Scripture: Ephesians 1:1-14; Psalm 23
Theme: Intentional God – Intentional Living
Paul shares with us these main truths: 1. THE GOOD GOD of Creation (the Lord God Almighty – Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is an Intentional God. 2. He calls us to live a life INTENTIONALLY IN CHRIST.
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Passionately reading and studying the Bible will transform your life. It will take your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual life to a whole new level. Billions of people have and continue to testify to this reality.
There are certain passages in the Bible that when you read them you can experience the presence of heaven. Passages like Psalm 1, 23, 46 and 100 along with Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7, the Apostle Paul’s writings in Romans chapters 8 and 12, 1 Corinthians 13 and the Apostle John’s words in Revelation chapters 21-22.
Our scripture reading this morning could be added to those passages. It’s a passage that can be quite overwhelming as you read it for it contains so much truth, so much insight that it takes some time to understand it all.
We must always understand that the Apostle Paul wrote with a purpose. He wrote with a purpose that was birthed in him through the power of God’s Holy Spirit. A purpose that was to assist those who had accepted Jesus’ call to follow Him and be Christ’s disciple.
Paul begins his letter by reminding us of a few things. Let’s look at some of those things this morning, looking chiefly at verses 1-3.
The first thing Paul wants us to remind us of is:
I. THE LORD – The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY IS INTENTIONAL IN NATURE
Paul wants his readers to fully understand that the God he is asking them to serve, the Lord God Almighty, the Good God of Creation is intentional in nature. He plans and does things by purpose and by design.
God intentionally called Paul. You can read all about that in Acts chapter 9. God intentionally called Paul to be an apostle; to be one of His messengers who would spend their life sharing and teaching about redemption through His Son Jesus Christ and experience the continual infilling presence of His Holy Spirit.
As you read the Bible from Genesis chapter 1 all the way to Revelation 22 this characteristic of intentionality is written on every page and in every passage.
To serve the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, to understand the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY is to realize that God always has a purpose and plan in what He reveals and does.
From the very beginning when He spoke the creation into existence, He had a purpose and a plan.
+We see that revealed in the days of creation – each day revealing a little bit more of God’s intention and plan. Light/dark, chaos/order sun/moon plants/animals Adam/Eve
None of it is random. It is all a part of an overall plan. A plan that will reflect His glory and honor. A plan that will bring forth a creation that at its very core is to bring life, joy, celebration, worship, praise and love.
We see God’s intentionality in calling such people as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samuel and David. We see God’s intentional plan in working in the lives of Sarah, Rebekah, Rahab, Ruth, Deborah and Mary.
Solomon reminds us how we are to handle God’s intentionality:
“Trust in the LORD will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6
King David put it this way:
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11
23 The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not [a]want. 2 He makes me to lie down in [b]green pastures;
He leads me beside the [c]still waters. 3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;
And I will [d]dwell in the house of the LORD [e]Forever.
God not only had a plan for creation, for individuals like Abraham and Sarah, He has a plan for you and me.
It is His plan that we follow the path that He has for us – as individuals, as a family group, a collective group and as the world.
All this begs an important question?
Why follow His plan?
Don’t we all have a mind? Don’t we all have special interests at heart? Don’t we all have the ability to choose our own paths?
Yes to all three questions – but let me ask some even more important questions –
WHO IS more loving, perfect, all knowing, all powerful and holy than God?
Who is in a better position to help us live out a great life than God?
I mean when you really sit down and think about it for a few minutes it is a rather easy question to answer.
We are finite – God is infinite.
We are limited – God is unlimited.
We live in a time bubble – we are like the grass that is here today and is gone tomorrow – God lives outside of time and in fact created time.
No matter how you look at it – you must come up with the same answer – there is no one else that knows you better, understands you better or even loves you more than the One who created you – The Good God of Creation – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Because God is an intentional God – He invites and challenges us to
II. Live Out an Intentional Life
One of the things that is happening more and more in our world is that people are seemingly lost. They are living without purpose or direction. They seem to just ride the next wave that comes by and set their sails by whatever wind is blowing at the time.
But that is not why God made us and that is not God’s plan for us.
Paul reminds us that God has called Him to be an apostle and has called all who are reading this letter to be one of God’s saints – hagios – a sacred one, a holy one – a set apart one – a righteous one.
Almost immediately there is something on the inside of us that rebel against such thoughts.
How can we be holy? How can we be sacred?
I mean have you seen us, been around us or listened to us?
We have this idea that being holy means that we can’t experience any fun or that we must be quiet and contemplative all the time.
All that means is we need to read the Bible more. We need to read the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
For when we read all the stories then we see that being holy, being sacred and being set apart includes good food, good times of sharing life and laughter.
One of the things that we must understand is that while God intentionally plans for us to enjoy life there is another force at work that is wanting the exact opposite.
You can call it Anti-God or Satan or just Evil but it exists.
At times the Apostle Paul called it the Spirit of the World. There is this presence – it is neither all knowing, all powerful or everlasting – but it exists, and it works in and through such beings as Satan and demons and even humans that do not want to intentionally follow God and His way of life.
That evil is our enemy. Its sole purpose is to kill, steal and destroy. It will advocate a lie, try its best to seduce and use any trick it can to deceive, confuse, darken and ultimately enslave people.
The Bible tells us at one time Satan, or the Devil was this angelical being that overshadowed the throne of God and was overjoyed with bringing praise and worship to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
Somewhere back in time that angelic being along with others chose to go another direction. They chose to accept evil as their god and to take on the mantle of destruction, decay and death. Evil seared their conscience and has led them to hate God and anything holy, sacred or set apart for God.
What that means is there are beings and a spirit that:
+Hates you – hates the very core of you – that never, ever wants you to enjoy faith, hope, love or joy. It will never be your friend or want what is best for you.
+Its sole motivation is for you to miss God’s path and for you to join it as it travels down the road to ultimate damnation and destruction.
So, we all have a choice. A very important life choice.
We can receive the truths that the Apostle Paul shares with us in this passage.
+We serve an Intentional God – a God that has a plan. A God that is all knowing, all powerful, all holy and all loving.
+We can join up with that God – God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God has invited us to repent – to turn towards Him and accept His plan for our lives – a plan that includes redemption, forgiveness, spiritual blessings beyond measure, an inheritance and the infilling presence of His Holy Spirit.
+Or we can do nothing and find ourselves being outwitted, outthought and out maneuvered by evil and when all is said and done will be enslaved by evil’s thoughts and mindset and ultimately condemned to this place called Hell – where there is no love, no grace and no hope.
This is one of those times when an eternal truth comes to the forefront – there is no neutral ground.
It is either God or Evil. It is just that plain and that simple.
Today that may sound too simplistic. It may sound unfair. It may even sound unreasonable.
But the truth is the truth. Either God or Evil.
We get to choose.
And if we choose God – the Paul tells us as he writes the rest of this letter –
III. We Are to Live Intentionally IN CHRIST
Once we have said with Joshua of old:
“As for me and my house we will serve the LORD.” – Joshua 24
Or as Jesus put it:
“Jesus answered him (Satan, Evil), ‘It is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God and serve Him only.” – Luke 4:8
We are to then spend the rest of our lives here on this earth to live in a relationship with Christ that Paul and others labeled as “in Christ”.
Now, what does that mean?
When we accept Jesus as the Anointed One, God in Flesh, the Redeemer and Savior of our Salvation, the Resurrected One we choose to no longer live our lives in a vacuum.
We open our hearts, our minds and our souls to receive God’s Holy Spirit.
Or as John the Revelator put it to the Church of Laodicea:
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to (him) them and eat with them, and (he) they with me.” – Revelation 3:20
When we come to Christ it is not on a whim. It is not something we do for a moment. It’s not something to merely get some get out of Hell card.
No, Jesus was clear – Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
In other words – make a decision that means a turning – that means that you are going from one direction to another direction.
This is why in the New Testament the Bible uses such words as Born Again, Sins being Washed Away and Metamorphosis -being transformed from the inside out.
“In Christ” is a big deal. In fact, it is the biggest deal ever offered to humanity.
It cost God His life. God in Flesh – Jesus died for our sins. He paid the penalty so that we can be redeemed, forgiven and saved by grace.
And it means that we are now to live “in Christ.”
What does that mean?
We are to intentionally live out our lives – our thoughts, our plans, our actions in view of who we are in Christ Jesus.
It leads us to where Klyne Snodgrass gives us this piece of advice:
“Christians must therefore understand the culture they live in and must decide what in culture may be legitimately adapted and enjoyed and what must be rejected.”
To live in Christ
1. Is to be not only a believer but a disciple.
Far too many people are only believers – they want to say something and then believe that they are forever secured no matter how they live their lives.
The Apostle James reminds us that even the demons believe in God – that He exists.
But we would all agree that is a far cry from giving our lives to God and following God.
When I was seven years old, I accepted Jesus as my Savior.
I accepted Jesus with as much insight and knowledge that a seven-year-old can understand.
But what I did at seven was just the beginning not the beginning and the end.
Jesus called us to do more than just believe – He called us to follow Him.
And this is where so many people misunderstand their relationship with God.
It’s not a one off – it’s a forever giving of one’s life. It’s doing everything you can to follow God as closely as you can.
Let me say that again – It’s doing everything you can to follow God as closely as you can.
At times that means like Jesus said – You have to pick up your cross and follow Him.
It means at times you must remind yourself, your family and your friends and others that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are more important that anything else in your life – even your relationship with your spouse, your children, your family and your friends.
It means that you saturate yourself in God’s Word, listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit – testing yourself and other things to make sure that they are from the LORD.
It means having long conversations with God – listening and submitting yourself to His authority and power.
You see the closer we are to Jesus the easier it is to do things that are right. Because doing things that are right becomes a part of who we are.
Think for a moment of the Three Hebrew Children – all they were asked to do was to bow down before the King and acknowledge that He was all powerful. That he was like a god to the citizens of the Persian Kingdom.
They didn’t have to think about what to do. They knew who the real King was. And so as you read the story they would rather burn in the furnace than deny the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
The same is true for Daniel – He knew that if he prayed three times a day he would end up in the lion’s den. But his life in God was more important than anything else – even his physical existence.
Going God’s way – doing God’s will – while it may seem hard at times – when you put it into proper perspective it really isn’t.
This morning we all called to do exactly as our closing song (I Surrender All) calls us to do:
“All to Jesus – I surrender All to Him I freely give - I will ever love and trust Him, In His daily presence live”
One of the greatest treasures the Bible shares with us is it helps us to see ourselves and for us to see what is important to us – what is most important to us –
+For some that can mean earthly treasures, but those treasures will one day rust and rot
+For some it can even be family, but as much as we can love family – family is not God nor can family give us everlasting life.
+For some it can even be the church – either the congregation or a certain building or structure – but the true church is those who are surrendered to Jesus and we all know that buildings have a way of deteriorating and decaying.
No – the song is right – the only way to live is to live an intentional life of surrender to Jesus. It is to be in Jesus – to focus on Jesus – to allow His Holy Spirit to transform us, guide us and lead us.
This morning, listen and if you want to sing along with the song and make it your song – your commitment – your voice of allegiance to Jesus.
And then intentionally do what the Apostle Paul challenges us to do – Live the best life we can in Christ – in Christ. Live a life that reflects God’s glory and honor. Live a life filled and led by God’s Holy Spirit. Live a life that is Born Again. Live the life of being Jesus’ disciple today, tomorrow and for all eternity. Amen.
Closing Song – I Surrender All
