WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.060 Well, what does Easter mean for you? What is Easter really about? I was reflecting the other 00:00:07.060 --> 00:00:12.300 ! week as I walked down the seasonal aisle in Tesco's, but for Tesco's or Sainsbury's or Cadbury, 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:18.500 ! Easter is a huge marketing opportunity. I was staggered by the range of eggs for sale. Although 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:24.820 what do eggs have to do with resurrection, really? I guess if we went out the streets today and 00:00:24.820 --> 00:00:28.740 asked people what Easter was about, they would gladly proclaim it's about a long weekend, 00:00:28.739 --> 00:00:32.640 and they'd wish they still had the long weekend, probably, especially if it had been like this 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:37.619 all weekend. Whole four days off, a wonderful thing if you're in England, of course, it's 00:00:37.619 --> 00:00:42.839 no time off at all if you're in Scotland, but there we go. And of course our politicians have 00:00:42.839 --> 00:00:47.899 had things to say about Easter, haven't they? David Cameron announced that Easter was a time 00:00:47.899 --> 00:00:56.920 of British values, tolerance, compassion, love. Nick Clegg, who famously is a self-confessed 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:03.160 atheist, said on his Facebook page that Easter was a time of reflection and renewal, when 00:01:03.160 --> 00:01:08.359 everyone has a chance to take stock of what is truly important to them and their families. 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:15.820 I wonder if you've done that this past weekend. And Ed Miliband also had his little things 00:01:15.820 --> 00:01:20.299 to say, that he was looking forward to spending the weekend with his family and his constituency 00:01:20.299 --> 00:01:26.159 in Doncaster, and in the midst of Easter celebration, he wrote, our hearts go out to those who fate 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:31.479 difficult times overseas and closer to home. He particularly then mentioned those grieving 00:01:31.479 --> 00:01:38.239 lost loved ones in Kenya. Well, a good sentiment, I'm sure. But is that what Easter is about? 00:01:39.299 --> 00:01:44.679 Is Easter about a bit of time for reflection? A bit of time for embracing British values? A bit 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:50.700 of time for remembering those less fortunate than ourselves. Well, if we ask the Apostle Paul 00:01:50.700 --> 00:01:55.940 what Easter is about, he'd give us a very different answer. In a sense, he outlines that answer here 00:01:55.940 --> 00:02:01.500 in the start of Ephesians chapter 2. He's just described, at the end of chapter 1, how God 00:02:01.500 --> 00:02:07.320 exerted this great power in raising Jesus from the dead, in raising him not just from the dead, 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:13.000 but exalting him on high above every power and authority in this age and the age to come, 00:02:13.340 --> 00:02:20.479 and above every name, as he says in verse 21. That is the power that God worked in that first 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:25.479 Easter. But Paul wants us to know that that power doesn't just stop there. It's not just a distant 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:32.019 memory. It's not just something God did to Jesus then. It's not even just something God will do 00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:39.080 to people who trust in him in the future. It's something that God does now in all who believe 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:44.500 in Christ. Look at verse 5, look at verse 6 for a moment. Sorry, verse 5 of chapter 2. 00:02:45.420 --> 00:02:54.000 Even when we are dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ. He has made 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:58.760 us alive together with Christ. At Easter, Christians celebrate Jesus being raised from the dead. 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:04.719 But Paul is saying here, that is what has happened to anyone who has faith in Christ. Not just 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:09.560 that one day we will be raised from the dead when we have died and come back to life physically, 00:03:09.780 --> 00:03:15.719 although that is true, that will happen, but that even now, people who are once dead are 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:22.439 raised to life. That's what Easter means for us. What has happened to Jesus happens to all 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:27.560 who have faith in Christ. So what does this new life look like? Well, as we look at these 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:34.159 verses, we see it means true freedom, a new destiny, and a new purpose. True freedom, a 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:38.840 new destiny, and a new purpose. Let's look at the true freedom first, the verses 1 to 5. 00:03:39.819 --> 00:03:43.719 If you've ever watched television, I'm sure you've seen those kind of adverts which have the 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:50.120 before and after. Here is a kitchen floor cleaned with your usual floor cleaning agent. It's 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:55.419 still pretty dirty. Here is the new improved flesh. Look how bright and sparkling, blindingly 00:03:55.419 --> 00:04:01.719 white it is. Idea, buy the new product. Well, Paul does something like that before and after 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:09.159 demo here in Ephesians chapter 2. It looks at the contrast of what we were before, what everyone 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:16.159 is before, to what everyone is who trusts in Christ after. So let's look at the before. 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:24.480 Verse 1. And you, talking to the Ephesian Christians, you were dead in trespasses and sins in which 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:32.319 you once walked. You were dead, he says. In fact, he says that's true of all mankind. We 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:37.600 were all dead. Now, as we look out in the streets, we see people walking around, looking very much 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:43.439 alive. So what does Paul mean about being dead? Well, he tells us, doesn't he, there in verse 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:50.580 1. Dead in trespasses and sins. Trespasses, crossing over a line, going where you shouldn't 00:04:50.580 --> 00:04:58.100 go, breaking a law of God. Sins, falling short of the mark, falling short of what we want to 00:04:58.100 --> 00:05:02.939 be, let alone what God wants us to be. And if we think for a minute, we know that's true 00:05:02.939 --> 00:05:08.819 of all of us, don't we? We know that's true of all of us. There was a film on film 4 just 00:05:08.819 --> 00:05:16.199 before Easter, Atonement. Sorry, James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, amongst others. The original 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:20.920 story written by an atheist, Ian McEwan. But it tells the story of a young woman who lied 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:26.220 at one point in her life, and spends the rest of her life trying to make atonement for 00:05:26.220 --> 00:05:35.040 that. Having lied about a man, and then getting into huge trouble, destroying his life through 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:39.360 that lie. She spends the rest of her life trying to atone for it, trying to make up for it. 00:05:39.900 --> 00:05:44.759 And yet she cannot. And actually, if most of us are honest, if we think about our lives, 00:05:44.860 --> 00:05:49.700 there are things we've done, there are ways we've fallen short of the mark. There are ways 00:05:49.699 --> 00:05:54.719 we've crossed over the line, which leave us dead, leave us wishing we could make it better. 00:05:55.939 --> 00:06:00.959 Paul says we're all dead like that. We've all fallen into these transgressions and sins. 00:06:01.620 --> 00:06:06.480 It's relevant and real for all of us. And in saying that, Paul also spells out how we're 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:13.099 trapped by that. Not only dead, but trapped. Look at what he goes on to explain about the 00:06:13.099 --> 00:06:17.120 way in which we once lived, the way we once lived, verse 2. Following the course of this 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:21.439 world. Following the prince of the power of the air and the spirit that is now at work 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:25.699 in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, 00:06:26.280 --> 00:06:31.560 carrying out the desires of our body and the mind. And we're by nature children of wrath, 00:06:31.620 --> 00:06:36.639 like the rest of mankind. So there are three things that keep us trapped. There's our environment, 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:43.879 our enemy, and our own nature. The environment, verse 2. Following the course of this world. 00:06:44.419 --> 00:06:47.939 The environment we live in. We're just caught up in it. We're just going away the world, 00:06:48.139 --> 00:06:52.500 we're going away of the world. Doing things which are falling short. Doing things that are 00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:59.019 crossing the line. We're trapped. The world around us is part of what causes us to do those 00:06:59.019 --> 00:07:04.639 things. But it's not just the environment, is it? It's also the enemy. He goes on. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:09.719 Following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons 00:07:09.719 --> 00:07:15.800 of disobedience. The Bible is very clear there's a real enemy out there, the devil. When Paul 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:23.719 says he's the prince of the air, he's appealing to the idea that was around at the time of the 00:07:23.719 --> 00:07:27.099 air there being a kind of spiritual space, if you like, kind of between earth and heaven. 00:07:27.860 --> 00:07:33.060 He says the devil's having control of that. He has great influence over the atmosphere in 00:07:33.060 --> 00:07:38.620 which we live. He is a personal enemy. He's hostile to God. And what was the devil's first 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:45.319 trick back at the start of the Bible? It was to cause people to doubt God's goodness and 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:49.860 doubt God's word. That's what he did in the Garden of Eden. And he still does that, doesn't 00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:54.920 he? Causes us to doubt the truth of what God says, the reality of what God promises. 00:07:54.920 --> 00:08:00.879 So there we have an enemy who's against us. The environment, an enemy, and then there's 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:04.420 our own nature. Look on at verse 3. 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:09.660 Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:16.259 body and the mind. So it's our own nature. When he talks about desires there, it's not just 00:08:16.259 --> 00:08:21.860 sexual desires and stuff like that, but it's all the desires within us. The desire to get 00:08:21.860 --> 00:08:30.899 even. The desire to dominate. The desire to have our ways instead of let other people have 00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:36.279 their ways. They're all part of the desires we follow, aren't they? I find that in my own 00:08:36.279 --> 00:08:41.500 life, like, always want to have the last word with my children. Why is that? It's actually 00:08:41.500 --> 00:08:48.279 my selfish desire to be in control. And I follow that desire. You see, we're all trapped. We're 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:56.200 all slaves. Dead in transgressions and sin. Enslaved by an enemy, by the environment, by our own 00:08:56.200 --> 00:09:02.059 desires. And actually we see that all around us, don't we? Think back to the adverts we see in 00:09:02.059 --> 00:09:07.279 January. New year, new you. You can change. You can be different. It's always the promise every 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:13.759 January, isn't it? It's even the promise we get in springtime. New fashions, new season. Wear new 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:19.779 clothes, be a new person. Because actually there's this desire for freedom. Desire for newness. Desire 00:09:19.779 --> 00:09:26.720 for change. And Paul says, Paul is showing us that that desire has come to a good place. Because we 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:34.000 need to be new. We are dead. We are trapped. So that's the before. That's the dirty kitchen floor on 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:39.080 the left side of your screen on television. Now we get the after. The difference Easter has made. 00:09:39.139 --> 00:09:45.799 Look at verse 5. Or verse 4. But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:54.139 loved us, even when we were dead at our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. See, Easter is 00:09:54.139 --> 00:10:01.220 not just a past event. Not just something that happened to Jesus. Not just a future event where 00:10:01.220 --> 00:10:07.060 all who believe in Jesus will be raised physically when he returns. But it's a present reality 00:10:07.060 --> 00:10:12.720 for anyone who's trusted in Christ. We are raised to new life. Look at the transformation. 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:22.420 Verse 1, we were dead. Verse 5, alive. Verse 3, we were children of wrath. Verse 5, we receive 00:10:22.420 --> 00:10:30.379 grace. By grace you've been saved. And that gives freedom. Freedom to know God. 00:10:31.220 --> 00:10:35.019 Instead of being dead. If you're dead, you don't know anyone, do you? You're just dead. 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:44.019 We raise to life to know God. We see that in verse 6. God raised us up with Christ and seated 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:48.899 us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. There's a relationship there. We're free 00:10:48.899 --> 00:10:55.360 to know God. And also free to live as we were meant to live. No longer enslaved by the world, 00:10:55.480 --> 00:11:00.580 by the devil, by our own nature. But free to live as we're meant to live. That is part of what 00:11:00.580 --> 00:11:05.360 Paul is pointing to there when he says we've been seated with Christ. What does that mean? 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:11.700 Look back for a moment to verse 21 of the previous chapter, the top of the page. Or verse 20 even. 00:11:12.100 --> 00:11:17.280 God worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated Christ at his right hand 00:11:17.280 --> 00:11:24.420 in the heavenly places. That's where Jesus is. He's at God's right hand, ruling over all 00:11:24.419 --> 00:11:30.179 the spiritual forces in the universe, ruling over even that enemy who seeks to enslave us. 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:40.339 Where are we? We are seated with Christ. That means we have access to his authority, his power. 00:11:40.599 --> 00:11:46.679 We no longer need to be slaves to the enemy who wants to enslave us. We're free to be the 00:11:46.679 --> 00:11:52.919 people God has created us to be, and newly created us to be. So we don't have any power 00:11:52.919 --> 00:12:00.339 ourselves. But we do because we are seated in Christ. So that's the before and after contrast. 00:12:00.419 --> 00:12:06.459 We have freedom. Instead of being dead and enslaved, we're alive and free in Christ. 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:12.840 Now how does that happen? Does that happen through our own efforts? Does it happen because 00:12:12.840 --> 00:12:19.040 we earn it in some way? Well look what Paul says. How does it happen? Why does this come 00:12:19.040 --> 00:12:26.560 about? Verse 4 is because of but God being rich in mercy. Because of the great love with which 00:12:26.560 --> 00:12:32.660 he's loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 00:12:32.659 --> 00:12:38.659 We don't make ourselves alive. That's true. True natural life, isn't it? When you and I 00:12:38.659 --> 00:12:43.579 were born, it wasn't because we made ourselves alive. We were born into the world. So God 00:12:43.579 --> 00:12:49.439 makes us alive with Christ. Why? Well it's because of his mercy. Verse 4. He's rich in mercy. 00:12:49.899 --> 00:12:54.879 It's because of his great love which is undeserved. He loved us even when we were dead, even though 00:12:54.879 --> 00:13:01.759 there was nothing lovely about us. It's because of his grace. The end of verse 5. By grace 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:08.240 you have been saved. Grace is God's unmerited goodness to the totally undeserving. Nothing 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:13.960 we earn. And Paul goes on, doesn't he? Verse 7. It's because of God's kindness. In the coming 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:19.419 ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ 00:13:19.419 --> 00:13:26.500 Jesus. And that hints also of God's purpose, which we'll come to again in a moment. See, all 00:13:26.500 --> 00:13:32.539 this happens. All this Easter power changes us. Not because of what we've done, but because 00:13:32.539 --> 00:13:39.000 of who God is and what he's like. Because of his incredible love and mercy and grace and 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:49.019 kindness. So what does Easter mean for you? Well firstly it means freedom. No longer trapped 00:13:49.019 --> 00:13:56.600 by the old way of life. No longer stuck in the habits and sins that we feel captured 00:13:56.600 --> 00:14:03.179 by. But raised to live a new life. Raised with Jesus. Raised to live the life we were originally 00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:09.279 intended for. So that's the first thing. It means freedom. Well secondly it also means 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:14.500 a new destiny. We'll see that in the next few verses. Let's look back again to verse 2 00:14:14.500 --> 00:14:19.320 first though. See the way in which we used to live. Which all people used to live. Verse 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:26.360 2. You were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:34.360 this world. Now the original language literally says the age of this world. The idea being there 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:41.580 in the Bible of history in a sense can be divided between two ages. There's this present evil 00:14:41.580 --> 00:14:48.820 age as Paul talks about it in Galatians chapter 1. This age where characterized by a world turned 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:54.480 against the God who made us. And that's the age we used to be part of. That's our old home if you 00:14:54.480 --> 00:15:04.879 like. But there's another age as well. Look at verse 7. God raises us in Christ so that in the coming 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:10.540 ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:16.480 In other words there's another age coming. We're part of this new age that's coming. It's our new 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:23.560 destiny. Our new home. We've been transferred from an old age to a new one. It's like moving 00:15:23.560 --> 00:15:27.940 country. A few years ago I lived in America for a couple of years. We had a nice time there. I won't 00:15:27.940 --> 00:15:33.160 equate America to this present evil age. Don't worry. My American brother's here. But then we were 00:15:33.160 --> 00:15:39.540 transferred. We moved back to this country. So we had new laws. A new way of life. We started driving on 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:43.879 the left again instead of the right. All that kind of stuff. And so it is. Paul says you 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:48.839 have a new home. A new destiny. You've been taken out of that old way in which you used to 00:15:48.839 --> 00:15:55.120 walk in the ways of this world. You're set apart. You belong to a new age. You have a new 00:15:55.120 --> 00:16:03.480 home. Now we all know this world is not the way it's supposed to be, isn't it? We all long 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:09.759 for something better. We long to turn on the news and not see the rubble of Tikrit and other 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:17.600 cities destroyed by IS. In our own lives we've got things we know are wrong. A few years ago 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:22.980 a Scottish band Travis sang a song called Turn. He included this line, I want to live in a 00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:29.480 world where I belong. And that's what we all want, isn't it? We want to feel this place where 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:35.399 we belong. I think it was last month. There was a terrible, terrible accident in Bath, near 00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:40.820 where my brother used to live actually, where I think it was a dumper truck came down the 00:16:40.820 --> 00:16:47.120 hill. And for whatever reason it smashed into some children leaving school. One of the eyewitnesses 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:53.800 the BBC interviewed that night in the news said, it just felt wrong. I felt I shouldn't have 00:16:53.799 --> 00:17:01.159 been here. And he's right, isn't he? In the chaos and the destruction and the grief of this 00:17:01.159 --> 00:17:10.019 world, it's wrong. It's not what we were made for. Paul says, in Jesus we've been raised to 00:17:10.019 --> 00:17:16.139 be set apart from this old age where he walked in the ways of this world for a new age to come. 00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:21.639 We have a new destiny. We have a new destiny. And why is God giving us this new destiny? 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:30.480 Why is he doing it? Well, it's there in verse 7, isn't it? In verse 6. God raised us up with 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:35.140 Christ, seeked us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he 00:17:35.140 --> 00:17:40.300 might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. 00:17:42.300 --> 00:17:48.440 See, actually, it's not about us, it's about him. It's so for all of eternity, everyone will 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:55.559 see how amazingly great and kind and loving and rich God is in mercy. 00:17:55.559 --> 00:18:01.579 Right? Chapter 1, verse 19, talked about the immeasurable greatness of his power. Here we get the 00:18:01.579 --> 00:18:10.759 immeasurable richness of his grace. See, it's not about us. It's bigger than us, but it includes us. 00:18:11.859 --> 00:18:19.399 That's what Easter means. It's not about you or me, but it does involve us. It's bigger than us. It's about 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:27.120 God. So Easter means we have freedom. Easter also means we have a new destiny. A new home, if you like. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.920 We also have a new purpose. Let's look quickly at verses 8 to 10. 00:18:32.040 --> 00:18:37.300 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:41.140 Not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 00:18:43.080 --> 00:18:46.060 Naturally in life, we're quite into achieving things for ourselves, aren't we? 00:18:46.059 --> 00:18:51.119 We like to talk about our achievements, many of us. I'm sure we've all got friends who like to talk 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:54.519 about their achievements so much that we really don't like to talk to them, because we just keep 00:18:54.519 --> 00:19:00.200 on going on about it. We often talk, don't we, about someone being a self-made man or a self-made 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:05.639 woman. In a sense, that's part of human striving. We want to achieve something. We want to make 00:19:05.639 --> 00:19:10.639 something of our lives, make something of ourselves. Yet you see how these verses turn out completely 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:17.380 on its head. By grace you've been saved through faith. This is not your doing. It is the gift 00:19:17.380 --> 00:19:21.720 of God. Not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:28.480 For those who want something to boast about, Christianity is a nightmare, isn't it? 00:19:29.340 --> 00:19:32.380 Because none of us have something to boast about. If we're Christians, we've got nothing 00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:39.100 to boast about. All we contribute to our salvation, all we contribute to our own rescue, is our sin 00:19:39.099 --> 00:19:46.519 from which we need to be saved. So God has done this. Verse 10, we are his workmanship, 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:51.839 created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:58.219 in them. It's a radical judgment on human nature, isn't it? Actually, we cannot do anything 00:19:58.219 --> 00:20:04.899 good on our own. Anything we have is God's goodness. It's because God has remade us. We 00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:12.740 were broken. We need to be fixed. We were dead. We need to be made alive. God has done that. And why 00:20:12.740 --> 00:20:18.900 has he done that? Well, there are two reasons Paul gives us here in verses 9 and 10. So that, 00:20:19.180 --> 00:20:26.080 verse 9, no one may boast. It's not about me. It's not about you. And the second reason, 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:32.099 verse 10, that we should walk in them. Walk in the good works God has prepared us for. 00:20:32.919 --> 00:20:38.559 That's a contrast to verses 1 and 2, where we, by nature, walk in transgressions and sins. 00:20:38.659 --> 00:20:43.960 We walk in dead ways. Now God has remade us, made us new. We're his workmanship, so that 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:50.599 we walk in the good ways he's prepared for us. And you notice the order here. We aren't 00:20:50.599 --> 00:20:57.679 saved by good works. We are saved to do good works. We don't work hard so God will love 00:20:57.679 --> 00:21:05.899 us. We are loved by God, and so we're changed. God's work in saving us is the root that then 00:21:05.899 --> 00:21:14.459 bears fruit in our lives. Because without his work, we can't do anything. We're dead. We're 00:21:14.459 --> 00:21:20.119 dead. That's what Paul has told us before, isn't it? We can never be good enough to be accepted. 00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:25.219 We can never be good enough to earn our way in the age to come. But we can trust in what 00:21:25.219 --> 00:21:31.079 has happened at Easter. Jesus has been raised, and so we live too. If we've trusted in him, 00:21:31.819 --> 00:21:39.699 we have freedom. Free from our old ways. We have a new destiny. We're part of the age 00:21:39.699 --> 00:21:46.000 to come. We have a new purpose. To live God's ways. Do the works he's prepared for us. Instead 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:49.459 of our own ways, our old ways. The last couple of months I've been getting to know, 00:21:49.460 --> 00:21:56.779 a student at the university near here. And he's not a believer in Christ. He's a man 00:21:56.779 --> 00:22:02.240 with lots of questions. I think that's a good thing, to a point. But one of the things he 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:07.420 said to me once is, I want to be a good person. I want to be better. I don't want to keep 00:22:07.420 --> 00:22:13.120 making silly mistakes and doing stupid things and wrong things. And that's a great thing to 00:22:13.120 --> 00:22:18.900 want. But he cannot do it on his own. I cannot do it on my own. You cannot do it on your own. 00:22:19.460 --> 00:22:26.660 What we need is the truth of Easter. We need to be made alive with Christ. To have freedom 00:22:26.660 --> 00:22:33.580 for our old ways. To have a new destiny and a new purpose. To live God's way, not for our own glory. 00:22:34.019 --> 00:22:34.580 Let's pray.