I. John 1:3, “All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
A. Everything was made though, and in Christ. (Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth,” John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”)
B. Everything is under Him (Ephesians 1:22-23, “And He [God] put all things under His [Jesus’] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” I Corinthians. 15:28, “ Now when all things were made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”)
II. We cannot look to the temporal things of this life for our securities.
A. Because it is all under Christ
B. Because that is idolatry (Romans 1:25, “Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshipped the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forevermore. Amen.”)
1. Putting anything before Christ on High, is idolatry, and is deserving of death, and hell, forever.
2. This is something that we are all guilty of, whether that be sports, or girls, or money.
C. He must be our head (Ephesians 1:22-23, “And He [God] put all things under His [Jesus’] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Colossians 2:10, “And you are completed in Him, who is the head of all principalities and power.”)
1. We are complete in Him
a. So, why do we look to other things? (Sports, girls, cars, money)
b. We need Him for salvation, but for some reason we think that is it.
2. Christ must be the center of our lives!!!
a. If He is not then we are dead, and condemned to Hell
b. We must live like we are saved (John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 1John 3:18-19, “My littler children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall be assure in our hearts before Him.”) Brethren= Church!
c. If we put our stock somewhere else we are set toward a life of heartache without peace.
3. All thing fail (Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth or rust do destroy, and where thieves for not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.”)
a. We know people fail
b. We know stuff breaks
c. We know life is hard
d. Philippians 3:7-8, “But what things were gain to me I count as loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”
3. Christ is the one thing that remains constant in all and through all.
a. The Great I AM (Exodus 3:14, “I AM WHO I AM. Thus you shall say to the people of Israel I AM has sent me to you.”)
i. ~John Piper “Let this sink in: God- the God who holds you in being this moment- never had a beginning. Ponder it. Do you remember the first time you thought about this as a child or a young teenager? Let that speechless wonder rise. God never had a beginning, but always was and is and will be, He defines all things. Whether we want him to or not. He is there. We do not negotiate what we want for reality. God defines reality. When we come into existence we stand before God who made us, and owns us. We have absolutely no choice in this matter. We do not choose to be. And when we are, we do not choose that God be. No [amount of] ranting, or raving, no sophisticated doubt, or skepticism, has any effect on the existence of God. He simply and absolutely is. "Tell them I AM has sent you."
If we don't like it, we can change, for our joy, or we can resist to our destruction. But only one thing remains absolutely unassailable. God is. He was before we came. He will be there after we are gone. And therefore what matters in ministry above all things is this God. We cannot miss the simple and obvious truth that God must be the main thing in ministry. Ministry has to do with God because life has to do with God, and life has to do with God because the universe has to do with God, and the universe has to do with God, because ever atom and emotion and every soul of every Angelic, Demonic, and Human Being belongs to God. Who absolutely is He created all that is he sustains everything in being. He directs the course of all events, because, "From Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to Him be the glory forever. (Romans 11:36)"
b. So, let us not put our stock in this life where failure is the only option
4. If you put our hope in the things of this world we know what will happen
a. Death
b. Injury
c. Change
d. Brokenness
i. “He is a slave to his own limits, having no freedom of his body, mind, or spirit. Consequently, he becomes burdened out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind, and heart, are so overwhelmed that God’s blessing cannot rest on him.”
ii. We all know what this is like, hopelessness, utter hopelessness.
5. But in Christ is a peace that surpasses all understanding.
a. In Him is peace form the failures
b. In Him there is peace from the loss of sports, or girlfriends, or money.
c. Because He is the head over His Church.
i. All things created point to the Creator (Romans 1:20, “ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that we are without excuse.”
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