Sermon at Christ Temple Apostolic Church In Oberlin ,Cleveland by Pastor Modise M

Introduction

When I heard that I may be afforded an opportunity to speak here I went before The Lord to seek His face and inquire of Him as to what He would have me say....I got so blessed as The Lord reminded me from one scripture to another of His desire to dwell amongst His people. In fact I was taken aback by how intense God's desire is to have a living and intimate relationship with humans! 

Fellowship With God

God longs to have fellowship with us. God created us because He longed for fellowship. God wants to share His life with us and He wants us to do the same with Him. He has all the answers to the problems we may face throughout life. He wants us  to come to Him for counsel, direction and to have our needs met.

We read in Genesis that God created man in His image and after His likeness and put His Spirit into  man and He became a living soul...God enjoyed visiting man as though He came to see Himself in Adam and Eve 

Illustration

Living as a black African under apartheid was very difficult. I wanted to be white because I saw how life as a white boy was privileged until one day I heard that even I was made like God! Black, poor, oppressed as I was but I sure looked like God...that set me free from poor self esteem and completely lost my desire to be white...

We read that one day when God came to do His thing with Adam and Eve He realised something had gone horribly wrong with His Image. 

Hiding from God

We read in Genesis 3:8-9 that And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden...

May I ask this morning if is there anyone amongst us hiding from God's presence? hiding among trees of busyness? Trees of contentment with the status quo? trees of excuses? what tree are you hiding under?

In verse 9 we read that Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”"Has God been looking for us this morning and calling...have we been deaf, Adam and Eve responded, will we respond from underneath any of those trees we are hiding in? Israel, Saul and Samson illustration. As I studied His word I noticed how both individuals and nations were blessed when God lived amongst them, they prospered in all areas of their life. I also saw something else. I saw how those individuals and nations who departed from God's presence or did things that ejected God from their midst became worse off, they were impoverished in all areas of their life.

Ichabod

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit inspired the writer of I Samuel to give us an example of what happened to the children of Israel in days past. Israel, as a nation, knew the glory of God's presence among them. The children of Israel prospered and became strong as they followed the Lord. However, Israel turned from God by making wrong choices. Eventually, they came to the place where the presence of God was no longer among them. The glory of God had departed. In a desperate attempt to win a battle with the Philistine army, Israel devised a plan. The leaders actually believed that if they took the ark of the covenant with them to battle that God was obligated to lead them to victory. Such was not the case. God did not fight for Israel. Israel was defeated and the Philistines triumphed and even took the ark. When a messenger returned from the battlefield with the sad news that the army was defeated, the ark captured, and the two sons of Eli were dead, Eli fell backward off his chair, broke his neck and died. Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of one of the sons killed in battle was pregnant. When she heard the news that her husband, brother-in-law and father-in-law were dead she went into labor. She gave birth to a son, but she died during the delivery. The Bible states that the son was named Ichabod which means the glory has departed. 

There are other examples in Scripture of what happens when the Spirit of God departs from a man. For example in 1 Samuel 16: 14 we read, “But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.” Oh do you remember the story of Samson. Once empowered by the Spirit there came a time when the LORD departed from him and Samson was not even aware that it happened! Do you know any nation like this? do you know anyone like this? Could this be you?

Our scripture reading this morning refers "To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

Centenary Celebrations

We have read and heard that this is your centenary, you are celebrating 100 years of God's wondrous truth that we who believe in Jesus are in Christ. "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" (Ephesians 1:3). 

All that God has for us is ours "in Christ." We can now enjoy the benefits of who Christ is and all that He has accomplished for us, because we are in Him. Our present verse adds another extraordinary dimension. Not only are we "in Christ," but Christ is also in us: "Christ in you, the hope of glory."God wants to make something known among all the nations: "to make known …among the Gentiles." The message He desires to reveal is glorious in spiritual richness: "the riches of the glory of this mystery." However, it truly is a mystery, in the New Testament use of that term. 

A biblical mystery is something that can only be known by the revealing work of God. The mysteries of the Scriptures are made made known by God Himself .Moses says in Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law! The Lord does this through the grace-empowered, Spirit-empowered proclamation of His word. Here, the great mystery God wants to unfold is "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

What a grand hope this message brings! Jesus, the Son of God, is willing to come and dwell within us to assure us of making it to glory (heaven) some day. Meanwhile, Christ wants to reside at the very core of our being: "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith" (Ephesians 3:17). As we are trusting in Him, He is living in, and working through, our hearts.

The Gospel writer Matthew, who was addressing primarily a Jewish audience, in Matthew 1:22-23, referred to a prophecy from the Old Testament, more than 700 years before the birth of Jesus, in Isaiah 7:14:

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us." The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. The Old Testament was a shadow of things to come but the reality is found now in Christ. Colossians 2:17 "These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” Then, from this strategic point of intimacy and access, He gives us heavenly hope. That confident expectation includes the joyous fact that He is coming again: "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). Yet, His return is not our only hope. He Himself is our day by day hope: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope" (1 Timothy 1:1). Jesus is our comprehensive hope! The mystery of the gospel of grace revealed through Christ living in us reflects the glory of God in our lives and the joy of our hearts. Christ in us, the hope of glory.

The mystery was hidden for ages and generations but has now been revealed to us believers, and it’s for all people. Titus 2:11-14”For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” How wonderful the mystery of God has been revealed to us for our benefit.Romans 6:4”We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. We who believed have been baptized into his death, in order that just as Christ Jesus was raised from the dead we might walk in the newness of life by the glory of the Father.” The glory of God has been revealed to us through Christ’s finished work on the cross. Jesus was full of glory and by him dying on the cross we received his glory. 

2 Corinthians 3:7-9″Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not glaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end. Will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.” Living in the New Covenant of grace, believers have better promises which reflect the glory of God for their lives. He is our God and we are his people. He gave us his Holy Spirit filled with his glory to complete us in Christ. Acts 17:28”In him we live and move and have our being.” As Jesus is so are you in this world. You are one with him, having his thoughts which are yours in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5).

Conclusion

When you see Jesus in his grace, God sees you in his faith reflecting the glory of God.  By beholding Jesus, the Holy Spirit transforms you. As you are transformed into the fullness of Christ, you exercise your faith believing that you are healed in all areas of your life, knowing that all is well. Now enter your faith rest and be at peace as you trust God. Since God created people to live in close union with him, when we live out of relationship with him we malfunction and perish. We are only restored to our God intended purpose when we are in union with God. Jesus is our perfect example of how we can achieve this union with God. He spent time in prayer...often rising early to be alone with His Father, sometimes he'll spent the whole night praying.

He also said a man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word coming out of God's mouth, so spending time in His Word is also key. 

He spent time recruiting or reconciling others with God, Paul teaches in 2 Corithians 5 that this is what we ought to do. There is a song that we used to sing saying i am just a nobody telling anybody who will listen about somebody who can save their lives...let us not neglect this critical function of our lives...Mother Theresa said Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words, meaning that our lives must be an open epistle. Hebrews 10:25 encourages us to meet regularly for fellowship with others, so it is our duty to encourage others to come to worship services, my pastor used to say when you come to church never come alone, bring a family member, a neighbour,  a colleague, a friend and even an enemy...you'll never know if today is their day...so do this diligently without fail for your reward awaits you now and in the beyond. Your victory is in Christ, who is the hope of God’s glory. I therefore charge you church of God to Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you (Isaiah 60:1).