Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 921 | Phil Offers an Iffy Baptismal Guarantee & Jase Missed the Point of ‘I Dream of Jeannie’

Episode Date: July 12, 2024

Phil has one particular way to guarantee that no snakes or gators will interfere with his baptisms any more, but Jase isn’t so sure it’s foolproof. Al fondly looks back on shows like “I Dream of Jeannie” but Jase admits that the genie costume kept him distracted from the show’s deeper meaning. God isn’t a million miles away; he is near each of us, and the real battle isn’t trying to stay out of hell; it’s choosing to keep evil out of us. In this episode: Hebrews 10, verses 9-12; Mark 10, verses 49-52; James 3, verses 13-17; Ephesians 1, verses 1-10; Ephesians 2, verses 6-9 -- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. We had one of my friends down here, Eddie, who's a fishing guide. He takes people kayaking out on the lagoon. And Jayce, I thought about it when you were turning to and talk about your back because the first time I met him, he was my next door neighbor at the house we used to have. And he was out, he was walking, but he was had a cane he was walking with. And I was like, you know, you're all right, old timer, you know, and he's not, he's my age. And he laughed, you know, and he told me he had back surgery.

He had been a boat captain. But, you know, all that fishing out on the Gulf and all that stuff, he had some back issues and he wound up having to have surgery. And so now he does just these little kayaks. And so there's something he can do. He still loves to fish. but I gave him, remember though Grant Weatherford, Dad, he gave you those jigs. We got him somewhere down there.

And he made him out of duck feathers that we had, y'all had killed on the property this last year. And so he's just not even making them to fish with it. It's just making them to look at, you know, they're just, they're real pretty. And so he had one of those in a, in a section. I think he did 15 of these little boxes. And he had one left. And so I told him I wanted to buy it and give it to Eddie. And so I went over to his house and it was on his birthday and he had some family there.

And I gave it to him. But he was so overcome by emotion that, I mean, he just, he was, he was crying about this gift. And well, then I kind of got embarrassed because like, you know, I was like, okay. So, I mean, at first it's like, oh, man, it's good that, you know, this touched you. And then he's just like, you know, and so everybody else was in his family. And then I thought, oh, no, I've embarrassed him because I've made him cry in front of his family. But he told me, he says something special because I love to fish. But then you combine that with y'all's love of hunting and what this means to me.

He said, you know, just our friendship is what matters. And so it was really, of course, it teared me up too. But it just shows you that something this, you can give someone a gift, but it's the depth of what goes behind it. I could have got him a card at Bass Pro or Academy that he could have just bought fishing supplies with. That's what you do when you can't think of anything else to get somebody. And it's always, you know, that you thought about them. So they appreciate it. Or you can think of something sometimes that has a depth to it.

And so when you were describing that earlier, Jay's in the last podcast about your back injury, it just reminded me about friendships and relationships and the gift of what we have in Christ, which is something so much deeper, you know, that lasts so much longer and is so much more meaningful than just the things of the earth. And even little things like just something like that, just add to that flavor of depth about the relationships you have on Earth. And you don't have that many people that you're that close to. And so I think it's always special. So anyway, for what it's worth.

Well, I got me to thinking about, you know, when this gift that we're fixed to get into when it says in Ephesians 2, you know, speaking of his grace and salvation, it's like it is the gift of God. It's not of yourselves. And while you were talking, it made me think of that story. When Jesus approached Bartamus, I had to look up where it was at in Mark chapter 10. Because here's a guy who was blind. And like I said, even when you hurt your back, you tend to focus on what you can do. I mean, some people that, you know, I was like, well, I'm having trouble walking day one.

Well, there were some people who can't walk. Yeah. And just all the little things that you take for granted. But you remember when he was on the roadside and Barnabas was calling out to him and Jesus stopped and said, call him, which we're also going to see a lot in Ephesians where it says, you know, all whom the Lord God will call. Yeah. And so they called to the blind man, cheer up on your feet. He's calling you, which is there's so many spiritual applications just in that one little paragraph of a couple sentences.

It's like the fact that he's calling you means you can cheer up because something really good is going to happen. And throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. And then Jesus, I mean, this is why when we read that on the last podcast, kind of the point of Paul's prayer is getting to know Jesus better. And one of the best ways you can do that is read the Gospels on a daily basis. Yeah. Because his character that he's revealing from God and the power, but, and there's a lot more descriptive words I could use, is really being revealed on what you read and in between the lines. because Jesus, a lot of times what you think he's going to say, he doesn't say. And by asking this question, he says, what do you want me to do for you?

Of course, obviously, the blind man is going to say, and he said, well, I want to see. But the point that we're making here is, and that was awesome, and he healed him. but there's so much more that Jesus brings you, especially when you tie in the spiritual aspects and the heart aspect and how you view life and what you're a part of. But I think that's a really good question to ask yourself. And what would you say if Jesus said, what do you want me to do for you?

It kind of is a mirror of the depth of your existence and your knowledge of him itself. No, that's good. And the idea, I think what makes Jesus such a beautiful reality for us is that he exhibited in his humanity the very things that strengthen and make us better. And that's by he submitted his will to the Father, to the Godhead itself. I've been a lot in Hebrews 10 this week because I'm preaching the next couple of Sundays out of this text. It was something that really struck me that the Hebrew writer said in Hebrews 109, he said, when Christ came into the world, he said.

And then when he quotes, he quotes something from the book of Psalm, Psalm 40. So it's a messianic Psalm because he uses it. But listen to what he says that Christ said when he came into the world. sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. With burn offerings and sin offerings, you were not pleased. Then I said, and so this is written by the psalmist, but talking about Jesus, here I am. It is written about me and the scroll. I have come to do your will, oh God.

And then later in verse 10, it says, the Hebrew writer says, and by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And I love that concept and that idea that Jesus himself, by coming here, submitted himself to the will of the Father. And you remember even in the garden the night before he was like wrestling, you know, with his humanity about what he was going to have to face. And he said, not my will, but yours be done. And Zach, you were talking about the last podcast, you painted a beautiful. beautiful picture about holiness and what motivates us to be holy. And earlier in this text in Hebrews 10, the Hebrew writer makes the point.

He said, you know, the sacrifices that were made year to year and every day, if they could make you perfect, why didn't they? For the worshippers, he says, would have been cleansed once for all and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. I love that. You can't trust in anything. This word cheap, fake has come. out lately in political discussion. And I thought, man, that's what the devil is running on people

is the cheap fake, that anything you think you can replace and get there with. And it's amazing because people just continue to do it. You're like, it's not working. You know, you still feel that guilt. You still feel that shame. That's the cheap fake. There's only one that can make you holy. And it's the one who submitted his will to the Father. So it's that idea of that's, I want to live a constant state of submission of my will that it's not me but it's christ in me i'll tell you about a barn burner and just starting off with effesians again listen to this for he god shows us in him jesus before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight before the creation of the world.

Somehow all this has already taken place, but we're just now seeing it in love. He predestined us. We adopted as his sons to Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glory, which he's freely given us in the one he loved. In him, we have redemption to his blood

and forgiveness of sins. Well, you just read that, you said before the world. He chose us before the creation of the world for crying out loud to be holy and blameless in his sight. That's hard to grasp. I mean, in advance, this was all worked out before the people he's writing to, and we're 2,000 years later are reading the same text that he's saying, save them.

It'll also save us. and it was all done in love he predestined us be adopted as his sons to Jesus Christ and accord us with his will and this is one of the wildest sections of the Bible in my humble opinion but I know one thing

the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the centerpiece of all these writings it all comes down to that the gospel God became flesh, died on a cross, buried and raised from the dead. It's not beyond, God made it easy for us to get out of here alive if we'll just take him up on it. Agreed.

If we just take it up on them. The Word of Truth is what he said, Word of Truth, that's what got you out of there. It's a fantastic read in Ephesus, in my humble opinion. That is good. I gave it yesterday and forth cried. And they said, what I just heard and I read, I now see that this can happen. So we went to the, I guaranteed them that they wouldn't,

would not be coming in contact with an alligator if we went to the river or a cut mouth. You guaranteed that? Huh? Well, that could have happened. Yeah. But to make thing positive, I said, you're a lot safer when you walk down here. It's heated water and it's waiting on you. Yeah.

He guaranteed by taking to the back of the street. I get it. Bro and me on a couple of them. They cried. Yeah. They all did. Well, that's what I was saying when I started out with my story, when live, when your life changes and an impact with Jesus and then the relationships that flow out of that,

just like me and my friend Eddie, it will move you to tears. I'm telling you. There's no doubt about it. They all cried. Well, to go back to our, you know, that story I brought up about Bartimaeus, you know, I think we all, we have in our minds because we live in the short term what we want from God. because Al, you did a good job last podcast, talking about we have now access to God through Jesus.

I mean, we're talking about having access to this unlimited power. He's the one making the illustration. And it made me think, you know, if Jesus asked us all that question, you know, what do you want for me? I just looked up on the internet because it goes back to this genie and a bottle type thing. You know, if you're granted three wishes, you know, what would you want? And most people in the moment, I mean, let's just say, you say, oh, a new house or a relationship with this woman that you have and a great job. Well, when you think about all those things, the job could go, the company that you get the job, it could go bankrupt.

The woman could leave you. One storm and your house is gone. Yeah. And all of a sudden, you're like, well, man, I should have thought a little bigger. so so smart people you know enter in and start saying well an unum you know an unlimited amount of wishes like that's one of my wish wishes i remind them i said for what it's worth and i said it's worth a lot i said every sin you've ever they're standing in the baptism of water i said every sin that you've ever they're standing in the baptism of water i said every sin that you've ever you've ever seen that you've

you've ever committed while you're here. I won't go into how many because there's plenty, right? Yes, sir, no doubt. I said, with that right there, you're fixing to be wiped, clean through the blood of Jesus. And we're going to bury you, the old sinful man. And I said, you right now, the word of truth says you'll live forever. I said, it's a great deal God made for you. And I said, look.

And I said, you don't have to give me any money either. Not one penny. Am I taken from you? So I'm just saying, you're getting a great thing right here, and it's free. Oh, you get tired. I'll be hobbling up there before it's all over probably. I'll hobble on up there. But I get that in their head because it is the greatest thing that's ever happened to the human race.

Well, that's where I was going with that. And so, I mean, this is Paul's prayer for the Ephesians. But just think how much more... depth it had in that, you know, that game we play with the genie. That is a made-up thing. That there are no genies, genie bottles, wishes. And so when he's praying just of all the things he could pray that they would know him better. I never heard of Jenny. Jenny, what do you say it was? Genie in the bottle. Not Jenny. Not Jenny. I actually watch. I'm looking for that text, but no, I ain't found out. I actually watch.

It's Forrest Gump yesterday, Missy and I did, the TV version, the PG version. I was like, you know, that was a good movie. It was a great movie. He said, Jenny. To make this easy and to understand. And without all the paraphernalia that goes to it, this is human beings having their sins removed in a pool of water. I mean, it's somebody did you ever get tired of doing? doing that? No, I do not. No. I mean, I'm head on. Let's go. I said the greatest things ever

happened to you, man. Well, that's what our point is. God has put us as a, as a holy nation, as a temple of himself, to declare this to the world. Because if you do a quick internet search, look, Phil, I did the top ten wishes, and I scrolled through the top three or four that came up. they're all the same things. Number one, wealth. Number two, success. Number three, fame. We'll just start thinking about Jesus as we go along here.

He didn't have any money. He didn't have a place to lay it. He was homeless. Oh, that's right. You know, success, people would laugh and scoff at that. They're like, well, we built maybe a house or two in a few boats. But you wish, wouldn't categorize him in the moment of his earthly existence.

In fame, well, it's weird. He actually didn't have the fame until he died, which is unlike any other human. He was more infamous during his time on Earth than fame. Status is number four. Five, attractiveness. I mean, there's a verse that says the opposite in Isaiah. There was nothing in him that was attractive or, six sex we never had sex so he's out on that health i mean he died his health i mean it doesn't say much about

up until he was flogged and all that so i mean look it gets to number eight before we can get anything as far as the world depicts as things that we desire and need and it says enlightenment number nine authenticity and number 10 love which then you have to define love but i just i thought that was interesting that that's kind of how we think along those lines in the world as what we need to make us happy and even if you want to think like a christian and say well you know your answer might be well i want to be like you if he said what can i do for you and you said well i want to be like you will witch him the one that didn't have a house that had no money that was constantly being attacked i mean so even that makes you realize that when when paul said you need to know him

better that that was his prayer these are the kind of things that should help our prayer life and our relationship with god in our conversations that we have by ourselves with god it's a constant reminders in chapter 1, verse 17, I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him better. Yeah, that's where I was going with that. Yeah. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know

the hope to which he has called you. because a lot of people they forget or they're not tuned in to what's going down here, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, his incomparable great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and sealed him at his right hand, seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realm, far above all rule authority power dominion every title there can be given not only is in the present age but also in the one to come

god placed all things under his feet appointed him to be be head over everything for the church which is his body that's what all of this is about the fullness of him who feels everything in every way yeah we're married to jesus Yeah, what a text. But that is the point, Phil. I mean, you just named Enlightenment, Wisdom, Revelation, and Power. Yeah. You think, well, who wouldn't want that as a human? I mean, there's four wishes.

But you do see why they cry. And in each one, you're only going to find true enlightenment, true wisdom, true power, true revelation in Jesus. I see the tears coming from them. and it was on them. It was on them based on what they heard and what they were fixing to do and the new birth, all your sins will be removed.

God's giving you a way off planet earth alive. I mean, I just went on and on. And it is a wonderful thing. It's a powerful thing. I'm not tired of it. I'm about halfway fired up about the whole thing. Well, I love it.

You say it, you know, that's found in him. Christ, but you know, it's also interesting. It's also from him, not through the spirit. And I think that that's that, I love that text there because it's painting a really good picture of how the Holy Spirit, how God himself reveals this to us. So I think the, the wrong way to see this is that somehow we discover it, you know, on our own.

Like we don't come up with this goodness of God. We don't taste his goodness on our own. We're not out there like explorers finding him. He reveals it to us. And so that's the prayer of Paul. Paul's not, Paul's not, okay,

I pray that you guys will work really, really hard and go to figure out all of the things about who God is. He doesn't pray that. The prayer is that God would reveal them to us. And then what he's revealing is what you just read. I just put up a few verses here that I think are pertinent here, because this is all throughout the Bible, by the way.

This is Psalm 34. Oh, taste and see. the Lord is good. This is the revelation that Paul's praying for, by the way. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. That's Psalm 34. Psalms 119. How sweet are your words to my taste?

Sweeter than honey to my mouth. That's what Paul's praying for, that we would taste the words of God, that they would be like honey to our mouth or 1st Peter chapter 2. Like newborn infants long for pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation. I love that language, by the way, because when we talk about salvation, what are we always talking about, something that happened in the past. But he's saying salvation here is more, it's bigger than that. It's something you grow into if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

You're tasting that he's good. Hebrew 6 and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age. 1st Peter 2.3, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Psalms 100, verse 5, for the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. And it just goes on and on and on and on. But that's what the spirit reveals to us. And it's the big game changer to understand this.

And I've said it on the podcast a lot. I'll say it again, the spirit is not simply revealing whether something is right or wrong. Jase mentioned this in the previous podcast when we got into this, I think, last week. What he's revealing is what is true. And what is true is that God tastes good, that God will satisfy us, that we can be satisfied. in Christ in Christ alone. That's what the Spirit is showing us. And as we live in that, that's where you find the true victory and the true liberation.

And that's why when you were mentioned earlier, Al, you were mentioning about the sacrifices. When David had his affair with Bashiba and got called out for it by the prophet, and he realized, oh, my goodness, like, I'm messed up. I'm a sinner. When he said in Psalms 51, verse 16, he said, I would give you sacrifices. He says, for you will not delight in sacrifices or I give it. You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. But then he has this interesting line next.

He says, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. Oh, God, you will not despise. And so that's the call of sinners. we come into this union with Christ, not with a sacrifice. We come into this union with Christ with a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. And God says, I will never despise that. If you come to me like that, I will never despise that. And that's the call.

Yeah. And that's what he's always desires in us. Jay, so I was saying, you remember this idea to return about power? Because that's right here in the middle of this text. And you mentioned about the wishes. I love that and the genie. So when we were young, Jay's do you remember there were two TV shows that were very popular?

And we watched it. And one of them was called I Dream of Jeannie. And it was Larry Hagman before he was JR. And he had, he discovered this genie in a bottle. And it was this beautiful woman, Barbara Eden, who was there.

And so she was a genie and could grant him all these wishes. and do all this stuff. But the whole series was about just relationships and all the problems in life and all that. And the other one was Bewitched, which was another attractive woman. In this case, she was a good witch. And she could do these things. But the whole show is about her being a housewife and a family and having all these issues. And so it's really interesting.

Even way back in the late 60s, early 70s, you know, and it probably speaks to where our culture was at that time. The idea was people were looking for some sort of power, but it kept coming down to just basic interaction, relationship, how things were going to go. I mean, think about Larry Hagman had a genie, but it didn't seem to fix his life because you know, because you kept watching the show every week with all these issues and problems they were having. So it kept coming back to that, which shows you that whatever you imagine, whatever people can create in, you know, in culture, they're always going to go. go to things that really can't solve their issues and their problems. And you think, well, even if I had my bottle and had my genie in there, I would still have the same issues that I have every single day. I still struggle with morality.

I still struggle with integrity and all the things you see. So, I mean, we've been going through this that we were watching that show 40 years ago. Yeah. And so it shows you had never is. Well, I'm glad that you actually remember the meaning of the show because I'm just going to confess my sins like they didn't act 19. I couldn't get past the good-looking woman in the genie costume. I wasn't real sure what the show was about.

Yeah. That's why you were five-olds. Love the show. That's right. Well, I'm being honest. And look, we're men, and that's what happens,

especially when you're teenagers. We never noticed that, Jay. Well, that's what drew us to the show, Al. Al actually tried to go further down the rabbit hole and see what they were talking about. but I never went, I never went there. I couldn't have told you anything other. Well, as I've gotten older, as I've reflected back to what it meant,

it probably wasn't quite that clear when I was a young man. Yeah, I didn't watch the Bewitch one because I actually thought, now that is probably sinful. Yeah, which is, I never watched it. Yeah, I never, because I read that Revelation 218, you know, it was brought to my attention over lies I had told, but also right in the middle of the middle. of that.

And if you, those of you who know that song, somebody made a song about that verse. Revelation, Revelation 21. 21, 8. 218. Lowers go to hell. Lowers go to hell. Lauer's going to hell. Burn, burn, burn.

Chris, Chris, Chris. I remember that song. It's such a encouraging. It's in the Bible. The crispy part's not in there. No, but that's the Greek out there. This is what we do to, you know, we teach little kids these songs. Somebody told me that.

And you know what I found interesting is it didn't keep me from lying, even though I knew that was a verse in the Bible. And so that's why I think we keep pounding the table about this reveals a person who you then have a very intimate relationship with getting to know him better on a daily basis. And God's grace is what the ultimate motivation is for life change when it comes to these things. But anyway, it also mentions witchcraft in Revelation 21-8. But even in those shows, you know, there was always like a sister or a cousin or whatever to our heroine of the show that was evil, like was mischievous and always trying to drag him down the bad way. So, again, these things always come back to the basic things we talk about good versus evil, integrity, morality,

I mean, all those things were a part of the discussion. What I love about this text, when I see this idea about the power of God, because he says that God's power is incomparable, which means there's really nothing. And when you think about it, we've used these terms before, his omnipotence, which is unlimited power. In other words, there's no, you know, we got to recharge. We got to put gas in the tank. We've got to recharge our electric car. His power is unlimited, omnipotent. he's omnipresent, which means he's everywhere all at once.

He's not limited on time and space. He's omniscient, which means he's all knowing. There's nothing he doesn't know, no surprises. And he's eternal, no beginning, and he never ends. And so those are incomparable. So when I imagine this idea that Paul is talking about here with power, I see a giant funnel. And at the top of the funnel, it's big and it's incomparable.

because we can't even relate to that. But then all of a sudden the funnel begins to start coming down. And you see Jesus in the person of Jesus. He became one of us. And he lived and walked on this earth. And he was tempted. And he submitted his will to the Father. And he allowed himself to be sacrificed for our sins.

And then he was resurrected. That same body walked out of the tomb. And then he left here, you know, literally without a jetpack. And so you see this. idea of him returning and being there. Now, that's something we can wrap our minds around. So you're watching this power funnel get closer to us. And then at the bottom of the funnel, he says it's for us. It's for the church, which is his body because we're fulfilled in all fullness. So that means all prophecy, all law, everything that people and humanity have ever known has been fulfilled

in Christ for us. And so, you know, you just watch this idea. that God brings this power down to a level that both interacts with us, motivates us, and relates to us, because we can understand it. Well, you remember, was it John 17 that when Jesus is praying and he says, Father, the time has come to glorify me, something like in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world began. I'm paraphrasing that because I don't have it in front of me, but I'm pretty sure it's in John 17. But it's this idea that he's about to go into the crucifixion. He's about to go, the lamb is about to be slain on planet Earth on Calvary. But what he's talking about there is he's talking about the fullness of the death, the burial, and the resurrection.

He knows that the time is imminent. And so when you see Christ in his incarnated state, you do see like limitations, right? And he says there are certain things he didn't know. Only the father knows. In his incarnated state, in his divine state, he knows everything. But he's saying, restore the glory that I have with you before the world began. Because through Christ, all things were made. That's the beginning of John's gospel.

Without him, nothing was made. You know, in the beginning it was the Word. The Word was God. The Word was God. He was with God. the beginning, the flesh, God became flesh. And then there's this moment, this vindication at the resurrection, and where Christ, after the resurrection, he walks on the earth for 40 days,

appears to a bunch of people. Then he ascends, and now he's seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly places, mediating for us. And so that's the power that Paul is talking about here is that power. This is post-resurrection power. of where Christ sits now, all authority, all rule, all dominion. And he's saying this off the backdrop of telling us how great God is and how good God is and that we are a part of his inheritance and all of this.

So you see this merger of God's intention for us, which is good, and then his power to deliver it, which is unrivaled power. And you see that coming together in the supremacy of Christ here. So it makes Paul's prayer all the more powerful because now what he's praying for, he's ending it with the power of the one who can accomplish and will accomplish that and see that through in us. No, I'm so glad you brought up John 1. That's exactly right because John lays it out clear. He does the same thing in 1st John, chapter 1.

He said, look, we've seen this. We've seen it. We've heard it. We've testified to who Jesus is. And then another text, Zach, to your point you just made, was Philippians 2, 1 through 9, when Paul makes the same point to the Philippians, we see Christ stepping down, making himself lower to then relate God's power to us. So that becomes the whole key to this prayer that he says. And Jay's mentioned that access earlier, and that's for us. And that's why when you go read 1st Corinthians 12, like 12 through 30, you see that we are his best.

body and therefore we function together. And look, this has been going on since he left. So we're in that time frame of impacting the power of God now. And Dad mentions that all the time, you see that power played out in life change. Yeah. And people that, man, the worst possible, you know, situation you can imagine. And then you look at and you think, look at what this person has been transformed to. And it's incredible. It's, it's miraculous in the sense of what it does in people's lives. Well, I think that's a point we spent so much time on in previewing and having an overview of Ephesians, which is why we got bogged down so much. Because you just rattled off all these attributes of God, you know, those apologetic words,

omnipresent. You know, he's everywhere and omniscient, all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal. So I think that's where we're. we struggle because we start trying to relate to all that. And because I'm telling you, I would say, I don't know about most, but a lot of Christians live or think, I think mainly live, like God's a million miles away. And we're waiting for him to travel through space and time, you know, to come back. But God is above time and space and travel.

So that's where it gets wonky. But I think what you hit on by doing that was when it comes to power is we have all these powers. What we define power in a worldly way, well, none of that's going to be able to fix the big stuff. Yep. So something above the earth, that's why when it said Christ was going to bring everything in heaven and on earth. together under one head, even Christ, which, and then it goes on to say, he's the head of the church, which his body, the fullness of him who feels, I mean, this is quite a statement, who feels everything in every way.

So our mind taps out there because we're like, what? But when you think about it, to fix these problems in creation, that happens, sin, death, pain, disease, whatever storms that are destructive. You're going to have to have the creator power, which is why, you know, you remember all the times he was like, I didn't come from here. You remember the conversation he had with pilot. You know, my kingdom is from another place. And that's why when God intervened and went through this whole section of 3 through 14, this

was a power beyond the powers. And so you said, well, what happens in practical real life? Well, you have this clash of God against the gods, the power of God against the power of the evil one, created being, against humans, created beings, against things on creation. So it really, that is the transition that he makes here. We have a power that could fix this and it had to come from heaven a la god creator jesus in human form we now have god in human form fixing problems that they cannot fix and so that's why as this ephesian goes along it gets real practical because even in your marriage you're literally relying on the power of god who can't can take on the powers of this world and not only show that God is real, but defeat all the

powers that might come in a marriage. And how many problems come in a marriage? A lot. Countless. Yeah, yeah, I love what you said that because that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the, that's seated in the heavenly realms, and you think, oh, Christ is, that means he's far off, and we're here. He's in heaven. We're here. What's the goal to get us into heaven? When what the kingdom of the gospel is is not, let me help you get into heaven, is let me get heaven into you. And that's the transition of thought there of what the gospel of kingdom is, is heaven is coming into us, not that we are going into heaven.

And that's the language that Paul uses in Colossians, chapter one, when he says, he has delivered us from the dominion of darkness. We're going to see that. He's going to remind us of this in Ephesians 2, by the way. He's going to say, you guys are in darkness. But Christ's grace saved you. But what is he saving us too? He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son,

in whom we have redemption for the forgiveness of sin. So we've been transferred in Christ into the kingdom of his son. So we say Christ sits, when Paul says, Christ sits at the right hand. Yes, he is mediating for us, but he's also ruling his kingdom. Like he's reigning over his kingdom. Because the Bible also says that Christ is in us, if you're a believer. So it's not that Christ is far off. That's not what this language is here.

This is not Christ is way off up there, way away, and he's advocating for us. And one day we'll get the, no, Christ is in us too. And so I think that's an important distinction to make, because if you view it as Christ's way off, there's not a whole lot of power in that, as opposed to Christ being here with me, like right here. He's in me and with me. There's a lot more power. In fact, to show you the negative side of that exact same analogy, that's why. people think in terms of judgment. It's like, well, I want to make sure I don't go into hell. But instead of thinking, you know what, why don't I keep hell out of me? Like, why would I want to be

influenced by the demonic, by the progressive nature of sinfulness? I want that good to be in me now. That's going to shape and change the way I live. I'm much more focused on that which is good rather than that which is evil. And so I think it's the same exact thing. I love the way you put that. I want heaven in me. I don't want hell in me either. I don't want to give. I don't want to bow my knee down. Just like when the evil one said,

look, if you join hands with me, we'll rule this together. And Jesus looked at Satan and says, no, there's only one that I bow the knee to. Because we're moving from a gospel of works, because that's really what that is. When you say things,

when you focus primarily on your justification, and it's all about getting into heaven, And you're not talking about any part of your life is not focused on the formation of your spirit to long for him and for your heart to be set ablaze for his beauty and wonder. And like if that's not your trajectory, then you really are kind of showing your hand. And I've done this, by the way, I'm on walk with God. I've shown my hand that I actually think the ways of the world are more appealing. And the only reason why I'm not doing them is so I can get into heaven. And that is not what the Bible teaches.

It's not even the, what Jay's brought this up several podcasts ago, that's not the fall. The fall didn't happen because of some like issue where they broke some kind of arbitrary commandment. They were talking about they believed that there was life outside of God. I mean, that's what they did wrong. And so the flip side of that, it would be the redemption that Christ is bringing us into is that we start to understand again. maybe for the first time because of our sinful nature, that life is actually found in Christ. That is the good life. That's the good life. Well, we try to just, our churches are filled with just teaching rules and laws,

and here's 10 ways to have a successful marriage. And, you know, I remember going through a marriage seminar that I love and that helped me. And it was basically that 10 things that, you know, you can do. And it was, it came from James 4. Because that first verse, which is a very profound verse, what causes fights and quarrels among you? I don't know any other human that you're going to fight with more on the planet than your wife. Because you spend more time with each other.

That's really the only reason. And it says this, what causes fights and quarrels among you? You want something, but you don't get it. Problem solved. So here's 10 ways, you know, lower your expectations. things change in life, you know, you have all this. But actually, as I look back on that seminar, the previous chapter was way more profound

because it's what we're talking about. When he says, who is wise and among you in James 313, let him show it by his good life, by deeds done, and humility that comes from wisdom. So when we read that, we think, oh, we've got to be smarter about this. The more I know I can figure out, you know, that I need to be humble and I know how to handle crisis and I know how to handle arguments.

But then he just says something profound. Wisdom in verse 17 comes from heaven, which is what we're saying. It's not a million miles away. Wisdom that comes from heaven is, first of all, pure, peace, loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit. I mean, early in my marriage, I'm like, look, woman, you have to submit to me, Ephesans 5. I was totally. How'd that go over, James?

Yeah, well, somebody then, after I told that story, said, look, if you have to tell your wife she needs to be submissive, you've lost the battle, you know, already, because you have a misunderstanding what's going on. I can't tell you how many guys have walked into my office with their wives in conflict. and they say, this is real simple preacher, just make her submit. And then we got this worked out. I was like, yeah, but that's an oxymoron, which describes you, brother. But, you know, it reminds me of Acts 17 that just says it when Paul was, I have that famous sermon at the Areopagus, and he was like, I'm going to explain this unknown God. And there's a little nugget down there in verse 27 or 28 in there.

He's like, God is not far from us. He just flat out says it. And you want to just scream that with people living like he's a million miles away. Your housing, which is the point he's going to get to in Ephesians, too, the Holy Spirit of God, it really becomes embarrassing in how we operate on a daily basis. Yeah. Of being Christ, you know, especially to your wife, to your kids, you know, at your workplace and all the secret things. and hiding things and, you know, chasing after money and status and power and fame, you know,

on the earth. It just becomes downright embarrassing. Yeah, Jay, you were talking about the marriage stuff. I remember maybe 20 years ago, because every year, you know, we do a marriage retreat or marriage refresh. So we use these different things to theme it. One year we had, some of us who read a book called tearing down walls. And so that was the name of our, that was our theme.

This weekend's going to be. about tearing down walls. I'll never get one of a dear sister there at our church, who's a good friend. She told me, she said, I've spent 20 years building these walls up. We're not going to tear them down in one weekend. And it was just practical and good. And she was just being honest. So, Jay, you've actually led us up to where we're going to go into the last section of these.

I call them these great gifts that God's given us with this access and power. and then he's going to deal with ultimately with the ultimate gift and that's the gift of his grace in these first 10 verses. So when we get to the next podcast, we'll get there. We've kind of been leading up to it. And it really is.

I'd say 10 of the most beautiful verses in the entire Bible because it deals with our past, our present, and our future. Very strong. So we'll get to that next time on Unashamed. Thanks for listening to the Unashamed podcast. Help us out by rating us on iTunes.

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