IDENTITY OF THE CHURCH – YOU ARE PREDESTINED TO ADAOPTION PART 3

These are the words of the Apostle Paul to the saints in Ephesus.

“5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He [a]made us accepted in the Beloved.”  (Ephesians 1:5-6)

Before the foundation of the world, God, in His infinite mind, planned for the church to exist. The church was predestined to be occupied by individuals who will obey the Gospel. In the physical sense it would be like a man designing plans for a “building” with intention of filling it for some specific purpose. The building by itself is just a building – until occupied. What is inside defines what name is on the building.  Let me explain:

In the 1900’s a man named William Isaly designed a building and had it built in Mansfield, Ohio
He then filled the building with Ice-cream products and Isley’s was born.

Years passed and Isley’s went out of business and the same building became Austin’s Outlet Store. 

Again Mr. Austin passed and the building was purchased by Barberton Check Cashing. 

Again, that business closed and the building became Redline Train and Hobbies. . .

Then after they closed up, Billy Bob bought it. . .

Finally, Billy Bob retired, and the Fellowship Community church purchased the building.

God is the original designer for His church, and had a purpose for the building before the building existed and listen, God’s building the church, is eternal, for it exists now, and is the only thing that will be delivered up to Heaven to the Father when the end of the physical comes as Paul wrote, “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.”   (1 Corinthians 15:24). God the Father is eternal and He therefore, never dies as we read what John wrote, “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8).

Who was and is and is to come means He is eternal…

THE MIND OF CHRIST PART 2 “UNITY”

To begin our study we will consider some of the attitudes which are necessary for unity. Therefore, as we seek to know the mind of Christ, let’s consider attitudes Necessary for Unity. 

We will begin with Lowliness of mind, then finnish up with unselfishness, …

“YOU ARE THE CHOSEN”

The title of our lesson today is “You are the Chosen”. We learned in our first lesson that our LORD called us saints, not because we performed some miracle, or because we are especially talented, not because of anything to “deserve” sainthood, but because we obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ, and were baptized into His body, the church.

Let’s begin our study in the 3rd verse, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”  (Eph. 1:3)…

TO WHOM SHALL WE GO
In seeking to know the mind of Christ, we have begun a journey! Together we will travel through the gospels learning along the way what we can about our Lord, and Savior. About His humanity, his interaction with man, how Jesus handled the approaches of sinners, and how He used scripture to answer their often-foolish questions. How, many with good and honest hearts came to Jesus for wisdom, for healing, for comfort and chose to become His disciples.
On this journey, we will learn of His compassion, His power, His love!

To know the mind of God, means that we have received the message directly from God, and that message came into the world, out of the love of God, to be our redemption, Savior and Friend.

What a better place to begin, than in the gospel account of John…

YOU ARE SAINTS

Webster defines the word “identity” simply as, “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual”. We all have an identity such that when someone talks about us, the hearer quickly recognizes the person being spoken of. You remember him, he’s 71 years old, he preaches the gospel at the Columbus Street Church of Christ, his wife’s name is Sharon, and they have three children. . .

We’ve all heard of the “Witness Protection” program. Where a person testifies against another in a court of law and the authorities give them a new “Identity”. New name, new SS number, and often times even a new background, so that for all intense and purpose the “Old Person”, no longer exists.
Much like what happens when one obeys the gospel. “3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:3-4)

WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU?

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

The question asked by the prophet Micah so many years ago suggests that the LORD requires certain thins of His people.
We who love the word of the Lord, we who love Him because He first loved us have the desire to please Him.
We want to do all that He commands us to do.
This verse may contain the most comprehensive and all-embracing statements from the old testament, asking and then answering “What does the LORD require of you?”

Join me as we pull thoughts from the mind of God through the scriptures on this subject. 

LET US GOD ON TO PERFECTION

Have you ever run up the down escalator? Trying to walk up the down escalator is dangerous, and exhausting.
Spiritually brothers and sisters, living a faithful, obedient life in Christ in this world, is like being on an escalator going down, all the time you need to go up.
This world is going downward, we are striving to go upward. It is a challenge, but with God on our side (Rom. 8:31), it is also attainable.

To the Hebrews a warning was written, “1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits.” (Heb. 6:1-3)

There in the first verse you see the words, let us go on to perfection. This in context is a warning for every Christian to press on to spiritual maturity.

We must not think of spiritual maturity as a state of sinlessness because it is not.
The goal of every child of God in striving for completeness, is to serve God through obedient love, to love the body of Christ (Col. 1:18) and to keep His commandments (John 14:15).

Let’s spend some time studying these great things…

PRECIOUS THINGS

In this lesson I want to express my understanding of a few, from the many, precious things found in the Bible.

So that we don’t “misuse” the word let us begin with a definition of the word “Precious”…

τίμιος

properly, held as of great price.
metaphorically, held in honor, esteemed, especially dear:
Hebrews 13:4; τίνι, to one, Acts 5:34; Acts 20:24

We will look at these precious things: Precious Word, precious Christ, precious blood of Christ, and precious Faith…

THINGS PEOPLE WISH TO BELIEVE

I wish, I wish, I had a billion dollars! A Japanese company called Softbank promised to invest 1 billion dollars in the U.S. in 2025 for tech company growth, and to add 100,000 jobs. I daydreamed for about 1 minute. What could I do with that kind of money? How many more people could I reach for the sake of the gospel? How many people could be helped? Then reality set in and I know that was not going to happen. 

It’s ok to dream, to invision, and sometimes our dream becomes a reality. In context of the faith, many people dream for things that are not from faith that ends up creating a “false religious practice”. Like, “I dream of a church with thousands of members, light shows, great music and programs for every age. Fellowship halls, preschools, day care, zoomba classes and a family life center complete with pools, basketball, and weight-rooms. 

Problem: If you dream hard enough all that will come to pass, but at what cost. The church we read about in the word of God, our standard for authority, paints a completely different “church”. A local church whose purpose is to evangelize, edify, and care for the saints of God, and not for food, fun, and fellowship. Not for entertainment, not for filling the belly, but for filling the soul with the bread of life, Jesus. 

In this lesson, we’ll consider 6 things that people wish were true, that are not. Six things that people have inserted into “their church practice”, which do not please God. 

A FATHER’S ADMONITION

“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.” 1 Chronicles 28:9

In this text, we have David, as king of Israel, giving 5 points of advice to embolden his son, Solomon, who will soon take over the leadership of the nation of Israel.
1. KNOW GOD
2. SERVE GOD
3. REMEMBER THE LORD SEARCHES ALL HEARTS
4. SEEK THE LORD
5. IF YOU FORSAKE THE LORD – HE WILL CAST YOU OFF FOREVER

Let’s notice what this ancient father had to say to his son, and make application to ourselves…