SPEAKER_00: This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_00: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: God, thanks for today.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you that you are our anchor when life is crazy, when seasons change, when we don't have answers.
SPEAKER_01: God, we're holding on tight because we trust you.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Well, if you've seen the movie The Gladiator, maybe this scene will sound familiar to you.
SPEAKER_01: The Emperor has returned home to Rome after being victorious in battle.
SPEAKER_01: They throw a massive parade in his honor.
SPEAKER_01: He decides that he wants to keep the party going and he wants to host a series of gladiator games in the Colosseum.
SPEAKER_01: And so after one particular day, and after one particular battle, he's very impressed with the performance of this gladiator.
SPEAKER_01: And so he leaves his seat, takes his nephew with him down to the Colosseum floor.
SPEAKER_01: And he walks up to this gladiator, and they're standing face to face, and he says, Gladiator, reveal yourself.
SPEAKER_01: And instead of doing that, instead of obeying that command, the gladiator turns his back on the emperor.
SPEAKER_01: Well, as you can imagine, this would cause the emperor to become enraged.
SPEAKER_01: And so, in a moment of trying to remind this gladiator of who he is, his value in life, and his place in society, he just very quickly just shouts at him and calls him a slave.
SPEAKER_01: So this morning, I wonder what person or experience has shaped you the most?
SPEAKER_01: What person or what experience has left an indelible mark on you?
SPEAKER_01: And so when I think about how I would answer that question, a couple things kind of rise to the surface.
SPEAKER_01: And so one of those is we moved around a lot when I was a kid.
SPEAKER_01: And I say a lot, and I know it's subjective and all that, but for me it felt like a lot.
SPEAKER_01: The first school that I started and finished was college.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so we had two elementary schools, two middle schools, two high schools.
SPEAKER_01: We lived in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Texas.
SPEAKER_01: I went to college in Tennessee, came back to Texas after that.
SPEAKER_01: And so moving around in all those different contexts, in those different areas has helped to shape who I am today.
SPEAKER_01: Football is another one of those things that helped kind of form and sometimes even overtake my identity.
SPEAKER_01: Another one would be my mom's cancer when I was in high school, and watching her go through surgeries and chemo and radiation treatments, and then now into her mission and just seeing what that has done to her, to our family, how that shaped us.
SPEAKER_01: But the one that I think rises to the top, that I would say is the most influential formative experience in my life, is the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm sure you're kind of sitting there thinking, well, duh, you're preaching this morning.
SPEAKER_01: But stay with me because it's I'm not talking about the gospel you're probably thinking of.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, it may be the one that you've experienced.
SPEAKER_01: And here's what I mean is that, like you, my view of the gospel was shaped by the church.
SPEAKER_01: And the gospel that I was taught was the gospel of performance.
SPEAKER_01: I was taught at an early age that to perform meant to behave, and to behave meant to be quiet.
SPEAKER_01: And I can narrow that down to one church and maybe even down to one experience at this particular church is in the upstate of South Carolina.
SPEAKER_01: It's a very traditional setting with choir rubs and the modesty rail and the pipe organ and the whole thing, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so we'd moved to that new church, my dad's on staff there, and um they had only had girls in my Sunday school grade all along.
SPEAKER_01: And in comes an active boy, um, and they just didn't know what to do with me.
SPEAKER_01: And so the gospel that I was taught, the message that I was sent to be accepted by God, to be accepted by the church, to be accepted by the people and my teachers and my friends was to behave.
SPEAKER_01: Was just simply to be to be quiet.
SPEAKER_01: And so we moved to Florida uh around my eighth grade year in middle school, and that's when I became a believer.
SPEAKER_01: Uh realized the weight of my sin in light of God's goodness and his graciousness, and so put my trust in him and asked him to forgive me.
SPEAKER_01: Um and so you take this gospel of performance with a brand new faith, and you add that to a situation where I was the only kid at my church that went to my school of 2200 students when I was in high school.
SPEAKER_01: And so what happened was I became a very compartmentalized church kid.
SPEAKER_01: Alright?
SPEAKER_01: And so there was the Jeff at home, there was Jeff at school, there was Jeff at church, there was Jeff on the football field.
SPEAKER_01: And they were all very different people.
SPEAKER_01: And God only had access really to Jeff at church, sometimes Jeff at home, but never when I was at school or with football.
SPEAKER_01: And so what that meant basically was that I was becoming a hypocrite, and that I was even a Pharisee in training.
SPEAKER_01: And so maybe you know someone like me, or maybe you are someone like me.
SPEAKER_01: And so the gospel of performance says uh to act better and to sin less.
SPEAKER_01: But here's the reality that there is no hope in a gospel of performance, a gospel that's defined as sin management and behavior modification.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you're caught in the same cycle that I was caught in, and sometimes still find myself caught in, I want to offer you hope this morning.
SPEAKER_01: I want to suggest to you that what the gospel says your identity is, is your true identity.
SPEAKER_01: Now, Paul writes a letter to his friends in Ephesus.
SPEAKER_01: He lived there for about two and a half years.
SPEAKER_01: At this time, Ephesus was a very busy port city.
SPEAKER_01: It was the fourth or fifth largest city in the world in that time.
SPEAKER_01: Uh four major roads intersected there, and there was rampant spiritual warfare going on in the city.
SPEAKER_01: There was a secret knowledge cult, there was an emperor worship cult, uh, they were obsessed with demons and magic and idolatry and witchcraft, and even the Roman goddess Diana.
SPEAKER_01: And so, this is the audience, this is the context which Paul is writing this letter to believers who are living in this kind of environment.
SPEAKER_01: And so this morning I wonder if that may sound familiar to any of you.
SPEAKER_01: Do we live in the fourth or fifth largest city in the country?
SPEAKER_01: Is it a major port city?
SPEAKER_01: Do we have major roads that intersect?
SPEAKER_01: Is there spiritual warfare in our city and in our neighborhoods?
SPEAKER_01: And so maybe, maybe it's not just the letter to the Ephesians, but maybe today we can call it the letter to the Houstonians, because I believe God has something he wants to say to us this morning.
SPEAKER_01: So if you have your Bibles, turn to Ephesians chapter 1.
SPEAKER_01: It'll be in verses 3 through 14.
SPEAKER_01: Ephesians chapter 1.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's writing and he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with uh blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
SPEAKER_01: In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the beloved.
SPEAKER_01: In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
SPEAKER_01: In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him, who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that though so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
SPEAKER_01: In him you also.
SPEAKER_01: When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance, until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.
SPEAKER_01: Now, before we start digging into this passage, I really want to start in verse thirteen, which may sound a little weird, but I want to do that because I think we have to have a baseline understanding of what the gospel is to understand what Paul is trying to communicate to us today.
SPEAKER_01: So the gospel just simply means good news.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: It was a word that was used in announcements in those days.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, if there was a major military victory, if there uh was the birth of a new king, if there was some kind of paradigm-shifting experience or event, they would call it good news.
SPEAKER_01: So the good news for us, though, is that that is heard and that is believed is the good news of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And the good news of Jesus is what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 was that he lived a perfect, sinless life.
SPEAKER_01: He died the death that we deserve to take the punishment and the penalty for our sin.
SPEAKER_01: He rose from the dead, and then he appeared to more than 500 witnesses.
SPEAKER_01: And I think for some people, for some of us, I think there is a disconnect at this point with the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you're a believer, I wonder if I wonder if you think the gospel stops here in content.
SPEAKER_01: Like it's just words on a page.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if you think that the gospel uh stops here in efficacy, and it it has saying that it has the power to save you, but you don't think it really has the power to change you.
SPEAKER_01: I wonder if if this morning it's you that your disconnect with the gospel is that you think it stops here in this location, like inside these four walls.
SPEAKER_01: If you're an unbeliever, I wonder if your disconnect is that you think the gospel isn't worth it because it's too big of an ask.
SPEAKER_01: Or it's not worth it because there's something, there's some habit, some addiction, some relationship, uh, whatever it may be, that you're just holding on to tightly, trying to keep control of those reins.
SPEAKER_01: Or I wonder if you think the gospel isn't worth it because you just believe it can't be that good.
SPEAKER_01: And so now what does the gospel say?
SPEAKER_01: Well, Paul tells us in Romans chapter 6, he says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I want to kind of work our way through that, through that verse, through that sentence.
SPEAKER_01: Uh Paul starts off and says that for the wages of our sin is death, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so if you have a job and you do work, you get a wage, right?
SPEAKER_01: That wage is the result of your work, you earn a paycheck.
SPEAKER_01: So the result of our sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: Sin is very simply just open rebellion against God.
SPEAKER_01: God wants you to do something, you tell him no.
SPEAKER_01: You look him in the eye, you just say, No, I'm not doing that.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So the result of our rebellion against God is death.
SPEAKER_01: And when the Bible talks about death, it does it in one of two ways.
SPEAKER_01: The first one is it talks about a physical death that is the result of sin, right?
SPEAKER_01: We know this going back to the garden with Adam and Eve and the fruit and the result that they will no longer live forever, and then there's so now there's a physical death that will occur.
SPEAKER_01: We also know that the Bible talks about death in a in a in a spiritual sense, in a sense of separation.
SPEAKER_01: And we see that even in the garden as well.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you remember the story, when Adam and Eve eat the fruit, they suddenly feel naked and ashamed, and they hide, they cover themselves and they hide themselves, and God comes looking for them.
SPEAKER_01: And God asks them, Well, where are you?
SPEAKER_01: And why do you why are you ashamed?
SPEAKER_01: Why do you why are you naked?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: How do you know that?
SPEAKER_01: And so Adam, instead of admitting his his his responsibility in it, instead of admitting his sin, instead of changing his behavior, he doesn't do any of that.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, he blames God.
SPEAKER_01: And it's like the conversation goes something like this, where it's like God asks him, Adam, what happened, and why'd you eat the fruit?
SPEAKER_01: And Adam says, God, it's your fault because you gave me Eve, and Eve gave me the fruit.
SPEAKER_01: And if you'd never given me Eve, I never would have had the fruit in the first place, so it's your fault.
SPEAKER_01: And so right there we see a separation between Adam and Eve, and between God and man.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Now, the verse continues, which is important because right now up to this point, Paul has painted a very bleak picture, very dark picture for us that the result of our sin is death.
SPEAKER_01: But he says a little word, three little one word, three little letters, and simply the word but.
SPEAKER_01: And here's the thing is that I think in this passage, in this verse, that word signifies hope is around the corner.
SPEAKER_01: That um that God wasn't surprised, that He has a He has a plan, He has a solution to the problem of sin.
SPEAKER_01: He goes on to say that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Now, um we in my family we love Chick-fil-A.
SPEAKER_01: We love us some good Christian chicken, right?
SPEAKER_01: Um if you frequent that establishment as much as we do, other than them knowing you by name and face, um, you may have an app on your phone from Chick-fil-A.
SPEAKER_01: And you can scan that app when you make a purchase and you will receive reward points.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: Now, you don't you you earn a reward, right?
SPEAKER_01: There is an exchange that's made.
SPEAKER_01: I give them my money, they give me some weak percentage of points that will eventually add up to some to getting earning a milkshake, right?
SPEAKER_01: That is a reward.
SPEAKER_01: That is not a gift.
SPEAKER_01: Chick-fil-A is not gifting me because I'm spending money there, right?
SPEAKER_01: A gift is freely given and freely received.
SPEAKER_01: And so what Paul is getting at in Romans chapter 6 is just simply that this gift of salvation that we so desperately need, it's a i i in definition is a gift because we cannot earn or work our way to earn that.
SPEAKER_01: We cannot perform at a high enough level to earn that.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: And so he goes on, and Paul says that it's a gift, and it's it's in Christ Jesus our Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And um I think it's interesting that Paul a lot of times gives Jesus three names, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so I think what happens though is we love the idea of Jesus the Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus the Christ is the one who comes, who came to earth, lived the life, died the death, took away the penalty for our sins, so we don't have to go to a scary place like hell.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: We've seen the pictures, we've seen the cartoons, the drawings, all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: It's a scary place, and we don't want to go there, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so we like this idea of Jesus the Christ who comes and saves us from the bad place.
SPEAKER_01: I think for a lot of us, I think we have a hard time with Jesus the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Because that means that he's now the boss of our lives, that we have surrendered control, that we have submitted to his authority, and we are now walking obediently with him.
SPEAKER_01: Alright?
SPEAKER_01: And so now that we know what the gospel is and says, I want to look at five things that in Ephesians chapter one that are true because of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And so what the gospel says your identity is, is your true identity.
SPEAKER_01: So because of the gospel and your faith in Jesus, these things are true.
SPEAKER_01: The first one that Paul says is that you are chosen.
SPEAKER_01: You're chosen.
SPEAKER_01: On the buffet of eternity, God picked you.
SPEAKER_01: Just think about that.
SPEAKER_01: Out of all the choices that God had, he went and chose you for himself.
SPEAKER_01: And before the world was made, before even before creation, God picked you.
SPEAKER_01: And not because there's something good or within you, or not because there's something that you offer or bring to the table in this exchange, in this relationship, but simply because of who God is.
SPEAKER_01: It's the same word that's used when Jesus talks about choosing the twelve disciples, or in Acts, and they choose the first deacons.
SPEAKER_01: And so what we know, though, about God's choosing is that there is a mystery there.
SPEAKER_01: And that what God chooses doesn't always make sense to us.
SPEAKER_01: In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul talks about how God chose the foolish and the weak.
SPEAKER_01: Those are not the two people I want on my dodgeball team in middle school.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want the weak kid, I don't want the foolish kid.
SPEAKER_01: I want the kid who's got the athletic ability and who can has a cannon on his shoulder, right?
SPEAKER_01: That's we don't want the weak and the foolish.
SPEAKER_01: And so what happens is God oftentimes chooses things that don't make sense to us, and in fact are the opposite of what we would choose.
SPEAKER_01: But his choosing is an expression of his grace and his sovereignty and his love.
SPEAKER_01: And so, because you are chosen, you are made holy and blameless.
SPEAKER_01: It's pure, it's clean, it's spotless, it's without sin.
SPEAKER_01: And God's purpose in choosing us is to make us more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But how is this even possible?
SPEAKER_01: Because you and I are guilty lawbreakers who deserve punishment.
SPEAKER_01: It's because God has come in and declared us not guilty.
SPEAKER_01: Because Jesus took our place the moment that we trusted and put our faith in him.
SPEAKER_01: That God now thinks of our sin as being forgiven and Jesus' righteousness as belonging to us.
SPEAKER_01: So this is the greatest give and take ever, right?
SPEAKER_01: Martin Luther calls this the great exchange because what happens is when we place our faith in Jesus, uh, he takes our sin and we get his righteousness.
SPEAKER_01: We get his relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: So you're chosen and you are adopted into God's family.
SPEAKER_01: You're simply added to the family.
SPEAKER_01: You're added to the family because you belong to Jesus, who is God's Son.
SPEAKER_01: Adoption says that you were always wanted.
SPEAKER_01: And under Roman law, an adopted child had the same and full rights as a full as a biological child.
SPEAKER_01: The adopted child was viewed as a completely new person.
SPEAKER_01: So much so that all of your past debts and obligations from your previous family or your previous life were erased.
SPEAKER_01: They're gone.
SPEAKER_01: That sounds familiar to me.
SPEAKER_01: But in adoption, there is both a vertical and a horizontal relationship.
SPEAKER_01: And so the vertical is that we are now God's child, that we are co-heirs with Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The horizontal is that we now have brothers and sisters all around the world.
SPEAKER_01: And so we were adopted through Jesus because this pleased God to do so.
SPEAKER_01: This is a God-established, God-initiated, God-completed thing.
SPEAKER_01: You're also redeemed from slavery to sin.
SPEAKER_01: With one word, that word redeemed, with one word, Paul connects the Old Testament sacrificial system to the cross and in the gospel, saying that this was God's plan all along.
SPEAKER_01: Now, to redeem something is to release it by payment.
SPEAKER_01: It paints this picture of freedom from bondage and imprisonment.
SPEAKER_01: When I was a kid, uh we would go to FUDRuckers because the burgers are mediocre, right?
SPEAKER_01: Um but but at FUDRuckers, at least the one that we went to, um, if you got the kids' meal, you also got a token about the size of a poker chip.
SPEAKER_01: And on that token was written, Redeem for Cookie.
SPEAKER_01: And I thought, yes.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: And so I would halfway finish my burger, uh, pester my parents until they let me go to the dessert counter where they had the milkshakes and the ice cream and the cookies, and I would exchange this token for the freedom of that cookie behind the case of glass imprisonment, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so that's what's going on.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, and then it would become one with me, but that's a different story.
SPEAKER_01: And so the picture of redemption is that there is a release that is brought about by payment.
SPEAKER_01: An exchange has been made.
SPEAKER_01: In Hebrews chapter 9, it says, A death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
SPEAKER_01: And so because you are redeemed, you are also forgiven.
SPEAKER_01: And the picture that's painted is that you are is that when something is forgiven, it is literally carried away.
SPEAKER_01: And it looks back to Leviticus chapter 16, when the high priest on the Day of Atonement would walk into the Holy of Holies, he'd sacrifice a goat, he'd sprinkle the blood, he'd walk back out, he'd clean himself.
SPEAKER_01: He would go back in, this time not to confess his sin, but the sin of the people, and he would sacrifice another goat.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: He would sprinkle the blood, he'd walk out.
SPEAKER_01: And now there was another goat who was left there, and this goat was called the scapegoat.
SPEAKER_01: He'd place his hands on the head of the goat, confess the sin of the people, and they would carry the goat to the wilderness where it would literally carry away the sin of the people.
SPEAKER_01: And that is a picture that God paints when he talks about our forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: That we are our penalty has been pardoned.
SPEAKER_01: You've also been lavished.
SPEAKER_01: I love the word lavished.
SPEAKER_01: It's a great, it paints it just paints a great image of abundance and overflow and showering.
SPEAKER_01: It's the same word that's used in Matthew chapter 14 when they're talking about the basketfuls of food left over after Jesus feeds 5,000 people.
SPEAKER_01: It has this note of above and beyond, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like you've been given so much that you have too much.
SPEAKER_01: Like you're it's it's Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_01: Like you're you're stuffed.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and I'm not I don't know what Thanksgiving is like for you for your family, but when we're with my family, it kind of changes from year to year, depending on if we're with my folks or my aunt or how that happens.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes there's uh you know the traditional spread, sometimes we go to a restaurant, it just kind of depends.
SPEAKER_01: But when we're with Caitlin's family, it is a spread.
SPEAKER_01: And it seems like it just goes on and on and on.
SPEAKER_01: Because there's usually between 45 and 55 people at that Thanksgiving meal.
SPEAKER_01: All right?
SPEAKER_01: Now, there are there's usually three turkeys, a brisket, a ham.
SPEAKER_01: We've got green beans coming out of our ears.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, there's corn, there's like corn souffle and corn casserole, and there's sweet potato casserole, but without the marshmallows, because we love Jesus and we like the crumble top.
SPEAKER_01: Um there's there's deviled eggs, there's pinwheels, there's like the ham roll pinwheel things.
SPEAKER_01: There's always like the experimental dressing, which is never good.
SPEAKER_01: Like one year it was like Frito something, one year it was like tamale corn dressing.
SPEAKER_01: Uh it you learn the you learn from your first mistake the first year in the family, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Uh and then there's all the desserts.
SPEAKER_01: There's a there's a pumpkin pie, an apple pie, uh a pecan pie, a buttermilk pie.
SPEAKER_01: There's usually brownies and cookies, and basically the point is it this spread, there's just so much.
SPEAKER_01: There's too much food.
SPEAKER_01: 55 people can't even eat all this food.
SPEAKER_01: There's always leftovers.
SPEAKER_01: And by the time the cowboys come on for the game that afternoon, you're begging for your stretchy pants, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so it's just this this that's the the idea of.
SPEAKER_01: Lavish that God has just given us so much.
SPEAKER_01: But what is He given us?
SPEAKER_01: Paul says it's wisdom and understanding.
SPEAKER_01: There are times in my life, even recently, where I needed more wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: Caitlin and I were kind of calendaring through our week a few weeks ago, kind of looking at who's going to be home, what nights, and who's got what going on, and where the kids was there anything going on with Liam's school and this, that, and the other, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so I kind of condescendingly run my mouth and make some snide comment about logically to get the get the groceries.
SPEAKER_01: It's no big deal.
SPEAKER_01: That's not a hard job.
SPEAKER_01: I was wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Because I've been to HEB a couple times and I know where the ice cream is and I know where the uh and I know where the beef is, right?
SPEAKER_01: Um but uh this time I decided I'm gonna go online to the website and and do the do the thing where they're just bringing out to your car.
SPEAKER_01: Because that sounded great.
SPEAKER_01: Um that website's complicated, right?
SPEAKER_01: And so I learned very quickly and even said to Caitlin, I said, you know what?
SPEAKER_01: You're right.
SPEAKER_01: I needed more wisdom, so I didn't run my mouth because I kept going because I didn't learn enough.
SPEAKER_01: And later on in that conversation, I was like, I'll just cook a couple dinners this week.
SPEAKER_01: It's no big deal.
SPEAKER_01: Like, just sling some stuff in the pan, guys.
SPEAKER_01: Uh I can't cook.
SPEAKER_01: I can grill about anything.
SPEAKER_01: I can't cook to save my life.
SPEAKER_01: And my kids had to suffer through that because I needed more wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: Wisdom is knowledge and experience applied in the right way at the right time.
SPEAKER_01: Understanding or insight talks about, speaks to the mystery that is now revealed in Jesus, that Jews and Gentiles are now one.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's not some secret knowledge cult.
SPEAKER_01: It's talking about having experienced Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 13, Paul says that you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: A seal functions as a statement of ownership, right?
SPEAKER_01: Think about a rancher branding his cattle.
SPEAKER_01: That is his seal, signifying that cow belongs to him.
SPEAKER_01: A seal uh functions as an official statement of authenticity, right?
SPEAKER_01: Kings would uh stamp their letters and their decrees with wax stamps.
SPEAKER_01: We do that today with a notary, right?
SPEAKER_01: We go get a form notarized to prove the authenticity of the document and the signatures.
SPEAKER_01: And so this seal is God's promise that he is coming back.
SPEAKER_01: And we know that God always keeps his promises.
SPEAKER_01: He is with us, he's coming back for us.
SPEAKER_01: So the evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the statement of authenticity of our faith.
SPEAKER_01: So, how do we see that evidence?
SPEAKER_01: What does that look like?
SPEAKER_01: It looks like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control.
SPEAKER_01: It's the fruit of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: So now why does all this matter?
SPEAKER_01: Because I think no matter how old you are in this room, I think we're still trying to answer three questions.
SPEAKER_01: Who am I?
SPEAKER_01: Where do I belong?
SPEAKER_01: And what difference can I make?
SPEAKER_01: Because in a world that bombards you with lies and false gospels, you need to remind yourself daily of your identity that's found in the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: This is not some self-help, power of positive thinking with the biblical twists, mumbo jumbo type stuff.
SPEAKER_01: What we're saying is to marinate in the truth of God's word.
SPEAKER_01: Because we live in a culture that says that our identity is a subjective reality.
SPEAKER_01: So be who you want to be.
SPEAKER_01: Decide who you want to be.
SPEAKER_01: I think social media is probably the greatest and most pervasive example of this today, because at its core, social media is all about identity.
SPEAKER_01: It's all about a curated image, a curated identity.
SPEAKER_01: There is a trend among student, among teenagers and young adults on Instagram to have more than one account.
SPEAKER_01: And so they're called Finstas and Rinstas.
SPEAKER_01: Now, a Finsta is your fake Instagram account.
SPEAKER_01: A Rinsta is your real Instagram account, but doesn't mean what you think it would mean.
SPEAKER_01: A Finsta is the real you.
SPEAKER_01: Your fake account is the real you, right?
SPEAKER_01: That is only seen by a select few friends.
SPEAKER_01: Your Rinsta or your real Instagram account is your official brand or your public brand that has been carefully curated because Andre Agassi was right way back in the day that image is everything in our culture.
SPEAKER_01: And so choose your identity or it'll be chosen for you.
SPEAKER_01: So the culture says that identity is a subjective reality.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel says that identity is an objective truth.
SPEAKER_01: You are not accidental, you're chosen.
SPEAKER_01: You are not an orphan, you are adopted.
SPEAKER_01: You are not enslaved, you are redeemed.
SPEAKER_01: You are not impoverished, but you are lavished.
SPEAKER_01: You are not illegitimate, but you've been sealed.
SPEAKER_01: And so what could this objective truth look like in your life?
SPEAKER_01: Well, if you're a student in here this morning, um let me just start by saying that your GPA doesn't matter in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't.
SPEAKER_01: I think after my college application, no one has ever asked me what my GPA was.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't define you, it doesn't determine your worth, and if you believe that, you've been sold a bill of lies.
SPEAKER_01: We can say the same thing about your athletic ability.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: Or your popularity or your beauty, it doesn't matter in heaven because what matters in heaven is sealed on earth.
SPEAKER_01: What the gospel says your identity is, is your true identity.
SPEAKER_01: If you're here and you're a graduate, here's what this would look, here's what this could look like in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Remember who you are.
SPEAKER_01: One of my favorite movies growing up, and even now today, is The Lion King.
SPEAKER_01: And there's a scene where Simba is on his way home and he hears Rafiki singing in the distance and begins walking towards him.
SPEAKER_01: And they finally meet up again.
SPEAKER_01: And Rafiki says, Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: To which Simba replies, Who are you?
SPEAKER_01: And so Rafiki says, I know who you are.
SPEAKER_01: You are Mufasa's boy.
SPEAKER_01: And so they walk over to a small pool and they look down into the water, and Simba sees a reflection.
SPEAKER_01: He sees an image in the water.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not him.
SPEAKER_01: It's not his image, it's his father's.
SPEAKER_01: To which Rafiki says, He lives in you.
SPEAKER_01: Then you hear Mufasa's voice, and he says, You have forgotten who you are, and so you have forgotten me.
SPEAKER_01: Remember who you are.
SPEAKER_01: So, graduate, when you go out into the workforce or military or college, there will be people trying to tell you who you are and what you're about.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm here this morning to tell you, remember who you are.
SPEAKER_01: You are chosen, adopted, redeemed, lavished, and sealed.
SPEAKER_01: Because what the gospel says, your identity is, is your true identity.
SPEAKER_01: For the adults, I'm not going to leave you out this morning.
SPEAKER_01: You don't get away scot-free.
SPEAKER_01: You are more than your job.
SPEAKER_01: And that's one of the hardest things for me to wrestle with as a pastor.
SPEAKER_01: That's so much of my value and worth and affection from God is based on my vocation.
SPEAKER_01: And that's just not true.
SPEAKER_01: It's based on the work that was accomplished on the cross and my faith in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And so if you um are in oil and gas, if you stay at home, if you are retired, you are more than your company or your family's bottom line.
SPEAKER_01: Because you too are chosen and adopted, redeemed, lavished, and sealed.
SPEAKER_01: Who just also happens to be a teacher, an engineer, a manager, a coach, a police officer, or whatever it may be.
SPEAKER_01: So now let's go back to the movie The Gladiator, because after being called a slave, there's a dramatic pause where the gladiator slowly turns around and takes off his helmet, revealing his identity to the emperor.
SPEAKER_01: And he continues by saying that I am, my name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the armies of the North, general of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife.
SPEAKER_01: And what he does in that moment is he combats the truth that was, or I'm sorry, he combats the lie of what the emperor spoke over him, that he is a slave with the truth of his identity.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what this all boils down to is that when you are attacked with lies from Satan about who you are, combat them with the truth of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: When you hear the lies that begin to speak louder and louder in your ear, that you are not worthy, you are not lovable, grace can never change you.
SPEAKER_01: The things we sang about in the song that fear is a liar.
SPEAKER_01: You fight that with the gospel, and you do that by preaching the gospel to yourself every day.
SPEAKER_01: And that is a lesson that I have learned specifically probably over the last five or six months.
SPEAKER_01: That when those fears and those lies begin to creep in, don't lean into those.
SPEAKER_01: Lean into the truth of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: God, there's a there's a lot of noise, there's a lot of opinion, there's a lot of choices in our world.
SPEAKER_01: When people try to define who we are, remind us of who you created us to be.
SPEAKER_01: God, we want to remember who we have been created to be through your grace.
SPEAKER_01: I want to give you guys a few moments now to just kind of sit and reflect and process and pray through what God's been saying to you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Father, help us this week as we go off to school, to work, we're home with kids, we're dealing with friends and family.
SPEAKER_01: Remind us to preach the gospel and the truth of that over ourselves each day.
SPEAKER_01: To remember who we are, to remember who you have created us to be.
SPEAKER_01: Father, help us be obedient.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Um in just a moment we'll dismiss, and I'll do that by speaking a blessing over you.
SPEAKER_01: But before we do that, I want to share a couple of quick announcements with you.
SPEAKER_01: Uh the first one is that new we had new Bible study classes start today at the 10 o'clock hour.
SPEAKER_01: And so you can find more information about those in the foyer out here.
SPEAKER_01: Uh and if one of those piques your interest, just come a little bit earlier next week.
SPEAKER_01: They meet upstairs during the 10 o'clock hour, and you can come to the 11:30 service for worship like you're doing this week.
SPEAKER_01: Uh the other thing is we have a plethora of camps this summer.
SPEAKER_01: We have a camp arc for our preschoolers.
SPEAKER_01: There's Pine Cove Camp in the city for our elementary age kids.
SPEAKER_01: Our bridge students in fifth and sixth grade have a bridge camp, and there's a beach camp for seventh grade through twelfth grade.
SPEAKER_01: You can find all the information about those and how to sign up online as well.
SPEAKER_01: So now if you would please stand and hold your hands out, like to speak a blessing over you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: I want to read a passage, a short passage to you from Colossians chapter 3.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul says, And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you are called in one body, and be thankful.
SPEAKER_01: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God, and whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.