He Makes Us Worthy

He Makes Us Worthy:

The view from outer Grace

8-18-02

Psalm 14: 1-2, Philippians 3:8-13 +

I hope you don’t take offense if I say: There is no one here today… who is worthy to be here… in and by our own rights.

Not you!

Not me!

History tells us… over and over again… that none of us are worthy of the grace of our loving God.

President Grover Cleveland once said, “We study history NOT in order to return to it… but that we might learn from it.”

John Doan… 18th century philosopher and writer… said: “If we don’t know our history… we are doomed to repeat it.”

Back in the days of Enoch and Methuselah—about the time of Noah… at the very dawn of human history—God looked down in:

Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

The result: The great flood—the total destruction.

Much later… nearly 1 thousand years before the birth of Jesus… David tells us:

Psalm 14:2, "The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

About 3 hundred years later… Isaiah looked about him in his day and said in:

Isaiah 56: 1, "Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."

The Apostle Paul… writing to the believers in Rome said in:

Romans 3: 10, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

We have not changed… not since the beginning of time. We are still self-centered and self-serving.

But… in Jesus Christ… God sent his Son…according to Luke19:10… "to seek and to save that which was lost."

Instead of judgment—Grace!

Instead of destruction—Salvation!

Instead of death—Life!

2 Corinthians 5:21… Paul tells us… "For he(God the Father) hath made him(Christ Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

The result is… according to, 1 John 1:2 "And he is the propitiation(that is total satisfaction) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

I repeat all of this history… to remind us that…

· Without the Grace of God,

· Without the sacrifice of Jesus as our Christ,

· Without God’s great love for us…

We would all be down the tubes.

The point being… there is no one worthy of the Love of God.

It was God who made us worthy…

· When he put his son upon the cross at Calvary,

· When he put our sins—and their penalties—upon Jesus, himself, and

· When he took the righteousness of Christ, himself, and put it upon us…

so that he can see us—not in our sin—but in the righteousness of Christ.

In Christianity … there is NO room for

· Pride ... or

· Any feeling of self-importance.

There is but ONE celebrity in all of Christendom: Jesus Christ, himself!

In Him ... we are nothing ... just PUTTY—Putty in the hands of the master potter.

· What pride can the clay take ... without the genius and practiced hands of the potter?

· What pride can the pigment take ... without the eye and the disciplined brush of a Michael Angelo?

· What pride can we take when it is God who makes us into what he wants us to be?

If anyone had any right to be proud of his own righteousness ... Saul of Tarsus did!

· He was born ... trained ... and devoted ... to everything that makes a Jew ... a Jew!

· The Law -- the ritual -- the festivals -- were everything …before he met the risen Christ.

But,

· After meeting the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus ...

· After spending 3 years with him on the backside of the desert ...

· After years of teaching ... traveling ... and starting churches wherever he went…

Here’s what he thought of himself:

Philip. 3:4,"Though I might also have confidence in the flesh (in human prestige and abilities). If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:"