WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.480 --> 00:00:04.960 You know, we really live in a world that's full 2 00:00:04.960 --> 00:00:09.480 of competing beliefs and values and choices, and what you 3 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:14.400 believe shapes how you live and ultimately who you become. 4 00:00:14.919 --> 00:00:18.760 But the good news is God hasn't left us to 5 00:00:18.920 --> 00:00:20.800 figure it all out alone. 6 00:00:21.160 --> 00:00:21.239 No. 7 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:25.000 In fact, today, on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, we're going 8 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:30.079 to continue our series Reframing Your Worldview, where Rick Warren 9 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:34.119 unpacks powerful truths from God's Word to help you see 10 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:39.000 life clearly and live it with confidence and purpose. And 11 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:42.280 now here's Rick with part two of a message called 12 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:44.200 Where Did We Come From? 13 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:47.840 Here's the second reason you have sanctity in your life 14 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:51.520 because God planned your life before you were born. Did 15 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:54.119 you know that on the back of your outline, God 16 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:58.520 says to Jeremiah, before I formed you in the womb, 17 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:02.520 I knew you. Did you get that he said, before 18 00:01:02.600 --> 00:01:06.959 even even conception? He says, I knew you before you 19 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:09.599 were formed in the womb. I knew you before you 20 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:13.599 were born. I set you apart for my holy purposes. 21 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:17.680 Did you know that God had a purpose for your 22 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:21.120 life before you took your first breath? Did you know 23 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:25.359 that God says he knew you before you were even conceived. 24 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:26.359 He thought of you. 25 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:32.159 He conceived you before your parents conceived you. God says, 26 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:34.879 I planned you in advance. I planned your birth. There 27 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:37.799 are examples of this author scripture. The Bible tells us 28 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:41.000 that John the Baptist was actually filled with God's spirit 29 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:44.959 while he was in his mother's womb. Why because God 30 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.239 had a plan and a purpose for his life. In fact, 31 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:48.920 here a couple of scriptures. Look up here on the screen. 32 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:54.280 Isaiah said, the Lord called me before my birth from 33 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:58.480 within the womb. He called me by name. God knew 34 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:01.719 Isaiah's name before or his parents gave him the name. 35 00:02:03.319 --> 00:02:05.640 God called him before he was born. What does that mean? 36 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:08.400 God had a calling on his life. The reason Isaiah 37 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:11.319 was conceived is God had a purpose for his life. 38 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:15.159 God said, I'm putting this purpose on the planet, and 39 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:17.520 I'm going to use these parents. I'm going to use 40 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:20.319 them because i want to bless the world through this man. 41 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:22.639 The same is true with you. 42 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:26.400 God designed you in his image and he planned you 43 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:28.680 before your birth. Look here's what God said to Rebecca. 44 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:31.759 Look upon the screen. God said to Rebecca, the sons 45 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:33.919 in your womb. By the way, he didn't say fetuses. 46 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:37.680 He said the sons in your womb shall become two 47 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:43.199 rival nations. One will be stronger than the other, and 48 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:46.400 the older shall be the servant of the younger. God 49 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:48.280 already knew what was going to happen to these two boys. 50 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:51.879 He already knew why, because he had a plan for 51 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:55.360 their life. This is why we don't believe in abortion, 52 00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:59.960 because abortion short circuits God's plan. God thought of you 53 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:03.520 long before your parents did. And what if you had 54 00:03:03.560 --> 00:03:06.639 been aborted, then you could not fulfill the purpose God 55 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:11.000 put you on this planet. God put you here for 56 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:13.919 a reason, and God says, I don't want my plan. 57 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.080 I don't want my purpose short circuited by anybody else. 58 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:21.759 He bade you in this image. He planned you before birth. 59 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.439 There's a third reason you have sanctity in your life, 60 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:27.879 and that's because God made you for his pleasure. You 61 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:30.719 were planned for God's pleasure. The Bible says this in 62 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:35.960 Revelation four. You God created everything, and it is for 63 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:40.479 your pleasure that they exist, and they were created. You 64 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:43.439 look around the universe. Everything you see, God made it 65 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:46.439 for his own enjoyment. God made it to enjoy it. 66 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:47.520 You look at it and you find a tree eat 67 00:03:47.560 --> 00:03:50.599 God says, I made that because I enjoyed it. I 68 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:53.159 enjoy it. You look at a waterfall or sunset, God 69 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:56.039 made it to enjoy it. You look at yourself in 70 00:03:56.080 --> 00:04:01.560 a mirror. God made you to enjoy you. That's why 71 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:05.800 you were created. You're not here by accident. God puts 72 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:08.560 you on this planet because he wanted to love you. 73 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:10.960 He wanted to enjoy you, and he wants you to 74 00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:15.199 learn to enjoy him back. And God just enjoys you, 75 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:19.040 Watching enjoys watching you be you. A lot of times 76 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:21.399 we think that God only gets excited or happy or 77 00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:24.120 smiles at us when we're doing something. 78 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:25.519 Spiritual, like going to church. 79 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:28.959 But the fact is God enjoys you when you're just 80 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:31.920 doing the things that He created you to do. If 81 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:34.720 you're good at making sales or closing deals, God says, 82 00:04:34.839 --> 00:04:38.480 that's my boy when you do it. If you're good 83 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:43.319 at painting or writing or crocheting or cooking, when you 84 00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:44.920 do that, God says, that's my boy. 85 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:45.720 That's my girl. 86 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:49.319 When you're good at teaching, or you're good at planning, 87 00:04:49.399 --> 00:04:51.920 or you're good at whatever you do, God looks down, 88 00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:56.399 he goes, that's my girl. He enjoys watching you be 89 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:00.800 you now. I understand this as a parent. Kids were small. 90 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:03.560 They did all they didn't have to do. They didn't 91 00:05:03.560 --> 00:05:05.519 have to be quoting the Bible for me to love them. 92 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:08.879 I just loved them when they were just squirreling around 93 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:12.560 being kids, you know, riding with crayons on the wall 94 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:16.639 and spelling milk, and jumping on the trampoline and tossing 95 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:19.439 off the bed and getting up a hundred times at night, 96 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:21.519 and you know, all of the things that kids do. 97 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:27.879 I just enjoyed them being kids. And sometimes I'd go 98 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:29.319 into the room at night and then I'd just sit 99 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:32.560 down and enjoy them sleeping. Sometimes I enjoyed that the most, 100 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:39.040 and I just watch them sleep, and i'd watch them breathe, 101 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:41.920 and I go I got so much pleasure out of that. 102 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:45.120 Did you know that God gets pleasure out of watching 103 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:51.000 you be you? Why He made you, and he loves 104 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:53.800 you like a heavenly father. Only he loves you in 105 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:55.959 a perfect way. I could only love my kids and 106 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:00.160 in an imperfect way. And so God says, no, I 107 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:04.199 enjoy you. That's why I made you. Now he enjoys it, 108 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:08.600 especially when you talk back to him. I can't imagine 109 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:10.639 if my three kids had grown up in my house 110 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:13.279 and had never said a single word to me that 111 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:16.319 would break my heart. But I know people who go 112 00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:19.480 months and years, maybe even their entire life, and never 113 00:06:19.519 --> 00:06:22.680 talk to God, and they never tell him that they 114 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:25.839 love him, and they never tell God that they're thankful 115 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:28.519 that they're alive, and they never get to know God, 116 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:32.639 never develop a relationship. Some of you are parents, know 117 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:34.439 what it's like to have the pain of a broken 118 00:06:34.519 --> 00:06:37.600 relationship with a child and how much that hurts you 119 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:40.120 when that fellowship is broken between you and your child. 120 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:44.600 Imagine how God feels a zillion times over when. 121 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:46.279 People that he created won't. 122 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:50.399 Even acknowledge that He exists, won't even acknowledge that He 123 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:54.439 gave them everything that they have in life. It's all 124 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:58.800 because of him. Is See, you were made by God. 125 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:04.839 You were made for his pleasure. And God says, everything 126 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:08.199 you have in your life really comes from Me. You 127 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:12.480 would have nothing without God. Zero. I just wrote down 128 00:07:12.519 --> 00:07:14.279 a few verses from the Bible on this look up 129 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:17.399 here on the screen. The Bible says, you, God are 130 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:20.519 the one who hears prayers. And the next verse says, 131 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:23.920 you God are the one who saves me. And the 132 00:07:23.959 --> 00:07:28.120 next says you are the one who forgives my rebellious acts. 133 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:31.319 And the Bible says you, God are the one who 134 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:34.160 puts me together in my mother's who put me together 135 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:37.160 in my mother's body, And the Bible says you, God 136 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:41.639 are the one who determines my destiny. God is the 137 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:45.279 one we owe all of our gratitude too. Now, because 138 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:48.360 God needs you in his image, You are not an accident. 139 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:51.879 And that means, first of all, your life has sanctity. 140 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:56.759 Nobody's got a right to take it. Number two, you're in. 141 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:04.120 Your identity has dignity. Your identity has dignity now deep 142 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:07.199 inside you. What you want most of all in life 143 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:11.000 is you want dignity. You may not realize it, you 144 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:13.120 may not call it that, but that's what you want. 145 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:17.639 Everybody wants to feel that their life matters. You want 146 00:08:17.680 --> 00:08:20.800 to feel like your life is worth something, that your 147 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:24.639 life is valuable, that there is significance. 148 00:08:23.879 --> 00:08:26.079 To your life, that you're not just a zero, a. 149 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:29.279 Cipher, a zip, but not a nothing in the scheme 150 00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:32.480 of things. You want to feel like your life matters, 151 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:37.200 that it counts, that it has value and worth and dignity, 152 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:41.679 and you crave it now what is it that gives dignity? Well, 153 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:44.360 we try all kinds of things. But you don't get 154 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:48.440 dignity from wealth. You don't get it from fame. You 155 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:52.559 don't get dignity from sex. You don't get dignity from 156 00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:57.360 physical beauty. Oh. No, dignity is much much deeper than 157 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:01.440 all those things. Your significance will never come from any 158 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:03.559 of those things. And then you try to find significance 159 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:06.320 in those things, you will be deeply disappointed. 160 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:08.120 It's much deeper. 161 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:10.440 You know you can have it all by the world's 162 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:15.679 standard money, sex, power, fame, beauty, and still feel like 163 00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:19.399 a fake inside. Why, because you were made for more. 164 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:23.960 Where does real dignity come from? Real significance? It comes 165 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:26.840 from three things, and they all come from God. 166 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.200 It's the next three verses. 167 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:33.720 First, real dignity comes from realizing that God sacrificed Jesus, 168 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:37.679 his son for you. When you realize that, you realize 169 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:42.200 that God considered you valuable enough to die for, you 170 00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:46.519 were worth dying for. Have you ever realized that God 171 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:51.320 considered you valuable enough to die for? The Bible says 172 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:55.960 this God paid a ransom to save you from the 173 00:09:56.039 --> 00:10:01.000 empty life. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood. 174 00:10:00.519 --> 00:10:03.320 Of Christ, and he did this for you. 175 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:07.159 God says, you want to know how much you're valuable, 176 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:11.159 how much dignity I think you have? He says, look 177 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:14.799 at the cross, and Jesus says, this is how valuable 178 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:17.399 you are to me. This is how valuable you are 179 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:21.720 to God. You're worth dying for. You're worth going through 180 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:24.320 all the pain of the passion. You're worth going through 181 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:27.480 all that suffering. You're worth letting them nails in my hand. 182 00:10:27.639 --> 00:10:30.080 That's how much you're worth. How much is something worth? 183 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:33.000 I'll tell you whatever a buyer is willing to pay 184 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:36.200 for it. If you've ever had a car and tried 185 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:38.720 to sell it and you think it's worth X amount, 186 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:41.159 it's not worth that. It's worth whatever somebody is willing 187 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:44.120 to pay. And if nobody's willing to pay what you 188 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:45.799 think it's worth, you're never going to get it. 189 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:49.559 Whether it's a house or I could hold up. 190 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:52.240 A comic book, and for some people that comic book 191 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:54.840 might be worth a quarter, but to somebody else it 192 00:10:54.919 --> 00:10:57.519 might be worth a quarter of a million dollars because 193 00:10:57.559 --> 00:11:02.039 they knew it had some significance to them. Value is 194 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:04.480 determined by what somebody is willing to pay for it. 195 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:08.440 God was willing to pay for you for your salvation 196 00:11:09.039 --> 00:11:12.279 with his own son, with his own life. He came 197 00:11:12.360 --> 00:11:14.759 to earth, he said, I'd rather die than live without you. 198 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:19.399 That shows dignity. And when you realize that God sends 199 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:22.879 his son to die for you, you should never again 200 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:26.879 worry about low self esteem. You're valuable to God. That's 201 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:30.039 why the Bible says this in One Peter two seventeen. 202 00:11:30.120 --> 00:11:30.639 Up here on the. 203 00:11:30.559 --> 00:11:35.120 Screen, treat everyone you meet with dignity. Why does he 204 00:11:35.200 --> 00:11:41.080 say that? Because everyone you meet was loved by God. 205 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:45.559 Everyone you meet Jesus died for You will never meet 206 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:49.399 anybody that Jesus Christ didn't die for. Doesn't matter if 207 00:11:49.399 --> 00:11:51.639 they believe it or not, accept it or not, doesn't 208 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:53.960 matter if they believe in God or not. The Bible says, 209 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:56.559 you treat them with dignity because I died. 210 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.279 For them, and I love them. 211 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:02.279 I create created them, I love them, and I died 212 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:04.080 for them, and you treat them with dignity. And he 213 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:08.960 says everybody. That means believers and non believers. It means 214 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:12.120 people you agree with and people you disagree with. It 215 00:12:12.200 --> 00:12:16.200 means old people and young people. You treat him with dignity. 216 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:22.039 It means Republicans and Democrats and independence. I don't see 217 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:24.759 much treating with dignity today in the political scene. I 218 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:28.279 just see people demonizing each other and making them inhuman. 219 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.600 It means treating women with dignity, and it means treating 220 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:36.679 men with dignity. It means treating everybody, whether you agree 221 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:40.919 with them or not, whether they're an atheist or a 222 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:45.399 New Age person or whatever. Anybody, he says, you treat 223 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:49.639 with dignity because I died for them. I died for them, 224 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:52.639 and that gives them dignity. It's the second thing that 225 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:55.240 gives us dignity. It's when you realize that the Holy 226 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:59.000 Spirit lives in your life. When you invite Jesus Christ 227 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:01.480 into your heart. You say, Jesus Christ, come into my life. 228 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:05.080 What does that mean? You're saying, God, I want you 229 00:13:05.120 --> 00:13:07.600 to put your spirit inside of me, Come and live 230 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:10.679 inside this body. And as you begin to get to 231 00:13:10.679 --> 00:13:13.360 know him, you begin to learn when it's God talking 232 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.039 to you and when it's just your mind talking to you, 233 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:17.039 and you go, oh, I'm getting this lead in, I'm 234 00:13:17.039 --> 00:13:20.320 getting this little prompting. It's nothing spooky. It's just God says, 235 00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:22.399 this is what I want you to do. And he 236 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:24.519 doesn't have to say it aloud because his spirit is 237 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:26.399 put inside of you. He wants you to do the 238 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:28.559 loving thing and the kind thing and the important thing. 239 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:32.399 And God puts his spirit in you, inside of you. 240 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:36.159 Now it's not automatic. You have to invite him inside 241 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:38.399 your heart. You have to say, Jesus Christ, put your 242 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:41.639 spirit inside of me. He's not going to bully his 243 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:43.759 way in. God isn't going to force you to do anything. 244 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:46.840 He made you in his image, which means he gave 245 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.360 you the freedom to choose. Animals don't have the freedom 246 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:52.360 to choose. You do. You can choose to reject God, 247 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.159 you can choose to turn your back on him. But 248 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:58.320 when you say God, I'm choosing you, he like a gentleman, 249 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:01.320 comes into your heart and he says, to be the 250 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:02.360 manager of your life. 251 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:03.840 No this this next verse. 252 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.559 One Corinthian six says, haven't you yet learned that your 253 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:12.000 body is the home of the Holy Spirit? You know, 254 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:14.840 the King James version says your body is the temple 255 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:16.559 of the Holy Spirit. A lot of times you're here, 256 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:19.000 athletes say on TV or at the gym or some 257 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:21.360 of this saying, well, I believe my body is a temple, 258 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:24.840 and I want to say a temple of what? What 259 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:28.159 kind of God is inside that temple? Is it just you? 260 00:14:28.159 --> 00:14:28.679 Yourself? 261 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.159 You see, when anybody says I believe my body is 262 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:33.480 a temple, they're actually quoting the Bible, but they're only 263 00:14:33.559 --> 00:14:36.440 quoting part of the verse. The Bible says, your body 264 00:14:36.519 --> 00:14:39.960 is the temple, the home, the temple of the Holy Spirit. 265 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.799 It's not to be the temple for just anything. God said, 266 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.519 I want it to be the temple for me. I 267 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:50.120 created you to want me in your heart. He says, 268 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.480 don't make it a temple for anything else. Make it 269 00:14:52.480 --> 00:14:55.960 a temple for God's spirit, and you invite him in. 270 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:59.159 He says, He lives within you. And your own body 271 00:14:59.240 --> 00:15:02.720 does not belie long to you what it belongs to God. 272 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:05.039 One day you're going to give up this body and 273 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:07.440 you're going to keep on going. The body belongs to God. 274 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.200 You got it on loan for about eighty years, but 275 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:12.799 one day you're going to turn it in at the 276 00:15:12.840 --> 00:15:18.399 rental shop. Now, God says, I sacrifice Jesus for you. 277 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:21.399 That shows your dignity. I am willing to come and 278 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:24.440 live in your life in your body. And God doesn't 279 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:27.559 put his spirit in a junk can, So that shows 280 00:15:27.559 --> 00:15:28.200 your dignity. 281 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:29.720 And there's a third reason. 282 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.320 Jesus gives you a new identity when you come to him. 283 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:36.120 He gives you a new identity. When you start trusting 284 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:41.360 Jesus Christ, he transforms your life. He makes things better, 285 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:46.360 he makes things new. The Bible says this, anyone who 286 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:50.720 has joined to Christ is a new being, new person inside. 287 00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:55.000 The old is gone and the new has come. We've 288 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:58.639 talked about this before that when you come to Jesus Christ, 289 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:01.679 it's like he writes everything you've ever done wrong on 290 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:05.360 a big blackboard and he says, no, we're just gonna 291 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:08.720 race all that. Okay, we're gonna start over. You're gonna 292 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:09.159 get a. 293 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:11.399 Fresh new start from this day forward. 294 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:13.799 The day that you step across the line and you 295 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:18.000 invite Jesus into you, this is a new you. Okay. 296 00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:21.360 We're gonna call it being born again. It's like starting 297 00:16:21.399 --> 00:16:25.200 completely over. It's like a fresh new life, not just 298 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:28.279 a new leaf, but a total new life. And he says, 299 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:32.120 I'm gonna give you a new identity. And that's what happens. 300 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:35.159 It's a transforming thing. Now let me tell you why 301 00:16:35.159 --> 00:16:39.480 this is important. I'm gonna be real blunt with you. 302 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:41.159 You have done some things in your life that you're 303 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:46.480 very ashamed of. You have done some things in your 304 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:51.720 life you're ashamed of. So have I. And there are 305 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.360 a lot of things in our lives that we wish men. 306 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.679 I wish I could do that over. I wish I 307 00:16:56.679 --> 00:16:58.399 could put I wish I hadn't said that. I wish 308 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:01.279 I hadn't done that. I wish I hadn't messed up 309 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:04.400 that relationship. I oh, you know, I wish I could 310 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:07.119 replay the tape and back it up and do a 311 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.880 mull again, and do over and just get a fresh start. 312 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:12.720 I wish I could just take that off the slate. 313 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:19.799 Why because every time you and I sin, it damages 314 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:21.160 your dignity. 315 00:17:21.319 --> 00:17:23.559 Sin doesn't just hurt God, it hurts you. 316 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:27.440 When you break God's principles. You don't just hurt other 317 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:30.599 people and God, you hurt yourself. It damages your dignity, 318 00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:34.119 And every time you sin, it replaces a little bit 319 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:37.480 of self respect with a little bit of shame, and 320 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:40.359 it begins to pile up in your life and you 321 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:42.160 begin to try to push it out of the way 322 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:44.960 by staying busy or playing sports or getting drunk or 323 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:48.079 having parties or whatever. But it's there, and when you 324 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:48.839 put your head down. 325 00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:51.000 At night, you're going, man, I sure messed up. 326 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:56.240 And every time you blow it, it robs you of dignity. 327 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:02.000 But Jesus Christ is in the dignity restoring business. He says, 328 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:03.359 when you come to me and you give your life 329 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:05.400 to me, he goes, We're just gonna wipe that out. 330 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:08.480 It's starting over. So it's like, if you came to 331 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.400 Christ tonight, go okay, Jesus, give me a fresh start. 332 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:15.160 And then you die tomorrow and you go to heaven 333 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:17.440 and he say, now, God, about that sin that I 334 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:18.119 did last week. 335 00:18:18.119 --> 00:18:19.160 He's gonna go, what's. 336 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:23.839 Sind I's gonna say, I distinctly remember forgetting that. 337 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:28.279 He intentionally forgets it. 338 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:32.680 One of my favorite stories in the Bibles where these guys, 339 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:37.319 these religious leaders, they catch this prostitute and they pull 340 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:40.839 her out of this of bed and they. 341 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:43.000 Bring her to Jesus and they throw her in front 342 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:44.079 of Jesus on the ground. 343 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:47.160 They have no respect, they are not treating her with dignity, 344 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:50.160 and they throw on the ground and they say, okay, 345 00:18:50.160 --> 00:18:53.960 they're trying to trap Jesus, and the religious leaders say, okay, Lord, 346 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:58.839 if you're so smart, the law requires that this immoral 347 00:18:58.880 --> 00:18:59.759 woman be stone. 348 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:01.799 But we caught her in the act of adultery. 349 00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:03.519 What do you say. 350 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:09.240 Jesus just looks at him, doesn't say. 351 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:12.319 A word, and he kneels down in the ground and 352 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:17.599 he starts the Bible says, writing in the sand. Now 353 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:19.519 doesn't tell us what he wrote. I think he was 354 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:22.559 just doodling. I think he's letting making him sweat it. 355 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.200 Here's kind of doodling around here. You know, now, what 356 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:28.559 he could have been doing. He could have been writing 357 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:31.480 in the sand the names of the sins of each 358 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:34.839 of those leaders, because he would have known it. He 359 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:35.359 was God. 360 00:19:35.799 --> 00:19:37.440 He would have known what they had done wrong. He 361 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:38.480 could just write it in there. 362 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:42.400 But then he stands back up and he says, okay, 363 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:47.240 whichever of you has never sinned, you get to cast 364 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:51.839 the first stone. Well, of course they all know nobody's perfect. 365 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:55.039 They've all blown it, and one by one they walk away. 366 00:19:55.279 --> 00:19:59.160 What was Jesus doing? He was protecting that woman's dignity. 367 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:00.799 Did he agree with what she was doing? 368 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:04.119 No? What's what is she doing wrong? Yes, but did 369 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:08.720 he protect her dignity in public? Absolutely? And so all 370 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:11.880 of the accusers leave, and then, in the privacy of 371 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:16.240 that one on one tender moment, Jesus said to this woman, 372 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:20.960 who undoubtedly was filled with shame, He says, where are 373 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:21.680 your accusers? 374 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:26.160 And she looks up and she says, Lord, they're all gone. 375 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:31.039 He says, I don't condemn you either, go and send 376 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:31.480 no more. 377 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:37.359 That's it. That's all he's gonna say. I mean, he 378 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:39.880 could have pulled out a ten point sermon on adult tree, 379 00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:42.559 don't do this. Yeah you did that, but let me 380 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:44.039 tell you what else you did? Da da da da, 381 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:46.079 and really loaded it on her. See, a lot of 382 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:48.839 people think that's the way God is. A lot of 383 00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:50.960 you are afraid to come and confess to God what 384 00:20:51.079 --> 00:20:53.160 you've done wrong because you think you're gonna get a 385 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:55.720 scolding when you come and confess to him. And you 386 00:20:55.799 --> 00:20:57.799 think that if you come and say, God, I blew it, 387 00:20:57.839 --> 00:20:59.880 God's gonna go, oh, how did I miss that one? 388 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:02.680 You know, and he's going to be shocked, as if 389 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:05.559 he doesn't already know. And then that he's going to say, 390 00:21:05.559 --> 00:21:07.119 and not only did you do that, you did these 391 00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:10.039 ten other things too. No, he's not gonna do that. 392 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:14.319 He responds to you in love and in grace and 393 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:17.920 in mercy. And when she said, he said, where are 394 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:19.759 your accusers? She said, they're gone. He said, neither do 395 00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:23.440 I condemn you. I don't accuse you. Go and send 396 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:26.079 no more what said? He just says, don't do it anymore. 397 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:30.119 She didn't need a sermon. She knew what was wrong. 398 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:32.519 Nobody needed to tell her why what. 399 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:35.119 She was doing was wrong. He just said, don't do 400 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:35.680 it anymore. 401 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:41.039