The Urban Alternative - Tony Evans

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are not here by chance, You're here by choice.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Doctor Tony Evans says, that's why we're not just living,
we're living out God's intentional design.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
What God is saying that you are not a mistake.
God planned it this way.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings
from the archives of doctor Tony Evans. We don't always
understand why things happen the way they do, but that
doesn't mean they're random. Today, doctor Evans takes us behind
the scenes of history to reveal God's eternal plan and
how each of us fits into it. Let's join them

(00:37):
in Ephesians chapter one as he unpacks the blessings God
designed for us before the world even began today.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
In verses four through fourteen, Paul wants to let you
know how this came about. That you have been privileged,
I have been privileged to be so well off spiritually.
How did we get all of this voluminous expression of
God's goodness made available to us on the level that

(01:08):
you will come to discover is beyond your wildest dreams.
He answers that in verses four through fourteen, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit collaborated and worked out
a plan to provide mankind all the resources that we

(01:28):
are coming to enjoy. The first thing he says in
verse four relative to the Father, the father that he
has spoken of in verse two, of our Lord Jesus Christ,
just as he chose us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before him in love, He predestined us to adoptionist sons

(01:51):
through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the kind and
tention of his will. Why to the praise of the
glory of His grace, which he freely bestows on us
in the beloved. Here we're introduced to the mystery of election,
that God has selected you. The Bible teachers clearly election.

(02:17):
You are not here by mistake. You're not here by chance.
You're here by choice. God chose you. Now, the good
news is that you don't have to be insecure anymore.
God chose you. If you name the name of Jesus Christ,
your greatest fears are insignificant because God chose you. But

(02:38):
God is saying is that you are not a mistake.
God planned it this way. If you've been chosen by grace,
the world should do you as different than they are.
That you march out of step because you marched to
a different drum beat. You're differently. The be holy meant

(02:58):
to be set apart special, You're not like everybody else.
To be blameless means to be unblemished. It was like
the animal that was placed on the altar knows things
not scarred by this world. So God chose you in

(03:20):
order to sanctify you. He didn't choose you and me
to make us like the rest of the crowd. And
so you ought to feel bad when you're not like
the rest of the crowd. You're not supposed to be.
You are chosen to be distinct, separate, unique, unlike them.
He not only uses that word, but notice the word
in verse five. He predestined. That means to ordain or

(03:44):
design in advance or beforehand. Election deals with people. Predestination
deals with purpose. He elects people, he predetermines purposes. And
this is a great word because guess what he predetermined.
He'd predetermined his plan. God has come up with a

(04:06):
plan that is nothing short of spectacular, a plan for salvation, sanctification,
and ultimately glorification which all of the elect participate in.
And what is the plan. The plan is the plan
of adoption. Verse five. Adoption is one as sons through

(04:29):
Christ to himself. This is a very picturesque word, the
word adoption in Rome. When you were adopted, it simply
meant that you are brought into the family with all
the rights and privileges that went to those who were
born into the family. In other words, you came into

(04:50):
a family as an adult son. What do I mean,
as a full inheritor of all the rights and privilege
of the sons by birth. Now, you weren't a natural
born son. You are adopted son. But when they adopted you,
you might as well have been a natural born son
because all the rights and privileges of adult status. In

(05:13):
other words, you don't have to wait. You were immediately
an inherited as an adult son. Now watch this. God
predetermined that all who were going to be elected and
who would be elected, would also be adopted. So when
they came into the family of God, look at this. Now,

(05:34):
they not only became sons of God, but they became
sons and daughters of God with all of the rights
and privileges of God's natural born son. Now, who is
God's natural born son? Or better yet, his only begotten,
one of a kind son. It's Jesus Christ. So follow this.

(05:56):
When God adopted you, because we used to be children
of the devil, but when he adopted us from the devil,
took us into his family. He did not bring us
in as less than his only begotten. He brought us
in to be conformed to his only begotten. So look
at this. All the rights and privileges that go to

(06:17):
Jesus comes to us as adult sons. You and I
were adopted and been lifted up to Jesus's level. And
that's why when it says in chapter one he was
seated in heaven on the right hand of the Father,
he comes in chapter two, verse six and says, and
we were seated with him. That's why heaven is going
to be glorious, because everything the Father does for Jesus,

(06:40):
he'll do for us. Because we've come in as adult
sons alongside of Jesus Christ. We have not only been
redeemed and saved, we have been placed in a lofty
position as adopted sons and daughters of God. It's part
of a plan, and that's why this verse all things

(07:02):
work together for good. And then that love God and
our call according to His purposes. That's predestination, his purposes.
You're part of a plan, and when things go wrong,
they go wrong for you in the plan. When things
are out of kilter, they're out of kilter in the plan.
And there are no mistakes in the plan. God han't

(07:24):
forgotten you, skip you, and in your loneliest hour, you
are the most precious because your loneliness or the things
that caused it are in the plan. Nothing sits outside
of the plan that God has for his redeemed. You
don't always understand it. You can't always figure it out.
It's not always clear. But that's why you have to

(07:45):
know the Father. That's why you have to know the Father.
All the rights and privileges that come with being adult
sons belongs to us. In Romans, chapter eight, verse nineteen
and verse twenty nine says that creation waits for the
public revelation of the sons of God. That there is

(08:05):
coming a day when it would be a public spectacle
when all of the earth will be run by the
sons of God under the leadership of Jesus Christ. In
verse twenty nine of Romans, age says, and we are
being conformed to his image. God the Father is so
much in love with God the Son that he wanted
to create a lot of sons and daughters who would

(08:27):
look just like his son, because he thinks his son
is that special. So you and I are part of
something huge. How huge is it? So huge that it
was fully arranged before the first person was born? So
what we have is the selection of the Father. And
if you are redeemed today, you are to be the

(08:48):
proudest person in the world. You were chosen. You were chosen.
But God is not unfair to the rest. He touched
you on your shoulder. And if you're saved today and
know you're saved today, then there ought not to be
pulling teeth for you to praise him. Ought not to

(09:09):
be begging you to praise him. You say, but everything's
going wrong in my life. But you were chosen. Things
are not right, They're not right by a chosen one.
And if you would ever see that you're chosen, this
means you're part of this guy gantuous plan. You would

(09:29):
do it. Verse six says to the praise of the
glory of grace, which He freely bestowed on us. And
I get this in the beloved in the beloved. Now
that's deep in Christ, because Christ is God's beloved. Christ
is is beloved. Actually, I could state it this way.

(09:51):
Only two people have been elected. The first Atom was
elected and created, elected to fill the earth. Remember, and
he failed, he sinned. Jesus Christ was elected as the
last Adam. Whenever the Bible describes our election, it describes

(10:13):
it in Him. So we are only elected because we're
in him. That's see, divine sovereignty and human responsibility cross
each other at the cross. That's where the two meet.
They meet at the same time at the cross, because
it's in him. I'm going to heaven because I'm with him.

(10:34):
I'm gonna live forever because I'm with him. I'm gonna
get all the rights and privileges that come with being
a child of God because I'm with him. If somebody
tries to put me out out of heaven after i'm
mayor one hundred billion years, I'm gonna say I'm with him.
It is my link in the Beloved with him, and
that's why I listen to me. If you want the

(10:56):
plan to hold together for you, you got to make
sure you're close to him. See, if you're not him
that destroy the plan, but it destroys your appreciation and
victory within the plant. You can't destroy the plan, but
you can destroy your joy going through the plan.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
Doctor Evans will return with the second part of our
lesson in just a moment. First, though, I wanted to
let you know that the message you're hearing today is
part of tony sixteen part series on the Book of
Ephesians called Ordinary Holy Finding God in the Mundane. In
this powerful collection, Tony explores how God often does his
greatest spiritual work in the middle of our most ordinary moments,

(11:37):
helping us see that even the routine rhythms of life
can become sacred when surrendered to Him. If you'd like
to dig deeper into this series, to review today's message,
or to share it with your small group or family,
you can download the complete two volume set instantly, and
we'll also send it to you on CD or USB
flash drive. As our way of saying thanks for your

(11:59):
generous support of Tony's work on the air and then
communities around the globe, and as an added way of
saying thanks and to help you grow even further, we'll
also include his book Kingdom Living, a practical encouraging guide
to building a stronger walk with God and learning to
live out your identity in Christ. This special offer will

(12:20):
only be available for a limited time, so get all
the details today at Tonyevans dot org or call our
resource team at one eight hundred eight hundred three two
two two. Repeat that contact information after part two of
today's message from Ephesians Chapter one.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
Secondly is the sacrifice of the son. There is the
selection of the father, but then there is the sacrifice
of the son. In Him Christ, we have redemption. Oh
what a rich word. How were we redeemed? He tells
us in verse seven. In Him, we have been redeemed

(13:02):
through his blood. Redemption came through the price paid by
the work of Christ on the cross. Hebrews nine fifteen
says it clearly that redemption came through the blood, that
the blood was necessary before God could treat the problem

(13:25):
of sin. That's true all to the Bible. God required
the blood. Now, he doesn't require a blood because there's
magical chemicals in the blood. He required the blood because
that was the method used to take the life. In
other words, the issue of the blood is the taking
of the life. So to require blood meant to take

(13:46):
the life, and when you took the life, God accepted
it in animals as temporary payment for sin, but only temporary,
not long term. When Jesus Christ died and shed his
blood on the cross, which was required, Hebrews nine twenty

(14:08):
two says God received that as payment in full for
your sins and mind. Sin separates from God. Sin can
give you eternal separation from God. Let me tell you
the horror of the cross, My God, my God, why

(14:33):
hast thou forsaken me? Because you know what happened in
that moment? What happened in that moment when there was
a breach of fellowship between the father and the son,
something that hadn't happened forazillion the years. There have never
been a time when the father and the son were
not in perfect harmony with one another. Never. But on

(14:54):
the cross, while your sins and my sins nailed him,
there was a breach in the trinity, something unknown. Do
you know what that's called hell? At the point that
Jesus said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

(15:17):
What you had in that moment was all of eternity
in hell packed in it, and only eternity can fully
explain that Jesus paid for it with the price of
his life. And it was not only that someone died,
it was who That someone was, the eternal son of God,

(15:41):
who paid the sacrifice for sin, and therefore he is
a worthy savior. And so it was by the redemption
of his blood. And what did that accomplish. It accomplished
atonement for what he calls in verse seven forgiveness of
our transgressions. Oh, what a rich word. Sin must be

(16:07):
forgiven before the subject can be accepted. Forgiveness means pardon,
It means no longer crediting to one's account. It means
set free from the penalty of that which you are
guilty of. So on one of three. Verse twelve says

(16:30):
that as far as the east is from the west,
which is adding finitum, so I have separated your sins
from you. John one twenty nine, Behold the lamb of
God that taketh away the sin of the world. That's
a whole nother discussion the sin of the world. See,
because I'd like to suggest to you that men don't

(16:51):
go to hell because of adam sin. Men were transferred
adam sin. But when Jesus Christ died. He that and
men go to hell because they choose sin, because they
become their own atoms. That's why babies go to heaven.
Babies go to heaven because they don't have personal sin.

(17:13):
They just have atom sin. Jesus took care of adam sin.
Since they have no personal sin, they are covered by
the death of Christ. They still go to heaven by Christ.
People who don't have the capacity to understand the Gospel
or to receive Jesus Christ, because original sin was covered
at the cross. That's why we died for the whole world.
But when you come into that age of accountability where

(17:36):
you choose sin and choose to reject God, now you're
atom So don't say oh Adam, say oh Joe, because
it's personal sin. Just as Adam needed his personal covering
by the animals, you need your personal covering by Christ.

(17:56):
He died for the sins of the world that He
might provide for forgiveness. This section ends with the same
ending of the last section, to the praise of the
glory of his grace, and then he says, in Him,
in Christ, you also after listening to the method of
the truth, He's going to tell you how you got saved.
You heard the Gospel, the Gospel of your salvation. Having
also believed, you trusted Christ, you were sealed in Him

(18:21):
with the Holy Spirit of promise. Sealing meant a completed transaction.
Even today, when you do a document and they stamp it,
it means the transaction is completed, paid, or whatever. The
seal is, it's the seal of authenticity, like signing a letter.
That means it's authentic. The seal secures you and you're

(18:43):
sealed with a person. The person is the third member
of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. For what comes with
the seal Verse fourteen, watch this who is given as
a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the
redemption of God's ohership to the praise of His glory.
The Greek word pledge is our bond, and that meant

(19:06):
a down payment or guarantee of future purchase. What God
has done is He's placed a little bit of heaven
in you now by giving you the heavenly One, the
Holy Spirit, as a first installment on a bigger purchase.

(19:26):
It's like you, ladies, having an engagement ring. The engagement
ring is not the whole thing. But that means that
there's a big day coming. The engagement ring speaks of
a bunch of other stuff that's gonna last a lot
longer thin the engagement period. It's a pledge I'm gonna

(19:46):
marry you. You may be engaged for two months, six months,
one year, two years maybe, but you're married for thirty
and forty and fifty. The pledge the down payment of
the ring. He talked about a lifetime that is to come.
When God gave you the Holy Spirit, the down payment

(20:07):
of your inheritance of eternal life, it was giving it
to you in anticipation of eternity to come, or to
put it in everyday language. You ain't seen nothing yet.
But what do I get to see right now? During
my engagement period? You get to see periodically the Holy Spirit,

(20:29):
who you've been sealed with, bringing you clips of heaven.
Listen to this now. The Holy Spirit's job as your
down payment, is to give you clips from time to time,
and it's a terrible thing to go through your Christian

(20:50):
life with just a few clips. Listen. That's why God
lets you have trials. He lets you have trials so
he can show you a new clip. Hello, Hello, Watch it.
Then the Lord will allow this world to mess over
you just to show you another clip. And when life

(21:12):
is falling in and you follow on your face before
God and you say, God, breakthrough, I need a breakthrough,
and it comes with a clip out of nowhere. Guess
what you just got down payment, because you know what's
gonna happen in heaven. All clips, no commercials, eternity, no night.

(21:34):
There will be one clip after another. I'm gonna see
you at the corner of Gold Street and Silver Boulevard
and we're gonna meet it that intersection, and you're gonna say,
did you see that? Lord have mercy? Did you see that?
It's gonna be staggering because there will be non stop
clips of heaven. You're closest to Christ and you're walking.

(21:56):
The Spirit determines the clips you get to see while
you're waiting, and every now and then he'll give you
a little heaven bam, And then you get upset to
this gum. You know why because this ain't heaven, that's what.
This is not heaven. But he'll give you clips now
of coming attractions. The pledge of our inheritance is a person,

(22:20):
the work of the Spirit. The spirit is critical for
your Christian life, for the redemption of our own possession,
to the praise of His glory. You getting the point
each time, to the praise of the glory of the Father,
to the praise of the glory of the Son, the
praise the glory of Spirit, all combined to the praise
of the glory of Christ. Because it's all sinned in Jesus Christ,
since he's the beloved, all of this is to the

(22:40):
praise of His glory. Now, if the reason He's done
all this is the praise of his glory, what should
you be doing? Praising the glory of His grace. That's
should be doing. It should be a praise fast post.
Somebody just praise you all the time, just every time.
You just lavished. You know, that's lavish. It's so good.
Look you're so beautiful. Oh you're so You're so wonderful,

(23:02):
You're so Why make you day if you just non
stop praise, wouldn't it? Guess what we're gonna be doing
in heaven. Worthy is the lamb that was slain before
the foundation of the world. It's all praised, non stop
praise because we're going to pray them when we see
them clips non stop. We're gonna just prave them and
pray them and praise them. Someone. What a plan? What

(23:27):
a God? What a Savior?

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Doctor Tony Eavans unpacking the blessings God designed for us
before the world began well. Today's message, The Plan of
God is part of Tony's sixteen part audio series called
Ordinary Holy, a deep dive into the Book of Ephesians
that shows how God meets us in the every day.
It's yours with our thanks, along with his book Kingdom Living.

(23:56):
When you support Tony's work on this station and beyond,
visit Tonyevans dot org, where you'll find all the details
right on the homepage, or call one eight hundred eight
hundred thirty two twenty two to make your request again,
that's Tonyevans dot org or by phone at one eight
hundred eight hundred.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
Three two two two.

Speaker 2 (24:19):
It's possible to be rich and still live like you're broke,
especially if you don't know what you actually have. Next time,
doctor Evans explains how believers can tap into the spiritual power,
wisdom and hope they already have access to, whether they
know it or not. I hope you'll join us