FBCWest 459 | God’s Plan for Us
Recorded On: 07/11/2021
Bulletin
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and truth.”
Praise and Worship
SCRIPTURE READING – Revelation 15:3 & 4
“This Is Amazing Grace”
“I Am Who You Say I Am”
Proclamation of the Word
Message by Pastor Joe
“God’s Plan for Us”
PRAYER TIME / Time of Reflection
“Down at the Cross”
Giving of Selves and Our Offerings
OFFERTORY PRAYER
SPECIAL MUSIC – By Pru Hungate
Continued Praise and Worship
“Good Grace”
“Way Maker”
Benediction “Egypt”
Acknowledgements and Announcements
Sermon Notes
Hebrews 2:5 God’s sovereignty, chose not to put angles in charge of the world to come
Ephesians 6:12
Daniel 10:18 – 21
Hebrews 2:6 – 8a What is Man? Yet You crowned hm with glory and honor and put things under our feet
Genesis 1:26 – 31
Hebrews 2:8b Because of Adam’s sin not all things are under subjection
Romans 8:19 – 23
Hebrews 2:9 Our place was restored by Jesus’ death
Revelation 5:9 & 10
Scritpures
Transcript of Service
Good morning or if you have your Bibles. If you would turn to Hebrews Chapter 2, we're going to start with first five. Before we do that.
There are a lot of Christian books that Christians are very interested in buying and reading about how to have a purpose driven life or and then there's colleges and universities who are making as a part of their appeal to Christian kids is to be apart and to develop and understand and to go to what your purpose driven life is and usually what that means is.
What it is I want to do and what it is I think, and so whether become a doctor, lawyer, Baker, plumber. That's what I want to do. And then I'm supposed to discover my purpose in that.
In the non Christian world, which the Christian world kind of adopts to is, you'll hear people say, well, I want to have the best life now.
To me, that's exceptionally shortsighted.
Because even if you have the best life now at best at best, life will last 80 years or so.
But I'd like to have is a reasonably good life now and an excellent eternity.
And the scriptures are going to show us that God's plan is not necessarily for you to have your best life now, but to have an internal life that is exceptional. And so the writer of Hebrews in this portion of the chapter after he is warned us about drifting from the scriptures. He's going to tell us about God's purposes for this world and for us. And so in chapter 2, verse five, it says, for he did not subject to angels the world to come.
Concerning which we are speaking.
And So what the writer is saying is, you know God had a choice when he made the universe.
He could have put the angels in charge, but it was his sovereign plan not to.
He decided on a different option for who would.
This world would be subject to an as we look back out in previous messages that angels are in essence ministering spirits. God ordained them to be ministerstwo us for us, to encourage us and to strengthen us and to do that type things.
And so, God saying.
I told you.
The Jesus is better than the angels. I'm going to now talk about how angels are impacted by what God's plan is for us. So he First off, he says the plan is not the angels inherit everything.
Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 says this for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. There's this sense of that there is a spiritual battle, and if you will, although the scriptures don't lay it out plainly, it's almost like the angels who did rebel rebel, partially because.
Lucifer wanted to be worshipped as God, whatever, but they didn't like the plan that God said man is going to rule the world and so we fight not against flesh and blood, but we fight against spiritual forces against those and then in Daniel Chapter 10 starting with verse 18, it says then this one with human appearance touch me again and strengthen me and he said, oh man, of high esteem do not be afraid. Peace be with you. Take courage and be courageous.
Now, as soon as he spoke to me, I receive strength and said, May my Lord, speak, for you have strengthen me. So Daniel had been in a point where he was so weakened in his condition, that the speech and the touching of this Angel strengthen him. So he said, OK, now I can pay attention to what you have to say. Then he said, do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the Prince of Persia. So I am going forward, and behold, the Prince of Greece is about to come.
However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth, yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael, your Prince, and so the scriptures tell us that there is this spiritual warfare going on, both in the sense of that we fight in our lives, but there is an unseen battle going on in these places, and that Michael and Gabriel and others are fighting these spiritual forces.
And so if you will, the world has not been subjected to mankind because of it.
And then verse two I mean verse going on with verse six of Hebrew suisses. But one has testified somewhere saying now I wanna stop there.
The writer of Hebrews did forget where this came from.
He could have said it comes from the Psalm and this is and I'm going to quote it.
But I think what he's trying to do here is, say.
It's not important who wrote it.
Because who spoke it was God.
So therefore he's saying what is man that you remember him or the son of man that you are concerned about him?
That's oftentimes a question we ask ourselves, especially if we find ourselves in nature somewhere on a mountaintop, or by the seashore. And we see the immenseness of an power of nature. Or we look out into the universe and see the billions and billions of galaxies and stars, and we go. We're such a tiny planet, and I'm just a tiny speck on this tiny planet. In this immense universe, who am I? What am I?
That you were even concerned about me and a lot of people therefore take the opinion he doesn't.
I'm inconsequential, but that's not what the scripture says.
Says for you have made him for a little while lower than the angels, you have crowned him with glory and honor. You and have appointed him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.
For in subjecting all things to him, he left nothing that is not subjected to him. So the writer is saying God's original plan was that the angels would be ministering spirits and that mankind would be the one who would subject the world and all that it contains in it under his dominion. In case you think I'm making that up, I want you to remember and will look at Genesis chapter one, verse 26 through 31.
It says this.
Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over the Catalan over all the earth. And over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him, male and female. He created them, and God bless them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, tan over the birds of the sky.
And over every living thing that moves on the earth, then God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food for you and to every beast on the earth, and every bird of the sky, into everything that moves on the earth which has life I have given every green plant for food. And so it was in God saw it all that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning.
The 6th day and So what we see in Genesis is that God made us in his image.
He made men and women in his image. He made Adam and Eve. He did make several races. He made one human race and one of the reasons we are in such chaos that we are when it comes our race relationship today is the church has adopted not the view of this of the scriptures that we are all from Adam and Eve, but they have adopted the script, the scientific view of evolution and that we all evolved from something else and therefore I can treat one race.
Differently than another race, when the scripture says there aren't different races, there's one race and God said I made them in my image and God said, I'm giving you the earth to rule over all this birds. All of the plants, all of the Seas follow the fish.
Everything that moves you.
Are the ones.
You're in charge. That was the plan.
However.
Something happened.
Satan.
Tempted Eve deceived Eve.
She took of the fruit.
Adam not being deceived took the fruit willfully and knowingly.
And God.
Banish them from.
The garden.
Satan tried to change the Dominion and ruling authority over the planet Earth.
And so Hebrews 2 verse 8 be kind of confirms that this assist. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. And if you look at this world is in chaos at times, we don't do what we wanted to do because.
We're not in control. We think we are. We try to exert control, but when we tried to change one thing, something else changes. So when we try to cause rain in one area, we cause drought in another. We have little power over the things that we think we have great power over because we no longer have that authority. And as a matter of fact, because Manson because Adamson and because now the world is no longer subjected to us.
The world is groaning Romans, chapter 8, verses 19 through 23 says this Paul, writing for the anxious longing of creation, waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. In essence, all of creation, all that God had made all that God said it is good is waiting for us.
To be children of God.
They are eagerly awaiting it, for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it and hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Basically, what insane here is, you know, when you buy a house and you're really let me change it, you buy a car.
And you're really proud of the car and you can't wait to drive it and show off all your friends. How beautiful is how fast it goes and whatever. But you know if you don't service it, you don't wash it.
The paint will fade and maybe rust.
The transmission will go out, the tires will go flat because this world there is a sense that it all degrades.
Things don't get from bad to work too good. They go from good to worse.
And so creation is saying we're tired of things falling apart.
Because a man's in so there anxiously waiting for that time when the children of God will be revealed. For we know that while the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now, and not only this, but also we ourselves having the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, redemption of the body.
Paul's writing scene.
When?
This body of sin is changed.
Creation will be changed the there will be a new Earth, a new heaven and we will have new bodies. There will no longer be subject to pain and illness and sickness.
In disability
but it'll be.
Imperishable.
And choices were waiting for that time when our souls in our new bodies might be united.
And so God's plan was for us to govern, if you will the world.
Satan interfered with that.
Creation.
Is seeking.
That original restoration.
In Hebrews 2, verse nine says this, but we do see him who is made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
So if you will, what Jesus is death is done, has placed us back on track.
From being the ones who are to be.
Rulers of this world.
To being ones who are just a part of the world that decays to being ones will be rulers of the world again.
Because of his death.
Because he was ground. The glory and honor.
By that
so that's why I say, you know everybody wants to for their purpose to be a doctor, lawyer, Baker, plumber, whatever the case might be.
God's eternal destiny for you.
It's a rule.
And reign with him.
And I like that much better.
You see, I like to read history. I like to to watch documentaries on history. I like to even see historical.
Docu dramas and movies on history and. And the thing that I have seen consistently throughout all of Mens time.
Is it those who seek power?
The lie, cheat, steal and kill to get it.
And once they've got it, they will lie, cheat, kill.
And still more to keep it.
But Jesus, who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, says, you know, I'm it.
All authority is given to me.
You can rule you can rain. I don't have to lie. I don't have to cheat it at the steel. I don't have to murder to obtain it or keep it.
Because it's his economy. It's his world. He just simply says rule with me.
Wanted future destiny. Yeah, I'm a lawyer and I'm glad I was a lawyer.
I'm glad I am a lawyer. Is one of the things I wanted to do, but I won't say it was. My purpose is one way that I was able to feed my family.
Because my ultimate destiny quote unquote for what I wanted.
I did not realize.
The God had a better plan for me.
A plan where I didn't have to lie, cheat, steal, and murder to gain power.
But frankly, I don't think I would have wanted to do that and we it's hard for me to know because I've been a Christian so long I don't know if its price is so affected me that that that just seems.
Wrong, which it is.
But yet everyone who wants to be in control seems to have no qualms about doing those things.
The following the Lord.
He gives me a destiny.
A future.
So when I hear people say.
And quote descriptions about.
My plans for you, for your good and not your evil, and all those things they're always thinking about now about now.
And if I were to get some illness, I would pray God cure me of the illness.
But rather, say, Lord, I'd still want to be yours.
That's the ultimate blessing.
This.
Life. It's good to have it good.
Start the objective.
You objective.
So hear from our Lord.
Well done.
Good and faithful slave you are faithful in a few things.
I will have you rule over many.
And notice rule over many.
So yeah, it's nice to be a doctor. Yes, nice to be Lord. Yeah, it's nice to be a Baker or a plumber.
I'd rather be on the Governing Council of the Lord of Lords and Kings of Kings.
In case you think I'm just pulling this out of thin air, the last verse I want you to take a look at is found in Revelation, Chapter 5, verse nine and 10.
And they sang a new song saying worthy, are you to take the book and to break it? Seals for you were slain and purchased for God with your blood men, from every tribe and tongue, and people and nation. So the scriptures saying Jesus, because he's the lion of Judah and the Lamb of God, has the ability and the authority to take an open the seals to have the last of the days.
March 4th.
Because he purchased for God.
Not for ourselves. He purchased us for God. We went from the slave market of sin to being a servant slave of our father God.
And he did so from every tribe.
And tongue and people and nations. I don't care where you came from, you could come from any country in Africa or any country in Europe, or any country in South America or any country in North America or any country in Asia, Europe, Australia, everyone in the world God has purchased with his blood.
Us
doesn't matter if you speak English.
Korean, Chinese Spanish.
Mandarin.
Every tongue, every people, and then notice what it says an you have made them to be a Kingdom and priest to our God and they will rain upon the earth. You see God when we take a look at the scriptures. When we started with it said God did not subject the world.
To the angels.
Because the plan was to subject the world to us.
And the problem was we messed up. So God had to pay for it to re establish our right to rule and reign with him over creation.
So we from every Kingdom and tribe and nation and tongue will become one Kingdom.
Under the Kingdom of God.
And will be priests to our God will be the ones who serve, will be the ones who ministered to God.
So here's a little thought experiment.
Who do you get the person who has everything?
God has everything.
Any ideas told us that we should administer to him?
So consider how you can ministere to him. How can you be a priest for our God?
And they us.
Will rain upon the earth.
People have this idea that when Jesus comes again, will go off to heaven and will be in heaven and everything will be over. No no.
He is going to establish a new Kingdom in the new Earth.
In his corner cost his children.
To rule and reign over it.
And to be precise to him.
So you can spend your money on buying books on what your purpose is.
You can listen to a bunch of sermons on how to acquire your purpose.
Or you can see.
Your destiny?
I'll take destiny over purpose anytime.
And all God's people said.