Final Worship Sermon

God is bringing them here to deposit something important.

Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

True Worship is a living sacrifice

We become what we truly worship

We worship idols, we become as spiritually lifeless as the idols we worship.

Idols are anything that we trust/love/revere more than God.

And we talked about transformation is God’s will.

Remember the song… Waymaker… God is always working...

He is transforming you into the image of His Son

Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Worship leads to transformation.

We have been changed, we will be changed, we are being changed.

1. We have been changed

Ephesians 2:4-6 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,”

There has been a decisive and total transfer from one state to another. Not figuratively but literally. From Death to Life. This is not a process nor progressive, it is a decisive total change.

2. We will be changed

Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

There will be decisive change in the future. For flesh and blood cannot inherit the New World. Not only will our character and behaviors be completely transformed and our knowledge transformed and our sight transformed but also our bodies.

This is important - suffering is not removed till Jesus comes back.

Don’t idolize faith and reject the need for Jesus’ return.

3. We are being changed

2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

Based on the fact that we have been changed and will be, Christians are called to start living now as though the new age has already come. Renew your mind to the new reality says Paul.

Our WORSHIP and LOVE for God leads to our present transformation (both in the future and the right now)

The Apostle John provides us with some very dense theological truths in his epistles and one of them that encapsulates this concept of: was changed, will be changed, being changed is in 1 John 2.

1 John 2:28 - 3:3 “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”

John is revealing that there are practical implications associated with living the life of hope. Being born of God creates a vibrant hope for the future, one that motivates pure living in everyday life.

“Purifying himself” denotes a continual moral purification process. Jesus is the goal, the pattern.

Thus John’s ethical challenge is clear: since the Son is absolutely pure and we will be like him when he returns, we must strive to purify ourselves continually until that magnificent hour. John’s “abide in him” mandate is crucial to this purification process. To be purified we must remain close to the One who is wholly pure.

I have 4 main theological points to unpack from these verses that lead to us purifying ourselves.

Point- John knows it is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin and impurity, however, there is necessary our responding actions of faith in actually living out practically what we believe has happened.

1. Faith precedes behavior.

“You know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.”

John Stott says “A person’s righteousness is thus the evidence of his new birth, not the cause or condition of it.”

Righteous living is an expression of an already existing relationship with God.

The Root produces the Fruit

Because of your new birth:

You have the nature of God within you.

You are righteous by birth.

You are important, significant by birth.

You are royalty by birth

You are an heir by birth

Transformation into the image of Christ is your destiny. Imaging Him and expressing His nature and character to the cosmos.

2. Seeing is Intentional

“See what great love the Father has bestowed upon us.”

What you focus on will expand

Worship is magnifying, praising, glorifying God - focusing on him. We aren’t making God bigger we are making him bigger to ourselves. Worship of God changes our perspective in life.

Perspective example: Same experience different outcomes.

Spies - bad report, their perspective led them to believe a lie. What lies are you believing about yourself because of the wrong perspective. Because of what you are choosing to look at, to see.

What do I choose to see about myself and ministry? I have big dreams and when i look at the present situation it can be discouraging, but then i can also look at that just a few years ago my wife and i and my parents and shubins and jenny and vic and carlo and my brother andrew, zach was still out of town were gathered to worship and pray.

Perspective of faith

The object of our focus is: (next point)

3. God’s Love Transforms

“See what great love the Father has bestowed upon us.”

The Father’s love is so unearthly, so foreign to this world, that John wonders from what country it may come.

Here are several bible study points to help us unpack this dense statement.

The love of God is the source of us being His child.

The adjective potapen translated “how great”, which occurs only seven time in the NT, always implies astonishment, admiration - which will lead to worship. and also “being a child of God” stirs within the apostle a sense of wonder, awe and amazement.

This expression “how great” carries a qualitative and quantitative force - glorious, measureless love.

We can’t help but be reminded of Ephesians 3:14-20 prayer.

God’s love is foreign to humankind in that we cannot understand the magnitude of such love. It astonishes, amazes, and creates wonder within those who properly reflect upon it, those who look to it.

Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

This love is a forever love and its results are two: we are now the children of God and that is truly who we are.

We bear his name

We have his nature

Just like my children have their parents nature, image, behaviors, etc.

This provides me with the proper perspective of self-evaluation and self-awareness.

Because I am his child because of his love there is no room for an inferiority or superiority complex.

I am who I am by God’s gracious adoption and regeneration - this humbles me.

I am who I am as God’s son - this gives me security.

And John says, the world does not understand this relationship. They will hate you and reject you just as they hated and rejected Jesus.

Even in the suffering of rejection and persecution that comes from being His child, we are being changed into his likeness.

Philippians 3:10 “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,”

4. Vision becomes Assimilation

First, I am born of God and loved by God right now at this very moment. I am exactly who He redeemed me to be through the new birth. Secondly, what we will ultimately be is not completely known yet, and the process of transformation (John says purify himself) into that is underway.

And those that do it, have this hope:

The Great Christian Hope - The sequence is clear: he appears, we see him, we shall be like him.

This hope involves: expectation of the future, trust in God’s promised provision, and patience of waiting for him.

The entirety of our hope’s foundation is, now and forever, Christ alone.

In light of this hope there is practical change we must undertake.

John says, “all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”

Just as the vision of Christ in the future will change us wholly, the vision of Christ in the present (in Scripture) purify us progressively.

Invest in your affections/love for Jesus not in changing yourself

2 Corinthians 3:18 “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”