Blessings on Blessings (Part 2)

Introduction

Christ chose

-God’s plan for His people is from eternity. Men and women were created for life in fellowship with God as His children adopted into the family of God by the work of Christ.

-Sin separated but grace restored. (John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”)

-It’s amazing to me that God did what he did. He took what was broken and made it whole again. God chose to take sin and wipe it away with the blood of His Son Jesus. God took dead people and raised them to life through His Son. God chose you to be a messenger of the good grace that He pours out on us in abundance. God chose these things before the foundations of the world. With a people he knew would mess up, that he knew would turn from him, that he knew would need saving, that he knew couldn’t help themselves, and yet his plan for eternity was to display great love through adopting those that strayed back into the family of God by the person of his only Son. What sin separated, God restored through grace.

Christ blessed

-God gave us a peek in the window of His heart when He sent His Son. He showed that His heart for us is one of radical grace and love. He told us what His will for us was through Christ’s life and actions. He desires for you to come to Him. That’s how He blesses you. We always think of all of the physical blessings here on earth and the THINGS here on EARTH but the best blessing that we can have is GOD HIMSELF. And he gives us that freely! All throughout Scripture God is calling people to Himself…and that’s truly the best place to be is IN HIS PRESENCE. One place I am reminded of this is in the moment when Mary and Martha are with Jesus. (Luke 10:38-42 “ 38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”)

-God’s greatest blessing to us is Himself. As we spend time with him we reflect His nature more and more. We become more gracious, we see and desire justice around us, we show kindness in abundance, we love with compassion and empathy, we don’t strive to be lazy but we work hard for the glory of God. This is the heart of God. That he might lavish grace on you today and forever.

Christ lavished

Illustration of a gallon of water poured into a small cup.

Christ reconciled

-Christ not only receives us but he reconciles us to himself as His children and he enlightens us with the understanding of His purpose. Wisdom is ‘the knowledge which sees into the heart of things, which knows them as they really are’ and insights are ‘the understanding that leads to right action’. So that means that the wisdom and insight that we receive from God is not just head knowledge but understanding for the details of our daily lives. God reveals to us our purpose as blood bought children of the King in Christ. That purpose is wrapped up in the great commission that we go to all the world proclaiming what Christ has done for you and those you’re sharing with. This understanding depends on God’s will to reveal, and on human desire to receive insight that must be God-given.

Christ bled

-The grace that God gives is a redeeming and a restoring grace. What does redemption mean? The fundamental idea of redemption is that of the setting free of a thing or a person that has come to belong to another. For example, The people of Israel were redeemed people. They were slaves to the Egyptians and through their own sinfulness in Babylon also. But God redeemed them and freed them, and by redemption they were made his people. That also means that their was a cost for redemption. How did God pay for our redemption if we are His people? Through the blood of His Son. The means of liberation is also the price. What do I mean by that? Well if something is of high value there is a high price correct? So, if there is a high price to be paid (God’s Son having to come and die) that means sin is a big deal right? Hebrews 9:22 says without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. And it also says something about how God feels about you. In the Old Testament the sacrifices given for the people were temporary, they didn’t last. But Christ dying on the cross means that blood was shed as a sacrifice for sin; it is the defeat of sin and the release of His people from its bondage (those that put their belief and trust in Him). It gives us forgiveness from sin by God because of His grace shown through Christ himself! FORGIVENESS MEANS FREEDOM!

Conclusion

-So first question: Are you bought with the blood of Christ? Has he washed your sins away? Have you truly received Christ as your savior and trusted him with your life? Or are you playing a game, lying to yourself, and playing church?

-Second question: If you do have salvation and you are in Christ…are you listening to Him? Or have you plugged your ears? He wants to have open and constant communication with you. God’s heart is for you. The more you draw close to him the more you see this, realize this, and appreciate it in a more intense and deeper way. But you’ve got to be listening. There is grace for you and those around you. Jesus bought you with his own blood, by his own death. He took it onto himself because he was the only one that could. His heart is for you to know him and be known by him. His heart is full of grace and compassion towards you. He doesn’t look at your scars and you wounds and back away in fear and disgust. Your wounds stirs his heart to heal you, to make you whole, to cleanse your heart, mind, and soul. He is tender and he wants you to draw close to him. He wants you to listen to him and he wants to hear you. So open your heart and your ears to him, maybe for the first time tonight and peak into the heart of a gracious God that wants to wash away your sins with the blood that he shed for you.