this time around, because it occurs to me there's probably a number of people who will stay home, and I wouldn't blame them for doing so, but maybe an elder shouldn't say that. So last time, gotta turn that down, dude. Last time, I covered the basics of stewardship, and today I'm gonna talk about stewardship created and redeemed. What I'm trying to accomplish here is to show that stewardship is more than budgeting. It's more than a last-ditch effort to get money to fund our programs. Although there's nothing wrong, I would also say it's appropriate to preach and teach about our responsibilities to use our money well for the advance of the kingdom. And we're gonna do that. We're gonna do that the third time I stand here. But that has to be rooted in something. That's a stewardship that supports something greater. It supports the gospel, which we are ultimately stewards. That's our greatest calling to stewardship. And so my burden this morning, if you will, my goal, is to show that stewardship is grounded in creation, that it's part of our identity as human beings, and especially as redeemed human beings. As I was driving here, I thought about the first Bible conference I ever went to, and it was a Sword of the Lord conference at Bob Jones University. And I said to myself, when I left Greenville, that was back in 1980, seven or eight, I couldn't understand why anyone would want to live here. I came down from Massachusetts, and I said, it was rough. It didn't look like it does today, I'll tell you that. And I remember thinking, well, I'm glad I never want to go back to Greenville. And we ended up moving here 19 years ago. But during this conference, a pastor named Curtis Hudson said, it takes three books to run a church. It takes the good book, it takes a hymn book, and it takes a pocket book. They said, now please stand up and turn to page 20 of your pocketbook. I just thought that was so funny. Oh, stewardship is more than turning to page 20 of your pocketbook. So let me begin by reading from Genesis. And we're gonna look at these verses this morning. Beginning in verse 26. Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air. and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him, male and female, he created them. Then God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, see, I have given you every herb that yields seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed, to you it shall be for food. Also to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food. And it was so. Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day, God ended his work, which he had done. And he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. We'll stop there. Let us pray. Gracious Father in heaven, we thank you that you've given us this hour to look more deeply into your holy word. And we pray that you'd be pleased this morning by your spirit by Jesus Christ to teach us what you would have us to know about being stewards, created in your image to manage the world that you have made. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Let me begin with just a very brief review. So in terms of what it means to be a steward, we defined it as one who manages the belongings of others in accordance with the will of the owner. A steward is one who manages or administers someone else's household affairs. He or she is a trustee or an agent for the benefit of the owner. A steward is the one who does the work of stewardship. Steward's not the owner. Stewardship is the activity of carrying out one's identity as a steward. This happens in daily life as the tasks of everyday life in the world are carried out. Faithfulness is the only godly standard for stewardship. Now, let's begin again with a little bit of a kind of thought activity. We talked about stewardship. Now, let's talk about ownership for a moment. And now, I need your help. You have to give me feedback. Interact with me. What is ownership? What is ownership? Possession. Possession. Okay. Anyone else? More? Add to that. Ownership is possession. What else? Responsibility. Responsibility. Good. Ownership is possession. Responsibility. There's more. Mine belongs to me. Mine belongs to me. Yeah. Joey? A legal status. A legal status. Very good. You're piecing it together here. Anyone else? So an owner is the person who holds title to a property or object. That's the legal definition. An owner is the legal possessor of something. What are the rights and privileges that come with it? Well, Vernon said, do what I want to do with it. It's mine. Can you think of any other privileges or rights? But then they need to make decisions about it. Okay, make decisions about it. Good. Anyone else? Well, I see some responsibility to take care of it. You have a responsibility to take care of what you own, right? So with ownership comes rights and privileges. It is the owner who gets to determine ultimate purpose and use of that which is owned. Ownership also gives the responsibility to care for the item that is owned, as you said. And this responsibility could include, and often includes, putting the task of steward into the right hands. You did that when you elected elders, I hope. I hope you put the stewardship of this congregation into the right hands. What do you think the difference would be between ownership and stewardship now we've established stewardship, we've established ownership? What's the difference? Jack? Steward does not necessarily own the property, but is charged with the responsibility for its upkeep and its proper use. Very good. Anyone want to add to that? Don't be shy. I'm just saying, what's the difference between the two? Because we're making a distinction. I just ask you to think about it. You're saying the steward, the owner has ultimate right to the benefits. It shares them with the steward. But the percent shared is up to the owner. Okay, let's keep going. There's a huge distinction between steward and owner. The owner is the one that has all the responsibility and privilege. The owner's prerogative is the only one that matters when it comes to the purpose and use of that which is owned. The steward serves on behalf of the owner. His or her will, in order to be faithful, is only to use the owned item in a manner that is in keeping with the will of the owner. So the will of the owner is everything. The will of the steward is in submission to the will of the owner. That's really important for us, because God has given us a lot of things to manage, and we need to manage them according to his will, not our own. We're not the owners. So we established that, I just stated it as given, that God is the ultimate owner of all things. Let me just read you a series of verses. I know you believe that, I know you do. But I'm gonna fortify it here, okay? Deuteronomy 10, 14, to the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Leviticus 25, verse 23, the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. 1 Chronicles 29, 11 through 12. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom. You are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you. You are the ruler of all things. Job 41, 11. Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. Psalm 24, verses one through two. The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it. For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Psalm 50, verses 10 through 12. For every animal of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all that is in it. Haggai 2, remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth. That doesn't even come from ultimately your own labors. Deuteronomy 8, verse 18. 1 Samuel 2, verse 7, the Lord makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and lifts up. 1 Chronicles 29, 12. Wealth and honor come from you. You are the ruler of all things. Okay. That's about as much time as I can give for this class. Just another word about ownership in the context of God as the ultimate owner. It should be, it occurred to me at least, how do you answer the question, what about private property ownership? What about private property rights? If God really owns all things and I own nothing, Doesn't that mean everyone can use whatever they want to use anyway? You can come to have a party at my house without asking me if you can use it. You can tell my wife what to do, even though she's not your husband. Why would I tell my wife what to do? You understand the question, like, what about private, you know, the Lord made a big deal out of decreasing the land to Israel and making sure it stayed in families. And yet he owned it all, but he didn't. And the answer, I think, is that he puts us in a state of ownership, right? So if I let my son drive my car, I own it. For the time that he has it, he has to manage it well. So he has the responsibility for it and all the benefits for that period of time. And so when God gives us a piece of the world to manage in his name, he gave it to me or to you. And with that, the responsibilities and the benefits that come with ownership, that you're in a state of ownership. First house we bought, we bought in Hudson, New Hampshire. And don't throw stones, but we bought it through the New Hampshire Housing Authority, right? Went through a government program. And they wouldn't sell the land to us for some odd reason. It was some kind of experiment that they've since ended. And so we leased it for 100 years at a dollar a year. And we treated the property as our own. We killed it. We worked it. We kept it. We built on it. We enjoyed it. We didn't own it. So it's kind of an image of how our stewardship work in the light of God's ultimate ownership. So first question here, Genesis 1, verses 26 through 28. What are the characteristics of man is created by God? Anyone. Made in the image of God with dominion over the creatures. Yep. Someone else? Tells us what? Okay. Sure. Made male and female, right? Huh? I think about it like a clock all the way down to all the ticking and all the different parts, the heartbeat, everything. You know what I mean, the anatomy. Oh, all the parts, he made all the parts of man in all of its order. Yeah, it all worked perfectly. Yeah, yeah, very good. Anyone else? To multiply. Told us to multiply, yes, we fruitfully multiply. So, go ahead. The left and the right. Yeah, without corruption and state of innocence, he blessed them very good. So man is the crown or pinnacle of creation. And in my study, you know, Calvin Calvin's commentary on Genesis, he said, it's the only time in the creation narrative, where there's divine deliberation, where the Lord says, Let us make man in our own image, in our own likeness, let us make man. And according to Calvin, this adds great dignity. to the being of the human, to the creation of the human being as head over the created order. Let us make man in our own image, in our own likeness. And I just happen to believe that here in the Old Testament, we get an intimation to the trinity of God. I won't make much of it. When I went to Bible school, The common, and maybe this is still the case, the common answer to what do you mean let us make man? Who's the us? They would, they would, they taught us plural of majesty, right? Using the plural to emphasize the majesty of God. I've never really was satisfied with that. The angels didn't create, we know from New Testament revelation, Jesus read it in Colossians by him and for him, through him, all things are created. So I think we have an intimation of the trinity of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This special treatment of man establishes his vocation as steward over all of creation. Only human life bears the image of God. Thus only man was created to be the main instrument of God's interaction with the perfectly created world. And this exalted trust included the bestowal of glory and honor. and placed man above every other creature. This defines what it means to be a human being. This is filled with purpose. When you get out of bed in the morning, you do so as a steward creating the image of God, reflecting his image, bearing his image as you go about your daily tasks. So what were the tasks assigned? To be fruitful and multiply, as you said, simply to be productive, to have children, to work the earth. I went to counseling, I went to a counseling certification program years ago. And one of the teachers said, you know, I think we've fulfilled this. We don't have to multiply anymore. The earth is filled. And it's kind of an astounding thing for a minister of the gospel to say, because I just read this week that South Korea has a fertility rate of 0.78. In order for a country to be sustained, you need a fertility rate of 2.1 just to replace yourself. And so people who pay attention to this are concerned that South Korea is on a path of extinction. Oh, the will of the Lord be done and hope that doesn't happen. And they're trying to pay people to have children now because they've exalted professionalism and career. So women don't want to have kids anymore. Having less than one child per woman, right? They're on a path to extinction. Be fruitful and multiply. The United States fertility rate is 1.64, right? And not going up. So we're not having children. which I think in part explains what we're seeing at the border, the need for immigration, because we're not reproducing, right? We're not going to sustain things. Now, the takeaway here is have a lot of babies, right? Have a lot of babies and let's fill the earth as covenant families. So subdue the earth, cultivate, cultivate the earth to make it life-sustaining. Have dominion. rule over all for the benefit of all as God's vice regents. Okay, according to Genesis 2.15, what responsibility did God give to man? Just shout it out. Cultivate and keep the garden. That's right. Anyone want to add to that? Cultivate and keep the garden. Pretty simple. I'm looking for from Sproul on this and his, what is biblical stewardship? Yes. Work was intended to be a blessing. That's right. I mean we'll get to that in a moment. Immediately after giving this mandate, God created a lush and gorgeous garden and placed Adam and Eve in it, Genesis 2.15. This is Sproul. He commanded them to work it and keep it. This command to work and keep is key to understanding the responsibility that is given to human beings, which goes with the privileged status of being made in God's image and being given dominion over the earth. Like creation, the mandate that God gave to humanity was for people to reflect and mirror God's stewardship over the sphere of creation. This involves far more than religious enterprises or the church. It has to do with how we engage in scientific endeavors, how we do business, how we treat each other, how we treat animals, how we treat the environment. That dominion over the earth is not a license to exploit, pillage, consume, or destroy the earth. It is a responsibility to exercise stewardship over our home, our home, by working and keeping it. Working and keeping one's home means preventing it from falling apart. keeping it orderly, maintaining it, preserving it, and making it beautiful. The whole science of ecology is rooted and grounded in this principle. God didn't say, from now on, all of your food will fall to you out of heaven, except for 40 years, except for 40 years, where it did. He said, you are to work with me in being productive, dressing, tilling, planting, replenishing, and so on. So work and keep. It also includes the worship, the word work here has religious connotations in the Old Testament in terms of priestly activity. And Paul tells us in Romans 12, they were to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, which is our spiritual act of worship. So we worship here in a very special way. And throughout the week, we worship God through our fulfilling our vocations as stewards. This whole thing was blessed by God, as Vernon said. God promised provision and blessing for faithful stewardship. This is not a human cause and effect transaction, but the earth flourishes and provides by divine blessing. Faithful stewardship is the only acceptable response to this creative act of God and would be joyous and abundant. So David's point is work was meant to be joyful. Now, if we were still in that condition, just imagine what it would be like to get out of bed every morning and go to work, okay? So, I'm a project manager. That means every project that I ever managed would be on time, would be within budget, and would deliver the intended benefit times a million. Every project manager in the world, right? There would be no arguments at work. There would be no layoffs. We wouldn't have to worry about revenue. There wouldn't be a recession coming. There would be no sweat, no toil. It would be blessed, joyous activity. And sad to say, that is not what it's gonna be like tomorrow morning when I get out of bed and start my work week. Why is that? Sin, the simple answer, why is that? Sin. All right. Um, can you hear me in the back? Sometimes my voice drops because I hear Peter keep doing this. I don't want to have, I don't want to shout when I have a mic on. All right. Next question as we make our way through the lesson, what did man do to bring about a crisis of stewardship? Genesis three verses one through seven. What, what did he do? Or maybe I should say, what did she do? And then he did say it. Okay. How? God's command. Disregarding God's command and disobeying, disobeying, listening to Satan and eating a forbidden fruit. That's what happened. And plunges also a sin of pride in their heart by seeking to try to become like God. That's right. Yeah. Several, you could probably pinpoint several violations. You know, when we were in judicial process, we say, okay, were there serious sins here? And if so, what were they? So with respect to Adam and Eve, we would say, if we were a session weighing in on this, there are serious sins here. And we see violations of the first commandment, the ninth commandment, the 10th commandment, the commandment not to steal. There's a lot of problems. Maybe you could say every one of them, right? Everything comes crashing down. So this is commonly referred to as the fall. It's also a crisis in the relationship between the creator, creature, between the owner and the steward. And this event is the mother of all other stewardship problems that we face to this very day. Okay. You've heard the mother of all bombs, Moab. There's such a thing. This is the mother of all crises and plunges the human race in to corruption. So the serpent comes and challenges Eve, He draws her attention to the possibility that God was holding out on them. He suggests that God doesn't want to share the place of honor with them. I think that's a reasonable conclusion. And he greatly exaggerates God's prohibition. He says, did he tell you, you know, kind of implies you can't really have any of this. She corrects him and says, well, he just said that tree. Everything else is available to us. but the devil insinuates that the Lord withheld access from all good things. Eve's failure as a steward may be grounded in covetousness, right? A simple definition would be, I need something I do not now have in order to be happy. I must have that to be happy. And in verse six, we see the devastation that takes place through this one act. And for our purposes, In terms of studying stewardship, I want to emphasize the word take, take, okay? As stewards, up to this point, it was receive. Hands are open before God, receiving his good gifts, but now, the position of the hand changes, and she reaches out and she takes. As a steward, as I said, we receive. Now, as an owner, she puts herself in the place of ownership and she takes the fruit and closes her hands on it to possess it. She places herself in the position of owner. That covetousness, seeing that it was delightful and desirable, leads to theft, taking and eating, which leads to idolatry, exalting human reason. above the place of God in her life. And at that moment, every function of body and soul is thrown into confusion regarding God's purpose for her as a steward of creation. So the woman is tempted and gives in. Yes? I agree with that. But it's also delineated in God's moral law, right? Calvin said, I want, and that's covetousness. As soon as you say, I want, I think he was right. Deborah, and hey, Mr. Ellis, just the desire to want, it raises a theological question that I'm not going to get into today. Ask Ryan or Peter, and that is at what point did Eve sin? Okay. Maybe it started with the desire itself, the covetousness. I'm not, the one to delve into that. Okay. But I would say the moral law delineates between covetousness and idolatry, but the Bible does teach covetousness is idolatry. So now what about Adam? Well, Adam acquiesces. He's right there with her as far as I can tell from the biblical narrative. And he also fails in his stewardship by refusing to stop his wife from sinning against God. He doesn't challenge a question. He doesn't approve or rebuke. She gives the fruit to him. He takes and eats. And so he fails to exercise dominion in terms of his stewardship. It's a sad tale. It's devastating. Um, I want to say just a word about this act of theft. Okay. We're familiar with it. When you take something that doesn't belong to you, it's stealing, it's theft. Unfaithful stewardship is actually an act of theft. Now, we need to think about this in our own context. Anytime we act unfaithfully with what God has provided to us, we're stealing from him. We're falling short of our calling as stewards when we do that. When they took and ate what was prohibited by the owner, they were guilty of stealing, of theft. The man and the woman, didn't just steal a piece of fruit from the Lord. There's something greater in play. What the man and woman did in coveting and then taking is make the claim that they know better than God. And that ought to be a warning to us. God knew that this tree of the knowledge of good and evil and its fruit were not good for them. However, not content to simply be the creature, they attempt to usurp the role of God, and this is ultimately what idolatry is, to set something or someone, in this case their human reason and judgment, in the place of God himself. Okay, what are the consequences? What are the consequences? Very briefly. What did you, if you got that far in your reading, what were the consequences of this act? Very good. Fear, death, loss of communion. Jeff? Eviction from the garden. Eviction, yeah. If I have another thought, I'd like to have you explore this a little bit. Changing the terms of for the original cover. And it starts with being kicked out of the park. It also goes into a change in work being a joy into work being toil. That's what I just brought up. That's what I mean by a change in the terms. Originally, it's falling out of the original plan. That's kind of what I'm thinking. But I'd like to hear your thoughts on that. I think what changes is the context. I don't not believe If God ever revokes the calling to be stewards of the created order, it just gets really hard. No longer working in paradise. He says it's all part of tilling a cursed earth. So there's a curse. So the immediate consequences are broken relationships. There's a broken relationship with God. I think you were referring to this. Prior to the fall, men enjoyed a free, intimate, trust-filled, loving relationship with God, and the wording indicates probably on a habitual basis, daily. Afterwards, they now are filled with fear and have a desire to hide from God, filled with shame and humiliation. There's a broken relationship between the man and the woman. Adam blames Eve. The woman you gave me did this, and by default blames God. There's now a division between husband and wife, the one that God created to be his dearest, closest, most intimate companion, that what J. Adams called a covenant of companionship has been broken and divided. There's a break between man and creation, which I think Jeff is getting at. Stewardship becomes a struggle. The challenge to steward the world is not revoked. He's never taken back that call. but becomes extremely difficult. Labor and work are marked by pain, strife, and struggle. Childbearing brings pain. The soil now works against the man, filled with thorns and weeds. Life is filled with sweat, tears, and eventually death. Death is the final consequence of this crisis. And I dare to say we all feel that just a little bit more day by day by day. Paul says the outward man is perishing. I feel it. You probably feel it. If you're 25, you might not feel it. Mr. Ellis. John says in his gospel, I think it's chapter 11. The devil murdered our first parents. He was a murderer from the beginning. By his lies, he deceived them and murdered them. You were dead. The wages of sin. Spiritually. You hear what he said, immediate death, that Satan is a murderer from the beginning. So there were ongoing consequences. We're not free from this, right? Human relationships to this day are marred and strained. Marriage remains to be a struggle and often ends in divorce too often, sadly. Our jobs are difficult and unstable. I really never know from year to year to year whether I'm going to stay employed because I work in a commodities business, lighting and lighting controls. The owner-steward authority structure is thrown into discord. Dominion becomes domination. Rule over becomes own and control. Subdue becomes justification to exploit. To this day, creation is abused, resources are hoarded, debt is amassed, and we continue to reach out our hands and take. There's a sense in which the whole economy is based on that. I'm 61 years old. I guarantee you, I didn't look like this 30 years ago. Our appearances age. We start to experience aches and pains, emotional distress, which continue to remind us of our impending death. Happy picture, isn't it? That's the reality of a simple act of eating a piece of fruit. But there's hope. Isn't that good? There's hope. Because we find the promise that one will come to reverse the curse. And that's in Genesis 3, verse 15, or 14 through 16. And what is that promise? What's the promise? What is the promise? Yes, in the back. That's right, that's right. And what's the language there in Genesis three, verses 14 through 16. And the one is the seed of the woman will crush the seed of the serpent's head. That's a gospel promise. God promises to destroy the serpent at the hands of the woman's seed. And this entails enmity, struggle and ongoing, battle between what man was created to be as a steward and what his fallen flesh desires as an owner. It manifests itself as the seat of the woman and the seat of the serpent warring with one another, attempting to kill one another. It involves repeated attacks by both sides and declares a lifelong mutual hostility between the seat of the woman and the seat of the serpent, that persist until the promised offspring crushes the serpent's head. Have you ever heard or watched an opera called Les Miserables? Okay, I've seen it several times, many, many times. And one of the most moving parts of that opera is the soliloquy right at the start with Jean Valjean. I don't have time to go over the whole thing. But Valjean was thrown in prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. And then he tries to escape time and time again. So a five year sentence turns into like 20 years or something. And he's given a certificate of pardon that he has to show wherever he goes and he can't make a living. So he reverts to stealing again. And he steals silverware from a priest and they catch him and bring him back. And the priest says, no, I gave him this silver. I gave him. And then he tells Raul Jean, I bought your soul for God. Now use this silver to start a new life. And in this soliloquy where he's reflecting on what's taking place, he's filled with guilt and shame, but realizes he's been redeemed by the love of God through this priest. And he ends by saying, another story must begin. And then the curtains fly open and we go into a three hour opera. Now this is real history, as our pastor often reminds us. But there's a way in which I think Genesis 3.15 serves that purpose for us. The Lord says there's another story to tell here. And then we go through the pages of the Bible and see it. So when you're reading a scripture, one of the things I want you to keep in mind as you read through the Old Testament especially is, this is a war between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. The devil knows the Messiah is coming from this people and he wants to stop it. So there's an ongoing war right up to the cross where the satanic host is defeated. Now we have remnants of that today. I think we still, I don't think, I know we're in a spiritual conflict, but as stewards today, we're waiting for the consummation. It's kind of what some would call the cleanup job. The victory has been won. So we have what's called the Proto-Evangelium, the first gospel, the great gospel promise right in Genesis. It is humanity's ultimate stewardship and is the means of humanity's deliverance, the stewardship of the gospel. The seed of the woman would finally be delivered by faithful obedience to the command to be fruitful and multiply. Now that's mind boggling. That's stewardship in the home, right? And now we know that, in the last moments here now, I have 10 minutes to finish this, okay? This is the redemption of stewardship. Galatians 4, verses 1 through 7. This is the deliverance of the promise, the fulfillment of the promise that God gives. Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so, we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Deliverance from the fall happened at the appointed time by means of faithful stewardship. One born under the law, to redeem us and adopt us, Jesus Christ. You see the language of family, right? Abba, Father, Sons. The fallen steward is restored to the original state of stewardship as part of God's family. It's accomplished by God because of his love for the world. For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. Ephesians 2 verses 8 through 10 shows the relationship between redemption, between redemption and stewardship. Let me read this to you. Very familiar passage. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. Now often that's where people stop. but listen to verse 10. For we are his workmanship, literally his masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. This is the definitive statement that we're saved by God's grace alone, restored to a steward relationship with the Lord as the owner. And verse 10 teaches, as I just said, that we are his masterpiece, we're his project, created in Christ to do good works. That's stewardship. Created in Christ to faithfully steward the callings that God has entrusted to us, including the stewardship of the world. Restored to the stewardship of working and keeping creation as the Lord intended. You see the two great doctrines of justification and sanctification. Justified, you're saved by grace. Sanctified, you're God's workmanship unto good works. The justified, sanctified life of a redeemed Christian and the life of a faithful Christian steward run parallel, I would even say they're the same. They're the same thing. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. All things in Christ, all things have passed away. Behold, all things are new. There, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. The old way of sin and death are done away by the action of Jesus at the cross. Sinful, selfish stewards have died with Christ through faith in him. The new comes by way of reconciliation with God through Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus sets us on a new path of stewardship. Our eyes are now and once again open to the reality that God owns all things and has entrusted us with the management of his gifts as redeemed faithful stewards and to do so for his sake and for his glory, right? That's not how the world thinks about stewardship. That's distinctively Christian. The world treats the world like they own it. And there's all kinds of arguments about that, all kinds of confusion. We see it as belonging to God and we manage it for his glory. Galatians 2.20. They're very familiar verses. I memorized these a long time ago when I first converted. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. The crucified risen Christ has complete ownership and title to his stewards, to each of us. We are twice owned, once at creation and now by redemption. And Christ now lives in every redeemed steward through the working of the Holy Spirit so that by faith in him we carry out the tasks assigned to us as his people. Let me conclude. Yeah, we're doing good. That was a little bit of a race through the matter of the lesson. Let me conclude by saying this. We're called to be stewards of creation and as Christians of the new creation. Our stewardship has been expanded. You familiar with Matthew 18? Sorry, Matthew 28, verses 18 through 20? What's it say? Make disciples of the nations, right? All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth, says Jesus. Now go and make disciples of the nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all things which I have commanded you in law and with you until the end of the age. The new creation. We're stewards of the gospel. And that means that every other area of our stewardship is in support of that. It's in support of the gospel, right? Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. Wives, reverence your husbands as the church does Christ. Fathers, bring your children up in the nurtured admonition of the Lord. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. Masters are to We don't have masters in the sense that we're slaves anymore, but those in authority are to care for those under the authority, knowing that they serve the Lord. Slaves, it says, serve your masters as unto the Lord, not what I serve as pleasing men. The civil magistrate is God's minister. Those are just some examples. In Christ, in Christ, in Christ. all in support of the gospel, who is Jesus Christ. So our stewardship is to be Christ-centered, Christ-empowered, Christ-conforming, and Christ-glorifying. Amen. Okay, that's it for the lesson. We have a few minutes left. If you have any additional comments, feel free. Questions, comments. Jeff. Thank you. You put a lot of effort into this. It's very evident. And I really appreciate the work that you did. This was an excellent lesson. Thank you. You're welcome. More compliments. OK, we'll stop there then. I do want to say one thing I failed to say in the beginning, just so you know, that I'm relying heavily on resources, including a set of lessons written by a minister named Nathan Medder. I just want to give you credit, OK? Excellent material. I've modified it somewhat for our purpose, but you know, Nathan matters work on stewardship. Brandy Alcorn RC Sproul Calvin, of course, even our Westminster. I left some things out, but read Westminster larger catechism 20 beautiful summary of God's providence and putting in in the garden and so forth. Alright, let us pray gracious Father in heaven. How thankful we are. that you have called us and redeemed us and restored us to work in your garden. We pray that you would help us to be faithful by the presence of your spirit, by the ministry of your word, that Jesus Christ would be honored in our lives and in our hearts and in the world. And we now pray that you would gather us together as your people for your worship. We ask you to richly pour out your blessing upon us through the means of grace that you've ordained. We commit this to you in Christ's name, amen.