WHAT HE HAS DONE 4 U!!! MOUNTAIN TOPS!!!
One afternoon as I was stopped at a stop light I noticed three homeless men on the side of the road.
The first man was sitting on a bus bench. The second man was standing about fifteen feet away from that same bus bench, holding up his bicycle with one hand, and holding up the third man with the other. The third homeless man was so drunk that he could hardly stand up on his own.
I watched as the two men standing tried to have a conversation, and the drunk man kept bobbing and weaving. I noticed the second man gesture with his head towards the bus bench, telling his buddy to go sit down. You see that bench represented a place of safety for the drunk, at least he wouldn’t fall down and hurt himself or stumble out into the street and get hit by a car.
The second man attempted to help the drunk over to the bench to sit him down. However he had his hands full already with the bike and as he attempted to walk him over the guy fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, through this entire episode, the first homeless man just sat on the bench and watched, not moving as much as a finger to help. You see he had already found his place of safety and rest, and he wasn’t about to leave it to give a hand to anyone.
The man of compassion looked over to the man on the bench, and upon seeing he was not going to receive any assistance from him let his bicycle go and grabbed for the fallen man, picked him up and moved him to the bench.
Redemption; (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary): To recover ownership of, by paying a sum; to save from sin.
Redeemed; Apolutrōsis (Gr): (Vine Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words), Not from the consequences of the transgressions, but from the transgressions themselves.
If you have been redeemed, who did you belong to? (ownership)
A. Whose Were You?
1. From the beginning, you belonged to God, the Bible says;
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” Eph. 1: 3-4
“For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the first born among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” Romans 8: 29-30
Glorify: to do honor to, resulting from a good opinion of.
2. You were then lost in your sin; fell short of the glory. You belonged to the enemy.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has layed on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Ephesians 2: 1-3
We all had to or will one day have to come to that place where we make a decision to follow Christ, to surrender to Him or not!
3. Some may still be there.
“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk not solid food.” Hebrew 5: 11-12
B. Whose Are You?
“In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until w acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1: 13-14
1. You are God’s own possession.
2. Sealed by the Holy Spirit.
A total of three times in the New Testament we read about the believer being sealed with the Spirit.
a. 2 Corinthians 1:22 “Who has also sealed us and gave us the spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”
b. Ephesians 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Key Thought:
A seal was a stamp, a mark of ownership, a mark of approval. God the Father seals us by His Spirit and says, ‘this man or this woman, belongs to me, and I stand behind him, I recognize him or her as my very own.
The only two epistles in which we read of the sealing of the Spirit are in Corinthians and Ephesians.
Corinth and Ephesus were great centers of the lumber industry in ancient times. A raft of freshly cut logs would be brought from the Black Sea and notice would be sent out to the different lumber firms that the raft was in the harbor. These firms would send their men out and they would look over the logs and make their selections. They would put down a little pledge money and then cut a certain wedge upon each log that their firm agreed to take. This was called a seal.
These logs might not be drawn from the water for weeks, but each one was sealed by the mark of the firm that had purchased them. As the logs reached their destination down the river, the various lumber companies would be there to select their own logs, determined by the special mark that had been put on them, and finally pull them from the water.
We, as Christians, also have been sealed. And when that appointed time comes, and the Lord Jesus comes to take His own to be with Him, that will be the day of the redemption of His purchased possession.
C. Who Are You?
“In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the beloved.” Ephesians 1: 4b-6
“even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2: 5-6
"Not because of who I am, but because of what He’s (Jesus) done,"
"Not because of what I’ve done, but because of who He is!"
"You told me who I am -- I am Yours."
1. You are a child of God (the king). Romans 8:16
2. You are a fellow heir of Christ. Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:7
3. You are His workmanship. Ephesians 2:10
4. You are holy and blameless. Ephesians 1:4
5. You are Christ’s friend. John 15:14
6. You are complete in Him. Colossians 2:9-10
7. You are God’s fellow worker. 1 Corinthians 3:9
8. You are an ambassador for Christ. Ephesians 5:20
9. You are the righteousness of God in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Psalm 28:1 says, “The righteous are bold as a lion.”
In what area do you and I need to be bold?
D. What Is Your Obligation As One Of The Redeemed?
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;” 2 Corinthians 5: 17-18
Definition:
Reconcile; To re-establish a friendship between, To settle a dispute, to bring about peace, To make compatible.
Now that we’ve established who we are what are we to do next?
We need to share what God has done for us. The great and mighty works we’ve seen. And how others can have this same life of blessings, for you are an ambassador for Christ. 2 Corinthians 5: 20-21
Conclusion: The Word of God says;
1. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things.”
Romans 10:15
2. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Matthew 5:9
We are called to proclaim His goodness toward mankind, especially those who are His.
We are called to bring our fellow man to a place of peace with God – reconciliation
So have courage, be bold, and let God use you today!
God Bless and Press On
Larry
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