Well, morning everyone, and thank you Ash. I'm not sure if you're still in the room. Remind me how much alive I'm not. As it turns out, I just can't keep up with that sort of thing and his energy is just such a blessing to us as a church in moments like this.
So I really appreciate my brother. So as we have already been told, we're in the book of Ephesians in this term. If I've not met you, I'm Steve, senior pastor here at St. Paul's.
What we're doing in this term is we're discovering in the book of Ephesians who the church is. And we're doing that as we just heard from our news segment about we're doing that as we look forward to the next five to 10 years in what God is calling us to as a church in life and ministry together.
What we've already seen in Ephesians 1 is that in Jesus Christ, we have every spiritual blessing now in the present, present tense now. And we also have a guaranteed future glory in God's presence.
So what we have now and the future that we're looking forward to and the fulfillment of all things. So it is what we have and yet what we are still to receive.
And what we have and what we are still to receive is every desire, every dream, every longing of the heart being gifted to us in Jesus Christ.
Now today's passage is one of the richest in the Bible of what it means in fact to be a Christian.
And what it means when Christians talk about being saved, being born again or becoming a Christian.
And so if you are here in this room or online right now and you are not yet a Christian, then my hope is that these verses will give you clarity on what it is to be a Christian.
And also a desire welling up in you, in fact, to want to be one.
If, however, you are a Christian and you're sitting in the room or online, you are a Christian, it is crucial for you to realize as you come to this text that this text is not primarily evangelistic.
That wasn't Paul's origin.
That was not his purpose here.
This text is actually written to Christians.
It's written for Christians.
You see, what he wants is for Christians to be captivated by the love and the grace of God that has in fact ripped us.
And I mean ripped us from the grip of condemnation and death and raised us to the place of honor with Jesus Christ.
He wants us to be, our affections to be captivated by that truth.
He wants us to know the glorious Father, have our hearts and our affections to be drawn to him in such a way that our lives are transformed.
That's his intention here.
And so I've got three points, which on the St. Paul's app, you've got it there and you can take notes if you like as you go along.
Now the first three verses are a comprehensive panoramic picture of the human condition outside of God.
It's the condition of everyone outside of God.
It says quite bluntly, dead in your transgressions and sins.
Now death here or dead is not a figure of speech.
He's referring to humanity as being absolutely dead.
Not in danger of death, not dying, but absolutely dead.
He refers to Gentiles in verse 1 and his fellow Jews in verse 3.
So he's not making a distinction here between a particular depraved element of human society.
He's saying all people are dead in transgressions and sins.
That is, spiritual death is universal.
All of humanity from top to bottom, all people are spiritually dead apart from Christ.
And the key to understanding what that means is the word followed in verse 2 and following in verse 3.
Those words there, which come from the same root word, basically mean to be mastered by.
It's much stronger than the English language of following.
It means to be mastered by, to be controlled by.
It, in fact, means to be enslaved.
Spiritually, humanity is as helpless as a corpse.
Completely controlled, completely mastered by death in such a way that you have no capacity whatsoever to move, to act, to do anything on your own.
And a corpse cannot bring itself back to life.
And there are three things that we are told here that we are all enslaved to.
Firstly, it says verse 2, enslaved to the ways of the world.
Verse 2 again.
Secondly, we're enslaved to the ruler of the kingdom of the air.
And thirdly, in verse 3, enslaved to gratifying the cravings of our flesh following its desires and thoughts.
Now, when Paul refers there to our flesh, we automatically think of the stuff that's over the top of our bones and stuff.
But he doesn't mean that.
He's not referring to that.
In both Hebrew and Greek language, the word flesh means the whole person.
Mind, soul, spirit, body.
And it's a word that is particularly used in Hebrew and Greek language that refers to self-centered human nature.
It refers to the nature of all people.
And so notice the words craving, desires, thoughts.
What he's referring to here is the bottom, the aspect here of self-centered human nature is the inner life of the person.
And according to the Bible, the reason why all of humanity is dead, spiritually dead in transgressions and sins,
is because every single person is profoundly self-centered.
Profoundly centered on the self.
As I've often referred to the 16th century church reformer and theologian Martin Luther,
in his lectures on the Romans, the book of Romans,
put the condition of the human heart very succinctly.
The Latin phrase he used was incurvitus in se, which is curved in on itself.
That is the condition of every human heart.
Curvitus in se, curved in on itself.
In such a way he said that every human heart is wickedly,
curvedly, viciously seeking to use all things,
even God,
for its own glory.
Profoundly self-centered is what it means to be human apart from God.
It's like all of us have a computer that's not crashing right down at the center of our being,
and this computer never, never, never, never stops.
And it's constantly in overdrive, analyzing, analyzing, analyzing everything,
every person, every object, every interaction, every event, every setting,
saying, how does this glorify me?
That is the natural default human heart.
Everything is about analyzing its benefits to my happiness,
my glory, my reputation, my comfort, my control.
Everything gets put through the grid of my heart,
curved in on itself.
That is the core issue of humanity is pride.
It is what the theologian John Calvin said,
pride is the sin that exists below every sin.
It's the very thing that caused the very first sin in the very first place.
And pride is not so much thinking highly of yourself,
it is constantly thinking about yourself.
That's pride.
Pride is making sure that everything is centered on me.
Now, it is obvious that self-centeredness can make you a cruel person.
You know, history is full of those tyrants and dictators and, you know,
who, you know, the egotistical, the proud person, the self-centered, the murderous,
you know, we see them everywhere.
You know, they want to get their own way.
They want to make sure that they're at the center and the top and, you know.
But more often than not, self-centeredness creates moral people.
Not as obvious to spot.
Someone that others look up to and want to be like.
You see, if everything exists for my self-centered heart to make me look good and feel good,
then there's no better way to make me feel good or look good than to be a good person that other people affirm,
as opposed to the tyrant that other people despise.
Self-centeredness drives most people into serving the needy,
into political causes,
into being a good child to parents or a good parent to children,
a good friend who assists whenever possible,
a dutiful person who does what's expected of them.
And what lies beneath that is a self-centeredness that drives us doing those things for our own affirmation.
We help for our sake.
We do good things to be noticed by people.
We do it all to receive the applause,
to build up our sense of worth,
wealth,
which is always fragile and crumbling.
Now, I'm sure that most of you remember that one of the greatest Hollywood classics of the last century,
the movie Rocky,
starring Sylvester Stallone,
it is beyond me that the guy,
after all these years,
has yet to win an Oscar.
Anyway,
his love interest in the movie
asked him,
why?
Why are you taking on the world champion in a boxing match?
He's going to pulverize you.
Of course, he doesn't.
If he did,
we wouldn't have Rocky 6,
7,
8,
25,
I don't know how many movies there are,
but why?
Why are you doing this?
Because he wasn't expected to win.
It was meant to be a spectacle.
And his reply
is remarkable.
He says,
I want to go the distance.
That's all he wanted,
not to win,
I just want to go the distance
and then I will know
that I'm not a bum.
See what he's saying there?
I want to prove something to myself.
Everything else in life can fall down.
My marriage can fail.
I can be a rotten kid.
But as long as I've gone the distance
with Apollo Creed,
at least in that moment,
I know
that I'm not a bum.
You see,
outside of God,
every person
is trying to prove themselves
that they are worthy of affirmation.
Because we need affirmation
more than anything else.
And Luther's point here
is that we evaluate
everything
in terms of whether
it makes me look good
or not.
And yet the reality is
none of it will ever be enough.
None of it will ever be enough.
And so we are enslaved
to the treadmill
of the pursuit
of that affirmation.
So self-centeredness
can make you cruel.
It can make you moral.
But
we need to hear this one.
Self-centeredness
can make you
a religious person too.
We can devote ourselves
to God
doing good works,
turning up to church,
reading the Bible,
praying,
giving,
all good
and right things
to do,
God's called us to,
but for entirely
the wrong reason.
Where the motive
of the heart
is about
even trying
to get God
to approve
of us.
How do we know?
How can we tell
the difference?
Well,
when things aren't
going well in life,
we do two things.
We start to pull
back away
from those things.
Or
and
we start getting
angry at God
for not giving us
what we think
he should give us
in that moment
for things not going well.
God,
I've done all this stuff
for you.
How can this go wrong
in my life?
And both of those
things are an indication
we're expecting God
to come through
for us in that moment.
Of all I've done
for you,
God,
it is
mind-boggling
that you could
possibly get
into Christianity
and even stay
in Christianity
for decades
to have God
serve you,
your ego,
your affirmation,
rather than
for us to serve God.
that is
always the issue
if our obedience
and our Christian life
is conditional
on the circumstances
of life.
Verse 3
uses the word
craving
to describe
our self-centeredness.
It's a word
that means
an inordinate desire.
In other words,
it means that
this self-centeredness
is
an over-desire.
It's in fact
addictive.
It means
it's never enough.
It's addictive
in the same way
that gambling
is addictive.
It's never enough.
It's the same way
that heroin's addictive.
It's never enough.
It might give you
a high for just a moment
but you just look
at the next hit,
the next hit,
the next hit.
It means that
we are living
for our own glory
and it will never,
ever be enough.
No amount of glory,
no amount of acclaim,
no amount of recognition,
no amount of comfort
will ever be enough
to settle
the restless heart.
The computer
that's in overdrive
and it makes us
miserable.
It makes us miserable
despite what
our social media profiles
attempt to portray
about our life.
the default setting
of every human heart
without Jesus,
without God
is simply this
as I read years ago
and I can't remember
where I got it.
It is simply this.
I think it was C.S. Lewis.
I'll give it to him anyway.
It is your life
for mine.
Your ego,
your self-centeredness,
your life
must be sacrificed
for mine.
You exist to serve me,
my interests first
and that is how
we even relate
to our creator
and our sustainer
and our God.
God, you exist for me.
Now the Bible's view
of sin
is that every,
it's not just
that every person
is tainted by it
but that every aspect
of a human person
is tainted by it
and the consequence
is shocking.
Verse 3,
like the rest,
we were by nature
deserving of death.
Not just by nature
dead
but by nature
deserving of condemnation.
Not only spiritually dead
but condemned by God.
Our self-centeredness
means we are deserving
of God's wrath,
his anger,
his condemnation,
his judgment.
Now the Bible reveals
that God's anger
is not like human anger.
It's not spite.
It's not malice.
It's not animosity.
It's not revenge.
It's not arbitrary.
It is predictable
and it's not governed
by mood or whim.
It is God's personal,
righteous,
perfect,
constant hostility
to evil,
injustice,
and sin.
It is his settled refusal
to compromise with it
in any way whatsoever
and his resolve
is to condemn it.
This is the spiritual death
that all people
are enslaved to
that leads to
physical death
and ultimately
eternal death
under the just
condemnation
of God.
That is the horror
of verse 3
of being deserved
of wrath.
C.S. Lewis
certainly did write
nothing more,
there is nothing
more enslaving
and miserable
than self-centeredness.
It makes you
miserable
and it will
increasingly
make you
miserable.
He described it
as hell
begun
in you
that will
eventually
take you
to hell.
That's self-centeredness.
That's pride.
And in this
constant state
of spiritual
death
and free
fall
into eternal
death,
unable
to even
know
that we are
in fact
dead,
let alone
help
ourselves
to save
ourselves,
what humanity
needs
is intervention.
Not just
a bit
of help.
Christianity
is not
self-help.
We need
someone to
intervene.
A corpse
cannot push
the emergency
button and
call for help
and we
can't do
so spiritually
either.
and that's
what makes
verses 4 to 7
so remarkable.
We're alive
by grace.
I love it
when Mel
read this
out.
I don't
know if you
noticed,
but she
did.
But,
but,
there's
never a
bigger
but in
the world
than this
one.
Because of
his great
love for
us,
God,
who is
rich in
mercy,
made us
alive with
Christ,
even when
we were
dead in
transgressions.
It is by
grace you
have been
saved.
And God
raised us
up with
Christ and
seated us
with him
in the
heavenly
realms in
Christ Jesus.
Verse 6
says that
God raised
us up
with Christ
and seated
us with
him in the
heavenly
realms.
That's
verse 6.
I don't
know if you
remember from
last week.
I mean,
Nick's just
read it out
to us,
in fact,
reminding us
from chapter
1 that
God raised
Christ up
and seated
him in
the heavenly
realms.
Here we are
told he's
done that
with us.
That's where
we are
now.
What does
that mean?
You see,
in the first
century Roman
world,
the conquering
general would
return from
the great
victory and
that general
was given
the greatest
honour,
the highest
place in
the capital
as they
returned,
the capital
city, and
they were
seated at
the right
hand of
the emperor.
That was
their honour.
Jesus died,
was raised
up, given
the place
of greatest
honour, the
seat of the
right hand of
the throne in
the heavenly
realms.
It is the
most honourable
seat in
all of
heaven and
the earth
and under
the earth.
And so
notice,
God raised
us up with
Christ and
seated us
with him.
that's
past tense.
It's done.
Because it
can't mean
that he's
raised us
up from
dead
physically
because as
of yet,
I've not
died.
It can't
mean that
I'm in
heaven with
him because
I'm still
here.
It means
that we
are legally
right now
declared that
that is my
seat.
You see,
what it's
saying is
when a person
trusts in
Jesus Christ,
all their
sins,
all of
their
self-centeredness
are so
hidden,
so covered
that they
are treated
as if
they have
done
everything
that Jesus,
the conquering
king,
has done.
God delights
and honours
and accepts
and rejoices
over us
in the
way that
he does
his own
son.
How can
that be?
Verse 7,
he might
show us
the incomparable
riches of
his grace
expressed in
his kindness
to us
in Christ
Jesus.
The word
kindness
there is
not an
emotion.
It's
actually
action.
It's a
word that
means costly
action.
The first
three verses
tell us
that the
essence of
sin is
putting
ourselves
where only
God should
be.
That is the
very centre
of our
lives,
on the
throne of
our lives,
in control
of our
lives.
Sin is
putting
our self
where only
God deserves
to be.
Salvation
in Christianity
is God
putting himself
where we
deserve to
be.
It's the
great reversal
of positions.
Jesus
Christ took
the just
and righteous
punishment.
He took
the wrath
of God
that we
deserve
for putting
ourselves
in the
place
where only
God
belongs,
that is
at the
centre,
the throne
and the
ruler of
our lives.
And the
punishment
that he
took on
the cross
was much
more than
the cruel,
the excruciating,
physical
punishment
of a
Roman
crucifixion.
He took
the much
more
excruciating
spiritual
pain
of the
wrath of
God
being poured
out on
him,
what verse
three says
that we
deserve.
The one
whose
very
essence
was
flawless
selflessness
was cut
off from
God,
his
father.
He
experienced
the
agony
that we
would
experience
if we
were cut
off from
God
for all
of
eternity.
You see,
the essence
of sin
is us
substituting
ourselves
for God
while the
essence
of salvation
in Christianity
is God
substituting
himself for
us.
He sat
in our
seat so
that we
can now
sit in
his.
ourselves
where only
God
deserves
to be
and so
God
chooses
to put
himself
where we
deserve
to be.
And
that,
not just
being
intellectually
assented
to or
agreed with
but to
be pushed
down to
the very
centre of
our
heart,
that
and that
alone
is what
blasts us
out of
our
self-centredness
it is to
see Jesus
saved
through the
most,
sorry,
Jesus save
us through
the most
radically
unselfish
thing
in the
history of
humanity
for you,
for me.
Though he
was
equal with
God,
he emptied
himself of
his glory
and he
came down
and took
the place
of a
servant.
Verses
four and
five are
absolutely
startling
but because
of his
great love
for us,
God,
who is
rich in
mercy,
made us
alive with
Christ even
though we
were dead
in transgressions,
it is by
grace,
that you
have been
saved.
We were
dead in
our
transgressions
but God
intervened,
enslaved to
sin,
enslaved to
our
selfishness
but God
intervened,
objects of
wrath,
deserving of
condemnation
but God
intervened.
Verses
eight and
nine
emphasise,
which is
what we
tried to
keep up
with a
minute ago,
emphasises
that this
salvation
is all
God's
grace,
it is
all his
gift,
it is
by grace
you've been
saved,
through faith
and it is
not from
yourself,
it is a
gift of
God,
not by
work so
that no
one can
boast.
God's
gift,
his salvation
is a gift,
new life is a
gift,
every spiritual
blessing we saw
in chapter one
is a gift,
the hope of
the future
is a gift
and even
faith to
believe it
and to
live it
is a
gift.
Now
faith here,
I just need
to unpack
this,
faith here
is not
a mere
intellectual
ascent,
faith means
trust
and the
idea of
trust here
is it
means
resting,
resting
you see
a Christian
is a
person
who
rests
in,
it's a
person
who
trusts
in
the
work
of
Christ,
his
grace
to us
and they
are
characterized
verse
9
gives us
the
characterization
of what
a life
of faith
looks like
verse
9
not
boasting
and we
go,
well,
I'm a
moral
person,
I'm not
like that
proud
person
who
boasts
about
all
their
that's
not
what
this
word
means
because
we
think
I'm
not
a
bragger
let me
say
we all
subtly
do
but
despite
that
this
boasting
here is
a difference
between the
self-centered
and the
selfless
person
you see
boasting
in the
first
century
Roman
world
was
what it
was that
you had
your
confidence
in
and
boasting
was
particularly
confidence
in handling
a
what was
it that
your
confidence
was to
handle
a difficult
scenario
that's
boasting
where is
your
confidence
it's not
bragging
about an
achievement
but where
your
confidence
is
placed
and here
we are
told
that one
of the
great
things
about
the
Christian
life
is it
brings
an
end
to the
boasting
it
brings
an
end
to that
overdrive
of the
computer
placing
our
confidence
in
our
fickle
personal
hope
and
affirmations
that we
build for
ourselves
as I
said
earlier
we're
all
looking
for
something
to boast
in
something
to put
our
confidence
in
something
to trust
in
to rest
in
to pump
up
our
sense
of
worth
and
value
anything
it
can
be
and
this
is
what
C.S.
Lewis
was saying
here
we are
miserable
because
the life
of boasting
is a life
of scrambling
for identity
it's
exhausting
it's
enslaving
because
we are
giving
our
all
to
something
that was
never
designed
to make
us
complete
it was
never
designed
to deliver
us an
identity
and the
new life
that he
gives us
is a life
of a
gift of
his
grace
the
one
worthy
of all
praise
has
denied
himself
and
elevated
us
to the
throne
of
honor
his
selflessness
has
overcome
our
selfishness
and we
have
all
the
acclaim
or the
honor
or the
approval
or the
acceptance
that we
could
possibly
want
and there
is only
one
boast
that
liberates
from the
enslavement
of scrambling
through life
searching
for the
confidence
we need
to face
whatever
life
throws
at us
and
Galatians
6
Paul
says it
very
succinctly
may I
never
boast
in
anything
else
but the
cross
the
cross
of our
Lord
Jesus
Christ
through
which
the
world
has
now
been
crucified
to me
and I
to the
world
in other
words
those
three
things
are
dead
to me
those
three
things
that we
are
craving
after
are
dead
to me
those
three
things
that I'm
enslaved
to are
dead
to me
because
of the
cross
no
longer
searching
for a
boast
to feel
alive
but
made
alive
Jesus
is his
boast
because
he knows
that in
Jesus
he
the
Christian
the
church
is
God's
boast
let me
be honest
with you
I
preach
this
passage
many
times
over
the
last
three
decades
but
I've
never
seen
this
bit
before
I've
talked
about
this
before
but
I've
never
seen
this
bit
before
I've
never
seen
this
bit
particularly
in light
of the
end
of
chapter
one
verse
10
gives
us one
of the
most
exalted
images
of the
Christian
not just
seated
up there
in the
throne room
with
God
the
most
exalted
images
of the
Christian
the
church
in
all
the
Bible
we
are
God's
handiwork
it
literally
means
his
work
of
art
his
masterpiece
I've
been
reflecting
on
this
bit
mostly
in
this
last
week
Genesis
1
sorry
Psalm
19
tells us
that God
made
the
galaxies
he
made
the
stars
he
made
the
solar
systems
he
made
the
oceans
the
mountains
he
made
billions
of
creatures
he
made
it
all
everything
Genesis
1
tells us
that he
made
humanity
in his
very
image
as the
pinnacle
of all
creation
he
made
the
angels
he
made
the
spiritual
realm
and
none
of it
none
of it
is
referred
to
as
his
masterpiece
none
of it
God's
masterpiece
the
thing
that he
sits
back
on
puts
down
the
brush
and
says
that's
it
of
everything
I've
been
doing
in
history
and
humanity
and
time
and
space
this
is
it
this
is
this
is
the
thing
that
sits
at the
entrance
of
humanity
this
is
this
is
the
thing
I
want
to
be
on
display
his
great
masterpiece
is
his
new
humanity
safe
from
condemnation
people
made
alive
set
free
from
slavery
blessed
beyond
comprehension
with a
promise of
getting
just
more
blessing
more
life
beyond
death
and for
all
eternity
that's
his
masterpiece
that
is
if
you
like
his
gift
and
his
masterpiece
his
gift
it's
a
gift
that
none
of us
were
looking
for
it's
a
gift
that
the
human
heart
self
said
the
human
heart
I
don't
need
it
I'm
my
own
masterpiece
and
it's
a
gift
and
I
think
this
is
Paul's
point
it's
a
gift
that
so
many
of
us
have
in
Christ
and
frankly
we
don't
appreciate
enough
I
think
it's
amazing
that
we
are
his
masterpiece
we
are
if you
like
put it
another
way
humanity
saved
in
Christ
is
God's
boast
we're
his
boast
that's
meant
to
break
our
hearts
that's
meant
to
grow
our
affections
it's
meant
to
change
our
lives
order
our
priorities
your
social
media
life
which
is
really
an
indication
of
your
boast
it's
the
things
that
you
get
angry
about
what
other
people
are
boasting
about
on
social
media
it's
the
things
that
you
put
on
social
media
yourself
that'll
give
you
an
indication
to
your
boast
and
it
is
nothing
to
this
which
gets
me
to
the
final
point
and
I'm
going
to be
so
fast
here
let me
tell you
going
to be
so
fast
verse
10
this is
what it
means to
live by
grace
this is
God's
great
purpose
we are
God's
handiwork
created in
Christ Jesus
to do
good works
which God
prepared in
advance for
us to do
prepared
and
advanced
by
God
the
good
works
even
the
good
works
are
a
gift
even
the
good
works
are
by
his
sovereign
grace
and
empowered
by
his
grace
and
what
would
be
really
nice
is
if
Paul
elaborated
on what
those
good
works
were
that
would
be
really
lovely
because
normally
and
I'm
at
fault
here
in
the
past
what
I
would
have
done
is
I
would
have
said
therefore
here's
some
stuff
you
should
do
these
are
the
good
works
but
he
doesn't
do
that
here
he
doesn't
elaborate
on
it
the
tendency
is
to
import
here
a
bunch
of
activities
that
will
really
a list
of
things
that
I'm
happy
to
do
that
I
can
comfortably
manage
I
am
God's
great
masterpiece
and
here's
the
scraps
that
I'm
prepared
to
do
to
show
that
well
I
agree
with
that
masterpiece
and
I
think
what
we
should
do
instead
is
to
step
back
and
what
I've
been
trying
to
do
this
week
is
to
step
back
on
here
and
look
at
the
big
picture
so
we
don't
miss
what
Paul
saying
here
about
these
good
works
what
we
should
not
miss
is
that
he
doesn't
elaborate
but
he
starts
verse
11
with
the
word
therefore
and
the
application
of
what
we
have
been
saved
from
and
what
we
are
saved
for
the
good
works
we
are
saved
for
starts
in
verse
11
and
it
will
take
us
basically
right
through
to
chapter
6
and
what
we
will
constantly
see
underneath
it
all
what
we
will
constantly
see
the
good
work
that
God
has
called
us
into
in
everything
is a
life
of
selflessness
a
life
of
other
person
centeredness
God's
great
masterpiece
begins
in
verse 11
as he
unpacks
Jew
and
Gentiles
natural
enemies
coming
together
in God's
new
humanity
and
serving
each
other
selflessly
surrendering
themselves
so that
their
natural
enemy
becomes
a
masterpiece
of
God
in
the
end
in
other
words
the
good
works
is
not
first and
foremost
an
activity
it
is a
transformed
heart
it's
about
who
we
are
not
what
we
do
and
this
will
go
right
through
this
principle
right
through
in
every
sphere
of
life
you
probably
can't
wait
till I
get to
talk
about
marriage
and
parenting
and
work
and
the
same
principle
of
good
work
underlies
all of
it
selflessness
in
every
sphere
of
life
that's
what
we're
going
to
unpack
in
coming
weeks
and
none
of
that
life
is
possible
unless
we
are
broken
unless
we are
broken
by how
sinful
how
undeserving
how
weak
how
evil
we
truly
are
in the
depths
of our
hearts
without
Christ
and at
the same
time
we are
filled
with joy
by how
forgiven
and how
loved
and how
loved
and how
honored
we are
Jesus
Christ
that is
the growth
trajectory
that Paul
calls us
to at the
end of
chapter one
a growth
in both
of those
things
a growth
in understanding
our sinfulness
and a growth
in understanding
of who we are
in Christ
as God's
masterpiece
I want to ask
you
are you
in your
life
pursuing
that
growth
most of
us are
not
with any
intentionality
and I
saw this
a quote
from the
late
J.I.
Packer
and it's
connected to
I think
our seven
rhythms
of life
which are
meant to
put this
truth
so that
we be
shaped
into
God's
masterpiece
in the
center of
our lives
the reason
why most
of us
are not
doing it
and not
growing with
intentionality
is because
the computer
in our
life is
still there
and it
won't
die
it's
still in
overdrive
happily
in
overdrive
our
lives
are so
busy
and so
here
J.I.
Packer
live
life
slow
enough
to
think
deeply
about
God
and
his
grace
to
you
in
Jesus
Christ
God