SERMON: Chill, Part 2: The Inefficient God – Philippians 1:6 (8/20/2024)

Introduction

• Turn in your Bible to Philippians 1:6.
• Book of Daniel study...
• Creation...
  • While you have your Bible open to Philippians, let me just read a few verses to you from Genesis 1.
    • These verses come from God's description of creation...
    • Genesis 1:1 | In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (CSB)
      • God created the heavens and the earth, but how...
      • We aren't going to get into the weeds of creation...
        • That's another sermon...
        • But I want you to notice thing about the creation story that you may have never really thought about.
      • In verses 2–4, God begins his creative work.
      • Then...
    • Genesis 1:5 | God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day. (CSB)
      • Then God did some more creating...
      • Then...
    • Genesis 1:8 | God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day. (CSB)
      • Now, we are looking for a pattern...
    • Genesis 1:13 | Evening came and then morning: the third day. (CSB)
    • Genesis 1:19 | Evening came and then morning: the fourth day. (CSB)
    • Genesis 1:23 | Evening came and then morning: the fifth day. (CSB)
    • Genesis 1:31 | God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day. (CSB)
  • From here we could debate whether the Bible is speaking of six 24-hour days, six epochs of history, or six million-year "days."
    • Again, that is another sermon.
  • What I want you to see is that according to God's own word, creation was a process.
    • That might not seem very profound to you, but it will.
  • Let me point out some things about the process...
    • It was an unnecessary process.
    • It was an inefficient process.
  • Why is this an important thing to notice?
    • It is important because it flies in the face of what we believe and value today.
    • In our culture and our day, efficiency and productivity are the measuring sticks of being mature, successful, wise, valuable...
      • Today's mantras...
        • Do your best!
        • Cease the day!
        • Grant Cardone's Ten-X your life!
        • Win the day!
        • Time is money!
        • Nose to the grindstone!
        • Aim for excellence!
        • 30-Day Abs!
          • There are no 30-day abs...
  • So, how did God do?
    • Not very well.
      • At least by our standards...
        • God could have created the universe in a split-second.
  • God didn't...
    • Maximize his time...
    • Focus to the final goal...
    • Cease the day...
    • Ten-X his life...
    • Maximize his efficiency...
  • Why did God take six days (or six billion years if that is your perspective) to create the universe?
    • Where we value efficiency, God values process.
      • THAT IS AN IMPORTANT TRUTH FOR US TO LEARN AND EMBRACE.
      • I think if we can learn God's value system...
        • If we could learn how God thinks about efficiency, accomplishment, success...
        • Then we would gain so much wisdom and encouragement for life's journey.
        • Can I show you this amazing and life-changing truth?
• Just one focus verse today...
  • Philippians 1:6 | I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (CSB)
  • I am sure of this...
  • He says “I am sure of this” because many of those in the church at Phillipi (and many of us today) were not sure of this.
  • ... He who started a good work...
  • Who started the good work in you?
  • [GOSPEL]
  • ... good work...
  • ... will carry it on to completion...
  • Some of the most important words, most important phrase, for those of us seeking to live out the Christian life.
  • What does this tell us...
  • We are not yet completed.
  • One day we will be completed.
  • The work of completion, in a real sense, depends upon the Lord.
  • The Lord will do the heavy lifting of finishing and perfecting us.
  • So...
  • CHILL!
  • One more thing to notice in Philippians 1:6...
  • Just like the work of creation, God's work in our lives to complete us is a PROCESS.
• God loves the process.
• God loves the journey, not just the arrival...
• God loves the construction, not just the ribbon cutting...
• We see this so often in Scripture...
• The Lord describes our relationship with him and our Christian life by comparing it to a branch on a grape vine that slowly gains nourishment through the vine and then after a long, steady connection to the vine eventually bears fruit.
• John 15:4–5 | Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. (CSB)
• We see this in the maturing of Jesus as a boy and a young man...
• Luke 2:52 | And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people. (CSB)
• We see this in Paul's description of what was happening to the Christians in the Galatian church...
• Galatians 4:19 | My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you. (CSB)
• God loves the process!
• God loves the slow, meandering, sometimes circuitous process.
• God's highest value is not to do as much as he can in as short a time as he can.
• The Lord values seeing things slowly take shape and becoming perfect.
• Confession time...
• That's not how I think.
• I'm way more focused on productivity, progress, and efficiency than God is.
• I want everything a perfect as possible and as fast as possible.
• In fact, and this may surprise you, I'm a big video game player.
• Sometimes I play video games for hours a day.
• But it is not the kind  of video game you are thinking.
• I don't have a video game device or console...
• I don't have video games on my computer...
• I very rarely play a video game on my phone...
• (It's probably been longer than a year or two.)
• My one video game is GPS!
• When I get in my car to do somewhere (almost anywhere), I turn on my phone navigation app, type in address, and get the cell phone's ETA.
• Then my goal is to beat it.
• I know that is childish.
• But that is what I do.
• Ladies, do you ever wonder why your husband is so annoyed by the frequency and the duration of restroom stops?
• He never wants to stop, and when he does, he is push push push...
• It is because he is playing a game you don't know about.
• He is trying to beat the ETA!
• Whether the ETA came from a GPS or just from your estimation, he wants to beat it.
• Your husband or dad would rather wet his pants than get beat by the GPS!
• Nothing is more satisfying to a man that being able to arrive at a destination and say: WE MADE GOOD TIME.
• Last week, we learned that often what we call guilt is really the sin of pride...
• Today, I want us to learn that often what we call pressure (or stress) is really a failure to trust God's promise to finish what he has begun.
• So, let's look at our verse again...
• Philippians 1:6 | I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (CSB)
• And let me give you some encouragement for the journey...

Encouragement for the Journey

I.  You are God's greatest  masterpiece.

• When we stand in eternity and we look back on...
• The universe...
• The new heavens and the new earth...
• What will be God's greatest masterpiece?
• Me and you!
• Psalms 139:14 | I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. (CSB)
• We were created in the image of God...
• Then sin...
• Then re-creation...
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 | Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! (CSB)
• Then sanctification and glorification...
• Galatians 4:19 | My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you. (CSB)
• How does an artist create a great work?
• Skill, ability, talent, power...
• Vision...
• Time...
• We see in Luke 2:52 that the process of growth is not a result of our sin nature because Jesus also experienced growth.
• Luke 2:52 | And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people. (CSB)

II.  God values  love over efficiency.

• Greatest commands...
• Matthew 22:36 | “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” (CSB)
• Matthew 22:37 | He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (CSB)
• Matthew 22:38 | This is the greatest and most important command. (CSB)
• Matthew 22:39 | The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. (CSB)
• Productivity and efficiency are often the enemies of love!
• "Time is money," is not found in the Bible!

A. Prioritize your love for God.
B. Prioritize your love for others.

• When you get JOY messed up into YOJ or YJO, then you will mess up yourself!

III.  God honors those who  persevere.

• Perseverance is the most often mentioned indicator of the authenticity of our faith...
• Hebrews 3:14 | For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. (NLT)
• Phone call...
• "I will be perfect from here on out!" –– wrong commitment...
• Should have said...
• "I'm not going to quit!"

Conclusion

• Chill!
• I'm not suggesting that we do not play a role in our own sanctification...
• I'm saying that we are not responsible for our own sanctification...
• My experiences in my first high-school job...
• Can I show you one more puzzling yet instructive inefficiency of God...
• Hebrews 12:2 | keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (CSB)
• Six hours...