Ezekiel 16:8
God took an outcast people and made them a strong, beautiful nation, foreshadowing what He would do for His church.
Chuck Smith emphasizes the transformation that God brings to our lives, illustrating how He took a lost and polluted people and made them beautiful through His covenant. He reminds us of our former state of spiritual death and aimlessness, highlighting the grace of God that washes us clean and anoints us with His Spirit. Smith explains that we are now clothed in righteousness and adorned with the beauty of Christ, reflecting His glory in our lives. The sermon serves as a powerful reminder of God's love and the abundant life He offers to His church.
Text
"PERFECTION OF BEAUTY"
Intro: In this chapter, God speaks of how He took an outcast Bedouin
family and made them a strong, beautiful nation. It was just a
foreshadow of what He was to do for His church.
I. REMEMBER HOW WE WERE WHEN GOD FIRST CAME TO US.
"And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted..."
A. "Dead in trespasses and sins."
1. Spiritually dead.
2. "The wages of sin is death."
B. Our lives were without any eternal purpose.
1. Lost - wandering aimlessly.
2. Our lives were being wasted.
C. We were living as animals.
1. Following our instincts.
2. Ruled by our body appetites.
D. Without Christ.
1. Strangers to God.
2. Without hope.
II. WHAT GOD HAS DONE AND IS DOING FOR US.
A. Vs. 8b - "I entered into a covenant with thee..."
1. "This cup is a new covenant in My blood which is shed
for you."
2. He redeemed us from our slavery to sin and our flesh.
3. Now we are His!
a. "Know ye not that your our body is the
temple..."
B. "I washed thee with water."
1. He washed us from our past pollution.
2. He continues to wash us from the pollution of our daily
brush with the world.
a. "The blood of Jesus Christ..."
C. "I anointed thee with oil."
1. He placed the anointing of His Spirit upon our lives.
a. "After you believed, you were sealed with the
Holy Spirit of promise."
D. "I clothed thee," in His robes of righteousness.
1. With embroidered work.
a. Speaks of care and skill.
b. Handiwork - "You are His handiwork..."
2. Shod thee with badgers' skin.
a. A soft leather they dyed purple as a sign of
luxury.
b. How rich I am in Christ!
3. "I girded thee with fine linen."
a. A most expensive cloth to be worn by the priest
in their service to God.
b. "And to her was granted that she should be
arrayed in fine linen clean and white, for
the..."
c. "And to be found in Him, not clothed in..."
4. "I decked thee with jewelry."
a. Jesus said, "I have come that ye might have
life, and that more abundantly."
b. How the Lord loves to adorn His bride.
c. These ornaments can be likened unto the fruit
of the Spirit.
5. "And you were exceedingly beautiful."
a. "...Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me..."
b. The Spirit seeks to conform us into the image
of Christ.
1. "And we with open face beholding the
glory of the Lord..."
2. "Until we all come into the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Christ."
6. "For your beauty was perfect through my comeliness,
which I had put upon thee."
a. "And when before the throne, I stand in Him
complete."
Sermon Outline
- I. REMEMBER HOW WE WERE WHEN GOD FIRST CAME TO US.
- A. Dead in trespasses and sins.
- B. Our lives were without any eternal purpose.
- C. We were living as animals.
- D. Without Christ.
- II. WHAT GOD HAS DONE AND IS DOING FOR US.
- A. God entered into a covenant with us.
- B. He washed us from our past pollution.
- C. He placed the anointing of His Spirit upon our lives.
- D. He clothed us with His robes of righteousness.
Key Quotes
“And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted...” — Chuck Smith
“This cup is a new covenant in My blood which is shed for you.” — Chuck Smith
“And when before the throne, I stand in Him complete.” — Chuck Smith
Application Points
- Remember how God first came to us and the state we were in before Him.
- Recognize the beauty God has given us through His covenant and redemption.
- Let the Spirit conform us into the image of Christ, making us beautiful in His eyes.