Father, this is your word, and in many ways, your word to us this morning is a great offense to us.
And so, Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would move deeply in our hearts
to pause us in our offense or dismissing of your word.
And, Father, we ask that the Holy Spirit would bring your word very deep into our hearts,
the center of whom we are, that we might, Father, understand and be gripped by the gospel,
this almost unimaginable good news that you offer to people like us.
And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
Amen.
So, in morning prayer, we get to begin the sermon with the sound of children singing,
which is sort of an interesting thing.
I don't know how many of you paid attention to Matt when he was reading the text at the beginning of the service,
but if you were listening, it's a very, very offensive text.
It's a text of the Bible that says you're all dead, you're by nature children of wrath,
by nature you follow hostile spiritual forces, and you follow a spirit of rebellion,
and it's a very, very hard text, a text that people often turn away from.
And I don't like offending people.
I'm very Canadian, so I don't like offending people.
But one of the things we do here in this church is we preach through the Bible.
We preach through whole books of the Bible, and we don't try to hide things or avoid things
or pretend that certain things aren't here.
And so, what we're going to do is we're going to walk towards this problem,
and what you have to understand is that this is, in a sense,
a red pill and a blue pill moment for each of us.
Many of you instantly get the analogy.
There's a famous movie from some 20 years ago or whatever called The Matrix,
and in it, early on in the movie, there's this moment where a man named Morpheus
speaks to a man named Neo, and he holds out his hands,
and he said there's a red pill and a blue pill.
The choice is yours.
If you take the blue pill, you just continue to live your life the way it is right now,
and you just live thinking the things that are thought and going the way that things go.
But if you take the red pill, if you take the red pill, you'll know the truth,
and your life will be completely changed.
And as those of us know, this isn't a spoiler or anything like that in the movie
for those who haven't actually seen it, the red pill reveals a very, very harsh and uncomfortable truth
that everybody in the world is living a delusion.
They're, in fact, in real life, they're hooked up to a machine,
and basically a world of machines is sucking the energy out of them to fuel the machines,
and to stop human beings from disconnecting themselves to the machines.
They basically work in the brains of human beings to create an illusory world
where they're all happy and going about and free.
And Neo, in the movie, chooses the red pill, not the blue pill.
He chooses the pill that's going to be uncomfortable, but it's true.
And that's what the Bible is doing for us here today.
The last two weeks, as we've been looking through chapter 1,
it's told us spectacular promises and truths about what it means to be in Christ.
And now the text is going to take a step back and says,
I want you to understand what's going on, what's really going on,
what the choice is, what the before story is before these wonderful promises.
And that's what we're going to look at right now.
So here's how we begin.
If you have your Bibles, you can follow along.
And I'll also have the text up there on the screen.
In a couple of cases, you'll notice that the translation,
I'm basically using the ESV a couple of times.
There's going to be a slight difference in some of the wording,
and that's just you can thank a man whose last name is Baugh, B-A-U-G-H,
who's a Greek scholar.
And sometimes I've changed it to be a little bit less grammatical,
but to actually bring home the underlying language better.
And here's how the text begins.
And you were dead in the transgressions and sins in which you once walked.
Remember, this is a red pill moment.
And you were dead in the transgressions and sins in which you once walked.
Think if you're using the ESV, it says trespasses.
The word transgressions means that there's a sense of the rightness of the world,
and there's the sense of moral laws and rightness of the world,
and that at different times in your life, you specifically go against what you know is the right thing to do.
You fail to do the good that you should, or you do something that you know is wrong.
And that's this idea behind transgression.
It's consciously going against things which you know are right.
And sins is a more personal word, in a sense, getting right in God's face
or saying something to God about how you're going to turn your back on him.
You don't like him.
You don't want him present.
It's a very God-centered word.
But here's the thing.
The word dead actually means dead.
In fact, here's my point connected with it.
By nature, you are dead.
That's what the Bible is saying.
By nature, you are dead.
Now, the things which are going on in these first three verses of the text,
it deeply offends, especially contemporary Canadians,
where we believe that fundamentally we're good,
and we don't like to think about death or talk about death
or think about death's finality.
We like to amuse ourselves and think about anything other than death.
But this text, when it says dead,
it really means if you go to a funeral home
and you see the bodies in the caskets,
that's us.
And that's a bit of a shocking thing to say about human beings.
Now, actually, interestingly enough,
it's actually empirically true.
If you think about it for a second,
it's actually empirically true.
From the moment that you're conceived in your mother's womb,
when you become a zygote,
if I'm pronouncing that word correctly,
from that moment,
and you become, in a sense,
you, in a real sense,
you become you at that moment.
Your DNA is all there.
The basic things as to whether you'll have certain illnesses,
whether, like,
I have my mother's father's hairline,
for instance.
You know, I have,
if you know,
I have, like,
I have a true nose.
I mean,
it's a real nose.
My mother's maiden name was True,
T-R-E-W.
I have a true nose.
I have the same type of nose as my mother's dad.
All those things are sort of programmed into you
right from the moment you become a zygote.
You know what else is also true from the moment you become a zygote?
You'll die.
Like, isn't that true?
That's empirically true.
You know,
death isn't something that
you're going to live forever,
live forever,
live forever.
Dang, you made a mistake.
You know,
it's not like
you live forever,
live forever,
you know,
you eat the wrong food,
now you're going to die.
No.
From the moment you're a zygote,
the moment you become you,
you're also going to die.
It's actually empirically true.
There's,
you might notice that there's
three dozen roses
at the front of the church,
and they're here today
as a symbol
or as a sort of an illustration.
After the service,
I invite every adult
in the room
who wants one
to take a rose.
You bring it home,
it's just our gift to you this morning.
But here's the thing.
This, in a sense,
is a symbol
and a metaphor
and image
of what every human being
here is in the room.
This rose is beautiful,
isn't it?
I mean, many of us,
some of us are as beautiful
as the rose.
All of us wish we could be
as beautiful as the rose.
But this rose
is a cut flower.
It's a cut flower.
And the biblical message is
that we were designed
to be connected
to God forever.
But we've separated ourselves
from God.
We've, in a sense,
cut ourselves off
from the ground,
from the source of nutrients,
from ongoing life.
And every human being
that's born
is born
a cut rose.
And, um,
it must be true
because I looked it up
on the internet.
Um,
but once that rose is cut,
you can't do anything.
Like, it's,
it's doomed.
You can't reconnect it
to a plant
so that it'll live
because it's a cut plant.
And that's what the Bible
is saying here.
We are
a cut flower.
It gets worse.
Look at the next text.
It's the, uh,
second part of verse 2.
Chapter 2.
So we began with
chapter 2, verse 1.
And you were dead
in the transgressions
and sins
in which you once walked.
Now the rest of the verse 2
goes like this.
Following the course
of this world,
following the prince
of the power of the air,
the spirit
that is now at work
in the sons
of disobedience.
And, um,
it's saying something else.
It's saying now,
it's getting even deeper
into our problem.
By nature,
you love acts of rebellion
against the living God.
See, that's,
that's what the text
is trying to say.
Um,
the first analogy
is that we're all
walking a life
and the natural,
the, the, the, the sense,
the natural way
we're bent
is to, in a sense,
be on the same side
as any human being
or any spiritual being
that also rebels
against God
and desires
to be a God themselves
and chart their own path
and their own way forward.
And so,
this image
of the ruler
of the spirit
of the air
is this,
this image
of,
of demons,
of hostile
spiritual forces.
And then the other one
isn't a spirit thing.
It's, it's saying that,
in fact,
if we think about it,
human life is organized,
not always in rebellion
against God,
but there's always
a bit of a flavor
of it
against the presence
of the living God.
And that that's,
in a sense,
what animates
social life
and social institutions.
That there's always
just something in there
which likes to be
in rebellion
against God.
And that's the side
that we naturally
side with
as human beings.
Once again,
this is actually
offensive to us
because we believe
that we're basically good.
But once again,
it's actually
empirically true
if you think about it
for a second.
It's empirically true.
I've used this analogy
before.
Some of you
might remember it.
But when you watch a movie
or you read a story
and in the movie
or in the story
it looks as if
there's a perfect society,
a perfect place,
a utopia.
What do we all
instantly know?
At root,
there's something evil.
That's what we all know.
It's just obvious.
Nobody goes and says,
oh, look at that.
This is a betrayal
of a perfect society,
a perfect world.
No.
We know there's
something going on.
We know there's
some powerful force
manipulating people.
We know that somehow
or another
they might be food.
We know that something
else is going on.
We instinctively
both long for utopias
and often many people
are suckers for them.
But at the same time
when we see it
very plainly put forward,
we know,
we know
that there's something
not right going on there.
See,
it's a very interesting thing
that in this text,
on one hand,
when we think about it
and reflect upon it,
it offends us.
On the other hand,
if we actually think about it
a bit more,
we realize that what offends us
is that which is actually
empirically known
to be true.
And it gets worse.
Look at verse 3,
chapter 2,
verse 3.
So it just said
how we follow
basically the devil
and we follow up
and we naturally
are aligned
with the spirit
that is work in society.
In verse 3,
among whom
we all once lived
in the passions,
or another way to put it
would be lusts,
of our flesh.
That doesn't mean
our body.
it means that there's
a part of us
that likes to rebel
against God,
carrying out the desires
of the body
and the mind
and we're by nature
children of wrath
like the rest
of the human race.
By nature,
children of wrath
like the rest
of the human race.
You know,
once again,
this is something
which is empirically
true.
if we think about it.
Can you just imagine
for a second
if one of your friends
or one of your nephews
or your own child
had a baby
and as they're holding
the baby
and looking at it
and if they were
to say to you,
do you know,
do you think
this will be
the first child
that never does
anything wrong
in their entire life?
I think this is the child.
I think this child,
just like my previous one,
will never,
ever,
do anything wrong
and if you watch
that person say that,
you'd think they were joking.
If it became obvious
that they were serious,
you'd go,
that's what you do,
isn't it?
Oh,
good grief.
How stupid
is this person?
How,
isn't that what we all do?
Like empirically,
that's what we do.
Nobody believes that
even though we also
at the same time
believe that we're all
basically fundamentally good.
Like why is it
that that goes on
within us?
Why are we offended
by the word of God?
You see,
by nature,
do I have the right thing?
Here's my,
here's my third point.
By nature,
with middle finger
raised at him,
you stay the course
away from the living God.
I tried to pick
a very graphic image.
This description covers
the religious
and the irreligious.
It covers the spiritual
and those who want to have
nothing to do with spirituality.
It covers me and you.
It covers Bill Gates
and it covers
the most broken
street person
that you could ever meet.
And why does the text say wrath
but I don't use wrath
in my text?
Well,
if you think about it
for a second,
imagine that you did
come across somebody
that,
they're really,
a really great person.
Let's say you,
you grew up with somebody
and,
okay,
your mom wasn't very good.
I don't know,
your mom was terrible
and this person's mom
was fantastic.
Like,
just fantastic.
You know,
she made cookies,
she made your lunch,
she was a good listener,
she was always kind,
she always gave you
good advice,
she was all,
she was just great.
In fact,
you and all your friends
would say,
I wish that mom,
I wish your mom
was my mom.
Like,
you have such a great mom.
But then,
if you have this person
who,
you know,
humanly speaking,
is just a spectacular mom,
but all of the time,
your friend,
we'll call him Bob,
every time Bob
is at his mom's,
where his mom wants
to come and talk to Bob,
Bob yells,
Bob turns his back on her,
he hangs up on her,
he never answers her texts.
When she starts to speak to him
or give him a gift,
he rolls his eyes,
he just,
it just visually shows
he doesn't want to have
anything to do with her,
that doesn't like her,
that he hates her,
that he just wants
to live his own life
and have her nowhere.
And everybody else,
all of Bob's friends
is saying,
your mom is great.
Like,
she just,
she just wants to,
she's just great.
Like,
what's going on?
Why are you always
giving her the finger?
The finger.
And then finally,
the mom says,
gets mad at Bob,
and then Bob goes around
everywhere.
Why on earth
is my mom mad at me?
That's why I don't like my mom.
She's always getting mad at me.
And what will you say to Bob?
You'll say,
but Bob,
like,
your mom's unbelievably patient
with you.
You're basically giving her
the finger all the time.
And she turns the other cheek.
Why are you surprised
that she's mad at you?
That's what's going on
in the text.
God is unfailingly good.
He's unfailingly kind.
He's unfailingly loving.
Unfailingly merciful.
And we don't want him
in our lives
unless we're stuck.
And then we'd like him
to be like a genie
that we rub the bottle,
we make our wish,
he fixes the problem,
then he goes back in the bottle
and lets me live
my own life
on my terms.
And whether that is
saying the rosary
and going to church,
whether it's
doing yoga,
you know,
whether it's just
singing praise courses
or something like that
just because it's
something spiritual
that we happen to like,
whether it's drinking
Jack Daniels,
whatever it is,
it can have a religious form
and irreligious form.
It can have a secular form
and a spiritual form.
But bottom line
is what we don't want
is we want what we want
when we want it
in the way that we want it.
And we don't want God
getting in there,
the true and living God
messing things up.
Thank you very much.
Finger extended
back to him.
That is what we are
by nature.
It is what we are
by nature.
This is the red pill.
Religion or spirituality
that says
you just follow these rules
and then God will
be your God
and he'll accept you.
How does that work?
Well, it works exactly the same
as going into the funeral home
and speaking to all the bodies
in the caskets
and say just start
improving your diet
and you will live longer.
How does that work?
It doesn't work at all.
This is very, very, very,
very tough and bad news.
It's very counter-cultural
bad news.
But I would suggest
it's the red pill.
It's the red pill.
But
it reveals to us
that we need
a true and greater Morpheus.
We need a true
and greater Neo.
It reveals to us
that you are not the hero
that you have been waiting for.
You are not the hero
the world has been waiting for.
There is nothing
in this world
that is the hero
that you have been waiting for.
This is me.
This is us.
But this very, very stark
bad news
is a way to introduce
spectacular good news.
Look at how
the very next verse begins.
Notice how it begins
with the word
but.
It's going to tell us
that there is a true
and greater hero.
That there is, in fact,
a longing
and a dream
made flesh.
Let's read it.
But God,
this is where my translation
is just going to be
a little bit different
to bring out
the original force
of the original language.
But God,
being rich in mercy
because of the great love
with which he loved us.
This is verse 4.
But God,
being rich in mercy
because of the great love
with which he loved us,
even when we were dead
in our transgressions,
co-made us alive
with Christ.
By grace,
you have been saved.
And co-raised us
with him.
And co-seated us
with him
in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus.
Look at verse 4 again.
Verse 4 goes,
but God,
being rich in mercy
because of the great love
with which he loved us.
Here's the beginning
of the good news.
God is rich in mercy
and he's rich in love.
Our hope
doesn't flow
from anything
within ourselves
or anything
within our world.
Our hope
has to come
from God
being rich in mercy
and rich in love.
Our hope
comes in a sense
from outside of the world
but present in the world.
There might be
some of you here
this morning
who are feeling
deeply unloved.
What this Bible text
is telling you,
this isn't just me
having a Maya Angelou moment.
What the text
is telling you
is there has never
been a time
in your life
that you have been unloved.
Never.
And if you're sitting here
right now feeling unloved,
you are not unloved.
There is a God
who does exist
who right now
loves you
and has always loved you.
And whatever good news
is going to emerge
is going to originate
out of God
who really does exist,
the living God,
the true and living God.
It is going to come
not out of the fact
that you were able
to wink
or accomplish something
or learn how to say
the rosary
or learn how to be good
or learn how to do yoga
or learn how to do
or, you know,
do all the Islamic prayers
or just be very successful
in life.
Whatever hope you have
is not going to emerge
out of anything you do
or anything you can accomplish.
It's going to emerge
out of God himself
being unfailingly loving
and unfailingly merciful.
That is where hope
is going to emerge out of.
But you might say,
but how can he help
a cut flower?
How can he help
a cut rose?
Look at what he says
in verse 5 and 6.
Look at what he says there
again.
Remember, he loves us.
He loves us not
when we've accomplished things,
but he loves us,
verse 5,
even when we were dead
in our transgressions.
And what does he do?
He co-made us alive
with Christ.
By grace,
you have been saved.
And co-raised us with him.
And co-seated us with him
in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus.
Co-made, co-raised, co-seated.
Here's what the text
is trying to bring out.
The living God,
united you to Jesus,
and in him,
you have been co-made alive,
co-raised,
and co-seated
in the highest heaven.
You see, what happens is
Jesus is described
as Emmanuel,
as God with us.
God, the Son of God,
sets aside his glory
and his splendor
and his divine prerogatives
in appearance as God.
And remaining God
comes and is born
amongst us
and lives amongst us.
We have a hard time
thinking about that.
Just think a little bit more
about being a zygote.
Remember I told you
that if you see me,
you're seeing my grandfather's nose.
You're seeing a true nose.
See my hairline?
That's my grandfather's hairline.
You know,
I have asthma.
That's my mom's asthma.
You know,
my eyesight
didn't get that from my mom,
got that from my dad.
You know,
you can go on.
Then there's other things
that people wonder
where it comes from.
That's what happens
when you just, you know,
bang all those things together,
the DNA of two people
into a blender.
But here's the point.
If you went and saw
a baby picture of me at one,
you might say,
look at that,
that's George.
I can look at that.
I can see his nose
is cuter then,
but that's George.
I can tell from his eyes
just the way he looks, right?
But you look at a zygote,
if there was able
to go back in time
and there was able
to be a camera
that could take a picture
of you as a zygote,
you don't look like that at all.
Zygots don't have noses.
But everything that makes you you
is right there
in that second,
that moment
when you become a zygote,
when you become you.
Doesn't look like you.
Doesn't have your power.
Doesn't have your intellect.
Doesn't have your charm.
Doesn't have your wit.
But it's you
with nothing left.
It's you.
And if we understand that
as a human level,
then we understand
that God does something
the very same thing
with his son.
That God,
the son of God,
sets aside his divine prerogatives,
his appearance as God,
but remaining still
by nature,
God takes into himself
our human nature
and lives
and walks amongst us.
And he lives a life
where he is not
in rebellion against God.
He is not
in separation from God.
He is in complete
harmony and obedience
to God
in love of God
and in love of us.
He came and dwelt among us
out of love.
He dwelt among us.
And in time
and in history,
he is betrayed.
He is condemned
and he dies upon the cross
and there is a charge
put about him
as he dies on the cross.
And his death
upon the cross
happens in history
just as he spends
three days in the grave
and then on the third day,
the grave is empty.
The body is gone.
He is risen.
He has defeated death
and he appears
to prove
that he is physically alive
and has defeated death
in a wide range
of resurrection appearances
over 40 days
in many different locations
to very, very many
different people
privately in groups,
different locations.
He is alive.
But that death
upon the cross
happened in history.
But because
he is not just
the man,
Jesus Christ,
but also God,
the Son of God
made flesh,
his death
upon the cross
is not just
something that happens
in time,
but something that happens
outside of time
in eternity.
Outside of time,
which means
it can be present
and available
at any time
to any person.
And what this text
is saying
so powerfully
is this.
God,
by the Holy Spirit,
moves and works in you.
We'll see this
in a moment,
by which
you come to realize
that God the Father
is calling to you
in your state of rebellion
and calling to you
in your state of death
and saying,
come to me.
I long to have you
as mine.
And as you,
with the help
of the Holy Spirit,
say, yes,
Jesus,
be my Savior
and Lord.
What actually happens
is that,
is as if
God,
the Son of God,
Jesus,
who has died
upon the cross
to take your place,
He has identified
so completely
and utterly
with you
and He is
your substitute,
He is your act
of exchange
and He comes
and He unites
with you,
with you.
And so,
by this profound
act of identification,
substitution,
and exchange
that both
happened in history
but because
He is God,
the Son of God
is also outside
of history,
that even though
I live
1900,
22,000
some years
after He died
and rose from the dead
but because
it's outside of time
when I put my faith
and trust in Jesus,
God,
Jesus,
embraces me
and unites with me
so that on the cross
He died with me
and I died with Him.
And on Easter Sunday
He is still so united
with me
and is so united
with you
that He rose
from the dead
and you rose
from the dead.
and just as He
has ascended
into heaven
and is seated
at the right hand
of God,
so are you
because you are
united with Him.
Profound
act,
miracle
that only
God
can do
and He did it
for you
and for me.
It's all grace.
All grace.
This image
of the seated
in a sense
that's already true
but in another sense
it's not true.
I live in the already
not yet
because obviously
I'm not sitting there
right now.
But I wonder
just 15 years ago
I tried to do the math
15 years ago
there was a man
that Louise and I knew
and he wanted to do
a fundraiser
at the National Arts Center
and this is 15 years ago
we had a $500
a seat
$500 a plate meal.
$500
15 years ago
I don't know what that is
like what's that
like that
$2,000
like going to a $2,000
a plate meal today.
Let me just tell you
Louise and I
don't normally go
to meals like that.
In fact we would never
go to a meal like that.
We wouldn't spend the money
we don't have the money
but this fellow
we'll call him Bob
he said I'd like you
to come to this
and we were actually
a bit nervous
because I don't know
like how exactly
like we just think
we don't hang out
with a crowd like that
like how do you
hold the wine glass
how do you do this
how do you do that
we don't really have
the clothes for it
we got some clothes
not nearly at their level
or anything like that
we go to this
but here's the thing
we go there
we know nobody
we don't know people
who go to $2,000
a plate meals
unless one of you folks
go to them
and I just don't realize
you go to meals like that
then I guess I do know somebody
and it would have been
a bit of a shock
you know
almost as big of a shock
as the first time
I ever went to jail
the very first time
I ever went to jail
to visit somebody
to my shock
and another person's
was another person
from my church
he was really shocked
when I walked in the door
and I was pretty shocked
to see him
and I would be
almost as shocked
if I walked into
a $2,000 plate meal
and one of you were there
I'd go wow
but here's the thing
here's the thing
about the co-seated
right
Bob paid for the plates
Bob paid for Louise and me
he gave us the tickets
and what's more
he also said
don't worry about
where you're sitting
you're sitting
at the head table
with me
we didn't have to find our seat
and we went into
that reception
what did we know
we'd be sitting
with
actually I'll say his name
he's with the Lord
we were sitting with Tom
as his guests
at the head table
united with Christ
that is you
that is what awaits you
when you die
and it's no longer
the already
not yet
it is the already
you feel unloved
you feel no hope
you feel rejected
listen to what God says
listen to what the text
of scripture continues
to teach
look at verses
7 through 9
remember he said
he seated us with Christ
in the heavenly places
verse 7
so that in the coming ages
why does God do this
why does God unite us
with Jesus
in the power of the Holy Spirit
why does he do this miracle
within us
that we cannot do
by our own power
so that in the coming ages
any age that might come
he might show
the immeasurable riches
of his grace
in kindness
toward us
in Christ
Jesus
look at that verse again
so that in the coming ages
any age that you will face
he might show
the immeasurable riches
of his grace
and kindness
towards us
in Christ
Jesus
and it continues
he just wants to drive
the point home
for by grace
you have been saved
through faith
and this is not
your own doing
it is the gift of God
not a result of works
so that no one
may boast
look how he brings it home
he reminds us again
how has this happened
has it happened
because George is white
has it happened
because he's well educated
has it happened
because he's a Canadian
does it happen
because he's a priest
no
by grace
I have been saved
by grace
you are saved
saved means
we were lost
by grace
you have been saved
how does this happen
only by faith
only by accepting
what God
has completely
and utterly
done for you
with nothing else
it isn't
you have to be good
until you can have faith
it isn't
you have to go to church
before you have faith
it isn't
you have to become successful
it isn't
you have to become married
it doesn't have to have children
it doesn't have to have
your sexuality dealt with
or anything like that
it has nothing to do
with what you have to do
or what you can accomplish
because
you are
a cut rose
and so am I
so was I
you are saved
by God's action
received by faith
and to make it clear
it's not your own doing
is it become
because I've worked hard
and it's like my wages
no
it is the gift of God
to remind us again
not a result of works
why
so no one
no one
may boast
look at me
look how successful I am
look at me
I can say the liturgy
really well
I can sing praises well
I know bible verses
I have things memorized
no boasting
none
it is a foolish
delusion
to boast
before the Lord
it is wisdom
to learn
to humbly boast
in
the Lord
there is an obvious
problem
of proud Christians
of which I am one
one of the things
for us to take
from this
when we
get bent out
of shape
because of our pride
it is
all grace
it is all
a gift
so it is a foolish
delusion
to boast
about anything
that I have done
when the Lord
is present
it is wisdom
to learn
to humbly
boast
in him
it is all
his doing
it is none
of mine
we will just
finish the text
in verse
10
oh by the way
just one other
thing here
just
almost finished
you see one of
the things here
which is so important
this is just like
a bit of a time
thing
for a Christian
we need to get
our identity
from this text
and not
from nature
I'm not a white
Christian
there's no black
Christians
there's no white
Christians
there's no gay
Christians
there's no heterosexual
Christians
if you're a Christian
your identity
comes from Christ
not from your nature
you're not a conservative
Christian
you're not a liberal
Christian
if you're a Christian
your identity
my identity
has to come
not from nature
but from this new reality
that God
has won for me
and given me
in Christ
just bringing it to a close
did I put verse 10 up there
no I haven't
let's put it up here
just to bring it to a close
how shall we then live
this is really interesting
how shall we then live
if this is all true
does this mean
that we've been raised
and co-seated with Christ
so we rule
so that we think
we're better than others
so that we become
the elite
would the true
Christian
would the true
best society
be one
where only Christians
are elected
so that we can have power
because we are
the elite
no
look at verse 10
for we are
his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus
for good works
which God prepared
beforehand
that we should walk in
not that we rule
but that as the gospel
grabs us
as it becomes
the way that we understand
our identity
as it becomes
the place on which we stand
the air with which
we breathe
the food with which we eat
the covering over our head
the center of our identity
of who we are
it starts to push us
and ground us
to show compassion
to be generous
to forgive
to seek to serve
to seek the common good
to not care
if we rule
as we seek
the common good
to be faithful
in our marriages
to treat people
with dignity
and respect
and integrity
as the gospel
grips us
as it grounds us
as we breathe it
as we eat it
as it surrounds us
as it covers us
as we live in it
as we see
that the story
of our lives
is the story
of the gospel
as that grounds us
then we learn
to face adversity
in a different way
we learn to show compassion
we learn to seek
the good
of our city
and the good
of our workplace
and the good
of the world
we learn to be generous
just want to wrap it all up
with a challenge
here's the first one
if you are here
and you have not yet
given your life
to Jesus
the Bible
is not proposing
an hypothesis
the living God
is making a proposal
to you
this morning
he's making a proposal
to you
and here's what
he's proposing
to you
it's a proposal
will you let me
come to you
with grace and mercy
unite you with Christ
and make you alive
the Bible here
isn't something
that we can win
debates with Dawkins
or we can win
debates with a Hindu
or a Muslim
it's not about that
if the Bible
and the gospel
doesn't grip us
so we have compassion
and love
for real people
if it just becomes
debating points
we haven't actually
heard it
God himself
this morning
if you have not
given your life
to Christ
God himself
is saying to you
will you let me
come to you
with grace and mercy
will you let me
unite you with Christ
will you let me
make you alive
for those of us
who are in Christ
the Bible
is not proposing
an hypothesis
Jesus is asking you
and he's asking me
have you forgotten
that you are
united to me
that you have
been made alive
raised and seated
with me
it's the proposition
that Jesus is saying
to each one of us
this morning
have you forgotten
that you are united
with me
have you forgotten
that you've been
made alive with me
have you forgotten
that you've been
raised with me
have you forgotten
that you're co-seated
with me
in the high heavens
is this truth becoming your identity
in the way you see the world
in the way you understand who you are
is this helping you understand
your failures and your successes
your trials and your successes
and your tribulations
have you forgotten this
please stand
if you are here
and you do not
have not given your life to Christ
that proposal was very serious
that's what
that's what God's word
is saying to you
not George
God's word is saying to you
and I encourage you to take the moment
to ignore the rest of my words
and just call out to Jesus
and say yes
I would like to accept that proposal
I'd like to have Jesus united with me
I would like that
I say yes
take the time to do it
like just do it now
but for the rest of us
and then after you've said that prayer
you join with this
Father
thank you that
that your word isn't just
so we can be clever in arguments
or witty in conversation
but that Father
you make this proposal to us
that you
that Jesus himself
is asking us
if we remember
who we are in him
and what he has done for us
and so Father
you know how easy it is
for us to forget
you know how easy it is
for us to get sidetracked
and still you love us
and we thank you Father
for this time
when your words
directly speak to us
and Father
we ask that you help us
to remember
and that you help us
to live out of this
true and real identity
that has been one in history
and is true for all eternity
for every age
that we might face
that we might live
out of this identity
in Christ
knowing we are united
with him
made alive
co-made alive
with him
co-raised with him
and will one day
see face to face
what is now only true
in longing and hoping
that we will be seated with him
that that is the final word
about us
and help us Father
to live generous
compassionate
forgiving
lives
ground in that truth
and all God's people said
Amen