Incarnation - God Comes.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] welcome to the village my name’s Steve I’m one of the pastors here it is a [0:04] privilege to for you to give me the opportunity this morning to preach the [0:09] gospel to you and with you if you have your Bibles go ahead and open them to [0:15] John chapter 1 we’re gonna be going from verse 1 to verse 14 today and then kind [0:22] of all over the Bible to gonna take you on quite the road trip through the [0:27] this morning just kind of happened that way oh don’t worry remember I know how

[0:33] much you like lunch I know you do I’m not that interested yeah right you can [0:38] look at me and tell that’s not true didn’t get this big about not eating [0:42] all right John chapter 1 let’s uh to start with if this is your first time [0:49] here if you haven’t been here in a few weeks we are right in the middle of a

[0:55] what we’re doing we’re right in the middle of 12 weeks of basically kind of [1:01] laying out on the table and talking about and I’ll preach it on Sunday [1:06] mornings and then we are community groups get together and we we talk about [1:10] this with each other basically what we believe as a church what does the [1:15] village believe about God what do we believe about the Bible about Jesus [1:20] about what he did on the cross about what’s accomplished through the

[1:22] resurrection about where God is taking history what why do we do this and does [1:29] doctrine have anything to do with that we believe that the reason that we do [1:33] what we do is because of the truth that God has given us and so we started with [1:40] talking about God in Scripture and creation and the image of God in man and [1:47] the fall of man as we rebelled against God and basically fled the design that [1:52] God had created for us to live under and the fallout of that is that we are

[1:57] imperfect were born into sin we’re not born naturally wanting to follow Jesus [2:04] were born naturally with an inclination to follow after our sinful hearts to live [2:10] self-centered lives that ultimately end up in pain and turmoil and broken [2:17] relationships and eventually lead to the wrath of God in hell and then today [2:24] we’re going to really spell out what we started last week last week we talked [2:30] about the fact that God in the face of man’s sin he did not choose simply to

[2:37] be done with man he did not choose to simply condemn man but rather we look [2:44] through the Old Testament last week and we saw where God continuously and over [2:48] and over many times he rather just inserted himself most of the time [2:55] uninvited into people’s lives and said this is what I’m gonna do through you [3:00] and this is where I’m taking history and you’re gonna be privileged to be a part [3:06] and then we ended last week talking about second Corinthians 120 really the

[3:12] fact that Paul says that all of the promises that God has ever made and will [3:17] ever make find their yes or really their completion or fulfillment in Jesus and [3:26] so today we’re gonna kind of jump off of that and we’re gonna kind of just look [3:30] at how does that work what does that look like and today we’re gonna talk [3:36] about the person of Jesus we’re gonna talk about who he was you know what did [3:40] he do while he was on earth why did he come to earth what does it mean that

[3:44] God became a man it can be very confusing it can be something that we [3:50] just accept but it also needs to be something that we look at because why [3:53] would God do that Paul writes in Romans because we know that Jesus eventually [3:58] goes to the cross and we know that he dies and people say it’s for our sins [4:02] but Paul talks about the audacity of that in the book of Romans when he says [4:06] maybe someone would die for a good man but someone dying for bad people or

[4:14] sinners it just doesn’t make any sense that’s what scripture says Jesus did [4:23] it’s the question that we really have to deal with is the how and the why and [4:28] the what of Jesus because he didn’t just come and then immediately die on a [4:33] cross you know the estimate is that Jesus died somewhere around the age of [4:38] 33 years old so there was 33 years give or take where Jesus walks the earth so [4:45] what is the purpose of that 33 years because we’re really good if you’re

[4:50] someone that’s been in church for a long time like I have we’re really good at [4:54] focusing on the work of Jesus what he did on the cross what happened through [4:59] the resurrection we focus on that and we live in light of that but what we don’t [5:04] do sometimes and sometimes we do a pretty good job this maybe you weren’t [5:08] in the same boat as I was but we don’t focus on the person of Jesus and what [5:13] the implications on my life are because of the person of Jesus because of what

[5:18] he did because of how he lived his life before he went to the cross and so today [5:24] I kind of want to want to gauge it in that direction but I want to start by [5:28] telling everyone that the plan of Jesus when Jesus came to you this was not [5:35] something that God did as an audible all right in football there’s this thing [5:41] called an audible to where you have a play and when you’re at the line of [5:45] scrimmage and the quarterback is standing there getting ready to get the

[5:48] ball and he looks at the defense and if in his mind he thinks that the defense [5:54] knows what they’re gonna do and they set up to kind of beat the play that [5:59] there that he has called what he will do is he will yell some kind of code and [6:04] it’s called an audible and in that audible they know we’re changing the [6:10] play and this is what we’re changing the play to there is kind of a train of [6:14] that kind of leads us to this understanding that because of sin that

[6:19] went against God but because of that God had to call an audible and that’s not [6:24] what he expected to happen that wasn’t really kind of gauging where he was [6:28] going so God had to do this crazy thing and Jesus kind of paid the penalty for [6:33] man messing up God’s plan but what we see in Scripture is not that God called [6:41] what we see in Scripture is that in eternity past before man ever created [6:45] the world he was fully aware that sin was going to happen and creation in

[6:52] history was actually moved by God and we saw a little bit of it this week if last [6:56] week excuse me if you didn’t hear it go listen to the podcast because you don’t [6:59] want to be here for two hours while I’ve fleshed that out again but what we see [7:03] is that God starts kind of working history towards a certain point and as [7:09] the Old Testament goes further and further we see God kind of maneuvering [7:14] things to the point that he wants it so that he can ultimately get glory over

[7:18] sin and thwart Satan in the Genesis 3 15 fashion that we said he would where [7:24] Satan tried to beat God through man and God says okay well I’ll just beat you [7:29] through man then and through man born to woman I’m gonna crush your head so we [7:37] see some 400 years before Jesus was ever born we see God sort of through his [7:43] prophets begin to kind of lay out more and more of how he’s going to fulfill [7:48] that promise that he made at the point where man fell in sin in Isaiah chapter

[7:54] 7 verse 14 we’re heading into that season where we start talking about this [7:58] so let’s jump start that one in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14 God speaking through [8:02] the prophet Isaiah says therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign [8:06] behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name [8:11] Immanuel so this takes place a long time before Jesus is born but what’s [8:16] very interesting is that God makes a very audacious claim because I don’t

[8:20] know if you understand biology that well but once you’re like 14 you kind of get [8:24] it virgins don’t conceive they don’t have children but more than that God [8:31] makes a very interesting promise he says and this child will be called Immanuel [8:36] and you say well that wasn’t Jesus’s name Jesus’s name was well Jesus [8:40] Immanuel is not that but Immanuel what it means is is God with us so he’s not [8:47] necessarily saying this is what’s gonna be on the birth certificate what he’s

[8:50] saying is is that in this child will be my very presence I will bring myself [8:58] into the world and so he’s made this promise that he’s gonna do this amazing [9:04] but then as we go further through the Old Testament we begin to see he makes [9:08] more promises about what this is going to make happen or what’s going to occur [9:13] because of this in Jeremiah chapter 31 starting in verse 31 behold the days are [9:19] coming declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant with the house of

[9:22] Israel and the house of Judah not like the covenant that I made with their [9:25] fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land [9:29] of Egypt my covenant that they broke though I was their husband declares the [9:34] Lord but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after [9:38] those days declares the Lord I will put my law within them and I will write it [9:42] on their hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my people and no

[9:46] longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother saying no the Lord [9:51] for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest declares [9:56] the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin [10:03] no more. [10:05] It’s what God is saying here is that even though you have rebelled against me I’m [10:12] going to do something in history that will completely undo all of your sins

[10:18] against me and I’m going to give you a new heart where you won’t just simply [10:23] teach people about me but I will make myself completely known so that it will [10:28] be clear who I am and what I am doing and through this will come forgiveness [10:34] of sins but more than that as he tells Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 26 he [10:42] says and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit and I will put with and I [10:47] will put it within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and

[10:52] give you a heart of flesh.

[10:57] God is saying what I’m going to do is going to take you from someone that [11:02] rebels against me from someone that doesn’t know how to worship me from [11:06] someone that is so cold to me that you just go to sin forever rather I’m going [11:12] to take that out of you and I’m going to give you a new heart so that you will [11:15] follow me.

[11:19] So he makes these amazing promises of where he’s moving history but how does [11:25] he get there? [11:27] What we’re going to see this morning is that ultimately and I think you know [11:30] where I’m going you’ve been in church before right is that he gets there [11:33] through the person of Jesus. [11:36] In John chapter 1 starting in verse 1.

[11:43] In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God he [11:50] was in the beginning with God. [11:53] All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that [11:57] was made in him was life and the life was the light of men. [12:02] The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. [12:09] Stop right there.

[12:14] What I want you to first understand because I’m going to I’m going to kind of [12:17] break a rule of movie making which we’re not making a movie so I don’t know [12:20] why I’m following those rules but in movie making you know you don’t kind of [12:23] let the cat out of the bag at the very beginning of the story but I’m going to [12:25] go ahead and do that the word is Jesus okay that’s who John’s talking about [12:29] here he’s talking about Jesus all right and I have to explain that to get you

[12:33] where I want to get you so just follow with me and we’ll get there but what I [12:36] want you to do is I want to break this verse down a little bit for you because I [12:40] think a lot of us because we don’t live in a place where Jesus the person isn’t [12:44] we know he’s known but what we do is we kind of gloss over this without really [12:50] understanding what God is doing here or how it connects to the Old Testament [12:55] verses that I was talking about or how it goes into culture it almost sounds

[13:00] like a nursery rhyme riddle because he keeps talking about the word being God [13:04] and the word being with God and then the word is God and then the words with God [13:07] and then God creates and the words with God while he creates but what he’s doing [13:13] here is he’s heading right into culture so that they will see that he’s getting [13:18] to the person of Jesus but he’s setting them up for it in a way they can [13:22] understand and maybe you’re like me and you read that you’re like what was wrong

[13:26] with culture toward this is what he had to do to make them understand in the Old [13:31] Testament for the Hebrew culture and this is the culture that that John is [13:35] just kind of saturated in in Hebrew culture the word which is in Greek [13:40] is very important because God is always understood by coming to them in word he [13:49] speaks creation into existence he speaks into the life of Abraham into the life [13:56] of Moses into the life of all of the Kings and all of the prophets he speaks

[14:01] the scripture through the prophets and through the scribes so the Hebrews had [14:06] this amazing understanding that there was a there was a symbolism there with [14:11] word and it represents God so they understood that but it goes beyond Hebrew [14:17] culture in Greek culture this was a culture that spent their time trying to [14:22] understand the meaning of life without the God of the Old Testament and what [14:29] they came to understand is that the world is organized by a deeper

[14:34] intelligence than man has gotten to yet and they spent all of their time trying [14:40] to attempt to understand is there a connection between matter and this [14:46] intellect that is organizing everything by his word so they understood that the [14:55] mind and that knowledge and that language was very important because what [15:01] represented was their pathway to get to immortality and so when John writes in [15:10] the beginning was the word he immediately had gotten the interest of all

[15:15] cultures in that day and so he begins to speak this language about the word and [15:21] understand that when he says in the beginning the term there is an archaic it [15:26] is not something where okay at this point in time the word or God started to [15:32] be because that’s the way a lot of people probably understood it what he’s [15:35] saying there is kind of a tense where it says in an eternity past with no [15:41] beginning that can be seen or understood by man in the beginning was or a

[15:47] constant existence is what the imperfect tense of that verb strides to make us [15:52] understand the same language that we find in Genesis chapter one so John’s [16:00] trying to make them understand that behind everything that has ever happened [16:04] or everything that is in existence there is a God who is eternal and he seeks to [16:11] make himself known because he is the light and the darkness that we struggle [16:18] with and not being able to comprehend him and understand him and the darkness

[16:22] that makes us kill each other and the darkness that makes us rebel against him [16:26] and live lives of imperfection and live lives of sin has not overcome him what [16:36] John is bringing the reader to is this understanding that Jesus is the eternal [16:44] God and he sets us up talking about in Trinitarian language saying that in the [16:50] beginning was God and in the beginning God was with God and he uses his language [16:59] that that in this beginning we have this very source of life and in order to find

[17:07] the meaning for your life and in order to understand why you exist in order to [17:12] do the things that you do you cannot comprehend it outside of the word because [17:20] if you want life there must be a return to God and what he’s leading us to this [17:30] understanding is is that God is going to make himself known he’s setting the [17:35] stage so that we understand that creation truly finds its source in God [17:41] Paul kind of and I believe Paul you know being a contemporary of John there this

[17:47] isn’t an accident to where in Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 Paul uses this [17:52] language to describe Jesus he says Jesus is the image of the invisible God the [17:58] firstborn of all creation for by him all things were created in heaven and on [18:03] earth visible and invisible where the thrones or dominions or rulers or [18:06] authorities all things were created through him and for him and he is before [18:10] all things and in him all things hold together and he is the head of the body

[18:17] the church he’s the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in everything [18:20] he might be preeminent for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell [18:27] so what we’re seeing in this is that in Jesus we have what is representing and [18:34] what is God coming into humanity making himself perfect and fully known to all [18:42] creation and in John 1 the language that John uses that there was nothing made [18:46] that was not made by this word and then Paul jumps off and he says there’s no

[18:51] ruler there’s no power there’s no dominion there’s nothing that exists that [18:55] can find its source outside of Jesus because he is the preeminent one he is [19:02] the supreme one and then what I want you to do right now is I want you to hold [19:08] kind of maybe it’s on the same page as mine hold your finger on John 1 5 and [19:12] then I want you to jump down to John 1 14 in John 1 14 this is what we read and [19:21] the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as

[19:31] of the only son from the father full of grace and truth so what John is saying [19:39] here is that in eternity past there is no source there’s no real beginning [19:46] point but there has always been the word and at a certain point in the [19:54] history of man the word God the eternal God became a human being it was [20:09] drastically controversial even in that day and that day it was controversial [20:14] because all things that man had done up to that point where religion were

[20:19] concerned and we’re trying to figure out the source of life and the purpose of [20:23] life everything had been an attempt to either get to God or become God man [20:31] attempted to ascend up to his level and we see that from the very beginning when [20:36] Adam and Eve what are they tempted with you will be like God and then we see [20:42] further the tower of Babel let’s build a tower so that we can get to God that [20:46] would have suffocated first lack of oxygen but they tried to give them kudos

[20:51] for attempting something and then throughout the history see in Greek [20:56] thought let’s become smart enough let’s have enough knowledge that we can reach [21:00] the point of deity but what God does is course in his full knowledge he knows [21:08] that sin separates man from God man will never reach God instead God does [21:15] the reverse and he enters humanity in the flesh the term there for dwelt in [21:25] verse 14 that you know the word became flesh and dwelt among us it’s this term

[21:30] that in the original language means tabernacle it means to make your very [21:36] or kind of if you’re going camping you camping camping going camping you pitch [21:41] a tent you make a dwelling place and what this literally means is that the [21:46] word made his dwelling place with humanity he took on flesh and did that

[21:55] Jesus and from the text we gather this Jesus is God the Son in human form okay [22:04] now what I’m going to do for the next and I’m going to pray seven minutes [22:10] this is my prayer right now is we’re going to go through like pages of [22:15] scripture really really fast because what I want you to understand is this [22:19] means two things first Jesus is God second Jesus is also man and that in [22:26] the flesh when we see Jesus in human history we’re seeing a literal human

[22:33] but we’re also seeing God okay but here’s the problem here to do that he [22:39] has to be both fully God and fully man at the same time and that seems to have [22:45] some issues okay but here’s where we go first I want you to understand that [22:50] Jesus is fully man all right he was a human being Jesus was not and kind of we [22:55] have this picture in the movies except for a few that have been made more [22:59] got the cleanest robe and he almost shines it’s like you put on a lot of

[23:04] bronzer or something he has perfectly coiffed hair he doesn’t get his hands [23:08] dirty to mix the disciples do that and he just almost floats onto the scene

[23:17] hello bring me the loves in the fish you know it’s kind of this kind of [23:22] separated he’s not really a human being but he kind of is no Jesus was a human [23:29] being all right and what I want you to stand in Matthew 118 and I’m gonna [23:33] skim through them they’ll show up on here but I’m not gonna read through each [23:37] and every one of these I’m just gonna prove that they exist in Matthew 118 we [23:41] see Jesus was born of a human mother all right so that’s a pretty good indicator

[23:47] that you’re a human all right he you know he didn’t just kind of float out [23:52] of her belly no it was real labor I’ve seen it and Jesus came out of that [23:56] that’s a human all right in Luke 240 we see that he had a human body Jesus [24:03] developed he grew up in Luke 252 we see that Jesus had to learn he had to grow [24:11] in intellect all right my son does not speak good English yet I think he [24:17] thinks he is but it comes out German either there’s something wrong or he

[24:22] just hasn’t learned yet all right Jesus had to develop in the intellect as well [24:28] it’s even says in Luke 252 that he grew in wisdom and in stature so he developed [24:34] physically and he even grew in wisdom in other words he had a mom and dad that [24:38] took care of him he didn’t just walk around as a toddler healing people and [24:44] you know at 12 yes he did teach the scribes and Pharisees and they were [24:49] amazed at how advanced he was but remember in Israel by the age of 12 most

[24:55] children had memorized the first five books of the Old Testament just that [24:59] Jesus had a foot up foot up on everybody he wrote them all right Jesus [25:07] experienced physical weakness in John 4 6 we see that he’s tired from traveling [25:14] all right he’s been traveling a long way and he sits down at the well and it [25:17] says he’s weary from traveling he’s thirsty he’s hungry in Matthew 4 2 we [25:22] see that he’s tired from fasting when he went on that 40-day fast at the end of

[25:26] it Satan comes to him and it says that he comes to him in his weakness he’s [25:30] tired we see that even after the resurrection Jesus had a physical body [25:38] that’s in Luke 24 39 in John 11 33 we see that Jesus was not some stoic [25:45] separate less than human in emotion we see that he had real emotion when his [25:52] friend Lazarus had died before he rose from the dead before Jesus rose him from [25:56] the dead he comes into the room of mourning where his sisters are weeping

[26:01] and his friends are weeping and Jesus is so moved by this pain we see the verse [26:06] that everyone in Awanas wants to memorize Jesus wept because there’s only [26:11] two words I went to a Christian school I’m sorry we had to do that for homework [26:15] folks it’s tough tough days now why is it important to see that Jesus was human [26:23] that he was tangible okay I didn’t I don’t even have time to go into the [26:27] cross where we see Jesus experience real pain it’s important for a few reasons

[26:38] first is that in Romans chapter 5 it says that through one man’s obedience [26:43] all will be saved just like in one man’s disobedience all fell Jesus needed to be [26:51] human to represent us in the same way that Adam represented us also in Hebrews [26:57] chapter 2 verses 16 through 18 we see that to be humanity substitute it’s [27:02] pretty important for him to be part of humanity put that Hebrews 2 passage up [27:10] there for surely it is not angels that he helps but he helps the offspring of

[27:16] Abraham who’s the offspring of Abraham all of us basically therefore he had to [27:21] be made like his brothers in every respect so that he might become a [27:27] merciful merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God to make [27:32] propitiation for the sins of the people for because he himself has suffered when [27:36] tempted he is able to help those who are being tempted you do not if you follow [27:43] Jesus if you trust him he is not separate from you in not knowing what

[27:49] temptation and pain and suffering are like Jesus is a God who can empathize [27:55] with you who knows what it’s like to feel pain who knows what it’s like to [28:01] feel sorrow who knows what it’s like to go into a dark night where you’re not [28:06] sure your life will even be there in the morning Jesus knows what it’s like to be [28:11] a human being he substituted himself for us in every way that we can imagine

[28:20] he also did that so that he could mediate with the father for us says in [28:28] first Timothy 2 5 there’s one mediator between God and man is the man Jesus [28:35] Christ sometimes you may read that so that seems demeaning to him now Jesus [28:39] willfully did that for us

[28:45] Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 he goes the writer of Hebrews goes further needed [28:50] in chapter 2 says in chapter 4 verse 15 that in order to be our high priest in [28:56] order to be our high priest he needed to understand it says that we do not have a [29:00] high priest that cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but one who in every [29:05] respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin see Jesus became fully [29:14] human but more controversial than that Jesus was not simply a human that

[29:22] reached a level of perfection so he became a God rather from birth Jesus [29:29] was fully God in Luke chapter 1 verses 34 through 36 we read that Mary and [29:40] Joseph are told that the conception of Jesus would come through the Holy Spirit [29:46] and he would be the Son of God in Colossians chapter 2 verse 9 it says that [29:55] he has always been fully God from eternity past Jesus was not created by the [30:00] father he’s always been with the father sharing full deity in John chapter 20

[30:07] verse 28 we see that his followers actually called him God and he doesn’t [30:13] say hey you stop that I’m not God no he accepts the worship of Thomas when [30:18] Thomas says my Lord and my God in Luke chapter 2 verse 11 we see that the name [30:25] of God is attributed to him from birth in Hebrews chapter 1 the author of [30:32] Hebrews writes that he is the exact imprint of God and that he is to be [30:37] worshiped as God and in verse 8 of Hebrews chapter 1 read this very

[30:44] interesting verse it’s actually a quote from the book of Psalms where he [30:47] explains but of the Son he and this he there is God the Father says your throne [30:53] oh God is forever and ever the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your [30:57] kingdom that God the Father proclaims that Jesus is as much God as he is we [31:05] see also that Jesus claimed to be God so there’s this kind of misunderstanding [31:10] throughout history that Jesus is just a good person and he never claimed to be

[31:14] God no it’s recorded in the book of John that Jesus did claim to be God in [31:18] all the Gospels he claims to be God in John chapter 8 verse 57 and 58 he makes [31:23] the claim to Hebrews to Israelites to Jews that knew what he was saying he [31:29] says before Abraham was I am uses the very same language that God uses about [31:36] himself in Exodus chapter 3 verse 14 when he’s talking to Moses and he says [31:42] tell them that I am that I am sent you so I want explanation for that either

[31:50] Jesus was a liar which really takes that good person thing out of whack he was [31:56] completely insane or he was in the burning bush that day centuries before [32:06] he was ever born in John chapter 14 verses 8 and 9 he tells the disciples [32:14] that he has the same attributes as the father tells him if you have seen me [32:18] you have seen the father and love it where Philip says show the father to us [32:23] and Jesus looks back at him and says have I been with you for so long and you

[32:27] still don’t know if you’ve seen me you’ve seen him and he goes on to say I [32:32] the father are one so Jesus is fully man and Jesus is fully God and theology [32:44] they call this the hypostatic union J.I. Packer actually says that no fiction [32:51] has been written that’s quite as incredible that Jesus was both man and [32:58] at the same time see what we see here is the beauty of the incarnation God [33:06] inserting himself into humanity in order to save humanity see what we have in the

[33:16] incarnation is more than just some intellectual understanding of who God [33:20] is but it’s more than that what we have here in the incarnation is that God [33:24] actually became man and he came in it with the purpose to redeem man in order [33:31] to fulfill every promise that he ever made and what we did there is we just [33:37] looked through all of the scripture that explains him as both man and God but [33:42] more than that he was God far before he was ever man but in love he became a

[33:52] human being to right every wrong that we have ever committed we see in Hebrews [34:01] 2 and then in Hebrews 4 that he was tempted in every way that we are tempted [34:06] and I wish we had like eight hours so that I could go through all that but [34:10] you’re so glad that we don’t have eight hours that I can go through all that [34:13] but what goes on there is we see that Jesus being tempted in every way that [34:18] yet he was without sin and we go through story after story after story where

[34:26] Jesus always does the right thing with the right motive and in the right way [34:33] that he’s always perfect that he’s always obedient he’s everything that we [34:41] but struggle and cannot the reason that he does that for you for me and [34:56] ultimately for the glory of the father so here we have this amazing truth that [35:05] point in time God entered the history of the world it was obedient as a [35:13] representative as a substitute for us question is what difference does it make

[35:23] what does it mean in my life what purpose does that play and what I do and [35:30] how I live or is it just some fact like a ton of other facts for me to file away [35:35] and then when I’m asked what I believe I can just regurgitate that there’s two [35:42] things I want us to understand this morning outside of this the first one is [35:48] that Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God’s covenant all right go back to John [35:54] chapter 1 verse 4 in him was life and the life was the light of men the light

[36:01] the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it and then down in verse 9

[36:09] because of time I didn’t cover six through eight but it’s not because they [36:13] don’t matter it’s because in this sermon they don’t matter as much the true light [36:23] which enlightens everyone was coming into the world he was in the world and [36:29] the world was made through him yet the world did not know him okay so what do [36:37] we have here we have this understanding that in Jesus is light in Jesus brings [36:41] that light into what is described there as a dark world and that he overcomes

[36:47] that darkness in every way as he lives but while he’s bringing that light man [36:53] cannot comprehend it and man does not accept him and ultimately man rejects [36:59] him to the point of killing him but what does that mean about God what that [37:07] means about God is that my obedience and disobedience can not ever trump the [37:15] of God God’s will will be done with or without me so I have basically two [37:24] choices I can reject that and say fine then I’ll just live however I want or I

[37:35] can take joy in that and be a part of God’s eternal plan of fulfilling his [37:42] covenant to bring himself ultimate glory and people will make one or two [37:47] of those two choices but in Philippians chapter 2 verses 9 through 11 we see [37:55] this very interesting promise and God seems to be a God who fulfills all of [37:59] his promises so therefore God speaking of Jesus this is jumping off of the fact [38:05] that Jesus accomplished everything he was supposed to do on the cross has

[38:07] highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so [38:12] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and on [38:17] earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the [38:22] glory of the Father and he says later that every knee shall bow ultimately in [38:32] your life or in the next one there is coming a time where you will confess [38:41] Jesus as Lord and ultimately eternity hangs on what you choose if you wait

[39:01] you’ll still do it but you’ll do it in the face of enduring the eternal wrath [39:07] of God if you look at the person of Jesus now and say he is God and I will [39:16] follow him you experience joy forevermore in the next life when he [39:26] delivers his promised kingdom what we see in Jesus is that he reveals that God [39:37] does not desire for us to pay the penalty for our sins but would rather [39:43] make a way around our sin and the way around our sin is Jesus and in that light

[39:51] in that truth we see that Jesus fulfills God’s covenant of redemption I want you to look in John [39:59] chapter 10 verses 7 through 11 so Jesus again said to them truly truly I say to you I am the [40:12] door of the sheep all who came before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not listen [40:17] to them I am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and will go in and out and find [40:26] pasture or peace the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy and I came that they may [40:34] have life and have it abundantly I am the good shepherd the good shepherd lays down his life for

[40:41] the sheep you see in Jesus we have this understanding

[40:48] that God actually loves sinful man and desires to reconcile man to himself and Jesus God the Son [40:59] eternal God who created all that is steps into the world to prove his love for you and me

[41:10] and he gives his life can you imagine anything more humiliating than the creator becoming the [41:18] creation and then the creation rejecting him what great humility to endure that shame [41:32] the designer the author of life stepping into creation and creation saying

[41:48] why did he do that

[41:51] he did it to redeem you

[41:55] he did it because he loves you

[41:58] and he laid down his life for you and what we see there is also a great understanding of how the [42:09] covenants of God affect our very lives in God’s covenant we have this sometimes very churchy [42:18] understanding of what redemption does to us and here’s sometimes the understanding that we have [42:24] God saves us through Jesus because of his obedience because of his work because of what [42:29] he did on the cross because what he did in the resurrection and through that we are brought to [42:34] God’s level so that we can be with God and we can live with him and we can walk in relationship

[42:40] with him and we’re right so far but what we get wrong is what that does to our very lives [42:47] because we have this understanding sometimes in church lore that we go up to God’s level and [42:55] we’re hanging out with God we’re spending time with God we’re becoming very pious and we’re just [42:59] the most pious of people and we’re becoming holier and holier and holier and then we look [43:04] out into the world that doesn’t know Jesus and we’re like look at those sinners what is their [43:08] problem God I’m glad I’m with you because as long as I’m with you I’m not tainted by that sin and

[43:15] I’m not gonna go to where those sinful people are I’m not gonna get tainted by them because I [43:22] know I’m holier than that I won’t even go to Starbucks because I have to stand in line and [43:26] what if their cooties sin get on me all right I gotta stay away I’m gonna start a Christian [43:30] coffee shop and only the believers can come there we’re gonna have Bibles and we’re gonna [43:34] listen to casting crowns all day and all right sorry I get on tangents sometimes

[43:42] but in the person of Jesus that’s not the God we see

[43:50] see we often ask what would Jesus do I think that’s kind of a goofy question [43:56] because we have four books that tell us what he did so just stop being so lazy and read the [44:02] gospels and then you’ll know you can stop asking that question right it’s good stuff [44:09] but we see a God who does not eternally separate himself now we see a God that comes and he dwells [44:18] we see a God that tabernacles we see a God that lives in culture we see a God come into humanity [44:26] become a human being and more than that he’s so desirous and so mission-minded and so strategic

[44:33] that he spends so much time around prostitutes drunks and thieves that people begin to accuse [44:41] him of being a dirty sinner can you imagine the insanity of looking at God and saying God why are [44:50] you sinning so much how prideful do you have to be to reach that level you see we do not serve a [45:00] God who stays away we serve a God who’s a missionary we serve a God that goes right into [45:08] culture we don’t see a God afraid of getting their sin on him we see a God that takes their [45:14] sin onto himself and dies for those sins I don’t serve a God that has told me just to hang out

[45:22] beside him for the rest of my life and I won’t get dirty I serve a God that has told me to go to all [45:29] nations and preach the gospel to all people I serve a God that says don’t be afraid of their [45:36] sin because it can’t get on you because I’ve put the very righteousness of my son Jesus Christ on [45:42] you how much do you trust in the atonement how much do you trust in what Jesus has done for you [45:53] stop being so afraid that you will get the world on you and won’t have enough dove soap to get it [45:59] off we serve a God that got so dirty that it killed him he offered his very life

[46:10] and when I look at the person of Jesus I see a God that says give your life for my mission [46:18] because I’ve given all to you so that you could have eternal joy and every time [46:27] we say no to the mission of jesus every time we say that we have something more important [46:33] going on in our lives every time we say there’s a person more important every time we say our [46:39] career is more important every time we say our reputation is more important every time [46:44] we say our sleep is more important every time we say some sport is more important every time

[46:50] we say that anything in our lives are more important. [46:55] We’re saying, [46:57] I’ve got a better way, God.

[47:03] I like the old covenant better [47:05] because I thought that was all about me. [47:07] But in Jesus, I’m free to actually live a life of obedience. [47:12] In Jesus, I’m free to enjoy your covenant [47:15] rather than fear it. [47:17] In Jesus, there’s nothing I can do to redeem myself.

[47:20] In Jesus, it’s all about you and not about me.

[47:26] If you trust him.

[47:30] Follow him.

[47:34] If you believe in him, walk with him.

[47:39] You know where he’s walking?

[47:43] He’s walking the path that takes the gospel. [47:47] To Midlothian and beyond.

[47:52] As a church, let’s follow him. [47:58] Trust him. [48:01] He’s God who became man for you. [48:09] Father,

[48:16] I ask today that

[48:21] you would just create in us an attitude of awe [48:25] in who you are.

[48:30] We try so hard to get to where you are [48:34] that often we forgot that you came to where we are.

[48:40] You’re already here.

[48:44] Help us to trust that.

[48:48] Help us to believe that. [48:49] Help us to trust you.

[48:52] Help us to follow you.

[49:00] Right now, we’re gonna look at the person of Jesus.

[49:07] We’re gonna celebrate his life and his death [49:11] and his resurrection through communion, [49:13] through his broken body and his shed blood and a cup [49:17] and then the crackers here and in the back. [49:22] But as you’re doing this today, [49:23] what I want you to understand is that

[49:26] in the person of Jesus, when we see this high priest [49:29] who understands us, who sympathizes with us, [49:32] who has actually been in our shoes, [49:34] that while you’re reflecting on communion, [49:37] if you are a follower of Jesus, if not, please don’t. [49:40] But if you’re a follower of Jesus,

[49:42] when you take the bread and the cup today, [49:44] what I want you to do is I want you to have [49:47] in your mind that one thing, [49:49] or maybe it’s more than one thing, [49:51] or that burden that is keeping you from following him, [49:55] keeping you from worshiping him,

[49:57] keeping you from living a life in awe of who he is [50:01] and giving everything over to him. [50:04] That thing that you’re holding onto, [50:05] that pain that you’re holding onto, [50:07] that self-righteousness that you’re holding onto. [50:10] Because we serve a God who came down

[50:12] and he didn’t just go after the hookers and the prostitutes [50:15] and the whores and the thieves. [50:16] What he did was he went after the self-righteous, [50:19] the religious, those who thought they were better. [50:22] And he taught them about love. [50:24] And he taught the others about how they can be loved.

[50:28] And this morning, when you come up, [50:30] I want you to think about that one thing. [50:32] And then I want you to realize

[50:35] that he experienced it [50:38] and that he endured it on the cross [50:41] so that you can stop carrying that. [50:45] And he taught you everything. [50:47] Give it to him [50:48] because he took it with love for you.