Cultivating the Culture of Heaven
(Preaching Outline)
1) The idea of the garden of God, the garden of paradise
a) The garden was only a small geographical area on earth in the beginning.
b) It was the place where heaven and earth are one.
c) It was Man’s true home.
i) The idea of home in Tolkien
ii) Belonging and satisfaction
iii) God blessed it and called it good. Satisfaction and Thanksgiving in response to God’s good blessings.
2) The original plan of God to beautify and bless the earth!
a) Genesis 1:26–28, 31 (NKJV) — 26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” …31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
3) The desert of sin
a) The fall
b) The promise
c) The broken world and broken lives
d) Romans 7:14–23 (NKJV) — 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
4) The promise is fulfilled! The kingdom is restored, believe and enter in!
a) Romans 8:18–21 (NKJV) — 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
b) Romans 8:2–6 (NKJV) — 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
c) Matthew 28:18–20 (NKJV) — 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
5) Cultivating the culture of heaven
a) Seeds in the earth
b) Blessings & Thanksgiving – Luke 12:32 (NKJV) — 32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
c) Always moving toward the consummation.
d) Transform the church, transform the world.
e) Transform lives, transform the church.
f) THE CULTURE AT LSCC
g) John 14:22–23 (NKJV) — 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
h) HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
i) THE HEART IS WHERE RIVERS OF LIVING WATER FLOW!
Transcription
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Amen
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Well praise the Lord It’s good The youth are excused if they haven’t went out already
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The title of today’s message is cultivating the culture of heaven
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Think of the idea of the garden of paradise
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What kind of ideas does that conjure in your mind
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Could you could you imagine offering somebody entrance into the garden of paradise And they would say well I’m not so sure I kind of prefer the desert
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right But imagine what the garden of paradise is like Imagine what kind of hope that that holds for you What kind of life that you could experience in the garden of paradise I think even just that word paradise evokes all kinds of human emotions and imagination doesn’t it
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And yet that’s what God created man for
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the garden of paradise
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And sometimes we forget that don’t we
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And it’s absolutely amazing
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that God in his infinite creativity and love for human beings
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planted a garden east of Eden
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and put man in there
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And it was the place where heaven and earth were one
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There was no death no pain no sorrow no suffering there were delights beyond our imagination
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There was joy there was peace
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It was the good life It was a good world
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But a lot of people don’t realize that it’s was not the whole earth
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According to scripture The garden of paradise was just one small geographical location on planet earth
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God was essentially seeding the earth with the intention of spreading that garden
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to cover the earth
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Interesting isn’t it And I’m gonna read those scriptures in a minute but I just wanted to talk about
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these ideas a little before we get into scripture
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But another term for the garden of paradise or what we often call call the Garden of Eden
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It was home
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for man
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And I can’t tell you how important this idea is
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Where do you find your home
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Where is home
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Is it the house or building you live in
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or is it your
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relationships
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Where is your home This idea of home is something so incredible and people that have really been immersed in a biblical world view or in scripture really have understood
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how important home is I think Chuck and I and Ryan we were talking I think it
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might have been before Ryan
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showed up But no we did we went together we were talking about token
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in the picture and image of home
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in his writings
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It’s really heart wrenching when we think about it and the importance of home
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he grounded the whole epic adventures And even when the world was falling into darkness in in the Lord of the Rings What is worth fighting for
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in the hobbit We see the the the dwarves went out what did they want They wanted gold and fame and wanted to immortalize their name
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And that’s what the kings of this earth and the heroes of old and the heroes of pagan religion have always wanted they sought gold and fame and reputation and immortality through exploits Right
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But for the hobbit it was my home and hearth
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and friends
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in food
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And the kind of the message is when the world is falling into darkness and people are having to fight for freedom in life
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What is it grounded in
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What are you fighting
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for
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gold and
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fame and power and reputation
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or for this place called home
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And I am so convinced that every war that has fought in the natural has nothing compared to the
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spiritual war that we live in
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over the eternal
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destiny of men and women
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over human dignity and
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worth
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overvalue and significance
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But what is home Think about it more a place where you belong
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Adam and Eve belonged in the garden They belonged in fellowship with God and they belonged to
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each other
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And I have been talking a lot about this you know talking to me about K guard
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that a person can be sur the existential question A person can be surrounded by all his friends and still feel utterly alone
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And there’s so many people I believe on this earth that are feeling like they don’t belong
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that they don’t know where their home is They feel like a vagabond and a wanderer Even when they’re surrounded by friends or in their marriage it doesn’t matter
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because it’s like Augustine said oh Lord our hearts do not find rest until they find it in the
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oh Lord
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or or Jesus the the kingdom of God is like a treasure hidden in a field that when a man found it he went and sold all that he had that he might possess it
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Because there is such a longing in the soul of every human being to belong
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and define true satisfaction and worth and dignity in life
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And that can only be
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given by God
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through the gospel of Jesus Christ There is no other way no human being they
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can reflect
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God’s intention
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But if you’re looking to people or you’re looking to things or
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you’re looking to worldly success or whatever it is to satisfy the deepest longings of your soul It’s like Ecclesiastes It’s vanity CRT the preacher vanity It’s a grasping after the wind You’re trying to grab something and there’s nothing there
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But the grass is greener on the other side of the fence
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But you get you move to the other side of the fence and then the grass is greener on the other side of the fence again
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And our souls only find rest when they find
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it in God
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And then when I think about creation it says God blessed it and called it good
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I think true satisfaction in the blessings of God and genuine Thanksgiving is the proper
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response to God’s blessing
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I hear this
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idea often in the body of Christ
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where they judge places like America because of all the material prosperity that we have enjoyed
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that This is somehow a curse and not a blessing We actually curse the blessings of God
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There there’s something about when pagan worshiping people turn to the living God and worship Jesus Christ and they forsake the ways
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that were handed down to them of idolatry And all of a sudden they start to prosper they become industrious they start to trust one another They quit stealing from one another They quit
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the behaviors that degenerate life on planet Earth and prosperity not there’s a natural form of it And then there’s a supernatural form as well
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The principles bring forth prosperity such
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as you slugger you slept during the time of seed and now there’s no harvest
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that’s natural But there’s something even deeper than that when when people have studied revivals and they see the very earth yields up its strength in response to the presence of God and the earth spews out people because of sin
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It’s uh it’s in scripture there there’s a natural element of the blessing of God built into the way God designed this world
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When we when we live the way he designed
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But there’s also something spiritual about this world that the very earth itself rejoices in the presence of God and in the blessings of God and God blessed the earth and said it is very good
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And people often treat those type of blessings like a curse because unfortunately humanity often turns away from God when God has blessed them
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Does that make sense
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And and that is unfortunate and we cut ourselves off from the root We missed what the point is It was belonging It was to love one
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another It was to serve one another It was
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to glorify God and worship him
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And so people treat blessings like they’re a curse because they lead people astray And I
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would dare challenge that one Maybe the highest form of spirituality is one that could actually
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receive the blessings
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of God and not turn to idolatry and sin
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and actually thank him
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and worship him and appreciate
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him It’s like what father doesn’t want to give good things to their Children If God blesses
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faith in him and bless us
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worshiping him and following his ways how how should we call
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his blessing a curse
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But it’s meant to make help us to appreciate him and love him and to love one another
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It’s interesting ideas
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isn’t it
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But this all this is all connected with this idea of the garden of paradise
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as human beings turn away from worshiping idols and worshiping the things of this world worshiping and serving creation rather than the creator
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This world becomes more like hell on earth
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It’s that simple principle But as people turn away from idolatry and sin and worship Jesus the creator and redeemer and Lord of all
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this world starts to reflect heaven on earth
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when people quit stealing and murdering and committing adultery
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And that’s what like Han said wherever Chris proclaimed the man slayer man slaves no more and the adulterers no more and the thief steals no more The world becomes a better place
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to feel secure that people aren’t going to rob you is a blessing
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isn’t it When when there is true justice in the earth it’s a blessing
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But when the leaders of this earth are taking bribes and perverting justice and serving selfish ends the world becomes more like hell on earth
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So heaven and hell
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experienced in human life
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is connected to whom do you worship
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It really is
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You know we can think about the 10 commandments and the two tables of the law right And and we really hey we totally get the second table It’s about how to love one another Love doesn’t look like this murder right
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But the very first commandment is I am the Lord your God You shall have no other gods before me
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That’s the first commandment to
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humanity
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Is he a narcissistic
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self serving
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Everybody has to worship me God
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Why would that be the first commandment Why are we not free to No
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we take the wrong narrative
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in Him is life and he is the light of the world apart
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from Him is darkness My first commandment is I am the
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Lord your God You shall worship no
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other because what we worship what we behold we become like
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I’m I’m giving you this commandment Not because I
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need your worship or your adoration or your thanksgiving He is self sufficient in himself
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I command this
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for you because you need
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life
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and belonging
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and purpose and significance and worth and beauty and goodness and truth And it’s found
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only in Him
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in Romans when it talks about the total degeneration of a culture
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to do things
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that are
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not to be done
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It all began
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with though they knew God they did not worship and serve him as God but they became foolish in their thinking and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever
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So
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I used to like to preach a lot because this
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idea really is true
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We often think that
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and it’s unfortunate We think the way to bring the garden of paradise is we’ve got to win the political war
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wrong
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Every structure on earth reflects the God that you serve
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If we don’t worship and turn back to Jesus Christ the world will continue to look like hell on earth and will get worse and worse and worse
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There is no other way to heal nations There’s no other way to heal lives and transform families and communities
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than to worship Jesus Christ
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He’s not a tyrant
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He’s a father that loves us and wants good for us and wants to bless us and wants to prosper us
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But there’s only one way
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and that’s through Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord
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there’s no other way
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Powerful
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imagery isn’t it
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But I mean I when I think about this imagery and people know I like to joke a little bit
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but there’s the scripture tells us that God’s essential characteristic his essential nature is love
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And if you think about love you know we talk about the doctrine of the Trinity and that that’s a hard one and you know hard one to grasp fair
Speaker#2:
00:15:54.489 – 00:15:55.19
enough
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00:15:56.2 – 00:15:58.28
But if you think that God’s essential
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00:15:58.289 – 00:15:59.52
nature is love
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00:16:00.69 – 00:16:04.289
love has to give freely
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00:16:05.479 – 00:16:12.929
There had for there to be genuine love there has to be more than one person Otherwise it’s ultimate narcissism
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00:16:14.25 – 00:16:23.33
Does that make sense God is love And he built us to know Him and to have communion with him and to have fellowship with him
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00:16:23.96 – 00:16:27.229
And God’s kind of love is the love that gives freely
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00:16:28.2 – 00:16:33.229
because it’s love not freely with a hook expecting something in return
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00:16:34.479 – 00:16:35.46
you know and like
Speaker#2:
00:16:35.469 – 00:16:37.619
that that simple idea right there
Speaker#1:
00:16:38.01 – 00:16:39.51
will transform your life
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00:16:40.989 – 00:16:49.13
because so many people in this world grudges and offenses are what really start to choke the life out of them
Speaker#1:
00:16:50.109 – 00:16:53.88
I did this for you and I did that for you And this is what you did in return
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00:16:56.82 – 00:17:00.4
I did this because I it is an honor and a privilege
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00:17:01.01 – 00:17:03.659
to worship my God by giving freely
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00:17:04.76 – 00:17:06.739
because he’s freely given to me
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00:17:07.698 – 00:17:21.4
And we’re going to keep loving and not put up walls and not choke it out We’re going to keep hoping hoping all things believing all things enduring all things not taking account of what is wrong
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00:17:22.859 – 00:17:28.239
Why Because that’s how my father loved me that he gave his only begotten son
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00:17:29.099 – 00:17:30.619
God I wanna be like you
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00:17:31.64 – 00:17:35.479
you can I mean I’m hoping these ideas are helping you to see
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00:17:36.569 – 00:17:37.43
heaven
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00:17:38.51 – 00:17:48.41
that kind of world a world that is like paradise only operates when we are actually free and empowered to love one another
Speaker#1:
00:17:49.78 – 00:17:51.78
It only is possible
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Otherwise we use other people suck the life out of them and abuse them to fulfill our own selfish ends
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00:18:05.65 – 00:18:07.869
And the whole idea of the love of God like
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00:18:08.489 – 00:18:09.989
in the garden of paradise
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00:18:10.0 – 00:18:14.93
they knew what love is they knew who God is They knew what the right way is the king’s way
Speaker#2:
00:18:15.819 – 00:18:16.68
But what happened
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00:18:16.689 – 00:18:18.969
after the fall men forgot God
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00:18:19.869 – 00:18:26.93
the their eye they were darkened in their understanding their eyes became blind and all that God gave
Speaker#1:
00:18:26.939 – 00:18:28.77
with the 10 commandments
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00:18:29.829 – 00:18:33.16
was the very moral laws
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00:18:33.88 – 00:18:36.359
that are stamped into creation itself
Speaker#1:
00:18:37.199 – 00:18:52.06
All of the old what we call the moral law of God given in scripture is nothing other than the very moral ordering of creation itself The visible attributes of God as Paul said are clearly seen being understood through the things that are made
Speaker#2:
00:18:52.069 – 00:18:53.229
even even His
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eternal power and God head Well what
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00:18:56.26 – 00:18:57.5
are these laws
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00:18:58.01 – 00:18:59.219
Jesus said
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00:18:59.76 – 00:19:01.719
all of the law and the profits
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00:19:01.729 – 00:19:02.839
are summarized
Speaker#1:
00:19:03.829 – 00:19:14.53
in very God’s nature is love You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself For this is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets
Speaker#2:
00:19:15.0 – 00:19:20.329
So really all it is is written on tablets of stone This is how you love one another
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00:19:21.599 – 00:19:32.699
And people always say that Christianity came to bring a new higher ethic No it didn’t All he did was deliver the law from false interpretations
Speaker#2:
00:19:33.579 – 00:19:35.66
so that you can see what it really is
Speaker#2:
00:19:37.449 – 00:19:43.5
The tells you if you see your enemy and his is falling over you can’t walk by and go na na
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00:19:43.51 – 00:19:47.439
na na na you weren’t nice to me So deal with it yourself You
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00:19:47.449 – 00:19:48.93
have to help him pick it up
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00:19:49.77 – 00:19:50.43
What
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that’s love You see
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00:19:52.869 – 00:20:01.03
where you see where I’m going with this or or when it when it says in the New Testament if you look at a woman with lush you’ve committed adultery in your heart
Speaker#2:
00:20:02.17 – 00:20:13.0
and they go oh see he brought a harder ethic No he just gave the proper interpretation of the law Thou shalt not commit adultery plus thou shalt not covet or lust Same word
Speaker#2:
00:20:13.66 – 00:20:14.479
Oh
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00:20:15.229 – 00:20:18.0
And you see a lot of times we look at the law and we think
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00:20:18.64 – 00:20:22.079
it tells us what we have to avoid or what we shouldn’t do
Speaker#2:
00:20:23.369 – 00:20:32.219
But God what he’s trying to do is get us to ask not just the negative prohibitions but what kind of world is God trying to create
Speaker#2:
00:20:33.17 – 00:20:37.239
What kind of world And that’s what the stories and the rest
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00:20:37.25 – 00:20:41.209
of scripture is fleshing out for us This is how you love one another
Speaker#1:
00:20:43.449 – 00:20:45.3
But then we find a problem don’t we
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00:20:46.729 – 00:20:52.53
And we’re gonna hopefully get into this if I if I quit rabbit trailing and get into scripture So let’s
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00:20:52.54 – 00:20:57.01
start I got way ahead of I gave you a good summary and hopefully we’ll land on it
Speaker#2:
00:20:58.349 – 00:21:06.239
the original plan of God to beautify and bless the earth Genesis 1 26 to 28 and verse 31
Speaker#2:
00:21:06.859 – 00:21:08.76
Oh By the way you can also use the
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00:21:08.77 – 00:21:11.989
QR code If you need to see my notes I’m gonna try to go fast
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00:21:12.54 – 00:21:27.01
Then God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness Let them have Dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth
Speaker#2:
00:21:27.63 – 00:21:53.469
So God created man in his own image in I mean and he repeats it It’s so important in the image of God He created him male and female He created them Then God blessed them And God said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it Have Dominion over the fish of the sea over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth
Speaker#2:
00:21:54.469 – 00:21:57.589
Then God saw everything that He had made and indeed
Speaker#1:
00:21:57.599 – 00:21:59.119
it was very good
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00:22:02.589 – 00:22:04.949
This is the picture of the heart of God
Speaker#2:
00:22:05.89 – 00:22:14.109
But as I said the garden of paradise was only one geographical location on earth And he said you were created in my image
Speaker#2:
00:22:14.709 – 00:22:28.75
And this idea is such an important thing to understand that we can’t transgress the image of God and one another when we coerce when we manipulate when we belittle when we denigrate
Speaker#1:
00:22:29.439 – 00:22:30.359
others
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00:22:31.66 – 00:22:32.719
we are attacking
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00:22:32.729 – 00:22:33.81
the image of God
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00:22:34.93 – 00:22:39.17
When we don’t treat people with dignity and worth and intrinsic value
Speaker#2:
00:22:39.89 – 00:22:42.0
we’re denigrating the image of God
Speaker#2:
00:22:43.64 – 00:22:49.29
And this world is on a trajectory of dehumanization
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00:22:50.189 – 00:22:58.339
that you are just a commodity you’re just something to be used You don’t matter It’s a war over the image of God
Speaker#2:
00:22:58.859 – 00:23:05.03
and even the church we don’t understand that if we try to coerce people to behave
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00:23:05.63 – 00:23:09.53
a certain way instead of changing them from their heart outward
Speaker#1:
00:23:10.239 – 00:23:12.199
we’re transgressing the image of God
Speaker#1:
00:23:12.739 – 00:23:15.3
People have to bring a free will offering
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00:23:17.42 – 00:23:24.819
people have to believe and not be coerced they need to be persuaded because persuasion is the proper method
Speaker#2:
00:23:25.38 – 00:23:26.239
to not
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00:23:26.25 – 00:23:28.699
transgress the image of God and man
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00:23:29.849 – 00:23:40.79
This this is interesting isn’t it But we’re living in a world that manipulates through fear and intimidation and manipulation and disapproval We’re transgressing the image
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00:23:40.8 – 00:23:41.589
of God
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00:23:43.8 – 00:23:50.02
It’s a battle in the beginning we were created in the image of God every human being
Speaker#1:
00:23:53.06 – 00:23:54.31
One of the effects
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00:23:54.319 – 00:24:00.0
of evolutionary theory when it first came out it was originally rejected
Speaker#2:
00:24:01.109 – 00:24:02.55
but it was picked up
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00:24:03.479 – 00:24:04.31
because it gave a
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00:24:04.319 – 00:24:06.099
justification for slavery
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00:24:07.739 – 00:24:09.329
They’re not really fully human
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00:24:10.729 – 00:24:14.619
It was also a justification for the extermination of juice
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00:24:15.359 – 00:24:16.469
They’re not fully
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00:24:16.479 – 00:24:17.17
human
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00:24:19.42 – 00:24:22.079
You say well that stuff sounds crazy It is absolutely
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00:24:22.089 – 00:24:27.52
crazy And these are the lies These are the poisons that make hell on earth
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00:24:28.959 – 00:24:30.18
You see what I’m saying
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00:24:30.979 – 00:24:37.689
I mean I joke because it sounds ridiculous But there are literally people that believe that the government is run by aliens
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00:24:39.229 – 00:24:47.38
not a fringe group talking to a friend of mine He’s like no man I was my neighbor was over and we were shooting pool and no he really believes this
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00:24:49.069 – 00:24:51.38
I’m telling you anything
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00:24:51.9 – 00:24:55.53
that makes you not see another person as
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00:24:55.54 – 00:24:56.55
human
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00:24:57.52 – 00:24:58.689
is dangerous
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00:24:59.839 – 00:25:15.8
And and and that is what a lot of the talking heads on TV or social media or the internet are doing because they find that there is great wealth in confirmation bias or um dividing
Speaker#1:
00:25:15.81 – 00:25:22.01
people generalizing people treating people like a generalization rather than a human being
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00:25:22.959 – 00:25:26.199
It’s a giant war over the image of God and man
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00:25:28.069 – 00:25:31.119
and it’s a war between life on planet earth
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00:25:31.13 – 00:25:32.089
reflecting heaven and
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00:25:32.099 – 00:25:32.55
hell
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00:25:35.41 – 00:25:37.969
But what was interesting about this passage
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00:25:38.8 – 00:25:49.76
is that God’s original plan for man was to be married have vocation a job and work to take this world and order it like this
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00:25:49.77 – 00:25:52.81
building doesn’t happen by nature by a by nature
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00:25:52.819 – 00:25:56.569
happening on its own Cars don’t happen on their own air
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00:25:56.579 – 00:25:57.739
conditioners Don’t
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00:25:57.75 – 00:26:02.609
to be quite honest if you do nothing food on your table doesn’t
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00:26:02.619 – 00:26:04.0
appear out of nowhere
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00:26:04.51 – 00:26:07.93
I mean the clothes you wear did not come from nowhere
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00:26:08.42 – 00:26:14.05
Somebody had to have an idea and design it and pay for it Do you see what I mean Produce it
Speaker#2:
00:26:14.8 – 00:26:17.8
These things do not happen by nature
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00:26:18.959 – 00:26:27.079
I said if people didn’t work and people weren’t in the image of God imagine and create we would all starve to death naked
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00:26:29.709 – 00:26:32.55
We’re in the image of God Animals aren’t in this
Speaker#2:
00:26:32.56 – 00:26:39.709
condition We are unique We are not animals we’re not a cosmic accident No human being
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00:26:39.719 – 00:26:40.26
is
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00:26:43.15 – 00:26:45.25
And God has designed us
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00:26:45.939 – 00:26:49.54
to use this image of God that he’s given us to think
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00:26:50.349 – 00:26:51.51
to imagine
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00:26:51.52 – 00:26:53.63
to dream to act
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00:26:54.739 – 00:26:55.689
to govern
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00:26:56.859 – 00:27:00.76
to reorder creation to make something beautiful
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00:27:01.64 – 00:27:07.829
in the original call of man was to go and spread and fill the whole earth and make the whole earth the garden of God
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00:27:11.439 – 00:27:13.089
But then man fell
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00:27:14.16 – 00:27:16.329
we cut ourselves off from the root
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00:27:17.79 – 00:27:31.619
We rejected God as God and worship and serve the creature rather than the creator eat this fruit And you will be as God Your own A good translation would be your own determiner of right and wrong good and evil
Speaker#1:
00:27:32.91 – 00:27:34.9
Acting in a autonomy
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00:27:36.05 – 00:27:43.27
creates total isolation disconnection It breaks fellowship breaks communion
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00:27:44.189 – 00:27:46.05
and they were naked and ashamed
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00:27:46.589 – 00:27:50.839
and they were in hiding from the presence of God
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00:27:51.369 – 00:27:53.109
in paradise was lost
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00:27:54.869 – 00:27:57.739
But God gave him a promise I will send a savior
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00:27:58.599 – 00:27:59.369
I will send a
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00:27:59.38 – 00:28:01.329
savior and he’ll bring you home
Speaker#2:
00:28:02.31 – 00:28:26.839
This is your home and I will bring you home But that home isn’t the geographical location That home is a fellowship with the father a relationship with the father that the wall of separation has been torn down The blood of Jesus has torn down every wall of separation that we can be reconciled to God and we can be reconciled to each other
Speaker#2:
00:28:27.66 – 00:28:31.609
He said I know you’ve become wanders and vagabonds
Speaker#2:
00:28:32.319 – 00:28:43.199
grasping after the wind lost and alone naked and afraid and ashamed But I will bring you home I will seek you out and you and you
Speaker#1:
00:28:43.209 – 00:28:44.859
will find your home in me
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00:28:45.52 – 00:28:47.41
You will find your life in me
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00:28:48.569 – 00:28:53.51
You will find your peace your joy your satisfaction your
Speaker#2:
00:28:53.52 – 00:28:59.76
dignity your worth your humanity You will remember who you are because I died for you
Speaker#2:
00:29:01.349 – 00:29:04.329
you’re not an animal you’re an image bearer
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00:29:04.339 – 00:29:05.66
of the most high God
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00:29:08.31 – 00:29:10.109
and God made that promise
Speaker#1:
00:29:11.56 – 00:29:13.42
and he fulfilled that promise
Speaker#1:
00:29:14.8 – 00:29:18.42
But the fall brought Brokenness and broken lives into the
Speaker#2:
00:29:18.43 – 00:29:44.319
world Romans 7 14 through 23 For we know you see these are the things I was talking about for We know that the law is spiritual It shows you what love is But I am carnal sold under sin for what I am doing I do not understand for what I will to do that I do not practice But what I hate that I do Paul is talking about I was alive once but the law came sin revived and I died
Speaker#2:
00:29:44.76 – 00:29:45.859
What do you mean about
Speaker#1:
00:29:45.869 – 00:29:48.79
that I mean that you know the language and the English it makes it hard
Speaker#2:
00:29:48.8 – 00:29:51.54
to understand doesn’t it it simply means this
Speaker#2:
00:29:52.28 – 00:29:55.729
when I was ignorant of what true love really is
Speaker#2:
00:29:56.93 – 00:30:05.329
and had you had my own fanciful imaginations and my own dumbed down human interpretation I was the most loving thing on planet earth
Speaker#2:
00:30:06.93 – 00:30:12.099
And then I either got God’s law or got married and realized no I’m not that loving after all
Speaker#2:
00:30:12.869 – 00:30:21.569
Right So Paul is saying the law came and I said oh my gosh you’re right I agree I’m persuaded that’s what it is like to love people
Speaker#2:
00:30:23.099 – 00:30:25.54
But I can but I I want to do that
Speaker#2:
00:30:26.239 – 00:30:28.369
but I keep not doing it
Speaker#1:
00:30:29.66 – 00:30:30.56
What do you mean
Speaker#2:
00:30:31.069 – 00:30:33.68
Well sometimes I mean we don’t get into the mechanics of
Speaker#1:
00:30:33.689 – 00:30:34.66
it He just says I find
Speaker#2:
00:30:34.67 – 00:30:46.3
a law that’s working at me If then I do what I do not want to do I agree with the law that it’s good It is good The law is not a curse Jesus didn’t come to save us from the law
Speaker#2:
00:30:47.449 – 00:30:53.969
Get that out of the church once and for all he did not come to save us from the law He came to save us from our
Speaker#1:
00:30:53.979 – 00:30:56.51
condemnation under the law
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00:30:57.189 – 00:31:03.699
He could no more Say that love love defined by God’s word is no longer love So go ahead and murder and
Speaker#2:
00:31:04.599 – 00:31:05.67
et cetera
Speaker#1:
00:31:06.569 – 00:31:07.489
No
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00:31:08.089 – 00:31:13.31
he it was he died to save us from our guilt under the law
Speaker#2:
00:31:13.88 – 00:31:14.68
But he also
Speaker#1:
00:31:14.689 – 00:31:17.989
died to save us from death We always
Speaker#2:
00:31:18.0 – 00:31:19.729
focus on just the
Speaker#1:
00:31:19.739 – 00:31:21.839
condemnation of the law but he also
Speaker#2:
00:31:21.849 – 00:31:24.239
died to save us from death
Speaker#2:
00:31:24.729 – 00:31:47.53
and from the inability to love one another He died to save us from our shame not just our guilt He died to set us free to truly be alive and to know our father he died to tear down that wall of separation so that we can actually come into the very presence of God based on the shed blood of Jesus
Speaker#1:
00:31:47.54 – 00:31:48.29
Christ
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00:31:49.589 – 00:31:57.43
and be born again into a living hope and cry out father daddy that we with unveiled faces can reflect His glory
Speaker#1:
00:31:58.88 – 00:32:10.27
Yeah he died to save us from the guilt of breaking the law But he also died to save us from death For nevertheless death reigned even over those who did not have the law
Speaker#1:
00:32:12.18 – 00:32:16.79
This is my father that they know you in Jesus Christ whom you sent
Speaker#1:
00:32:17.359 – 00:32:25.589
And we always we always get diverted into focusing on did we break the law or did we keep the law father that I might know you
Speaker#1:
00:32:26.52 – 00:32:33.339
and know you and the power of your death and the power of your the fellowship of your sufferings and the power of your
Speaker#2:
00:32:33.349 – 00:32:39.38
resurrection that I may know you May I not boast in anything save the cross of Jesus
Speaker#1:
00:32:39.39 – 00:32:41.54
Christ by which I’ve been crucified
Speaker#2:
00:32:41.55 – 00:32:42.449
to this world
Speaker#2:
00:32:44.089 – 00:32:49.04
All of the righteousness that comes by the law I count as
Speaker#1:
00:32:49.05 – 00:32:55.51
rubbish for the excellency of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord
Speaker#2:
00:32:58.319 – 00:33:10.41
He says but now I know it’s no longer I do it But soon who dwells in me If I know that in me that is in my flesh nothing good dwells for the will is present with me but how to perform What is good I do not find for the good that I will to do I do
Speaker#1:
00:33:10.42 – 00:33:12.42
not do but the evil I do not want to do
Speaker#2:
00:33:12.43 – 00:33:13.64
I do Now if I
Speaker#2:
00:33:13.65 – 00:33:14.589
I do what I do not wanna
Speaker#1:
00:33:14.599 – 00:33:16.709
do it’s he goes on with this for long right
Speaker#2:
00:33:16.77 – 00:33:28.979
It’s no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me I find then a law There’s this is the law He did die to save us from There’s a law that I find
Speaker#2:
00:33:29.27 – 00:33:46.069
in me I find a law that evil is present with me The one who wills to do good for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man But I see another law in my members worry against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin
Speaker#1:
00:33:46.479 – 00:33:48.06
which is in my members
Speaker#2:
00:33:49.579 – 00:33:51.099
This is why
Speaker#2:
00:33:52.25 – 00:33:53.349
there is no
Speaker#1:
00:33:53.359 – 00:33:56.51
way to restore blessing
Speaker#1:
00:33:57.54 – 00:33:58.869
on planet Earth
Speaker#1:
00:34:00.0 – 00:34:01.5
apart from the gospel
Speaker#2:
00:34:03.089 – 00:34:05.26
Because even if the law
Speaker#1:
00:34:05.27 – 00:34:09.939
perfectly defines how we should live and what we should be like
Speaker#1:
00:34:12.33 – 00:34:18.229
it always falls short because man finds no power to fulfill it on his own
Speaker#1:
00:34:19.489 – 00:34:24.31
We don’t find power to love They will know you are Christians by your love
Speaker#1:
00:34:24.939 – 00:34:36.138
by your love For one another empowered to love free to love There’s a law of sin and death that is at work in the members of the flesh
Speaker#1:
00:34:40.189 – 00:34:47.459
And as long as that is at work in human beings there’s no way to change the trajectory
Speaker#1:
00:34:48.37 – 00:34:51.85
of heading life on planet Earth straight to hell
Speaker#1:
00:34:54.79 – 00:35:01.25
because every problem ultimately comes down to how people treat each other
Speaker#1:
00:35:03.449 – 00:35:19.179
Every problem comes down to a transgression of love I can get rich by dumping oil and with the little fines I’m making more money than that anyway if I poison the water supply but we’re getting rich if we let everything burn down to ashes But I got my
Speaker#1:
00:35:19.8 – 00:35:20.61
wealth
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00:35:23.36 – 00:35:24.679
tough cookies Everyone
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00:35:25.639 – 00:35:26.51
man
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00:35:27.639 – 00:35:28.61
is the one
Speaker#1:
00:35:29.199 – 00:35:30.189
that does evil
Speaker#1:
00:35:31.6 – 00:35:35.429
A man doesn’t find power in himself to break out
Speaker#1:
00:35:36.29 – 00:35:50.179
Even when they start to understand what it what does love look like I start to believe I see the word I see the truth I use this thing between my ears I use these eyes I use these ears and I realize oh yeah
Speaker#1:
00:35:50.76 – 00:35:54.489
these things are contrary to love but I keep doing them
Speaker#1:
00:35:55.979 – 00:35:57.03
I’m broken
Speaker#1:
00:35:58.59 – 00:36:01.12
Who will deliver me from this body of death
Speaker#1:
00:36:03.679 – 00:36:08.139
And then the promise is fulfilled The Kingdom of God is at hand
Speaker#1:
00:36:09.969 – 00:36:13.629
The way has been made open repent and believe the Gospel
Speaker#1:
00:36:14.419 – 00:36:19.409
What does it look like Well that we’re going back to the broken No I’m gonna jump down for time’s sake
Speaker#1:
00:36:21.82 – 00:36:29.879
But I will say this the whole world is groaning was subject to bondage subject to futility waiting for deliverance
Speaker#2:
00:36:29.889 – 00:36:31.919
I mean human We say hell we
Speaker#1:
00:36:31.929 – 00:36:40.169
always talk about the eternal destiny heaven or hell heaven or hell is a present reality There’s people living in hell on earth today
Speaker#1:
00:36:40.86 – 00:36:43.8
Their whole life is nothing but a prison in misery and
Speaker#2:
00:36:43.81 – 00:36:52.31
they see no hope and no future They don’t think that they even wonder if they have any value or worth They wonder if they’re even worth loving
Speaker#2:
00:36:53.0 – 00:37:03.679
I mean people are genuinely broken and there has to be healing and there has to be deliverance and there has to be real salvation and hope for this
Speaker#1:
00:37:03.689 – 00:37:04.55
life
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00:37:05.56 – 00:37:07.669
that will be completed in the next
Speaker#1:
00:37:09.909 – 00:37:14.439
So Romans 82 through six tells you what the gospel has brought
Speaker#2:
00:37:15.55 – 00:37:19.639
for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has
Speaker#1:
00:37:19.649 – 00:37:22.52
made me free from the law of sin and death
Speaker#1:
00:37:24.03 – 00:37:25.129
If you let the weight
Speaker#2:
00:37:25.139 – 00:37:26.8
of that sink in
Speaker#2:
00:37:27.61 – 00:37:28.55
Jesus didn’t
Speaker#1:
00:37:28.56 – 00:37:31.32
just die so that we have a home in the heavens
Speaker#1:
00:37:31.949 – 00:37:48.929
in eternity He died to set us free from the law of sin and death Well what is the law of sin and death He just described it I just read it to you the good that I wanna do I don’t do so I find a law that isn’t working me the law of sin and death for the law
Speaker#2:
00:37:48.939 – 00:37:56.8
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death
Speaker#2:
00:37:57.129 – 00:38:11.679
for what the law could not do And that it was weak through the flesh God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin He condemned sin in the flesh
Speaker#2:
00:38:12.709 – 00:38:38.02
Listen to the weight of these words listen to them Let it sink in This is his blessing for us This is his desire not to heap condemnation but to set free to liberate to awaken that seed that is placed in us to be conformed into his image Why did you do this Jesus that the righteous requirement of the law
Speaker#2:
00:38:38.689 – 00:38:42.969
What is the righteous requirement of the law I think it’s self evident right
Speaker#2:
00:38:43.51 – 00:38:53.489
Why that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh But according to the spirit
Speaker#2:
00:38:54.189 – 00:39:08.679
for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh But those who live according to the spirit the things of the spirit for to be carnally minded is death But to be spiritually minded as life and peace
Speaker#2:
00:39:11.219 – 00:39:13.75
If that’s not hope I don’t know what is
Speaker#2:
00:39:14.31 – 00:39:16.229
John says I write these things to you
Speaker#1:
00:39:16.239 – 00:39:17.689
so that you do not sin
Speaker#2:
00:39:18.219 – 00:39:44.79
We we have scrubbed the word of God in the gospel of its power of its transforming power We give lip service to it They will know you are Christians by your love but not heaping condemnation You don’t love good enough No there’s grace there’s power And if you do sin you have an advocate with the father because guilt and shame is the wrong motivator All it does is brings more bondage
Speaker#2:
00:39:45.489 – 00:40:13.429
And so even these scriptures that I’m reading without a proper foundation can heap condemnation on a soul because they don’t have this foundation He loves me and he’s good He’s wiped away all of my sins He knew every mistake that I would make Even before I became a Christian he knew every failure he knew every every thought every deed he knew it all And he loved me and he died for me
Speaker#2:
00:40:14.06 – 00:40:29.439
And I always have access because everything between me and God has been torn down by the blood of Jesus Christ And so if I fall seven times a day the right thing is to get up and run to him not like Adam and Eve and hide from him
Speaker#2:
00:40:30.6 – 00:40:44.939
because I cannot make myself holy and you can’t make yourself holy and you cannot save yourself from your sin And no man can save himself from his own failures and weakness and Brokenness
Speaker#2:
00:40:49.429 – 00:40:50.5
But the gospel
Speaker#1:
00:40:51.56 – 00:40:52.719
But Jesus
Speaker#1:
00:40:56.07 – 00:40:58.05
I saw that there was no man
Speaker#2:
00:41:00.0 – 00:41:00.959
in my own hand
Speaker#1:
00:41:00.969 – 00:41:02.429
brought forth salvation
Speaker#2:
00:41:03.189 – 00:41:06.989
I do it It’s like it’s not just it’s not theoretical
Speaker#2:
00:41:07.56 – 00:41:34.489
He’s not just pie in the sky when you die If you know the false Messianic movements in the world maybe are running rampant because we don’t realize we have a living Messiah a living God a living Lord in the world that’s in Brokenness and pain and in sorrow and suffering If your Gospel doesn’t have hope for today to deal with the real problems that I am facing then
Speaker#1:
00:41:34.5 – 00:41:36.419
let him look for a savior elsewhere
Speaker#1:
00:41:37.139 – 00:41:39.12
But I’ll tell you they won’t find it
Speaker#1:
00:41:40.25 – 00:41:42.79
promising heaven they deliver hell
Speaker#1:
00:41:44.659 – 00:41:46.979
But the church of Jesus Christ
Speaker#1:
00:41:47.489 – 00:41:49.449
we have Jesus
Speaker#2:
00:41:50.179 – 00:41:51.28
and he is able
Speaker#1:
00:41:51.29 – 00:41:54.58
to take our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh
Speaker#2:
00:41:54.739 – 00:41:57.129
He’s able to heal up and bind up
Speaker#1:
00:41:57.139 – 00:41:57.989
every broken
Speaker#2:
00:41:58.0 – 00:42:05.489
heart every offense every hurt every pain every wound everything that people has done
Speaker#2:
00:42:06.159 – 00:42:07.459
that has hurt you
Speaker#2:
00:42:08.54 – 00:42:09.419
because he
Speaker#1:
00:42:09.429 – 00:42:10.78
has forgiven us
Speaker#1:
00:42:12.629 – 00:42:19.429
is a guilt condemnation If you really wanna be forgiven you got to know it’s you have received such grace and such
Speaker#2:
00:42:19.439 – 00:42:25.5
forgiveness that it changes your heart so deeply that you can’t help but to do
Speaker#1:
00:42:25.58 – 00:42:26.54
the same
Speaker#2:
00:42:26.55 – 00:42:28.364
you’ve become a new creator
Speaker#2:
00:42:28.375 – 00:42:39.114
I can’t help but to be make a tree good and its fruit will be good A bad tree cannot bear good fruit and a good tree cannot bear bad fruit Make the tree
Speaker#1:
00:42:39.125 – 00:42:44.12
good How receive Jesus Christ and walk in the spirit
Speaker#1:
00:42:44.8 – 00:42:57.09
What do you mean It means I can receive Jesus Christ but still mind the things of the flesh So and so said this foolish thing against me So and so said that there’s no hope for me I’ve messed up my whole life I don’t see any future
Speaker#2:
00:42:57.52 – 00:42:59.61
Do you see what I mean I’m minding the things of the
Speaker#1:
00:42:59.62 – 00:43:04.8
flesh I’m still listening to the lies and deceits of the enemy I’m letting
Speaker#2:
00:43:04.81 – 00:43:12.139
myself get caught up in the spirit of this age being conformed to this world rather than being transformed
Speaker#1:
00:43:12.149 – 00:43:14.199
through the renewing of my mind
Speaker#2:
00:43:16.649 – 00:43:17.709
But when I really
Speaker#1:
00:43:17.719 – 00:43:22.32
start to lift my eyes to the heavens from where my help comes from
Speaker#1:
00:43:22.979 – 00:43:24.09
I see Jesus
Speaker#2:
00:43:24.1 – 00:43:32.61
the author and perfecter of my faith who died and rose again and ascended into heaven and sent his holy spirit and and he
Speaker#1:
00:43:32.62 – 00:43:39.449
empowers us the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death
Speaker#2:
00:43:40.219 – 00:43:42.149
And so the whole Great commission
Speaker#2:
00:43:42.899 – 00:43:44.86
the whole grade commission
Speaker#2:
00:43:46.129 – 00:43:50.11
is a restoration of that original commission given to Adam and
Speaker#1:
00:43:50.12 – 00:43:52.8
Eve that was lost during the fall
Speaker#2:
00:43:53.179 – 00:43:55.09
I’ve opened the way and you can
Speaker#1:
00:43:55.1 – 00:43:56.37
experience
Speaker#1:
00:43:57.909 – 00:43:58.78
the father
Speaker#1:
00:43:59.429 – 00:44:00.51
and his love
Speaker#1:
00:44:01.37 – 00:44:07.05
in his healing and his mercy and his grace Now go and make disciples
Speaker#1:
00:44:09.129 – 00:44:13.729
There are there’s a world out there and they’re bound up in prisons Now go
Speaker#1:
00:44:14.57 – 00:44:18.08
open prison door set at liberty the cop
Speaker#1:
00:44:19.3 – 00:44:21.29
But that liberty begins
Speaker#1:
00:44:23.31 – 00:44:24.929
with bringing them to the cross
Speaker#1:
00:44:26.239 – 00:44:31.459
because the problem every problem on earth is a problem of sin
Speaker#1:
00:44:33.649 – 00:44:35.1
And there’s only one savor
Speaker#1:
00:44:36.01 – 00:44:41.53
There’s only one deliver there’s only one sancti fier His name is Jesus
Speaker#1:
00:44:42.53 – 00:44:49.25
If God is not able to make us every day more and more loving more and more like him
Speaker#1:
00:44:50.02 – 00:44:51.429
then there would be no hope
Speaker#1:
00:44:52.51 – 00:45:02.199
But he does Many people’s testimony has been I was living one way and didn’t even realize how many lives I was harming and hurting
Speaker#1:
00:45:03.27 – 00:45:09.75
And then Jesus came into my life and now it’s on a completely different journey a different path
Speaker#1:
00:45:10.35 – 00:45:13.459
of mercy and grace and love and service
Speaker#1:
00:45:14.03 – 00:45:16.08
See how much hope
Speaker#1:
00:45:16.81 – 00:45:18.679
God has given us through the gospel
Speaker#1:
00:45:19.56 – 00:45:23.0
It’s hope for the world today on planet earth
Speaker#1:
00:45:23.53 – 00:45:26.159
but it all begins with whom do you worship
Speaker#1:
00:45:27.07 – 00:45:29.719
Do you worship and serve the creature or the creator
Speaker#1:
00:45:30.33 – 00:45:37.5
This is why that first commandment is so powerful and that’s why we sing There’s no other name but the name of Jesus
Speaker#1:
00:45:38.27 – 00:45:41.659
there’s no other name but the name of Jesus
Speaker#1:
00:45:42.8 – 00:45:46.129
All who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved
Speaker#1:
00:45:47.06 – 00:45:56.83
And I don’t mean just I’ll have my free ticket to heaven I mean I can know him today Father daddy I can find my
Speaker#2:
00:45:56.84 – 00:45:59.629
home today I can find
Speaker#1:
00:46:00.159 – 00:46:06.699
purpose and significance and identity and worth I can have healing of all the Brokenness and pain
Speaker#1:
00:46:07.29 – 00:46:08.36
Everything
Speaker#1:
00:46:09.31 – 00:46:10.919
is in Jesus Christ
Speaker#1:
00:46:11.449 – 00:46:29.37
It always has been and he is the only way There’s no other name given to men by which they can be saved But his name is a name by which any who call on his name can be saved can be healed can be delivered There’s no bondage that he cannot break There is no
Speaker#2:
00:46:29.379 – 00:46:34.649
life that he cannot restore There is no problem that he can’t solve
Speaker#2:
00:46:35.53 – 00:46:36.37
But the kingdom
Speaker#1:
00:46:36.379 – 00:46:44.34
grows not by writing laws in Washington DC or taking it It’s salt light and Len
Speaker#1:
00:46:47.28 – 00:46:51.55
because it can’t it can’t you can’t build you can’t
Speaker#1:
00:46:52.889 – 00:47:14.679
extend the boundaries of his kingdom Let’s put it that way in line with the Scriptures The Great Commission the Genesis mandate you can’t extend the boundaries of the garden of paradise through coercion or manipulation or through intimidation It must come as a free will offering of persuasion of transformed lives that as we see him we become like him
Speaker#1:
00:47:15.34 – 00:47:18.36
From faith to faith and glory to glory
Speaker#1:
00:47:19.32 – 00:47:20.85
It’s beautiful isn’t it
Speaker#1:
00:47:21.919 – 00:47:26.649
Oh I I didn’t actually get to what this message was titled yet So we’ll have another one
Speaker#1:
00:47:27.929 – 00:47:28.57
Um
Speaker#1:
00:47:29.669 – 00:47:31.55
Home is where the hardest
Speaker#1:
00:47:32.429 – 00:47:35.61
and it’s out of the heart the rivers of living water flow
Speaker#1:
00:47:36.649 – 00:47:41.959
I will read one scripture But really there’s so so much about cultivating a culture
Speaker#1:
00:47:43.27 – 00:47:48.689
of heaven and I’m throwing a few teasers out since I guess this is what we’ll be talking about next week But
Speaker#1:
00:47:49.62 – 00:47:58.5
the women’s ministry meeting last week I was really touched by some of the people who are new or were literally just new
Speaker#1:
00:47:59.54 – 00:48:05.56
saying man I really I really love what I’ve experienced here People are welcoming and loving and it doesn’t seem click
Speaker#1:
00:48:06.58 – 00:48:08.479
That’s part of a culture of heaven
Speaker#1:
00:48:10.429 – 00:48:11.409
and and and no
Speaker#2:
00:48:11.419 – 00:48:12.33
matter how good
Speaker#1:
00:48:12.34 – 00:48:18.159
you are or your family is or your church is the culture of heaven can grow more and more every day
Speaker#1:
00:48:19.679 – 00:48:26.469
talk about that more next week But I will also say we also need to know how to put in antivirus software
Speaker#1:
00:48:27.679 – 00:48:31.34
because it is a spiritual war and offenses will come
Speaker#1:
00:48:33.56 – 00:48:36.229
and it’s better to already have
Speaker#1:
00:48:36.919 – 00:48:44.27
a strategy before offenses come to love to forgive to be peacemakers
Speaker#1:
00:48:45.03 – 00:48:47.889
because the the tactics of the devil are not new
Speaker#1:
00:48:48.629 – 00:48:57.87
One Person offended at another A click hurt feelings I mean these things and it’s like spiritual warfare 101 But you have to have a strategy
Speaker#1:
00:48:58.659 – 00:49:03.469
Love Like one of those strategies is love gives expecting nothing in return
Speaker#1:
00:49:04.8 – 00:49:08.28
Love serves with just a heart
Speaker#1:
00:49:08.83 – 00:49:10.139
to please our father
Speaker#1:
00:49:10.87 – 00:49:16.87
are your whole life Success is bound up in one thing well done good and faithful servant
Speaker#1:
00:49:17.739 – 00:49:30.0
We make it our aim in life to be well pleasing to him There’s so many things about cultivating a culture of heaven that I want to talk about because I culture of heaven authoritarianism doesn’t exist
Speaker#1:
00:49:30.62 – 00:49:35.649
but the problem But also let’s say clicks and divisions did what rise up
Speaker#1:
00:49:36.459 – 00:49:42.969
The people involved are not devils they’re they’re fellow saints and citizens of heaven
Speaker#1:
00:49:43.639 – 00:49:51.429
Do you see where I’m going We overcome not by demonization and dehumanization We overcome through mercy and grace
Speaker#1:
00:49:53.04 – 00:50:06.02
not making I mean it’s exciting just when I’m talking about this because you know so many people have a need for importance need for significance need to be recognized need to be loved We are so darn needy
Speaker#1:
00:50:07.53 – 00:50:08.75
because we’re broken
Speaker#1:
00:50:09.899 – 00:50:12.489
Well Christian shouldn’t be that way
Speaker#1:
00:50:14.07 – 00:50:15.04
We’re broken
Speaker#1:
00:50:16.29 – 00:50:19.379
And the goal is how do we create healing community
Speaker#1:
00:50:20.419 – 00:50:23.129
where broken people become more like Jesus
Speaker#1:
00:50:24.439 – 00:50:31.52
by condemning them No that doesn’t do it by shaming them and guilting them and coercing them Yeah that’s a good not bad strategy
Speaker#1:
00:50:32.58 – 00:50:34.34
bearing with one another
Speaker#1:
00:50:35.209 – 00:50:40.53
Patience mercy grace cultivating heaven
Speaker#1:
00:50:41.379 – 00:50:47.02
I talk with people about it all week I said imagine I said the word of God is like tons of seed
Speaker#1:
00:50:48.459 – 00:50:57.689
Each revelation is like a seed that grows something new and wonderful and beautiful If all you had was grass seed in the world and you so the whole world with grass seed it would be pretty bleak
Speaker#1:
00:50:58.34 – 00:51:01.1
with only one kind of plant on the earth Grass
Speaker#1:
00:51:02.37 – 00:51:05.719
The word of God and the gift of God and his people
Speaker#1:
00:51:07.149 – 00:51:08.32
our seeds
Speaker#1:
00:51:09.189 – 00:51:12.26
that create a garden of beauty
Speaker#1:
00:51:12.879 – 00:51:13.909
and wonder
Speaker#1:
00:51:15.08 – 00:51:23.09
And there’s always new seed It’s the seed has always been in the word but it awake we can awaken dormant seeds
Speaker#1:
00:51:23.689 – 00:51:44.36
you know talk to people people falling away from the faith They’ve fallen away from Christ I don’t even I thought they were my brothers and sisters in Christ and now they’re so far from him No they were but they’re prisoners of war The war is real So are they better be better or worse state than the unbeliever The seed is there It’s dormant awake
Speaker#1:
00:51:45.01 – 00:51:46.629
It can be reawakened
Speaker#1:
00:51:47.719 – 00:51:51.11
with a little bit of water right Chuck
Speaker#1:
00:51:52.699 – 00:51:54.11
It will grow again
Speaker#1:
00:51:55.429 – 00:51:58.02
with light and water it will grow again
Speaker#1:
00:51:58.889 – 00:52:01.159
There is a shoot from the stump of Jesse
Speaker#1:
00:52:02.979 – 00:52:04.919
The tree is gone the tree of
Speaker#2:
00:52:04.929 – 00:52:07.02
your life has been cut off There’s no
Speaker#1:
00:52:07.03 – 00:52:08.04
more hope
Speaker#1:
00:52:08.76 – 00:52:10.34
Funny thing about life
Speaker#1:
00:52:10.85 – 00:52:13.979
There’s a shoot from the stump of Jesse
Speaker#1:
00:52:14.649 – 00:52:22.879
He’s the God of resurrection He’s the God of divine turnaround He’s the God of healing He is the God of deliverance
Speaker#1:
00:52:24.03 – 00:52:26.09
though they were dead
Speaker#1:
00:52:27.03 – 00:52:28.36
Yet they will live again
Speaker#1:
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What situation can our God not save
Speaker#1:
00:52:35.629 – 00:52:37.729
What life can he not save
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00:52:38.36 – 00:52:40.03
What life can he not heal
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00:52:41.81 – 00:52:44.37
It’s all because of what Christ did for us at the cross
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00:52:45.53 – 00:52:50.57
And if that doesn’t make us just worship him and praise him and adore him
Speaker#1:
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and long to see other people know him
Speaker#1:
00:52:55.78 – 00:52:58.55
then the answer is taste and see that the Lord is good
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because guilting us If we’re not good enough doesn’t make us good enough
Speaker#1:
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taste and see
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Lord I want to know you
Speaker#1:
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Lord Open our eyes to see the height and depth and the width and breadth of the love of God in Jesus Christ open our eyes to see your incredible love for us
Speaker#2:
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God open our hearts to your love open our hearts to receive every blessing
Speaker#1:
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You want to bless us with
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Lord help us not to reject your blessings and call
Speaker#1:
00:53:31.37 – 00:53:34.139
your blessings a curse God and open up our
Speaker#2:
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hearts mostly to your love and your mercy and your grace Let us experience it let us see it let us know it let us perceive it
Speaker#1:
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and reproduce it Lord Lord
Speaker#2:
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we just invite you to just reproduce
Speaker#1:
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your life in us
Speaker#1:
00:53:50.6 – 00:53:53.379
Let your love let your spirit rule in us
Speaker#2:
00:53:53.389 – 00:53:57.37
Train us to walk in the spirit train us to set our
Speaker#1:
00:53:57.379 – 00:53:58.33
minds
Speaker#1:
00:53:59.32 – 00:54:00.79
On spiritual things
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so that love would reign
Speaker#1:
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and rivers of living water will flow and bring healing to the nations
Speaker#1:
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in Jesus Mighty name
Speaker#1:
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Amen