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Andrew Fountain –
First a summary of last time:
Big picture—jigsaw puzzle
If you don’t look at the big picture on the box, it can be hard to fit the pieces together
What is the big picture?
Ephesians 3:16-19
…to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—
that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Last time I talked about being “united with Christ”
If we fully grasp this then it will have a big impact on us
What have we to fear—we are secure
Illustration of the large ship that went down
The Big Picture
Power, love and destiny
The power (same as raised Jesus from the dead) works in us
The purpose of the power is a new relationship, united to Christ
The purpose of this new relationship is that we become the New Creation, the dwelling place of God
Now we come on the the end-goal of what God is doing:
Ephesians 2:11–22
continue
A few words about the way it is structured
Many scholars suggest this semi-poetic structure is related to the fact it was to be read aloud
Certainly this way of writing was common in the ancient world
Notice the direction he is going
All the promises that originally belonged to the ancient nation of Israel, now belong to this new person
The “new person” in v.19 is literally “new human”, alluding to a “new Adam”
The final goal of where he is going is v19–22
a new temple, a new body
But what is this new Adam, this new body, this new temple
He says: “It’s a mystery!”
The Mystery (Eph 3)
…the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly.
When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ,
which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
Anne and I like watching detective mysteries.
Usually someone has been murdered and the question is “WhoDunnit?”
You have to try and work it out, but right at the end it is revealed
What would you think if you got to the end of the movie and were never told who did it?
It was left uncertain!
For myself, I would not be happy!
The mystery has been revealed by God to Paul, and he explains the two parts to it:
The Solution (Eph 3)
Part 1
…the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Part 2
and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things,
so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord
Why are the books of the Bible in the order they are?
Certainly God has providentially allowed the current order
The first 5 books of the N.T. have virtually always been in the same order, even from very ancient times
New Testament books
Matthew
Mark
Luke (part 1 of Luke’s account)
John
Acts (part 2 of Luke’s account)
Matthew Mark & Luke are called the “synoptics” because the give a “synopsis” which means a condensed story of Jesus’ life
John assumes you know the story, and picks out seven miracles or signs and focuses on the underlying meaning of it all
Acts picks up the story after Luke
Why did John get put there?
In the Old Testament we have a story that begins with creation and goes right through the account of the history of the nation of Israel
John is the one who explains the mystery that has been hidden
In the beginning God created the world by speaking words and it happened
Genesis speaks of 6 days of creation, then a day of rest
New Creation: John 1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John gives us 7 signs-miracles corresponding with the week of creation
Then on the first day of the second week, the Sunday, he rises again, a new creation
Creation of Man
Genesis 1:27, 2:7 “then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
John 20:22 “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”
We are left waiting for this command—it comes in Acts!
Acts 1:8 “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
And this happened...
Acts 6:7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
Acts 12:24 But the word of God increased and multiplied.
Acts 19:20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
Next we have the story of the tower of Babel
Acts 2
And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome,
both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
Then a new community of love was formed—the new creation people, living how they were intended to live.
The Church
For many people is cool to criticise “the church”
Actually it is God’s ultimate creation
Eph 3:10 10. “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
This means living in community with each other
spreading the new life to others, (=having “children”)
We are hardly scratching the surface of what God intends us to be
Meeting once or twice a week is only the start
In our Christian culture we have lost so much
We need to consider one another as parts of our own body
You can have this new-life.
You can be part of the new creation—have the Spirit of Jesus breathed into you—simply by asking him
Just pray: Jesus, I would like to follow you and be part of your new creation
Take away this old life and give me a new one
Breathe your Spirit into me and give me your life
If the Old Creation was breathtaking, how much more is the New Creation?
The stars, mountains
Yet the New Creation is the pinacle of God’s work
The local church is the expression of this new creation
You are amazing!
The people around you today are an amazing and beautiful new creation of Jesus
New life flows as love is expressed to one another
Practical suggestions:
If you are not part of a homegroup, then join one!
Call someone this week and have coffee together—being part of the body is not just for Sundays