November 17, 2025 • 36 mins
What if the belief sitting at the center of your heart is steering every choice you make? We explore the gritty clash between resurrection life and hedonism and ask a simple, unsettling question: if Jesus truly rose and shares that life with us, how should we live today?
We start with Corinth’s crisis of belief and why Paul pushes beyond theology into daily practice. Hedonism makes perfect sense if the grave is final—eat, drink, and avoid pain. But if Christ is risen, purpose outranks comfort, relationships outlast convenience, and courage stops looking foolish. Paul’s “I die daily” isn’t a call to self-harm; it’s a freeing identity shift: my old self is crucified with Christ, and my life is already spent for love. We talk about risk, resilience, and how grace—not rules—actually changes what we want.
Along the way, we test ourselves with honest questions about suffering, decisions, and relationships. We reflect on “awake to righteousness,” the idea that sin can’t satisfy a renewed heart, and we revisit Jesus’ parable of the talents as a picture of faithful stewardship. Each morning becomes a quiet, powerful prayer: here are my hands, mind, and words—Jesus, live through me. When eternity anchors your hope, small acts of love gain weight, and even pain becomes a place where God’s life can move through you.
If you’re tired of self-focus and hungry for a stronger purpose, this conversation offers a clear path forward: believe the resurrection, surrender your day, and step into a life that actually matters. If this spoke to you, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review telling us the one choice you’re changing this week.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:26):
Today at One Two Church, we are going to be
talking about Resurrection Lifeversus Hedonism.
Hedonism.
You guys ever heard of hedonismbefore?
Okay.
It's basically the idea thatlife is about pleasure and
(00:47):
whatever.
It's about you.
It's a very self-focused life.
So we're gonna kind of contrastthese two things.
You can picture a UFC fight, buthopefully we don't have a fight
in the front row with a crowd.
That was a joke about currentevents because last night there
was thank you.
Yes! I love when I have toexplain my jokes.
(01:11):
There was a big fight at a UFCevent, they had to kick a guy
out.
It was it was a whole thing.
Okay.
What is life all about?
Who what's the point and thepurpose and the reason for my
life?
And how will I decide how I'mgonna live my life?
Maybe from this point forward.
(01:32):
We call this the humancondition.
Everyone has to answer thisquestion.
Why am I here?
What's going on?
What am I gonna do with my life?
Well, there's really only twopossible ways to answer these
questions.
Either it's all about me, orit's all about God.
That's really when it boils downto it, those are gonna be the
(01:53):
only questions.
I appreciate the thumbs up.
You can give a verbal amen ifyou want to.
There you go.
That's cool.
It's all good.
Okay.
And there's one thing that isgonna determine really what your
answer is.
Is it about me or is it aboutGod?
And that one thing is actuallythe resurrection that we've been
learning about.
We've been spent the chapter 15is all about the resurrection in
(02:15):
1 Corinthians, where we've beenstudying.
And this resurrection, what youbelieve about the resurrection
of Jesus, is going to determinehow you live your whole life,
really.
You know, Jesus died on thecross for your sin, but he also
rose from the dead.
So do you believe that he sharesthose two things with you?
Do you believe that he shareshis death with you and his life
(02:38):
with you?
And that's gonna make a hugedifference.
His death was for my sin, buthis life is so that my life can
be transformed.
And boy, do I need a lifetransformation.
Because when I got saved, I wasstill just a mess.
I was a total mess when I gotsaved.
And and yes, my spirit wasforgiven and made new, but my
(03:01):
brain, my mind was still just ascarnal as you could be.
And so there had to be atransformation, and he has given
me his life to transform me.
What happened to him happened toyou.
What happened to him happened toyou.
I say that all the time becausethat is truly the gospel in a
(03:22):
very clear way.
Because if you believe in thisresurrection, then your life
matters.
Today, your life matters.
What you do today is gonnamatter.
If you cheer for the Broncoslike a good person, you're gonna
be doing great.
Wow.
(03:43):
Okay.
So to be forgiven of your sins,we have to.
That's alright.
Chiefs fans, you'll figure itout eventually.
I have to talk a little bit oftrash, right?
I didn't do it for the cowboysout of respect for the state
that I live in.
(04:04):
I didn't talk trash about thecowboys, I didn't talk trash
about the Texans, but now as theBroncos are the state champion
of Texas, I can go after theowners that live in Texas too.
So let's go, Chiefs.
Let's go.
All right, sorry.
I'm a little pumped up.
All right, your life does mattertoday.
(04:25):
It does.
The stakes are high.
What you do with your life isgonna is gonna matter not only
today, but what you do today isgonna have repercussions
throughout eternity.
It's hard to even imagine thatthat's true, but it is.
This is what it means to liveyour life about God or with God
as the focus of your life.
But if you don't believe in theresurrection, then nothing is
(04:48):
eternal about your life in yourlife.
That's that's what how you'reliving.
Like nothing really matters.
This is the only life you haveto enjoy.
So you may as well live yourlife the best you can, getting
as much pleasure and joy out ofit because nothing really
matters at all.
(05:08):
And that's what it's what itmeans to live a life about me.
So again, we're either living itabout God or about me.
So today we're gonna see Paul'sargument of how vital it is to
believe in the resurrection ofJesus and what a difference it's
gonna make in your life today.
Here's a secret.
You want to know secrets?
Your life will be much moreshaped by what you believe than
(05:31):
what you do.
Your life is gonna be much moreshaped by what you believe than
what you do.
So let's start right here inverse 29.
Otherwise, he's speaking of theresurrection.
He says, Otherwise, what willthey do who are baptized for the
dead if indeed they do not riseat all?
Why then are they baptized forthe dead?
(05:53):
There is a weird verse.
That's a strange verse.
Okay, context.
Let me set up the context toteach you what's going on.
Paul is explaining why believingin the resurrection is
important.
For some reason, the church herein Corinth had been tricked into
not believing in theresurrection, thinking that life
didn't really last for eternity.
And so they had gotten offtrack.
(06:15):
So this is what he's doing.
Last week we learned that it wasvital to see that all things are
fixed and healed and set rightby Jesus in the end.
Through his resurrection, hebrings us, you know, he makes
everything whole in the worldand in our lives.
That's him being the all in all.
So that's what we studied lastweek.
But today he's getting a littlebit more practical about how the
(06:37):
daily belief in the resurrectionhas a daily impact.
And he's teaching his friendsabout that here today.
So, and they were, like I said,they were struggling to believe
in the resurrection.
They were like, we're not reallysure if Jesus rose from the dead
or if we're gonna rise from thedead.
And and this belief was havingmajor impact on their life.
(06:58):
They were living their life asif all that matters in my life
is me.
That's how they were livingtheir life.
I'm the most important thingthat matters.
It's all about how I feel.
It's all about what I think,it's all about what I need.
It's a self-focused life.
(07:19):
It's we call it the self-life oreven the flesh life.
So that's how the Corinthianchurch was advancing, was
moving.
So back in that day, I gottateach you guys that there was
this pagan tradition wherepeople would do this thing where
they would wake up early in themorning and remember people that
(07:41):
were dead, and they would go doa religious ceremony where they
would get baptized for thosedead people to help them in
purgatory or something.
Because they believed insomething weird like that.
Okay.
We don't know exactly what theybelieved, but here's the thing:
(08:02):
it doesn't matter.
Because that's not why Paul isbringing it up.
And yes, the Mormon church tookthis weird verse and they built
an entire practice on baptizingfor the dead, which is why we
literally have ancestry.com now.
Yeah, they do a weird thing forbaptizing for the dead, and they
(08:23):
think they're accomplishingsomething by this religious
tradition, but they're not,because that's not what the
Bible is teaching here.
Paul is literally bringing upsomething that pagan people do
to rebuke his friends becausehis friends are like, our life
doesn't matter.
And Paul's like, listen, theweirdos even think their life
matters.
The weirdos even think theirlife matters, and you don't
(08:45):
think your life matters?
Come on, friends.
Come on, church.
Why does Paul bring this up ifit doesn't even matter what they
did?
Well, his whole point is thatthese pagans believe their life
matters for eternity, and theydon't even know the truth or
have a relationship with the Godwho made them and can save them.
But they were doing this, andguess what?
(09:07):
Paul also lives his life acertain way because he believes
in the resurrection, and that'show his conversation goes.
So he's like, weirdos believetheir life matters.
Now look at me.
I believe my life matters.
Look what he says.
And why do we stand in jeopardyevery hour?
I affirm by boasting in which Ihave in Christ our Lord.
(09:28):
If in the manner of men I havefought with beasts at Ephesus,
what advantage is it to me?
If the dead do not rise, let useat and drink, for tomorrow we
die.
So Paul goes on this little,kind of like he gets a little
heated right here.
He starts out, he says, Why dowe stand in jeopardy every hour?
(09:48):
So from an earthly perspective,Paul lived a dangerous life.
His middle name was Danger.
He he was, let me just give youa few examples.
He was beaten with rods andreceived um 39 lashes with rods
(10:09):
five times in his life.
Five times he got flogged.
He was stoned once, not the goodkind.
He got stoned once, so much sohe got hit with so many rocks
that they left him for deadbecause they're like, oh, he's
definitely dead.
Ooh, you gotta be really bad ifpeople think that you're dead.
(10:32):
He was thrown in prison moretimes than we could count.
He was robbed, he was uh trickedby false brethren, he was hungry
and thirsty and exposed to theheat with no comfort.
And he was stressed out aboutthe church growing and he wanted
them to know the gospel.
(10:53):
These are just a glimpse intoPaul's life.
He could have lived aself-focused life, a selfish
life.
SPEAKER_01 (11:05):
And that's only the natural way to live when that's
your only life.
Guess who you're thinking aboutthe moment you're born?
You I'm hungry.
Why am I not in my warm wombanymore?
SPEAKER_00 (11:23):
But when you meet Jesus, that self-focused spirit
that we are born with iscrucified on the cross with him,
and we're it's replaced with aresurrection life.
We call it the Holy Spirit, andso now you know in your deepest
spirit that your life is notabout you, but you desire to
(11:45):
live for God your Father, numberone, and number two, for
everybody else.
That is what you truly desire.
Now, everyone in here who hasbelieved in Jesus, that is what
you are.
You want to love your father,you want to serve his family and
love the people of this world.
That is what you are and who youare.
(12:06):
Well, but I don't feel like it.
I mean, everyone I know I hate.
You might think that, you mightfeel that, but that's not
actually true about you.
It's this the craziness of thegospel.
So Paul says here, I affirm bythe boasting in which I have in
(12:28):
you, which I have in ChristJesus our Lord, I die daily.
What is Paul talking about here?
He's saying that he chooses tolive a life like it's already
spent.
That's crazy.
He chooses to live, he knowshe's been bought with a price.
(12:48):
And he's gonna serve others andhe's gonna love others,
especially this church that he'swriting to, no matter what it
costs him, he will spend hiswhole life.
And eventually he's gonna getbeheaded, and he knows that.
But he is gonna live his entirelife like it's already forfeit.
(13:09):
And that's the secret.
If we want to follow Christ andwe want our lives to be all
about Christ, you have to diedaily.
But it doesn't mean you have todie on the cross daily, it means
you have to wake up each day anddetermine that you already died
with Jesus, that everything youhad hopes and dreams, it's all
(13:31):
for fit, and your life is allabout him.
And all you're doing isbelieving that he's your father,
and you're believing that he'sput his heart in your heart so
that you're actually followingyour new heart when you do that.
It's not some mysterious, oh, Igotta, you know, masochism, I
gotta hurt myself and live aterrible life for God to be
(13:51):
happy with me.
It's nothing to do with that.
We're actually believing that hehas transformed us.
And that believing is how wegrow in the Lord.
And it makes us ready to sufferif needed, ready to love
unlovable people and lift upeverybody that we meet and be
(14:13):
encouraging.
And yes, it is dangerous.
You very well may get hurt.
But guess what?
You were getting hurt anyway.
This has this world been niceand gentle to anybody in here?
Anyone had the perfect life?
Just comfort, get out.
You're in the wrong church.
But you wouldn't be in thischurch if you were.
(14:36):
Yes, it may not be wise to livethis way.
It is reckless abandon forJesus.
My life is already forfeit.
I don't need to defend myself, Idon't need to fight for what I
want, I don't need to fight forwhat I need.
I'm gonna trust God with allthat, and I'm gonna instead
focus on what He calls me to doand what He's put in my heart
(14:59):
every single day.
That's what what we we'retalking about resurrection.
That's what it means to haveresurrection life pumping in
your veins, pumping in yourheart.
SPEAKER_01 (15:09):
It is there already.
So when we have thisresurrection life, we say, bring
it on.
Bring it on.
You can't kill me because Jesushas already raised me.
SPEAKER_00 (15:31):
So no matter what you do to me, I'm not gonna
experience death in that way.
What can you break that Jesuscan't heal in my life?
Nothing.
I win the end.
That's what we get withresurrection life.
We get to live with this crazyconfidence that our life is
(15:52):
really already victoriousbecause of his win on the cross.
He won on the cross.
Paul says this if in the mannerof men I fought with wild beasts
at Ephesus, what advantage is itto me?
So somehow Paul fought with wildbeasts, whether they were real
wild beasts, like he's out therewith by the way.
(16:13):
I saw New Things in Texas numberfour.
I saw an ocelot this week.
Ran right in front of my car.
A real life ocelot.
I did not know they were real,but looked it up.
Very rare, very rare.
I'm like probably the only onein here that's seen one.
Just kidding.
Uh, but yeah, it's really rare,but I saw it, it was really
(16:35):
cool.
I don't know if Paul fought anocelot.
They don't look very dangerous,but they probably used lions
back then or bears.
I don't know what he fought, buthe could have been talking about
men, he could have been talkingabout brute men that beat him
up, but he describes it as afight.
He didn't have to fight them.
You never have to, but he choseto.
(16:56):
Why?
For love.
Because he loved God and he knewGod's love was gonna flow
through him, and so he chose tolive a dangerous life for the
sake of Jesus and his kingdom.
And Paul says that way of livingis stupid if you don't believe
in the resurrection of Jesus.
(17:16):
You shouldn't live dangerouslyif you don't believe in the
resurrection of Jesus.
If you don't know that you areforgiven of your sin and going
to heaven and your life matterstoday, please be careful about
your life.
SPEAKER_01 (17:34):
I shouldn't do anything that costs me if my
life doesn't matter.
I shouldn't be brave.
I should only take the safepaths in life.
SPEAKER_00 (17:49):
He says, if the dead do not rise, let us eat and
drink, for tomorrow we die.
He's quoting there a paganphilosophy.
And he's saying, the pagans areright if the resurrection didn't
happen.
If Jesus' resurrection didn'thappen, and Jesus' resurrection
wasn't transferable into yourhearts and lives, then their
(18:11):
philosophy is right.
We call this philosophy hedonismor fatalistic worldview, and it
prioritizes immediate pleasureand consumption because life is
short and there's no hope forthe afterlife.
Your life doesn't really matter.
So eat, drink, and party fortomorrow.
(18:31):
You die.
Okay, so what we're gonna do,we're gonna play a little game
called Are You a Hedonist?
Are you ready?
50 Jesus points up for a grabhere.
Do you share, do you think youshare this hedonistic philosophy
sometimes?
(18:52):
No, not me.
Well, let's see.
I'm just gonna ask somequestions and then we'll
determine how a hedonist wouldanswer.
What are your thoughts onsuffering for the greater good?
What are your thoughts onsuffering for the greater good?
(19:13):
A hedonist would be very likelyto accept suffering as a
necessary part of a worthwhilelife.
Prioritizing the avoidance ofpain.
A non-hedonist may see the valuein temporary hardship or
sacrifice for long-term benefit.
(19:34):
I said that backwards, but youknow what I mean.
Alright, so wow, my life, is itis it important to suffer?
A hedonist says, nah.
When making a big decision, whatis the most important factor for
you?
Who you're gonna marry, what jobyou're gonna have, where you're
gonna live, when you're making abig decision, what's the most
(19:56):
important factor?
SPEAKER_01 (20:00):
Your response would indicate if you make decisions
based on pleasure or purpose.
What is my purpose?
Or what makes me happy?
SPEAKER_00 (20:18):
One of those is hedonistic, one of them is
resurrection life.
Imagine you could plug into atime machine or a machine,
sorry, not time machine, amachine, that would give you the
most pleasurable and happyexperiences for the rest of your
life.
You'd just be happy, happy,happy, happy.
Would you do it?
SPEAKER_01 (20:35):
Would you do it?
SPEAKER_00 (20:38):
That question is a variation from the philosopher
Robert Nozick's experiencemachine thought experiment.
A pure heed hedonist wouldlogically say, Yes, I would
absolutely do the pleasuremachine.
But many people would not,suggesting that they value
genuine experience andauthenticity over artificial
(21:01):
pleasure.
What's your idea of a perfectday?
SPEAKER_01 (21:07):
Is your perfect day just happiness, and pleasure?
Or do you have a purpose forthat day?
SPEAKER_00 (21:18):
How important are long-term relationships compared
to spontaneous, exciting, newexperiences?
A hedonist is choosy about theirfriends and they leave
relationships when they're nolonger a source of pleasure.
But someone filled withresurrection life endures
(21:40):
through the boring parts ofrelationships.
Because they know that peoplematter and their life matters.
SPEAKER_01 (21:51):
What do you want to be remembered for?
What is your purpose?
SPEAKER_00 (22:00):
I think many days we struggle with this philosophy,
and it it's not about I'vechosen to be a hedonist and I
have hedonism tattooed on myarm.
No.
It's it's just easy to justworry about myself.
Because it's painful to livelife for others because what do
(22:22):
others do?
They let you down, they hurtyou, and yet Jesus says, love
them anyway.
Care about them anyway.
Live your life for them anyway.
And this is the differencebetween resurrection life of
Jesus living through you and aself-focused, fatalistic life.
(22:46):
And Paul asks the question, whydo we do this?
Why, why does this matter?
He says, Why do we stand injeopardy every day?
Resurrection life is why.
Because our life isn't about us.
It's no longer I who live, butChrist lives in me.
We died and he lives through us.
(23:06):
That's called resurrection life.
And then Paul says, do not bedeserved.
I said that completely wrong.
Do not be deceived.
Disserved?
Do not be deceived.
Evil company corrupts goodhabits.
Did your mom tell you that whenyou were a kid?
Yes, she did.
(23:27):
But he says here, evil companycorrupts good habits.
Awake to righteousness and donot sin.
For you, for some do not havethe knowledge of God.
I speak this to your shame.
Why did the Corinthians becomehedonists?
Because their friends andmentors believed it.
(23:47):
Their friends tricked them intothis philosophy.
Their friends were like, comeon, live your life a little,
have some fun.
Life is all about fun.
This is how I live life, and I'mhappy.
But he says here, it's evil tolive life only for yourself.
(24:09):
It's literally the spirit ofSatan, this self-focused spirit
that we were born with.
It's self-centered, it'sself-living, it's taking care of
myself.
Paul says, tells his friends, hesays, awake.
That's the word he uses, awake,wake up, Paul's saying.
(24:29):
Awake to what?
To righteousness.
He doesn't say, wake up tofollowing all the rules.
Do you notice he didn't saythat?
He says, wake up torighteousness.
Why?
Because you are alreadyrighteous.
You already have God's righteousheart, righteous spirit inside
you.
(24:50):
It's not the rules thattransform you and make you a
righteous person.
And he's definitely not tellingthem, guys, you're breaking all
the rules, so you should know.
He's saying you're just beingevil, and that's not who you
are.
It's not who you are.
You're not impatient, you're notunkind, you're not self-serving,
you're not this.
This is not who you are.
(25:10):
You are Jesus living throughyou, is who you are.
Now let's start believing it.
They were sleepwalking throughlife.
They were sleepwalking.
The truth is they wererighteous, but they were asleep
to that, sleepwalking, justdoing whatever they thought,
(25:33):
whatever they felt,sleepwalking, and Paul's like,
wake up! Right, do it.
Wake up.
Don't you love when someonewakes you up like that?
Clapping in your face?
Six teenage boys.
It's not the worst thing I'vedone.
(25:55):
There were some definite spilledwater on sleepy boys when we're
10 minutes late for school.
Okay.
He's telling his friends, wakeup.
You're already righteous, butyou're sleepwalking through
life.
They knew about God's grace, butthey were, they thought they'd
(26:16):
be happy just to continue in sinthat grace may abound.
But that doesn't work.
We cannot ever, let me slow itdown.
We cannot ever be happy sinningas Christians.
Why?
Because it's against the rules.
No, because God has changed whoyou are.
(26:39):
You cannot participate in sinand be happy.
It is an impossibility.
Because Romans 6, 1.
What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin thatgrace may abound?
Certainly not.
How shall we who died to sinlive any longer in it?
Right?
You died with Jesus.
How what does that mean?
(27:00):
You died to sin.
You raised with Jesus?
What does that mean?
His righteous life is now yours.
So you are righteous.
Everything you want is in yourspirit is righteous.
That's who we really are.
We were raised to life with him.
What happened to him happened toyou.
So we can't keep sleepwalkingthrough life doing the things
(27:25):
that we think make us happy, butthey're actually selfish,
sinful.
That's not who we are anymore.
Why would we why would you dowhat you're not?
It's like if I were to put onsome foreign football team's
hat.
(27:47):
Right?
I can't.
That's not who I am.
It's definitely not who I am.
It's never the law that changesus, it's never rules that change
us.
It's his grace and his love.
And all he's asking us to do iswake up.
You are alive.
Be awake and alive.
Wake up to the gospel.
Your identity is new.
(28:08):
You are forgiven.
You are holy.
You are perfect.
You are complete.
You are free.
You don't have to sin anymore.
Now, will we practice perfectperfection?
No, we're not gonna get there.
But God has delivered us and setus free.
We don't have to.
So he says, awake torighteousness and do not sin.
(28:31):
See, he says, For some of you donot have the knowledge of God,
and I speak this to your shame.
It is the greatest shame when wewaste our holy life living for
unholy things.
You don't have to try to gainholiness, you don't have to say,
my life matters.
Guess what?
Your life already matters.
Your life already has beenpurified by Jesus.
(28:53):
You're his spotless bride.
You have nothing that he says isa mark or a stain.
It's all been washed away by theblood of Jesus.
So he says, it's a waste to takethat life and then just go
participate in things that isnot holy.
Why would you do that?
SPEAKER_01 (29:15):
He says it's a shame.
We have one life to spend.
And we choose to waste it onourselves.
SPEAKER_00 (29:29):
The ancient Egyptians, at the end of a big
banquet, at the end of theirparties, they would bring out a
wooden coffin with the image ofthe master of the party on it.
So they bring his coffin out.
And they would parade it aroundthe tables and uh telling people
to have a good time now, becauseyou'll be dead sooner than you
(29:52):
think.
SPEAKER_01 (29:54):
And if there's no resurrection, no future
judgment, then we may as wellhave the best time we can right
now.
SPEAKER_00 (30:05):
And Paul was a fool for putting himself in such
discomfort and danger for thesake of the gospel.
We're gonna close with a quickstory that Jesus told.
So, your homework this week.
Yes, I'm giving you homework.
(30:25):
Don't you love it?
Yay, is to read Matthew 25,verse 14 through 30.
But I'm just gonna we're gonnatalk about it a little bit and
then you can kind of digest itthis week.
And in a story, Jesus told uh uha story to illustrate the
importance of faithfulness inyour life that you've been given
(30:47):
to God.
Like your life, you've beengiven this life, and how
important it is, how valuableyour life is.
In this parable, the master uhhe gives his servants different
amounts of money, and we hecalls them talents.
Before, and it's not the sameword as like, oh, you're so
talented.
It's not like that.
It's a word that means adenomination of money.
(31:10):
Okay.
And uh he goes on a journey, andthen each servant receives a
different amount according totheir ability.
One receives five, another two,another one.
And then the master comes backfrom his journey and he asks
them to account for how theyused their talents.
The first two uh who hadreceived five and two, uh, they
(31:32):
invested their talents and andthey doubled what they were
given.
So five earned five more, andthe two go two more.
And the master commends them fortheir faithfulness and rewards
them with even greaterresponsibilities.
Why?
Because their life matters, andthey believe their life
mattered, and they loved theirfather, and they did their
father's will.
However, the third servant, whohad only one, buried it out of
(31:58):
fear and returned only what hewas given.
So he's like, Here's your talentback, here's that life you gave
me, take it back.
I don't even want it.
I don't care what you what youcared about.
I only care about me.
I didn't want to do anythingwith your money.
I live my own life, I do my ownthing.
Nobody's gonna tell me what todo, especially not you.
SPEAKER_01 (32:23):
Ooh, it's not a good attitude to have, right?
SPEAKER_00 (32:29):
So the master rebukes this guy for his lack of
faithfulness, that he justdidn't care.
And what we learn in the newcovenant that we learn about
called grace is that thisteaches us the importance of
trusting in God's grace andusing his opportunities, the
(32:49):
life that he's given you, makeit about his kingdom.
That's what it's about.
It's not about earningblessings, it's not about
earning God's favor or earningforgiveness, it's about living
out what God has given you.
God has put something in you ofincredible value, and it's
called His own Son, Jesus, livesinside you.
(33:11):
The spirit of his son livesinside you.
And that is a free gift that youdidn't have to work for at all.
All you did was flip in belief.
I believe Jesus and I ask himbecause I believe to live inside
me, and he does.
He forgives you, he lives insideyou, he has given that to you.
And then God says, now your lifematters.
(33:33):
Your life matters.
Our life is now about lettingJesus live through us.
And in Romans chapter 6, Paulsays, This is how it works.
You get filled with Jesus, andthen you let him live through
you.
That means every morning, yourwhole job is not to say, What
rules do I have to follow?
(33:54):
It's Jesus, you live in me.
I don't deserve that.
So, Jesus, here is my body, hereis my mind, here's my words,
here's my lips, here's myeverything, my hands and my
thoughts.
I give them to you and I ask youto live through me.
Watch what happens.
(34:15):
It is unmistakable.
Every time someone does that,Jesus says, Okay.
And guess what?
If you don't do that, Jesus willnot take you over.
Jesus will not force you to livefor him.
Jesus will not just make you.
(34:43):
Would you please live my lifefor me?
And if you just say that in yourheart, with your mouth,
whatever, it will be donebecause he's already said, It's
my promise, I'll do it, and youdon't have to earn it.
I promise I'll do it.
And that's what we stand on whenwe come to church and when we
offer ourselves for Jesus tolive through us.
(35:05):
We are fully empowered andequipped by God's grace to live
out what you're called to be.
You don't have to try to do it,you don't need anything else
from God.
You have everything you need.
We can trust in his sufficiencythat we will be able to do what
he's called us to do.
And as the as the team comesback up here and leads us in a
(35:25):
song, what we what we learntoday is that resurrection life
matters.
Even weirdos think their lifematters.
Your life may be fraught withall kinds of pain and difficult
things, but your life matters.
(35:47):
And God says, I am all in it, Ilive inside you.
So he feels your pain, he feelsyour abandonment, he feels your
your uh confusion, he feels itall because he lives inside you,
and he says, Hold my hand, wewill get through this.
I will live your life for you.
(36:08):
It's not your job to fix yourlife, it's not your job to
change it, it's not your job tobe something special.
Just look to me and I'll do itall for you, through you, and in
you.
Would you guys all stand withme?
Today at One Two Church, we are going to be
talking about Resurrection Lifeversus Hedonism.
Hedonism.
You guys ever heard of hedonismbefore?
Okay.
It's basically the idea thatlife is about pleasure and
(00:47):
whatever.
It's about you.
It's a very self-focused life.
So we're gonna kind of contrastthese two things.
You can picture a UFC fight, buthopefully we don't have a fight
in the front row with a crowd.
That was a joke about currentevents because last night there
was thank you.
Yes! I love when I have toexplain my jokes.
(01:11):
There was a big fight at a UFCevent, they had to kick a guy
out.
It was it was a whole thing.
Okay.
What is life all about?
Who what's the point and thepurpose and the reason for my
life?
And how will I decide how I'mgonna live my life?
Maybe from this point forward.
(01:32):
We call this the humancondition.
Everyone has to answer thisquestion.
Why am I here?
What's going on?
What am I gonna do with my life?
Well, there's really only twopossible ways to answer these
questions.
Either it's all about me, orit's all about God.
That's really when it boils downto it, those are gonna be the
(01:53):
only questions.
I appreciate the thumbs up.
You can give a verbal amen ifyou want to.
There you go.
That's cool.
It's all good.
Okay.
And there's one thing that isgonna determine really what your
answer is.
Is it about me or is it aboutGod?
And that one thing is actuallythe resurrection that we've been
learning about.
We've been spent the chapter 15is all about the resurrection in
(02:15):
1 Corinthians, where we've beenstudying.
And this resurrection, what youbelieve about the resurrection
of Jesus, is going to determinehow you live your whole life,
really.
You know, Jesus died on thecross for your sin, but he also
rose from the dead.
So do you believe that he sharesthose two things with you?
Do you believe that he shareshis death with you and his life
(02:38):
with you?
And that's gonna make a hugedifference.
His death was for my sin, buthis life is so that my life can
be transformed.
And boy, do I need a lifetransformation.
Because when I got saved, I wasstill just a mess.
I was a total mess when I gotsaved.
And and yes, my spirit wasforgiven and made new, but my
(03:01):
brain, my mind was still just ascarnal as you could be.
And so there had to be atransformation, and he has given
me his life to transform me.
What happened to him happened toyou.
What happened to him happened toyou.
I say that all the time becausethat is truly the gospel in a
(03:22):
very clear way.
Because if you believe in thisresurrection, then your life
matters.
Today, your life matters.
What you do today is gonnamatter.
If you cheer for the Broncoslike a good person, you're gonna
be doing great.
Wow.
(03:43):
Okay.
So to be forgiven of your sins,we have to.
That's alright.
Chiefs fans, you'll figure itout eventually.
I have to talk a little bit oftrash, right?
I didn't do it for the cowboysout of respect for the state
that I live in.
(04:04):
I didn't talk trash about thecowboys, I didn't talk trash
about the Texans, but now as theBroncos are the state champion
of Texas, I can go after theowners that live in Texas too.
So let's go, Chiefs.
Let's go.
All right, sorry.
I'm a little pumped up.
All right, your life does mattertoday.
(04:25):
It does.
The stakes are high.
What you do with your life isgonna is gonna matter not only
today, but what you do today isgonna have repercussions
throughout eternity.
It's hard to even imagine thatthat's true, but it is.
This is what it means to liveyour life about God or with God
as the focus of your life.
But if you don't believe in theresurrection, then nothing is
(04:48):
eternal about your life in yourlife.
That's that's what how you'reliving.
Like nothing really matters.
This is the only life you haveto enjoy.
So you may as well live yourlife the best you can, getting
as much pleasure and joy out ofit because nothing really
matters at all.
(05:08):
And that's what it's what itmeans to live a life about me.
So again, we're either living itabout God or about me.
So today we're gonna see Paul'sargument of how vital it is to
believe in the resurrection ofJesus and what a difference it's
gonna make in your life today.
Here's a secret.
You want to know secrets?
Your life will be much moreshaped by what you believe than
(05:31):
what you do.
Your life is gonna be much moreshaped by what you believe than
what you do.
So let's start right here inverse 29.
Otherwise, he's speaking of theresurrection.
He says, Otherwise, what willthey do who are baptized for the
dead if indeed they do not riseat all?
Why then are they baptized forthe dead?
(05:53):
There is a weird verse.
That's a strange verse.
Okay, context.
Let me set up the context toteach you what's going on.
Paul is explaining why believingin the resurrection is
important.
For some reason, the church herein Corinth had been tricked into
not believing in theresurrection, thinking that life
didn't really last for eternity.
And so they had gotten offtrack.
(06:15):
So this is what he's doing.
Last week we learned that it wasvital to see that all things are
fixed and healed and set rightby Jesus in the end.
Through his resurrection, hebrings us, you know, he makes
everything whole in the worldand in our lives.
That's him being the all in all.
So that's what we studied lastweek.
But today he's getting a littlebit more practical about how the
(06:37):
daily belief in the resurrectionhas a daily impact.
And he's teaching his friendsabout that here today.
So, and they were, like I said,they were struggling to believe
in the resurrection.
They were like, we're not reallysure if Jesus rose from the dead
or if we're gonna rise from thedead.
And and this belief was havingmajor impact on their life.
(06:58):
They were living their life asif all that matters in my life
is me.
That's how they were livingtheir life.
I'm the most important thingthat matters.
It's all about how I feel.
It's all about what I think,it's all about what I need.
It's a self-focused life.
(07:19):
It's we call it the self-life oreven the flesh life.
So that's how the Corinthianchurch was advancing, was
moving.
So back in that day, I gottateach you guys that there was
this pagan tradition wherepeople would do this thing where
they would wake up early in themorning and remember people that
(07:41):
were dead, and they would go doa religious ceremony where they
would get baptized for thosedead people to help them in
purgatory or something.
Because they believed insomething weird like that.
Okay.
We don't know exactly what theybelieved, but here's the thing:
(08:02):
it doesn't matter.
Because that's not why Paul isbringing it up.
And yes, the Mormon church tookthis weird verse and they built
an entire practice on baptizingfor the dead, which is why we
literally have ancestry.com now.
Yeah, they do a weird thing forbaptizing for the dead, and they
(08:23):
think they're accomplishingsomething by this religious
tradition, but they're not,because that's not what the
Bible is teaching here.
Paul is literally bringing upsomething that pagan people do
to rebuke his friends becausehis friends are like, our life
doesn't matter.
And Paul's like, listen, theweirdos even think their life
matters.
The weirdos even think theirlife matters, and you don't
(08:45):
think your life matters?
Come on, friends.
Come on, church.
Why does Paul bring this up ifit doesn't even matter what they
did?
Well, his whole point is thatthese pagans believe their life
matters for eternity, and theydon't even know the truth or
have a relationship with the Godwho made them and can save them.
But they were doing this, andguess what?
(09:07):
Paul also lives his life acertain way because he believes
in the resurrection, and that'show his conversation goes.
So he's like, weirdos believetheir life matters.
Now look at me.
I believe my life matters.
Look what he says.
And why do we stand in jeopardyevery hour?
I affirm by boasting in which Ihave in Christ our Lord.
(09:28):
If in the manner of men I havefought with beasts at Ephesus,
what advantage is it to me?
If the dead do not rise, let useat and drink, for tomorrow we
die.
So Paul goes on this little,kind of like he gets a little
heated right here.
He starts out, he says, Why dowe stand in jeopardy every hour?
(09:48):
So from an earthly perspective,Paul lived a dangerous life.
His middle name was Danger.
He he was, let me just give youa few examples.
He was beaten with rods andreceived um 39 lashes with rods
(10:09):
five times in his life.
Five times he got flogged.
He was stoned once, not the goodkind.
He got stoned once, so much sohe got hit with so many rocks
that they left him for deadbecause they're like, oh, he's
definitely dead.
Ooh, you gotta be really bad ifpeople think that you're dead.
(10:32):
He was thrown in prison moretimes than we could count.
He was robbed, he was uh trickedby false brethren, he was hungry
and thirsty and exposed to theheat with no comfort.
And he was stressed out aboutthe church growing and he wanted
them to know the gospel.
(10:53):
These are just a glimpse intoPaul's life.
He could have lived aself-focused life, a selfish
life.
SPEAKER_01 (11:05):
And that's only the natural way to live when that's
your only life.
Guess who you're thinking aboutthe moment you're born?
You I'm hungry.
Why am I not in my warm wombanymore?
SPEAKER_00 (11:23):
But when you meet Jesus, that self-focused spirit
that we are born with iscrucified on the cross with him,
and we're it's replaced with aresurrection life.
We call it the Holy Spirit, andso now you know in your deepest
spirit that your life is notabout you, but you desire to
(11:45):
live for God your Father, numberone, and number two, for
everybody else.
That is what you truly desire.
Now, everyone in here who hasbelieved in Jesus, that is what
you are.
You want to love your father,you want to serve his family and
love the people of this world.
That is what you are and who youare.
(12:06):
Well, but I don't feel like it.
I mean, everyone I know I hate.
You might think that, you mightfeel that, but that's not
actually true about you.
It's this the craziness of thegospel.
So Paul says here, I affirm bythe boasting in which I have in
(12:28):
you, which I have in ChristJesus our Lord, I die daily.
What is Paul talking about here?
He's saying that he chooses tolive a life like it's already
spent.
That's crazy.
He chooses to live, he knowshe's been bought with a price.
(12:48):
And he's gonna serve others andhe's gonna love others,
especially this church that he'swriting to, no matter what it
costs him, he will spend hiswhole life.
And eventually he's gonna getbeheaded, and he knows that.
But he is gonna live his entirelife like it's already forfeit.
(13:09):
And that's the secret.
If we want to follow Christ andwe want our lives to be all
about Christ, you have to diedaily.
But it doesn't mean you have todie on the cross daily, it means
you have to wake up each day anddetermine that you already died
with Jesus, that everything youhad hopes and dreams, it's all
(13:31):
for fit, and your life is allabout him.
And all you're doing isbelieving that he's your father,
and you're believing that he'sput his heart in your heart so
that you're actually followingyour new heart when you do that.
It's not some mysterious, oh, Igotta, you know, masochism, I
gotta hurt myself and live aterrible life for God to be
(13:51):
happy with me.
It's nothing to do with that.
We're actually believing that hehas transformed us.
And that believing is how wegrow in the Lord.
And it makes us ready to sufferif needed, ready to love
unlovable people and lift upeverybody that we meet and be
(14:13):
encouraging.
And yes, it is dangerous.
You very well may get hurt.
But guess what?
You were getting hurt anyway.
This has this world been niceand gentle to anybody in here?
Anyone had the perfect life?
Just comfort, get out.
You're in the wrong church.
But you wouldn't be in thischurch if you were.
(14:36):
Yes, it may not be wise to livethis way.
It is reckless abandon forJesus.
My life is already forfeit.
I don't need to defend myself, Idon't need to fight for what I
want, I don't need to fight forwhat I need.
I'm gonna trust God with allthat, and I'm gonna instead
focus on what He calls me to doand what He's put in my heart
(14:59):
every single day.
That's what what we we'retalking about resurrection.
That's what it means to haveresurrection life pumping in
your veins, pumping in yourheart.
SPEAKER_01 (15:09):
It is there already.
So when we have thisresurrection life, we say, bring
it on.
Bring it on.
You can't kill me because Jesushas already raised me.
SPEAKER_00 (15:31):
So no matter what you do to me, I'm not gonna
experience death in that way.
What can you break that Jesuscan't heal in my life?
Nothing.
I win the end.
That's what we get withresurrection life.
We get to live with this crazyconfidence that our life is
(15:52):
really already victoriousbecause of his win on the cross.
He won on the cross.
Paul says this if in the mannerof men I fought with wild beasts
at Ephesus, what advantage is itto me?
So somehow Paul fought with wildbeasts, whether they were real
wild beasts, like he's out therewith by the way.
(16:13):
I saw New Things in Texas numberfour.
I saw an ocelot this week.
Ran right in front of my car.
A real life ocelot.
I did not know they were real,but looked it up.
Very rare, very rare.
I'm like probably the only onein here that's seen one.
Just kidding.
Uh, but yeah, it's really rare,but I saw it, it was really
(16:35):
cool.
I don't know if Paul fought anocelot.
They don't look very dangerous,but they probably used lions
back then or bears.
I don't know what he fought, buthe could have been talking about
men, he could have been talkingabout brute men that beat him
up, but he describes it as afight.
He didn't have to fight them.
You never have to, but he choseto.
(16:56):
Why?
For love.
Because he loved God and he knewGod's love was gonna flow
through him, and so he chose tolive a dangerous life for the
sake of Jesus and his kingdom.
And Paul says that way of livingis stupid if you don't believe
in the resurrection of Jesus.
(17:16):
You shouldn't live dangerouslyif you don't believe in the
resurrection of Jesus.
If you don't know that you areforgiven of your sin and going
to heaven and your life matterstoday, please be careful about
your life.
SPEAKER_01 (17:34):
I shouldn't do anything that costs me if my
life doesn't matter.
I shouldn't be brave.
I should only take the safepaths in life.
SPEAKER_00 (17:49):
He says, if the dead do not rise, let us eat and
drink, for tomorrow we die.
He's quoting there a paganphilosophy.
And he's saying, the pagans areright if the resurrection didn't
happen.
If Jesus' resurrection didn'thappen, and Jesus' resurrection
wasn't transferable into yourhearts and lives, then their
(18:11):
philosophy is right.
We call this philosophy hedonismor fatalistic worldview, and it
prioritizes immediate pleasureand consumption because life is
short and there's no hope forthe afterlife.
Your life doesn't really matter.
So eat, drink, and party fortomorrow.
(18:31):
You die.
Okay, so what we're gonna do,we're gonna play a little game
called Are You a Hedonist?
Are you ready?
50 Jesus points up for a grabhere.
Do you share, do you think youshare this hedonistic philosophy
sometimes?
(18:52):
No, not me.
Well, let's see.
I'm just gonna ask somequestions and then we'll
determine how a hedonist wouldanswer.
What are your thoughts onsuffering for the greater good?
What are your thoughts onsuffering for the greater good?
(19:13):
A hedonist would be very likelyto accept suffering as a
necessary part of a worthwhilelife.
Prioritizing the avoidance ofpain.
A non-hedonist may see the valuein temporary hardship or
sacrifice for long-term benefit.
(19:34):
I said that backwards, but youknow what I mean.
Alright, so wow, my life, is itis it important to suffer?
A hedonist says, nah.
When making a big decision, whatis the most important factor for
you?
Who you're gonna marry, what jobyou're gonna have, where you're
gonna live, when you're making abig decision, what's the most
(19:56):
important factor?
SPEAKER_01 (20:00):
Your response would indicate if you make decisions
based on pleasure or purpose.
What is my purpose?
Or what makes me happy?
SPEAKER_00 (20:18):
One of those is hedonistic, one of them is
resurrection life.
Imagine you could plug into atime machine or a machine,
sorry, not time machine, amachine, that would give you the
most pleasurable and happyexperiences for the rest of your
life.
You'd just be happy, happy,happy, happy.
Would you do it?
SPEAKER_01 (20:35):
Would you do it?
SPEAKER_00 (20:38):
That question is a variation from the philosopher
Robert Nozick's experiencemachine thought experiment.
A pure heed hedonist wouldlogically say, Yes, I would
absolutely do the pleasuremachine.
But many people would not,suggesting that they value
genuine experience andauthenticity over artificial
(21:01):
pleasure.
What's your idea of a perfectday?
SPEAKER_01 (21:07):
Is your perfect day just happiness, and pleasure?
Or do you have a purpose forthat day?
SPEAKER_00 (21:18):
How important are long-term relationships compared
to spontaneous, exciting, newexperiences?
A hedonist is choosy about theirfriends and they leave
relationships when they're nolonger a source of pleasure.
But someone filled withresurrection life endures
(21:40):
through the boring parts ofrelationships.
Because they know that peoplematter and their life matters.
SPEAKER_01 (21:51):
What do you want to be remembered for?
What is your purpose?
SPEAKER_00 (22:00):
I think many days we struggle with this philosophy,
and it it's not about I'vechosen to be a hedonist and I
have hedonism tattooed on myarm.
No.
It's it's just easy to justworry about myself.
Because it's painful to livelife for others because what do
(22:22):
others do?
They let you down, they hurtyou, and yet Jesus says, love
them anyway.
Care about them anyway.
Live your life for them anyway.
And this is the differencebetween resurrection life of
Jesus living through you and aself-focused, fatalistic life.
(22:46):
And Paul asks the question, whydo we do this?
Why, why does this matter?
He says, Why do we stand injeopardy every day?
Resurrection life is why.
Because our life isn't about us.
It's no longer I who live, butChrist lives in me.
We died and he lives through us.
(23:06):
That's called resurrection life.
And then Paul says, do not bedeserved.
I said that completely wrong.
Do not be deceived.
Disserved?
Do not be deceived.
Evil company corrupts goodhabits.
Did your mom tell you that whenyou were a kid?
Yes, she did.
(23:27):
But he says here, evil companycorrupts good habits.
Awake to righteousness and donot sin.
For you, for some do not havethe knowledge of God.
I speak this to your shame.
Why did the Corinthians becomehedonists?
Because their friends andmentors believed it.
(23:47):
Their friends tricked them intothis philosophy.
Their friends were like, comeon, live your life a little,
have some fun.
Life is all about fun.
This is how I live life, and I'mhappy.
But he says here, it's evil tolive life only for yourself.
(24:09):
It's literally the spirit ofSatan, this self-focused spirit
that we were born with.
It's self-centered, it'sself-living, it's taking care of
myself.
Paul says, tells his friends, hesays, awake.
That's the word he uses, awake,wake up, Paul's saying.
(24:29):
Awake to what?
To righteousness.
He doesn't say, wake up tofollowing all the rules.
Do you notice he didn't saythat?
He says, wake up torighteousness.
Why?
Because you are alreadyrighteous.
You already have God's righteousheart, righteous spirit inside
you.
(24:50):
It's not the rules thattransform you and make you a
righteous person.
And he's definitely not tellingthem, guys, you're breaking all
the rules, so you should know.
He's saying you're just beingevil, and that's not who you
are.
It's not who you are.
You're not impatient, you're notunkind, you're not self-serving,
you're not this.
This is not who you are.
(25:10):
You are Jesus living throughyou, is who you are.
Now let's start believing it.
They were sleepwalking throughlife.
They were sleepwalking.
The truth is they wererighteous, but they were asleep
to that, sleepwalking, justdoing whatever they thought,
(25:33):
whatever they felt,sleepwalking, and Paul's like,
wake up! Right, do it.
Wake up.
Don't you love when someonewakes you up like that?
Clapping in your face?
Six teenage boys.
It's not the worst thing I'vedone.
(25:55):
There were some definite spilledwater on sleepy boys when we're
10 minutes late for school.
Okay.
He's telling his friends, wakeup.
You're already righteous, butyou're sleepwalking through
life.
They knew about God's grace, butthey were, they thought they'd
(26:16):
be happy just to continue in sinthat grace may abound.
But that doesn't work.
We cannot ever, let me slow itdown.
We cannot ever be happy sinningas Christians.
Why?
Because it's against the rules.
No, because God has changed whoyou are.
(26:39):
You cannot participate in sinand be happy.
It is an impossibility.
Because Romans 6, 1.
What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin thatgrace may abound?
Certainly not.
How shall we who died to sinlive any longer in it?
Right?
You died with Jesus.
How what does that mean?
(27:00):
You died to sin.
You raised with Jesus?
What does that mean?
His righteous life is now yours.
So you are righteous.
Everything you want is in yourspirit is righteous.
That's who we really are.
We were raised to life with him.
What happened to him happened toyou.
So we can't keep sleepwalkingthrough life doing the things
(27:25):
that we think make us happy, butthey're actually selfish,
sinful.
That's not who we are anymore.
Why would we why would you dowhat you're not?
It's like if I were to put onsome foreign football team's
hat.
(27:47):
Right?
I can't.
That's not who I am.
It's definitely not who I am.
It's never the law that changesus, it's never rules that change
us.
It's his grace and his love.
And all he's asking us to do iswake up.
You are alive.
Be awake and alive.
Wake up to the gospel.
Your identity is new.
(28:08):
You are forgiven.
You are holy.
You are perfect.
You are complete.
You are free.
You don't have to sin anymore.
Now, will we practice perfectperfection?
No, we're not gonna get there.
But God has delivered us and setus free.
We don't have to.
So he says, awake torighteousness and do not sin.
(28:31):
See, he says, For some of you donot have the knowledge of God,
and I speak this to your shame.
It is the greatest shame when wewaste our holy life living for
unholy things.
You don't have to try to gainholiness, you don't have to say,
my life matters.
Guess what?
Your life already matters.
Your life already has beenpurified by Jesus.
(28:53):
You're his spotless bride.
You have nothing that he says isa mark or a stain.
It's all been washed away by theblood of Jesus.
So he says, it's a waste to takethat life and then just go
participate in things that isnot holy.
Why would you do that?
SPEAKER_01 (29:15):
He says it's a shame.
We have one life to spend.
And we choose to waste it onourselves.
SPEAKER_00 (29:29):
The ancient Egyptians, at the end of a big
banquet, at the end of theirparties, they would bring out a
wooden coffin with the image ofthe master of the party on it.
So they bring his coffin out.
And they would parade it aroundthe tables and uh telling people
to have a good time now, becauseyou'll be dead sooner than you
(29:52):
think.
SPEAKER_01 (29:54):
And if there's no resurrection, no future
judgment, then we may as wellhave the best time we can right
now.
SPEAKER_00 (30:05):
And Paul was a fool for putting himself in such
discomfort and danger for thesake of the gospel.
We're gonna close with a quickstory that Jesus told.
So, your homework this week.
Yes, I'm giving you homework.
(30:25):
Don't you love it?
Yay, is to read Matthew 25,verse 14 through 30.
But I'm just gonna we're gonnatalk about it a little bit and
then you can kind of digest itthis week.
And in a story, Jesus told uh uha story to illustrate the
importance of faithfulness inyour life that you've been given
(30:47):
to God.
Like your life, you've beengiven this life, and how
important it is, how valuableyour life is.
In this parable, the master uhhe gives his servants different
amounts of money, and we hecalls them talents.
Before, and it's not the sameword as like, oh, you're so
talented.
It's not like that.
It's a word that means adenomination of money.
(31:10):
Okay.
And uh he goes on a journey, andthen each servant receives a
different amount according totheir ability.
One receives five, another two,another one.
And then the master comes backfrom his journey and he asks
them to account for how theyused their talents.
The first two uh who hadreceived five and two, uh, they
(31:32):
invested their talents and andthey doubled what they were
given.
So five earned five more, andthe two go two more.
And the master commends them fortheir faithfulness and rewards
them with even greaterresponsibilities.
Why?
Because their life matters, andthey believe their life
mattered, and they loved theirfather, and they did their
father's will.
However, the third servant, whohad only one, buried it out of
(31:58):
fear and returned only what hewas given.
So he's like, Here's your talentback, here's that life you gave
me, take it back.
I don't even want it.
I don't care what you what youcared about.
I only care about me.
I didn't want to do anythingwith your money.
I live my own life, I do my ownthing.
Nobody's gonna tell me what todo, especially not you.
SPEAKER_01 (32:23):
Ooh, it's not a good attitude to have, right?
SPEAKER_00 (32:29):
So the master rebukes this guy for his lack of
faithfulness, that he justdidn't care.
And what we learn in the newcovenant that we learn about
called grace is that thisteaches us the importance of
trusting in God's grace andusing his opportunities, the
(32:49):
life that he's given you, makeit about his kingdom.
That's what it's about.
It's not about earningblessings, it's not about
earning God's favor or earningforgiveness, it's about living
out what God has given you.
God has put something in you ofincredible value, and it's
called His own Son, Jesus, livesinside you.
(33:11):
The spirit of his son livesinside you.
And that is a free gift that youdidn't have to work for at all.
All you did was flip in belief.
I believe Jesus and I ask himbecause I believe to live inside
me, and he does.
He forgives you, he lives insideyou, he has given that to you.
And then God says, now your lifematters.
(33:33):
Your life matters.
Our life is now about lettingJesus live through us.
And in Romans chapter 6, Paulsays, This is how it works.
You get filled with Jesus, andthen you let him live through
you.
That means every morning, yourwhole job is not to say, What
rules do I have to follow?
(33:54):
It's Jesus, you live in me.
I don't deserve that.
So, Jesus, here is my body, hereis my mind, here's my words,
here's my lips, here's myeverything, my hands and my
thoughts.
I give them to you and I ask youto live through me.
Watch what happens.
(34:15):
It is unmistakable.
Every time someone does that,Jesus says, Okay.
And guess what?
If you don't do that, Jesus willnot take you over.
Jesus will not force you to livefor him.
Jesus will not just make you.
(34:43):
Would you please live my lifefor me?
And if you just say that in yourheart, with your mouth,
whatever, it will be donebecause he's already said, It's
my promise, I'll do it, and youdon't have to earn it.
I promise I'll do it.
And that's what we stand on whenwe come to church and when we
offer ourselves for Jesus tolive through us.
(35:05):
We are fully empowered andequipped by God's grace to live
out what you're called to be.
You don't have to try to do it,you don't need anything else
from God.
You have everything you need.
We can trust in his sufficiencythat we will be able to do what
he's called us to do.
And as the as the team comesback up here and leads us in a
(35:25):
song, what we what we learntoday is that resurrection life
matters.
Even weirdos think their lifematters.
Your life may be fraught withall kinds of pain and difficult
things, but your life matters.
(35:47):
And God says, I am all in it, Ilive inside you.
So he feels your pain, he feelsyour abandonment, he feels your
your uh confusion, he feels itall because he lives inside you,
and he says, Hold my hand, wewill get through this.
I will live your life for you.
(36:08):
It's not your job to fix yourlife, it's not your job to
change it, it's not your job tobe something special.
Just look to me and I'll do itall for you, through you, and in
you.
Would you guys all stand withme?
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