Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
January 6, 2002 p.m.
Power For Our Spiritual Excellence
Reading - Ephesians 3.14-21
Perhaps the most exciting, the most thought provoking passage in all the Old Testament is found in Genesis 1.26-27... And God said... Let us make man in our own image after our own likeness. So, God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him; both male and female.
Do you have any idea tonight what that means... To be made in God's image? God is omnipotent. Made in His likeness means we have His power within. No, I am not saying we are omnipotent... all powerful, but we do have some power. I believe, just how much power can be seen in a companion scripture in Genesis chapter 11.6. In the Tower of Babel narrative, God is found saying... If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this... Then nothing they IMAGINE... Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. This verse tells us that we are able to do whatsoever we can imagine... Whatever we make up our mind to do. You see, the truth is we limit ourselves much more than God has limited us. Our limits are controlled... More by our lack of imagination and faith... Than by limits of creation.
Look at some of man's more unbelievable accomplishments. When I was in high school chemistry, they told us that all matter was made of atoms. An atom consists of protons, neutrons and electrons. We were taught that the atom was the smallest unit known to man... That you couldn't divide it down into smaller units. Today we are able to divide that atom and create unimaginable amounts of energy. We use the concept...
- For heating our homes...
- For powering ships...
- And even in healing the human body.
Who would have dreamed of these modern medical advances a few years ago...
- Open heart surgery... mechanical hearts.
- Bone growth and regeneration
- Kidney... liver and lung transplants
- And we're only scratching the surface of possibilities.
Look at space travel. It was only a hundred years ago that Wilbur and Orville Wright flew the first airplane on the outer banks of New Jersey for less than 30 seconds. Today, we travel around the world on modern jet airliners carrying hundreds of passengers. We have been to the moon... Sent space probes to planets and beyond into cyberspace.
Of course we're not gathered here to talk about man's...
- Scientific...
- Political...
- Or social accomplishments and power, but rather about our OWN spiritual possibilities. We are here to discuss the spiritual power within.
Let's notice some more scriptures which affirm this power... The power to become the people and person that God has called us to be. Paul wrote to the church at Philippi and said... I can do all things... All things... Through Him ... Through Jesus Christ... Who gives me my strength. Then Verse 19... And God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches (available where?)... In Jesus Christ.
Then in the gospel of John 1.12... To all who received Him... (that is Christ)... To them who believed in His name - He gives the right... (King James says the POWER) to become children
of God... Children born not of natural ability, natural descent, nor of human power, human will... but born of God. The word translated Power here by the King James translators... The Greek is ex-oo-see-ah... It means...
- Ability...
- Capacity...
- Ability...
- It has a connotation of being super human power... The word speaks of a POWER that is not normally within man's ability.. The King James translators render this word power....Authority.... Right... Liberty... and Strength in other passages of scripture.
Then note our text... Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or even imagine according to His power... (God's power)... That is at work within us. OK... Who has this spiritual power within? Look at verse 18... ALL THE SAINTS... That includes us here tonight... You!! Me!!... All those who have born again... Born from above.
Another scripture is 2 Peter 1.3... Listen... His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
You see God has given us the power to become who and what He wants us to be... Both individually and corporately... as a church... as a body of believers.
- Power to become His children.
- Power to do all things through Jesus who gives us our strength.
- Power to fulfill our commitments to Him
- Power for our pursuit of spiritual excellence.
Here it is... Are YOU and I the person... Are WE the people God asks us to be? Whose fault is it if we're not?... It is our own... Because the power is available! We are created free moral agents. We are what we want to be. We will be WHO & WHAT we WILL to be. Who do you will to be?... God's person... Or somebody else. The decision is up to each of us... And no one else's. You see... God has placed the power to become in each of us.
Now... In the way of application... How can we become the people and person God wants us to be? We need some practical suggestions...
First... We must dare to dream... We must make some plans... Set some goals. Do you remember what Paul says in Philippians 3.14???... I press toward the goal. Question... Do you have a life goal? If I gave you a pencil and paper and asked you to write down your life's goal, could you do it? How long would it take? Someone said... If it takes more than ten seconds for us to begin writing, we don't have a predetermined goal.
Church... Goal-setting is a Bible concept... Did you know that? Scripture tells us that God is a goal setting God... In Ephesians 3.11 Paul speaks of God's eternal purpose. You see, from the very beginning, from mankind's first sin... God set a goal of salvation through His son Jesus Christ. We catch the first glimpse of God's goal in Genesis 3.15... I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. Even the casual Bible student understands that this scripture is a direct reference to Jesus' coming and His death on the cross.
Galatians 4.4 says... When the time was right... In the fullness of time... God sent His son. You see... God had a goal in mind. In Matthew 16... Jesus said... I will build my church... What are you doing Jesus?... I am working my Father's plan... His dream... His goal... Don't you know I must be about my Father's business.... In fact, I came to do the will of the Father who sent Me. Folk... Jesus came into this world with a dream... A goal... A Plan.
Perhaps our greatest problem ... The one that keeps us from becoming God's people... and drowns us in mediocrity is that we have no dream...no plan... no preset spiritual goals. Why are we goal setting people in all other areas of our lives... Except in the spiritual realm? Do we have a plan to...
-Do more?...
-Pray more?...
-Study the Bible more?...
-Give more?...
-Serve more?... Visit more... Care for the sick... The dying... The lost MORE??? Church... We are not going to do, or become, anymore than we have planned for. Isn't it time?... Isn't this new year a good time to establish some preset spiritual goals.
Sometimes we don't set any goals simply because the task before us is too overwhelming. This brings us to two important facts in goal setting... We must do two things... First... We must break down the task into manageable daily activities. Second... We need to understand that Satan will try to stop us at every turn.
For instance... Jesus told His apostles to ... Go into all the world and preach to every person Wow!... What an overwhelming, impossible task!... How in the world can they ever accomplish this goal? Simple!... Listen to Jesus in Acts 1. 8.... Be my witness first... In Jerusalem... Then in Judea... In Samaria... And to the uttermost parts of the world.
Now you know how the gospel was spread... Don't you?... Sure...
- First... In Jerusalem...
- Then to Judea ...
- Then on to Antioch in Samaria....
- After that Paul started his world travels in Acts 13... So that... some 29 years later... In Colossians 1.6 & 23... He could say that the story of Christ had been preached to the world.
We must be sure our goals are broken down into manageable... accomplishable tasks. Sure, some things will get in our way... Satan was in God's way at every turn...
- In the garden
- In Noah's world
- In Egypt... God's plan was down to 70 people.
- In Haman's decree to kill all the Jews.
- In Herod's plan to kill Christ
- In the tomb of Jesus
- In the Roman persecution.
But... You see... God kept on working His plan... Working toward His Goal of salvation for us all. Aren't you glad??
It was not simple for Paul to reach the goal he had set... He says I was... In labor, more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prison frequent, in death often. Of the Jews 5 times received 40 stripes save one, twice beaten with rods, once stoned, three times shipwrecked, a night and day in the sea. In journeys, perils of robbers, in the wilderness, in prisons, in pain, weariness, cold and hungry and naked.
May God help us to have a vision... To set some worthwhile spiritual goals... To make some plans... And then daily work our plan with His assistance... With His enabling power... Amen??... Amen!!!
Secondly... We must believe that God will work in us to accomplish His purpose.. Think about Hebrews 11... These are not just ordinary men and women... Hebrews 11 is about people who believed in God... and in themselves. They had an attitude of, with God's help, I can do this... Whatever it was!
- Enoch walked with God in a time when the whole world was evil.
- Noah built an ark... It was over a third longer than a football field... Almost twice as wide... and 45 feet high.
- Abraham was willing to forsake all and follow God to an unknown destination.
- Moses... (Even though it took him a while).... Delivered his people from Egyptian bondage.
- David, with God's help, killed Goliath.
- Then there was Joshua... Rahab... Peter... Paul... and a host of others too numerous to name. You see church... God does not want us to be stopped by unbelief... by too little faith... in Him... or ourselves.
Matthew 6 contains the phrase... O ye of little faith. What was wrong?... These good people were letting some trivial matters get in their way of the happy life... The victorious life that Jesus said was possible for them. They were worrying about things like... What to wear... What to eat... What to drink. We of all people should know how to live above our doubts and fears...
* Ephesians 3.20 insures us that our God is able... to do exceedingly... abundantly... above all that we could ask or even think.
* Peter says... Through His power, He will supply all we need for FAITH & GODLINESS.
* Paul believed that Jesus will give us strength to be and do all things.
Church... Do we believe these verses?... Do we?... We must not limit God.
The problem is not that the wells of God's power are not deep enough... The problem is that our buckets are too small. Our omnipotent God has given us power to live for him... Power to become His children. D. L. Moody once said... The world has yet to see what God can do with... for... by... through... those who believe. Catch a glimpse of the possibilities. We can see God working in the lives of Bible greats... Why can't we see Him working in ours?
With this new year... Have faith... Start believing tonight that God will help us become His children in every arena of our life.. Be like Solomon... Who said in Proverbs 16.3... Commit to the Lord whatever you do ... (Notice now)... And your plan will succeed... BELIEVE IT!!... ACCEPT IT!!... LIVE IT!!
Thirdly... If we want a victorious life we must be willing to discipline ourselves. A faith in God and His power to work in our lives means that we must rise above our own laziness. Becoming God's child means that we must live a life of discipline and restraint. You see...
- We can have a goal... A plan.
- We can believe that... With God's help... We can accomplish the task...
But unless we are willing to discipline ourselves on a daily basis our plans will fail.
The discipline I am talking about tonight is synonymous with... Action... Persistence... Determination. In the New Testament it is a life of obedience... temperance... self-denial.
Discipline is that ability... That quality of life that causes us to carry through with a goal or plan that we have set... When the feeling or the desire in which we set the goal is long gone.
How many times?... How many new years have we made up our mind...
- To be different...
- To do better...
- To become more of what God would have us to be... Only to, within a few weeks, forget the entire thing when the motivation is gone. Church... When we gave our life to Christ we became his disciple. This word DISCIPLE literally means disciplined ones. You see... We must mold... Remake... Reform... and Align our wants... Our wishes... Our goals... Our plans... Into His will. Paul said... I'll become all things to all people... I will be and become anything He wants. He said... I have learned to buffet my body to bring myself into (His) subjection.
Here is the bottom line tonight... As we enter this new year, let each of us understand that God has given us the power to accomplish the task of becoming His children in our generation... In our culture... If we will be willing to... Set some meaningful spiritual goals... Make some plans to become more like Jesus, believe that God lives in us and that He will assist us, empower us, and... be willing to live a disciplined life.
Then finally tonight... God's power within enables us to do lots of things... Three I call to your attention tonight...
First... He helps us say NO to sin. I Corinthians 10.13... And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear; but will, with every temptation, provide a way of escape. Hebrews 2.18... Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted... He is able to help those who are being tempted.
Secondly... God's power enables us to find our place of work in the church. Listen as I read Romans, a portion of Romans 12... Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
His power enables us to live victoriously... To live the good life. Jesus said... I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly. Life above the common... Life above the ordinary... Life at its best is a life lived...
In Christ...
For Christ...
With Christ.
And this is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith. The big question tonight is this... Are we willing to live by faith... Or will we live according to our own personal desires and passions?
We must know tonight that God's power within is available to each and every one of us if we want it...For the alien sinner it is available by Faith... Repentance... Confession... and New Testament Baptism... Immersion in water for the forgiveness of sins. For the child of God, it is available if we will continue to walk by faith and not by sight.
Will you access God's POWER WITHIN...
Tonight??...
Tomorrow??...
Every day in this new year??
Come to Jesus... Come access the power in His blood... As we stand and sing this invitation song, will you come??
