1 00:00:00,500 --> 00:00:02,000 Hi there Mars Hill Church 2 00:00:02,083 --> 00:00:05,042 and the extended family of Mars Hill Global. 3 00:00:05,125 --> 00:00:08,292 I'm pastor Sutton Turner here in Dilla, Ethiopia 4 00:00:08,375 --> 00:00:10,250 and I wanted to take a moment and explain 5 00:00:10,333 --> 00:00:14,292 what the extended family of Mars Hill Global is. 6 00:00:14,375 --> 00:00:18,292 I was a podcaster when I was living in the Middle East 7 00:00:18,375 --> 00:00:22,125 and consuming those podcasts every week, 8 00:00:22,208 --> 00:00:26,125 participating, really one way, from Mars Hill Church. 9 00:00:26,208 --> 00:00:27,917 I was really a consumer. 10 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:29,458 So what we're doing is setting up 11 00:00:29,542 --> 00:00:33,167 the extended family of Mars Hill Global and saying, 12 00:00:33,250 --> 00:00:39,042 "Come, be a part of what Jesus Christ is doing in and through our church." 13 00:00:39,125 --> 00:00:40,917 So what does Mars Hill Global do? 14 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:46,125 Well, Mars Hill Global is doing and participating in church planting 15 00:00:46,208 --> 00:00:48,417 here in Ethiopia and also in India. 16 00:00:48,500 --> 00:00:51,375 Also, we're doing church planting in the United States as well. 17 00:00:51,458 --> 00:00:53,583 We're doing all of that because in Mars Hill Church 18 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,417 we believe that Jesus has called us to make disciples and plant churches. 19 00:00:58,500 --> 00:01:02,375 So I want to ask you to be a part. I want to as you to be a part 20 00:01:02,458 --> 00:01:04,208 of the extended family of Mars Hill Global. 21 00:01:04,292 --> 00:01:05,417 Sign up today. 22 00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:08,292 Become a member of the extended family, 23 00:01:08,375 --> 00:01:10,917 start participating online with us, 24 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,458 and let's see what Jesus Christ is going to do, 25 00:01:13,542 --> 00:01:16,500 not only in the United States, but to the ends of the Earth. 26 00:01:17,208 --> 00:01:30,083 [music] 27 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:37,917 [laughing] 28 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:39,292 Hi, I'm Holly. 29 00:01:39,375 --> 00:01:40,708 I'm Caleb. Joshua. 30 00:01:40,792 --> 00:01:42,708 I decided to open up my own agency. 31 00:01:42,792 --> 00:01:44,083 I'm a lawyer. 32 00:01:44,167 --> 00:01:45,833 I'm a colorist in the fashion industry. 33 00:01:45,917 --> 00:01:48,042 Some days I help out in our lumber mill. 34 00:01:48,125 --> 00:01:49,417 I'm a professional boy wrangler. 35 00:01:49,500 --> 00:01:50,917 I work in commercial real estate. 36 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,083 I'm a seasoned human resources professional. 37 00:01:53,167 --> 00:01:54,625 Yeah, I am a baseball fan. 38 00:01:54,708 --> 00:01:58,292 And I lost the house that I cherished. 39 00:01:58,375 --> 00:02:00,875 A typical day is waking up next to my wife. 40 00:02:00,958 --> 00:02:02,583 Couldn't get her out of my head. 41 00:02:02,667 --> 00:02:03,958 [laughing] 42 00:02:04,042 --> 00:02:05,792 I'm the tallest person in my family. 43 00:02:05,875 --> 00:02:08,167 I like to make comic books. 44 00:02:08,250 --> 00:02:10,000 I got a tattoo of a tree. 45 00:02:10,083 --> 00:02:11,417 I love--I love that. 46 00:02:11,500 --> 00:02:13,167 Yeah, so that's all I think about. 47 00:02:13,250 --> 00:02:15,750 Who do you think-- Who do you think you are? 48 00:02:17,667 --> 00:02:19,000 Alright, you ready? 49 00:02:19,083 --> 00:02:21,292 Big question, big question. 50 00:02:21,375 --> 00:02:25,583 The two--who are the two most important people who have 51 00:02:25,667 --> 00:02:29,250 ever lived in the history of the world? 52 00:02:29,333 --> 00:02:32,250 First one, Jesus, yeah. 53 00:02:32,333 --> 00:02:36,542 Even if you're new, there's a layup, okay? 54 00:02:36,625 --> 00:02:39,917 I'm like the teacher who gives you an easy one 55 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:41,917 before crushing you, alright. 56 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:45,583 So, the most important person who's ever lived is Jesus. 57 00:02:45,667 --> 00:02:50,125 Who's the second most important person who's ever lived 58 00:02:50,208 --> 00:02:55,625 in the history of the world? 59 00:02:55,708 --> 00:02:57,083 It's very quiet. 60 00:02:57,167 --> 00:02:58,500 One guy said his wife. 61 00:02:58,583 --> 00:03:01,083 That guy is a genius. 62 00:03:01,167 --> 00:03:07,042 His life is pretty good because of his genius answer. 63 00:03:08,667 --> 00:03:10,667 Think about it for a moment. 64 00:03:10,750 --> 00:03:14,417 The second most important person who's ever lived in the history 65 00:03:14,500 --> 00:03:16,000 of the world. 66 00:03:16,083 --> 00:03:18,208 Your answer reveals a lot about something called your 67 00:03:18,292 --> 00:03:22,292 worldview, how you see history and your place in it. 68 00:03:22,375 --> 00:03:27,292 The Bible teaches us that the second most important person 69 00:03:27,375 --> 00:03:31,000 in the history of the world is a guy named Adam. 70 00:03:31,083 --> 00:03:35,583 In fact, in 1 Corinthians 15:45, it talks about Adam, 71 00:03:35,667 --> 00:03:40,625 the first Adam, and Jesus, the last Adam. 72 00:03:40,708 --> 00:03:43,750 One of the great myths, particularly in the West, 73 00:03:43,833 --> 00:03:46,417 is that each of us is exclusively 74 00:03:46,500 --> 00:03:49,250 an isolated individual. 75 00:03:49,333 --> 00:03:52,042 We see ourselves almost exclusively, 76 00:03:52,125 --> 00:03:55,417 in individualistic terms, at the very most, perhaps, 77 00:03:55,500 --> 00:03:59,042 part of a family and a role and an identity within the context 78 00:03:59,125 --> 00:04:01,083 of a family. 79 00:04:01,167 --> 00:04:05,417 The result is, then, we tend to have an identity based upon 80 00:04:05,500 --> 00:04:07,917 things like: "Am I young? Am I old? 81 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:09,417 "Am I black? Am I white? 82 00:04:09,500 --> 00:04:10,917 "Am I rich? Am I poor? 83 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:12,417 "Am I Republican? Am I Democrat? 84 00:04:12,500 --> 00:04:14,083 "Am I smart or not so smart? 85 00:04:14,167 --> 00:04:15,875 "Am I beautiful or am I average? 86 00:04:15,958 --> 00:04:17,792 "Am I a winner? Am I a loser? 87 00:04:17,875 --> 00:04:19,292 "Am I healthy? Am I sick? 88 00:04:19,375 --> 00:04:20,792 "Am I single? Am I married? 89 00:04:20,875 --> 00:04:22,292 "Am I married? Am I divorced? 90 00:04:22,375 --> 00:04:23,792 Am I married? Am I widowed?" 91 00:04:23,875 --> 00:04:26,208 All of these things may help explain us, 92 00:04:26,292 --> 00:04:27,583 but they don't define us. 93 00:04:27,667 --> 00:04:32,125 Really, there are only two categories of human beings 94 00:04:32,208 --> 00:04:36,000 today, yesterday, and tomorrow: 95 00:04:36,083 --> 00:04:41,333 those who are in Adam, and those who are in Christ. 96 00:04:41,417 --> 00:04:44,333 Those who are in Adam and those who are in Christ, 97 00:04:44,417 --> 00:04:48,000 that's how God sees all of humanity in human history. 98 00:04:48,083 --> 00:04:51,333 So, the next question is for you, personally, 99 00:04:51,417 --> 00:04:56,333 practically: are you in Adam or in Christ? 100 00:04:56,417 --> 00:04:58,917 Sometimes when we talk about Adam or we talk about 101 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:01,375 Jesus, because of the therapeutic nature of 102 00:05:01,458 --> 00:05:04,583 the culture we live in where everybody's almost only, 103 00:05:04,667 --> 00:05:07,583 exclusively thinking about, meditating upon, 104 00:05:07,667 --> 00:05:11,708 and talking about themselves, when we start to talk about Adam 105 00:05:11,792 --> 00:05:13,458 or we start to talk about Christ, 106 00:05:13,542 --> 00:05:15,000 some of you may be disinterested. 107 00:05:15,083 --> 00:05:19,500 But here's a very important point: you're either in Adam, 108 00:05:19,583 --> 00:05:22,167 or you're in Christ. 109 00:05:22,250 --> 00:05:25,500 And this is so incredibly important because, literally, 110 00:05:25,583 --> 00:05:28,917 your identity and your eternal destiny hang in the balance of 111 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,250 whether you're in Adam or you're in Christ. 112 00:05:32,333 --> 00:05:36,792 You're born in Adam as a sinner and you're born again in Christ, 113 00:05:36,875 --> 00:05:38,833 who is a Savior. 114 00:05:38,917 --> 00:05:41,208 So incredibly important. 115 00:05:41,292 --> 00:05:45,208 And here's how God sees history: he sees two leaders, two heads, 116 00:05:45,292 --> 00:05:46,750 two captains. 117 00:05:46,833 --> 00:05:49,792 You'll read with me, as we're going to spend the next few 118 00:05:49,875 --> 00:05:52,250 months together going through the book of Ephesians, 119 00:05:52,333 --> 00:05:56,083 you'll see this word come up a few times, this word "head." 120 00:05:56,167 --> 00:05:59,583 The word "head," and what that means is leader. 121 00:05:59,667 --> 00:06:01,917 That means captain. 122 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,792 That means one whose decisions implicate and affect 123 00:06:04,875 --> 00:06:08,417 everyone else who is associated with them. 124 00:06:08,500 --> 00:06:10,750 None of us are individuals. 125 00:06:10,833 --> 00:06:12,250 None of us are isolated. 126 00:06:12,333 --> 00:06:13,917 None of us stand alone. 127 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,750 We're part of one of two groups, one of two families, 128 00:06:16,833 --> 00:06:21,083 one of two teams, one of two nations: those who are in Adam, 129 00:06:21,167 --> 00:06:23,417 and those who are in Christ. 130 00:06:23,500 --> 00:06:27,208 Here's how Paul says it in 1 Corinthians 15:21-22. 131 00:06:27,292 --> 00:06:30,083 "For as by a man came death," that's Adam, 132 00:06:30,167 --> 00:06:32,917 "by a man has also come the resurrection of the dead," 133 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:34,292 that's Jesus. 134 00:06:34,375 --> 00:06:37,417 And here's the language: "For in Adam," there's one team, 135 00:06:37,500 --> 00:06:39,875 one group, one category, "all," what? 136 00:06:39,958 --> 00:06:42,000 "die, 137 00:06:42,083 --> 00:06:47,208 so also in Christ," there's our big idea, 138 00:06:47,292 --> 00:06:52,000 "in Christ shall all be made alive." 139 00:06:52,083 --> 00:06:56,583 I want you to start to see yourself in these two terms: 140 00:06:56,667 --> 00:07:00,250 in Adam or in Christ. 141 00:07:00,333 --> 00:07:05,458 Now, this is why it is so incredibly important. 142 00:07:05,542 --> 00:07:08,375 We're all born in Adam. 143 00:07:08,458 --> 00:07:11,917 We all inherit from him a sinful nature. 144 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:17,375 We all inherit from him separation from God, 145 00:07:17,458 --> 00:07:19,625 and we need to be born again. 146 00:07:19,708 --> 00:07:22,708 We're physically alive, but spiritually dead to God. 147 00:07:22,792 --> 00:07:25,208 We also need to be made spiritually alive to God, 148 00:07:25,292 --> 00:07:28,583 born again in Christ. 149 00:07:28,667 --> 00:07:30,292 And this is the foundation, 150 00:07:30,375 --> 00:07:32,583 this is the framework for your identity. 151 00:07:32,667 --> 00:07:35,208 And the big theme we're going to be studying through 152 00:07:35,292 --> 00:07:37,417 the book of Ephesians for months, and months, 153 00:07:37,500 --> 00:07:40,667 and months is this big issue of identity. 154 00:07:40,750 --> 00:07:42,500 Identity. 155 00:07:42,583 --> 00:07:47,583 And the Bible speaks of identity as being in Adam or in Christ, 156 00:07:47,667 --> 00:07:52,917 so much so that the Bible speaks of believers being in Christ 157 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:57,208 no less than 216 times. 158 00:07:57,292 --> 00:07:59,208 Just the Apostle Paul himself, 159 00:07:59,292 --> 00:08:01,458 in the 13 letters of the New Testament 160 00:08:01,542 --> 00:08:03,875 that he writes, he talks about us being in Christ. 161 00:08:03,958 --> 00:08:05,250 He'll use language like, 162 00:08:05,333 --> 00:08:08,250 "In him, in the Beloved, in Christ," 216 times. 163 00:08:08,333 --> 00:08:12,833 Let me say this: anyone who tells you something 216 times, 164 00:08:12,917 --> 00:08:15,333 number one, it's important, number two, 165 00:08:15,417 --> 00:08:17,833 they're afraid you're going to forget it. 166 00:08:17,917 --> 00:08:19,250 Right? 167 00:08:19,333 --> 00:08:21,958 Do you know how many times the New Testament says that 168 00:08:22,042 --> 00:08:24,458 a Christian is a Christian and uses the language of 169 00:08:24,542 --> 00:08:25,875 "Christian"? 170 00:08:25,958 --> 00:08:27,500 Three times. 171 00:08:27,583 --> 00:08:29,875 The Bible says that your identity is as Christian 172 00:08:29,958 --> 00:08:34,750 3 times, that your identity is in Christ 216 times. 173 00:08:34,833 --> 00:08:38,792 It's one of the primary ways, if not the most common way, 174 00:08:38,875 --> 00:08:43,292 that God refers to a Christian. 175 00:08:43,375 --> 00:08:46,083 And here's the difference between being in Adam 176 00:08:46,167 --> 00:08:51,792 and being in Christ: at the cross of Jesus Christ, 177 00:08:51,875 --> 00:08:56,000 he traded places with us. 178 00:08:56,083 --> 00:09:00,750 He literally traded places with me. 179 00:09:00,833 --> 00:09:02,875 All of the death, all of the shame, 180 00:09:02,958 --> 00:09:07,875 all of the condemnation that I deserve went to Jesus. 181 00:09:07,958 --> 00:09:10,750 All of the forgiveness, all of the love, 182 00:09:10,833 --> 00:09:16,458 all of the grace that Jesus rightly has 183 00:09:16,542 --> 00:09:20,958 as the sinless Son of God comes to me. 184 00:09:21,042 --> 00:09:23,667 What that does is that changes our identity. 185 00:09:23,750 --> 00:09:26,750 And I want you to see this: if you are in Christ, 186 00:09:26,833 --> 00:09:31,125 you are in Christ's position and Christ is in your position. 187 00:09:31,208 --> 00:09:36,375 He suffers and dies so that you might be blessed and live. 188 00:09:36,458 --> 00:09:39,083 Do you believe that God the Father loves 189 00:09:39,167 --> 00:09:41,083 the Lord Jesus Christ? 190 00:09:41,167 --> 00:09:43,250 Do you believe that he is kind toward him, 191 00:09:43,333 --> 00:09:46,167 and gracious toward him, that his ear is attuned toward him, 192 00:09:46,250 --> 00:09:48,667 that his affection is devoted to him? 193 00:09:48,750 --> 00:09:51,167 Mars Hill, I have great news for you. 194 00:09:51,250 --> 00:09:55,583 If you are in Christ, you stand in the position of Christ. 195 00:09:55,667 --> 00:09:58,250 You are loved as Christ is loved, 196 00:09:58,333 --> 00:10:00,542 you are blessed as Christ is blessed, 197 00:10:00,625 --> 00:10:06,333 you are embraced and adored as Christ is embraced and adored. 198 00:10:06,417 --> 00:10:09,750 I need you to see that so that you'll live from your identity 199 00:10:09,833 --> 00:10:13,458 in Christ, that you'll realize that you're free from religion 200 00:10:13,542 --> 00:10:15,833 and trying to perform for God. 201 00:10:15,917 --> 00:10:18,375 You'll be free from shame and condemnation, 202 00:10:18,458 --> 00:10:22,000 because all of that is taken care of for you by Christ 203 00:10:22,083 --> 00:10:25,583 and is available to you in Christ. 204 00:10:25,667 --> 00:10:27,958 So, we're born in Adam. 205 00:10:28,042 --> 00:10:31,458 That's our original, inherited, fallen identity. 206 00:10:31,542 --> 00:10:34,000 We're born again in Christ. 207 00:10:34,083 --> 00:10:38,000 That's our new, redeemed, resurrected identity, 208 00:10:38,083 --> 00:10:40,792 given to us in Christ. 209 00:10:40,875 --> 00:10:44,375 I'll say it this way: in Adam there is defeat, 210 00:10:44,458 --> 00:10:46,667 but in Christ there is victory. 211 00:10:46,750 --> 00:10:49,083 In Adam there is condemnation, 212 00:10:49,167 --> 00:10:51,708 but in Christ there is salvation. 213 00:10:51,792 --> 00:10:54,583 In Adam we receive a sin nature, 214 00:10:54,667 --> 00:10:57,917 but in Christ we receive a new nature. 215 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:02,333 In Adam we are cursed, but in Christ we are blessed. 216 00:11:02,417 --> 00:11:04,958 In Adam there is wrath and death, 217 00:11:05,042 --> 00:11:08,250 but in Christ there is love and life. 218 00:11:08,333 --> 00:11:13,583 My question to you is this: are you in Adam or in Christ? 219 00:11:13,667 --> 00:11:16,458 And I need you to see your identity and your destiny 220 00:11:16,542 --> 00:11:18,750 as God does. 221 00:11:18,833 --> 00:11:22,792 The next question: what does it mean to be in Christ? 222 00:11:22,875 --> 00:11:25,583 What does it mean to be in Christ? 223 00:11:25,667 --> 00:11:28,417 When the Bible uses this language of "in Christ," 224 00:11:28,500 --> 00:11:30,917 or "in him," or "in the Beloved," 225 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,792 and it speaks of our identity in these various ways, 226 00:11:33,875 --> 00:11:36,458 what does it mean? 227 00:11:36,542 --> 00:11:41,750 Well, this understanding, this new concept is revolutionary. 228 00:11:41,833 --> 00:11:44,667 Before the Apostle Paul starts writing, 229 00:11:44,750 --> 00:11:50,583 "in Christ, in Christ, in Christ," 216 times, 230 00:11:50,667 --> 00:11:54,583 that language was not used. 231 00:11:54,667 --> 00:11:59,375 Outside of Paul's writing, it is rarely used. 232 00:11:59,458 --> 00:12:02,833 Paul was trying to, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 233 00:12:02,917 --> 00:12:06,375 help you, and me, and all of God's children understand 234 00:12:06,458 --> 00:12:08,458 our identity, who we are. 235 00:12:08,542 --> 00:12:11,875 Not who we think we are, not who others say we are, 236 00:12:11,958 --> 00:12:15,167 but who God says we are. 237 00:12:15,250 --> 00:12:17,917 And so he came up with a brand-new concept and some 238 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:22,167 new language, because when Jesus rose from the dead, 239 00:12:22,250 --> 00:12:25,500 all things became new and language was straining to 240 00:12:25,583 --> 00:12:30,417 understand, to articulate all of the changes that have happened 241 00:12:30,500 --> 00:12:32,708 because of his resurrection. 242 00:12:32,792 --> 00:12:37,292 And so Paul coins this phrase, "in Christ," 243 00:12:37,375 --> 00:12:40,958 and he's echoing the very words of the Lord Jesus himself. 244 00:12:41,042 --> 00:12:43,583 Let me read it to you from John 15:5. 245 00:12:43,667 --> 00:12:45,583 What does it mean to be in Christ? 246 00:12:45,667 --> 00:12:47,792 Well, here's what Christ says: "I am the vine; 247 00:12:47,875 --> 00:12:49,792 you are the branches." 248 00:12:49,875 --> 00:12:52,000 Any of you do any gardening? 249 00:12:52,083 --> 00:12:55,583 Any of you landscapers for a living? 250 00:12:55,667 --> 00:13:00,875 The branch needs the trunk. 251 00:13:00,958 --> 00:13:04,083 The branch cannot survive without the trunk. 252 00:13:04,167 --> 00:13:08,333 There's no nourishment, there's no life for the branch apart 253 00:13:08,417 --> 00:13:10,667 from the trunk. 254 00:13:10,750 --> 00:13:15,375 You need to know this: you're a branch, not a trunk. 255 00:13:15,458 --> 00:13:19,083 You're not the strong one who's going to nurture others. 256 00:13:19,167 --> 00:13:22,583 You're not the essential one that others cannot live without. 257 00:13:22,667 --> 00:13:26,000 You're also not independent unto yourself where you can nourish 258 00:13:26,083 --> 00:13:28,417 and sustain your own spiritual life. 259 00:13:28,500 --> 00:13:30,917 You and I, we're branches. 260 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:32,583 He's the trunk. 261 00:13:32,667 --> 00:13:35,583 Every time you see a tree, every time you see a plant, 262 00:13:35,667 --> 00:13:38,708 remind yourself, "He is the vine, he is the trunk. 263 00:13:38,792 --> 00:13:42,375 Me? I'm just a branch." 264 00:13:42,458 --> 00:13:44,375 "I am the vine; you are the branches. 265 00:13:44,458 --> 00:13:45,792 Whoever abides in me." 266 00:13:45,875 --> 00:13:48,458 This is language of relationship and affection. 267 00:13:48,542 --> 00:13:50,417 Jesus is a person, not a concept. 268 00:13:50,500 --> 00:13:52,167 He's alive, not dead. 269 00:13:52,250 --> 00:13:53,792 He speaks to you through Scripture. 270 00:13:53,875 --> 00:13:55,375 He hears you through prayer. 271 00:13:55,458 --> 00:13:57,583 He wants a relationship with you, a personal, 272 00:13:57,667 --> 00:13:59,583 loving friendship. 273 00:13:59,667 --> 00:14:02,625 And if you continue in that friendship and you grow in that 274 00:14:02,708 --> 00:14:04,917 friendship, and you nurture that friendship-- 275 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,250 "Whoever abides in me and I in him," there's our language. 276 00:14:08,333 --> 00:14:11,875 "He it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do," 277 00:14:11,958 --> 00:14:13,250 what? 278 00:14:13,333 --> 00:14:14,750 "Nothing." 279 00:14:14,833 --> 00:14:17,458 Some of you say, "I can do a lot of things," 280 00:14:17,542 --> 00:14:20,458 and in the sight of God, it's nothing, and in the end, 281 00:14:20,542 --> 00:14:23,208 when all is said and done, it will account for nothing. 282 00:14:23,292 --> 00:14:24,958 The illusion could be, in this world, 283 00:14:25,042 --> 00:14:26,708 that you're accomplishing a lot, but ultimately, 284 00:14:26,792 --> 00:14:28,875 eternally, as you stand before him 285 00:14:28,958 --> 00:14:31,917 for whom we must all give an account, 286 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:33,917 it will be nothing. 287 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,000 You will have wasted an entire life. 288 00:14:37,083 --> 00:14:42,083 The only way life is rightly to be lived and eternally 289 00:14:42,167 --> 00:14:46,750 to be credited is if we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, 290 00:14:46,833 --> 00:14:50,583 and our life is the overflow. 291 00:14:50,667 --> 00:14:56,208 It's the outpouring of the life of Jesus in and through us. 292 00:14:56,292 --> 00:14:59,208 I want you to see that the beginning of your identity is 293 00:14:59,292 --> 00:15:03,750 in Christ, and then that is also the beginning of your activity. 294 00:15:03,833 --> 00:15:06,875 So, from your identity comes your activity. 295 00:15:06,958 --> 00:15:10,167 Now, for those of you who were raised under religion, or guilt, 296 00:15:10,250 --> 00:15:12,958 or manipulation, or condemnation, or shame, 297 00:15:13,042 --> 00:15:16,750 you will wrongly think, "I need to live my life in such a way 298 00:15:16,833 --> 00:15:18,250 "that I'm fruitful, and I'm holy, 299 00:15:18,333 --> 00:15:20,583 "and I'm mature, and I'm moral, and I'm growing, 300 00:15:20,667 --> 00:15:22,583 "so that then Jesus will want to have 301 00:15:22,667 --> 00:15:24,208 a relationship with me." 302 00:15:24,292 --> 00:15:27,667 That's exactly the opposite of how it works. 303 00:15:27,750 --> 00:15:30,250 Jesus wants to come into your life, 304 00:15:30,333 --> 00:15:34,083 he wants his life to flow through your life so that you 305 00:15:34,167 --> 00:15:37,000 can begin to change, and from you comes something called 306 00:15:37,083 --> 00:15:39,958 fruitfulness: a new way of thinking, a new way of acting, 307 00:15:40,042 --> 00:15:41,917 a new way of living. 308 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:46,792 But it's not you, it's Christ in you, it's Christ through you. 309 00:15:46,875 --> 00:15:49,583 It's Jesus' life changing your life, 310 00:15:49,667 --> 00:15:52,958 Jesus' life taking residence in your life, 311 00:15:53,042 --> 00:15:55,500 and it is the life of Jesus producing fruit 312 00:15:55,583 --> 00:15:57,792 through your life. 313 00:15:57,875 --> 00:16:02,375 Now, what this leads to is a far more productive and humble life. 314 00:16:02,458 --> 00:16:05,750 You can do things by the power of God that you cannot do 315 00:16:05,833 --> 00:16:08,750 on your own, but you're doing them to the glory of God, 316 00:16:08,833 --> 00:16:12,083 which means there'll be greater humility. 317 00:16:12,167 --> 00:16:14,917 How's it going with Jesus? 318 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,458 So oftentimes what happens in this world--again, 319 00:16:17,542 --> 00:16:20,542 dominated by psychological concepts, 320 00:16:20,625 --> 00:16:25,083 not all of which are bad--but we can look toward a goal, 321 00:16:25,167 --> 00:16:27,750 and then we can look to ourselves to try and meet 322 00:16:27,833 --> 00:16:30,708 that goal rather than looking to Jesus, 323 00:16:30,792 --> 00:16:34,292 asking how we can grow in relationship with him so that 324 00:16:34,375 --> 00:16:37,583 his life, and love, and power would be present in us and then 325 00:16:37,667 --> 00:16:40,167 would flow through us for whatever future 326 00:16:40,250 --> 00:16:41,958 he might have for us. 327 00:16:42,042 --> 00:16:43,875 You understand the difference? 328 00:16:43,958 --> 00:16:46,417 If you don't understand that Christ is the essence of 329 00:16:46,500 --> 00:16:48,958 your life, that your hope, your future, your joy, 330 00:16:49,042 --> 00:16:52,417 your power are in Christ, you will either become arrogant 331 00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:55,292 trying to be a trunk, 332 00:16:55,375 --> 00:16:57,417 or you will become discouraged knowing that 333 00:16:57,500 --> 00:17:00,958 you can't change your life, and you can't do all that 334 00:17:01,042 --> 00:17:04,250 you're supposed to do and be all that you're supposed to be. 335 00:17:04,333 --> 00:17:07,583 But if you understand that your identity's in Christ, 336 00:17:07,667 --> 00:17:10,333 then suddenly you understand that your hope is in Christ, 337 00:17:10,417 --> 00:17:11,917 and your power is in Christ, 338 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:13,750 and your fruitfulness is in Christ, 339 00:17:13,833 --> 00:17:15,250 and that gives you great courage, 340 00:17:15,333 --> 00:17:17,250 and it also gives you great humility. 341 00:17:17,333 --> 00:17:21,458 "I can change by the grace of God." 342 00:17:21,542 --> 00:17:25,792 Are you in Adam or are you in Christ? 343 00:17:25,875 --> 00:17:29,167 And the reason I tell you this is when it comes to 344 00:17:29,250 --> 00:17:32,917 our understanding of God, particularly in the present-day 345 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,000 church, people still tend to, for the most part, 346 00:17:36,083 --> 00:17:37,458 go to the Bible: 347 00:17:37,542 --> 00:17:39,000 What does it say about God? 348 00:17:39,083 --> 00:17:42,292 But here's what happens: when we ask questions about ourselves, 349 00:17:42,375 --> 00:17:44,167 and our identity, and who we are, 350 00:17:44,250 --> 00:17:48,292 it is increasingly common to go to the social sciences, 351 00:17:48,375 --> 00:17:51,417 to go to psychology, to sociology, to anthropology. 352 00:17:51,500 --> 00:17:53,208 "Am I the first-born, the middle child, 353 00:17:53,292 --> 00:17:55,250 "or the youngest, the baby in the family? 354 00:17:55,333 --> 00:17:57,417 "Am I an introvert? Am I an extrovert? 355 00:17:57,500 --> 00:18:00,583 "What's my personality type? ENTP, J-E-R-K? 356 00:18:00,667 --> 00:18:04,083 "You know, what personality type am I? 357 00:18:04,167 --> 00:18:05,958 "Where am I in the Myers-Briggs? 358 00:18:06,042 --> 00:18:10,250 "Where am I on the various psychological tests? 359 00:18:10,333 --> 00:18:14,375 "Am I a feeler? Am I a thinker? 360 00:18:14,458 --> 00:18:15,875 Who am I?" 361 00:18:15,958 --> 00:18:19,167 And all of a sudden, we hand over much of our identity and 362 00:18:19,250 --> 00:18:22,375 the understanding of who we are and who we're supposed to be to 363 00:18:22,458 --> 00:18:26,500 the social sciences and we walk away from Scripture. 364 00:18:26,583 --> 00:18:29,000 Some of you say, "What? We shouldn't use those things?" 365 00:18:29,083 --> 00:18:30,458 Those things may explain us, 366 00:18:30,542 --> 00:18:33,417 but they're incapable of defining us. 367 00:18:33,500 --> 00:18:35,917 They may tell you some things about who you are, 368 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:42,250 but they don't reveal to you who you are in Christ. 369 00:18:42,333 --> 00:18:45,958 So, let's go to the Scriptures and let's ask, 370 00:18:46,042 --> 00:18:48,875 "What's our identity?" 371 00:18:48,958 --> 00:18:51,292 Because the worst place to start forming your identity 372 00:18:51,375 --> 00:18:54,417 is to start with you. 373 00:18:54,500 --> 00:18:57,958 In addition, the next worst place to start is others. 374 00:18:58,042 --> 00:18:59,458 "They're like this, I'm like that. 375 00:18:59,542 --> 00:19:01,917 "Now I'm getting an identity based upon how I'm similar 376 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:06,750 or different from those people." 377 00:19:06,833 --> 00:19:11,125 The best place to start your identity is to start in Christ. 378 00:19:11,208 --> 00:19:14,042 "Who's Jesus? What's he done? 379 00:19:14,125 --> 00:19:16,667 "Who am I in him? 380 00:19:16,750 --> 00:19:19,375 "Now, out of that, there may be things that explain me-- 381 00:19:19,458 --> 00:19:22,458 "introvert, extrovert, a thinker, a feeler, 382 00:19:22,542 --> 00:19:25,833 "those kinds of things-- but they don't define me. 383 00:19:25,917 --> 00:19:27,958 "They're not the essence of who I am. 384 00:19:28,042 --> 00:19:33,333 They may be activities, but they're not my identity." 385 00:19:33,417 --> 00:19:35,333 Do you know who you are? 386 00:19:35,417 --> 00:19:37,958 As we were beginning this series, I had one mother say, 387 00:19:38,042 --> 00:19:39,375 "I'm terrified. 388 00:19:39,458 --> 00:19:42,417 All I know is that I'm a wife and a mom." 389 00:19:42,500 --> 00:19:47,583 That's activity, that's not identity. 390 00:19:47,667 --> 00:19:51,458 Her identity is in Christ, and that should affect her 391 00:19:51,542 --> 00:19:54,333 relationship with her husband, that should affect her 392 00:19:54,417 --> 00:19:57,958 relationship with her children, allow that fruitfulness to come 393 00:19:58,042 --> 00:20:01,167 from Jesus, through her, to her family. 394 00:20:01,250 --> 00:20:04,583 But so oftentimes, our activity becomes our identity. 395 00:20:04,667 --> 00:20:08,250 Things that explain us start to define us, and the result is, 396 00:20:08,333 --> 00:20:13,750 invariably, they fail us. 397 00:20:13,833 --> 00:20:15,833 What does it mean to be in Christ? 398 00:20:15,917 --> 00:20:19,417 Let me tell you how I see this very practically. 399 00:20:19,500 --> 00:20:22,500 I'm trying to take a very large, complicated, 400 00:20:22,583 --> 00:20:25,500 theological idea and present it in a way that is really 401 00:20:25,583 --> 00:20:28,458 practical, and pastoral, and personal for you. 402 00:20:28,542 --> 00:20:31,708 I tend to see this identity issue playing itself out 403 00:20:31,792 --> 00:20:34,750 personally, parentally, and pastorally. 404 00:20:34,833 --> 00:20:40,583 Personally, this is a very important concept for me. 405 00:20:40,667 --> 00:20:45,250 I love my wife, Grace, but if I make her the source of my 406 00:20:45,333 --> 00:20:50,292 identity, I'm putting her in the place of God, 407 00:20:50,375 --> 00:20:52,958 and she becomes the center around which my whole life 408 00:20:53,042 --> 00:20:56,208 orbits, and she will be crushed under the weight 409 00:20:56,292 --> 00:20:58,708 of being God to me. 410 00:20:58,792 --> 00:21:03,417 I love my five children, I love being a dad, but similarly, 411 00:21:03,500 --> 00:21:06,083 the children cannot be the center of my life. 412 00:21:06,167 --> 00:21:08,417 They cannot be the hope for my future. 413 00:21:08,500 --> 00:21:15,250 They cannot be, in any way, God to me. 414 00:21:15,333 --> 00:21:17,167 My identity has to be in Christ 415 00:21:17,250 --> 00:21:19,250 so that I can love and serve Grace. 416 00:21:19,333 --> 00:21:22,583 My identity has to be in Christ so I can love and serve 417 00:21:22,667 --> 00:21:25,500 our five children. 418 00:21:25,583 --> 00:21:28,792 It's really important for me personally, 419 00:21:28,875 --> 00:21:32,083 otherwise I will take those that I love the most and eventually 420 00:21:32,167 --> 00:21:36,917 I will destroy them, or I will be discouraged by them or 421 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,917 disappointed in them, and in so doing, then I will destroy them. 422 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,375 Have you been there? 423 00:21:44,458 --> 00:21:49,083 I've seen, personally, you can find your identity idolatry-- 424 00:21:49,167 --> 00:21:53,500 an identity idolatry is where our identity's not in Christ, 425 00:21:53,583 --> 00:21:56,708 but we're trying to have someone or something other than Christ 426 00:21:56,792 --> 00:22:01,083 be that which defines our life, our value, our dignity, 427 00:22:01,167 --> 00:22:03,333 and to live in light of that. 428 00:22:03,417 --> 00:22:06,042 Here's one way you can find your identity idolatry: 429 00:22:06,125 --> 00:22:08,875 pay attention to what you count. 430 00:22:08,958 --> 00:22:10,542 What do you count? 431 00:22:10,625 --> 00:22:14,083 There's a difference between something being important to you 432 00:22:14,167 --> 00:22:16,917 and something being an idol to you. 433 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,542 I count five kids. 434 00:22:19,625 --> 00:22:21,125 I always want to count five. 435 00:22:21,208 --> 00:22:23,583 If we have four, it should concern me, amen? 436 00:22:23,667 --> 00:22:25,542 Right? 437 00:22:25,625 --> 00:22:28,750 I do want to be healthy, I do want to pay my bills. 438 00:22:28,833 --> 00:22:32,500 Some things do matter, but if those things move from being 439 00:22:32,583 --> 00:22:36,333 things that are important to things that become my identity, 440 00:22:36,417 --> 00:22:40,250 then all of a sudden I am incapable of living the kind of 441 00:22:40,333 --> 00:22:42,917 life that Jesus has for me. 442 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,417 Because suddenly, I'm not getting my life, 443 00:22:45,500 --> 00:22:47,917 and my sustenance, and my nourishment, and my hope, 444 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,500 and my courage, and my joy from Jesus, 445 00:22:50,583 --> 00:22:55,292 but from someone or something that has taken his place. 446 00:22:55,375 --> 00:22:57,125 What this also means, personally, 447 00:22:57,208 --> 00:23:01,917 is that you are not just discouraged but destroyed by 448 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:06,917 criticism, because you're living your whole life for your 449 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,625 identity idolatry, and as soon as someone should critique that, 450 00:23:10,708 --> 00:23:15,708 it doesn't just concern you, it crushes you. 451 00:23:15,792 --> 00:23:19,250 Parentally, I think a lot of parenting, 452 00:23:19,333 --> 00:23:21,417 and this has huge implications for parenting, 453 00:23:21,500 --> 00:23:24,917 is helping your children know who they are in Christ. 454 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:29,417 That's why, in some regards, parenting is really discipling. 455 00:23:29,500 --> 00:23:32,750 Do you have a kid who has a lot of self-confidence? 456 00:23:32,833 --> 00:23:36,417 We call it high self-esteem, the Bible calls it pride. 457 00:23:36,500 --> 00:23:38,042 You got one of those kids? 458 00:23:38,125 --> 00:23:40,125 They're smart, they're athletically gifted, 459 00:23:40,208 --> 00:23:44,042 they're musically talented, they're artistically capable, 460 00:23:44,125 --> 00:23:46,333 they're beautiful, they're funny, they're likeable, 461 00:23:46,417 --> 00:23:48,917 whatever their thing is, or they're none of those things, 462 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:50,833 but they think they are, right? 463 00:23:50,917 --> 00:23:52,417 They think they are. 464 00:23:52,500 --> 00:23:53,917 That tends to be American kids: 465 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:55,917 low test scores, high self-esteem. 466 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:57,292 That's how we do it. 467 00:23:57,375 --> 00:24:01,083 "I can't read or write, but I think I'm a genius." 468 00:24:01,167 --> 00:24:02,708 That's an American kid. 469 00:24:02,792 --> 00:24:06,375 Do you have a kid like that, high self-confidence? 470 00:24:06,458 --> 00:24:09,083 You need to tell them that their identity in Christ means, 471 00:24:09,167 --> 00:24:12,542 "No, God made you and you are a sinner. 472 00:24:12,625 --> 00:24:14,250 "Your sin is pride. 473 00:24:14,333 --> 00:24:16,625 "And any gifts you have, they're gifts from God, 474 00:24:16,708 --> 00:24:19,750 "and any opportunities you have are opportunities from the Lord, 475 00:24:19,833 --> 00:24:22,250 "and apart from Christ, you can't do anything. 476 00:24:22,333 --> 00:24:25,708 "I want you to understand that it's not about self-confidence, 477 00:24:25,792 --> 00:24:28,750 it's about confidence in Christ." 478 00:24:28,833 --> 00:24:31,792 Conversely, any of you parents have kids that have 479 00:24:31,875 --> 00:24:36,208 very low self-confidence, very low self-image, 480 00:24:36,292 --> 00:24:39,833 very low self-esteem? 481 00:24:39,917 --> 00:24:42,792 What you don't start doing is finding things that are good in 482 00:24:42,875 --> 00:24:45,208 them and then praising them, because all you're doing 483 00:24:45,292 --> 00:24:48,500 is appealing to their pride. 484 00:24:48,583 --> 00:24:50,750 Instead, you tell them who they are in Christ. 485 00:24:50,833 --> 00:24:52,417 "Do you know that God made you? 486 00:24:52,500 --> 00:24:54,750 "Do you know that Jesus saves you? 487 00:24:54,833 --> 00:24:58,708 "Do you know that in Christ you have a new identity? 488 00:24:58,792 --> 00:25:01,458 "See, Jesus is your grade point average. 489 00:25:01,542 --> 00:25:04,417 "It doesn't matter if you're an A student or a D student. 490 00:25:04,500 --> 00:25:06,417 "If you're worshiping the Lord, doing your best, 491 00:25:06,500 --> 00:25:10,083 you are who you are in Christ and Christ is your perfection." 492 00:25:10,167 --> 00:25:13,750 It doesn't matter if you take a risk and fail 493 00:25:13,833 --> 00:25:16,417 because in Christ all things are completed. 494 00:25:16,500 --> 00:25:20,292 "In Christ, all things are finished," he says. 495 00:25:20,375 --> 00:25:22,750 You and I are freed from the pressure, then, 496 00:25:22,833 --> 00:25:24,792 of being perfect, of performing. 497 00:25:24,875 --> 00:25:28,208 We don't work for our identity, we work from our identity. 498 00:25:28,292 --> 00:25:31,042 It means whether we succeed or whether we fail, 499 00:25:31,125 --> 00:25:33,250 or whether we're rich or whether we're poor, 500 00:25:33,333 --> 00:25:35,500 if we're living a life that glorifies God, 501 00:25:35,583 --> 00:25:40,208 in Christ our identity is unshakeable. 502 00:25:40,292 --> 00:25:43,417 This means that our life is not poverty-free, 503 00:25:43,500 --> 00:25:45,917 it's not affliction-free, it's not suffering-free, 504 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,333 but it's poverty-, sickness-, and affliction-proof. 505 00:25:50,417 --> 00:25:52,417 We'll get through it in Christ. 506 00:25:52,500 --> 00:25:55,625 We'll get through it in Christ. We'll grow through it in Christ. 507 00:25:55,708 --> 00:25:57,708 We might even overcome it in Christ. 508 00:25:57,792 --> 00:25:59,625 We may not overcome it in Christ. 509 00:25:59,708 --> 00:26:02,583 The good news is we're still in Christ 510 00:26:02,667 --> 00:26:04,792 and our identity is secure. 511 00:26:04,875 --> 00:26:09,125 Pastorally, as I see people who sin and allow others to sin 512 00:26:09,208 --> 00:26:12,625 against them, both of which cause suffering, 513 00:26:12,708 --> 00:26:15,875 I find that under a lot of the pain, and the strife, 514 00:26:15,958 --> 00:26:17,875 and the struggle, and the difficulty, 515 00:26:17,958 --> 00:26:20,667 and the complication is people don't know that their identity's 516 00:26:20,750 --> 00:26:23,417 in Christ. 517 00:26:23,500 --> 00:26:27,458 They don't know that their identity's in Christ. 518 00:26:27,542 --> 00:26:31,833 The result is they will assume a false identity, 519 00:26:31,917 --> 00:26:35,958 and that identity is never one that leads to life, 520 00:26:36,042 --> 00:26:37,458 it always leads to death. 521 00:26:37,542 --> 00:26:40,167 It never leads to joy, it always leads to despair. 522 00:26:40,250 --> 00:26:44,042 It never leads to Christ, it all leads back to Adam. 523 00:26:44,125 --> 00:26:45,667 Does this make sense? 524 00:26:45,750 --> 00:26:48,250 Am I making sense? 525 00:26:48,333 --> 00:26:49,875 Okay, for both of you, good. 526 00:26:49,958 --> 00:26:52,250 For the rest of you, I hope to do better. 527 00:26:52,333 --> 00:26:55,625 Okay, so we've taken this big idea of what it means to be 528 00:26:55,708 --> 00:26:58,875 in Christ and I want to ask this question: what does it mean 529 00:26:58,958 --> 00:27:02,125 to be in Christ according to the book of Ephesians? 530 00:27:02,208 --> 00:27:04,125 This brings us to the book of Ephesians. 531 00:27:04,208 --> 00:27:07,125 We're going to start into it this week and we're going to 532 00:27:07,208 --> 00:27:09,417 then plow through it for 14 consecutive weeks, 533 00:27:09,500 --> 00:27:10,917 starting next week. 534 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:12,625 Here's what I want you to do: 535 00:27:12,708 --> 00:27:15,125 I want you to start reading the book of Ephesians. 536 00:27:15,208 --> 00:27:16,542 It's in your Bible. 537 00:27:16,625 --> 00:27:18,250 Read it over, and over, and over. 538 00:27:18,333 --> 00:27:20,417 It was John Calvin's favorite book of the Bible. 539 00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:22,208 Read it over, and over, and over, 540 00:27:22,292 --> 00:27:24,917 and be looking for "in Christ, in him, in the Beloved." 541 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:27,042 You'll see "in Christ" about a dozen times. 542 00:27:27,125 --> 00:27:29,750 You'll see variations of it more than 20 times. 543 00:27:29,833 --> 00:27:32,625 In the 6 chapters of the book, you'll see this concept of 544 00:27:32,708 --> 00:27:34,833 "in Christ" more than 30 times. 545 00:27:34,917 --> 00:27:37,417 Highlight it, circle it, surround it, pray about it, 546 00:27:37,500 --> 00:27:39,125 think about it, study it. 547 00:27:39,208 --> 00:27:41,042 Get yourself into the Word of God, 548 00:27:41,125 --> 00:27:44,250 get the Word of God into you, and go through the book asking 549 00:27:44,333 --> 00:27:47,417 yourself, "What does it mean to have an identity in Christ?" 550 00:27:47,500 --> 00:27:50,292 because the big, unifying theme of the whole book is identity 551 00:27:50,375 --> 00:27:52,708 in Christ, and the scholars tend to agree. 552 00:27:52,792 --> 00:27:54,708 You know, guys who tuck their shirts in, 553 00:27:54,792 --> 00:27:57,208 and have a lot of free time on Friday nights, 554 00:27:57,292 --> 00:27:59,208 and they read a lot of dead guys, 555 00:27:59,292 --> 00:28:02,000 they all tend to agree that the book of Ephesians is 556 00:28:02,083 --> 00:28:03,583 about our identity in Christ. 557 00:28:03,667 --> 00:28:05,292 And that's going to be our theme 558 00:28:05,375 --> 00:28:08,125 for the study of the book of Ephesians. 559 00:28:08,208 --> 00:28:11,125 And so the question, then, is: how does Paul start his letter 560 00:28:11,208 --> 00:28:12,792 to the Ephesians? 561 00:28:12,875 --> 00:28:14,750 It's a church that he founded and planted, 562 00:28:14,833 --> 00:28:17,792 he spent 2 years pastoring, teaching, and ministering at. 563 00:28:17,875 --> 00:28:20,250 These are people that he knows and he loves. 564 00:28:20,333 --> 00:28:23,250 And Paul--Paul sometimes is writing letters, 565 00:28:23,333 --> 00:28:27,125 perhaps even this one, from prison. 566 00:28:27,208 --> 00:28:30,417 Can you imagine if his identity was in his freedom, 567 00:28:30,500 --> 00:28:33,917 or his performance, or his public reputation? 568 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,250 He'd be destroyed. 569 00:28:36,333 --> 00:28:40,625 But Paul is imprisoned, hated, opposed, despised, 570 00:28:40,708 --> 00:28:43,333 and he's talking about our identity not being 571 00:28:43,417 --> 00:28:48,333 in our idolatry, but our identity being in Christ. 572 00:28:48,417 --> 00:28:50,625 And as he writes to the Ephesians, 573 00:28:50,708 --> 00:28:54,125 you would have to suspect that whatever he tells us first 574 00:28:54,208 --> 00:28:57,417 is probably the most important, right? 575 00:28:57,500 --> 00:28:59,833 Isn't that where you and I would begin a conversation, 576 00:28:59,917 --> 00:29:01,750 or a letter, or an e-mail? 577 00:29:01,833 --> 00:29:04,292 Whatever you start with, that's kind of your big idea. 578 00:29:04,375 --> 00:29:07,292 It's really important, you want to get it out there up front 579 00:29:07,375 --> 00:29:09,417 so that nobody forgets it. 580 00:29:09,500 --> 00:29:12,417 In Ephesians 1, I think it's verses 3-14, 581 00:29:12,500 --> 00:29:15,333 in the Greek text that your Bible is originally written in, 582 00:29:15,417 --> 00:29:17,042 it's one sentence. 583 00:29:17,125 --> 00:29:18,542 One. 584 00:29:18,625 --> 00:29:21,542 So all of you English profs, you're just going to freak out. 585 00:29:21,625 --> 00:29:25,292 This is one seriously, Holy Spirit-inspired, 586 00:29:25,375 --> 00:29:29,833 poorly punctuated verse of Scripture. 587 00:29:29,917 --> 00:29:33,083 And I want you to read with me what he says. 588 00:29:33,167 --> 00:29:36,750 He's going to tell us nine things right up front, 589 00:29:36,833 --> 00:29:40,333 right in the beginning, of what it means to be in, what? 590 00:29:40,417 --> 00:29:42,417 Who? Christ. 591 00:29:42,500 --> 00:29:46,750 Okay, first one, here's where he begins. 592 00:29:46,833 --> 00:29:49,125 Ephesians 1:1. 593 00:29:49,208 --> 00:29:51,583 He says, in Christ you can be faithful. 594 00:29:51,667 --> 00:29:53,042 "To the saints," 595 00:29:53,125 --> 00:29:55,250 that's what we're going to talk about next week, 596 00:29:55,333 --> 00:30:00,708 "who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus." 597 00:30:00,792 --> 00:30:03,042 Question: have you ever struggled with 598 00:30:03,125 --> 00:30:04,917 spiritual faithfulness? 599 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,083 Is it just me? 600 00:30:07,167 --> 00:30:10,083 Have you ever--any of you backslidden? 601 00:30:10,167 --> 00:30:13,125 Any of you walked away from God? 602 00:30:13,208 --> 00:30:15,333 Any of you been inconsistent? 603 00:30:15,417 --> 00:30:19,250 Any of you can't even find your Bible it's been so long? 604 00:30:19,333 --> 00:30:23,333 Any of you back in church after a season away? 605 00:30:23,417 --> 00:30:26,458 Any of you have sin on the side, things you're hoping that others 606 00:30:26,542 --> 00:30:28,375 don't find out about? 607 00:30:28,458 --> 00:30:32,917 Have any of you struggled with faithfulness, with perseverance? 608 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,667 Have you asked yourself, "How can I become more disciplined? 609 00:30:35,750 --> 00:30:38,250 How can I become more faithful?" 610 00:30:38,333 --> 00:30:41,625 The answer is in Christ. 611 00:30:41,708 --> 00:30:45,083 You can only be faithful in Christ. 612 00:30:45,167 --> 00:30:49,875 When you remember who you are, then you'll know what to do. 613 00:30:49,958 --> 00:30:54,042 When you know who Christ is for you, in you, through you, 614 00:30:54,125 --> 00:30:57,625 that affects the decisions you make and the life that you live. 615 00:30:57,708 --> 00:31:00,333 I was talking to a guy this week and he said, 616 00:31:00,417 --> 00:31:03,042 "There are seasons of my life, as I look back on, 617 00:31:03,125 --> 00:31:04,792 "that I have been unfaithful. 618 00:31:04,875 --> 00:31:07,542 Unfaithful to God, unfaithful to his people." 619 00:31:07,625 --> 00:31:10,333 And he said, "You know, I've struggled with this for years." 620 00:31:10,417 --> 00:31:12,917 And he said, "As I was thinking about it, 621 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:14,875 "as I'm tempted or frustrated, 622 00:31:14,958 --> 00:31:18,583 I just remind myself I am in Christ." 623 00:31:18,667 --> 00:31:20,667 And he said, "Actually, this week, very practically, 624 00:31:20,750 --> 00:31:23,250 "I was tempted to go back into an old sin, 625 00:31:23,333 --> 00:31:25,375 "tempted to go back to some old ways, 626 00:31:25,458 --> 00:31:27,625 "and I remembered I'm in Christ. 627 00:31:27,708 --> 00:31:30,250 "What that means is I don't have to do that. 628 00:31:30,333 --> 00:31:32,375 "I don't need to have this inconsistency. 629 00:31:32,458 --> 00:31:35,333 "I don't need to live out of a duplicitous identity, 630 00:31:35,417 --> 00:31:37,333 "reversible jersey, 631 00:31:37,417 --> 00:31:40,167 'I'm in Christ and then someone or something else.'" 632 00:31:40,250 --> 00:31:42,583 In Christ, you will live a faithful life. 633 00:31:42,667 --> 00:31:45,167 In Christ you can live a consistent life. 634 00:31:45,250 --> 00:31:47,958 In Christ you can live a persevering life. 635 00:31:48,042 --> 00:31:50,833 Because if you abide in him and he abides in you, 636 00:31:50,917 --> 00:31:52,583 you can bear much fruit. 637 00:31:52,667 --> 00:31:54,167 Amen? 638 00:31:54,250 --> 00:31:55,875 So, there's your hope. 639 00:31:55,958 --> 00:31:57,875 This is different than motivational speaking. 640 00:31:57,958 --> 00:32:00,792 I've been asked this by some of the commentators, 641 00:32:00,875 --> 00:32:03,583 and some of the reviewers, and media interviews, 642 00:32:03,667 --> 00:32:05,542 "How is this different than self-help?" 643 00:32:05,625 --> 00:32:07,000 It's totally different. 644 00:32:07,083 --> 00:32:08,875 It's Christ's help. 645 00:32:08,958 --> 00:32:11,875 This is not about me living a life that glorifies God. 646 00:32:11,958 --> 00:32:15,667 This is about God living a life through me that glorifies God, 647 00:32:15,750 --> 00:32:18,750 but it's God's life in me, it's God's life through me. 648 00:32:18,833 --> 00:32:22,667 It's not just my life for him, it's his life through mine. 649 00:32:22,750 --> 00:32:25,083 In Christ you can be faithful, because friends, 650 00:32:25,167 --> 00:32:27,417 Christ was faithful. 651 00:32:27,500 --> 00:32:30,875 He never rebelled, he never sinned, he never strayed, 652 00:32:30,958 --> 00:32:32,750 he never repented. 653 00:32:32,833 --> 00:32:35,458 The one thing we must do frequently and continually is 654 00:32:35,542 --> 00:32:38,875 the thing that he never had to do, and that's repent. 655 00:32:38,958 --> 00:32:40,625 He's without sin, he's perfect. 656 00:32:40,708 --> 00:32:45,250 Christ alone is faithful, and he's faithful to us. 657 00:32:45,333 --> 00:32:48,167 And even when we're faithless, the Bible says he's what? 658 00:32:48,250 --> 00:32:52,375 He's still faithful, and it's the faithfulness of Christ to us 659 00:32:52,458 --> 00:32:57,417 that allows us to live out the faithfulness of Christ. 660 00:32:57,500 --> 00:33:02,042 The second thing that he says: In Christ you are blessed. 661 00:33:02,125 --> 00:33:04,625 Ephesians 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father 662 00:33:04,708 --> 00:33:06,125 "of our Lord Jesus Christ, 663 00:33:06,208 --> 00:33:12,083 who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing." 664 00:33:12,167 --> 00:33:14,250 He jumps down in Ephesians 1:6, 665 00:33:14,333 --> 00:33:19,083 "He has blessed us in the Beloved." 666 00:33:19,167 --> 00:33:21,958 Have you ever felt cursed? 667 00:33:22,042 --> 00:33:26,625 Have you ever felt like your life 668 00:33:26,708 --> 00:33:30,750 is not what it should be? 669 00:33:30,833 --> 00:33:34,458 You're working hard, but you're not getting the promotion. 670 00:33:34,542 --> 00:33:37,875 Maybe you're working hard and you don't even keep the job. 671 00:33:37,958 --> 00:33:39,750 Relationally, you're investing in people 672 00:33:39,833 --> 00:33:42,750 and they're taking from you. 673 00:33:42,833 --> 00:33:45,958 Do you feel like your life is one in which you're cursed, 674 00:33:46,042 --> 00:33:47,958 that others are just taking? 675 00:33:48,042 --> 00:33:52,125 They're greedy, not generous financially, emotionally, 676 00:33:52,208 --> 00:33:55,667 spiritually, practically. 677 00:33:55,750 --> 00:33:58,250 Have you ever woken up and looked in the mirror 678 00:33:58,333 --> 00:34:00,917 and wondered, "Is everyone using me? 679 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:05,042 "Is everyone taking from me? Does no one care about me? 680 00:34:05,125 --> 00:34:09,667 Is no one giving anything to me?" 681 00:34:09,750 --> 00:34:12,750 In Christ, you're blessed. 682 00:34:13,458 --> 00:34:15,958 In Christ, you're blessed. 683 00:34:16,042 --> 00:34:18,667 Sometimes that's financially, sometimes that's emotionally, 684 00:34:18,750 --> 00:34:23,750 sometimes that's physically, all the time, that's spiritually. 685 00:34:23,833 --> 00:34:27,250 You've been blessed with the righteousness of Christ. 686 00:34:27,333 --> 00:34:29,333 You've been blessed with the love of Christ. 687 00:34:29,417 --> 00:34:31,583 You've been blessed with the forgiveness of Christ. 688 00:34:31,667 --> 00:34:33,875 You've been blessed with a guaranteed resurrection 689 00:34:33,958 --> 00:34:40,833 from the dead and an eternal life in Christ. 690 00:34:40,917 --> 00:34:43,417 We deserve hell. 691 00:34:43,500 --> 00:34:46,542 Everything else is a blessing. 692 00:34:47,333 --> 00:34:50,458 Everything else is a blessing. 693 00:34:50,542 --> 00:34:52,167 You are blessed. 694 00:34:52,250 --> 00:34:55,667 And I want to be careful how I say this. 695 00:34:55,750 --> 00:34:58,375 I don't want you to become lazy, I don't want you 696 00:34:58,458 --> 00:35:01,042 to stop striving, I don't want you to stop growing, 697 00:35:01,125 --> 00:35:04,250 but I do want you to have an attitude of gratitude, 698 00:35:04,333 --> 00:35:08,375 where looking around your life, you assume that God blesses you, 699 00:35:08,458 --> 00:35:11,958 and you look for the ways that he has blessed you. 700 00:35:12,042 --> 00:35:15,167 And when he does bless you, I want you to start to get 701 00:35:15,250 --> 00:35:16,958 in the habit of pausing, even momentarily, 702 00:35:17,042 --> 00:35:19,250 to prayerfully thank him. 703 00:35:19,333 --> 00:35:22,917 If you wake up from a nap, "Hey, thanks Lord Jesus for the nap." 704 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:24,458 You wake up in the morning, 705 00:35:24,542 --> 00:35:27,125 "Thanks Lord Jesus for another day." 706 00:35:27,208 --> 00:35:31,958 The day's over, "Thank you Lord Jesus that day's over." 707 00:35:32,042 --> 00:35:34,333 You and I are blessed, 708 00:35:34,417 --> 00:35:38,125 but sometimes we're blind to the blessing. 709 00:35:38,208 --> 00:35:41,125 It's not that it's not there, it's that we've closed our eyes. 710 00:35:41,208 --> 00:35:43,958 It's that we are so consumed with wanting something else 711 00:35:44,042 --> 00:35:46,833 or mourning something that we didn't obtain that we forget 712 00:35:46,917 --> 00:35:51,458 to appreciate and praise God for what he's already provided. 713 00:35:51,542 --> 00:35:53,750 I want my children to know they're a blessing, 714 00:35:53,833 --> 00:35:56,500 not a burden. 715 00:35:56,583 --> 00:35:59,875 I want my wife to know she's a blessing, not a burden. 716 00:35:59,958 --> 00:36:05,250 Now, I'm a burden, I fully get that, but they're a blessing. 717 00:36:05,333 --> 00:36:07,750 They're a blessing. 718 00:36:07,833 --> 00:36:09,958 And when God provides things in our life, 719 00:36:10,042 --> 00:36:13,083 I try as I'm able to tell the kids, 720 00:36:13,167 --> 00:36:15,042 "Hey, that came from the Lord, you know? 721 00:36:15,125 --> 00:36:17,458 "He's good to us, and that's his provision, 722 00:36:17,542 --> 00:36:22,750 and he answered our prayer, and this comes from his hand." 723 00:36:22,833 --> 00:36:26,125 Because in Christ, there is blessing. 724 00:36:26,208 --> 00:36:30,958 Now, the truth is we only see perhaps a modicum of that 725 00:36:31,042 --> 00:36:34,250 blessing in this life and the rest is waiting 726 00:36:34,333 --> 00:36:35,750 for the life to come. 727 00:36:35,833 --> 00:36:38,417 So, it's not that God is withholding blessing, 728 00:36:38,500 --> 00:36:44,667 it's that he's storing it up so that we can enjoy it eternally. 729 00:36:44,750 --> 00:36:47,958 In Christ you are blessed. 730 00:36:50,292 --> 00:36:53,875 In Christ you are blessed. 731 00:36:53,958 --> 00:36:57,083 You know, with my father-in-law dying recently, 732 00:36:57,167 --> 00:36:59,500 I was talking to the kids. 733 00:36:59,583 --> 00:37:01,625 We were crying, and we were mourning, 734 00:37:01,708 --> 00:37:04,417 and we were praying for Grandpa after he died, 735 00:37:04,500 --> 00:37:09,542 and one of my kids said, "Well, this is really hard, 736 00:37:09,625 --> 00:37:15,250 "but Grandpa knew Jesus and Jesus loved Grandpa. 737 00:37:15,333 --> 00:37:17,583 "And his suffering is over, and he's still alive, 738 00:37:17,667 --> 00:37:19,375 and we're going to see him." 739 00:37:19,458 --> 00:37:21,250 Then one of my other kids said, 740 00:37:21,333 --> 00:37:25,917 "Yeah, so this isn't the worst thing." 741 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:27,750 Yeah, the worst thing is not dying, 742 00:37:27,833 --> 00:37:30,833 the worst thing is not dying in Christ. 743 00:37:36,250 --> 00:37:42,500 Every situation has a blessing for those who are in Christ. 744 00:37:42,583 --> 00:37:46,583 Number three: in Christ you were chosen and made blameless. 745 00:37:46,667 --> 00:37:51,667 Here it is, Ephesians 1:4, "He," that is God, "chose us." 746 00:37:51,750 --> 00:37:56,167 Calvinistic, Reformed, predestinating language, 747 00:37:56,250 --> 00:37:59,000 some of you like it, some of you don't. 748 00:37:59,083 --> 00:38:01,583 I'm just delivering the mail, didn't write it. 749 00:38:01,667 --> 00:38:05,250 "He chose us," how? 750 00:38:05,333 --> 00:38:07,333 "In him," that's in Christ, 751 00:38:07,417 --> 00:38:10,250 "before the foundation of the world, 752 00:38:10,333 --> 00:38:13,667 that we should be holy and blameless before him." 753 00:38:13,750 --> 00:38:17,667 "In Christ," he says, "you're chosen and made blameless." 754 00:38:17,750 --> 00:38:19,583 Let me ask you a question. 755 00:38:19,667 --> 00:38:22,250 Has anyone ever chosen you? 756 00:38:22,333 --> 00:38:25,750 Were you the kid in school--it's down to you and a potted plant, 757 00:38:25,833 --> 00:38:30,333 the last two potential choices for the team, somebody's like, 758 00:38:30,417 --> 00:38:31,750 "I'll take the potted plant." 759 00:38:31,833 --> 00:38:37,458 You're like, "Dang it! I never get chosen." 760 00:38:37,542 --> 00:38:40,292 How many of you have never been picked for anything awesome? 761 00:38:40,375 --> 00:38:41,708 Never. 762 00:38:41,792 --> 00:38:43,708 You were the kid in school, they're like, 763 00:38:43,792 --> 00:38:46,458 "Today, we're going to draw a name out of a hat," 764 00:38:46,542 --> 00:38:49,208 and you're like, "It's not mine. I know it's not mine. 765 00:38:49,292 --> 00:38:51,208 "Now, if it's chicken pox, I'll get picked. 766 00:38:51,292 --> 00:38:52,583 But you know--" 767 00:38:52,667 --> 00:38:54,417 How many of you feel that way? 768 00:38:54,500 --> 00:38:56,583 You're like, "Yeah, I never get picked for anything." 769 00:38:56,667 --> 00:38:58,167 You're never chosen, you're never favored, 770 00:38:58,250 --> 00:39:01,667 you're never graced that way. 771 00:39:01,750 --> 00:39:06,417 In Christ, you're chosen. 772 00:39:06,500 --> 00:39:09,417 I don't think this--we're going to get into this a little more 773 00:39:09,500 --> 00:39:12,458 in the ensuing weeks, don't worry. 774 00:39:12,542 --> 00:39:15,750 This is not something for Christians to debate about. 775 00:39:15,833 --> 00:39:17,458 It's not something for Christians to ask 776 00:39:17,542 --> 00:39:19,417 the wrong questions about. 777 00:39:19,500 --> 00:39:22,167 It's something for Christians to delight in. 778 00:39:22,250 --> 00:39:26,250 Let's say there's an orphanage filled with not great kids, 779 00:39:26,333 --> 00:39:31,250 and a dad walks in and says, "I'm going to love that kid." 780 00:39:31,333 --> 00:39:34,042 You know what that kid should do? 781 00:39:34,125 --> 00:39:35,458 Rejoice. 782 00:39:35,542 --> 00:39:37,708 "Yay!" 783 00:39:37,792 --> 00:39:40,375 They shouldn't ask questions like, "Why was I chosen? 784 00:39:40,458 --> 00:39:41,917 "Why were the others not chosen? 785 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,417 "Could the father have not chosen all of the children? 786 00:39:44,500 --> 00:39:46,917 "What does this reveal about the character of the father? 787 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:48,917 "Is he all-loving? Does he love us all? 788 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:50,292 Does he love us equally?" 789 00:39:50,375 --> 00:39:51,792 "Yay. Hey, I got a dad. 790 00:39:51,875 --> 00:39:53,208 "My dad loves me. 791 00:39:53,292 --> 00:39:54,917 "I'm no better than the other kids. 792 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:57,583 "In fact, I know I'm worse than some of them. 793 00:39:57,667 --> 00:40:00,083 "And the good news is he didn't come looking for 794 00:40:00,167 --> 00:40:02,000 "the prettiest one, or the smartest one, 795 00:40:02,083 --> 00:40:03,792 "or the best-behaved one. 796 00:40:03,875 --> 00:40:06,417 He chose me." 797 00:40:06,500 --> 00:40:09,458 This is where salvation, friends, is of grace. 798 00:40:09,542 --> 00:40:11,917 You're chosen in Christ. 799 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:17,417 Again, there's two teams, two categories: in Adam, in Christ. 800 00:40:17,500 --> 00:40:22,667 If God chooses to save you, to love you, to adopt you, 801 00:40:22,750 --> 00:40:27,250 you're chosen in Christ. 802 00:40:27,333 --> 00:40:32,750 Not only that, to "be holy and blameless before him." 803 00:40:32,833 --> 00:40:35,083 Now, the truth is in the eyes of others, 804 00:40:35,167 --> 00:40:38,083 we can appear fairly holy and blameless unless they're 805 00:40:38,167 --> 00:40:40,542 our spouse, and then they see it all. 806 00:40:40,625 --> 00:40:42,750 We can't fool them. 807 00:40:42,833 --> 00:40:44,417 But your coworkers, your friends, 808 00:40:44,500 --> 00:40:46,042 the people in your Community Group, 809 00:40:46,125 --> 00:40:49,042 those of you who you have just some sort of passing 810 00:40:49,125 --> 00:40:52,417 relationship with, right, you can fool some of the people 811 00:40:52,500 --> 00:40:55,833 some of the time, right? 812 00:40:55,917 --> 00:40:59,750 But God sees all, God knows all in his sight. 813 00:40:59,833 --> 00:41:02,708 This is what it means to live "coram deo" which means 814 00:41:02,792 --> 00:41:04,208 "in the face of God," 815 00:41:04,292 --> 00:41:09,292 that God sees and knows all, 816 00:41:09,375 --> 00:41:12,083 and that he has chosen you, 817 00:41:12,167 --> 00:41:14,708 if you're a Christian in Christ, 818 00:41:14,792 --> 00:41:18,208 so that you can live holy and blameless in his sight. 819 00:41:18,292 --> 00:41:24,292 Here's my next question: have you ever felt dirty? 820 00:41:24,375 --> 00:41:30,333 Have you ever felt, "I'm not clean, I'm dirty"? 821 00:41:31,958 --> 00:41:34,375 "Things I've done, they're dirty. 822 00:41:34,458 --> 00:41:36,125 "Things I've thought, they're dirty. 823 00:41:36,208 --> 00:41:38,750 "Things I've said, they're dirty. 824 00:41:38,833 --> 00:41:42,583 "Sometimes even desires I still have, they're dirty. 825 00:41:42,667 --> 00:41:44,333 "They're not clean, they're dirty. 826 00:41:44,417 --> 00:41:46,333 "They're not holy, they're unholy. 827 00:41:46,417 --> 00:41:50,250 They're not godly, they're ungodly." 828 00:41:50,333 --> 00:41:52,583 Have you struggled with that? 829 00:41:52,667 --> 00:41:54,417 Have you felt that? 830 00:41:54,500 --> 00:41:57,625 How many of you have committed a sin that you just feel like 831 00:41:57,708 --> 00:41:59,833 that has become your identity? 832 00:41:59,917 --> 00:42:02,792 You're the worst day of your whole life. 833 00:42:02,875 --> 00:42:07,875 That's what you've done and then that's who you are. 834 00:42:07,958 --> 00:42:09,708 That's not true. 835 00:42:09,792 --> 00:42:12,208 Who you are is who you are in Christ. 836 00:42:12,292 --> 00:42:14,917 What you've done is a sin, and it may explain you, 837 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:17,792 but by the grace of God it doesn't have to define you. 838 00:42:17,875 --> 00:42:20,083 It may be something that was in your past, 839 00:42:20,167 --> 00:42:22,583 even your recent past, but it doesn't need to be 840 00:42:22,667 --> 00:42:24,875 in your future, including your immediate future. 841 00:42:24,958 --> 00:42:28,083 How many of you have been sinned against in a way that you 842 00:42:28,167 --> 00:42:29,875 feel dirty, defiled? 843 00:42:29,958 --> 00:42:32,500 You don't know your dad, or he walked out on you, 844 00:42:32,583 --> 00:42:34,958 or he mistreated you, or abandoned you, or abused you, 845 00:42:35,042 --> 00:42:36,333 or betrayed you. 846 00:42:36,417 --> 00:42:38,083 Or perhaps it was even your mother. 847 00:42:38,167 --> 00:42:41,292 Or they said that they loved you and then they ran off with 848 00:42:41,375 --> 00:42:44,292 someone else; or they said they were devoted to you and then 849 00:42:44,375 --> 00:42:47,042 they committed adultery on you; or they did violence against you 850 00:42:47,125 --> 00:42:49,542 emotionally, physically, spiritually, sexually, 851 00:42:49,625 --> 00:42:53,083 and suddenly you feel defiled, you feel unclean, 852 00:42:53,167 --> 00:42:59,208 you feel as if your identity is in what others have done to you 853 00:43:01,750 --> 00:43:06,083 and their sin against you. 854 00:43:06,167 --> 00:43:11,875 If you are in Christ, you are holy. 855 00:43:11,958 --> 00:43:13,792 See, again, Jesus took your place 856 00:43:13,875 --> 00:43:16,083 and he put you in his place. 857 00:43:16,167 --> 00:43:19,583 You're holy, and he says that you're what? 858 00:43:19,667 --> 00:43:22,708 Blameless. 859 00:43:22,792 --> 00:43:26,917 Now, I don't know about you, I don't usually feel that way. 860 00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:28,708 "Pastor Mark, how do you feel today?" 861 00:43:28,792 --> 00:43:30,375 Blameless! 862 00:43:30,458 --> 00:43:33,083 Blameless, yet again. 863 00:43:33,167 --> 00:43:35,792 Yet again, blameless. 864 00:43:35,875 --> 00:43:37,542 You know why? 865 00:43:37,625 --> 00:43:43,042 Because I know my sin and I know the sins that others 866 00:43:43,125 --> 00:43:47,333 have committed against me, and sometimes those can become 867 00:43:47,417 --> 00:43:53,417 all-consuming and I lose sight of what Christ has done for me. 868 00:43:57,083 --> 00:44:01,667 "There is, now, no condemnation for those who are--" 869 00:44:01,750 --> 00:44:03,667 what's it say? 870 00:44:03,750 --> 00:44:06,083 "In Christ." 871 00:44:06,167 --> 00:44:08,083 That's what Paul says to the Romans. 872 00:44:08,167 --> 00:44:13,500 "There is now no, no, no, not a little, 873 00:44:13,583 --> 00:44:19,917 no condemnation for those who are in Christ." 874 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:23,875 In Christ, you're not condemned, you're forgiven. 875 00:44:23,958 --> 00:44:27,958 In Christ, you're not dirty, you're clean. 876 00:44:28,042 --> 00:44:31,583 Now, some will say, "You can't tell people that, 877 00:44:31,667 --> 00:44:33,500 they'll just start sinning like crazy." 878 00:44:33,583 --> 00:44:35,667 Not if they're in Christ. 879 00:44:35,750 --> 00:44:38,542 If they are in Christ, they'll be so grateful for Christ, 880 00:44:38,625 --> 00:44:41,917 so thankful for Christ, so in love with Christ that 881 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:46,417 the last thing they'll want to do is betray Christ. 882 00:44:46,500 --> 00:44:49,917 They won't want to abuse their new identity, 883 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,917 they'll want to embrace their new identity. 884 00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:56,208 They'll be so grateful that they can change, and grow, 885 00:44:56,292 --> 00:44:59,250 and mature that they will not want to revert back to 886 00:44:59,333 --> 00:45:04,000 their ways in Adam. 887 00:45:04,083 --> 00:45:05,792 In Christ you're holy. 888 00:45:05,875 --> 00:45:07,792 His perfection is your perfection. 889 00:45:07,875 --> 00:45:10,417 In Christ you are blameless. 890 00:45:10,500 --> 00:45:13,250 God does not have a list with your transgressions, 891 00:45:13,333 --> 00:45:15,167 failures, and offenses. 892 00:45:15,250 --> 00:45:19,375 He's not looking for a way to condemn or to punish you. 893 00:45:19,458 --> 00:45:24,583 This frees us up to live out of the righteousness of Christ, 894 00:45:24,667 --> 00:45:27,792 and to live for the glory of Christ. 895 00:45:27,875 --> 00:45:30,708 Do you see where this is different than religion? 896 00:45:30,792 --> 00:45:32,958 I don't want you to be motivated by guilt. 897 00:45:33,042 --> 00:45:35,292 I don't want you to be motivated by shame. 898 00:45:35,375 --> 00:45:37,667 I don't want you to be motivated by fear. 899 00:45:37,750 --> 00:45:39,917 Perfect love casts out fear. 900 00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:43,375 I want you to know who you are in Christ so you can begin 901 00:45:43,458 --> 00:45:45,583 to live the life that Christ has for you, 902 00:45:45,667 --> 00:45:48,500 and that's Christ's life in you and through you. 903 00:45:48,583 --> 00:45:52,583 In Christ you were chosen for this and you can be made 904 00:45:52,667 --> 00:45:54,667 holy and blameless. 905 00:45:54,750 --> 00:45:58,417 He goes on to say, in Christ you are forgiven. 906 00:45:58,500 --> 00:46:01,375 Ephesians 1:7, "In him." 907 00:46:01,458 --> 00:46:04,375 See, how many of you have read the Bible and you missed 908 00:46:04,458 --> 00:46:06,250 the 216 times? 909 00:46:06,333 --> 00:46:09,375 "In him, in Christ, in him, in Christ, in the Beloved." 910 00:46:09,458 --> 00:46:11,750 It's there over, and over, and over. 911 00:46:11,833 --> 00:46:14,375 "In him we have redemption through his blood, 912 00:46:14,458 --> 00:46:16,667 the forgiveness of our trespasses." 913 00:46:16,750 --> 00:46:18,917 In Christ you are forgiven. 914 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:21,750 Have you ever felt punished? 915 00:46:21,833 --> 00:46:24,583 Have you ever felt like, "Man, life is hard right now 916 00:46:24,667 --> 00:46:27,667 because God is punishing me"? 917 00:46:27,750 --> 00:46:33,083 "This is a difficult season, but I brought it on myself. 918 00:46:33,167 --> 00:46:35,875 The Lord is angry with me and he's punishing me." 919 00:46:35,958 --> 00:46:38,208 Have you felt that? 920 00:46:38,292 --> 00:46:42,708 Let me say this, "In Christ you're forgiven, not punished." 921 00:46:42,792 --> 00:46:47,500 See, Jesus died in your place for your sins, and when he said, 922 00:46:47,583 --> 00:46:51,583 "It is finished," that's what he meant. 923 00:46:51,667 --> 00:46:55,708 And so he traded places with you, 924 00:46:55,792 --> 00:47:00,083 so you're in the place of forgiven and he is in 925 00:47:00,167 --> 00:47:02,458 the place of condemnation. 926 00:47:02,542 --> 00:47:04,417 That's what happened on the cross. 927 00:47:04,500 --> 00:47:09,583 Now, what that means is in Christ you are forgiven. 928 00:47:09,667 --> 00:47:13,167 You're forgiven for things you haven't even done yet. 929 00:47:13,250 --> 00:47:18,333 You're forgiven for things you will do and fail to do tomorrow. 930 00:47:18,417 --> 00:47:21,375 See, sometimes we have this ability to look back on our life 931 00:47:21,458 --> 00:47:26,875 and say, "Yes, Jesus forgave all my sin, but today I'm ruined," 932 00:47:26,958 --> 00:47:30,125 or "Tomorrow when I sin, that will be the end of me, 933 00:47:30,208 --> 00:47:32,958 and Christ will want nothing to do with me." 934 00:47:33,042 --> 00:47:35,375 That's not true. 935 00:47:35,458 --> 00:47:40,000 Because Jesus was punished in your place for your sins, 936 00:47:40,083 --> 00:47:43,292 God never punishes those who are in Christ because he's 937 00:47:43,375 --> 00:47:45,583 already punished Christ. 938 00:47:45,667 --> 00:47:48,583 The wrath of God was poured out on the Son of God, 939 00:47:48,667 --> 00:47:51,958 not the children of God. 940 00:47:52,042 --> 00:47:54,000 Now, it is true we reap what sow. 941 00:47:54,083 --> 00:47:56,167 Sometimes we do something wrong and there's consequences 942 00:47:56,250 --> 00:48:00,875 for that, and that's God's way of helping us learn and grow. 943 00:48:00,958 --> 00:48:03,958 Just like sometimes a parent tells a kid, "Don't do that. 944 00:48:04,042 --> 00:48:05,750 Don't do that. Don't do that," 945 00:48:05,833 --> 00:48:07,917 and then the parent lets the kid do it, 946 00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:11,917 and the kid realizes, "I shouldn't do that." 947 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:14,750 That's where the Bible says in Proverbs and Hebrews that 948 00:48:14,833 --> 00:48:18,167 the Father disciplines the children that he loves. 949 00:48:18,250 --> 00:48:22,417 It's always in love, it's never in anger; 950 00:48:22,500 --> 00:48:26,583 it's always for our good, never for our destruction; 951 00:48:26,667 --> 00:48:28,625 and it's always that we might grow, 952 00:48:28,708 --> 00:48:33,417 not that we would be discouraged. 953 00:48:33,500 --> 00:48:35,375 Satan's going to lie to you. 954 00:48:35,458 --> 00:48:37,500 He's already lied to some of you, 955 00:48:37,583 --> 00:48:41,292 and you think that when you're suffering, God is punishing you. 956 00:48:41,375 --> 00:48:45,000 The result is, then, you won't remember who you are in Christ. 957 00:48:45,083 --> 00:48:48,458 Instead, you'll have this very sick perspective that to be 958 00:48:48,542 --> 00:48:51,708 a Christian is to get crucified. 959 00:48:51,792 --> 00:48:53,750 That's idolatry, friends. 960 00:48:53,833 --> 00:48:56,250 One was already crucified. 961 00:48:56,333 --> 00:48:59,958 You hear people say things like, "Well, you know, 962 00:49:00,042 --> 00:49:01,917 I need to pay God back for this," 963 00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:03,750 or "I need to suffer for this," 964 00:49:03,833 --> 00:49:05,375 or "I brought it on myself." 965 00:49:05,458 --> 00:49:08,667 It sounds spiritual, but it's really idolatry. 966 00:49:08,750 --> 00:49:11,167 It's saying, "Jesus died, but that's not enough. 967 00:49:11,250 --> 00:49:14,750 I need to pay a little bit of this debt myself." 968 00:49:14,833 --> 00:49:16,250 No, you don't. 969 00:49:16,333 --> 00:49:18,417 Some of you say, "This doesn't make any sense." 970 00:49:18,500 --> 00:49:20,167 That's why the Bible calls it grace. 971 00:49:20,250 --> 00:49:22,750 Why would God put us in the position of Christ 972 00:49:22,833 --> 00:49:24,958 and put Christ in the position of us? 973 00:49:25,042 --> 00:49:27,125 He didn't deserve that, we don't deserve it. 974 00:49:27,208 --> 00:49:29,667 He didn't do anything wrong, we did everything wrong. 975 00:49:29,750 --> 00:49:31,667 It's grace. 976 00:49:31,750 --> 00:49:36,875 This is what the Bible means when it uses words like "love," 977 00:49:36,958 --> 00:49:39,292 that "God demonstrates his love for us in this, 978 00:49:39,375 --> 00:49:44,708 while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 979 00:49:44,792 --> 00:49:46,208 You're forgiven. 980 00:49:46,292 --> 00:49:47,792 You're not a little bit forgiven, 981 00:49:47,875 --> 00:49:49,208 you're totally forgiven. 982 00:49:49,292 --> 00:49:51,000 God doesn't keep a record against you, 983 00:49:51,083 --> 00:49:52,792 it's erased in Christ. 984 00:49:52,875 --> 00:49:55,417 And when you sin tomorrow, or the next day, 985 00:49:55,500 --> 00:49:58,500 or the day after that, remember that your identity is not 986 00:49:58,583 --> 00:50:02,458 in your sin, your identity is in your Savior; 987 00:50:02,542 --> 00:50:05,583 that you don't need to pay God back, that Christ already has; 988 00:50:05,667 --> 00:50:09,917 that God isn't punishing you, that Christ already was. 989 00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:12,708 And then you can live through your identity in Christ. 990 00:50:12,792 --> 00:50:15,417 You can be bold enough to confess your sins and be 991 00:50:15,500 --> 00:50:18,708 forgiven, not only by God, but others; and stop pretending, 992 00:50:18,792 --> 00:50:20,875 and blame-shifting, and hiding, and excusing, 993 00:50:20,958 --> 00:50:23,583 and managing your sin; and start putting your sin to death, 994 00:50:23,667 --> 00:50:28,375 because in Christ it's already died. 995 00:50:28,458 --> 00:50:31,083 Number five: in Christ you can know the will of God. 996 00:50:31,167 --> 00:50:34,167 He says this in Ephesians 1:9, "Making known to us the mystery 997 00:50:34,250 --> 00:50:36,042 "of his will, according to his purpose, 998 00:50:36,125 --> 00:50:37,792 which he set forth in Christ." 999 00:50:37,875 --> 00:50:40,250 Here's my next question: have you ever been confused about 1000 00:50:40,333 --> 00:50:42,250 what the will of God is? 1001 00:50:42,333 --> 00:50:43,917 Yes? 1002 00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:46,083 You ever woke up just like, "I don't know! 1003 00:50:46,167 --> 00:50:49,417 What do you want me to do?" 1004 00:50:49,500 --> 00:50:50,917 He says, "In Christ, 1005 00:50:51,000 --> 00:50:53,917 we find the meaning and purpose of life." 1006 00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:56,708 "God, do you want me to work here or work there?" 1007 00:50:56,792 --> 00:50:59,708 Sometimes it's, "I want you to work in a way that glorifies 1008 00:50:59,792 --> 00:51:01,208 Christ, wherever you work." 1009 00:51:01,292 --> 00:51:04,417 "God, am I going to be sick? Am I going to be healthy? 1010 00:51:04,500 --> 00:51:07,417 "Am I going to be rich? Am I going to be poor? 1011 00:51:07,500 --> 00:51:10,083 Am I going be married? Am I going to be single?" 1012 00:51:10,167 --> 00:51:11,583 Sometimes those are the wrong questions. 1013 00:51:11,667 --> 00:51:13,083 The question always has to be: 1014 00:51:13,167 --> 00:51:15,417 how should I live in this season in Christ? 1015 00:51:15,500 --> 00:51:19,917 My purpose may not be rich, it may not be healthy, 1016 00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,917 it may not be married, it may not be successful, 1017 00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:26,375 but God's purpose, God's will for me is whatever circumstance 1018 00:51:26,458 --> 00:51:31,000 I find myself in to live out of my identity in Christ. 1019 00:51:31,083 --> 00:51:34,583 If I'm poor, to live in Christ through poverty. 1020 00:51:34,667 --> 00:51:37,542 If it's rich, to live in Christ with generosity. 1021 00:51:37,625 --> 00:51:40,750 If it's single, it's to live as Christ did, as a chaste, 1022 00:51:40,833 --> 00:51:44,625 godly worshiper through singleness. 1023 00:51:44,708 --> 00:51:47,333 If it's in marriage, then in Christ I want to love 1024 00:51:47,417 --> 00:51:49,042 and serve my spouse. 1025 00:51:49,125 --> 00:51:52,250 If it's infertile, I want to love, and serve, and endure, 1026 00:51:52,333 --> 00:51:56,500 or perhaps even rejoice in those circumstances in Christ. 1027 00:51:56,583 --> 00:51:58,708 Or if Christ should give me children, 1028 00:51:58,792 --> 00:52:00,583 then out of my identity in Christ, 1029 00:52:00,667 --> 00:52:04,583 how do I share the love of Jesus with the kids? 1030 00:52:04,667 --> 00:52:08,417 We all have the same purpose. 1031 00:52:08,500 --> 00:52:10,500 He says it. 1032 00:52:10,583 --> 00:52:14,792 The purpose is set forth in Christ. 1033 00:52:14,875 --> 00:52:18,875 Those other things may explain us, but they do not define us. 1034 00:52:18,958 --> 00:52:21,208 The question should never be, 1035 00:52:21,292 --> 00:52:24,292 "God, what exactly is your perfect, narrow-road, 1036 00:52:24,375 --> 00:52:27,083 detailed-step will for my life?" 1037 00:52:27,167 --> 00:52:31,000 It should always be, "Right now, what does it mean to live 1038 00:52:31,083 --> 00:52:35,208 my life in Christ?" 1039 00:52:35,292 --> 00:52:37,750 He continues. 1040 00:52:37,833 --> 00:52:40,750 Number six, in Christ you are reconciled. 1041 00:52:40,833 --> 00:52:43,917 He says in Ephesians 1:10, "As a plan for the fullness of time, 1042 00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:46,083 to unite all things in him," that's in Christ, 1043 00:52:46,167 --> 00:52:48,083 "things in heaven and things on earth." 1044 00:52:48,167 --> 00:52:51,292 How many of you have felt lonely? 1045 00:52:51,375 --> 00:52:54,250 You feel like God is far away, people are far away. 1046 00:52:54,333 --> 00:52:55,750 "Sin is separating me from God, 1047 00:52:55,833 --> 00:52:57,417 "sin is separating me from people. 1048 00:52:57,500 --> 00:52:59,542 "I feel very isolated, I feel very lonely. 1049 00:52:59,625 --> 00:53:03,667 "Reconciliation is not something that I practically feel, 1050 00:53:03,750 --> 00:53:05,792 "or experience, or sense in my life. 1051 00:53:05,875 --> 00:53:08,583 It's not reconciliation, it's alienation." 1052 00:53:08,667 --> 00:53:11,500 In Christ you're reconciled. 1053 00:53:11,583 --> 00:53:16,917 What this means is you're reconciled to God in Christ. 1054 00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:18,667 You are! 1055 00:53:18,750 --> 00:53:21,792 Believe it, trust it. 1056 00:53:21,875 --> 00:53:25,792 Don't doubt it, don't deny it, don't disregard it. 1057 00:53:25,875 --> 00:53:28,958 In Christ you're reconciled to God. 1058 00:53:29,042 --> 00:53:30,583 You are. 1059 00:53:30,667 --> 00:53:32,667 You are. 1060 00:53:32,750 --> 00:53:34,583 And what this means is when you sin, 1061 00:53:34,667 --> 00:53:39,250 you'll feel like you're distant, but positionally, 1062 00:53:39,333 --> 00:53:41,042 you're still in Christ. 1063 00:53:41,125 --> 00:53:44,417 Practically, you may have wandered, but positionally, 1064 00:53:44,500 --> 00:53:48,250 you're still in Christ, so come back to Christ. 1065 00:53:48,333 --> 00:53:51,250 And what this means as well, between Christians, 1066 00:53:51,333 --> 00:53:54,042 is that we are reconciled together in Christ. 1067 00:53:54,125 --> 00:53:56,250 We're reconciled to God as Christians and we're reconciled 1068 00:53:56,333 --> 00:53:58,542 to one another as the church. 1069 00:53:58,625 --> 00:54:01,875 That means that if there is conflict between two Christians, 1070 00:54:01,958 --> 00:54:04,875 they have positional reconciliation in Christ, 1071 00:54:04,958 --> 00:54:07,375 because Christ died for their sins so they don't need 1072 00:54:07,458 --> 00:54:09,500 to kill one another. 1073 00:54:09,583 --> 00:54:12,708 And Christ rose, and he is the mediator between them 1074 00:54:12,792 --> 00:54:15,417 and God and between them and one another. 1075 00:54:15,500 --> 00:54:17,708 And what this means, functionally and practically 1076 00:54:17,792 --> 00:54:21,875 then, is Christians can pursue reconciliation because 1077 00:54:21,958 --> 00:54:25,583 their reconciliation is ultimately in Christ. 1078 00:54:25,667 --> 00:54:28,208 This gives us hope for our earthly relationships, 1079 00:54:28,292 --> 00:54:32,458 and it gives us certainty for our divine relationship. 1080 00:54:32,542 --> 00:54:35,583 How many of you have difficult, divided relationships with 1081 00:54:35,667 --> 00:54:38,042 believers right now? 1082 00:54:38,125 --> 00:54:40,917 The only hope is that the two of you, in Christ, 1083 00:54:41,000 --> 00:54:42,750 come together in Christ. 1084 00:54:42,833 --> 00:54:45,833 He becomes the one who forgives, he becomes the one who suffers, 1085 00:54:45,917 --> 00:54:47,708 he becomes the one who reconciles, 1086 00:54:47,792 --> 00:54:51,625 he becomes the one who allows you to live in your identity 1087 00:54:51,708 --> 00:54:54,625 together in him. 1088 00:54:54,708 --> 00:54:56,792 Paul continues. 1089 00:54:56,875 --> 00:54:59,542 In Christ you have an inheritance. 1090 00:54:59,625 --> 00:55:03,375 Ephesians 1:11, "In him we have obtained an inheritance." 1091 00:55:03,458 --> 00:55:10,083 Next question: have you ever felt cheated, stolen from, 1092 00:55:10,167 --> 00:55:12,292 disregarded, overlooked? 1093 00:55:12,375 --> 00:55:14,417 In Christ there's an inheritance. 1094 00:55:14,500 --> 00:55:17,708 Now, you and I, we tend to be very short-sighted people. 1095 00:55:17,792 --> 00:55:20,750 Someone recently said I was the least patient person 1096 00:55:20,833 --> 00:55:22,292 they'd ever met. 1097 00:55:22,375 --> 00:55:25,250 So, I don't think that's a great victory 1098 00:55:25,333 --> 00:55:27,292 or I should get a trophy, right? 1099 00:55:27,375 --> 00:55:30,458 I'm number one, the least patient person on earth. 1100 00:55:30,542 --> 00:55:31,917 I'm not. 1101 00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:33,417 I like immediacy. 1102 00:55:33,500 --> 00:55:36,417 I'm the guy who honks his horn at the person going in 1103 00:55:36,500 --> 00:55:38,583 the fast lane because they're not going fast enough. 1104 00:55:38,667 --> 00:55:40,583 I'm the guy who yells at the microwave 1105 00:55:40,667 --> 00:55:42,292 because the microwave is too slow. 1106 00:55:42,375 --> 00:55:45,583 I'm that guy, alright? 1107 00:55:45,667 --> 00:55:47,708 God has an inheritance. 1108 00:55:47,792 --> 00:55:51,000 We get some of it in this life, the rest is awaiting us 1109 00:55:51,083 --> 00:55:53,083 in the life to come. 1110 00:55:53,167 --> 00:55:56,583 When the Bible talks about this life, it calls it, quote, 1111 00:55:56,667 --> 00:55:59,000 "A little while." 1112 00:55:59,083 --> 00:56:01,583 Now, I know when we're in the middle of it, 1113 00:56:01,667 --> 00:56:03,333 it seems like a long while. 1114 00:56:03,417 --> 00:56:05,667 But in Christ there's resurrection from death. 1115 00:56:05,750 --> 00:56:07,583 In Christ there's eternal life. 1116 00:56:07,667 --> 00:56:13,250 In Christ there's an inheritance that is awaiting you and I. 1117 00:56:13,333 --> 00:56:17,083 You are one who God has graced in this life 1118 00:56:17,167 --> 00:56:19,083 and there is an inheritance. 1119 00:56:19,167 --> 00:56:21,250 It's a physical inheritance where all of your sickness 1120 00:56:21,333 --> 00:56:22,875 will be gone. 1121 00:56:22,958 --> 00:56:25,167 It's a spiritual inheritance where you're reconciliation with 1122 00:56:25,250 --> 00:56:27,167 God and others will be perfected. 1123 00:56:27,250 --> 00:56:30,083 It is an emotional inheritance where you will be filled with 1124 00:56:30,167 --> 00:56:32,458 everlasting joy. 1125 00:56:32,542 --> 00:56:34,875 It is also a financial inheritance where you 1126 00:56:34,958 --> 00:56:37,292 will not be hungry, and you'll not be poor, 1127 00:56:37,375 --> 00:56:40,583 and you'll not be in need forever. 1128 00:56:40,667 --> 00:56:42,917 There's this great inheritance in Christ, 1129 00:56:43,000 --> 00:56:44,792 and knowing who we are, 1130 00:56:44,875 --> 00:56:47,583 and knowing where we're going helps us to persevere along 1131 00:56:47,667 --> 00:56:50,292 the way of the journey. 1132 00:56:50,375 --> 00:56:51,875 Paul continues. 1133 00:56:51,958 --> 00:56:53,292 In Christ you have hope. 1134 00:56:53,375 --> 00:56:56,458 He says in Ephesians 1:12, "That we who were the first to hope 1135 00:56:56,542 --> 00:56:58,917 in Christ might be to the praise of his glory." 1136 00:56:59,000 --> 00:57:01,667 Mars Hill, your hope is in Christ. 1137 00:57:01,750 --> 00:57:03,542 Your hope is not in your government. 1138 00:57:03,625 --> 00:57:06,917 Your hope is not in your beauty, your hope is not in your IQ, 1139 00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:09,917 your hope is not in your degree, your hope is not in 1140 00:57:10,000 --> 00:57:12,167 your marriage, your hope is not in your children, 1141 00:57:12,250 --> 00:57:13,875 your hope is not in your success, 1142 00:57:13,958 --> 00:57:15,625 your hope is not in your family, 1143 00:57:15,708 --> 00:57:17,542 your hope is not in your friends. 1144 00:57:17,625 --> 00:57:19,375 Your hope is in Christ. 1145 00:57:19,458 --> 00:57:22,875 Your hope alone, forever, has to be, must be, 1146 00:57:22,958 --> 00:57:26,250 I beg you that it would be in Christ. 1147 00:57:26,333 --> 00:57:28,458 Apart from Christ, there is no hope. 1148 00:57:28,542 --> 00:57:31,833 If you've been hanging your hope on the economy, there's no hope. 1149 00:57:31,917 --> 00:57:35,042 If you've been hanging your hope on morality, there's no hope. 1150 00:57:35,125 --> 00:57:37,917 If you've been hanging your hope on your friends, your family, 1151 00:57:38,000 --> 00:57:41,167 your coworkers, your neighbors, your spouse, your kids, 1152 00:57:41,250 --> 00:57:46,208 your intellect, your competence, your ability, it will fail you. 1153 00:57:46,292 --> 00:57:52,500 Hope is only in Christ. 1154 00:57:56,375 --> 00:57:58,792 And I want you to have that hope in Christ 1155 00:57:58,875 --> 00:58:01,250 and then go to work, and then love your friends, 1156 00:58:01,333 --> 00:58:03,958 and then deal with your enemies, and then endure your suffering. 1157 00:58:04,042 --> 00:58:06,083 And whatever God should have for you, 1158 00:58:06,167 --> 00:58:09,875 it cannot be that your hope is in someone or something. 1159 00:58:09,958 --> 00:58:12,542 It has to be that your hope is in Christ 1160 00:58:12,625 --> 00:58:15,250 so you can endure anything. 1161 00:58:15,333 --> 00:58:17,042 That has to be how it is. 1162 00:58:17,125 --> 00:58:19,125 And I'm your pastor, and I love you, 1163 00:58:19,208 --> 00:58:22,833 and I get so concerned for those who hang their hope somewhere 1164 00:58:22,917 --> 00:58:26,458 other than in Christ, because I know that it will fail them, 1165 00:58:26,542 --> 00:58:30,125 and destroy them, and devastate, and grieve them. 1166 00:58:30,208 --> 00:58:34,750 And lastly, he says, in Christ you have the Holy Spirit. 1167 00:58:34,833 --> 00:58:37,250 This is just the introduction. 1168 00:58:37,333 --> 00:58:39,750 There's 30 times that Paul says this, 1169 00:58:39,833 --> 00:58:42,583 I'm just pulling out the first 9. 1170 00:58:42,667 --> 00:58:45,583 Do you see where this is so incredibly important? 1171 00:58:45,667 --> 00:58:48,417 He keeps saying it in a whole bunch of ways. 1172 00:58:48,500 --> 00:58:51,292 Some of you are right now saying, "I've got it." 1173 00:58:51,375 --> 00:58:55,750 We've only begun because we forget it. 1174 00:58:55,833 --> 00:58:59,375 Ephesians 1:13, "In him." 1175 00:58:59,458 --> 00:59:01,583 Who's that? 1176 00:59:01,667 --> 00:59:02,958 Jesus. 1177 00:59:03,042 --> 00:59:05,167 Okay, you got it right. Okay. 1178 00:59:05,250 --> 00:59:07,667 "In Christ you also." 1179 00:59:07,750 --> 00:59:10,083 This isn't just stuff for them. 1180 00:59:10,167 --> 00:59:12,583 It's not just stuff for the guys in the Bible, 1181 00:59:12,667 --> 00:59:15,458 or the guys in other nations, or the guys in other churches, 1182 00:59:15,542 --> 00:59:17,417 or the people sitting in other rows today. 1183 00:59:17,500 --> 00:59:20,083 You, this is for you. 1184 00:59:20,167 --> 00:59:23,375 "In him you also, when you heard the word of truth." 1185 00:59:23,458 --> 00:59:24,958 See, and this is the truth. 1186 00:59:25,042 --> 00:59:26,542 We're hearing the truth. 1187 00:59:26,625 --> 00:59:29,125 The world is filled with lies about who God is, 1188 00:59:29,208 --> 00:59:31,458 about who we are, about what our identity is, 1189 00:59:31,542 --> 00:59:34,583 about what our purpose is, about what our destiny is. 1190 00:59:34,667 --> 00:59:36,292 This is the word of truth. 1191 00:59:36,375 --> 00:59:38,875 "The gospel," the good news, the grace of God, 1192 00:59:38,958 --> 00:59:43,500 "of our salvation, and believed in him." 1193 00:59:43,583 --> 00:59:47,167 Salvation is believing in him. 1194 00:59:47,250 --> 00:59:51,000 "Were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit." 1195 00:59:51,083 --> 00:59:53,750 The way you know your identity in Christ is through 1196 00:59:53,833 --> 00:59:56,583 the presence, person, and power of the Holy Spirit. 1197 00:59:56,667 --> 01:00:00,083 He writes the Scriptures, he illuminates our understanding, 1198 01:00:00,167 --> 01:00:03,583 he awakens our awareness, he changes our desires, 1199 01:00:03,667 --> 01:00:06,917 he refashions our identity. 1200 01:00:07,000 --> 01:00:11,792 The Holy Spirit is the means by which the power and the presence 1201 01:00:11,875 --> 01:00:16,750 of Christ comes into those who are in Christ. 1202 01:00:16,833 --> 01:00:19,583 You do not live a life by your own power; 1203 01:00:19,667 --> 01:00:23,875 you live a life by the power of the Holy Spirit. 1204 01:00:23,958 --> 01:00:27,083 You do not need to muster up your own energy. 1205 01:00:27,167 --> 01:00:30,417 You do not need to motivate or discipline yourself. 1206 01:00:30,500 --> 01:00:33,375 You need to allow the Holy Spirit to motivate you 1207 01:00:33,458 --> 01:00:35,583 and to be filled with the Holy Spirit 1208 01:00:35,667 --> 01:00:40,000 to live a life of blessing and obedience to God. 1209 01:00:40,083 --> 01:00:45,833 It is so odd that sometimes we who are in Christ forget that 1210 01:00:45,917 --> 01:00:49,000 the Holy Spirit is in us. 1211 01:00:49,083 --> 01:00:53,708 We can live functionally as if we were deists or atheists, 1212 01:00:53,792 --> 01:00:57,833 as if God was perhaps not existent or lived far away 1213 01:00:57,917 --> 01:01:00,500 and was disinterested. 1214 01:01:00,583 --> 01:01:02,792 God lives in the child of God. 1215 01:01:02,875 --> 01:01:07,083 God transforms, works from the inside out in the child of God. 1216 01:01:07,167 --> 01:01:09,417 In Christ you have the Holy Spirit. 1217 01:01:09,500 --> 01:01:12,083 He comes with new wisdom, he comes with new passion, 1218 01:01:12,167 --> 01:01:14,917 he comes with new pleasures. 1219 01:01:15,000 --> 01:01:19,083 He comes to change you by allowing you to experience 1220 01:01:19,167 --> 01:01:21,000 the life of Christ. 1221 01:01:21,083 --> 01:01:23,375 It was the Holy Spirit who empowered the life 1222 01:01:23,458 --> 01:01:25,208 of Jesus Christ. 1223 01:01:25,292 --> 01:01:28,208 Jesus' life is not one just to be observed, 1224 01:01:28,292 --> 01:01:31,458 but to be experienced, and his life was lived by 1225 01:01:31,542 --> 01:01:33,417 the Holy Spirit's power. 1226 01:01:33,500 --> 01:01:35,917 The Holy Spirit descended on him at his baptism. 1227 01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:37,917 The Holy Spirit filled him throughout the course 1228 01:01:38,000 --> 01:01:39,333 of his life. 1229 01:01:39,417 --> 01:01:41,250 The Holy Spirit caused him to rejoice. 1230 01:01:41,333 --> 01:01:45,333 The Holy Spirit led him and also empowered him through trial 1231 01:01:45,417 --> 01:01:49,042 and temptation, through suffering and sadness. 1232 01:01:49,125 --> 01:01:52,792 And it was the Holy Spirit who rose Christ from the dead, 1233 01:01:52,875 --> 01:01:54,542 the Bible says. 1234 01:01:54,625 --> 01:01:58,333 The Holy Spirit is not a force, he's a person. 1235 01:01:58,417 --> 01:02:00,417 He's not impersonal, he's personal. 1236 01:02:00,500 --> 01:02:02,708 He's not far away, he's near. 1237 01:02:02,792 --> 01:02:05,000 He's not against you, he's for you. 1238 01:02:05,083 --> 01:02:06,792 He's not wanting you to perform, 1239 01:02:06,875 --> 01:02:09,583 he's wanting to perform new life in you. 1240 01:02:09,667 --> 01:02:12,917 He doesn't want you to be in lies and in death, 1241 01:02:13,000 --> 01:02:16,458 he wants you to live a new life on the truth that 1242 01:02:16,542 --> 01:02:18,792 you are in Christ. 1243 01:02:18,875 --> 01:02:21,917 And when you are in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit. 1244 01:02:22,000 --> 01:02:24,583 You are someone that you would never be. 1245 01:02:24,667 --> 01:02:26,792 You can live a life you have never lived. 1246 01:02:26,875 --> 01:02:30,750 You can do things you would otherwise be incapable of doing. 1247 01:02:30,833 --> 01:02:33,917 And you can endure suffering that you never thought 1248 01:02:34,000 --> 01:02:38,125 you could endure. 1249 01:02:41,708 --> 01:02:43,708 I want you to think about these things, 1250 01:02:43,792 --> 01:02:46,250 study on these things, pray on these things. 1251 01:02:46,333 --> 01:02:49,042 Ask the Holy Spirit, as you open the book of Ephesians, 1252 01:02:49,125 --> 01:02:52,917 to teach you, to transform you. 1253 01:02:53,000 --> 01:02:55,917 Father God, I pray right now for our people. 1254 01:02:56,000 --> 01:03:00,208 I pray, God, for those who are not yet in Christ. 1255 01:03:00,292 --> 01:03:03,292 They may be in sin, they may be in Adam, 1256 01:03:03,375 --> 01:03:05,417 but they're not in Christ. 1257 01:03:05,500 --> 01:03:08,417 God, we're all born in Adam and we all need to be 1258 01:03:08,500 --> 01:03:10,250 born again in Christ. 1259 01:03:10,333 --> 01:03:17,000 I thank you, Lord Jesus, that we can be born again in Christ. 1260 01:03:17,083 --> 01:03:20,250 I pray that for my friends. 1261 01:03:20,333 --> 01:03:23,417 God, for those of us who are in Christ, 1262 01:03:23,500 --> 01:03:27,292 I pray we would never forget it, that we'd always remember it, 1263 01:03:27,375 --> 01:03:33,083 that we'd live in light of it, that we would not allow our 1264 01:03:33,167 --> 01:03:37,208 identity to be shaped by our idolatry, 1265 01:03:37,292 --> 01:03:39,417 that we would not have someone or something, 1266 01:03:39,500 --> 01:03:43,333 including ourselves and what we have done or failed to do, 1267 01:03:43,417 --> 01:03:48,333 be the defining aspect of who we are. 1268 01:03:48,417 --> 01:03:52,833 Lord, I don't want our people just to be motivated, 1269 01:03:52,917 --> 01:03:54,917 I want them to be in Christ. 1270 01:03:55,000 --> 01:03:57,292 I don't want them to just have high self-esteem, 1271 01:03:57,375 --> 01:03:59,417 I want them to be in Christ. 1272 01:03:59,500 --> 01:04:02,292 I don't want them to just do better and try harder, 1273 01:04:02,375 --> 01:04:04,917 I want them to be in Christ. 1274 01:04:05,000 --> 01:04:07,458 So, I pray for our people, Lord God, 1275 01:04:07,542 --> 01:04:11,417 that right now you would send the Holy Spirit to regenerate 1276 01:04:11,500 --> 01:04:14,708 hearts, to renew minds, to redeem lives, 1277 01:04:14,792 --> 01:04:20,083 to reclaim identities, for this deep truth to take a deep root 1278 01:04:20,167 --> 01:04:22,417 in the soul of your people. 1279 01:04:22,500 --> 01:04:25,708 God, I pray for the reading of Scripture privately as people 1280 01:04:25,792 --> 01:04:27,167 go through Ephesians. 1281 01:04:27,250 --> 01:04:28,875 I pray for the discussions 1282 01:04:28,958 --> 01:04:30,458 around dinner tables with families 1283 01:04:30,542 --> 01:04:33,792 and in Community Groups; that in this time together, 1284 01:04:33,875 --> 01:04:37,250 this season together, that we would know what it means to be 1285 01:04:37,333 --> 01:04:40,500 in Christ; that we'd remind one another of what it means to be 1286 01:04:40,583 --> 01:04:43,542 in Christ; that we'd be loving, and gracious, and encouraging, 1287 01:04:43,625 --> 01:04:46,917 and truth-telling, and kind with one another in Christ. 1288 01:04:47,000 --> 01:04:49,833 And it's in Christ's name we pray, amen. 1289 01:04:51,667 --> 01:04:54,583 Each year, over 10 million Mars Hill church sermons 1290 01:04:54,667 --> 01:04:57,667 are downloaded worldwide for free. 1291 01:04:57,750 --> 01:05:00,333 This ministry is generously supported 1292 01:05:00,417 --> 01:05:02,833 by Mars Hill church members and listeners like you. 1293 01:05:03,417 --> 01:05:06,542 If you'd like to support our efforts to preach Jesus to the world, 1294 01:05:06,625 --> 01:05:09,542 please consider making a tax-deductible donation 1295 01:05:09,625 --> 01:05:12,500 by visiting marshill.com/give.