What I Owe Myself Series

Scripture: Philippians 3:12 – 14; Romans 8:1-4

Theme: What We Owe

Title: What We Owe Ourselves

INTRO:

Grace and peace this morning from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

Over the last few weeks we have been looking at what We Owe

+What We Owe the World

+We owe the World the reality that we have experienced a Supernatural Encounter with the LORD – that we know what it means to be rescued and redeemed through the Blood of Jesus Christ

+We owe the World a living example of what it means to live a Spirit-filled and Spirit-led life

+We owe the World the Positive Message of Salvation and Sanctification

And then we looked at:

+What We Owe the Church – Our Fellow Believers in Christ

+We Owe the Church a Life that is Available and Accessible to the LORD 24/7/365

+We Owe the Church a Living Example of what it means to be an Agape Bond Servant of the LORD

This morning, I would like for us to look at a third area of Debt that we Owe – and that is What We Owe Ourselves as Christ Followers.

Jesus came to this earth to enable us to be able to live the best life possible. That best life possible is more than the life we are going to enjoy after our resurrection/rapture. The Apostle John gives us a glimpse of our future life in Revelation 21:1-4:

Revelation 21:1-4 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

This morning, we live in light of the hope of that life but the Good News is there is so much more for us to enjoy. Jesus plainly shares in John 10:10 that He came to bring us an Abundant Life for the here and now.

John 10:10 - The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly.

And then in Luke 24:49 and in Acts chapter 1, Jesus goes further as He tells us how we are going to enjoy that Abundant Life. We are going to enjoy that Abundant Life being Hosts of His Holy Spirit; being continually filled with His Holy Spirit.

It is true that we still live in a fallen world. But in this fallen world we are to enjoy a life that is truly amazing. The questions we have to ask ourselves every so often are: *Are we enjoying the goodness of God in its fullest in our daily lives?

*Are we enjoying our full access to God’s love, joy and peace daily?

With all of that in mind let’s look at a few things this morning that we owe ourselves as Christ-followers:

I. We Owe Ourselves the Joy of Enjoying God’s Unconditional Love

God did not have to redeem us. Jesus did not have to come to earth to live among us, die for us and be raised again. The Holy Spirit did not have to come to earth to convict us, cleanse us, live inside of us, guide us, encourage us, empower us and work with us in transforming our lives and all of creation.

But God has chosen and still chooses to do some amazing things out of His Unconditional Love. Things like:

+ God Lovingly Accepts Us

One of the greatest stories of the Old Testament is the story of Abraham. We find him living in a city full of sin. The Lord could have left him there but out of unconditional love the LORD called Abraham to leave the city of Ur and go to the Promise Land.

Abraham did not deserve that type of love or God’s acceptance. All you have to do is to read his story to know that he was quite a piece of work. He messes up. He tries to give away or sell his wife a couple of times and he is a habitual liar.

However, God does not give up on Abraham. God continually works with Abraham, shaping his life, leading him here and there. God wants the best for Abraham. The LORD wants Abraham to be blessed. He wants Abraham to live the best life here on earth and God does everything He can to help Abraham.