World - Week 3

God and the Church - how does God deal with US, how are we different than israel (and how are we the same), etc

We see many of the same standards and perspectives in the New Testament

FIRST POINT -

God is still bringing order out of chaos - in us

Romans 8:28–29 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

There’s two parts to this:

God is working in all things for the good of those who love and follow him

Now, notice it doesn’t say, only good things happen to people who love and follow him.

It says, in all things, God works for our good.

We’re comfortable when this thing is a good thing to us.

It’s not so easy when it’s a hard thing for us. Or even objectively a bad thing.

But see, God is working out all the chaos and destruction and problems, and working towards this perfect future. This one day when all death and sin and pain has been erased.

But here’s the problem - we are the problem. In some cases the pain is inflicted on us - by people. In other case, it’s us doing the hurting.

And God is working and bending and pruning in each one of us, because in each one of us is a darkness that we can’t survive on our own.

God is moulding us all into the image of His Son

Now, this isn’t a literal, one day we’re all going to be exact duplicates of Jesus walking around in heaven.

This word, εἰκών, it means, image or likeness, specifically a representation of qualities. (Son becomes like his father - in the image of).

So Jesus lives this absolutely perfect life, and in his death and resurrection, he paves the way. But it’s not a simple, jesus is a road sign to God.

John 14:6 NIV

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

We get to the father THROUGH Jesus. Not just in him or because of him. By travelling with Jesus, being moulded by him, letting him shape our character, literally undergoing transformation by our existence in his presence - we can make it into eternal life.

SECOND -

God DOES expect obedience from us. And honestly - this one hasn’t changed much, if you REALLY know the history of Israel in the OT.

God asks us for faithfulness to a relationship with Him

We live after the cross - where we teach that God has forgiven every one of our sins, and will forgive every one of our sins.

So it SOUNDS LIKE God’s no longer looking at our behaviour or expecting faithfulness or obedience from us. Because we screw it up, God forgives us, back to the journey.

But that’s … not exactly it.

Matthew 16:24–25 NIV

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

So Jesus says, ‘to even be a disciple, you need to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow’. It’s not a, ‘I will die on the cross and you won’t have to do anything! You’re all good!’

There’s a LOT in this phrase, but the key point we can take away, is that Jesus has asked us to do something very important, and said that we need to obey him.

This is so important, that Jesus says it’s actually a requirement to even gaining entry to the kingdom of God.

Matthew 7:21–23 NIV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

This is a SCARY verse if you think about it. Jesus says, there will be people who will call him Lord - that won’t enter eternal life.

You have people here, who were obviously outputting results. But Jesus says - whatever miracles or wonders you were performing, you weren’t following me in them. So I don’t even know who you are.

This sounds at odds with the gospel. ‘For God so loved the world’...

But God doesn’t change. The God at the beginning of time is the same one now.

But he is doing something new.

He meets us in our efforts with the Holy Spirit

John 14:15–17 (NIV)

“If you love me, keep my commands.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—

the Spirit of truth.

So again, Jesus asks for obedience. But he says, in your obedience, i’ll send you the Spirit.

And this is way, way more of a big deal than we realize. OT - Spirit given in small pieces. JOHN - Greatest person to have ever lived - least in the kingdom is greater than he.

The bible makes so many promises about how God is going to be there for us to work through us to accomplish His will.

Philippians 2:12–13 NIV

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Romans 8:26 NIV

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

This tells us something:

We have no excuse

Sometimes, we count ourselves out because of our perceived weakness. I’m not as good or as smart or as musical as that person.... Do we really think God needs that effort from us? God is working THROUGH those people too.

Sometimes, we believe we’re just…bad. Like God can’t or won’t love us. But God is literally in the business of helping the lost and the broken find wholeness. (ONLY PEOPLE JESUS JUDGED - The religious elite).

So we have no excuse to not be able to follow God.