God’s Rescue Plan for Humanity

Introduction: George Floyd murder

If you saw the video, you know you will never be able to unsee it.

As the black man was lying in the street with a police officer on top of him holding him down, the crowd started yelling and pleading with the officers to get off of the handcuffed man. Tragically, that was the last day that George Floyd was going to draw breath. As the weight of the police officer compressed his chest, Floyd was slowly choked to death before our very eyes.

That video still haunts me. It is burned into my memories and I’ll never be able to unsee what I saw that day on video.

George Floyd‘s death vividly revealed that we are terribly broken and in need of being rescued. That video reveals that something is deeply broken within our culture, our society, and our hearts. The filmed death of George Floyd shows us that we are failing to build a better future for everyone. Not to mention that racism is alive and well today. Along with all the other -ism’s that still plague us and separate us from one another based on economic divides, gender roles, sexual identities, and the list can go on and on.

Need: The biggest lie that we have bought into as a culture today is that we have the ability to fix the brokenness that is inside of us.

We need someone greater than ourselves to fix the problems inside of us and around us because we can not do it ourselves, no matter how much we try. No matter how much we protest. No matter how much we plan. No matter how much we strive for healing. We can not fix what is broken inside of us. Instead, we need someone to rescue us from ourselves and guide us to a better future, both here and now and yet to come.

Attention: That someone is God.

Since, basically the beginning of time, God has been meticulously working out His rescue plan for winning us back to him and to heal what is broken inside of us.

God is a Relational Creator

You see, from the very beginning, God has always existed in a never-ended, love relationship and out of that abundance of love, He created humanity to experience his love and be in relationship with him.

Everything looks great for the first two pages of the Bible, but then things went horribly wrong when God’s creation, his supreme work of art, humanity itself willfully rejected our relationship with God and chose to do things our own way. We did this because we didn’t want to just be with God, we wanted to Him.

We were able to do this because of the loving nature of our Creator. We were created with the ability to decide for ourselves and have the freedom necessary to either decide to love our Creator back or to turn our back on him. Unfortunately, we chose the latter and it plunged all of God’s creation into chaos and despair. We are still dealing with the ramifications of that choice because we continue to choose the latter, future breaking down social, relational, ecological, and spiritual structures.

But God was not deterred, his love would not allow him to simply let us go without first fighting to win us back. Through specific people and even groups of people, God revealed his plan for our rescue and what he was up too. That plan ultimately reached its pinnacle through the life, death, and resurrection of God’s own Son, Jesu Christ. Through his sacrifice, we are able to find the healing that we need to fix what is broken inside of us and all around us.

Scripture Statement: With all of this in mind, Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers to celebrate the new thing God was doing in and through them and to invite them to confidently show the world God’s rescue plan for humanity.

Sermon Statement: If you call yourself a believer today, then God wants you to join him in celebrating and confidently showing those around you that God has a plan in place for their rescue.

Transition: How do we do that? Well, we first need to understand what God has done before we can effectively share with others the love he has for them.

God’s rescue plan for humanity consists of several objectives that Paul talks about here in Ephesians 3.

The first objective that we see God accomplishing for our rescue and healing is that he created a community of believers that is holistically and relationally united in Him.

Objective #1: Create a Community that is Holistically and Relationally United (Eph. 3:2-6)

Read Ephesians 3:2-6

Ephesians 3:2–6 (NIV)

2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

[BREAK]

What Paul is describing to the believers in Ephesus is nothing but ground breaking and earth shattering. Through Christ, those who were enemies with one another can become friends. Through Christ, those who had nothing to do with one another now build each other up. Through Christ, those who excluded and racially profiled others now call “the other” brother or sister. Through Christ, the world is able to tangible see what real love, grace, acceptance, and unity looks like when it sees the church actually living up to the standards that is expected of it.

For Paul’s day, the divide was between ethnic Jews who believed in Jesus and non-Jewish believers of Jesus.

Today, there are even more divides that Jesus’ love and sacrifice can overcome.

Political divides can be resolved through Jesus.

Sexual divides can be resolved through Jesus.

Gender and Identity issues can be resolved through Jesus.

Economic Injustice can be resolves through Jesus.

Racial and Social Injustice can be resolves through Jesus.

3-Fold Descriptor in verse 6

In the Greek language, Paul uses three different words to describe the holistic relational unity that now exists between Jewish and non-Jewish believers of Jesus. These words emphasize that non-Jewish believers (that’s you and me) are now filly included in the family of God. Not just a little bit or as unwanted step-children, but we are holistically included in God’s family with all the rights, privileges, and honors that come with being a child of the King of King.

Co-Heirs together in Christ’s inheritance

Co-Members together in the body of Christ, that we know as the Church

Co-Sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus by receiving the coming blessings promised in God’s kingdom

This is important because:

Because this is the only way in which you can find actual healing for what is broken inside of you. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, you can find healing; through the Church, you can find a family that will encourage you, build you up, love you, serve you, and be a safe place for you to authentic and grow into the person that God designed you to be.

Paul is saying that all of this is possible only through the Gospel. It is only because of God’s rescue plan for humanity that we can healing, restoration, and rescue from our self-destructive tendencies that further divide us and keep us separated from God and one another. It’s only because of Jesus and what he has done for us and what the Spirit is doing in and through us that we can be holistically united with one another.

Paul calls this a mystery that God has revealed to him and it has captured his heart so much so that he can’t help but share with others what God has done and continues to do and because of that … he’s in prison as he writes these words.

READ Ephesians 3:1, 7-9

Ephesians 3:1 (NIV)

1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—

Ephesians 3:7–9 (NIV)

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.

[BREAK]

Transition: The first objective that we see God accomplishing for our rescue and healing is that he created a new humanity that is holistically and relationally unity through shared sacrificial inclusivity. The second objective is that God has made new creations out of us through his grace.

Objective #2: Create New Creations through His Grace (Eph. 3:1, 7-9)

Paul is literally sitting in a jail cell as he writes these words to the believers in Ephesus, because racist Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem accused Paul of bringing a non-Jewish man into the Temple, which was against the law. Because of that, he is now sitting in a Roman jail cell waiting to be executed because of the message he kept share with any one who would listen - that Jesus died to heal what is broken inside of us and to make us new creations that live in holistic relational unity with one another.

Paul is not writing a pity-party for himself. Nor is he writing about how God will ultimately make everything better for him in the end. Instead, Paul is accurately describing what it looks like to be a real disciple of Jesus.

Being a real disciple of Jesus means that you kill your will by dying to yourself and being made alive in Christ, so that you can learn from Jesus and fully live like Jesus in your daily life.

READ Luke 9:23

Luke 9:23–24 (NLT)

23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

Illustration: Church = Lamp - BE QUICK!

Transition: So, we’ve seen that God has created a new humanity that is holistically and relationally united through shared sacrificial inclusivity of one another. That this new humanity consists of new creations made whole through his grace. Lastly, we see that this new humanity that God has created has been equipped and called to boldly show His love to others.

Objective #3: Create a Bold New Humanity that Shows God’s Love (Eph. 3:10-13)

Read Ephesians 3:10-13

Ephesians 3:10–13 (NIV)

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. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.

[BREAK]

Paul says that part of God’s rescue plan for humanity is that we boldly share and show what God has done and is doing in and through us because of what Jesus has accomplished. We aren’t sharing God’s rescue plan with others because we deserve a pat on the back. Instead, we boldly show God’s love to others because of what Jesus has done for us and for them as well!

When you look at the sacrifice that Jesus made for you and others, when you look at what God has accomplished by uniting enemies into one family, and what the Holy Spirit is continuing to do in our lives and through our lives; then freedom, confidence, and boldness should well up within you because you are part of a new humanity where Jesus is not only our King but also our big brother in the family of God.

Paul writes this as he is sitting in a jail cell uncertain about his future. But he doesn’t care about that. All that he cares about is that these Ephesian believers (and us today) celebrate and confidently show the world the new thing God has done and is still doing to this day! That he has made a way for our rescue, our renewal, and our restoration by placing us into his family as new creations waiting to receive all of the blessings and promises that are coming our way in eternity.

Transition: So, we’ve seen that God has created a new humanity that is holistically and relationally united through shared sacrificial inclusivity of one another. That this new humanity consists of new creations made whole through his grace. Lastly, we see that this new humanity that God has created has been equipped and called to boldly show His love to others.

Conclusion/Call to Action

That is what Paul is doing as he writes these words from his jail cell. He is boldly showing God’s grace and love to those he used to view as worthless scum.

Read Ephesians 3:2

Ephesians 3:2 (NLT)

2 assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles.

[BREAK]

The grace God gives you should have a ripple effect throughout your life, throughout how you live your life, and throughout the lives of the people who you come into contact. God gave Paul grace, so that he could give that gift of grace to others. God has given you grace and he wants you to share that gift of grace with others because God’s grace should create a chain reaction within us and within our social network and community connections.

If you are part of God’s family today, then I want to encourage you to live like it, celebrate the fact that you are new creation in Christ because of the grace God has poured out on you! I want to encourage you to boldly show others that you are follower of Jesus who is learning from him so that you can live like him here and now. I want to encourage you that even though you may feel like you are suffering, like Paul is, know that whatever you are going through is simply a temporary discomfort that has the potential to permanently and eternally impact the futures of those around us.

[PRAY]