see Einstein scrabbling on the floor, still looking for his ticket. When the conductor tried to reassure him, Einstein said, I also

17 17 know who I am. What I don t know is where I am going. If Paul had been asked what are you living for?, I think he d have answered I am living for God s plan for my life. Paul introduces himself in v1 as Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God (Eph 1.1). He was acutely aware that he discovered his purpose on earth by being in the will of God. It was only when he was placed in Christ that he found what he was actually made for. What are you living for? I am living for God s plan in my life Paul Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. (v1) Likewise when we become part of God s family we find that the eternal Creator of the world who has plans

18 18 for all of the earth connects us into His plans and has created a part for us to play. This sense of purpose needs to pervade everything not just the big things of life, but also the ordinary and mundane. God wants all of us to know we are made on purpose and for a purpose just listen to this wonderful promise from later on in the book of Ephesians: For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10, ESV). For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2.10 What a promise you are God s workmanship He is the one who has made you and you re extraordinary a masterpiece; the Master s piece.

19 19 So we are designed to do what? Good works to colabour with God to see God s plans fulfilled on the earth. And where do we find our purpose? In Christ Jesus. Because we are in Christ, we can enjoy the same intimacy with the Father, and out of that, walk also in the Father s plans. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2.10 It s an amazing thought that, the all-powerful, all knowing God has made plans for this world and He intends that you and I should join Him in making them happen! Today what are you living for? God s glory?

20 20 I pray today and in this season of Easter we will all seek a greater revelation of who we are in Christ, and a deeper appreciation of our belonging and purpose.