Purpose

Big Idea of the Message: God reveals the mystery of his grace through the church.

Who is Paul (Saul)?

Before we get deep into today’s message we need to get an understanding of Paul;

Paul, formally known as Saul, grew up in Tarsus and was very well versed in the Jewish Scripture and Law - in fact he was a lawyer;

Saul was extremely zealous about the protection of Jewish traditions and the Jewish law, so much so that he became a prosecutor of people that followed Christ;

On His way to Damascus, to carry out this persecution, Saul was met by Jesus and his life would never be the same;

Jesus changed everything about Saul including changing his name to Paul;

Paul was inspired to write the majority of the New Testament and became even more zealous for Christ.

Redemption

Paul starts by explaining who he is - “the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you the Gentiles...”;

But why was he a prisoner for the Gentiles - because God had a plan for Paul to fulfilled by Christ through him;

However something had to happen before this plan could take place - Paul had to recognize who he is not who he was;

So how did he get to who he is - very simply through redemption;

What is redemption;

“The release of people, animals, or property from bondage through the payment of a price.”

Lau, P. (2016). Redemption. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

There is change about to occur in history at this point - that change is an understanding of what has been hidden for so long - the price paid for all by Jesus on the cross - a payment for your release from bondage;

Jesus paid that price for all people not just a select group, that price is for redemption a release from bondage;

So here is the thing, if you are sitting here today as a child of Christ, a born again, raised from the dead follower of Christ feeling like you are in bondage to health, addiction, mental stress and list could go on and on - I need you to understand this Jesus removed this bondage with his blood the only thing holding you in a bondage state of mind is you;

You have been released - now this does not mean rainbows and roses all the time but it does mean you do not have stay where are;

Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Redemption

A pastor of a church in Boston met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. The pastor inquired, “Son, where did you get those birds?”

“I trapped them out in the field,” the boy replied.

“What are you going to do with them?”

“I’m going to play with them, and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home.”

When the pastor offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, “Mister, you don’t want them, they’re just little old wild birds and can’t sing very well.”

The pastor replied, “I’ll give you two dollars for the cage and the birds.”

“Okay, it’s a deal, but you’re making a bad bargain.”

The exchange was made, and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. The pastor walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire cage, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue.

The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate Christ’s coming to seek and to save those who—like the birds—were destined for destruction. The difference was that Christ had to purchase our freedom with his own life.

A Diamond in the Rough

In the 1994 Disney movie Aladdin Jafar was trying to find a Genie filled magic lamp hidden below the sands of the desert in a Cave of Wonders - the catch was that only “a diamond in the rough” could retrieve the lamp;

In the context of the movie “a diamond in the rough” was someone that was more worthy than they comprehended themselves to be;

How many of you are not feeling worthy today, beyond release today or covered in bondage;

Here Paul is wanting the Gentile to realize that the same God of the Jews is the same God of the Gentiles - that they, us, are more worthy than the world has made them feel;

When people consider value they look at the end product however God sees your value while you are still rough;

Bring you the diamond pictures advance slowly Rough, Split, Finished

When God looks at you He sees you finished, He sees your purpose and He sees your beauty;

Stop letting everyone and everything define you - why because you are God’s Masterpiece.

Purpose

You have a purpose;

The church has a purpose;

How are we fulfilling that purpose?

Application Point: We are called to make God’s glorious riches known to others, even at great personal cost.