It's all in the Family: You Are Loved!
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction: “pull us into the text” “what is the question? what is the intrigue”
The church can bring glory to God as the church is rooted in and established in God’s love, chooses to live a life of love and live a life worthy of the calling it has received
Our sermon today is titled You Are Loved!
I want to help you remember: that God’s intent was that through the church God is revealing himself. And it’s quite a display.
Hey friends, How is God going to be known? “It’s All in The Family”
Let’s look at the Ephesians 3.
God brought together, redeemed and reconciled, the church to be a display of His glory.
Here we have Paul writing to the church in Ephesus. Paul used to persecute people who believed in Jesus and followed His way. Here he briefly mentions his shameful past, and subsequent calling to preach to the Gentiles.
7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God’s display of himself in the church is described as:
God’s intent is for the manifold wisdom of God being made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.
Transition:
Today we are gonna talk about love. Today we’re going to savor this thought together.
You Are Loved
You Are Loved
Ephesians 3:16-19
Ephesians 3:16-19
Why do I so quickly lose sight of his love? Have you ever had someone push you away? Someone you were “just trying to show them you cared”? But you ended up hurt, because they were unwilling or unable to receive your love. I’ve been pushed away before. You might have to. But then isn’t it surprising to find that sometimes I’m pushing away His love. I wonder why I don’t receive as love what He is offering. I get this image of a kid trying to fill a bucket with ocean water and carry it up to the shoreline to make a sandcastle along the way the water keeps splashing out and they don’t realize there’s a hole in the bucket that keeps letting the water out. I get distracted: busy, I get discouraged: focused on the problems, I get to looking around at other people and start making comparisons… why do they have? why do they get to ___ . delayed. I doubt. I Do you ever feel like you have holes in your bucket?
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
I want to look at verses 16-19 of Ephesians 3, we are going to start in 3:19
19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
“to know this love that surpasses knowledge”
“to know this love that surpasses knowledge”
expound:
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Christ dwelling in your hearts
Rooted : I want you to think of a tree with roots going down deep into the love of God
Established : You’ve seen trees well established, and you’ve encountered some trees not well established
power all together - the Lord’s hold people
grasping how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
It’s a Spirit enabled grasping - The Spirit does it - provides the strength for this to happen,
It’s an inner being grasping - you might not see, taste, hear, touch but inside you are grasping a hold of a love that you cannot know in an ordinary sense.
Question: are you being filled up by the boundless riches of Christ? If so, how? and if not, why not?
are you knowing Christ’s love in a way that surpasses knowledge?
Is Jesus’ love for you ever expanding or do you feel like it’s shrinking?
What truths do you need to renew your mind with to grow in your capacity to be a receiver of the love of Jesus.
Are there holes in your bucket?
You are loved.
Transition:
Perhaps there is nothing that says You Are Loved more than adoption. Adoption says you are loved! You are welcome here! And you get all the rights of being in this family.!
Adoption says, “You are loved! You are welcome here! And you get all the rights of being in this family!”
Adoption says, “You are loved! You are welcome here! And you get all the rights of being in this family!”
There are a few places in the new testament, In Pauls letters to the churches that develop this them of adoption.
Ephesians 1:5, Romans 8:14-16
5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—
We are going to spend some time in Galatians 3:26-4:7 in a section that talks about adoption into sonship.
Adoption: Galatians 3:26-4:7
Adoption: Galatians 3:26-4:7
1. You are Loved!
1. You are Loved!
Adoption at it’s center - is the experience of being brought into a new family.
A New Family
A New Family
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
26 you are all children of God (our emphasis for the moment)
through faith (important to the larger argument Paul is making in Galatians)
27 For - a reason is given for why in Christ Jesus, you are all children. That reason is that all of them were baptized into Christ - were clothed with Christ.
Why the clothing metaphor? How do you clothe yourself with Christ? I’m curious? We can’t stay here long. But this takes us all the way back to Adam and Eve in the garden. Clothes cover. But who provides the clothes?
You’ll find Adam and Eve made some clothes. Gen 3:7 It covered there bodies. Was that enough? They still hid from God. Why is this? shame . You put on clothes every day - to cover up. But when you stand before God and are held to an account. What are you gonna use to try and cover up? What will be said of your lusts, your pride, your manipulations, your greed? Cover up if you can, but try as you may, you’re still you. Let me ask again? Who provides the clothes? Gen 3:21 God provided them clothes, that truly provide the covering that we need? You see clothing brought into this conversation. The clothing God provides in Jesus isn’t merely an external covering up - but a complete covering because he has redeemed the one who wears the clothes.
Baptism into Christ and clothing yourselves with Christ are connected in this verse.
Baptism into Christ was an external behavior that displays an internal reality. The same is with clothing yourself in Christ.
You wear clothes and they affect the outward appearance. But what happens when you are clothed in Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In Jesus, when you wear Jesus, when who you are in Jesus, is the most important identifier about you, then when you stop and look around, you realize that all those around you who also have been baptized into Christ - are also clothed in Christ and suddenly you see that you indeed are one people. There is a unity that is shared. Togetherness and Community.
Remember these, people never heard that they were part of the same anything. It has always been us and them. I’m talking about their experience of worshipping of the One True God. In their lifetimes it was never a “we are one” experience. There was always an “us versus them experience”.
Women worship in one courtyard. Men in the other. Jews on one side. Gentiles on the other. in God’s Family, there’s not those who have the strength to earn their way into favor - through following enough laws, and then there are also those who just believe and are saved. There’s One way into the family… that is by faith. Faith in Christ’s and His work for you on the cross - is the grace that saves you. And once you are In Christ Jesus you become one - one family. This doesn’t mean your not a jew anymore, or you’re not a gentile. Doesn’t mean you lose your biology or your ethnicity - it doesn’t mean we all have the same roles, and functions in the family. The point being made is that: bigger than these differences that we separate ourselves over we have received a oneness into a family. Those who are in Christ Jesus are all children of God - part of one magnificent and diverse family. Who choose to wear, clothe themselves, with Jesus. It’s not that we all wearing the same clothes. It means that in our hearts, the identity we hold most tightly to is that we are children of God. I am a child of God, and if you are clothed in Christ, so are you.
Ephesians 2:11-19
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,
How is God’s wisdom on display?
2. You are Welcome Here!
2. You are Welcome Here!
Transition: Before, we leave this point, I want us to remember. You are adopted. You are loved! You have been brought into this New Family, not only are you loved - You are welcome here! Let’s explore this further.
Now that you are adopted into this New Family - you have a New Father.
A New Father
A New Father
Galatians 4:4-6
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
The open arms of the Father. This speaks of access. This speaks of intimacy.
Abba, Father!
God hears
God sees
God nurtures
God Teaches
God is Patient
3. You get all the Rights of Being in this Family
3. You get all the Rights of Being in this Family
Transition: not only are given this new relationship to God, and a new family - Adoption into His family, and with a Father like ours- brings with it some amazing blessings… Adoption says “You are loved, you are welcome here and you get all the rights of being in this family- you have a New Future.
Future Inheritance Galatians 4:6-7
Future Inheritance Galatians 4:6-7
6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
back at verse 29 it said If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Heirs according to the promise. Partakers in the promises of the True Family of God. Heaven, Eternal Life, Seeing Christ face to face, redeemed bodies, the rewards of your life of faith, entering into the joy of Jesus.
Future Glory Romans 8:14-21
Future Glory Romans 8:14-21
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
Wow the Freedom and Glory of the Children of God.
That theme of God’s glory on display keeps coming back.
And I can’t resist taking a moment to connect us back to God’s intent...
Took:
Transition:
What does all of this mean for us?
What does all of this mean for us?
Biblical Worldview: Creation, Fall, Redemption Family Value
What does all of this mean for us? It means that when the world looks at the church, it ought to see a family of people in fellowship with one another because they have been brought into fellowship with God through a common family member, the Lord Jesus. And just as the marriage union is a way to demonstrate that fellowship, the other relationships in the family prove it too.
We have seen the powerful life changing power of adoption into a new family, and the new relationship that we have with God Father, in Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, may we be firmly convinced that we are loved. But what do we do with this awesome realization?
We need to first be receivers of His love. And then we respond to His love. And then we display His love.
We overflow His love in our church Family. We are called to Live a Life that is worthy of this calling. The way the church lives, is crucial. Paul follows this same logic in Ephesians - after clearly laying out what God has created in this New Family he lays it out for the church. This is what you need to do. Live a LIFE worthy of the calling you have received. What do you mean by that?
Let’s take a look… I’m gonna pull out a couple implications of this… but if you read through chapters 4 and following… there are many implications.
Live a LIFE worthy of the calling you have received
Live a LIFE worthy of the calling you have received
The New International Version Chapter 4
4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
4:1 What calling: the calling to be the church, the One New Family adopted, for the purpose of bringing God glory.
4:2 Here are attitudes and actions that will help preserve our Oneness.
We preserve our Oneness - by choosing love instead of division. Eph 4:4-7
There are plenty of reasons for you to be hold something over someone - if you’re in any real family there will be some friction. You’re not always gonna agree. Your not always right, either - so let’s put on some humility and try out gentleness. Are you being patient and bearing with one another. If you’re in God’s Family and you’re hearing me, I’m talking to you about us (gesture to the audience at large).
You know I included verse 7 on purpose - because we tend to struggle with this idea… if we are all one - why are different roles and gifts given. Even though God has appointed his grace differently in the family - providing a variety of roles and responsibilities as in the following verses of Ephesians 4, and some to women, some to men as in Timothy and Titus. And He’s given us different life circumstances - some born and raised here - others born somewhere else, some rich some with little means. We are One Family - with one great Calling - to One Great God and Father of all.
We walk in the way of love - by following God’s example. Eph 5:1-3
The New International Version Chapter 5
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.
There are plenty of ways for us to walk in love. Christ gave himself up for us. This is the marker. Are you giving yourself up for anyone else in the Family? Who is it? Who are you giving yourself up for? We all love someone.
you know I included verse 3 in there on purpose- because we tend to struggle with this idea… if we all love like Jesus - why would we ask someone to obey! To conform to any laws or rules or expectations. I think this important. Because it’s popular in our culture to self love. And be true to yourself. Seek My pleasure. There will be Lovers of Themselves. Putting on love, and walking in Love isn’t the freedom to serve myself. Even though God, out His abundant love and has made a way for forgiveness and redemption, he has warned us to end a variety of negative and un-godly behaviors from our flesh - and not to let them be taking up residence in our hearts, nor be identified among our family. That’s because we are His family. We are One Family for His purposes.
it’s almost as if the takeaway should be:
You are loved. You are welcome here. And you get all the rights of being in this family- so act like you are part of this family.
because God’s plan is to be glorified as His redeemed and reconciled church receives, responds and reflects the love of God.
Whose love are you reflecting. Whose glory are you putting on display?
Church, You Are Loved! I hope that together with all God’s people to know this love that surpasses knowledge. This love that is received in our inner being that fills us with joy and hope and unto all the fullness.
And to help us picture this immensity of this love remember what that You have been adopted:
redeemed and reconciled - brought into this glorious family, with a glorious Father and a Glorious future.
You Are Loved!
You Are Loved!