Title: The Foundation of worship
Text: Ephesians 1:3-8, 13-14
Introduction
Today is the second of a 4 part series on worship. Last week we began our series by looking at the Focus of worship. We saw that the focus of worship should always be on God.
And that’s easier said than done.It’s not easy to keep the focus of worship on God; especially when you have the lies of the Devil, the lies of the world and the lies of the flesh all working together trying to stop you from focusing your worship on God.
The Devil says to you “I’ll try to keep the focus of your worship off God by condemning you.”
…Bringing up the sins of your past. The world says to you “I’ll try to keep the focus of your worship off God by competing for your worship.…here is something else you might like to worship instead. The flesh says to you “I’ll try to keep the focus of your worship off God by censoring your worship...you should not get excited about worshiping God
Today in part 2 of our series on worship we are going to look at the Foundation of worship. When we truly understand what the foundation of worship is we will never again have a problem with focusing our worship on God.
The foundation of worship will help you overcome the condemning lies of the devil. The foundation of worship will help you overcome the competing lies of the world. The foundation of worship will help you overcome the censoring lies of the flesh.
The foundation of worship is given to us in Ephesians 1:3
“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.”
The foundation of worship is …knowing that you belong to Christ.
And nothing will help you to focus your worship on God more than knowing what it means to belong to Christ
Therefore we really need to know what it means to belong to Christ. In Ephesians chapter 1:4-8 it tells us what it means to really belong to Christ
To really belong to Christ means first of all that…
1. I am chosen in Christ (v4-6)
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”
I can focus better on worshiping God only if I know I am chosen in Christ.
Because to be chosen in Christ means
•I’m holy and blameless in God’s sight
•I’m adopted into God’s family
I’m sure the Devil is right now lying to some people here today by telling them "That’s all very true for those people God has chosen to be in Christ…but guess what; you are not one of those whom God has chosen to be in Christ." Therefore the Devil lies and also says to us "You will never be holy and blameless in his sight.You will never be adopted into the family of God."
Its time to expose this lie from the devil for what it is. We need only to understand from the passage how God chooses a person to be in Christ to know that the devil is a liar.
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”
God chooses a person to be in Christ according to 4 criteria’s
•God chooses a person to be in Christ- according to His love
•God chooses a person to be in Christ according to His pleasure
God chooses a person to be in Christ according to his will
•God chooses a person to be in Christ according to His grace
Let’s now expose the lie of the devil
Criteria #1
•God chooses a person to be in Christ- according to His love
Does God not love everyone? Yes he does. (John 3:16) But I am a sinner?
God demonstrated his own love for us in this while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Criteria #2 and Criteria #3
•God chooses a person to be in Christ according to His pleasure
•God chooses a person to be in Christ according to his will
Does God take pleasure in sending people to hell? No he does not! Is it not God’s will that everyone be saved?
“This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3)
Criteria 4
God chooses a person to be in Christ according to His grace
Is God’s grace that he has freely given us in Christ not powerful enough to save some people?
“Where sin abounds grace abounds even more.” Romans 5:20
When the scripture says God chose us in Christ it does not mean that God choose you but not someone else. The only reason for anyone not being chosen in Christ is because so far they have chosen not to be.
They have chosen to reject God’s love for them in Christ. They have chosen to reject God’s pleasure that he wants to see them saved. They have chosen to reject God’s will for them that they would be saved. They have chosen to reject God’s grace by which they can be saved
They have rejected the offer to be holy and blameless in his sight.They have rejected the offer to be adopted into God’s family.
And all this for what? So that they could focus their worship on something else!
Either we are chosen in Christ or we are not. If we are not chosen in Christ it is because we said no to God’s offer to be so. And if we are chosen in Christ it is because we said yes to God’s offer to be so
Are you one of those who are chosen in Christ?
If you don’t think you are; You can be.
Secondly you will be better able to focus your worship on God when you know you are secure in Christ.
I am secure in Christ (v7-8)
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he has lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding
When I say I am secure in Christ I mean that in Christ I have been given everything I need to help me to focus my worship on God.
This is both very comforting and also very convicting. It’s very comforting because it means if I belong to Christ I don’t need anything else in order to focus my worship God. It’s also very convicting because how many times have I not worshiped God because I thought I needed something more than just Christ.
I can’t worship God without first having my 4 cups of coffee
I can’t worship God without first having everything all nice
If you have Christ then you have been given everything you need to worship God
There are hundreds of examples of this found in scripture
There is Paul and Silas who although they were falsely beaten, thrown into prison, chained to the wall and yet they still worshiped God.
Prayer of St Patrick
Christ be with me, Christ be in me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ be known by all who meet me.
If you have Christ you have been given everything you need in order to worship God
Question: Why do those of us that have Christ need nothing more in order to worship God?
1. Christ has given us redemption
In him we have redemption through his blood
Every one needs redemption before they you can worship God.
And Christ has purchased it for us
Illustration
By far the biggest story of 2010 was the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners
What happened for those 33 Chilean miners is similar to what happened for every believer who accepts Christ.
They were stuck in a place they didn’t want to be
They were stuck for longer than they wanted to be (69 days)
After 69 days they were redeemed one by one thanks to a capsule.
Spiritually You and I were stuck in a place we didn’t want to be. (apart from God)
You and I were stuck for longer than we wanted to be (years and years)
But God sent us a redeemer
He did not send a capsule down to earth to redeem us.
He sent Christ down to redeem us by his blood
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us in the kingdom of his Son he loves, in whom we have redemption.”
Colossians 1:13
Redeemed how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the lamb; redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child, and forever I am
2. Christ has given us the forgiveness of sins
In him we have the forgiveness of sins
Those Chilean miners ended up trapped for 69 days through no fault of their own
When they were rescued they did not need to ask for forgiveness from others. If anything they need to extend forgiveness to others. And they may not even want to do that.
We who are redeemed by Christ - we do need to ask for forgiveness
The mess we made of our lives was not caused by someone else. We caused it ourselves!
We like to pass the blame off on others. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the snake…
The biblical way is to take the blame for my own sins.
i have sinned…
in Christ we have the forgiveness of sins
“if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
3. Christ has given us grace
In accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he has lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. (v8)
God does not only give us redemption and forgiveness he also lavishes on us his grace.
What is Grace?
Grace is the riches of God
Illustration
A list of the gifts the miners have received
1. 10,000 dollars each
2. Vacation on Greek Islands
3. Trip to Graceland
But Grace is a greater gift than all these gifts. From the grace of God we receive everything we need to live the life God wants for us.
Conclusion
How do we get to be chosen in Christ? How do we get to be secure in Christ?
(v13-14)
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession- to the praise of his glory.
Hear the word of Truth
Believe in Jesus
Receive the Holy Spirit
