Matthew In Adam/In Christ Part 1 (#76.2023.11.19)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:03

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, Then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. So we've been walking through the gospel of Matthew, where Jesus clarifies what is the first and foremost commandment. You shall Love the lord your god with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. We talked about what does that look like and what does that look like With him, but more importantly, what does that look like without him? So I was thinking about this. If we were to put a dot here and that dot Presented, essentially, how loved and how blessed, how loved and how blessed You think you are. Right? How many say they're loved and blessed in Christ? They're loved and blessed in Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:10

So growing up, Josh used to say when it was hot, he'd say, dad, it's as hot as the Sahara Desert. And I said to him, well, actually, Josh, it's Not as hot as the Sahara Desert. And when, when we went over to Africa, we happened to have the opportunity to go into the desert. I said, remember when you said It's as hot as the Sahara Desert. He said, no. It's as hot as the sun in the Sahara Desert. I said, no. Actually, The Sahara Desert is not as hot as the sun.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:39

It's maybe a 120 degrees. The sun is 10,000 degrees on the surface of the sun. So perspective is really important. So everybody has some feeling about where they think they are in terms terms of how loved they are and how blessed they are. And so I use this little mathematical symbol, and which Means, I can't draw the line long enough, so we use a little break in there. And over here is what it means to be a child of God. This is what it means to be a child of God, And this is what it means to be in Christ. All the blessings and the favor as a result of it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:26

In Christ, we are blessed with every Free spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And in Psalm 1 203, it says, for as high as the Heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kindness. His hesed is the word, is covenant kindness, and his love, his covenantal love, how great, right, is as high as the heavens are above the earth, which today we figure is about How high, Chris? Let's say 90,090,000,000,000 light years. If If you heard me talk about this before, I have to remind myself because it's incomprehensible. But if you got in a car and you drove miles an hour, and you drove straight. You never stopped for gas, and you never stopped to go to the bathroom. You drove straight 60 miles an hour For about 4.3 months, that's as far as light would travel in one second. So we're talking about how far light We'll travel not in a second, right, not in a minute, not in an hour, not in a day or a week or a month or a year, But how far light would travel in 90,000,000,000 light years, that's the distance between us and god's love.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:44

That's how How how large it is. And that's why I put that little symbol here. 90,000,000,000 light years. That's the difference here. The difference between here, right, and the edge of the universe. Right? How blessed we are, how loved we are in Christ, what happens to us as a child of God? So how many are at least Given a little sense that maybe my perception about how loved and blessed I am may not be accurate. I might say, maybe mine's a little bit shy of 90,000,000,000 light years. Well, if that's the case, here is also the case, and that is if you look over here and you say, okay.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:29

If I were to put a dot over here and say, well, how sinful and how lost was I Apart from Christ, how sinful and how lost was I when I wasn't too bad? I know a lot of people were worse than I was. Right? And I can remember when I started reading the scripture, I thought, well, yeah, I feel like and then I read, well, it's not just what you do. Right? It's what you in what you say, it's what you think. If you've looked on a woman to lust for her, you've committed adultery already in your in your heart. If you say to somebody, you're an idiot, you're a fool, you're a moron, he says you're guilty enough to go into hell. The more I read the scripture, I thought, Oh, maybe I'm not totally clear about what it means to fall short. Right? So if you do the same over here, Then it must be 90,000,000,000 light years, 90,000,000,000 light years, right, to me to be over here, which is I'm not a child of God. I am a child of wrath.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:34

I am a child of wrath, which When we hear that word, it's hard to comprehend, isn't it? Child of wrath. But, really, it means under the judgment, Right? Of God for my sin. Right? And this is what it means to be in Adam. That's what it means to be in Adam. In Adam. So as much as I don't comprehend how loved and how blessed I am and need to be reminded, I also cannot comprehend the love and the blessing and the favor of God unless I understand where I was, where I was before, and that there's 90,000,000,000 light years between, right, how sinful and how lost you think you were. Right? And how sinful and loss and this is the idea that you think you were. Wasn't that bad.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:23

Wasn't That bad. So we're gonna take a look at what does it mean, and I love this quote from doctor Timothy Keller. The gospel says, You are simultaneously more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe, and at the same time, yet more loved and accepted than you ever dared hope. And so it requires that we understand who we are and who we were in Adam in order to fully comprehend what god has done in Christ, What he's done in Christ. So we're gonna look at the top in Adam. It's the blank in Adam in Adam. Scripture says that you are spiritually dead. You are separated from God and that you are a child of wrath, That you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formally walked according to the courts of this world, according To the prince of the power of the air.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:16

And you were by nature by nature, think about that, endemic to you. Right? You were you were at your core, a well, what does that look like? In the futility of your mind, futility means, right, Not possible. And the futility of mine being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of god in this life. And then what's the penalty? Away eternally from the presence of the Lord. Scary stuff. Scary stuff. When you're an atom, it doesn't even dawn on you that that's It's the case. Right? Boggling dawn on you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:58

Why is that? Well, I put it in there to remind it that you are unwilling and unable. You're unwilling and unable. For the wrath of god is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth. So there there is a knowingness To the fact that we suppress the truth. For even though they knew God, they did not honor God or give thanks. So on we are unwilling and unable to honor and thank God. Then Romans 3, it says both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. That's all people.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:27

Right? All have sinned and fallen short. As it is written, There is some righteous. None? Not even not even one. There is none who understand. There is none who Seeks for God. None. All have turned aside. There is none who does good.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:43

There's not even one. So unwilling and unable to seek God, and lastly, unable and unwilling to please God. For the mindset on the flesh is death, because the mindset on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. So there's an unwillingness and an inability to at the same time. And those who are in the flesh cannot Please god. They can't. And scripture says that the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. So they're blinded, and they're captive, which pretty much means we're dead in the water with no hope.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:24

We're dead in the water with no hope. So what happens? What happens? God speaks forth light into the darkness of the heart, and you are born again. And all of a sudden right? I I I still remember I started to read scripture, and I go, woah. Something's here. Holy smokes. Right? And then The light starts to come on. Do you notice it? And you think, oh, I thought Christians were morons. And then I start reading scripture, and I think, oh, there's something here in conviction.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:51

Right? A deep conviction, and he moves you to start to be convinced. And all of a sudden, he speaks light into your heart, And you look at the world differently. Can remember listening to Christmas carols and thinking, it's the gospels and the Christmas carols. I Can't believe that. Right? And you say, where did that come from? So he talks about being sanctified entirely in what? Spirit, soul, body. Spirit, soul, body. So it's a recognition that in Christ, Jesus Christ is our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. So he's our everything.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:27

You think about that. He's our everything. He said he he he made him a new no sin to be sin on your behalf That we might become the righteousness of God in him. Is that stunning from here to here? Right? Which is also recognition that here's where we are. Right? And here is the holiness of God, which is also his righteousness. This is 90,000,000,000 light years. Impossible impossible to traverse from where you are to the holiness of God. That's what he's done.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:02

He's traversed you. But by his doing by whose doing? By his doing, are you in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Why is that? So that in the end, no man may boast. Let him who boast, boast in the Lord. There's no boasting. Let him who boasts boast in the Lord. And he says in Christ, we are underline that already. What? We are already.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:34

So we get confused with time, don't we? Reality and time are different things. Right? In god's world, reality is what's real and what's true and what is so. And when he says it's so, it is so. Right? So what does he say? In these whom I in whom he predestined, he also called, past tense, and those whom he Called, past tense, when were you called? Before the foundation of the world that says your names are written in the book of life. These whom he called, he also Justified our position in Christ, and those whom he justified, he also Glorified, past tense. What? Wait a minute. Maybe he's confused in how he wrote that. Because glorification is what happens in the Future in time, but in God's reality, it's done.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:26

It's already done. What? That's what happens In Christ, he is our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption. Right? It's done before the foundation of the world carried out at a point in time. And if you flip over in Christ, let's read this From, Ephesians 1 to the end, that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of his glory. You were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who's given as a pledge of our inheritance. So in Christ, we are to the praise of God's glory. So the holiness of God and God's glory is 90,000,000,000 light years between Me and him, and we're gonna be to the praise of his glory. How's that happen? How can that be? And I generally wake up in the morning annoyed, frustrated, aggravated Because things aren't the way I like them to be, not saying to the lord, what's up with I'm to the praise of your glory.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:27

What's up with that? That doesn't make sense. That doesn't seem fair. That doesn't seem right that you would make me to the praise of your glory. As a reminder, that's what he has done in Christ In Christ. Right? God's glory, God's holiness. Right? He is granted to us in his son because we are now not just saved, we are opted. Being adopted, you become in the place of the firstborn son along with all the rights And the privileges of the firstborn. That's why you are a son.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:03

Right? He says adopted as a son. This is not a gender thing. It's adopted as a Done for for a positional. Right? We are we share in the firstborn's inheritance. Right? We sit with him. Is that stunning? We are to the praise of his glory. Baffling to me. Baffling to me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:24

Soul, I am to the praise of his glory. I'm in Christ, I'm blessed with every spiritual blessing. I am not only justified, sanctified, and redeemed all at once, but then I'm here today. And I wake up grumbly. And I'm where what's going on? Right? There's the distance between where I am and where I need to be. And, of course, This is about being sanctified. Right? And this is where we began to look at inside out. Inside out inside out.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:56

So we have this ongoing battle with sin ongoing battle with sin. So if you, how gonna do this. I didn't get the I I wanted to update. This is the this is the old diagram. I want to update it, but let's Stay on the sheet here because I may update it for next week and go over it again. So in Christ, we are the praise of his glory. We have this ongoing battle with sin on your sheet. Right? For the flesh, let's read this, sets its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, For these are in opposition to one another so that we may not do the things that you please.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:31

Boy, is that an under statement. How many read that and go, oh, yeah. That'd be true. So you may not. What do you mean may not? So that I do not do the things that I please. Martin Luther said we are simultaneously a saint and a sinner. Is the Christian life confusing? Yes. Yes.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:52

Yes. It's it it's it's mysterious, and it's baffling, and it's glorious, and it's Hard, and it's all the same time, isn't it? So we have this ongoing battle. And he's given us the spirit, of course, By the spirit you're putting to death the deeds of the body, right, you will live. If by the spirit you're putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. So I think we'll do the because I wanna fully update it. We'll do the the the sheet next time, but I wanna finish this. So it's it If if you think about this. Right? So just real quickly.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:28

In Adam, we are body, soul, and no spirit, because we're spiritually dead. We are body, soul. Right? So our body think about our body as our senses. Right? What we What we hear, what we see, what we smell, what we touch, all of our senses. And our soul is our our will. Right? If you look at our soul, mind, will, and emotions, right, if you think about that. But the mind is at the bottom, the will is in between, and the emotions are at The top. So apart from Christ, this is how we live.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:04

Isn't it? Right? The world system comes to our senses, right, which Trigger our emotions, which get us to do what we wanted to do, and that influences our thinking. Right? So the the world system comes at us. Actually, the Satan comes at us, and he says, you can be like God. And he tempts us via our senses. Right? And then this is our emotions. This is what we feel. This is what we do. This is what we think.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:31

So we're living outside in. Right? We live outside in. And then Christ comes along. We're in Christ, and Christ flips the deal because our spirit is renewed. Right? I'll give you a new heart and a new spirit. And now we have our spirit plus the Holy Spirit inside, And he reorients us. Right? So now we have a spirit. He re and he flips this around.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:01

So it's Soul, right, which is our mind, our will, and our emotions, and they lead out to the body. And so we're to live this way, inside out, inside out, which is why we are transformed by the renewing of our Mind. Right? So we live inside out. So when I think about this process, how do we, Right? How do we feed, right, our soul, if you will? How do we feed our soul? New heart. Right? So in other words, Outside in is how we're used to living, isn't it? Let's see. What does it feel like? What do I what do I what do I sense? What I feel like? Well, that changes what I do, and then that changes what I think. So people think based upon what they've done, based upon what they feel. Does that make sense? Now we come to Christ, and we're used to living that way.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:55

So we we get our sense of what's right and what works By what's happening, right, what we can sense in. And Jesus said, I'm I'm putting you back right over time, in which Case. Right? You're you're reborn in your spirit. I've given you my spirit. Within you, you have a new heart. And And so you're transformed by the renewing of your mind. Right? So we start with truth. Right? And we and and the will and the emotions.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:24

But we're used to living the other way around, aren't we? So we take a lot of input this way, And he's saying you you've gotta learn to live inside out, which, of course, is challenging. Right? Very challenging inside So one of the ways and then we'll we'll go through in-depth the diagram next time. But one of the ways, if the heart It's sort of all of this, if you think about the soul, scripture says the heart's kinda the same way. He said he's given us a new heart. Right? We have a brand new spirit So it seems to me that regularly praying for my heart would be important. Right? And so this is this is my, my one thing prayer. Let's read it together from Psalm 27/4. One thing I've asked from the Lord that I shall seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the lord and to meditate in his temple.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:25

So the one thing prayer is, lord, I I I wanna I I wanna do this all the days of my life, which, of course, means like like like when you say from the rising to the setting of the sun, it means kinda all the times in between. Right. All the days of my life means from now until that day. What day is that? The day yeah. He calls me home or he comes To get us home. 1 or the other is gonna happen. Right? And there's today and there's that day. So I got this from John Piper.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:55

It's The the IQs oh, I missed the c. Where's the c? Okay. This is the IQs prayer. IQs. Everybody wants more IQ. This is IQs. So I missed the one. Alright.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:09

So the first is incline my heart. Where do I get that? Psalm 119. What's he pray? Incline my heart to your testimonies. Well, that'd be a good prayer, which means my heart is an inclination. And its natural inclination is not toward your testimonies. Lord, incline my heart to your testimonies. And he says not to dishonest gain. And then he said, establish your word.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:37

It probably says something different in your translation. Establish Your word is that which produces reverence for you. In other words, he says, let your word he's praying. Let your word give me the Fear of you, the right fear. Isn't that a good prayer? Incline my heart to you, your testimonies, right, and Not to dishonest gain and establish your word as that which produces the fear of you, reverence for you. It's a good prayer. That's the I. The c, which I missed in here, is is create in me a clean heart.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:14

Clean heart. Right? From Psalm 51. Create in me a clean heart and an upright spirit. We ran out of time this Week. Ah, so frustrated. Clean my heart. Cleanse my heart. I love this.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:32

In Ephesians, right, Paul says, I'm praying for you that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened. If Paul was praying for them, that's a good prayer, that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened. So open my eyes. Open the eyes of my heart, then unite my heart to fear your name. Unite my heart To fear your name. Unite my heart to fear your name. What does that mean? My heart is not United. It's not inclined in the right direction.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:13

And anybody have a have that challenge? Your heart and I being fully united, unite my heart to fear your name. In other words so he's praying. Unite my heart to fear your name. So It needs to be inclined also needs to be united. Now I love this in Ephesians. He said that it Paul says that I would, this about my knees that I would pray that god would strengthen you with power through his spirit So that Christ could dwell in your heart by faith. Now this is saying to believers. Now what does that mean? Of course, he dwells in us.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:52

Right? He we know that's the promise, but he's praying that God would strengthen you with power through his spirit So the Christ would dwell in your heart through faith, and that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend. All the saints was the breadth, length, height, depth, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge. So he's saying strengthen me with power through your spirit so that Christ can dwell. So strengthen my heart. Strengthen my heart. Strengthen my heart. Is that a good prayer? Lord, strengthen my heart. Would it be good if someone prayed this for you? Sure.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:30

Well, we pray this for you. And you're happy to have you pray that for me. Yeah. That'd be great. Right? And you can pray this for yourself, and you can Pray this for other people. Right? Pray this for other people. The other piece which I've talked about, you know, this is personal, 1 on 1, you, with the god of the universe, worship. This is 1 on 1 time alone, you worshiping him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:58

But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, what are we beholding? The glory of the lord, we are being Transformed. Transformed. It's the 3rd place metamorphomy shows up. Right? 1st place is The mount of metamorphomai, mount of transfiguration. 2nd is, be transformed by the renewing of your Mine, the 3rd place is behold the glory of the lord, and you will be metamorphomied. And it says, Moses met with god face to And he came down glowing. He was a glow stick. But like a glow stick, it it was external and so it faded.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:43

Says the glory faded. We, on the other hand, meet with God, and the glow is internal, So the glow doesn't fade. It goes from glory to glory. It increases. So he's saying the the the physical outside side when when Moses met with god, it was an outside transformation that faded. He's saying this is an internal formation that goes from glory to glory. Even though it doesn't feel like it. Right? Sometimes you think, no.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:11

It feels like it's going glory to glory to right? Feels like it's going worse, but He's saying the internal transformation is glory to more glory, and we're being transformed inside out. Inside out. It's an inside out job. That is indeed why behavior modification in Sunday school for kids It does not work. We try that's what Christians try and do. We try to do behavior modification. We give them checklists. We do all that stuff.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:40

It doesn't it doesn't work? That's because it doesn't work. We're being transformed by the renewing of your mind. Don't teach them don't teach them stories About Daniel, have them memorize scripture, because we're being transformed by the renewing of our mind. How do we feed our mind and our spirit? We feed it with the word of God. Transform your mind and your soul through scripture memory and meditation. Scripture memory and meditation. So do not be conformed to this world. In other words, the world system The outside is trying to squeeze you into the mold.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:23

So you're transformed by the renewing of your Mind here. That's internal. Change the way you think because this is the way we think. We think in the world by how we feel, right, by what what what comes our way. Right? You can have it your way that feel it, we do it, we think it. Right? It's the outside in. Here, he's saying being transformed by the renewing of your mind. Right? Believe it, do it, feel it, And then live it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:00

Right? It's the other way around. In humility, he says in James, receive the word Implanted. The word implanted. So think about that. Where does it get planted? In your soul. In your soul. If you plant it in your soul, it will seed. Right? And he says, if you receive the word implanted, it is able to Save your soul.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:28

It's a a reconciliation. Right? It is he is he is retrieving your soul, if you will. He's It's retrieving your soul. My soul needs a lot of retrieving and a lot of, right, lot of reclamation work. He's reclaiming my soul. Right? Because I've given it, you know, I've given it over. That's why he says, do not give the enemy place. Right.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:53

He says in Ephesians, do not let the sun go down your anger, and do not give the enemy place. Where does he get place? In my soul, he gets placed in my soul. He sets up camp, if you will. Right? And he deceives me and tempts me and all that stuff. So the word. And the word is living and active. It's sharpening a 2 edged sword, piercing as far as the division of look right here. Soul and spirit.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:20

Look right here. It's going right here. So right. What goes there? Checklist? Right? The word of God goes right here at the division of soul and spirit. Where is that? I don't know. It's in here somewhere. It's internally. Right? Checklist don't do that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:39

The Word of God is living and active. Right? What's it able to do? Judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. I hate that. Don't you? Yes. Because I can fool myself. I fool myself all the time, and the word of God's in there. And I think, oh, oh, dang. Yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:00

That's true. That's true. Division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, enable to judge the thoughts and intentions of the Heart. Thoughts and intentions of the heart. Oh, don't you feel like that? Yeah. It's a battle. Isn't it? It's a battle. Internally, it's a battle.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:26

God has given us his spirit and his Word, to transform us, to reclaim our soul with the promise that that glorification is your future. It is indeed your future. In fact, you have already been glorified, but it's critical that I trust god's grace and his power to keep you until the end. For those who endure to the end shall be saved for sure. Saved for sure. So let's read this. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, to make you stand in the presence of his glory blameless with great joy to the only god, our savior, through Jesus Christ, our lord, be glory, majesty, Dominion and authority. Don't you love that? That's so cool.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:22

Before all time and now and forever. Amen. Now to him who is able. So he's able. He is able. So the at at the end, in the midst of all of this, He's my hope. He's my hope in the end. Who's gonna keep me to the end? He's gonna be the one who is able to keep me to the end.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:46

So he has he has flipped. Right? He's flipped me. Right? He's renewing me from the inside out. Right? And this, right, the this whole area is your heart. It's your heart. It's the it's what's happening inside. It's your spirit, soul, Right? In internally. So he is reclaiming our soul for himself.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:10

That's sanctification, and he's part of the process. Alright. Write down an insight that you got. From in Adam to in Christ, What's your insight? May the god who called you, justified you, sanctified you, and glorified you. May he bless you. May he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance and grant you shalom deep in your soul.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:40

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, love of God the father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and Always. Amen. Amen. And amen. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible and his son, Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and may the lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:16

Until next time, may god bless you and keep you.