May 9, 2010
Morning Worship
Text: Ephesians 2:1-10
Subject: Happy Mother’s Day
Title: Mother’s Day From the Father’s Perspective
Happy Mother’s Day to all you wonderful Moms in the congregation! You may not consider yourself wonderful, but you are. Where would any of us be if not for our moms? I hope you all enjoyed the video this morning. As I watched it was like I was reliving my childhood all over again. Yes, I have heard my mother say those things and I am sure I have passed them on to the next generation. How about you? Have you ever said or done any of those things.
How about some more sayings?
Who do you think you are?
I'll treat you like an adult when you start acting like an adult!
Look at me when I'm talking to you.
Don't pick it, it'll get infected.
You'll put your eye out with that thing!
Don't put that thing in your mouth, you don't know where it's been.
Wear clean underwear in case you get in an accident and have to go to hospital.
Don't cross your eyes like that, one day they'll freeze that way
I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!
If I catch you doing that one more time, I'll...
Your father is going to hear about THIS when he gets home!
If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
How many times do I have to tell you, don't throw things in the house!
Do you think your clothes are going to pick themselves up?
"I don't know" is NOT an answer!
I know it's not fair. Life isn't fair.
The wonderful words of wisdom from God’s gift to childhood!
Now we laugh about the things we have heard mother say but one thing I want you to understand – and you all know it – moms only wants the best for their families and will do anything to see that they get it.
Now, having said that about earthly mothers, I want you to know that you also have a Father who wants only the best for you – your heavenly Father.
Today I want you to se that the characteristics that we see in our mothers are present in the God who has saved you.
Let’s look to see how God works in your life to make you the best you can be.
Read Ephesians 2:1-10
Lord, open our spiritual eyes to see and our spiritual ears to hear and understand what the Spirit is saying to us today.
I. GOD SEES WHAT YOU REALLY ARE
A. 1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins… I am thankful that this is mentioned in the past tense - you were dead in your transgressions and sins… Since Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus we know that it was written for the Gentile church and not for Jewish Christians. I’m not saying that the Jewish Christians weren’t in the same spiritual dilemma as the Gentiles. But Paul just wants them to know where they came from. As a mother knows everything about her children God knows everything about you. Did you ever try to fool your mom? Don’t they somehow always know the truth? God does too – and even more. He knows everything about you. He knows that you were bound by sin in your sin nature – you were dead in your transgressions. That was the whole purpose of Jesus coming to earth. Isaiah 53:5, But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
B. …you followed the ways of this world… How many of you are leaders? I mean which of you will actually say, “This is where I am going. You can follow if you want?” I always considered myself to be a leader, even as a teenager. I have always wanted to stand up for those who are less fortunate; whom I thought couldn’t stand for themselves. Don’t you think that is a rather noble mindset? Good for me!!!! Don’t be fooled. There was a time in my life that I can look back at when I now realize that I was not a leader. I followed the ways of this world, and it wasn’t leading me to a good place. The willingness to follow the ways of this world is a direct result of being dead in our transgressions and sins. That is what sinners do – they sin.
C. We were living under the direction of satan. …and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. Did your mom ever try to warn you about running around with certain people? Somehow she just knew they were trouble. God knows that if you are trying to live your life in your own power and authority – if you are trying to do what is right in your own eyes – you will fail miserably. Ephesians 6:12, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. If you are trying to please God by what you do in the natural man, you really aren’t pleasing Him, because you are trying to fight a spiritual battle in the natural realm. You are working for the devil. Even after you have left the life of sin behind, if you try to overcome the works of the enemy by fighting against him in what you do, you are walking according to the sinful nature and you will lose that battle. You are either totally for God or for the devil. There is no middle ground. Throughout the history of Israel we see the stories of kings who knew who God was while worshipping foreign gods. They would even call upon the name of the LORD or seek His guidance through prophets. But they were trying to have it both ways. The bible says that those kings did evil in the eyes of the LORD.
D. God knows what we deserve. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. Romans 8:5-8, 5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. OK Moms, be honest with me now. How many of you have ever said to your child, “This is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you.”? You knew that your child or children had done something that deserved punishment and you knew what that punishment should be, or at least how severe it should be. Habakkuk 1:13 tells us that, Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.
E. Even so, He desires the best for us. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Did you know that the same word that is translated as mercy here is also translated as compassion in other places in the bible? God is merciful because of His compassion. Lamentations 3:21-23, Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope: 22Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. One of the great salvation passages in the bible is Romans 5:8, 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. How could a holy God do that for sinful man?
II. GOD SEES WHO YOU CAN BE… 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus… I love that verse. It not only tells us what God has done but it tells us where He has placed us. We are raised to new spiritual life with Christ, in Christ and because of Christ, and now – right now – God has placed us in positions of authority with Him. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6 that a time would come when we would judge angels. That is talking about eternity future. But what God has done in placing us in positions of authority He has done right now. It is ours. You see, God doesn’t look at us with physical eyes and judge our outward appearance. He is not like man, but He judges the heart – the spirit of a man. If we are His children – the bible says we are adopted into His family – then, Romans 8 says, 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. God doesn’t do that because of who we are, but because of who He is. And since we are His children He intends to hold us to the highest standard. The standard He holds us to is one that He helps us to attain. In 2 Kings there are three separate stories of boys who became kings in Judah. One of them, Joash, in 2 Kings chapter 11, was seven years old when he became king. Obviously a child like that could in now way rule a country by himself. He was under the direct influence of the Priest Jehoiada. In the two other cases, Azariah (2 Kings 15) and Josiah, (2 Kings 22) these boys were under the direct tutelage of godly mothers. God loves us that way and hold us up to a higher calling in the same way. Deuteronomy 32:9-12 tells us how God watches over us in the same way that animals watch over their young. 9 For the LORD’S portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. 10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, 11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions. 12 The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him. Ephesians 2:7 tells us why God responds to us in that way, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus… in the coming age – the time of the thousand year reign and the eternal kingdom God will show us the incomparable riches of his grace… incomparable riches literally means excessive wealth. That is what God has in store for us for the future. But it is more than just for the future – it covers the whole of history – from the time of His ascension to the time of His return. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9not by works, so that no one can boast. The word translated “save” is the Greek sozo. Here are the various meanings from Strong’s concordance; to save, that is, deliver or protect (literally or figuratively):—heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole. And Paul says that this is something that is for now – you have been saved, delivered, protected, healed, preserved, made whole… All this for one purpose…
III. GOD SEE YOU AS IF IT IS ALREADY DONE 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. You all know my story; how I never really had a dominant male influence in my life. My dad was a gambler and wasn’t around much. My step-dad was an alcoholic and didn’t have much to do with me. My mother was the primary influence in my life. And if I received one thing from my Mom that I would want to pass on – and hopefully I have passed on to my daughters – is that it really doesn’t matter what you do. It doesn’t matter what your walk in life is. What does matter is that whatever you do or whatever you become, do it to the best of your ability. I never realized it but I think those words of wisdom to me have gone beyond just being advice; they have become a lifestyle. The reason I say that is this. Several years ago I got together with the men in Charlotte’s family – brothers and nephews – to play a round of golf. Now you may or may not know that though I love to play golf I am not extremely good at it. But on that day, for at least one of Charlotte’s brothers, I became a target. I did not matter what Ted did in relation to the other golfers, he was determined to beat me. I mean it became and obsession for him. Finally I asked him what the big deal was – I’m no great golfer. And hear was his answer. He told me that for as long as he knew me, whatever I did he knew I was going to be good at it. So if he could beat me at golf, in his mind he would be elevated, because in his mind he would be better than me at something. I think that is a testimony to what my mom planted in me from the time I was young. Here is the good news. Since I have become a Christian 22 years ago I have determined that I was going to be as good at it as I could possibly be. The longer I have been a Christian the more I realize this one thing – it is not me at work but it is the grace of God working through me that allows me to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
As we celebrate Mother’s day 2010 how can we relate a mother’s love with the love that God has for us? Isaiah 66:13, As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you… a mother’s love is so reminiscent of the love that God has for us.
1. A mother will give everything for her children.
1. God so loved the world that He gave His only son…
2. A mother loves her children no matter what…
1. Romans 5:10, For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
3. A mother will protect her children…
1. 2 Thessalonians 3:3, But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.
4. A mother wants the best for her children.
1. Isaiah 48:17, 17 This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
In the Old Testament language the word “compassion” comes from the word that means “womb” The idea is one of “birthing”. Something new is being born. Whether it is life coming forth from a mother or the “new birth” offered by our heavenly Father something new has been created. And just as the love of a mother bears that child through their whole life, so the love of your heavenly Father bear you through eternity by the love He offered on Calvary through His Son Jesus Christ.
God sees who you really are – a sinner deserving of death, but has offered you His only begotten Son to save your life…
God sees who you can be and offers the guidance of His Holy Spirit to lead you and empower you for this life…
God sees you as if it is already done and ordains you to good works by His grace… not your works but His grace working through you.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God…
God wants to work in your life to make you the best you can be. Will you let Him do it?
