The Lavish Grace of God (Ephesians 1:6-7)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.640 If you're able to remain standing, please do and give your attention to Ephesians 2 00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:09.710 chapter one. I'm going to be preaching on some words from versus six and 3 00:00:09.869 --> 00:00:15.550 seven, but I'm going to read one beginning at the at the beginning of 4 00:00:15.630 --> 00:00:19.870 the chapter, Chapter One. Ephesians chapter one, let's give our attention to 5 00:00:19.949 --> 00:00:25.980 God's word. Paul and Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, 6 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:31.500 to the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus, 7 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:36.369 grace to you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 00:00:37.929 --> 00:00:41.850 Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, WHO's blessed 9 00:00:41.850 --> 00:00:46.649 us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he 10 00:00:46.850 --> 00:00:50.840 chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be 11 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:57.039 holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as 12 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:00.359 sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the 13 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:06.510 praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved. 14 00:01:07.390 --> 00:01:11.989 In Him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, 15 00:01:11.510 --> 00:01:15.189 according to the riches of His grace which he lavished upon us, and 16 00:01:15.310 --> 00:01:19.859 all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, 17 00:01:19.859 --> 00:01:23.500 according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for 18 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:29.180 the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and 19 00:01:30.099 --> 00:01:34.730 things on earth. In Him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been 20 00:01:34.849 --> 00:01:38.409 predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel 21 00:01:38.450 --> 00:01:42.609 of his will, so that we, who were the first to hope in 22 00:01:42.689 --> 00:01:46.370 Christ, might be to the praise of his glory. In Him, you 23 00:01:46.530 --> 00:01:49.719 also, when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation 24 00:01:49.799 --> 00:01:53.280 and believed in him. We're sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is 25 00:01:53.359 --> 00:02:00.519 the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise 26 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:16.139 of his glory, you may be seated. What marvelous passage. I just 27 00:02:16.300 --> 00:02:24.900 can't get over how rich this is, so dense, so packed. Perhaps 28 00:02:24.939 --> 00:02:30.729 you've done a little bit with stones before, minerals and things like that, 29 00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:35.250 and you know some things are like Pummus, very light, and other things 30 00:02:35.610 --> 00:02:43.409 surprisingly heavy, surprisingly dense. This passage is definitely like that, so full 31 00:02:43.810 --> 00:02:51.159 and that's one reason we've been moving slowly, carefully unpacking on these various things 32 00:02:51.560 --> 00:02:55.360 that Paul is is bringing to our attension here. But as we do that, 33 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:02.110 I don't want you to to lose the sense of movement that and the 34 00:03:02.229 --> 00:03:07.069 objective that Paul has here, which is to bring us to praise, to 35 00:03:07.189 --> 00:03:10.349 the praise of his glory, as it mentions a few times, or as 36 00:03:10.590 --> 00:03:14.900 we have in verse three, blessed be the God and father of our Lord, 37 00:03:14.979 --> 00:03:19.819 Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in 38 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:25.020 the heavenly places. The theme of Ephesians is very much about what Paul says 39 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:30.569 in Verse Ten, that in Christ, in the fullness of time, he 40 00:03:30.729 --> 00:03:35.409 is uniting all things in in him, things in heaven and things on Earth, 41 00:03:35.409 --> 00:03:38.569 and we are going to spend a lot of time thinking as we go 42 00:03:38.849 --> 00:03:45.000 through this book about what that means. The new creation is inaugurated and united 43 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:51.360 in Christ. But before we get to unpacking that in more and more detail, 44 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:58.550 Paul is just pouring into our minds the one who has united these things, 45 00:03:59.870 --> 00:04:01.949 what it is that he has done, how it is we have been 46 00:04:02.550 --> 00:04:09.550 made a part of them. He is and so tonight we continue our meditation 47 00:04:09.789 --> 00:04:15.379 on the Wondrous Works of God, these works by which he has established something 48 00:04:15.620 --> 00:04:25.889 new, something wonderful. Paul's expression of this began in verse three, as 49 00:04:25.930 --> 00:04:30.889 I just read, in kind of a general way, general just meaning in 50 00:04:30.970 --> 00:04:35.329 an overview, comprehensive way, when he says who has blessed us in Christ 51 00:04:35.449 --> 00:04:44.399 with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Then he goes on from there, 52 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:47.160 and this is leading up to where we are tonight. I'm bringing you 53 00:04:47.240 --> 00:04:51.560 up to versus six and seven. After verse three, he establishes the beginning 54 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:57.750 of this new work, which is really a beginning before the beginnings, right, 55 00:04:57.910 --> 00:05:02.149 because he says even as he chose us in him, before the foundation 56 00:05:02.350 --> 00:05:08.740 of the world, so before the Bible says in the beginning God created the 57 00:05:08.779 --> 00:05:13.379 heavens and the earth, the Bible recognizes or tells us that there was something 58 00:05:13.459 --> 00:05:19.779 before that, in some way humanly speaking, something in the mind of God, 59 00:05:19.980 --> 00:05:26.329 in an action of God, even before the foundation of the world, 60 00:05:27.730 --> 00:05:32.490 in which we were chosen in him. And then he gives us a reason 61 00:05:32.730 --> 00:05:36.600 for that, the purpose. So if that's the beginning of the foundation of 62 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:39.959 the work that God is doing. Then he tells us about the end, 63 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:44.800 and it's this that we should be holy and blameless before him. Then he 64 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:48.759 goes back to the beginning and says in love he predestined us. Then here's 65 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:54.389 the reason why, for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the 66 00:05:54.509 --> 00:05:59.550 purpose of his will, to the praise of his glaorous grace, and that's 67 00:05:59.589 --> 00:06:03.740 what we've covered so far. Tonight we begin with the phrase with which he 68 00:06:03.939 --> 00:06:13.019 has blessed us in the beloved. We begin here because Paul breaks up these 69 00:06:13.459 --> 00:06:17.500 passages not according to the sentences that we have in our English translation, but 70 00:06:17.689 --> 00:06:21.889 according to these periods that I talked about long time ago, back at the 71 00:06:21.930 --> 00:06:26.529 beginning. You can go listen to that sermon if you're a little if you're 72 00:06:26.529 --> 00:06:30.610 interested in that. Paul begins a new period here, a new a new 73 00:06:30.730 --> 00:06:34.480 breath, a new thought, and we don't usually begin our English sentences that 74 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:39.120 with the word which, but Paul Paul does in a way. Here he 75 00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:46.000 says which he has blessed us in the beloved. This is a remarkable thing 76 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:49.149 that he says here and I do want to draw your attention to it. 77 00:06:49.230 --> 00:06:57.550 It's remarkable for a few reasons. One is that Paul doesn't describe Jesus Christ 78 00:06:57.709 --> 00:07:00.860 this way very often in his letters. I'm it does happen, but it's 79 00:07:00.860 --> 00:07:06.740 not frequent. This word beloved. He usually uses the words that we've had 80 00:07:06.779 --> 00:07:13.060 already. Converse one he called Jesus. He referred to him as Christ, 81 00:07:13.259 --> 00:07:17.250 Jesus or in Verse Three, Lord Jesus Christ and, by implications, son 82 00:07:17.490 --> 00:07:23.410 of the father. Verse then he calls him again Christ in verse three. 83 00:07:24.410 --> 00:07:29.569 Then in verse five, again Jesus Christ. So we have these this frequent 84 00:07:29.610 --> 00:07:33.399 title Jesus Christ, Jesus or Jesus Christ, back and forth, I'm a 85 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:40.439 reference to him as a son. And then he describes him here as the 86 00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:45.990 beloved. Why? Why does Paul talk about him in this way now, 87 00:07:46.110 --> 00:07:50.709 with with which he has blessed us in the beloved? Why here and why 88 00:07:50.870 --> 00:07:58.110 now? Well, one reason is it's to remind us of the of the 89 00:07:58.389 --> 00:08:03.819 the context or the way in which God has been saving us. Remember just 90 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:09.300 a few verses before when he says in love he predestined us for adoption. 91 00:08:09.899 --> 00:08:16.810 We are loved not just in general, we are loved in Christ according to 92 00:08:16.930 --> 00:08:22.050 the will of the father who has loved him. Now, if this sounds 93 00:08:22.089 --> 00:08:26.850 like I'm about to repreach my sermon from this morning. That's because I am. 94 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:31.799 No, I won't do that much, but it's very much the same 95 00:08:31.840 --> 00:08:37.159 idea here, and don't be surprised, this is a major theme in scripture, 96 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:43.149 that the love which we were, the love we have, the love 97 00:08:43.269 --> 00:08:48.990 that we have been saved by, is not a generic love. You don't 98 00:08:48.990 --> 00:08:54.110 even want to think of it as God. Am Sort of this abstract divinity 99 00:08:56.460 --> 00:09:01.259 loving in some way, but it's very particular, the Triune God, Father, 100 00:09:01.500 --> 00:09:09.090 son and Holy Spirit loving us in Christ, loving us through the beloved 101 00:09:09.330 --> 00:09:15.090 one. Let me point to you, especially for those who weren't here this 102 00:09:15.289 --> 00:09:20.610 morning, to John, John Chapter Ten, and will read just a couple 103 00:09:20.690 --> 00:09:24.559 verses there and then also read to you verse I didn't read to you this 104 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:35.720 morning a John Chapter Ten, the verses fifteen and seventeen. Here Jesus says, 105 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:39.429 just as the father knows me and I know the father, I lay 106 00:09:39.590 --> 00:09:45.950 down my life for the sheep. Okay, he connects his work. His 107 00:09:46.269 --> 00:09:50.389 laying down his life, which he describes a later in Chapter Fifteen, is 108 00:09:50.590 --> 00:09:54.019 an act of love, is the greatest act of love. This is in 109 00:09:54.139 --> 00:10:01.500 the context of him knowing his father and his father knowing him. Then if 110 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:05.419 you go to verse seventeen, he says for this reason, the father loves 111 00:10:05.580 --> 00:10:11.289 me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 112 00:10:11.330 --> 00:10:18.690 Or if you go back to chapter three, John Three, verse Thirty 113 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:26.840 Five, we read the father loves the son and has given all things into 114 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:33.240 his hand. So you're the context in which Paul is writing in effusions, 115 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:37.429 and he says in him all things in heaven and earth are united together, 116 00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:45.110 all things are given to him. Why? Because the father has loved the 117 00:10:45.269 --> 00:10:56.940 son. The son is beloved. Now that might be merely interesting theological trinitarian 118 00:10:56.100 --> 00:11:01.460 talk and nothing more if it weren't for the fact that our entire life, 119 00:11:03.379 --> 00:11:09.409 our entire salvation, depends on this point, and not just logically depending, 120 00:11:09.490 --> 00:11:18.840 although that's true, but spiritually it depends on this. We live according to 121 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:26.559 this spiritual reality in which we are saved in the beloved one, no other 122 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:31.799 way. There is no other salvation apart from him, apart from him whom 123 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:41.070 the father has loved and has loved us in him. The implications of this 124 00:11:41.190 --> 00:11:46.429 are many. One of them is this, to the praise of his glorious 125 00:11:46.429 --> 00:11:52.980 grace, these thoughts bring us back to God. They pull out the rug 126 00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:58.980 many kind of selfjustification that we might be trying to achieve any time, any 127 00:12:00.019 --> 00:12:03.289 way in which we might be trying to pride ourselves and the things we do, 128 00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:07.009 the way we are, the gifts that we have. The Bible is 129 00:12:07.169 --> 00:12:16.159 pointing back to us in increasingly complex and rich and beautiful and wonderful ways who 130 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:22.000 God is and what he has done, and that our life is lived entirely 131 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:33.429 in him. Again to Ephesians, with which he has blessed us, in 132 00:12:33.750 --> 00:12:43.340 the beloved now Paul goes on to explain this in more detail in verse seven, 133 00:12:46.100 --> 00:12:50.740 when he says in Him, in this beloved one, in Him, 134 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:58.049 we have the redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to 135 00:12:58.129 --> 00:13:05.889 the riches of His grace. What does he mean by this? How should 136 00:13:05.889 --> 00:13:13.720 we think about the love of God when we think about redemption? We have 137 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:18.279 redemption. What does it mean to have redemption? What is redemption? Well, 138 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:22.360 in the old world, in the world of the New Testament and the 139 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:26.870 Old Testament as well, redemption typically meant one of two things. You were 140 00:13:26.950 --> 00:13:33.629 eat it meant you were bought out of something, either from slavery or possibly 141 00:13:33.710 --> 00:13:39.350 from kidnapping. Right, this would be the ransom that's paid. You know, 142 00:13:39.429 --> 00:13:43.860 if somebody were to kidnap a family member of yours and demand a ransom, 143 00:13:43.259 --> 00:13:48.019 you would to use this language redeem them out of that situation by paying, 144 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:52.220 paying the ransom. There would be this cost that would be paid. 145 00:13:54.179 --> 00:13:58.169 Well, in addition to kidnapping, a slavery was the other way in which 146 00:13:58.169 --> 00:14:03.129 this would happen, as someone would be a slave, indebted somehow, in 147 00:14:03.289 --> 00:14:07.570 some way, and that person could be redeemed out of that situation by a 148 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:15.159 price being a price being paid. Now, this is a very common and 149 00:14:15.480 --> 00:14:18.879 strong image. Remember, we sang about that in one of our hymns. 150 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:24.389 By his redeeming grace. You might remember in Sunday school this morning I told 151 00:14:24.429 --> 00:14:30.230 you to beware of Bible words that you just sort of repeated your mind without 152 00:14:30.309 --> 00:14:33.789 really knowing what they are. What does it mean that God has saved us 153 00:14:33.830 --> 00:14:41.220 with not just grace, but redeeming grace? Specifically, what does that mean 154 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:45.700 that God has done for you, for us? It means that we were 155 00:14:45.740 --> 00:14:52.330 slaves and we have been purchased out of slavery. That's the particular or kind 156 00:14:52.370 --> 00:14:58.450 of grace that we're talking about when we talk about his redeeming grace. Let 157 00:14:58.490 --> 00:15:01.610 me just ask you, as a point of application, is that a a 158 00:15:03.610 --> 00:15:09.440 way in which you think about your salvation? If not, this is a 159 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:13.360 good time to start, because here it is and God's word. He's bringing 160 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:16.320 it forward to you and saying this is something to pay attention to. This 161 00:15:16.360 --> 00:15:20.240 is what I have done for you. I have redeemed you in him. 162 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:26.870 We have redemption through his blood. That's the payment. Will get to that 163 00:15:26.990 --> 00:15:31.110 in a moment, but think a little bit more about this, this image. 164 00:15:33.789 --> 00:15:37.059 It is, of course, a spiritual reality, which is why sometimes 165 00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:43.620 we we forget this point. Hopefully, none of you have experienced kidnapping or 166 00:15:43.740 --> 00:15:48.340 slavery. As far as I know, that's that's not true, and if 167 00:15:48.379 --> 00:15:52.330 it is, I'm very sorry. It does happen in the world still. 168 00:15:52.210 --> 00:15:56.690 It's a terrible thing, and let me ask you, if you imagine yourself, 169 00:15:56.690 --> 00:16:00.970 if you put yourself in the shoes of someone, let's say, who 170 00:16:00.009 --> 00:16:07.840 had been a slave and had been purchased out of that, how much do 171 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:12.519 you think that would affect the way you live your life today, the way 172 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:18.549 you think about yourself, the way that you live in the world? The 173 00:16:18.669 --> 00:16:26.470 way you hear things, when you hear words like redemption or freedom, or 174 00:16:26.509 --> 00:16:32.149 or life or slavery or any of these kinds of these kinds of words. 175 00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:41.179 My guess is that would forever affect everything, that it would be a remarkable 176 00:16:41.340 --> 00:16:47.570 moment, a a a signal moment in your life, a touchstone that you 177 00:16:47.610 --> 00:16:52.610 would constantly be going back to. Would you people asked you, Oh, 178 00:16:52.649 --> 00:16:55.970 where'd you grow up? And on these kinds of getting to know you questions, 179 00:16:56.289 --> 00:16:59.730 it would be one of those things that first would come out. Well, 180 00:16:59.769 --> 00:17:04.039 I should probably tell you I was a slave at one point. It's 181 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:10.359 a significant thing. Right now, most of us haven't experience that in sort 182 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:14.440 of this world, in this age and physical terms, but we if we 183 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:19.349 are Christians. This is exactly what we have experienced if we have been redeemed. 184 00:17:21.789 --> 00:17:26.829 One of the most powerful and common examples of this in scripture is the 185 00:17:26.990 --> 00:17:30.900 redemption of God's people out of slavery from Egypt. A lot of times when 186 00:17:30.980 --> 00:17:37.099 redemption slavery language is used, it's used with reference to that. What does 187 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:41.339 it mean to be enslaved? While we know in those chapters of exodus, 188 00:17:42.019 --> 00:17:48.009 they, God's people, were under a power which they could not extricate themselves 189 00:17:48.089 --> 00:17:53.009 from. It was a superior your power to them. It kept them in 190 00:17:53.210 --> 00:18:00.720 bondage. They hurt, they suffered, they died. They served a foreign 191 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:08.559 power, they served easy Egypt. They had to belong to Pharaoh and that 192 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:15.630 society, and it was it was awful. But God brought them out of 193 00:18:15.829 --> 00:18:19.190 this. He brought them out of this slavery, and that's what Paul is 194 00:18:19.309 --> 00:18:26.420 saying. He has done for us. But slavery to what? What is 195 00:18:26.460 --> 00:18:33.059 it that you were once a slave to? Do you know? Do you 196 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:40.259 remember? It's expressed in various ways in scripture. John Thirty Four says everyone 197 00:18:40.339 --> 00:18:45.730 who practices sin as a slave to sin. Perhaps you have lived your life 198 00:18:45.769 --> 00:18:51.849 at one point where you were a slave to sin, where there was no 199 00:18:52.130 --> 00:18:56.880 stopping you, where you consistently, constantly presented the members of your body to 200 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:04.160 sin as your master, your thoughts, your actions, everything. There's another 201 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:08.680 way in which scripture talks about our slavery before the redemption that we have in 202 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:14.309 Christ, from glacians. I'll read a little bit of that to you now. 203 00:19:14.390 --> 00:19:18.750 This is the book right before Ephesians, glacians, chapter four, verse 204 00:19:18.910 --> 00:19:23.900 three. Here's what, all rights, he says in the same way. 205 00:19:25.339 --> 00:19:30.420 We also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of 206 00:19:30.539 --> 00:19:37.380 this world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth 207 00:19:37.460 --> 00:19:41.650 his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem 208 00:19:41.009 --> 00:19:47.609 those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 209 00:19:47.650 --> 00:19:52.880 Hear that Ephesians language. They're right, adoption as sons. And because 210 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:56.759 you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, 211 00:19:56.839 --> 00:20:00.400 crying ab of father. So you are no longer a slave but a 212 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:06.839 son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Formerly, 213 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:11.230 when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that, by 214 00:20:11.349 --> 00:20:15.390 nature, were not gods. I'll stop there. So what does Paul say 215 00:20:15.789 --> 00:20:22.619 we were enslaved to? He says three things. He says first, that 216 00:20:22.740 --> 00:20:27.460 we were enslaved to the elementary principles of this world. Second, he says 217 00:20:27.700 --> 00:20:32.900 that we were enslaved to the law because of verse five, he came, 218 00:20:33.059 --> 00:20:37.730 Jesus came to redeem those who were under the law. And then, third, 219 00:20:37.890 --> 00:20:41.690 in Verse Eight, he says that we were enslaved to those that, 220 00:20:41.849 --> 00:20:47.650 by nature, are not God's. Now this might be a little bit of 221 00:20:47.690 --> 00:20:51.119 a confusing thing, but this is very important. If we're asking the question, 222 00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:56.079 how was I a slave? From what have I been redeemed? Well, 223 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:00.279 Paul is saying two things that go together, but it might be a 224 00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:04.589 little bit to get difficult to understand if you're not familiar with this. He's 225 00:21:04.710 --> 00:21:11.190 saying that we were enslaved to the law and he's saying that we are in 226 00:21:11.309 --> 00:21:14.710 slower under the law, and he was also also saying that we were enslaved 227 00:21:15.390 --> 00:21:22.500 to sin. The law, however, is a good thing. Sin is 228 00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:30.380 a bad thing. So how can Paul Talk so strongly about our slavery, 229 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:36.809 particularly under the law, as this negative thing? How can he equate it 230 00:21:36.970 --> 00:21:44.089 to serving other gods? The answer we find, if you'll permit me to 231 00:21:44.170 --> 00:21:49.720 skip to yet another passage of scriptures. In Romans seven, Paul explains this 232 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:55.079 here. He addresses this question. How is it that the law which enslaved 233 00:21:55.119 --> 00:22:02.150 us is good? And here's his answer. He says in the seven verse 234 00:22:02.269 --> 00:22:07.230 five, for while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, 235 00:22:07.269 --> 00:22:11.950 aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for 236 00:22:12.190 --> 00:22:19.579 death. In other words, he's saying that when we lived under the law, 237 00:22:19.740 --> 00:22:26.740 we lived in a particular state. The law is good, but are 238 00:22:26.259 --> 00:22:33.369 our sinful flesh, our sinful passion, passions aroused by the law, brought 239 00:22:33.450 --> 00:22:40.490 forth bad fruit, blaw good thumbs up, our life under the law bums 240 00:22:40.569 --> 00:22:45.400 down. Why? Because of the way we responded to it, because of 241 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:49.039 the death that we brought forth. Skip down to verse eight in that same 242 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:56.680 passage. Roman seven, he says, explains this. But sin seizing an 243 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:04.190 opportunity through the commandment produced in meet all kinds of covetousness. For apart from 244 00:23:04.190 --> 00:23:10.029 the law, sin lies dead. I was alive, apart from the law, 245 00:23:10.109 --> 00:23:15.460 but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The 246 00:23:15.740 --> 00:23:25.259 very commandment that promised life proved to be deaf to me, for sin seizing 247 00:23:25.339 --> 00:23:30.009 an opportunity through the commandment deceived me and through it killed me. So the 248 00:23:30.049 --> 00:23:37.690 law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. You see 249 00:23:37.690 --> 00:23:41.009 what he's saying? He's saying that when, when our sinful desires, when 250 00:23:41.049 --> 00:23:47.039 our flesh is corrupted by sin, when God says you shall not covet sin 251 00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:53.240 doesn't respond to that in a righteous way. It's Sin Right. Sin Responds 252 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:56.589 to it in a sinful way. So when God says you shall not covet 253 00:23:56.710 --> 00:24:03.990 sin goes the other way. Ah, covening, I remember that. That 254 00:24:03.230 --> 00:24:08.269 sounds good. Let's do that. That's what sin does and that's what somebody 255 00:24:08.309 --> 00:24:14.740 who is enslaved to sin does. That's what somebody who is under the law 256 00:24:14.980 --> 00:24:21.259 does and always does, because the power of the law holds us there. 257 00:24:22.019 --> 00:24:29.769 We can never rise to meet the law because of these passions that are inside 258 00:24:29.769 --> 00:24:33.730 to us. And so it's this one terrible cycle of sin and death and 259 00:24:33.930 --> 00:24:40.799 slavery and bondage. God speaks the law, holy and just and we respond 260 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:44.559 to it in a sinful way. We bear forth the fruit of death and 261 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:48.640 we die and we suffer and we respond to that not and by repentance and 262 00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:53.230 obedience, but by breaking the law again and again and again. And Paul. 263 00:24:53.390 --> 00:24:57.750 For Paul this is personal. Remember that word me. He says, 264 00:24:57.789 --> 00:25:03.190 when the commandment was spoken to me, Sin came alive in me and produced 265 00:25:03.190 --> 00:25:07.660 all kinds of covetousness. Is His example there. But any commandment will do. 266 00:25:10.099 --> 00:25:15.940 No doubt you have experienced this. So remember what Paul says in Galatians. 267 00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:22.809 He says that Jesus has come to do something else. God has sent 268 00:25:22.049 --> 00:25:26.769 his son, his beloved son, to be born under the law, to 269 00:25:26.930 --> 00:25:33.089 redeem us from the law. Right or stay here in Roman seven, when 270 00:25:33.089 --> 00:25:38.200 he says, but now we are released from the law, released from the 271 00:25:38.319 --> 00:25:45.559 law having died to that which held US captive. He uses died because he's 272 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:48.599 using this other example which I won't get into the context here, but he's 273 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:52.109 saying it no longer has power over us. It's it's dead to us. 274 00:25:52.230 --> 00:25:56.430 To use that phrase for the moment, he's saying, but now we are 275 00:25:56.470 --> 00:26:03.069 released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so 276 00:26:03.230 --> 00:26:08.900 that we can live lawless lives. No, so that we can serve in 277 00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:12.819 the new way of the spirit and not in the old way of the Rick 278 00:26:12.900 --> 00:26:18.809 and written code. Going back to Ephesians. Now, what do you say? 279 00:26:18.849 --> 00:26:22.849 What does he say? We are saved to to be holy and blameless, 280 00:26:22.769 --> 00:26:27.289 not to be reckless and unrighteous. Here you're released from the law. 281 00:26:27.490 --> 00:26:30.930 Now go and sin and be married. All right, that's not the point. 282 00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:36.880 The we are released from the power of the law, because the power 283 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:44.079 of the law over US is death. Something different has to happen. The 284 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:48.349 Standard of the law has to be met. And the penalty for the law 285 00:26:48.910 --> 00:26:55.950 has to be paid, and until that happens, that power remains over us 286 00:26:56.069 --> 00:27:00.579 and we are nothing but slaves to our own sinful passions. The law is 287 00:27:00.740 --> 00:27:06.019 good, the power of the law is good, but to us sinners it 288 00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:12.500 is death. Something has to happen in relation to sin in order for us 289 00:27:14.019 --> 00:27:25.289 to be released. What well, nothing that we can do, but certainly 290 00:27:25.450 --> 00:27:29.490 something God has done, and that's what he is getting at. In Rome 291 00:27:29.690 --> 00:27:36.160 arth, well, in all of these books, in Ephesians. In Him 292 00:27:36.519 --> 00:27:47.990 we have redemption. How through his blood, that was the price of the 293 00:27:48.029 --> 00:27:55.029 ransom. Jesus lived his life in such a way that he obeyed the law, 294 00:27:56.150 --> 00:27:59.900 so that the law, which promised life to Paul, all you have 295 00:27:59.980 --> 00:28:02.740 to do, Paul, is obey it and you will live, but ultimately 296 00:28:02.819 --> 00:28:07.579 proved death because he couldn't obey it, because he was continuously sinful. For 297 00:28:07.819 --> 00:28:15.089 Jesus, however, who knew no sin and obey the law, it did 298 00:28:15.289 --> 00:28:19.849 prove to be life, and not only for him but for all who are 299 00:28:21.210 --> 00:28:26.200 in him, in the beloved one who meets out then, who meets the 300 00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:33.920 commandment of God. He loved as he was required to love, and that 301 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:41.039 is good news for us, because in that it means that the the righteous 302 00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:45.869 requirements of the law was met in him, and the curse and the penalty 303 00:28:45.029 --> 00:28:52.390 which was supposed to be paid by us, God says, I'll pay it 304 00:28:53.549 --> 00:28:59.180 all, take care of it. You See, our slavery under the law 305 00:28:59.500 --> 00:29:04.220 and under sin and death, was not something that we're not responsible for. 306 00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:14.009 It's our sin, it's our punishment. We can't look at our former slavery 307 00:29:14.049 --> 00:29:17.529 and say, yeah, that was a really terrible situation. Has Really Nice 308 00:29:17.569 --> 00:29:21.369 to God to help me out of that now. It was a situation which 309 00:29:21.609 --> 00:29:29.599 we put ourselves into, in which man shows to listen to the words of 310 00:29:29.680 --> 00:29:33.880 the Evil One, to disobey the requirements of the law and to plunge us, 311 00:29:36.359 --> 00:29:38.869 I'm all, into an estate, as the catechism says, of sin 312 00:29:38.990 --> 00:29:45.029 and misery. So here we are in a state of rebellion, of sin, 313 00:29:45.230 --> 00:29:52.349 of misery, of slavery, and God comes and he says come out, 314 00:29:53.940 --> 00:30:03.579 let my people go, and we are released. And as the lambs 315 00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:08.930 blood was shed on the door and death passed over the house of Israel, 316 00:30:11.410 --> 00:30:15.970 so to the lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who came into the world 317 00:30:15.009 --> 00:30:22.440 when his blood was shed. It was shed in such a way, and 318 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:30.079 it was valuable and worthy and holy in such a way that God would and 319 00:30:30.279 --> 00:30:37.150 did pass over the death that was due to us and brought us out of 320 00:30:37.390 --> 00:30:42.990 slavery and into the Kingdom, as Paul says, in of another place, 321 00:30:44.069 --> 00:30:53.819 of his beloved son and Clausians. In Him we have redemption through his blood, 322 00:30:55.980 --> 00:31:07.529 the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace. If 323 00:31:07.569 --> 00:31:12.730 you had been bought out of slavery, would you not forever remember that, 324 00:31:14.769 --> 00:31:18.519 be more by it, think about it, recognize the freedom that you have 325 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:26.599 today. Is that as one who came free? And if this happened in 326 00:31:26.680 --> 00:31:34.069 in sort of on a human level and merely for this age, how indebted? 327 00:31:34.150 --> 00:31:38.150 Let me ask you this, how indebted would you feel to the person 328 00:31:38.230 --> 00:31:45.910 who bought your freedom? I fewer slave and someone purchased your freedom. How 329 00:31:45.950 --> 00:31:52.980 would you feel to that person for the rest of your life, forever and 330 00:31:53.019 --> 00:31:56.579 die? How could you? What could you even say about that? How 331 00:31:56.619 --> 00:32:00.980 could you ever express enough gratitude, enough thankfulness? How could you ever show 332 00:32:00.059 --> 00:32:05.970 enough appreciation? How could you ever live in a way that was worthy of 333 00:32:06.049 --> 00:32:09.369 that? You know, many ways you could never but Jesus didn't just redeem 334 00:32:09.410 --> 00:32:15.880 us from a temporary human slavery situation. He redeemed us from the slavery of 335 00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:23.480 death itself, from bondage to sin forever, that we should be wholly and 336 00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:34.269 blameless and enjoy eternal life and freedom in him. How does that affect your 337 00:32:34.390 --> 00:32:37.630 life? If it does, if you are a Christian, it must, 338 00:32:38.630 --> 00:32:43.349 even if you have not been fully aware of all of these facts, the 339 00:32:43.509 --> 00:32:46.900 spiritual react, lady, the truthfulness of it is all the same. And 340 00:32:47.059 --> 00:32:51.700 as you become more aware of what it is God has done for you, 341 00:32:52.099 --> 00:32:57.019 how much more will that affect your life, shape the ways you think and 342 00:32:57.220 --> 00:33:05.369 walk? There are so many applications to this I'll mentioned three quick ones and 343 00:33:05.450 --> 00:33:09.609 then let you have fun with the rest. One is when Paul talks about 344 00:33:09.609 --> 00:33:14.359 in Romans six, he says, if you've been brought out of slavery, 345 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:19.279 where you used to present your members, the namely the physical parts of your 346 00:33:19.319 --> 00:33:23.079 body, if used to present these things to slaves of righteousness, your slaves 347 00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:30.309 of God, now present your members to him. Give yourself over to him 348 00:33:30.309 --> 00:33:35.309 as one who has bought you with a price, who's lavished His grace upon 349 00:33:35.430 --> 00:33:40.700 you and set you into freedom. Another way the Bible talks about this and 350 00:33:40.740 --> 00:33:45.299 applies this is Paul's trip pulling his hair out in glaciers, and he's saying, 351 00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:51.420 how can you be turning back to the law? What are you doing? 352 00:33:52.140 --> 00:33:57.250 How can you after you've been set free from this? Why are you 353 00:33:57.410 --> 00:34:04.250 going back to this? Another thing that some of us need to apply to 354 00:34:04.329 --> 00:34:08.409 our lives, and a third thing, which Paul Mentions in Ephesians, is 355 00:34:08.489 --> 00:34:14.639 that because of this, we have a unity in Christ and with other's that 356 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:27.510 expands all boundaries. Slave or free, he says, male or female, 357 00:34:27.590 --> 00:34:34.510 Jew or gentile. We have been brought out of this death, out of 358 00:34:34.670 --> 00:34:38.340 this sin, out of this bondage, so that we can now be united 359 00:34:38.460 --> 00:34:45.219 with others. He is lavished upon not just this individual and that individual, 360 00:34:45.659 --> 00:34:54.250 but a body of people, saints, Holy Ones. It affects how we 361 00:34:54.409 --> 00:35:00.090 think about each other. You too, you too, you are a slave 362 00:35:00.250 --> 00:35:07.519 too. Just like me, I was rescued from bondage to it affects the 363 00:35:07.599 --> 00:35:10.280 way we talk about it. It gives zeal to the way in which we 364 00:35:10.760 --> 00:35:16.760 express our lives. Who We are in Christ, how it is we have 365 00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:22.269 been loved. We can go on all night, but I'll leave it there. 366 00:35:25.789 --> 00:35:31.389 Let's ask that the spirit of God but speak to our hearts, tell 367 00:35:31.469 --> 00:35:42.179 us about the fatherhood of God and our brother, the beloved son. Let's 368 00:35:42.219 --> pray