Why Are We Still Trying To Get Rich? It s Time For Us to Be The Church Ephesians 1:3-14 January 6, 2013
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4. just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6. to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
7. In him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, 8. which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight 9. He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10. with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. In Him 11. also we have obtained an inheritance,
having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12. to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14. who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God s own possession to the praise of His glory.
When I talk to people about issues going on in our lives, all too often, their focus is on themselves
I hear about how painful and difficult circumstances are...about how stretched to the limit resources are
We tend to look at everything through the lens of our own experience, knowledge, or feelings
Unfortunately this tendency narrows our perspective so that we are unable to see our circumstances through the wider lens of what God is doing around us.
If we are to change our thinking, we must begin to look at what God is doing we need to listen to what God is saying
Over the next several weeks, my goal is to help you to re-shape your thinking about God and about yourself.
We are going to to plumb the depths of a little book called Ephesians
Sunday mornings will be devoted to exhortation and encouragement Wednesday nights will focus on a more in-depth exploration of the text
We will examine our calling to be the church and the conduct that God expects from us as the church
We chose Ephesians because it gives great insight into both our privileges and our responsibilities as Christians?
Ephesians is the believer s guidebook to spiritual, mental, and emotional wellbeing. It will change your life.
Before we look at Ephesians, we need to be reminded that God s original intent for His people was blessing
Genesis 1:27 tells us God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
And God blessed them; and God said be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it
In Genesis 12:2 God said to Abraham, And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. (Gen. 12:3)
We learn from Genesis that God had a plan to bless us Ephesians tell us that God made good on that plan and has already blessed us
The Theme Our holy practice is rooted and grounded in our heavenly position?
Key Verse Ephesians 1:3
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Meaning Everything given to us, (and we have been given every spiritual blessing), has been given to us in Christ
So why are we still trying to get rich if the Father has already given us every spiritual blessing in Christ?
We are still trying to get rich because we feel unwanted even though He chose us. (4)
We are still trying to get rich because we feel unaccepted even though He adopted us. (5)
We are still trying to get rich because we feel the guilt of sin even though He redeemed us. (7)
We are still trying to get rich because we lack a sense of purpose even though He revealed His will to us (9)
We are still trying to get rich because we feel disenfranchised even though He gave us an inheritance (11)
We are still trying to get rich because we are uncertain about our future but He gave us a guarantee (13)
Lessons #1 The truly valuable things in life cannot be bought with money. They are given to us freely by God.
Lessons #2 God s main purpose in everything He does is to glorify Himself.
Lessons #3 True riches come from God by His grace and for His glory, but this is only the beginning