3 Things God Has Done For Us

INTRODUCTION

A. Many Christians live in ignorance of what God has done for us.

B. Many are not interested in doctrinal matters but in only what they get out of a church.

C. I appeal again to George Barna’s research of 1996 and 1997.

1. Many professing Christians believe that people are inherently good, that our primary purpose is to enjoy life and that our most important responsibility is to take care of our family.

2. 81% believe that the Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves.

3. 49% believe that the Bible teaches that money is the root of all evil.

4. 72% believe that people are blessed by God so they can enjoy life as much as possible.

5. 34% believe that the Bible is not accurate in all it teaches.

6. 40% believe that all religions teach equally valid truths.

7. 60% say that Satan is not a living being but a symbol of evil.

8. 55% say that if a person is generally good or does enough good things for others they will earn a place in heaven.

9. 44% believe that Jesus committed sins while on earth.

10. 61% believe that the Holy Spirit is not a living entity but a symbol of God’s presence and power.

11. 40% believe that after he was crucified, Jesus did not physically return to life.

12. 34% believe that there are some sins that even God cannot forgive.

D. Maybe the lifestyles of many Christians cause them to ignore the central truths of Christianity.

1. We are so busy that we don’t have time to pray and study God’s Word.

2. Two decades ago, people would devote 4 blocks of time weekly to religious pursuits, but now it is down to one.

3. A breakdown in doctrinal teaching in the church and at home has contributed to this state of affairs.

E. Theology is important.

1. It is important that we know what we believe about God.

2. It is more important that what we believe about God is correct.

3. Religion is more than a good feeling we get from attending some worship serve.

4. Christianity is more than an emotional high we might feel after leaving a worship experience.

5. Our theology tells us who we are in Christ and what we have been given by him.

6. We must understand what God has done for us on Calvary, and what the implications are as a result.

7. If we don’t, we will not live in the power of the Spirit of God.

HE HAS QUALIFIED US FOR AN ETERNAL INHERITANCE

A. “Always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people, who live in the light.”

B. Andy Griffith show where Gomer loses his job.

1. Gomer worked at Wally’s filling station.

2. He loved to talk, and this occasionally caused some customers to have to wait, and they would get mad.

3. Well, Wally had scolded him a couple of times, but he just kept on talking and customers kept on leaving.

4. Finally, Wally fired him.

5. Andy allowed him to move in with him until he could find another job and a place to stay (you see, he lived in the back of the filling station).

6. One day he came by the sheriff’s office and told Andy he was going down to the meat market because they were advertising for a meat cutter.

7. Andy asked him if he knew how to cut meat, and he said, “You reckon they will ask me that?”

8. Gomer was not qualified for the job.

C. Being qualified for a job is important.

1. Some places will simply not hire you if you are not qualified for the position for which you are applying and they are advertising.

2. Others will hire you but will require that you be trained.

D. Christ has qualified us for our eternal inheritance.

1. Why do we need to be qualified for our eternal inheritance, and why can’t we just go to heaven no matter what we do.

2. Many folks think we can.

3. The roadblock is our sin, and the Bible says that we are all sinners and that we are sinners from birth.

4. The wages of this sin is eternal death and separation from God in eternity and in this life.

5. Thus to receive our eternal inheritance someone has to qualify us for it.

E. Verse 14 tells what Christ has done for us.

1. “God has purchased our freedom with his blood and has forgiven all our sins.”

2. We were not free because the Bible says we are slaves to sin.

3. A slave will do the bidding of his master, and we do the bidding of our master-sin.