1 Identity Issues Despair and Deliverance Ephesians 1:7 Jhn D. Rckefeller the richest man ever Philanthrpist If he wished t give f his riches there were tw ways he culd d s Frm his riches r accrding t his riches The mst famus picture f him is as an ld man in a tp hat and cat giving a dime t a child that appears t be hmeless Did ften (in the Great Depressin he switched t nickels) Giving frm, nt accrding t Cf. The widw s mite (Luke 21:1-4) Here is why Jesus pinted ut the way this wman gave because it was akin t the way Gd has given us grace Last week we saw that verse literally reads We praise Gd fr the glrius grace He has graced us with And nw we are tld in verse 7 He is s rich in kindness and grace that He purchased ur freedm with the bld f His sn and frgave ur sins The NASB translatin is helpful here: In Him we have redemptin thrugh His bld, the frgiveness f ur trespasses, accrding t the riches f His grace Gd has given us grace accrding t the riches f his grace He has redeemed us and frgiven us accrding t the riches f His grace He is s rich in kindness and grace (NLT) and He has redeemed us and frgiven us accrding t the vast riches f His grace nt merely frm T pick up n the picture f a hmeless child receiving a dime frm JDR Can yu think f a mre desperate cnditin than being a hmeless child? N place t belng, n ne t belng t, vulnerable, expsed, weak, helpless desperate This is analgus t humanity s plight as sinners Our intended belnging t Gd has been brken We are vulnerable t the destructive frce f sin We are expsed t the schemes f Satan wh tempts us t sin We are weak against the wiles f sin and Satan We are helpless t ultimately vercme the pwer f sin and Satan We are desperate And what wuld a dime d fr a child in that state? It might by a meal, r prvide a mment f relief But it wuld never be able t deliver the child frm their desperate situatin Their plight was t great, their situatin t dire And Gd, wh is s rich in kindness and grace has nt given us a dime f grace He has given t us accrding t the riches f His grace In redeeming us (with the precius bld f Christ), He has nt prvided a mere mment f relief frm ur desperate situatin as sinners But He has actually delivered us cmpletely frm the pwer and penalty f sin S that we are fully free and frgiven in Christ S that we (v. 6) praise Gd fr the glrius grace he has graced us with!!!
2 Gd has purchased ur freedm (redemptin) As sinners we were nt free peple We were desperately lking fr freedm And in a strange twist f fate we wh were laves t sin searched fr freedm in mre sin There was in us, wh were alienated frm Gd, a strange sense f bndage and nn-belnging deprivatin and dissatisfactin S searching fr belnging and freedm and fullness and satisfactin we dve further int sin We lusted because we were nt satisfied We cheated and stle because we felt deprived We cultivated bitterness because we felt we didn t belng We indulged because we felt bund up and cnstrained In all ur searching fr freedm In sexual liberty, in substance abuse, in greedy getting, in belittling thers and prmting self We fund urselves t be nly mre enslaved than when we first began Scripture reveals sin t be a pwer that enslaves Jhn 8:34 everyne wh sins is a slave f sin Rmans 6:6 (Cf. 7:14, 23) slaves t sin Genesis 4:7 If yu refuse t d what is right, then watch ut! Sin is cruching at the dr, eager t cntrl yu The prgressive nature f sin The real pwer behind sin is Satan: 1 Peter 5:8 Stay alert! Watch ut fr yur great enemy, the devil. He prwls arund like a raring lin, lking fr smene t devur. Jhn 10:10 The thief s purpse is t steal and kill and destry. My purpse is t give them a rich and satisfying life. Luke 22:31 Satan has demanded permissin t sift yu like wheat S we get trapped/enslaved, and need t be rescued/redeemed We might if we try hard enugh break away frm this r that sin that we have been cmmitting, but we can never break the grip f all sin. Mrris This is the cnditin f humanity apart frm Jesus He purchased ur freedm with the bld f his Sn (NLT) In Him we have redemptin thrugh His bld (NASB) Ancient metaphr taken frm the culture f slavery The thught in redemptin is that the persn has been in a captivity frm which he r she cannt break free, yet is set free n the payment f a price. 1 Release n payment f a price 1 Mrris, 20.
3 Jesus came t buy us ut f the slavery f sin and set us free t be sns and daughters f Gd Mark 10:45 The sn f man did nt cme t be served, but t serve and t give His laife as a ransm fr many Titus 2:14 He gave his life t free us (redeem us) frm every kind f sin, t cleanse us, and t make us his very wn peple, ttally cmmitted t ding gd deeds. 1 Peter 1:18-19 Fr yu knw that Gd paid a ransm t save yu frm the empty life yu inherited frm yur ancestrs. And the ransm he paid was nt mere gld r silver. It was the precius bld f Christ, the sinless, sptless Lamb f Gd. If we had t be redeemed, is a ransm had t be paid, it meant that we culd nt free urselves we were desperate slaves withut hpe and needed t be rescued (saved) He purchased ur freedm with the bld f his Sn (NLT) We like Israel have been delivered frm tyanny and a desperate slavery Exdus 6:6 I am the Lrd. I will free yu frm yur ppressin and will rescue yu frm yur slavery in Egypt. I will redeem yu with a pwerful arm Rmans 6:14 Sin is n lnger yur master Redemptin emphasizes the greatness f the price paid (bld r life) fr us and the freedm gained And if s great a price has been paid, then just as great f a freedm has been gained! Jhn 8:36 Whm the Sn has set free is free indeed He redeemed us accrding t the riches f His grace There is n sin that cannt be vercme in ur lives by the pwer f His life! N addictin r any thing! The pwer f sin has been brken Rmans 6:5-7 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will als be raised t life as he was. 6 We knw that ur ld sinful selves were crucified with Christ s that sin might lse its pwer in ur lives. We are n lnger slaves t sin. 7 Fr when we died with Christ we were set free frm the pwer f sin. S that (v. 6) we praise Gd fr the glrius grace he has graced us with Freedm feels s gd
4 In Him we have redemptin ( we have is in the present tense in the Greek) A present reality We can live in a new way we are n lnger in despair Rmans 6:12-14 a 12 D nt let sin cntrl the way yu live; d nt give in t sinful desires. 13 D nt let any part f yur bdy becme an instrument f evil t serve sin. Instead, give yurselves cmpletely t Gd, fr yu were dead, but nw yu have new life. S use yur whle bdy as an instrument t d what is right fr the glry f Gd. 14 Sin is n lnger yur master Sin is n lnger yur master Christ is yur Lrd and King! 1 Crinthians 6:19 b -20 and 7:23 Yu d nt belng t yurself, fr Gd bught yu with a high price. S yu must hnr Gd Gd paid a high price fr yu, s dn t be enslaved by the wrld We are truly His! He made us and nw he has purchased us! (2x His) But it was nt nly the pwer f sin that had t be brken, it was the penalty f sin Which is just as real Sin creates smething real (a burden we bare, a stain we wear, a debt we incur) That is why we cannt just always get ver stuff when we are sinned against there is smething there that has t be dealt with the frgiveness f ur trespasses, accrding t the riches f His grace Sins (trespasses): Trespasses = crssing the line Sin = a stumbling, a fall, an inability t make prgress in the right directin We ve crssed the line and we have an inability t make prgress in the right directin = Despair We need t be frgiven (we are burdened and stained and in debt) We cannt escape the weight f ur actins Gd des nt und wrng Apart frm Christ we are trapped in a prisn f guilt and shame Albert Speers We cannt escape by ur actins And if yur guilt and shame have seem t merely dissipate in the wash f time, they are actually nly lying drmant and waiting t appear f the Great Day f Judgment When yu stand cndemned befre a hly and righteus Gd What yu must d is repent f yur sins nw and turn in faith t Jesus that yu might be redeemed and frgiven
5 Frgiveness accrding t His riches in grace Gd, because f Christ, des nt frgive like we frgive Ps 103:12 He has remved ur sins as far frm us as the east is frm the west. He desn t keep a recrd f wrngs and save the shame fr later Jer 31:34b says the Lrd. And I will frgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins. Maybe yu knw this, but yu are despairing ver yur cntinued sin Micah 7:19 Once again yu will have cmpassin n us. Yu will trample ur sins under yur feet and thrw them int the depths f the cean! 1 Jhn 1:9 But if we cnfess ur sins t him, he is faithful and just t frgive us ur sins and t cleanse us frm all wickedness. Repent and return! Is 44:22 I have swept away yur sins like a clud. I have scattered yur ffenses like the mrning mist. Oh, return t me, fr I have paid the price t set yu free. This price that was paid, the bld f Jesus, is s awesme that in eternity future the church and the angels will sing abut it tgether, frever! Revelatin 5:9-12 And they sang a new sng with these wrds: Yu are wrthy t take the scrll!and break its seals and pen it.! Fr yu were slaughtered, and yur bld has ransmed peple fr Gd! frm every tribe and language and peple and natin.! And yu have caused them t becme a Kingdm f priests fr ur Gd.!And they will reign n the earth. Then I lked again, and I heard the vices f thusands and millins f angels arund the thrne and f the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chrus: Wrthy is the Lamb wh was slaughtered t receive pwer and riches!and wisdm and strength! and hnr and glry and blessing. And then I heard every creature in heaven and n earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: Blessing and hnr and glry and pwer!belng t the ne sitting n the thrne! and t the Lamb frever and ever. And the fur living beings said, Amen! And the twenty-fur elders fell dwn and wrshiped the Lamb.