Sermon Tone Analysis
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After Paul gives his introduction in verses 1:1-2, his starts this letter with worship.
What does it mean for God to be blessed?
It means worthy of praise.
God character is one that is worthy of honor and blessing.
Even the High Priest, when Jesus was on trial referred to God this way.
In , he asked Jesus,
Eph.
A.W. Tozer once noted that Scripture places that the glory of God was even more important than the salvation of man.
Do you remember when the angels declared the birth of Christ?
Notice the order of that announcement.
The glory of God comes first, then the blessing of man because of Christ is mentioned.
We see this same priority in the Lord’s prayer:
Whatever you do and become in life is second to whether your life displays the glory of God.
If that is why God created us, then why don’t I have a greater desire to worship him?
It would radically change our idea of worship if we thought of God as “the Blessed.”
He is the one worthy of my blessing.
+ Why did you come to worship?
To worship the Blessed one?
*That’s why people that act like they are God bother us.
They act like they deserve your blessing.
But, their character doesn’t reflect the honor that they are expecting.
But, God’s character does.
When we are commanded to worship in Scripture it’s because God’s character reflects the honor he expects.
He is worthy of our glory, if for no other reason than he created us.
God is worthy of the glory of his creation.
But, Paul goes on to say that the Blessed is worthy of our blessing for more than just giving us life.
Paul says that he has given us more than just life.
In fact, Paul says that the Blesser has blessed us this way...
What strikes me about that is that Paul is worthy of worship because he gives us every “spiritual” blessing in the heavenly places.
He doesn’t withhold one of them.
But what most of the time we wish this had said, “he has blessed us, not with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, “ but with “every material blessing on earth.”
That’s something we could get behind.
How much money has God given you?
More than I could ever spend in 10 lifetimes.
When is the last time you have been sick?
Oh,
+ What if could say, because God loves me, “I’ve never been sick, as a matter of fact I can’t even get sick, I’m immune to all sickness.”
What kind of car do you drive?
I drive the newest model model year.
God has given me every material blessing on earth!
Why doesn’t God do that, now that would attract a lot of followers.
Why isn’t that what Paul is praising God for?
It’s because God doesn’t do that.
Well, why not?
Because God wants to give you more than that.
*Lane sent a quote by C.S. Lewis this week that answers it real well.
“God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.
There is no such thing.”
-C.S. Lewis
Because all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places are better than all the material blessings on earth.
We live in a crisis of knowing what we really need.
Because we live in a material world, it feels like our greatest needs are physical.
But they are not, they are spiritual side.
Because, God created you to glorify him by becoming like him.
Not becoming God, but to become godly.
We live reflecting his glory as we live in a close vibrant, relationship with him.
Paul makes it clear where every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places is found.
True blessings only come “in Christ.”
By my count, 10 times in the first 14 verses of this letter, Paul says that these things come “in Christ,” “in him,” or in “the Beloved.”
Eph.
What does he mean, “in Christ?”
What he means is that your blessings from God come via your faith relationship with Jesus Christ because of his work on your behalf.
No blessing from God comes via your work on your behalf.
The reason, the Bible tells us over and over, is that we are sinful and separated from God.
And, God could have allowed us to continue to rebel against him.
Live in our depraved nature and send us to judgment forever.
In the same way a righteous judge condemns a criminal to prison, God is glorified when he sends unrighteous sinners to judgment.
But God chose to be glorified not only as a just judge, but also a a gracious redeemer.
He desires not to allow all humanity to go to eternal judgement, so he sent Christ to redeem a people for himself to create a new humanity in Christ.
God has been working toward that end for all eternity.
Here are 5 works that God did in Christ to pour on you all the spiritual riches in Christ Jesus.
I’m about speak to believers about what God has done for them.
But, if you are not a believer today, I want you to listen closely.
It will be what God has done for you if you trust in Christ.
I.
In Christ, God chose you (v.4)
God chose you how? God chose for salvation before the foundation of the world.
He decided one day he would work to change your heart so that on day by faith you would know the riches found in Christ.
And by being in Christ, you would be restored to God forever.
What’s important about that?
Your salvation didn’t begin with your choice of God; it began with God’s choice of you.
That’s why he is the blessed one.
That makes him worthy of praise.
Even though we deserved hell, he chose to save us.
As you might expect, his saving was a saving from the judgment of sin.
A. God chose that we would be blameless (v.4)
“ Blameless” means that when you stand before God, God sees you as not under condemnation.
There is no sin on your record that must be judged.
Romans
How can that be?
We clearly have sin?
It is that way because your sinfulness is replaced with God’s righteousness.
You get the credit for the righteousness that Christ earned.
But this wasn’t the end goal.
God’s saving is more than just escaping judgment.
It’s a transforming salvation.
In Christ, God is in the process of recreating you into what you were intended to be, holy.
How can that be?
B. God chose that we would be holy
B. God chose that we would be holy (v.4)
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