Skip to main content

Dunamis seed of destiny

  ACCESSING GOD’S WAYS BY STUDYING HIS WORD   March 26, 2023   •     Seeds of Destiny SCRIPTURE: Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 1Timothy 4:13 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The habitual study of the Word is an attribute of greatness. It has been established that the Word of God is the builder of life and destiny. Your destiny is not in view when the Word is out of place in your life. To neglect the Word is to forfeit your destiny. This means, the diligent study of the Word is necessary for the fulfilment of destiny (2 Timothy 2:15, John 5:39). Now, what does it mean to study the Word of God? To study the Word of God is to access the ways, thoughts, principles and precepts of God from His Book in order to walk better with Him on earth. When you study God’s Word, you are trying to know what He likes, how He thinks, what His principles are, what you are allowed to do, what you are forbidden from doing, etc. This is what studying the Wor...

Sermon: God is good

 Sermon: God is good

Genesis, Colossians

Genesis 3Colossians 3:1-12

Connection to Unit Theme: God is good, merciful, and loving. If all humanity has been created in God's image, why don't we see a good, merciful, and loving humanity? How can men and women return to the good image God created for us?

Introductory idea

Have you ever known someone who experienced a tragic accident and they were never the same? They may have ended up with physical or mental disabilities, or even a different personality. We still deeply love them, but we know deep down they aren't the same people they used to be.

In the same way, God created us in His image to reflect Him for His glory (Gen 1:26-28). When Adam and Eve sinned, humanity went through a tragic transformation and took on the curse of sin (Gen 3). We are not the people God intended us to be. We are like images in broken mirrors. We can still make out the image, but we are blind to its full effect. Our images fail to rightly reflect God. How do we return to God's image so that we can reflect His goodness for His glory?

I. God created us to reflect His goodness (Gen 1:26-28)

When God created humanity, He waited until the sixth day to signify that we are the pinnacle of His creation. Because He created us specifically "in His image" and "after His likeness," we are also created to reflect His goodness. Afterward, God announced the role we play in His creation, which is to have dominion over the earth and everything in it. In this way, we reflect God's goodness as King.

Application: God created you to rule in goodness. As Christians, we should rule over our sinful desires, in our hard work for God's glory in our jobs, and as we bring up younger disciples in the faith. This is our responsibility in leadership. Would you say that your leadership reflects God in that you are good to those whom you lead? Watch your life this week. Work hard and be good to reflect God Himself.

II. Sin distorts us from reflecting God's goodness (Gen 3)

Satan deceived Adam and Eve by luring them to doubt God's goodness. They ate fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and gained far more than they bargained for. God announced to them that because they trusted Satan over His goodness, they and their offspring's innocence were cursed with sin. All of humanity is marred with the stain of sin. We now naturally reflect the works of Satan rather than the goodness of God.

Application: As Christians, we must continue to repent when we reflect on Satan's sinfulness instead of God's goodness. First, we confess to God by admitting that we are in the wrong and He is in the right. As we accept His full forgiveness, we repent by changing our direction of sinfulness to His goodness. We find ways to act in His goodness towards Him and others.

III. Jesus restores us to reflect God's goodness (Col 3:1-12)

Through the cross and resurrection of Jesus, we can repent of our sins and follow His Lordship through faith. We put to death our sins through His death that put to death all sins. We also put on Him as our "new man" through His resurrection which makes us a new humanity. Paul calls out lingering traits of Satan's sinfulness that we may put to death through Jesus' cross (v. 5-9). He then listed several qualities of God's goodness that we get to put on because of Jesus' resurrection (v. 10-17). How do we reflect God's goodness despite our curse with Satan's sinfulness? Through faith in the gospel, we are "being renewed in the knowledge after the image of [our] creator" (v. 10). In other words, the power of the Holy Spirit through the work of Jesus is renewing us to reflect God's goodness again as we grow in the knowledge of His goodness towards us. The more we focus on God's goodness, the more we will reflect on it.

Application: Do not merely focus on your sin, confession, and repentance to restore the goodness of God in your life. Focus also on Jesus and His goodness through the gospel to grow in God's goodness. This week, seek to think more about the goodness of Jesus through the Scriptures, in the gospel, and your own life. Focusing on Jesus' goodness will result in reflecting God's goodness.

Conclusion idea

Many victims of serious accidents must endure months of painful rehabilitation and therapy. Afterward, they regain their former health - or may become even healthier than before. Not only is that the goal of medicine, but it is also the goal of God through the gospel. God miraculously takes sin-shattered images of Himself and restores them through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Have you experienced this spiritual rehabilitation? Have you been restored through Jesus? Are you reflecting on God's goodness?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Apostle Joshua Selman Written Messages – Transcript and Sermon Notes December 3, 2022 by Powerful Sermons

  Apostle Joshua Selman Written Messages – Transcript and Sermon Notes December 3, 2022 by Powerful Sermons Apostle Joshua Selman Written Messages – Section 1 Apostle Joshua Selman speaks: Every challenge looks immovable until God comes.Challenges are bold and will look like they will not pass..but they will.. Listen to me, the joy of the Lord is your strength.. Lord I don’t know how am going to come out of this situation,but I will rejoice in the God of my salvation..I know he is coming to save me.. There are times in your life that you do not know whether or not God will show up in that situation, the bible tells you to make reference to scripture and check..Has God showed up for someone like me in the past? If he did it before, he can do it again..He is the same God back then and now. In the bible God delivered and lifted men.People slept in prison and woke up as prime minister, people received their dead loved ones back to life, prostitutes became part of the linage of Jesus, t...

Open Heavens For Teens December 11 2022

  Open heaven for teens Open Heaven For Teens 11 December 2022 – Reasons For Hospitality TOPIC: Reasons For Hospitality [Open Heaven for Teens 11 December 2022] MEMORISE: Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2 READ: 2 Kings 4:8-17 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, sh...

Francis Agbo's Daily Devotional December 28, 2022 Title: God will silence them!

 Francis Agbo's Daily Devotional December 28, 2022 Title: God will silence them! Text: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. - Psalm 8:2 KJV   When a coalition of enemy nations conspired to fight Jehoshaphat, all he did was open His mouth to praise God and God silenced the enemy. Praise is a force that makes you unstoppable. God’s children have the privilege to silence every opposition. All they need to do is to render praise to their God. When they render praise to their God, He will render confusion to their opposition and still the noise of the opposition. With the joy of the LORD in your heart, lift your hands and let the praises of God flow from your mouth. Very soon, this obstacle or issue you saw yesterday you shall see no more forever.    Today’s prayer: I will not be silent and will open my mouth and praise God and He will silence every opposition aga...