Live in Authority
Notes
Transcript
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
The tragedy
The tragedy
The life that we live..
Driven by “success” that literally means nothing.
Egyptian empire
Babylonian empire
Persian empire
Alexander the Great
Roman empire
Napoleon Bonaparte
Adolph Hitler
All these people and empires, how ever evil they were, in terms of what they were trying to achieve, they were vastly successful.
Even with their level of success, they have become nothing but ink on paper.
We strive and pour literally all that we are into something so temporary. Nothing but a moment.
The writer of Psalm 103:15 compares our lives to grass. Here one day, gone the next.
Literally same thing as taking all of our livelihood and pouring into a company that publically announced they will file bankruptcy in the next coming days.
Literally same thing as giving all of our strength, energy, and resources to buy a property that we know for certain will be nothing but a wasteland.
Why do we do this? Why and how can we be such morons?
When you accepted Christ and was baptized, you have literally moved over from this world, which has set expiration date, to the world that does not end is only filled with joy, love, and glory.
But we are so desperate to continue living and invest into this world that is bound to expire.
Why?
We are not of this world
We are not of this world
The reality is this world is fading. The moment Christ came back from the dead, the enemy lost the war. Not the small skirmish, but the entire war. Jesus won the war.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul taught us about our identity.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
The old, the person that was alive BEFORE you accepted Christ IS dead, not dying, DEAD Period. And you were born AGAIN as a NEW creation.
You don’t belong in this world.
In Ephesians 1:20-23, Paul says that the Father raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him above all things.
which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
The Greek word here for “seated” is συγκαθίζω, “synkathizō” meaning “to sit down with.”
And it’s a present tense! Paul is saying that Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father, presently.
When we come to our passage in Ephesians 2, Paul uses same word, “synkathizō” to teach us our position.
The Father raised us up, and seated us with Christ!
Some theologians and preachers interpret this passage literally. That our spirit-man is literally seated with Christ this very moment.
I believe this is possible, but I believe the biggest message here is our true IDENTITY.
Imagine you are a homeless, hungry beggar. Then a multi-billionaire decides to sign over his entire wealth to you. All the cash, properties, investments, the whole nine yard. So in a matter of hours, you have gone from homeless beggar to multi-billionaire.
This is the reality of our story.
But we choose to continue to live as a beggar!
Living in our true identity
Living in our true identity
When you live out in your true identity that you are now seated with Christ in heavenly places, the very first thing you’ll realize is that you’ll become CONFIDENT.
I’m not talking about confidence to go up and ask a random girl for her number.
Confidence in warring and winning against sin in your life.
We all struggle with habitual sin.
When was the last time you took authority and spoke out against such sin?
When you were tempted to sin, when was the last time you stood up and confidently said, “No! Enough!”
Do we not most of the time live ENSLAVED?
Not only are we enslaved to sin and lack the confidence to fight against it, but aren’t we enslaved to the useless absolute garbage of this world call worldly success in career, money, and fame?
You can tell me,” No, Young. I’m not enslaved to career, money, and fame.” All you want. But my question back to you is, “Then why are you so desperate to get into a good college? Why do you live as if your life depends on the successes of your education? Are you not ENSLAVED? Why are you so ANXIOUS and STRESSED about college, school, grades, and money? After a message like this, is not discussions about college, grades, and video games the first thing that comes out of your mouth once service is over? When you get home after a message like this, is not school work and/or video games the first thing you go to? My friend, either you are severely fooled or you are a hypocrite.”
Will that billionaire who gave you all his wealth find you worthy of his wealth? Right now, in this moment, if God was to evaluate the quality of your LIFE, will God find you worthy to be seated with Christ in heavenly places?
You are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Live like one.