Finding Our Place
Ephesians 1:18-22, Matthew 5:14, John 8:12, 9:5, 2 Corinthians 3:18
October 14, 2004
I. Last week I mentioned the fact that for centuries humans thought the Earth was the center of the universe, and if we are honest the way we act a lot of the time, makes it look as if we think we’re the center of the universe.
A. God taps us on the shoulder from time to time and reminds us that we aren’t the center of the universe because His Son is.
(Eph 1:18-22 NIV) I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
B. The Message version of the bible says it this way.
Eph 1:20-22 All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church.
C. When God looks at what he considers the center of the universe His eyes aren’t on us. When the spot light is shined on the star of the show none of us are going to be blinded.
D. We are appreciated by God, valued by God, and greatly loved by God, but we are not essential. We are not the necessity.
E. The world does not revolve around us, and our comfort is not God’s top priority, and if it is something is wrong. If our comfort is God’s priority in this world how do we explain, death, disease, falling economies, floods, Hurricanes, and earthquakes.
F. I mean if God exists just to make sure we are pleased then shouldn’t everything always be the way we want it to be.
G. Maybe what is needed is a shift of OUR focus in life. Maybe it is time for us to realize that we are not the center of the universe, and God does not exist to make a big deal out of us.
H. Maybe it is time for us to realize that we exist to make a big deal, out of Him. The moon exists to reflect the light of the Sun which is the center of the universe, maybe it is time for Christians to realize that our job is to focus all our energy on reflecting the light of God’s Son.
I. And what would the world look like if we accepted our role, and concentrated our energy on reflecting the light of Jesus to the world around us.
II. Jesus appears to contradict himself in a couple of statements that He makes, but a closer look shows that he doesn’t contradict Himself he is just trying to help us understand our role.
A. In (Mat 5:14 NIV) Jesus says "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
B. But then in (John 8:12 NIV) it says, When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
C. It seems like He is contradicting himself, but really He’s not, but we have to read one more verse for it all to make sense.
(John 9:5 NIV) While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
D. Did you catch the explanation? Jesus says that He is the light of the world, but then He says that he is the light of the world WHILE HE IS IN THE WORLD!
E. And that explains his statement about us being the light of the world. He is the light of the world, but he is not IN the world anymore. Ephesians 1 told us that God has seated Jesus at His right hand in the heavenly realms.
F. Jesus’ place is not in this world anymore, but His light is still suppose to shine in this world, so it has become our job to reflect His light to the people around us. We are the light of the world because we are to reflect the light of God’s Son!
G. That is our purpose in being, and when we are not aligning ourselves with God’s will in such a way as to accomplish His purpose then we cut ourselves short and fail to accomplish our purpose in being.
H. Lets look at John 8:12 again. (John 8:12 NIV) , When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
I. That is a conditional statement, one thing has to happen for the other thing to happen. Who ever follows Him, aligns their life with His will and His purpose for them, will have the light of life.
J. Let me ask you something, is the moon ever in darkness? No its not! There are times that the sun shines so bright that the moon is not seen but it is never in darkness.
K. But when our part of the world is dark and the moon is positioned in such a way that it reflects the light of the sun, light is brought in to the darkness not directly but indirectly.
L. We live in a dark world. There is no doubt about that, but if we position ourselves in such a way that we are aligned with the Son then we become the light to the world.
M. But we don’t generate the light, we reflect it.
III. But there is a dark side to the moon isn’t there? And, there is definitely a dark side to us. We have a sinful nature that doesn’t reflect the light of the Son, and if we turn that side to the world there is no light.
A. If we turn that side to the world we are not aligned with the Son and we don’t reflect his light, and we remove ourselves from the light and we live in our own darkness by our own choice.
B. What did Jesus say? "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
C. Whoever is aligned with me will have the light of life. Will live in the light of life, and when we live in the light of life we reflect the light of life.
D. We are all born with the default setting on selfishness, we want to be the center of our universe.
1. We want a spouse who makes us happy, and coworkers who always ask for our opinion.
2. We want weather that suits us and traffic lights that turn green when they see us coming.
3. We want a government that serves us, and we want to be number one at all times.
4. I’m sorry, but that is not God’s plan for the world.
E. We should all be able to relate to the advertising slogan that says " For the man that thinks the world revolves around him." Because that is really what we want the world to be like, if we are honest.
F. That is what we were told, right? Isn’t that what were told? Look out for number one. Find your place in the sun? Make a name for yourself? Weren’t we taught that self-celebration would make us happy?
G. That’s what we were told but again if we are honest we find that, that mind set really brings chaos.
H. I listen to the highschool band practice sometimes. All the different instruments making different sounds but blending into a harmony. What if the band followed the philosophy that most people follow in life. The "its all about me" outlook.
I. What if every musician in the band fought to be the center of it all. Tubas blasting non stop, drums pounding louder than everybody without cease, Clarinet players shoving the flutist out of the way, and Saxophonist competing with the trombonist? And the trumpet players fighting to get on top of the conductors stool.
J. The sheet music thrown on the ground and the conductor ignored. The result would be, there would be no performance, and it would sound like an endless tuning session, because there would be no harmony.
K. And would the musicians be happy? No, because nobody likes to be a part of pandemonium, but if were honest with ourselves that is the way that we choose to live life a lot of the time.
L. And then we wonder why our homes are so noisy and peace-less. We wonder why work places are so stressful, governments are so cut-throat, and harmony in life is so rare.
M. If you think its all about you and I think its all about me how is there gonna be in hope for harmony?
N. We chase so many things that we forget what the important thing really is, a God Centered Life.
O. What would happen if we all took our places, and played our parts according to the sheet music that the Maestro of the Universe gives us?
P. What would happen if we made His song and His light our highest priority?
Q. What would happen is we would see a change, and would definitely hear one. We would hear less of this is what I want, and more of what do you think God wants.
R. We would hear less of this is my Body and I will enjoy it the way I want, and more of I am God’s and will respect that.
S. We would look at our suffering different, we would hear less of, the fact that I have pain proves that God is not here and more of, my pain is a part of God’s purpose, maybe it helps me reflect His light better.
T. Life makes more sense when we accept our place and our place is not being the center of the universe it is reflecting the one who is the center of the universe.
U. If we will just get beyond ourselves long enough, we will realize that the God-Centered life works, and it rescues us from the life that doesn’t.
IV. But how do we make that shift? We move from the focus on me to the focus on God, by pondering God, by witnessing for Him, by following the advice of Paul.
(2 Cor 3:18 NIV) And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
A. Lets read that in different versions so we make sure we get the meaning.
The message 2 Co 3:18 All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
The KJV 2 Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
The Contemporary English Version 2Co 3:18 So our faces are not covered. They show the bright glory of the Lord, as the Lord’s Spirit makes us more and more like our glorious Lord.
The Modern King James Version 2 Co 3:18 But we all, with our face having been unveiled, having beheld the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord Spirit.
B. Beholding Him, Changes us. Couldn’t we all use a change from the way we live now? Maybe, if we try, we just might find our place in the universe.
C. I hope that you will do what it takes to find yours.
