The best is yet to come Mark Stephens
Series: Hope
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 2nd April 2016
Passage: Romans 5:1-21
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 Just over three months ago, it was New Year's Eve.
00:00:05 --> 00:00:10 And on that night, you, because you're cool, would probably be doing all sorts of things.
00:00:10 --> 00:00:12 If you're anything like me, you might have been asleep.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:18 Because that's what I like to do on New Year's Eve, because my kids get up at 6.30 no matter what day of the year it is.
00:00:18 --> 00:00:20 And so I need my beauty sleep.
00:00:21 --> 00:00:27 But assuming your life isn't as tragically boring as mine, you might have been at something exciting like a New Year's party.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:36 And at a New Year's party, it's an interesting kind of thing, because you start those parties by finishing off the year.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:39 And you finish off those parties by starting the year.
00:00:40 --> 00:00:42 And it's kind of like, what is the New Year's party about?
00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 Is it actually about the year that's gone past?
00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 Or is it about the year that's coming?
00:00:48 --> 00:00:52 And I guess that kind of depends on the year you've had or the year you're looking forward to.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:55 But most of the time, it's a transitional moment in your life.
00:00:55 --> 00:01:01 You kind of go from one to the other and you're kind of like, hey, it started 2015 and now it's 2016.
00:01:02 --> 00:01:07 And the text we're looking at today is a transition point in the book of Romans.
00:01:07 --> 00:01:09 Romans chapter 5.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:13 And it's a chapter that both looks back and looks forward.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:20 And it looks back because it nicely rounds off a bunch of themes that have been going on in Romans throughout chapters 1 to 4.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:26 In those chapters, Paul has been outlining for us how God brings sinners back to himself.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:35 But Romans also looks forward in chapter 5 because it prepares us for what happens in chapters 6 to 8.
00:01:35 --> 00:01:41 And in chapters 6 to 8, it's all about how to live life once you've come to Christ.
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 Because here's the beautiful thing about Jesus.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 Jesus didn't just come to fix up your mess and wipe your slate clean.
00:01:50 --> 00:01:55 He came to do that and to give you new life in order to live for him.
00:01:56 --> 00:01:59 And so my sermon today is going to try and do both of those things.
00:01:59 --> 00:02:10 It's going to try and show you the glory of Jesus by demonstrating how he deals with your past, how he secures your future, but also how he transforms your present.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:14 So let's start with our past by looking backwards.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:18 Take a look with me at verse 1 of chapter 5.
00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith.
00:02:23 --> 00:02:26 Now, what does Paul mean by this word justified here?
00:02:26 --> 00:02:34 In the simplest terms possible, it means that God has declared us to be not guilty before him.
00:02:36 --> 00:02:45 See, the wonder of justification is that the future verdict you might fear has already been given in the present.
00:02:46 --> 00:02:54 If you are in Christ, there is now no longer any condemnation, both now and into the future.
00:02:54 --> 00:02:56 You have been justified.
00:02:57 --> 00:03:00 It is a settled fact in Christ.
00:03:01 --> 00:03:05 And that verdict will not change because Christ will not change.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 And what he's done on the cross and through the resurrection will not change.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:14 If you are in Christ, the verdict on your acceptance has already been given.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:21 No matter what you've done, no matter what you've become, Christ can make you right with God.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:30 And everything that Paul will say from this point onwards about the Christian life assumes you already know that fact.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:34 It assumes you know that you're already justified.
00:03:34 --> 00:03:40 Because if you don't start there and you start thinking about how to live the Christian life,
00:03:40 --> 00:03:46 but you're unsure that you are a Christian, you're going to end up in all sorts of wrong places.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:51 And friends, I need to ask you before we kind of embark on the journey, do you live with that assumption?
00:03:52 --> 00:03:54 Do you live with the assumption?
00:03:54 --> 00:03:58 It's easy enough to say or sing the words, I have been forgiven.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:00 Christ loves me.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:01 I've been justified.
00:04:01 --> 00:04:05 But our actions and our attitudes so often tell a different story.
00:04:07 --> 00:04:13 Do the anxieties of your spiritual life, and I get it, we've all got anxieties in our spiritual life,
00:04:13 --> 00:04:19 but do your anxieties say that you're worried what God's verdict will be in the future?
00:04:21 --> 00:04:23 Are you a hard worker in this church?
00:04:23 --> 00:04:24 And every church has them.
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 People who basically make the place run.
00:04:27 --> 00:04:34 Are you a hard worker partly because you're not actually sure whether God has really accepted you?
00:04:35 --> 00:04:37 And you're trying to work your way back.
00:04:38 --> 00:04:45 The text says, since we've been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:50 But note also that Paul uses other metaphors to describe salvation.
00:04:51 --> 00:04:53 To describe what Christ has accomplished for us.
00:04:53 --> 00:04:58 So in verses 10 and 11, Paul talks about being reconciled to God.
00:05:00 --> 00:05:04 So justification is, if you like, a metaphor from the law court.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:09 It's, whereas reconciliation is a relational metaphor.
00:05:10 --> 00:05:16 Now one of the dangers for the metaphors we use to describe salvation is if you just focus on one,
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 you can actually end up distorting the gospel.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:21 You can reduce it.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:27 So if you only ever talk about justification, that means you tend to see God only as your judge,
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 whose job is either to declare us guilty or not guilty.
00:05:32 --> 00:05:37 Which is true enough, but a judge is not necessarily someone you have a relationship with.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:39 I don't know how many times you've been to court.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:44 But like, when you go to court and the judge kind of goes, not guilty.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:49 It's not like after that you sit there and great, we should have coffee sometime.
00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 Like you don't, you don't hang out with your judge.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:54 His job is just to basically say you're either in or you're out.
00:05:56 --> 00:05:59 And that's why we need metaphors like reconciliation.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:01 Because God is not merely our judge, he's our father.
00:06:02 --> 00:06:07 And he wants you as his child.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:12 You are estranged from God by your sin, but he has brought you back.
00:06:13 --> 00:06:17 And as Tim Keller says, God doesn't want to be a concept, he wants to be a friend.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:22 And so we need all the metaphors of the good news that we can find,
00:06:22 --> 00:06:26 because without all the metaphors, you don't see the full richness of the gospel.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:29 I remember once being in Rome.
00:06:30 --> 00:06:32 I've only ever been to Rome once.
00:06:32 --> 00:06:33 That makes it sound like I go all the time.
00:06:34 --> 00:06:36 I remember the one time I was in Rome.
00:06:37 --> 00:06:41 And all you do in Rome, as far as I'm concerned, is you go and see old monuments and eat gelato.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:43 That's basically all you need to do in Rome.
00:06:43 --> 00:06:44 That's enough.
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 And I went to a gelato store, and I'll never forget it.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:48 It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life,
00:06:49 --> 00:06:52 because I went into a gelato store that had 130 flavours of gelato.
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 It had 11 different types of chocolate.
00:06:55 --> 00:06:58 I wanted to die and live there forever.
00:07:00 --> 00:07:03 And I tried to eat as many different types of gelato from that store,
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 but I couldn't manage to get around to all 130 flavours.
00:07:06 --> 00:07:11 But I left thinking I've not experienced the full glory of this store,
00:07:11 --> 00:07:12 until I've had 100.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:14 129 won't do.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:21 In a little way, that's kind of like what it is to hold all the metaphors of Scripture about salvation.
00:07:21 --> 00:07:26 Because Jesus doesn't just bring justification.
00:07:27 --> 00:07:28 He brings reconciliation.
00:07:28 --> 00:07:30 At other points, it talks about that he brings liberation.
00:07:31 --> 00:07:34 All of those things are true, and we need to hear all of them.
00:07:34 --> 00:07:41 So the foundation stone of Romans 5 is that your past has been forgiven,
00:07:41 --> 00:07:43 and you are at peace with God.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:45 Whether you feel like that right now,
00:07:46 --> 00:07:51 it is objectively true that in Christ you have peace with God.
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 And so having dealt with our past,
00:07:54 --> 00:07:55 towards the end of verse 2,
00:07:56 --> 00:07:57 Paul starts looking forward.
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 He says,
00:08:00 --> 00:08:05 Through Christ, we now rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
00:08:06 --> 00:08:08 It's one of those phrases,
00:08:08 --> 00:08:09 I don't know if you've ever heard it,
00:08:09 --> 00:08:11 but I don't know if you ever do this in Bible study group.
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 It's one of those phrases that people used to say to me,
00:08:14 --> 00:08:16 and it was a nod and smile moment,
00:08:16 --> 00:08:18 which is where you don't have any idea what people are saying,
00:08:18 --> 00:08:20 but you know you're meant to know,
00:08:20 --> 00:08:21 and say, oh yes, amen.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:23 We rejoice in the hope of the glory.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:24 That's fantastic.
00:08:24 --> 00:08:27 I have no idea what you're saying.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:30 And let's be honest,
00:08:30 --> 00:08:32 we sometimes do that in the Christian church.
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 I didn't actually know what that meant.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 Because it's got all the right terms to be a Christian quote, doesn't it?
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 It's got God, glory, hope, rejoicing.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:43 Who doesn't want that for a poster?
00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 Facebook status, ready to go.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:47 But what does it actually mean?
00:08:48 --> 00:08:50 Well, on the one hand,
00:08:50 --> 00:08:51 many people would interpret it,
00:08:51 --> 00:08:53 and they'd be fair enough in doing so,
00:08:53 --> 00:08:57 as being the hope that we have for seeing God's glory at the end of time.
00:08:58 --> 00:09:02 The hope that we have of being in his presence for eternity.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:04 And that is a perfectly reasonable idea,
00:09:04 --> 00:09:07 and perhaps is what is going on here.
00:09:07 --> 00:09:10 But I think something else might be going on here,
00:09:10 --> 00:09:13 because a little earlier in Romans,
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 Paul referred to the glory of God,
00:09:15 --> 00:09:18 and he made this point in chapter 3.
00:09:18 --> 00:09:18 He said,
00:09:19 --> 00:09:24 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 That's his statement about human beings in Romans chapter 3.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:30 Now, what's he meaning there?
00:09:30 --> 00:09:32 Well, in Psalm 8 verse 5,
00:09:32 --> 00:09:36 it says that human beings have been crowned with glory and honour.
00:09:36 --> 00:09:40 And we're crowned with glory because we're made in the image of God,
00:09:40 --> 00:09:42 made to know him and to show him,
00:09:42 --> 00:09:46 made to be his representatives as we cultivate his creation.
00:09:47 --> 00:09:50 And so we're called to this glorious task of imaging God
00:09:50 --> 00:09:52 and reflecting his goodness to the world.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:55 And the fundamental fact about human beings
00:09:55 --> 00:09:57 is that we've all failed at that task.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:02 We've all failed to live up to be the people that we were created to be.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:06 We've all failed to live up to the glory for which we were intended.
00:10:07 --> 00:10:09 And so what I think Romans 5, 2 might well be saying
00:10:09 --> 00:10:10 is that through Christ,
00:10:11 --> 00:10:15 God is going to restore us to the glory for which we were designed.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 Not as our own achievement, but as Christ's achievement.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:22 On that final day, you will not only be forgiven,
00:10:23 --> 00:10:28 you will be everything that God intended you to be from the very beginning.
00:10:29 --> 00:10:31 Because what Paul is saying in verse 2
00:10:31 --> 00:10:35 is that we rejoice in the hope that we will be fully conformed
00:10:35 --> 00:10:39 to the image we were meant to have from the start.
00:10:40 --> 00:10:42 A little later in Romans 8, 18, Paul says,
00:10:43 --> 00:10:47 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing
00:10:47 --> 00:10:50 with the glory that will be revealed in us.
00:10:51 --> 00:10:54 But note carefully, this glory is something that I don't have yet.
00:10:54 --> 00:10:57 It's a hope.
00:10:57 --> 00:10:58 It's a sure and certain hope,
00:10:58 --> 00:11:01 but we don't yet have at least not in full measure.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:05 And that highlights for us a persistent tension
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 that underlies so much of the New Testament,
00:11:08 --> 00:11:10 which is that throughout the New Testament,
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 you have this constant tension between
00:11:12 --> 00:11:16 we are already experiencing salvation now,
00:11:16 --> 00:11:20 and yet we're still awaiting the completion of salvation
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 at the end of time.
00:11:23 --> 00:11:26 We live between the two comings of Christ.
00:11:26 --> 00:11:30 The first coming of Christ achieves and secures our salvation,
00:11:30 --> 00:11:32 but it's only at the second coming
00:11:32 --> 00:11:35 that you get the full benefit of the blessings.
00:11:36 --> 00:11:39 And so the Christian always has to look at their life
00:11:39 --> 00:11:40 as a mixture of the two,
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 of the now and the not yet.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:47 So now we are already justified.
00:11:47 --> 00:11:50 Now we are already reconciled.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 But at the same time,
00:11:52 --> 00:11:53 there are things we are waiting for.
00:11:54 --> 00:11:57 And the tension between the now and the not yet
00:11:57 --> 00:12:00 helps explain what might look initially weird to us
00:12:00 --> 00:12:02 in verses 9 and 10.
00:12:03 --> 00:12:05 I don't know if you saw that language in verses 9 and 10.
00:12:05 --> 00:12:05 It says in verse 9,
00:12:06 --> 00:12:07 having been justified,
00:12:08 --> 00:12:10 how much more will we be saved?
00:12:11 --> 00:12:12 Verse 10,
00:12:12 --> 00:12:14 having been reconciled,
00:12:14 --> 00:12:16 how much more will we be saved?
00:12:16 --> 00:12:17 And when you first read that,
00:12:17 --> 00:12:17 you're probably thinking,
00:12:18 --> 00:12:19 aren't they the same thing?
00:12:20 --> 00:12:21 Like if I'm justified,
00:12:22 --> 00:12:23 aren't I already saved?
00:12:23 --> 00:12:25 If I'm reconciled,
00:12:25 --> 00:12:26 aren't I already saved?
00:12:27 --> 00:12:28 Was I lying before
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 when I said that God's final verdict
00:12:30 --> 00:12:32 has been given already in the present?
00:12:32 --> 00:12:33 Was that just a kind of, you know,
00:12:33 --> 00:12:36 a fake move to get on your side to begin with?
00:12:36 --> 00:12:38 No, Paul is not getting you
00:12:38 --> 00:12:39 to question your salvation.
00:12:39 --> 00:12:41 What Paul is trying to tell you is
00:12:41 --> 00:12:43 there is a sense in which
00:12:43 --> 00:12:45 you have not yet been saved.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 Because this morning when I checked,
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 I still didn't have a resurrection body.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:53 To be quite honest,
00:12:53 --> 00:12:53 when I looked in the mirror,
00:12:53 --> 00:12:55 it looked more like a body of death.
00:12:56 --> 00:12:58 There's a lagging indicator.
00:12:58 --> 00:12:59 It's called my body.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:01 And last time I asked my wife,
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 she confirmed to me,
00:13:04 --> 00:13:06 Mark, your life still falls short
00:13:06 --> 00:13:07 of the glory of God.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:09 She's good at letting me know
00:13:09 --> 00:13:10 that my life falls short
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 of the glory of God.
00:13:12 --> 00:13:13 It always,
00:13:13 --> 00:13:14 as in my body,
00:13:14 --> 00:13:15 my holiness,
00:13:15 --> 00:13:16 there's so much of my life
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 that doesn't yet have
00:13:18 --> 00:13:19 the touch of God's salvation on it.
00:13:19 --> 00:13:21 It will be touched one day.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:23 I will be raised
00:13:23 --> 00:13:25 with a body like his.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 I will eventually be perfected in Christ.
00:13:28 --> 00:13:30 But there are some things
00:13:30 --> 00:13:31 that are not yet.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 And this is why the New Testament
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 refers to salvation sometimes
00:13:35 --> 00:13:36 as a future possession.
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 Not to get you to question
00:13:39 --> 00:13:40 whether you're saved or not,
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 but to get you to understand
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 you don't yet have it all.
00:13:47 --> 00:13:48 You are an heir of salvation,
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 but you haven't yet received
00:13:50 --> 00:13:51 all the inheritance.
00:13:53 --> 00:13:54 And so far from trying
00:13:54 --> 00:13:55 to make us discouraged,
00:13:55 --> 00:13:56 Paul is actually trying
00:13:56 --> 00:13:57 to encourage us here,
00:13:57 --> 00:13:59 because what he is saying
00:13:59 --> 00:14:00 in Romans 5, 1 to 11
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 is that God who began
00:14:02 --> 00:14:03 a good work in you
00:14:03 --> 00:14:05 is going to carry it to completion.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 The God who has started with you
00:14:08 --> 00:14:10 is going to finish with you.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:13 If you have been justified,
00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 you will be saved.
00:14:15 --> 00:14:16 God is going to get you home
00:14:16 --> 00:14:18 because the problem is
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 we can get discouraged
00:14:20 --> 00:14:21 living between the first
00:14:21 --> 00:14:22 and second coming of Christ
00:14:22 --> 00:14:25 because what if something happens?
00:14:25 --> 00:14:27 What if something happens
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 between when I profess faith
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 in Christ and the day of the Lord?
00:14:32 --> 00:14:33 One of the things
00:14:33 --> 00:14:35 that really shakes us up
00:14:35 --> 00:14:37 is suffering.
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 We really get ruined
00:14:40 --> 00:14:41 sometimes by suffering
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 and Paul zeroes in on suffering
00:14:43 --> 00:14:45 for us in verses 3 to 5
00:14:45 --> 00:14:47 and teaches us to see our suffering
00:14:47 --> 00:14:48 in a different perspective.
00:14:48 --> 00:14:49 He says,
00:14:49 --> 00:14:50 not only so,
00:14:51 --> 00:14:52 but we also rejoice
00:14:52 --> 00:14:53 in our sufferings
00:14:53 --> 00:14:54 because we know that suffering
00:14:54 --> 00:14:55 produces perseverance,
00:14:56 --> 00:14:57 perseverance character,
00:14:57 --> 00:14:58 and character hope.
00:14:59 --> 00:15:00 And hope does not disappoint us
00:15:00 --> 00:15:02 because God has poured out
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 his love into our hearts
00:15:04 --> 00:15:05 by the Holy Spirit
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 whom he has given us.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:10 Now for most of us
00:15:10 --> 00:15:10 who are Christians
00:15:10 --> 00:15:12 for any length of time,
00:15:13 --> 00:15:15 the experience of suffering,
00:15:16 --> 00:15:19 big, intense, chaotic,
00:15:19 --> 00:15:21 absurd suffering,
00:15:21 --> 00:15:23 is going to mess with us.
00:15:24 --> 00:15:24 In fact,
00:15:24 --> 00:15:26 it's going to sometimes
00:15:26 --> 00:15:27 make you feel like
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 you're never going to make
00:15:28 --> 00:15:29 the finish line.
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 You started the Christian life
00:15:31 --> 00:15:32 so well,
00:15:32 --> 00:15:33 things were so happy
00:15:33 --> 00:15:35 and then it hit.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:38 And it can make you feel
00:15:38 --> 00:15:39 uncertain about the future.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:40 Will I make it?
00:15:41 --> 00:15:42 And part of,
00:15:42 --> 00:15:43 let's be honest,
00:15:43 --> 00:15:45 what fuels the despair
00:15:45 --> 00:15:47 is sometimes
00:15:47 --> 00:15:48 the thought
00:15:48 --> 00:15:49 lodges in your brain.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:51 This isn't meant
00:15:51 --> 00:15:52 to be happening to me.
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 I'm God's child.
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 I'm his justified,
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 forgiven sinner.
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 We're done with that,
00:16:00 --> 00:16:00 aren't we, God?
00:16:01 --> 00:16:02 Why am I still suffering?
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 It must be that
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 there's something wrong
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 with me.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:08 And Paul's answer is,
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 no, it doesn't mean
00:16:09 --> 00:16:09 there's anything wrong
00:16:09 --> 00:16:10 with you.
00:16:11 --> 00:16:12 This is where understanding
00:16:12 --> 00:16:12 that salvation
00:16:12 --> 00:16:14 is both now
00:16:14 --> 00:16:14 and not yet
00:16:14 --> 00:16:15 is so helpful
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 because
00:16:16 --> 00:16:18 Paul actually
00:16:18 --> 00:16:19 assumes that
00:16:19 --> 00:16:21 suffering of all sorts
00:16:21 --> 00:16:21 is going to hit
00:16:21 --> 00:16:22 Christians
00:16:22 --> 00:16:24 if they live long enough.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:26 And that's because
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 we live this side
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 of the second coming
00:16:29 --> 00:16:30 and the end of suffering
00:16:30 --> 00:16:31 is not yet.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:34 And so if you understand
00:16:34 --> 00:16:35 that we live
00:16:35 --> 00:16:36 between the now
00:16:36 --> 00:16:37 and the not yet,
00:16:37 --> 00:16:38 you can use
00:16:38 --> 00:16:39 your suffering
00:16:39 --> 00:16:40 to galvanise
00:16:40 --> 00:16:40 your hope.
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 So to rejoice
00:16:43 --> 00:16:44 in our sufferings
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 doesn't mean
00:16:45 --> 00:16:46 we do what some people
00:16:46 --> 00:16:47 have tried to explain
00:16:47 --> 00:16:48 to me sometimes,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 as if we can reimagine
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 that our pain
00:16:51 --> 00:16:52 isn't painful
00:16:52 --> 00:16:53 or our hurt
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 isn't hurting
00:16:54 --> 00:16:55 or persecution
00:16:55 --> 00:16:57 is somehow fun.
00:16:58 --> 00:16:58 No, no, no.
00:16:58 --> 00:16:59 To rejoice
00:16:59 --> 00:17:00 in our sufferings
00:17:00 --> 00:17:01 is to rejoice
00:17:01 --> 00:17:02 in the fact
00:17:02 --> 00:17:03 that this moment
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 of suffering
00:17:04 --> 00:17:06 is not the last word.
00:17:08 --> 00:17:08 The better day
00:17:08 --> 00:17:09 is coming
00:17:09 --> 00:17:10 and not only that,
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 that God can even
00:17:11 --> 00:17:12 use my suffering
00:17:12 --> 00:17:14 to deepen my hope
00:17:14 --> 00:17:15 and to form
00:17:15 --> 00:17:16 my character.
00:17:16 --> 00:17:17 But it's hope
00:17:17 --> 00:17:18 that brings the joy,
00:17:19 --> 00:17:20 not the suffering.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 We rejoice
00:17:21 --> 00:17:21 because Jesus
00:17:21 --> 00:17:23 defeated death
00:17:23 --> 00:17:25 and that I know
00:17:25 --> 00:17:25 this suffering
00:17:25 --> 00:17:26 will not be
00:17:26 --> 00:17:28 the final chapter.
00:17:29 --> 00:17:30 And so friend,
00:17:30 --> 00:17:30 do not let
00:17:30 --> 00:17:31 suffering
00:17:31 --> 00:17:32 take away
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 your assurance.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:35 God is going to
00:17:35 --> 00:17:36 carry you
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 all the way
00:17:37 --> 00:17:37 home.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 And just at the
00:17:40 --> 00:17:40 end of those verses
00:17:40 --> 00:17:41 you have that
00:17:41 --> 00:17:42 beautiful line
00:17:42 --> 00:17:42 and hope
00:17:42 --> 00:17:43 does not disappoint
00:17:43 --> 00:17:44 us because
00:17:44 --> 00:17:45 God has poured
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 out his love
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 into our hearts
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 by the Holy Spirit
00:17:48 --> 00:17:49 whom he has
00:17:49 --> 00:17:50 given us.
00:17:51 --> 00:17:52 So Paul is saying
00:17:52 --> 00:17:52 there that
00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 part of our
00:17:53 --> 00:17:54 assurance
00:17:54 --> 00:17:55 derives from
00:17:55 --> 00:17:56 the presence
00:17:56 --> 00:17:57 of the Holy Spirit
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 within us.
00:17:59 --> 00:18:00 Now we Anglicans
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 are good at
00:18:01 --> 00:18:02 speaking about
00:18:02 --> 00:18:03 the objective
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 facts of faith.
00:18:04 --> 00:18:06 Christ died,
00:18:06 --> 00:18:07 Christ is risen,
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 therefore we can
00:18:09 --> 00:18:09 have hope
00:18:09 --> 00:18:11 and that is true
00:18:11 --> 00:18:11 but there is also
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 a subjective
00:18:12 --> 00:18:13 dimension to
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 the experience.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:17 When you come
00:18:17 --> 00:18:17 to Christ
00:18:17 --> 00:18:19 he fills you
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 with his Spirit
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 and the Spirit
00:18:21 --> 00:18:21 it is said
00:18:21 --> 00:18:22 pours out the
00:18:22 --> 00:18:23 love of God
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 into our hearts.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:26 In other passages
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 Paul talks about
00:18:27 --> 00:18:28 the Spirit cries
00:18:28 --> 00:18:29 Abba
00:18:29 --> 00:18:30 Father
00:18:30 --> 00:18:31 within the
00:18:31 --> 00:18:32 forgiven sinner.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:33 it is what
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 John Wesley
00:18:34 --> 00:18:34 called
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 his heart
00:18:36 --> 00:18:37 being strangely
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 warmed
00:18:38 --> 00:18:38 by the
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 gospel of
00:18:39 --> 00:18:39 Christ
00:18:39 --> 00:18:39 as the
00:18:39 --> 00:18:40 Spirit
00:18:40 --> 00:18:40 touched
00:18:40 --> 00:18:40 him
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 and
00:18:41 --> 00:18:42 there is
00:18:42 --> 00:18:42 a part
00:18:42 --> 00:18:42 of me
00:18:42 --> 00:18:44 cold
00:18:44 --> 00:18:44 rational
00:18:44 --> 00:18:45 Mark
00:18:45 --> 00:18:46 philosopher
00:18:46 --> 00:18:47 historian
00:18:47 --> 00:18:47 white
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 Australian
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49 male
00:18:49 --> 00:18:49 wants to
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 run a
00:18:50 --> 00:18:50 thousand
00:18:50 --> 00:18:51 miles
00:18:51 --> 00:18:51 from her
00:18:51 --> 00:18:51 feelings
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 and yet
00:18:53 --> 00:18:53 God
00:18:53 --> 00:18:53 actually
00:18:53 --> 00:18:54 sometimes
00:18:54 --> 00:18:54 wants to
00:18:54 --> 00:18:55 use those
00:18:55 --> 00:18:55 feelings
00:18:55 --> 00:18:57 to remind
00:18:57 --> 00:18:57 me of
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 his love
00:18:58 --> 00:18:59 that I
00:18:59 --> 00:18:59 will even
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 feel
00:19:00 --> 00:19:01 his love
00:19:01 --> 00:19:01 for me
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 and he
00:19:02 --> 00:19:02 will stir
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 up strong
00:19:03 --> 00:19:04 affections
00:19:04 --> 00:19:04 within me
00:19:04 --> 00:19:06 and that
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 experience
00:19:07 --> 00:19:07 of the
00:19:07 --> 00:19:07 Spirit
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 we have
00:19:09 --> 00:19:09 is part
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 of our
00:19:10 --> 00:19:10 assurance
00:19:10 --> 00:19:10 it's not
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 the only
00:19:11 --> 00:19:11 part
00:19:11 --> 00:19:11 of course
00:19:11 --> 00:19:12 but it's
00:19:12 --> 00:19:12 part
00:19:12 --> 00:19:12 of our
00:19:12 --> 00:19:13 assurance
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 that our
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 hopes are
00:19:15 --> 00:19:15 not in
00:19:15 --> 00:19:15 vain
00:19:15 --> 00:19:16 Paul talks
00:19:16 --> 00:19:16 at later
00:19:16 --> 00:19:17 points about
00:19:17 --> 00:19:18 that the
00:19:18 --> 00:19:19 Spirit of
00:19:19 --> 00:19:19 God is like
00:19:19 --> 00:19:20 the down
00:19:20 --> 00:19:21 payment of
00:19:21 --> 00:19:21 heaven
00:19:21 --> 00:19:23 in Ephesians
00:19:23 --> 00:19:23 1 he
00:19:23 --> 00:19:23 talks about
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 he's a
00:19:24 --> 00:19:24 deposit
00:19:24 --> 00:19:25 guaranteeing
00:19:25 --> 00:19:26 our
00:19:26 --> 00:19:26 inheritance
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 it's like
00:19:28 --> 00:19:28 you get
00:19:28 --> 00:19:28 just a
00:19:28 --> 00:19:29 little
00:19:29 --> 00:19:29 foretaste
00:19:29 --> 00:19:30 of heaven
00:19:30 --> 00:19:30 by the
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 gift of
00:19:31 --> 00:19:31 the Spirit
00:19:31 --> 00:19:31 within
00:19:31 --> 00:19:33 and he's
00:19:33 --> 00:19:33 reminding
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 you you
00:19:34 --> 00:19:34 are loved
00:19:34 --> 00:19:35 you are
00:19:35 --> 00:19:36 justified
00:19:36 --> 00:19:37 and the
00:19:37 --> 00:19:38 best is
00:19:38 --> 00:19:38 yet to
00:19:38 --> 00:19:38 come
00:19:38 --> 00:19:39 don't
00:19:39 --> 00:19:40 give up
00:19:40 --> 00:19:41 so Romans
00:19:41 --> 00:19:42 5 says
00:19:42 --> 00:19:43 your past
00:19:43 --> 00:19:43 has been
00:19:43 --> 00:19:44 forgiven
00:19:44 --> 00:19:45 it says
00:19:45 --> 00:19:46 your future
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 has been
00:19:47 --> 00:19:47 secured
00:19:47 --> 00:19:48 and so we
00:19:48 --> 00:19:49 rejoice in
00:19:49 --> 00:19:50 the hope
00:19:50 --> 00:19:50 of glory
00:19:50 --> 00:19:52 but what
00:19:52 --> 00:19:52 about my
00:19:52 --> 00:19:52 present
00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 what about
00:19:54 --> 00:19:55 my present
00:19:55 --> 00:19:56 if my
00:19:56 --> 00:19:57 future
00:19:57 --> 00:19:58 life
00:19:58 --> 00:19:59 is to
00:19:59 --> 00:19:59 be
00:19:59 --> 00:19:59 new
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 in
00:20:00 --> 00:20:00 Christ
00:20:00 --> 00:20:01 restored
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 to
00:20:02 --> 00:20:02 the
00:20:02 --> 00:20:02 glory
00:20:02 --> 00:20:02 I
00:20:02 --> 00:20:03 was
00:20:03 --> 00:20:03 made
00:20:03 --> 00:20:03 for
00:20:03 --> 00:20:04 what
00:20:04 --> 00:20:04 should
00:20:04 --> 00:20:05 I
00:20:05 --> 00:20:05 expect
00:20:05 --> 00:20:06 right
00:20:06 --> 00:20:06 now
00:20:06 --> 00:20:07 in
00:20:07 --> 00:20:07 the
00:20:07 --> 00:20:07 present
00:20:07 --> 00:20:09 we
00:20:09 --> 00:20:09 already
00:20:09 --> 00:20:10 know
00:20:10 --> 00:20:10 that it
00:20:10 --> 00:20:10 can't
00:20:10 --> 00:20:10 be
00:20:10 --> 00:20:11 perfection
00:20:11 --> 00:20:12 that is
00:20:12 --> 00:20:12 something
00:20:12 --> 00:20:13 which
00:20:13 --> 00:20:13 hasn't
00:20:13 --> 00:20:14 come
00:20:14 --> 00:20:14 yet
00:20:14 --> 00:20:14 and
00:20:14 --> 00:20:14 won't
00:20:14 --> 00:20:15 come
00:20:15 --> 00:20:15 till
00:20:15 --> 00:20:15 his
00:20:15 --> 00:20:15 second
00:20:15 --> 00:20:16 coming
00:20:16 --> 00:20:17 but
00:20:17 --> 00:20:18 ever
00:20:18 --> 00:20:18 since
00:20:18 --> 00:20:18 Adam
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 our
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 focus
00:20:20 --> 00:20:20 has
00:20:20 --> 00:20:20 actually
00:20:20 --> 00:20:20 probably
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 been
00:20:21 --> 00:20:21 more
00:20:21 --> 00:20:21 on
00:20:21 --> 00:20:21 failure
00:20:21 --> 00:20:22 have
00:20:22 --> 00:20:22 you
00:20:22 --> 00:20:22 ever
00:20:22 --> 00:20:22 noticed
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 how
00:20:23 --> 00:20:23 our
00:20:23 --> 00:20:23 language
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 talks
00:20:24 --> 00:20:24 about
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 failure
00:20:25 --> 00:20:25 and
00:20:25 --> 00:20:26 humanity
00:20:26 --> 00:20:26 quite
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 easily
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 to
00:20:28 --> 00:20:28 err
00:20:28 --> 00:20:29 is
00:20:29 --> 00:20:30 human
00:20:30 --> 00:20:30 when
00:20:30 --> 00:20:30 you
00:20:30 --> 00:20:31 make
00:20:31 --> 00:20:31 a
00:20:31 --> 00:20:31 mistake
00:20:31 --> 00:20:31 and
00:20:31 --> 00:20:32 screw
00:20:32 --> 00:20:32 up
00:20:32 --> 00:20:32 people
00:20:32 --> 00:20:32 go
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 you're
00:20:33 --> 00:20:33 only
00:20:33 --> 00:20:34 human
00:20:34 --> 00:20:35 because
00:20:35 --> 00:20:36 humans
00:20:36 --> 00:20:36 by
00:20:36 --> 00:20:36 definition
00:20:36 --> 00:20:37 are the
00:20:37 --> 00:20:37 people
00:20:37 --> 00:20:37 who
00:20:37 --> 00:20:38 constantly
00:20:38 --> 00:20:38 screw
00:20:38 --> 00:20:39 up
00:20:39 --> 00:20:39 at
00:20:39 --> 00:20:39 things
00:20:39 --> 00:20:39 and
00:20:39 --> 00:20:40 that
00:20:40 --> 00:20:40 is
00:20:40 --> 00:20:40 also
00:20:40 --> 00:20:41 the
00:20:41 --> 00:20:41 testimony
00:20:41 --> 00:20:41 of
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 scripture
00:20:42 --> 00:20:43 that
00:20:43 --> 00:20:43 no matter
00:20:43 --> 00:20:44 how good
00:20:44 --> 00:20:44 you are
00:20:44 --> 00:20:44 you're
00:20:44 --> 00:20:45 really
00:20:45 --> 00:20:45 actually
00:20:45 --> 00:20:45 not that
00:20:45 --> 00:20:45 good
00:20:45 --> 00:20:47 that
00:20:47 --> 00:20:47 actually
00:20:47 --> 00:20:47 we
00:20:47 --> 00:20:48 all
00:20:48 --> 00:20:49 have
00:20:49 --> 00:20:49 gone
00:20:49 --> 00:20:49 astray
00:20:49 --> 00:20:51 but
00:20:51 --> 00:20:51 what
00:20:51 --> 00:20:51 Paul
00:20:51 --> 00:20:51 wants
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 to
00:20:52 --> 00:20:52 say
00:20:52 --> 00:20:52 to
00:20:52 --> 00:20:52 us
00:20:52 --> 00:20:52 in
00:20:52 --> 00:20:53 Romans
00:20:53 --> 00:20:53 5
00:20:53 --> 00:20:53 and
00:20:53 --> 00:20:53 then
00:20:53 --> 00:20:53 he
00:20:53 --> 00:20:54 goes
00:20:54 --> 00:20:54 on
00:20:54 --> 00:20:54 to
00:20:54 --> 00:20:54 keep
00:20:54 --> 00:20:54 on
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 saying
00:20:55 --> 00:20:55 it
00:20:55 --> 00:20:55 in
00:20:55 --> 00:20:55 Romans
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 is
00:20:56 --> 00:20:56 that
00:20:56 --> 00:20:56 Christ
00:20:56 --> 00:20:57 not
00:20:57 --> 00:20:57 only
00:20:57 --> 00:20:57 deals
00:20:57 --> 00:20:57 with
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 your
00:20:58 --> 00:20:58 past
00:20:58 --> 00:20:58 he
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 not
00:20:59 --> 00:20:59 only
00:20:59 --> 00:20:59 secures
00:20:59 --> 00:21:00 your
00:21:00 --> 00:21:00 future
00:21:00 --> 00:21:01 he
00:21:01 --> 00:21:01 transforms
00:21:01 --> 00:21:01 your
00:21:01 --> 00:21:02 present
00:21:02 --> 00:21:02 life
00:21:02 --> 00:21:04 and
00:21:04 --> 00:21:04 in
00:21:04 --> 00:21:04 Romans
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 5
00:21:05 --> 00:21:05 the
00:21:05 --> 00:21:05 way
00:21:05 --> 00:21:05 Paul
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 illustrates
00:21:06 --> 00:21:06 this
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 is
00:21:07 --> 00:21:07 to
00:21:07 --> 00:21:07 show
00:21:07 --> 00:21:08 that
00:21:08 --> 00:21:08 Jesus
00:21:08 --> 00:21:08 is
00:21:08 --> 00:21:09 our
00:21:09 --> 00:21:09 new
00:21:09 --> 00:21:09 Adam
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 that's
00:21:10 --> 00:21:10 why
00:21:10 --> 00:21:10 I got
00:21:10 --> 00:21:10 the
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 passage
00:21:11 --> 00:21:11 to
00:21:11 --> 00:21:11 continue
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 to
00:21:12 --> 00:21:12 be
00:21:12 --> 00:21:12 read
00:21:12 --> 00:21:13 Jesus
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 is
00:21:14 --> 00:21:14 our
00:21:14 --> 00:21:14 new
00:21:14 --> 00:21:15 Adam
00:21:15 --> 00:21:15 and
00:21:15 --> 00:21:15 he
00:21:15 --> 00:21:16 gives
00:21:16 --> 00:21:16 us
00:21:16 --> 00:21:16 power
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 right
00:21:17 --> 00:21:18 now
00:21:18 --> 00:21:18 to
00:21:18 --> 00:21:19 live
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 a
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 different
00:21:19 --> 00:21:19 kind
00:21:19 --> 00:21:20 of
00:21:20 --> 00:21:20 life
00:21:20 --> 00:21:21 so
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 Paul
00:21:22 --> 00:21:22 in
00:21:22 --> 00:21:22 this
00:21:22 --> 00:21:23 passage
00:21:23 --> 00:21:23 and
00:21:23 --> 00:21:23 verse
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 12
00:21:24 --> 00:21:24 starts
00:21:24 --> 00:21:24 with
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 the
00:21:25 --> 00:21:25 bad
00:21:25 --> 00:21:25 news
00:21:25 --> 00:21:25 in
00:21:25 --> 00:21:26 Romans
00:21:26 --> 00:21:26 5
00:21:26 --> 00:21:26 12
00:21:26 --> 00:21:26 Paul
00:21:26 --> 00:21:27 says
00:21:27 --> 00:21:27 that
00:21:27 --> 00:21:27 what
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28 Adam
00:21:28 --> 00:21:28 did
00:21:28 --> 00:21:28 in
00:21:28 --> 00:21:28 the
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 Garden
00:21:29 --> 00:21:29 of
00:21:29 --> 00:21:29 Eden
00:21:29 --> 00:21:30 affected
00:21:30 --> 00:21:30 every
00:21:30 --> 00:21:31 human
00:21:31 --> 00:21:31 being
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 however
00:21:33 --> 00:21:33 that
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 process
00:21:34 --> 00:21:34 of
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 transmission
00:21:35 --> 00:21:35 happens
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 and that's
00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 something
00:21:36 --> 00:21:36 you can
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 go to
00:21:37 --> 00:21:37 theological
00:21:37 --> 00:21:38 college
00:21:38 --> 00:21:38 to
00:21:38 --> 00:21:38 discuss
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 however
00:21:39 --> 00:21:40 it
00:21:40 --> 00:21:40 happens
00:21:40 --> 00:21:41 that
00:21:41 --> 00:21:41 Adam's
00:21:41 --> 00:21:42 act
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 influences
00:21:43 --> 00:21:43 us
00:21:43 --> 00:21:44 the
00:21:44 --> 00:21:45 foundation
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 stone
00:21:46 --> 00:21:46 for
00:21:46 --> 00:21:46 Paul's
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 argument
00:21:47 --> 00:21:47 is that
00:21:47 --> 00:21:47 when
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 Adam
00:21:48 --> 00:21:48 sinned
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 then
00:21:49 --> 00:21:49 death
00:21:49 --> 00:21:49 came
00:21:49 --> 00:21:49 to
00:21:49 --> 00:21:50 all
00:21:50 --> 00:21:51 people
00:21:51 --> 00:21:51 because
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 we
00:21:52 --> 00:21:52 all
00:21:52 --> 00:21:52 sinned
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 and
00:21:53 --> 00:21:53 so
00:21:53 --> 00:21:54 we
00:21:54 --> 00:21:54 are
00:21:54 --> 00:21:54 all
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 in
00:21:55 --> 00:21:55 Adam
00:21:55 --> 00:21:56 we
00:21:56 --> 00:21:56 all
00:21:56 --> 00:21:57 suffer
00:21:57 --> 00:21:57 from
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 the
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 brokenness
00:21:59 --> 00:21:59 that
00:21:59 --> 00:21:59 he
00:21:59 --> 00:22:00 gave
00:22:00 --> 00:22:00 to
00:22:00 --> 00:22:00 humanity
00:22:00 --> 00:22:02 and
00:22:02 --> 00:22:02 if
00:22:02 --> 00:22:02 you
00:22:02 --> 00:22:04 sorry
00:22:04 --> 00:22:05 every
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 person
00:22:06 --> 00:22:06 shares
00:22:06 --> 00:22:06 in
00:22:06 --> 00:22:06 the
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 beauty
00:22:07 --> 00:22:07 and
00:22:07 --> 00:22:07 brokenness
00:22:07 --> 00:22:07 of
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 Adam
00:22:08 --> 00:22:08 if
00:22:08 --> 00:22:08 you
00:22:08 --> 00:22:09 like
00:22:09 --> 00:22:09 for
00:22:09 --> 00:22:09 every
00:22:09 --> 00:22:10 human
00:22:10 --> 00:22:10 being
00:22:10 --> 00:22:11 we
00:22:11 --> 00:22:11 all
00:22:11 --> 00:22:12 have
00:22:12 --> 00:22:12 a
00:22:12 --> 00:22:12 family
00:22:12 --> 00:22:13 history
00:22:13 --> 00:22:13 that
00:22:13 --> 00:22:13 negatively
00:22:13 --> 00:22:14 affects
00:22:14 --> 00:22:14 us
00:22:14 --> 00:22:16 now
00:22:16 --> 00:22:16 I
00:22:16 --> 00:22:16 know
00:22:16 --> 00:22:16 that
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 some
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 of
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 you
00:22:17 --> 00:22:17 almost
00:22:17 --> 00:22:18 certainly
00:22:18 --> 00:22:18 will
00:22:18 --> 00:22:18 have
00:22:18 --> 00:22:18 a
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 family
00:22:19 --> 00:22:19 history
00:22:19 --> 00:22:19 that's
00:22:19 --> 00:22:19 much
00:22:19 --> 00:22:19 more
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 local
00:22:20 --> 00:22:21 that
00:22:21 --> 00:22:21 affects
00:22:21 --> 00:22:21 you
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 you
00:22:23 --> 00:22:23 might
00:22:23 --> 00:22:23 have
00:22:23 --> 00:22:23 an
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 experience
00:22:24 --> 00:22:24 in
00:22:24 --> 00:22:24 your
00:22:24 --> 00:22:25 family
00:22:25 --> 00:22:25 of
00:22:25 --> 00:22:26 grandparents
00:22:26 --> 00:22:26 parents
00:22:26 --> 00:22:28 and that
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 what
00:22:29 --> 00:22:29 they
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 did
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 in
00:22:31 --> 00:22:31 the
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 past
00:22:32 --> 00:22:33 negatively
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 affects
00:22:34 --> 00:22:34 you
00:22:34 --> 00:22:34 right
00:22:34 --> 00:22:34 now
00:22:34 --> 00:22:36 and for
00:22:36 --> 00:22:36 the people
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 who I've
00:22:37 --> 00:22:37 known
00:22:37 --> 00:22:37 who've
00:22:37 --> 00:22:37 had that
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 experience
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 it crushes
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 them
00:22:40 --> 00:22:42 it colors
00:22:42 --> 00:22:42 everything
00:22:42 --> 00:22:43 they see
00:22:43 --> 00:22:43 they sit
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44 there and
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 the lens
00:22:45 --> 00:22:45 of the
00:22:45 --> 00:22:46 past is
00:22:46 --> 00:22:46 the lens
00:22:46 --> 00:22:47 through which
00:22:47 --> 00:22:47 they view
00:22:47 --> 00:22:47 the world
00:22:47 --> 00:22:48 and if
00:22:48 --> 00:22:48 you like
00:22:48 --> 00:22:49 every human
00:22:49 --> 00:22:50 being has
00:22:50 --> 00:22:50 family history
00:22:50 --> 00:22:52 we have
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 family history
00:22:53 --> 00:22:54 going all
00:22:54 --> 00:22:54 the way
00:22:54 --> 00:22:55 back to
00:22:55 --> 00:22:55 Adam
00:22:55 --> 00:22:55 we've
00:22:55 --> 00:22:55 all
00:22:55 --> 00:22:55 got a
00:22:55 --> 00:22:56 past
00:22:56 --> 00:22:56 and it
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 conditions
00:22:57 --> 00:22:57 us
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 to
00:22:58 --> 00:22:58 thinking
00:22:58 --> 00:22:59 we'll
00:22:59 --> 00:22:59 never
00:22:59 --> 00:22:59 break
00:22:59 --> 00:23:00 free
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 so
00:23:01 --> 00:23:01 when
00:23:01 --> 00:23:01 you
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 hear
00:23:02 --> 00:23:02 the
00:23:02 --> 00:23:02 Bible
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 storyline
00:23:03 --> 00:23:03 ends
00:23:03 --> 00:23:03 with
00:23:03 --> 00:23:04 you
00:23:04 --> 00:23:04 being
00:23:04 --> 00:23:05 perfected
00:23:05 --> 00:23:05 in
00:23:05 --> 00:23:05 Christ
00:23:05 --> 00:23:07 perhaps
00:23:07 --> 00:23:07 your
00:23:07 --> 00:23:07 response
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 is
00:23:08 --> 00:23:08 well
00:23:08 --> 00:23:08 God
00:23:08 --> 00:23:08 at
00:23:08 --> 00:23:08 the
00:23:08 --> 00:23:09 end
00:23:09 --> 00:23:09 of
00:23:09 --> 00:23:09 time
00:23:09 --> 00:23:09 is
00:23:09 --> 00:23:09 just
00:23:09 --> 00:23:09 going
00:23:09 --> 00:23:09 to
00:23:09 --> 00:23:10 have
00:23:10 --> 00:23:10 to
00:23:10 --> 00:23:10 do
00:23:10 --> 00:23:10 a
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 demolition
00:23:11 --> 00:23:11 job
00:23:11 --> 00:23:12 because
00:23:12 --> 00:23:12 there
00:23:12 --> 00:23:12 is
00:23:12 --> 00:23:13 nothing
00:23:13 --> 00:23:13 going
00:23:13 --> 00:23:14 on
00:23:14 --> 00:23:14 in
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 me
00:23:15 --> 00:23:15 I
00:23:15 --> 00:23:15 don't
00:23:15 --> 00:23:15 know
00:23:15 --> 00:23:15 if
00:23:15 --> 00:23:15 you've
00:23:15 --> 00:23:15 ever
00:23:15 --> 00:23:16 seen
00:23:16 --> 00:23:16 those
00:23:16 --> 00:23:16 real
00:23:16 --> 00:23:16 estate
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 ads
00:23:17 --> 00:23:17 where
00:23:17 --> 00:23:17 they
00:23:17 --> 00:23:17 kind
00:23:17 --> 00:23:17 of
00:23:17 --> 00:23:17 put
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18 out
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18 a
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18 thing
00:23:18 --> 00:23:18 and say
00:23:18 --> 00:23:19 renovate
00:23:19 --> 00:23:19 or
00:23:19 --> 00:23:20 detonate
00:23:20 --> 00:23:20 okay
00:23:20 --> 00:23:21 well
00:23:21 --> 00:23:22 I think
00:23:22 --> 00:23:22 sometimes
00:23:22 --> 00:23:23 we feel
00:23:23 --> 00:23:23 like with
00:23:23 --> 00:23:23 our life
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 it's just
00:23:24 --> 00:23:24 detonate
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 there's
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 nothing
00:23:26 --> 00:23:26 here to
00:23:26 --> 00:23:26 renovate
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 God
00:23:27 --> 00:23:28 but
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 Paul
00:23:29 --> 00:23:29 thinks
00:23:29 --> 00:23:29 something
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 different
00:23:30 --> 00:23:30 is
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 happening
00:23:31 --> 00:23:31 to us
00:23:31 --> 00:23:31 in the
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 present
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 and in
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 517
00:23:34 --> 00:23:34 he says
00:23:34 --> 00:23:35 for if
00:23:35 --> 00:23:35 by the
00:23:35 --> 00:23:35 trespass
00:23:35 --> 00:23:36 of the
00:23:36 --> 00:23:36 one
00:23:36 --> 00:23:36 man
00:23:36 --> 00:23:37 death
00:23:37 --> 00:23:37 reigned
00:23:37 --> 00:23:37 through
00:23:37 --> 00:23:38 that
00:23:38 --> 00:23:38 one
00:23:38 --> 00:23:38 man
00:23:38 --> 00:23:39 how
00:23:39 --> 00:23:39 much
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 more
00:23:40 --> 00:23:40 will
00:23:40 --> 00:23:40 those
00:23:40 --> 00:23:40 who
00:23:40 --> 00:23:41 receive
00:23:41 --> 00:23:41 God's
00:23:41 --> 00:23:42 abundant
00:23:42 --> 00:23:42 provision
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 of grace
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44 and of
00:23:44 --> 00:23:44 the gift
00:23:44 --> 00:23:44 of
00:23:44 --> 00:23:45 righteousness
00:23:45 --> 00:23:46 reign in
00:23:46 --> 00:23:46 life
00:23:46 --> 00:23:47 through
00:23:47 --> 00:23:47 the
00:23:47 --> 00:23:47 one
00:23:47 --> 00:23:48 man
00:23:48 --> 00:23:48 Jesus
00:23:48 --> 00:23:48 Christ
00:23:48 --> 00:23:50 so
00:23:50 --> 00:23:50 in
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 Christ
00:23:51 --> 00:23:51 God
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 not only
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 provides
00:23:53 --> 00:23:53 us a
00:23:53 --> 00:23:53 sacrifice
00:23:53 --> 00:23:54 for our
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 sins
00:23:55 --> 00:23:55 he
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 provides
00:23:56 --> 00:23:56 us
00:23:56 --> 00:23:57 a new
00:23:57 --> 00:23:57 Adam
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 who
00:23:58 --> 00:23:58 can
00:23:58 --> 00:23:58 enable
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 us
00:23:59 --> 00:23:59 to
00:23:59 --> 00:23:59 reign
00:23:59 --> 00:24:00 in
00:24:00 --> 00:24:00 life
00:24:00 --> 00:24:01 and so
00:24:01 --> 00:24:02 where Adam
00:24:02 --> 00:24:02 failed
00:24:02 --> 00:24:03 Christ
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 triumphed
00:24:04 --> 00:24:05 where Adam
00:24:05 --> 00:24:05 gave in
00:24:05 --> 00:24:06 the
00:24:06 --> 00:24:06 temptation
00:24:06 --> 00:24:07 Christ
00:24:07 --> 00:24:07 did
00:24:07 --> 00:24:08 not
00:24:08 --> 00:24:09 and because
00:24:09 --> 00:24:09 of his
00:24:09 --> 00:24:10 perfect
00:24:10 --> 00:24:10 life
00:24:10 --> 00:24:11 Christ
00:24:11 --> 00:24:11 not only
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 becomes
00:24:12 --> 00:24:12 our
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 means
00:24:13 --> 00:24:13 of
00:24:13 --> 00:24:13 forgiveness
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 he
00:24:14 --> 00:24:14 also
00:24:14 --> 00:24:15 becomes
00:24:15 --> 00:24:15 the
00:24:15 --> 00:24:15 fountain
00:24:15 --> 00:24:16 head
00:24:16 --> 00:24:16 the
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 source
00:24:17 --> 00:24:17 of a
00:24:17 --> 00:24:17 whole
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 new
00:24:18 --> 00:24:18 way
00:24:18 --> 00:24:18 of
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 being
00:24:19 --> 00:24:19 human
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 and
00:24:20 --> 00:24:20 Jesus
00:24:20 --> 00:24:21 represents
00:24:21 --> 00:24:22 everything
00:24:22 --> 00:24:22 a human
00:24:22 --> 00:24:22 being
00:24:22 --> 00:24:23 is meant
00:24:23 --> 00:24:23 to be
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 and by
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25 his
00:24:25 --> 00:24:25 resurrection
00:24:25 --> 00:24:25 power
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 and by
00:24:26 --> 00:24:27 the gift
00:24:27 --> 00:24:27 of his
00:24:27 --> 00:24:27 spirit
00:24:27 --> 00:24:29 he does
00:24:29 --> 00:24:29 the most
00:24:29 --> 00:24:30 remarkable
00:24:30 --> 00:24:30 thing
00:24:30 --> 00:24:31 he starts
00:24:31 --> 00:24:32 transforming
00:24:32 --> 00:24:32 us
00:24:32 --> 00:24:32 now
00:24:32 --> 00:24:33 to be
00:24:33 --> 00:24:34 like
00:24:34 --> 00:24:34 himself
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 and so
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37 the whole
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 comparison
00:24:38 --> 00:24:38 between
00:24:38 --> 00:24:38 Adam
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 and Christ
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 raises
00:24:40 --> 00:24:41 an identity
00:24:41 --> 00:24:41 issue
00:24:41 --> 00:24:42 for us
00:24:42 --> 00:24:43 as Christians
00:24:43 --> 00:24:44 how do
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45 you see
00:24:45 --> 00:24:45 yourself
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 as a
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 Christian
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 do you
00:24:48 --> 00:24:49 see yourself
00:24:49 --> 00:24:50 as primarily
00:24:50 --> 00:24:51 still in
00:24:51 --> 00:24:51 Adam
00:24:51 --> 00:24:53 that you
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 are forgiven
00:24:54 --> 00:24:54 yes but
00:24:54 --> 00:24:56 basically doomed
00:24:56 --> 00:24:57 to failure
00:24:57 --> 00:24:59 or do you
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00 see yourself
00:25:00 --> 00:25:01 in Christ
00:25:01 --> 00:25:04 not perfect
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 forgiven
00:25:05 --> 00:25:06 yes but
00:25:06 --> 00:25:07 on your
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 way
00:25:08 --> 00:25:09 to be
00:25:09 --> 00:25:09 to be
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 like
00:25:10 --> 00:25:10 him
00:25:10 --> 00:25:11 because
00:25:11 --> 00:25:12 in
00:25:12 --> 00:25:12 Romans
00:25:12 --> 00:25:12 5
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 12
00:25:13 --> 00:25:13 to 21
00:25:13 --> 00:25:13 Paul
00:25:13 --> 00:25:14 wants
00:25:14 --> 00:25:14 to
00:25:14 --> 00:25:14 use
00:25:14 --> 00:25:15 this
00:25:15 --> 00:25:15 Adam
00:25:15 --> 00:25:15 Christ
00:25:15 --> 00:25:16 comparison
00:25:16 --> 00:25:17 to proclaim
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 that you
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 are no
00:25:19 --> 00:25:19 longer in
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 Adam
00:25:20 --> 00:25:20 you are
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21 in Christ
00:25:21 --> 00:25:22 and therefore
00:25:22 --> 00:25:23 when you
00:25:23 --> 00:25:23 come to
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 Christ
00:25:24 --> 00:25:24 you aren't
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 just
00:25:25 --> 00:25:25 wiped
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 clean
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 you are
00:25:27 --> 00:25:27 made a
00:25:27 --> 00:25:27 new
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 creation
00:25:28 --> 00:25:29 because
00:25:29 --> 00:25:30 of Jesus
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 there's a
00:25:31 --> 00:25:31 whole new
00:25:31 --> 00:25:32 way of
00:25:32 --> 00:25:32 being
00:25:32 --> 00:25:32 human
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 to reign
00:25:33 --> 00:25:34 in life
00:25:34 --> 00:25:34 as it
00:25:34 --> 00:25:35 states
00:25:35 --> 00:25:35 in verse
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 17
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 is to
00:25:37 --> 00:25:37 actually
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38 start to
00:25:38 --> 00:25:38 be
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39 transformed
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 in Christ
00:25:40 --> 00:25:41 even
00:25:41 --> 00:25:41 now
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43 and so
00:25:43 --> 00:25:43 as the
00:25:43 --> 00:25:43 book of
00:25:43 --> 00:25:44 Romans
00:25:44 --> 00:25:44 moves forward
00:25:44 --> 00:25:45 into chapter
00:25:45 --> 00:25:45 6
00:25:45 --> 00:25:46 it assumes
00:25:46 --> 00:25:46 you can
00:25:46 --> 00:25:47 be transformed
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 it assumes
00:25:48 --> 00:25:48 you can
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 really change
00:25:49 --> 00:25:52 friends because
00:25:52 --> 00:25:52 of Jesus
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53 you are no
00:25:53 --> 00:25:53 longer defined
00:25:53 --> 00:25:54 by your
00:25:54 --> 00:25:54 past
00:25:54 --> 00:25:56 so many
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 of us
00:25:57 --> 00:25:57 perhaps
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 all of us
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 define our
00:25:59 --> 00:25:59 life
00:25:59 --> 00:26:00 in terms
00:26:00 --> 00:26:00 of our
00:26:00 --> 00:26:01 past
00:26:01 --> 00:26:01 our identity
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 is based
00:26:02 --> 00:26:03 on our
00:26:03 --> 00:26:03 past
00:26:03 --> 00:26:04 if I ask
00:26:04 --> 00:26:04 you who
00:26:04 --> 00:26:04 you are
00:26:04 --> 00:26:05 you'll tell
00:26:05 --> 00:26:05 me what
00:26:05 --> 00:26:05 happened
00:26:05 --> 00:26:06 to you
00:26:06 --> 00:26:06 in the
00:26:06 --> 00:26:06 past
00:26:06 --> 00:26:08 and sometimes
00:26:08 --> 00:26:09 our Christian
00:26:09 --> 00:26:09 life is
00:26:09 --> 00:26:10 defined by
00:26:10 --> 00:26:10 our past
00:26:10 --> 00:26:11 I just
00:26:11 --> 00:26:12 can't
00:26:12 --> 00:26:12 be holy
00:26:12 --> 00:26:14 I just
00:26:14 --> 00:26:15 cannot
00:26:15 --> 00:26:15 change
00:26:15 --> 00:26:15 Mark
00:26:15 --> 00:26:16 you don't
00:26:16 --> 00:26:16 know my
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 story
00:26:17 --> 00:26:17 I'm a
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 screw up
00:26:18 --> 00:26:18 that's
00:26:18 --> 00:26:18 what I
00:26:18 --> 00:26:18 do
00:26:18 --> 00:26:20 I'm just
00:26:20 --> 00:26:20 like Adam
00:26:20 --> 00:26:22 yeah you
00:26:22 --> 00:26:23 are
00:26:23 --> 00:26:25 but because
00:26:25 --> 00:26:25 of Jesus
00:26:25 --> 00:26:27 your story
00:26:27 --> 00:26:27 no longer
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28 has to be
00:26:28 --> 00:26:29 just about
00:26:29 --> 00:26:30 your past
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 because with
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 him a
00:26:32 --> 00:26:33 different story
00:26:33 --> 00:26:33 has begun
00:26:33 --> 00:26:35 where your
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 sins have
00:26:36 --> 00:26:36 been forgiven
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 and you
00:26:37 --> 00:26:37 are on the
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 journey towards
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39 Christ likeness
00:26:39 --> 00:26:41 and in Christ
00:26:41 --> 00:26:41 we find a new
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 beginning which
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 means you are
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 not what you
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 were
00:26:45 --> 00:26:47 you are in
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 Christ now
00:26:48 --> 00:26:49 and your hope
00:26:49 --> 00:26:50 and destiny
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 is to be like
00:26:51 --> 00:26:51 him
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53 now please do
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 not hear me
00:26:54 --> 00:26:55 saying anything
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 that might smack
00:26:56 --> 00:26:57 of triumphalism
00:26:57 --> 00:26:57 as if your life
00:26:57 --> 00:26:58 from now on
00:26:58 --> 00:26:58 is going to
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 be one
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 long
00:27:00 --> 00:27:04 victory march
00:27:04 --> 00:27:04 not a
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 victory march
00:27:05 --> 00:27:07 no no no
00:27:07 --> 00:27:07 you are not
00:27:07 --> 00:27:08 in some
00:27:08 --> 00:27:09 victory march
00:27:09 --> 00:27:09 that is the
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 life to come
00:27:10 --> 00:27:12 but we are
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 in our way
00:27:13 --> 00:27:15 this is
00:27:15 --> 00:27:16 who you
00:27:16 --> 00:27:17 really are
00:27:17 --> 00:27:19 who you
00:27:19 --> 00:27:19 really are
00:27:19 --> 00:27:20 is not your
00:27:20 --> 00:27:20 past
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 it's not even
00:27:22 --> 00:27:22 your present
00:27:22 --> 00:27:24 it's your
00:27:24 --> 00:27:24 future
00:27:24 --> 00:27:26 who you
00:27:26 --> 00:27:27 really are
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 is what
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 you will
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 become in
00:27:30 --> 00:27:30 Christ
00:27:30 --> 00:27:32 on that
00:27:32 --> 00:27:32 final day
00:27:32 --> 00:27:34 your future
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 in Christ
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 is what
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 defines you
00:27:37 --> 00:27:37 I love the
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 phrase Tom
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 Wright uses
00:27:39 --> 00:27:39 he says
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 we are but
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 shadows of our
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 future selves
00:27:42 --> 00:27:44 because that
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 is who I am
00:27:45 --> 00:27:46 what I'm
00:27:46 --> 00:27:46 becoming
00:27:46 --> 00:27:47 in Christ
00:27:47 --> 00:27:49 that's what
00:27:49 --> 00:27:49 the Holy
00:27:49 --> 00:27:50 Spirit does
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 to us
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 he brings
00:27:52 --> 00:27:53 the life
00:27:53 --> 00:27:53 of the future
00:27:53 --> 00:27:54 into our
00:27:54 --> 00:27:55 life in the
00:27:55 --> 00:27:55 present
00:27:55 --> 00:27:57 as we are
00:27:57 --> 00:27:57 transformed
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 into the
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 image of
00:27:59 --> 00:27:59 Christ
00:27:59 --> 00:28:02 sometimes
00:28:02 --> 00:28:03 when I
00:28:03 --> 00:28:04 summarise for
00:28:04 --> 00:28:05 people what
00:28:05 --> 00:28:05 should you
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 really expect
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 from a
00:28:07 --> 00:28:07 Christian
00:28:07 --> 00:28:09 because there
00:28:09 --> 00:28:09 are so many
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 people out
00:28:10 --> 00:28:10 there who
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 expect that
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 Christians will
00:28:12 --> 00:28:12 be perfect
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 and they're
00:28:13 --> 00:28:13 thoroughly
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 disappointed
00:28:14 --> 00:28:14 when they're
00:28:14 --> 00:28:15 not
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16 and then I
00:28:16 --> 00:28:16 meet other
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 people who
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 expect that
00:28:18 --> 00:28:18 there will be
00:28:18 --> 00:28:19 no change
00:28:19 --> 00:28:19 at all in
00:28:19 --> 00:28:19 the Christian
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 life that
00:28:20 --> 00:28:20 we're all
00:28:20 --> 00:28:20 going to be
00:28:20 --> 00:28:21 horrible until
00:28:21 --> 00:28:22 the day of
00:28:22 --> 00:28:22 the second
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23 coming and
00:28:23 --> 00:28:23 when somebody
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 does actually
00:28:24 --> 00:28:24 have holiness
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 break into
00:28:25 --> 00:28:25 their life
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 it's kind of
00:28:26 --> 00:28:26 like wow
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 that's weird
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 and so how
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 do we capture
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 this tension
00:28:30 --> 00:28:31 between the
00:28:31 --> 00:28:32 now and the
00:28:32 --> 00:28:32 not yet
00:28:32 --> 00:28:33 I sometimes
00:28:33 --> 00:28:34 like to say
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 that all
00:28:35 --> 00:28:35 Christians should
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 have a little
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 tag on them
00:28:37 --> 00:28:37 saying work
00:28:37 --> 00:28:38 in progress
00:28:38 --> 00:28:40 you know when
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41 you go past a
00:28:41 --> 00:28:41 building site and
00:28:41 --> 00:28:42 it says work
00:28:42 --> 00:28:43 in progress
00:28:43 --> 00:28:45 when you see
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 that sign you
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 know that what
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 you see isn't
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 the finished
00:28:49 --> 00:28:49 work
00:28:49 --> 00:28:51 but you
00:28:51 --> 00:28:52 also know
00:28:52 --> 00:28:52 that something
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 has been
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 begun
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 because you
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 know that if
00:28:56 --> 00:28:56 somebody puts
00:28:56 --> 00:28:57 up a work
00:28:57 --> 00:28:57 in progress
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 sign but
00:28:58 --> 00:28:58 nothing has
00:28:58 --> 00:28:59 been begun
00:28:59 --> 00:28:59 you're kind
00:28:59 --> 00:29:00 of like sitting
00:29:00 --> 00:29:00 there going
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 I'm not sure
00:29:01 --> 00:29:01 you should put
00:29:01 --> 00:29:02 the sign
00:29:02 --> 00:29:02 up
00:29:02 --> 00:29:05 there's a
00:29:05 --> 00:29:05 little saying
00:29:05 --> 00:29:07 that I have
00:29:07 --> 00:29:07 to try and
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 describe all
00:29:08 --> 00:29:08 this
00:29:08 --> 00:29:11 at every point
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 we should be
00:29:12 --> 00:29:12 able to say
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 this about our
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 Christian life
00:29:14 --> 00:29:16 I'm not
00:29:16 --> 00:29:16 what I was
00:29:16 --> 00:29:18 I'm not yet
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 what I will
00:29:19 --> 00:29:19 be
00:29:19 --> 00:29:21 I'm not
00:29:21 --> 00:29:21 what I was
00:29:21 --> 00:29:23 I'm not yet
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 what I will
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 be
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 I thought I
00:29:25 --> 00:29:26 was so awesome
00:29:26 --> 00:29:26 when I coined
00:29:26 --> 00:29:27 that quote
00:29:27 --> 00:29:28 I thought that's
00:29:28 --> 00:29:28 a zinger
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 people are going
00:29:29 --> 00:29:29 to put that up
00:29:29 --> 00:29:30 on Facebook
00:29:30 --> 00:29:31 for years
00:29:31 --> 00:29:32 people are going
00:29:32 --> 00:29:32 to copyright
00:29:32 --> 00:29:32 I'm going to
00:29:32 --> 00:29:33 make a lot of
00:29:33 --> 00:29:33 money out of
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 this
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 that's a bang
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 on quote
00:29:36 --> 00:29:36 and then I
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 realised about
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 200-300 years
00:29:38 --> 00:29:38 ago John
00:29:38 --> 00:29:39 Newton had said
00:29:39 --> 00:29:39 something and
00:29:39 --> 00:29:40 said it even
00:29:40 --> 00:29:40 better
00:29:40 --> 00:29:42 and so I'll
00:29:42 --> 00:29:42 quote you
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 John Newton
00:29:43 --> 00:29:45 he said I
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 am not what
00:29:46 --> 00:29:46 I ought to
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 be
00:29:47 --> 00:29:48 I'm not
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 what I
00:29:49 --> 00:29:49 want to
00:29:49 --> 00:29:49 be
00:29:49 --> 00:29:51 I'm not
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 what I
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 hope to
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 be in
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 another
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 world
00:29:52 --> 00:29:54 but still
00:29:54 --> 00:29:55 I am
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 not what
00:29:56 --> 00:29:56 I once
00:29:56 --> 00:29:56 used to
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 be
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 and by
00:29:58 --> 00:29:58 the grace
00:29:58 --> 00:29:59 of God
00:29:59 --> 00:30:00 I am
00:30:00 --> 00:30:01 what I
00:30:01 --> 00:30:01 am
00:30:01 --> 00:30:03 let's
00:30:03 --> 00:30:03 pray
00:30:03 --> 00:30:07 Heavenly
00:30:07 --> 00:30:07 Father you
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 are so good
00:30:08 --> 00:30:08 to us
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 because when
00:30:09 --> 00:30:09 you send
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 your son
00:30:10 --> 00:30:10 you don't
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 just send
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 an atonement
00:30:12 --> 00:30:12 for sin
00:30:12 --> 00:30:14 you send
00:30:14 --> 00:30:15 someone who
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 can enable
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 us to
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 become the
00:30:18 --> 00:30:18 people you
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 always intended
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 us to be
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 that you
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 take away
00:30:22 --> 00:30:23 our guilt
00:30:23 --> 00:30:24 that you
00:30:24 --> 00:30:24 justify us
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 completely
00:30:25 --> 00:30:27 and then you
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 actually set
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 us free
00:30:29 --> 00:30:31 to be more
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 like your
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 son
00:30:31 --> 00:30:33 Heavenly
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 Father if we
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 are struggling
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 with our past
00:30:36 --> 00:30:36 tonight
00:30:36 --> 00:30:38 help us to
00:30:38 --> 00:30:40 see that the
00:30:40 --> 00:30:41 future you have
00:30:41 --> 00:30:42 given us in
00:30:42 --> 00:30:43 Christ is
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 what defines
00:30:44 --> 00:30:44 us now
00:30:44 --> 00:30:46 that we
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 are not to
00:30:47 --> 00:30:47 be enslaved
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 with what
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 we've done
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 or even
00:30:50 --> 00:30:50 what we're
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 failing to
00:30:51 --> 00:30:51 do in the
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 present
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53 but that we
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54 are to look
00:30:54 --> 00:30:55 forward with
00:30:55 --> 00:30:56 great anticipation
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 straining
00:30:57 --> 00:30:58 towards what
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 is ahead
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 because of
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 what Christ
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 Jesus has
00:31:02 --> 00:31:03 won for us
00:31:03 --> 00:31:05 we thank you
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 for your
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 rich and
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 overwhelming
00:31:08 --> 00:31:08 gift of
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 salvation
00:31:09 --> 00:31:09 salvation
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 in Jesus
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 name we
00:31:11 --> 00:31:11 pray
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 amen