Ephesians 3:3-14 - 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
7 I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. 13 I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,
Our lesson tonight focused on our new identity in Christ...as children of the King. Once we are in Christ, we become royalty. We are not who we were anymore. We have been bought with a great price. We are children of the King!!
We started out giving the kids a pen and paper and an assignment while they listened to Who Am I? by Casting Crowns. Who are you? List on your paper all of the different ways you can answer that question. For instance, you might say: I am a sister or brother, a daughter or son, a friend, a poet, a
student. After they were done, we discussed some of their answers. As you were writing did you find yourself thinking things that maybe other people have said about you? I am a screw-up. I am a failure. I am not smart. I am ugly. I am not wanted. Or did something come to your mind that you really wish you were, but then you didn’t write it down because there is a voice inside of you who said “You’re not that.”?
So much of how we see ourselves is based on what we do or what others have said about us. But what really matters, what is really true is what God says about us. This question of “Am I good enough?” is a universal one. It is something that all of us struggle with from time to time. We search for someone to tell us that we are valuable, that we are important, that we are chosen. The Bible answers this question for us though in Ephesians 3:3-14.
When we accept Jesus and His sacrifice for our lives—when we choose to make Him the master and Lord of our lives—we are adopted into the family of God. Think about that. We are children of God, and we have been guaranteed an inheritance. You've heard this idea at TPCC before, that as a Christian you are a child of God, but so few of us actually live that way. Most of us live just like everyone else. We should act different because we are different. We are not just like everyone else. We are Royalty. We are children
of the King.
We are chosen (verse 4). Few people know what being a child of God is really all about. You see, if you are a Child of the King you are chosen. Remember when you were a little kid and how important it was to
be chosen...maybe for kickball or to do something important for mom and dad? We have this deep desire in us to be picked and the cool thing is that God knows that so He is sure to tell us that we are chosen. Since you are chosen you don’t have to stress so much about whether you are good enough. You are already chosen. You don’t have to prove yourself. You are already picked. Most importantly, you don't have to try and be someone you're not to impress someone else. It doesn't matter what others think about you because you are chosen by God! To grasp how important it is to just be yourself...the person God created and chose, we watched a clip from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs.
We struggle to get the newest ipod or cell phone or the nicest clothes. We struggle to prove that we are smarter, prettier, or better than the next guy so that we will feel valuable in this world. Well, you are valuable because God has said you are valuable. He has chosen you.
Also, we have grace: (verses 7-8). Being a child of the King also means that you have grace, and not
just a little grace, but grace overflowing. There is a great word here—lavished. It speaks so beautifully of
what God’s grace really is all about. God’s grace is poured out with abundance on our lives. Whatever you have done, no matter how far you have walked away, no matter where you have run or what you have turned your life into, you have God’s amazing grace. You can never out sin God’s grace.
To demonstrate how God lavishes His love on us, we had a little eating contest! We picked two youth and put them in front of hotdogs in buns. We placde a small amount of mustard on each hotdog and said: This is a little mustard. Then we placed a larger amount of mustard on each hotdog and said: For most people this is enough mustard. Then we emptied the bottle of mustard on the hotdogs and said: But this is what it means to lavish the hotdogs with mustard. It is above and beyond what is needed. Did I mention the hotdogs had to be eaten without hands then too!
Once you are His child you will always be His child. If you are a Christian there is nothing that you have done or will do that will keep God from adopting you into His family. You have God’s Guarantee (verses 13-14). God has placed his Holy Spirit in your life as a guarantee of your inheritance. As a Christian you belong to God. No one can take that away from you. No one can make that not true. No matter what others may say about you, no matter what other people may do to you, you will never stop being a child of the King.
So what about you? Have you forgotten whose child you are? Are you living like a child of God or are you living a defeated life? If you have never asked Jesus to be the Master of your life. You can do that now and be adopted into His family. If you are a Christian, then you need to stop living like you are defeated and start living like you are a child of the King.
We finished with a story about a princess who doesn't know she's royalty. Alexandria is a shy, tomboyish daughter of the king. When she is sent to boarding school the other girls tease her. He father comes to check the situation out and reminds Alexandria that she is not just any girl, she is a daughter of the king. The story ends with the king parading his daughter around the school so that everyone can see that she belongs to him.
As Christians, we are children of God, and yet most of us forget to live that way. We live defeated lives, keeping our heads down and believing what other people say about us. The Bible says that we have been granted the spirit of sonship, that we can now call God, “Abba, Father.”
We closed watching Matthew's West's music video, Hello, My Name Is.
