Kevin Dibbley - October 29, 2023
"Heirs Together"
One of the great comforts to Christians down through the ages has been the promise of heaven. Even the apostle Paul says that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). Having a rock-solid confidence that your future is secure in the hands of God changes everything. Even more so, having a deep assurance that you yourself will persevere to the end is a great comfort when we are shaken not simply by the world’s uncertainty but by our own instability. Life rattles us. We are often surprised not only by how evil the world is but by how weak and vulnerable we are as Christians. In Ephesians, the apostle Paul calls Christians of varying backgrounds, both Jews and Gentiles, to work together. We need each other. We are to stand together. We are to pray together. We must persevere together. Paul reminds us in this passage that we have a common eternal destiny. We have a common God-given identity. This message is taken from Ephesians 1:11-14 and it is entitled, “Heirs Together". If you want to be encouraged and if you want to be encouraging, come and worship together. Let’s be the church together. We need it. God commands it.
Scripture References: Ephesians 1:11-14
From Series: "Ephesians: One In Christ"
We are beginning a sermon series focusing upon the New Testament letter of Ephesians. Our series is called “One in Christ”. In Japan, there is a form of artwork called Kintsugi art. Kin means gold. Tsugi means to mend. In Kintsugi art, an artist will take, for example, a piece of ceramic teaware that has been broken during an earthquake or something like that. Instead of repairing it to make it look like the original plate or teacup, the artist will instead use Japanese lacquer and gold to actually highlight the fractures. Out of the broken vessel comes a brand new piece that is considered more beautiful and more valuable than the original. The apostle Paul teaches in Ephesians that God in Christ has chosen to take our lives broken and alienated from God and each other by sin and make one new community. John Stott writes “Through Christ and in Christ, we are nothing less than God’s new society, the single new humanity which he is creating and includes Jews and Gentiles on equal terms. We are the family of God the Father, the body of Jesus Christ his Son, and the temple and dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.” Our hope and prayer is that over the next several months, we would get a vision of the church as God’s new creation, His masterpiece, which is just the beginning of what God intends to do throughout all eternity and throughout the entire heavens and on earth. Out of his brokenness, we become one. Pray that together we would become in real relationships what we are in positionally through the gospel – One in Christ.
