2 responses because of our identity in Christ
I. Worship Is the Proper Response for the Triune God’s Work in Salvation
A. Because of the work of the Father
Ephesians 1:3-6 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
B. Because of the work of the Son
Ephesians 1:7-12 - In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
C. Because of the work of the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 1:13-14 - In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
II. Reject the Temptation to Worship Something Else
Isaiah 44:17-20 - But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.” They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!” He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
A. Because you exchange what is glorious for what is fading
Romans 1:22-23 - Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Jeremiah 2:11 - Has a nation changed gods When they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
B. Because your glory is made into shame
Isaiah 42:17 - They will be turned back and be utterly put to shame, who trust in idols, who say to molten images, “You are our gods.”
Philippians 3:19 - …whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.
C. Because instead of being blessed, you are cursed
Genesis 1:27-28 - So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them…
Genesis 3:17 - Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.”
Psalm 115:8 - Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them.
D. Because you become empty instead of satisfied
Jeremiah 2:5 - Thus says the Lord, “What injustice did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me and walked after emptiness and became empty?”
- What do you imitate? Who are what do you pattern your life after?
- When our four children began to get older…as parents we began to notice how their playing practices began to be patterned after us as parents because they loved Dad and Mom, they wanted to be like Dad and Mom.
- Our daughters would say what we say when she fed and clothed their dolls.
- Our children’s stuffed animals would do the activities we did as a family.
- When their toys disobeyed and did something bad, they would discipline them like we would.
- When one of my children brought toy Mr. Penguin out in school and was told that Mr. Penguin should not return because he was a distraction, they were quick to carry out discipline on Mr. Penguin when he came home from school.
- This type of imitation and patterning continues as we age and into adulthood.
- Friendship groups imitate styles and clothes.
- They reflect one another’s interests in activities.
- For those of you who are married you begin to imitate one another in speech and mannerisms.
- As a pastor, I have seen how this dynamic plays out even in preaching the longer you serve together. Your tone, style can often reflect those who you sit under who are regularly the preaching of the Word. My wife sometimes has said you sounded like Pastor Green or Pastor Aucoin or Pastor Viars when you said that.
- We all pattern our lives around what we praise.
- We live like what we love.
- We reflect what we revere.
- You might say it this way “People be praising’.” It’s just a matter of who or what…Because the Scriptures reveals that this is a fundamental aspect of our identity that…You are a Worshipper…with that in mind turn in your bibles to Ephesians 1, page 150 in the NT in the bible under the chair in front of you.
- Our church’s theme this year is Building on Our Heritage…
- God in His grace has given us a wonderful heritage and the question we’re considering this year is…what does it look like to build on their heritage wisely and well?...
- in these early months of 2024, we’re working through Ephesians chapter 1 where we want to Remembering Our Identity as One in Christ…
- Let’s read the first 14 verses…looking for what God tells us about the goal or end purpose of our lives because of our identity as worshipers.
- For what end goal or purpose are we…
- Blessed
- Set Apart as Saints
- Chosen, Predestined
- Adopted
- United with Christ
- Forgiven
- Redeemed
[Read Ephesians 1:1-14]
2 responses because of our identity in Christ.
I. Worship is the proper response for the Triune God’s work in salvation.
What is the end game or goal for God’s salvation according to this passage…It’s repeated three times in these verses…to the praise of God’s glory!
The proper response of worship must be to the proper object of worship.
- - The One True God who is Trinity. The God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The passage teaches us that each person of the Trinity works inseparably to save us from our sin. Our rescue from sin is the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Every act of God toward his creation is an inseparable work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…happening from the Father, in the Son, by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, it is proper to worship the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each person, who is the one True God.
Notice first the passages mentions we worship God…
Because of the work of the Father.
Ephesians 1:3-6 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Who do we bless or praise? The God and Father
Who blesses us? The Father
- - How is this work of blessing accomplished…notice its done “in Christ” not apart from Christ. The blessing work of the Father in our salvation is inseparable from the Son.
Who chooses us? The Father
- - How is this choosing working done…notice it’s done “in Him” in Christ.
- Before the foundation of the world the Father and Son are working inseparably. The Son does nothing apart from the Father for our salvation.
Who predestines to adoption? The Father
- - How is this predestining for adoption by the Father done?
- Again through Jesus Christ…not apart from Jesus.
- And the kindness that God the Father bestows on us is not apart from Jesus but in Jesus the Beloved.
What is the end goal…to the praise of the glory of the Father’s grace!
So proper worship must be given to God the Father.
- - Therefore, any kind of worship that opposed the worship of God the Father cannot be true worship.
- - If you are a Christian you must worship God the Father.
- Your adoption into God’s family leads your heart to desire to pray to God the Father and praise your heavenly Father.
Romans 8:14–16 - For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God…
The goal of our salvation and purpose is that you and I would praise our Heavenly Father’s glorious grace…his excellent kindness.
God is purposing everything for this purpose.
- - Does your purpose in life align with this end goal?
- - The difficult medical challenges are purposed for me to eventually praise God’s glorious grace as I consider his kindness to give me a glorified body. Not so I would pattern my life around the purpose of putting my ultimate hope in the kindness of human doctors.
- - The sin that brings consequences to my relationship with my earthly family is purposed by my Heavenly Father that I may marvel and praise his glorious grace to lavish me with his eternal love in the coming ages.
- - You are not living like a worshipper of God the Father if you are not looking for ways to identify and praise his grace. You can live out your purpose and this aspect of your identity in every season and circumstance of your life.
My identity as a Christian is a worshipper of God the Father’s glorious grace.
- - Are you seeking to identify ways to praise his glorious grace everyday?
- - Do you prioritize and pattern your life around identifying ways God’s grace is at work in the lives of his people so you can praise him?
You expect someone who identifies as an athlete to prioritize the time to get in the gym and exercise, to get more reps swinging a baseball bat, taking time to throw or shoot the ball, and looking at game tape.
You would expect someone who identifies as a surgeon to be around patients around, regularly operating on patients, and looking at medical scans.
God expects the Christian who identifies as a worshipper of God the Father to prioritize praising His kindness.
- - We are seeking to prioritize this as a church family as we remember his grace in our heritage as a church family. Share story of Jerry and Rita (hospitality with pulpit filling when one of the pastors stepped down).
Being a worshipper because of the work of God the Father is also evidenced especially by prayer. Your desire to pray to God as your Father is a fruit and work of God in your life.
Are you seeking to identify ways to pray for his glorious grace to be magnified each day? Consider this aspect of our salvation in our church’s heritage.
- - Answered prayer for senior pastor
- - Answered prayer for Christian School
- - Answered prayer for community center
- - Answered prayer for Faith West
- - Answered prayer for Northend
- - Answered prayer for recent SMP - Expansion
- - Answered prayer for missionaries
- - Answered prayer answered in Church family.
- Isaiah
- Alfa and Gloria update
We praise God the Father for our salvation and his glorious grace. We also praise the Son, Jesus Christ.
Because of the work of the Son.
Ephesians 1:7-12 - In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
Our redemption is in Christ, not apart from him. Its through his blood, not apart from his blood.
The mystery of God’s will is fulfilled in Christ, not apart from Jesus.
And our hope is in Christ not apart Christ.
Notice again the end goal of the purpose of our salvation is praising the glory of our redeeming God.
Being a worshipper because of the work of God the Son implies you cannot be a true worshipper of God if your hope is not in Jesus Christ and praising Jesus.
- - God is Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit save sinners. So, there is no salvation apart from the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is no true worship of God apart from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Those who say they worship gods or a god, like Muslims or Hindus or certain Jews who deny that Jesus is the one true God are not true worshippers worshipping in the Spirit and truth if their object of worship is not the true God, Jesus Christ.
God’s goal is to have a people that praise the glory of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, someone opposed to this is not worshipping God, but an idol of their own creation.
We also worship and praise God…
Because of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13-14 - In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Next week Pastor Viars will be spending more time unpacking our sealing and the work of the Holy Spirit.
But notice our sealing in Christ is not apart from the Holy Spirit but with the Holy Spirit…to the praise of his glory.
The work of the Holy Spirit is inseparable from the saving work of the Father and the Son. The Son glorifies the Father and speaks only the Father’s words. The Spirit glorifies the Son and speakers only what he is told from the Father through the Son…praise the Lord for his wonderous work to save and redeem us.
- - If time allows application for how we speak about the Spirit’s work and “spiritual” talk in the church.
So if the goal of our salvation and identity in Christ is for worshipping the glory of our God, we must choose to…
II. Reject the temptation to worship something else.
Our identity as Christians who are saved by God’s grace, implies that we needed saving and the Lord’s kindness.
This is because we do not worship God as we ought.
Consider your own life. Think about how many moments, days, situations that you did not worship God, but instead valued something else as more important than pleasing the Lord.
Each of us has been tempted to put something before the Lord and love it more than God. God knows the evil desires of our heart and temptation to do this, which is why the first commandment in the 10 Commandments is to have no other gods before God.
We must love the Lord with all heart. When we worship something else, we are deceived. You are living your life for a lie. God makes this point clear to Israel when they put something else before worshipping God and worshipped the idols of their culture.
Isaiah 44:17-20 - But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.” They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!” He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
So the command to worship is so serious that we must flee from idolatry, or the worship of something else.
1 Corinthians 10:6-7, 14 - Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”…Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
An idol is not just a physical statue, but it can be people, resources, anything in creation as Luther says…“whatever your heart clings to and relies upon, that is your God” Martin Luther, Larger Catechism.
What reasons does God remind us of as consequences when we worship something else other than the Lord?
Because you exchange what is glorious for what is fading.
Romans 1:22–23 – Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
God says we are naturally fools…you and are tempted to make a bad deal, like the first man Adam, we exchange the immortal incorruptible Creator God for something in creation that we worship and idolize that is corruptible and perishable and in no way compares to the power and majesty of God.
We see how the people of Israel
Psalm 106:19-22 - They made a calf in Horeb
And worshiped a molten image.
Thus they exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
Wonders in the land of Ham
And awesome things by the Red Sea.
They chose a cow idol like the nations around them, rather than worshipping their Glory, the God who actually had the power to save and rescue them. When we worship something we forget our God, Savior, the one who does great and awesome things and settle for a really bad exchange and get a grass-eating beast.
Trades exchanges are everywhere…investments are traded on the stock exchange. They want to make a good deal that profits.
There is a kid trading market exchange the kids…my kids trade games, toys, they want a good deal. To get something better to their advantage…
When my wife and I came back from celebrating our 10 year anniversary I hoped to exchange some Euros for US. I had about 30 Euros I did not use. So I went to a local bank to exchange the money. 1 Euro right now is currently slightly more than a dollar. After they factored in the exchange rate and fees I was expecting maybe something around 30 dollars or a little less. They told me .85 cents. I was in shock…that is like the worst exchange rate possible. Not a profitable exchange at all.
God says when we don’t worship God, we exchange glory for something that does not profit.
Jeremiah 2:11 - Has a nation changed gods
When they were not gods?
But My people have changed their glory
For that which does not profit.
The worship of this idol in our lives is so vain that their glory is so temporary and fading…
Hosea 9:11 - As for Ephraim, their glory will fly away like a bird.
What temptation that you are tempted to worship do you need to remind yourself and say: “No deal!” That’s a bad deal! That’s fading.
- - Possessions/beauty to gain the glory of people. No deal. It’s fading.
- - Sexual immorality…to get the momentary passing pleasure. No deal. It’s fading.
When you are around those “somethings” that draw your heart away from the glory of God…remember your identity and reject the bad deals for what’s better to worship.
- - Put into practice…Deal or No deal in your daily life as an act of worship.
- In our church’s heritage…Deal versus No Deal.
Contrast this to the gift of God eternal life through trusting Jesus Christ our Lord. Ephesians 1 says God offers us the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ, which is the good news of our salvation by trust in him.
Because of God’s kindness he offers each of us the best deal for our greatest eternal joy and eternal reward and profit.
Receiving Jesus and getting a right relationship with my God and being included in his family is the best deal.
It’s the greatest treasure that even selling everything and investing my life to have Him is a no-brainer.
Remember idolatry is a bad exchange because its fading and profitless, also…
Because your glory is made into shame.
The consequence of shame comes from wrong worship.
Wrong worship ends in your shame.
Isaiah 42:17 - They will be turned back and be utterly put to shame,
Who trust in idols,
Who say to molten images,
“You are our gods.”
Hosea 4:7 - The more they multiplied, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.
Hosea 9:10 - But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, And they became as detestable as that which they loved.
Philippians 3:19 - whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.
Instead of honor you are humiliated for worshipping the wrong thing.
Paul asks believers to consider this question in their spiritual growth.
Romans 6:21 - “Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death.”
Everyone hates being ashamed.
- - “I feel so ashamed”
- - “I want to be rid of this shame.”
But we must understand that dealing with our shame requires a change in worship. Only devotion to God leads to freedom from guilt and shame. People want no shame without a changing their purpose to worship God.
- - But if you continue to worship and be devoted to sexual pleasure…you will continue to devote yourself to shame.
- - But if you continue to be devoted and value most yourself and your comfort…you will be put to shame.
Contrast this to the kindness of Jesus’s salvation. As worshippers of God, we experience the riches of his glory, we share in his glory, and are honored and co-reign with Christ. Instead of humiliation, an eternal weight of glory awaits us!
Additionally, we should reject worshipping something else…
Because instead of being blessed you are cursed.
Remember that the source of blessing is God…he first chose blessed us before we did anything God. We read about God’s will to bless his creation and in a special way humanity with his image bearers, Adam and Eve.
Genesis 1:27-28 - So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them…
- - But if you continue to worship and be devoted to sexual pleasure…you will continue to devote yourself to shame.
God blessed them but they disobeyed the Lord and did not worship the Lord by listening to his voice and because of their actions they are cursed and the consequences of sin has spread to the creation.
Genesis 3:17 - Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you will eat of it
All the days of your life.
But even later with the nation of Israel, they follow other gods and as a result God says they will be cursed because of their worship of idols.
Deuteronomy 4:27-28 - The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
Part of the curse of idol worship is that they become like what they are worshipping…not reflecting the glory of God, but instead are described as not knowing, seeing, or hearing, like a stone, wood, or metal idol.
Isaiah 6:9-11 - He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’
“Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”
Psalm 115:1-8 –
Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
Why do the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
But their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
The consequence is that as G.K. Beale writes…
“the worshiper, rather than experiencing an expected life-giving blessing, has received a curse by becoming as spiritually inanimate, empty, rebellious, or shameful as the idol is depicted to be.” - G.K. Beale, We Become What We Worship, pg. 21.
Israel worshipped the idol golden-calf…and like a stubborn and stiff-necked domesticated beast, Israel became a stubborn-stiff necked people that would not listen to word of God and the commands of their master to their own destruction.
- - Possible illustration in the movie Patten.
In WWII, there was an event that was captured in the movie Patton where the US army is trying to advance in the island of Sicily near Italy…
When a pair of mules blocked a bridge during the Sicily offensive in 1943, it stopped Patton’s armored convoy, and they were vulnerable to being shot by the enemy.
The donkeys have no awareness of the consequences on the lives of others, they don’t listen no matter any amount of goading and words from people. They were stiff-necked.
In the end, Patton ends up shooting the animals and throwing them off the bridge so that his soldiers are not killed. I can’t imagine that the donkey’s were considering that their stiff-necked response would end in their destruction.
“One becomes like the earthly object to which one is devoted, which leads to destruction.” G.K. Beale, We Become What We Worship, pg. 297.
- - Consider how this dynamic has played out in your life.
If we idolize sexual immorality and praise pornography.
- - That idol “pornography” will make us like what we worship.
- It’s doesn’t really “see” you when you had a tough day.
- It’s has no power to deliver you.
- It doesn’t speak words of truth.
- It doesn’t care about the Lord, your life, your marriage, your family, your testimony.
- It won’t show you any mercy.
And if you worship it, you will be insensitive and not see God or others as God would want to you to see him as his image bearer.
- You don’t listen and have ears to hear the warnings of God about the horrors of this path or hear the concerns of your family or spouse and the consequences it brings to their lives.
- You don’t speak about God, sex, other people as God made you to speak as his image bearer.
What you reflect is what pornography reflects.
- A deceptive, selfish, destructive, insensitive, beastlike god.
If we idolize our comfort.
- - We won’t see and you will be blind to the kindness and love of God at work especially through trials and sufferings.
- - We won’t listen the needs of others as opportunities to glorify God and love others but hear them as burdensome things to avoid.
- So I grumble and do little at home if something threatens my goal of ease.
- As parents we won’t nurture and discipline our children when its hard…
- - You are slave to comfort…you only do what comfort says.
What we reflect is what my idol of comfort reflects.
- A lazy, shameful, self-focused, bystander to the mission of God in this world, who rebels against obedience to the Lord when its challenging.
Contrast this cursed way of life, with the blessed way of life. When I worship Jesus, I experience every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places and the joy of imitating Jesus as dearly loved children.
I have a relationship with a God who is like nothing in all creation:
- - Who sees all. Our greatest sufferings, sins, and successes.
- - Who hears all. Our greatest concerns and complaints.
- - Who knows all. Our greatest desires and purpose.
- - Who can speak and always speaks the truth.
- - Who can do all and always acts righteously.
The final reason we should reject worshipping something else is…
Because you become empty instead of satisfied.
Jeremiah 2:5 - Thus says the Lord,
“What injustice did your fathers find in Me,
That they went far from Me
And walked after emptiness and became empty?”
As God reminded his people also in 2 Kings about the people of Israel idolatry…
2 Kings 17:15-16 - They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He gave them. And they followed idols and became empty, and followed the nations that surrounded them, about which the Lord had commanded them not to do as they did. And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves cast metal images: two calves. And they made an Asherah, and worshiped all the heavenly lights, and served Baal.
God shows us that idols are like a broken bottle that has no bottom, and the thing cannot sufficiently satisfy your thirst.
- - No amount of food satisfies the soul’s hunger to be satisfied by worship of the infinite God. Because we are made to worship God and not food.
- Food is finite
But notice the consequence of idolatry is not just that you will see that the idol itself is empty in comparison to the satisfaction of God.
You yourself become empty…
For example – when you worship leisure and vacations…it’s not just that in time you will see that no vacation seems long enough. So you go longer. You pay more…you do more activities, or less activities…yet you return to life and if you were idolizing that vacation what begins to happen is not just that the vacation seems empty.
You become empty. Your state of being is not satisfied and full. Your identity itself seems empty.
“What’s the point? What’s my purpose? Why should I care? “I feel like I don’t matter”
This emptiness is God’s gracious consequence to point you and I to our purpose to praise God. To worship the glory of God.
Contrast this empty condition and identity to the fulness of joy and satisfaction that comes in Jesus Christ because our God’s glorious kindness to save us.
- - If time allows provide some examples of finding satisfaction in the Lord.
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