Finding Joy in God s Salvation

Finding Joy in God s Salvation Rich Nathan August 12 & 13, 2017 Living a Joyful Life Ephesians 2:11-13 Back in 2010, 33 miners in Chile were working deep inside of a mountain digging for copper, gold and other minerals when they started to feel vibrations. There was a massive explosion the mine was filled with a gritty dust cloud. When the dust cleared, the 33 men discovered the source of the explosion: A single block of stone as tall as a 45-story building, had broken from the rest of the mountain and had fallen through the layers of the mine causing a change reaction as the mountain above it began collapsing too. These miners were sealed inside the mountain by a mega block of stone, estimated to weigh 770,000 tons. Someone said that the amount of weight that came crashing down into the mine was twice the weight of the Empire State Building. Luis Urzua, the crew supervisor, looked at the flat smooth wall that blocked the passage way out of the mine and said, It was like the stone they put over Jesus tomb. One billion people around the world watched the rescue unfold on live TV. I want to show you a video clip of the rescue. Video of the miners What this man is saying is: Thanks God!!! Go, go, doing well Stay there Bravo Bravo C-H-I Chi! L-E Le! Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le Viva Chile! God is the one in the Bible portrayed as saving people. Like the miners who were saved and like the crowd that had gathered, the most natural reaction to the experience of salvation is joy. Over and over again in the Bible, when we read about God saving people who are trapped or oppressed or enslaved or exiled the response is overwhelming joy. For example, after God rescues the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and drowns the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, Miriam leads the nation of Israel in a wild celebration. Here s what we read: 1

Exodus 15:20-21 20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them: Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. And after the Jews were freed from the greatest disaster in their national history, the Babylonian captivity, here s what we read in the book of Psalms: Psalm 126:1-3 1 When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, The LORD has done great things for them. 3 The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Last week, I started a series on Joy. It is astonishing to discover how many references there are in the Bible to joy, to delight, to exultation, to celebration and rejoicing. Joy is a major theme in the Bible. You could say that in the New Testament Joy is THE mark of Christian faith Or as the great Bible commentator, William Barclay, put it: A gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms. Over this next month, we ll be tracing through the theme of joy in the Bible and I want to go through the theme in the order that the Bible lays it out. Last week, we started with finding joy in God s creation. This week, I want to talk about Finding Joy in God s Salvation. That s the title of today s message. Let s pray. Ephesians 2:11-13 11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision (which is done in the body by human hands) 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, 2

excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Here s the question I d like to ask you today: If you believe that you are saved, if you believe that you have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ that s making a real difference in your life now, are you rejoicing in your salvation? Whatever you re going through, however hard life is for you right now, do you say, I have a joy in my life that can t be extinguished by anything even though I grieve, even though I hurt, even though I am completely in touch with what s come against me. I still continue to rejoice in the Lord because of my salvation. Would you say that this is in any way true of you? Be honest. If you believe that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that s making a real difference in your life right now, are you rejoicing in your salvation? Do you take real joy in the fact that you are a saved person? The Apostle Paul says to us essentially that the reason why so few of us can imagine finding joy when we go through hard times, the reason why so few Christians are characterized by joy, comes down to this one thing we Christians don t have very good memories. Ephesians 2:11-12 11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision (which is done in the body by human hands) 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. A call to remember If we want to rejoice in our salvation, what is it that those of us who are saved should remember? If we were to outline these three verses, we might divide them between verses 11-12 and verse 13. Verses 11-12 encourage us to remember where we come from and verse 13 encourages us to remember where we are now. Remember where you came from Have you ever heard someone say something like this? That boy doesn t remember where he came from. He s so full of himself. He s so stuck up. He s so selfish. Look at who he s hanging around with now. He makes so much money and he doesn t give back to those in need. He doesn t remember how many people in our community helped him along the way, how poor he was, how he got a helping hand that gave him an 3

opportunity. How many folks from our community, how many of our teachers, how many folks in our church helped him along? He s forgotten his past. He s forgotten his roots. He s forgotten his friends. The problem is that he doesn t remember where he came from. Paul says, here s a key to finding joy in your salvation remember where you came from. Remember your former situation. Before you were saved, remember how you used to feel, before you met Christ. Remember what your life was like, what your situation was. Cultivate a good memory. What should we Christians remember about our pre-christian days? Let s look at the things the Apostle Paul mentions in verse 12. Here s the first thing: Remember that you were apart from Christ Ephesians 2:12 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. Before you were saved, you were separated from Christ. You were without Christ. You were outside of Christ. You were not in fellowship with Christ. You weren t in relationship with Christ. You were living a life apart from Christ. What does that mean that you are apart from Christ before you re saved? Let me put it this way: what do you think is the most fundamental distinction between people in the world today? Do you think that the most important thing that can be said about a person is their political affiliation, that the most fundamental distinction between people is whether they are Republicans or Democrats? Whether they are for Trump or against Trump? Much of the media act as if this is the most fundamental divide. You re for us or you re against us. Or perhaps you think that the most important thing that distinguishes people is nationality whether a person is American or they were born in another country. Or maybe for you the most fundamental distinction is race whether someone is white or black or Asian or Hispanic race is the most basic distinction between people that you can think of. Or perhaps you think that the dividing line should be around education. You either have a college degree or you don t. Or maybe it s around sexual orientation you re gay or straight. Or around economics you re rich or you re poor. You know, the Bible says there s really only one fundamental distinction between people. It has nothing to do with politics or economics or sexual orientation or race or country of origin. The Bible says that the only thing that really matters is whether you are in Christ or apart from Christ. Every other line we draw between people is like a 4

hairline crack in the sidewalk compared to the Grand Canyon sized divide that exists between being in Christ and being outside of Christ. The big distinction between people is not whether you live in a 7,500 square foot mansion in the suburbs and someone else lives under a bridge or whether you have a PhD and someone else doesn t have a 6 th grade education. There s one dividing line that runs through the whole human race and that is: are you in Christ or are you apart from Christ. This whole letter is about being in Christ. The Apostle Paul begins the letter this way: Ephesians 1:3-4 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. What does it mean to be in Christ? The Apostle Paul is not using these words spatially like you are in a house with your family when you are all together around the dining room table or your clothes are in your dresser drawer or in your closet. To be in Christ is not to be located inside of him, but rather to be united with him in the closest possible relationship. To be in Christ is to be in union with Christ. To be in Christ is to have a deep, personal intimacy with Christ. What does it mean to be in Christ? Jesus describes it as being like a branch united to a vine. Paul says it s like a limb being united to a body. He says it s like a husband being united to his wife. It s a connection, a deep union. To be a Christian is to be in Christ. This makes Christianity unique among the world s religions. No other religion says that its followers are in personal union with the founder of the religion. Buddhists don t say that they are in Buddha, that they have a personal intimate relationship with Buddha. Muslims don t say that they are in Muhammad, that they have a personal intimate relationship with Muhammad. Marxists don t say that they are in personal, intimate relationship with Marx or Mormons don t say that they are in Joseph Smith, that they have personal union with Joseph Smith. But that s what a Christian says about Jesus that we are in a vital, life-giving personal union with Jesus right now. That s what it means to be saved. Can you say that about yourself? Whatever I m going through, however hard it is I m still in Christ. It s my union with Jesus that gives me a reason to always rejoice. Paul tells us that to have joy, remember where you were you were apart from Christ. And second, you were excluded from God s family. Remember that you were excluded from God s family 5

Ephesians 2:12 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. Have you ever been on the outside looking in? Outside looking in with a family. Outside looking in with a circle of the cool kids? Outside looking in at the workplace or with a church or group? Here s the third thing: Remember that you were without an inheritance from God Ephesians 2:12 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. Paul is drawing from the Old Testament and he s saying that we know from the Old Testament that God had a calling on the Jewish people. God said: I m placing my eye on you, I m going to bless you. I pledge myself to you. I m entering a covenant with you. You are special to me. But then God made particular promises to the nation of Israel. These promises are recorded in the book of Genesis. God made promises to Father Abraham. God made a series of promises of a great inheritance and a great future blessing for Abraham and his descendants. Now, the Apostle Paul is asking us this question: do you remember what it was like to live without the promise of any inheritance from God? Do you remember what it feels like to have no promise of blessing from God? Let me drop this down and explain what I mean. Do you remember what it felt like to realize that your only inheritance was the one handed down to you by your parents and grandparents? The only thing that you could look forward to in life was basically tracking in the same steps of your parents or your grandparents good, bad and otherwise? You could look forward to sounding just like your mother when you yelled at your kids. You could look forward to having your father s temper. You could look forward to living out your mother s anxiety, living out all of their marital dysfunction, their perfectionism, their depression, their alcoholism, their drivenness, their views on money, their racism, their prejudices, and their inability to forgive and to let anything go? 6

Do you remember what it was like to realize that the only thing you would inherit was what you would get from your earthly parents? Friend, that s what it s like to be excluded from the covenant of promise. The only thing you get to draw from the bank as a person who is not yet a follower of Christ, is what was deposited in your bank by your parents and grandparents. I have no inheritance from God. I have no future, a future free of all the hang-ups, all the bondages, all the ways that my parents and grandparents related. I ll never escape my family system. I have no rooting in Jesus Christ. I don t have his blood running through my veins, his Spirit coursing through my body. I haven t gone through a heart transplant. I haven t been born again by God s Spirit. Apart from Jesus, I have no new ending to the story of my life. I was destined to go in this direction from the time I was born and that s the direction I m going until I die! But with Jesus there s always a surprise ending, a new chapter, an unexpected outcome no matter what our parents or our backgrounds were like. And that should give us joy! Friends, it s a tragedy to have nothing beyond your genetic inheritance and your family upbringing as your total inheritance. To not look forward to a different life, a new life, a changed life, a surprising life, a life from God. Remember that you were apart from Christ. Remember that you were excluded from God s family. Remember that you were without an inheritance from God. And Remember that you were without hope Sociologists studying the drug epidemic have termed drug overdoses along with suicide and alcohol-related deaths as Deaths of despair The Apostle Paul talks about living a life without hope. That s where a lot of people are right now. They do not believe that their future is going to get any better. We live in a time where most of us have lost hope in our government. Folks in many places have lost hope in the quality of our school system. They ve lost hope that they re getting true news from the media. It seems that there just aren t many institutions that people really trust these days. There are fewer and fewer leaders that people trust. Many, many people, not just in America but around the world, are living without hope. Where are you at? What are you putting your hope in? We hear more and more talk about nuclear war. We ve got this standoff with North Korea. Are you hoping for politicians to use good judgment? Does it make sense for anyone to put their entire trust in what this or that leader says? 7

There is hope available to anyone and everyone in the world right now. It s hope in God! Hope is a decision addressed to our wills. Hope is a decision that you make to trust in God for a good future for you based on the way that God has worked in the past. Hope says I have a future! Hope says blessing is coming to me. Hope says whatever God has started he will complete. What God promised he will fulfill. The reason I can experience joy no matter what I m going through is that I have chosen to put my hope in God! So the Apostle Paul says if you want to cultivate joy in your life, you ve got to cultivate a good memory: Remember that you were apart from Christ Remember that you were excluded from God s family Remember that you were without an inheritance from God Remember that you were without hope And, finally, Paul reaches the culmination of his argument, most importantly: Remember that you were without God When Paul says that you were without God, he s obviously talking about without a subjective awareness of God. God, of course, is there whether we acknowledge his presence or not. But do you remember when you did not appreciated his presence? Do you remember when you weren t in fellowship with God and therefore did not really experience any peace or any happiness or any sense of help when you were in trouble? Do you remember the feeling that when you were in difficulty, when you were going through something hard, the only resource that you had to rely on was yourself? Your own wits? What you could come up with. You know, to be without God is to be thrown entirely on your own resources. What a terrible thing! To go through life with no one greater than yourself to assist you. No one bigger than you. No one smarter than you. No one more powerful than you. Let me put it a different way: what do you have in your life that can never be taken away from There is nothing in this world, friend, that is totally secure. The earth itself could shake. The economy can crash it s done it before, it ll do it again. The stock market can crash it s done it before, it ll do it again. We ve gone through Depressions. People have lost their life savings. They ve lost their retirements. Governments have fallen. Houses can be burned up or lost. Marriages can fail. People die. What do you have in your life that can never be taken from you? And if the thing you re relying on is taken what will you have then to fall back on? If you are without God the only thing you have to fall back on is yourself! 8

Years ago, our church had a dear friend who has gone to be with the Lord, whose name was A. Stephen. A. Stephen was raised in an Orthodox Hindu family in India. At the age of 16, he was in despair and he decided to kill himself. He put a rope over a beam in his house and he was going to hang himself. Right before he put the noose around his neck and kicked the chair away, he heard the voice of the Lord saying, There s hope for you, my son. There s peace for you, my son. He looked around to find the voice who was speaking to him. On the street, he met a Christian who explained to him that the voice was the voice of Jesus and if he accepted Jesus he would find hope and peace. So from his Orthodox Hindu background, A. Stephen became a Christian. He went home and told his father what he had done. His father became enraged and beat him. His brothers threatened to kill him. People in the village said that because he had become a Christian, bad luck was coming to his family and there was a curse on the village. So, his father threw him out. At age 16, he was all alone in the world. He had nothing no money, no home, no family, no community. What do you have to fall back on if you lost everything? Every time I heard A. Stephen speak, he always quoted his life verse Psalm 27:10: Psalm 27:10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. Friends, can you say this about yourself? If I lost the people closest to me, if I lost all my family, I know that the Lord will take me up! God is with me. I will never be utterly alone. If I end up in a hospital room, in a nursing home, if I lose my money, if I lose my job, if I lose my spouse, if I lose my mind, if I lose my health, if I get cancer or Alzheimer s, God will always be with me. Can you say no matter what happens to the world or to me, I will always have God? Do you remember when you could not say that about yourself? Do you rejoice in your salvation because you remember where you came from? Paul is not content to have us remember the depth to which we fell in our pre-christian days, he wants us to consider the heights to which we ve been raised. Not only where we were, but where we are now. If you want to find joy no matter what you re going through, you want to find joy despite everything, the Apostle Paul says: Remember where you are now Slide Ephesians 2:13 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 9

One of my favorite authors, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, was a heart surgeon who became a preacher in Westminster Chapel in England. He preached a whole message on this little phrase, But now. Dr. Lloyd-Jones said that the difference between a Christian and a non-christian can be summed up in one little phrase, but now. This is the phrase, he said, this is the contrast between someone who is not yet a follower of Jesus and a follower of Jesus. Everyone in the world can say, I have known sickness. I have known difficulty. I have known sin. I have known hurt. I have known guilt. Everyone can say that. And if you can t, I guarantee that you will be able to say it. But only a follower of Jesus can say, but now into my darkness, light has come, but now into my guilt, forgiveness has come, but now into my depression, hope has come. These two words but now distinguish a follower of Jesus from someone who is not yet a follower of Jesus. Let me close with a few questions: Do you have a but now in your life? A turning point? Can you honestly say, Rich, this was true of me before. I was apart from Christ, I was outside of God s family, I was without an inheritance from God, I was without hope. I had nothing to fall back on other than myself! But now I m in a relationship with Christ. I m part of God s family. I have something to look forward to other than what my family has given me. I have hope. Best of all, I have God. Can you say this about yourself? Are you confident that these things are true of you? Then you can always find joy no matter what. If you can t, I d like to pray with you now. 10

A Call to remember a. Remember where you came from i. Remember that you were apart from Christ ii. Remember that you were excluded from God s family iii. Remember that you were without an inheritance from God iv. Remember that you were without hope v. Remember that you were without God b. Remember where you are now 11