Victory in Jesus
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Intro:
Intro:
Hi Everyone, welcome to Church Online!
Today I’d like to discuss something that’s near to my heart. Something SUPER IMPORTANT in our Christian lives. It’s the issue of IDENTITY - who we are in Christ. It’s something I’ve talked about before, but it’s also something that needs to be on REPEAT.
One reason it’s near to my heart is I look around the church, I look within my home, I look at my own life, and many times I see defeat.
I don’t see the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
I don’t see righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
I don’t see unity and humility.
Rather, I see addictions, discouragement, brokenness… I see DEFEAT.
And it shouldn’t be this way! I mean, read the following verses with me:
Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
even when we were dead in our trespasses, 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,
My friends… this is God’s word. That means it is absolute truth (Jesus said in Jn 17:17 that God’s word IS truth)...
… by the way, if you haven’t noticed, we gonna have a little bit of Bible study this morning… I hope you’re good with that!
But not only is it TRUTH, it is also TRUTH directed at us, the church. That means these verses APPLY to our lives, if we have turned from our sin and put our faith in Jesus and Lord and Savior. And what these verses make clear is we are NOT DEFEATED. We are VICTORIOUS in Jesus Christ!
...That’s title for this sermon is, “Victory in Jesus.”
So, if that’s the TRUTH about our IDENTITY, why do I often LIVE DEFEATED? Why don’t I SEE VICTORY? I believe it’s because we don’t believe what God says about our IDENTITY. And that’s because we don’t KNOW or UNDERSTAND what God HAS SAID about our IDENTITY!
And that’s why we’re taking about it today. Who here likes to win? It is my prayer, after today, you will KNOW what God has done for you, KNOW how God feels about you, KNOW what God has said about you, and RESPOND by faith - by believing what He says. And as a result, begin living in VICTORY.
Say, “I want to win!” Type that in the comments if you’re watching and want that for your life!
… but before we fully dive in, let me give this warning: The passage we’re studying today can be confusing. It has the potential to discourage. It has the potential to make you focus on the wrong things...
Today, we’ll discuss the subjects of “election” and “free-will.” And usually, these subjects involve the questions, “Did God choose me or did I choose God?” And many times, answering these questions can make people confused, angry, prideful, or discouraged.
But let me say this… both election and free-will are found in the Bible. Both are part of God’s truth. “Did God choose me or did I choose God?” The answer is “yes.” And for us today, I want us to understand that when God talks about “election,” He’s not trying to twist you up. He’s intending to confidently strengthen your faith.
Earlier this week, some of the men helped remove some junk from someone’s property, which included a concrete well cover. One guy decided to break it up with a sledgehammer. Let me tell you, it wouldn’t break because it had rebar strengthening it. Properly understanding “election”is like rebar for our faith!
I believe we’ll see that in our passage… so, let’s begin!
We’ve all heard and love the following verse...
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
But have you read the next two verses?
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. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
These two verse not only explain why we can believe that “God works all things together for good,” but they more importantly help us live VICTORIOUSLY as we understand what God has done and how that impacts our IDENTITY.
So, let’s break down the verse together...
Exegesis:
Exegesis:
It’s first helpful to understand that verse 29 is referring to actions happening outside of time and space as we humanely know it. That’s pretty weird to think about something or Someone existing outside of time and space, but it’s true reality. In fact, since time and space are aspects of creation, it’s only right that God (the Creator) exists outside of both. And it’s “outside of creation,” that there were people God “foreknew.”
Foreknew:
Foreknew:
This word is a big word. It includes God’s omniscience (the fact that He knows everything). That God looked into creation and knew who would respond by faith. But it’s so much more than this. It also means God knew beforehand who He would enter into an intimate relationship with. God knew who He would choose.
And I know… for some of us, we hear this and begin asking questions like, “Does that mean God only chooses SOME? I thought God desires all people to be saved? Didn’t Jesus die for the entire world? What if God didn’t choose me?” And our mind gets twisted up. We start focusing on what’s not being said in the passage.
What we should focus on is before the world existed, the Trinity (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) existed in PERFECT love and wisdom. They PERFECTLY saw everything that was going to happen. They had a PERFECT understanding of how our free-will (our REAL CHOICES) would impact the world over time. And based on this FOREKNOWLEDGE, the Father made a plan to save the world. And the Son agreed to secure that plan (to make sure that plan worked) on the Cross… I know that’s weird… that Jesus knew about the cross before creation, but it’s true!
And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.
And then the Holy Spirit agreed to apply Jesus’s work to the world. And with the plan in place, and the responsibilities agreed on, they freely chose to move forward with creation. Fully knowing who they would choose, who would choose them, and how they would save them. All of that is wrapped into this word “foreknew.”
Let’s move to another word...
Predestined...
Predestined...
It says, “… he also predestined.” The word means to set limits and boundaries upon something to accomplish a purpose.
It’s like having a goal. Very rarely can you reach a goal without a plan.
When you want to be debt-free, you get a financial coach who helps you strategically use your money.
When you want to lose weight, you set limits on when and what you eat.
When you run a marathon, you start with a training plan.
Those who God foreknew, He PREDESTINED. He put a plan in place to ensure they’d make it to the finish line.
And what’s the finish line? It goes onto says, “He predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son...” Predestination isn’t God creating a select group of robots. It’s God making sure you arrive safely HOME! It’s God giving us the confidence and power to become EVERYTHING He has created us to be!
That’s why we have verses like...
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.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
… it’s because God has a plan for our lives. God has predestined us, meaning He set limits, boundaries, and plans in place to make SURE we become more like Jesus! If we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, that’s the path we’re on! And God promises to keep us safely on that path until we arrive home to heaven.
And it’s important we pause here to consider something in the original language that isn’t necessarily seen in our English translations. This predestined plan to become more like Jesus is a PROCESS. It’s not instantaneous! It’s a process we refer to as sanctification. That’s a fancy church word to describe the work the Holy Spirit does in our lives to make us more like Jesus.
Sometimes that includes bad things immediately removed from our lives. However, other things take time - and that’s okay!
...Now, I gotta be careful because I don’t want to communicate that our choices don’t matter. I don’t want us to think that being disciplined doesn’t help. The choices we make MATTER in our process of becoming more like Jesus. Actively turning away from sin is part of the process! God’s process doesn’t include willfully continuing to live in sin and thinking, “Oh, it doesn’t matter. God’s grace. I’m already forgiven. I guess it’s not time for me to be sanctified.” No, that kind of thinking is not found in the Bible. In fact, Paul said...
Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!
That beings said, some of us have put our faith in Christ and still struggle with sin. We still battle with things like addiction. Additionally, the devil comes along and fills our head with lies, “Shame on you. Your faith isn’t real. If it was real, you’d be perfect like all those other Christians you see in church or on social media.” That’s why it’s important we pause to think about how the PROCESS works!
I recently heard the PROCESS of us becoming more like Jesus (or sanctification) described this way. When we turn from our sin and put our faith in Christ, we are born again - a NEW LIFE starts. It’s very similar to a NEW LIFE that forms in a mother’s womb.
At first, no one can tell. No VISIBLE changes have happened, even though the NEW LIFE is VERY REAL! Initially, a mom will actually go around telling others, “Oh, I’m pregnant!” because no one can tell. But… after a while, as the PROCESS of growing continues, she don’t need to tell anyone because everyone can see it for themselves! “Dang girl. You pregnant!”
Very often, that’s our spiritual life. When we come to Christ, there can be very little VISIBLE change, but the NEW LIFE is real. But eventually, after we let the Holy Spirit work His transformation process, pretty soon people notice the new life on their own.
There’s a woman in our church who I think of… I won’t say her name... If you know, you know. But I fully believe she has received NEW LIFE because of her faith in Jesus. At first you couldn’t tell. But if you have known her more than a year, you can definitely tell NOW. Something’s different!
For example, this person was a fan of a certain form of language. Favorite adjectives and adverbs all had four letters. And yet now, you never really hear it. Why? Is it because the women of our church sat her down and told her good Christians don’t use those words? No. It’s because the Holy Spirit is transforming her and people are beginning to see her new life in Christ.
Where are you at this morning? Are you down or ashamed because you feel like you haven’t VISIBLY changed? Maybe you need to be reminded that transformation is a PROCESS. And that God’s NEW LIFE in you is REAL and His PREDESTINATION over your life is ACTIVELY working to make you NEW! TRUST THE PROCESS!
Before moving onto verse 30, I want to briefly touch on the end of verse 29… “so that [Jesus] might be the firstborn among many brothers [and sisters].” We don’t have a lot of time to spend on this verse, but I think it’s important to remember that God is doing all of this because His heart for the world is for all people to be saved. He’s got a vision and desire for His house to be FULL! That’s why He set this plan in motion!
…which brings us to verse 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.
Remember, verse 29 happened outside time and space. Verse 30 is when God’s plan breaks into creation. “Those he predestined he also…”
Called...
Called...
This refers to the divine moments in history, based on God’s foreknowledge and predestination, when His plan breaks into creation to impact our lives.
There’s a song Kristyn Getty that says, “What grace is mine that He who dwells in endless light, called through the night to find my distant soul.” What I want us to see is God’s active commitment. God’s not a distant destiny-programmer, plugging in sequences and algorithms into a creation-computer, that spits out predetermined outcomes. No, He’s intimately involved in the process of creating and saving our souls. He’s orchestrating events to bring about ideal moments for you to respond to His gospel of grace. Where you live. When you live. Your family. Your schooling. Your job. Everything... intimately planned to personally call out to you.
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
He personally created us uniquely. It goes onto say...
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
He personally planned the moments in our lives so that we would hear His call! And he didn’t just call us, he justified us.
Justified...
Justified...
They say the best way to understand “justified” is to think, “Just as if I never sinned.” That works for us! Again, verse 30 is God’s plan intersecting with creation! And justification has everything to do with the Cross. When Jesus - God the Son intervened - when He stepped into creation, took on human flesh, lived a perfect life, and sacrificed that life, on the cross, for our sins.
It’s that sacrifice that allows us to be completely forgiven - be made right with God, just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned - when we respond to God’s calling. It’s how Jesus eternally secured the souls God foreknew and predestined.
Finally, it says… “those whom He justified He also glorified.”
Glorified...
Glorified...
What’s interesting is every Christian in this room has been called and responded to that call. We were justified the moment we put our faith in Christ. But none of us have experienced glorification. I mean, if we were glorified would we still battle depression, fear, addiction, sickness, and so on? Yet… this word in the Greek is written in past tense. As if it has ALREADY HAPPENED. What does mean?
It means something glorious. It means that whether we humanely understand it or not, God already sees us in our FINISHED GLORIFIED STATE, even though we aren’t technically there yet in space and time. It means because of Jesus’s PERFECT, all-sufficient sacrifice, God looks at us and sees us as He has PREDESTINED us… as CONFORMED to the image of His Son.
That’s hard to believe, but it’s true! In God’s mind, we are already GLORIFIED. And it’s here that we circle back to where we started with IDENTITY.
Who does God says we are in Christ? We are children of God made perfect by the blood of Jesus, according to the perfect plan of God.
He foreknew us before we existed.
He chose us before we could possibly give Him any reason to love us.
He already loved us, even after He saw the sin in our lives.
He has predestined us to be like Jesus.
And He’s actively involved in making sure that plan comes to pass.
He has called us, justified us, and in His mind - the work is FINISHED - we stand GLORIFIED and VICTORIOUS before the throne.
That’s our IDENTITY! And if that’s who God says we are, I think we should believe Him!
It’s thisTRUTH about our IDENTITY that causes the apostle John to say...
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
It’s why Paul says...
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
… and goes onto say...
What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, where are you today? What do you believe about your IDENTITY? Does it match up with what God says about who you are?
No matter what your facing right now, if you have put your faith in Jesus, God sees you as glorified!
You hidden sins don’t change that.
The bad choices you made last night don’t change that.
You grades don’t change that.
Your popularity or success doesn’t change that.
Your credit card debt doesn’t change that.
Nothing changes how God sees you!
Your IDENTITY is secure in Jesus, guaranteed by the Holy Spirit inside you, according to the PERFECT PLAN of the Father. As you leave today, walk out of here with your head high, because you ARE VICTORIOUS in Jesus.
… And just a heads up. The devil doesn’t want you hearing this! He’s going to bombard your mind with lies to counteract this truth. Don’t be surprised.Maybe you here his lies right now! Stand firm in your faith. Tell him to flee in the name of Jesus. Then, set your eyes on the things of God (Mark 8:31). Because the TRUTH is you are VICTORIOUS in JESUS!
Response:
Response:
As we close, maybe there are some listening who don’t know Jesus. But you know you need Him! You’ve been listening and thought, “I need victory in my life!”
Well, I have good news for you. It’s available to you! Remember what I said about “calling?” That God divinely orchestrates events in your life to bring you to ideal moments when you can respond to Him? I assure you… TODAY is one of those moments. The Bible says, “TODAY is the day of salvation.”
If you’d like to respond to God’s calling, be made new in Jesus, and live in the victory God planned for you life, simply say, “God, forgive me for my sin. I turn away from it today and respond to Your call. I’m putting my faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. I’m ready to live in the plan you’ve had for me from the beginning of time.”
Let’s all pray together...
Father, give us faith to trust what You say about who we are in Jesus. Because this is truly our IDENTITY. Not what anyone says about us. Not what the devil says about us. Not even what we say about ourselves. But only what YOU say about us. You have gone to great lengths to ensure we spend forever with you. And we know no one can stand against your plans because your are God! Therefore, help my thinking to align correctly with Your truth, so that I can live victoriously as you say I am. In Jesus name, amen.
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