But God: From Death to New Life in Christ

And it's not a red dude with horns and a pitchfork, and it's not a nice red suit with slicked back hair. It is a sinister small voice in our ears. Did you see what she was wearing today? Or did you see what she was wearing today? Did you see what they did last weekend? Must be nice. Does anybody recognize how important I am to this place, how much work I do around here? Does anybody ever see you? Could they imagine what life would be like if you didn't work here? Does anybody ever see you? Would anybody notice if you were gone? A sinister voice that keeps speaking in our ears to turn away from any sense of meaning, any sense of purpose, any sense of value as people being created in the image of god. [00:49:49] (67 seconds)  #InnerVoice

It's been the the burden and the weight that people have carried since the fall, since they turned away from God and began to seek life and define it as they could on their own terms. I mean, that's really what sin is. It's saying, God, you made me, but I'll take it from here. And really, for most of us, it's not even acknowledging that he made us. It's just saying I'm in control. I can chart my own course and walk my own path and make my own destiny, and I'll define what's gonna satisfy me. I'll define my purpose. I'll define my meaning. I'll define exactly what it looks like to be alive. And what Paul is reminding us is that course, that path, the way in which you once walked leads to death in every sense of the word. [00:46:28] (69 seconds)  #ChooseYourOwnWay

It's the desires of our flesh that we keep thinking that's what's gonna make me happy. That's what's gonna satisfy me. That's what's gonna bring me healing. That's what's gonna overcome my past. That's the thing. And it's never God. It's something, some person, someone, some job, some trip, something else, anything else, everything else, and just continuing to try to consume and use and fill the void that just can't be filled. And it's disappointment after disappointment because we either succeed and it's not enough, or we fail and we have to dust ourselves off and try again. It's devastating. It's heartbreaking, and it feels like death, hopelessness, pointlessness, purposeless, meaningless. [00:53:05] (60 seconds)  #FillingTheVoid

War is not a picture of the garden. Famine is not a picture of the garden. Deception is not a picture of the garden. Hatred, pride, self centeredness is not a picture of the garden. That is not what God intends for our lives, and yet the example that the world is setting around us is seek power, seek control, seek everything you can for yourself. Do what you can to protect for you and yours, and don't worry about anybody else to the point of devastation of individuals and families, of businesses and communities, of nations. It's terrible. It's harmful and it's painful. And that's how the Ephesians were living. That's the calling, the temptation, the struggle in the lives that we live. [00:45:07] (81 seconds)  #SeekPowerNotPeace

And not just peace like, hey, kids, quiet down over there so we can have some peace in this house, but peace like our souls long for, the purpose and the meaning and the satisfaction of having relationships rooted in love, deep relationships that encourage and equip and empower one another, relationships with God whom we worship and whom we know loves us like a father on a creation that has an abundance of things for us to enjoy and to live and to work and to play. That's the life that God intended, and so if we reflect on the lives that we live today, even with breath in our lungs and hearts beating in our chests, life is not as God intended. That's the reality of sin. [00:42:27] (57 seconds)  #DeepSoulPeace

And I guess if we think about it, there's a lot of things in our lives and in our world that reflect death even though it's not quite death because it is life as we know it. Life as we know it seems like it falls short of what God intended. I mean, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He created the stars in the sky and the sun to shine bright, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea and people in his image. People to be in communion with him and community with one another, people that could dwell on his creation and and have power over it to create things and make new things, and he placed them in this garden. A picture of beauty and provision and peace. [00:41:34] (54 seconds)  #CreatedForTheGarden

But we have to repent. We have to turn away from the path that we've been on. Paul writes, you were dead. They turned away from that and put their faith in Jesus and began to walk a new path. And so I'm gonna pray and then give you a moment to reflect on the passage, reflect on the forgiveness of Christ, and to repent. For some of you, you've repented a lot. You've put your faith in Jesus long ago, and this is a a practice that you're familiar with, and it is an opportunity for us who've been following Jesus for a while to continue to remind ourselves of his forgiveness. But for others, this is the very first time you've ever done this. And I wanna encourage you to do it, to turn to God. And even if you're not sure if you believe any of this, tell him that. To reveal it to you, to to hear you, to respond to you, and just acknowledge that the life you're living doesn't really feel like life at all. [01:02:11] (71 seconds)  #RepentAndBelieve

Living according to the course of the world, the path that the world has before us. Look around us. Our news feeds are filled with wars and threats of war, with political division and jockeying for power, with poverty and famine and storms creating devastation and havoc. This is what's on our feeds all day long when and our phones and our TVs and our computer screens just buzzing, reminding us that there is pain, there is suffering, there is hurting. The critical hot takes throughout our our social media platforms that put neighbor against neighbor and coworker against coworker and brother against brother. The reminder of the division deception and the violence and the pain and the suffering and the hurting. [00:44:13] (55 seconds)  #WorldOnOurScreens

It seems like pretty strong language, doesn't it? I mean, Paul can be emphatic in his letters, and that's what he is doing here for the church in Ephesus. You were dead. Really? In our sin and trespasses? I mean, death is not something that our culture really highlights or talks about much. I mean, for most of us, death is something that's out there. And if we're thinking about it in the terms of our own life, it's something that happens far and away. Something at the end of a long life lived. Something that happens because of sickness and and medicine just can't quite overcome for one reason or another. It's not something that we often meditate on or think about. [00:39:49] (43 seconds)  #FacingSpiritualDeath

I mean, I remember the final days of my grandmother's life. The final days when we were sitting as a family in her room and just sharing stories, even laughing at times, and other times just silently, solemnly waiting. Every time she'd take a certain kind of breath, just wondering if it was the last. I'll never forget the morning I got the call from my grandfather early before the sun was up, and and all he could really utter out was, she's gone. That's death. Of course, the final years of her life weren't exactly life either. With her mind being riddled with dementia and eventually her body following the challenges of her mind, she was in care because my grandfather could no longer care for her. That's kind of like death too. [00:40:35] (59 seconds)  #FacingLovedOnesDeath