Summing Up Everything in Jesus (Ephesians 1:10)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.919 Pere able to remain standing. Please do and turn your attention with me to 2 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:12.109 Ephesians, Ephesians chapter one of verses one through fourteen. Tonight I am going 3 00:00:12.150 --> 00:00:18.230 to be preaching on versus nine and ten in particular. Ephesians is on page 4 00:00:18.269 --> 00:00:20.910 nine, hundred and seventy six. If you happen to grab one of the 5 00:00:21.350 --> 00:00:26.420 Black Bibles from the cart and the back nine seventy six. It's one of 6 00:00:26.460 --> 00:00:33.740 the letters that one of Jesus's Apostles, the Apostle Paul the wrote to this 7 00:00:33.899 --> 00:00:38.369 church and to us. So let's give our attention to it and hear the 8 00:00:38.409 --> 00:00:46.009 word of God. Ephesians one, versus three through fourteen. Blessed be the 9 00:00:46.049 --> 00:00:50.880 God and father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in 10 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:55.960 Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us 11 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.399 in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be wholly and 12 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:06.590 blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through 13 00:01:06.670 --> 00:01:10.670 Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of 14 00:01:10.709 --> 00:01:15.790 his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved in Him, 15 00:01:15.870 --> 00:01:21.379 we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to 16 00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:25.900 the riches of His grace which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, 17 00:01:26.739 --> 00:01:30.900 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, 18 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:36.409 which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time 19 00:01:37.209 --> 00:01:41.890 to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 20 00:01:42.930 --> 00:01:47.200 In Him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the 21 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:49.799 purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 22 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:53.439 so that we, who were first to hope in Christ, might be to 23 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:57.480 the praise of his glory. In Him, you also, when you heard 24 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.510 the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation and believed in him, 25 00:02:02.109 --> 00:02:07.950 were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance 26 00:02:07.469 --> 00:02:14.150 until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. Amen, 27 00:02:15.349 --> 00:02:19.340 you may be seated. I you ever come to the end of the 28 00:02:19.460 --> 00:02:23.379 story or the end of a movie and missed the first part of it? 29 00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:30.090 It's difficult sometimes to understand what's going on when when you're just catching the end, 30 00:02:30.169 --> 00:02:36.969 and Ephesians one ten is in some ways a summary like that. Well, 31 00:02:37.050 --> 00:02:39.169 I was the first born among my siblings, which meant I was the 32 00:02:39.250 --> 00:02:43.650 first to leave the nest. I was the first to go away from home, 33 00:02:43.810 --> 00:02:46.840 go to college, and I remember on the one of my first return 34 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:52.319 trips home, my parents were really eager to talk with me for two reasons. 35 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:55.919 One, the Internet was pretty new in our household and number two, 36 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:00.830 I wasn't very good at calling them, so they wanted to find out what 37 00:03:00.030 --> 00:03:04.069 was going on. And we sat down in the living room and we were 38 00:03:04.150 --> 00:03:07.430 talking and my mom wanted to get us some drinks just so we could keep 39 00:03:07.469 --> 00:03:10.949 talking and we refreshed, I guess. So she left, as she says, 40 00:03:10.990 --> 00:03:15.699 don't say anything while I'm gone. Well, as of course you would, 41 00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:21.180 and anyway, as I did, always being a little bit obnoxious, 42 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:24.219 obnoxious. So when we dad and I was just sort of chatted about things 43 00:03:24.300 --> 00:03:28.530 and then when she came back in the room, I said, I leaned 44 00:03:28.569 --> 00:03:30.490 in close to my dad and I said, and that's why I think she's 45 00:03:30.530 --> 00:03:36.770 the one, and my mom draw dropped and she was what are you talking 46 00:03:36.810 --> 00:03:40.919 about? It I left. I use this trick to my advantage, right, 47 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:46.400 I put her in this position by not giving her the information, but 48 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.759 just giving her the end, and she was just a little and happy with 49 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:54.400 me. If USIANS hundred and ten is like that, it's a summary Verse 50 00:03:54.439 --> 00:04:00.389 and if you don't understand everything that's come before it, it's going to be 51 00:04:00.469 --> 00:04:04.110 a little confusing. You'll be left wondering what does this really mean? Let 52 00:04:04.150 --> 00:04:09.229 me read it to you again. Verse Ten says as a plan. Now 53 00:04:09.349 --> 00:04:12.580 this is God revealing this as a plan which he set forth in Christ, 54 00:04:13.020 --> 00:04:16.100 as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, 55 00:04:16.420 --> 00:04:19.660 things in heaven and things on Earth, one of the world. Does that 56 00:04:19.779 --> 00:04:26.850 mean? Does it mean that Christ as being set forth, that he is 57 00:04:26.930 --> 00:04:30.529 the plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things 58 00:04:30.610 --> 00:04:35.290 in heaven and things on earth? That is a summary Statement. In fact, 59 00:04:35.810 --> 00:04:40.800 the word summary is used. That word that I read is unite, 60 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:49.439 could also be summarized or translated as summarized or recapitulated. Everything is brought together 61 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:56.389 in him, everything is summarized in Christ. It's kind of an interesting way 62 00:04:56.430 --> 00:05:00.430 of thinking about Jesus. It's more than interesting, it's actually really important. 63 00:05:01.029 --> 00:05:04.350 It's no joke. It's very serious. What he's saying here. But what 64 00:05:04.389 --> 00:05:09.579 does it mean? What does it mean that everything is summarized in him? 65 00:05:10.740 --> 00:05:14.620 Well, the word summary here is used like you might use, and it 66 00:05:14.740 --> 00:05:19.019 was used this time. Are used in this way to describe the addition of 67 00:05:19.139 --> 00:05:23.850 numbers. So bankers would use this term. For example, you would go 68 00:05:23.889 --> 00:05:28.850 through your column, let's say one plus five plus ten plus fifteen plus. 69 00:05:28.889 --> 00:05:30.689 When you go down the column you add up all the numbers and then at 70 00:05:30.689 --> 00:05:38.519 the head of the column it's a recapitulation. You would put the sum of 71 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:43.759 all the totals. Sort of a banking term. It's also a term that's 72 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:50.310 used in rhetoric, the summary or the recapitulation on the reheading, you might 73 00:05:50.389 --> 00:05:57.509 say that happens at the end of an address, where the various parts of 74 00:05:57.670 --> 00:06:05.060 the address are all brought together at one point and summarized or reheaded as a 75 00:06:05.180 --> 00:06:09.899 way to say the things that were stated at the beginning, the sort of 76 00:06:10.100 --> 00:06:15.819 the the the plan is now coming into completion and all the parts are are 77 00:06:15.899 --> 00:06:23.410 brought together. So, to go back to our math analogy, when it 78 00:06:23.569 --> 00:06:29.970 says that all things are united or summed up in him, it means that 79 00:06:30.209 --> 00:06:33.959 every single one of those numbers finds its place in him. There's not. 80 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:39.759 You know, the total shouldn't be, let's say a hundred, but actually 81 00:06:39.959 --> 00:06:45.839 is ninety nine. Everything's included there. Every single value all the way down 82 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:50.709 that list is included in that final sum. That's what it's saying about Jesus. 83 00:06:51.310 --> 00:06:58.949 Only Jesus isn't putting together a few numbers. He is uniting all things, 84 00:07:00.709 --> 00:07:05.819 which is as comprehensive as a term as you can get. Now sometimes, 85 00:07:05.860 --> 00:07:11.259 when we say everything or all things, were talking about a limited set. 86 00:07:12.100 --> 00:07:15.730 If I say I want you to get everything out of this room, 87 00:07:15.810 --> 00:07:20.329 clear the room, you might say, of people chairs, you would probably 88 00:07:20.329 --> 00:07:24.930 want some clarification. Right. What exam? How much of everything do you 89 00:07:25.089 --> 00:07:29.970 mean? So we use it in various ranges. The postle Paul here are, 90 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.600 though, is using it in the biggest, most comprehensive way that you 91 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:39.319 can possibly think about it. Everything, all things, meaning everything, and 92 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:43.639 we know this from things he will say later on in the letter, but 93 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:50.069 also what he says right here, things in heaven and things on earth. 94 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:56.350 It reminds you maybe of the language at the beginning of the Bible when God 95 00:07:56.589 --> 00:08:01.620 created the Heaven and the Earth, which I and most commentators take to mean 96 00:08:01.699 --> 00:08:07.100 these two realms of the material and the immaterial, spiritual things that you can't 97 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:11.420 see, like angels, for example, and physical things that you can see, 98 00:08:11.540 --> 00:08:18.209 like people. The spiritual realm and all the things that exist in the 99 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:22.569 spiritual realm that God created and all the things in an earthly realm and the 100 00:08:22.649 --> 00:08:26.720 physical realm that God created, all of it is coming together and summed up 101 00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:39.879 united somehow in him now when he says when he says here as a plan 102 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:43.110 for the fullness of time. There's one other thing you need to understand before 103 00:08:43.110 --> 00:08:46.470 we start to unpack this a little more, just sort of making sure we 104 00:08:46.549 --> 00:08:50.629 understand what these words mean. Time here is not being used in the sense 105 00:08:50.710 --> 00:08:56.220 of a passage of minutes, like five minutes went by, six minutes went 106 00:08:56.259 --> 00:08:58.700 by, although it's meant in a sense, but a different word for time 107 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:03.899 is being used here in the sense of ages. So there's the sense of 108 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:07.860 these moments in history, not just this moment in that moment, but these 109 00:09:09.500 --> 00:09:13.570 defining things that happen, like we might talk about the age of the renaissance 110 00:09:13.649 --> 00:09:18.250 or we might talk about the age of bronze, or whatever we're using, 111 00:09:18.289 --> 00:09:24.480 and we sort of say these things that history happen in history, these giant 112 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:31.519 transformative things, all of these you put them all together and they're being brought 113 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:35.919 together and they're summed up in this one thing which, of course, has 114 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:41.190 a chronological aspect to it, but it's sort of bigger than that. The 115 00:09:41.389 --> 00:09:45.509 concept is bigger than that, and that's what he's saying here. I'm going 116 00:09:45.669 --> 00:09:48.110 back. It's two verse nine. It says we are he is making known 117 00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:52.379 to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he 118 00:09:52.500 --> 00:09:58.899 set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time. Time is 119 00:10:00.340 --> 00:10:05.539 thought of in various ways in various cultures, and some ancient Greek pilosopher's time 120 00:10:05.659 --> 00:10:09.250 was the sort of cycling thing that just sort of kind of keeps coming back 121 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:16.090 to itself. The Christian view of time is very different. It's this progressive 122 00:10:16.289 --> 00:10:22.000 thing. It's moving forward, it begins at one place and develops and advances 123 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:26.799 and advances. It comes to a place of fullness right. It's not just 124 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:31.200 merely returning to a place that it was before, but it's coming to his 125 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:37.830 place of completeness, of consummation. There's direction, there's movement, and something 126 00:10:37.870 --> 00:10:43.789 about Jesus makes it when he comes and reveals the will of God, the 127 00:10:43.950 --> 00:10:50.820 Plan of God. It is described as the fullness of time. That's defining 128 00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:58.139 then this age in which we live now. It defines what we are and 129 00:10:58.340 --> 00:11:03.539 who we are and this moment in history. That's a pretty significant thing. 130 00:11:03.769 --> 00:11:09.450 It's not just one thing after another, but these things, these ages, 131 00:11:09.690 --> 00:11:16.690 were advancing one after another. To come to this particular point, I want 132 00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:22.000 to read to you a few verses in Colossians. This is just a few 133 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:28.000 pages over a Colossians chapter one, where Paul says a few similar things about 134 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:39.669 Jesus. A beginning in Verse Fifteen, we read he is the image of 135 00:11:39.710 --> 00:11:43.470 the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. This doesn't mean that he 136 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:48.299 was created, but the as the pre eminence of Firstborn. And here's the 137 00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:54.460 reason. For by him all things were created in heaven and on Earth. 138 00:11:54.539 --> 00:11:58.100 Hear that language again, but here it's talking about the beginning of time. 139 00:12:00.259 --> 00:12:03.450 By Him, by Jesus, all things were created in heaven and on Earth, 140 00:12:03.970 --> 00:12:09.289 visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers or authorities, 141 00:12:09.330 --> 00:12:16.320 all things were created through him and for him, and he is before all 142 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:26.200 things and in him all things hold together. Then, at the end of 143 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:33.950 time, something happened. In the fullness of time this this one who created 144 00:12:33.029 --> 00:12:39.509 all things, was born, and we read in verse eighteen he is the 145 00:12:39.590 --> 00:12:41.389 head of the body the church. He is the beginning, the first, 146 00:12:41.389 --> 00:12:46.860 born from the dead that in everything he might be pre eminent, for in 147 00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:50.460 him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him this 148 00:12:50.620 --> 00:12:54.700 is the verse I want you to pay attention to now verse twenty, and 149 00:12:54.019 --> 00:13:00.289 through him, to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in 150 00:13:00.450 --> 00:13:07.690 heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. So what Paul is 151 00:13:07.769 --> 00:13:13.200 saying is that at the beginning of time God spoke through the sun in this 152 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:20.639 word, and the world was created, all things heavens and on the earth. 153 00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:26.279 Not a single thing was made that wasn't made by the father through the 154 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:31.470 sun, and this world that we live in, everything from the ants to 155 00:13:31.590 --> 00:13:37.590 the leaves to our very own lives, all were created in him and through 156 00:13:37.669 --> 00:13:41.980 him, and in him all things are holding together. And then what we 157 00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:46.059 read is then, at the end of time, in the fullness of time, 158 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:52.299 this same one through whom the world was created and was sustained, is 159 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:58.690 now reconciling him to himself all things, things in heaven and things on earth. 160 00:14:01.370 --> 00:14:03.289 Now, if you're tracking with me, this should be you should have 161 00:14:03.409 --> 00:14:07.409 a giant question mark right in the middle of that story, right, because 162 00:14:07.409 --> 00:14:11.720 we've talked about the beginning, how everything's united in him, in heaven and 163 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:13.519 earth, and we've talked about the end and we say, well, all 164 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:18.080 things are reconciled to him. Well, if you know that word, reconcile, 165 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:22.360 like you and your friend have a hard time and you reconcile with them, 166 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:28.190 it means that something bad won and on in the middle there was something 167 00:14:28.230 --> 00:14:33.789 behind that question mark that wasn't so good. What was how are we to 168 00:14:33.870 --> 00:14:41.940 understand this uniting all things in him, this mystery that's revealed in the fullness 169 00:14:41.980 --> 00:14:45.980 of time, as the fullness of God is revealed in the world? These 170 00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:52.009 are very deep things. Well, to understand this summary then, the end 171 00:14:52.090 --> 00:14:54.970 of the story, in a way, as it's being summarized here in Verse 172 00:14:56.090 --> 00:15:01.169 Ten, we have to understand the story right. What happened? How did 173 00:15:01.330 --> 00:15:07.049 things get to this end? The answer, of course, begins where we've 174 00:15:07.090 --> 00:15:11.240 began, in the beginning. We're God, created the world, heavens and 175 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.159 the Earth. And he made man, he put him in the world and 176 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:20.750 was with him and dwelled with him. People. When God made us, 177 00:15:20.789 --> 00:15:26.070 he made us very good. The Earth and the world was at peace. 178 00:15:28.389 --> 00:15:33.710 Man and animals live together, man and man and man and woman live together 179 00:15:33.870 --> 00:15:39.899 in peace and harmony. Things were good and when God created us, he 180 00:15:41.059 --> 00:15:46.100 entered into this relationship with us. The relationship that was there was wonderful, 181 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:54.289 pleasant and enjoyable. But, as as we all know, sin came into 182 00:15:54.330 --> 00:16:02.210 the world. That conflict behind the question mark came into the world when Adam 183 00:16:03.289 --> 00:16:10.759 and Eve disobeyed God, when they took the perfection of righteousness and holiness and 184 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:15.720 goodness, when they took their relationship with the Lord and shammed something in the 185 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:21.870 middle of it. The Sin and this sin that came into the world was 186 00:16:22.950 --> 00:16:30.230 very significant thing. It's shattered the world and you've experienced this in your lives. 187 00:16:30.309 --> 00:16:37.259 When you have a relationship that that clashes and breaks, bad things happen. 188 00:16:38.100 --> 00:16:41.419 The sin that came into the world was kind of like dropping a glass 189 00:16:41.539 --> 00:16:45.980 on the ground. It's shattered and parts when everywhere in a way that you 190 00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:51.129 can't put it back together, you can't go find this little piece, and 191 00:16:51.210 --> 00:16:55.009 that little piece and sort of glue it all back together. Why? Because 192 00:16:55.049 --> 00:16:59.450 now there's pieces missing. The fact is, not only as the glass broken, 193 00:16:59.490 --> 00:17:03.240 but we're broken. We're incapable of putting it back together. We don't 194 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:07.559 know what to do. And this is our world now. We don't live 195 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:12.720 in a world that is full of peace, kindness and gentleness. Sure in 196 00:17:12.880 --> 00:17:18.950 some ways, but in much in many ways, we look around and we 197 00:17:19.069 --> 00:17:27.190 see things that are described by words like chaos, disorder, unrighteousness, brokenness, 198 00:17:27.549 --> 00:17:33.900 dissensions, fighting war, and then all sorts of particular sins as well. 199 00:17:34.940 --> 00:17:38.539 This is why things are the way they are in the world, why 200 00:17:38.779 --> 00:17:47.490 fellowship between two people is so easily broken. It's why our relationships struggle, 201 00:17:47.650 --> 00:17:52.490 it's why we have difficulty in our families, in our work and everything. 202 00:17:52.529 --> 00:17:56.289 And, to top it all off, chief of all, our relationship with 203 00:17:56.490 --> 00:18:03.240 God is the most confused. Born into sin, we're born into this antagonism 204 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:07.640 with God. We cling to creaturely things instead of him. We worship the 205 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:14.069 creation rather than the creature, or could that rather than the creator? We 206 00:18:14.230 --> 00:18:21.109 exchange unnatural relations for natural ones. We Join The Bandwagon of fools instead of 207 00:18:21.430 --> 00:18:26.230 listening to common sense. We refuse the love of God, even when it's 208 00:18:26.269 --> 00:18:32.420 offered to US freely. This is what happened with the fall. But you 209 00:18:32.500 --> 00:18:37.660 know what, as soon as man fell, God did something that was really 210 00:18:37.779 --> 00:18:44.049 marvelous, and I hope you know this story all the way already. God 211 00:18:44.170 --> 00:18:51.849 made a promise. He promised that one day a son of the woman eve 212 00:18:52.049 --> 00:18:56.359 would be born into the world and he would set all things right. He 213 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:00.559 would come as a conqueror, he would crush the head of the deceiver, 214 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:04.160 of the liar, of the murderer, Satan. He would restore hope and 215 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:11.869 humanity, he would restore our relationships with God. And from there on, 216 00:19:11.069 --> 00:19:15.589 through the rest of the Bible, we have a history of development from that 217 00:19:15.829 --> 00:19:19.269 point. If we have been in the amend's Bible study, you hopefully are 218 00:19:19.430 --> 00:19:23.859 learning this well. As we think about the various covenants that God has made 219 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:29.019 through history, these various promises, and which one is advancing to the next, 220 00:19:29.140 --> 00:19:34.579 advancing to the next, all leading up to Jesus. And that's exactly 221 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:41.849 what happened. From the way in which God protected the sons and daughters of 222 00:19:41.970 --> 00:19:48.970 Adam and eve and brought them to a place where one day he would name 223 00:19:48.130 --> 00:19:56.440 Abraham as someone to whom he would grant, grant even even the world, 224 00:19:56.599 --> 00:20:03.160 to him heaven itself, and would use him to bless his children over all 225 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:10.470 over the world, from Abraham to Moses to David, each moment growing and 226 00:20:10.710 --> 00:20:17.029 growing in anticipation for this chosen son, for this seed, for this one 227 00:20:17.150 --> 00:20:19.950 that would come in the fullness of time and who would take all of this 228 00:20:21.269 --> 00:20:26.140 history, all of this movement, and bring it to completion. And that 229 00:20:26.339 --> 00:20:33.819 completion is the completion or the fulfillment of the promise, the promise that came 230 00:20:33.940 --> 00:20:38.410 in Genesis Three fifteen, when God promised to send the Sun, a promise 231 00:20:38.529 --> 00:20:42.089 that came to Abraham, promised that was made to Moses, a promise that 232 00:20:42.210 --> 00:20:48.289 was made to David. All of these promises, and promises to us as 233 00:20:48.410 --> 00:20:53.319 well, are fulfilled then, in Christ. What this means, then, 234 00:20:53.440 --> 00:21:00.960 is that we are at an extremely important time in history. Christ has come, 235 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:07.430 the consummation of all things has come, and this has all kinds of 236 00:21:07.470 --> 00:21:12.269 implications for our lives, doesn't it? Brothers and sisters? It means that 237 00:21:12.390 --> 00:21:18.940 this is not a time to grow slack or lazy or be unprepared. It's 238 00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:22.140 not a time to stop and our struggle against the flesh. It's not a 239 00:21:22.299 --> 00:21:26.460 time to lose hope when we're so close to the end. Have you ever 240 00:21:26.539 --> 00:21:32.140 watched the Olympics and seeing somebody moving towards the finish line and getting tired? 241 00:21:32.579 --> 00:21:34.890 You're saying, you know, Oh, you're so close, you've trained so 242 00:21:36.089 --> 00:21:40.130 hard, you're almost there. Go, go, go, oh. This 243 00:21:40.289 --> 00:21:44.009 is why the New Testament tells us, you know, run with endurance. 244 00:21:45.450 --> 00:21:49.400 Looking to Jesus, the author and perfector of your faith, says in Hebrews, 245 00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:53.359 this is not the time to stop, this is not the time to 246 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.480 get lazy. This is why Jesus is telling these parables about being prepared, 247 00:21:59.880 --> 00:22:03.710 being ready, or use farming analogies, he talks about when the harvest is 248 00:22:03.910 --> 00:22:08.549 ready you, you go out, you get the food, you that that 249 00:22:08.670 --> 00:22:14.470 has grown. It's not a time to just sit around and wait for something 250 00:22:14.509 --> 00:22:18.299 else to happen. There's an urgency to this. When we read that in 251 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:22.940 the plan and that this plan, in the fullness of time, has now 252 00:22:23.059 --> 00:22:29.220 been revealed in Christ to unite all things in him, things in heaven and 253 00:22:29.380 --> 00:22:33.650 our things on earth, it should give us a sense of urgency. It 254 00:22:33.730 --> 00:22:38.289 should give us a sense of safety and security as well, it also points 255 00:22:38.289 --> 00:22:42.369 to us where our wisdom should be. Heinrich bulling, or one of the 256 00:22:44.359 --> 00:22:48.559 great reformers, has some wonderful thoughts on this that I want to read to 257 00:22:48.599 --> 00:22:52.079 you. You know what wisdom is, right? Wisdom is just living well 258 00:22:52.319 --> 00:23:00.190 in the world. It's taking the knowledge of true things and then using that 259 00:23:00.670 --> 00:23:04.430 for good things, to your advantage in the advantage of others. For example, 260 00:23:04.630 --> 00:23:10.990 going back to plants, if you know something about how to grow an 261 00:23:11.029 --> 00:23:15.740 orange tree, let's say you can use that knowledge to grow an orange tree 262 00:23:15.819 --> 00:23:18.180 and then benefit from its food and share it with others, just as something 263 00:23:18.220 --> 00:23:23.220 as simple as that. Well, we think about wisdom, what it is 264 00:23:23.339 --> 00:23:26.690 to truly be wise, it means understanding this world that we live in. 265 00:23:26.769 --> 00:23:32.650 Right. What time are we in? What is the end of these things? 266 00:23:32.809 --> 00:23:36.569 What is the goal? All of these things are important parts of just 267 00:23:36.730 --> 00:23:40.049 regular decisionmaking. Right, if you want to buy a car, you have 268 00:23:40.170 --> 00:23:44.200 to figure in what what's our goal here? Are we trying to carry a 269 00:23:44.240 --> 00:23:48.440 bunch of kids or a bunch of fertilizer, or we trying to save money? 270 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:52.319 Or what? We know? What's the goal? What's the end that 271 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:56.670 we're after? What resources do we have what particular time of life is. 272 00:23:56.789 --> 00:23:59.470 You know, you figure all these things in and then you buy your car. 273 00:24:00.470 --> 00:24:03.309 Well, if that's wisdom, if that's operating in a smart and thoughtful 274 00:24:03.390 --> 00:24:08.750 way, living well in the world, think now, in a really grand 275 00:24:08.910 --> 00:24:15.500 scale, right when we're trying to think about true wisdom at its highest levels, 276 00:24:17.099 --> 00:24:19.579 we ought to think about the same kind of things. Where are we? 277 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:26.130 WHAT'S THE END? Bullinger says immature Christians are embarrassed by the philosophy of 278 00:24:26.170 --> 00:24:32.809 the Bible, which they abandonto the end despise as barberous and uneducated. They 279 00:24:32.890 --> 00:24:37.170 prefer ornate lies and pursue them with such amazing zeal. But then he says, 280 00:24:37.289 --> 00:24:44.000 consider, however, the true philosophy or theology or wisdom of the Scriptures. 281 00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:51.559 A long quote here, since it is of considerable importance to know whether 282 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:56.910 what we teach about life is ancient. He's talking about philosophies in general, 283 00:24:56.950 --> 00:25:02.509 whether it comes from a famous author or has been approved by the assessments and 284 00:25:02.710 --> 00:25:07.539 imitation of the most noble people. It is clear that no philosophy bigger or 285 00:25:07.619 --> 00:25:11.859 better than that of the Gospel will ever appear, because it is so old 286 00:25:11.019 --> 00:25:17.619 that it dates before the beginning of time. It was decreed from eternity and 287 00:25:17.740 --> 00:25:22.529 brought forth at a particular appointed time by the son of God himself, who 288 00:25:22.650 --> 00:25:26.369 was certainly the greatest and holiest author of all and accepted as such by the 289 00:25:26.490 --> 00:25:32.970 most holy people. No good person ever noticed any lack of wisdom, learning, 290 00:25:33.009 --> 00:25:37.119 integrity, sincerity or judgment in him, least of all the divine prophets, 291 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:41.599 who are also followers of this philosophy and bore witness to the kind of 292 00:25:41.799 --> 00:25:47.319 people they were in the famous books that they wrote and bequeathed to posterity. 293 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.750 It therefore remains certain that the truth of Christianity and the preaching of the grace 294 00:25:52.869 --> 00:25:59.750 of the Gospel is the true philosophy before whatever has been produced by the wise 295 00:25:59.869 --> 00:26:03.500 men of the world, by Plato, Aristotle, Zeno or other unregenerate mortals 296 00:26:03.539 --> 00:26:08.859 of that kind, must give way. The truth of Christ conquers everything. 297 00:26:08.940 --> 00:26:15.019 Even in ancient times, Moses overcame all the wise men of Egypt, as 298 00:26:15.140 --> 00:26:18.170 did Joseph, the son of Israel. Daniel too was set above the many 299 00:26:18.329 --> 00:26:25.170 grades of eastern sages, philosophers and sophists and became the deputy of the world's 300 00:26:25.210 --> 00:26:29.650 most powerful monarch. So what then, if, at the end of time, 301 00:26:29.930 --> 00:26:33.279 God has surpassed all the wisdom and eloquence of the whole world by the 302 00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:41.640 fullest preaching of the Cross and the uneducated speech of fishermen or cellists? Blessed 303 00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:48.430 and praised be God forever, who has made his truth triumph even today against 304 00:26:48.430 --> 00:26:51.990 the most powerful enemies of this world. To him be the glory forever. 305 00:26:52.670 --> 00:26:57.269 Amen. So there's blowlinger preaching it right. You see what he's saying. 306 00:26:57.349 --> 00:27:00.460 He says, if you want to think about okay, wisdom, how do 307 00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:04.660 I live my life? Rightly, you are a fool to look at anything 308 00:27:04.740 --> 00:27:11.900 apart from this thing that Paul is talking about. Why? Because it's talking 309 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:15.690 about our chief and highest end, to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. 310 00:27:17.210 --> 00:27:21.650 It's talking about everything that has happened in the fullness of time advancing and 311 00:27:21.849 --> 00:27:26.690 moving to this place. Apart from him, your philosophy is a disaster. 312 00:27:27.490 --> 00:27:34.400 Apart from him, wisdom's only partial and incomplete, like shattered pieces of glass 313 00:27:34.599 --> 00:27:40.880 broken on the floor, missing an unknown. You put it together and you'll 314 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:45.069 just never get a coherent system of thought. You'll never be advancing. I 315 00:27:45.150 --> 00:27:48.549 mean you'll advance a little bit, maybe you'll be able to buy a car 316 00:27:48.630 --> 00:27:52.710 or something like that, but in the true things of life and the deep 317 00:27:52.789 --> 00:27:56.869 things of life, why it matters that we do the things that we do 318 00:27:56.829 --> 00:28:02.259 and the things that really last and the things that really matter, you'll have 319 00:28:02.420 --> 00:28:07.619 nothing. Apart from Christ. We have nothing because in Christ, and in 320 00:28:07.700 --> 00:28:15.089 Christ only, has God revealed everything. Has He revealed the the a plan 321 00:28:15.329 --> 00:28:22.210 which he set forth from the beginning, namely to reconcile all things to himself 322 00:28:22.730 --> 00:28:30.039 through the blood of the cross. It's not just Jesus, it's not just 323 00:28:30.240 --> 00:28:34.920 Jesus who was born, but it's Jesus who was born and who died so 324 00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:41.509 that we could have all things in him. So it's not just about having 325 00:28:41.549 --> 00:28:48.710 a coherent system of thought, though that is of course critical for daily living, 326 00:28:49.509 --> 00:28:53.150 but it means that it's not just at the level of thinking, but 327 00:28:53.670 --> 00:29:02.539 at the level of being. Apart from him, all is lost, all 328 00:29:02.660 --> 00:29:07.059 is lost. Apart from Christ, you have nothing useful, because all things 329 00:29:07.299 --> 00:29:12.369 useful and good are culminating in him, and anything that does not bow its 330 00:29:12.490 --> 00:29:18.529 heart to him will be crushed by him in his in the weight of his 331 00:29:18.650 --> 00:29:23.880 goodness and the weight of his glory, He will crush all evil beneath his 332 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.680 feet. And so instead of standing up to him and saying I can take 333 00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:34.839 the king of the universe, we bow before him and we say thank you 334 00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:41.269 for giving yourself to me, for dying for me, so that I can 335 00:29:41.349 --> 00:29:48.150 be forgiven of my sins, so that I can have salvation, fellowship with 336 00:29:48.349 --> 00:29:52.700 God, the gift of the spirit. Outside of Christ, we're like Adam 337 00:29:52.779 --> 00:29:57.779 and Eve, outside of the garden, blocked by his fiery angels guarding the 338 00:29:57.779 --> 00:30:03.700 very presence of the Lord. But in Christ we are brought back in, 339 00:30:04.900 --> 00:30:10.170 but not just to the garden of Eden, but to the Garden of Eden 340 00:30:10.289 --> 00:30:15.970 and its advanced form and it's consummated form. We're not just brought back to 341 00:30:17.089 --> 00:30:21.839 the beginning, we're brought forward to the end, where the glory of the 342 00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:27.559 Lord is made not just to belong to a garden, but encompasses the heavens 343 00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:37.430 and the earth complete, as wide and as big as you can possibly imagine. 344 00:30:40.349 --> 00:30:45.390 And that's why these messengers who are sent by Christ, are testifying to 345 00:30:45.470 --> 00:30:49.980 us these are the blessings that you have in him and in him alone, 346 00:30:52.500 --> 00:30:56.180 the righteousness of the law, the justice required for sin, communion with God, 347 00:30:56.619 --> 00:31:03.180 sanctification, holiness, glorification, fellowship of humanity, peace, holiness, 348 00:31:03.490 --> 00:31:11.329 everything good and wonderful comes together in him. Apart from him, we try 349 00:31:11.369 --> 00:31:14.930 to piece it together, we take a little bit of this, a little 350 00:31:14.930 --> 00:31:19.319 bit of that, and it never works. But in him we have it 351 00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:29.640 all. So go to him, go to him, find what you need 352 00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:37.910 in him and him alone. Seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the King of 353 00:31:38.029 --> 00:31:41.950 Heaven First, and all the rest will be added under you.