Head Over All Things
Transcript
Well, good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Grab your Bibles. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 1.
If you have one of the white Bibles that's in the row near you, it'll be page 568. If you don't own a Bible, take this one with you. It's our gift to you. We want you to have a Bible. So we are in the book of Ephesians.
It's a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote from prison to a church that he had helped get started. It's a fairly young church, and we're just walking through this letter week by week, verse by verse, and we have gotten past that first big sentence. I'm so proud of us. We're five weeks in, and we got past the big sentence. We did kind of set the stage the first week, and then the first sentence that really Paul kind of starts talking in this, is it takes up verses 3 through 14 in our Bible. So we just spent three weeks just really trying to take this sentence in and see what Paul means by it.
And it's very encouraging what he's talking about and what he's trying to explain to him. And he says basically in that sentence that God foreknew those whom he would save, that he chose us before the foundation of the world, that he predestined to adopt us as sons, that Jesus through his blood died to forgive our sins, and that when we believe in Christ, when we hear this and we believe it, the Holy Spirit seals us and guarantees that he'll carry us all the way into our inheritance. It's kind of what Paul says in that sentence. So basically what God planned, Jesus accomplished, and the Holy Spirit guarantees.
That's kind of his big main point. And then we're going to pick up today in verse 15 and continue with kind of how Paul begins to explain and continue to write to this church. So he says in verse 15, For this reason, and what he means is the stuff I just said, that one really big sentence about what God plans, Jesus accomplished, and the Holy Spirit guarantees. For this reason, and because I've heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints. So Paul's in prison, and he helped this church get started.
He was there for about three years, and then he is now either in prison in Caesarea or in Rome. We think, most people think Rome. But he was going to be in prison for about five years or so total, and then he is beheaded. So he's in prison, writing letters, and he's basically saying, hey, I've heard good things. I've heard that y'all have faith in Jesus still, and that you love all the saints. And that just means the church.
Those who've been saved by Jesus are the saints. So it's not like the Catholic understanding of like special people that have done extra things. When the Bible talks about it, it just means all those who are in Christ, who have been saved by Jesus, are saints. And so he says, I heard that you love them, that you're following Jesus still, and you have love towards all the saints. And then verse 16, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. So he's saying, I continually, as I hear about what's going on with y'all, I continue to thank God for you, and I'm remembering you in my prayers.
And then he says that, so he's about to tell us what he prays. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of Revelation in the knowledge of him. Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know, and then he kind of says what he wants them to know. So he says, here's what I've been praying for you, and we're going to spend the majority of our time today just walking through what Paul prays for the church. And so here's what he starts off with. He says, I've been praying that the spirit of wisdom, and so that word spirit, it's capitalized in the ESV, which means that the translators who are translating this from Greek believe he's talking specifically about the Holy Spirit.
But he's saying that the spirit, and he says a spirit of wisdom and of Revelation. That's going to light up in just a second, it's going to be awesome. Spirit of wisdom and of Revelation, there you go. In the knowledge of him. So he's saying he wants in the knowledge of God, the spirit to give you wisdom and Revelation.
So Revelation means to reveal. So he says, I want in the knowledge of God, I want him to reveal knowledge to you, but not just reveal it. I also want him to give you wisdom. So the difference between knowledge and wisdom is knowledge is knowing facts, having information. Wisdom is knowing what to do with that information. Now somebody once said that knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.
So there's a difference between knowledge and wisdom. So he's saying he wants both for them. He's saying I'm praying that he would reveal knowledge to you, and that it would work. That it would actually begin to apply that in your life, so that it wouldn't just be knowing information, but it would actually be wisdom that it would go to work in life. And so that's how we're going to talk about this today. We're going to say, what is his prayer for them?
What is he talking about? And then we're going to say, how does that work? How does that actually show up in life? And so he says, and you can take all the colors off of him. So he's praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and of Revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know.
So he's praying that they would know a few things, but not just know it. He says, have the eyes of your heart enlightened. A lot of our church family, you're new to Christianity, you're new to the church. Some of y'all, maybe it's the first time you've ever hung out with a church, but some of us aren't. And we used to sing that song, open the eyes of my heart, Lord. It was biblical, you guys.
And what he's saying is, help your heart see. Help it become real. Not just something you've heard. Not just something that you can recite the facts, but it actually sinks into your heart. I have two brothers. My younger brother, so when my older brother and I were coming through, we were growing up on things like Mary Poppins, bed knobs and broomsticks.
We were watching Disney movies. So my older brother is three years older than me, then me, then I'm four years older than my youngest brother. And by the time he was like four or five, I think my parents really just started phoning in this parenting thing. They just let him graduate into some stuff that probably his favorite set of movies when he was little was Aliens, Terminator, and Jaws. And he loved Jaws. He watched that on repeat.
So we got to go. He was like four or five years old. We got to go to Universal Studios, and there was a Jaws ride at Universal Studios. And so you get on this boat, and you ride around, and then a giant animatronic shark attacks the boat. And so he'd been riding, and I had fun all day, and we're like, you want to go ride Jaws? He was like, yes, because he loves Jaws.
So he gets on the boat. He's sitting there, I think at three, four, somewhere in this zone. I can never tell how old children are, and I don't really remember how old he was at this point. But somewhere in the three to five zone. And he's sitting there, and we're riding, and all of a sudden, it starts like he's getting uncomfortable. He's on a boat, and basically the way the ride was set up is like a little tour guide was taking you around.
It was just going to show you some things, and then a shark's going to attack. And so over the radio, they're talking to this other boat, and all of a sudden, you hear him saying like, there's a giant shark, and then it gets all garbled, and then you hear it like the whole boat sinks. It's like, and he's like, uh-uh. He's hitting my mama. He's sitting next to me. He's like, we got to go.
Like, we can't. Uh-uh. And she's like, we're fine. We're fine. He's like, no, we're not fine. Did you hear the gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble?
Like, they, I don't know why. I'm three. I have to explain this to you. They drowned. Like, this isn't okay. And so the whole time, he's freaking out.
It's getting more intense. And just by, I mean, it was perfect. He just happened to be right on the section of the boat where the shark shoots out of the water, hits the side of the boat, water splashes everywhere. And this jaw shoots out, hits the boat, and my brother stands up in his chair, because it wasn't a crazy ride. He didn't have to be strapped. He stands up in his chair and goes, we're all going to die.
Tears just streaming down his face. He is losing it. My mom looks at him and goes, we are not going to die. You need to sit down and be quiet. And he was just like, okay. So he sat down.
He's like, I guess he was thinking, if she's mad at me, maybe we aren't going to die. Or maybe he just thought, I'm not getting spanked before I get eaten. Like, that's not happening. At least to have good relationships with my mom before all this goes down. He cried the rest of the ride, got off. And it took a little while.
They took him to the side, and they were like, it's a ride, just like all the other things we've been doing. That wasn't a real shark. And then at some point it clicked. And he was like, and he rode it like four more times. Like, made them spend the rest of their day in that line at that ride. Like, that was what happened.
And he loved it. It was his favorite ride. And it went from, before he got on, he understood the concept of ride. But it was like, as soon as everything got messed up, it was like, we're all going to die. Like, this is. And then it clicked.
It locked into place. And he was actually free then to kind of, and that's what Paul's praying. He's saying, I want you to not just know it, but I want it to sink into your heart to be a substantial reality. I want this to be a settled reality in your heart. That you don't just know the information, but that you know it. That it's real to you.
That's Paul's prayer. And so, before we start reading what Paul prays, I want us to take a second. And if you're a Christian in here this morning, he is writing to the church, to those who believe in Jesus. And so I just, if you're a Christian, I want you to take a second to just ask, Lord, help my heart see this. Open the eyes of my heart that they would be enlightened to see this truth, that it would become real to me. And if you're in here this morning and you're not a believer, and that's fine.
We have a lot of people that hang out with us on a regular basis that are just kind of checking us out, or you're just friends with somebody, and they've asked you 37 times. So you're like, look, if you will leave me the heck alone, I will show up. That's fine. I would invite you to pray the same thing. To just say, help me see this, if this is real, if this is true. If it is true, it's something you actually want to see, you actually want to know.
But if not, if you don't want to pray that, that's fine. Just sit for just a second. But we're going to pray this together. So I want to give you just a second to ask the Lord to help you see this as we read this this morning. And then I'll pray and we'll keep going. Father, we ask that Paul's prayer for the church in Ephesus would be answered for us.
Would you give us a spirit of wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of you. That you would enlighten our hearts. That we might see this. So it becomes a settled reality for us. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Look at verses back half of 18 and 19. So he says this. He says, Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe? So those are the things he's saying.
I pray that you would know what, what, what. So we're going to look at those three things. And we're going to basically follow this idea of knowledge and wisdom. So we're going to say, what does it mean? What's he actually talking about? And then, how does that apply?
How does that work? And really the way we're going to ask that is, what is at stake if we don't believe that? That doesn't become real to us. What do we lose? What do we miss out on? What happens in our lives?
So he says, I want you to know, the first one, what is the hope to which he has called you? I want you to know the hope to which he has called you. Now, in the Bible they use the word hope kind of the same way we do. There's really two kind of definitions. They use the idea of like an uncertain hope. So Paul in Philippians says, I hope to send Timothy to you soon.
He says that a couple times in Philippians. Basically saying like, I hope this works out. I don't really know. Like, I don't know if that's actually what's going to happen. But I hope that happens.
We use hope that way a lot. It's Ted's birthday. I hope there's cake. You're like, I hope it's chocolate. Like that. Like we use it like, if you ask me, are the Gamecocks going to win this weekend?
I would say, I hope so. I have no clue. Because sometimes they look like they're good and most of the times they don't. I've been a Gamecock fan long enough. Sometimes I don't even say I hope so. I just say probably not.
Go ahead and get my little heart ready for that. Then there's the Bible uses the word hope as like a certain hope. Like an expectant certain hope. That there's a confident hope. And so we'll see that in Ephesians. That's what he's talking about here.
So Ephesians 1.12. We've studied this already together. But he says, we who are the first to hope in Christ. Meaning that we've placed weight there. We've pushed our chips there. Like we believe this is going to work out.
We're placing our hope in Jesus. Ephesians 2.12. Later than this, he's going to say, at that time you were separated from Christ. You were alienated. And you were without hope. Without God in the world.
And so it's this hope that's like a certain confident hope. Colossians 1.15 says, because of the hope laid up for us in heaven. So what he's saying when he says, I pray that you know what is the hope to which he has called you. Is that he's saying, I hope your heart sees. I hope you know fully. All of the good things that come through Christ.
Through salvation in Christ. I hope that you see that Jesus is your only hope. That what he's already talked about. That what God planned, Jesus accomplished, the Holy Spirit guarantees. That he's our hope. For life.
For joy. That all good things are in Christ. So here's the question. For the church. What happens if we don't believe that? What happens if we don't see that?
What's at stake if we don't see that Jesus is our hope? I really think the biggest thing is this. We're going to find something to hope in. We're going to find something to hope in. We're going to find something to place weight on. Something to say, this is what will make life good.
This is what makes life enjoyable. This is what makes, this is the purpose of life. That's what hope is. Like this type of hope is a lifelong, weight bearing, foundational. This is what I believe is actually the good things in life. And so we see this consistently.
But people hope in, you pick a thing. Hope in money. That money is what makes life good. That's what fills up the goodness of life. Or the hope in success. Like if I can just make a name for myself.
If I can just prove that I have value. We can hope in anything. People will pick things like family. I say no, no, no. Money is not the big deal. But family is.
Like just having a good family and raising your children well. And they place all of there. That's what value comes from. That's what I'm leaning on. To give me worth. To know that life matters.
Some people pick things like just being a good person. Like I'm just believing that if I'm a good person. Then that was my point for existing. That if I just serve those who need to be served. If I just. We find something to hope in.
Now. All those things aren't wrong at all. Like family is not bad. Money in itself isn't bad. Serving people isn't bad. But here's the problem with placing our hope in them.
They all fail. They can't handle the weight of a hope in Christ. They ultimately don't pan out. That's why Paul says in Ephesians 2.12. You were without hope without God. You were without hope without God in the world.
That ultimately we believe as Christians. And Paul is telling them. I pray that you see that all of the good things are in Jesus. That ultimately everything else will fall short. I even believe that as we started talking about this. Some of you maybe have been like.
Not everybody has a thing to hope in. Because I've met people that are hopeless. Not saying they'd never get it together. But they just don't have. They don't have any hope. And some people are saying like I'm hopeless.
Like I don't have anything I'm leaning on. I have no hope whatsoever. And all I would say to that is I think. When you meet somebody who's hopeless. Or you feel hopeless. It really just means.
That six months ago. Three years ago. Five years ago. The thing you had placed your hope in. Failed. The thing that you were using to bear weight.
Shattered. It was too flimsy. And it couldn't handle it. That when we get to a point of hopelessness. It just means that the thing we had leaned in for our hope. Our marriage.
Our family. Our finances. Our health. Broke. And what Paul's saying is church. I hope you see.
I'm praying that you'll see. The hope that's in Christ for you. That nothing else carries this promise. And can bear the weight of a life. And ultimately an issue for us as a church. If we don't see the hope that's in Christ.
Take this encouragement. That Paul's looking at this church and saying. You're doing well. I just want y'all to see this. I want you to continue in this. Is that we'll all find self-salvation projects.
We'll find something. To save us. Something that says. This is what makes me good. This is what makes me okay. And ultimately.
If I can just do these things. Or have these things. Then I won't need Jesus. And that's a big problem. So what do you lean into?
Where do you run? Where do you rest? What drives you? What do you fear you might lose? Paul's saying. I hope.
I'm praying. That you realize that it's only in Christ. And only he can carry the weight of that. Let's look at the second thing. He begins to pray for him. He says.
That you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. And. I'm sorry. He doesn't say and there. I just read and there. Hope to which he has called you.
What are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints? So I pray that you know the hope. And I pray that you hope to know. What are the riches of the glorious inheritance in the saints? So again.
This is the inheritance that the saints receive. That this is what happens for the church. So Paul's saying. I'm praying for you. Not that you'd be obedient. Not that you'd get it together.
Not that. He says. I want you to know how good Jesus is. And I want you to know. How glorious the inheritance is. He's praying that the Ephesian church would see.
How beautiful. Ultimate reality with God is going to be. That what he just said in the beginning of this chapter. Was that the. The Holy Spirit guarantees our faith. Until we acquire possession of our inheritance.
That he's going to carry us to the end. Until we actually have the inheritance. And he says. I pray that you see how good the inheritance is. So let's just talk about that for a second.
Spencer was just talking about it. A minute ago. Josh was talking about it. A minute ago. But it's this.
This. That we will finally be free from sin. That we'll get God. It's that we'll get heaven. That we'll be ushered into a place of freedom. And joy.
With no pain. And no hurt. And no crying. And no tears. And no mourning. A place of celebration.
And joy. The way God intended the world to be. That we'll get all the good things. That come in Christ. And he's saying. I want you to know how rich.
And glorious it is. I want you to have that so settled in your heart. That as the church. You have a rich. And glorious inheritance. Now.
This may make you a little weird. Here. Let's be honest. I think. That the more the church. Sees a rich.
And glorious inheritance. That the more strange. We seem. Here. Here's why. If we don't see this.
What's at stake. If we don't know. Our rich. Glorious inheritance. We have in. In Christ.
Honestly. I think we just. Care a whole lot about. Everything here. We care a whole lot about. Stuff.
We care more about money. We care more about. How life works out. Here's one of the things. I think that happens. In my life.
The less I see. How good and glorious. The inheritance is. That I've been called into. When things go bad here. I get really frustrated with God.
I don't know why this can't work out. It works out for other people. I don't understand. See. Ever heard anybody say. Or felt.
Like. I just feel like God's picking on me. What Paul's saying is. No he's not. There's a rich. And glorious.
Inheritance. Laid up for you. That if you suffer here. You're fine. Nothing was taken away from you. We're actually told.
In throughout. A scripture. That suffering. Actually builds weight. Helps us. Be able to handle.
How good it's going to be later. That our suffering. Actually prepares us. For that. One of the ways. I think this shows up.
In scriptures. The way the Bible. Talks about money. Which is a big deal. And. So in the Old Testament.
They would give. At least about 10%. Of their income. Whatever came in. They would give it away. And then.
It ended up being more than that. Now in the New Testament. It doesn't say. Give away a percentage. Or anything like that. But.
We believe. And teach here. That actually. 10% is actually. Kind of the floor. Would be a good starting place.
Because. We know the gospel. Of what Jesus was ultimately going to do. So why would we give less. Than people who just had a rule. We get Jesus.
Here's why I'm saying this. If you work. And you are a Christian. That means that Christians. Give away. Thousands.
Of dollars. A year. That all Christians who work. Would be giving away. Thousands of dollars. A year.
So if you. Part time jobs. What? 10,000 to 20,000. If you're working a full time Job. You're 20,000 up.
How crazy is it. If you make 20,000 dollars. That you would give away. 2,000 dollars. Y'all. Not crazy to y'all.
That's crazy to me. That doesn't sound crazy to y'all. You paying bills. And you're giving money away. That amount. Like a substantial amount.
Of your money. People would be giving away. If you make 30, 40, 50. People would be giving away. Thousands of dollars. Let me tell you something.
My wife and I. We do this. We give away money. That's jet ski money y'all. Not a great one. But a jet ski.
It's used. I got it off. A for sale free Lexington. Whatever. But like.
It would be a jet ski. And then it would float. That's. That's play golf money. That's. That's eat out.
All the time money. Y'all don't even understand. How many times I could eat a Cracker Barrel. For thousands of dollars a year. Here's the thing. If we don't as the church.
Remember. The glorious inheritance. That awaits us. We are. We will only be able to see. The.
Unglorious. Stuff that's in front of us. We'll care. A lot about money. We'll care a lot about how life's working out. We'll care a lot about.
That it's actually. Some of these things. Where Paul says. No no no. Remember how good it's going to be. Hold that in your head.
That actually sets us free. To begin to follow some of the things. That we're called. To do. It's not just money. My wife.
Is about as introverted. As a person can be. She has to remember. How good heaven is. To go hang out with people. She has to.
Remind herself. No there's more to life. Than. Than what I can just see. And I actually have to care enough about people. And remember that there's a glorious inheritance coming.
And. And care about that for them. So that I can try to be around them. And I can love them. And I can get to know them. She says.
In order to sacrifice. So Paul says. I hope you see this. I hope this becomes a settled reality for you. That what's coming is better. So that we wouldn't have an allegiance to stuff.
But that we'd be free. He doesn't say that. I just think that's one of the implications. There's probably a lot more. But I think that's the most direct one for me.
That the more I remember heaven. The more willing I am to sacrifice. And to serve. And to care for others. And to give money away. And the less I think about it.
Like I think if I sat down and thought. Ten minutes about a glorious inheritance. Right before I did my budget. I think it would change how I did my budget. But if I don't think about it.
I think it. I think it changes things. Okay. Nineteen. And. Verse nineteen.
And what is the immeasurable greatness. Of his power. Toward us who believe. So this is for those who believe. Those who have placed faith in Jesus. He says.
I pray. That you would know. What is the immeasurable greatness. Of his power. Toward us who believe. According to the working.
Of his great might. That he worked. In Christ Jesus. When he raised him from the dead. According to his working. Of his great might.
That he worked in Christ. When he raised him from the dead. So the third thing he prays. That would be a settled reality for us. Is that we would know. The immeasurable greatness.
Of his might. The immeasurable greatness. Of his power. That he worked for us. Now. Greatness means bigness.
And it's immeasurable. So he's just saying. Not that you would know the extent of it. That you would know it is immeasurable. That you would. You would be overwhelmed.
By how powerful. His salvation was for us. When Christ rose from the dead. How powerful his power. At work for us was. When Christ rose from the dead.
This is. This immeasurable greatness. This immeasurable greatness. Of power is. You watch Rocky. He trains the whole movie.
They enter into the ring. And he one punch knock out. Apollo Creed. Just walks in. Slips a punch. Knocks him out.
Turns to the camera. And goes. Hey yo Adrian. Like. No drama. It just takes all the joy out of it.
Like it just. It was immeasurable. Great power. Or it's. You've watched seven or eight. Movies of.
Of Harry Potter. You've read thousands of words. They get to the end. Snake face shows up. And Harry Potter is just like. Aardvarkadabra.
And he just dies. Just turns into dust. He looks at the camera and says. That's what I call magic. And then it just ends the movie. It's like.
He ruined it. It was supposed to be some tension here. And so. What he's saying is. Church. I want you to see.
I want you to see. Jesus didn't just barely save you. When Christ rose from the grave. That wasn't just. Some little parlor trick. There was a measurable great power.
That goes to work. For those who believe. That when you place your faith in Jesus. An immeasurable greatness of power. Has been applied to your account. And here's what happens.
If we don't believe this. I think two things happen. At least. I mean. There's a bunch. But.
One of the things is. I have to be powerful. If Jesus' power is in it. That work for me. I have to be powerful. I have to be powerful in conversations.
I have to be powerful in relationships. I have to be powerful. Or. Everything else is terrifying. Bosses are terrifying. The person you're dating is terrifying.
That you might lose them. That. That. They'd be mean to you. Some of you are like. Yeah.
The person I'm dating is terrifying. We advocate all the time. At our church. So you just break up with them. Sorry. I've lost it.
Guys. Let me give you a second. All right. That everything else becomes more powerful. That. That.
The Democrats. If they take over the White House. The Republicans. If they take over the White House. Everything is going to melt down ten years from now. We're all just going to.
We're all going to. I watch The Walking Dead to train. Because I know what's coming. You guys. Like. Everything else becomes more terrifying.
But he. What. What happens to us in our sin. Some of you. You're fine. You're fine.
You're fine. You're doing great with Jesus. As long as you're behaving. But as soon as you start seeing your sin show up. This is why. When someone starts pointing out your sin.
You won't listen. Because they're attacking you. If they say. Hey. You're off here. You're wrong here.
You can't hear that. Because your. Your value. Your worth. Your stability. Is built off of your behavior.
And if they suddenly point out sin. You will crumble. But if you actually notice it. If it actually. What happens in this situation. For someone who has.
Lost the power of Jesus's salvation for them. And is not holding it in their head. What happens is. I have to be good. I have to be moral. Everything has to work out.
This happens all the time. For those who are in the church. When people point out sin. You won't listen. Can't. You can't listen.
Because none of it. They just don't understand. They don't. They don't understand the circumstances. They don't realize how it was the other person's fault. You can't listen.
And then. You. Because you won't listen. To them pointing out little sin. It builds. It builds.
It builds. You're still trying to hide. And mask. And cover. And protect. Train wreck.
And in that moment. You're like. I don't know if I'm a Christian. I don't know if I'm saved. I don't know where Jesus is. I don't know.
I don't know. Because you're completely unstable. Because you're not resting in. The power. Of the resurrected Christ. On your behalf.
To conquer your sin. And to set you free. But when we know that. When we know the power of his resurrection. That is for us who believe. When someone points out your sin.
You're like. Yes. And Jesus conquered it. And I can be free from it. And when you do. Train wreck things.
When you do mess stuff up. You can be honest about it. And you can walk in it. Because Jesus's power. Has so much conquered that for you. That you're free.
You didn't have to be strong. You didn't have to be powerful. Jesus is. He says. I pray that you would know. The immeasurable greatness.
Of his power. Towards us who believe. That for those who have placed. Faith in Jesus. There is immeasurable greatness. Of power for us.
Applied to us. In defense of us. Conquering our sin. Our death. Our shame. The enemy.
Okay. So in verse. 20. No. Back half of verse 19. Where it says.
According to the working. Here's where he starts. Kind of saying. That all three of those. I'm praying these three things for you. What what what.
And then when he says. According to the working. Of his great might. He's kind of binding them all together. And saying. That they're actually.
Brought together. Held together. Kept. By this. According to this. And so the rest of what he says.
Is basically like. If. If you want to know. What your hope is. And you want to have a place. To.
Ground that. If you want to know. The inheritance you have. And want to have a place. To ground that. If you need to know.
The immeasurable greatness. Of his power. And have a place. To ground that. He's saying. Let me tell you how.
How absolutely. In charge of everything. Jesus is. So that you can have a place. To set all of this. And it won't go anywhere.
According. To the working. Of his great might. That he worked. In Christ. When he raised him.
From the dead. So first. He says. That this is grounded. In the fact. That there is an empty tomb.
That used to hold. A dead Jesus. There's an empty tomb. That used to hold. A dead Jesus. But that Christ.
In great power. Was raised from the dead. And seated him. At the right hand. In the heavenly places. Far above.
All rule. And authority. And power. And dominion. And above every name. That is named.
Not only in this age. But also in the one to come. I love. That verse. 21. Far above.
So he's not just above. He's far above. All. All. All rule. And authority.
And power. And dominion. Above every name. That is named. Not only in this age. But also in the one to come.
What does that include? All of it. Who's Jesus above? Yes. All. All authority.
All power. Every. Every municipality. Every throne. Every king. Every prince.
Every. Every political party. Every regime. All demonic influences. Influences. And forces.
Everything. Jesus is ahead. Over all of it. I was giving my son a bath. He's two. He's really into the Avengers right now.
Which is good. It's better than some of the other stuff. He gets excited about. Like that wheels on the bus show. On Netflix. I can watch Avengers with him.
Way better. He's taking a bath. And I was like. Archer. I just want to tell you. That Jesus is strong.
Do you know Jesus is strong? Like I'm just. Talking to him about it. And he sits and looks at me. He says. Jesus is strong?
I said. Yeah. Jesus is strong. He said. Okay. Kept playing for a second.
And then he went. Are you going to have to fight Thor? I said. Jesus will wear Thor out. He said. Wear him out?
I was like. Yeah. I said. Yeah. No. No.
No contest. And I. Guys. I was just teaching him about the Bible. Like this is it right here. And I was like.
What are y'all talking about? I was like. Theology. That he's ahead of everything. Over all rule. All authority.
Every name that could be named. Thor. Odin. Everybody. Verse 22. Verse 22.
This is going to be on the screen. We're going to walk through this for just a second. Because I. The more I read it this week. The more encouraged I was by this. The more.
Captivated I was by this idea. That he kind of finishes this thought with. And he put all things under his feet. And gave him his head over all things to the church. Which is his body. The fullness of him who fills all.
And all. So in here there's two. There's two kind of. Players I guess. There's Jesus. And there's the church.
And he just kind of weaves them together in this last thing. So he's saying. This is for all who believe. And then he ends this by saying. Here's where it's grounded. Here's where you can bank on it.
And here's what he says. So he says. He put all things under his feet. So that's Jesus. And gave him as head over all things. So that's Jesus.
Him as head over all things. To the church. Which is his body. So that's the church. It's also Jesus. It's his body.
But the church is his body. The fullness is referring to his body. Which refers to the church. Of him who fills all in all. Now this was.
So all the brighter yellow is Jesus. His feet gave him as head over all things. To the church. Which is his body. The fullness of him who fills all in all. So I want you to see this real quick.
Jesus who's head over all rule and authority. Because of the cross. Because of the resurrection. He has ascended. Above every name. Every dominion.
Everything. And God gave Jesus. Who is the head of all things. To the church. That Jesus was given. To the church.
And it says the church. Is his body. So now. Now they're given in this like. Connected. Perfectly unified.
That Jesus is the head. And the church is his body. The fullness. That's referring to the body. So the church becomes the fullness.
Of Jesus. The church. Those who believe in Jesus. Become the fullness of Jesus. And Jesus. Is him who fills all in all.
Okay. When it says. He's him who fills all in all. That means that. Everything. That ever existed.
Or ever will exist. Will only ever find its purpose. In Jesus. That its fullness. Is found in Jesus. How it related to him.
Is where it finds its. Purpose. Its role. Its place in the universe. Is connected. To Jesus.
Who fills up. Everything. Who makes everything full. And Jesus. His fullness. Is united with the church.
That Jesus has chosen. To only be full. Only be complete. In as far as he brings the church. To belong to himself. That those who are in Christ.
Are his body. And his fullness. Is. God. второй. We have. For.
God. Lord. Amen. Always. He is. The inheritance that you have.
The great power that was at work for you when Jesus rose from the dead. And I want you to see that he's head over everything and that we're in him. The privileged position that those who believe hold in the universe because of how good Jesus is. That when all of this plays out and everything is said and done, that the creator of the universe will call his church home to enjoy all of the good things that were ever meant to be enjoyed and rightly enjoyed in the world. And that belongs to the church. To those who have been saved by the grace of Jesus.
Not by their effort, not by their goodness, but the fact that Jesus died, rose from the grave, and they believed in him. Now, if that sinks in, if that becomes real to you, personally in life, if that becomes real, if it sinks in that your hope is in Jesus, meaning there are no other hopes that are worth hoping in, nothing else will satisfy, and that your inheritance is in Jesus, meaning that all the good things ultimately are in him. So there's nothing good outside of him. All the good things are in him. And his power is at work for those who believe. And we've been united with him, given a privileged position in the universe, that Jesus' fullness is full when he brings the church to himself, that we become one with him.
Here's what happens. Let me explain how this slightly applies to jobs. If you lose your job, you didn't lose your hope. You didn't lose the goodness of your inheritance. And you are not powerless. And your position in the universe is untouched.
If you get the greatest Job offer ever, it's not a better hope. It doesn't give a better inheritance. It doesn't give you more power. And it has nothing on your position in the universe. Let's talk high school students, college students, maybe some middle school students in here, I don't know.
Let's talk about embarrassment. You know what I'm talking about? Like you go home from school and you said something or did something. A fifth grade chet, one time, while his teacher was up in front of the class, giving a little talk about something, I don't remember, dropped his pencil, bent over and passed gas loudly in front of the entire class. And then my teacher, in order to help me, gave a speech about how that was normal and that's okay. I was like, I'm going to harm you.
This is terrible. Like you're making this way worse. But you know those days you would go home and think, I don't want to go to school tomorrow. I don't want school to exist anymore. We're going to move. We're just going to move.
I'm going to move. You see, like the days you go tell your parents, like I think I have some sort of learning condition. I'm going to need to go to a different school. And you think, middle school is like this, but it will go away. No, high school is like that, but it will go away. No, college is like, people go home from work and go, I don't want to go to work tomorrow.
I don't want to look at those people. What will I say? Hi, Tina. Like I have nothing. Like I don't even want to make eye contact after what happened. Didn't change your hope.
Didn't remove your inheritance. Hasn't altered your position or power. Hadn't touched where you exist in the universe if you belong to Jesus. You can go down the line. Relationships, family, health. You get a report that you have cancer.
Doctor looks at you and says, We can do treatment. Small percentage of that will work. Didn't change your hope. Doesn't affect your inheritance. You're not powerless. You're not powerless.
There's an immeasurable greatness of power towards those who believe because Christ rose from the grave. And your position in the universe is untouched. Christians are more equipped to suffer than any other humans on the face of the earth. Because we're untouchable. That's why Paul can write this from prison a few years ahead of being beheaded. That's why he can be in prison and say, I hope you know how good Jesus is.
And I hope you know how wonderful it's going to be. And I hope it sinks down into your heart that we're not powerless. It's like, bro, you're in chains. Chains. They're going to, at some point, walk in and say, Today's the day. You don't exist anymore.
And Paul's like, nope. I exist in a more greater reality than you'll ever enter into the moment that my head falls off my shoulders. Because this reality had sunk into his heart. I think if our church begins to believe this, you won't be able to peel us away from each other. That we will be so focused on Jesus' church. That we'll be hanging out with our community group and fighting for the things that matter.
That we'll be serving. That we'll be giving. That you won't be able to get us away. Because no, this is where all the good things belong. They're in Jesus and his people that he's elevated above all the rest of creation. Not because we're great, but because he is.
I don't think you'd be able to get us to stop telling our friends about Jesus. Because we'll be able to see through how much of a mirage, everything that they're leaning into for hope is. How much it will all falter and fall short. And that one day we will have a glorious inheritance that is untouched. By how much money we give away right now. By how much we sacrifice.
By how much we serve. I think that we would get to look a little bit more like Paul. Where they could take everything from us. And we go, I'm fine, you guys. This hurts. But I'm okay.
Because ultimately, it wasn't where my hope was. It's not where the good things in life come from. I'm not powerless. And my position in the universe hadn't changed. Matt and Bianca are going to come back up. And here's how we're going to respond right now.
Honestly, I hope that the way we respond is that as a church, we begin to study this so that it does sink into a reality in our hearts. We begin to read this passage until it changes our wallets, until it changes our time, until it changes how we treat one another, until it changes how much we believe that each other matter. How much we care about our neighbors who are doing really well when it comes to South Carolina standards. Who are doing really well when it comes to American standards. But that are putting their hope in something that one day will snap.
And honestly, as Christians, we pray. One of the things I hope for all of my neighbors, for all the people who don't know Jesus, is that their hope snaps now. So they can see how brittle it was prior to the day they stand before the King and see that their hope being misplaced was a dire, drastic issue. So here's how we're going to respond in this moment, though. Matt and Bianca are going to play, and they're going to sing in just a second. And the song they're going to sing is for us to just kind of listen and think about.
They're going to sing about no matter what else we could find on earth, it's just not enough. We could chase every avenue, we could pursue everything we could get, it would ultimately not be enough, that only Jesus is. And if you're a Christian, I just want you to sit for a minute, and then when you feel ready, you'll take communion while they're singing. You just sit, you're going to pray, and then you're going to go, we get to take communion today, remembering that because Christ died for us, we've been incorporated in Him, that His body and His blood were shed, His body was broken, His blood was shed for us, so that we could become one with Him.
That our hope could be in Him, that our inheritance could be in Him. And if you're not a Christian, I just ask you to believe this. This is for all those who believe, that you can go to Jesus and say, I want this, I want the hope that is unshakable, that's grounded in an event that happened in the past. That you rose from the grave, and from now on, hope is secure. That Christ rose, and so I can forever have this be real for me. I want to cease to believe that everything here is beautiful and good, and chase after everything that's shiny, that ultimately won't fulfill.
And I want you, Jesus, I'd ask you to pray that. Ask Him to change you, to place your faith in Him. And then you can, for the first time ever, as a real, genuine follower of Jesus, come take communion, which is the celebration that Jesus' body was broken for us, and His blood was shed for us, and that He was laid in a tomb, but that He rose. And there's an immeasurable greatness of power towards all who believe. So I'd ask you to believe this morning.
Let's pray. God, we thank You for Your goodness. I thank You for Your love that You have towards us. And I pray, that this will become a settled reality in our hearts. There wouldn't be a day that went by for our church family, that we didn't remember that all of our hope is in You. That ultimately, we have a glorious inheritance that awaits.
That all of this is just temporary. And that there's an immeasurable power at work for us, through Christ. Amen.