The Mystery of Human Life / More in ’24 (January 7, 2024)

Sermon Outline for Sunday, January 7, 2024

Pastor Andy Lambert

PASSAGES: Romans 8:29; 2 Peter 1:4; Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 1:4; Ephesians 4:24; 1 Corinthians 15:49–54; Philippians 3:21; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 3:2–3; Genesis 1:26; 2 Corinthians 4:7; Romans 9:21–24; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; John 4:24; Ephesians 5:18; Proverbs 23:20; Romans 5:12; Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 1:21; Genesis 6:3; Romans 6:12; John 1:1; John 1:14; Ephesians 1:7; John 1:29; Ephesians 2:13; 1 Corinthians 15:45; John 20:22; John 3:6; 1 Peter 1:3; John 3:3; Acts 20:21; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 5:17; Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:12; Philippians 3:12–4:1

Have you ever wondered why you are living in this world? What is your purpose in living this life? Are you doing everything to the potential that God has for your life?

There are six keys that unlock this Mystery of Human Life:

God’s Plan

Romans 8:29 ~ “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

God desires to express Himself through man. For this purpose, He created man in His image, people who mirror Christ’s character and conduct. This verse is often abused and misused. If the pure logic of philosophy and theology are applied, then the passage says that God chooses some for heaven and some for hell. But this is simply not the meaning God intends for this pass. What God wants believers to do is to take heart, for God has assured their salvation.

God knows the suffering that believers will go through on a daily basis, He did “foreknow” even before the foundation of the world. But no matter how great the suffering, no matter how great the opposition, no matter how great the struggle, God is going to complete His purpose for believers that TRUST IN HIM!

Believers will be conformed of the image of God’s dear Son:

• Conformed – means the very same form or likeness as Christ. Within our nature – our being, our person – we shall be made just like Christ.
• Image – means a given likeness. The image of Christ is not something which believers merit or for which they work; it is not an image that comes from their own nature or character.
• To be conformed to the image of God’s Son means …
  • 2 Peter 1:4 – to become a partaker of the divine nature
  • Ephesians 1:5 – to be adopted as a son of God
  • Ephesians 1:4; 4:24 – to be holy and without blame before Him
  • 1 Corinthians 15:49-54 – to bear the image of the heavenly: which is an incorruptible, immortal body
  • Philippians 3:21 – to have one’s body fashioned just like His glorious body
  • 2 Corinthians 3:18 – to be changed into the same image of the Lord
  • 1 John 3:2-3 – to be recreated just like Him

Genesis 1:26 ~ “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.””

Just as a glove is made in the image of a hand to contain a hand, so also man is made in the image of God to contain God, living inside and though us. By receiving God as his content, man can express God.

2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

This treasure is the knowledge of God experienced through Christ; only through Jesus do we have access to this knowledge and the closer you get to Jesus the more of God you experience.

Man

Romans 9:21-24 ~ “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?”

To fulfil His plan, God made man as a vessel. This vessel has three parts: body, soul, and spirit.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 ~ “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The body contacts and receives the things of the physical realm. The soul, the mental faculty, contacts and receives the things of the psychological realm. And the human spirit, the innermost part of man, was made to contact and receive God Himself.

John 4:24 ~ “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.””

Note the change in worship: “The hour cometh, and now is …” in verse 23. Christ changed worship. Before Christ, men worshipped God in special places, for example, in temples and before altars. Since Christ, place and locality mean nothing. Christ has opened the door into God’s presence from anyplace in the universe.

Note the nature of worship. Man is to worship God in spirit and in truth.

• To worship God in spirit means to worship God …
  • with the spiritual drive and ability of one’s soul, seeking the most intimate communion and fellowship with God
  • with the spiritual core of one’s life and being, trusting and resting in God’s acceptance and love and care
• To worship God in truth means …
  • to approach God in the right or true way. There is only one way, through His Son Jesus Christ
  • to worship God sincerely and truthfully, not coming halfheartedly with wandering mind and sleepy eyes

Man was created not merely to contain food in his stomach, or to contain knowledge in his mind, but to contain God in his spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 ~ “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,”

This word debauchery means excessive behavior and in the Greek means …

• the dissipation and wasting away of the body
• uncontrolled behavior
• rioting, debauchery, wild and outrageous behavior and conduct

Proverbs 23:20 ~ “Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat,”

** You can also look at Isaiah 5:22; Luke 21:34; and Romans 13:13

These verses and others like these show us that God starts to work on the INSIDE and works to the OUTSIDE. The Holy Spirit begins working on the spirit of man (inner most part) and works through the soul of man (the mind) and continues working on the body of man (physical).

Man’s Fall

Before man could receive God as life into his spirit, sin entered in him.

Romans 5:12 ~ “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—”

Sin deadened his spirit …

Ephesians 2:1 ~ “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”

… made him an enemy of God in his mind …

Colossians 1:21 ~ “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,”

… and transmuted his body into sinful flesh.

Genesis 6:3 ~ “Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.””

 

Romans 6:12 ~ “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.”

Thus, sin damaged all three parts of man (body, soul, and spirit), alienating him from God. In this condition, man could not receive God.

Christ’s Redemption for God’s Dispensing

Man’s fall did not deter God from fulfilling His original plan. In order to accomplish His plan, God first became a man called Jesus Christ.

John 1:1 ~ “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

 

John 1:14 ~ “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Then Christ died on the cross to redeem man …

Ephesians 1:7 ~ “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”

… thus taking away his sin …

John 1:29 ~ “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

… and bringing him back to God.

Ephesians 2:13 ~ “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Finally, in resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit …

1 Corinthians 15:45 ~ “Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

… so that He could dispense His unsearchable rich life into man’s spirit.

John 20:22 ~ “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

 

John 3:6 ~ “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Man’s Regeneration

Since Christ has become the life-giving Spirit, man can now receive God’s life into his spirit. The Bible calls this regeneration.

1 Peter 1:3 ~ “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

 

John 3:3 ~ “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.””

To receive this life, man needs to repent to God and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 20:21 ~ “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

Acts 16:31 ~ “And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.””

One thing we see about Man’s Regeneration and the way Paul taught … Paul taught the whole gospel, plainly and simply. He kept nothing back. He didn’t tiptoe around the gospel. The whole truth was proclaimed and taught. Paul taught so plainly and simply it was like showing the truth, painting it before the very eyes of the people. He didn’t use flowery speech and big words. He spoke simply on the level of the people.

God’s Full Salvation

Do you want to know the Mystery of Human Life? God’s Full Plan of Salvation unfolds this mystery.

After regeneration, God begins the lifelong process of gradually spreading Himself as life from the believers spirit into his soul.

Ephesians 5:17 ~ “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

This process called transformation …

Romans 12:2 ~ “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

… requires human cooperation.

Philippians 2:12 ~ “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,”

The believer cooperates by allowing the Lord to spread into his soul until all his desires, thoughts, and decisions become one with those of Christ. Finally, at Christ’s return, God will fully saturate the believer’s body with His life. This is called glorification.

Philippians 3:21 ~ “who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

God’s plan of salvation, covers the whole body, spirit and soul of man. The Mystery of Human Life can only be discovered by following God’s Full Plan of Salvation until the end; allowing God to fully fill and saturate man’s life.

Pastor Andy Lambert ~ pastorandy@cvcog.church

Call/Text: 205.642.8744 ext 101