The Mystery of God
Notes
Transcript
Handout
[INTRO]
One of my favorite stories in the Bible has to do with the young prodigal in Luke 15.
Prodigal means to be wastefully extravagant, to be reckless.
This young reckless man goes to his good father and wishes him dead by asking for his inheritance early so he can go gratify all his earthly desires (sex, substances, splendor).
Surprisingly the father obliges his foolish son and gives him his wealth.
The son leaves and goes far away and spends all of it quickly (hence the definition extravagantly wasteful)… he finds himself far worse off than when he started...
Homeless, broke, no friends, no purpose…
There is a description of him lusting after the food he sees being fed to pigs because he is so hungry.
So he goes back to his home… he prepares a speech for his father… You imagine right, “him rehearsing the speech all the way home”…
“Dad, I messed up. I am a fool. I wasted all that you gave me. I insulted you.”
“I will work for you. You can treat me like a servant. I am not worthy to be a son.”
The young man has a broken spirit!
Have you ever felt like this young fool? So sure of your own plan only to have the force-fullness of reality swiftly put you back in your place?!
So the young man arrives at the edge of his father’s estate rehearsing his lines… “father, I’ve offended you, I’ve ridiculed you, I’ve rebelled against you, I’ve messed up everything. I don’t deserve love, I don’t deserve life. I am nothing.”
And the Father looks out and sees his son far off… and his first reaction is what?
He RUNS towards his son!
Once he gets to him, before the son can speak his rehearsed concoction of misery and remorse, the father embraces him and kisses him.
Ultimately, the father clothes him in his royal robes and throws a feast for his son.
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
I think this is the essence of what Jesus meant when preached in his most famous sermon:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The father’s party was a symbol of heaven, a forever life with God in God’s grace, with God’s people… apart from the destruction of death.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This story is shocking because it goes agains our common assumptions about rights, freedoms, peace and forgiveness!
I tell this story because I think this is the soul message of what Paul is trying to communicate here in Ephesians 1, especially in the verses 7-10.
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7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
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Big Idea: Is the mystery of God’s love towards fools.
***here’s the rub:
We are all fools
This stubborn and sinful plight is one in which we all find ourselves, some more than others… but all of us the same. in and of ourselves, we are foolish.
We come into the world self-centered and others’ controlling.
And apart from a work of God in us we remain that way.
Do you know what I mean by that?
SO many of us spend so much energy trying to control other’s… change the way other’s think, live and act… and we think our way is the best way.
Self-centered and other’s controlling. This is foolishness.
A fool is a person who acts unwisely.
The most foolish thing we all do is aim to DEFINE meaning, purpose and value for ourselves.
Whether like the prodigal, we waste our life on pleasure.
Or like other’s of us, we pursue meaning and purpose through responsibility and service…
But without an overarching ethic, without an overarching moral grid, we are all just playing God on our own...
And at the end of the day, we’re not good at it.
This sense of “freedom”, the illusion of choice, that I get to determine my fate has not led to peace, love and happiness. Look around us right now?
We are arguably more free than we’ve ever been, in the history of the world, and yet, ARE we are more loving, happier and at peace?
We are discontent. We are lonely. We are sad.
And we are fools because we keep playing the same game and expecting a different result. It’s insane. It’s the opposite of wisdom.
We have to realize there is a problem and it resides within all of us.
Call it sin. Call it ego. Call it pride.
At the end of day, it’s the inflammatory pursuit of MEANING apart from a personal relationship with God.
This pursuit of meaning apart from God is what has separates us from God, it’s what has brought about the destructive nature of the world as we see it.
So we hunger for something better.
We long for a better world.
We long for the good of those we love.
We desire for the aches of our souls to be met with loving affection.
But we find ourselves in a conundrum: many of us either feel entitled or unloveable.
Entitled: predators, ego-maniacs, takers, manipulators
I am owed, I deserve good things
Unloveable: the victims, the wounded, the marginalized, the hurting, the reserved
Many of us may have found ourselves in either place at one or more points in our lives.
We can’t fix these issues on our own, by our own means!
Deep down, we all know we aren’t all put together like we want to be.
We sense brokenness, we long for more.
surprisingly, ALL OF WHAT WE NEED IS FOUND IN JESUS!
A Mysterious Love: We are loved in spite of our brokenness.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
Verse (9) uses the word “MYSTERY”
“a mystery is difficult or impossible to explain… “
the opposite of mystery is everything that is NORMAL.
You know what NORMAL looks like:
to retell an event that took place and paint yourself in a better light and in turn point out other’s mistakes (exaggerate)
notice other’s fault and failures instead of their gifts and unique qualities
be jealous for other’s successes instead of celebrating with them
if asked for an opinion about something, go immediately to what’s wrong rather than what’s right
to be skeptical
to be guarded
to be an opportunist rather than a servant… “I’ll engage if there is something in it for me”
to be reactive rather than receptive… waiting to argue rather than listening to understand
vindictive rather than forgiving… “we will flip someone off when they pull out in front of us, as if that half a second we lost is going to change the productive nature of our entire day!”
Do you know what is the OPPOSITE of NORMAL, what is MYSTERIOUS??!!
GRACE!
That despite all of that mess that resides in parts of all of us we are still loved by the creator of the universe!
the mystery of grace, that God loves stubborn and sinful people… like you and like me.
It’s a beautiful mystery that we are both broken and radically loved by God!
God is a God who loves!
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
I love the beautiful excessiveness of the word LAVISH in verse 8… just that God went over the top with it!
There isn’t anything being held back!
It really does elicit that image of the father running towards the prodigal Son!
The word translated as LAVISH here means an ABUNDANCE, EXCESSIVE, TO HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH! It’s over the top...
And it’s intentional
It’s done soberly… Because the text says, “which he lavished upon us, in ALL WISDOM AND INSIGHT.”
it was the plan for God to love in this way!
It’s in God’s nature to love in this way!
We’re made to need for God to love us in this way!
What our soul longs for is to love and be loved by God in this way!
the mystery of grace, that God loves stubborn and sinful people… like you and like me.
YOU ARE LOVED!
[SLOW DOWN —> Thought Experiment] Elicit some memories, maybe even painful, but to try and drive this to our hearts...
Close your eyes… imagine for a moment,
(A) a time when you were hurt by someone?
Remember, what did it feel like?
How did you respond?
What is rising up in you now?
(B) remember a time you hurt someone else, something you did, something you said?
What did it feel like?
How did you respond?
What do you notice about the memory?
How did the other person respond?
(C) Now imagine that in your pain, in that memory, at your lowest, at your most vulnerable, at your breaking point…
when you were victimized or
when you found yourself as someone who had done something horribly wrong to someone else…
that in that moment the creator of the universe is running after you, is aiming to love you in ways that will correct you and restore you, redeem you and free you!
That what God really is trying to communicate through Scripture is something mysteriously unique.
That it’s NOT the act of adhering to principles and duties that saves us… but that it’s the mysterious, lavish LOVE of God that saves us!
And that our rebellion against God, isn’t about us finding our freedom, as much as it’s us turning away from divine LOVE!
Open your eyes… that’s what this mysterious love is.
We are taught that love is earned
Love is like an emotion that changes moment by moment
Love is conditional, it’s there when it suits the person
Love is fleeting, it won’t stay!
BUT WHEN GOD SPEAKS OF LOVE IT IS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT!!!
Because God does what he says he will do.
God is consistent.
God is faithful.
God is good!
And God is a good who loves.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
There is a richness to the grace of God.
Practically, when you experience it, you feel rich.
Life has purpose.
Living as a response to grace is FREEING! It’s the balm that our soul’d desperately need.
A Unity that Brings Us Together
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Sin always isolates us.
Evil’s goal is always to kill us, to separate us, to divide us.
When you see someone struggling, they are typically pulling away not drawing near… always.
In our foolish attempts to determine meaning apart from God, it’s an isolating experience.
Our culture celebrates it… the lone ranger making his way to the pinnacle of success and meaning… pulling himself up by his own’s bootstraps, making life happen on his own terms.
I remember the old western’s I would watch as a kid, that my grandparents really cherished.
I never could quite get the logic of them: The main character, always an emotionally vacant, violent, alcoholic man… somehow through whatever means necessary, being the hero over some bad guy only to ride his horse into the sunset...
I guess all that matters is you have a horse that likes you, because no one else does.
So I guess, be mean, drink too much and buy a horse… that’s the moral of old western’s
That’s the American dream!
The reality is: the people I know that have attempted to live their life that way, have left piles of broken relationships in their wake!
You can’t live life that way in community!
As a result, living that way leads to isolation!
And isolation is evil’s plan for each of us.
In Christ, you can have relationship with God and other’s…
without God, creating meaning on your own leads to selfish loneliness.
Jesus brings us together.
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
APPLICATION
Am I self-centered and other’s controlling? Am I Christ’s centered and self-controlling?
Grace, Pride and Despair
entitled: pride
unloveable: despair
Am I promoting unity or am I promoting division?
grace brings together
grace leans in
grace attempts to understand
grace is relational
Am I receptive to God’s lavish grace towards me?
you are loved!
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
[PRAY]