Who Do You Think You Are?

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham a little later in the program tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's a man of God first hears his message you think you are wearing a series of messages on the life and legacy of the greatest Christian who ever lived.

In my view, the apostle Paul, and I know when we study great men like Paul apostles and leaders of the New Testament and Old Testament era.

Sometimes we can be intimidated thinking that well, that was Paul and I'm not. But the fact is that God gave Paul and you in me everything that we need to live an abundant life for Christ.

Begin finding your Bible's book of Ephesians chapter 1 and I'm looking here in verses 3 to 14 of Ephesians 1. At the longest sentence in the Bible is just a massive paragraph fill with the blessings of God describing listener. This our identity, our security and our destiny in Christ is all, right here, to all who are in Christ, who are abundantly super blessed with all the blessings of God in Christ, the triune God, the fullness of the Godhead is present in this passage, God the father, God the son God the Holy Spirit. We are told that we have been chosen selected by the father that we have been redeemed and forgiven. Say by the sun and that we have been secured, sealed by the Holy Spirit. We got a look at each one of these as best we can in the time that we have today and that we have been blessed by the father through the sun are in the sun through the Holy Spirit let me say that again we have been blessed by the father in the son. Jesus through the Holy Spirit and again and again and again from the apostle Paul in the word of God. We read this phrase in Christ. In Christ, in Christ, in Christ, in Christ, in the beloved is all about Jesus. The Christian faith is all about him. That's because everything that we have in life and in the future life. The life become is in him that we have salvation in Christ, the forgiveness of sins in Christ, the blessings and favor of God in Christ, freedom in Christ, hope in Christ love in Christ because everything that he is listening is everything that he is the great I am, I can say I am. If I am in Christ and Christ is in me. Paul said, I am what I am by the grace of God.

So we have all things according to the Scripture pertaining to life and godliness. Sometimes we think well I don't have enough faith. Yes, you did you been given all the faith you need in Jesus Christ. I don't have enough hope you have hope in Christ you this need access that hope in Christ you have all the love that you need is that I need more love know you doubt the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit and in Christ you have all the love that you need anything that you can imagine any spiritual blessing that you need is in Christ is all in him and Paul is so excited about that. He so fired up about that that he begins to praise God and what we have here in verses 3 to 14 is a hymn of praise I him to the triune God father son and Holy Spirit and he just pours out his praise. Let me remind you that this is Paul imprisoned not in the prey service and regardless of our circumstances in life. We can always pray through it and praise through it. Paul good is that I'm a prisoner know he said I am in Christ. You may think, well, you know, I just don't have much in and I've never been much I'm I'm a loser and so many people feel inadequate and insecure. What we're about to see in this passage today that in Christ. You never need to feel less than you never feel need to feel in adequate. You can know that every provision has been made that you are a child of the most high God that you are a child of God that heavenly father and everything that he has a makes available to you that cause your heart to sort praise to God like Paul because we have so much in the Lord Jesus Christ. So get ready. We unpacked this passage in the few minutes that we have but I'm gonna read it first beginning in verse three, Ephesians 1. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessings to praise the word eulogy or eulogize and so we are to bless the blessed sort.

He say praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now an important note here sometimes you hear that we all worship the same God that weather is the God of the Christians, the God of the Muslims, the God of the Jews, the God of the Hindus, the God of the the religious world. Whatever God you choose to worship is all the same God that we Christians worship the same God. Note as followers of Jesus Christ we worship the God that we worship is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what sets the Christian faith apart, and frankly, is where we take a lot of the heat in the flak from the world because we are viewed as bigots and those who are ostracizing others when in fact the gospel message is for anyone and everyone who will come to him, but the fact is, all truth is narrow 2+2 is for no matter how many times you may try to slice truth is truth and so truth is narrow, but he says to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Sometimes you think in the natural realm. You don't think you're blessed when I'm having a hard time and I'm sick and I don't have a job in I'm not blessed in the natural, it may appear that you are unblessed, but God says that you been blessed by God with all spiritual blessings, not when you get to heaven someday, but right now, and what we need to do is simply access we have on deposit for us the eternal dividends of God himself. The benefits the blessings the worse the wealth of God. All spiritual blessings are yours in Christ right now and what we need to do is possess our possessions.

We need to claim our inheritance. Too many others are living beneath our blessings were living below God's standard of living for us when not accessing the incredible wealth and worth that we have in Christ and what is that he starts with verse four. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has blessed us in the beloved.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things in earth. In him we have obtained the inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we were the first to hope in Christ, might be to the praise of his glory. Verse 13 in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation.

By the way, you need more than positive thinking positive thinking is really good. I like positive thinking a lot better than negative. Think but this is more than a feel-good passage. This is the word of truth is not what I say to myself about myself is what God says to me about me is truth and that's why the Scripture says, the truth will set you free. So while it is good to think positively is even better to think positively, biblically, the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation who believe in him who work now, here's the work of the Holy Spirit sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. So you see why we say that we have been say by the father. All these blessings come by the father in the sun through the Holy Spirit. We have been selected by God the father. We have been redeemed or saved by God the son, we have been secured, sealed by the Holy Spirit, grace, and highly favored our God is a good God, he delights to give good things to his children. Every good and perfect gift comes down from above. Now certainly every material blessing that we have comes from God and we are so abundantly blessed.

We been given so much and every blessing that we have financially and otherwise certainly we give praise to God, but beyond the material blessing come the spiritual blessing in Christ right in Christ so that we never need to live feeling or insignificant or adequate.

You're blessed. Take God's word here listening to PowerPoint with Jack Grant and today's message letting you think you are.

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The gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional website again is Jack Graham.Margie. Now let's get back today's message who you think you are your blessed you would be look at this in verse four.

Holy and blameless before him. Holy and blameless before him. What you're looking at a holy man. Is that what you looked at holy well in the sight of God in Christ. When God views you and me. He sees us as holy. That's our position in Christ. We tell athletes play your position coach don't do your job and don't worry about you know the next play of the play that just happened, just do your job right in front of you.

Play your position in Christ we have a position and we are to play that is live it out and therefore our position in Christ motivates us to live this out so you are not just student or a teenager.

You are a holy child of God, therefore, that motivates you to live like God's because you already are.

That's our position in Christ and therefore we are blameless before him. There is no sin is laid your charge.

Can you imagine that in the sight of God.

So many of you think God is so angry with God could never forgive you, but God will never get over what you just did know in the sight of God because of the fact that you are in Christ, he sees you as pure and holy and blameless little girl was asked what she learned in Sunday school. She said while the teacher asked, is there anything that God can't been you know what I said mom what you say. She said yes there's something God can't do what he can't see my sin through the blood of Jesus is right because he chooses in Christ, he chooses in Christ to accept us and adopt us legally into his family and fact is, he says that we are predestined to be like Christ, that we have been called and chosen by God before the foundation of the world now we can walk a little theological truth right here because when you study your Bible you know there's an issue regarding what is predestination what is election in the sovereignty of God, especially as it relates to the humanity in the and the free will of man, and so on and so let people get really bent out of shape about this in their theological systems that try to find this, but look know this, that God did pick you out. He did choose you before the foundation of the world.

Spurgeon used to say forget they because they God chose me before I was born because he would've never chose me after I was born before you were born before there were stars in outer space. God said his love, his heart is affection upon you in Christ, and he has called you and is calling you if you don't know him. You're not here by chance or accident.

He has brought you here by divine appointment to come to him.

Maybe watching on television, listening on radio and your you're in your car. You're in your home and and you for you since this strange drawing the Christ.

That's God loving you and we love him because he first what love does he set his love upon us, and I do know this when I read my Bible is clear to me that while God has chosen me this doesn't mean that God is cruel or capricious. He didn't stand before eternity and said you say you lost, you lost, you say heaven bound hell bound your kindling. You're not know the Bible tells us that even in this passage that we have the responsibility to believe that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be say the last invitation of the Bible, God put it at the end of the word.

I think just to remind us that whosoever will make anyone the spirit says, the church, the bride of Christ says come and let anyone who is a first come, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, first John 22 says that Jesus died for the sins of the world, not just for the sins of the elect, but for the sins of the whole world. Peter tells us in second Peter 39 that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Anyone who wants to be say can be say if you will believe in Christ, just God is sovereign.

Yes, God is in control.

Yes, God has chosen us. But at the same time God has given us a will to respond to and believe the him is that will last – contrary I can't figure that out and if you could you be God himself. I don't have to figure out his ways are higher than our ways and the sovereign divine sovereignty of God and of the freedom of the will of man are not adversaries they are allies in their side by side in Scripture you let God work out the details but he says you've been chosen says you have been accepted, adopted and accepted into the family of God. You see that this verse is formed by these are such rich what words, if you had a wonderful, loving, caring father your blessed by that some of you had fathers that were angry even abusive to be abandoned by your father and you wonder you know.

Does anyone want me does anyone care about me.

You have a heavenly father is a perfect father who loves you.

Your father is God. God is your father he's given your father's given you a family that's what all this talk was about the uniting together in Christ we had the spiritual family this destiny with him. We have a future with him all in Christ. We've all seen children adopted with all the legal rights of the family. That's what adoptionist we are sons and daughters of God.

You have a father who loves you and he pours out his blessings upon you know we've been blessed by the father we've been blessed by the sun with forgiveness and redemption is a word which describes being set free redeem redeemed, how I love to proclaim it. Paul is proclaiming the redemption of God and the forgiveness of sins we say this over and over and over and over again because his hope so difficult for us to get sometimes that all of our sins are forgiven in Christ Christian life is not just the forgiveness of your past and to give you a brand-new start to do your best know all of our sins are forgiven in Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's son cleanses us from every sin. So the blessing of salvation, including blessing from God the father blessing from God the son like this. I'm running out of time here, but I'm telling you that that you just can't stop praising God. It will take eternity to praise him enough for this salvation that is been provided in Christ in Christ and then the Holy Spirit, for he says we have the guarantee. The ceiling of the Holy Spirit. If you go to buy a house or piece of property you will get a stack of papers and you sign them, sign them, sign them, sign them, sign them and then at the end, someone gets a stamp and official stamp of the state of Texas and put the stamp on their to make it a legal document. That's the kind of legal terminology.

In fact, Paul laces, this passage would legal terminology adoption is one of the Holy Spirit being the guarantee the seal. As another so the Holy Spirit seals and sandals.

The salvation issue in the security of your life. It also means a brand mark, the psyche would brand an animal cow and you put the brand on the Holy Spirit is the seal. The Holy Spirit is the brand the Holy Spirit is that the security that we have in Christ and God's Holy Spirit then we we are in his his grip because we are signed, sealed and already delivered. That's why we can say we are is good for heaven as if we'd already been there 10 billion years. Praise God is right, we are sure because we've been blessed with this identity. This significance this security in Christ when we are in Christ.

Even Satan himself could not snatch us from the grips of will. What if I could fall through his fingers. Don't you know that's impossible because you're part of the body in Christ. His body you are in Christ and Christ in Christ by the father by the son by the Holy Spirit and therefore experience and enjoy your blessings don't live beneath your privileges but is wholly blameless child of God.

Praise him with your life and with your lips and when you witness an ever stop throughout all you are a child of God is listening to PowerPoint entities message you think some exciting news to share with some friends and stepped forward with a $180,000 matching grant, which will dabble any gift you get this meant to PowerPoint finish this financial year strong, with more people than ever searching for what only Jesus can provide gift today is nothing short of vital help ensure PowerPoint remains at beacon of hope in the year and will say thanks for your gift by sending Dr. Graham's kind for you or someone to come out to have your financial data and request a copy come when he handed seven 954-627-1800 79567 can also text PowerPoint 1393131. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our E store. Give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotion our website again is Jack Graham.Margie Pastor what is your PowerPoint for today. Well I know predestination is a pretty big word and is a bigger idea and a lot of folks are confused about predestination. They think is somehow unfair that God would choose people in salvation and others not to choose, but the message of predestination is not for those who haven't been saved, but it is a promise to those who are say but are insecure about their future predestination is God saying I know you may be concerned about whether or not you go to heaven or not. But let me reassure you. I chose you before the beginning of time and therefore your salvation is guaranteed.

Once you come to faith in Jesus Christ. Your eternal future is guaranteed you are secure in Christ all of this is based on God's sovereignty. He began with a plan for his creation for you and for me and that means not just generally but personally and that plan was in existence before the world began, and this should give you immeasurable indescribable confidence that when you look at all this going on around your life and in your world and wonder is God really in control. You can know. Yes, God absolutely is in control. So when you think about predestination. Think about a God who has a destiny for your life and that God is working in you to bring you to himself. I want you to know how grateful I am for you.

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