In Christ Week 2: Designed for More

Offering

2 Corinthians 9:7

7 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”* 8 And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

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Presermon Announcements

THIS WEDNESDAY IS DTDP

Easter is April 5 | WE NEED ALL HANDS ON DECK

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Recap

We’ve started a series last week called “In Christ” | An expository or (verse by verse) series through the book of Ephesians.

Last week we learned that in Christ we have been given every spiritual blessing but we often deal with a real sense of lack

That is because the only way to experience the fullness of what Christ has for us is to come into agreement with what he’s done for us.

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This weeks text

The primary idea of our today conversation is this: In Christ, God is restoring us to our intended design.

Say this with me…

Jesus didn’t just forgive our sin, He restored our design.

Ephesians 1:9–14 NKJV

9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

I’m preaching this morning on: “Designed for More”

Let’s pray: Keys Out

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Opening Story:

Imagine with me that someone gives you the new Iphone

Incredible features…fast processing…cameras that are ridiculous

You have all of this potential…all of this power…

But you only use it as a flashlight.

You never made calls….You never sent texts….You never opened apps…You just turned the flashlight on and off…

Technically the phone would still work…but it would be living far below it’s design

That’s the story of humanity…many people are functioning…but not at their highest capacity

they were designed for more.

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1. The Plan Revealed

The murder that solved the mystery

Ephesians 1:9 NKJV

9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,

“having made known the mystery of his will…”

This concept of a mystery is a greek word that carries with it the concept or a derivation of a word that means “to close” in reference to the mouth.

Up to this point…much of what God had said through the law and the prophets seemed to be open ended…

And then a child was born to a virgin in Bethlehem.

Jesus was the culmination of what was spoken about.

He was the seed of woman that was prophesied in Genesis 3.

For thousands of years prophets were trying to peek into the mystery of God’s prophetic Word.

Abraham saw shadows of it.

Moses saw glimpses of it.

David sang about it.

Isaiah prophesied about it.

But Paul says the mystery has now been revealed.

The plan of God was always Jesus.

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The plan hasn’t changed

God’s plan has not changed…

Your healing: Jesus

Your deliverance: Jesus

Your peace: Jesus

No matter what the particulars of your need…Jesus is the knowing of the mystery

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God’s good will

Because Jesus revealed the mystery…The will of God is not a mystery anymore…

Galatians 1:4 NLT

4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.

This concept also is highlighted in verse 8…we’re given the particulars of God’s will being fulfilled.

Ephesians 1:7–8 NKJV

7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

The will of God is the redemption of people.

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How can my actions best facilitate God’s will

One of the greatest struggles and questions that people have is how do I know God’s will for my life?

You and I find the specific will of God not by searching for what will bring us the most success…but by discovering what we can do to most effectively accomplish the goal of evangelism and discipleship.

Because: The will of God is the redemption of people.

We have mistaken the will of God as being about our net worth rather than our net reach.

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2. The Design Restored

Ephesians 1:10 NKJV

10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.

In the original creation narrative everything was functioning in a sequence of authoritative unity.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were mutually submissive within the trinity

Man was created and given authority and dominion on the earth…in submission to God

God ruled and reigned alongside and through the unity and dominion of man.

When the enemy convinced Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit…Adam and Eve yielded their authority and dominion because they stepped out of their unity!

My authority is only as strong as my willingness to conform to unity with the image and likeness of God

For a time the enemy seemed to fill that vacuum of authority on the earth.

We must differentiate that this doesn’t mean that things were outside of God’s control or power…

rather this indicates that the state of the world was fragmented and apart from it’s original intent.

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Living beneath my design

Romans 3:23 NKJV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

This verse tells us that we have all experienced this concept of “hamartia” = sin

The common definition for sin is “to miss the mark.”

This is the literal translation of the word…

By missing the mark…we have broken our being…

So there is an argument to be made that this word sin could be defined as being apart from your intended form.

So we don’t have to make a large logical leap to arrive at

the deeper concept behind the word is to fall short of the form you were meant to have.

Sin is not just doing bad things.

Sin is living beneath your intended design.

You were designed for intimacy with God, authority in life, and unity with heaven.

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Christ sets things under his authority to set things right

When we read that Christ is coming to bring things back together under his authority we can understand that God wants to restore our hearts and lives to the intended design of creation…

That intended design is unity and intimacy with God.

The restoration of Christ entails you and I finding fulfillment in our intended role in the kingdom.

I step back into proper identity when I submit back into proper alignment

I stand by the belief that often in the kingdom our lack of contentment is not based on a lack of accomplishment but rather a lack of alignment.

We think if I could do more…have more…see more…experience more…I would be happy.

But I believe the true source of contentment is allowing him to gather us together as one under his authority…whatever that may look like.

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3. The Inheritance of Hope

Ephesians 1:11 NKJV

11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,

Many of us read this and we have been conditioned to think about heaven.

“heaven will be worth the journey”

“Beulah land”

We have this living in light of eternity mindset often…and while that isn’t bad…it is unnecessarily futuristic.

We have the opportunity to see the miraculous move of God…and enjoy our inheritance in this life…not just the next.

What if we became more concerned with present power than with after-death bliss?

One of the indictments on the church in the west is we have somehow adopted an escapist mentality (just hunker down until we can go to heaven.)

The fact that God lets us live after salvation means we are to BRING HEAVEN TO EARTH!

________ SN POINT: I am God’s inheritance

This phrase has also been translated as “we have been made God’s inheritance.”

We are the gift that God is giving himself as an inheritance for his work on Calvary

You are not a nuisance to God…You are a gift.

Some people live their whole life believing God tolerates them.

Like heaven sighs every time you pray.

But Paul flips the whole thing.

He says you are God’s inheritance.

The cross wasn’t just something God endured.

You were something God desired.

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The calling to hope before.

Ephesians 1:12–13 NKJV

12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

The phrase “first trusted” is arguably a poor translation…

It could have been translated “hoped before.”

Paul says that the ones who hope before are catalysts for Jesus to receive glory.

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Many of us have no problem walking in hope when things are going well.

I’ll hope in Christ when my salary is secure, my family is whole, and my prayer list is short

But when life happens…my hope gets shaky.

Paul says that there is something significant about hoping before.

Faith doesn’t wait for evidence.

Faith speaks before the outcome.

We hope before the healing.

We hope before the deliverance.

We hope before the breakthrough.

We hope before the miracle.

I want to be a believer that hopes before.

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We’re passing on pessimism

I’ve had conversations with those close to me lately and told them…miss me with any cynicism.

It takes no faith to declare the badness of a moment or a movement.

As for me and my house…we are going to speak faith in ways that seem wild!

May Awaken Church be a house characterized by premature and illogical hope!

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4. The Promise Released

Ephesians 1:14 NLT

14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

When we receive Jesus…we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

That doesn’t mean we can never leave the faith…it simply means that God gladly and willfully calls us his own as we surrender our lives.

The guarantee or the down payment of your conversion is the receipt of the Holy Spirit.

You will literally feel different in that moment…That’s by design.

But I love that Paul lets us know that this initial indwelling is a “down payment.”

Because a down payment means there is more still to come.

At salvation we are sealed…in the baptism in the Spirit we are submerged.

_________ There is more

If you are a believer that has been saved…I want to let you know that there is a second work of grace that is available to you in this very moment.

It is referred to as baptism in the Holy Spirit!

Jesus spoke to a group of saved individuals as he was about to ascend into heaven and this was his command to them.

Luke 24:49 NKJV

49 “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

We believe that you receive the seal of the Spirit at salvation…but friend, there is more…God doesn’t just want you to get a dose…He wants you to get full to overflowing saturated by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Keys Out

________ Baptism in the Holy Spirit further explained

Well, what will that look like?

Most often as you pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit…You will feel the presence of God…

And he will begin to give you words or phrases to begin using your voice to pray.

THIS IS CALLED THE GIFT OF TONGUES.

Acts 2:4 NKJV

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This word utterance is not that the Spirit spoke through them…”they…began to speak…

It is that he gave them the words.

THEY SPOKE THEM

This is most commonly the initial physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit…

Five instances of spirit baptism in the book of Acts…tongues specifically mentioned in three of them.

EVERY INSTANCE IS MARKED BY TRANSFORMATION AND BOLDNESS TO SHARE THE GOSPEL.

ULTIMATELY THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT RESULTS IN THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

Galatians 5:22–23 NLT

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

The guarantee is great…but God wants to give you more.

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Closing

Dwight L. Moody was already a famous evangelist in the 1800s. Thousands were coming to Christ through his ministry.

But Moody himself felt something was missing.

Two women in his church kept telling him:

“We are praying that you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit.”

At first Moody didn’t even know what they meant….Eventually he became desperate for more of God.

One day while walking through New York City, he suddenly experienced what he later described as an overwhelming encounter with the presence of God.

Moody later said: “I can only say that God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an experience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay His hand.”

He said it was so overwhelming that he could not even preach for a time.

But after that moment something changed.

He later testified: “The sermons were no different…but hundreds were converted.”

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Moody was already saved. Moody was already preaching. Moody was already serving God.

But when the Holy Spirit filled him…everything changed.

The difference wasn’t better sermons…The difference was power.

That leads perfectly to:

Salvation marks you as belonging to God…but the baptism of the Holy Spirit empowers you to live like you belong to God.

Spirit baptism empowers you to live like you were designed to live…and remember….

Jesus didn’t just forgive our sin…he restored our design.