WEBVTT 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:12.400 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:37.280 We have just sung two-thirds of the first chapter of Ephesians 1. 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:41.439 It's a powerful enriched chapter. 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:48.479 What I would like to do for our next few moments is to direct our attention to the end of chapter 1 of Ephesians. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:53.039 If you have a Bible, I encourage you to take it and follow along in that passage. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:57.840 The end of chapter 1. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:00:59.359 We have sung the first part. 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:02.479 We're going to look at the second part of chapter 1. 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:07.439 But I would like to ask a question before we get there. 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:12.959 How do we measure power? 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:16.000 How do we measure power? 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:27.840 Now there's probably some scientists, some engineers in here who would give me a very, very strict way to answer that question, a very linear and outlined mathematical way. 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:31.359 I'm much simpler, and so I opened my dictionary. 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:41.920 Merriam Webster Dictionary defines power as the ability to act or produce an effect. 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.519 The ability or act to produce an effect. 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:46.480 I get that. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:48.319 I think I can understand that. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:52.239 But I prefer the second definition given in the dictionary. 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:56.879 It says this it is the ability to get extra base hits. 00:01:58.799 --> 00:01:59.280 Thank you. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:02.159 That's a baseball reference for those of you who didn't know. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:06.159 The ability to get extra base hits. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:08.159 I think you can see the parallel. 00:02:08.879 --> 00:02:18.080 The power a baseball player possesses is seen in his ability to have an effect on the baseball. 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:24.639 His power is measured in how far he can drive a baseball and how hard he can hit it. 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:28.719 A car is a very similar situation. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:33.439 The power of a car engine is measured by its ability to move the vehicle. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:36.960 How fast it can go, how much it can carry, etc. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:42.479 The power a person possesses is very similar. 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:47.599 The President of the United States has great power because he can affect great change. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:49.919 We can see it in the change he can affect. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:53.039 As leader of the United States, he has great power. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:58.080 Especially compared to someone who is not in any kind of position of leadership at all. 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:09.039 There are all kinds of demonstrations of power in our world, but none of them compared to God's power. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:19.439 That's why 1 Chronicles 29:11 says, Yours, O Lord, yours is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:30.240 In Ephesians chapter 1, verse 19, we read that God's power is immeasurably great. 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:34.080 His power surpasses greatness. 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:36.879 It's incapable of measurement. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:50.080 And the most immeasurable demonstration of God's immeasurable power is seen in the exaltation of Jesus Christ in the resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:04:04.960 On this resurrection Sunday, I encourage you to learn for the first time, or perhaps to be reminded, of the immeasurable power of God displayed in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:09.199 I'd like to read from Ephesians chapter 1, verse 15. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:18.879 The Apostle Paul writing to a local church says, I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:58.959 And so I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, that you might have the eyes of your hearts enlightened, and that you might know, that you might know what is the hope to which he has called you, that you might know what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and that you might know what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:15.120 Power seen in the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and above every name that is named. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:19.439 Not only in this age, but also in the one to come. 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:20.959 Amen. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:29.040 God's desire here is that his church would grow in wisdom and knowledge, that we might know. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:32.879 There are three specific categories of wisdom and knowledge. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.160 First one is the hope to which he has called you. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:39.439 Second is the riches of his glorious inheritance in the faith. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:50.000 And then verse 19 contains the third, the last point of knowledge mentioned, that we would know the power of God at work on our behalf. 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:58.079 That same power that was at work in exalting Jesus through his resurrection and ascension into heaven. 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:07.439 In the last week, we have bowed before Christ, exalted in his holiness. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:12.800 And we've been humbled before his exaltation in death. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:25.040 And now we see that instead of decomposing in a tomb and forever joining the spirits of the dead, Jesus was exalted to the place of unmatched supremacy. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:31.839 It's through Jesus' resurrection that he was exalted to that astounding position. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:37.439 And there are three basic characteristics of his exaltation that we are to know. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:45.040 The first, it's very simple, is that God the Father is the one who exalted the Son. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:59.120 Now the scriptures are very clear, perfectly clear, I think, about who Jesus is, about his position with the Father, and what would happen after his death. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:09.120 Psalm 16 says, You will not abandon my soul to Hades or let your holy one see corruption. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:15.920 Now in the book of Acts, the Apostle Peter applies that and he says, that refers to Jesus Christ. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:24.319 That's why he goes on to say in Acts chapter 2, it is not possible for death to hold Jesus since he is the author of life. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:29.360 It's very clear Jesus would not be contained in the grave. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:34.240 Now our expectation then is that God would keep his word, right? 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:40.399 We trust that God will be faithful, because if he doesn't, he's a liar and untrustworthy. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:45.279 So then we are reminded that God did keep his word. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:55.120 He, that is the glorious Father, raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand. 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:59.199 Don't go too quickly over that. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:05.920 Because if you move quickly over that statement, you will miss much of the truth that is there. 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:10.800 Because that is an incomprehensible change. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:14.399 Utterly incomprehensible. 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:21.360 From dead to exalted, from death to life to the right hand of the glorious Father. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:22.639 Think about it. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:31.120 He started in glory with the Father, takes on human form as though he were a slave in order to die. 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:37.919 He goes from death to a tomb to life, and from life vaulting to the heavens to an eternal place of privilege and honor. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:40.320 That is utterly incomprehensible. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:50.960 To be at the right hand is to be in a place of favor, power, and rule. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:54.960 There's no one else occupying that position. 00:08:56.159 --> 00:09:00.960 Only Christ occupies the position of honor at the Father's right hand. 00:09:01.039 --> 00:09:04.480 No one else has been exalted like Jesus. 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:11.200 And if the body of Jesus were still in the tomb, he would not be exalted in this way. 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:18.080 It's helpful, though, to be reminded that Jesus held this position in eternity past. 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:31.120 And praying to God the Father in John 17, Jesus says, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world began. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:42.879 When he left the Father's throne to take on flesh and dwell among us, Jesus became, for a little while, lower than the angels. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:46.159 Incomprehensible. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:48.000 Dr. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:52.480 Martin Lloyd Jones, in his commentary on Ephesians, describes it this way. 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:57.519 What a staggering thought. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:14.480 The one who is at the right hand of God far above all principality and power and dominion, the one under whose feet lie all things in subjection and to whom all power and authority have been given is the babe who was in Bethlehem lying helplessly in a manger. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:21.120 He is the little boy aged twelve who was found arguing with the doctors of the law in the temple. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:23.759 He is the carpenter of Nazareth. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:27.279 He is the young man who began to preach at age thirty. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:36.000 He's the one who knew what it was to be weak and tired, and who once sat down by the side of a well about midday because he was weary. 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:41.039 He is the one who slept from sheer fatigue in a boat. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:47.519 He's the one who was crucified through weakness and apparently defeated by cruel men and their machinations. 00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:51.440 It is he, Jesus, who has thus been raised. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:54.639 Incomprehensible. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:11:00.960 The glorious Father raised the beloved Son from the dead in order to exalt him. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:08.320 Well, there's another characteristic of his exaltation, and that is concerning its greatness. 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:11.440 It is immeasurably great. 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:14.000 How great? 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:16.240 What we're told in verse 21. 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:18.240 Far above. 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:20.240 All rule and authority. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:21.600 Far above. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:25.919 That's a term used to identify the position of one over another. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:27.840 And it's intensified. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:31.840 Christ is not merely above, but far above. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:41.039 From tomb to heaven, from tomb to the throne of God, far above everything else. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:12:02.559 As a kid in southwestern North Dakota, I remember in elementary school that one of the ways we passed the doldrums of winter, as we were waiting for the doors of school to open in the morning, was playing King of the Mountain on the snow piles that the snowplow had made right outside the school. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:08.639 Some of you probably don't remember what that is, but what we would do is basically have a friendly fight. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:14.559 We would see who could climb the top of the snowpile and stay on top. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:20.320 So whoever got to the top of the snow pile would have to defend his position. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:25.840 He'd be assaulted by the other kids, sometimes one at a time, sometimes by all of them. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:33.519 And the goal was to stay on top, to be king of the mountain, to be far above everybody else. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:35.519 It's a friendly fight. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:48.159 But simply to serve as an illustration of being far above. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:50.960 Jesus is far above. 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:54.159 Compare mountains. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:59.279 The Adirondacks are high compared to the eastern seaboard. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:04.639 But the Adirondacks are short compared to the Western Rocky Mountains. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:11.360 The Western Rocky Mountains are comparatively short when set against the Himalayas. 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:17.759 See, in our way of thinking, there is always something bigger with which to compare. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:21.600 But not Jesus. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:30.879 No comparison to his position and power. 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:32.639 No comparison to his greatness. 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:34.000 He is far above. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:36.159 He is the highest of the high. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:37.679 What is he above? 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.279 All rule, all authority, all power, all lordship. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:45.120 Verse 22, he says, all things have been put under his feet. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:14:00.480 If you look over at chapter 3 and verse 10, you'll see that God has intended the church to display the wisdom of God to rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:03.120 Using similar terms to chapter 1. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:17.200 Chapter 6, he says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers in this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:26.080 So what's happening back in chapter 1 and verse 21 is that Jesus is being exalted above all spiritual beings. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:32.799 There is no authority whatsoever that is greater than Christ. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:37.600 He is far above all angels, far above all demons, far above even Satan himself. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:45.120 And it's not just that they are inferior, but they are subject to him because he is supreme. 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:51.200 God the Father exalted Christ over all through the resurrection. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:54.879 And you need to take that as a comfort to your soul. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:07.279 When our world or our lives are filled with circumstances and situations that seem to be against us, we need to remind ourselves that Christ is supreme. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:11.519 Everyone and everything answers to him. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:15.600 And through that, we can have comfort and encouragement. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:26.559 When all of life feels against us and we feel like there's no way forward, we can know and rest in the truth that Christ is above everything and he rules over all. 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:34.000 So as we lift our eyes to him, exalted above everything, we can trust in his sovereign position. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:39.840 And that leads us then to the third aspect of his supremacy. 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:42.960 He is over everything and everyone. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:46.960 It's over all people, all nations. 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:49.759 It says, over every name that is named. 00:15:50.480 --> 00:15:55.440 Not only spiritual beings, but individual human authorities, every human being. 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:59.919 That's a pretty controversial statement in the first century. 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:09.600 We have, through archaeological study, coins, we have carved reliefs in walls and stone, we have inscriptions. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:22.960 Even the calendar of ancient Asia tells us that Paul's readers were trained to think along the lines of the eternal power of Rome. 00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:34.320 In fact, one Ephesian home recently excavated had some graffiti on it that read, Rome, the ruler of all, your power will never die. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:45.600 And Paul says to the Ephesians, uh-uh, Jesus rules over all. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:48.639 He is supreme. 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:53.840 And not just now, but over all of time, not only in this age, but in the one to come. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:55.279 Rest in this. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:17:02.879 Jesus is exalted to the position of greatest power, greatest supremacy today, tomorrow, and forever. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:05.920 He is sovereign over every day and every moment. 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:10.720 It doesn't matter in which age you live, whether it's a dark age or a golden age. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:13.039 He rules over all. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:23.759 The resurrection of Christ means that he is now exalted far above all things, for all time, nothing and no one is excluded. 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:28.079 That means he rules and everything is subject to him. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:36.960 That's what Psalm 8, verse 6 says, you have given him dominion over the works of your hands, you've put all things under his feet. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:48.240 Now, what's important for us to note this morning is that the truth of Christ's exaltation to a place of supreme rule and authority is grounded in the resurrection. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:53.839 Consider 1 Corinthians 15, what we often call the resurrection chapter. 00:17:54.079 --> 00:18:01.680 After speaking of the Lord's resurrection, the Apostle Paul goes on to say that people are going to be resurrected in order. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.000 Christ, the first fruits, he's the first one. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:06.640 Then it is coming those who belong to Christ. 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:18.640 Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and every power, for he must reign until he's put all things under his feet. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:22.640 Christ is resurrected to a place of rule and authority. 00:18:23.680 --> 00:18:24.880 Until the end. 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:37.039 What does that imply for your own life? 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.640 Well, chapter two gives us the answer to that. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:43.759 Chapter 2 is the application of that truth. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:49.920 And it begins in chapter 2, verse 1, with the status of the Apostle Paul's hearers. 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:54.000 And you were dead. 00:18:56.079 --> 00:18:58.720 Goes on to say that you were dead in your trespasses and sins. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:00.240 All of us were there. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:08.720 Verse 3, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of our bodies and our minds, and we're by nature children of wrath. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.079 All of us were dead. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:12.880 Dead, dead, dead, and incarnate. 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:18.480 In contrast to the living resurrected Christ, we were dead. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:25.519 And then in verse 4 come the two most beautiful words in all of Scripture. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:27.759 But God. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:34.880 Those words split the silence of death clearly and powerfully. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:39.279 They're like hearing a crack of thunder suddenly breaking the stillness of night. 00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:42.640 God says to the walking dead, live. 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:46.480 Be born again and live. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:51.200 But God. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:54.000 Follow me here. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:05.119 Humanity, including each and every one of us, is born morally and spiritually dead. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:07.759 We are the walking dead. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:16.240 Our nature is born entirely opposed to God, unable even to respond to his call for faith because of our deadness. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:23.200 We're like Lazarus lying in the tomb, unable to do anything but exist in the realm of our death. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:32.000 And into that deadness steps the author of life. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:43.200 But his death is not the end. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:45.599 For he conquers death. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:21:06.240 And then, and then that same glorious Father that exhibited his great and immeasurable power in the resurrection and exaltation of his son gives to us exactly what he did for his own son. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:08.480 Look at it, verse 4. 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:18.400 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us. 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:29.279 Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:32.640 For by grace you are saved. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:42.160 He raised us up with him, and he seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:51.759 The first chapter is filled with the evidence of God's gracious acts on behalf of others. 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:53.440 We sang that song. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:57.839 Over and over and over again we see God's acts. 00:21:57.920 --> 00:21:59.279 There are ten at least. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.599 Characteristics of God's grace mentioned in chapter one. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:08.160 He is a God who chose us before the foundation of the world. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:13.279 He's a God who predestined us for adoption as children, as sons and daughters of God. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:16.000 He is a God who redeemed us by his blood. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:21.359 He's a God who lavished us with his grace, a God who made known to us the mystery of his will. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:27.519 He's a God who gives us an inheritance, who seals us by his own spirit, who calls us to a certain hope. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:31.599 He's a God who has set Christ in a position of all rule and authority. 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.640 And he's a God who gave Christ as the head of the church. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:39.359 That glorious Father is exceptional in his character. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:44.960 And two areas of his character are especially pointed out to us. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:50.079 He is rich in mercy. 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:52.160 Rich in mercy. 00:22:52.400 --> 00:23:01.359 Mercy is often expressed in the giving of undeserved kindness or undeserved help or even undeserved forgiveness to those in need. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:03.359 For example, think of the Good Samaritan. 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:08.160 The Good Samaritan showed mercy to the man who was beaten. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:13.200 In Matthew chapter 18, we have an excellent illustration of mercy. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:21.920 Jesus tells the story of a slave who owed his master an uncountable debt. 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:24.880 It would take lifetimes to pay off. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:31.759 That master had mercy and forgave his servant the unpayable debt. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:39.519 We, we the dead ones, are in desperate need of that mercy. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:48.640 If we do not receive this mercy, if there is no but God, we remain as children of wrath in verse 3. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:24:00.240 We are the ones owing that unpayable debt, but God who's rich in mercy and who is great in love. 00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:04.960 That's a second characteristic of this gracious God. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:07.839 Notice the adjectives. 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:09.680 Great. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:13.599 His mercy is rich, his love is great. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:20.079 These are character qualities that are exceedingly beyond anything that we can imagine. 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:27.599 This God is greater in mercy and greater in love than we can ever begin to describe. 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:42.799 Look at verse 20 of chapter one. 00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:53.200 That he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at right hand in the heavenly place. 00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:56.400 Chapter 2, verse 5. 00:24:57.599 --> 00:24:59.039 He made us alive. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.240 He raised us up, and he exalted us with Jesus. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:10.559 Just like his only begotten Son. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:21.759 You see, God's rich mercy and his great love motivated him to extend his resurrection and exalting power in Christ to those whom he would redeem. 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:28.720 The Father loves the Son, therefore he loves those adopted as sons and daughters. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:34.000 The Father raised the Son from the dead, therefore he raises his adopted children. 00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:42.559 The Father seated his only begotten Son in the heavenlies, therefore he has placed, he has seated his adopted children in the heavenly places. 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:50.559 Jesus was exalted through the resurrection, so too will all the sons and daughters of God be exalted to a position with Christ. 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:55.359 Do you hear that repeated connection with Jesus? 00:25:55.680 --> 00:26:05.200 That's an important concept to grasp because scholars believe that the Apostle Paul invented three words here that are not seen outside of this passage. 00:26:08.480 --> 00:26:10.799 We are co-made alive. 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:13.200 We are co-raised. 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:15.359 We are co-seated. 00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:19.759 We are made alive with Christ. 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:22.160 We are raised up with Christ. 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:24.799 We are seated with Christ. 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:31.759 The Father loves the Son and would not let him face the eternal corruption of death. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:34.640 Instead, he exalted Jesus through resurrection. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:41.920 Now, in his rich mercy and his great grace, he has caused us to be a part of that work in his beloved Son. 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:46.319 We were dead, but in Christ we were made alive by the power of Christ. 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:51.279 In Christ, we are raised from spiritual death and transferred to the kingdom of Christ. 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:56.000 The power of God displayed in the resurrection of Christ gives us new life. 00:26:56.079 --> 00:27:00.160 And because he is exalted, we will be exalted alongside of him. 00:27:06.079 --> 00:27:19.359 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:23.519 The dead, the walking dead, are made alive. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:30.480 Gone, forgiven, is the stinking rottenness of our sin before a holy God. 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:34.000 In our first birth, we are born as children of wrath. 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:36.720 In our second birth, we are born children of the Father. 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:41.359 That's why Peter proclaims, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:27:41.599 --> 00:27:50.960 According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:59.200 By grace, through faith in Jesus, the spiritual and moral part of us that was dead has new life. 00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:02.720 It's alive in a way that it has never been. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:09.200 And because Jesus was exalted, God will also exalt those who believe in Jesus. 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:14.079 He raised us up with him. 00:28:14.799 --> 00:28:19.359 We've been raised, spiritually speaking, from the deadness of our trespasses and sins. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:24.559 No longer are those whom he has chosen entombed in death, they're alive. 00:28:25.279 --> 00:28:29.519 No longer are they the walking dead because they've been raised to new life. 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:34.480 God's adopted children live because his only begotten lives. 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:43.839 And because his only begotten has been exalted to the right hand of God, he now seats us with him in the heavenly places. 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:48.960 Only Christ has the exalted, honored position of sitting at the Father's right hand. 00:28:50.079 --> 00:29:03.440 But every one of his chosen, adopted, redeemed children who are given new life in Christ are raised from the deadness of their sin and raised to an honored position of being seated with Christ in the heavenly places. 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:09.599 Those are all present realities that we only know and experience in part right now. 00:29:10.319 --> 00:29:13.039 But when Christ comes, we will know them fully. 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:20.319 None of that can be true if Christ is not risen. 00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:43.039 If it is a lie, if Christ was not exalted through resurrection, if there is no life given to Christ, no being coming out of the tomb, no tomb being opened, no being seated in the heavenlies, then there is no being made alive for us, there is no being raised with Christ, there is no being seated with Christ if the tomb is still occupied. 00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:56.480 Because of the Father's great love for his only begotten Son, he is at work right now in his chosen adopted children to bring new life and raise them to be with Christ. 00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:02.160 The Father's love would not leave his only begotten in a tomb. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:12.079 In the same way, to those whom God has chosen to be his adopted redeemed children, none are allowed to remain dead. 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:24.079 In his rich mercy and his great love, he gives them new life, raising them from the dead and exalting them in Christ. 00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:28.720 Why has God done this? 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:33.039 It's incomprehensible. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:40.240 Why would God display his mercy and his love like that? 00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:45.359 Why take on the terrible cost of becoming sin for rebels like me? 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:49.440 Why the incarnation? 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:53.680 Why the bloody cross? 00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:57.039 Why the resurrection? 00:30:57.359 --> 00:30:59.680 Why this means of exaltation? 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:04.400 Well he tells us in verse 7. 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:14.880 So that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his kind grace toward us in Christ. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:34.960 His power and his grace and his mercy and his love are so great, are so immeasurable, so praiseworthy that he wants them to be on display forever and ever in every age that might exist, and he wants them to be on display through you. 00:31:37.359 --> 00:31:45.759 You are that living display if you, by faith, have come to trust fully and only in the resurrected Christ. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:54.000 Christ the Son was raised and exalted so that the adopted children of God might be raised to new life. 00:31:54.240 --> 00:32:01.519 And through that, God intends to be glorified through the eternal display of his power and grace in you. 00:32:03.839 --> 00:32:17.920 God's power in raising Christ from the dead and exalting him above all things became the avenue through which he would give new life to his children, to the praise of his glorious grace. 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:25.200 You see, Christ must live if we are to live. 00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:30.319 Christ must be raised if we are to be raised to new life. 00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:35.200 And he must be exalted if we are to be exalted with him. 00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:46.319 In eternity past, the three members of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, existed in their divine glory. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:33:02.480 And then the glorious Son, exalted as the King of creation, the author of life, humbled himself so that he might die. 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:10.559 Through his death, the glorious Father exalted the Son and gave him the name that is above all names. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:19.359 The Son, exalted in death, killed death as the Father raised him from the dead and exalted him. 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:24.240 And now, now he reigns at the Father's right hand, exalted in glory. 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:33.119 All of that to show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us. 00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:39.519 For it's by God's grace that you are saved. 00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:42.400 It's not your own doing. 00:33:43.279 --> 00:33:47.680 It's the gift of God through the exalted Christ. 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:49.680 Let's pray. 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:51.599 Lord Jesus. 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:55.839 Grant new life to all of us. 00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:03.359 Cause all of us to hear that command to live. 00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:06.400 Speak to us in our deadness. 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:13.360 Cause your spirit to recreate us and fill us with new life. 00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:19.519 We praise you, Lord Jesus, for who you are. 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:22.239 There is none like you. 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:28.159 There is none who will ever be like you, for you are above all. 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:39.679 And we are so humbled that you would extend your rich mercy and your great love to us in such a way. 00:34:41.199 --> 00:34:42.960 And so we honor you. 00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:53.039 We give praise to you, the one who was dead and is alive and alive forevermore. 00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:58.239 The one who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:02.719 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:09.760 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:13.840 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.