Rabbi Schneider - Identity and Responsibility
Now, these things beloved, that God has done for us, choosing us in him before the foundation of the world, forgiving our sins in Messiah Jesus, and calling us into his glory to be with him forever beloved; he does these things, not only because he loves us, but he also does these things beloved, listen now, for his own glory. Listen now as I read in Ephesians chapter number 1 verses number, I'm gonna begin here with verse number 6: He did all these things to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved. What things has he done? Verse number 3, he chose us, rather in verse number 3, he blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In verse number 4 beloved, he chose us to be his Messiah Jesus, before the foundation of the world that we should stand before him in all love and holiness, and without blame. And finally we read that he predestined us. So he blessed us, he chose us; he predestined us, and forgave our sins. And verse number 6 tells us that he did all this beloved, to the praise of the glory of his grace.
One of the things that we read in Scripture if we're really paying attention, is that God does all things beloved, for his own glory. What that means is that you and I as his children should be deeply concerned with the glory of God. What does Jesus pray? "Father, glorify thy name". When Jesus teaches us how to pray, how does he teach us how to pray? He said pray in this way: Our Father that art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then he concludes the prayer by saying: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and listen now, the glory. Let me ask you a question: are you and I concerned with the glory of God or are we just using God to try to satisfy our own wants and desires? No beloved, Jesus said unless you pick your cross, deny yourself and follow me, you can't be my disciple.
We ask you Father God to give us the mind of Messiah. We ask you Father God to give us the mind of Jesus, and to give us the mind that you gave Paul, Father God. To understand Father God, that life is about your glory. Help us to understand Father God that in giving you glory, you share your glory with us God.
You see beloved, the Scripture says here that Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:17 and 18, that he, we would comprehend the riches of the glory of God's inheritance in us. That God's glory is in us and the result of that is that he is gonna be glorified as we throw our crowns at Jesus' feet and say: to the Lamb be glory, and honor, and dominion forever, and ever and ever. We need to be filtering our thoughts beloved, and our actions; the things that we're saying and the way that we're living with this: is this resulting in the glory of God? Is what I'm doing now, resulting in the glory of God? Is the way I'm behaving, resulting is, in the glory of God? Is the way that I'm feeling, giving God glory? God does all things for from him, and to him, and through him are all things.
So as Paul begins to unlock for us the deep mysteries beloved, of eternity; speaking of how the Father of glory chose us, and predestined us, and blessed us before the foundation of the world, and he did it all to the praise of his glory. You and I need to get in line with that, and start asking our self as we're living our life: Father, how hallelujah, can I bring you glory? I love this section also beloved, as Paul is telling us what the Lord has done. In verse number 4, that he's chosen us in him; it's always important, I've been stressing this, the Book of Ephesians is a book that over and over speaks about in him, in Jesus, in Christ, in Messiah. Everything that we have beloved, listen now, is in him. Yeshua Jesus, John 1:14, is the only begotten of the Father. Yeshua is in the bosom of the Father and we've been adopted as sons of the Father, in him. It's only because we're in Jesus beloved, that we have relationship with God. It's only because we're in Jesus that we have forgiveness, cause Jesus shed his blood. It's only in Yeshua beloved, that we're forgiven.
And so over and over, Paul says: in him, you were chosen in him; in him you have the forgiveness of your sins. You've been raised and seated in the heavenly places with him beloved; we're in Messiah Jesus, that's why we stand before the mirror, we recognize we're sons of God. We don't look at our self, we look at Jesus, we're in hallelujah, Jesus. I hope that quickens you today and encourages you. You're not standing alone. God's not looking at you as though you're standing alone. God looks at you in Jesus, your sins have been paid for, Jesus shed your blood, you're in Jesus, and the same love that the Father loved Jesus with, he loves you with. He's your Father; that's why Jesus said in John 20, John 20, he said: I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God; it's all because beloved, we're in him. That's why we don't approach the Lord anymore like Noah did, as the God of Shem. That's why we don't even approach the Lord preeminently today as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the ancient Israelites did. But we approach the Lord beloved, as the God and Father of Yeshua HaMashiach as Paul did, because that's why we have a relationship with him, that's how we have access, that's how we're blessed and that's why we're going to heaven, because we're in him.
And so the Lord will always be known to the church beloved, for the rest of eternity as the God and Father of Yeshua HaMashiach, and it's in him beloved, that we stand today. Bless the name, hallelujah, of the Lord. And I love this section right here that it says beloved, that in verse number 4, that we were chosen in him before the foundation of the world, again I love this, listen now: that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. We were chosen in the Messiah before the foundation of the world, listen now, and we were chosen, get this now, to be holy. What does holy mean? It means set apart unto God. You were chosen to set apart unto God; holy and blameless, set apart unto God. Blameless; God does not gonna do, God, beloved, your sin has already been paid for in Jesus. As far as God the Father is concerned, you're blameless before him, because Jesus died for you and paid for your sin; you're blameless before the Father's love. You stand before him, listen now, holy and blameless before Him. in love.
Let me read it again, I want you to get this in your spirit, I want you to get it in your heart, I want you to get it in your mind; too many of us are walking around with condemnation, but it's the devil and it's a lie. Listen once again: just as he chose us in him, in Messiah Jesus, before the foundation of the world, get this now, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. So first of all, let's take it apart, holy blameless before him in love. Let's take that apart a little bit: holy means to be set apart, it means to be God's. That's what holy means, it means to be unique. Something becomes holy, only as it's connected to the Lord. The root definition of holy beloved, hako-dosh, means to be set apart, it means to be utterly unique, utterly different. So Jesus said you did not choose me, I chose you; I chose you, listen now, out of the world.
What were we chosen out of the world for in John 15? We were chosen out of the world beloved, to be Jesus, to be according to the Book of Revelation, a kingdom of priests. We've been chosen to draw nearer to God, to sacrifice our lives to God and to minister to others on his behalf. We're chosen beloved, to be holy, to be separate, to be unique. So I wanna ask you a question: is your life holy? Are you seeking beloved, to walk in a manner worthy of your calling? What's your calling? Your calling is to be holy. What does holy mean? It means different, it means a life that's set apart unto the Lord. So the question is: are we leading lives that reflect that we have a holy calling. Paul says I encourage you, in Ephesians chapter 4, to walk in a manner worthy, hallelujah, of your calling.
Ephesians 1:4: After the Lord, after Paul tells us we've been chosen, predestined, to stand before em holy in love. Paul says in Ephesians 4:1: Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you've been called. So I want you to take a look at your life as I look at my life: are we walking in a manner that's holy? Are we separate from the world or are mix in with the world? Do they not even know that we're believers? Beloved, it's unfortunate that too many of us; the only people that hear us talking about God are the people that we sit in church with. The only person that hears you mention Jesus is people where you go to church with; something's got a be wrong with that beloved, if we're too weak to lift up the name of Jesus in the world. We're chosen to be holy, to be set apart to God to be his witnesses. Are you living a life that's holy? Are you living a life that's set apart? Are you leading a life that's not of the world? Are you letting people see that you're connected to the Lord and not to the world? Are you ashamed to lift up his name? Never be ashamed of the Lord. You have a glorious heavenly Father and you're his glorious child. Never be ashamed of the Lord. Don't be ashamed to be holy; don't be ashamed to be different, walk in a manner beloved, worthy of the calling.
And then Paul says we're blameless. There's no condemnation in us. The Bible says there is therefore now no condemnation for those that are in Messiah Yeshua. God doesn't condemn you, he wants to help you, he wants to help you as long as you reach out to him. Help him, keep asking him, keep asking him, help me, strengthen me, help me, help me. Keep praying constantly; don't give yourself an excuse to sin. Keep on begging the Lord to strengthen you, to deliver you beloved, and his blood covers you and you're blameless before him as you're seeking him with all your heart. And then finally beloved, we stand before him the Bible says, in love. We've been chosen from the foundation of the world to stand before him, holy, blameless before him in love. Isn't that what's its all about; God is love? Beloved, isn't love the thing that holds us all together? That's why he chose us, because he loves us. God loves us so much today.
Father, we ask you to give us revelation of your love. Father, we pray as Paul prayed that you would give us revelation of the length, the breadth, the width, the depth of the love of God, which surpasses knowledge. Reveal it to us Lord by your Spirit, we pray.
Paul goes on to speak here about that which we have in Messiah, and he speaks about the glory that's in us. Look in verse number 18, he's praying in verse 18 that we would get an understanding of the riches of the glory, get this now, of his inheritance, get this now, in the saints. Paul is praying 1:18 of Ephesians: I pray that the eyes of your heart might be enlightened that you might know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Where is the glory? The Bible says beloved, there's glory because you're a child of the Father of glory in you, and Paul wants you to gain an understanding of us. You know in ancient Israel, the high priest was instructed to make a breastplate that he wore over his chest. And on the breastplate there were twelve stones, and these twelve stones represented the twelve tribes of Israel. And these stones were made of beautiful rubies, and diamonds, and emeralds, and the most beautiful gems and stones, the most valuable commodities beloved, on family earth is what Yahweh, is what the Father chose to represent his children that he loved.
That's who you are to God. You're somebody so beautiful, represented by a diamond, an emerald, a sapphire, a ruby; you're somebody so beautiful, what is in you beloved, is so precious to God. You know when we look at face, we see the blemishes. You know a lady looks at her, her face and she sees you know, a little blemish. She asks her husband or a friend, do you see that wrinkle? No, God doesn't see that. Remember, the Lord said unto the prophet Samuel, he says: Man looketh on the outside, but the Lord looketh on the heart. There's something inside us beloved, that we don't comprehend; something that's so beautiful, that's so deep, that's so rich. Paul says I pray that you would understand the riches of the glory of his inheritance in you, and that Hebrew word for glory is the word "kavod" and it means heavy, it means weighty, it's deep, it's great, it's full, it's wide, it's bigger than we know. We're more than what we think we are.
Many of us are walking around with very poor and destructive self images. We're thinking about ourselves, the things that are parents told us about ourselves. We're thinking about ourselves, the things that some x-boyfriend or girlfriend, or husband and wife told us about ourselves and then left us. We're thinking about ourselves, what some kid on the playground said about us 30, 40, 20, 15 years ago. We don't realize who we are, we've got these negative tapes playing in our mind, but you know what beloved? You're more than you thin you are; you're somebody beloved. God has a garden of his glory that's in you and it's gonna be revealed to you, and Paul wants you to be praying, Father, help me to understand what's in me, help me to understand who I am to you, help me to understand the riches of the glory of your inheritance in me. You're an inheritance to God, you're an inheritance to God; he loves you and he's chosen you to give him glory for all eternity, and his glory is also, hallelujah, in you.
And Yeshua goes on to say there that, that he wants you to understand, he says through Apostle Paul, he wants you to understand the hope of your calling. You're going to heaven. Jesus said I go and prepare a place for you. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would not have told you. Paul wants us to grasp these things. We need to pray these things beloved. Too many people are praying about things that don't matter. We need to be praying about things that do matter. We need to be praying about these realities beloved, the realities that Paul prayed for, for us. He said Father, give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation, enlighten the eyes of their heart to know you, to know the hope of their calling, to know the riches of the glory of your inheritance in them. This is what we need to be laboring for in prayer beloved, not predominately the earthly things. Pray about your earthly things, but make these things your primary concern and God will answer. Cause the Bible says if we pray anything according to the will of God, the Lord will answer.
I encourage you to pray this prayer in the Book of Ephesians chapter number 1 beloved, beginning in verse number 16 and continuing through the end of the chapter. I encourage you to pray it every day for ninety days. Pray it just like Paul prayed it and I know beloved, God is gonna answer that prayer and bless you. Look what else Paul prays for: that we would know in verse number 19, listen now: what is the surpassing greatness. Paul prays in verse 19 that you and I would know what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. This greatness he says, is in accordance with the working of the strength of his might when he raised Christ, the working of the strength of his might which he brought about in Messiah Yeshua when he raised him from the dead and seated at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all, rule, and authority, and power, and dominion every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the one to come.
Paul says there's a power at work in your life and my life, and Paul says I want you to understand the power that's at work in your life. Paul says the power that's at work in our life is the same power that raised Jesus, hallelujah, from the dead. Paul says I want you to understand the power that's at work towards you; it's the same power that wrought about in Messiah, raising him from the dead, and seating him in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, power and dominion, not only in this age, but also in the age to come and Jesus, hallelujah, has been given as head to the church. His victory beloved, has become your victory. That's when the Bible says we've been raised with him, hallelujah and seated with him in the heavenly places.
Paul wants us to understand this. You know it seemed hopeless. Here was Jesus crucified, laying in a tomb wrapped, a huge stone in front of that tomb that no man could roll away easily. But in the middle of the night beloved, as Jesus laid in that tomb, with the stone blocking the way, in the middle of the night beloved, the power of Father God broke into that dark place, raised him from the dead, hallelujah, and he conquered every demon, every devil, every power on heaven and earth, and then he ascended to the Father, and he sits at the right hand, and that same victory beloved, that rolled away the stone, that conquered the grave, that overcame death is in your life, and my life.
And there's gonna come a time in your life beloved, or in my life; there's gonna come a time that we're gonna find our self in a situation that's gonna seem hopeless. There's gonna come a time where the situation is gonna seem lost. There's gonna come a time beloved, where there's nothing that you can do, where there's no hope for you in the natural world. There's gonna come a time that you're gonna be so confused that the only thing you know how to do is go to bed. There's gonna come a time when you feel so defeated that you feel just like giving up. But I want you to hear today that the power that raised Jesus from the dead, the power that entered that tomb in the middle of the night, and rolled away the stone, and conquered death, and raised the Son of God, Yeshua HaMashiach; that powers at work in your life.
That's why the Bible says you're more than a conqueror through him that love you. That neither life or death, things past, present, or things to come will ever be able to separate you from the love of God; you are more than a conqueror, hallelujah beloved, in Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach, who gave himself for you and the power beloved that raised him from the dead, lives inside you and he lives inside me. And Paul prays, hallelujah, that we would understand this, that we would get it.
Let's listen to that again, Paul prays: I pray that the Father would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, that he would open the eyes of your heart, and here's what Paul wants us to understand: The surpassing greatness, verse number 19 of Ephesians 1. He wants you to understand the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe, towards you. He wants you to now, you to understand the power that's at work in your life; the power that's on you is the same power, it's the same strength that raised Jesus from the dead that conquered everything in heaven and earth. That's the power that's at work in your life; you and I are conquerors through him that loved us. We're more valuable to the Father beloved, than anything else. We're his sons, the riches of the glory of his inheritance is inside us.
You see, he sent Jesus for us, he chose us before the foundation of the world that is love. And then he sent Jesus, his Son beloved, to die in our place that we could be forgiven by, for our sins by his blood. And then he raised Jesus from the dead beloved, for us that we too beloved, would be seated with him in the heavenly places, hallelujah, in Messiah Jesus. Listen what he says in verse number 6: That we've been raised up with him, Ephesians 2:6: We've been raised up with him and seated with him in the heavenly places in Messiah Yeshua. Get verse 7: that in all the ages to come, he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Messiah Yeshua.
You see beloved, by grace you've been saved. You're a glorious child of God, you're a glorious son of God, you've been adopted by the Father, by Messiah's blood; you're in Jesus. You're going to heaven, a place where a thief won't break in, where moth and rust won't destroy it, its, its indestructible what God has for you, imperishable and it's reserved in heaven for you. And you're gonna spend the rest of eternity, the Scriptures tells us in Ephesians 2, seated in heavenly places in Messiah Jesus. And for the rest of eternity, Paul tells us, the Father is gonna show the riches of his kindness towards us. Now if that's not something to get excited about, hallelujah, I don't know what it is. So let's do this, let's throw out dread, let's throw out fear, let's throw out discouragement and let's start praising God and taking a hold beloved of this revelation.
So Father God, we just wanna bless you today, we just wanna thank you today, we just wanna bless the name of the Lord Jesus, of Yeshua today and say thank you Father Yahweh, thank you Father God for all you've done for me. Help me Father God to comprehend all that you've done, and Father God, I wanna love you just like Jesus loves you and praise you all the days of my life.