God's Poem

Introduction: Time is lineal, eternity is cyclic. Time has a beginning and an end. In time there is birth and death. In eternity there is only birth! God is in eternity and He is still creating. The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Church at Ephesus to let us know that God is writing a poem, a beautiful story in eternity - and that poem is you! Remember the story of the puppet, Pinocchio – a wooden puppet on a string until he came to life? Well, that is who we all are until we come to like in Christ.

Ephesians 2:1-10(NKJV)  –  ¹And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, ²in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. ⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

                I.   Satan - the puppet master

Isaiah 14:12-17(NKJV)  –  ¹²“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! ¹³For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ ¹⁵Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. ¹⁶“Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, ¹⁷Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’

A.     All the world are his prisoners

Ezekiel 28:17-19(NKJV)  –  ¹⁷“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you. ¹⁸“You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading; therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you. ¹⁹All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; you have become a horror, And shall be no more forever.”‘“

B.     How he keeps us in prison

1. Iniquity of your trading

ILL: Satan controls the entire economic systems in order to keep men in bondage. Advertising keeps us buying things we do not need. Credit keeps us bound. They all have their source in Satan.

1. Lusts of the flesh

Ephesians 2:2-3(NKJV)  –  ²in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, ³among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

• ·         lust of sexual fulfillment
• ·         lust of desires - got to have latest iPhone - largest television - fastest sports car - boat!
• ·         lust of drugs
• ·         all these things and others are walking according to the course of this world

            II.   Grace that sets us free

Ephesians 2:4-6(NKJV)  –  ⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…

A.     Grace is always associated with mercy

Exodus 34:5-7(NKJV)  –  ⁵Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, ⁷keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

B.     Grace comes through repentance and faith

Amos 5:15(NKJV)  –  ¹⁵Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Malachi 1:9(NKJV)  –  ⁹“But now entreat God’s favor, That He may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, Will He accept you favorably?” Says the Lord of hosts.

C.     Grace comes through the Holy Spirit

Hebrews 10:26-31(NKJV)  –  ²⁶For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. ²⁸Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”  says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” ³¹It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

D.    Salvation only comes by grace

Ephesians 4:7-8(NKJV)  – ⁷But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”

Ephesians 2:4-9(NKJV)  – ⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹not of works, lest anyone should boast.

            III. God is writing the story of the Christian - our poem

Ephesians 2:10(NKJV)  –  ¹⁰For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

A.     Workmanship - in the Greek poiema - our poem.

God pulled off our strings so we could create a poem out of our lives!

Romans 1: 20(NKJV)  –  ²⁰For 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…

B.     Painting by numbers or art?

When Satan was in control our lives were like a predawn canvas, a prepared script,  a drama where the end was known - death - grave - hell! When God came into control our lives were open to the master touch, the story ours to finish. We are free to write the closing chapter.

Conclusion:  Will your story be a poem or a tragedy?