over the past two weeks we've been<\/p>\n
looking at<\/p>\n
the book of ephesians taking different<\/p>\n
angles<\/p>\n
on the question what does it mean<\/p>\n
to be a<\/p>\n
christian so the first week<\/p>\n
we talked about god's point of view<\/p>\n
versus our own<\/p>\n
and how in christ we have been given<\/p>\n
every spiritual blessing<\/p>\n
last week we looked at paul's prayer for<\/p>\n
the church<\/p>\n
that they may know the incomparable<\/p>\n
power that god has given<\/p>\n
to us<\/p>\n
as we live as his people<\/p>\n
and we also talked about how part of<\/p>\n
this power is realizing that we are his<\/p>\n
fullness that god chooses to reveal<\/p>\n
himself through the church through us<\/p>\n
we said that to the extent that we grasp<\/p>\n
this truth it gives us power to not sin<\/p>\n
and so our text for today is ephesians 2<\/p>\n
1 to<\/p>\n
um so i'll read the text to us and feel<\/p>\n
free to follow along in english<\/p>\n
and tie on the screen<\/p>\n
next slide please<\/p>\n
people in the bag<\/p>\n
all right ephesians 2 1-10<\/p>\n
as for you you are dead in your<\/p>\n
transgressions and sins in which you<\/p>\n
used to live when you followed the ways<\/p>\n
of this world and of the ruler of the<\/p>\n
kingdom of the air the spirit who is now<\/p>\n
at work in those who are disobedient<\/p>\n
all of us also lived among them at one<\/p>\n
time gratifying the cravings of our<\/p>\n
flesh and following its desires and<\/p>\n
thoughts<\/p>\n
like the rest we were by nature<\/p>\n
deserving of wrath<\/p>\n
but because of his great love for us<\/p>\n
god who is rich in mercy made us alive<\/p>\n
with christ jesus even when we were dead<\/p>\n
in transgressions it is by grace you<\/p>\n
have been saved<\/p>\n
and god raised us up with christ and<\/p>\n
seated us with him<\/p>\n
in the heavenly realms in christ jesus<\/p>\n
in order that in the coming ages he<\/p>\n
might show the incomparable riches of<\/p>\n
his grace<\/p>\n
expressed in his kindness to us in<\/p>\n
christ jesus<\/p>\n
for it is by grace you have been saved<\/p>\n
through faith and this is not from<\/p>\n
yourselves it is the gift of god<\/p>\n
not by works so that no one can boast<\/p>\n
for we are god's handiwork created in<\/p>\n
christ jesus to do good works which god<\/p>\n
prepared in advance for us to do this is<\/p>\n
the word of god<\/p>\n
so our theme<\/p>\n
for our text this week is pretty<\/p>\n
straightforward<\/p>\n
paul tells us in verse 4 that it is by<\/p>\n
grace you have been saved<\/p>\n
then he tells us again<\/p>\n
in verse 7 about the incomparable riches<\/p>\n
of god's grace<\/p>\n
and just in case we missed it the first<\/p>\n
time<\/p>\n
he tells us again in verse 8<\/p>\n
is it great is by grace you have been<\/p>\n
saved hold that thought<\/p>\n
so this passage is one of the richest<\/p>\n
um<\/p>\n
richest texts in all the scripture<\/p>\n
and in it paul tells us about the grace<\/p>\n
of god<\/p>\n
and the god of grace<\/p>\n
and he tells us that the way we see<\/p>\n
god's grace is through salvation<\/p>\n
so this theme of god's grace<\/p>\n
may be familiar to a lot of us<\/p>\n
it's even in our name grace city bangkok<\/p>\n
a lot of us might like the sound of this<\/p>\n
we might think oh saved by grace i know<\/p>\n
what that means i like a god who's<\/p>\n
forgiving i think i understand the idea<\/p>\n
that we're saved by grace<\/p>\n
so we may think that we understand it<\/p>\n
we may also know a lot about god's grace<\/p>\n
but<\/p>\n
do we really know it do we really are we<\/p>\n
living by it<\/p>\n
if you have been a christian for quite<\/p>\n
some time<\/p>\n
if you've grown up around christianity<\/p>\n
or you've come to faith for a few years<\/p>\n
now<\/p>\n
if you've been a christian for some time<\/p>\n
and christianity has not been a<\/p>\n
life-changing power<\/p>\n
if it has not been a power<\/p>\n
that we see changing us from the inside<\/p>\n
it's most likely because we don't<\/p>\n
understand god's grace<\/p>\n
exactly is grace<\/p>\n
well paul tells us it's a gift<\/p>\n
grace can be defined many different ways<\/p>\n
but at its heart it's a gift it's<\/p>\n
something that's given to us<\/p>\n
grace is not something that we've worked<\/p>\n
for<\/p>\n
it's something that we haven't earned we<\/p>\n
haven't paid for it's free<\/p>\n
now consider this<\/p>\n
there are a lot of gifts that<\/p>\n
don't change our lives<\/p>\n
so for instance you go to a work<\/p>\n
conference and you receive a packet that<\/p>\n
you can keep<\/p>\n
and in this packet you have you have<\/p>\n
shirts<\/p>\n
you get mugs<\/p>\n
you get you you can get hand sanitizer<\/p>\n
it's all stamped with the company's logo<\/p>\n
that's a gift that's grace but does it<\/p>\n
change your life<\/p>\n
most likely no<\/p>\n
because you probably already have all<\/p>\n
these things and even if you didn't<\/p>\n
they're relatively easy to get<\/p>\n
so it doesn't change your life because<\/p>\n
one it's not necessary for life and two<\/p>\n
it's not costly<\/p>\n
but what if you were dying from a<\/p>\n
disease<\/p>\n
and you needed medical treatment<\/p>\n
otherwise you would die<\/p>\n
the treatment is too expensive for you<\/p>\n
to pay<\/p>\n
and so you're going to die but you have<\/p>\n
a friend you know someone who sells<\/p>\n
everything<\/p>\n
sells everything they have just to pay<\/p>\n
for you to have medical treatment<\/p>\n
what about that that's also a free gift<\/p>\n
just like the pencils but that's<\/p>\n
different right<\/p>\n
it's life-changing it's life-changing<\/p>\n
because without this gift you would die<\/p>\n
and because it was so costly your<\/p>\n
friends sold everything they had just so<\/p>\n
you'd have so you could have this<\/p>\n
treatment<\/p>\n
the grace of your friend<\/p>\n
saved you from dying<\/p>\n
now this passage tells us about god<\/p>\n
graciously saving us so we're going to<\/p>\n
look at it this way it's broken down<\/p>\n
into three parts verses one to three<\/p>\n
tell us what we're saved from<\/p>\n
verses 8 to 10<\/p>\n
tell us what we're saved to<\/p>\n
and verses 4 to 7 tell us<\/p>\n
how we're saved<\/p>\n
so<\/p>\n
let's go<\/p>\n
so paul starts by saying<\/p>\n
transgressions and sins<\/p>\n
which brings us to the question what is<\/p>\n
sin<\/p>\n
verse 2 elaborates on this paul says<\/p>\n
when you followed the ways of this world<\/p>\n
and then in verse 3 he says gratifying<\/p>\n
the cravings of our flesh and following<\/p>\n
its desires and thoughts<\/p>\n
and so from this what we see is part of<\/p>\n
what sin means is to be enslaved<\/p>\n
now the greek word here for follow is<\/p>\n
much stronger than the word that we have<\/p>\n
because in greek<\/p>\n
the word means to be mastered to be<\/p>\n
controlled by in english we see follow<\/p>\n
and we think okay it's a choice we're<\/p>\n
choosing to follow the ways of this<\/p>\n
world but in the greek it's referring to<\/p>\n
the fact that we are mastered by it that<\/p>\n
we have that we're absolutely powerless<\/p>\n
and so the reason it says that we're<\/p>\n
dead in sin<\/p>\n
is because we're as helpless as a dead<\/p>\n
body<\/p>\n
we can't do anything about it<\/p>\n
and it says we're controlled by the ways<\/p>\n
of this world<\/p>\n
the ruler of the kingdom of air and the<\/p>\n
cravings of our flesh<\/p>\n
we don't have time to deeply look into<\/p>\n
the nuances of what it means to follow<\/p>\n
the ways of the world or being enslaved<\/p>\n
to the devil but the main idea here is<\/p>\n
to be enslaved in sin<\/p>\n
means we gratify the cravings of our<\/p>\n
flesh we follow its desires and thoughts<\/p>\n
so the cravings of our flesh in this<\/p>\n
context does not refer to our physical<\/p>\n
it actually refers to<\/p>\n
self-centered human nature<\/p>\n
and so that's what's driving us this is<\/p>\n
what's enslaving us according to paul<\/p>\n
our flesh our self-centered human nature<\/p>\n
okay here's a point where someone might<\/p>\n
say okay so we're enslaved because we're<\/p>\n
following our desires<\/p>\n
we're enslaved because we are doing<\/p>\n
whatever we want that doesn't sound like<\/p>\n
slavery that actually sounds like<\/p>\n
freedom<\/p>\n
and that's that's true because the way<\/p>\n
that a lot of us today define freedom<\/p>\n
is the ability to do whatever we want<\/p>\n
in other words freedom is the absence of<\/p>\n
restrictions<\/p>\n
but here paul tells us that<\/p>\n
that's not freedom that's actually death<\/p>\n
how's that<\/p>\n
so imagine this imagine if a fish<\/p>\n
decided that it wanted to do whatever it<\/p>\n
wanted the fish says i'm free i'm going<\/p>\n
to do what i want and i want to live on<\/p>\n
land<\/p>\n
what happens to the fish it dies<\/p>\n
same would happen if a bird decided i<\/p>\n
want to do what i want i'm free i want<\/p>\n
to live in the water what happens<\/p>\n
that's right the bird dies<\/p>\n
and if you have a car so this this<\/p>\n
doesn't just work in nature this works<\/p>\n
with man-made things as well if you have<\/p>\n
a car<\/p>\n
and you say<\/p>\n
i'm not going to change the oil in my<\/p>\n
car because i don't want to i'm free to<\/p>\n
do whatever i want i'm not going to<\/p>\n
change the oil in my car what happens to<\/p>\n
the car<\/p>\n
maybe it works for a few months maybe it<\/p>\n
works for a year maybe two years but<\/p>\n
eventually it breaks down it breaks down<\/p>\n
and dies<\/p>\n
why is that because in each instance the<\/p>\n
fish the car<\/p>\n
um the bird<\/p>\n
they're not being treated according to<\/p>\n
how they were designed<\/p>\n
not treating these things according to<\/p>\n
how they were designed ends in their<\/p>\n
death it kills them<\/p>\n
and so paul tells us here<\/p>\n
that<\/p>\n
serving our self-centered human nature<\/p>\n
isn't freedom it's slavery it's death<\/p>\n
sin isn't just an action it's not just<\/p>\n
something we do<\/p>\n
we see here that it's an enslaving power<\/p>\n
that has a hold on us<\/p>\n
so how is it how is it slavery<\/p>\n
think about this to be a sinner the<\/p>\n
bible says is to have a small computer<\/p>\n
in our heart that never stops<\/p>\n
it goes on all the time it's never<\/p>\n
resting and it's always watching it's<\/p>\n
always analyzing it's always comparing<\/p>\n
every person every object every<\/p>\n
situation the computer just goes and<\/p>\n
analyzes everything and it's asking<\/p>\n
what's in it for me<\/p>\n
everything is analyzed to the degree<\/p>\n
that it benefits our happiness our glory<\/p>\n
our reputation<\/p>\n
comfort our control<\/p>\n
that's<\/p>\n
it doesn't always look like this there's<\/p>\n
two kinds of self-centered human nature<\/p>\n
because self-centeredness can either<\/p>\n
drive us<\/p>\n
to be really bad<\/p>\n
but it can also drive us to be really<\/p>\n
good<\/p>\n
the first one is quite obvious if we<\/p>\n
look at the tyrants of the world<\/p>\n
throughout history we see that they've<\/p>\n
done horrible things and a lot of that<\/p>\n
is to do with self-centeredness<\/p>\n
people use other people people exploit<\/p>\n
other people for their own gain and that<\/p>\n
shows us that self-centeredness can lead<\/p>\n
us to be very bad but<\/p>\n
what happens more often is that<\/p>\n
self-centeredness<\/p>\n
looks good on the outside<\/p>\n
it leads us to do things that look<\/p>\n
really really good<\/p>\n
because if we desperately need<\/p>\n
to feel good about ourselves<\/p>\n
if we desperately need to feel validated<\/p>\n
there's no better way to have<\/p>\n
someone like us<\/p>\n
than to serve other people<\/p>\n
than to help other people than to be a<\/p>\n
good person<\/p>\n
and so self-centeredness drives a lot of<\/p>\n
people into being very very good and so<\/p>\n
we'll be very hospitable we'll be good<\/p>\n
parents we'll be good children<\/p>\n
we'll be good friends we'll serve other<\/p>\n
people<\/p>\n
but self-centeredness leads us to do all<\/p>\n
these outwardly good things for our own<\/p>\n
sake<\/p>\n
we do it so that we're liked we do it so<\/p>\n
we're affirmed we do it so we feel<\/p>\n
needed we do it so that we feel secure<\/p>\n
outwardly we're being really really good<\/p>\n
but inwardly it's actually all about us<\/p>\n
and not only that<\/p>\n
can also lead us to be very religious<\/p>\n
too<\/p>\n
we'll read the bible we'll come to<\/p>\n
church we'll obey god we'll join a small<\/p>\n
group we'll serve the needy we'll pray<\/p>\n
outwardly all very very good things<\/p>\n
self-centeredness leads us to do all<\/p>\n
these things for us and how do you know<\/p>\n
this is how you know if god doesn't work<\/p>\n
in our lives like we had hoped he would<\/p>\n
he doesn't allow<\/p>\n
certain prayers to be answered he allows<\/p>\n
certain bad things to happen to us<\/p>\n
if those things happen to us and we say<\/p>\n
i'm done with god he isn't answering my<\/p>\n
prayers i'm doing all this for god i'm<\/p>\n
serving people coming to church i'm<\/p>\n
obeying him i'm being holy i'm doing all<\/p>\n
this for him and he can't do this for me<\/p>\n
that shows us that all of our obedience<\/p>\n
wasn't out of love for god<\/p>\n
but we were just using god to get what<\/p>\n
we wanted<\/p>\n
so self-centeredness<\/p>\n
can sometimes make us look outwardly<\/p>\n
but on the inside it's all about us<\/p>\n
and it's also miserable right<\/p>\n
self-centeredness it's miserable it<\/p>\n
feels like hell<\/p>\n
we're constantly comparing constantly<\/p>\n
thinking about am i getting the respect<\/p>\n
i deserve<\/p>\n
constantly thinking am i being treated<\/p>\n
as well as i should<\/p>\n
constantly concerned about our own ego<\/p>\n
always getting offended<\/p>\n
it's miserable self-centeredness is<\/p>\n
miserable<\/p>\n
okay and so so here's where someone<\/p>\n
might say all right i understand what<\/p>\n
you're saying but i think paul is being<\/p>\n
very harsh when he says we're dead in<\/p>\n
our sins<\/p>\n
i don't think we're powerless are we<\/p>\n
actually powerless<\/p>\n
in romans 7<\/p>\n
paul the same person who wrote ephesians<\/p>\n
he says<\/p>\n
i have the desire to do what is good<\/p>\n
but i can't carry it out<\/p>\n
so i find it to be a principle that<\/p>\n
when i most want to do good evil is<\/p>\n
there with me<\/p>\n
i am sold as a slave under sin<\/p>\n
paul is saying the more i try to go the<\/p>\n
more i try to do good<\/p>\n
the more i see i'm powerless to do<\/p>\n
what is good<\/p>\n
so someone might say<\/p>\n
i've never felt anything like that i've<\/p>\n
never experienced the powerlessness<\/p>\n
to do good i can do good when i see it<\/p>\n
but paul here he says the more i try<\/p>\n
the more i try the more i'm aware i<\/p>\n
can't<\/p>\n
which means that if we aren't aware that<\/p>\n
we're slaves<\/p>\n
we're not trying hard enough<\/p>\n
because paul says the more i try that's<\/p>\n
when i see so here's a here's a<\/p>\n
challenge<\/p>\n
try living by the golden rule for the<\/p>\n
next 12 hours<\/p>\n
meeting the needs of other people<\/p>\n
with the same speed the same concern the<\/p>\n
same energy<\/p>\n
the same focus that we would meet our<\/p>\n
own that's the golden rule right treat<\/p>\n
us the way you want to be treated try<\/p>\n
living by the golden rule<\/p>\n
for the next 12 hours<\/p>\n
that's all we need that's all we'll need<\/p>\n
to<\/p>\n
see that we're powerless to do the good<\/p>\n
that we know we should<\/p>\n
we're dead in our sin<\/p>\n
and so<\/p>\n
this is the life that god saves us from<\/p>\n
this is the life<\/p>\n
apart from god<\/p>\n
and so now we'll go into<\/p>\n
the end of the passage<\/p>\n
and we'll see the kind of life that<\/p>\n
we're saved for<\/p>\n
the kind of life that god<\/p>\n
wants us to live<\/p>\n
this is the kind of life that god wants<\/p>\n
to give us as a gift through salvation<\/p>\n
so remember we had said that<\/p>\n
true freedom doesn't come from doing<\/p>\n
what we want<\/p>\n
that leads to death freedom true freedom<\/p>\n
is found in living according to our<\/p>\n
design<\/p>\n
and so we see a few things here that<\/p>\n
outline to us what<\/p>\n
a life of true freedom is like<\/p>\n
so firstly verse 10<\/p>\n
says that we are god's handiwork<\/p>\n
his workmanship<\/p>\n
so the the greek word here is poema this<\/p>\n
is how we get the word poem<\/p>\n
and the idea here is<\/p>\n
c.s lewis he puts this a lot better he<\/p>\n
says we are a divine work of art<\/p>\n
that's the idea that's being<\/p>\n
communicated here<\/p>\n
what does that mean art what is art art<\/p>\n
is beautiful right it's valuable<\/p>\n
it's a<\/p>\n
expression it's an outwards expression<\/p>\n
of the artist<\/p>\n
it's an expression of the inner being of<\/p>\n
the artist<\/p>\n
imagine that<\/p>\n
and to you right one of the most widely<\/p>\n
respected biblical scholars says that<\/p>\n
verse 10 is one of the central<\/p>\n
statements of how christians are at the<\/p>\n
center of god's new creation<\/p>\n
let's think about this for a second if<\/p>\n
we are god's<\/p>\n
workmanship if we are his handiwork<\/p>\n
do you know how much value you have<\/p>\n
you are an expression of<\/p>\n
the divine artist of god himself<\/p>\n
and so what that means is<\/p>\n
one that we're all uniquely designed<\/p>\n
and that two god knows what we're fitted<\/p>\n
because he knows us a lot better than we<\/p>\n
know ourselves<\/p>\n
so our culture our ethnicity our<\/p>\n
nationality our socioeconomic status<\/p>\n
our experiences our families<\/p>\n
things that we don't even think are<\/p>\n
impressive or things that we might look<\/p>\n
at and say oh i'm<\/p>\n
that's a bad thing that happened to me<\/p>\n
they all work together and show us that<\/p>\n
there are certain kinds of good works<\/p>\n
that because of who we are because we've<\/p>\n
been uniquely made<\/p>\n
there are some things that only we can<\/p>\n
do<\/p>\n
so tim keller he likes to say<\/p>\n
there are some needs that only you can<\/p>\n
see<\/p>\n
there are some hands that only you can<\/p>\n
hold<\/p>\n
and there are some people that only you<\/p>\n
can reach<\/p>\n
there are certain good works that god<\/p>\n
has prepared for us that only we can do<\/p>\n
so that's one thing of what it means to<\/p>\n
be god's workmanship<\/p>\n
but this can also be applied more<\/p>\n
universally<\/p>\n
more generally as the kind of life that<\/p>\n
all christians are called to<\/p>\n
this is a new way of being human the<\/p>\n
true way of being human<\/p>\n
conforming to the standards that god<\/p>\n
has always intended<\/p>\n
living according to our design that's<\/p>\n
how we get freedom<\/p>\n
in the rest of the chapter<\/p>\n
paul will show us that the kind of life<\/p>\n
that we are saved to<\/p>\n
is alongside other christians<\/p>\n
so ephesians 4 16 shows us that<\/p>\n
we can't walk in the good works<\/p>\n
that god has for us apart from living<\/p>\n
life with other members of the body of<\/p>\n
christ and i really wish we had time to<\/p>\n
go through the whole litter<\/p>\n
because paul goes into great detail what<\/p>\n
this life looks like<\/p>\n
but for now we see that the life we're<\/p>\n
saved to in christ<\/p>\n
is the true way of being human<\/p>\n
so instead of serving our<\/p>\n
self-centeredness and thinking your life<\/p>\n
for mine<\/p>\n
we now think my life<\/p>\n
for yours<\/p>\n
something else that we see<\/p>\n
about this kind of life that god saves<\/p>\n
us to<\/p>\n
is that it's a gift<\/p>\n
we're saved by grace<\/p>\n
verse 8<\/p>\n
grace is a gift remember<\/p>\n
the kind of life that god wants us to<\/p>\n
live then<\/p>\n
is a life where we see everything as a<\/p>\n
gift<\/p>\n
not oh i've worked so hard for this i<\/p>\n
deserve this<\/p>\n
not not i deserve more everything<\/p>\n
everything is a gift<\/p>\n
why verse 9. so no one can boast<\/p>\n
being in christ means the end of<\/p>\n
boasting<\/p>\n
what's boasting<\/p>\n
we might think boasting means showing<\/p>\n
off<\/p>\n
we might think it means like hey look at<\/p>\n
my car that i just got oh look at the<\/p>\n
shirt that i have we might think it's<\/p>\n
it's showing off to other people but the<\/p>\n
ancients they had a much deeper meaning<\/p>\n
and they thought they would say<\/p>\n
boasting is the art of<\/p>\n
the act sorry the act of taking pride in<\/p>\n
something<\/p>\n
whatever we boast in is our source of<\/p>\n
pride<\/p>\n
so if you watch any movie where there's<\/p>\n
a battle<\/p>\n
there'll inevitably be a scene where the<\/p>\n
two armies are about to face each other<\/p>\n
right<\/p>\n
and then in this scene you'll have one<\/p>\n
of the main characters come on and give<\/p>\n
a heroic speech<\/p>\n
and they'll say something like oh we're<\/p>\n
gonna<\/p>\n
we're gonna kill them we're brave we<\/p>\n
have better swords than they do we have<\/p>\n
five thousand men they only have two<\/p>\n
thousand raw let's go<\/p>\n
so then so the main character comes on<\/p>\n
gives the speech<\/p>\n
and then they all charge into battle<\/p>\n
what is they doing<\/p>\n
they're giving themselves the confidence<\/p>\n
to face something really hard<\/p>\n
and that's what boasting is<\/p>\n
why would paul say<\/p>\n
that the great thing about the christian<\/p>\n
life<\/p>\n
is the end of boasting<\/p>\n
i think the reason he says that is<\/p>\n
because<\/p>\n
everyone boasts in something<\/p>\n
we all boast in something<\/p>\n
life outside of jesus christ<\/p>\n
is that everybody is looking for<\/p>\n
something that gives them a sense of<\/p>\n
value<\/p>\n
of strength<\/p>\n
of something that gives us confidence to<\/p>\n
face life<\/p>\n
and paul says all of us are doing that<\/p>\n
some of us might be looking to our<\/p>\n
financial success<\/p>\n
others of us might be looking to our<\/p>\n
grades<\/p>\n
our career our relationships our<\/p>\n
physical appearance<\/p>\n
we're all looking to something and we're<\/p>\n
saying no matter what happens in life i<\/p>\n
can face life because i have this thing<\/p>\n
and it's exhausting<\/p>\n
think about this if we look to our work<\/p>\n
as a way to feel secure<\/p>\n
that means we can never rest<\/p>\n
means we're going to be workaholics we<\/p>\n
can't can't put the computer away if we<\/p>\n
look to our physical appearance<\/p>\n
that's exhausting too right it means we<\/p>\n
can't relax<\/p>\n
if we're people pleasers then<\/p>\n
it means that we can never say no<\/p>\n
and we're always trying to please other<\/p>\n
people so that we feel okay<\/p>\n
if we're looking to our relationships<\/p>\n
if there's a particular person in our<\/p>\n
life and we're looking to them<\/p>\n
to be the<\/p>\n
source of confidence<\/p>\n
that means we're always living in<\/p>\n
anxiety and fear<\/p>\n
trying to do our best<\/p>\n
to make sure that they don't leave us<\/p>\n
it's exhausting<\/p>\n
imagine a life<\/p>\n
without boasting<\/p>\n
what would a grace-based life in jesus<\/p>\n
christ look like<\/p>\n
well it would look like contentment<\/p>\n
if we believe that everything we have is<\/p>\n
a gift<\/p>\n
more than we deserve<\/p>\n
this means that regardless of how bad<\/p>\n
things get<\/p>\n
we'll be able to say lord<\/p>\n
i trust you<\/p>\n
you know what's best i know everything<\/p>\n
that you've given me as a gift<\/p>\n
and i trust you<\/p>\n
and we're content<\/p>\n
but if we're looking for something to<\/p>\n
boast in<\/p>\n
deep down inside and we work<\/p>\n
really hard and life doesn't go the way<\/p>\n
we want we get really really angry<\/p>\n
we're always angry because<\/p>\n
we believe that we deserve so much and<\/p>\n
we've worked so hard and we don't get it<\/p>\n
one of the things is life in jesus<\/p>\n
christ looks like contentment<\/p>\n
but here's the other thing<\/p>\n
when things do go well in a life of<\/p>\n
boasting if we've worked really hard and<\/p>\n
we're successful and we get it and<\/p>\n
that's our identity when things do go<\/p>\n
well<\/p>\n
we look down on other people<\/p>\n
so a life of boasting a life apart from<\/p>\n
jesus christ<\/p>\n
means we look down on other people<\/p>\n
here's an example<\/p>\n
fat shaming that's a horrible thing<\/p>\n
right we should we should definitely not<\/p>\n
it's an act of bullying it's drawing<\/p>\n
attention to someone overweight<\/p>\n
usually under the disguise of being<\/p>\n
helpful some of us in school might have<\/p>\n
even experienced this<\/p>\n
but have you ever noticed that the<\/p>\n
people doing the fat shaming<\/p>\n
are usually not overweight themselves<\/p>\n
they usually<\/p>\n
have pretty good physiques they're<\/p>\n
usually in shape why<\/p>\n
because you have to be proud that you've<\/p>\n
kept your weight down you have to be<\/p>\n
proud that you've worked so hard to be<\/p>\n
fit but look at that fat person over<\/p>\n
there<\/p>\n
that's that's boasting<\/p>\n
it's looking down on other people<\/p>\n
a life of boasting is<\/p>\n
a miserable life<\/p>\n
but a life in christ<\/p>\n
if we knew we were saved by grace we<\/p>\n
would accept other people because we<\/p>\n
know that we're all equal<\/p>\n
if we knew we were saved by grace we'd<\/p>\n
also be able to forgive other people as<\/p>\n
well if we knew we were saved by grace<\/p>\n
we wouldn't be so concerned with our<\/p>\n
image or how much respect we deserve we<\/p>\n
would be able to laugh at ourselves we'd<\/p>\n
be able to relax<\/p>\n
if we knew we were saved by grace<\/p>\n
we wouldn't need to boast in anything<\/p>\n
we'd have confidence in jesus christ<\/p>\n
we'd be content<\/p>\n
and this is the kind of life<\/p>\n
that god saves us to<\/p>\n
and so the question is<\/p>\n
how do we get this life how do we go<\/p>\n
from verses 1 to 3<\/p>\n
trapped enslaved<\/p>\n
to here to this life<\/p>\n
and paul tells us right in the middle<\/p>\n
he tells us in verse 4 that<\/p>\n
because of his great love for us god who<\/p>\n
is rich in mercy<\/p>\n
made us alive with christ<\/p>\n
even when we were dead in transgressions<\/p>\n
it is by grace you have been saved<\/p>\n
in other words<\/p>\n
god took us at the very point where we<\/p>\n
were dead<\/p>\n
and made us alive together with king<\/p>\n
jesus<\/p>\n
god didn't wait for us to want him<\/p>\n
he took us at the very point of our<\/p>\n
death<\/p>\n
and made us alive in jesus we know that<\/p>\n
jesus died and rose again and now he's<\/p>\n
seated at the right hand of god and<\/p>\n
everybody who read this<\/p>\n
read paul's letter they understood what<\/p>\n
that meant<\/p>\n
to be seated at god's right hand means<\/p>\n
the greatest honor possible the greatest<\/p>\n
place of honor possible<\/p>\n
the most honorable seat in the universe<\/p>\n
belongs to jesus he's seats at god's<\/p>\n
right hand<\/p>\n
but paul here says that's true of us too<\/p>\n
and he says we're seated there already<\/p>\n
in christ<\/p>\n
what does that mean<\/p>\n
we're not physically there right now<\/p>\n
we haven't physically resurrected<\/p>\n
so it must not mean that we're literally<\/p>\n
there because we're here we're on the<\/p>\n
29th floor ps tower<\/p>\n
so it's not literal<\/p>\n
but if it's not literal it must mean<\/p>\n
that we are legally<\/p>\n
seated there<\/p>\n
that we've been made alive with christ<\/p>\n
and that when we believe in jesus and we<\/p>\n
give ourselves to him all of our sins<\/p>\n
are covered and we're treated as if<\/p>\n
we've done everything that jesus has<\/p>\n
done<\/p>\n
and now god delights in you he honors<\/p>\n
you he rejoices over you he accepts you<\/p>\n
he loves you just as the same way that<\/p>\n
he loves his own son jesus<\/p>\n
how<\/p>\n
well verse 7 tells us of god tells of<\/p>\n
god's kindness to us in christ jesus<\/p>\n
and so the question is what does christ<\/p>\n
jesus do<\/p>\n
another thing here is this word kindness<\/p>\n
in english<\/p>\n
we might think it means good intentions<\/p>\n
doing a kind act that doesn't convey the<\/p>\n
power of the word in greek the power of<\/p>\n
the word in greek<\/p>\n
refers to the act of doing something the<\/p>\n
act of putting your life on the line the<\/p>\n
act of doing what you say keeping your<\/p>\n
word<\/p>\n
and what did jesus christ do<\/p>\n
well here's here's where we<\/p>\n
put everything together<\/p>\n
that verses one to three is the life<\/p>\n
we were saved from<\/p>\n
and in verses 1 and 3 is about<\/p>\n
then it's humanity putting ourselves<\/p>\n
only where god deserves to be<\/p>\n
at the center of our lives<\/p>\n
so john stott<\/p>\n
in his book the cross of christ he puts<\/p>\n
it really really simply<\/p>\n
he says sin is humanity putting<\/p>\n
ourselves where only god deserves to be<\/p>\n
putting<\/p>\n
ourselves in the center of our lives<\/p>\n
then what's salvation<\/p>\n
salvation is god putting himself where<\/p>\n
humanity deserves to be where we deserve<\/p>\n
to be<\/p>\n
on the cross<\/p>\n
jesus christ went to the cross and<\/p>\n
because jesus christ took what we<\/p>\n
deserved experiencing the agony of being<\/p>\n
cut off from god<\/p>\n
because of what jesus has done<\/p>\n
we can now be seated with him in the<\/p>\n
most honorable seat in the whole world<\/p>\n
the whole universe<\/p>\n
and this is what<\/p>\n
will change our lives this is what will<\/p>\n
melt us in our self-centeredness<\/p>\n
grace<\/p>\n
the grace of god<\/p>\n
think about this<\/p>\n
god's grace paul tells us<\/p>\n
is a power that gives life to the dead<\/p>\n
we were once dead we're powerless to do<\/p>\n
anything about it and god made us alive<\/p>\n
with him how powerful must grace be if<\/p>\n
it makes people if it makes dead people<\/p>\n
alive<\/p>\n
we have the power to do a lot of things<\/p>\n
humanity we have medicine<\/p>\n
we have technology we can prolong and<\/p>\n
extend years<\/p>\n
of life<\/p>\n
but we<\/p>\n
we even we can't bring the dead back to<\/p>\n
have you ever thought about grace as a<\/p>\n
kind of power<\/p>\n
the power to bring dead people to life<\/p>\n
is this power active in our lives right<\/p>\n
and if it isn't the reason our lives<\/p>\n
aren't being changed is because we don't<\/p>\n
see very much need for god's grace<\/p>\n
we think we can get along fine without<\/p>\n
him<\/p>\n
we don't know that we need<\/p>\n
rescue from disaster<\/p>\n
but if we see it like paul tells us in<\/p>\n
verses 1 3 that we're helpless and<\/p>\n
powerless to do anything about our<\/p>\n
that we're dead in it<\/p>\n
well grace is a power that can bring the<\/p>\n
dead to life<\/p>\n
do you want to be transformed out of<\/p>\n
look to jesus he saved us in the most<\/p>\n
selfless way possible<\/p>\n
philippians 2 tells us that jesus christ<\/p>\n
was the only one the only one in the<\/p>\n
whole world who had any reason to boast<\/p>\n
but it says jesus christ though he was<\/p>\n
equal with god<\/p>\n
made himself nothing<\/p>\n
taking on the form of a servant why for<\/p>\n
us<\/p>\n
for us and when we see him doing that<\/p>\n
that will melt us and cause us to<\/p>\n
realize that i don't need to be<\/p>\n
self-centered i don't need to focus on<\/p>\n
myself anymore i have everything i want<\/p>\n
in christ i'm seated at god's right hand<\/p>\n
i have all the honor that i could ever<\/p>\n
want<\/p>\n
grace changes lives grace puts an end to<\/p>\n
every kind of boasting<\/p>\n
grace actually brings about the only<\/p>\n
boasting that brings joy<\/p>\n
because in galatians<\/p>\n
6 14 paul says<\/p>\n
may i never boast<\/p>\n
except in the cross of our lord jesus<\/p>\n
christ through which the world has been<\/p>\n
crucified to me and i to the world<\/p>\n
grace transforms lives grace is the end<\/p>\n
of boasting grace is the end of<\/p>\n
comparison grace is the end of suspicion<\/p>\n
when we live by grace we can actually<\/p>\n
rest<\/p>\n
it changes our lives and one of the best<\/p>\n
examples of this<\/p>\n
is in victor hugo's les miserables<\/p>\n
so main character<\/p>\n
his name is jean valjean<\/p>\n
he's put into prison as a young man<\/p>\n
and he suffers unjustly becomes hardened<\/p>\n
he's in prison for 19 years<\/p>\n
and when he gets out he becomes a real<\/p>\n
villain<\/p>\n
because he's been abused by the system<\/p>\n
so he decides all right if the system is<\/p>\n
going to abuse me i'ma get them back<\/p>\n
so he comes out he becomes a real<\/p>\n
but there is one point where he meets a<\/p>\n
bishop<\/p>\n
the bishop welcomes him into his own<\/p>\n
house<\/p>\n
shows him warmth<\/p>\n
treats him with respect<\/p>\n
shows him hospitality treats him with<\/p>\n
dignity the first<\/p>\n
shred of dignity that he's been treated<\/p>\n
with in 19 years<\/p>\n
but when the bishop goes to bed<\/p>\n
jean valjean he robs the bishop<\/p>\n
of his only wealth and then he runs<\/p>\n
but then he gets caught<\/p>\n
and the police bring him back to the<\/p>\n
bishop they say oh we've caught a thief<\/p>\n
the bishop looks at him<\/p>\n
and he says no no he's not a thief i<\/p>\n
gave him the silverware and actually<\/p>\n
here you forgot the candlesticks he<\/p>\n
walks over gives him the candlesticks<\/p>\n
and the police leave<\/p>\n
they're like oh i swear that he was a<\/p>\n
thief and bishop is like no no he's not<\/p>\n
safe he's with me<\/p>\n
suddenly police leave<\/p>\n
and then the bishop turns to jean<\/p>\n
valjean he says<\/p>\n
my brother you no longer belong to evil<\/p>\n
but to good<\/p>\n
it is your soul i buy from you i<\/p>\n
withdraw it from black thoughts and the<\/p>\n
spirit of perdition<\/p>\n
and i give it to god<\/p>\n
so he says this and valjean is stunned<\/p>\n
he's in shock<\/p>\n
why<\/p>\n
why is he in shock<\/p>\n
because the bishops act of mercy<\/p>\n
and grace towards him<\/p>\n
the bishop's costly grace<\/p>\n
completely changes jean valjean's life<\/p>\n
a spoiler alert he goes on and he<\/p>\n
becomes an honest and trustworthy<\/p>\n
businessman he starts treating his<\/p>\n
employees with kindness and respect he<\/p>\n
becomes so well known as a righteous man<\/p>\n
that he's elected mayor<\/p>\n
and he even saves the life of a man who<\/p>\n
tries to kill him so throughout the<\/p>\n
story he's being hunted down they get to<\/p>\n
a point where he has the option of<\/p>\n
killing him or saving his life and he<\/p>\n
chooses to save his life<\/p>\n
man who tries to kill him what happened<\/p>\n
to jean valjean<\/p>\n
an incredible transformation<\/p>\n
occurs in his life<\/p>\n
because he experienced grace<\/p>\n
19 years<\/p>\n
of being in prison 19 years of<\/p>\n
having forced labor being punished<\/p>\n
subjected to hard labor all because he<\/p>\n
stole some bread 19 years of punishment<\/p>\n
couldn't change his heart<\/p>\n
but one morning an evening of true grace<\/p>\n
melted his heart<\/p>\n
and that's just a shadow of the<\/p>\n
transformation that happens in our lives<\/p>\n
when we<\/p>\n
understand the grace of god<\/p>\n
look to jesus<\/p>\n
look at what he's done for us look at<\/p>\n
what he did and that will melt us from<\/p>\n
our self-centeredness towards living in<\/p>\n
true freedom let's pray<\/p>\n
lord jesus we thank you<\/p>\n
lord so much for<\/p>\n
lord for who you are<\/p>\n
lord would you help us to grasp<\/p>\n
the honor that we have been given<\/p>\n
through you lord if any of us are<\/p>\n
looking to other things to feel<\/p>\n
validated and secure i pray lord that<\/p>\n
that you would give us<\/p>\n
or just<\/p>\n
increase knowledge of your grace and<\/p>\n
understanding experience of your grace<\/p>\n
so that we would be melted and our eyes<\/p>\n
would turn to you learned that we would<\/p>\n
have the power to<\/p>\n
to live lord as you would have us live<\/p>\n
jesus name amen<\/p>","english_search_text":"","":"","original_publish_date":"20220815","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=owHBUVAXIVc","video_id":"owHBUVAXIVc","video_duration":"34:47","channel_name":"Grace City Bangkok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":809,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808\/revisions\/809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracecity.machakosconsulting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}