WEBVTT 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.179 Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. 00:00:14.279 --> 00:00:18.519 Fear is a paralyzing emotion. So let me ask you, 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:21.019 do you find yourself feeling afraid for your 00:00:21.019 --> 00:00:23.699 health and the health of your family? Afraid 00:00:23.699 --> 00:00:26.280 for your physical safety? Are you afraid of losing 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:29.359 your job or having enough money to live on? How 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.840 do we find security in fearful times? Well, that's 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:37.179 today. Stay with me. You're listening to Living 00:00:37.179 --> 00:00:39.979 on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Throughout our 00:00:39.979 --> 00:00:42.340 series called The New You, Chip has been walking 00:00:42.340 --> 00:00:44.500 us through what God says about who you really 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:48.000 are in Christ, chosen, adopted, redeemed, and 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:50.840 valuable. Today, we come to the next fundamental 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:53.659 truth about your identity, that in Christ, you 00:00:53.659 --> 00:00:57.140 are secure. No circumstance, no failure, no fear 00:00:57.140 --> 00:00:59.740 can take that away. And remember, if you ever 00:00:59.740 --> 00:01:01.979 miss a message in this study, just visit our 00:01:01.979 --> 00:01:06.209 website, livingontheedge .org. Well, now here's 00:01:06.209 --> 00:01:08.450 Chip Ingram with today's message titled, You 00:01:08.450 --> 00:01:12.310 Are Secure. When we look at our life under pressure 00:01:12.310 --> 00:01:15.329 and we think about what makes us feel secure, 00:01:15.530 --> 00:01:18.430 what makes us feel safe, what makes us feel like 00:01:18.430 --> 00:01:22.090 we're in control, how do we learn that? And we're 00:01:22.090 --> 00:01:23.549 going to talk today about, I think, something 00:01:23.549 --> 00:01:26.150 that's at the root of our being is God is going 00:01:26.150 --> 00:01:29.750 to tell you and me that you're secure. On the 00:01:29.750 --> 00:01:31.269 front of your notes, pull it out if you will. 00:01:31.310 --> 00:01:33.769 I want you to get a deeper understanding of even 00:01:33.769 --> 00:01:37.269 the word security. It means you're safe. There's 00:01:37.269 --> 00:01:40.670 a firm foundation. It means that there's no outside 00:01:40.670 --> 00:01:43.450 force that can come in and remove you, in this 00:01:43.450 --> 00:01:46.969 case, from God. And yet we all struggle, don't 00:01:46.969 --> 00:01:50.450 we? I don't need a psychologist to tell me that 00:01:50.450 --> 00:01:54.670 I'm insecure. It just takes a few circumstances 00:01:54.670 --> 00:02:02.030 and it just pops up. But we tend to have very 00:02:02.030 --> 00:02:04.890 genuine fears about different things. But I put 00:02:04.890 --> 00:02:08.370 four categories in your notes. The first one 00:02:08.370 --> 00:02:12.409 is the fear of physical harm or death, or the 00:02:12.409 --> 00:02:16.729 fear of being alone, of being rejected, of thinking 00:02:16.729 --> 00:02:19.129 I'll never get married, or this marriage is never 00:02:19.129 --> 00:02:22.469 going to get better, or the sense that something's 00:02:22.469 --> 00:02:25.629 happened for those of us that have kids. And 00:02:25.629 --> 00:02:28.530 then our basic insecurities can produce guilt 00:02:28.530 --> 00:02:31.530 and condemnation and struggles. So here's the 00:02:31.530 --> 00:02:35.669 question I have for you. Where do you tend to 00:02:35.669 --> 00:02:41.370 feel insecure or afraid? Over 80 times the Bible 00:02:41.370 --> 00:02:43.789 says fear not. Over 30 times it says don't be 00:02:43.789 --> 00:02:47.110 afraid. Jesus' last words to the disciples, I 00:02:47.110 --> 00:02:50.449 am with you always. I will never ever leave you 00:02:50.449 --> 00:02:53.169 or forsake you, the writer of Hebrews says from 00:02:53.169 --> 00:02:56.900 God's voice. And yet we struggle. So at the bottom 00:02:56.900 --> 00:02:58.520 of your notes, there's a question I'd like you 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:01.060 to do some real pondering. And the pondering 00:03:01.060 --> 00:03:03.560 I'd like you to do is, in what or whom do you 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:06.560 seek to find security apart from Christ? We all 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:10.099 do this, right? But identify it. Because I'm 00:03:10.099 --> 00:03:12.960 going to tell you, in a fallen world, God is 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:16.159 going to allow some storms to come into your 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:18.360 life, but the goal of the storms will be like 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:21.039 Joseph. I think... Joseph when he was betrayed. 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:23.919 Joseph in prison. Joseph loss of reputation. 00:03:24.300 --> 00:03:27.000 Joseph when people forgot him. Each and every 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:29.460 time, if you read that carefully, it says, and 00:03:29.460 --> 00:03:31.639 the Lord was with him. And the Lord was with 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:34.439 him. And the Lord was with him. If you can identify 00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:37.520 where you tend to put security, because a test 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:40.479 is coming and God wants you to pass the test. 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:43.960 He wants you to know, I'll be with you. I'll 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:46.680 never leave you. I'll never let you down. I am 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:49.680 for you. And down deep in your psyche, a lot 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:53.300 of us don't believe that. So, let me just ask 00:03:53.300 --> 00:03:57.699 you, is your security in yourself? I've certainly 00:03:57.699 --> 00:04:01.719 had that one. Your brains, your ability, you'll 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:04.319 figure it out. You can make it happen. Is it 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:07.840 in money? Is it family? You know what really 00:04:07.840 --> 00:04:10.560 makes everything okay is your family, your wife, 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:13.039 your kids, your husband, all that stuff. And 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.020 when that's okay, you're okay. But boy, that 00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:18.920 gets… Here's a test. Are you ready for this? 00:04:20.259 --> 00:04:23.639 Whatever would get taken away or challenged to 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:26.819 the level it devastates you, that will tell you 00:04:26.819 --> 00:04:29.980 where your security is. See, your security is 00:04:29.980 --> 00:04:33.319 like a rug. And if it gets pulled out from under 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:35.959 you, it might hurt a little bit. If it devastates 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:38.959 you, you know, my security's in that job. My 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:41.860 security's in me. My security is not in Christ. 00:04:42.339 --> 00:04:44.699 So I want you to identify that. And now turn 00:04:44.699 --> 00:04:47.050 your notes with me, if you will. And I want to 00:04:47.050 --> 00:04:49.430 talk about God's plan to give you a security 00:04:49.430 --> 00:04:52.430 that can't change by circumstances or terrorism 00:04:52.430 --> 00:04:56.490 or death or abandonment or cancer or rejection 00:04:56.490 --> 00:05:01.750 or any fear of punishment. God's answer is in 00:05:01.750 --> 00:05:05.230 1 Peter 3, 18. It's a summary of the work of 00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:09.269 Jesus. For Christ also died for sins. Put a circle 00:05:09.269 --> 00:05:12.730 around the word for, and I'll tell you why. Once 00:05:12.730 --> 00:05:15.870 for all. Who is he? The just or the righteous 00:05:15.870 --> 00:05:18.930 for the unrighteous or the unjust. What was his 00:05:18.930 --> 00:05:23.110 purpose? So that he, Jesus, might bring us to 00:05:23.110 --> 00:05:26.189 God. Well, how did he do it? Having been put 00:05:26.189 --> 00:05:28.790 to death in the flesh on the cross, but made 00:05:28.790 --> 00:05:32.730 alive in the spirit, the resurrection. God so 00:05:32.730 --> 00:05:36.540 loved the world. That He sent His one and only 00:05:36.540 --> 00:05:39.339 Son, God the Son, that whoever would believe 00:05:39.339 --> 00:05:41.319 in Him shouldn't perish but have everlasting 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:45.720 life. God's solution to your security is that 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:49.819 you're valuable. He wants to choose you. He cares 00:05:49.819 --> 00:05:52.779 about you. He's redeemed you. And He wants to 00:05:52.779 --> 00:05:55.980 reconnect you close to Him so that no one at 00:05:55.980 --> 00:06:00.579 any time ever, now or in eternity, can separate 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:04.259 you from Him. So then the question is, what must 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:08.000 I do to experience that security? And the gospel 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.420 writer John would say, as many as received him, 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:15.079 Jesus, to them he gave the right or the authority 00:06:15.079 --> 00:06:17.920 to become children of God, even to those who 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:21.439 believe in his name. That little word for means 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:25.180 in the place of. Jesus came and he died in the 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:27.980 place of you. All that you deserve and I deserve 00:06:27.980 --> 00:06:31.199 because of my sin and rebellion or passive indifference, 00:06:31.300 --> 00:06:34.920 God took all of that and he placed that on Christ. 00:06:35.100 --> 00:06:37.800 And now he says, you are forgiven, but you must 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:41.060 respond. As many as not just intellectually believe, 00:06:41.139 --> 00:06:45.639 as many as receive him personally. To them, he 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:49.290 gives the right. Not to be religious, but to 00:06:49.290 --> 00:06:53.430 become an actual child of the living God. Jesus 00:06:53.430 --> 00:06:55.970 said, behold, I stand at the door and knock of 00:06:55.970 --> 00:06:59.269 your heart, my heart. This is the verse I heard 00:06:59.269 --> 00:07:04.189 when I trusted Christ, 1972. If any man, if any 00:07:04.189 --> 00:07:06.829 woman hears my voice and will open the door of 00:07:06.829 --> 00:07:09.029 your heart, the promise, I will come into him. 00:07:09.389 --> 00:07:11.769 In the old translation, I will sup with him or 00:07:11.769 --> 00:07:14.810 eat with him and he with me. And it's Jesus saying, 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:18.259 I want a relationship. The cross has paid for 00:07:18.259 --> 00:07:21.819 your sin. It is a free gift. Now, turn from your 00:07:21.819 --> 00:07:24.699 sin in the empty hands of faith. Say, Lord Jesus, 00:07:24.980 --> 00:07:29.240 forgive me. Come into my life. Be my Lord. Be 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:31.920 my Savior. And the Spirit of God enters your 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:36.519 human body and you start a new life. In the old 00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:38.500 days, people called that, that's what it's called 00:07:38.500 --> 00:07:42.139 to be saved or receiving Christ or trusting Christ. 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:45.519 Now, what I want to talk to you about is I'm 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:48.339 guessing a great majority of you sort of have 00:07:48.339 --> 00:07:50.699 down what I just talked about. I'm guessing that 00:07:50.699 --> 00:07:54.319 those that are watching and those of us that 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:55.819 have been around for a while, it's like, okay, 00:07:55.879 --> 00:07:58.199 Chip, thanks. It's very helpful. Like I've known 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:00.480 this since fourth grade or for some of us when 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:05.300 I was 18. But in 1972, knowing very little, having 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:08.060 no idea that there was a personal relationship 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:10.879 with God and I invited Christ into my life. I 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:13.500 want you to go back when you did that. I don't 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:15.759 think the average Christian has any idea what 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:20.019 actually happened. What actually happened that 00:08:20.019 --> 00:08:23.279 actually is at the source of all the security 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:26.680 and every challenge that you'll face of all the 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:29.160 fears that we talked about. So, I want to walk 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:32.179 through these. I'll do them quickly. The moment 00:08:32.179 --> 00:08:35.159 you receive Christ, if indeed you have, this 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:37.899 happened. You were justified. The word means 00:08:37.899 --> 00:08:41.460 it's a legal declaration that all my sins are 00:08:41.460 --> 00:08:44.350 forgiven. Past, present, and future. This is 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:46.950 God as the judge. Legally, the gavel comes down. 00:08:47.110 --> 00:08:51.470 You're before him. Christ's righteousness, your 00:08:51.470 --> 00:08:54.669 sin. He looks at the work of Christ. He says, 00:08:54.710 --> 00:08:57.169 all of your sins are forgiven, and the righteousness 00:08:57.169 --> 00:09:00.090 of Christ is placed in your account. You are 00:09:00.090 --> 00:09:02.409 granted the righteousness of Jesus. You have 00:09:02.409 --> 00:09:08.409 a new position as his dearly loved child. Romans 00:09:08.409 --> 00:09:10.769 5 .1 says, therefore, having been justified by 00:09:10.769 --> 00:09:14.779 faith, We have peace with God through our Lord 00:09:14.779 --> 00:09:17.279 Jesus Christ. And this peace, it's not just an 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:20.220 emotional peace. It means we were hostile to 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:23.480 God. The word is we have the shalom of God. We 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:25.840 have the wholeness of God. We have the favor 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:29.539 of God. We are now in God's family. In the space 00:09:29.539 --> 00:09:31.279 below, I want you to write this down. Are you 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:36.340 ready? God is my father. You might write down, 00:09:36.419 --> 00:09:40.940 I am his child. What if you started to believe 00:09:40.940 --> 00:09:44.799 that? You know what? What do good fathers do? 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:48.100 What do good parents do? They protect and they 00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:50.700 provide. The second thing that happened to you 00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:53.440 the moment you received Christ is regeneration. 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:56.399 That means that I'm a new creation in Christ. 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:00.019 I've been given a new nature fully pleasing to 00:10:00.019 --> 00:10:03.980 God. It's different from religion. It's different 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:07.960 from morality. It's you become an actual new 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:12.200 person. You're listening to Living on the Edge 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:14.679 with Chip Ingram. Stay with us. We're halfway 00:10:14.679 --> 00:10:16.659 through today's message and there's still more 00:10:16.659 --> 00:10:19.559 ahead. Today's teaching comes from Chip's powerful 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:22.240 series, The New You, claiming your birthright 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:25.139 as a child of God. Want to go deeper? Each of 00:10:25.139 --> 00:10:28.320 these lessons is available online at livingontheedge 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.759 .org, along with additional resources and discussion 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:35.720 guides to take you further. Find it all at livingontheedge 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:38.860 .org. Well, now let's get back to Chip's message. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.779 Nicodemus was a very religious rabbi, squeaky 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:44.940 clean morally, and he came at night because he 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:48.220 saw that Jesus was from God, the miracles attested 00:10:48.220 --> 00:10:50.940 to it. And in this night meeting, Jesus says 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:53.399 to him in John chapter 3, he answered him and 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:56.240 said, truly, truly, I say to you. Now, this is 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:59.600 a very religious moral man. Unless one is born 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:03.580 again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Nicodemus 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:05.980 said to him, how can a man be born again when 00:11:05.980 --> 00:11:09.320 he's old? He's taking it pretty literally here. 00:11:09.419 --> 00:11:12.059 He cannot enter again into his mother's womb 00:11:12.059 --> 00:11:16.450 a second time, can he? Jesus answered, truly, 00:11:16.629 --> 00:11:19.629 truly I say to you, unless one is born of water, 00:11:19.730 --> 00:11:22.429 physical birth, and spirit, spiritual birth, 00:11:22.570 --> 00:11:25.429 he can't enter the kingdom of God. That which 00:11:25.429 --> 00:11:28.490 is born of the flesh, physical, is flesh. That 00:11:28.490 --> 00:11:31.269 which is born of the spirit is spirit. Jesus 00:11:31.269 --> 00:11:34.309 taught the most religious, moral man we have 00:11:34.309 --> 00:11:38.080 cited in scripture. That when you pray to receive 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:41.539 Jesus and he enters your life, it's a spiritual 00:11:41.539 --> 00:11:46.019 birth. You're regenerated. You receive a new 00:11:46.019 --> 00:11:49.740 nature. Jot in your notes 2 Corinthians 5, 17. 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:54.779 It says, if any man, any woman is in Christ, 00:11:54.820 --> 00:11:57.360 you're a new creation. The old things, notice 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:01.840 this, pass away. Behold, all things. Listen to 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:05.980 the tense of the verb, are becoming new. Ninth 00:12:05.980 --> 00:12:08.179 grade biology, right? The little green caterpillar 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:11.639 creates a cocoon and out comes a butterfly. We 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:15.600 call it meta. I love being with such intelligent 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:19.240 people. That's what it's called, right? The DNA 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:22.200 in that green caterpillar and the DNA in that 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:26.240 butterfly are exactly the same. But a metamorphosis 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:29.200 occurs where that butterfly is no longer ugly 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:33.100 and green and crawls. It is beautiful. It gets 00:12:33.100 --> 00:12:36.700 a new nature. It gets a new capacity. That's 00:12:36.700 --> 00:12:39.600 the physical picture and nature of what happens 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:41.899 when you pray to receive Christ. Are you ready 00:12:41.899 --> 00:12:46.480 for this? Write this down. God gave me a new 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:51.799 nature. God made you a new person. Do you believe 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.340 that? How many Christians are living with, well, 00:12:54.379 --> 00:12:56.360 this is how I grew up and, you know, my dad was 00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:58.779 an alcoholic and I've been through this and then 00:12:58.779 --> 00:13:00.639 this happened. Now, I'm not saying there aren't 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:03.700 consequences. I'm saying, what if you believed 00:13:03.700 --> 00:13:06.759 in the cocoon of metamorphosis and life change 00:13:06.759 --> 00:13:09.000 that is the word of God and time and community 00:13:09.000 --> 00:13:11.799 and time in his word and your openness and steps 00:13:11.799 --> 00:13:14.139 of faith? You have a brand new nature. You can 00:13:14.139 --> 00:13:17.659 fly. Stop crawling. We have Christians everywhere 00:13:17.659 --> 00:13:19.399 that are still crawling and you're butterflies 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:21.840 because you don't believe you have a new nature. 00:13:22.350 --> 00:13:26.090 You've been regenerated. Now it's a journey and 00:13:26.090 --> 00:13:30.190 a process. God is my father, number one. Number 00:13:30.190 --> 00:13:34.309 two, God made me a new person. And as a result, 00:13:34.330 --> 00:13:36.389 guess what? You might jot down, Jesus lives in 00:13:36.389 --> 00:13:39.370 me. If something's, that's what it says. Jesus 00:13:39.370 --> 00:13:43.690 actually lives inside of you in the person of 00:13:43.690 --> 00:13:45.649 the Holy Spirit. The third thing that happens 00:13:45.649 --> 00:13:48.610 is reconciliation. That means that although I 00:13:48.610 --> 00:13:52.269 was once hostile to God, And alienated from him, 00:13:52.350 --> 00:13:57.250 I am now his friend. Paul would write, inspired 00:13:57.250 --> 00:13:59.590 by the Holy Spirit in Colossians chapter 1, verse 00:13:59.590 --> 00:14:04.470 21 and 22. Although you, speaking to these new 00:14:04.470 --> 00:14:07.830 Christians, were formerly alienated and hostile 00:14:07.830 --> 00:14:11.820 in mind, engaged in evil deeds. Yet he, Jesus, 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:14.700 has reconciled you in his fleshly body through 00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:16.840 his death. Do you see how all these keep coming 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:19.580 back to what happened at the cross? And when 00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:23.419 what happens at the cross gets received by faith, 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:25.659 and then this journey from your head to your 00:14:25.659 --> 00:14:27.700 heart where you actually not just know about 00:14:27.700 --> 00:14:30.919 it, but you know it, you digest it, you absorb 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:34.720 it, you believe it, becomes a part of your life 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:37.100 focus and how you see God, see the world, and 00:14:37.100 --> 00:14:40.820 see yourself. In order to present you, this is 00:14:40.820 --> 00:14:44.200 how he presented you, holy and blameless beyond 00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:48.240 reproach. Some of you have been through the very 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:50.980 painful experience of irreconcilable differences, 00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:55.500 either in business, in a marriage. You know what 00:14:55.500 --> 00:14:58.539 the word reconcile means? It means two people 00:14:58.539 --> 00:15:01.080 that weren't getting along. In our case, we were 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:04.100 enemies of God. We were hostile to God. The one 00:15:04.100 --> 00:15:05.779 who made us, it was either passive indifference. 00:15:05.820 --> 00:15:08.299 I don't care about God. Or actual rebellion. 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:11.059 Don't any of you tell me what to do, even though 00:15:11.059 --> 00:15:16.500 you made me. And it's, you become friends. Would 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:22.320 you write this down? God is my friend. Now, what 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:25.299 if this started itching its way? Maybe at least 00:15:25.299 --> 00:15:28.100 get down to the collarbone. God is my father. 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:34.480 God made me a new person. God is my friend. What 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:37.429 do friends do? Okay, this is not a trick question. 00:15:37.610 --> 00:15:39.330 There's not something like, oh, I hope I get 00:15:39.330 --> 00:15:41.870 this one right. What do you do with your friends? 00:15:42.509 --> 00:15:47.870 You hang out. You enjoy each other. You get to 00:15:47.870 --> 00:15:50.070 know each other. You do things you both enjoy. 00:15:51.070 --> 00:15:54.049 Real friends, you can share the good stuff and 00:15:54.049 --> 00:15:56.289 they're not jealous, they're happy for you. You 00:15:56.289 --> 00:15:58.509 can share the bad stuff and oh man, and they'll 00:15:58.509 --> 00:16:01.129 even help you. You can even share the deep, ugly 00:16:01.129 --> 00:16:04.289 stuff and they don't judge you, but they also 00:16:04.289 --> 00:16:08.549 don't let you stay the same. What if you actually 00:16:08.549 --> 00:16:13.029 could believe that God is not down on you? He's 00:16:13.029 --> 00:16:16.149 your friend. He can take whatever you want to 00:16:16.149 --> 00:16:21.690 share. He wants to hang out. This isn't, I'm 00:16:21.690 --> 00:16:23.830 not religious. I'm going to church regularly. 00:16:24.029 --> 00:16:26.669 I need to read the Bible. I need to pray. Probably 00:16:26.669 --> 00:16:28.889 need to pray longer. I need to give some money. 00:16:29.149 --> 00:16:35.289 Am I okay now? That's how some people live. How 00:16:35.289 --> 00:16:38.370 about this? Come unto me, all of you that are 00:16:38.370 --> 00:16:41.590 stressed out and heavy laden in labor and just 00:16:41.590 --> 00:16:45.690 overwhelmed with life. And I will give you rest. 00:16:45.909 --> 00:16:51.750 Take my yoke. Let's do life together. I'm meek, 00:16:51.750 --> 00:16:56.289 power under control, lowly of heart. And I want 00:16:56.289 --> 00:16:59.149 to help you get through this life and I will 00:16:59.149 --> 00:17:02.860 never leave you or forsake you. You have been 00:17:02.860 --> 00:17:05.460 justified. You have been regenerated. You have 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:08.720 been reconciled. And then I love this next one. 00:17:08.740 --> 00:17:13.000 It's a big word. Propitiation. It means that 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:16.460 Jesus satisfied the just wrath of God by his 00:17:16.460 --> 00:17:19.220 death on the cross. And therefore, Jesus took 00:17:19.220 --> 00:17:22.460 all my punishment forever. Let me say that again. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:26.440 Jesus took all your punishment forever. Jesus 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:29.519 took all of my punishment forever. First John 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:33.630 chapter four. Verses 9 through 11. By this the 00:17:33.630 --> 00:17:35.910 love of God was manifested or made known to us 00:17:35.910 --> 00:17:38.329 that God sent his only begotten son into the 00:17:38.329 --> 00:17:42.630 world. Why? So that we might live. Well, how? 00:17:43.329 --> 00:17:47.269 Through him. In this is love, not that we love 00:17:47.269 --> 00:17:50.490 God, but that he loved us and sent his son to 00:17:50.490 --> 00:17:56.150 be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if 00:17:56.150 --> 00:17:59.750 God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 00:18:01.230 --> 00:18:04.529 Now, you need to understand that God has emotions. 00:18:05.210 --> 00:18:08.349 He's a person. He's one essence, three distinct 00:18:08.349 --> 00:18:11.950 persons. He has feelings and emotions and a mind 00:18:11.950 --> 00:18:14.970 and a will, and we're made in his image. And 00:18:14.970 --> 00:18:17.349 there's something that makes him very, very angry. 00:18:17.390 --> 00:18:21.390 It's called evil. But his anger isn't like our 00:18:21.390 --> 00:18:24.529 kind of anger that flies off the handle or just 00:18:24.529 --> 00:18:26.369 is capricious and, you know, he's going to blow 00:18:26.369 --> 00:18:29.970 up one day. John Stott writes, about propitiation. 00:18:30.230 --> 00:18:32.930 And it says, the reason why propitiation is necessary 00:18:32.930 --> 00:18:37.950 is that sin arouses God's wrath or anger. This 00:18:37.950 --> 00:18:39.710 doesn't mean that he's likely to fly off the 00:18:39.710 --> 00:18:42.589 handle at the most trivial provocation, still 00:18:42.589 --> 00:18:44.990 less that he ever loses his temper for no apparent 00:18:44.990 --> 00:18:48.250 reason at all. For there is nothing capricious 00:18:48.250 --> 00:18:51.950 or arbitrary about the holy God, nor is he ever 00:18:51.950 --> 00:18:56.099 malicious or spiteful or vindictive. His anger 00:18:56.099 --> 00:18:59.559 is neither mysterious nor irrational. It is never 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:02.480 unpredictable but always predictable because 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:07.779 it is provoked by evil and evil alone. The wrath 00:19:07.779 --> 00:19:12.960 of God is his steady, unrelenting, unremitting, 00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:16.740 uncompromising antagonism to evil in all of its 00:19:16.740 --> 00:19:21.259 forms and all of its manifestations. I'm listening 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:25.119 to The Life of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas right 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:28.420 now. And I'm in the section where the most horrific 00:19:28.420 --> 00:19:34.440 things were done to the Poles and the Jews that 00:19:34.440 --> 00:19:38.579 it's even hard to hear of gassing people and 00:19:38.579 --> 00:19:40.920 going into villages and just indiscriminately 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:43.259 lining everyone up and killing them and then 00:19:43.259 --> 00:19:48.059 dancing on their bodies. The human heart in the 00:19:48.059 --> 00:19:52.990 right circumstances is desperately wicked. What 00:19:52.990 --> 00:19:55.490 you need to understand, when Jesus was hanging 00:19:55.490 --> 00:19:58.170 on the cross and crying out, my God, my God, 00:19:58.349 --> 00:20:01.349 why have you forsaken me? It's in that moment 00:20:01.349 --> 00:20:03.869 that the just wrath of God took the punishment 00:20:03.869 --> 00:20:07.069 you deserve and I deserve and all people of all 00:20:07.069 --> 00:20:10.049 time deserve and he placed it on Christ and he 00:20:10.049 --> 00:20:13.630 who knew no sin became sin for us that we might 00:20:13.630 --> 00:20:16.269 become the righteousness of God. And in that 00:20:16.269 --> 00:20:19.890 single moment, all the punishment of all time 00:20:19.890 --> 00:20:25.299 was on Christ. You're listening to Living on 00:20:25.299 --> 00:20:28.380 the Edge and a message titled You Are Secure. 00:20:28.460 --> 00:20:31.440 Part of our series called The New You, Claiming 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.380 Your Birthright as a Child of God. This series 00:20:34.380 --> 00:20:37.180 is just getting started, but already the truths 00:20:37.180 --> 00:20:41.559 are stacking up. Chosen, adopted, redeemed, valuable, 00:20:41.900 --> 00:20:45.700 and now secure. These are the unshakable realities 00:20:45.700 --> 00:20:48.240 of what happened the moment you placed your faith 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:50.990 in Christ. And if you want to keep building on 00:20:50.990 --> 00:20:53.549 that foundation, Chip's brand new devotional, 00:20:53.710 --> 00:20:57.150 Growing Deeper in Christ, a 365 -day journey 00:20:57.150 --> 00:21:00.329 to true discipleship, was designed to walk alongside 00:21:00.329 --> 00:21:03.369 you every step of the way. It follows Jesus' 00:21:03.609 --> 00:21:06.569 own pattern of discipleship, drawn from 10 books 00:21:06.569 --> 00:21:09.349 Chip has written over the years, each day, just 00:21:09.349 --> 00:21:11.849 a few minutes in Scripture, and one simple step 00:21:11.849 --> 00:21:14.750 of obedience, letting these truths move from 00:21:14.750 --> 00:21:17.450 the pages of your Bible into the fabric of your 00:21:17.450 --> 00:21:20.549 everyday life. If you've never given to this 00:21:20.549 --> 00:21:22.990 ministry before, or if you'd like to join us 00:21:22.990 --> 00:21:25.309 as a monthly partner, we'd love to send you a 00:21:25.309 --> 00:21:27.769 copy as our thank you gift for getting started. 00:21:28.170 --> 00:21:30.690 Make your first gift or sign up as a monthly 00:21:30.690 --> 00:21:34.349 partner today online at livingontheedge .org 00:21:34.349 --> 00:21:39.930 or call us at 888 -333 -6003. You can also mail 00:21:39.930 --> 00:21:43.910 your gift to Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 3007, 00:21:44.069 --> 00:21:48.769 Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. And if you want to go 00:21:48.769 --> 00:21:51.190 even deeper into Chip's teaching, check out the 00:21:51.190 --> 00:21:53.789 Living on the Edge podcast, where you can find 00:21:53.789 --> 00:21:56.690 full -length sermons from Chip anytime, anywhere. 00:21:57.210 --> 00:22:00.150 Just search for Living on the Edge wherever you 00:22:00.150 --> 00:22:03.539 listen to podcasts and subscribe today. Well, 00:22:03.559 --> 00:22:06.160 now here's Chip. As we wrap up today's program, 00:22:06.339 --> 00:22:08.900 I have to tell you, I love the conversation that 00:22:08.900 --> 00:22:11.839 Jesus had with Nicodemus. Jesus didn't shame 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:15.420 him for not asking his questions in public. You 00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:18.319 know, he had a quiet, personal, profound conversation, 00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:21.859 and he loved Nicodemus. And what I also like 00:22:21.859 --> 00:22:25.509 about this is Nicodemus knew. I mean, he was 00:22:25.509 --> 00:22:28.750 a theologian. He had major portions of the Old 00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:32.369 Testament memorized. I mean, he knew his theology, 00:22:32.390 --> 00:22:36.230 and yet he didn't get how that theology connected 00:22:36.230 --> 00:22:39.470 to real life and real relationship with God. 00:22:39.650 --> 00:22:42.710 And I find that really encouraging because... 00:22:43.339 --> 00:22:45.539 That's often the case with me and I think with 00:22:45.539 --> 00:22:48.140 many Christians. You know, as I taught today, 00:22:48.220 --> 00:22:51.559 I taught about justification. And some of the 00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:53.640 words I used and some of you might be going, 00:22:53.740 --> 00:22:55.980 wow, man, this is kind of heavy. Justification, 00:22:56.200 --> 00:22:59.380 regeneration, propitiation. Man, this guy's using 00:22:59.380 --> 00:23:02.579 a lot of theological words. But here's what I 00:23:02.579 --> 00:23:05.420 want to tell you. It is the meaning of those 00:23:05.420 --> 00:23:07.700 words that if you're a follower of Christ and 00:23:07.700 --> 00:23:11.259 you prayed to receive him, these things are true 00:23:11.259 --> 00:23:15.180 of you. And here's what I want you to get. Justification. 00:23:15.299 --> 00:23:18.180 I walk through what that means. That's a legal 00:23:18.180 --> 00:23:21.519 term where God the Father has declared you righteous 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:24.359 in His sight forever, not because of anything 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:27.579 you've done or I've done, but because of Christ's 00:23:27.579 --> 00:23:30.700 work in your place applied to you. And you know 00:23:30.700 --> 00:23:33.880 what that means? It means God is your Father. 00:23:34.359 --> 00:23:36.940 You're a part of the family. And then I talked 00:23:36.940 --> 00:23:39.819 about regeneration as I talked about Nicodemus 00:23:39.819 --> 00:23:42.670 and you have to be born again. That's a big word, 00:23:42.710 --> 00:23:45.829 but here's all that it means. It means that you're 00:23:45.829 --> 00:23:50.710 a new creation. The old you, the person you were 00:23:50.710 --> 00:23:55.549 before you trusted Christ, died, and Christ now 00:23:55.549 --> 00:23:58.230 lives in you. Your personality is the same, your 00:23:58.230 --> 00:24:00.390 body looks the same, but you're a completely 00:24:00.390 --> 00:24:04.609 new creation. Do you believe that? Are you experiencing 00:24:04.609 --> 00:24:07.920 that? In our next program, I'm going to walk 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:11.160 through five very specific things that happened 00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:14.960 to you when you trusted Christ. And I will tell 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:19.049 you, when you begin to believe these, You talk 00:24:19.049 --> 00:24:22.430 about security. You talk about feeling safe. 00:24:22.769 --> 00:24:25.769 You talk about being the kind of person that 00:24:25.769 --> 00:24:29.230 can walk into a room and walk through life without 00:24:29.230 --> 00:24:33.230 fear. It's because you know you're a son, you're 00:24:33.230 --> 00:24:36.269 a daughter of the Lord of Lords and King of Kings 00:24:36.269 --> 00:24:39.450 who has promised to protect you and love you 00:24:39.450 --> 00:24:43.069 and keep you for himself no matter what. I hope 00:24:43.069 --> 00:24:45.960 you'll join me. I'm Dave Drewy, inviting you 00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:48.299 back next time when Chip Ingram continues our 00:24:48.299 --> 00:24:51.920 study on the new you here on Living on the Edge. 00:24:54.980 --> 00:24:57.519 Today's program is produced and sponsored by 00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:58.660 Living on the Edge.