Title: The Exalted One / Ephesians 2:2-7
Contents
Title: The One Who Confessed
Text: Ephesians 2:2-7
Who is the most precious person in this world? Are you Queen Elizabeth of England? Or is it President Bush of the United States? Or is it the Pope of Rome? The answer to this may vary, but I'm definitely going to say "saints". Why are the saints the most noble? The reason is simple. Because God made it that way. 1 Peter 2:9 clearly states: “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.” If a person who was chosen by God and became a royal priest on this earth is not honored, then who is honorable?
Let's try it again. “We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession!” Amen! These words are the proclamation that we have become <noble> in God's eyes through faith in Jesus.
But we are not made noble from the beginning, from birth. Before we met Jesus, we were hopeless people on this earth. Even when we see ourselves, we see ourselves as “a poorly weak, filthy, and sinful person.” That's right. Let's look at the text. “At that time you walked in them, following the customs of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. In the past, we too all lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like others.” In other words, it is a life that just died because of the wrath of God. A sinful human being.
But, how did we become <noble people>? The reason is simple. Because you believed in Jesus and came into the arms of Jesus. We are recognized as noble because we are in the exalted Jesus. This was done by the grace of God.
From then on, our lives change. We don't know ourselves well. So we see ourselves as the object of hatred, but God sees us as the object of love. We see ourselves as ordinary people like a rolling stone, but God calls us more precious than pearls and more precious than the world. Amen!
However, one thought comes to mind. Why does God treat humans so well? Why does God value us so much? Why? Come to think of it, there are several reasons for this.
First, because we humans have the image of God.
When God created man, he made it in the image of God, unlike other animals. So, animals do not have the image of God. only in humans. Therefore, no matter how lowly a person is born, they are more precious than animals because they have the image of God. We are trying to restore human dignity.
In the East, we see people and nature as one. So animals and people are on the same line. It is said that if animals do good deeds, they will be reborn as human beings when they reincarnate, and if humans do bad deeds, they will be reborn as animals in the next world. That is, there is no essential difference between humans and animals. So, in the old days, they hunt people just like animals. There is no shame in killing people. But the Bible says otherwise. This is because humans have the <image of God>. Because of that <image of God>, we can become noble beings.
Second, because Jesus shed His blood for us.
It is because God loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to this earth and bought us with His blood. Now we are worthy of the blood of Jesus. So I became more precious than anything else in this world. That is why he became such a noble person.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are now the most noble people in the world, no matter what anyone says. Let's hold onto this one fact. Let's hold on to our beliefs and move forward. No matter what anyone says, we are <noble people>. Amen!
Now, by the way, the question is what to do now? is to do The answer is simple. It's just living like a noble person. Are you living like a noble person? How to live is to live like a noble person. In fact, we have never been so honored and treated as such, and we have never lived like that. But now that you have become a noble person, you should live as a noble person. So, what should I do?
[1] We must know and give thanks to God's greatest grace.
What has God done to us? According to the text, first, it says that he made us alive together with Christ. When did we die? Yes, when we come into Christ, we died with his death. Our old self is dead. However, God raised us from the dead again together with Christ. He raised you from the grave. Second, He has set us down with Christ in a place of glory. That is, he has set us high as nobles. This made us noble. Even if the world doesn't recognize it, even if the world says what it is, we are respectful people. Who can oppose God when we are honored and proclaimed? Now let's believe it. We are honored!
Then, from now on, you must live like a noble person. What should I do? The simplest way is to follow the will of God who has made us noble. So what does God want from us?
What God wants is simple. It means to know God's grace, to give thanks, and to have fellowship with God. What is fellowship with God? Prayer. Praise. Worship is where there is prayer and praise, and there is God's answer. Through this worship, God is present among us and has fellowship with us. God wants our fellowship. So we should try to get together. Whenever we gather, we should think of God's grace and offer prayers of thanks and thanksgiving.
Furthermore, we must devise a way to repay the grace and love of God. How will you repay the grace you have received from God? It's dark when you think about it. But God has opened the way for us. “Repay me with love,” he says. Falling in love.
What is love down? For example, parents pour love on their children. How, then, can the child grow up and repay his parents for that love? To give love to a child is to repay love. So love goes down. It is to love down on us as parents love their children. That is what God wants of us.
We, who have been loved by God, now have to find new people and share the love with them. That is what the loved one should do. This is the love of the saints.
[2] Let's live a changed life
It is not in our own strength that we have become nobles. If you think about it, it was by the grace of God. This is a gift from God to us. Then this gift must be well preserved. In other words, we must not break the dignity that God has created. So what should I do? You must live like a noble person. What should I do? Our lives must change. You must live the life of a noble person. So what do we need to change? The first thing you need to change is your own mind.
First of all, you need to educate yourself, saying, “I have become an honorable person by the grace of God.” That way you won't go back to the past. That way you won't go back to your old habits.
Next, try to broaden your mind. You should try to be generous with people. God has been so generous with us. However, we humans still have a narrow heart and do not tolerate others.
Not only that, but now we need to change our words and actions. First of all, the words must be purified. If you open your mouth, there should be no odor. Now, the saints should open their mouths to smell. These days, the police crack down on drunk driving, so grab the driver and ask him to breathe with his mouth open. When you drink alcohol, your mouth smells like alcohol. When you drink alcohol, your behavior changes. So I can't even walk straight. What do our saints eat? Eat the love of God. Then it should smell of love. By the way, if your mouth stinks, what did you eat? What does it mean that an action is not a saint's action?
If you have become a noble person by receiving God's grace, you must now live like a noble person. If you become a child of God, you must live like a child. You must always educate yourself to say, “I am a child of God and become a noble person”, and change your words and actions as a noble person.
[3] Let's promote the beautiful virtues of God
It is the duty of the noble man to exalt the One who exalted him, and to promote his beautiful virtues. Today's text says, "He raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that by his mercy toward us in Christ Jesus, he might show in generations to come the exceeding riches of his grace." Here the purpose that made us honorable becomes clear. In other words, he said, “to show the abundant grace of the generations to come.”
So our job is to exalt the God who has made us honorable, and to promote his beautiful virtues. So what should I do specifically? It teaches us that there is a way to live to those around us who are struggling, the poor, the sick, the spiritually oppressed, and the wanderers of this world.
Why should we promote the beautiful virtues of God to these people? Don't we convey the beautiful virtues of God to the rich and those who can afford it? It's because they don't have any good virtues. No matter how good something you bring, you don't realize how precious it is. That's why Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
In the future, we believers should help those around us who are poor, difficult, sick, spiritually oppressed and wandering, boasting about God, and promoting God's great and beautiful virtues. Look around you from now on. Take a long-term view and see if there are poor or difficult people, and put a dot. So, say, “I will help this person this year, and I will publicize the beautiful virtues of God to this person.”
God will bless those who glorify God in this way and propagate His beautiful virtues. Those who serve those in need and preach the gospel to them are truly blessed by God. Their feet are beautiful feet.
Conclusion] Dear saints,
No matter what anyone says, we are <noble people>. This is because God has made us <noble people>. Now we will definitely have to keep this fact in our hearts.
And now, you should be able to live like a <noble person>. How do noble people live?
1. Have fellowship with God, and live with thanksgiving for grace.
2. Live while enjoying the right changes in your life.
3. We live by proclaiming the beautiful virtues of God.
People who live like this are <noble people>.
I am delighted to be chosen as a noble person of God, and I pray that you will become a saint who glorifies God as you build yourself up as a <noble person>.