WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.500 Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would come and move amongst us with gentle and deep power 00:00:07.500 --> 00:00:15.040 to bring Jesus close to us, to have him truly rule in our hearts, 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:21.519 and that we will be gripped not only by who he is, but what he has done for us on the cross. 00:00:22.460 --> 00:00:28.539 And that as we are brought closer to Jesus, we ask, Father, that you fan into flame within us a deep hope, 00:00:28.539 --> 00:00:35.200 a deep hope of glory for those of us, for all of us in Christ Jesus. 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:39.420 And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. 00:00:40.019 --> 00:00:40.920 Please be seated. 00:00:49.899 --> 00:00:54.280 One of the, I don't really like watching cooking shows that much. I'm not against them. 00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:56.159 I just don't watch that many cooking shows. 00:00:56.779 --> 00:00:59.979 Some of you maybe have eaten some of my food. We'll say it shows. 00:01:00.579 --> 00:01:04.620 But, and I don't know anything at all about baking. 00:01:06.259 --> 00:01:12.099 I, sometimes I have to bake a birthday cake for my wife because she'd much rather that I baked it 00:01:12.099 --> 00:01:15.920 than I bought one from Tim Hortons or Loblaws or something like that. 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:19.579 So I, I do. And she always says polite things about it. 00:01:20.659 --> 00:01:25.420 But anyway, the reason I mention this is there is one cooking show I like, and it's called Chef. 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:27.240 The Chef, I think it is. 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:33.159 And it features this guy, the director, producer, who's done the Iron, some of the Iron Man movies, 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:34.359 some of the Marvel movies. 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:39.420 He did the remake of, of the Lion King, only with, with live actors. 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:40.700 He's John Favreau. 00:01:41.100 --> 00:01:45.579 And he does it with this cook called Roy, a Korean cook. 00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:51.659 The two of them had met because Roy was catering the first one of the Iron Man films that John Favreau did. 00:01:52.539 --> 00:01:56.879 And, and then later on, John Favreau sort of decided to do this small budget film, 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:02.359 which is very interesting, about a high level chef who loses a star and sort of rediscovers who he is 00:02:02.359 --> 00:02:06.500 by getting into a food truck and going across the United States with his son, 00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:08.120 cooking out of this food truck. 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:13.199 And he used Chef Roy to teach him how to actually look like he knew how to cut vegetables 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:15.300 and do all that other type of stuff correctly. 00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:18.539 And now what they do, they've just finished their fourth series, 00:02:18.539 --> 00:02:22.840 is they get together and they just basically have fun hanging out together, 00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:26.680 trying to cook some stuff and meeting a few other celebrities or a few other, 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:28.299 a few other famous cooks. 00:02:28.419 --> 00:02:31.299 And I just, I just enjoy the way they joke with each other. 00:02:31.539 --> 00:02:33.379 And it's sort of cool to see the food. 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:39.139 This past episode, they have just had a brand new series come out on, on, on, on Netflix. 00:02:39.539 --> 00:02:42.180 And, and they're both cooks, not bakers, they're cooks. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:46.459 And they, they go and they visit somebody who's an expert at making cookies, 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:49.240 cookies, brownies, birthday cakes, and truffles. 00:02:49.939 --> 00:02:53.379 And, and so she's showing them how you put things in, in a certain order. 00:02:53.379 --> 00:02:55.860 And there's, you put this, the butter and this and this in, 00:02:55.900 --> 00:02:57.200 and then you whip it a long time. 00:02:57.200 --> 00:02:59.400 And then you put these in, you don't whip it very long. 00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:03.600 They get into a bit of a discussion because in the previous like episode or two, 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:07.340 the two of them, John Favreau and Chef Roy tried to, to bake something. 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:09.520 And in the episode, they, they try to bake it. 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:10.240 It doesn't turn out. 00:03:10.340 --> 00:03:11.240 They try to fix it. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:11.840 It doesn't turn out. 00:03:11.900 --> 00:03:12.480 Try to fix it. 00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:13.260 It doesn't turn out. 00:03:13.259 --> 00:03:18.679 And it's just, anyway, so they're talking to this, this woman and they realize that 00:03:18.679 --> 00:03:20.679 they'd done things in the wrong order. 00:03:21.399 --> 00:03:24.780 And not only had they done things in the wrong order with the baking, they said, oh, that's, 00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:26.019 that's why it didn't turn out. 00:03:26.060 --> 00:03:27.139 That's why it didn't turn out. 00:03:27.219 --> 00:03:30.500 They, they put the, you know, the things that they should have hardly beat at all. 00:03:30.579 --> 00:03:31.539 They beat a long time. 00:03:31.539 --> 00:03:34.500 And the things that they should hardly, you know, like, anyway, they got it all order. 00:03:34.579 --> 00:03:35.379 They got it all wrong. 00:03:35.379 --> 00:03:36.859 And the way they tried to fix it was all wrong. 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:39.299 So they said, okay, we got the order, right? 00:03:39.359 --> 00:03:40.680 We got some of the fixes all. 00:03:40.780 --> 00:03:43.079 I mean, if we got the order wrong, we got some of the fixes all wrong. 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:44.560 That's why it didn't work out. 00:03:45.299 --> 00:03:49.000 I mention all of this because we're going to talk about hope this morning. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:51.340 And hope is very, very important. 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:53.539 Just recently, I had a conversation with somebody. 00:03:54.079 --> 00:03:58.099 And one of the things I told them is that many people think that Christianity, when they 00:03:58.099 --> 00:03:59.799 think about Christianity, they think about rules. 00:04:00.299 --> 00:04:04.439 They think about following rules and following rituals and having to do particular things. 00:04:04.500 --> 00:04:06.019 And I said, obviously, there's some rules. 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:11.719 But what people don't understand is that actually Christianity is far more about being drawn 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:15.480 by hope in terms of how you live and how hope is important. 00:04:15.560 --> 00:04:19.280 In fact, I said Christianity is quite an amazing thing. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:20.280 And I contrast it. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:21.060 We won't get into it. 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:23.100 Contrast it with Buddhism and Eastern religion. 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:25.960 Because Christianity would say that God made us to hope. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:31.560 Where human beings inherently were made, are made to hope. 00:04:32.379 --> 00:04:35.600 So I mention this because we're going to look at a text about hope. 00:04:35.840 --> 00:04:39.300 But for most people, in fact, let's look at verse 21. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:42.360 Open your Bibles to Colossians chapter 1. 00:04:42.960 --> 00:04:46.280 That's the text that Matt, we're preaching through the book of Colossians. 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:49.639 And so look at Colossians chapter 1, verse 21, the following. 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:53.399 And I think some of the times, most of the times, the scripture text will be up on the 00:04:53.399 --> 00:04:54.819 screen if you don't have your own Bible. 00:04:55.579 --> 00:04:56.939 And look how it begins. 00:04:57.619 --> 00:05:04.899 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he is now reconciled 00:05:04.899 --> 00:05:09.979 in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above 00:05:09.979 --> 00:05:11.139 reproach before him. 00:05:11.719 --> 00:05:16.259 If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the 00:05:16.259 --> 00:05:21.379 gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which 00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:23.139 I, Paul, became a minister. 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:27.579 And if you look at this, you just, I just, you know, I'm preparing this sermon. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:30.779 I think, I wonder what it would be like for some of my very secular friends to look at 00:05:30.779 --> 00:05:31.659 a text like this. 00:05:32.139 --> 00:05:34.879 And first of all, I mean, most of them wouldn't understand it. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:37.560 And they'd have a range of other objections. 00:05:38.159 --> 00:05:41.719 But one of the things that they would definitely say is that this doesn't seem to be the way 00:05:41.719 --> 00:05:42.639 to talk about hope. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:47.199 In fact, you know, to call people all evil, to tell people that they're alienated from 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:53.180 God, like, you know, all this focus on death, like, George, that just seems to be the wrong 00:05:53.180 --> 00:05:54.599 things to talk about. 00:05:55.459 --> 00:05:57.919 So what I'd like to say is we're going to look at some of these things. 00:05:57.979 --> 00:06:00.360 We're going to walk towards the objections and look at the text. 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:05.819 And what I just want to suggest is I want to suggest that the world has its different 00:06:05.819 --> 00:06:11.060 ways of trying to articulate how we get to hope and how we grow hope and how we maintain 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:11.600 hope. 00:06:11.960 --> 00:06:18.780 And I think what the world does is it gets the order wrong and it gets the emphasis wrong. 00:06:18.939 --> 00:06:22.699 And it might be this thing which looks like it has nothing to do with hope is actually 00:06:22.699 --> 00:06:23.560 far wiser. 00:06:24.379 --> 00:06:25.280 So let's look at it again. 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:30.519 Verse 21, now I rejoice in my sufferings, sorry, and you who once were alienated and 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:32.339 hostile in mind doing evil deeds. 00:06:32.919 --> 00:06:34.159 Now, just sort of pause there. 00:06:34.219 --> 00:06:40.319 I mean, to be honest, if we were trying to share this with some of our secular friends, 00:06:40.379 --> 00:06:44.719 or if you're here as one of our secular friends, or if you're watching this online as one of 00:06:44.719 --> 00:06:50.159 our secular friends, or just Canadians, I shouldn't say secular, just Canadians, good Canadians, 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:56.140 you'd probably say something like, George, this just seems really extreme and really, 00:06:56.280 --> 00:06:56.980 really harsh. 00:06:57.160 --> 00:06:58.420 Like, really, George? 00:06:58.520 --> 00:07:04.400 Do you think that, do you really think it's the case that human beings are alienated and 00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:06.260 hostile and doing evil deeds? 00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:09.280 Like, George, don't you think most people are basically good? 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:14.260 Like, you know, I don't want to puff myself up, they might say, but you're like, I'm basically 00:07:14.260 --> 00:07:15.060 a good person. 00:07:15.280 --> 00:07:17.040 George, like, you're basically a good person. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:20.520 I mean, you have these weird Christian ideas like this, which, I don't know, make you meet 00:07:20.520 --> 00:07:23.540 out of it sometimes, but, you know, fundamentally, you're a good person. 00:07:24.020 --> 00:07:25.379 Most people we meet are good people. 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:28.020 This just doesn't seem to be even true. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:34.240 I think that's how most people would try to understand, would understand or hear the text, 00:07:34.640 --> 00:07:39.020 and including often Christians, if they're honest about it. 00:07:39.460 --> 00:07:41.140 So let's think about this for a second. 00:07:41.840 --> 00:07:47.020 Back in the day when people went to restaurants, all of us have probably, 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:48.660 seen something like this. 00:07:49.300 --> 00:07:55.060 You see a couple sitting, eating a meal, and they're physically close to each other, and 00:07:55.060 --> 00:08:04.460 they're facing each other, but everything about them screams pain and separation and hostility. 00:08:05.420 --> 00:08:10.879 Like, they're close to each other, but you can just tell by the way they stare, the shape 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:16.339 of their jaw, the lack of the smile, the rigidity of their body, that the fact of the matter 00:08:16.339 --> 00:08:19.019 is, is they might be really close to each other. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:22.620 But something's gone terribly, terribly wrong. 00:08:22.699 --> 00:08:27.659 In fact, probably not some thing, but some range of things have gone terribly, terribly 00:08:27.659 --> 00:08:28.060 wrong. 00:08:28.259 --> 00:08:32.460 Because when you look at the couple eating, it can be in a really nice restaurant, it 00:08:32.460 --> 00:08:36.039 can be a really nice meal, but they look like they'd rather be a million miles away from 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:36.480 each other. 00:08:37.259 --> 00:08:40.500 And not only that, it looks like they're going farther and farther away from each other. 00:08:41.899 --> 00:08:45.299 Now, this is very important for us to think about as an image. 00:08:46.039 --> 00:08:49.199 Because one of the things that people will often say to me, they'll say, George, don't 00:08:49.199 --> 00:08:51.459 you think people are all basically close to God? 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:57.259 Like, why is it that Christianity talks as if people aren't close to God, that somehow 00:08:57.259 --> 00:08:59.279 or another you're close to God, but we're not? 00:09:00.179 --> 00:09:04.059 Well, the fact of the matter is, is that Christianity does teach that human beings are close to God. 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:07.939 In fact, that's part of the whole Christian doctrine that God is transcendent over everything, 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:12.899 but God is imminent in everything, that in fact, he's closer to you than you think. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:15.600 But it's not a matter of closeness. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:17.519 That couple was close. 00:09:20.819 --> 00:09:23.240 That couple was very, very, very close. 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:28.839 But they were a million miles away from each other and going in opposite directions. 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:36.699 And that's the thing for us and God, that human beings can, in fact, be close to God, 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:41.539 but actually be very, very, very far from him and going in a very different direction. 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:45.399 But some of you might say, George, that still seems a bit extreme. 00:09:45.579 --> 00:09:49.559 Like, don't you think, like, that's a bit of an interesting analogy, thinking about that. 00:09:49.620 --> 00:09:53.620 I had never sort of thought about the fact that we could be, just because you're close to God 00:09:53.620 --> 00:09:57.559 doesn't mean you actually want God to be there or that you like God, that you're sort of 00:09:57.559 --> 00:09:58.859 might be even stuck with God. 00:09:59.500 --> 00:10:03.599 But still, don't you fundamentally think that human beings are basically good? 00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:06.139 But here's the thing. 00:10:06.359 --> 00:10:07.759 Here's how most people think. 00:10:07.839 --> 00:10:12.119 I think most Canadians, and in fact, I would even say that most people in the world tend 00:10:12.119 --> 00:10:17.239 to think of people being good or bad in this type of a model, this type of an analogy. 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:22.199 There's only been, back in the day when people went to watch hockey games live, you know, 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:25.240 it seems like a lifetime ago, but it wasn't that long ago. 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:29.520 There's only been one time in my life that I've ever been at, if you ever watch hockey, 00:10:29.620 --> 00:10:35.060 maybe you don't know this, but there's one section of the stadium at Scotiabank, which 00:10:35.060 --> 00:10:36.640 is really, really close to the ice. 00:10:37.040 --> 00:10:41.700 And if you get to sit there, you don't just get to sit there, you get a special parking 00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:42.300 spot. 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:45.860 Like, you even just pull up and they park your car for you, get right in there. 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:47.640 The seats are really close to the ice. 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:53.120 The seats are bigger, the waiters come and bring you stuff, and I've been there once. 00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:58.659 Not because I'm rich, but because some person in this church had tickets given to them, and 00:10:58.659 --> 00:11:03.080 they called me up and said, George, how do you like to come and watch the game from way 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:03.600 down there? 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:07.740 Bruins beat the Sens that day, but anyway, it was an interesting experience. 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:12.620 But how most people think about people being good and bad is a little bit like a stadium, 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:15.379 like a hockey stadium or a football stadium. 00:11:15.379 --> 00:11:20.379 And what they tend to think is, they tend to think that in a sense, all the stadium is 00:11:20.379 --> 00:11:26.840 the world, and basically, the closer you are to the ice, the better person you are. 00:11:27.019 --> 00:11:32.120 And the farther you are from the ice, the worse person you are. 00:11:32.500 --> 00:11:37.100 So if you're a very, very open-minded, loving, and tolerant person, what you would say is 00:11:37.100 --> 00:11:39.379 that basically, almost everybody's good. 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:43.000 It's really only the people at the very last level that are bad. 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:46.899 Because you have to say that there's some people are bad, because we know there's people 00:11:46.899 --> 00:11:50.100 who own slaves, and you know, there was Hitler and Stalin. 00:11:50.240 --> 00:11:51.639 So you can't just say everybody's good. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:54.820 We all know there's some bad people, like slave owners. 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:56.440 But that's just the top row. 00:11:56.500 --> 00:11:59.059 But other than that, you know, they're all basically good. 00:11:59.259 --> 00:12:03.919 And some of us who are a bit more grumpy might say, ah, I don't know if everybody almost 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.840 to the top row, that the line is maybe more around the middle. 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:11.399 People and people at the bottom half are the good people, and people in the top half are 00:12:11.399 --> 00:12:12.000 the bad people. 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:16.180 And there's some of us who are really, really, really, really, really, just really grumpy. 00:12:16.300 --> 00:12:19.540 We might say, actually, no, it's only like the bottom two rows that are good. 00:12:19.580 --> 00:12:20.480 Everybody else is bad. 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:25.200 But we all make the dividing line between good people and bad people somewhere in this row 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:27.200 of seats, going up and down. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:32.680 And so when people thinking like that hear a text like this, and they go, now I rejoice 00:12:32.680 --> 00:12:37.560 in you who once were alienated and hostile on mine doing evil deeds, as if everybody's 00:12:37.560 --> 00:12:41.460 like that, we go, one moment, that's like talking, that doesn't make any sense. 00:12:41.500 --> 00:12:42.900 It doesn't fit into our system. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.640 But that's not how the Bible understands it. 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.540 And the Bible understands the issue far wiser. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:51.480 And that's a shock to people. 00:12:52.060 --> 00:12:57.180 Because the Bible says that the line between good and evil isn't as if in its row of 00:12:57.179 --> 00:13:03.059 seats, the higher to the lower, the line between good and evil runs right down the center 00:13:03.059 --> 00:13:04.019 of every human being. 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:10.059 The line between good and evil is within us, not between us. 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:17.099 Because in fact, the matter is, is the line between good and evil runs between us. 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:21.899 Like, doesn't that sound a little bit like prejudice and discrimination? 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:31.000 And isn't it in fact the case that even the best person is very conscious of their selfishness 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.699 at times, of their lack of generosity? 00:13:35.179 --> 00:13:39.539 That in fact, isn't it far truer to understand that the line between good and evil goes right 00:13:39.539 --> 00:13:41.220 down the center of human beings? 00:13:41.959 --> 00:13:43.879 And that's what the Bible text is saying. 00:13:43.939 --> 00:13:48.120 The Bible text isn't saying that every human being only does evil things. 00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:54.620 It's trying to tell us that, and you who once were far from God and hostile in mind, doing 00:13:54.620 --> 00:13:55.639 evil deeds. 00:13:56.120 --> 00:14:00.980 And that's the different image, that people aren't fundamentally good, that in fact, the 00:14:00.980 --> 00:14:03.000 line between good and evil goes right down us. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:06.379 But some of you might say, but George, I don't know if it's really true that we're all just 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:07.600 like so far from God. 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:10.759 But then this would be my response to that. 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:15.080 Because in fact, if you think about the fact that the line for good and evil goes right 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:22.840 down us, then if that's the case, then it has to be the case that in fact, we are separated 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:23.539 from God. 00:14:24.340 --> 00:14:26.059 Like, think about this as a thought experiment. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:30.919 If you go into heaven, the new heaven and the new earth, you want to go into new heaven 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:33.659 and the new earth amputated. 00:14:33.659 --> 00:14:40.139 And you go, no, no, I don't want to go into, I mean, how would that even be heaven if you 00:14:40.139 --> 00:14:43.779 go into heaven and you lose a leg and you lose an arm and then you maybe have a bit of 00:14:43.779 --> 00:14:46.839 a lobotomy and you lose most of your, like, that wouldn't be heaven. 00:14:46.899 --> 00:14:47.600 How would that be heaven? 00:14:47.719 --> 00:14:49.019 That would be like going to hell. 00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:53.579 And so, of course, if you go to heaven, you want all of you to go to heaven and you want 00:14:53.579 --> 00:14:55.000 all of you to be good. 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.399 But to understand the new heaven and the new earth, what is true in the new heaven and 00:14:59.399 --> 00:15:03.019 the new earth is actually really, really true of you right now is that God demands 00:15:03.019 --> 00:15:08.360 every single bit of you to be in heaven, to be in him. 00:15:09.319 --> 00:15:10.240 And what does that mean? 00:15:10.279 --> 00:15:19.720 It means every thought, every second of your time, every place you go, every penny you own. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:27.740 And how comfortable are you with this idea that every single penny you own, God has a 00:15:27.740 --> 00:15:32.899 say in it, that every single second you have, God has a say in it. 00:15:32.899 --> 00:15:36.659 That every single thought you have, God has a say in it. 00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:40.959 That every single thing you will, God has a say in it. 00:15:40.980 --> 00:15:44.120 That every single place you go, God has a say in it. 00:15:45.319 --> 00:15:48.220 And the fact of the matter is, is that we're at all honest. 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:53.980 It might be that we're fine with lots of it, but that every single person at some point in 00:15:53.980 --> 00:15:57.940 time and more than once they'll say, well, God, back off. 00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:00.100 Back off. 00:16:01.700 --> 00:16:02.420 Back off. 00:16:02.740 --> 00:16:03.399 That's mine. 00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:06.200 That's too intrusive. 00:16:07.100 --> 00:16:08.139 It's too demanding. 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:15.539 And so you can see, if you think about it in that term, that if you look at the totality 00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:20.360 of who you are and the totality of who you've been, that the fact of the matter is, is that 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:25.460 every single human being is a little bit like that couple in the restaurant that you can be 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:26.500 close to God. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:31.879 But there's big parts of you that don't like him present. 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:35.659 You want him far away and you want to be far away. 00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:38.299 And that's what the Bible is describing. 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:39.759 Listen to it again. 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:44.439 And you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds. 00:16:46.100 --> 00:16:49.059 But then the response is, okay, George, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 00:16:49.500 --> 00:16:51.120 And this is how Canadians think. 00:16:51.159 --> 00:16:53.559 And this is how people who are religious and spiritual think. 00:16:53.879 --> 00:16:56.799 They automatically say, George, okay, okay. 00:16:57.059 --> 00:16:58.919 Let's, let's say, let's just take a time out, George. 00:16:58.940 --> 00:17:00.179 You really think that's true? 00:17:00.179 --> 00:17:02.159 And, and you, you're a Christian. 00:17:02.299 --> 00:17:04.879 So you think that's going on with you? 00:17:04.980 --> 00:17:09.460 Like you're trying to say that you're completely and utterly fine with God and every, every 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:14.059 thought, God owning every penny, God owning every second. 00:17:14.159 --> 00:17:15.579 Like you think you're okay with that? 00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:22.619 And, and the implication behind the question is, George, your poop smells just as bad as 00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:23.539 everybody else's. 00:17:23.819 --> 00:17:27.419 You're only deluding yourself if you think you smell like a rose all the time. 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:32.880 But this text teaches me to say, no, no, no, no, no. 00:17:33.140 --> 00:17:34.480 Don't misunderstand me. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:37.039 I am human too. 00:17:38.180 --> 00:17:45.259 The fact of the matter is, is that there, I, the older I get, the more I know that in 00:17:45.259 --> 00:17:50.560 fact there is still that part of me that pushes God away that doesn't like the fact that God 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:57.559 has a demand on that penny, that second, that thought, that act of the will, that in fact, 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:00.079 I can't fix that myself. 00:18:00.220 --> 00:18:01.720 And that's the point of the text. 00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:08.039 And by the way, you see, this is actually a very interesting thing. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:12.200 The world would say that this is a bad way to start to talk about hope. 00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:15.759 But if you think about it for a second, isn't this the wisest way to start about hope? 00:18:17.019 --> 00:18:20.019 Because isn't part of the problem with hopes being crushed? 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:22.279 You? 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:26.839 Like you being the jerk? 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:29.700 You being unforgiving? 00:18:30.779 --> 00:18:32.059 You being selfish? 00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:37.980 Like isn't often that which wrecks your hopes you? 00:18:39.579 --> 00:18:44.920 So isn't it actually maybe very wise that the Bible begins with you? 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:52.460 Now, if it was just this, it would just be terribly, terribly, terribly bad news. 00:18:53.380 --> 00:18:59.279 And it's not going to be able to be on the screen because I just did this adjustment in 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:00.759 my sermon between the 8 and the 10. 00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:03.560 But you see, here's where the good news comes in. 00:19:03.660 --> 00:19:06.039 If those of you have Bibles or if you don't, you can just listen. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:08.279 Listen to what happens just before this text. 00:19:08.820 --> 00:19:11.140 It's called the Christ hymn or the Christ creed. 00:19:11.180 --> 00:19:13.200 It's one of the most beautiful passages of Scripture. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:14.940 It begins at verse 15. 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:17.080 This is God the Son. 00:19:17.200 --> 00:19:19.539 Jesus is the image of the invisible God. 00:19:19.840 --> 00:19:21.180 I talked about this last week. 00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:25.819 In other words, everything that you can be seen and known about God is made visible in 00:19:25.819 --> 00:19:26.200 Jesus. 00:19:26.940 --> 00:19:28.920 And he is the firstborn of all creation. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.259 In other words, before anything was created, he existed. 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:35.000 And he is the one who brought creation into being. 00:19:35.080 --> 00:19:36.940 And that he's not begotten by God. 00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:38.140 He's not made by God. 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:39.279 He's begotten by God. 00:19:39.319 --> 00:19:41.360 In other words, he has the exact same nature of God. 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:47.219 For by him, verse 16, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, 00:19:47.419 --> 00:19:49.759 whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. 00:19:49.899 --> 00:19:52.199 All things were created through him and for him. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:53.859 And he is before all things. 00:19:53.939 --> 00:19:55.240 And in him, all things hold together. 00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:59.459 And it's a very beautiful way to talk about God, the Son of God, God, the Father, God, 00:19:59.460 --> 00:20:04.819 the Son, God, the Holy Spirit, three persons, one God, and who God the Son is and how God 00:20:04.819 --> 00:20:07.480 the Son is going to take upon himself flesh. 00:20:07.579 --> 00:20:12.460 This same God is going to be the one who takes into himself our human nature and walks amongst 00:20:12.460 --> 00:20:14.039 us as a person of Jesus. 00:20:14.500 --> 00:20:16.880 And then in verse 18, it makes this jump. 00:20:16.960 --> 00:20:19.160 It starts talking about what Jesus accomplishes. 00:20:19.259 --> 00:20:19.460 It goes, 00:20:19.460 --> 00:20:21.620 And he is the head of the body, the church. 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:25.620 He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 00:20:25.740 --> 00:20:29.600 For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. 00:20:29.700 --> 00:20:34.920 And through him, to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making 00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:36.799 peace by the blood of his cross. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:44.740 And what Paul does here is it's as if he takes that first bit talking about God, and then 00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:48.579 he goes to this next bit talking about what Jesus does to make us right with God. 00:20:49.099 --> 00:20:54.919 And in between verse 17 and 18, you have to wonder, well, why is verse 18 needed? 00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:56.779 Why is 18, 19, and 20 needed? 00:20:57.339 --> 00:21:00.579 And this is where Paul returns to it and says, 00:21:00.579 --> 00:21:06.759 It's because the line between good and evil is something that human beings created and 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:11.179 now is in every single human being, and that there's part of every single human being that 00:21:11.179 --> 00:21:14.659 wants to tell God to back off, get away, stay away. 00:21:14.939 --> 00:21:16.259 You have no right here. 00:21:16.379 --> 00:21:17.299 This is mine. 00:21:18.059 --> 00:21:21.019 That those verses 18, 19, and 20 had to happen. 00:21:22.379 --> 00:21:23.559 And you see, here's the good news. 00:21:23.679 --> 00:21:28.480 If you look at verse, go back to verse, listen to verse 21, and then listen to how the good 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:34.160 news is verse 22, and you who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 00:21:35.319 --> 00:21:41.660 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and 00:21:41.660 --> 00:21:44.700 blameless and above reproach before him. 00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:46.140 I'm going to read it again. 00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:48.640 He is now reconciled. 00:21:49.700 --> 00:21:50.059 Reconciled. 00:21:50.099 --> 00:21:53.579 We're going to talk about this in a moment more, but reconciled is a relationship word. 00:21:54.019 --> 00:21:57.839 Remember, if the governing image is a couple sitting at a table, and they're really, 00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:01.879 really close to each other, but the way they, their body language, their manner, everything 00:22:01.879 --> 00:22:05.799 shows that they're a thousand, a million, a billion miles away and going farther away, 00:22:06.539 --> 00:22:08.779 then what you need is reconciliation. 00:22:13.939 --> 00:22:18.839 And then it goes on, you see, he's now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. 00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:21.240 And we're going to talk about this again in a moment. 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:23.980 But what it's meaning is that this is something which really happened. 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:25.200 This isn't just a story. 00:22:25.299 --> 00:22:29.680 This isn't like a story about Zeus or Hercules or a story about Krishna. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:33.200 This isn't just like a story from native spirituality. 00:22:33.360 --> 00:22:38.799 It's not like in the realm of myth that in the actual world that does exist, in a world 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:42.539 where there are prisons and where there are criminals and where there are soldiers and 00:22:42.539 --> 00:22:46.620 where there's war and where there's money and where there's treasure and where there's 00:22:46.620 --> 00:22:48.839 violence and where there's love. 00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:55.179 In the world of things, in the world of men, in the world of stuff, in that world, he came 00:22:55.179 --> 00:22:55.519 down. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:06.059 And in that world, in this world where he came down, something happens that is an act of 00:23:06.059 --> 00:23:15.319 God, an only God, that if we receive it by faith, this reconciliation happens. 00:23:15.319 --> 00:23:20.399 And it's not just that, listen to it again, he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by 00:23:20.399 --> 00:23:26.319 his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. 00:23:27.179 --> 00:23:34.039 That it's not just that there's a reconciliation, but that there's this entire dealing with this, 00:23:34.159 --> 00:23:34.960 a reconciliation. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:41.419 If you use the image of the man and the woman and the table, that they go from the body language 00:23:41.420 --> 00:23:45.100 of a thousand million miles away to the embrace. 00:23:47.100 --> 00:23:48.400 The embrace of love. 00:23:52.340 --> 00:23:54.320 So what's the Bible talking about here? 00:23:55.340 --> 00:24:00.240 Back when I was young and before I became a minister and when life was very, very simple, 00:24:01.019 --> 00:24:06.600 I used to think that if a relationship was in trouble, it was sort of always 50-50 or maybe 00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:09.079 45-55 or more 40-60. 00:24:10.219 --> 00:24:13.480 I now know, I mean, that's often true, but it's not always true. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:22.500 In fact, there's some cases where it's 99.9999999999999999 and the nine keeps going percent and whatever's 00:24:22.500 --> 00:24:23.779 left is the other person. 00:24:24.719 --> 00:24:31.079 We all know of breakups and breakdowns that have happened because of profound acts of betrayal, 00:24:31.079 --> 00:24:39.939 of the husband cheating on the wife, of a dad abusing the kids, of things which have happened, 00:24:40.019 --> 00:24:45.679 which is very clearly almost all on one person's part and next to nothing on ours. 00:24:45.680 --> 00:24:53.279 And one of the problems with this whole language of reconciliation, if you understand that there's 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:58.960 a need for that couple to go from looking like they want to be a million, billion, trillion 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:01.420 miles away from each other to the embrace. 00:25:03.360 --> 00:25:08.100 And in a human being, you'd go in with counseling, but you'd know how hard it would be to get 00:25:08.100 --> 00:25:08.700 reconciliation. 00:25:08.700 --> 00:25:15.420 But what happens when all of the wrongdoing is on one side and the one who's done all 00:25:15.420 --> 00:25:19.779 of the wrongdoing is also the one who wants to be a thousand, million, billion, trillion 00:25:19.779 --> 00:25:20.660 miles away? 00:25:20.860 --> 00:25:23.620 And the Bible says that's the human situation with God. 00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:25.100 God has done nothing wrong to us. 00:25:25.180 --> 00:25:26.000 God is only love. 00:25:27.640 --> 00:25:28.420 He's only mercy. 00:25:28.620 --> 00:25:29.279 He's only good. 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:30.000 He's only just. 00:25:30.080 --> 00:25:30.799 He's only kind. 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:34.460 We rebel against him and he hates him and he doesn't kill us. 00:25:34.539 --> 00:25:36.220 He continues to give us breath. 00:25:36.220 --> 00:25:38.819 He continues to hold our body together. 00:25:39.620 --> 00:25:42.180 He continues to keep the world in existence. 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:48.299 God is unfailingly loving and unfailingly good and only good and only loving. 00:25:48.819 --> 00:25:53.400 And the breakdown and the furtherance and the problem of the relationship is completely and 00:25:53.400 --> 00:25:55.120 utterly on our part. 00:25:56.079 --> 00:26:02.059 And if that is the situation and if I can't fix that, if I can't stop that, if I, you see, 00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:03.400 because what's needed in reconciliation? 00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:03.640 Reconciliation. 00:26:05.460 --> 00:26:09.759 Well, in reconciliation, there's a variety of things that are needed to be done. 00:26:10.840 --> 00:26:15.259 The one who's done the wrong has to take responsibility for the wrong that's been done. 00:26:17.140 --> 00:26:23.920 The one who's done wrong has to take responsibility for their mistakes in interpreting what went on. 00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:33.560 The one who's done wrong has to acknowledge that they valued wrong things, that they've valued things they shouldn't value and not valued things they should value, 00:26:33.660 --> 00:26:38.880 that their system of understanding of justice is wrong, that their understanding of right and wrong is wrong. 00:26:38.880 --> 00:26:46.780 And they have to be able to acknowledge it in a way which is actually very, very sincere and heartfelt and not just manipulative. 00:26:47.180 --> 00:26:52.300 And there has to be a commitment to not do that again, ever again. 00:26:52.299 --> 00:27:01.200 And for reconciliation to happen, there has to be not only this commitment to a new way of living, but an acknowledgement that the hurt that you've done to the other person, 00:27:01.319 --> 00:27:03.059 that there's a cost to that. 00:27:03.700 --> 00:27:09.099 And they have to be willing to try to bear that cost in some particular way. 00:27:09.099 --> 00:27:19.439 And they have to show that they now really value the other person and that they want to do whatever it is that can be done. 00:27:19.579 --> 00:27:21.919 And there has to be forgiveness of the other person. 00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:31.379 And you can see that, in fact, the matter is that reconciliation, as we all know in human affairs, is very, very difficult and has all of those facets. 00:27:31.380 --> 00:27:36.280 I forgot to put up my first point, Andrew. 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:37.860 If you could just put up my first point. 00:27:38.140 --> 00:27:38.740 I did talking. 00:27:38.840 --> 00:27:40.100 I forgot I had points this week. 00:27:40.840 --> 00:27:42.180 Just very briefly. 00:27:42.280 --> 00:27:43.060 There's the first point. 00:27:43.140 --> 00:27:46.940 You are farther from the triune God and more hostile to him than you realize. 00:27:47.020 --> 00:27:48.180 That's verse 21. 00:27:48.940 --> 00:27:52.600 You are farther from the triune God and more hostile to him than you realize. 00:27:52.600 --> 00:28:00.760 But if you could put up the second point, which is what Paul has been talking about here from verses 15 on and trying to really bring home to us. 00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:06.059 Jesus is your perfect representative, penitent, and price payer. 00:28:07.379 --> 00:28:17.319 You see, if you go back, what you and I need, if all of the fault is on me and not on God, and I don't even really want to be reconciled to God. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:21.400 Not really, other than on my terms. 00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:32.780 But if you know that, if you've, like, you know, husband, if you've cheated on your wife and you don't want the marriage to end and you want there to be reconciliation, it has to be on her terms, not yours. 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:35.420 Wouldn't we all agree with that? 00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:42.740 And yet, if I've done the wrong, I can't say it has to be on my term. 00:28:42.740 --> 00:28:43.640 But where can I go? 00:28:43.720 --> 00:28:44.299 What can I do? 00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:56.700 When verse 22 talks about how the sake, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. 00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:58.680 The word flesh there doesn't mean sinful. 00:28:58.819 --> 00:28:59.620 It means frail. 00:29:00.279 --> 00:29:01.640 It means like yours and mine. 00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:03.460 Our bodies are frail. 00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:11.840 You know, I shared with you at the beginning of the summer, I had a virus come into my inner ear, and now I've lost almost all hearing in my inner right ear. 00:29:13.380 --> 00:29:14.860 And it's irreparable. 00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:18.340 And because our bodies are frail. 00:29:19.660 --> 00:29:24.880 And what the Bible is saying here is if we understand that there's a need for reconciliation, where do we go? 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:29.039 And Jesus is God, the Son of God. 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:39.559 But there's no better person, there can be no person other than God himself who could possibly be a representative for every single person in his creation. 00:29:42.039 --> 00:29:51.099 And God, the Son of God, doesn't come down with power, but becomes down in this body of flesh, this body of frailty, just like you and me. 00:29:51.099 --> 00:29:57.740 And what is offered for us is that Jesus is offered as our representative, because he's God. 00:29:57.839 --> 00:30:00.359 That's the importance of verses 15, 16, and 17. 00:30:02.619 --> 00:30:04.439 And he's the perfect penitent. 00:30:05.879 --> 00:30:09.579 His life is the life that you can't live. 00:30:11.219 --> 00:30:18.000 And he offers to be and to be the life for you that you can't live for yourself. 00:30:21.099 --> 00:30:29.480 In terms of the unbroken relationship, in terms of the commitment to justice, in terms of the commitment to mercy, in terms of the commitment to kindness, and in gentleness. 00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:35.619 And because he's also God at the same time, he is the perfect payment, right? 00:30:35.679 --> 00:30:39.759 Because whenever somebody's been wronged, there's a price that has to be paid. 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:42.919 And if there's going to be reconciliation, somebody has to pay that price. 00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:52.480 And to forgive another person, as I've talked about in other sermons, somebody has to pay the cost of forgiveness, because you're out. 00:30:54.220 --> 00:30:56.000 You're out in terms of your representation. 00:30:56.279 --> 00:30:58.380 You're out in terms of your... 00:30:58.380 --> 00:31:03.820 It might be that physically or financially that things have been stolen from you that can be never paid back. 00:31:03.860 --> 00:31:04.860 And it could be your reputation. 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:06.660 It could just even be your demand for justice. 00:31:06.660 --> 00:31:18.680 And what the Bible says is that God, the Son of God, sets aside his glory and divine prerogatives, remaining fully God, takes into himself our human nature. 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:22.060 No one better than him could be the representative. 00:31:22.220 --> 00:31:22.620 No one. 00:31:23.400 --> 00:31:25.040 And he lives the life you couldn't live. 00:31:26.180 --> 00:31:28.880 And he does the work of reconciliation that you cannot do. 00:31:28.920 --> 00:31:30.100 And he does it on your behalf. 00:31:30.099 --> 00:31:36.099 And he pays the price for the restoration of the relationship that you yourself could never pay. 00:31:36.219 --> 00:31:37.039 And he does it all. 00:31:37.099 --> 00:31:38.139 He does it all for you. 00:31:42.759 --> 00:31:45.500 And there can be no higher price paid than death. 00:31:49.319 --> 00:31:51.759 In war, they call it the ultimate sacrifice. 00:31:53.459 --> 00:31:55.699 And we all know that that's the ultimate sacrifice. 00:31:55.700 --> 00:32:06.039 It means no matter how great the debt is, no matter how far from God you are, to the uttermost, that price has been paid. 00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:08.539 And to the uttermost, he is your representative. 00:32:08.779 --> 00:32:12.039 And to your uttermost, he is the perfect penitent. 00:32:14.519 --> 00:32:19.940 And so the Bible describes, that's why Jesus is called the firstborn from the dead. 00:32:19.940 --> 00:32:25.900 He's called the one by which you enter into his body, because he's done it all, and you receive it by faith. 00:32:26.500 --> 00:32:28.400 Listen to verse 23. 00:32:30.140 --> 00:32:32.740 We'll read verse all of it, and you see the flow of the argument. 00:32:32.900 --> 00:32:39.080 And you, verse 21, who once were alienated, which is another word for far away, and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 00:32:39.160 --> 00:32:42.180 he is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:43.039 Why? 00:32:44.220 --> 00:32:44.600 Why? 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:45.599 What's the purpose? 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:50.980 In order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. 00:32:53.719 --> 00:32:57.359 When I appear before God, I won't say, God, I'm a good person. 00:32:57.619 --> 00:32:58.439 You've got to accept me. 00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:03.399 And all I can say is, I am not. 00:33:03.699 --> 00:33:06.339 The line between good and evil God goes right through me. 00:33:07.399 --> 00:33:11.539 And in and of myself, there are big parts of me that have always wanted to push you away. 00:33:11.539 --> 00:33:18.319 And I can only stand before you because there was one who lived my life, the life that needed for reconciliation. 00:33:18.700 --> 00:33:19.519 He did it for me. 00:33:20.220 --> 00:33:25.420 And the price that is owed and has to be paid, he paid that for me out of love. 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:27.980 It's the only basis I have. 00:33:32.099 --> 00:33:37.899 And because Jesus is perfect and because he's God, the sacrifice and the payment is total. 00:33:37.900 --> 00:33:45.400 Present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. 00:33:45.600 --> 00:33:51.240 In English, if indeed it sounds as if it's, now you've got to actually live a perfect life. 00:33:51.360 --> 00:33:53.960 But in the original language, there's no way to translate it very. 00:33:54.320 --> 00:33:58.660 In fact, interestingly enough, if you translate it non-literally but thought for thought, 00:33:58.700 --> 00:34:00.640 if you go back and read the New Living Translation, 00:34:00.640 --> 00:34:04.900 the New Living Translation is easier to understand here because the original language, 00:34:05.120 --> 00:34:08.059 it doesn't really translate into English very well. 00:34:08.160 --> 00:34:09.019 It's not conditional. 00:34:09.519 --> 00:34:12.000 It's just saying, so George, how do you live your life? 00:34:12.860 --> 00:34:20.099 You don't live your life as if, okay, Jesus dies for your sins and now you're made right with him. 00:34:20.340 --> 00:34:22.920 Get the tattoo, get the t-shirt, get the hat. 00:34:22.920 --> 00:34:31.400 But now what you need is now you need to learn Anglican liturgy or now you need to learn how to live in the victory. 00:34:31.740 --> 00:34:34.800 Now you have to learn how to speak in tongues. 00:34:34.980 --> 00:34:36.820 Now you have to learn how to say the rosary. 00:34:37.220 --> 00:34:42.760 Now you have to learn how to take these courses about how to be a successful parent and all this and all that. 00:34:43.200 --> 00:34:45.400 And, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course this is all important because that's how you start. 00:34:45.400 --> 00:34:52.519 But now, no, no, what the text is saying, all of your growth keeps going back to this one thing that's been done, 00:34:52.599 --> 00:34:59.920 this one thing for you to understand that the line between good and evil runs down right the center of you and you can't fix that. 00:35:00.260 --> 00:35:06.079 And God in the person of his son provides the perfect penitent, the perfect life that you could not live, 00:35:06.139 --> 00:35:10.500 everything that had to be done for reconciliation, even though it should have been done for you by you, 00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:14.059 he does for you because you cannot do it for yourself. 00:35:14.059 --> 00:35:22.199 And now he will, with unstoppable, unfailing power, when you have put your faith and trust in him, 00:35:22.299 --> 00:35:27.440 he will present you faultless and blameless in the very presence of God, 00:35:28.039 --> 00:35:33.340 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three persons, one God forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. 00:35:34.719 --> 00:35:35.759 It's all because of him. 00:35:35.860 --> 00:35:37.079 Always remember this. 00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:43.400 I'm going to read the next bit, and I have just a couple of minutes, 00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:50.780 and I just want to leave you this one fundamental idea and this one little tiny phrase to remember. 00:35:52.200 --> 00:35:54.840 Just, you know, normally I'm supposed to do a little transition. 00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:56.500 Just stay with me. 00:35:56.619 --> 00:35:57.760 Look at verse 24. 00:35:59.039 --> 00:36:01.980 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. 00:36:03.180 --> 00:36:06.260 See, this is the other thing which is so wise about the biblical account of hope, 00:36:06.260 --> 00:36:10.300 is that not only is it talking about hope in the midst of the fact that you are you, 00:36:11.820 --> 00:36:14.220 but it's, and you'll always be you, 00:36:14.540 --> 00:36:22.100 but that hope is, there's this certain hope of glory that also is able to be a hope for glory in the midst of suffering. 00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:25.640 Paul's writing this from jail. 00:36:25.639 --> 00:36:29.779 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, 00:36:29.819 --> 00:36:34.119 and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, 00:36:34.199 --> 00:36:35.000 that is, the church, 00:36:35.659 --> 00:36:40.039 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you 00:36:40.039 --> 00:36:41.619 to make the word of God fully known, 00:36:41.619 --> 00:36:46.239 and the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 00:36:46.359 --> 00:36:51.779 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of his mystery, 00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:53.539 which is Christ in you the hope of glory. 00:36:53.539 --> 00:36:54.320 That's the phrase. 00:36:55.980 --> 00:36:57.460 I'm not a fan of tattoos. 00:36:58.039 --> 00:37:00.380 If you want a tattoo that will last, 00:37:00.820 --> 00:37:04.920 Christ in you the hope of glory. 00:37:06.679 --> 00:37:10.340 Christ in you the hope of glory. 00:37:11.460 --> 00:37:13.559 Christ in you the hope of glory. 00:37:14.779 --> 00:37:16.500 Christ in you the hope of glory. 00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:20.099 See that language about the afflictions, 00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:22.159 this is the thing, Christ in you, 00:37:22.159 --> 00:37:24.099 it's that when you put your faith in Christ, 00:37:24.219 --> 00:37:25.440 Christ is in you, 00:37:25.500 --> 00:37:26.960 and you are in Christ. 00:37:27.579 --> 00:37:30.859 Christ suffering upon the cross was all, 00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:32.960 it's a once for all suffering 00:37:32.960 --> 00:37:38.119 that pays the price and reconciles you to God. 00:37:38.199 --> 00:37:40.619 But because you are now in him and he is in you, 00:37:40.659 --> 00:37:42.819 it means that when you suffer in a sense, 00:37:43.079 --> 00:37:43.940 he is suffering, 00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:47.839 and that suffering will go on until Jesus comes again. 00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:55.039 And there's that ongoing suffering that Jesus experiences because his body is here on earth, 00:37:56.240 --> 00:37:59.760 and we suffer as part of his sufferings. 00:37:59.840 --> 00:38:00.400 When we suffer, 00:38:00.500 --> 00:38:03.120 it's him suffering because it's not us facing these things alone. 00:38:03.220 --> 00:38:03.620 What is it? 00:38:04.079 --> 00:38:07.059 Christ in you the hope of glory. 00:38:07.180 --> 00:38:07.300 In fact, 00:38:07.340 --> 00:38:07.559 actually, 00:38:07.660 --> 00:38:07.860 if Andrew, 00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:08.700 if you could put up the point, 00:38:08.820 --> 00:38:10.019 since I wrote one, 00:38:10.519 --> 00:38:13.920 Christ in you the hope of glory will shape your lesser hopes. 00:38:14.360 --> 00:38:15.260 So this is the thing. 00:38:15.300 --> 00:38:17.240 I'm going to talk about this more in a couple of weeks, 00:38:17.619 --> 00:38:20.099 when we're going to talk more fully about the means of grace. 00:38:22.619 --> 00:38:25.700 How is it that this hope shapes your entire life? 00:38:26.019 --> 00:38:27.280 Christ in you the hope of glory. 00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:33.320 I think back eventually when people will go to restaurants again, 00:38:35.320 --> 00:38:37.700 and you'll go to a kids-friendly restaurant. 00:38:37.800 --> 00:38:41.260 One of the things they do in a kids-friendly restaurant sometimes is they give a kid 00:38:41.260 --> 00:38:43.860 like a piece of paper with some activities on it. 00:38:44.099 --> 00:38:46.940 And one of the things that's often on the activity sheet is a maze. 00:38:48.579 --> 00:38:51.360 And so I don't know where some of the young kids are. 00:38:51.420 --> 00:38:52.200 I don't know when it happens, 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:53.000 but kids will say, 00:38:53.059 --> 00:38:53.119 oh, 00:38:53.139 --> 00:38:53.680 there's a maze. 00:38:53.720 --> 00:38:53.980 And they, 00:38:54.059 --> 00:38:55.000 they start to, 00:38:55.079 --> 00:38:56.700 to try to figure out the maze. 00:38:56.780 --> 00:38:57.159 And of course, 00:38:57.200 --> 00:38:59.880 they make all these mistakes that eventually looks like a big jumble, 00:38:59.880 --> 00:39:03.860 but eventually they figure out eventually how to get from the beginning to the end of the maze. 00:39:04.280 --> 00:39:07.280 But what does happens to a kid at some point in time in their life, 00:39:07.360 --> 00:39:08.639 something happens to a kid. 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:11.200 You know what they figure out? 00:39:11.880 --> 00:39:13.240 You start at the end. 00:39:13.920 --> 00:39:17.440 And if you start at the center, 00:39:17.940 --> 00:39:22.960 you're able to figure out the path perfectly. 00:39:22.960 --> 00:39:25.559 Christ in you, 00:39:25.599 --> 00:39:26.420 the hope of glory. 00:39:26.980 --> 00:39:28.000 In the means of grace, 00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:29.880 you begin at the end. 00:39:32.139 --> 00:39:33.420 You begin at the end. 00:39:33.420 --> 00:39:37.700 And if in fact, 00:39:37.940 --> 00:39:40.680 it's not just a matter of trying to live a perfect life, 00:39:40.760 --> 00:39:42.920 but it's in fact that you're not doing this all by yourself, 00:39:42.980 --> 00:39:44.599 but now Christ is in you. 00:39:45.659 --> 00:39:48.159 And you're not only trying to do it all by yourself, 00:39:48.159 --> 00:39:50.480 because you're part of a congregation where there's others, 00:39:50.559 --> 00:39:51.680 that Christ is in them, 00:39:51.740 --> 00:39:52.780 not counting our merits, 00:39:52.880 --> 00:39:53.940 but pardoning our offenses. 00:39:53.940 --> 00:39:59.400 Then part of how it is that you begin to live a completely and utterly transformed life 00:39:59.400 --> 00:40:01.900 is first that you always remember the gospel, 00:40:02.539 --> 00:40:05.619 and you remember that Christ in you is the hope of glory, 00:40:05.619 --> 00:40:06.820 and you begin at the end. 00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:08.300 See, 00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:12.139 that's what helps you to do hard things. 00:40:12.139 --> 00:40:16.960 That's what helps you to acknowledge that you've done wrong 00:40:16.960 --> 00:40:19.219 to begin to help in a relationship. 00:40:19.920 --> 00:40:22.440 That's what allows you to ask for help. 00:40:22.559 --> 00:40:25.759 That's what allows you to go and share the gospel with somebody, 00:40:25.839 --> 00:40:28.900 even though they might end up thinking that you're doing something really wrong. 00:40:29.259 --> 00:40:30.960 If you begin with the end, 00:40:31.079 --> 00:40:32.400 and if you begin with the end, 00:40:32.420 --> 00:40:35.039 and you know at the end there is where all people are equal, 00:40:35.239 --> 00:40:36.139 and there's love, 00:40:36.199 --> 00:40:36.759 and there's mercy, 00:40:36.819 --> 00:40:37.379 and there's goodness, 00:40:37.739 --> 00:40:38.799 and that's the glory. 00:40:38.940 --> 00:40:40.639 There's this glory of this relationship. 00:40:40.639 --> 00:40:44.960 It's what gives you the strength to begin to consider doing hard things 00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:46.559 by facing maybe prejudice, 00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:47.299 or discrimination, 00:40:47.679 --> 00:40:48.279 or injustice, 00:40:48.440 --> 00:40:49.920 or making changes in the workplace, 00:40:50.139 --> 00:40:51.539 or changes in society, 00:40:51.619 --> 00:40:52.920 or changes in your family. 00:40:53.179 --> 00:40:54.559 It's the more the end, 00:40:54.839 --> 00:40:55.940 the hope of glory, 00:40:56.460 --> 00:40:57.239 grips you. 00:40:58.299 --> 00:41:01.059 It starts to help you take those small steps. 00:41:02.119 --> 00:41:04.259 Helps me to take those small steps. 00:41:06.819 --> 00:41:09.940 Will this conversation to fix this relationship 00:41:09.940 --> 00:41:11.119 maybe end really, 00:41:11.200 --> 00:41:11.400 really, 00:41:11.480 --> 00:41:12.099 really badly? 00:41:12.500 --> 00:41:12.820 Yes. 00:41:15.780 --> 00:41:17.820 Is my identity dependent upon it? 00:41:18.260 --> 00:41:19.980 Is my salvation dependent upon it? 00:41:20.579 --> 00:41:22.960 Is God's final word about me dependent upon it? 00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:23.179 No. 00:41:23.659 --> 00:41:24.440 That's been said. 00:41:24.960 --> 00:41:25.780 Christ in me, 00:41:26.300 --> 00:41:27.039 the hope of glory. 00:41:28.960 --> 00:41:30.340 And if Christ is in me, 00:41:30.380 --> 00:41:32.500 I have someone with me to take that hard step. 00:41:32.559 --> 00:41:33.539 And if the hope of glory, 00:41:33.700 --> 00:41:35.460 that glory is the final word about me, 00:41:36.599 --> 00:41:38.500 maybe I can try to do that hard thing. 00:41:38.500 --> 00:41:41.059 Please stand. 00:41:42.159 --> 00:41:42.519 Andrew, 00:41:42.599 --> 00:41:44.500 if you could put up the general thanksgiving, 00:41:45.940 --> 00:41:47.440 I invite you to join with me 00:41:47.440 --> 00:41:49.000 in praying this prayer 00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:51.920 as a way of closing the service. 00:41:52.199 --> 00:41:54.139 It's the general thanksgiving. 00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:56.340 It's usually one of the very final prayers 00:41:56.340 --> 00:41:58.239 you say if you do morning or evening prayer. 00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:01.280 And it's just a wonderful entranceway 00:42:01.280 --> 00:42:03.000 and reminder and summary 00:42:03.000 --> 00:42:04.519 of much of the book of Colossians. 00:42:05.099 --> 00:42:05.920 Say it with me. 00:42:05.920 --> 00:42:07.039 As a prayer, 00:42:07.180 --> 00:42:08.159 not just say it with me, 00:42:08.220 --> 00:42:08.400 sorry, 00:42:08.900 --> 00:42:10.300 pray it with me. 00:42:11.139 --> 00:42:12.599 Pray it with me. 00:42:13.240 --> 00:42:14.400 Almighty God, 00:42:14.880 --> 00:42:16.380 Father of all mercies, 00:42:16.820 --> 00:42:18.579 we are unworthy servants 00:42:18.579 --> 00:42:21.119 to give you most humble and hearty thanks 00:42:21.119 --> 00:42:22.360 for all your goodness 00:42:22.360 --> 00:42:24.180 and loving kindness to us 00:42:24.180 --> 00:42:25.220 and to all people. 00:42:25.720 --> 00:42:27.780 We bless you for our creation, 00:42:28.300 --> 00:42:28.659 preservation, 00:42:29.180 --> 00:42:31.119 and all the blessings of this life. 00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:32.440 But above all, 00:42:32.579 --> 00:42:34.000 for your inestimable love 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:35.699 in the redemption of the world 00:42:35.699 --> 00:42:37.260 by our Lord Jesus Christ 00:42:37.260 --> 00:42:38.920 for the means of grace 00:42:38.920 --> 00:42:40.480 and for the hope of glory. 00:42:41.119 --> 00:42:42.420 And we beseech you, 00:42:42.659 --> 00:42:44.019 give us that due sense 00:42:44.019 --> 00:42:45.239 of all your mercies, 00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:46.840 that our hearts may be 00:42:46.840 --> 00:42:47.980 unfeignedly thankful, 00:42:48.539 --> 00:42:49.659 and that we show forth 00:42:49.659 --> 00:42:50.420 your praise 00:42:50.420 --> 00:42:51.800 not only with our lips, 00:42:51.980 --> 00:42:52.960 but in our lives, 00:42:53.159 --> 00:42:54.579 by giving up ourselves 00:42:54.579 --> 00:42:55.539 to your service, 00:42:55.940 --> 00:42:57.780 and by walking before you 00:42:57.780 --> 00:42:59.219 in holiness and righteousness 00:42:59.219 --> 00:43:00.239 all our days, 00:43:00.719 --> 00:43:01.780 through Jesus Christ, 00:43:01.780 --> 00:43:02.380 our Lord, 00:43:02.820 --> 00:43:03.560 to whom with you 00:43:03.560 --> 00:43:04.519 and the Holy Spirit 00:43:04.519 --> 00:43:06.000 be all honor and glory, 00:43:06.460 --> 00:43:07.540 world without end. 00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:08.320 Amen. 00:43:09.420 --> 00:43:11.180 Father, I ask that the Holy Spirit 00:43:11.180 --> 00:43:12.019 would move mightily 00:43:12.019 --> 00:43:12.700 in our lives 00:43:12.700 --> 00:43:14.519 and help us to grow 00:43:14.519 --> 00:43:15.340 in the knowledge 00:43:15.340 --> 00:43:16.060 and certainty 00:43:16.060 --> 00:43:16.900 of the gospel, 00:43:17.160 --> 00:43:18.360 knowledge and certainty 00:43:18.360 --> 00:43:20.280 that Christ is in us 00:43:20.280 --> 00:43:21.160 by faith, 00:43:21.680 --> 00:43:23.080 and our hope of glory 00:43:23.080 --> 00:43:23.740 is secure. 00:43:24.580 --> 00:43:25.460 And we ask this 00:43:25.460 --> 00:43:26.400 in Jesus' name. 00:43:26.540 --> 00:43:26.800 Amen.