Ephesians 1:1-14 Who Do You Think You Are? - Pastor Greg Mah

I want to start off this message our worship leader Jamis who led us today he posted a picture on his Facebook a couple days ago and now that it's public it's out there and open I'm I'm just dying to ask you a question I'm dying for your opinion how do I look in this tank top right here Church I need your help how do I look by show of hands raise your hand if you fit you're thinking right now in your heart Greg man you can work that tank top boy raise your hand what thank you brother thank you good - how are you guys are saying right now pastor Greg stop it put a shirt on that that's that's hurtful actually really ah geez how many of you guys realize that that's not even me in that tank top my true friends Thank You Vic thank you that's not me but this picture has been passed around our office this week and people on our staff are looking at this picture and they're like wow that really does look like pastor Greg except that guys so much buffer and I'm just like that's hurtful that's hurtful but yeah that's true it's not me his name is pastor Brandon he's an associate pastor who likes to surf he's a pastor of a New Hope Church in Hawaii not me pastor Brandon and so so here's the thing you know when the New Hope team came over here this past year to lead worship and hold a worship conte concert a lot of their team members came up to me and said wow Greg you look like pastor Brandon and when you're up on stage your mannerisms are like like Brandon man it's crazy the resemblance and then pastor James and I we went to a conference a pastors conference in Hawaii this year and when I was there multiple people came up to me and they're like man you look like this guy named Brandon and and you talk like this guy named Brandon and I'm thinking to myself who is this Brandon guy who is this pastor Brandon and I'll if I can be honest and transparent before you guys this morning I found myself lurking on his Facebook page trying to figure out who this guy is who is this passive Brandon guy and I found myself looking up his sermons online because I heard this guy's such a great communicator a great preacher of the world I'm like how good is he really and I'm listening to his messages and and if I'm not careful I find myself often comparing myself to other people trying to match myself up against other people and I and I had like this identity crisis at times and I asked myself Who am I when I should be asking myself Who am I Who am I who has God created me to be and so I want to ask you guys that question this morning who do you think you are Tim who do you think you are Curtis who are you and that's actually the title of this whole sermon series we're starring this journey this trek through the book of Ephesians and that's gonna be our theme who do you think you are and so as a means of introduction would you guys read that the first two verses with me in Ephesians chapter one I hope you brought your Bible I encourage you bring your Bible every week we're we're parking it in the book of Ephesians but also on the back side of your notes it's all right there and the first two verses says this Paul an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ by the will of God to God's holy people in Ephesus the faithful in Christ Jesus grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and so right there this was the typical way you would start a letter so that's the first thing we learned the book of Ephesians is actually a letter we call it an epistle from the Apostle Paul and he's writing to the Ephesians and it's not just to one particular church is actually a letter that was supposed to be circulated among the local churches there in Ephesus and even beyond there in Asia Minor and he's writing this letter as he's imprisoned the years between 60 to 62 AD he is probably in the prison in Rome as he's writing this letter and I like it because Ephesians is a short book it's not a very long book of just six chapters and it just breaks down really nicely okay the first three chapters is all its doctrine doctrine basically what should we believe as Christians as Christians what do we believe what is the right belief in the last three chapters it's practice it's all about lifestyle okay how should we as Christians live how do we live this out in response to what we now believe can so that's what it's going to look like and I'll just give you a heads up guys get ready because as we start off this book there's some really rich theology in here and this times when we're going to come across some really heavy theological doctrine so pastor Garin and I our task is to help present it in a way that that you can digest it in a way that's chewable in a way that you can take it in and I pray that as you take it in you'll see that man this is good this is satisfying this is filling and so that that's our task and I pray that the Holy Spirit would do that and so will we look at these doctrines and these theological truths I would say some of the most important truths that we need to understand as Christians way up there would be who is Jesus who is Jesus and Who am I in Christ Jesus who is Jesus what has he done and what does that mean for me what does that make about me and so the question once again is who do you think you are and I challenge you to really think about that question how would you identify yourself problem is as humans we have this terrible habit this terrible habit where we go through life and we try to find our identity horizontally right we look at the things around us we look at our circumstances we look at where we are in life and we try to find our identity our sense of Worth our sense of significance our value in these horizontal things when guys we've been created and we've been hardwired by God to get our identity vertically we're supposed to find who we are and our identity in God it's like we go through life sometimes and it's like we're walking through a carnival a funhouse the house of mirrors have you been in one of those where you're going through and there's all these mirrors and they're they're all distorted images of you one's going to tell you you're long and lengthy one's going to tell you you're short and stubby one's going to tell you you're too wide one's going to tell you're actually pretty curvy was gonna say your wavy and it's like we get all these images of us but the Bible tells us that this is like a perfect mirror that's what James says it's like a perfect mirror and I believe when we look into it we can see ourselves for who we really are who I really am and that's what we're gonna be doing a lot of people we go through life and we try to find our sense of significance and things such as how much money we make or what's my marital status or how involved in my in ministry we try to find our sense of significance in our finances or we look at our friends how many friends do I have on Facebook or in my circle or we look at our house and I want to say guys none of us can find our identity our true identity in those things the church rather we find our identity in cars we find our identity in cars what is that chosen adopted redeemed and sealed let me break that now for you guys can I do that this morning but you guys pray with me before we jump into the scriptures let's pray Lord we just really want to just sit here right now Lord and we really want to be awake in our mind and in our spirits we pray that you you would make us alive right now Lord as we dive into your Living Word your Holy Scriptures I pray that that you remind us that these aren't just ancient words to ancient people this this is a word from you you've breathed into these words that Paul wrote and you've meant it for us and so lord I pray that we would listen with open ears that we would listen with a soft heart and God I pray that you would give me success today Lord that I would be successful in pointing my brothers and my sisters and my friends to Jesus Christ I pray that I would be successful in showing them how beautiful you are god I pray that I'd be successful in helping them see how beautiful they are to you and God as I always need to pray I pray that I wouldn't be successful unless it's because your Holy Spirit is the one speaking today through me and through this message I pray that to be the power of your Holy Spirit and I pray that that would be clear to everybody here that these are words come from you yourself these are words that are able to change and move so lord please be our teacher there's no greater teacher of your words than you yourself the one who spoke them and breathed into them more so we give ourselves to you and we pray this in Jesus name Amen amen can I encourage you guys to follow along in your notes I want to say this the first thing I want to say is in Christ I am chosen would you write that down in Christ I am chosen and we're gonna skip verse 3 hold on to that verse because we're gonna come back to it but but let's start in verse 4 because in verse 4 this is what Paul says for he chose us in him and would you circle the phrase in him he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight now let me just say this Christians if you got to understand this if you're a believer in Jesus Christ understand that you are so because you were chosen and please understand that if you are chosen you weren't chosen because you are such a good holy person how do I know that because Paul tells us you were chosen when before the creation of the world which implies that was before you were even born you didn't have a chance to even show that you were a good person he chose you before you were born and if he chose us before you were even born then the truth is you know we are holy according to his will we are holy according to his will you know dl moody said you know he said this i'm so glad he chose me before i was born because i'm not sure he would have chosen me after he seen me live and I have to say amen to that if if I had a chance to I'm not sure he would have chosen me based on my acts and my deeds but thank God he chose us before we were born and the question I want to ask now is what does it mean to be chosen what did he choose you for and I think our intuition right now as you're thinking about that you're probably thinking well he chose me to be saved probably he probably chose me for salvation well well that may be true but look at what verse 4 says because he says it pretty plainly he says he chose you before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless I don't know if you know what holy means but that means totally set apart from sin you're totally set apart from sin to be blameless means without blemish without defect without any sin or wickedness in you that's what you were chosen for and here's the thing that that's great encouragement to me because if I stand here today and I know that I'm chosen and that I'm chosen to be holy and blameless that tells me that I'm going to be holy and blameless then that make sense if God chose you dawn if God chose you to be holy and blameless I mean this is God the creator of the universe he formed everything with his hands he is all-powerful Almighty and if he chose you to be holy guess what you're gonna be holy I'm placing my best on him you're gonna be holy his arms are not too short if he has a task and he has a purpose God will accomplish that purpose we have a term for that in the Bible in theology we have this term called glorification maybe you've heard of it but but the Bible dictionary defines it as this glorification is the final removal of sin from the life of the believer which is anyone who is saved in that eternal state that means there's one day in the future the Bible says when we see Jesus Christ face to face and we're literally standing there in his presence we're there it says we will be glorified we will be made like him for we will see him as he is that means we will truly be wholly apart from sin we will be truly blameless and so if you could imagine your life is like a timeline this is a whole timeline and and and this this is time right here there's a time when you were saved and there's a time when you will be truly glorifying look at Romans chapter 8 verse 30 I'm gonna put it up here for you guys but this is the famous passage and so I want to give you the whole context of it but listen to read verse 30 right now and it says and those he predestined which is another word for chose he chose you and those he predestined he also called and those he called he also justified and those he justified he also glorified so if you want to see what that looks like visibly if this is the timeline before the creation in the world before you were born he chose you he picked you out my name Gary he picked you out my name and then at some time in your life came a time when you came into this world and then he called you to himself he chose you and he justified you and then we look forward to the future and one day there'll be a time when you will be glorified and just to get a little fancy here in the Greek it's it's called an active Erised indicative that word glorified essentially what that means is from God's perspective it's already done he is the active agent he's already glorified you it's done and so we being linear beings are not like God man is man we are not God we only see what's ahead of us we see one way but God being an infinite God who's not bound by time he's not bound by space he's not bound by dimensions he's if he sees everything at once he's seen you before you were born and he's seen you already glorified in that eternal place that tells me that our God knows what we the chosen people will look like he knows the end of the story and he's revealing it to us right now I'm telling you what it looks like I'm choosing you to be holy you will be holy and that changes everything I love how this preacher explained that he shared this illustration and I love it cuz I totally understand I went through the exact same thing there's this show called 24 a TV show how many people watch 24 yeah we got some 24 fans in here and I've always heard people talk about it there's so much hype about this this TV series and it's so intense and it's high adrenaline and everybody loves I think we're already in with season eight or nine or something like that and so I I wasn't a big fan of just watching TV in general but recently our family we got a Netflix account that means I can go back and watch all past episodes and past seasons and so I decided to see what's all the hype about this show 24 so I started with season 1 episode 1 what's everybody talking about and if you've never watched the show I guess it's about this guy named Jack Bauer he is a federal agent and he works for this counter-terrorist unit and he is his task is to save the world and so in this season there's 24 episodes and each episode is one hour along and it's shown in real time so so one hour is one hour in the 24 hour day and so I'm watching the first episode and there's there's this group that's trying to assassinate the Senator David Palmer and so Jack Bauer has to come and save the senator from being killed and there's this one scene after I finished the first one I immediately went into the second episode and this agent calls Jack Bauer and he says Jack they just killed our buddy he killed one of our agents and I'm shot I need you to come down here so Jack Bauer jumps in his SUV and he drives down at like 80 miles probably gets to that building and he's in the building all the lights are off and people are shooting at him from all over people are in the darkness and they're shooting at him he's in the middle of his office and he's he's shooting people and and he's hiding behind the doesn't look Jack you gotta hide you're gonna get killed and they're and all he starts taking people out single-handedly taking people out shooting them down and see all these guys following and dying and all of a sudden he takes him all out so Jack Bauer takes his buddy and they leave the building and there's they're going to his SUV and they're out in the open air they're just walking to the car and almost an all these shots coming their snipers hiding all around them don't like no jacket behind the wall you're gonna and my heart is pounding and this is getting so intense and there's so much adrenaline I know you got a hide and they'd shoot his friend his friend gets killed right before Jack's very eyes and Jack's just standing there and he's shooting everybody I'm like Jack got in your car and then I think to myself wait this is only the second episode there's 22 more episodes to go and it's kind of like man I realized that at the end of the day literally at the end of those 24 hours Jack Bauer is gonna be okay he's not gonna die how do I know because there's a season two and a season three and a four and a five all the way he's gonna be okay guys and so that changes everything doesn't it because I'm gonna go through these episodes there's gonna be those ups and downs he's almost been killed he's gonna be safe but through that all I know how it ends Jack Bauer will be okay guys jack is all right and in the same way is that God sees what has already happened in the life of the chosen ones he sees that you will be holy and blameless and glorified and so that changes everything because we're gonna go through life there's gonna be officers gonna be downstairs gonna be successes and failures this is gonna be job promotions and layoffs relationships and breakups but if we know our position and our identity that we are chosen and those he has chosen he is glorified it changes everything that that's why verse 28 all of a sudden makes so much sense this is a famous passage many of you guys have read it probably even memorized it it says that we know that in all things all things God works for the good of those who love Him who have been called in other words who have been chosen according to his purpose what's his purpose he has a purpose and the next verse tells us that we would be like his son and if he has a purpose he's gonna accomplish that purpose so I hope there's I don't know where you guys are getting your sense of sniff Achaeans or worth where your find your identity I hope it's not in the ups and downs and the accomplishments are the failures and the gains and the losses because life is gonna get pretty chaotic if that's where you're finding your significance I hope that you know from Scripture that in Christ I am chosen amen in Christ I am chosen let me see let me show you what else Paul says he says in Christ I am adopted in Christ I am adopted this is what he says in verse 5 he says in love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ we do circle that through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the one he loves in Christ I am adopted in church I'm I'm convinced that there are some things that we say here at church and some things that we sing at church these truths that we have that kind of breeze by us sometimes and they don't hit us with the weight that it ought to hit us with the heaviness of this significance doesn't hit us like it ought to sometimes it just breezes by us would you agree can I share one of those truths with you let me share this truth you listen to this by the blood of Jesus Christ his death on the cross and because of his resurrection we now can call God our Father our settle down now guys settle down don't all jump up in hallelujah at once okay just stay seated poteete you see what just happened I literally said the most powerful thing that can ever come out of a person's mouth I've literally said the greatest thing ever and somehow we're able to be like cool yeah I know we just saying that I I know that I've heard that before and I'm not saying that nothing is going on in anybody's heart but but there's some of us I'm sure there's some of us who just hear that ends like oh yeah I've always known that I've always heard that well let me ask you guys what seriously think about what is the greatest thing ever to happen to mankind the greatest thing ever and if you're a Christian you're probably thinking well salvation is the greater the fact that Jesus Christ came and saved me from my sins can I can I challenge that if you're thinking that right now can I challenge that a little bit this week I I saw a picture on Facebook and it just totally broke my heart and I wanted to share it with you guys that picture today but I didn't know if I should and whenever something's kind of FBI I sometimes run it by my wife and I asked Monica I said do you think I should share this picture she said I don't think he should show it it's a little too hard to look at and so I decided not to show up it but here's another picture and it was a picture of an orphan and this is still heartbreaking just a little bit easier for us to look at but still heartbreaking and when I see this I see an orphan an abandoned child and would you guys agree with me that it would be a great thing if I see this kid on the street and I take him and I say you know what this is not right and I clothe them and I clean him up and I give him some food to eat and I give him something to drink and I want to make sure he's well taken care of so I take him to an orphanage and I actually take out all the money I can and I give it to the orphanage and say will you please take care of this kid make sure he's well fed and he has drink wouldn't that be a good thing I mean I think it would be true to say that I saved that kid I saved him from the streets how much greater would it be if I see this kid though and I take him I clean him up I give him his food and his drink but instead of taking him to the orphanage I take him to my house and I say kid from this day forward I'm not gonna be like a father to you I'm gonna be your father and you're gonna be my son and this room I prepared this room for you and this room is yours because my house is your house and my son Evan he's your brother now and my daughter Karen you can call her sister because you are now part of this family I am adopting you today and when I eat at the table I dine at the table you're dining at the table with me this is yours how much greater would that be because it's one thing to save a person it's an even greater thing to save a person and make that person your own and make that person your own child yeah that's what God has done for us Church if you are found in Christ look what J I Packer says he's a famous theologian and he says this adoption is the highest privilege the gospel offers arguably higher than salvation adoption is higher because of the relationship it involves with God salvation is wonderful but salvation does not imply necessarily an intimate relationship but in adoption God doesn't just save us but takes us into his family as children and as heirs that is the greatest most powerful thing that can ever happen to us and that's what's what God has done for us by faith if you are found in Christ you're not just chosen and you're not just saved your adopted he's not gonna be like a father to you he is your father you're not like a daughter to him Jessica you are his daughter that's why John 1:12 tells us this yet to all who received him talking about his son Jesus Christ to those who believed in his name he gave the right to become children real children of God it's powerful I want to show you a video that I found as a clip of a couple and it shows just a little bit of their journey to receive their child would you check out this video anytime think about the option I think about my spiritual adoption about how Jesus went to infinitely greater lengths to adopt me into the family of God what a privilege it is to in a smaller way in a human way live out some of the truth of the gospel the peace and the joy that we're feeling is absolute evidence of hundreds of people okay literally I believe there are hundreds of people that are praying for us tonight the nurse just asked us if we're excited to meet our son and it I paused for a second there because I think it's the first time that I heard someone else refer to him as our son I've kind of like it's been years but now it's like we're down to just minutes you know and as we walk in it's gonna be seconds and it's hard to believe that there's maybe the last few minutes of us just but you could be a wave too Jacob take thank you I'm your dad you have no idea no idea how many people I prayed and that powerful I can't tell you how many times I watched that video just preparing for this message and I'm just welling up with tears in it I think a lot of it was when I saw that father holding that that baby for the first time and and he realizes this is his son this adoptive child is now his son and and I sensed that the intensity of his love for this this kid and the intensity of his affection for this kid who is now his son and and it brings me back to that time when I first held my son Evan for the first time my first son I'm holding him and and I feel what he's feeling I felt that intensity of love I can't believe this human being is mine he's my son and my infections were for him were so deep and I resonated with him but why I share that comparison I share it because I don't think that my love for my natural son was greater than this man's love for his adopted son I don't think I had a greater and deeper love because this is natural and his is adopted no I think it's just as great sometimes we take this idea that we've been adopted by God and we kind of play that down oh I'm just adopted please do not want to that down when when God saw his son he was deeply pleased he was in love with the son in Matthew it says when he was getting baptized the heavens opened up the clouds parted and a voice came from heaven and said this is my son whom I love I'm well pleased with him and then again on a second occasion when he was there on the mountaintop with Peter James and John it says the heavens open up and a voice from heaven came and said this is my son whom I love I am well pleased with him as I God couldn't stop communicating people I love him so much I am delighted in him I am pleased with him and if you understand that you are adopted by this god of ours this father then understand that he doesn't love you with the second-class kind of love he doesn't love you with the second-rate love a b-level love no he loves you just like he loves his own son because why you are now a son and you are now a daughter of God he loves you with the same intensity he looks upon you to me says man I am so pleased with you Danny I am delighted in you you are my son that's what our Father has done for us does that does that move you because that is the most powerful truth I think that we can never receive well I don't know Church where you're getting your sense of love or Worth or significance because a lot of times we look for it in a world that offers such an imperfect love sometimes our fathers and mothers and her boyfriends and her spouses fail us but but if you are in Christ I understand that you are deeply loved because you are adopting in Christ I'm chosen in Christ I am adopted and thirdly let me say this in Christ I am redeemed I am redeemed let me read verse 7 it says in him would you circle that would you circle in him in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he has lavished on us and in that passage Paul uses a turn that everybody knew in the Greek the word for redemption and the Greek is this word ippolit Roces and I just share that with you just because it was a specific term he was using it was a term used in slave trading so whenever there was a slave market and slaves or prisoners were put on for sale it implies that a person can pay a price to release or liberate one of those slaves it literally means to my back or to buy out it literally means to pay a ransom for the liberation of a slave and Paul deliberately chooses to use that word why well he's implying that somehow a ransom has been paid so that a slave can be freed who is that slave who are those slaves well it's us guys we are the slaves because John chapter 8 tells us verse 34 tells us that whoever commits sin is a slave to sin all of us when we came into this world we were born with a tendency to sin we have a sinful nature though God created us and formed us we came into this world we've been taken captive by the enemy by the author of sin and somehow according to Paul Redemption has taken place meaning that ransom was paid what was the ransom well according to verse 7 it was the blood of Jesus Christ the blood was the payment to redeem those slaves it was the cost of the cross of Jesus Christ Christ came on to Zenith to buy us out to ransom us in other words he came so that you would be redeemed I was thinking about my friend Mike he was here a couple weeks ago I don't know if you're here this morning Mike but I was thinking of Mike because he used to play bass guitar for my youth group growing up and the church bought him this red bass guitar and it wasn't anything fancy wasn't top-of-the-line but just something he can learn on but he fell in love with that bass guitar he'd played every Friday night for our youth group he played Sunday during our services he would play it in his garage he loved that guitar and one day somebody broke into his garage and stole his red bass and you can imagine that must have frustrated him or upset him or even made him sad but a few years later Mike was at a pawn shop right there in all torrents on Carson and Cabrillo so you guys might know that pawn shop but he was there checking out what guitars they had there and guess what he see let me hold in the display he sees his red bass guitar for sale he sees his red bass guitar and I don't know if you guys have ever had anything stolen maybe someone broke into your house stolen your purse or your bag I've had a car stolen and I'll tell you the truth they retrieved it in Long Beach and when I got it back it was kind of like I don't even want it anymore you guys are talking about some of you guys identify with this you get something stolen you get it back it's like man it feels like it's been violated it's like filthy to me it's been used by by a thief and so when my friend Mike sees that red bass guitar guess what he does he buys it back he purchased his own guitar that which was his he pulled the pay the the full price for it and I'm like what you didn't even follow police report you didn't try to bargain with the shop owner you just bought it back he goes yeah I go why would you do that and I'll never forget what he said to me he said I love this thing says it's worth it to me because I love it and I love that picture because I think it's a beautiful picture of redemption to buy back that which was yours because to you it is so worth it I love it God created us he formed us we were his and we came into this world and we had been taken captive and slave to sin we've been captured by the enemy of this world and yet God saw us he loved us so much it was worth it to him to pay a ransom the blood of His Son Jesus Christ why so that that he could buy us back I love them they are worth it to me I don't know where we're sitting today I don't know where you get your sense of worth I don't know what it is in your life that's kind of distorting how much you are worth but I hope you know this that in Christ you have been redeemed first Corinthians 6:18 says you were bought with the price you were bought with the price you were worth it to him what was that price we'll Ephesians 1 just told us it was the blood of Jesus it took the cost of the cross and then Christ you are redeemed Church oohs in your adopted you're redeemed and one more thing I want to share with you from this passage in Christ I am sealed would you write that down in Christ I am seal verse 13 says this and you also were included in Christ which is circle in Christ you were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth the gospel of your salvation when you believed you were marked in him circle in him with a seal the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of his glory so once again Paul knows his audience he knows who he's talking about talking to so he uses this word seal and a seal everybody knew what a seal was because it was a ring kind of like these right here and everybody had their own personal unique seal and as a way to stamp something of yours to indicate that you're the owner you are the rightful legal owner so people would stamp things such as letters that they write it would say this is my letter this is from me they would stamp things such as their slaves even or some of their livestock I owned this thing it is my possession Ephesus was this city that was an important commercial center there in Asia Minor emphasis is right there on your right side and it was a port city so all the time there were crates of goods coming in and crates going out into the Aegean Sea and sometimes when they would load a ship with a bunch of crates that it would sail into the sea and there would be rough waters and go up and down up and down and crates and and things on that ship would get shifted and there would be chaos but no worry because if it was sealed we knew what belonged to who we knew what belonged to who because my stamp my seal is on it and Paul says you who are identified in crush you are sealed what's that sale is to seal the holy spirit so what is that she'll look like in our lives because obviously it's not a physical seal we don't have a physical seal on this but it is definitely a visual seal it's visual I want to show you something right here someone tell me what this is cucumber okay yeah it's a cucumber now somebody tell me what this is what is this pickle good thank you it's the cucumber right it's a cucumber a cucumber that has been sealed right because if you take a cucumber and you immerse it in a solution or I guess you can say baptize it right because baptize literally means to be immersed you immerse it in a solution such as this made a vinegar and then you seal it what happens to that cucumber and it changes there is a new appearance there's a new character about it there's a new texture throughout there is a new flavor even has a new name pickle has a new name but it's essentially a cucumber the guys that's what we are we are people we're people you're just like the people at your work you're just like the people in your community yeah your workplace or your schools but when we are sealed with the Holy Spirit that means the Holy Spirit comes into our life we are immersed by him he fills us up we are baptized that's what the Bible says we're baptized by the Holy Spirit and that's not a weird crazy thing but it is supernatural and that the Living God the god of this universe his spirit comes to live in you and fill your lives and if that is true of you if that is your identity guess what happens we don't look the same anymore there's a new character in us there's a new appearance a new flavor we have a new name child of God Bible says that the Holy Spirit bears fruit in our lives in other words the fruit of the Holy Spirit is the evidence of the Holy Spirit so Galatians tells us what does that look like well we got joy we got peace now we got love patience kindness faithfulness gentleness goodness self-control all these things now start to form in our lives I was once an angry person but I'm growing now in love because of the Holy Spirit as one's always the press by learning to be joyful because of the Holy Spirit I used to fight with people all the time and I used to be angry but now I'm being filled with peace that is the evidence of the Holy Spirit and when people see that visually that is the seal saying we belong to God I am owned by the god of this universe Church you have been sealed and that seal the Holy Spirit doesn't just seal you but look what verse 14 says he is also a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance and redemption and that we're deposit that Paul uses is the exact understanding of the posit that we have today in the English language at the positives what it's like a down payment that that you put down so some of you guys have deposits or down payments right now in a car or a house or maybe an apartment and what does that tell you that ensures that one day in the future you're gonna receive it in full it's gonna be fully yours and the Holy Spirit if we have the evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives we see that seal we know that in the future we will receive in full and so all of this comes full circle now why because church if you are in Christ you are chosen that means you have been chosen to be holy and blameless that is your identity but are you there yet not yet but the Holy Spirit in you as a deposit guaranteeing that one day you'll be totally glorified that is a promise and you've been adopted you have been loved by God to the point where he calls you child he called you son and daughter of God are you fully realizing that yet yet because there will be a day when we dwell in the promise of his kingdom of his house will be there in the mansion of glory that he has prepared for us and the Holy Spirit deposit guaranteeing that day to come and you've been redeemed you've been bought back you're so worth it that he redeemed you from the power and slavery to sin but are we fully redeemed it not yet because the Holy Spirit in us is a deposit guaranteeing that one day I'm not only gonna be free from the power of sin in my eyes I'm gonna be set free from the very presence of sin in my life I will one day be fully redeemed it is my identity now but o be fully realized later and the Holy Spirit at work in our lives is sealing us but it's guaranteeing what's to come so get ready Church get ready and I just want to say man I hope you know today I don't know who you think you are but I hope you know that you are extremely rich in Jesus Christ you're the wealthiest people on earth because you have been chosen you've been adopted you've been redeemed and you can steal by the god of this universe I had you in each of those instances circle when it ever said it is said in him or in Christ or through Jesus Christ I had you circle that for a purpose because I don't want you to miss the point I want you to see what Paul wanted you to see and if you look at all of chapter one it's sprinkled all throughout the passage we are only these things this is only our identity because of Christ because of who Jesus is and because of what Jesus has done only because of him we are who we are and I hope that you are found in him today that you know your identity is found in Jesus Christ I don't want to close with this story of a man and his son who had a deep love for each other they had a really close relationship but they also shared a deep love for art they had a passion for fine art and so they would travel the world collecting some of the most valuable paintings and sculptures things from Van Gogh's tomb Oh the Picasso's so they built up quite a collection well one day his son had to go off the fight in war he joined the military and tragically was killed in battle and as a way to honor that man's son his fellow soldiers presented a gift to the father at his house one day and as he unwrapped it it was a painting of his son in military uniform and to him to the father that's the most valuable piece of art that he had eventually over time he grew old and he passed away and he left a will and he said in his will he said I want all my paintings all my valuables to be sold off I want to be auctioned off and so an auction with him and news spread and people from all over collectors from all over heard about it and they wanted to be there because they knew what he had and they came and they came to bid on the most valuable paintings and sculptures and and as the auction opened up that the auctioneer said okay we're gonna start with this right here and he started with the painting of the man's son I'm sorry anybody want this painting anybody want this painting and everybody's like who is that what is that that's not what we came here before we came here for the Picasso's and the Monet's and so nobody said anything except this one hand goes up it was a person who knew the Sun and knew the father pretty well as a family friend he goes out I'll take you I'll take you auctioneer goes all right anybody else going once going twice sold and the gavel drops and he says the auction is now closed everybody's like we talked about is closed we just started what about all the other stuff those are the things we want and the auctioneer says you guys according to the father's will whoever takes the son gets everything whoever takes his son because he loved him so much whoever is willing to take the son gets everything and I love that because now we come back and I want to close in verse three let's go back to verse three this is what Paul said praise praise be to the God and fall they're of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ in other words the father is worthy to be praised because as he says if you take my son you get every spiritual blessing found in the heavenly realms it is all yours if you would receive my son and so church I hope that is true of every single one of us today have you received the son do you know you have every spiritual blessing found in the heavenlies do you know your identity that you are chosen adopted redeemed and sealed and that's only because you are in Christ amen and then can I can I pray with you guys right now with you guys bow your heads with me because I realized that there are some people today that have not yet received the Sun and you're still trying to find your identity and sense of Worth and your value and your significance and all these distorted mirrors that this world is full of I just want to say today right now you can know without a doubt that you are chosen and adoptive redeemed and sealed if you would what receive his son John chapter 1 verse 12 tells us to those who receive him to those who believe in his son he gives the right to be called children of God all you got to do is receive him and believe him live in him and that is your new identity right now so if you would like to receive Jesus Christ today would you raise your hand just from where you are you don't have to stand up or come down to the front just raise your hand and I'd love to lead you into a prayer of faith and commitment so everybody here today amen brother thank you amen see Amen sister thank you anybody else okay I see you guys see you too see you see you bread on the right thank you see you anybody else this is the greatest most powerful thing you could possibly experience to have your identity found in him anybody else going once going twice what you guys pray with me I'm gonna pray this prayer and I just want to say this prayer doesn't save you it's not the prayer that saves you it's your faith it's your willingness to receive Jesus Christ and to live in him but this prayer expresses it and so God we just thank you so much that you have made it known to me that I am indeed a sinner I am like your word says a slave to sin that's my tendency yet today I want to know that I can be chosen and adopted redeemed and sealed in Jesus Christ and so I accept your free gift thank you that it's not because of anything I've done or anything I haven't done but it's because I was worth it to you so lord give me Jesus take me into your home and thank you God for being my father my heavenly father and it's in Jesus name that I pray you

Channel: sbcclive

Views: 11,058

Rating: 4.7083335 out of 5

Keywords: South Bay Community Church, South Bay, Torrance, SBCCLive, greg mah, ephesians, Bible Study (TV Subject), gods design, Who do you think you are?, roscoes, waffles, D.L. Moody, 24 (TV Program), Jack Bauer (Fictional Character), church, the church, message, ephesians bible study, ephesians 1, understanding ephesians 1

Id: qQrZe7LxJ4E

Length: 53min 9sec (3189 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 23 2014