[00:00:01] Welcome to the River Church podcast. We're all about bringing the life, hope and love of Jesus to everyone around us. For more information, check out our
[email protected] yeah, we're good, Very good. Hello, everyone.
[00:00:18] Have you had a good week?
[00:00:20] Good stuff. I am exhausted.
[00:00:22] I am really tired. But for good reason, I do. We're going to probably do a bit more of a playback about our youth summer camp this week, maybe next week or so, something like that. But I do just want to really take a moment to talk and to honor our leaders who came, even if it was just for a moment, to honour other adults from within the church who came to get involved and get stuck in, but particularly to honour our young people.
[00:00:52] We are truly, truly blessed with young men and women who God has plans for, who God is moving amongst.
[00:01:04] It was amazing to have fun together and there was inflatables and stuff, but particularly some of my highlights were the evening meetings where I could see them meeting with the power of the Holy Spirit, them sharing about devotional times and even being led in worship and teaching by young people themselves.
[00:01:23] So, yeah, we, we are very blessed indeed. And so thank you. Thank you, leaders. Thank you, volunteers, thank you young people. God has fantastic plans and fantastic future for you.
[00:01:39] Amen.
[00:01:40] Amen. Good stuff.
[00:01:48] I'll give you your money later.
[00:01:52] Imagine that tomorrow morning you go to the letterbox and you're flicking through your usual bills and junk mail when you see an envelope with your name on looks a little bit different and so it looks really official. And so you open it up really quickly in front of those people and you have a read through and you realize it's from a solicitor.
[00:02:21] Always good, isn't it? And it says, Dear Mr. Lavery. Well, I suppose if you got it said, Miss Slavery, you give it to me, wouldn't you? But if it says, Dear Mr. And Mrs.
[00:02:30] Insert name, we are pleased to inform you that you are the rightful heir to a great estate.
[00:02:37] The fortune is vast, the inheritance is secure. All of it now belongs to you.
[00:02:43] What would go through your mind?
[00:02:46] Scam. Exactly. Of course you would. Good.
[00:02:50] There's a prince, isn't there? Throw it away. Not having that at all. Loads of rubbish.
[00:02:56] But then, you know, you might look it up and you check and you go, okay, this seems legit. You know, the spelling is actually correct.
[00:03:04] You know they haven't got a weird email address attached.
[00:03:09] Okay, okay, this is legit.
[00:03:12] Why me?
[00:03:14] I didn't do anything to deserve this. I didn't enter anything. I don't know of any relation I've got. What is going on?
[00:03:24] How would that change your life?
[00:03:26] How would it change the way I think about my security and my future?
[00:03:31] What would it make me feel if that really was actually what was happening? Well, do you know what, guys? In many ways, this is exactly what's happened to believers in Christ.
[00:03:42] Paul's letter to the Galatians is in that envelope. The Gospel declares that we are heirs, as in we receive an inheritance from God, but not some fragile sort of earthly inheritance like loads of money. Just to be clear, there's no Bible verse that says you become believer, you're going to get loads of money. I've not found it yet. I don't think it's going to turn up.
[00:04:04] But we become heirs of the greatest promise that God has ever made.
[00:04:11] You know, we're talking about this series called the Galatians, where we're rebooted, reframed and rewired. And I think I want to spend some time today thinking about what that means for us as heirs of the promise. So we're going to look at what it means to be children of God, what it means to be clothed with Christ, what it means to be one family together, and ultimately, as I said, what it means really in practice to be heirs.
[00:04:36] So we're going to jump into Scripture. So buckle up, saddle up your horses, we're going to go to Galatians 3, 26, 29. You can get your Bibles out. In fact, do get your Bibles out. It's good to be practiced, to do that. We will put it up on the screen for anyone who's new and wants to get involved. So let's read together.
[00:04:58] So in Christ Jesus, you are all children through God, of God, through faith. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
[00:05:29] This is the Word.
[00:05:33] So let's start with that little first verse. I'm going to try and do this bit by bit because I think that's how I like to go through study when we go. So we're sons and daughters.
[00:05:44] So in Christ, you're all children of God through faith. And the key bit here is that there's an intimacy that you won't find in other religions. In the Christian faith, religion is often this story about a distant deity who demands you to fix Yourself, fix your problems before you dare even approach him.
[00:06:05] But when Jesus gave himself on the cross, he did more than just forgive our sins.
[00:06:10] He did more than put us on a better path or make us part of the team.
[00:06:15] He adopted us as part of God's family. Just, just, I know, we know that we say that all the time, but just think about that. You are family of the living God.
[00:06:28] We're not just friends. We are his sons and his daughters.
[00:06:31] Paul explains it further, actually, in Galatians 4, which I won't put up on the screen for now. But he says we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. As in, we were bound to our passions, to our desires, to other things in the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons. God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. The spirit who calls out abba, Father. Abba simply means dad. It's that intimacy again.
[00:07:10] So you are no longer a slave, but God's child. And since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
[00:07:20] Just think about that God who made the stars, who made the oceans, the trees, the chairs, the rivers, and, you know, mawams, all that sort of stuff. He made all of it. And you get to call him Father.
[00:07:37] That's massive.
[00:07:39] That's massive, guys.
[00:07:43] Now I do want to do a quick note about Paul's use of the word sons, in case people missed that one there.
[00:07:49] In this first century Roman world, it was sons who would inherit from their family, not daughters. But Paul deliberately is using the word sons to emphasize that all believers, men and women alike, are sharing equally in that full rights. That's why we're all called sons. And it throws you off. Just think about the fact that we're, we're the bride of Christ. So I'm part of that. Okay, so this is, again, it's what God is saying, is that we, this is the heart of the gospel, that God has not just let us in from the cold.
[00:08:21] Sometimes that's how we think about God, that He's just doing us a favor.
[00:08:25] God has not just let you in from the cold, but he has embraced you as family.
[00:08:31] We are sons and daughters of the living God.
[00:08:35] Next bit it says, actually for you who are baptized into Christ, you are clothed with Christ.
[00:08:40] Think back to Genesis 3 and you know, we've got a perfect world. We've got Adam, we've got Eve and everything's going really well. And then they sin, therefore they disobey God. They turn away from God and choose to do things their own way. They follow after their own idols and they realize they're naked and ashamed and they're stuffed.
[00:09:04] So what do they do? They try and cover up. They get fig leaves together and they sew them together to try and cover up their own problems. But also, isn't that what we do all the time? How many of us find ourselves in a problem that we've caused ourselves and try and get out of it with a little lie here? Just try and cover up, try and sort it out.
[00:09:22] We use self reliance. We use our achievements, our appearances. All about the likes. You know, what does your social media channel look like? Does it have all of your failings on it? Probably not.
[00:09:34] But you know, in baptism we remember that Christ has covered us once for all. When you go under the water, we remember the death of our old life. And when we rise again, it's a picture of our new life in him. No figs needed, just Christ once for all. Amen.
[00:09:51] Amen.
[00:09:52] So when God looks at you, he does not see failure or shame.
[00:09:58] He sees Christ in you, the hope of glory.
[00:10:03] What does it look like, guys, for you to put on Christ each day?
[00:10:08] What does it look like at school? You're going back? What does it look like in your workplace or your community or, you know, where are you slipping back into those old habits that we had before? Where are you wearing the old clothes of the old life?
[00:10:21] And actually where are you taking the opportunity to live in the reality of being a child of God?
[00:10:28] Okay, let's move on to the next verse. And this is a pretty big one. This is actually something that's used and encouraged in so many ways, but also misunderstood. So want to spend a little bit of time on it?
[00:10:43] Let's read. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in, in Christ Jesus. I just want to be clear guys, this is massive.
[00:10:56] This shook the foundations of first century society.
[00:11:01] And because Paul is naming these three big dividing lines in that society, you've got Jew and Gentile. Something where there was a lot of animosity, a lot of nervousness and mistrust, you know, even within the church. When it first started, the church wrestled with these culture clashes. Jewish believers were speaking to Gentiles. Gentiles by the way, are just a non Jewish people. So Greeks, you know, many of us will be considered Gentile.
[00:11:29] And so they were saying, actually Gentiles, you need to adopt our Jewish culture to be proper followers of Jesus. Okay? At the same time, the Gentiles were just dismissing Jewish traditions and their entire history and heritage with God.
[00:11:44] None of that is from Jesus. Actually, I think Ian talked last week about Paul challenging that and how Paul says that the Gospel unites people both at the foot of the cross.
[00:11:56] Maybe you've experienced some of that where people have treated you differently because of your background, because of your heritage.
[00:12:03] I'm really sorry if that's the case.
[00:12:06] We shouldn't, we certainly shouldn't find that in here with Jesus, the living God.
[00:12:12] Then it says slave or free.
[00:12:15] You know, the economic status that people had at the time drew really harsh lines. And I do want to make a quick note because I think, you know, it's important to address when we're talking about slavery, what we're talking about, you know, we in the Roman world, those in debt would often sell themselves into slavery. The reason being there's just, there was no social care, there was no benefits. Actually the governing forces were like, if you're poor, if you're destitute, you are a drain on society and you're better off dead.
[00:12:45] And so people would sell themselves into slavery for a time and to get their debt off. Now what I will say is that that doesn't mean, oh, it's great, just like working, they were right for abuse. Your rights were taken away and you were looked down upon. You were a second class citizen. Such is the gap in economic standards.
[00:13:09] Their freedoms were restricted and their dignity was often diminished. But Paul says both slave and free are equal in the eyes of Christ.
[00:13:20] It's powerful. Your economic status doesn't change anything about the way Christ sees you.
[00:13:27] And then we've got male and female. Women were treated as second class citizens with sons, as we've said already inheriting, while daughters were sidelined. Yet in Christ, women and men alike are co heirs with grace. There's so many examples throughout the New Testament of women powerfully being part of God's plan, being part of the mission of the church.
[00:13:51] And this is why the Gospel is so powerful. Where culture, and even today, where culture tries to close doors on people based on characteristics or their background or even just simply being different. Jesus doesn't just open the doors, he blows them off the hinges.
[00:14:08] Now just to be clear, Paul is not saying that categories and differences don't exist. That would be ludicrous. Okay, male and female, different cultures, rich, poor, these are part of God's design. And in fact, our differences are a gift from God. If you think about one way I heard someone talk about it is if you think about a puzzle.
[00:14:35] A puzzle is full of different shapes, different pieces with different images on it. Every piece looks a little bit different.
[00:14:42] If equality meant that we're all exactly the same in the way we are, then that puzzle would not fit. It would not work.
[00:14:52] Equality comes from the value that the person building the puzzle puts together. It's not about you as your individual piece. It's about us. Oneness. It's about us and the person who is building us into that greater picture. That's what the church is. Amen.
[00:15:12] In fact, just as any team, our differences are often gifts that can complement and build one another up.
[00:15:19] But those things are not what determine your worth and your identity. These things do not hold you back or even elevate you above others.
[00:15:28] Because it is Christ and Christ alone we find our identity and who we are.
[00:15:35] Culture says you must become like me.
[00:15:39] Scripture says we must become like Him.
[00:15:43] That's why the church should be the most radically inclusive community in the world. And yet it's also the most radically exclusive, because the only way is through Christ.
[00:15:56] Does Christ come first overall?
[00:16:01] What dividing lines are we perhaps unconsciously putting in the way? How do we display that true oneness in the world?
[00:16:10] The church shines through unity. Think about Christ's big prayer.
[00:16:16] His biggest prayer when he was doing his ministry is that they would be one, as we are one.
[00:16:25] Do you know something I really like, actually, and I think we want to think about how this plays out. But something I really love, a story I really love, is that in the 4th century there was a Roman emperor called Julian, and he wrote about his dismay as how the church was growing and drawing people away from the pagan gods.
[00:16:43] They didn't have Google reviews, but if they did, it might have looked like this.
[00:16:49] It is a scandal that there is not one single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans, the church, not only for their own poor, but for ours as well, while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them.
[00:17:06] What a fantastic thing to be criticized for.
[00:17:13] This is the picture. I could talk about communion. I could talk about the table. I could talk about the wedding feast where Jesus invites everyone from the street.
[00:17:23] But imagine the picture of a CEO and a cleaner sharing communion side by side. Men and women, black and white, rich and poor, young and old. Not competitors, but brothers and sisters.
[00:17:33] This is the family of God.
[00:17:38] And then lastly, we're going to move on to being heirs of the promise.
[00:17:43] Paul says, if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
[00:17:50] What promise? Well, God promised Abraham three things. He promised a family, promised a land, and to be a blessing to the nations. And through Christ, we inherit all of it.
[00:18:02] Our inheritance is not about money or about land, but it's something greater. It's the kingdom of God. It's eternal life, the new creation and resurrection, glory, revelation that creates this beautiful picture. And I love referring to it, but it says, after this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, tongue, language Standing there before the throne and before the Lamb of God. That's Jesus.
[00:18:32] They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the floor, throne and to the Lamb.
[00:18:43] Peter describes this as an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
[00:18:49] Just, just think about that. That is the future that Christ brought for us. That is where we are headed. You know, all nations gathered around the throne, all peoples.
[00:19:00] I don't think there's going to be a black section and a white section. I don't think there's going to be a male, female section. I think we're going to be there all together as one family. That's the vision of Jesus.
[00:19:13] And not only do we inherit blessing, but we do also inherit a responsibility and a calling.
[00:19:23] We're called to be a blessing to others, to shine the light of Jesus.
[00:19:28] This last week, the theme has been to shine your light, to let there be light, as God said at the beginning.
[00:19:38] And I'm stirred, I'm encouraged by our young people and their devotion and their dedication to go out and let the light that Jesus has put in them as a lighthouse. We talked about that it might shine actually for us. This good news of the inheritance we have in Jesus, this eternal life. We can't be greedy, guys. We can't keep it to ourselves. We need to share this just as Jesus has shared it so freely. Really, who are you speaking to at the moment? Who is in your life who you can share this inheritance with?
[00:20:13] And one other thing I really want to say before I.
[00:20:20] You know, I was talking to a guy at a wedding yesterday.
[00:20:24] I redid myself in. I had a weak summer camp, then I did a wedding and now I'm preaching. But I was talking to a guy yesterday and he was talking about Jesus and saying, oh, he's really. Jesus was great because he just said, look, he just taught everyone to be nice. Paul, I don't really like because he said you've got to kind of sacrifice and you got to like do certain things. And I was like, okay. I don't think Jesus was about being just nice.
[00:20:45] Jesus was about radical generosity. You know, we learned in the week about how we, we love our enemies.
[00:20:51] Such a counter cultural thing. And if we love our enemies, like how much more do we love those who are just simply different?
[00:21:00] I'm here because people loved me and showed me who Jesus was and is.
[00:21:08] I do want to just add as well, we want to be a blessing to other people, but we want to be a blessing to the next generation. I was so encouraged when Deb brought up about her grandfather. Was it great grandfather, grandfather?
[00:21:24] And about what has been passed down.
[00:21:26] There's a verse in Psalm 70, 78, 4. It says, we will not hide them from the children. It's talking about what God has done, it's talking about his ways, his laws. We will not hide them from the children, but will tell a future generation the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, his might and his wondrous works that he has performed.
[00:21:48] We have fantastic young people who are going to go so far. But actually church, we have a calling and I would. It is something we have inherited as a responsibility to lead, to show, to be examples to our young people, to use what we can to serve them. I've been doing youth work now or leading the youth group here almost 10 years.
[00:22:10] And it's not always easy, it's not all inflatables and stuff, but every second has been a privilege, every sacrifice has been powerful and important. And it's my greatest joy as we get to see them use their gifts, as we get to see them take big steps in Jesus. I know that's our heart across Dartford and Gravesend.
[00:22:37] And so my challenge to you is to use your gifts to tell our young people, not even just our youth, but what about our children, our treasure hunters, our explorers?
[00:22:50] Use your gifts. There is need.
[00:22:54] I'm not even just talking about when we serve, on Sunday, when we teach, when we input.
[00:22:59] Our groups are not just about looking after them, babysit them so that we can have a good time here.
[00:23:05] This is ministry. This is building into the next generation. This is the call of God on our lives. Are you in?
[00:23:12] Yeah, you are. Are you in?
[00:23:14] Yeah, you are in. Amen.
[00:23:18] Okay, so let's go back to that letter.
[00:23:27] Imagine that You've received this letter.
[00:23:30] You're heir to a vast fortune.
[00:23:33] But you know what? You put it in a drawer and you leave it.
[00:23:38] You just carry on living the same way.
[00:23:41] How many of us do that?
[00:23:43] How many us leave on the side? And we'll get to it. We'll get to it.
[00:23:49] But they end up still worrying about the bills. We're anxious about the future, living as though nothing has changed.
[00:23:54] The fact is, we'd all say that's madness.
[00:24:00] We believe that we are heirs of the living God, that he has bought for us a certain future, and it changes everything. That's Paul's point. If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's seed. You are heirs of that promise. Your identity is secure.
[00:24:14] Stand on solid, firm foundation. That is Christ Jesus the rock.
[00:24:20] Your future is guaranteed. And so I guess my question would be, how are we going to respond?
[00:24:26] Maybe you've received this letter, but as we've said, you've sort of let it get buried under the busyness of life. Go to that pile today and get that letter and receive that truth. Maybe God's calling you to take up the responsibility of blessing others and investing in the next generation. Don't delay. Come and talk to me. Come and talk to others.
[00:24:48] Or maybe this is actually really just the first time you've heard this message of a God who's generous enough that he would want to give you everything.
[00:24:57] Not tons of money, but everything you've ever needed, everything you've ever been made for.
[00:25:05] And something is ringing true. Do you know the Creator freely and graciously gives you all he has? This letter is for you.
[00:25:13] Will you take it?
[00:25:16] If you want to take it. I just want to say, don't leave today without coming to speak to someone. Come and pray with us.
[00:25:25] This inheritance is yours. And one day, when Christ returns, you won't just hold the letter, you'll step into the full estate. The new creation family, as numerous as the stars, and the joy of being with our Father forever.
[00:25:41] He is our ultimate inheritance. Amen.
[00:25:46] I'm going to finish by just having us take a moment. I feel like songs often, and even the lyrics of songs often help us to understand things in a powerful way. But rather than singing, I just want to read out this song and let it kind of flow into us. So if you want to, you can close your eyes. If you want to put your hands out. If that feels like a good space for you to help you receive, then please do that.
[00:26:14] But I'm just going to read out the words of this song from Stuart Tallinn, and it's called We Are Heirs of God Almighty.
[00:26:22] We are heirs of God Almighty Apple of the Father's eye. Free, forgiven, loved, accepted, Clothed in righteousness Divine Chosen to be pure and blameless from before the world began Grace for every situation Sheltered in the Father's hand. We have Christ at work within us Shaping us to be like him. Resurrection power sustaining freedom from the snares of sin. Saying no to flesh desires Saying yes to righteous ways Filled with passion and with power. Light that burns in darkened days.
[00:26:57] We've the spirit without measure. Helper, comforter guide. One who brings the gift of heaven. One who comes to walk beside the taste of heaven's endless pleasure. Guarantee of what's to come. Causing fruit to grow in action, Bringing glory to the sun.
[00:27:15] Amen.
[00:27:17] Amen. I hope that's been helpful.
[00:27:20] Have a fantastic week.
