He says this is the purpose. That everything that God is allowing in your life has the purpose of conforming you to the image of Jesus. To change you into the likeness of Jesus. That God is not wasting experiences. That he’s got, using all those life experiences, which means that everything that is going on in your life is what you would pray for if you knew everything that God knows. That he’s conforming us to the image of Jesus. He says, God’s not wasting stuff in your life. The stuff that you would say, please, erase this part. It’s all part of this process of designing you. Your portion is to be like Christ.
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Pastor Mark Willey
Excerpt Taken from “The Role of God the Father in the Story of Grace”
Video Transcript:
He says, he has destined them to be conformed to the image of Jesus. When the term predestination is used And a lot of people think that’s the problem issue. It’s not. I would say none of you have a problem with predestination if you understand it. It’s just saying, this is what we are destined to as God’s children.
We are destined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. If you look down at verse 11 in this passage that we’re looking at this morning. In Him, we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His own will. Here’s what He’s saying.
We’ve been predestined to the one that’s working in all things in our lives. This is what he says. And many of you that are believers and have been for a number of years, I’m going to quote one of the most well known verses in your life. Romans 8 28 to 30. Listen to what it says. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good.
For those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknow, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. He says this is the purpose. That everything that God is allowing in your life has the purpose of conforming you to the image of Jesus. To change you into the likeness of Jesus.
That God is not wasting experiences. That he’s got, using all those life experiences, which means that everything that is going on in your life is what you would pray for if you knew everything that God knows. That he’s conforming us to the image of Jesus. He says, God’s not wasting stuff in your life.
The stuff that you would say, please, erase this part. It’s all part of this process of designing you. Your portion is to be like Christ and to be Jesus life within you. So why does all this matter? These truths we’re looking at this morning, why do they matter? I want to say three quick things as I close.
Number one, these truths matter because they give us incentive to know all three members of the Godhead. Father, Son, Spirit. To speak to them in the awareness of this is the role, this is the role, this is the role. Well, Mark, you talk like they’re completely three different guys. Well, they are, but they’re all one.
I know! Figure it out! I haven’t! But to know all the remembers of the Godhead and do life with them. Secondly, it matters because it is encouragement to you in your lowest times.
God the Father is crazy about his kids. He wanted you. A number of years ago, we didn’t have this building. we did have the gym. It was probably the lowest point of my life to that point. I was very aware of myself. I had received, I’ve talked about this before, the letter from my wife at our 10 year anniversary.
It was calling me out appropriately for my own self centeredness and pursuit of She said, if you were a, if you were a businessman, you’d just be called a workaholic. But because you’re a pastor, you get a pass. And I was just overwhelmed with the failure of my life as a pastor. Pastor as a husband, as a man of God.
And I remember wandering this property and just going back there. And one reality was what I cling to. I said, God, I feel failure in every part of my life.
But you wanted me. You chose me. I wouldn’t choose me. I’m not sure my wife would choose me. I’m not sure anybody should choose me. But you wanted me. Verse 4, to me, is a precious doctrine. And I understand the issues and the tension and struggles with how does this But there is also an incredibly precious side of knowing that God wanted you.
The third thing, it is motivation to turning to Christ. Harvey Kahn, a missionary to Korea, tells of sharing the gospel with young prostitutes in Korea. And he could not get them to accept Jesus because they were overwhelmed with their lives had become, what they’d done. And finally, he told them about God choosing people.
And he said this, Do you know that the Christian God has chosen people from out of the world to be His very own before the creation of the world? And they said, you must be kidding. How can a person know if they are one of those he chose? And he said this to them, Well, do you want that gift of forgiveness?
And they said, more than anything. And he said, then you must be chosen, because only a person who is chosen by God has that desire, and draws to God in his salvation your desire. is evidence of the fact that God has chosen you. They gratefully received the gift of God’s grace. Maybe you’re here in the same place and you say, Ah, this, this whole thing is kind of confusing to me.
I’m a sinner. Yeah, need forgiveness. But he could never want a person like me. I’ve done too much, too far down. Then I would ask you this question. Do you want His forgiveness? Would you long for the life and inheritance that Jesus came to provide? If your response is yes, it’s because God is at work in your life.
It’s because God is drawing you. The beautiful reality is, we do that. We respond because God is at work in us. It is a supernatural work of grace in our lives. God the Father is the architect of salvation. He got this whole thing running in eternity past. He’s the one that designed it. He’s the one sovereign even in the Godhead by their choice of, of, the structure, the chain of command, if you will.
But he is also a beautifully, preciously, approachable being. He’s our Father. He’s your Father if you belong to Him. And if there’s a hunger this morning to want to belong to Him, understand that you don’t have that of yourself. It is the Lord speaking into your life this morning.