Union Gospel
9/2/2022
Topic: Who do we see in the mirror?
Text: Romans 8:35 – 39
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble
or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For
your sake we face death all day long;
we
are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]
37 No,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor
life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in
all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
Introduction
A particular man had a workout room in his house. The workout room
had mirrors all the way around the room and the ceiling. Thus, when you walk
into the room, you will see multiple reflection of yourself all around you. He
also had a house dog. The house dog had never been in this room. One day this
man left on a business trip. He forgot to lock the workout room; hence, the dog
made his way into it and door close behind him and he could not get out. Dog
saw his multiple reflections on the mirror, and he started to bark and got
angry as if the reflections were attacking him. The door was closed, and the
dog saw no way out. Thus, all he can do is aggressively attack the images. On
the following day, the owner came back home and found the dog died in the workout
room.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, who
with unveiled faces contemplate[a] the Lord’s glory, are
being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes
from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Every time we look in the mirror, who’s image should we sees.
It’s Him who’s greater than us! Nothing separates us from Him, our text today
states:
38 For
I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither
the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in
all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
Body
That’s Powerful! Do you hear me? nothing! Will separate us. When
God’s said nothing will separate us, He means nothing:
No
matter the difficulty
No
matter the danger
No
matter the condition
No
matter where we at
No
matter who we are
No
matter how poor we are
No
matter how much money we don’t have
No
matter how sinful we are! Get some amen!
Is
our situation control you or your control your situation?
Is
our environment control our action or are controlling our environment?
If
we continue to see ourselves (and Not God) in the mirror of our soul:
We
will continue to let our environment control us.
We
will continue to let our situation control us.
We
become a manifestation of our own images.
In
fact, we are who we see
We
are who we worship
We
are who we celebrate
We
are who we imagine
We
are who we talk about
If
God is not shaping our lives, somebody else is shaping it
Michael
Jackson wrote: “Man in the Mirror”
I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could've been any clearer
If we wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at ourselves and then make a change
However, I would add to Michael Jackson lyrics:
“I we wanna make the world better place
See God in the mirror and follow His will”
When we look in the mirror, who do we see? [reply]
We have to stop defining our destinies by who we are NOT!
We have to stop defining our situation by who we are NOT!
We have to stop defining ourselves by who we are NOT!
I am poor
I am weak
I don’t have a job
I am slow
I can’t speak
Therefore, what can I do? I am just gonna lay here for 38
year waiting on someone to come and move me to the pool of life
God
cannot bless who we are NOT!
God
cannot bless who we pretend to be!
God can
only bless who define themselves as God’s children
Look at Exodus 6:
10 Then the Lord said
to Moses, 11 “Go and tell the king of Egypt that he
must let the Israelites leave his land.”
12 But Moses replied, “Even the Israelites will not listen to me, so
why should the king? I am such a poor speaker.”
28 When the Lord spoke
to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 he said, “I am
the Lord. Tell the king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
30 But Moses answered, “You know that I am such a poor speaker; why
should the king listen to me?”
Exodus
7:1 The Lord said, “I am going to make you like God to the king, and
your brother Aaron will speak to him as your prophet. 2 Tell
Aaron everything I command you, and he will tell the king to let the Israelites
leave his country.
Moses was
wondering: Who am I?
Moses
had decided to define himself by whom he is NOT.
Moses
failed to see God in the mirror of his soul.
Moses
only sees how poor of a speaker he was
Moses
only sees how incapable he was as a leader
See when
we define ourselves in light of God, He’ll send us an Aaron
He will bless us
When we
see God in the mirror as our reflection, He will make us like God
He will bless us
When we
see God in the mirror as our reflection, He’ll send us a prophet
He will bless us
Conclusion:
It is remarkable, the
reassurance and God’s promise that our text gives us today
38 For
I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither
the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in
all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
Max visited to the 911 site:
Later that night I spoke with an officer
who guarded the entrance to the Family Care Center. He was posted next to the
plywood wall of photos—the wailing wall, of sorts—on which relatives had tacked
pictures and hopes. I asked him to describe the expressions on the faces of the
people who had come to look at the pictures.
“Blank,” he said. “Blank.”
“They don’t cry?”
“They don’t cry.”
“And you, have you cried?”
“Not yet. I just push it in.”
Disbelief, for many, was the drug of
choice.
We can relate. Calamities can leave us off
balance and confused. How would you describe your crisis? “The
economy . . . the economy . . . the economy . . . the economy.” “The divorce .
. . divorce . . . divorce . . . divorce.”
Do you recite your woes more naturally than
you do heaven’s strength? Are you assuming God isn’t in this crisis?
He is.
God doesn’t manufacture pain, but he
certainly puts it to use. His ways are higher than ours (Isa. 55:9). His
judgments are unsearchable, and his paths are beyond tracing out (Rom. 11:33).
We can’t always see what God is doing, but can’t we assume he is up to
something good?
You can’t control the weather. You aren’t
in charge of the economy. You can’t undo the tsunami or unwreck the car, but
you can map out a strategy.
You’d prefer a miracle? You’d rather see
the bread multiplied or the stormy sea turned glassy calm in a finger snap? God
may do this. Then, again, he may tell you, “I’m with you. I can use this for
good. Now let’s make a plan.”
Remember, God is in this crisis. Ask him to
give you an index card–sized plan, two or three steps you can take today. Seek
counsel from someone who has faced a similar challenge. Ask friends to pray.
Look for resources. Reach out to a support group. Most importantly, make a
plan.
Don’t let the crisis paralyze you. Don’t
let the sadness overwhelm you. Don’t let the fear intimidate you. To do nothing
is the wrong thing. To do something is the right thing. And to believe is the
highest thing. Trust him to help you. Trust God to do what you can’t.
If you have already accepted God’s offer
into his family through placing your faith in Jesus Christ, then you can have
confidence in God’s plan for your life in this crisis. The Bible promises that
nothing “in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
If you have not yet accepted God’s offer,
you can do so right now. Not because you’ve earned it. But because he loves you
and because the gift of salvation is available to all who profess him as Lord.
Believe that God sent his Son, Jesus
Christ, to die on the cross in your place for your sins. Believe that Jesus
rose from the dead after three days, showing that God accepted him as your
substitute. Believe Jesus’ claim when he said, “I am the way, and the truth,
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Confess that you have sinned and ask God’s forgiveness. Invite him into your
life and ask for God’s help to turn from your sin.
If you wholeheartedly believe these things
and want to become a part of God’s forever family, you can pray something like
this, Prayer:
"Dear God, I admit that I am a sinner
and need your forgiveness. I accept Jesus Christ as my Savior, who gave his
life for my sins. I entrust my life to you, Father God. Please come into
my life and help me live a live that pleases you. Amen."
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