The REAL Reason Why Jesus Died For You!

But this is kindness. But this is kindness. And this is to the glory of His grace. And this is His intent. His intent is kind, and He’s working out His plan, and this is the administration of His plan, the working out of it. Okay, I’m picking all of these up so you may once more appreciate the God who acted before He acted. Let me see if I have any more marked in these three chapters. I think I found one more over here. This is really interesting. Boy, these things get so interesting.

I want to talk to you for just a second about Paul, and to anybody in this room whoever thinks they’re going to work for the Lord or serve the Lord’s people. I think that in every letter that Paul starts off, he starts off with grace and peace, does he not? To the churches: grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this man is absolutely drunk on grace. And you should never get to know a worker very well unless he’s drunk on grace, because he can really hurt you—if he is a legalist, and Paul is just driven by God’s grace, that’s—that it’s the grace of God, it’s the grace of God, and it’s the grace of God. It’s the grace of God, and it’s the grace of God, and may you have grace in that church, may that church have grace, and in that grace have peace. These are not just superficial words he’s throwing out. The man is absolutely saturated with grace.

Now, the last passage I’m going to mention to you here is, not only does God have grace, but because grace is so unnatural to fallen man, because grace is…because it’s so much easier, easier to be religious. I’m using my imagination here; I hope I don’t throw you off. It’s like you have this sacred room where grace dwells, and there are keepers of grace; those who make sure that nothing touches grace and turns it into law. There are those who take the fire in this holy place, the fire of grace, and go out and give it away, and make sure that in a world of law and legalism, Paul says in chapter 3, I have been made a steward of grace. He’s walking out in the midst of Israel and its laws, and he’s walking out into a world where people are slaughtering animals to appease their gods. He’s walking out as the one who’s carrying this holy, sacred thing, this rare, precious thing called grace. He is one who is walking along with this purpose that’s being worked out through the ages.

Now, all of that was just to remind you of what it was like before God acted. A God rich; rich in what? Rich in riches. Rich in grace. Rich in mercy. Rich in kindness. Rich in the glory of grace. Rich in glory, and then He decided that He wanted to do something. Now, will you come back with me to chapter 1 and watch Him seek to take you on this pilgrimage through this plan of God’s? Perhaps you have never noticed this in verse 4. Can you look at the word “just”? Look at the word “just”. That sort of starts it. Just as He chose you, just as He predestined you, and then He stops with His anthems of praise. Then, in verse 7, he takes us to redemption and tells us that redemption has been lavishly poured out upon us.

Then He tells us something else about what’s moving along in this marvelous plan: to make known the mystery. I want you to look at verse 10, where He says that all this is pointing in that direction. Can you follow me? It says, “to a view,” toward a view, toward a place out there somewhere, toward something. All that I have listed up until… “With a view” is in verse 10, and everything previous to verse 10 is working toward something out there. So, he thinks about what’s out there. Everything’s working toward that. Then he stops and says, “Wait a minute, that’s not all it’s working toward”, and we’re coming back to all these balls he’s juggling here. Look at the next verse. It says “also.” He just remembered that there was something else that it was working out toward. With a view toward, and also with a view toward, is verse 7. Are you following me? And then He says, and when you get past the things He’s done that move—have a view toward—and also another view toward, and then He says, “with an end.”

Now look at the end: we will be the praise of His glory. Well, Paul can’t write. The man absolutely does not know what he’s doing. He’s presented to us many things that God has done, which he says are working toward, and then he says, “Oh, also.” And then he says, and the ultimate thing out there is—what verse is that? Verse 12? Alright. The ultimate end out there is…you’d think He’d quit, wouldn’t you? Well, now, look at verse 14, with a view toward. So, we have another thing that is working out in His purpose. I’m seeing God’s purpose begin is counseled with His will, and this happens, and this happens, and this happens toward that, and this happens, and this happens toward that, and this happens toward an end, and also this is happening with a view toward. So, you find a purpose and a plan of God that is strewn with many, many riches, all moving toward something out there.

Now then, dear, dear, dear brother Paul said, all these things are working toward—and that you might be a praise to His glory. You think, please, Paul, rest there. We’re full. We can’t handle any more, and then Paul indicates, when he says in verse 10, “with a view toward,” and when I read 10, I say wait a minute, Paul—it’s not only the end being that we are praised to His glory. The end has got to be, verse 10, the summing up of all things in Christ. Would you not agree with me? Toward the view, ultimately, that which is the summing up of all things in Christ.

Brothers and sisters, I just want to take one more moment and say to you that after He counseled Himself, and He saw that great purpose of His unroll like some great carpet that literally moves across the galaxies and across the universe and space and time and the heavenlies, then He began to work. And what He first did was to choose you…a church. Choose you…a church. Marked you off in Jesus Christ and made sure that you would be blameless. You—the church—blameless and holy. You: corporate. I don’t want to go too far with this. Just remember: you corporate, would you? He predestined you corporate. He made sure that you, corporate, would be holy, and that you, corporate, would not be blamed. This is the work of God. You are holy, and you are without blame, and you were in love, chosen, predetermined, predestined—you as a corporate you—before the foundation of the world, and He did it because He loved you. It was out of the riches of His love that He loved you. He’s doing all of this out of the riches of the mercies of the glory of His grace, which is filled with kind intentions. And so, He worked, and this is what He accomplished.

Now, I’d like to add one more word to this. It’s hard to convince Christians that they are holy. Did you know that? Margaret, how long have I been trying to convince you you’re holy? A long time. How am I doing? How am I doing, Margaret? Why can I not do any better than that, Margaret? Can you tell me? Why is it just so-so? I just don’t believe it sometimes. That’s right. Therefore, we have to be reminded, and I am a steward of the grace. No, you don’t tell somebody they’re holy one time and walk away. Brothers and sisters, I’m not the only one who’s a steward of grace. You have got to minister to one another that you are holy. You’ve got to minister to one another that you are blameless. ..as a people. Brother Randy, this is a continuing ministry in the body of Christ, that we are filled with grace, and we are blameless, and we are holy. Now I’m going to try to do that one more time because I happen to be a steward of His grace.

Let me ask you a Question. Is Jesus Christ holy? Is He blameless? Maybe this thought had never crossed your mind. Did you ever notice that Jesus Christ did not have a sister? But let’s pretend for a moment that he did have a sister, okay? A sister. Do you figure she’d be holy and blameless? Any questions about that? As holy as He is, and blameless as He is? Would you agree with that? If Jesus Christ had a sister, she would be holy and blameless. Anybody want to mull on that a minute or question it, or disagree with it? Could He have a sister who is not holy and blameless? I mean, like God gave birth not to a Son, but to a Son and a daughter. And He had a daughter. Yeah. And He had a sister. Yeah. Absolutely. There’d be no difference.

Well, the very first thing God did when He marked you off in Christ was to make you His daughter. Praise the Lord. Praise to the glory of His grace. I didn’t make that up. It’s in the Book. The first thing He did was to make sure that we were sons and daughters. So, if He’s blameless and His sister’s blameless, His sister had to be fathered by God, and you have been fathered by God, and I’m telling you that girl is blameless and she is holy.

Now, exhort one another with these things. Listen, I’m trying to build a foundation in Constance a little better than most foundations. I expect you to exhort one another and remind one another. And I expect that when I leave here, you will come back, and you will bring these things to the Lord. You tell one another these things, and you establish your mind here and no place else. You understand? Daniel, wake up. Michael, are you hearing me? I don’t want you to start the way Chicago started.  I want you to start with the ultimate riches of Jesus Christ and pass them around to one another. I don’t want you to put your thoughts down here; neither does the Lord.  Look, Paul is writing to a church he’s never seen, and by the way, I might have to agree with Brother Peter. Man, there must have been some groundwork laid for this chapter because this is absolutely incredible.