Crowned With Glory

Amen. If you would please remain standing. Y'all are learning. That's good.

We're going to remain standing as we read God's Word together this morning.

Our sermon text is from Psalm chapter 8.

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

So if you would, go ahead and flip there in your Bibles as we read Psalm chapter 8 together.

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes.

To still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place.

What is man that you are mindful of him?

And the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings.

And crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under his feet.

All sheep and oxen.

And also the beast of the field.

The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea.

Whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

This is the Word of God.

If you would please be seated.

Father, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

We pray now that you would open up our eyes to see your greatness.

Lord, and to be in awe of you and your incredible wisdom and power and glory and all that you've made.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

What is our mission as a church family?

It's hard to believe that about six months ago now,

CW Bay Baptist Church launched out as an autonomous church family.

And part of that process, as you know, was to clarify and to communicate what is our mission?

What is this church going to be about?

What are we doing?

What are we seeking to accomplish here?

And the answer, I'm hoping you can say it along with me,

is that CW Bay exists to magnify the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We've got some work to do.

All right.

We exist to magnify the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We exist for the glory of God.

But I hope that you know, and I want to be clear,

that that process of identifying our mission was not an attempt to be creative.

It was not an attempt to be original.

We want to align our mission with the mission of God.

We want to align our purpose with God's purpose.

And we want to align what we care about with what God cares about.

And you can be sure that God cares about nothing more than the magnification of his glory.

I hope that you can see, I think it's evident, that this is the theme of Psalm chapter 8.

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

I love when the Bible makes that clear to us, don't you?

David, he says in the first verse and in the last verse, he bookends this psalm with this one phrase,

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

How majestic is your name.

This is the first psalm of praise in the book of Psalms.

You may have felt this over the past several weeks,

that we've been walking through some pain and some suffering in Psalms 3 through 7.

It's been hard on poor David over the past several weeks.

I was joking with somebody this week earlier that we should have named this sermon series

the summer of suffering this year.

But now you notice the tone changes.

And now David is no longer looking internally at his own circumstances.

He's no longer focusing on his own trials.

Now the praise has shifted up towards the Lord.

And we have no indication here of any suffering.

He's mindful of the praise and the glory of God.

You know, that's the trajectory of the Christian life.

What an encouragement it is for us to know that

no matter what trials we endure here,

no matter what suffering we endure now,

it will give way to glory in the end.

David here, inspired by the Holy Spirit,

he looks out around him at all the incredible works of God

and in it he sees the glory of God.

He knows and he rejoices in this simple and profound truth.

I think that this is the main idea of this psalm,

that God magnifies his glory in all of creation,

especially mankind.

Especially mankind.

So what we're going to see here this morning from Psalm chapter 8

Psalms 8 · chapter mention

is two ways that God magnifies his glory.

If you're taking notes, this will be our outline together this morning.

Two ways God magnifies his glory.

God magnifies his glory through the works of his hand

and through the purpose of man.

First, we see God magnifies his glory through the works of his hand.

Look there with me to verse 1.

David says,

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

You have set your glory above the heavens.

See, the earth, the creation, is a theater for the glory of God.

It's an arena where we see God's majesty on display.

And that's by design.

God made creation.

He made the earth.

He made all things as an indicator, as a pointer towards his glory.

So that if any part of creation is beautiful to us,

we're meant to ask,

well, how much more beautiful is the creator?

If any part of creation is awe-inspiring for us,

we're meant to ask,

how much more awe-inspiring is the one who made all of this?

If any part of creation is worthy of our attention,

worthy of our devotion,

worthy of our admiration,

we're meant to then notice that

and in turn ask,

how much more worthy of our attention

and devotion and admiration is the creator?

Now, I wonder if you've ever been awestruck

by any part of creation.

Of course you have.

You know how spoiled we are where we live?

We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Anytime we want,

we can pick a morning,

pick a sunrise,

pick a beach,

pick an island,

pick an ocean,

go walk out and sit on the beach

and see God's glory on full display.

We see it all the time,

but are we attentive to it?

Are we listening to the message of creation?

David was.

He says,

how majestic,

oh Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth?

You may remember it stormed last Sunday.

We were out spending some time with some other church members

and it stormed

and we could hardly see the road coming back.

I don't know if you were out in the middle of that storm.

We could hardly see where we were going

as we drove back home.

It was just pouring down rain,

this display of the power of God and creation.

And when we got home,

I don't know if you could see this where you were,

but the rain stopped

and the sky out here behind the church,

above the trees,

was this bright pink and purple.

Like I've never seen it before.

It was unbelievable.

The deep color in the back of the field

over the trees in the sky.

And Amanda noticed it first.

She saw it through the blinds

and she said,

guys,

you got to come over here and see this.

She called us over.

We looked out

and we just admired the beauty of the creation.

I went back and I sat down.

I was going back to my book.

She and the boys were staying there,

admiring it.

And I overheard her say to one of the boys,

look at what God has made.

And I thought,

that's exactly right.

And that's the point.

That's what God is doing.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

Psalm 19 tells us

the heavens declare the glory of God

and the skies above proclaim his handiwork.

And the stunning truth

is that everyone sees it.

Everyone hears it.

Everyone who is a part of creation

hears the witness of creation.

Psalm 19,

it tells us,

it goes on,

it says,

day to day pours out speech.

Not just a little bit,

it pours it out.

Day after day,

won't stop talking about the glory of God.

Night to night reveals knowledge.

If you don't know that there is a God,

it's not because God hasn't told you.

If you live in God's creation,

you have heard the testimony of creation.

One night is enough to know.

One day in creation is enough to know

that there is a God

and he is glorious.

We have heard.

Verse 3,

there is no speech.

There are no words whose voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out through all the earth.

Their words go to the end of the world.

Do you realize this is incredibly common knowledge?

All of the earth,

every single person

in every single place

in every single corner of the world

knows that there is a God.

How?

Creation has told them.

This is why Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1

Romans 1 · chapter mention

that we are without excuse.

Excuse.

If we withhold honor from the living God,

it's not because he hasn't told us he's there.

It's that we have refused to give him the honor

that he's due.

The witness is there.

The name of the Lord is majestic in all the earth.

The question is,

are we listening?

The heavens proclaim his glory,

but not only this,

I love the contrast that we have here

between verse 1 and 2.

It's not only the big things

that describe the glory of God.

I love the contrast here.

God's glory is proclaimed

in the highest heights of heaven

and in the mouths of babies

and infants.

In the smallest and weakest

and most helpless creatures,

he says,

out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength

because of your foes

to steal the enemy

and the avenger.

Now,

what could this mean?

How does God magnify his name

in the mouth of babies?

I have a guess.

But first,

doesn't this just show you

how God works?

Now,

I wonder if you were facing

an enemy,

if you were up against

a powerful enemy,

if you had all the resources

of the entire world

at your disposal,

I wonder how you would choose

to display your strength.

What would you choose

to steal your enemy?

What would you choose

to go to war for you?

What would you choose?

God says,

I know what I'll do.

I'll silence

the mouth of the enemy

with the mouths of babies

and children.

And we say,

God,

are you sure?

I mean,

look around.

Surely you could find

something better than that,

something stronger,

something more formidable

than that.

But that's just how God works.

God is pleased

to make his glory known

through the weakest

among us.

He wouldn't have it

any other way.

He chooses

the foolish

in the world

to shame

the wise.

He chooses

the weak

in the world

to shame

the strong.

And I'll be honest

with you,

I don't know exactly

how this fits in

and applies

to David's life.

We saw last week

from chapter 7

that others

were speaking evil

of him.

Others were coming

to kill him.

He claimed innocence

from what they were claiming

and saying about him.

It could be,

here's one option,

that despite

what the enemy

said about David,

even children

knew

that he was still

the anointed king.

Despite what others

said about him,

children knew

that he was still

God's anointed king.

That's one possibility.

Now Jesus quotes

this text,

you may recall,

at the triumphal entry

into his city,

into the city

of Jerusalem

in Matthew 21.

He comes in

to the cheers

and the praises

of Hosanna.

Hosanna.

He went in

and he cleared out

the temple

and the children

were there

in the temple,

crying out

in the temple,

Hosanna to the

son of David.

And do you remember

how the chief priests

and the rulers

responded to them?

Make them be quiet.

Silence them.

Do you hear

what they're saying?

Make these children

be quiet.

Stop them

from praising you

as the Messiah.

You are not the king.

Doesn't that sound

a bit like what's going

on here with David?

And how does Jesus

respond?

He says,

haven't you read?

Out of the mouth

of infants

and nursing babies

you have prepared

praise for me,

the true king

of God's people.

God uses the weak

to shame the strong,

but I think

that there's another

layer to this.

So follow with me

just for a moment here.

I think we have

a glimpse here

of how God

plans to magnify

his glory

not only in creation

but also in redemption.

Track with me here

for a minute.

It's interesting to me.

It's interesting,

isn't it,

that David faced

many foes.

He faced many enemies.

He faced Saul.

He faced Absalom.

All the armies

with them.

Verse 2 says

that God has

established strength

because of his foes,

plural,

multiple foes.

But then something

interesting happens

at the end of verse 2.

Do you see it?

It switches

to the singular.

One enemy.

Do you see that?

You have established

strength because

of your foes,

plural,

to steal the enemy

and the avenger.

So follow with me here.

This is my guess.

One great enemy

is silenced

and overcome

by children

giving praise

to the Lord.

What does that

sound like to you?

To me,

that sounds like

God's plan

of redemption.

I think that David

is looking back

to the first chapters

of the book of Genesis.

You remember

what happens

in Genesis?

Chapters 1 through 3.

In the beginning

of the Bible,

God creates

all things.

He sets his glory

in the heavens.

His majestic name

fills all the earth.

And then the enemy

appears.

The serpent

appears.

The great enemy,

Satan,

comes and deceives

Adam,

deceives Eve.

They eat,

they disobey,

they fall,

their union

with the Lord

is broken.

God pronounces

his judgment.

And do you remember

what he said

to the serpent

in Genesis chapter 3?

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

I will put enmity

between you

and the woman,

between your offspring

and her offspring.

The Bible,

from this point forward,

is the unfolding

of this war

between the seed

of the serpent

and the seed

of the woman.

But in the end,

one child will come,

one seed of the woman

will come,

he shall bruise your head

and you shall bruise

his heels.

See, the Bible

is a story of God

magnifying his glory.

And how does he

choose to do it?

He triumphs

over the enemy

and all who belong

to him

through a promised

child.

And David

remembers

that God

has promised

a child

will come

who will put

an end

to the enemy

and an end

to his attempted

robbery

of the glory

of God.

A child

will come,

the child

will be bruised

and yet he will

crush the head

of the serpent.

And we know,

don't we,

who this child

is?

Child,

the promised

child

is Christ

Jesus.

We know

that through

this child

many children

will come

to the Father.

That through

this promised

offspring

many will be

born again,

delivered from

belonging to the

kingdom of darkness

and now adopted

into the family

of God.

And it is

their praises

that will be

the unraveling

of all

the enemy's

schemes.

That's my guess.

God magnifies

his glory

through the works

of his hands

in creation

and in

redemption.

Which leads

David to ask

out of all

the works

of creation,

Lord,

what am I

that you're

mindful of me?

What is man

that you're

mindful of him?

Verse 3,

he says,

when I look

at your heavens,

the work

of your fingers,

the moon,

the stars

which you

have set

in place,

what is man

that you're

mindful of him?

The son

of man

that you

care for him.

Who are

we

that we

should receive

any attention

from the

Lord of all

creation?

Do you see

David's

perplexity

here?

Do you

ever feel

that perplexity?

What am I,

God,

that you should

listen to me?

Bring it

all the way

back down

to us.

Get that

image of a

zooming camera

shot in your

mind,

all the way

from the

highest reaches

of outer

space,

as high up

as it goes,

zooming in

through the

planets,

zooming in

through the

sky,

zooming in

over the

earth,

into the

state of

South Carolina,

over the

forest,

over the

waters of

Awe and

Awe,

right here

to Seawee Bay

Baptist

Church.

What are

we?

God is

mindful of

us.

who are

we that

God should

care about

us?

Do you

ever think

about how

incredible

that is?

That our

little songs

blasted out

here Sunday

morning,

30,

40,

50 of us

in the

room,

when we

sing praise

to the

Lord,

the Almighty,

the King

of creation,

that God

hears our

songs and

is pleased

by our

worship.

Does it

ever

astound

you that

our prayers,

when we

pray, I

think we've

prayed maybe

four, five,

six times

together in

service this

morning already,

do our

prayers ever

feel small

to you?

Doesn't it

feel like

God, with

all that he

has going

on in the

world, that

maybe he

just kind

of let

some of

those prayers

from that

little church

and all

and all

slide this

week,

and yet he

bids us,

invites us,

compels us

to come

and ask

him to

move

mountains

and to

ask him

for our

daily bread,

because the

Lord of all

creation is

mindful of

you.

Why?

Because by

his sheer

grace, he

has chosen

to give us

incredible

dignity and

purpose.

There's our

second point

this morning,

the second

way God

magnifies his

name is God

magnifies his

glory in the

purpose of

man.

I want you to

notice David's

posture here.

First, just

listen to what

he doesn't say.

He doesn't say,

look how

wonderful you

are.

Look how

incredible you

are.

Of course God

wants to pay

attention to you.

You're special.

You're full of

potential.

You are wonderful.

Of course God

wants to think

about you.

You're worthy of

God's attention.

Is that what he

says?

No, he says

we are

nothing.

What is man

that God would

be mindful of

us?

We're a speck of

dust compared to

the rest of

creation.

You made the

heavens with

your fingers.

Do you realize

how simple he

makes that

sound?

You set the

moon in its

place.

You set the

stars in their

place.

What are we

that you're

mindful of us?

We are

nothing.

And yet,

verse 5,

yet you have

made him a

little lower

than heavenly

beings and

crowned him

with glory and

honor.

You have given

him dominion

over the works

of your hands.

You have put

all things under

his feet,

all sheep and

oxen and also

the beast of the

field, the birds

of the heavens and

the fish of the

sea, whatever

passes along the

paths of the

seas.

You know,

when we read

this text,

we shouldn't

be puffed up

with how great

we are.

That's not the

point.

We should be

in awe, like

David, at the

undeserved blessing

and attention

and honor given

to us by God.

Any glory, any

honor, any

goodness that you

and I have is

not from us and

it's not for us.

It ought to,

again, point away

from us back to

the one who has

crowned us with

glory and honor.

What does it

say about God?

That the God who

made the heavens

cares about you.

What does it

say about God?

That the God who

is transcendent has

chosen also to be

imminent, to be

near, to be near

to his people.

He has chosen to

make his name known

to us and through

us.

What a privilege

that is.

How does he do

that?

How does he do

that?

Two ways here.

God has given

mankind, all

mankind, two

gifts.

Really two

responsibilities here.

He has given

all mankind

dignity and

dominion.

Just look at the

dignity that he

gives to all

mankind.

Verse 5.

He says he has

crowned us out of

all creation.

He has crowned us

with glory and

honor.

How?

Because we alone

are made, we

talked about it

this morning, in

his what?

In his image.

What other part of

creation can we say

this about?

Mankind alone is

made in the image

of God.

No other part of

creation has this

distinguished honor.

We bear the image

of God.

You know, we were

made to be little

representations of God

walking around on

the earth.

We talked this

morning in the

grow class about

some of the ways

that we can share

and some of the

attributes of God.

Do you realize we

were made to

reflect God's

holiness?

We were made to

reflect God's

goodness.

We were made to

reflect God's

mercy, his love,

his wisdom, his

creativity, his

intelligence, even

his beauty.

Out of all

creation, mankind

especially, was

made to walk

around as

reflections of the

glory of God.

I have a niece

that we saw

last week at the

beach who looks

exactly like my

dad.

It is unbelievable.

There's a picture of

the two of them

sitting on the couch

together and except

for the size

difference and the

hair difference,

you almost can't

tell them apart.

It is unreal.

And if you knew my

dad, if you knew

what he looked like

and then lined my

niece up with about

20 other little

girls, you would be

able to look at her

and say, that is a

chancy.

And there's no doubt

about it.

The family resemblance

is strong.

She bears his image.

That is how it's

supposed to be with

us, isn't it?

We are made to bear

the image of God so

that others look at

us and say, that's

God's child.

He looks just like

the Lord.

She looks just like

the Lord.

And not just

Christians bear the

image of God.

We need to realize

this.

All people bear the

image of God.

This is what gives

all mankind

dignity and honor.

God has crowned

all people with glory

and honor by making

all people in his

image.

I talked to Treg this

week, Monday morning,

we opened up this

passage and talked

through it and he

said, man, the

implications of this

are enormous.

And they are.

The applications that

we could draw from

that simple fact are

almost endless.

But we'll try a few

here.

For one, the fact

that we are all made

in the image of God

is what makes racism

evil in the sight of

God.

God.

If we treat anybody

differently because

they look different

than us, could it be

that we value our

image more than we

value God's image?

If we give a higher

honor to those who

are wealthy or

beautiful or have

use to us

personally, could it

be that we have a

different honor system

than God?

God has crowned all

people with dignity

and honor.

Shouldn't that

impact the way

that we treat

each other?

The way that we

talk to and about

one another.

How we love one

another.

You know, that person

that drives you crazy.

I know you're

thinking about them

in your mind right

now.

That person that you

just cannot stand to

be around.

That person that,

if you're honest,

maybe you hate

is made in the

image of God.

Who are we to

hate?

Those whom God

himself has

honored and

crowned with

dignity and

glory.

We have been

given incredible

dignity, but not

only that, second,

we have been given

dominion.

Mankind was made

to reflect the

image of God and

also to rule as

extensions of the

authority of God.

In Genesis chapter

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

1, 28, God gave

Adam and Eve a

command.

He said, be fruitful

and multiply, fill

the earth and

subdue it.

Have dominion over

the fish of the

sea, over the

birds of the air,

over every living

thing that moves.

David is looking

back on this

truth.

He's reflecting

back on the

incredible dominion

and authority that

God has given man

in Genesis 1.

And he works

backwards from the

list.

You notice that?

You have given

him dominion over

the works of your

hands, he says.

You put all things

under his feet, all

sheep and oxen, the

beasts of the

field, the birds of

the heavens, the

fish of the sea,

whatever passes along

the paths of the

seas.

We were made with

a purpose to

exercise dominion over

all of God's

creation as

extensions of his

good authority.

You know, that's

what gives purpose

to our work.

Do you know how

empty it is to

try to labor to

build your own

kingdom and to

try to labor to

accumulate riches

and wealth or

respect and honor

that will eventually

fade away?

Maybe the reason

that feels empty

to us is because

we were made for

something much

greater than that.

We were made so

that all of our

labors, all of our

efforts, all of our

work, all of our

endeavors are meant

to be extensions of

God's work, God's

labors.

God's effort, God's

endeavors.

We were made to

labor for his

kingdom, not for

ours.

Whatever you do, do

all for the glory of

God.

That's the purpose of

your nine to five.

We are made to fill

the earth with the

glory of God and to

labor to usher in

his kingdom.

What a privilege that

is that he's given

to us.

David says we're to

exercise dominion,

even, David points

out for us, even

over the animals.

Some of us, I

know, are animal

people.

My apologies in

advance to PETA and

to all the animal

people in the room,

animal lovers

everywhere.

I am an animal

lover, okay, for the

record.

I love animals, but

animals are not our

equals.

animals.

Mankind is made

superior to the

animals.

Animals exist for man,

not the other way

around, and it seems

sometimes like our

society has lost its

mind.

Some of you may know

that we live right

across the street from

the Seaweed Visitor

Center over here.

They are protecting the

red wolf population.

You can go and have a

tour of the red wolves

there.

I think that that's

great.

They are protected.

If you kill a red

wolf, you get a

$100,000 fine and

possibly spend some

time in prison.

But we've made it

perfectly acceptable

to kill a child in

the womb of their

mother in the first

trimester with no

consequence.

It's insane.

Do you realize how

insane it is to live

in a world where

animals have greater

protection than

children who are made

in the image of

God?

We have everything

twisted up.

I don't know about

you, but when I

look around and I

see the wickedness

in the world around

us, when I look in

the mirror and I see

the wickedness in the

mirror as I look at

myself, I have a

hard time seeing

glory and honor.

Don't you?

This psalm, as with

many of the psalms,

they give us a

picture of the

ideal.

This is the ideal man

represented here.

This is who Adam was

meant to be.

This is who you and I

were meant to be.

So what happened?

What happened was sin.

You know, when we read

this text, something

ought to be happening

within us.

The alarms of our

heart.

When we read this text,

it says, you were made

to reflect the glory

of God.

You were made to

magnify his glory.

You were made to be

his representatives here

on earth.

God made you for him

and his glory.

The alarms of your

heart ought to be going

off and saying, that is

true.

I know I was made for

that.

That is why I'm here.

That's what I was made

for.

That's the purpose of my

life.

And yet, I have fallen

so short.

That's sin.

All have sinned and

fallen short of the

glory of God.

Everything was distorted

and twisted and warped

and messed up by Adam's

sin.

We still bear the image

of God, but that image

is so hard to tell because

it's been dragged through

the mud of our own

sinfulness.

We still have the

authority, the

responsibility to exercise

dominion, to rule, to

work, to labor, but we

want to rule, to work, to

labor for our kingdom, for

our glory, not for his.

We have inherited Adam's

failure, and with it, we've

inherited all of the curse

of sin.

But, but,

we praise God that he did

not leave us in our sin.

We praise God that he has

mercifully and graciously

provided a way of escape, a

way of renewal, a way of

restoration that magnifies

his glorious name.

He sent a child to silence

the enemy.

He sent Christ, the true

and better Adam.

As Hebrews 2, we just

read it this morning,

reminds us, God made him

a little while lower than

the angels and crowned him

with glory and honor,

putting everything in

subjection to his feet.

We see him who for a

little while was made

lower than the angels.

Who?

Namely, Jesus.

Crowned with glory and

honor because of the

suffering of death, so

that by the grace of God

he might taste death

for everyone.

The first Adam

failed, and with his

failure brought sin and

death.

But the second Adam,

Christ Jesus, the very

image of the invisible God,

crowned with glory and

honor, came to restore

all that was lost in the

fall.

That's the gospel, church.

The kids have been talking

in children's ministry.

Miss Regina has them deep

in the weeds of theology.

I love it.

Apparently, they came

across the topic in their

curriculum that made them

think about this question.

How is Adam like Christ?

How is Adam like Jesus?

Adam, the first man, God's

first human being, and Jesus

Christ, the God man, how are

they alike?

And so in Miss Regina's

wisdom, she did as every

good parent or teacher does,

and she bribed them.

She said, go ask one of your

pastors that question, and if

you do, and if they come back

with a response, if you bring

back the answer to the rest of

the class, I will give you a

prize, a Chick-fil-A gift card,

which to my kids is worth a

thousand dollars, at least.

Amanda, she filled me in on

this scheme, so I expected

them to come, and I waited,

but one week went by, nobody

asked me, and to be honest, I

was a little relieved, because

I was trying in my own mind to

think through, how can I explain

this to a child?

I think I understand it myself.

I think I can point them to

scripture where it says it, but

how do I make it simple enough,

not only for them to understand,

but for them to understand and

then go articulate it to other

people, bring it back to their

teacher.

The next week went by, two

weeks to come up with an

answer, and one of them asked,

how is Adam like Jesus?

And so I said something like

this, I said, well, Adam was

made in the image of God.

He was the first man, and he was

given a job to represent God and

to exercise dominion over all

creation, but Adam failed and

Jesus is the new Adam.

He's the second Adam.

He's the true Adam.

He's the better Adam.

He succeeds where the first Adam

failed.

He said, how are they alike?

I didn't answer the question

satisfactorily.

So I tried again.

I said, they are alike because

they both represent us.

They're representers, meaning we

get what they earn.

By nature, we get what Adam has

earned, his sin and death with it,

the consequence of the fall.

But by new nature given through

faith, we get what Christ has

earned.

We get his righteousness and life

and restored relationship with God.

Christ, he lived in our place.

He died in our place.

He rose in our place so that through

faith in him, we might be restored

and be truly human again.

And he said, what do I tell Miss

Regina?

So I said, okay.

Again, Adam is like Christ because

they both represent us.

everyone in the world, everyone in

this room is represented by one or

the other.

You are either in Adam or you are in

Christ.

But that's about where the similarities

end.

And I came up with this little rhyme to

help it stick.

All in Adam bear his sin, but all in

Christ are new again.

All in Adam bear his sin.

That's everyone.

That's everyone by natural birth.

Everyone bears his sin, this distorted

image of God, this selfish inward

labor, inward purpose, inward building

of our own kingdom.

Does that sound like you?

But all who are in Christ, who by the

grace of God have been redeemed, who

trust in the perfect son of man, all

who are in Christ are new again.

We are remade into the image of God.

We are repurposed for his glory.

And so now by his grace, we labor to

usher forth his kingdom, not ours.

Now we, by his grace, live as children

of God for the glory of God.

And in Christ, we are crowned

undeservedly with glory and honor.

If you are in Christ, church, that is

your purpose.

That is your dignity.

That is what we were made for.

We exist to magnify the glory of God in

the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christ.

Oh Lord, how majestic is your name in all

the earth.

Would you pray with me?

Lord, we see so clearly what you have

made us for.

It's not for ourselves.

It's not for our glory.

It's not for our kingdom.

It's not for our honor.

Lord, it is for you and about you.

And it's from you, God, that we are made

back into your holy image.

Lord, we pray if there are any here,

Father, who remain in Adam,

we pray that you would give them

faith in Christ.

And Lord, if there are any here who are

struggling with their purpose,

with their identity, Lord, would you remind

them of who you have made them to be in him.

We love you, Lord, and we pray all this

in Christ's name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.