William Miller, Alchoholics Anonymous
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Introduction Draft
Introduction:
Are you a dreamer? Do you wonder what your life could be? Have you found yourself in quiet moments imagining a better life, a different path? Do you remember the dreams you had as a child? Boys often imagine growing up as professional sports stars. They envision a world where they perform astounding physical feats to the roar of a crowd. They hit three-point plays at the buzzer. They run kickoffs back 105 years for the winning touchdown. Their names are in the headlines, and they possess wealth and fame. It is intoxicating. Girls imagine the world of an exciting career, or an idyllic marriage. They set their visions high. Young children and teens are very certain about their dreams. They will happen, they must.
But now, where are your dreams? What happened to them? For most they are soon replaced by the daily grind. Instead of envisioning the next mountain to conquer we find ourselves conquered. Worry, conflict and disappointment are often our daily fare. Somewhere along the way the dreams vanished along with the ideals that created them. They were dashed. Talk with any adult about their dreams; scratch a bit beneath the surface and you will find a forgotten world. The dreams are old and tarnished, the sparkle and glimmer are gone. The ideals of childhood give way to the realities of young adulthood and the merciless responsibilities of middle age. Have you heard of how elephants are trained? These mighty creatures are taken from their infancy and tethered to a chain and stake. They learn their limitations quickly. In addition they come to depend on their masters for food and drink. When adults little do they know in adulthood they could gain their freedom with ease. A simple tug of their massive leg would unloose them. But it is not even a question. They have come to live in a world where reality does not include the joys of freedom. The mighty beast bows now to another. His eyes have no hope of liberty. The dream was lost against the harsh realities of steel and whip.
Will you dream again? Will you consider a new life, a better life? The advantage you now have is that your ability to dream comes from a much more mature heart. It is rooted in reality and is tempered by an understanding of life’s limitations. But nonetheless it is the same burning hope you entertained as a child. God wants to meet your deepest longings. He wants to fill your life with a purpose that in your deepest heart you only imagined. Could this be what you really longed for as a child? The embodiment of your dream may have been a sports hero, or actress, or a fabulously wealthy person, but in your heart of hearts you wanted meaning, purpose and significance. God wants that for you. God can provide that for you. But how is it to be found? God’s answer may surprise you. This book describes the journey to this new way of life. It is a life that recaptures the deepest longings of our hearts. It is the Superperforming Life.
Take Ephesians 3:30 … (and Romans 8:37).
Chapter One: Everybody is Somebody
You are not an accident of nature but someone personally designed by God and for God (Genesis 1:27 and Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Chapter Two: You Won’t Believe this Gift
God knew we would have problems (sin). It was all a part of God giving us a free will and the ability to call our own shots. He provided a way out of our greatest problem (John 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Chapter Three: The Secret to Superperformance
God wants His children to have distinctive lives. He calls us to match who we are in Him and what we do every day (Ephesians 4:1).
Chapter Four: The Five Distinctions of the Superperforming Life
There are five distinctions of a Superperformer: (1) a superfperforming view of yourself, (2) a superperforming view of others, (3) a superperforming attitude about your calling (Genesis 2:15), (4) a superperforming vision for your future, (5) a superperforming attitude about obstacles (Philippians 3 and 4).
Chapter Five: The Five Habits of the Superperforming Life
If you adopt these four disciplines the superperforming life that dwells in you will find its way out. The power of prayer. The insight of Scripture. The circle of fellowship. The focus of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 12).
Chapter Six: How Superperformance Works in Everyday Life
Your health (3 John). Your money (2 Corinthians 9). Your marriage and family (Ephesians 5 and 6). Your career (Ephesians 6).
Chapter Seven: The Bumps Along the Way
When we fall. When we fear. When we feel depressed. When we doubt. When others reject us. When we feel defeated. When there seems to be no hope (Luke 18:27).
Chapter Eight: You are a Superperformer, But Keep It Simple
The most important thing to do right now. The power of one step at a time.
Are you a dreamer? Do you wonder what your life could be? Have you found yourself in quiet moments imagining a better life, a different path? Do you remember the dreams you had as a child? Boys often imagine growing up as professional sports stars. They envision a world where they perform astounding physical feats to the roar of a crowd. They hit three-point plays at the buzzer. They run kickoffs back 105 years for the winning touchdown. Their names are in the headlines, and they possess wealth and fame. It is intoxicating. Girls imagine the world of an exciting career, or an idyllic marriage. They set their visions high. Young children and teens are very certain about their dreams. They will happen, they must.
But now, where are your dreams? What happened to them? For most they are soon replaced by the daily grind. Instead of envisioning the next mountain to conquer we find ourselves conquered. Worry, conflict and disappointment are often our daily fare. Somewhere along the way the dreams vanished along with the ideals that created them. They were dashed. Talk with any adult about their dreams; scratch a bit beneath the surface and you will find a forgotten world. The dreams are old and tarnished, the sparkle and glimmer are gone. The ideals of childhood give way to the realities of young adulthood and the merciless responsibilities of middle age. Have you heard of how elephants are trained? These mighty creatures are taken from their infancy and tethered to a chain and stake. They learn their limitations quickly. In addition they come to depend on their masters for food and drink. When adults little do they know in adulthood they could gain their freedom with ease. A simple tug of their massive leg would unloose them. But it is not even a question. They have come to live in a world where reality does not include the joys of freedom. The mighty beast bows now to another. His eyes have no hope of liberty. The dream was lost against the harsh realities of steel and whip.
Will you dream again? Will you consider a new life, a better life? The advantage you now have is that your ability to dream comes from a much more mature heart. It is rooted in reality and is tempered by an understanding of life’s limitations. But nonetheless it is the same burning hope you entertained as a child. God wants to meet your deepest longings. He wants to fill your life with a purpose that in your deepest heart you only imagined. Could this be what you really longed for as a child? The embodiment of your dream may have been a sports hero, or actress, or a fabulously wealthy person, but in your heart of hearts you wanted meaning, purpose and significance. God wants that for you. God can provide that for you. But how is it to be found? God’s answer may surprise you. This book describes the journey to this new way of life. It is a life that recaptures the deepest longings of our hearts. It is the Superperforming Life.
Take Ephesians 3:30 … (and Romans 8:37).
Chapter One: Everybody is Somebody
You are not an accident of nature but someone personally designed by God and for God (Genesis 1:27 and Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Chapter Two: You Won’t Believe this Gift
God knew we would have problems (sin). It was all a part of God giving us a free will and the ability to call our own shots. He provided a way out of our greatest problem (John 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Chapter Three: The Secret to Superperformance
God wants His children to have distinctive lives. He calls us to match who we are in Him and what we do every day (Ephesians 4:1).
Chapter Four: The Five Distinctions of the Superperforming Life
There are five distinctions of a Superperformer: (1) a superfperforming view of yourself, (2) a superperforming view of others, (3) a superperforming attitude about your calling (Genesis 2:15), (4) a superperforming vision for your future, (5) a superperforming attitude about obstacles (Philippians 3 and 4).
Chapter Five: The Five Habits of the Superperforming Life
If you adopt these four disciplines the superperforming life that dwells in you will find its way out. The power of prayer. The insight of Scripture. The circle of fellowship. The focus of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 12).
Chapter Six: How Superperformance Works in Everyday Life
Your health (3 John). Your money (2 Corinthians 9). Your marriage and family (Ephesians 5 and 6). Your career (Ephesians 6).
Chapter Seven: The Bumps Along the Way
When we fall. When we fear. When we feel depressed. When we doubt. When others reject us. When we feel defeated. When there seems to be no hope (Luke 18:27).
Chapter Eight: You are a Superperformer, But Keep It Simple
The most important thing to do right now. The power of one step at a time.
Draft TOC
Introduction: There is a way of life far beyond what you imagine. It is the Superperforming Life (Ephesians 3:30 and Romans 8:37).
Chapter One: Everybody is Somebody
You are not an accident of nature but someone personally designed by God and for God (Genesis 1:27 and Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Chapter Two: You Won’t Believe this Gift
God knew we would have problems (sin). It was all a part of God giving us a free will and the ability to call our own shots. He provided a way out of our greatest problem (John 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Chapter Three: The Secret to Superperformance
God wants His children to have distinctive lives. He calls us to match who we are in Him and what we do every day (Ephesians 4:1).
Chapter Four: The Five Distinctions of the Superperforming Life
There are five distinctions of a Superperformer: (1) a superperforming view of yourself, (2) a superperforming view of others, (3) a superperforming attitude about your calling (Genesis 2:15), (4) a superperforming vision for your future, (5) a superperforming attitude about obstacles (Philippians 3 and 4).
Chapter Five: The Five Habits of the Superperforming Life
If you adopt these four disciplines the superperforming life that dwells in you will find its way out. The power of prayer. The insight of Scripture. The circle of fellowship. The focus of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 12).
Chapter Six: How Superperformance Works in Everyday Life
Your health (3 John). Your money (2 Corinthians 9). Your marriage and family (Ephesians 5 and 6). Your career (Ephesians 6).
Chapter Seven: The Bumps Along the Way
When we fall. When we fear. When we feel depressed. When we doubt. When others reject us. When we feel defeated. When there seems to be no hope (Luke 18:27).
Chapter Eight: You are a Superperformer, But Keep It Simple
The most important thing to do right now. The power of one step at a time.
Chapter One: Everybody is Somebody
You are not an accident of nature but someone personally designed by God and for God (Genesis 1:27 and Ecclesiastes 3:11).
Chapter Two: You Won’t Believe this Gift
God knew we would have problems (sin). It was all a part of God giving us a free will and the ability to call our own shots. He provided a way out of our greatest problem (John 3:16 and 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Chapter Three: The Secret to Superperformance
God wants His children to have distinctive lives. He calls us to match who we are in Him and what we do every day (Ephesians 4:1).
Chapter Four: The Five Distinctions of the Superperforming Life
There are five distinctions of a Superperformer: (1) a superperforming view of yourself, (2) a superperforming view of others, (3) a superperforming attitude about your calling (Genesis 2:15), (4) a superperforming vision for your future, (5) a superperforming attitude about obstacles (Philippians 3 and 4).
Chapter Five: The Five Habits of the Superperforming Life
If you adopt these four disciplines the superperforming life that dwells in you will find its way out. The power of prayer. The insight of Scripture. The circle of fellowship. The focus of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 12).
Chapter Six: How Superperformance Works in Everyday Life
Your health (3 John). Your money (2 Corinthians 9). Your marriage and family (Ephesians 5 and 6). Your career (Ephesians 6).
Chapter Seven: The Bumps Along the Way
When we fall. When we fear. When we feel depressed. When we doubt. When others reject us. When we feel defeated. When there seems to be no hope (Luke 18:27).
Chapter Eight: You are a Superperformer, But Keep It Simple
The most important thing to do right now. The power of one step at a time.
Draft 1
THE SUPERPERFORMING LIFE
12/5/04; TSL #1 – Ephesians 3:20-21; Gateway Sermon Notes
INTEREST
If you are like most people you enjoy celebrations, don’t you? A couple of weeks ago I had the happy experience of celebrating my 50th birthday. That would not normally be a happy experience for most folks, but my family celebrated it with me and that made it all worthwhile. We went out to a nice restaurant to eat and afterwards came home where they presented me with a chocolate, chocolate cake – my favorite. You know you are getting older when each candle on your cake represents a decade rather than a year! But it was a happy time and I opened up my presents as we celebrated together. I was thinking about that this week as I prepared for this first sermon in this new series of studies. Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came that we could have life and have it more abundantly – a life of richness, of blessedness, of celebration. But I find that a lot of Christian do not experience that at all, rather they have a life that is somber, defeated and filled with anxiety and conflict. (Illus: Sadness, General) One person told me long ago that it looked as if some Christian had been baptized in pickle juice. That was the sour look they had on life! (Illus: Sadness, General) Howard Hendricks told us the story of going to a man and asking how he was doing. He said, “Okay under the circumstance.” And Hendricks asked, “Well, what are you doing there!” Many Christians are living under the circumstances and experiencing defeat. The Lord, on the other hand intended for us to have a life of abundance. How do we achieve that? How do we get to the place where we experience all that God intended for us?
ORIENTATION
Today we begin a series of studies on how to live the victorious Christian life, or how to live the abundant life, or the Superperforming life (our title). But don’t be misled by the superlatives. This life that we describe is the normal life that God has prescribed for every Christian. We can call it a lot f fancy things but at the end of the day it is the life that God intends for every Christian and describes clearly in the Bible.
We begin our journey, our study by considering the power behind such a life. Out first question is how is such a life accomplished? What kind of power can pull off this type of life?
NEED
We find this life portrayed in general terms in Ephesians 3:20-21. And as we begin this series of studies on spiritual growth I want us to go there to find out what kind of life this is. We find this passage in the middle of the book of Ephesians. It is at the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second half. It serves as a doxology, or ascription of praise. It is a celebration! It is a formal praise address to God. What is it that has Paul so worked up? What could cause him to launch into such a paean of praise? What would make him reach down into the depths of his being to celebrate in such a way? I want us to understand the unbelievable life God intends for us.
The nature of the language here suggests enthusiasm and spontaneity. After describing all the riches of God toward believers he can’t help but burst forth in praise and adoration. And so he draws upon the most descriptive language he knows, and stretches the limits of human utterance to in some way do service to all that God has given Christians. And so Paul uses superlative after superlative after superlative. In this passage we find this life described in seven statements.
1. A POWER CONCEIVED BY GOD. “Now unto Him” 3:20a
Verse 20a. “Now” makes the transition from the main body of the second apostolic prayer to its closing doxology. The doxology will be a fitting close to the prayer, a fitting close to the first half of the book, and a fitting prologue to the last half of the epistle. As Paul ends this section of his book he wants to glorify God for what He has given us as Christians (chapters 1-3), and assure us of the great power that is ours to live it out on a daily basis (chapters 4-6). At this point there is nothing left to do but to praise. Notice the One who is in the driver seat: “Now unto Him …” God is the One who ultimately conceives of this life.
(Illus: Power, God’s) this is like this glove that I have here. It is basically useless as it sits here. It only takes on life and usefulness when I place my hand in it. And this is the same with us when it comes to our lives. Before the Lord cam into our lives with His power we were lifeless, powerless when it cam to spiritual things. But He came in and gave us an ability that we did not have before. We are not called by God to live a life under our own power. How can we live a supernatural life under natural power? We cannot. The life we are called to is supernatural in nature so it will take supernatural power to undertake and complete it!
WHAT SALVATION IS (chapters 1-3) ………………………………….. HOW SALVATION WORKS (chapters 4-6)
We need to know how the life Paul describes fits into God’s overall plan for our salvation. There Christian’s experience can be described in four phases. All of them can be explained with the word “salvation” as an all encompassing term for what God does for His own. Notice four phases of God’s plan. It is the third phase that we will center on in this series of studies on spiritual growth.
Five Phases …
#1 Preordained #2 Preparatory #3 Positional #4 Progressive #5 Perfected
Salvation Salvation Salvation Salvation Salvation
Ro. 8:30 Acts 10:1-17 2 Cor. 5:21 1 Peter 2:1-2 Jn. 14:1-6
Preordained – God choosing us in eternity past to become His children (anticipating the problem of sin).
Preparatory – God preparing us before we became Christians (overcoming the prevalence of sin).
Positional – God perfecting us before Himself at the moment of conversion (satisfying the penalty for sin).
Progressive – God practically making us more like Christ in time (breaking the power of sin).
Perfected – God taking us into His presence after life is over (removed from the presence of sin).
2. A POWER BEYOND OUR DREAMS. “To do exceeding” 3:20b
Verse 20b. And not only did He conceive of it but He empowers it. And not only did He conceive and empower it, but includes us in a real way in it. He conceives it, and empowers it to happen, but He includes us to have a real part in the progressive phase of salvation.
Notice how Paul builds a literary pyramid in order to emphasize the immensity of the topic covered. He stacks up the descriptive words in an effort to describe the indescribable. Paul actually asks for things in his prayer in 3:14-19, but here he declares that what he has uttered can be infinitely exceeded by God! Paul realizes that what he has prayed (however bold) cannot fully measure the blessings that God intends for His chosen. Notice the words in the English “exceedingly abundantly.” They are in the Greek. E.K. Simpson says of this word, “an adverb of his own coinage, ‘vastly more than more.’” The word means: “superabundantly,” or “transcendently more,” or “far in excess.” Paul takes us to the limits of utterance to try to convey to us the unfathomable ability of God to bring about His work in our progressive salvation. Correlate this passage with others such as Romans 11:33-36, and 2 Timothy 4:18. As we consider what He has done for us we cannot help to find ourselves with Paul without words. Paul wants us to understand God’s ability in our lives and to share his enthusiasm
(Illus: C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy).
Eight “Layer” Reverse Pyramid
He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think
He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask
He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all
He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond
He is able to do exceeding abundantly
He is able to do exceeding
He is able to do
He is able
(Illus: Power: God’s)A power that protects against, not “ied”s (improvised explosion devices), but “wfd”s (world, flesh and the devil) as we see in 1 John. This is the unholy trinity that we face.
(Illus: Power: God’s) Many of think of God as a “power-pincher.” We think of Him barely able to spare what we need for the day. But He in no way is this. Rather, God gives us an excess of what we need!
(Illus: Power, God’s) It is like we go to God with our thimble of need. We approach God’s ocean of power and provison with our thimble of need. Is God able to supple and empower us? Is He able to give us what we need? Of course He is and this is exactly what Paul is trying to convey.
This power and its results in individuals and the church defied even the imagination of elect and evil and angels (Ephesians 3:10)!
3. A POWER ENERGIZED INTERNALLY – “That works within us” 3:20c
Verse 20c. But this is not all Paul desires to convey. He goes on to say that not only is God able to bless beyond our expectations but He blesses according to the standard of His power. “According to the power that works within us” is the phrase. This describes the power of God who is able to bless us beyond our expectations, and enables us to perform the will of God (chapters 4-6).
What is this power? In the immediate context it is the power to love those who we have been raised to dislike, even hate (2:11). In 1:19 it is the general power of God demonstrated in the resurrection and the session of Christ. Theologically it is the living, dynamic force to form our values and decisions in a Christ-centered way. It is the development of Christ-like character which is the fullness of God (1:23; 3:19). Sometimes God’s power changes circumstances, but it appears that God’s normative manifestation of power is in the leaving the circumstances as they are and changing us. If you see how “power” is used n the Pauline epistles (and 2 Corinthians 6:3-7) you will find that God has chosen to deploy His power and display His power in our changing and strengthening our will and increasing our ability to make decisions that are Word-based and Christ-centered. Notice that the nature of God’s blessing is spiritual (1:3), and that it takes place internally (3:16), and that it works “within us” (3:20). God’s fullness (3:16), God’s power (3:20), and the fruit of the Spirit (5:18; Galatians 5:20-22) carry similar connotations: Manifesting the life of Christ through us. See too, Philippians 4:8,13 and Ephesians 1:18. (Yet, God includes us by making the manifestation depend on our yieldness.)
We can better understand this by remembering the “three I’s” concerning the way God manifests His power in human affairs… Three “I”s …
- God works independently of us. God changes the circumstances unilaterally. Luke 17:14
- God works interdependently with us. God changes the circumstances in conjunction with our efforts. Mark 6:41-44
- God works internally within us. God doesn’t change the circumstances, He changes us. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
Thus, sometimes God moves the mountain; sometimes He moves the mountain through us with a bulldozer, and sometimes He doesn’t move the mountain at all – He moves in us, changing our character and moving in our wills to make the right decisions.
4. A POWER THAT GLORIFES GOD. “To Him be the glory” 3:21
Verse 21a. “To Him be the glory” We see this use of “glory” in 1:6, 1:12, 1:14, 1:17, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:21 (7 times). The word indicates the recognition of God’s attributes, abilities and actions. To give God glory is to recognize and adore all that God is and does. In response to the thoughts of chapters 1-3 in general, and 3:20 in particular Paul praises God for the power He displays through us in salvation. Paul indicates where this praise is to take place. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says to do all to the glory of God. The Superforming life does that! When we live the new life under divine power it glorifies the One who gave us the new life and furnished its power. Notice the word “the.” It is the article that points out the particular identity of the glory – it is the glory that is generated by the fact that God has empowered believers. Paul praises God for His ability to bless His children. He is beside himself with enthusiastic praise to God. Now he turns from the basis of the praise to the Recipient and place of the praise.
Verse 21b. “In the church and in Christ Jesus” expresses where this praise is to take place. The church is the place where the love miracle between the Jew and Gentiles took place. As God fills us with His power we in turn applaud His nature and acts. We are instruments of the glory of God. The location of the praise is the church and the Object of the praise is Christ as well as the means through which the power and ability come. And Jesus is the One who made such a miracle possible. Thus, the church and Jesus are the central points where glory to God emerges. We saw this in part in 1:10, 1:22-23, 2:7, 2:14, 2:21, and 3:10. Do you notice the footing upon which the church is set here? It is a remarkable parallel. What a calling! The church is set on the same footing as to where the praise is to take place for God’s unfathomable power and grace! To the degree that we utilize His power and develop Christ-like Word-based character, to that degree we honor and glorify the One who designed it all. We are collaborators with Christ in bringing glory to God – the reconciled and the Reconciler, the redeemed and the Redeemer, the body and the Head, bride and Groom.
Verse 21c. “To all generations forever and ever, Amen” finalizes the passage and speaks of the duration of the praise in the church that is directed in, through, and to Christ. What does this mean? Hendricksen says, “It refers to the flow of moments from past to present to future, continuing on and on without end” (page 176). Look at Revelation 21:1-6 and 21:23 and 21:5 for a glimpse of the way the glorification of God in the millennium and in eternity will be. Paul’s point is that the glorification of God for believers should begin in time and run uninterrupted into eternity. We shall praise Him in eternity, going from the peak of perfection and bliss to another, endlessly.
Notice the last word, “Amen.” The idea is “so be it” taken as a transliteration from Hebrew and into the Greek and eventually into the English. Paul ends this section (3:20-21) as he started it (1:13) with praise to God for all His immeasurable blessings to His chosen. Paul never got over the fact that he was saved. See 2 Chronicles 7:1,2 (and tabernacle Exodus 40:34) and Psalm 106:48.
(Q Amazing Grace, last verse).
GOD
Power Descends (20) Glory Ascends (21)
CHRISTIANS
CONCLUSION
Central Thought: God provides for us an empowered life beyond our hopes and dreams. It is a life that brings Him praise and glory.
(Illus: God, The Power of) Several years ago our family took the opportunity tour the NASA Space Center in Clear Lake. They took us through several buildings where we saw the inner workings of NASA. But the highlight for me was at the end of the tour when we were allowed to walk in an open area called “Rocket Park,” among the various rockets, launchers and boosters that NASA had used over the years. They were out on the grounds of the facility. There were the small vehicles from the earliest Mercury missions in the 1960s, and gradually they worked their way up to the Apollo flights that were borne aloft on a Saturn V launcher. I looked into the Saturn V and found out some astounding facts. It was a rocket the size and scope of which was never before designed by man. It was 363 feet long (the top of the Statue of Liberty reaches to 305 feet). At the base it was 33 feet in diameter. If it was laid down and hollowed out wwe could easily drive cars and trucks into it. Fully loaded the Saturn V weighed 6.2 million pounds. On the first stage it had five F-1 engines. In the first 2.5 minutes of the launch the engines burned 209,000 gallons of refined kerosene fuel (RP-1) and 334,500 gallons of liquid oxygen (LOX). Turbopumps, working together to pump the fuel into the five engines had the strength of 30 deisel locomotives (these are just the fuel pumps). In those first 2.5 minutes they forced almost 15 tons of fuel per second in the engines. They generated 7.5 million pounds of thrust and pushed the astronauts back inot their seats at 4 ½ times the force of gravity. Now that is a ride! Yet when that rocket sat on the launch pad before liftoff it was cold and lifeless. It sat there unable to move. Then the dramatic countdown came … 5,4,3,2,1 … ignition. And when that happened a fury was unleashed. There was an ear-shattering roar, a billowing cloud and the ground shook - and that big boy inched upward. And yet in all of its glory the Saturn V is nothing compared to the power that God has placed inside us due to our rebirth. It is nothing compared to the ability God gave us to live a Word-based, Christ-centered life. That is the booster power that burns within us! What about our ignition? It took place at Phase Three, and there was a rumble above and the very life and power of God were imputed to us! Now the question is, how do we navigate? How do we soar? That is what we will investigate in the coming weeks.
12/5/04; TSL #1 – Ephesians 3:20-21; Gateway Sermon Notes
INTEREST
If you are like most people you enjoy celebrations, don’t you? A couple of weeks ago I had the happy experience of celebrating my 50th birthday. That would not normally be a happy experience for most folks, but my family celebrated it with me and that made it all worthwhile. We went out to a nice restaurant to eat and afterwards came home where they presented me with a chocolate, chocolate cake – my favorite. You know you are getting older when each candle on your cake represents a decade rather than a year! But it was a happy time and I opened up my presents as we celebrated together. I was thinking about that this week as I prepared for this first sermon in this new series of studies. Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came that we could have life and have it more abundantly – a life of richness, of blessedness, of celebration. But I find that a lot of Christian do not experience that at all, rather they have a life that is somber, defeated and filled with anxiety and conflict. (Illus: Sadness, General) One person told me long ago that it looked as if some Christian had been baptized in pickle juice. That was the sour look they had on life! (Illus: Sadness, General) Howard Hendricks told us the story of going to a man and asking how he was doing. He said, “Okay under the circumstance.” And Hendricks asked, “Well, what are you doing there!” Many Christians are living under the circumstances and experiencing defeat. The Lord, on the other hand intended for us to have a life of abundance. How do we achieve that? How do we get to the place where we experience all that God intended for us?
ORIENTATION
Today we begin a series of studies on how to live the victorious Christian life, or how to live the abundant life, or the Superperforming life (our title). But don’t be misled by the superlatives. This life that we describe is the normal life that God has prescribed for every Christian. We can call it a lot f fancy things but at the end of the day it is the life that God intends for every Christian and describes clearly in the Bible.
We begin our journey, our study by considering the power behind such a life. Out first question is how is such a life accomplished? What kind of power can pull off this type of life?
NEED
We find this life portrayed in general terms in Ephesians 3:20-21. And as we begin this series of studies on spiritual growth I want us to go there to find out what kind of life this is. We find this passage in the middle of the book of Ephesians. It is at the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second half. It serves as a doxology, or ascription of praise. It is a celebration! It is a formal praise address to God. What is it that has Paul so worked up? What could cause him to launch into such a paean of praise? What would make him reach down into the depths of his being to celebrate in such a way? I want us to understand the unbelievable life God intends for us.
The nature of the language here suggests enthusiasm and spontaneity. After describing all the riches of God toward believers he can’t help but burst forth in praise and adoration. And so he draws upon the most descriptive language he knows, and stretches the limits of human utterance to in some way do service to all that God has given Christians. And so Paul uses superlative after superlative after superlative. In this passage we find this life described in seven statements.
1. A POWER CONCEIVED BY GOD. “Now unto Him” 3:20a
Verse 20a. “Now” makes the transition from the main body of the second apostolic prayer to its closing doxology. The doxology will be a fitting close to the prayer, a fitting close to the first half of the book, and a fitting prologue to the last half of the epistle. As Paul ends this section of his book he wants to glorify God for what He has given us as Christians (chapters 1-3), and assure us of the great power that is ours to live it out on a daily basis (chapters 4-6). At this point there is nothing left to do but to praise. Notice the One who is in the driver seat: “Now unto Him …” God is the One who ultimately conceives of this life.
(Illus: Power, God’s) this is like this glove that I have here. It is basically useless as it sits here. It only takes on life and usefulness when I place my hand in it. And this is the same with us when it comes to our lives. Before the Lord cam into our lives with His power we were lifeless, powerless when it cam to spiritual things. But He came in and gave us an ability that we did not have before. We are not called by God to live a life under our own power. How can we live a supernatural life under natural power? We cannot. The life we are called to is supernatural in nature so it will take supernatural power to undertake and complete it!
WHAT SALVATION IS (chapters 1-3) ………………………………….. HOW SALVATION WORKS (chapters 4-6)
We need to know how the life Paul describes fits into God’s overall plan for our salvation. There Christian’s experience can be described in four phases. All of them can be explained with the word “salvation” as an all encompassing term for what God does for His own. Notice four phases of God’s plan. It is the third phase that we will center on in this series of studies on spiritual growth.
Five Phases …
#1 Preordained #2 Preparatory #3 Positional #4 Progressive #5 Perfected
Salvation Salvation Salvation Salvation Salvation
Ro. 8:30 Acts 10:1-17 2 Cor. 5:21 1 Peter 2:1-2 Jn. 14:1-6
Preordained – God choosing us in eternity past to become His children (anticipating the problem of sin).
Preparatory – God preparing us before we became Christians (overcoming the prevalence of sin).
Positional – God perfecting us before Himself at the moment of conversion (satisfying the penalty for sin).
Progressive – God practically making us more like Christ in time (breaking the power of sin).
Perfected – God taking us into His presence after life is over (removed from the presence of sin).
2. A POWER BEYOND OUR DREAMS. “To do exceeding” 3:20b
Verse 20b. And not only did He conceive of it but He empowers it. And not only did He conceive and empower it, but includes us in a real way in it. He conceives it, and empowers it to happen, but He includes us to have a real part in the progressive phase of salvation.
Notice how Paul builds a literary pyramid in order to emphasize the immensity of the topic covered. He stacks up the descriptive words in an effort to describe the indescribable. Paul actually asks for things in his prayer in 3:14-19, but here he declares that what he has uttered can be infinitely exceeded by God! Paul realizes that what he has prayed (however bold) cannot fully measure the blessings that God intends for His chosen. Notice the words in the English “exceedingly abundantly.” They are in the Greek. E.K. Simpson says of this word, “an adverb of his own coinage, ‘vastly more than more.’” The word means: “superabundantly,” or “transcendently more,” or “far in excess.” Paul takes us to the limits of utterance to try to convey to us the unfathomable ability of God to bring about His work in our progressive salvation. Correlate this passage with others such as Romans 11:33-36, and 2 Timothy 4:18. As we consider what He has done for us we cannot help to find ourselves with Paul without words. Paul wants us to understand God’s ability in our lives and to share his enthusiasm
(Illus: C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy).
Eight “Layer” Reverse Pyramid
He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think
He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask
He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all
He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond
He is able to do exceeding abundantly
He is able to do exceeding
He is able to do
He is able
(Illus: Power: God’s)A power that protects against, not “ied”s (improvised explosion devices), but “wfd”s (world, flesh and the devil) as we see in 1 John. This is the unholy trinity that we face.
(Illus: Power: God’s) Many of think of God as a “power-pincher.” We think of Him barely able to spare what we need for the day. But He in no way is this. Rather, God gives us an excess of what we need!
(Illus: Power, God’s) It is like we go to God with our thimble of need. We approach God’s ocean of power and provison with our thimble of need. Is God able to supple and empower us? Is He able to give us what we need? Of course He is and this is exactly what Paul is trying to convey.
This power and its results in individuals and the church defied even the imagination of elect and evil and angels (Ephesians 3:10)!
3. A POWER ENERGIZED INTERNALLY – “That works within us” 3:20c
Verse 20c. But this is not all Paul desires to convey. He goes on to say that not only is God able to bless beyond our expectations but He blesses according to the standard of His power. “According to the power that works within us” is the phrase. This describes the power of God who is able to bless us beyond our expectations, and enables us to perform the will of God (chapters 4-6).
What is this power? In the immediate context it is the power to love those who we have been raised to dislike, even hate (2:11). In 1:19 it is the general power of God demonstrated in the resurrection and the session of Christ. Theologically it is the living, dynamic force to form our values and decisions in a Christ-centered way. It is the development of Christ-like character which is the fullness of God (1:23; 3:19). Sometimes God’s power changes circumstances, but it appears that God’s normative manifestation of power is in the leaving the circumstances as they are and changing us. If you see how “power” is used n the Pauline epistles (and 2 Corinthians 6:3-7) you will find that God has chosen to deploy His power and display His power in our changing and strengthening our will and increasing our ability to make decisions that are Word-based and Christ-centered. Notice that the nature of God’s blessing is spiritual (1:3), and that it takes place internally (3:16), and that it works “within us” (3:20). God’s fullness (3:16), God’s power (3:20), and the fruit of the Spirit (5:18; Galatians 5:20-22) carry similar connotations: Manifesting the life of Christ through us. See too, Philippians 4:8,13 and Ephesians 1:18. (Yet, God includes us by making the manifestation depend on our yieldness.)
We can better understand this by remembering the “three I’s” concerning the way God manifests His power in human affairs… Three “I”s …
- God works independently of us. God changes the circumstances unilaterally. Luke 17:14
- God works interdependently with us. God changes the circumstances in conjunction with our efforts. Mark 6:41-44
- God works internally within us. God doesn’t change the circumstances, He changes us. 2 Corinthians 12:7-9
Thus, sometimes God moves the mountain; sometimes He moves the mountain through us with a bulldozer, and sometimes He doesn’t move the mountain at all – He moves in us, changing our character and moving in our wills to make the right decisions.
4. A POWER THAT GLORIFES GOD. “To Him be the glory” 3:21
Verse 21a. “To Him be the glory” We see this use of “glory” in 1:6, 1:12, 1:14, 1:17, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:21 (7 times). The word indicates the recognition of God’s attributes, abilities and actions. To give God glory is to recognize and adore all that God is and does. In response to the thoughts of chapters 1-3 in general, and 3:20 in particular Paul praises God for the power He displays through us in salvation. Paul indicates where this praise is to take place. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says to do all to the glory of God. The Superforming life does that! When we live the new life under divine power it glorifies the One who gave us the new life and furnished its power. Notice the word “the.” It is the article that points out the particular identity of the glory – it is the glory that is generated by the fact that God has empowered believers. Paul praises God for His ability to bless His children. He is beside himself with enthusiastic praise to God. Now he turns from the basis of the praise to the Recipient and place of the praise.
Verse 21b. “In the church and in Christ Jesus” expresses where this praise is to take place. The church is the place where the love miracle between the Jew and Gentiles took place. As God fills us with His power we in turn applaud His nature and acts. We are instruments of the glory of God. The location of the praise is the church and the Object of the praise is Christ as well as the means through which the power and ability come. And Jesus is the One who made such a miracle possible. Thus, the church and Jesus are the central points where glory to God emerges. We saw this in part in 1:10, 1:22-23, 2:7, 2:14, 2:21, and 3:10. Do you notice the footing upon which the church is set here? It is a remarkable parallel. What a calling! The church is set on the same footing as to where the praise is to take place for God’s unfathomable power and grace! To the degree that we utilize His power and develop Christ-like Word-based character, to that degree we honor and glorify the One who designed it all. We are collaborators with Christ in bringing glory to God – the reconciled and the Reconciler, the redeemed and the Redeemer, the body and the Head, bride and Groom.
Verse 21c. “To all generations forever and ever, Amen” finalizes the passage and speaks of the duration of the praise in the church that is directed in, through, and to Christ. What does this mean? Hendricksen says, “It refers to the flow of moments from past to present to future, continuing on and on without end” (page 176). Look at Revelation 21:1-6 and 21:23 and 21:5 for a glimpse of the way the glorification of God in the millennium and in eternity will be. Paul’s point is that the glorification of God for believers should begin in time and run uninterrupted into eternity. We shall praise Him in eternity, going from the peak of perfection and bliss to another, endlessly.
Notice the last word, “Amen.” The idea is “so be it” taken as a transliteration from Hebrew and into the Greek and eventually into the English. Paul ends this section (3:20-21) as he started it (1:13) with praise to God for all His immeasurable blessings to His chosen. Paul never got over the fact that he was saved. See 2 Chronicles 7:1,2 (and tabernacle Exodus 40:34) and Psalm 106:48.
(Q Amazing Grace, last verse).
GOD
Power Descends (20) Glory Ascends (21)
CHRISTIANS
CONCLUSION
Central Thought: God provides for us an empowered life beyond our hopes and dreams. It is a life that brings Him praise and glory.
(Illus: God, The Power of) Several years ago our family took the opportunity tour the NASA Space Center in Clear Lake. They took us through several buildings where we saw the inner workings of NASA. But the highlight for me was at the end of the tour when we were allowed to walk in an open area called “Rocket Park,” among the various rockets, launchers and boosters that NASA had used over the years. They were out on the grounds of the facility. There were the small vehicles from the earliest Mercury missions in the 1960s, and gradually they worked their way up to the Apollo flights that were borne aloft on a Saturn V launcher. I looked into the Saturn V and found out some astounding facts. It was a rocket the size and scope of which was never before designed by man. It was 363 feet long (the top of the Statue of Liberty reaches to 305 feet). At the base it was 33 feet in diameter. If it was laid down and hollowed out wwe could easily drive cars and trucks into it. Fully loaded the Saturn V weighed 6.2 million pounds. On the first stage it had five F-1 engines. In the first 2.5 minutes of the launch the engines burned 209,000 gallons of refined kerosene fuel (RP-1) and 334,500 gallons of liquid oxygen (LOX). Turbopumps, working together to pump the fuel into the five engines had the strength of 30 deisel locomotives (these are just the fuel pumps). In those first 2.5 minutes they forced almost 15 tons of fuel per second in the engines. They generated 7.5 million pounds of thrust and pushed the astronauts back inot their seats at 4 ½ times the force of gravity. Now that is a ride! Yet when that rocket sat on the launch pad before liftoff it was cold and lifeless. It sat there unable to move. Then the dramatic countdown came … 5,4,3,2,1 … ignition. And when that happened a fury was unleashed. There was an ear-shattering roar, a billowing cloud and the ground shook - and that big boy inched upward. And yet in all of its glory the Saturn V is nothing compared to the power that God has placed inside us due to our rebirth. It is nothing compared to the ability God gave us to live a Word-based, Christ-centered life. That is the booster power that burns within us! What about our ignition? It took place at Phase Three, and there was a rumble above and the very life and power of God were imputed to us! Now the question is, how do we navigate? How do we soar? That is what we will investigate in the coming weeks.
Draft 2
EVERYBODY IS SOMEBODY
12/12/04; TSL #2 – Genesis 1-3; Gateway Sermon Notes
NEED
Last time in our introduction to our new series we talked about that memorable passage in the New Testament where Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” And we commented how Christians often lack the abundant life. Many are filled with doubt, confusion, fear, defeat, anxiety, and conflict. They are experiencing anything but the abundant life! They live lives very dissimilar, very contrary to the normal Christian life described in the New Testament. Why is this? So we have embarked on a study to understand and live the normal Christian life, a life of abundance and victory and superperformance.
ORIENTATION
We began last time with the idea of power. God provides power (Ephesians 3:20-21) for this kind of life. We learned four things about this power: (1) It is a power conceived by God; (2) It is a power beyond our dreams; (3) It is a power energized from within; and, (4) It is a power that glorifies God. God’s power is certainly unleashed within us and we will talk more about it in coming days. But this morning I want us to back up a moment and talk about the foundation for this abundant life we are talking about. I want us to lay some important groundwork. In order for us to understand this powerful Christian life we must know our purpose and design.
INTEREST
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) As little children with our toys one of the first things we learn is how objects fit together. we learn a very basic and fundamental lesson. It is this: square blocks go in square holes, and round blocks go in round spaces. For that matter, whatever the shape of the block it is the corresponding space to which it fits. If you try to put a square block into a round space it doesn’t completely work, and if you take a round block and try to fit it into a square space it doesn’t completely work. This very basic lesson learned early illustrates what we need to remember later on in life when it comes to our purpose. It is only when we understand our purpose and begin down that road that we are able to have the potential for this life we are describing. Knowing our purpose and living it out puts us in the right universe. What is true with children and blocks is true for people and the universe. How do we fit in? Where do we fit? What is our purpose? When we know the answers we will be on our way to living this abundant life that Jesus described.
I. GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE FOR HIS GLORY. 1:1
In eternity past God existed, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in perfect bliss and harmony (John 17:24). God made a decision to create time, space, matter. But why? Eric Sauer in his book “Eternity to Eternity” describes this pre-temporal, pre-historic time (page 13): “While as yet no star traversed its course, no sun threw its flood of light and energy through space, no systems of stars and suns swept through infinity in mighty curves and uniform relations, there God was; He the eternal without beginning, He who is above the whole course of time, He who in harmony beyond explanation possesses unity and life, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the basis of eternity, the living One, the only God.”
Verse 1:1. Look with me at the first verse of the Bible. Most of us know it by heart. It is one of those verses with a ubiquitous presence in western culture. This is an ex-nihilo creation – or out of nothing. Look at these other complimentary verses. When we compare Genesis 1:1 other verses in the Bible there is an unmistakable purpose for which God created the universe.
Ps 19:1-3 … “The heavens are telling of the glory of God.” We see this in other galaxies, binary stars, quasars.
Col 1:16 … “All things were created by Him and for Him.” Paul speaks to the nascent Gnostic heresy.
Ro 11:36 … “For from Him, and through Him, and to Him.” Paul culminates the doctrine section of Romans.
Rev 19:1 … “Glory and power belong to our God.” (makes Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus seem like chopsticks.)
But why create a universe for His glory? Things of perfection and beauty, by their very essence, beg to be admired. God is perfect. The very essence of perfection calls for it to be proclaimed. It would be wrong to have a being so perfect and glorious and not acclaim who He is and what He is able to do. To admire God is to admire all that is good and right and virtuous. It is morally required that we do so because it proclaims to all a standard and model of life and existence. So God created a universe that would further His glory. Since God is perfect this was only to be expected. It was good and right. We live in a doxological, theocentric universe.
Thus, perfection calls for admiration.
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) Have you ever gone hiking on a nature trail with your family? Most of us have. Once we went up on 290 toward Austin and stopped in Waller County where the wild flowers bloom in the spring. Thanks to Lady Bird Johnson they are all over central Texas. When we went and we walked along the tall grass we saw all types of flowers, the bluebonnet (the state flower of Texas) and the indian paintbrush. And do you know what I heard time and time again: Come Look!! (And we would all run over.) As we found beautiful flowers we were compelled to tell others, to proclaim them. The reason was because something of such beauty and perfection is worthy of our admiration and deserves such accolade. The universe was a tribute to the perfections and beauty of God.
II. MAN WAS FASHIONED TO GLORIFY GOD. 1:27-28
A. Fashioned for fellowship. 1:27
Genesis 1:26-27, 3:8. We hearken back to the opening chapters of Genesis to see God’s intent in creation. We find there that God did indeed make all things but He created man uniquely different than the rest of creation. We see that man is made in the “image of God.’ In Latin it is imago dei (classically pronounce “i-ma-go day-ee” with the long o). This refers to man’s non-physical or immaterial propensities. It speaks of a “resemblance, the correspondence between one thing and another” (Pentecost, Designed to be Like Him, p. 24).
(Illus: Creation, Image of God in) This means that man was made like God in that He was like a coin minted off master die of God. I studied once how coins were made at the United States Treasury. Much care is taken as the initial die is cast. Intricate details are painstakingly worked out until the desired original is finalized. And then it is put into use in making all the coins. The coins made off the die are not exactly like the die, for it is made of much more durable material, but the strike or the image is very much the same. The coin bears the image of the die that pressed it. The die reappears in the coin. One who examines the coin can tell it was engraved in the die because, because the coin bears the image of the die that pressed it. So it is with God and the creation of man. You resemble God! But how? Adam was given personality, capacities that differentiated him from all other creation with mind, will and emotions. He did not do this with plants. He did not do this with rocks. He did not do this with apes or monkeys (Genesis 9:6, James 3:9). “When Adam was made in the likeness and image of God, he was given a mind so that he might know; he was given a heart so that he might love; he was given a will so that he might chose to obey God” (Pentecost, p. 26). Though man denies God, and fights God, he cannot erase the image. Man is intrinsically and irrevocably and indissolubly made in the image of God (defaced but not erased).
“Image” is (selem) in the Hebrew and is used frequently of “statues, models, images and replicas” (NET Bible).And the synonym “likeness” in the Hebrew is (demut) meaning “to be like, to resemble.” The NET Bible goes on to say, “In the Book of Genesis the two terms describe human beings who in some way reflect the form and the function of the creator. The form is more likely stressing the spiritual rather than the physical. The image of God would be the God-given mental and spiritual capacities that enable people to relate to God and to serve him by ruling over the created order as his earthly vice-regents.” The idea of constructing a replica is seen in Exodus 25:9-10.
1. Mind: The capacity to know God.
2. Will: The capacity to choose to obey God.
3. Emotions: The capacity to love and enjoy God.
B. Fashioned for stewardship. Genesis 1:28
Man was also created as the culmination of the week, the crown of creation. And woman was the crown of the crown, the apex. Man would serve as God’s vice regent, as His sub-sovereign.
III. GOD DESIGNED MAN TO GLORIFY GOD THROUGH FELLOWSHIP. 3:8
A. God’s Plan and Intent
God sought to fellowship with man through harmony with man’s mind, will and emotions. Through this fellowship God would be glorified. We find here the elements of both fellowship and stewardship. So we find fellowship with God, but also stewardship with God over His creation – its care and use (Psalm 8:3-8).
(Q: Life, God’s Purpose For) The Westminster catechism reads, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and to fully enjoy him forever.”
B. Yet man tries to circumnavigate God’s plan …
1. Hedonism: An “anything goes” search for happiness (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11). Deface but not erase.
2. Altruism: Living a life of “good” and selflessness (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:23).
3. Achievement: Leaving a legacy. (Ecclesiastes 2)
4. Intellectualism and Philosophy: Finding meaning through the mind (Acts 17).
5. Religion: A “works-based” attempt to find God (Pharisees, Essences, and the Ascetics: Mt 23). Take Ravi Zacharias in his home country of India where he grew up and the self-infliction of religion there. Or take Larry Maritinez, a friend of ours from years past, who said that when he was a child his brother became seriously ill and his mother in a an act of penance walk to church praying the whole way on her knees! And what’s more it was over a mile walk and it was along a dirt road with rocks. She came to he church bleeding hoping to earn God’s favor! But someone else bled! Jesus bled at the cross an made Christianity the one religion that is based on grace not works.
6. Openness: Perpetual questioning. Good for preparatory sanctification but not an ongoing position. This is stubborn agnosticism. Hebrews 2:23 and 1 Kings 18:21.
This reminds us that there are competing purposes in life! Many of them are good purposes. But often the good is the enemy of the best. Even the greatest of human enterprises is not as important as the importance of Christ’s place in our lives. Some try hedonism (that is usually the most natural, as the Epicurean restaurant and deli on San Felipe), others try intellectualism (as Solomon in Ecclesiastes), others try altruism (as the Pharisees), and others false religion (the backward sinners of Romans1). All of these to one degree or another has its merits, but all ultimately fail as a valid purpose for life.
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) C.S. Lewis was an intellectual at Oxford College in England, but God got a hold of him, or as Lewis describes it, “the hound from heaven.” And once he was saved and came to know the Lord he wrote an autobiography that tells it all, “Surprised by Joy.”
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) Over the years I have worked on a ceiling fan or two in the houses we have owned. I should say that I have “attempted” to work on them. I say “attempt” because a couple of times I did not succeed. I remember a number of years ago of making the young and foolish mistake of taking a fan down in order to paint under it. Was that a mistake! I worked for hours on end trying to get the wiring right and never succeeded. I never got it right. Finally I left the fan as it was. The fan switch turned on the light and the light switch turned on the fan, and the wall switch turned on the light and fan! How I had botched that fan! I remember when we sold that house I mentioned to the new owners that there were some issues with the fan and left it at that. They didn’t seem to care. That is a commentary on how people try to figure life out. At one point I sat there after hours of grueling attempts to put it together and all I did was mess it up more. God has the directions to the fan, and when we become His children He tutors us on how life all fits together. Have you ever wondered why your life is not going right? To the degree we off of our purpose to that degree life doesn’t work correctly.
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) I like one bumper sticker that I have seen a few times. It reads – LIFE: WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS READ THE DIRECTIONS,” (with a picture of the Bible).
CONCLUSION
CENTRAL IDEA: In God’s infinite love and wisdom He designed us to bring Him glory through an intimate and eternal relationship. Life works best when it is lived God’s way.
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) I spoke earlier about God being the die upon which we were minted. Do you know what happens when we are created in the image of God on one side of the coin? We automatically get the other side of the coin. On the other side of the coin is life working right. When we are committed to the glory of God, we automatically get the other side of life. Many people think that if they commit themselves to the glory of God that is the worst possible type of life to have. But the truth is that actually the very opposite is true. To commit ourselves to the glory of God is to automatically commit ourselves to God’s design for life and the best way to live life. John 12:23-26 summarizes this concept as Jesus speaks of His death but He also illustrates discipleship: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) A man was sitting in his living room reading the newspaper. He had a small son that kept interrupting and bothering him. Finally the father gave the boy part of the paper, but in order to keep him occupied he found in the paper a big picture of the earth and ripped it up and told his son to put it together. Knowing that his son was too small to know the geography of the world he thought the task would keep him occupied for a long time. But after just a couple of minutes the boy was done and amazingly he got the map exactly right. Incredulously he asked his little son how he did it. The boy said that on the back of the earth was the picture of a man. The boy said that when he got the man right the world came together!
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) Andre Bitov, a well-known Russian novelist, was raised to be an atheist. What a bleak, purposeless life. But God got his attention one dreary day, “In my twenty-seventh year, while riding the metro in Leningrad (now St. Petersberg), I was overcome with a despair so great that life seemed to stop at once, preempting the future entirely, let alone any meaning. Suddenly, all by itself, a phrase appeared: Without God life makes no sense. Repeating it in astonishment, I rode the phrase up like a moving staircase, got out of the metro and walked into God’s light.” (From Warren, Purpose Driven Life, he quotes from David Friend’s ed. “The Meaning of Life.”)
12/12/04; TSL #2 – Genesis 1-3; Gateway Sermon Notes
NEED
Last time in our introduction to our new series we talked about that memorable passage in the New Testament where Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” And we commented how Christians often lack the abundant life. Many are filled with doubt, confusion, fear, defeat, anxiety, and conflict. They are experiencing anything but the abundant life! They live lives very dissimilar, very contrary to the normal Christian life described in the New Testament. Why is this? So we have embarked on a study to understand and live the normal Christian life, a life of abundance and victory and superperformance.
ORIENTATION
We began last time with the idea of power. God provides power (Ephesians 3:20-21) for this kind of life. We learned four things about this power: (1) It is a power conceived by God; (2) It is a power beyond our dreams; (3) It is a power energized from within; and, (4) It is a power that glorifies God. God’s power is certainly unleashed within us and we will talk more about it in coming days. But this morning I want us to back up a moment and talk about the foundation for this abundant life we are talking about. I want us to lay some important groundwork. In order for us to understand this powerful Christian life we must know our purpose and design.
INTEREST
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) As little children with our toys one of the first things we learn is how objects fit together. we learn a very basic and fundamental lesson. It is this: square blocks go in square holes, and round blocks go in round spaces. For that matter, whatever the shape of the block it is the corresponding space to which it fits. If you try to put a square block into a round space it doesn’t completely work, and if you take a round block and try to fit it into a square space it doesn’t completely work. This very basic lesson learned early illustrates what we need to remember later on in life when it comes to our purpose. It is only when we understand our purpose and begin down that road that we are able to have the potential for this life we are describing. Knowing our purpose and living it out puts us in the right universe. What is true with children and blocks is true for people and the universe. How do we fit in? Where do we fit? What is our purpose? When we know the answers we will be on our way to living this abundant life that Jesus described.
I. GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE FOR HIS GLORY. 1:1
In eternity past God existed, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in perfect bliss and harmony (John 17:24). God made a decision to create time, space, matter. But why? Eric Sauer in his book “Eternity to Eternity” describes this pre-temporal, pre-historic time (page 13): “While as yet no star traversed its course, no sun threw its flood of light and energy through space, no systems of stars and suns swept through infinity in mighty curves and uniform relations, there God was; He the eternal without beginning, He who is above the whole course of time, He who in harmony beyond explanation possesses unity and life, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the basis of eternity, the living One, the only God.”
Verse 1:1. Look with me at the first verse of the Bible. Most of us know it by heart. It is one of those verses with a ubiquitous presence in western culture. This is an ex-nihilo creation – or out of nothing. Look at these other complimentary verses. When we compare Genesis 1:1 other verses in the Bible there is an unmistakable purpose for which God created the universe.
Ps 19:1-3 … “The heavens are telling of the glory of God.” We see this in other galaxies, binary stars, quasars.
Col 1:16 … “All things were created by Him and for Him.” Paul speaks to the nascent Gnostic heresy.
Ro 11:36 … “For from Him, and through Him, and to Him.” Paul culminates the doctrine section of Romans.
Rev 19:1 … “Glory and power belong to our God.” (makes Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus seem like chopsticks.)
But why create a universe for His glory? Things of perfection and beauty, by their very essence, beg to be admired. God is perfect. The very essence of perfection calls for it to be proclaimed. It would be wrong to have a being so perfect and glorious and not acclaim who He is and what He is able to do. To admire God is to admire all that is good and right and virtuous. It is morally required that we do so because it proclaims to all a standard and model of life and existence. So God created a universe that would further His glory. Since God is perfect this was only to be expected. It was good and right. We live in a doxological, theocentric universe.
Thus, perfection calls for admiration.
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) Have you ever gone hiking on a nature trail with your family? Most of us have. Once we went up on 290 toward Austin and stopped in Waller County where the wild flowers bloom in the spring. Thanks to Lady Bird Johnson they are all over central Texas. When we went and we walked along the tall grass we saw all types of flowers, the bluebonnet (the state flower of Texas) and the indian paintbrush. And do you know what I heard time and time again: Come Look!! (And we would all run over.) As we found beautiful flowers we were compelled to tell others, to proclaim them. The reason was because something of such beauty and perfection is worthy of our admiration and deserves such accolade. The universe was a tribute to the perfections and beauty of God.
II. MAN WAS FASHIONED TO GLORIFY GOD. 1:27-28
A. Fashioned for fellowship. 1:27
Genesis 1:26-27, 3:8. We hearken back to the opening chapters of Genesis to see God’s intent in creation. We find there that God did indeed make all things but He created man uniquely different than the rest of creation. We see that man is made in the “image of God.’ In Latin it is imago dei (classically pronounce “i-ma-go day-ee” with the long o). This refers to man’s non-physical or immaterial propensities. It speaks of a “resemblance, the correspondence between one thing and another” (Pentecost, Designed to be Like Him, p. 24).
(Illus: Creation, Image of God in) This means that man was made like God in that He was like a coin minted off master die of God. I studied once how coins were made at the United States Treasury. Much care is taken as the initial die is cast. Intricate details are painstakingly worked out until the desired original is finalized. And then it is put into use in making all the coins. The coins made off the die are not exactly like the die, for it is made of much more durable material, but the strike or the image is very much the same. The coin bears the image of the die that pressed it. The die reappears in the coin. One who examines the coin can tell it was engraved in the die because, because the coin bears the image of the die that pressed it. So it is with God and the creation of man. You resemble God! But how? Adam was given personality, capacities that differentiated him from all other creation with mind, will and emotions. He did not do this with plants. He did not do this with rocks. He did not do this with apes or monkeys (Genesis 9:6, James 3:9). “When Adam was made in the likeness and image of God, he was given a mind so that he might know; he was given a heart so that he might love; he was given a will so that he might chose to obey God” (Pentecost, p. 26). Though man denies God, and fights God, he cannot erase the image. Man is intrinsically and irrevocably and indissolubly made in the image of God (defaced but not erased).
“Image” is (selem) in the Hebrew and is used frequently of “statues, models, images and replicas” (NET Bible).And the synonym “likeness” in the Hebrew is (demut) meaning “to be like, to resemble.” The NET Bible goes on to say, “In the Book of Genesis the two terms describe human beings who in some way reflect the form and the function of the creator. The form is more likely stressing the spiritual rather than the physical. The image of God would be the God-given mental and spiritual capacities that enable people to relate to God and to serve him by ruling over the created order as his earthly vice-regents.” The idea of constructing a replica is seen in Exodus 25:9-10.
1. Mind: The capacity to know God.
2. Will: The capacity to choose to obey God.
3. Emotions: The capacity to love and enjoy God.
B. Fashioned for stewardship. Genesis 1:28
Man was also created as the culmination of the week, the crown of creation. And woman was the crown of the crown, the apex. Man would serve as God’s vice regent, as His sub-sovereign.
III. GOD DESIGNED MAN TO GLORIFY GOD THROUGH FELLOWSHIP. 3:8
A. God’s Plan and Intent
God sought to fellowship with man through harmony with man’s mind, will and emotions. Through this fellowship God would be glorified. We find here the elements of both fellowship and stewardship. So we find fellowship with God, but also stewardship with God over His creation – its care and use (Psalm 8:3-8).
(Q: Life, God’s Purpose For) The Westminster catechism reads, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and to fully enjoy him forever.”
B. Yet man tries to circumnavigate God’s plan …
1. Hedonism: An “anything goes” search for happiness (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11). Deface but not erase.
2. Altruism: Living a life of “good” and selflessness (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:23).
3. Achievement: Leaving a legacy. (Ecclesiastes 2)
4. Intellectualism and Philosophy: Finding meaning through the mind (Acts 17).
5. Religion: A “works-based” attempt to find God (Pharisees, Essences, and the Ascetics: Mt 23). Take Ravi Zacharias in his home country of India where he grew up and the self-infliction of religion there. Or take Larry Maritinez, a friend of ours from years past, who said that when he was a child his brother became seriously ill and his mother in a an act of penance walk to church praying the whole way on her knees! And what’s more it was over a mile walk and it was along a dirt road with rocks. She came to he church bleeding hoping to earn God’s favor! But someone else bled! Jesus bled at the cross an made Christianity the one religion that is based on grace not works.
6. Openness: Perpetual questioning. Good for preparatory sanctification but not an ongoing position. This is stubborn agnosticism. Hebrews 2:23 and 1 Kings 18:21.
This reminds us that there are competing purposes in life! Many of them are good purposes. But often the good is the enemy of the best. Even the greatest of human enterprises is not as important as the importance of Christ’s place in our lives. Some try hedonism (that is usually the most natural, as the Epicurean restaurant and deli on San Felipe), others try intellectualism (as Solomon in Ecclesiastes), others try altruism (as the Pharisees), and others false religion (the backward sinners of Romans1). All of these to one degree or another has its merits, but all ultimately fail as a valid purpose for life.
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) C.S. Lewis was an intellectual at Oxford College in England, but God got a hold of him, or as Lewis describes it, “the hound from heaven.” And once he was saved and came to know the Lord he wrote an autobiography that tells it all, “Surprised by Joy.”
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) Over the years I have worked on a ceiling fan or two in the houses we have owned. I should say that I have “attempted” to work on them. I say “attempt” because a couple of times I did not succeed. I remember a number of years ago of making the young and foolish mistake of taking a fan down in order to paint under it. Was that a mistake! I worked for hours on end trying to get the wiring right and never succeeded. I never got it right. Finally I left the fan as it was. The fan switch turned on the light and the light switch turned on the fan, and the wall switch turned on the light and fan! How I had botched that fan! I remember when we sold that house I mentioned to the new owners that there were some issues with the fan and left it at that. They didn’t seem to care. That is a commentary on how people try to figure life out. At one point I sat there after hours of grueling attempts to put it together and all I did was mess it up more. God has the directions to the fan, and when we become His children He tutors us on how life all fits together. Have you ever wondered why your life is not going right? To the degree we off of our purpose to that degree life doesn’t work correctly.
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) I like one bumper sticker that I have seen a few times. It reads – LIFE: WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS READ THE DIRECTIONS,” (with a picture of the Bible).
CONCLUSION
CENTRAL IDEA: In God’s infinite love and wisdom He designed us to bring Him glory through an intimate and eternal relationship. Life works best when it is lived God’s way.
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) I spoke earlier about God being the die upon which we were minted. Do you know what happens when we are created in the image of God on one side of the coin? We automatically get the other side of the coin. On the other side of the coin is life working right. When we are committed to the glory of God, we automatically get the other side of life. Many people think that if they commit themselves to the glory of God that is the worst possible type of life to have. But the truth is that actually the very opposite is true. To commit ourselves to the glory of God is to automatically commit ourselves to God’s design for life and the best way to live life. John 12:23-26 summarizes this concept as Jesus speaks of His death but He also illustrates discipleship: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) A man was sitting in his living room reading the newspaper. He had a small son that kept interrupting and bothering him. Finally the father gave the boy part of the paper, but in order to keep him occupied he found in the paper a big picture of the earth and ripped it up and told his son to put it together. Knowing that his son was too small to know the geography of the world he thought the task would keep him occupied for a long time. But after just a couple of minutes the boy was done and amazingly he got the map exactly right. Incredulously he asked his little son how he did it. The boy said that on the back of the earth was the picture of a man. The boy said that when he got the man right the world came together!
(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) Andre Bitov, a well-known Russian novelist, was raised to be an atheist. What a bleak, purposeless life. But God got his attention one dreary day, “In my twenty-seventh year, while riding the metro in Leningrad (now St. Petersberg), I was overcome with a despair so great that life seemed to stop at once, preempting the future entirely, let alone any meaning. Suddenly, all by itself, a phrase appeared: Without God life makes no sense. Repeating it in astonishment, I rode the phrase up like a moving staircase, got out of the metro and walked into God’s light.” (From Warren, Purpose Driven Life, he quotes from David Friend’s ed. “The Meaning of Life.”)
Draft 3
YOU WON’T BELIEVE THIS GIFT
1/9/05; TSL #3 – Genesis 3; Gateway Sermon Notes
INTEREST
(Illustration: Salvation, General) Have you ever been in a situation that your thought was hopeless? The citizens of Baltimore thought so in 1812. You may remember from your history that the British were waging war again with the colonies but this time it looked as if they would succeed. The British were taking town and after town. Then they came upon Baltimore, and it was strategic. If they took Baltimore then the prize was theirs. They basically had the town in their sights. There was nothing there to keep them from taking the town. It looked hopeless for the citizens of Baltimore as well as our young country.
Something extraordinary happened in Baltimore that spring. Something that had never happened before the best people can tell. A hurricane, yes a renegade hurricane came in from the Atlantic and moved up the river next to Baltimore! And in that horrendous storm the British were not able to attack and it gave the Americans enough time to regroup, get their army going again and defeat the British. What seemed to be an impossible situation, one that was to surely lead to the enemies victory turned out quite the opposite.
This morning we come to see a situation that seemed quite hopeless. But this scenario was not merely about nations, but about God’s cosmic plan for all of time, space, matter, and human history. Let’s take a look at how God snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat.
NEED
We began this new series with that memorable passage in the New Testament where Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” And we commented how Christians often lack the abundant life. Many are filled with doubt, confusion, fear, defeat, anxiety, and conflict. They are experiencing anything but the abundant life! They live lives very dissimilar, very contrary to the normal Christian life described in the New Testament. Why is this? So we have embarked on a study to understand and live the normal Christian life - a life of abundance and victory and superperformance. By the way, the normal Christian life is also a life of suffering, but suffering does not negate the abundant, victorious, superperforming life. We will get to suffering in this series, but I just want you to know that we are talking of a life void of suffering life. That is neither the essence nor the goal of this life we describe
ORIENTATION
(I) We began in our first discussion with the idea of the possibility and power of God. The Lord provides power (Ephesians 3:20-21) for this kind of life. We learned four things about this power: (1) It is a power conceived by God; (2) It is a power beyond our dreams; (3) It is a power energized from within; and, (4) It is a power that glorifies God. God’s power is certainly unleashed within us and we will talk more about it and how it connects to this life in the coming days. (II) In our second study we talked about how God originally designed this life (Genesis 1). In order for us to understand this powerful Christian life we must know our original purpose and design. We were made in the imago dei of God – made specifically by Him and for Him. We are God’s creatures first and foremost and given a capacity that no other creatures have. We were the crown of the creation week, God’s special creatures made to have fellowship with Him and to glorify Him.
So far we have seen …
The possibility and power of this special life. Eph 3:20-21
God’s original intent and design. Gen 1:27
Today we go beyond the power and the original design of this life to the great obstacle to it. It seems there was a great cosmic malfunction in the plan of God.
I. GOD’S DESIGN WAS MARRED. 3:1-8
Verses 1-5. Here we find the successful incursion of Satan into the new world of man. This is both an historical event and an archetype of what has happened to every person who has lived. Because God respected man He gave him the dignity of free choice. Satan took advantage of man’s choice. “Lord God had made” indicates that the covenant keeping God of Israel was the Sovereign One who created the serpent, and thus had all that took place in the following narrative completely in hand. Initially the serpent or snake was a beautiful communicative creature that caused no alarm on the part of Eve. “Crafty” ( , arum, #6175) is only in Genesis 3:1 and Job 15:5 although a form of it is in Proverbs and indicates that it can be good – depending on the motives and goals. It has a wordplay connecting it with 2:25 “naked” ( , arummim, #5903) in 3:7,10,11 but not in 2:25 where it is #6174). It is used 6 times in Ezekial for shame, exposure, defenselessness, weakness, humiliation, and vulnerability. The idea is that Satan’s shrewdness took advantage of Adam and Eve’s naiveté concerning sin. They were “naked” to his “craftiness” (Satan was shrewd and found them nude – Reformed Bible). The Hebrew term “naked” means to be stripped of protective clothing – defenseless, weak, and humiliated. This was not the case before they sinned while in innocence, but only after. They didn’t know where the traps were. The temptation came from an unexpected subordinate source. Satan was a liar from the beginning (John 8:44). He boldly denied what God had said, and in essence was calling God a liar. The tempter suggested that God was jealous and was holding back from them. He suggested that God had ulterior motives and caused her to doubt God’s goodness. Compare 2:16 “freely” (imperfect with the infinitive absolute) with 3:2 “may” (omits the emphatic absolute) – Eve omits the statement by God that they were to eat to their heart’s content. She also exaggerates the prohibition saying that they were not to touch it either. And then she downplays the consequences by not repeating God’s emphatic infinitive about surely dying (2:17 and 3:3). Satan then uses the infinite absolute to deny what God emphatically stated (“not--you will surely die”). In lying Satan overstates the benefits of disobedience and understates the true consequences. Satan sought to alienate man from God (Genesis 3) and sought to alienate God from man (Job 1:9-11).
Verses 6-8. Once the woman was enticed with the physical practicality, the physical beauty, and potentiality to make one wise, she was drawn in (1 John 2:16). “Desirable” ( , nehmad) in verse 6 is the same word Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet.” The result was anticlimactic and in an instant the creation was spoiled. The serpent of course, as a skilled liar was half right. As a result the woman and man became alienated from one another and from God. It appears that God made it His custom to come and visit with man daily and the most pleasant time of the day. But on this particular occasion things had changed drastically. This is not reverential fear as we are commanded in the Bible, but rather raw terror of being found out. Adam and Eve had traded life and order for death and chaos. They knew the corruption of good and evil (human conscience), but they did not know righteous fellowship with God. They could not blame environment or genetics.
GOD
EVE
SATAN
RESULT
God’s Goodness
“eat freely”
(2:16 – IA)
“may eat”
(3:20 – no IA)
“any tree?”
(3:1)
God’s Goodness Questioned
The Prohibition
“not eat”
(2:17)
“or touch it” (3:3)
-----
Prohibition Exaggerated
The Consequences
“surely die” (2:17 - IA)
“die”
(3:3 – no IA)
“surely not die!” (3:4 – IA / IA)
Consequences Denied
Relationship marked by …
GOD US
SEPARATION
A. Mind: Incapable of intimately knowing God. Ro 8:6-7; Eph 4:17-18; 1 Cor 2:14; 2 Cor 4:4
Romans 8:6-7. This is a contrast between the old life of the unbeliever and that of the believer. In describing the nature of the unbeliever Paul says that their mind is “set.” And that word “set” ( , phronousin) in the present tense and means to “keep on being mindful of or aspiring for.” The idea is a mindset, a disposition, a bent, a way of life.
Ephesians 4:17-18. Here again Paul contrasts the life of the unbeliever and that of the Christian. “Futility” here carries the idea ( , mataioteti, see Romans 1:21) of being void of a useful aim or goal. Because they rejected God’s revelation they were without a divine purpose or goal.
1 Corinthians 2:14. This passage speaks of the natural man as perceiving the things of the Spirit as “foolishness” that he cannot understand because they are spiritually appraised.
2 Corinthians 4:4. This verse says that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.” This does not mean that a person has no concept of God at all. It means that apart form the work of the Holy Spirit an unbeliever is incapable of intellect that leads to an intimate relationship with God.
B Will: Set against God. Ro 6:20; Gal 5:17; Eph 2:1-2; Jn 6:44, 65
Romans 6:20. Here Paul indicates that slavery to sin and slavery to righteousness are mutually exclusive. They could be either one or the other. When they were in unbelief they were slaves of sin – they were not free to do the things that would be in God’s realm and in true righteousness.
Galatians 5:17. Here we find that the things of the flesh are set against God. The will is set in the unbeliever and he is unable to do those things that would engender an intimate relationship with the Lord.
Ephesians 2:1-2. Paul speaks here of being “dead” in trespasses and sins. Dead people can’t communicate with and have a relationship with those who are alive, and such is the case for those who are dead toward God. This demonstrates an inability to do anything to have a relationship with God or to gain God’s approval.
John 6:44, 65. So here we have the application when it comes to coming to Christ and salvation. Jesus tells us two times that it is impossible for a person to come to Christ apart form the initiation of the Holy Sprit. It is the Holy Spirit that must regenerate a person, give them spiritual life and illumination and make the gospel clear.
C. Emotion: Dead toward God. Ro 1:25-27, 31; Eph 4:18-19; 2 Tim 3:2
Romans 1:25-27, 31. Here we find the full blown manifestation of the life that is incapable to relating to God. They now engage not just the mind and the will, but the emotions as well. This is worship of false gods, and the absolute pleasure of sin. In verse 31 it says that they are “unloving.” They cannot love and enjoy God because their emotions are dead toward Him and given completely over to sin.
Ephesians 4:18-19. Here we find callousness toward God. This is an insensitivity to really know, love and enjoy God. Instead the very opposite is taking place.
2 Timothy 3:2. Not only are they “lovers” of money, but also in verse 4 they are “lovers” of pleasure” rather than lovers of God. Their affections are elsewhere rather than on God.
(Illustration: Salvation, General) When we lived and pastored in the Little Rock area I conducted a funeral for an acquaintance of a family n our church. I did not know this man who died nor his family. But I conducted it for the family that attended our church and knew this family that had lost this loved one. The funeral was just a graveside service and happened to take place on one of the coldest days of that winter. It was cold for Little Rock standards – something like 10 degrees with a slight breeze blowing. I arrived at the cemetery in Little Rock (an old cemetery) and found folks gathering there. I bundled up with my suit on and an overcoat. I tried to stay as warm as possible, but when I got up to speak I struggled to keep my teeth from chattering and my legs shaking, and for that matter my whole body! People were sitting in the seats under the canopy, and standing out from the canopy all struggling to keep their composure in the bitter cold – all bundled up. But something struck me at that funeral concerning death. They had an open casket there at the gravesite. The gentleman was reposed for all of us to see. He was dressed in a nice suit, and looked as if he was sleeping. And do you know he wasn’t shivering? He wasn’t struggling against the elements to stay warm. And he didn’t have on any heavy clothing, or an overcoat or a scarf. You see what I am saying - Those who are dead are oblivious to the reality around them. And such is the case with Adam and every one that followed him. What would God do? The situation looked hopeless. God’s holiness would never be compromised in order to accommodate man’s sin. How could God go back on His word when he told them they would die and be separated from Him if they ate of the forbidden tree? On one side there was the sin of man and is absolute inability to save Himself, and on the other side of the chasm is an infinitely holy God who would not go back on His word or besmirch His absolute righteousness. There was no place for compromise and it appeared that man would be forever lost and that Satan had won. Man would be forever Satan’s and Satan had high jacked and commandeered God’s plan.
(Illustration: Salvation, General) Dwight Pentecost, in his book, “Designed to be Like Him” tells of fish that live in Mammoth Cave Kentucky, way beneath eh earth in that massive cavern. Pentecost relates that these fish can’t see. Their entire existence for hundreds, and perhaps thousands of years has been in the dark. They are not blindfolded; they haven’t temporarily lost their sight. They do not have the capacity, the inherent ability to perceive by way of sight. They are sightless.
So we find man (with Adam) as a sinner and completely incapacitated when it comes to his relationship with God.. The “image” is damaged, disfigured, spoiled, tarnished, and blighted. Man was totally helpless and in sin. He was completely without hope. He deserved nothing but the just condemnation of God upon Him. God was completely right in judging man for what he did. In fact, if God would not have condemned man He would have been less than God; He would have compromised His integrity.
II. GOD PROVIDED A REMEDY. 3:9-10, 20-24
But, we haven’t heard God’s entire original plan. God knew what Satan would do, and He knew what Adam and Eve would do, and He knew what we would do. He wasn’t surprised or caught off guard. When Adam and Eve fell you didn’t hear a cosmic “ooops!” out of heaven. God, in His infinite love and wisdom He implement a coherent and uncompromising plan. He prepared a plan that would address both the total depravity of man, and the absolute holiness of God. How would God do it? How would He pull it off? Nothing is impossible with God especially when it comes to His plan for the universe and the plan of redemption in particular.
Relationship Marked By …
US
GOD
CHRIST
Verse 3:9-10. Notice who comes calling for whom! This is an indication of God’s aggressive grace. God searches out man. He did not come in fury but in the same loving and condescending way that He had come in the past. Notice that one of the first manifestations of sin is fear. The fear is toward God, others, and life. Fear is trepidation about life. It is insecurity, because now man is on his own and out from under God’s complete protection and security. They answer in shame, remorse, fear, confusion, and blame, but not confession. Every time I fear I manifest one of the things that sin brought into the world. Fear is insecurity manifested. Ironically, “heard” is the Hebrew idiom for “obey,” which reflects the new conflicted nature of Adam.
Verse 3:20-24. Though man had sinned God provided a future for them. He gave them the benefits of common grace – marriage and children, career and provisions. God not only did not obliterate the race but promised children, among whom would be the seed who would crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). The garments of skin indicate divine provision for that which Adam Eve did ineptly. The garments of skin are not to be lost on us as mere clothing. In the Hebraic literature they point unambiguously to blood sacrifice. This was a shadow of the reality that restored fellowship would require expiation – the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). In the Old Testament the shedding of an animal’s blood in sacrifice was to be an act of faith. According to the Book of Hebrews it was this faith that in the plan of God anticipated the ultimate and final sacrifice of the Son of God on the cross. By placing the garments on Adam and Eve were receiving God’s provision of blood sacrifice on their behalf. God used Satan’s very tool, death, to bring about His greatest victory that resulted in God receiving more glory through man’s redemption that He would have if man had never sinned in the first place! (Illustration: Salvation, General) In wrestling we have a technique called “action, reaction.” We use our opponent’s moves against him. For instance, from the standing position we can suddenly pull down on our opponent’s head. When he suddenly pulls back he has inadvertently exposed his legs. They are unprotected. We take advantage of that exposure by executing some sort of leg move. I have done this with success, as well as being the recipient of it! There is nothing more surprising to – in one moment jerking back – and then suddenly feel your opponent tied up in your legs and you be taken to the mat. God took Satan to the man – and He took him with what Satan thought was his ultimate strategy.
The guarding angel speaks of the guarding cherubim on each side of the Ark of the Covenant. “And live forever” speaks of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden that stopped aging – but now man had sinned and the residual effects would be physical death. And yet this too was a blessing, because in losing his body man would lose the embodiment of his sin and release him to receive a new and resurrected body. Ronald Allen points out the interesting fact that God did not uproot the tree of life, rather just guarded it (Nelson Study Bible, Genesis 3:24). Indeed, God had plans that paradise would be regained (Revelation 22:2). So the banishment was both an act of punishment and mercy. There was in redemption: toward sins a complete payment, toward separation a restored fellowship, and toward scarring a new capacity.
Yet, although there was provision for personal salvation the couple had come to a place of no turning back. All of nature had fallen with them and it was corrupt, spoiled and blemished. They too would never be the same, and what they became they passed on to all of their progeny, including you and me.
A. New Mind: Relates to God. 2 Cor 5:17-21; 1 Cor 2:16; Col 3:2
2 Corinthians 5:17-21. Being “in Christ” is to have a spiritual relationship with Christ, to be identified with Him in every way. “New creature” means a new creation brought about by the Holy Spirit. “The old life of slavery to sin and self has gone. The new life of devotion to Christ means that one has new attitudes and actions” (BKC, David Lowery). The old capacity is still there – but now there is a new, superior capacity.
1 Corinthians 2:16. Here in this passage we find that we have a new mind, “the mind of Christ.” This has to do with the gospel truth and experiential sanctification. We have this new capacity and ability that we did not possess before.
Colossians 3:2. Here we are exhorted to “set our minds” on the things above. Not only do we have this new capacity, but this capacity is to be exercised.
B. New Will: Chooses God. Ro 6:12-14, 18, 22; 8:2; Gal 4:31, 5:1
Romans 6:12-14, 18, 22; 8:2. Notice here the new ability of the believer. He or she is now able to resist the domination of sin. It is not that we have lost the old capacities; it is that we have a gain a new and superior capacity. God has not removed our ability to decide, for we still share that with Adam and Eve, it is just that we have the power and assistance of the Holy Spirit and a new superior ability. In Romans 8:2 it says that we have been “set free” and since it is the aorist tense it suggests a once and for all experience for each of us.
Galatians 4:31; 5:1. “The slave woman” was an image of the person who was driven away with no share of the riches or inheritance (Hagar and Ishmael). Believers are children of the free woman in the sense that they are partakers of the riches and inheritance that comes by virtue of Christ. They not tied exclusively to the old way of life.
Some might wonder, why didn’t God make it so there would be automatic victory for Christians? Why didn’t God make it so that there would be automatic victory over the sins we struggle with in our Christian walk, in our experiential sanctification? (1) And the answer to that is the same answer to why God allowed free will in the Garden of Eden. Why did God allow man free will as made in the image of God? He did it as the greatest compliment to man in contrast to the rest of the creatures of creation. He did it as a compliment thinking, this man shares a part of may our attributes, not absolute sovereign will like God, but real free will? (2) Not only was free will a compliment paid to man and reflected his value to God, it was also a means of bringing value to the relationship. How can there be genuine love if someone is forced to love? There can’t be. Part and parcel of real love, and a genuine and mutual relationship is the freedom to reject a another person. And God loved man so much, and honored him so much, as to give him the real ability to reject Him. Those who are Christians have made the free choice, within God’s efficacious election to have a relationship with God, and that brings value and virtue to the relationship. And just like man’s ability to choose in the Garden brought man honor and raised the value of the relationship with God, it does the same thing in our experiential sanctification. Because God has left us with a free will (one dominated and bent toward God) the struggle and fight speaks of the dignity and value God has given us. God love us and dignified us enough to allow a free will, and with that the struggle to live for Him. Without free will we would be like a rock, or a tree, or a frog, or a sunset – but not man. All of these glorify God because they are reflections of His creation, but none of them glorify God to the extent to which we as believers honor God in our struggles.
C. New Emotion: Loves and enjoys God. 1 Jn 4:19; 1 Cor 2:9; Jn 15:12-15
1 John 4:19. This verse simply says, “We love because He first loved us.” We now have this new capacity to love God and others in the Body of Christ because of the initiation of God’s love on our behalf.
1 Corinthians 2:9. Here Paul quotes that magnificent verse from Isaiah (Isaiah 64:4, 65:17) and ties it with our love for God.
John 15:12-15. Here is the memorable exhortation from the Lord Jesus that we are to love others. But the basis of that love is the way that the Lord has loved us. He has imputed to us a new capacity to love and it is a part of the life that He has given.
PRE-FALL “IMAGE”
POST-FALL SCARRING
REBIRTH & RESTORATION
MIND
Capacity to know God.
Incapable of knowing God.
New dominant ability to know God.
WILL
Capacity to choose God.
Incapable of choosing God.
New dominant ability to choose God.
EMOTIONS
Capacity to love God.
Incapable of loving God.
New dominant ability to love God.
The old capacity remains, just as strong, just as virulent. But, he is no longer the bully on the block. He doesn’t rule. He is not dominant. He raises his ugly head and does us damage but he no longer completely dominates. This is the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. It says that our salvation works itself out to one degree or another immediately and inevitably n the Christian life. The life of a Christian is marked by a new capacity, a new disposition, and a new bent that manifests itself in righteous, though imperfect obedience. So where is the divine power? How does it manifest itself? In many ways, but the first way is that God has given us the assurance that if we are really His, and really believed by grace through faith, and accepted His gift – that gift is irrevocable and relentless. And it is based on grace. So the same grace that saved me, is the same grace that works out the gift of salvation, assuring me that though I fall at times God will bring about a life that overall is marked by obedience and holiness. You see, the gift of conversion that justifies does just justify. It sanctifies as well, that came in the package at your conversion. Both are based on grace and acquired by faith and just as certain as our justification makes right with God positionally, our sanctification enables us to walk with God. God didn’t convert you by grace in justification and then say, “OK, great, now get out there and work really hard and maybe you will succeed in the Christian life.“ No, assures the general trend of our sanctification in our Christian lives and it is just as certain (though imperfect because of our freewill and old capacity) as our justification. (We’ll talk more about this next time as well as the different view of experiential sanctification. And I will show you from the Scriptures the wonderful assurance that we have of not only never losing our salvation, but also never losing the general God-ward trend of our experiential sanctification.)
(Illustration: Salvation, General) Take our “screen bean” graphic of the non-Christian on the left side of the chasm, separated form God. He has the ball and chain to which he is shackled. What happens to the ball and chain once he becomes a believer? Christ the Key unlocks him from the ball and chain and he is set free from it. But the ball and chain is not eradicated from his life. Because of his free will, the world, and his fleshly body that ball and chain is still in his life. It is like this: Let’s say this room illustrates my life. In my life before I became a Christian there was no intimated relationship with God. So in this room of my life there was no God, just me and my ball and chain (see that in your mind’s eye). And then my conversion took place and I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. What happened to the room? Jesus came I and unlocked the shackle, and now in the room is God and there is the unfettered ball and chain. God dominates the room for all time and eternity. But God has given me a free will, and from time to time I will go over and hug that ball and chain. I am no longed tethered to it, nor do I have to stay near it in this room dominated by God, but at times I go back to the old way and hug that hideous thing. So the new life is not: “I no longer sin,” but “I no longer have to sin.” And
not only do I no longer have to sin, I have the assurance that the general trend of my life will not be the ball and chain any longer.
CONCLUSION
CENTRAL THOUGHT: Although God’s original design was stained by sin, God restored man through rebirth - providing freedom from the penalty and power of sin, and supplying a new inclination to please and obey God.
(Illustration: Salvation, Need For) This month our family took a vacation to California. A week ago yesterday we were in San Francisco, and like many visitors we took a tour of Alcatraz Island. Alcatraz, of course, is a small island in San Francisco Bay and it was made famous for housing the most notorious prisoners: people like Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and the Bird Man. On the tour we heard many stories of life at Alcatraz. At one point we stopped in the cellblock where they kept prisoners in solitary confinement. They referred to it as “the hole.” I actually stepped into the solitary confinement cell! One prisoner said that when he was sent there they shut the thick door behind him and it was dark and silent. He pulled a button from his prison uniform, flipped it in the air, spun several times, and then proceeded to get down on the floor in the darkness and search for the button. He repeated this weird exercise over and over to pass the hours. He confessed that he did it to keep from going crazy. It gave him purpose and focus. But what stuck in my mind most of all at Alcatraz was the story from another prisoner. He had a cell located on the San Francisco side of the island. He said that in the night when all on the island was quiet, if he listened really well, he could hear the sounds of life in the city of San Francisco!
The island is a 1½ from shore, but he could hear voices and conversations, music and laughter. He said this was especially true on New Years Eve. He could hear the parties and the fun that were so close, yet so far away! And the man said that he was reminded in the night, behind those bars, of the life that he did not have. He only knew of it only if the midnight breeze brought it to him, but he never actually had it.
It was one thing to be locked up in a cell, but it was torture to be graphically reminded of what one did not have night after night! He could only wonder. Today, like with the woman, Jesus wants to turn our wonder into reality. Perhaps you are like the woman, incarcerated in your own wonder and philosophies of life, a prisoner of sin. Jesus Christ comes as the key to open up that cell door and take you across the turbulent divide between you and God and give you the eternal life God offers. Would you receive the life that Jesus offers today? Wonder about life’s purpose and meaning ends at the feet of Jesus.
Good Morning Nanty Glo!
Sunday, September 19 2004
Blacklick Valley Vikings win Homecoming Game 20-0 Now online: Vintondale Homecoming photo album Obituary: Domonic Previte, Gold Crown Market founder Caption added: Photo of NGVHS Class of '59 reunion Looking for Someone/Looking for You?
Washington Burning, the War of 1812
I recently saw a History Channel documentary on the “War of 1812,” a war fought between the United States and Britain, and often described as the forgotten war. The same name is often ascribed to the Korean War.
Until now, my knowledge of the “War of 1812” was extremely sparse. The causes of the conflict were:
(1) England stirred up the Indians against the American frontier settlers.(2) American ships were stopped and the crews were impressed to serve in the Royal Navy.(3) A ragtag Yankee army earlier captured York, the Canadian capitol at the time, and torched the government buildings. The British were eager to seek revenge.
The major land battles fought during this conflict were the invasion from the sea and the successful march of the British army to capture Washington and burn the White House and other major buildings; the bombardment by British naval vessels of Fort McHenry—where Francis Scott Key composed our National Anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner—in an attempt to capture Baltimore, and the Battle of New Orleans, where Andrew Jackson soundly defeated the British forces—an unnecessary battle since a peace treaty was signed a week earlier at Ghent, Belgium, ending the war.
Focusing on the British capture and burning of Washington, an unexpected ally came to the aid of the Americans. This questionable ally came in the form of a hurricane during the occupation by the British forces. The heavy rains helped to extinguish the flames of the burning buildings and caused havoc among the British troops. Quoting a conversation heard between a British Admiral and a Washington lady regarding the storm: The admiral exclaimed, “Great God, Madam! Is this the kind of storm to which you are accustomed in this infernal country?” The lady answered, “No, Sir, this is a special interposition of Providence to drive our enemies from our city.” The admiral replied, “Not so, Madam. It is rather to aid your enemies in the destruction of your city.” See this quote and story about this hurricane here.
Today, we sadly see the TV pictures of the destruction and flooding in Florida and the Southern States caused by the violent hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Ivan. We solemnly pray that we be spared any similar experience. Unless the reason is to draw people closer to the Almighty, there certainly is no benefit gained from the devastation and loss of life caused by these hurricanes.
In the case of the hurricane that struck Washington in 1814, it is a matter of conjecture if it was “An Act of God” that aided the Americans as the lady said, or whether the British Admiral esd more accurate when he said it helped him, our adversary.
In the spring of 1813, a flotilla of Navy ships set sail from Sackets Harbor under the command of Captain Isaac Chauncey, carrying an army of 1,700 troops under the command of General Zebulon Pike. Their mission was to capture Fort York , located at the western end of Lake Ontario (present day Toronto). Fort York was still under construction at that time, being defended by 700 troops, half of them local militia and Indians, under the command of Major General Shaeffe.
The American force advanced along the beach with the support of naval gunfire from Captain Chauncey's ships. General Pike's field guns landed and opened fire on British positions. The local militia began to retreat from the defensive works. General Shaeffe ordered his regulars to withdraw. Leaving the flag flying over the fort, he marched his men away towards Kingston, advising the militia commanders to make contact with the Americans and negotiate best terms for surrender that they could. He then sent men to set fire to a war ship under construction in the harbor and to blow up the stone powder magazine located in the fort.
Shaeffe had left the flag flying over the fort in order to fool the Americans into believing that the fort was still garrisoned. As the Americans made their way into the fort, the stone magazine exploded with such a force as to rain stone and timber down upon the Americans who were in its vicinity. General Pike's back and chest were crushed, 28 of his men were killed outright, and over 200 were wounded.
General Pike was carried out to Chauncey's flagship, the new U.S.S. Madison, where he died. General Henry Dearborn, a Revolutionary War Veteran, landed and took personal command ashore. At the end of the day, Fort York was in American hands. 150 British had been killed and 290 were taken prisoner. The Americans suffered 320 casualties, most of those caused by the exploding magazine. After five days, the Americans departed Fort York, burning it to the ground as well as local parliament buildings. From this victory, the United States began gaining naval control of the Great Lakes.
— Frank Charney
The Tornado and the Burning of
Washington, August 25, 1814
During the summer of 1814, British warships sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and headed towards Washington. The warships sailed up the Patuxent River and anchored at Benedict, Maryland on August 19, 1814. Over 4,500 British soldiers landed and marched towards Washington. The British mission was to capture Washington and seek revenge for the burning of their British Capitol in Canada, for which they held the United States responsible. A force of 7,000 Americans was hastily assembled near the Potomac River to defend Washington. During the afternoon of August 24, in 100°F heat, the two armies clashed. The British Army quickly routed the less disciplined American volunteers, mostly due to a series of American blunders and a new British rocket that did little damage, but unnerved the raw American troops with a very loud, shrill noise. President Madison and Secretary of State Monroe, who had led a group of officials to watch the battle, were almost captured in the confusion. It was noted that the 100°F temperatures added to everyone’s discomfort.
After the battle, the British Army marched quickly into Washington while American soldiers, United States government officials, and residents fled the city. There were no officials left in Washington from whom the British could seek terms of surrender. The British admiral ate dinner in the White House, then gave the order to set fire to Washington. Within hours, the White House, the Capitol, and many other public buildings and residences were burning.
On the morning of August 25, Washington was still burning. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, the British soldiers continued to set fires and destroy ammunition supplies and defenses around the city. As the soldiers spread fire and destruction throughout the city, the early afternoon sky began to darken and lightning and thunder signaled the approach of a thunderstorm. As the storm neared the city, the winds began to increase dramatically and then built into a “frightening roar.” A severe thunderstorm was bearing down on Washington, and with it was a tornado.
The tornado tore through the center of Washington and directly into the British occupation. Buildings were lifted off of their foundations and dashed to bits. Other buildings were blown down or lost their roofs. Feather beds were sucked out of homes and scattered about. Trees were uprooted, fences were blown down, and the heavy chain bridge across the Potomac River was buckled and rendered useless. A few British cannons were picked up by the winds and thrown through the air. The collapsing buildings and flying debris killed several British soldiers. Many of the soldiers did not have time to take cover from the winds and they laid face down in the streets. One account describes how a British officer on horseback did not dismount and the winds slammed both horse and rider violently to the ground.
The winds subsided quickly, but the rain fell in torrents for two hours. (There may have been a second thunderstorm that followed quickly after the first thunderstorm.) Fortunately, the heavy rain quenched most of the flames and prevented Washington from continuing to burn. After the storm, the British Army regrouped on Capitol Hill, still a bit shaken by the harsh weather. They decided to leave the city that evening. As the British troops were preparing to leave, a conversation was noted between the British Admiral and a Washington lady regarding the storm: The admiral exclaimed, “Great God, Madam! Is this the kind of storm to which you are accustomed in this infernal country?” The lady answered, “No, Sir, this is a special interposition of Providence to drive our enemies from our city.” The admiral replied, “Not so Madam. It is rather to aid your enemies in the destruction of your city.”
Hours later, the British forces left Washington and returned to their ships on the Patuxent River. The journey back was made difficult by the numerous downed trees that lay across the roads. The war ships that lay waiting for the British force had also encountered the fierce storm. Wind and waves had lashed at the ships and many had damaged riggings. Two vessels had broken free from their moorings and were blown ashore.
President Madison and other government officials returned to Washington and began the difficult process of setting up government in a city devastated by fire and wind. Never again would the British Army return to the city, and only rarely would Washington suffer damaging tornadoes.
1/9/05; TSL #3 – Genesis 3; Gateway Sermon Notes
INTEREST
(Illustration: Salvation, General) Have you ever been in a situation that your thought was hopeless? The citizens of Baltimore thought so in 1812. You may remember from your history that the British were waging war again with the colonies but this time it looked as if they would succeed. The British were taking town and after town. Then they came upon Baltimore, and it was strategic. If they took Baltimore then the prize was theirs. They basically had the town in their sights. There was nothing there to keep them from taking the town. It looked hopeless for the citizens of Baltimore as well as our young country.
Something extraordinary happened in Baltimore that spring. Something that had never happened before the best people can tell. A hurricane, yes a renegade hurricane came in from the Atlantic and moved up the river next to Baltimore! And in that horrendous storm the British were not able to attack and it gave the Americans enough time to regroup, get their army going again and defeat the British. What seemed to be an impossible situation, one that was to surely lead to the enemies victory turned out quite the opposite.
This morning we come to see a situation that seemed quite hopeless. But this scenario was not merely about nations, but about God’s cosmic plan for all of time, space, matter, and human history. Let’s take a look at how God snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat.
NEED
We began this new series with that memorable passage in the New Testament where Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” And we commented how Christians often lack the abundant life. Many are filled with doubt, confusion, fear, defeat, anxiety, and conflict. They are experiencing anything but the abundant life! They live lives very dissimilar, very contrary to the normal Christian life described in the New Testament. Why is this? So we have embarked on a study to understand and live the normal Christian life - a life of abundance and victory and superperformance. By the way, the normal Christian life is also a life of suffering, but suffering does not negate the abundant, victorious, superperforming life. We will get to suffering in this series, but I just want you to know that we are talking of a life void of suffering life. That is neither the essence nor the goal of this life we describe
ORIENTATION
(I) We began in our first discussion with the idea of the possibility and power of God. The Lord provides power (Ephesians 3:20-21) for this kind of life. We learned four things about this power: (1) It is a power conceived by God; (2) It is a power beyond our dreams; (3) It is a power energized from within; and, (4) It is a power that glorifies God. God’s power is certainly unleashed within us and we will talk more about it and how it connects to this life in the coming days. (II) In our second study we talked about how God originally designed this life (Genesis 1). In order for us to understand this powerful Christian life we must know our original purpose and design. We were made in the imago dei of God – made specifically by Him and for Him. We are God’s creatures first and foremost and given a capacity that no other creatures have. We were the crown of the creation week, God’s special creatures made to have fellowship with Him and to glorify Him.
So far we have seen …
The possibility and power of this special life. Eph 3:20-21
God’s original intent and design. Gen 1:27
Today we go beyond the power and the original design of this life to the great obstacle to it. It seems there was a great cosmic malfunction in the plan of God.
I. GOD’S DESIGN WAS MARRED. 3:1-8
Verses 1-5. Here we find the successful incursion of Satan into the new world of man. This is both an historical event and an archetype of what has happened to every person who has lived. Because God respected man He gave him the dignity of free choice. Satan took advantage of man’s choice. “Lord God had made” indicates that the covenant keeping God of Israel was the Sovereign One who created the serpent, and thus had all that took place in the following narrative completely in hand. Initially the serpent or snake was a beautiful communicative creature that caused no alarm on the part of Eve. “Crafty” ( , arum, #6175) is only in Genesis 3:1 and Job 15:5 although a form of it is in Proverbs and indicates that it can be good – depending on the motives and goals. It has a wordplay connecting it with 2:25 “naked” ( , arummim, #5903) in 3:7,10,11 but not in 2:25 where it is #6174). It is used 6 times in Ezekial for shame, exposure, defenselessness, weakness, humiliation, and vulnerability. The idea is that Satan’s shrewdness took advantage of Adam and Eve’s naiveté concerning sin. They were “naked” to his “craftiness” (Satan was shrewd and found them nude – Reformed Bible). The Hebrew term “naked” means to be stripped of protective clothing – defenseless, weak, and humiliated. This was not the case before they sinned while in innocence, but only after. They didn’t know where the traps were. The temptation came from an unexpected subordinate source. Satan was a liar from the beginning (John 8:44). He boldly denied what God had said, and in essence was calling God a liar. The tempter suggested that God was jealous and was holding back from them. He suggested that God had ulterior motives and caused her to doubt God’s goodness. Compare 2:16 “freely” (imperfect with the infinitive absolute) with 3:2 “may” (omits the emphatic absolute) – Eve omits the statement by God that they were to eat to their heart’s content. She also exaggerates the prohibition saying that they were not to touch it either. And then she downplays the consequences by not repeating God’s emphatic infinitive about surely dying (2:17 and 3:3). Satan then uses the infinite absolute to deny what God emphatically stated (“not--you will surely die”). In lying Satan overstates the benefits of disobedience and understates the true consequences. Satan sought to alienate man from God (Genesis 3) and sought to alienate God from man (Job 1:9-11).
Verses 6-8. Once the woman was enticed with the physical practicality, the physical beauty, and potentiality to make one wise, she was drawn in (1 John 2:16). “Desirable” ( , nehmad) in verse 6 is the same word Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet.” The result was anticlimactic and in an instant the creation was spoiled. The serpent of course, as a skilled liar was half right. As a result the woman and man became alienated from one another and from God. It appears that God made it His custom to come and visit with man daily and the most pleasant time of the day. But on this particular occasion things had changed drastically. This is not reverential fear as we are commanded in the Bible, but rather raw terror of being found out. Adam and Eve had traded life and order for death and chaos. They knew the corruption of good and evil (human conscience), but they did not know righteous fellowship with God. They could not blame environment or genetics.
GOD
EVE
SATAN
RESULT
God’s Goodness
“eat freely”
(2:16 – IA)
“may eat”
(3:20 – no IA)
“any tree?”
(3:1)
God’s Goodness Questioned
The Prohibition
“not eat”
(2:17)
“or touch it” (3:3)
-----
Prohibition Exaggerated
The Consequences
“surely die” (2:17 - IA)
“die”
(3:3 – no IA)
“surely not die!” (3:4 – IA / IA)
Consequences Denied
Relationship marked by …
GOD US
SEPARATION
A. Mind: Incapable of intimately knowing God. Ro 8:6-7; Eph 4:17-18; 1 Cor 2:14; 2 Cor 4:4
Romans 8:6-7. This is a contrast between the old life of the unbeliever and that of the believer. In describing the nature of the unbeliever Paul says that their mind is “set.” And that word “set” ( , phronousin) in the present tense and means to “keep on being mindful of or aspiring for.” The idea is a mindset, a disposition, a bent, a way of life.
Ephesians 4:17-18. Here again Paul contrasts the life of the unbeliever and that of the Christian. “Futility” here carries the idea ( , mataioteti, see Romans 1:21) of being void of a useful aim or goal. Because they rejected God’s revelation they were without a divine purpose or goal.
1 Corinthians 2:14. This passage speaks of the natural man as perceiving the things of the Spirit as “foolishness” that he cannot understand because they are spiritually appraised.
2 Corinthians 4:4. This verse says that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.” This does not mean that a person has no concept of God at all. It means that apart form the work of the Holy Spirit an unbeliever is incapable of intellect that leads to an intimate relationship with God.
B Will: Set against God. Ro 6:20; Gal 5:17; Eph 2:1-2; Jn 6:44, 65
Romans 6:20. Here Paul indicates that slavery to sin and slavery to righteousness are mutually exclusive. They could be either one or the other. When they were in unbelief they were slaves of sin – they were not free to do the things that would be in God’s realm and in true righteousness.
Galatians 5:17. Here we find that the things of the flesh are set against God. The will is set in the unbeliever and he is unable to do those things that would engender an intimate relationship with the Lord.
Ephesians 2:1-2. Paul speaks here of being “dead” in trespasses and sins. Dead people can’t communicate with and have a relationship with those who are alive, and such is the case for those who are dead toward God. This demonstrates an inability to do anything to have a relationship with God or to gain God’s approval.
John 6:44, 65. So here we have the application when it comes to coming to Christ and salvation. Jesus tells us two times that it is impossible for a person to come to Christ apart form the initiation of the Holy Sprit. It is the Holy Spirit that must regenerate a person, give them spiritual life and illumination and make the gospel clear.
C. Emotion: Dead toward God. Ro 1:25-27, 31; Eph 4:18-19; 2 Tim 3:2
Romans 1:25-27, 31. Here we find the full blown manifestation of the life that is incapable to relating to God. They now engage not just the mind and the will, but the emotions as well. This is worship of false gods, and the absolute pleasure of sin. In verse 31 it says that they are “unloving.” They cannot love and enjoy God because their emotions are dead toward Him and given completely over to sin.
Ephesians 4:18-19. Here we find callousness toward God. This is an insensitivity to really know, love and enjoy God. Instead the very opposite is taking place.
2 Timothy 3:2. Not only are they “lovers” of money, but also in verse 4 they are “lovers” of pleasure” rather than lovers of God. Their affections are elsewhere rather than on God.
(Illustration: Salvation, General) When we lived and pastored in the Little Rock area I conducted a funeral for an acquaintance of a family n our church. I did not know this man who died nor his family. But I conducted it for the family that attended our church and knew this family that had lost this loved one. The funeral was just a graveside service and happened to take place on one of the coldest days of that winter. It was cold for Little Rock standards – something like 10 degrees with a slight breeze blowing. I arrived at the cemetery in Little Rock (an old cemetery) and found folks gathering there. I bundled up with my suit on and an overcoat. I tried to stay as warm as possible, but when I got up to speak I struggled to keep my teeth from chattering and my legs shaking, and for that matter my whole body! People were sitting in the seats under the canopy, and standing out from the canopy all struggling to keep their composure in the bitter cold – all bundled up. But something struck me at that funeral concerning death. They had an open casket there at the gravesite. The gentleman was reposed for all of us to see. He was dressed in a nice suit, and looked as if he was sleeping. And do you know he wasn’t shivering? He wasn’t struggling against the elements to stay warm. And he didn’t have on any heavy clothing, or an overcoat or a scarf. You see what I am saying - Those who are dead are oblivious to the reality around them. And such is the case with Adam and every one that followed him. What would God do? The situation looked hopeless. God’s holiness would never be compromised in order to accommodate man’s sin. How could God go back on His word when he told them they would die and be separated from Him if they ate of the forbidden tree? On one side there was the sin of man and is absolute inability to save Himself, and on the other side of the chasm is an infinitely holy God who would not go back on His word or besmirch His absolute righteousness. There was no place for compromise and it appeared that man would be forever lost and that Satan had won. Man would be forever Satan’s and Satan had high jacked and commandeered God’s plan.
(Illustration: Salvation, General) Dwight Pentecost, in his book, “Designed to be Like Him” tells of fish that live in Mammoth Cave Kentucky, way beneath eh earth in that massive cavern. Pentecost relates that these fish can’t see. Their entire existence for hundreds, and perhaps thousands of years has been in the dark. They are not blindfolded; they haven’t temporarily lost their sight. They do not have the capacity, the inherent ability to perceive by way of sight. They are sightless.
So we find man (with Adam) as a sinner and completely incapacitated when it comes to his relationship with God.. The “image” is damaged, disfigured, spoiled, tarnished, and blighted. Man was totally helpless and in sin. He was completely without hope. He deserved nothing but the just condemnation of God upon Him. God was completely right in judging man for what he did. In fact, if God would not have condemned man He would have been less than God; He would have compromised His integrity.
II. GOD PROVIDED A REMEDY. 3:9-10, 20-24
But, we haven’t heard God’s entire original plan. God knew what Satan would do, and He knew what Adam and Eve would do, and He knew what we would do. He wasn’t surprised or caught off guard. When Adam and Eve fell you didn’t hear a cosmic “ooops!” out of heaven. God, in His infinite love and wisdom He implement a coherent and uncompromising plan. He prepared a plan that would address both the total depravity of man, and the absolute holiness of God. How would God do it? How would He pull it off? Nothing is impossible with God especially when it comes to His plan for the universe and the plan of redemption in particular.
Relationship Marked By …
US
GOD
CHRIST
Verse 3:9-10. Notice who comes calling for whom! This is an indication of God’s aggressive grace. God searches out man. He did not come in fury but in the same loving and condescending way that He had come in the past. Notice that one of the first manifestations of sin is fear. The fear is toward God, others, and life. Fear is trepidation about life. It is insecurity, because now man is on his own and out from under God’s complete protection and security. They answer in shame, remorse, fear, confusion, and blame, but not confession. Every time I fear I manifest one of the things that sin brought into the world. Fear is insecurity manifested. Ironically, “heard” is the Hebrew idiom for “obey,” which reflects the new conflicted nature of Adam.
Verse 3:20-24. Though man had sinned God provided a future for them. He gave them the benefits of common grace – marriage and children, career and provisions. God not only did not obliterate the race but promised children, among whom would be the seed who would crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15). The garments of skin indicate divine provision for that which Adam Eve did ineptly. The garments of skin are not to be lost on us as mere clothing. In the Hebraic literature they point unambiguously to blood sacrifice. This was a shadow of the reality that restored fellowship would require expiation – the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). In the Old Testament the shedding of an animal’s blood in sacrifice was to be an act of faith. According to the Book of Hebrews it was this faith that in the plan of God anticipated the ultimate and final sacrifice of the Son of God on the cross. By placing the garments on Adam and Eve were receiving God’s provision of blood sacrifice on their behalf. God used Satan’s very tool, death, to bring about His greatest victory that resulted in God receiving more glory through man’s redemption that He would have if man had never sinned in the first place! (Illustration: Salvation, General) In wrestling we have a technique called “action, reaction.” We use our opponent’s moves against him. For instance, from the standing position we can suddenly pull down on our opponent’s head. When he suddenly pulls back he has inadvertently exposed his legs. They are unprotected. We take advantage of that exposure by executing some sort of leg move. I have done this with success, as well as being the recipient of it! There is nothing more surprising to – in one moment jerking back – and then suddenly feel your opponent tied up in your legs and you be taken to the mat. God took Satan to the man – and He took him with what Satan thought was his ultimate strategy.
The guarding angel speaks of the guarding cherubim on each side of the Ark of the Covenant. “And live forever” speaks of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden that stopped aging – but now man had sinned and the residual effects would be physical death. And yet this too was a blessing, because in losing his body man would lose the embodiment of his sin and release him to receive a new and resurrected body. Ronald Allen points out the interesting fact that God did not uproot the tree of life, rather just guarded it (Nelson Study Bible, Genesis 3:24). Indeed, God had plans that paradise would be regained (Revelation 22:2). So the banishment was both an act of punishment and mercy. There was in redemption: toward sins a complete payment, toward separation a restored fellowship, and toward scarring a new capacity.
Yet, although there was provision for personal salvation the couple had come to a place of no turning back. All of nature had fallen with them and it was corrupt, spoiled and blemished. They too would never be the same, and what they became they passed on to all of their progeny, including you and me.
A. New Mind: Relates to God. 2 Cor 5:17-21; 1 Cor 2:16; Col 3:2
2 Corinthians 5:17-21. Being “in Christ” is to have a spiritual relationship with Christ, to be identified with Him in every way. “New creature” means a new creation brought about by the Holy Spirit. “The old life of slavery to sin and self has gone. The new life of devotion to Christ means that one has new attitudes and actions” (BKC, David Lowery). The old capacity is still there – but now there is a new, superior capacity.
1 Corinthians 2:16. Here in this passage we find that we have a new mind, “the mind of Christ.” This has to do with the gospel truth and experiential sanctification. We have this new capacity and ability that we did not possess before.
Colossians 3:2. Here we are exhorted to “set our minds” on the things above. Not only do we have this new capacity, but this capacity is to be exercised.
B. New Will: Chooses God. Ro 6:12-14, 18, 22; 8:2; Gal 4:31, 5:1
Romans 6:12-14, 18, 22; 8:2. Notice here the new ability of the believer. He or she is now able to resist the domination of sin. It is not that we have lost the old capacities; it is that we have a gain a new and superior capacity. God has not removed our ability to decide, for we still share that with Adam and Eve, it is just that we have the power and assistance of the Holy Spirit and a new superior ability. In Romans 8:2 it says that we have been “set free” and since it is the aorist tense it suggests a once and for all experience for each of us.
Galatians 4:31; 5:1. “The slave woman” was an image of the person who was driven away with no share of the riches or inheritance (Hagar and Ishmael). Believers are children of the free woman in the sense that they are partakers of the riches and inheritance that comes by virtue of Christ. They not tied exclusively to the old way of life.
Some might wonder, why didn’t God make it so there would be automatic victory for Christians? Why didn’t God make it so that there would be automatic victory over the sins we struggle with in our Christian walk, in our experiential sanctification? (1) And the answer to that is the same answer to why God allowed free will in the Garden of Eden. Why did God allow man free will as made in the image of God? He did it as the greatest compliment to man in contrast to the rest of the creatures of creation. He did it as a compliment thinking, this man shares a part of may our attributes, not absolute sovereign will like God, but real free will? (2) Not only was free will a compliment paid to man and reflected his value to God, it was also a means of bringing value to the relationship. How can there be genuine love if someone is forced to love? There can’t be. Part and parcel of real love, and a genuine and mutual relationship is the freedom to reject a another person. And God loved man so much, and honored him so much, as to give him the real ability to reject Him. Those who are Christians have made the free choice, within God’s efficacious election to have a relationship with God, and that brings value and virtue to the relationship. And just like man’s ability to choose in the Garden brought man honor and raised the value of the relationship with God, it does the same thing in our experiential sanctification. Because God has left us with a free will (one dominated and bent toward God) the struggle and fight speaks of the dignity and value God has given us. God love us and dignified us enough to allow a free will, and with that the struggle to live for Him. Without free will we would be like a rock, or a tree, or a frog, or a sunset – but not man. All of these glorify God because they are reflections of His creation, but none of them glorify God to the extent to which we as believers honor God in our struggles.
C. New Emotion: Loves and enjoys God. 1 Jn 4:19; 1 Cor 2:9; Jn 15:12-15
1 John 4:19. This verse simply says, “We love because He first loved us.” We now have this new capacity to love God and others in the Body of Christ because of the initiation of God’s love on our behalf.
1 Corinthians 2:9. Here Paul quotes that magnificent verse from Isaiah (Isaiah 64:4, 65:17) and ties it with our love for God.
John 15:12-15. Here is the memorable exhortation from the Lord Jesus that we are to love others. But the basis of that love is the way that the Lord has loved us. He has imputed to us a new capacity to love and it is a part of the life that He has given.
PRE-FALL “IMAGE”
POST-FALL SCARRING
REBIRTH & RESTORATION
MIND
Capacity to know God.
Incapable of knowing God.
New dominant ability to know God.
WILL
Capacity to choose God.
Incapable of choosing God.
New dominant ability to choose God.
EMOTIONS
Capacity to love God.
Incapable of loving God.
New dominant ability to love God.
The old capacity remains, just as strong, just as virulent. But, he is no longer the bully on the block. He doesn’t rule. He is not dominant. He raises his ugly head and does us damage but he no longer completely dominates. This is the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. It says that our salvation works itself out to one degree or another immediately and inevitably n the Christian life. The life of a Christian is marked by a new capacity, a new disposition, and a new bent that manifests itself in righteous, though imperfect obedience. So where is the divine power? How does it manifest itself? In many ways, but the first way is that God has given us the assurance that if we are really His, and really believed by grace through faith, and accepted His gift – that gift is irrevocable and relentless. And it is based on grace. So the same grace that saved me, is the same grace that works out the gift of salvation, assuring me that though I fall at times God will bring about a life that overall is marked by obedience and holiness. You see, the gift of conversion that justifies does just justify. It sanctifies as well, that came in the package at your conversion. Both are based on grace and acquired by faith and just as certain as our justification makes right with God positionally, our sanctification enables us to walk with God. God didn’t convert you by grace in justification and then say, “OK, great, now get out there and work really hard and maybe you will succeed in the Christian life.“ No, assures the general trend of our sanctification in our Christian lives and it is just as certain (though imperfect because of our freewill and old capacity) as our justification. (We’ll talk more about this next time as well as the different view of experiential sanctification. And I will show you from the Scriptures the wonderful assurance that we have of not only never losing our salvation, but also never losing the general God-ward trend of our experiential sanctification.)
(Illustration: Salvation, General) Take our “screen bean” graphic of the non-Christian on the left side of the chasm, separated form God. He has the ball and chain to which he is shackled. What happens to the ball and chain once he becomes a believer? Christ the Key unlocks him from the ball and chain and he is set free from it. But the ball and chain is not eradicated from his life. Because of his free will, the world, and his fleshly body that ball and chain is still in his life. It is like this: Let’s say this room illustrates my life. In my life before I became a Christian there was no intimated relationship with God. So in this room of my life there was no God, just me and my ball and chain (see that in your mind’s eye). And then my conversion took place and I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior. What happened to the room? Jesus came I and unlocked the shackle, and now in the room is God and there is the unfettered ball and chain. God dominates the room for all time and eternity. But God has given me a free will, and from time to time I will go over and hug that ball and chain. I am no longed tethered to it, nor do I have to stay near it in this room dominated by God, but at times I go back to the old way and hug that hideous thing. So the new life is not: “I no longer sin,” but “I no longer have to sin.” And
not only do I no longer have to sin, I have the assurance that the general trend of my life will not be the ball and chain any longer.
CONCLUSION
CENTRAL THOUGHT: Although God’s original design was stained by sin, God restored man through rebirth - providing freedom from the penalty and power of sin, and supplying a new inclination to please and obey God.
(Illustration: Salvation, Need For) This month our family took a vacation to California. A week ago yesterday we were in San Francisco, and like many visitors we took a tour of Alcatraz Island. Alcatraz, of course, is a small island in San Francisco Bay and it was made famous for housing the most notorious prisoners: people like Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and the Bird Man. On the tour we heard many stories of life at Alcatraz. At one point we stopped in the cellblock where they kept prisoners in solitary confinement. They referred to it as “the hole.” I actually stepped into the solitary confinement cell! One prisoner said that when he was sent there they shut the thick door behind him and it was dark and silent. He pulled a button from his prison uniform, flipped it in the air, spun several times, and then proceeded to get down on the floor in the darkness and search for the button. He repeated this weird exercise over and over to pass the hours. He confessed that he did it to keep from going crazy. It gave him purpose and focus. But what stuck in my mind most of all at Alcatraz was the story from another prisoner. He had a cell located on the San Francisco side of the island. He said that in the night when all on the island was quiet, if he listened really well, he could hear the sounds of life in the city of San Francisco!
The island is a 1½ from shore, but he could hear voices and conversations, music and laughter. He said this was especially true on New Years Eve. He could hear the parties and the fun that were so close, yet so far away! And the man said that he was reminded in the night, behind those bars, of the life that he did not have. He only knew of it only if the midnight breeze brought it to him, but he never actually had it.
It was one thing to be locked up in a cell, but it was torture to be graphically reminded of what one did not have night after night! He could only wonder. Today, like with the woman, Jesus wants to turn our wonder into reality. Perhaps you are like the woman, incarcerated in your own wonder and philosophies of life, a prisoner of sin. Jesus Christ comes as the key to open up that cell door and take you across the turbulent divide between you and God and give you the eternal life God offers. Would you receive the life that Jesus offers today? Wonder about life’s purpose and meaning ends at the feet of Jesus.
Good Morning Nanty Glo!
Sunday, September 19 2004
Blacklick Valley Vikings win Homecoming Game 20-0 Now online: Vintondale Homecoming photo album Obituary: Domonic Previte, Gold Crown Market founder Caption added: Photo of NGVHS Class of '59 reunion Looking for Someone/Looking for You?
Washington Burning, the War of 1812
I recently saw a History Channel documentary on the “War of 1812,” a war fought between the United States and Britain, and often described as the forgotten war. The same name is often ascribed to the Korean War.
Until now, my knowledge of the “War of 1812” was extremely sparse. The causes of the conflict were:
(1) England stirred up the Indians against the American frontier settlers.(2) American ships were stopped and the crews were impressed to serve in the Royal Navy.(3) A ragtag Yankee army earlier captured York, the Canadian capitol at the time, and torched the government buildings. The British were eager to seek revenge.
The major land battles fought during this conflict were the invasion from the sea and the successful march of the British army to capture Washington and burn the White House and other major buildings; the bombardment by British naval vessels of Fort McHenry—where Francis Scott Key composed our National Anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner—in an attempt to capture Baltimore, and the Battle of New Orleans, where Andrew Jackson soundly defeated the British forces—an unnecessary battle since a peace treaty was signed a week earlier at Ghent, Belgium, ending the war.
Focusing on the British capture and burning of Washington, an unexpected ally came to the aid of the Americans. This questionable ally came in the form of a hurricane during the occupation by the British forces. The heavy rains helped to extinguish the flames of the burning buildings and caused havoc among the British troops. Quoting a conversation heard between a British Admiral and a Washington lady regarding the storm: The admiral exclaimed, “Great God, Madam! Is this the kind of storm to which you are accustomed in this infernal country?” The lady answered, “No, Sir, this is a special interposition of Providence to drive our enemies from our city.” The admiral replied, “Not so, Madam. It is rather to aid your enemies in the destruction of your city.” See this quote and story about this hurricane here.
Today, we sadly see the TV pictures of the destruction and flooding in Florida and the Southern States caused by the violent hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Ivan. We solemnly pray that we be spared any similar experience. Unless the reason is to draw people closer to the Almighty, there certainly is no benefit gained from the devastation and loss of life caused by these hurricanes.
In the case of the hurricane that struck Washington in 1814, it is a matter of conjecture if it was “An Act of God” that aided the Americans as the lady said, or whether the British Admiral esd more accurate when he said it helped him, our adversary.
In the spring of 1813, a flotilla of Navy ships set sail from Sackets Harbor under the command of Captain Isaac Chauncey, carrying an army of 1,700 troops under the command of General Zebulon Pike. Their mission was to capture Fort York , located at the western end of Lake Ontario (present day Toronto). Fort York was still under construction at that time, being defended by 700 troops, half of them local militia and Indians, under the command of Major General Shaeffe.
The American force advanced along the beach with the support of naval gunfire from Captain Chauncey's ships. General Pike's field guns landed and opened fire on British positions. The local militia began to retreat from the defensive works. General Shaeffe ordered his regulars to withdraw. Leaving the flag flying over the fort, he marched his men away towards Kingston, advising the militia commanders to make contact with the Americans and negotiate best terms for surrender that they could. He then sent men to set fire to a war ship under construction in the harbor and to blow up the stone powder magazine located in the fort.
Shaeffe had left the flag flying over the fort in order to fool the Americans into believing that the fort was still garrisoned. As the Americans made their way into the fort, the stone magazine exploded with such a force as to rain stone and timber down upon the Americans who were in its vicinity. General Pike's back and chest were crushed, 28 of his men were killed outright, and over 200 were wounded.
General Pike was carried out to Chauncey's flagship, the new U.S.S. Madison, where he died. General Henry Dearborn, a Revolutionary War Veteran, landed and took personal command ashore. At the end of the day, Fort York was in American hands. 150 British had been killed and 290 were taken prisoner. The Americans suffered 320 casualties, most of those caused by the exploding magazine. After five days, the Americans departed Fort York, burning it to the ground as well as local parliament buildings. From this victory, the United States began gaining naval control of the Great Lakes.
— Frank Charney
The Tornado and the Burning of
Washington, August 25, 1814
During the summer of 1814, British warships sailed into the Chesapeake Bay and headed towards Washington. The warships sailed up the Patuxent River and anchored at Benedict, Maryland on August 19, 1814. Over 4,500 British soldiers landed and marched towards Washington. The British mission was to capture Washington and seek revenge for the burning of their British Capitol in Canada, for which they held the United States responsible. A force of 7,000 Americans was hastily assembled near the Potomac River to defend Washington. During the afternoon of August 24, in 100°F heat, the two armies clashed. The British Army quickly routed the less disciplined American volunteers, mostly due to a series of American blunders and a new British rocket that did little damage, but unnerved the raw American troops with a very loud, shrill noise. President Madison and Secretary of State Monroe, who had led a group of officials to watch the battle, were almost captured in the confusion. It was noted that the 100°F temperatures added to everyone’s discomfort.
After the battle, the British Army marched quickly into Washington while American soldiers, United States government officials, and residents fled the city. There were no officials left in Washington from whom the British could seek terms of surrender. The British admiral ate dinner in the White House, then gave the order to set fire to Washington. Within hours, the White House, the Capitol, and many other public buildings and residences were burning.
On the morning of August 25, Washington was still burning. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, the British soldiers continued to set fires and destroy ammunition supplies and defenses around the city. As the soldiers spread fire and destruction throughout the city, the early afternoon sky began to darken and lightning and thunder signaled the approach of a thunderstorm. As the storm neared the city, the winds began to increase dramatically and then built into a “frightening roar.” A severe thunderstorm was bearing down on Washington, and with it was a tornado.
The tornado tore through the center of Washington and directly into the British occupation. Buildings were lifted off of their foundations and dashed to bits. Other buildings were blown down or lost their roofs. Feather beds were sucked out of homes and scattered about. Trees were uprooted, fences were blown down, and the heavy chain bridge across the Potomac River was buckled and rendered useless. A few British cannons were picked up by the winds and thrown through the air. The collapsing buildings and flying debris killed several British soldiers. Many of the soldiers did not have time to take cover from the winds and they laid face down in the streets. One account describes how a British officer on horseback did not dismount and the winds slammed both horse and rider violently to the ground.
The winds subsided quickly, but the rain fell in torrents for two hours. (There may have been a second thunderstorm that followed quickly after the first thunderstorm.) Fortunately, the heavy rain quenched most of the flames and prevented Washington from continuing to burn. After the storm, the British Army regrouped on Capitol Hill, still a bit shaken by the harsh weather. They decided to leave the city that evening. As the British troops were preparing to leave, a conversation was noted between the British Admiral and a Washington lady regarding the storm: The admiral exclaimed, “Great God, Madam! Is this the kind of storm to which you are accustomed in this infernal country?” The lady answered, “No, Sir, this is a special interposition of Providence to drive our enemies from our city.” The admiral replied, “Not so Madam. It is rather to aid your enemies in the destruction of your city.”
Hours later, the British forces left Washington and returned to their ships on the Patuxent River. The journey back was made difficult by the numerous downed trees that lay across the roads. The war ships that lay waiting for the British force had also encountered the fierce storm. Wind and waves had lashed at the ships and many had damaged riggings. Two vessels had broken free from their moorings and were blown ashore.
President Madison and other government officials returned to Washington and began the difficult process of setting up government in a city devastated by fire and wind. Never again would the British Army return to the city, and only rarely would Washington suffer damaging tornadoes.
Draft 4
THE SECRET TO SUPERPERFORMANCE
1/16/05; TSL #4 – 2 Corinthians 5:17; Gateway Sermon Notes
Interest
Several weeks ago we began a study on the spiritual life – or experiential sanctification. It is that period of time from the point of our conversion to when we go to be with the Lord. We are addressing the questions: How do we live the Christian life? How do we grow in the Christian life? How are we experientially sanctified? These are questions concerning sanctification. So far we have discovered …
The possibility and power of sanctification.
The original design prior to sanctification.
The marring and redesign leading to sanctification.
Need
Today we venture further as we examine the kernel of sanctification. What is sanctification by nature? What is its beginning point in the plan of God? I believe many people miss this in their Christian lives and as a result they live confused and powerless Christian lives. They lack direction and conviction.
Orientation
Let’s look first at erroneous views of the spiritual life, or sanctification. We will be better able to grasp the biblical view if we are acquainted with the less that biblical views. Notice that these views have often been held by sincere people. They were people for one reason or another came to their conclusions as to how the Christian life was to be lived. So we are not here to condemn and judge people as much as we are to make sure our own thinking is as biblical as possible.
I. VIEWS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.
A. View #1: Legalism: Saved by grace, live by works.
Legalism is the view of spirituality and sanctification that sees spiritual progress as accomplished solely through meritorious works. Works will inevitably flow from the spiritual life, but they are not the means or criteria for the spiritual life. We not only are saved by grace, but we walk by grace. I am spiritual because …
Church Attendance
Church Service and Activity and Sacrementalism
Financial Giving
Rule-Keeping in Regard to Clothes, Food, Drink and Entertainment (1 Cor 8, Ro 14)
Extended Times of Prayer
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) Many years ago while living in the Dallas area I cam upon a gentleman who was a businessman. I got to know him through some business dealings that I had of my own, and so I was working with this fellow. It turned out that he tried to cheat me. At first I thought that there was just some breakdown of communication, but he was really trying to cheat me. Before this took place, this man has spoke glowingly about his membership at one of the biggest Baptist churches in Dallas. How proud he was of that fact! He was also quick to tell me how he was also a deacon, and how the pastor knew him personally. Yet he was a shady businessman. It seems he held out his church membership as his spirituality.
B. View #2: Libertinism: Saved forever, sin doesn’t matter.
Libertinism is on the other side of the works and sin spectrum. On one had the legalists insists that works makes him spiritual, but the libertine insists that no works are necessary and works play no role. The libertine can excuse some of the grossest sinful behavior. This is not spirituality. A person is not spiritual if they are living contrary to God’s specific words of conduct and morality. The lack of works does not immediately or automatically determine the spirituality of a person, but they can be a warning or indicator as to whether a person has real faith.
Do you see how each of these positions has aspects of correctness? The legalist is right in that there are specific rules to follow in the Christian life (rules concerning murder, sexual immorality, proper speech, thoughts, etcetera), and the libertine is right in that we have been totally forgiven – but they err when they take their views and exclude the balancing doctrine – the legalist expecting his rule-keeping to gain approbation with God instead of an inner heart change, and the libertine exploiting forgiveness and sinning presumptuously.
C. View #3: Emotionalism: It’s all about how I feel.
This has been a popular approach to sanctification and spirituality. Rather than basing one’s faith on the facts of Scripture and being confident in that, they rely on the shifting winds of emotion. The emotionally driven person doesn’t feel like he or she has worshipped God, or gotten close to God, or experienced God unless they have traveled to the heights of emotion.
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) This last summer our son Jon, his friend Nick and I went to Six Flags here in Houston. What a day that was. It seemed like the hottest day of the summer! Toward the end of the day we decided to go on the Texas Cyclone, the older wood roller coaster. My, it whipped us left, and then right, and then up and then down! By the time we were done with the ride it felt as if our skeletons had been beaten against a brick wall. When you go by emotion in your spiritual life you will be beaten all over the place. You can be spiritually bi-polar! God by the facts of the faith, not emotion! Sometimes husbands you will not feel like loving your wife, and wives sometimes you will not feel like loving your husbands, and sometimes teen you will not feel like obeying your parents but you know it is the right thing to do.
God made us with emotion, and emotion when guided by the Scripture guided mind is good. But emotion without the rudder of Scripture can lead to a shipwreck. Be aware of your feelings – God certainly can lead through them – but don’t make them your sole criteria for spirituality or determining the will of God. They are a cruel taskmaster that will abandon you in your darkest moments. There are many times in your Christian life when you need to step back on the truths of Scripture regardless of your feelings!
D. View #4: Intellectualism: It’s all about what I know.
Intellectualism is a form of legalism, but its focus or means of approbation is the intake of Scriptural data. We of all people know the importance of learning Scripture. It is the primary means through which God reveals Himself and how we are to live. But it is not the automatic means of spirituality or sanctification.
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) Some of the most unspiritual people I have ever met are people who have a thorough understanding of the Bible. We like to revere people who know the Bible. We like to hold them up and respect them, and probably we should. But it is not an automatic means of spirituality. When it comes to spirituality and life change some people could just as well be studying Aristotle and Shakespeare as Paul and Peter.
E. View #5: Extremism: Overly active or passive.
Extremism is what I call those who are extremely active or passive. There have been movements through church history that makes activism or passivity a virtue as in pietism or quietism. Again, there is some truth here. Certainly we can see both in Scripture, but the problem is when we hunker down on one verse to the exclusion of others. Are there not times for active piety and can we not cite Scriptures for them? Certainly the passages with analogies to athletics! Are there not times for retreat and quiet and the times for them? Certainly many of the Psalms!
God has given us a will and abilities and He expects us to use them in balance with times of waiting on His chosen activities. For remember that when it comes to the manifestation of His power He works in various ways: He works independently of us, interdependently with us, and internally within us. (Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) Notice that when Moses led the children of Israel through the sea. He said, “Stand back and see the salvation of the Lord.” The passive quietistic folks like to stop right there. But we notice that right after that Moses told them to go forward. The truth of the matter is that wisdom at times tells us to act and sometimes to wait. Sometimes it is right to do one, and sometimes the other, and sometimes as with this case it is a combination – but we are never to exclusively choose only one and demand that others do the same. I find that often how one determines which they prefer depends on what they want to do at the time – and they use God and Scripture as their excuse to do what they want to do. One can be used as an excuse to do nothing and one can be used as an excuse to not wait on God. (Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) Whenever I speak about this balance between God’s actions and our participation I remember the advice I was given as a young man by one of my mentors. I was a young single man in my early 20s and we were talking about courtship and finding the right person to marry. At that time in my life that was very important to me. My mentor, a godly man, said to me, “Rich remember what Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Watch and pray.’” He told me that I needed to be watching, I needed to be doing something about my singleness and my hope to one day be married to a committed Christian. Don’t just pray and don’t just watch, but watch and pray (Matthew 26:41 in the Garden of Gethsemane – it appears to be present tense, linear action).
F. View #6: Perfectionism: State of relative perfection.
Believe it or not there have been those in church history who have held to a form of perfectionism. They feel they can get to a place where they no longer sin intentionally or willfully. Forms of this can be “the higher life, the deeper life, the surrendered life, and the victorious life.” All of these speak of a special act of the will (or surrender) which results in an elevated form of spirituality.
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) Back when I was just out of college and starting seminary I worked in a Baptist church that had a guest speaker (Cecil Magee) from the deeper life movement. He passed out tracts labeled with Galatians 2:20a - “Not I, but Christ.” He got a few of us together before the regular church wide meeting for a time of instruction and confession. The point was to get us to confess sin and totally surrender. It was counterproductive because it made us look for special elevated state of spirituality beyond what we were given at salvation. There were serious interpersonal and body life issues that were detrimental to our church.
G. View #7: Spirit Baptism: Second work of grace.
Spirit baptism has been popular now for over 100 years. It takes the experience of the early church in the Book of Acts and makes them normative for every Christian. This position states that ever Christian should seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and when a person does so he is spiritual and is at an elevated state of the Christian life.
Closely related to this position is the idea that speaking in tongues is an indication of true spirituality. This cannot be upheld in the Scripture. There were some in the early church that were given the ability to speak in a foreign language for purposes of evangelism, but tongues is nowhere seen as normative or a proof of spirituality.
H. View #8: Materialism: Spirituality equals prosperity.
And finally there is the materialism view, or the “Health and Wealth,” or “Prosperity Theology,” or “Faith Movement.” In this view prosperity is the necessary result of spirituality. If a person truly has faith or spirituality he will be prosperous in health, wealth and influence. The key world here is “necessary.” Health and wealthers say higher faith must result in prosperity, and that in fact God is obligated to do so based on the promises of His Word.
But the fatal flaw in their theology is their Theology Proper, their view of God. It is a misunderstanding of the sovereignty of God and the doctrine of blessing and suffering for the believer. God does bless His people with health, wealth and prosperity – we see that clearly in the Bible. But we also see that Bible teaches that sometimes (oftentimes) God allows undeserved suffering for His people in order to achieve His purposes. Prosperity is not an independent sign of spirituality!
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) One of the saddest stories I ever heard was from my wife when she worked at a hospital and witness and Prosperity Theology church come to pray for a person who was dying. They all were gathered around the bed holding hands and adjuring the dying person to confess sins. They also blamed the person for having inadequate faith. It was simply cruel. The person went ahead and died, and then they were not done - they stood around trying to mustard up the faith to raise the person from the dead. So in the closing moments of this believers life he was accused of inadequate faith, and as the cause of his own death. Does God call us to confess sin that leads to healing? Can God raise a person from the death? Yes and yes. But the Bible never says that we are to assume that God will never bring underserved suffering.
Now that we have looked at erroneous positions of spirituality and sanctification – let’s spell out the biblical position and be clear on what we are to believe and live.
II. A SCRIPTURAL VIEW OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.
The New Life View
God causes the new life received at rebirth to live itself out. It prevails.
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) It is like receiving a gift from God. In this nicely wrapped gift are three other gifts. All are received by grace. Inside they are labeled “justification, sanctification, and glorification.” We pull the first out and are very aware of its contents, for this is being made right with God instantaneously, being made right with God through double imputation. Then we pass the second for a moment and look to the third and find here glorification which is eternal life in heaven. When most Christians think of the grace gift of salvation they think of just these two. The third is post salvation and is all about effort and work and depends completely on my volition to make it a reality. But look again at the gifts! There is a cord that leads from to another. The first is obtained and it is inextricably linked to the second, and that inextricably linked to the third. All three are in the initial package and are given at rebirth.
For just as sure as we experience being made right with God in justification, and just as sure as we will experience eternal life in heaven, we experience a new life in time (with a new disposition, outlook, attitude and actions). The second gift is procured and maintained by the same grace and the same guarantees of the first and third. I rejoice because God has promised me a life of real Godward change that will never completely fail nor fall. In fact, despite stumbles and trips along the way this life will prevail.
CONCLUSION
Oftentimes when it comes to the spiritual life and spiritual growth we are told what we need to do to maintain it. We are told what our will needs to will. But oftentimes what is neglected is the key, or the secret to it all. The “secret” about sanctification is that at the moment of our rebirth God places in us a prevailing influence that will so direct our mind, will and emotions to change our attitudes and conduct. They have been moved Godward. Later on we will talk about the things that we can responsibly will, but we need to first understand and take comfort in the fact that God places in us this prevailing influence that will persevere to the end! Ultimately, since I have the new life God works on my will, influencing it and bending it His way. And when my life is marked by the fruits of this new life it confirms to me that I have it. The bully is still on the block, but my new life has a bigger power that works on my will so that I choose Him, and works on my mind so I fill it with Him, and works on my emotions so that I love and enjoy Him. Ultimately sanctification does not depend on what I do after salvation, but rather what I was given at salvation.
Central Idea: Sanctification is that prevailing operation of the Holy Spirit through the new life, involving our responsible participation, by which He enables us to live lives that are pleasing to Him.
1/16/05; TSL #4 – 2 Corinthians 5:17; Gateway Sermon Notes
Interest
Several weeks ago we began a study on the spiritual life – or experiential sanctification. It is that period of time from the point of our conversion to when we go to be with the Lord. We are addressing the questions: How do we live the Christian life? How do we grow in the Christian life? How are we experientially sanctified? These are questions concerning sanctification. So far we have discovered …
The possibility and power of sanctification.
The original design prior to sanctification.
The marring and redesign leading to sanctification.
Need
Today we venture further as we examine the kernel of sanctification. What is sanctification by nature? What is its beginning point in the plan of God? I believe many people miss this in their Christian lives and as a result they live confused and powerless Christian lives. They lack direction and conviction.
Orientation
Let’s look first at erroneous views of the spiritual life, or sanctification. We will be better able to grasp the biblical view if we are acquainted with the less that biblical views. Notice that these views have often been held by sincere people. They were people for one reason or another came to their conclusions as to how the Christian life was to be lived. So we are not here to condemn and judge people as much as we are to make sure our own thinking is as biblical as possible.
I. VIEWS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.
A. View #1: Legalism: Saved by grace, live by works.
Legalism is the view of spirituality and sanctification that sees spiritual progress as accomplished solely through meritorious works. Works will inevitably flow from the spiritual life, but they are not the means or criteria for the spiritual life. We not only are saved by grace, but we walk by grace. I am spiritual because …
Church Attendance
Church Service and Activity and Sacrementalism
Financial Giving
Rule-Keeping in Regard to Clothes, Food, Drink and Entertainment (1 Cor 8, Ro 14)
Extended Times of Prayer
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) Many years ago while living in the Dallas area I cam upon a gentleman who was a businessman. I got to know him through some business dealings that I had of my own, and so I was working with this fellow. It turned out that he tried to cheat me. At first I thought that there was just some breakdown of communication, but he was really trying to cheat me. Before this took place, this man has spoke glowingly about his membership at one of the biggest Baptist churches in Dallas. How proud he was of that fact! He was also quick to tell me how he was also a deacon, and how the pastor knew him personally. Yet he was a shady businessman. It seems he held out his church membership as his spirituality.
B. View #2: Libertinism: Saved forever, sin doesn’t matter.
Libertinism is on the other side of the works and sin spectrum. On one had the legalists insists that works makes him spiritual, but the libertine insists that no works are necessary and works play no role. The libertine can excuse some of the grossest sinful behavior. This is not spirituality. A person is not spiritual if they are living contrary to God’s specific words of conduct and morality. The lack of works does not immediately or automatically determine the spirituality of a person, but they can be a warning or indicator as to whether a person has real faith.
Do you see how each of these positions has aspects of correctness? The legalist is right in that there are specific rules to follow in the Christian life (rules concerning murder, sexual immorality, proper speech, thoughts, etcetera), and the libertine is right in that we have been totally forgiven – but they err when they take their views and exclude the balancing doctrine – the legalist expecting his rule-keeping to gain approbation with God instead of an inner heart change, and the libertine exploiting forgiveness and sinning presumptuously.
C. View #3: Emotionalism: It’s all about how I feel.
This has been a popular approach to sanctification and spirituality. Rather than basing one’s faith on the facts of Scripture and being confident in that, they rely on the shifting winds of emotion. The emotionally driven person doesn’t feel like he or she has worshipped God, or gotten close to God, or experienced God unless they have traveled to the heights of emotion.
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) This last summer our son Jon, his friend Nick and I went to Six Flags here in Houston. What a day that was. It seemed like the hottest day of the summer! Toward the end of the day we decided to go on the Texas Cyclone, the older wood roller coaster. My, it whipped us left, and then right, and then up and then down! By the time we were done with the ride it felt as if our skeletons had been beaten against a brick wall. When you go by emotion in your spiritual life you will be beaten all over the place. You can be spiritually bi-polar! God by the facts of the faith, not emotion! Sometimes husbands you will not feel like loving your wife, and wives sometimes you will not feel like loving your husbands, and sometimes teen you will not feel like obeying your parents but you know it is the right thing to do.
God made us with emotion, and emotion when guided by the Scripture guided mind is good. But emotion without the rudder of Scripture can lead to a shipwreck. Be aware of your feelings – God certainly can lead through them – but don’t make them your sole criteria for spirituality or determining the will of God. They are a cruel taskmaster that will abandon you in your darkest moments. There are many times in your Christian life when you need to step back on the truths of Scripture regardless of your feelings!
D. View #4: Intellectualism: It’s all about what I know.
Intellectualism is a form of legalism, but its focus or means of approbation is the intake of Scriptural data. We of all people know the importance of learning Scripture. It is the primary means through which God reveals Himself and how we are to live. But it is not the automatic means of spirituality or sanctification.
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) Some of the most unspiritual people I have ever met are people who have a thorough understanding of the Bible. We like to revere people who know the Bible. We like to hold them up and respect them, and probably we should. But it is not an automatic means of spirituality. When it comes to spirituality and life change some people could just as well be studying Aristotle and Shakespeare as Paul and Peter.
E. View #5: Extremism: Overly active or passive.
Extremism is what I call those who are extremely active or passive. There have been movements through church history that makes activism or passivity a virtue as in pietism or quietism. Again, there is some truth here. Certainly we can see both in Scripture, but the problem is when we hunker down on one verse to the exclusion of others. Are there not times for active piety and can we not cite Scriptures for them? Certainly the passages with analogies to athletics! Are there not times for retreat and quiet and the times for them? Certainly many of the Psalms!
God has given us a will and abilities and He expects us to use them in balance with times of waiting on His chosen activities. For remember that when it comes to the manifestation of His power He works in various ways: He works independently of us, interdependently with us, and internally within us. (Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) Notice that when Moses led the children of Israel through the sea. He said, “Stand back and see the salvation of the Lord.” The passive quietistic folks like to stop right there. But we notice that right after that Moses told them to go forward. The truth of the matter is that wisdom at times tells us to act and sometimes to wait. Sometimes it is right to do one, and sometimes the other, and sometimes as with this case it is a combination – but we are never to exclusively choose only one and demand that others do the same. I find that often how one determines which they prefer depends on what they want to do at the time – and they use God and Scripture as their excuse to do what they want to do. One can be used as an excuse to do nothing and one can be used as an excuse to not wait on God. (Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) Whenever I speak about this balance between God’s actions and our participation I remember the advice I was given as a young man by one of my mentors. I was a young single man in my early 20s and we were talking about courtship and finding the right person to marry. At that time in my life that was very important to me. My mentor, a godly man, said to me, “Rich remember what Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Watch and pray.’” He told me that I needed to be watching, I needed to be doing something about my singleness and my hope to one day be married to a committed Christian. Don’t just pray and don’t just watch, but watch and pray (Matthew 26:41 in the Garden of Gethsemane – it appears to be present tense, linear action).
F. View #6: Perfectionism: State of relative perfection.
Believe it or not there have been those in church history who have held to a form of perfectionism. They feel they can get to a place where they no longer sin intentionally or willfully. Forms of this can be “the higher life, the deeper life, the surrendered life, and the victorious life.” All of these speak of a special act of the will (or surrender) which results in an elevated form of spirituality.
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) Back when I was just out of college and starting seminary I worked in a Baptist church that had a guest speaker (Cecil Magee) from the deeper life movement. He passed out tracts labeled with Galatians 2:20a - “Not I, but Christ.” He got a few of us together before the regular church wide meeting for a time of instruction and confession. The point was to get us to confess sin and totally surrender. It was counterproductive because it made us look for special elevated state of spirituality beyond what we were given at salvation. There were serious interpersonal and body life issues that were detrimental to our church.
G. View #7: Spirit Baptism: Second work of grace.
Spirit baptism has been popular now for over 100 years. It takes the experience of the early church in the Book of Acts and makes them normative for every Christian. This position states that ever Christian should seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and when a person does so he is spiritual and is at an elevated state of the Christian life.
Closely related to this position is the idea that speaking in tongues is an indication of true spirituality. This cannot be upheld in the Scripture. There were some in the early church that were given the ability to speak in a foreign language for purposes of evangelism, but tongues is nowhere seen as normative or a proof of spirituality.
H. View #8: Materialism: Spirituality equals prosperity.
And finally there is the materialism view, or the “Health and Wealth,” or “Prosperity Theology,” or “Faith Movement.” In this view prosperity is the necessary result of spirituality. If a person truly has faith or spirituality he will be prosperous in health, wealth and influence. The key world here is “necessary.” Health and wealthers say higher faith must result in prosperity, and that in fact God is obligated to do so based on the promises of His Word.
But the fatal flaw in their theology is their Theology Proper, their view of God. It is a misunderstanding of the sovereignty of God and the doctrine of blessing and suffering for the believer. God does bless His people with health, wealth and prosperity – we see that clearly in the Bible. But we also see that Bible teaches that sometimes (oftentimes) God allows undeserved suffering for His people in order to achieve His purposes. Prosperity is not an independent sign of spirituality!
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) One of the saddest stories I ever heard was from my wife when she worked at a hospital and witness and Prosperity Theology church come to pray for a person who was dying. They all were gathered around the bed holding hands and adjuring the dying person to confess sins. They also blamed the person for having inadequate faith. It was simply cruel. The person went ahead and died, and then they were not done - they stood around trying to mustard up the faith to raise the person from the dead. So in the closing moments of this believers life he was accused of inadequate faith, and as the cause of his own death. Does God call us to confess sin that leads to healing? Can God raise a person from the death? Yes and yes. But the Bible never says that we are to assume that God will never bring underserved suffering.
Now that we have looked at erroneous positions of spirituality and sanctification – let’s spell out the biblical position and be clear on what we are to believe and live.
II. A SCRIPTURAL VIEW OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.
The New Life View
God causes the new life received at rebirth to live itself out. It prevails.
(Illustration: Spiritual Growth, General) It is like receiving a gift from God. In this nicely wrapped gift are three other gifts. All are received by grace. Inside they are labeled “justification, sanctification, and glorification.” We pull the first out and are very aware of its contents, for this is being made right with God instantaneously, being made right with God through double imputation. Then we pass the second for a moment and look to the third and find here glorification which is eternal life in heaven. When most Christians think of the grace gift of salvation they think of just these two. The third is post salvation and is all about effort and work and depends completely on my volition to make it a reality. But look again at the gifts! There is a cord that leads from to another. The first is obtained and it is inextricably linked to the second, and that inextricably linked to the third. All three are in the initial package and are given at rebirth.
For just as sure as we experience being made right with God in justification, and just as sure as we will experience eternal life in heaven, we experience a new life in time (with a new disposition, outlook, attitude and actions). The second gift is procured and maintained by the same grace and the same guarantees of the first and third. I rejoice because God has promised me a life of real Godward change that will never completely fail nor fall. In fact, despite stumbles and trips along the way this life will prevail.
CONCLUSION
Oftentimes when it comes to the spiritual life and spiritual growth we are told what we need to do to maintain it. We are told what our will needs to will. But oftentimes what is neglected is the key, or the secret to it all. The “secret” about sanctification is that at the moment of our rebirth God places in us a prevailing influence that will so direct our mind, will and emotions to change our attitudes and conduct. They have been moved Godward. Later on we will talk about the things that we can responsibly will, but we need to first understand and take comfort in the fact that God places in us this prevailing influence that will persevere to the end! Ultimately, since I have the new life God works on my will, influencing it and bending it His way. And when my life is marked by the fruits of this new life it confirms to me that I have it. The bully is still on the block, but my new life has a bigger power that works on my will so that I choose Him, and works on my mind so I fill it with Him, and works on my emotions so that I love and enjoy Him. Ultimately sanctification does not depend on what I do after salvation, but rather what I was given at salvation.
Central Idea: Sanctification is that prevailing operation of the Holy Spirit through the new life, involving our responsible participation, by which He enables us to live lives that are pleasing to Him.
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