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[3341.80 --> 3343.42] this is one of five places
[3343.42 --> 3346.96] where Paul talks about Christ being in us.
[3349.16 --> 3350.50] And language here is not like
[3350.50 --> 3352.46] pop by for a quick visit,
[3352.64 --> 3353.34] how you're doing,
[3353.40 --> 3354.08] you're doing good,
[3354.40 --> 3354.96] see you later.
[3355.38 --> 3358.24] It's the idea of this kind of master feeling
[3358.24 --> 3359.56] fully at home.
[3359.66 --> 3360.08] You might say,
[3360.16 --> 3362.06] Christ with his feet up on the table,
[3362.06 --> 3364.40] feeling very much relaxed, present.
[3365.88 --> 3368.92] He's the centerpiece of our home and lives.
[3370.28 --> 3371.64] Or as one author put it,
[3371.84 --> 3373.32] is Jesus a guest?
[3373.88 --> 3374.72] Is he a resident?
[3375.06 --> 3377.24] Or is he the president of your life?
[3378.82 --> 3381.92] C.S. Lewis offers us a helpful analogy
[3381.92 --> 3384.32] to describe this inner experience
[3384.32 --> 3385.38] and reality of Christ
[3385.38 --> 3386.96] in our lives dwelling,
[3386.96 --> 3389.34] and kind of maybe the surprising things
[3389.34 --> 3391.52] that happen as he does that.
[3392.42 --> 3393.10] C.S. Lewis says,
[3393.44 --> 3395.38] imagine yourself as a living house.
[3395.68 --> 3396.22] Even go ahead,
[3396.28 --> 3396.88] do that now.
[3397.70 --> 3400.10] God comes in to rebuild that house.
[3400.58 --> 3401.18] At first,
[3401.44 --> 3403.18] you understand what he is doing.
[3403.84 --> 3405.36] He's getting the drains right
[3405.36 --> 3407.52] and stopping the leaks in the roof
[3407.52 --> 3408.08] and so on.
[3408.18 --> 3410.64] You kind of knew those jobs needed doing
[3410.64 --> 3411.34] and you're not surprised.
[3411.34 --> 3413.08] It made sense early on.
[3413.76 --> 3414.62] But presently,
[3414.72 --> 3416.74] he starts knocking the house about
[3416.74 --> 3419.46] in a way that hurts abominably
[3419.46 --> 3421.48] and does not make any sense.
[3422.32 --> 3423.66] What on earth is he up to?
[3424.06 --> 3425.36] The explanation is that
[3425.36 --> 3427.34] he is building quite a different house
[3427.34 --> 3429.04] than the one you thought of.
[3429.54 --> 3431.16] Throwing out a new wing here,
[3431.56 --> 3433.14] putting on an extra floor there,
[3433.50 --> 3434.40] running up towers,
[3434.56 --> 3435.50] making courtyards.
[3435.50 --> 3437.14] You thought you were being made
[3437.14 --> 3439.18] into a decent little cottage.
[3439.88 --> 3441.80] But he is building a palace
[3441.80 --> 3443.40] and he intends to come
[3443.40 --> 3444.78] and live in it himself.
[3446.74 --> 3448.62] So my question for us this morning is,
[3449.06 --> 3450.46] where might Jesus be doing
[3450.46 --> 3451.60] unexpected,
[3452.12 --> 3453.66] maybe painful or uncomfortable,
[3454.28 --> 3456.44] renovation work in your heart and life?
[3457.08 --> 3459.14] Where is there a bit of dust and mess
[3459.14 --> 3460.76] as he's doing that?
[3460.86 --> 3463.56] What closed doors might he be knocking on?
[3463.56 --> 3466.60] What windows might he be wanting to open
[3466.60 --> 3469.04] as he kind of expands your life,
[3469.18 --> 3469.80] your heart,
[3470.40 --> 3471.16] maybe your ministry
[3471.16 --> 3472.32] to make room for others?
[3473.76 --> 3474.58] It can be painful,
[3474.80 --> 3475.40] but my encouragement,
[3475.48 --> 3476.42] and this text's encouragement,
[3476.60 --> 3477.94] is that Jesus can be trusted.
[3478.34 --> 3479.80] He knows what he is doing.
[3481.72 --> 3483.72] Secondly, Paul prays for power
[3483.72 --> 3485.06] that we might take hold
[3485.06 --> 3488.14] of the immensity of Christ's love
[3488.14 --> 3489.74] and taste its intensity
[3489.74 --> 3491.42] via personal experience.
[3492.04 --> 3492.98] The language is there
[3492.98 --> 3494.88] almost having our minds blown
[3494.88 --> 3496.28] at the height,
[3496.42 --> 3497.02] at the depth,
[3497.12 --> 3497.86] at the length,
[3498.08 --> 3499.32] at the breadth.
[3500.12 --> 3500.66] In a sense,
[3501.00 --> 3502.26] when we hear God's word
[3502.26 --> 3502.62] and we're like,
[3502.84 --> 3503.66] yeah, you know,
[3503.74 --> 3504.28] I know it,
[3504.90 --> 3505.96] it's actually the point
[3505.96 --> 3507.02] of showing that we actually
[3507.02 --> 3508.16] have lost touch
[3508.16 --> 3510.30] with the insanity,
[3510.68 --> 3511.88] the kind of beyond
[3511.88 --> 3514.04] the radicalness
[3514.04 --> 3514.94] of God's love
[3514.94 --> 3516.22] for each one of us, right?
[3516.22 --> 3517.16] The psalmist,
[3517.46 --> 3518.26] trying to capture it,
[3518.32 --> 3520.66] was his love is as high
[3520.66 --> 3521.34] as the heavens
[3521.34 --> 3522.46] are above the earth.