(Part two)

by

Jeff Chacon

10/4/09

1. Introduction
1. Review
1. Sometimes it feels like we’re all alone in this world.
2. We hear Christians say that “God is in control”, but many times it doesn’t feel like it.
1. Q: Where is God when ~250 are dead and 2 million people affected (including most of the 2400 members of the Metro Manila Church) by flooding in the Philippines?
1. (Or the ~800 who died in the Indonesia earthquake this past Wednesday?)
2. Q: Where is God when a little girl is kidnapped, raped, and held against her will for 18 years?
3. Q: Where is God when I’m going through all of the many hardships in my life?
3. A difficult subject, with no easy answers…
4. But there are some good reasons that God would allow pain and suffering in our world…
1. One: Most of pain and suffering comes from sin, and sin became a possibility when God created Adam and Eve in his own image - with free-will (Genesis 1:17)
1. With free-will comes both the possibilities of:
1. good and evil
2. right and wrong
3. love and hate
2. Without free-will we would be nothing more than robots or puppets.
1. God created children to love, not machines to manipulate.
3. M.P. = So, free-will accounts for much of the pain and suffering in our world.
2. Two: Even natural disasters may be the result of sin in the world, since:
1. The creation itself is cursed (Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:20-24)
2. God’s plan is to redeem (or restore) not only man, but man’s home as well.
1. (God is the ultimate recycler – he doesn’t give up on anything He’s created!)
3. Three: Pain and suffering in this world are actually good for us.
1. Like any good parent, God disciplines us for our good.
1. And according to Hebrews 12:7, He uses all of the hardships in our lives to accomplish this.
1. C. S. Lewis: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our in our conscience, and shouts to us in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
2. God’s Word teaches us that his plan is not to prevent suffering in our lives, but to:
1. comfort us through it (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)
2. sustain us through it (2 Corinthians 1:8-11)
3. and use it for our good (Romans 8:28-29)
3. When we start viewing our hardships and sufferings in this way, we can not only endure them, but actually rejoice in them:
1. Romans 5:3-4 = “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
4. Four: Pain and suffering in this world give God a chance to show us his love:
1. At the cross, Jesus suffered more than any of us – to show us how much he loves us! (1 John 4:10)
2. God entered into our suffering world and suffered with us!
1. He can relate to what we’re going thru!
2. Q: Where is God when we’re suffering?
3. A: He’s right there, suffering with us!
5. All of this helps us to see that this world is not haphazard, random, or out of control, but actually a perfectly designed “soul-making factory” intended to turn people’s hearts to God!
1. Don’t be afraid. God is in control.
6. Transition =) Q: Okay, so God is in control and has a plan for this world, but does he have a plan for my life, personally?
1. God has a plan for you life.
1. Vs. 11a = “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him…”
2. Psalm 139:13-16 = “For you created me in my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
3. Jeremiah 29:11 = “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
1. God’s got a plan for your life!
2. God’s plan for your life is a perfect plan
1. Eph 1:11 = “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…”
1. Because God is flawless, his plan for your life is flawless as well!
2. Because God is omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing), he’s able to make that plan happen!
1. Main Point = The plan for your life is perfect because God is perfect!
3. It’s a perfect plan for imperfect people because grace is at the center of it!
1. Eph 1:7-8 = “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ⁸that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”
1. Our sins and mistakes don’t mess up God’s plan!
2. It still works, because grace (love) is at the center of it!
7. Applications:
1. Relief!
1. You haven’t blown it beyond God’s ability to “work everything out in conformity with the purpose of his will (Ephesians 1:11).”
2. Hope and Excitement for the future!
1. Individually
1. God’s not done with you yet!
1. (Ex: Moses 40 yrs in the desert)
2. As a church
1. Our future is bright!
2. Transition =) That covers Ephesians 1:1-14. Now, let’s see where Paul takes us from here…
3. Ephesians 1:15-16 = “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”
1. Paul starts by saying:
1. “I’m so thankful that, by your faith in the Lord Jesus, you have been saved!”
1. (Amen. That’s a great start!)
4. But God has something even more planned for us than just salvation…
1. Vs. 17 = “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”
1. Jesus prayed in John 17:3 = “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
1. All of us who are saved, know God!
2. But Paul says, Now I pray that you would “know him better”.
2. Q: And what happens as we grow in our knowledge of God?
3. A: We become more and more like Him!
1. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 = “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect [contemplate] the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
1. M.P. = God doesn’t just want to save us, He wants to transform us!
1. This is the plan for your life (your destiny):
1. salvation
2. transformation
3. glorification
1. Jonathan Edwards taught that heaven itself would involve “ever-increasing glory” (vs. 18).
2. The angels in heaven are sinless. Yet they rejoice when one sinner repents (Luke 15:7). So, they can increase in joy.
3. And speaking of the plan of redemption, 1 Peter 1:12 says, “Even angels long to look into these things.” So, they can increase in knowledge.
4. If sinless angels in heaven can increase in joy and knowledge, then heaven is a place of continual growth and change!
5. Since God is “infinite”, our “ever-increasing glory” may be an infinite journey as well!
6. (Heaven will not be static or boring, but an endless adventure with our loving Father!)
5. Transition =) For the sake of time, we’re going to just briefly overview chapter 2… But here’s what I want you to watch for:
1. Just as God used the church to save us, God wants to use the church to transform us!
2. We’re going to back up to 1:22-23 to introduce this point, and then move on to chapter 2.
1. Vs. 22-23 = “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
1. Q: How does God view the church?
1. Vs. 22b = “…the church, ²³which is his body…”
1. God views the church as Christ’s body!
1. We are his hands!
2. We are his feet!
3. We are his mouth!
4. We are his heart –
1. to each other!
2. and to a lost world!
2. Individually, we may be limited and flawed, but together, our strengths combine to form Christ!
2. Vs. 23b = “…the fullness of him who fills everything in every way”
1. One commentator: “The idea of the fullness of Him here is probably connected to the manner in which Jesus fills His church with His presence and blessings.”
3. God has a plan to bless you!
1. And it involves the church!
4. God’s plan to save you involved the church.
1. Ex: Ethiopian Eunuch, Acts 8.
5. God’s plan to transform you also involves the church.
1. Colossians 3:16 = “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another…”
1. (We did a whole sermon series on “One Another Relationships”)
2. We are to allow Christ to dwell in us richly and minister to each other in his name.
1. 2 Corinthians 2:16 = “And who is equal to such a task?” (the aroma of Christ)
1. Point = None of us! But that’s God’s plan!
2. Q: What’s the point?
1. The church is the body of Christ, and Christ is the fulfillment of God’s plan on earth!
2. Ephesians 3:2-11 = “Surely you have heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you, ³that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. ⁴In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's holy apostles and prophets. ⁶This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

⁷I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. ⁸Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. ¹⁰His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, ¹¹according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

3. One commentator: “God's intent for this mystery and its revelation is that His manifold (many-facetted) wisdom would be made known by the church to spiritual beings, both angelic and demonic… This reminds us that we are called for something far greater than our own individual salvation and sanctification. We are called to be the means by which God teaches the universe a lesson, and a beautiful lesson. Manifold also has the idea of beauty, like the intricate beauty of a flower.
4. Stott: “It is as if a great drama is being enacted. History is the theatre, the world is the stage, and the church members in every land are the actors. God himself has written the play, and he directs and produces it. Act by act, scene by scene, the story continues to unfold. But who are the audience? They are the cosmic intelligences, the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.”
5. Mackay: “…the history of the Christian church becomes a graduate school for angels.”
6. “This is why the conduct of the church is so important: because angelic and demonic beings are looking on, and God's intent is to teach them through us (1 Corinthians 11:10; 1 Peter 1:12; 1 Timothy 5:21).”
7. The church is not a footnote at the end of God’s plan – it’s the fulfillment of it!
8. If you miss the church, then you miss the whole plan of God!
1. The imperfect church is central to God’s perfect plan for your life and for this world!

6. Just overview Chapter 2…

1. The Inter-relatedness of God and his Church
1. Alienated from God and the church
1. Read Eph 2:11-13.
2. Reconciled to God and the church
1. Read Eph 2:14-18.
3. Growing together with God and the church
1. Read Eph 2:19-22.

7. Close

1. People want to separate God from the church (because one is perfect and the other is deeply flawed!) but God doesn’t separate them!
1. And what God has joined together, let man not separate!
1. Ephesians 5:31-32 = “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." ³²This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
2. God’s perfect plan for us imperfect people involves a deeply flawed and imperfect church!
2. Last week, we saw that God has a perfect plan for us imperfect people.
3. This week, we see that God has a perfect plan for our imperfect church.
4. Stay tuned for next week…