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SLIDEHow G Sees Us
August 17, 2014
Ephesians 1:7-9
It always amazes me how we view people. Sometimes we don’t give people very much credit. We don’t see who they really are, we don’t look deep enough, we don’t see their potential. Too often we give up on people who have amazing potential, and sadly they listen . . . and they give up.
I was reading about some famous people who were rejected, who were told they weren’t good enough, but they had enough drive and determination not to listen.
One person was rejected as too awkward and clumsy to be a ball boy in a tennis match. Yet, Stan Smith went on to become the number one ranked tennis player in the world (1972-1973).
Louis L’Amour, author of over 100 western novels – received over 300 rejections before publishing his first book.
Ray Bradbury, author of over 100 science fiction novels, received around 800 rejections before selling his first story.
A rejection slip for Dr. Seuss said ~ “Too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.”
‘Balding, skinny, can dance a little,’ they said of Fred Astaire at his first audition.
Beethoven’s music teacher declared him ‘hopeless’ at composing.
Albert Einstein’s parents feared he was sub-normal.
A missionary’s daughter battled an uncontrollable urge to run out of a revival. It wasn’t conviction that made her squirm. It was her response to what she considered appalling preaching. She later married the man, Billy Graham.
“I think I may say without contradiction that when the Paris Exhibition closes, electric light will close with it, and no more will be heard of it.” -Professor Erasmus Wilson of Oxford University
Walt Disney was fired for ‘lacking ideas’. Adapted from http://net-burst.net/hot/cope.htm
My point — — the world has one view of us, but God has a totally different view of us. God looks at us with such a powerful love, grace and hope. It’s so powerful and filled with strength that we should be super strong if we would realize how much He can do for us and wants to do for us. But too often we sit back and don’t believe this.
Last week we were looking at Ephesians 1, and I want to look at verses 7-10. The apostle Paul wrote ~
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 making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. — Ephesians 1:3-10
A little bit ago we heard the song — “The Longer I Serve Him the Sweeter He Grows.” So, what does that mean in light of these words from Paul? Is it even true? In spite of the hardships, the troubles of life, the disappointments, the grief, the sadness . . . is it true, that the longer I serve Him the sweeter He grows?
Some of our senior saints have been through lots of life, and they don’t have a doubt that Christ has gotten them through the storms. I love the angle Gene Bogue took as he said this ~
VIDEO
Isn’t that great? How many of us have wondered if we were being blessed by an angel of God. Remember what the writer of Hebrews 13:2 said ~ Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Ah, you see, Gene knows Christ has made a difference in his life. He knows Christ has never left him, and his faith is strong, and Gene knows that because of who Jesus is in his life, Gene helps others. He helps people he does not know. Why? Because he believes if God has richly blessed him, then he should richly bless others. And you never know . . . you just might be entertaining an angel without knowing it.
You see, Paul told us 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,
I want you to understand this. In who? In Christ and through Christ we have been redeemed. We have redemption. It means we have been ransomed from our captivity to sin. You see, Jesus paid for our freedom from bondage. He paid for it with the shedding of His blood on the cross.
It was the righteous One, the One without sin, the One who was perfect and pure — he had to become the sacrifice so we could find freedom from sin and have the entrance to eternal life (today and tomorrow). Without that sacrifice we are stuck. We would never realize the blessings we have in store for us. You see, verse 3 tells us we have received every spiritual blessing. So think of it this way, the spiritual blessings flow to us through the blood of Christ. It’s like a river which is flowing, never to be backed up or clogged. It’s those blessings which are always open to us. They will never fail us, they will never disappear unless we reject them.
And the beginning of the spiritual blessings is the forgiveness of our sins. We can talk about this for days, and again, I don’t think we always get what God has done for us. His Son died for you! He died so you could live! Otherwise, you would be living a life awaiting hell! That would be as good as it gets. We would have no hope for the future, yet, God offers us that hope. It’s a living hope which we can experience today. We benefit from the blood of Christ, shed for you and I. We can live the abundant life . . . today!! But we also have the hope of living the abundant life in eternity with Christ!
That’s great news which we have. And it’s all according to the riches of His grace. God’s grace is so rich and so abundant, that Paul needs to remind us — the offer of God’s amazing grace, His forgiveness (which covers every sin you can think of, except rejecting Him) is covered by the blood of Christ. You’re washed clean, cleansed, made righteous in God’s sight because of what Jesus, the Christ, did for you. People in this world will not always forgive you, even when you ask. But we have a God, who is so high and mighty and strong, yet, He will forgive you, when you ask! That’s great news. And God does this . . . because He has this intense and powerful love for you!
I want to show you a clip from what Loisann Haron had to say about her relationship with Christ. Let’s watch.
VIDEO
Loisann wonders, how do you get through life without Christ? How do you make it without knowing Him and His grace, His power, His mercy? How do you make it through the tough and difficult times? You see, Loisann and John utilize God’s presence and power to endure any storm. So, the longer they’ve served Him, indeed the sweeter Jesus grows. Because they’ve needed Him. What they’ve experienced is what Paul continues to extol in the power of God’s love for us by telling us ~
8 which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9 making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ
You see, these folks have experienced the power and love of Christ. And they’ve done it this way . . . they’ve opened themselves up and allowed God to lavish the richness of His grace upon them. The word to lavish literally means “to go beyond what is expected.” Have you ever done more than someone asked you to do? Have you ever seen the look on someone’s face when you do that? They’re like, ‘you’ve got to be kidding?’ That’s for me. WOW!!
Understand that God does that for us, even though we don’t deserve it. Because even though we know what to do, to do that which is right and good; we still often times fail to do that. That’s why I’m always encouraged by Paul’s words in Romans 7, 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Yet, God gives us what we don’t deserve. That’s a major part of the definition of grace. We receive what we don’t deserve. Ah, God’s grace at work. It’s so powerful, so encouraging. Grace cannot be defeated. Satan can’t come along and take it from us. It’s ours, forever. And God doesn’t just give it to us. He died to give it to us, to give it to us in abundance, overflowing powerful grace.
And as part of all this grace and redemption and forgiveness, God let’s us in on the mystery of His will. This doesn’t mean we will always understand why God does what He does and what His exact plan is, but God does seek to reveal to us, the mystery, the revelation of His will which was previously hidden or only vaguely known and now we have a better understanding of his plan.
Only in hindsight do we often look back on life and realize exactly where God was in the midst of our lives. That’s God’s mysterious will being revealed to us. And His plan is to unite all things in Him. Things in heaven and things on earth.
It’s not always easy to figure out. We go through life, but God is still sweeter, the longer we know Him. Listen to our last person, Rosemary Hileman.
VIDEO
Rosemary has been through the storms as well. But she knows God has never abandoned her. And while His plan is not always evident up front, she trusts that His plan is always for good.
You and I are special because GOD SAYS we are. We are created in His image. We are of great worth and value. God thought we were so valuable to Him that He sent His only begotten Son to earth to die on the cross for our sins. To take our place on the cross.
Think about that. God believes that you and I were worth dying for.
Once we accept this truth and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, we are considered family and God places His Spirit within us and calls us to go into the world to make a difference in His name.
We are special. We are unique. We are a remarkable creation of God. And we are of great worth. We are valuable because God made us valuable. His ownership of us that gives us significance.
Think about this for a minute
How much would you pay for my used toothbrush? Would you give $5? $2? 50 cents?
Well, what you pay for a USED toothbrush?
Now, what if that toothbrush was once owned by Napoleon? How much would you pay then?
Well, at an auction, somebody paid $21,000 for it.
Or, how much would you pay for a set of fake pearls?
$20, maybe $30?
What if that set of pearls had been owned by Jackie Onassis Kennedy? Her fake pearls went at auction for a little over $200,000.
Or how much would you pay for a piece of sheet music written and autographed by Pastor Doug, which you could play on the piano? In 2003, an original autographed piece of sheet music by Beethoven went for over $1.5 million.
My point is this:
That toothbrush was used.
The pearls were fake.
And the sheet music was just a piece of paper.
They weren't valuable because of what they were.
There was nothing intrinsic to them that gave them worth.
They were valuable ONLY because of who owned them.
God is our parent, and we are valued in His family. You have much worth and value!
Believe it! Embrace it! It's true!
