PLAN: God's Purpose is Global

"Paul prays that we will be given a heart and mind that can understand and appropriate what christ has already done, what we've already been given. That the lights will go on in our brains, so we can know God and understand the reality of what he's doing and what it means to join him." In the second episode of the series PLAN: God's Purpose for a Fractured World, Bob Hyatt teaches about the definition of God's people in Ephesians, centering around the truth that God's people are diverse, global, and offensively inclusive. Find more from Redemption Hill at redemptionboise.org, or follow us on Instagram @redemptionboise, and Facebook at Redemption Hill Boise. Well, good morning everybody. Uh if I haven't gotten a chance to meet you yet, I'm bob, I'm one of the elders of our community, part of the teaching team last week, Pastor robert, who is away this weekend, took us through the first part of the first chapter of the new Testament Book of Ephesians, which we're going to be spending some time in over the next few weeks and this morning we're going to be finishing up chapter one. So if you have a bible or a bible app or whatever it is that you use find Ephesians chapter one about halfway through the new testament and while you do that, I want to ask a non rhetorical question, I really, I actually want to hear your answers. The question is this, what's the best advice that you ever received? I don't, I don't, we don't need to hear the whole story or even what you did with it? Just Shout it out, you know, buy low sell high. Okay. There's one what's the best advice you ever received? Good. Yes. A job worth doing is worth doing. Well, I bet you heard that when you were a kid. Yeah. Yeah. What else? Oh yes, yes. Yeah. The way that I heard that is happiness is expectations divided by reality. And the only part of that that you can control is that expectations. So yeah, what else? Lower everybody else's? Yes, Yes. I had uh I had to do this teaching thing this week and uh, my friend who was introducing me was like, oh yeah, here's bob and he's got all this great with wisdom and everything and I'm like, dude, lower the bar. Lower. Yes, I'm sorry. Somebody else over here had something. Life isn't fair. Yes. Just recognize that right away. Dr eric let go. Let God we had that on a little magnet I think on our, on our refrigerator when I was growing up. Any other ones? Good advice. What you heard? Just keep showing up. Yeah, that's woody. Allen. Life is 90% just showing up. Yeah. Any others. All right. A little bit different question then, what's the best news that you ever received? Yeah, ha ha ha. He seems nonplussed, but yes. Yes. All right. Best news you ever got paid in full. Nice. What else? Really? There's a distinct you are worthy. That's good. I was going to say there's a distinct lack of good news in the crowd. The cancer is gone. Yes. What else? Snow Day? Does anyone else still have this as an adult? Even if you're working from home, if like the snow starts falling and you look out the way and you think you just have this moment of like, I guess I don't have to work today. I still have that. Snow day is good news. What else? Anything? Alright, well, last question then. And this one is kind of weird. What's, what's the difference between good advice and good news? Good advice is something you've got to do something. Yeah. What else does that capture? Yeah, Yeah. It's up to you. Yeah, it's what is? Yes, maybe it will, maybe it won't. Good news is like, no, it is. Yeah. Can I tell you guys, one of my biggest pet peeves, I mean, can I, am I allowed to be transparent and vulnerable up here. Yeah. I used to love getting fortune cookies with, you know, with the chinese food or with the Panda Express or whatever. And now they just make me angry. And the reason is that over the years somewhere they changed when I was a kid, they really were fortune cookies. Like you'd open it up and it will say you will soon go on an exciting adventure or great riches. Lie ahead. Romance will blossom where least expected, you know, see those were fortunes right now. Uh you know, they told you what was gonna happen and now the cookies no longer tell you the future. They just give you advice. Or worse just tired. Aphorisms like today, it's up to you to create the Peacefulness you long for thanks, cookie, stop wishing start doing. Oh jeez, come on, cookie, give me a break. Or even worse, you are very talented in many ways because listen, I do not need the cookie to compliment me. Right, I want the cookie and I don't want the cookie to give me advice. I don't want it to say nice things to me. I want the cookie to tell me the future. Is that too much to ask. So what does all this have to do with Ephesians? Look at Ephesians chapter one, verses 12 and 13. God's purpose was that. And paul is writing as a, as a jewish person who has come to believe in jesus. He's saying God's purpose was that we jews who were the first to trust in christ would being praise and glory to God and now you gentiles. He's writing to a church that's largely made up of non jewish folks. He says Now you gentiles have also heard the truth the good news that God saves you. And when you believed in christ, he identified you as a zone by giving you the holy spirit whom he promised long ago last week, we walked through the beginning part of this chapter and saw that God has had a plan from the beginning and that plan was that through jesus, all of creation would be rescued from the ravages of sin and death and be renewed. God is about creating a redeemed community, living in a renewed creation in relationship with himself. And even though that plan was always meant to fold in anyone who wanted it, It started with one family when God told Abraham that through his family through his line, the whole world would be blessed. And it carried on to Abraham's larger family, the nation of Israel whom God blessed to be a blessing to the world. And eventually it came down to that promised descendant of Abraham of David, jesus. And here's the good news, God is rescuing and renewing all of creation through the work of jesus on our behalf. The good news is you are invited to that party to the Kingdom of love and peace and restoration that God is building. So where do the fortune cookies come in? Well, for many people, whether it's because how they were raised or um forget you guys gotta, I picked the wrong cup today. This is, it's, it's, it's not a very humble look uh for preaching. But anyway, um for many people, whether it's because of just how you were raised or what you were taught or even just what makes sense to them, Christianity is good advice. You know, it's it's accept jesus so that when you die done, sign on with jesus and live your best life now, right? Or maybe the most obnoxious summation of Christianity as advice. Get right or get left. And here's the thing. I mean, that that would be all of it. Pretty good advice if it's related in any way, shape or form to what God is doing in the But it doesn't, jesus does not come to us with good advice. It comes to us with good news and the differences about advices about what I need to do, what I need to do to get the desired results that I'm looking for or the reward that I want. Good news is about what has already been done and what that means for me now and into the future. Do you see the difference, paul says, it is God who has this amazing plan to rescue and renew all of creation, that saves you. He's going to unpack that thought later in Ephesians, but he's saying it's not you, it's him and please, I mean, I don't want to be reductionist IQ. It's not when when we say saves you, everybody has a and we have these built in ideas of what that might mean, It's not saves you from hell. But let me finish that thought it is that we are saved from a future without God, but it's also that we are saved from so much more from death. There's a resurrection. We're saved from a pointless existence. We're saved from the weight of having to justify ourselves and somehow earn our place in this world or earn God's love his favor, his approval. We're saved from having to earn anything. Paul says that for those who say yes to God, yes to jesus, yes to what God is doing in the world, God saves you, identifies you as his own. In christ gives you the gift of his holy spirit to guide and empower you, to grow you to reshape you to make you who he designed you to be someone who reflects his character, someone who looks like jesus and how much better is that? Then ask jesus into your heart. So that when you die, how much fuller and richer is that vision then pray this prayer so that someday Look at verse 14 paul says, the spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so that we would praise and glorify him decision. It's not a self improvement plan. I mean, Christianity is not about taking reasonably good people and making them into slightly better people. That's that's not it. It's not do these things and you should get these results. There's a guarantee here you are adopted into the family, included in the community. Written into the will and there's a down payment. God says, it's my spirit that I give to you to fill you two in dwell. You and some people stumble over a sentiment like he did this so that we would praise and glorify him to some ears. Um how can I put this? It sounds like God might be a little thirsty, a little needy. Like he's out there fishing for compliments, looking for somebody to say something nice about him. But no, that is not it at all. And without going into this too deeply. I mean, we could spend the whole morning just on this, but God wants our worship...