Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Acts: Enlarging Our Vision

By being transformed by the hope of the Resurrection (Part 2) (10/04/09)

Sermon Series: Acts: Enlarging our Vision

Title: : By being transformed by the hope of the Resurrection (Part 2)    Text: Acts 26

Introduction: We live in the day of the makeover. It is said that with just the right clothes, hair and accessories, we can be new people. Isn’t it cool? Where do I sign up?

There is a TV show called ‘What Not to Wear’ It is hosted by Stacy and Clinton who take on the challenge of teaching an oftentimes reluctant female guest on what fashions, hair styles and accessories would be most flattering on her. By the end of the show, Stacy and Clinton have transformed her into a more attractive person because of the makeover.

Transformation. What does it mean? In a word...change. But when we apply the word transformation to the Christian life, we are not talking about changing the way we look, we are talking about changing the direction of our lives. It’s concerned with our relationship with God.

Specifically

·       that we are no longer content with maintaining the status quo

·       that we are no longer content to continue year after year, with the same ideas, the same attitudes, and the same habits that we’ve always had.

As Christians, we believe that God wants to change us, that He has the power to change us, and that He is changing us.

Read: 2 Corinthians 3:18 ‘And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Yes, it’s true that God accepts us just as we are. But it’s also true that he isn’t willing to leave us where we are.

·       He wants to shape and strengthen our character;

·       He wants to rework our values and priorities;

·       He wants to make us more like Jesus.

The process of transformation begins when Jesus opens your eyes to the truth of who He is and you say yes to His grace, love and forgiveness.  

Read: 2 Corinthians 5:17 ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!’

Transformation is foundational to the Christian life. So, we must understand what kind of spiritual transformation we’re talking about. And we’ll get a very clear explanation in our test this morning.

Transition: Open your Bibles to Acts 26:15 (pg. 854 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you.) For it’s there we’ll continue to discover that we enlarge our vision of God by being transformed by the hope of the resurrection.

IV. Acts 26:15-18       Confronted by the hope

Read: Acts 26:15-18

Paul is confronted by who he understands to be God: notice he calls the person ‘Lord.’ But to be certain, he asks ‘Who are you...Lord?’ The reply... ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.’ Notice that Paul never argued with him, he never denied the fact that it was Jesus.

At that very moment, Paul knew he was wrong. Jesus was alive, He was raised from the dead, He is the Messiah/Savior, the promise and hope of Israel. The hope of the resurrection was no longer something to be looked forward to.

For Paul, it was a reality. Make no mistake, it was the truth of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead that transformed Paul’s life forever.

Transformation. But from what....and to what? Luke tells us that in Jesus’ words to Paul. We are transformed from a life

1.    without the hope of purpose

2.    without the hope of help

3.    without the hope of sight

4.    without the hope of light

5.    without the hope of God’s power

6.    without the hope of forgiveness of sin

7.    without the hope of a place in heaven

8.    without the hope of being made right w/God

9.    without the hope of faith

I want to take the rest of this message to talk about what we’re missing prior to our transformation by Jesus and what we have as a result of that transformation.

1. We are transformed from a life without the hope of purpose.

Read: Acts 26:16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.’

·       Paul thought he had purpose and fulfillment in life...he was on a mission to destroy Christianity. But when Jesus touched his heart and transformed his life, he saw that what he thought was purpose in life as just a diversion.

·       When Jesus revealed himself to Paul and was transformed by that encounter, he was ready to hear God’s true purpose for his life.

·       And that Purpose for Paul...and for all who have been touched by Jesus, is to be His witness. To tell others of the hope of the resurrection of the dead, that Jesus is alive and that we too can live forever when we place our trust, our faith in Him.

2. We are transformed from a life without the hope of help.

Read: Acts 26:17a ‘I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles.’

This transformed life isn’t easy, Paul knew that, perhaps better than anyone. Apart from God, you are on your own because... that’s how you want it. But the hope of the resurrection means God is on your side, protecting you.

Read: Romans 8:31 ‘...If God is for us, who can be against us?’

3. We are transformed from a life without the hope of sight.

Read: Acts 26:17b-18a ‘...I am sending you to them. to open their eyes...’

Open our eyes...why are they closed? Satan has closed them so that we can not see the truth of who Jesus is. In other words, Satan has blinded us to the hope of being transformed by the resurrection.

Read: 2 Corinthians 4:4 ‘The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.’

We, like Paul, are called to oepn the eyes of the blind...How?

·       By praying for God to open the eyes of the blind

·       By speaking to the blind the Words of Life, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the light that shines in the darkness.

4. We are transformed from a life without the hope of light.

Read: Acts 26:18b ‘to...turn them from darkness to light,

Apart from faith in Jesus, we are like people in a dark room aimlessly trying to feel our way to the door but never finding it. And for the most part, we’re OK with that. If all we know is darkness, we don’t miss the light.

Of course I am not talking about physical darkness but an inability to see the Truth of who Jesus is.

Read: John 8:12 ‘When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’

Jesus is the ‘Light of the World’. He sheds light/understanding on our sin, on the lies we believe, on the grip Satan has on us. Jesus shows us that life in Him is life, real life, full life, eternal life.

In Genesis God said ‘Let there be light’ and He is still saying that today...

5. We are transformed from a life without the hope of God’s power.

Read: Acts 26:18c ‘and from the power of Satan to God’

Satan’s power is his ability to deceive us. Paul came to understand that he was under the power of Satan by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah/Savior. But God...through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, took hold of Paul and brought him under the power of Almighty God.

While under the power of Satan’s deception, we are slaves to our sin. Under the power of God’s Truth we’re free, for the first time in our lives.

·       Free to be all that God intended us to be,

·       free from the power and guilt of our sin

·       free to choose, to be slaves to God rather than to be deceved to be slaves of Satan.

6. We are transformed from a life without the hope of forgiveness of sin.

Read: Acts 26:18c ‘so that they may receive forgiveness of sins’

I could spend weeks just on this point alone. We were once without the hope of the forgiveness of our sin and the penalty of that sin: death and eternal separation from God’s love in the very real place called Hell.

Read: Romans 5:8 ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’

·       The promise of forgiveness of sin,

·       the promise of release from the guilt of our sin,

·       the promise of help over the power of sin,

are all based on the love God has for you.

7. We are transformed from a life without the hope of a place in heaven.

Read: Acts 26:18c ‘and a place’

Jesus promises a place for you in heaven when you’re transformed by the hope of the resurrection.

Read: John 14:1-3 ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’

Your place is heaven is promised by God Himself, when you are transformed by the hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

8. We are transformed from a life without the hope of being made right with God.

Read: Acts 26:18c ‘among those who are sanctified’

Religion is mans attempt to get right with God. Christianity is God’s work to make man right with Him....See the difference?

·       It’s not about you and what you do.

·       It’s about Jesus and what He’s done...dying on the cross for your sin and God raising Him from the dead for your salvation.

Read: Isaiah 64:6 ‘All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.’

All our attempts to get right with God (that’s righteousness) don’t work. Sanctification is God’s work in us through the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit. Through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, we have the hope of being made right with God.

9. We are transformed from a life without the hope of faith.

Read: Acts 26:18c ‘by faith in me.’

Without the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, we have no hope, nothing, no one to place our faith in. Paul was keenly aware of that.

Read: 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 ‘But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.’

But wait there’s more.

Read: 1 Corinthians 15:20 ‘But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.’

Wow! Not only has Jesus been raised from the dead...Jesus promises that we will be too...just like He was raised from the dead.

That’s a foundation for our hope and a place to put our faith.

Conclusion

Perhaps you are here this morning and you realize there is an emptiness or a sense that your life is missing something...but you have never been able to put your finger on it.

Like Paul, perhaps you’re realizing that the road you are on... is not leading you to God. Can I give you a suggestion? Ask God

·       to open your eyes to Satan’s deceptions

·       to bring the light of truth to your heart

·       to free you from the power of Satan and to place you under the power of Almighty God

·       to forgive your sin

·       to give you a place in heaven

·       to place in your heart faith...belief that Jesus is the Messiah/Savior, that He died for your sin, that His is alive

Let Him transform your life so that you’ll head in the right direction...life in Christ and eternity in Heaven.

Won’t you do that as we sing our last song.

We enlarge our vision of God by being transformed by the hope of the Resurrection.