Awakening to Christ: The Joy of True Conversion

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We should pursue God in Christ as our most satisfying treasure because genuine conversion to Christ is this is what the essence of genuine conversion is the awakening the coming awake to Christ as supremely valuable when a person wakes up to the conviction and truth beauty of the truth that Christ is supremely valuable conversion has happened. [00:02:28]

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field so the Kingdom of Heaven here would be one way to say it would be the experience of the rule of God in your life if if God comes as king and ruler in your life and is the supreme authority in your life the kingdom of God comes here's what it looks like. [00:03:12]

In his joy he goes and sells all that he has now picture this he's selling all his furniture he's selling his book he's selling his computers selling his house and everybody thinks he's an idiot it's like no building an art in the desert you've lost your mind well he has not lost his mind because if he can get enough money to buy that field he knows this treasure is worth millions of times more than all that he just sold he'll have it back yes he will and eternal life. [00:04:14]

To be converted is be walking through life in love with all that you have it's your treasure and you live for what you own and what you can get and the relationships that you have all that this world offers you live in for that and suddenly your eyes are opened to Christ the true treasure of the universe and you see him as so infinitely more valuable than everything else you cross a line. [00:04:59]

It's called conversion over here you're in love of the world over here you're in love with Christ and at this line it is like sometimes in reality you do it sometimes you do it in principle but you always do it you sell everything you have to have the field where the treasure is that's conversion the shifting of what you are satisfied by supremely from the world on to Christ. [00:05:32]

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls on finding one pearl Christ the king in the kingdom one pearl of great value went and sold all that he had and bought it considered John 3:19 this is the judgment that light has come into the world Jesus as bright and beautiful light has come into the world satisfying light life-giving light light that shows you where to go and how to live and not to fall into destruction. [00:06:05]

People loved darkness rather than the light because their works were evil for everyone who does evil or wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his work should be exposed now the point of this text the reason I'm putting it in front of you is to show that what needs to happen in conversion what needs to happen is not a change of opinion not a change of intellectual conviction merely what must happen is a change in what you love and what you hate. [00:06:44]

People love darkness there are all kinds of reasons why they love darkness they love broken cisterns they love suicidal habits and they hate Christ they hate light and all that light brings into their life in terms of godliness and purity and holiness and an all satisfying experience of Jesus as the infinite authority and treasure of the universe so what's needed in conversion is you got to stop loving the darkness you got to stop hating the light. [00:07:23]

The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of christ who is the image of God but for what we proclaim is not ourselves but Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for Christ's sake and here comes the remedy for this blindness here here's the remedy for God who said let light shine out of darkness at the beginning when he created the world has done the same thing now in our hearts. [00:08:16]

He has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ that's conversion the opening of our blind eyes to stop hating light and love the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ and that glory is a matter of great joy as Paul makes clear here in Romans 5 since we've been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. [00:08:54]

Through him we have obtained access by faith into the grace in which we stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God when Paul thinks of the glory of God he knows that it is profoundly satisfying and if we look forward to the full experience of it in the age to come we rejoice even now so when he says that the glory of God is being revealed to us by God taking away the blindness showing us the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. [00:09:47]

The Lord your God will circumcise your heart as a picture of cutting away everything insensitive and healthy ungodly about your heart and the heart of your offspring so that you will love the Lord your God so he's gonna do a miracle here on our hearts to love the Lord our God with all our heart all our soul that we may live conversion is a miracle in the heart causing love for the heart with the totality of our heart love from the heart all of it. [00:10:38]

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