If Session 3: "What If"
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INTRO
I. Where We’ve Been
A. “As if” bridges the gap btwn “If Onlys” & “What if”
a. As if means to live out the promises o God AS IF they r
II. Where We’re Going
A. Let’s talk about “What if”
BODY
I. Creator God
A. God is many things…but 1st & foremost, he is creator
a. It’s how we r 1st introduced 2 God in scripture
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
1. It’s how we see him at the end in Rev creating the new heavens & new earth
2. He created a family frm Abraham
3. a people from that family
4. & brought forth the salvation of all (that’s Jesus) through that people
b. & God created u!
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
1. & u were made in the image o God
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
c. You were once an idea in the mind of almighty God
1. you are the physical manifestation of God’s eternal plans & purposes.
i. Simply put, you are God’s what if.
ii. How does that change the way you see yourself and see others?
2. If God is 1st & foremost creator & we r made in his image, when we are creative we best reflect the image o God
II. Good things vs God things
— Let’s talk about 2 kinds o things that can b created (there’s more, but we’re going 2 talk about 2)—
a. good things & God things
A. Good things
a. What r some good things that have been created by humans
1. cars, roads, fishin’ poles
b. what is the primary difference btwn a Good thing & a God thing?
1. Good things originate from a person’s mind that r good ideas to make the world a better place.
i. Think: Nobel Peace Prize
B. God things
a. God things originate frm God that r bigger than man & make God’s Kingdom a bigger place!
1. God ideas r “what if’s” that result in kingdom expansion
i. When we get on board w/sold out 4 & pray big prayers that line up w/...
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
-God gives God ideas 2 bring about God’s kingdom come...
- & so we must do his will as it is in heaven to bring that about.
b. Have you ever had a God idea? What was it? How did you know it was a God idea, not just a good idea?
1. Their bigger than our ideas & couldn’t have come from us
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
&
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
2. Their bigger than our scope
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
i. We can’t do God “what if’s” on our own They’re God sized ideas requiring God sized work & power working through us
-All Ideas r “what if’s”, but God ideas r God given “what if’s”
-That means that when we rec. a God idea we & others are going 2 say that’s crazy…impossible, foolish!
III. Outside the Box
A. caveat: A God Idea will not go against God’s plans & will not be done in a manner outside His Character—
a. caveat 2 the caveat: God cannot b put in a box…cause God is bigger than any o our boxes.—
1. now, on the outside the box idea...
B. Just cause they’re greater than our scope & better than our ideas doesn’t mean their “earth shattering” as the world sees it.
a. great impact can often look small to the worldly eye.
1. like a single person
b. Sometimes the “what if” is actually a “who if”
1. “what if” ur “who if” is ur kids that u raise to b Godly adults & they impact hundreds…thousands…more.
2. maybe its the 1 person @ a time u present the Gospel 2 & they in turn ea. reach 10?
3. the book o acts starts they went…but half way through turns to we went…why?
i. Paul encountered a Dr.
-That Dr. received the Good News o Jesus & set off w/Paul.
-He eventually had a great “what if” from God
3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
*“Wow there’s a lot accounts, but what if there was an orderly account that others may have certainty o Jesus & his Gospel.”
ii. we have Lk/Acts because Paul saw a “who if” in dr. Lk
IV. God Ideas r rarely brought 2 completion over night!
A. they don’t magically appear, but r often planted small & grow over time.
a. the process from God idea 2 God thing takes time
1. It took time to take Abraham’s fam & make it a people
2. It took time to take God’s people & create a nation
3. It took time to bring forth Salvation through Jesus from God’s nation
4. it’s taking time to create new creation frm original creation
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
i. Creation is groaning in the throws of Child Birth!
-Creation is longing for the day it is set free frm decay
B. What do we do during the time btwn the idea & completion?
a. patiently hope
24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
— Paul is talking about completion o salvation where we get a new heavens, new earth & new body—
23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
1. but it is true o God ideas & those ideas being created
i. God said it, I believe it & will believe it till I see it. (that’s hope)
b. Side Note
1. Now, does this mean that frm the time we accepted Jesus as Lord & Savior till He comes back & we get a new body we’re not Sons o God??
2. Tell ya an adoption story: James.
i. When we held James in our arms the 1st time God said James is ur son
-this was confirmed over & over
ii. it took 3 & 1/2 yrs for his adoption day.
-@what point was James our son?
iii. We lived “as if” James was our son from the time God gave us the “what if” till the day God brought it about to completion.
-why?
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
3. We r his son starting when we accept Jesus as Lord & savior because if He said it, he’ll bring it about to completion!
i. not only do we patiently hope...
c. We r faithful w/what God gives us to do 2day
1. Rebekah’s dad is fond o saying:
i. “do what u can in the natural & let God do what he does in the supernatural”
2. said another way:
i. “pray as if everything depends on God; work as if everything depends on u”
-consider Paul’s words:
23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
3. Let’s b faithful w/what God gives u 2day.
i. God promised that James is our son.
ii. Then we were faithful to walk through the steps outlined by WA State.
-filled out paperwork
-Got home inspections
-prayed diligently
-went to court hearings
-met w/lawyers
-prayed some more.
V. Certainties o God Ideas
A. there are 2 things u can be sure o w/God ideas:
a. it will take longer than u expected &
b. it will b harder than u ever thought possible
1. There’s going to b times when u think, “I can’t do this anymore”
i. what do we do then?
B. What we do w/the hard times o God ideas
a. rely on the H.S.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
1. The Spirit is here 2 help u when we’re in those moments
2. & H.S. prays for us!!
3. What better Helper could we have!!!
i. H.S. has ur best in mind
ii. He knows the will o God based on ea. o us
iii. & we can know it’s the right thing because God knows the mind o the H.S.
-So, we rely on the H.S. &
b. We trust the promise:
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
1. We know it takes time 4 a God idea 2 brought 2 completion…
i. & all the time, wrestling, work, pain, tears, sweat will work 2gether 4 our good.
ii. He’s going to use all our successes, failures & struggles to bring about our good according to his purposes…
-which is what?
C. God’s purpose
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
A. That Jesus would have many siblings who represent him well!
B. one last tid-bit that I think can help as we’re in the process between a God idea and it brought to completion:
a. P. Mk points out that the KJV o the bible regularly says: “it came to pass”
1. this is 1 o the greatest hope-filled statements found in scripture.
i. No matter what we’re in the middle o we can rest on “it came to pass”
-if ur in the middle o a horribly challenging season u can trust that it too will come to pass...
-it will pass from present to past & we can learn from it, grow from it, & put it behind us
ii. & if ur patiently waiting for ur “what if” God idea to become completed u trust that “it shall come to pass”
-Trust God because as Paul says in...
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
— Since God is for us…no1 can b against us! —