Grace – God Saves
Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10
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“Right at the core” – new series
Think of a volcano.
- The core of a volcano is where it’s hottest, where all the energy of the eruption comes from.
- Although I’m not sure I’d want to be either of these photographers …
That volcano is like the church – and I hope our church. The heat, the energy comes from the core of the church, the things that are at the centre of who we are and what we do.
In this series I want to unpack our core values.
I want to encourage you to come to all of the series
E.g. Brighton rock – the name runs right through the stick of rock. Wherever you break it there is the same word
- My prayer for Victoria: – like the rock, wherever you break it open you’ll see the same values
All these values revolve around what the Bible calls discipleship – being a learner
- If you’re not a Christian here this morning, Jesus Christ calls you to be his disciples
If you are a Christian the call is the same
Discipleship is the missing Jewel of the Christian church
What makes the Christian church valuable to society and transformation for us individually
What we are experiencing in the west is nothing less than a moral revolution.
- We have had revolutions in society in the past. (Agricultural, Industrial, Printing etc)
- but one major factor that makes this different is it’s a revolution in the moral and ethical climate. This is the climate in which God has called us to be disciples and to grow a God-honouring church.
What does this moral revolution look like?
E.g. Noddy and big ears hen I was a kid –
- Enid Blighton published a children’s book called “The proud golliwog” – nobody thought twice about it!
- But no-one would every get away with publishing a book with that title today!!
That’s en example of the revolution we’re seeing in 2014
What makes a moral revolution?
That which was disapproved of has to be celebrated
One of my mathematical heroes, Alan Turing, took his own life in 1954 because he was gay and society condemned him because of his sexuality.
But now, the sin is called ‘homophobia’ – saying anything that questions the almost total moral rightness of a gay lifestyle.
I’m not making any comment about gay sexuality – I just use it to illustrate how massive is the shift that’s taken place.
A second aspect of a moral revolution is the converse
That which what was celebrated has to be disapproved of
I pick another example:
My brother, Carey, was named after our family Doctor.
- Doctor Carey had a profound impact on my parents, not only because of his medical expertise, but also because of his spiritual support of them. Rarely would my parents visit him without them praying together – as part of the consultation. My parents celebrated that by naming my brother after him.
- But now it is very much more difficult for a GP to take he initiative to pray in the consulting room. In many surgeries, although not all, the act of a doctor offering to pray with a patient is condemned as inappropriate and manipulative.
So that which was celebrated (your GP offering to pray for you) is now condemned.
There’s a third dimension (and this is the clincher…)
those who refuse to celebrate the new order are themselves disapproved of
It’s a sense of ‘political correctness’ that cannot be questioned without the person questioning being frowned upon.
- It prevents a doctor (or most other professionals) from taking the prayer initiative.
- And if he does, he’s potentially looked down upon by his colleagues.
So if the doctor doesn’t celebrate the political correctness he is looked down on by his colleagues.
- He or she no longer has anywhere near the same liberty to bring the gospel into the consulting room, because of the condemnation that could arise if he prays with a patient – or says publicly ‘actually this is a good and helpful, therapeutic thing!’
(those who refuse to celebrate are condemned.)
What has this to do with discipleship?
Simply this … this is the culture in which Christ has commissioned us to live out the gospel.
- This is the world in which we are called by God to live these core values.
- Some aspects of practical, down-to-earth discipleship will look different in 2014 from what they looked like in 2000, … let alone when I came to faith in 1964.
So what are the values that define our church as a body of God’s people, and I pray mark us out as people who life for him in 2014?
Today I want to begin with the most fundamental – the core value that distinguishes Christianity from every other faith stream – the value of
grace – God saves
Grace is receiving something voluntarily from the giver that is unimaginably better that you deserve!
Ephesians 2
What does grace look like – Here is God’s grace explained in a nutshell:
What you used to be
Lets remind ourselves of what we used to be and what we now are.
Paul uses some pretty graphic words!
- 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
Used to be dead, lifeless,
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- 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Used to be blind followers of the prevailing culture
>>>
we had no way of knowing any different – because the prevailing culture was the lens through which we viewed everything around us.
- How do you boil a frog? Slowly!
- 3 All of us [us => even Paul puts himself I this category] also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts.
Used to be hedonists
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- 3 … Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
Used to be deserving of God’s wrath
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- 4 BUT
what you are now
A transformation has taken place! And that’s what we stand for as a church- spiritual transformation
Purpose of VBC is
- “the spiritual transformation of ordinary people so they become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.”
a change has come because of the love of God
- 4 But because of his great love for us,
Greek “mega” (?check)
A great love goes to great lengths
A great love reaches great distances!
How far will you go for love – across the world!
How far did Christ come because of God’s love – from heaven to earth
a change has come because of his mercy
- God, who is rich in mercy,
Ever tasted a Christmas cake that rich in brandy?! It’s been loving drip-fed into the cake for a couple a months before it’s iced.
Yummy!
Every last crumb you taste is impregnated with the heady flavour!
God is (as it were) impregnated, soaked in mercy. Every last crumb of him is infused with mercy
A change has come about because of his life-giving
- 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions –
This begs the question – WHY?!
Why
What caused or motivated this?
- 8
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Grace is receiving something voluntarily from the giver that is unimaginably better that you deserve!
Grace is present right the way through the Bible
In the OT God’s grace, generosity were seen in the way he related to the children of Israel – through a covenant. An agreement that is binding on both sides.
- Compared with the cults of the day, this was utterly extraordinary, and even bewildering.
- The gods of the day were capricious and vindictive. An enormous amount of these cultic worship experiences was designed to keep the gods happy.
- You were compelled to bring your sacrifice or go to the high place just to keep on the right side of the gods. If you didn’t some disaster might befall you
But just listen to the words God himself used to Moses
- Deuteronomy 7:7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, actually you were the fewest of all peoples. 8 But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, … 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments
This is not a big powerful God imposing his will on his weedy minions on earth, It’s a God entering into a binding agreement (a covenant) of love with his people
And that covenant, to love, be merciful, be faithful was as binding on God himself as it was on us. He committed himself to them.
This is unimaginably better than they deserved That’s why it’s grace!
David – writing a prayer, this is what he said to the Lord …
- Psalm 86:5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.
- 6 Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy.
- 7 When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me. 8 Among the gods there is none like you, Lord, no deeds can compare with yours!
David saw God’s grace in his forgiveness of us and his mercy on us.
David looks around the other faith streams of his day and concludes there is no-one like the Lord – nothing even comes close!
This is unimaginably better than they deserved That’s why it’s grace!
And the difference? The USP of almighty God – grace.
Then there’s Isaiah
- Isaiah 1:18‘Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the Lord.
- ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
- though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
- 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;
God’s grace is seen in his readiness to forgive
This is unimaginably better than they deserved That’s why it’s grace!
Here’s how Jesus was described as a pre-teenager
- Luke 2:40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
Something about God’s generosity and love was visible in the child Jesus – my parents would never have said that about me! But that’s what they saw in Jesus.
What does grace look like?
- it is by grace you have been saved.
… It is our route into Christ
- 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
… It is the guarantee of a spiritual inheritance –
and it is available to anyone who will receive it.
- 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,
… It is the way God shows himself to us (and the world)
God did this to show off what he is really like
Most people today have a negative view of God. Angry, detached and vindictive. Ready to condemn at a moment’s notice.
That’s not the God we see in the Bible!
- expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Peter Drucker – famous business man and entrepreneur – became a Christian.
- “I’ve studies all the religions of the word and only in Christ will you find this think called ‘grace’. It’s quite simply the best deal in the park” [quote from IW’s memory – may not be quite accurate!]
