Knowing God's Will (Ephesians 1:8-9)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:07.040 Well, let's turn our attention to Ephesians chapter one and, as has been 2 00:00:07.190 --> 00:00:14.470 our habit for a while now, we will read Ehesians one through one. 3 00:00:14.589 --> 00:00:19.949 I'll read three through fourteen, and let me continue to encourage you as this 4 00:00:20.149 --> 00:00:24.140 passage becomes more and more familiar to you. If you put just a little 5 00:00:24.140 --> 00:00:29.859 extra effort in, you'll find that your memory can remember more than maybe you 6 00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:32.700 think, and it will be a benefit to you to do that as well. 7 00:00:33.619 --> 00:00:40.729 So let's give our our tension to God's word, Effesians one versus three 8 00:00:40.810 --> 00:00:46.969 through fourteen. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, 9 00:00:47.770 --> 00:00:52.159 who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 10 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:56.679 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, 11 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:02.520 that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined 12 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:06.870 us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his 13 00:01:06.989 --> 00:01:11.469 will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us 14 00:01:11.510 --> 00:01:15.189 in the beloved. In Him, we have redemption through his blood, the 15 00:01:15.349 --> 00:01:21.459 forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace which he lavished upon 16 00:01:21.579 --> 00:01:26.140 us and all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his 17 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:30.459 will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ, as 18 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:34.329 a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things 19 00:01:34.409 --> 00:01:38.170 in heaven and things on earth. In Him. We have obtained an inheritance, 20 00:01:38.689 --> 00:01:44.730 having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according 21 00:01:44.769 --> 00:01:48.439 to the counsel of his will, so that we, who were the first 22 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:52.159 to hope in Christ, might be to the praise of his glory. In 23 00:01:52.359 --> 00:01:55.799 Him, you also, when you heard of the word of truth, the 24 00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:00.670 Gospel of your salvation and believed in him. We're sealed with the promised Holy 25 00:02:00.709 --> 00:02:06.790 Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, 26 00:02:07.230 --> 00:02:20.379 to the praise of his glory. Amen. Maybe seated well tonight are 27 00:02:20.860 --> 00:02:29.419 passage that we are considering is versus eight and nine of Ephesians one. It 28 00:02:29.500 --> 00:02:34.729 begins with this word which which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, 29 00:02:35.650 --> 00:02:38.610 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose 30 00:02:38.689 --> 00:02:46.319 which he set forth in Christ. This word which which begins this passage is 31 00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:53.400 referring of course, to the previous words, which are the riches of His 32 00:02:53.680 --> 00:03:01.069 grace. God has lavished upon us the riches of His grace. Wonder if 33 00:03:01.069 --> 00:03:07.069 you can think back in your life to some of the greatest gifts that you 34 00:03:07.229 --> 00:03:14.180 have received. Just think about that for a moment. Maybe it was a 35 00:03:14.460 --> 00:03:22.500 financial gift someone gave you, maybe it was a thing like a house or 36 00:03:22.539 --> 00:03:25.900 a car, or maybe something even more than that. Maybe it was a 37 00:03:27.289 --> 00:03:34.129 particular present that you received it Christmas or for your birthday. Maybe it was 38 00:03:34.289 --> 00:03:38.689 not only great in as other people might see it, but maybe it was 39 00:03:38.770 --> 00:03:43.560 particularly great to you because you knew how much it costs to the person who 40 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:46.319 who gave it to you. There's all kinds of ways in which we might 41 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:53.280 think about this and we think about the riches lavished upon us, but whatever 42 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:57.789 we might come up with a sort of our chief example, if you want 43 00:03:57.830 --> 00:04:01.509 to know about a time when I was lavished upon, let me tell you 44 00:04:01.550 --> 00:04:06.270 about this. Whatever we might think about that, God goes far beyond, 45 00:04:08.389 --> 00:04:12.939 far beyond anything we can consider, and that goes from any angle, if 46 00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:18.540 you consider it in terms of things or monetary or worldly value. He has 47 00:04:18.660 --> 00:04:27.490 promised us the world, not a car, not a house, not even 48 00:04:27.769 --> 00:04:31.329 a kingdom, you know, of a few thousand square miles or something like 49 00:04:31.449 --> 00:04:39.480 that. He has given us the world, possession of of the new heavens 50 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:45.399 and the new earth, which we will rule over with Christ. I don't 51 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:47.600 know all the details all of all of that, but I do know that's 52 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:54.189 a big gift and we can be very grateful for that. Or, if 53 00:04:54.230 --> 00:04:59.149 we think about it in terms of the sacrifice and which the giver made, 54 00:04:59.790 --> 00:05:05.189 that's also pretty significant. One of the great stories about this kind of thing 55 00:05:05.350 --> 00:05:10.939 is remember the gift of the Magi. It's a story that has the word 56 00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:15.500 Della in it. The the ladies name in that story is Dulla, I 57 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:19.019 believe, and and she and her husband both want to give you some each 58 00:05:19.060 --> 00:05:25.930 other, something precious, and can't remember what the gift was that she wanted 59 00:05:25.970 --> 00:05:30.170 to give him. They would remember she gives away her hair, right to 60 00:05:30.329 --> 00:05:35.519 get him for his watch. Right, all right, so she does? 61 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:41.399 She get him the watch or something, a fob for the watch. Okay, 62 00:05:42.199 --> 00:05:48.120 so Dulla goes and cuts her hair, right, she sacrifices her most 63 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:54.149 precious possession so that he she can get him this. He in turn sacrifices 64 00:05:55.269 --> 00:06:00.550 his watch so that he can get her a comb for her hair. It's 65 00:06:00.550 --> 00:06:06.180 a beautiful story and it's all about giving from the deepest parts of you, 66 00:06:06.819 --> 00:06:13.620 from giving sacrificially of the most precious things for the other person. And ultimately, 67 00:06:13.740 --> 00:06:17.220 what happens is this wonderful experience of love, though both have been way 68 00:06:17.379 --> 00:06:23.689 lost their most precious possessions, that they have gained is this a knowledge of 69 00:06:23.810 --> 00:06:30.970 love from the other person, a closeness as husband and wife. Sacrifices are 70 00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:34.560 a big deal, a really big deal. And again, when we consider 71 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:42.720 the greatness of God's grace, who has sacrificed more then Jesus Christ giving up 72 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:49.189 his own life for the salvation of our souls? As we considered, when 73 00:06:49.189 --> 00:06:54.310 we thought about what it means that we are redeemed, remember that when we 74 00:06:54.389 --> 00:07:00.709 were redeemed from slavery, that he paid this ransom. How much would your 75 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:04.420 family, or your friends or your government pay to ransom you out of a 76 00:07:04.540 --> 00:07:12.019 bad situation? God ransomed us with the very blood of his own son. 77 00:07:13.420 --> 00:07:17.730 These are costly things. Or we can think about it in terms of other 78 00:07:17.930 --> 00:07:24.449 benefits that we receive. Freedom from out from under the law, the the 79 00:07:24.610 --> 00:07:30.120 riches of his continuing work in us, are communion with him and with one 80 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:32.399 another. The list goes on and on, and if you want to explore 81 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:36.839 that, let me suggest efficians, Chapter One, verses three through fourteen. 82 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:44.509 This is a great rehearsal of these kinds of things, these spiritual blessings, 83 00:07:44.589 --> 00:07:48.149 as Paul says, which are being poured out on us, these things that 84 00:07:48.269 --> 00:07:51.870 we have been given lease, this way in which we have been chosen, 85 00:07:53.589 --> 00:08:01.779 this love that God is loving us with, these are the riches of His 86 00:08:01.019 --> 00:08:07.139 grace, and what we learn in this passage is that he is lavishing them 87 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:13.649 upon us. This is one of my favorite words in this whole passage. 88 00:08:13.370 --> 00:08:22.610 It's such a vivid word to lavish someone with praise or to lavish someone with 89 00:08:24.250 --> 00:08:31.559 costly jewelry. It's excessive right. It's above and beyond anything that you could 90 00:08:31.559 --> 00:08:37.480 expect or would hope for. You know, a lot of times when we 91 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:41.870 have things in our lives that we need to give to other people, that 92 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:45.950 we want to give to other people, we often find that we have to 93 00:08:45.990 --> 00:08:50.509 be very careful about that. Right. We can't give too much money to 94 00:08:52.110 --> 00:08:56.379 this friend or to the church or to this organization because, well, I've 95 00:08:56.539 --> 00:09:00.899 also got to eat right. You know, I also have bills to pay 96 00:09:00.940 --> 00:09:05.259 these kinds of things, and we have to be careful when we go to 97 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:09.850 EG's right, you can get just the big one, the Biggie, and 98 00:09:11.049 --> 00:09:16.409 then you can carefully divide it and my family to seven cups so that everyone 99 00:09:16.450 --> 00:09:18.730 gets us fair amount. We always have more than enough, but there's a 100 00:09:18.809 --> 00:09:22.850 kind of carefulness that happens in that to make sure that everyone gets some and 101 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:30.759 and that it's all fair. God is not carefully doling out His grace, 102 00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:33.320 a little bit here and a little bit here, and the equal little mini 103 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:41.830 cups. He is lavishing at upon us, just pouring it out in this 104 00:09:41.269 --> 00:09:48.429 extremely generous way. I mean, can you think about a point in your 105 00:09:48.549 --> 00:09:54.820 life where where you can look at God's grace and say, yeah, that 106 00:09:56.019 --> 00:10:00.659 was that was really a little too far? No, in everything that we 107 00:10:01.379 --> 00:10:07.250 in everything that God has given to us, it's it's never careful, or 108 00:10:09.049 --> 00:10:16.330 overly careful anyway. At the same time that God is giving this kind of 109 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:22.720 excessive general ferocity, the word tells us that he did it in all wisdom 110 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:28.679 and insight. This is important because when we start using words like excessive, 111 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:39.990 abundant, it's easy for a negative connotation to creep in. Words like reckless 112 00:10:39.990 --> 00:10:48.710 might come to mind, unwise might come to mind, and many people do 113 00:10:48.950 --> 00:10:54.340 give gifts like this from from time to time. Now, some people think 114 00:10:54.419 --> 00:10:58.500 I will just mention by way of passing, there are a number of commentators 115 00:10:58.539 --> 00:11:01.580 who do read these words differently, and I just want to to mention that 116 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:07.169 out of respect to others, and it's this is a possibility. Some will 117 00:11:07.210 --> 00:11:11.129 say that these words wisdom and insight refer to the things that God gives to 118 00:11:11.169 --> 00:11:16.409 us. He lavishes us, upon us these riches and grace, including wisdom 119 00:11:16.490 --> 00:11:20.360 and insight, and I do want to say that it is of course a 120 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:24.679 truth that God gives us wisdom and insight, and will even see that point 121 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:31.000 proved a little bit later. Divine things can never be discerned from natural things 122 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:35.509 or natural man. But I'm of the opinion that this refers not to the 123 00:11:35.629 --> 00:11:39.870 wisdom and insight we receive, but to the wisdom and insight that God uses, 124 00:11:39.629 --> 00:11:46.070 because ultimately this verse seems to be about his actions. Right it says 125 00:11:46.149 --> 00:11:50.500 that he lavished upon us and then, skipping in wisdom and insight, making 126 00:11:50.659 --> 00:11:52.779 known to us, that is him making known to us the mystery of his 127 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:56.580 will. This is focused very much, yes, on the riches and the 128 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:01.139 grace, that of grace we received, but the way in which he's doing 129 00:12:01.259 --> 00:12:05.929 this, he's lavishing it upon us. How, in all wisdom and insight? 130 00:12:07.169 --> 00:12:09.450 Well, why would he say this? How do you lavish with wisdom 131 00:12:09.529 --> 00:12:13.649 and insight? You may not think of those words to going together until you 132 00:12:13.769 --> 00:12:18.399 remember this word I mentioned, reckless. If you think of someone who is 133 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:24.919 reckless with their giving, in their lavish giving, you'll know how important it 134 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:31.590 is to have wisdom and insight in this lavishness. So, for example, 135 00:12:33.269 --> 00:12:39.070 you might think of Herod who is drunk and his daughter is dancing before him 136 00:12:39.070 --> 00:12:43.029 and he says, I'll give you half my kingdom. Right, so this 137 00:12:43.149 --> 00:12:46.580 is a lavish or up to have my kingdom anything you want. Now, 138 00:12:46.820 --> 00:12:50.059 this is, of course, a very lavish gift and promise, right, 139 00:12:52.100 --> 00:12:56.259 but is it given in wisdom and insight? Not at all. What happens? 140 00:12:56.899 --> 00:13:01.250 John the Baptist's head ends up on a platter and all kinds of evil, 141 00:13:01.330 --> 00:13:07.330 a murder, a martyr and and he is, of course, a 142 00:13:07.570 --> 00:13:15.720 disgraced by the whole thing, through his thinking, through his bad friendships, 143 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:20.440 through his outof control househood and just household in general, foolishness. He makes 144 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:26.679 a stupid decision that costs him a lot of things. Maybe you've made similar 145 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:31.750 mistakes. I've known people that have given way lots and lots of money to 146 00:13:31.190 --> 00:13:37.909 con artists. It's a sad thing. I'm to lavish someone with gifts that 147 00:13:37.950 --> 00:13:41.700 are not according to wisdom and insight, can be a dangerous thing, and 148 00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:48.299 maybe not just money, but perhaps time, someone who's trying to manipulate you 149 00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:54.809 or affect you or cause you to sin. So this is the wisdom that's 150 00:13:56.009 --> 00:14:00.330 that's required when we give, even when we give excessively, even when we 151 00:14:00.450 --> 00:14:05.330 give generously, we see there's still wisdom that's required, even on the human 152 00:14:05.409 --> 00:14:09.009 level, and of course God, who acts perfectly in all things, does 153 00:14:09.210 --> 00:14:13.879 this, you might even think in in some of the best situations, a 154 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:20.559 people anyway can be criticized for their gifts. I read an article this week 155 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:26.029 about Jeff Bezos, the founder and owner of Amazon, in a number of 156 00:14:26.070 --> 00:14:31.549 gifts it didnumber of businesses. This article was titled Better Ways for Jeff Bezos 157 00:14:31.590 --> 00:14:35.710 to spend his a hundred thirty one billion dollars. Jeff bezos is a very 158 00:14:35.789 --> 00:14:43.059 rich man. He plans on pouring a billion dollars a year into a space 159 00:14:43.259 --> 00:14:46.820 project called blue origin. He has is various reasons for that, but as 160 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:52.409 people are looking at this situation, they can't help but wonder, is this 161 00:14:52.809 --> 00:14:58.409 wise? Could this billion dollars and more be spent in other ways, in 162 00:15:00.090 --> 00:15:05.730 other forms? Could more good be done? I'm pointing out simply that the 163 00:15:05.850 --> 00:15:11.960 question of wisdom is an important one when it comes to giving, even giving 164 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:18.360 lavishly. So when God is pouring out his riches of His grace on us, 165 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:24.149 when God is laughing us with lavishing us with these things, the scripture 166 00:15:24.149 --> 00:15:30.190 reminds us that he does it with all wisdom and insight. An amazing and 167 00:15:30.350 --> 00:15:35.220 beautiful thing, and I can't help but think of course he does. We 168 00:15:35.539 --> 00:15:39.620 struggle to know how to use our resources, we struggle to know how to 169 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:45.580 make careful use of the limited things we have. God, however, just 170 00:15:45.820 --> 00:15:54.289 does it perfectly, effortlessly, completely with all wisdom and insight. God is 171 00:15:54.409 --> 00:16:00.450 not some bumbling Zeus up in his Pantheon, helping some people, forgetting about 172 00:16:00.490 --> 00:16:06.080 other people, making mistakes and getting people mad. No, he acts perfectly, 173 00:16:06.200 --> 00:16:11.840 and this is important because people accuse God of not doing this. How 174 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:18.789 could you possibly accuse God of not being wise in the way that he gives? 175 00:16:19.509 --> 00:16:25.669 Well, we do. You remember Jesus and people complaining about him eating 176 00:16:25.830 --> 00:16:30.629 with tax collectors and prostitutes? How could you be doing such a thing? 177 00:16:30.830 --> 00:16:36.700 This is not wise, this is not smart. Or you think about the 178 00:16:36.820 --> 00:16:41.700 woman who poured out oil on the Lord. Is a costly perfumes and Judas 179 00:16:41.700 --> 00:16:48.210 says, shouldn't that money be used elsewhere? Or you the way that Jesus 180 00:16:48.330 --> 00:16:52.289 comes into connection with these things, or the mothers bringing their children to Jesus 181 00:16:52.370 --> 00:16:57.929 and the disciple saying don't bother him, he's got out more important things to 182 00:16:59.049 --> 00:17:04.279 do, and Jesus pours out His grace on even these children that these mothers 183 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:12.759 are carrying to him. People are constantly questioning the wisdom of God's lavishness in 184 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:18.670 His grace, and maybe you've done this as well. I know that I 185 00:17:18.829 --> 00:17:25.109 have. Why does he get that? Why does she get those things? 186 00:17:26.589 --> 00:17:30.619 How come I don't have such and such a thing? Maybe you've wondered these 187 00:17:30.660 --> 00:17:37.140 things about God, maybe you have even accused him. But if we're honest 188 00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:41.099 and if we need the scriptures as they have been given, to us. 189 00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:47.970 We ought to be silenced in our accusations of God, in our discontentment, 190 00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:53.609 in our envy, in our second guessing who he brings and why he brings 191 00:17:53.730 --> 00:18:02.160 a particular person into his kingdom. We're not so great and God's given his 192 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:07.519 gifts to us. Why should we not rejoice at the gifts he has given 193 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:14.430 others? You see, then, how practical this simple thing is and how 194 00:18:14.589 --> 00:18:19.190 wonderful and beautiful it is. It expresses the character of the one who has 195 00:18:19.269 --> 00:18:26.710 loved us, the one whom we serve. He has poured out on us. 196 00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:32.099 He is lavished us with the riches of His grace, not recklessly, 197 00:18:32.299 --> 00:18:40.980 not foolishly, not stupidly, but not all wisdom and all insight, perfect 198 00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:45.970 in every way. The last point I want to make is based on verse 199 00:18:47.089 --> 00:18:53.730 nine, and that it naturally. Their thoughts are naturally flow to verse nine, 200 00:18:55.410 --> 00:19:02.519 because here we have the most perfect example of God lavishing this grace according 201 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:08.920 to perfection and wisdom and time and knowledge. First Nine says making known to 202 00:19:10.029 --> 00:19:15.230 us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth 203 00:19:15.869 --> 00:19:25.700 in Christ people want to know what the will of God is. What is 204 00:19:25.779 --> 00:19:30.859 it that God wants? What is it that God desires? How can I 205 00:19:30.019 --> 00:19:34.059 be saved? How can I please him? What's heaven going to be like? 206 00:19:34.740 --> 00:19:37.849 How? What kind of prayers will he accept? What about worship? 207 00:19:38.529 --> 00:19:45.769 All of these things and more, and we are right to wonder about these 208 00:19:45.890 --> 00:19:49.130 things. But what we learn here is that they have been made known to 209 00:19:49.289 --> 00:19:56.640 us. In Jesus, his purpose, which he is set forth in Christ, 210 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:02.960 has been made known to us, and this is a great thing. 211 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:07.829 In the fullness of time, as Paul says in Galatians, Christ was born 212 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:14.990 under the law. God didn't accidentally bump into the incarnation. He planned it, 213 00:20:15.630 --> 00:20:23.259 he purposed fit. Even before time itself, he covenanted within himself to 214 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:30.059 make these things happen. What is the mystery? It is this Christ who 215 00:20:30.099 --> 00:20:34.339 comes. Let me read you a little bit from First Peter, Chapter One, 216 00:20:34.930 --> 00:20:41.970 of starting at Verse Ten Peter Rights Concerning this salvation. The prophets who 217 00:20:41.009 --> 00:20:49.119 prophesied about that grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring 218 00:20:49.319 --> 00:20:56.359 what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted 219 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:00.759 the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that 220 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:06.630 they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been 221 00:21:06.710 --> 00:21:11.230 announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy 222 00:21:11.230 --> 00:21:19.579 Spirit, sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. See 223 00:21:19.579 --> 00:21:25.940 What Peters saying? He's saying that generations before the Apostles and the prophets came, 224 00:21:26.500 --> 00:21:30.259 there were other men sent by God, men who had the spirit of 225 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:36.450 Christ in them, who were looking into this situation, looking into the word 226 00:21:36.490 --> 00:21:41.970 of God and inquiring diligently. When will these things happen? WHO WILL BE 227 00:21:41.170 --> 00:21:45.369 THE MESSIAH? How will this all come at? About? How will this 228 00:21:45.410 --> 00:21:51.039 all come about? The angels of themselves longing to look into the things of 229 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:59.000 God. A great mystery. And there wasn't a single second that went by 230 00:21:59.640 --> 00:22:04.029 that God didn't hold back, and not a single second that passed in which 231 00:22:04.069 --> 00:22:07.470 he went, Oh, no, I'm too late. No, at the 232 00:22:07.630 --> 00:22:15.099 exact perfect moment in all time in which God decreed all things to be Jesus 233 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:21.980 Christ was born into the world. And as you go and you read the 234 00:22:22.059 --> 00:22:26.299 Gospels, this is so evident, the way that this event and that event, 235 00:22:26.460 --> 00:22:32.250 from the shepherds to the star, to the to his cousins, John, 236 00:22:32.329 --> 00:22:37.250 the baptist, to many other things. All of these millions and billions 237 00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:45.799 of specific instances of God's Providence all coalescing together around the birth of this savior, 238 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:53.960 this mystery that would be revealed, and through him, through this Christ, 239 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:59.710 we would come to know the things that Paul is writing about here, 240 00:23:00.509 --> 00:23:07.630 our redemption, our salvation, the work of Christ on the cross, his 241 00:23:07.029 --> 00:23:12.140 justification of us, his sanctification, the subsequent glories to come. As Peter 242 00:23:12.299 --> 00:23:18.059 Puts it, all of these things are made known to us in the perfect 243 00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:22.220 in the perfect time and in the perfect way, according to wisdom and insight 244 00:23:23.259 --> 00:23:33.009 in Christ. This is yet another way in which God has lavished upon us 245 00:23:33.049 --> 00:23:38.329 the riches of His grace, not just the things that he gives us, 246 00:23:40.009 --> 00:23:44.720 but the in the one whom we receive them, and even in the way 247 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:49.480 in which it comes. You can look over and under and around and through 248 00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:53.799 this thing and kind of at every angle, and you'll always and only see 249 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:59.470 the grace of God. There's not a perspective you can get on it where 250 00:23:59.509 --> 00:24:03.829 you can go, okay, there's the other side, that's the other foot. 251 00:24:06.109 --> 00:24:08.829 No, every single part of this, no matter how you turn it, 252 00:24:10.420 --> 00:24:18.940 Reflat refracts the light of God. It's beautiful, it's wonderful and it 253 00:24:18.019 --> 00:24:25.289 speaks to us, as I said, the God who saves us. The 254 00:24:25.369 --> 00:24:29.930 applications of this, of course, are in the thousands. We ought to 255 00:24:29.970 --> 00:24:33.049 be grateful people, we ought to praise the Lord who has saved us. 256 00:24:34.210 --> 00:24:41.480 And maybe you find yourself from time to time a struggling to remember the things 257 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:47.960 that is gone God has done, and in these moments, this a passage 258 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:53.430 speaks to us and says something like do you even realize, you ungrateful person, 259 00:24:55.190 --> 00:24:57.910 how much God has done for you and is doing for you? He 260 00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:02.269 has lab us to you, it is lavishing you with the riches of His 261 00:25:02.430 --> 00:25:07.660 grace. Wake Up, pay attention, stop grumbling, be content. These 262 00:25:07.700 --> 00:25:12.980 are good applications of God's word. But of course, if you're in a 263 00:25:14.099 --> 00:25:18.180 good mood and you're happy and you're just living your life and the glories of 264 00:25:18.259 --> 00:25:22.369 God in the goodness of His grace, if you find yourself content and full 265 00:25:22.450 --> 00:25:29.410 of joy, then you know exactly what you need to do. Enjoy God, 266 00:25:30.529 --> 00:25:33.890 keep pressing on, praise him for the goodness and wonders of the things 267 00:25:33.970 --> 00:25:38.000 that he has done. Take that light that he has been given to his 268 00:25:38.200 --> 00:25:42.160 he has given to you and is giving to you and spread it around. 269 00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:48.480 Take the gifts that you have received and give them to others, not just 270 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:53.990 the things of this world, the things of the heavenly places, Christ himself. 271 00:25:56.109 --> 00:26:00.029 Share him, spread him, let his word be known in your life, 272 00:26:00.750 --> 00:26:07.059 in your words. It is a right and a joyful thing to get 273 00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:11.859 caught up in the grace of God, to be there as he pours out 274 00:26:11.940 --> 00:26:18.380 upon us all of these good things. This is why we say blessed be 275 00:26:18.609 --> 00:26:23.289 the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because he's blessed us in 276 00:26:23.410 --> 00:26:26.369 him. Let's praise him, let's pray