Powerful People are Transformed and Renewed by God
It’s been a while, but I’m going to start with a question: Are you allowing God to work powerfully in your life?
This evening as we continue in our series Powerful People, I want to encourage you that if you really want to experience God working powerfully in your life you need to allow Him to transform your mind.
Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:1-3, Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
The will of God lets tackle that one first:
The will of God is a phrase we might use as disciples of Jesus.
The “the will of God” has two or three biblical meanings.
First, there is the sovereign will of God, that is something that will always happen.
Second, there is the revealed will of God in the Bible, things like do not steal, do not lie, do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not covet.
In this sinful world, people might know what the revealed will of God is for humanity and yet still choose to ignore what God has said.
Then third, there is the path of wisdom and spontaneous godliness.
Wisdom is when we consciously apply the word of God with our transformed and renewed minds to complex moral circumstances.
Spontaneous godliness can occur when we live most of our lives without conscious reflection on the hundreds of things we say and do all day.
For us to live lives that are holy and acceptable to God we need to allow Him to transform your mind so that we will seek His will and purpose for us in every area of our lives.
When I became a Christian around 33 years ago, I read the book of Romans for the first time.
Since then I have revisited the words of the Apostle Paul on many occasions, and over 50 of my sermons have quoted verses from the letter to the Romans.
Romans contains the beautiful message of the gospel and practical insights into how we should live.
There are four words that can be used to summarise The book of Romans: SIN, SALVATION, SANCTIFICATION AND SOVEREIGNTY.
SIN: we are all sinners.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin entered into this world and every generation since then has been damaged.
All of us are born with a corrupted human nature, we sin because we are sinners, we experience less than we were created for in this life.
In our natural fallen sinful nature, we are enemies to the will and purpose of God.
Because of sin we are separated from God, our relationship with Him is broken and we would spend eternity apart from Him.
SALVATION: We need a way to be saved.
We need a way back to God.
We need a way to be forgiven of our sin.
The message of Romans 6:23 is clear, the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus, God incarnated into flesh, Jesus lived a perfect life, and willingly went to the Cross so that He could take the punishment our sin deserved.
Because of His sacrifice on the cross, His perfection, His righteousness is imputed to us when we trust in Him as Lord and Saviour.
Imputed, that means by faith we are treated as if we had never affected by sin. Through faith in Jesus, we are ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven by God.
Best of all, our salvation is not something we have to earn it is given as a free gift to all who believe and trust Jesus.
Because of His work on the cross we can have a restored relationship with God in this life and for eternity.
SANCTIFICATION: When we become disciples of Jesus, God does not immediately transport us to Heaven. There is still some stuff that God needs to do in our lives to make us fit for Heaven.
Yes, we are forgiven, yes we are saved, yes we are assured of our salvation, yes we have a new mind, a new spirit; but we are still under the influence of our sinful nature, still clothed in sinful flesh.
Until we die and God calls us home to be with Him forever, we will struggle in a continuous battle to be holy as God is holy until we are ultimately glorified.
SOVEREIGNTY:
The Sovereignty of God is the fact that God is the supreme authority and all things are under His control.
Do we choose God or does God choose Us?
The question of whether God’s sovereignty is consistent with meaningful human decisions which are free from compulsion is a significant theological question in Christianity.
Calvinists and Armenians have argued for both Divine sovereignty and human responsibility.
Ultimately God is in complete control of all things, though He may choose to let certain events happen according to natural laws which He has ordained.
God has created a world in which freedom is a real possibility so I have a simple answer, in His Sovereignty God chooses those who will choose Him.
Our thoughts are influenced or conformed by many different things in this world.
Which is why we need God to transform the way we think.
Paul instructs us in a few specific areas of our life where our thinking must be transformed from a sinful, worldly way of thinking to a godly way of thinking.
He starts with the church, then relationship with other believers, then government, unbelievers, and sharing the gospel with others.
Let's return to Romans 12:3, Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
Here is one characteristic of a transformed mind, Humility, Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
Do you tend to think you’re better than others?
Do you tend to think you’re better than non-believers? Do you tend to think you’re better than those with different views on life?
Are you better than those who face different struggles?
Do you judge other Christians who don’t behave the way you do?
Be honest in your evaluation of yourself, measure yourself by the faith God has given you.
This challenge is to church. Your attitude within the church.
Can your attitude cause damage within the church?
I’m sure most of us could name someone who has been hurt by somebody's attitude or actions within a church.
Maybe you have been personally hurt by someone's attitude within the church.
If any of us fall into the trap of thinking too highly of ourself, we will hurt others and ourselves.
Many modern churches are littered with wrecked lives because of arrogant, self-righteous, and judgmental Christians.
We are meant to be disciples of Jesus who live powerful transformed lives of faith born from a real relationship with God and a deep understanding of the gospel.
When we understand the truth of the gospel, we recognise our dependence on Jesus for our salvation and our everyday life.
The gospel, the Word of God is the source of our thinking.
The ways of the world will never lead us to humility.
Even the faith we have is from God!
Let me be clear, Paul is not advocating self-loathing; I’m a sinner, woe is me, I’m awful!
You have worth to God, you are so valuable to Christ He was willing to die for you.
Gain your full significance from the fact that God loved you enough to give His son for you, and allow God through the work of the Holy Spirit to change you and transform you.
Time has gone so I will close with this:
God gave everything for you.
That’s how valuable you are.
Jesus gave His life for you.
Your value isn’t based on what you do or even who you are. Your value is found in whose you are.
Your value is measured in nothing less than the price of your salvation - the blood of Christ poured out for you.
You are valuable to God.
The question is, “how valuable is God to you?”
Let me encourage you to allow God’s to change and transform your mind so that you can be a powerful person and live your life as a holy sacrifice to Him.
AMEN
A VIDEO OF THIS SERMON IS AVAILABLE AT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNK0fbR70A0
The audio for this and other sermons are available here: http://www.deancourtier.co.uk/sermons.html or as a direct download from https://sermons.estuaryelim.church/20200315_apm_dean_courtier(sinsalvationsanctificationsovereignty).mp3
