Steve Gentry
[0:00] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. Welcome to Village Church. If this is your first time here, my name’s Steve [0:04] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church and as always I’m thankful and grateful to see each and every one of us today [0:11] After the second service, we will be having a lunch here with the missionaries from East Asia [0:18] and if you are interested in taking part in the mission trip that we have coming up in [0:24] 2017 where we’re gonna take a team to East Asia and we’re gonna serve there [0:28] To aid the missionaries as well as to maybe try and start some some new work with some new people
[0:35] Come to that lunch after the second service is gonna start 15 minutes afterwards [0:40] And so we would love to see as many people as are interested in going there to stay for that after the second service [0:47] But if you have your Bibles today, go ahead and open them up to John chapter 8 now [0:51] I’ll be honest with you. We are going to be in a lot of different texts this morning [0:56] So it’s gonna be pretty tough to keep up with me. So those verses are gonna be on the screens behind me [1:02] I hope I assume someone’s putting them up there
[1:05] But so so if you want to have a little bit of an easier go with a lot of the verses this morning [1:10] They should be up there on the screen as we go through today’s message [1:14] But if you haven’t been with us for a few weeks over the past few weeks [1:18] We’ve been in a series called explore God and what this really is is us answering [1:23] Questions that many people in culture have about God and specifically the God that Christians claim is the only true God [1:31] And so we’ve dealt with the question of what is the purpose of life or is there a purpose?
[1:36] We’ve dealt with the issue of is there a God that can be known [1:40] We’ve dealt with the issue of suffering last week [1:43] We dealt with the narrow mindedness of Christians that we talked about is a wonderful thing and this week [1:49] We’re gonna get a little more narrow. So every week it just gets more narrow [1:53] So I’m gonna warn you of that and so today we’re gonna address specifically [1:57] The topic of whether or not Jesus is in fact God
[2:01] And so the specific question that we’re gonna cover is is Jesus God, you know [2:06] Did he claim to be God and why did a movement start so quickly? [2:12] After his death and his claimed resurrection to our masses thousands and thousands of people were willing to die [2:20] Rather than deny their faith that Jesus was in fact the creator God of the universe come to save [2:29] Mankind what about the resurrection? [2:31] Did Jesus rise from the dead or is it just another mythic tale among many others?
[2:38] And so what I hope to accomplish today really is to just lay a groundwork for a reasonable [2:43] Understanding that Jesus in fact did claim to be God and I believe that there is evidence to actually support that claim [2:51] but but for it to actually change the way that you live thank worship and [2:57] Understand God in relation to your life. You have to kind of do more than just kind of nod your head in agreement [3:04] Oh, okay. Sure, you know Jesus existed. Yeah, Jesus is God [3:07] He’s a wonderful guy did all these great things and man if he rose from the dead
[3:12] That’s a crazy thing nobody’s ever done that before [3:15] So what I hope to kind of lay this morning is a groundwork for you to understand that that’s not enough [3:22] that if Jesus is in fact God if [3:26] Jesus did in fact rise from the dead [3:29] Then that literally changes everything but there’s nothing of more consequence or [3:37] significance in your everyday life than that
[3:40] Fact and so I just want to jump into it this morning [3:44] I’m gonna talk about three different keys this morning to understanding what it is that we’re talking about the first one is [3:49] That Jesus did in fact claim to be God [3:52] Jesus claimed to be God and there’s a couple of ways that Jesus made these claims [3:57] He didn’t just overtly continuously walk through the world saying hey, hey, hey, guess what? I’m God [4:04] Come to earth deal with it, right?
[4:07] He didn’t do it in that way instead Jesus did it in two ways [4:12] He did it through deed, but he also actually did do it through word [4:16] He did claim to be God but his deeds were not done as an aside [4:22] To the claim that he was God but rather many of the deeds that Jesus did was [4:28] provoking the crowds [4:30] Provoking the audience to understand that he was more than mere man among them
[4:37] He was more than a good teacher and so to understand his words and his deeds this morning [4:43] I want us to also grapple with the key fact that if Jesus is not God then you cannot claim that [4:50] He was a good teacher [4:52] There are many Jesus’s that people embrace in our culture and cultures around the world [4:57] But for believers and unbelievers alike most people look to the person and work of Jesus Christ [5:04] Specifically some of his teachings that we’re comfortable with not all of his teachings because most people aren’t comfortable with some of his teachings
[5:11] But with many of his teachings and they’ll say oh, yeah doing others you had them doing to you [5:14] I said do some good stuff love people. That’s fantastic stuff Jesus at his root as a rabbi [5:20] He was a very good man [5:23] It’s a kind of take from what CS Lewis said about Jesus and mere Christianity [5:28] That isn’t really something you can say about a guy that literally did everything that he could to support [5:35] The base claim of his life, which was I am God
[5:39] So one of three categories is true of Jesus according to Lewis. He’s either a a liar [5:47] Saying that he’s the son of God saying that he’s the Messiah from heaven to come save humanity [5:53] And that’s to be rejected or he’s a lunatic to be absolutely pitied by us [5:59] Somebody that does in fact believe this amazing claim that he is God and so we kind of put him off out of our culture [6:06] Put him in some kind of a home to deal with the fact that this is a complete nutcase
[6:10] Or he is in fact who he said that he is. He is the Lord of all and [6:16] If he is the Lord of all then that demands [6:20] Absolute attention it demands reorientation of your life, but in his deeds [6:25] He absolutely claims to be God and Matthew chapter 7 verses 28 and 29 [6:31] When he would teach [6:34] The Old Testament when he would teach the way of God the crowns would respond in such a way
[6:40] many times throughout the four gospel accounts of Jesus’s life and [6:45] History shows us that these accounts are actually of that generation of that culture [6:49] So the claims that are being made of how people acted would have been absolutely impossible to fabricate given the dating [6:56] This is that they saw him as teaching in a way that no one had ever taught like that [7:01] He had an authority that was uncommon to man in Matthew chapter 8 verses 24 through 27 [7:07] One of the more popular miracles of Jesus
[7:09] There’s a storm taking place and Jesus rises from his slumber because storms don’t seem to affect him the way that they do us [7:16] And Jesus looks at the storm and he says peace be still stop that nonsense [7:20] I’d rather have a nice little smooth boat ride
[7:24] And the disciples marvel at him saying who is this man that nature itself
[7:31] Responds to his terms in [7:34] Matthew chapter 9 verses 6 through 7 he healed the paralyzed [7:38] Specifically to provoke [7:40] Questions of his ability he provokes the crowd and yes, which takes greater ability [7:47] to spiritually heal or to physically heal and in this instance [7:52] He does both and they look and they say such authority is not known
[7:58] to human beings [8:00] It’s very quickly in the accounts of Jesus’s miracles the responses of the crowd kind of [8:06] Disqualify one of the statements that many within culture are tempted to make about first century Judaism [8:12] And that is that these are Neanderthals that thought miracles and resurrection was just a commonplace thing that happened [8:18] That’s not the attitude that you have especially from the gospel writers, especially from history [8:22] You have groupings of people that think miracles are actually impossible
[8:27] They’re groupings of people that look at the things Jesus did and they responded to who in the world can do such things [8:32] No one [8:33] What authority is this in his teaching? [8:36] What authority is this over nature? [8:38] What authority is this where he has the ability to look at the paralyzed to look at the blind to look at the deaf? [8:43] To look at the one that is crippled and deformed due to all sorts of diseases and he can actually make them physically whole
[8:53] And then in John chapter 11 probably the most fantastic miracle of Jesus’s life would be the most fantastic thing you’d ever seen [8:59] He stands before the tomb of his friend Lazarus and says Lazarus come forth
[9:05] To her when he shows up the crowd if you’ve read the story they do not look at Jesus say thank goodness [9:11] You are here. You can raise Lazarus from the dead [9:15] No, they look to Jesus because all they had seen was the fact that he can heal the sick [9:20] And they say if you had just been here a few days ago [9:24] Lazarus wouldn’t have died and they look to Jesus and say what is your problem? Why are you so tardy? [9:30] Jesus weeps with them feeling their pain
[9:33] then he stands before the tomb of his friend and he says Lazarus come forth and [9:38] The record shows that this is a very public miracle and that Lazarus hops out [9:44] Still clothed in his burial attire [9:48] And so the very actions that Jesus does while he is on earth is not something that’s [9:54] Commonplace in their culture just as it would not be commonplace in our culture [10:00] but rather they provoked questions and
[10:04] Every time that Jesus either tote excuse me taught or healed the response of the crowd is one of [10:12] Who is this man? And how does he have such? [10:16] uncommon [10:17] ability and authority [10:20] And so his deeds and the way that he went about his life were not accidents [10:27] but rather they were meant to provoke the question of
[10:31] Is this man God? [10:35] But beyond that Jesus also claimed through his words that he was God [10:40] Jesus not only acted as one with the power of God [10:43] He claimed to be very God by the things that he said in the way that he taught about himself now [10:50] I am going to use the Bible and [10:53] quoting the words of Jesus
[10:55] But understand that this is not as some may think a removed source that could have been easily easily [11:02] Fabricated to make Jesus say things that he didn’t actually say [11:06] History shows that this record is first written by witnesses and second those who would read this in the first century did not [11:13] Contradict the claims of what Jesus did and what Jesus said [11:17] It was not written in a far-off culture [11:20] But instead it was written within the very culture that these words and these actions took place
[11:26] So it doesn’t have historical credibility to record the very words of Jesus and second [11:33] Those who read it never contradicted that Jesus said these things [11:38] But instead they claimed yeah, yeah [11:40] These were the claims that Jesus made in John 6 chapter starting in verse 41 into verse 42 [11:46] Jesus claimed to have actually come from heaven the response the audience [11:52] Gave him showed that they understood that he was making an otherworldly claim
[11:57] This was not one of those kind of flirtatious lines that you may say to someone that you think is attractive [12:03] Hey, did it hurt when you fell from heaven? No instead [12:06] Jesus actually looks to the crowd and he says I am bread come from heaven and the crowd looks and they say [12:14] Actually, we have your home address
[12:18] So they understood the claim that he was making was not even hyperbolic [12:23] But instead the audience understood that Jesus was actually claiming to have a home [12:28] Before this earth and to have a cognizant reality that took place before this world even knew him [12:34] But then in mark chapter 14 starting in verse 62 Jesus was standing trial [12:41] And he used a term for himself son of man [12:44] I think the term that’s used in the gospel account son of man is something that’s very confusing for us because in our culture
[12:50] We probably look at that and we say son of man. Well, that doesn’t sound like an otherworldly identity [12:56] It sounds like you’re the son of a man [12:59] But in the New Testament and especially in Israel at that time [13:04] This was a magnificent thing that no one would say of themselves [13:07] And the reason that no one would say this of themselves is because this is the title [13:12] given to the Savior of the world God in the book of Daniel as a prophecy of who would come in Daniel the son of
[13:21] Man is referred to as the ancient of days [13:24] The Lord or the eternal God who made all that is and has authority over absolutely everything [13:31] And it’s used as he’s the son of man the one that comes with this authority the one that comes with this identity [13:38] To save the world now this identity is quoted by Jesus [13:43] 80 times throughout the four Gospels
[13:48] So Jesus knew [13:49] Exactly what he was saying [13:52] When he used this terminology for himself [13:55] That he was saying that he was the one who was prophesied in the book of Daniel to come to save [14:01] And they understood that Jesus was stating at that moment to be the Lord and that is ultimately what led to his crucifixion [14:10] But in John chapter 8 starting in verse 56
[14:13] Jesus claimed his authority was actually derived from the fact that he was the God that spoke to Abraham in the Old Testament from [14:20] The burning bush it says in starting in verse 56. This is your father Abraham [14:24] Rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad [14:29] So the Jews said to him you are not yet 50 years old and have you seen Abraham and Jesus said to them truly truly [14:37] I say to you now when Jesus is truly truly. That’s an important thing because he’s that means that he’s about to say something with consequence [14:45] This is truly truly. I say to you before Abraham was I am
[14:50] That’s an important statement for two purposes [14:53] Jesus is either crazy because he’s saying that he’s a couple thousand years old [14:58] Or he’s God [15:00] He’s claiming eternity at that point [15:03] But beyond that he’s using a phrase that if you look one verse down [15:09] It says that the them put picked up stones in order to stone him that
[15:13] Jesus used as term for himself. I am and this is the name that was used in the burning bush with Moses [15:21] When the burning bush looked to Moses to say who he was because Moses is saying I’m about to go into Egypt [15:27] I’m probably gonna get killed for what you’re trying to tell me to do whose authority am I coming under and the bush says [15:33] Tell them that I am sent you. This is the term Yahweh [15:37] This is the term for God in Israel [15:41] He’s claiming in that moment to be the eternal God of Israel of Abraham of Isaac of Jacob
[15:48] the ancient of days the beginning and the end God [15:53] That is the reason for which they picked up stones with which to stone him and it says Jesus had to use his [16:01] invisibility cloak or [16:03] Godness to hide himself from them so that they would not stone him before the time of his crucifixion
[16:10] So we see that this claim that Jesus is God is not something that followers of Jesus invented many years later [16:18] But instead this is a contemporary claim that took place even before the crucifixion of Jesus from the very verbiage of Jesus himself [16:27] There’s got to be more than that can’t just go off of something that someone says so secondly this morning the resurrection reveals that Jesus really is God
[16:37] So if I were to walk the rest of my life telling you that I am God [16:42] even doing some [16:43] Fantastic things nowhere near what Jesus is claimed to have done [16:47] But doing some fantastic things displaying some amazing power displaying some amazing teaching ability before you and for the rest of my life [16:55] I claim hey before Abraham was I am now you would [17:00] Respond the same way Israel may have responded which is maybe a little less severe
[17:04] Maybe you wouldn’t try to kill me even though some of you might [17:06] But many of you would probably just say what is wrong with Steve. He has gone off the deep end [17:14] Then say I die [17:16] And you bury me and you go back a week later. I’m still there. I’m still there. I’m still there [17:21] That’ll pretty much verify your claims that Steve was insane [17:24] He wasn’t in fact God because he’s what dead and God tends to not die because you know, he’s God and whatnot
[17:31] but the reality is is that if I made those claims and I did fantastic things the rest of my life and you saw me be [17:39] killed by professional executioners and then about [17:42] Week or less later you see me walking down a road eating and drinking with my friends [17:49] You may take a second look [17:53] And the reality is is that what Jesus claimed [17:56] Does not match the authority that a resurrected Christ actually lays down in front of us
[18:03] And this is the chief claim about Jesus that must be dealt with by everyone in this world [18:10] And that is the fact that Jesus [18:12] Claimed to rise from the dead said he was gonna rise from the dead and then many of his followers [18:19] Then said hey, we spent time with him physically after he rose from the dead. He really rose from the dead [18:28] Then you have to look back and you have to say not is there validity to his claim? [18:33] But if this is true, then yes, he is in fact God
[18:40] If Jesus had acted in the ways that pointed to deity and then died [18:44] Nothing would have come of his tail [18:46] He would have just been one more spiritual leader among many throughout the history of the world [18:51] But his claim of being God would have fallen on deaf ears [18:55] But after his death understands the claims grew larger and spread throughout the entire [19:03] World and still reverberates to this very day
[19:07] Not just that Jesus claimed to be God [19:09] But that Jesus actually rose from the dead proving the case once and for all that he is God [19:16] now again contrary to what some people may think or purport about [19:21] first century Israel and first century Rome and first century Antioch and first century [19:26] Everywhere because that’s where Christianity spread to after the resurrection of Jesus [19:31] Resurrection was not a common theme
[19:35] among that time [19:37] Resurrection was something that was absolutely rejected just as it is rejected in our day [19:43] They didn’t think it was common but understand nor did they think it was possible [19:50] the possibility of a human being rising from the dead was wholly [19:57] Rejected in the first century thought of as being something that would be just absolute hogwash thought of by complete [20:05] Neanderthals
[20:07] therefore the [20:08] for a being to die and then physically rise from the dead was a claim that was completely unique in [20:17] that time period and [20:19] unthinkable to most but historians from the first century outside of the scripture such as Josephus [20:27] Suetonius and Pliny the younger all record not just resurrection tales about Jesus, but the extraordinary [20:35] nature of the claims and the effects that such claims had on the masses of people as well as the culture at large
[20:42] Resurrection was not a common theme in the record of anyone’s life at that point [20:48] There was no human being at that point that claimed [20:52] resurrecting ability [20:54] physically under their own power yet historians look and they say these are the very claims that their followers are having and the [21:01] Followers are having such massive effects on their life that they really believe that they saw a [21:06] Resurrected Christ and that he actually did physically rise from the dead
[21:11] This was not something that Jesus would have rejected either and mark 8 chapter verse 31 and elsewhere [21:17] Jesus told his followers that yes, he would rise from the dead [21:23] Says in mark 8 [21:24] It says that he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief [21:30] priests and the scribes and be killed and [21:34] after three days rise again
[21:37] So you see that this is a claim that Jesus himself made was going to happen in his lifetime [21:43] But in first Corinthians 15, we actually see the biggest defense in Scripture to the resurrection of Jesus in real time [21:52] We see that the Apostle Paul does not just claim a supernatural [21:58] Mythical spiritual resurrection but instead claims a physical resurrection and he used uses historic evidence to actually prove the case [22:07] He says starting in verse 3 [22:08] He says I delivered to you as a first importance what I also received
[22:11] That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day in [22:17] Accordance with scriptures and that he appeared to Caiaphas then to the 12 then he appeared to more than [22:23] 500 brothers at one time most of whom are still alive though. Some have fallen asleep [22:29] And so first note that this is not a tale [22:33] Created by con men according to the Apostle Paul [22:37] Instead it was a predicted event that was viewed by those close to Jesus as well as around
[22:43] 500 other people it is almost unanimously [22:47] Agreed in history that first Corinthians was written within about 20 years of the resurrection [22:54] So Paul’s offer to take the readers to the eyewitnesses was vital to understanding the validity of such a [23:02] resurrection claim [23:03] But then second he uses terms like according to scriptures [23:08] So Jesus did not live far off from society or a move from an understanding of what he claimed and did there were
[23:15] Centuries of histories and prophecy predicting these events and Jesus fulfilled every [23:22] single one of them [23:25] But also understand [23:27] There’s not just historic eyewitness that is enough for us to accept [23:33] Historically we can put the record of 500 or more witnesses in history books and say this is a claim that holds weight [23:40] But instead you also have the miraculous and completely supernatural change that seems to take place in the disciples themselves
[23:48] I mean you’re looking at a group of men that go from absolute cowards [23:52] To men willing to die for the claim of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead [23:57] No, understand that this is not enough to prove the case [24:00] But it is important to add to the evidence the change in the disciples added to their collective [24:07] Refusal to recant the claim of resurrection to the point of death acts great validity to the claim [24:15] I mean note what they say about themselves in the gospel accounts
[24:21] They don’t record themselves as these brave men off to battle with Jesus [24:27] They record themselves as cowards completely self-deprecating [24:32] Even history shows in Rome that Peter stood right outside of where Jesus is being tried and he was afraid that he himself was going to be killed [24:40] And so he says I didn’t know the guy [24:43] No, I don’t know the guy. I’m not one of those followers over and over again [24:49] But the note the amazing change that takes place after the supposed resurrection of Jesus Christ
[24:56] Specifically in Peter himself you see him face history tells us the [25:01] Tame end that Jesus faced being crucified and Jesus looks to his captors and he says I am not worthy [25:09] To die the same death as my Lord if you must crucify me make it worse and put the cross upside down [25:17] So Peter suffered a fate that was extremely painful and extremely [25:22] hard [25:23] This was a man who was changed changed by what?
[25:27] Changed by the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and it did not stay with them though [25:36] Hundreds witnessed the resurrected Jesus physically walking and talking now the death of Jesus on the cross is not [25:44] historically debated [25:46] If someone does then they do not have any claim in history to real evidence [25:51] Therefore the hundreds of collective claims of a physical Jesus walking teaching and eating is
[25:59] Magnificent it is a completely supernatural claim that’s being made and specifically in a culture that wholly rejected the notion that people could rise from the dead [26:09] It’s amazing that as many people as it embraced it as they did now [26:13] No other theory holds historical weight as to the evidence except for a real resurrection [26:19] You have to deal with the history of such a claim [26:23] Now thirdly this morning [26:25] Jesus claimed to be God
[26:27] Jesus acted as God and if Jesus really did rise from the dead [26:33] Understand that that means Jesus is God [26:37] And if Jesus is God then that changes everything [26:42] Changes everything [26:43] First I want to say it demands your attention [26:46] What’s the point of it all if Jesus is God come from heaven then what does it mean to you personally?
[26:55] Now I frankly can’t put it any better than author and pastor Tim Keller has already put it [27:00] He wrote if Jesus rose from the dead then you have to accept all that he said [27:05] If he didn’t rise from the dead then why worry about any of what he said the issue on which? [27:11] Everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching [27:15] But whether or not he rose from the dead that is how the first hearers felt who heard reports of the resurrection [27:22] They knew that if it was true it meant that we can’t live our lives any way that we want
[27:28] It also meant if we don’t [27:33] Have to be afraid of anything because he rose from the dead [27:37] And that’s the dramatic change that you saw in his followers [27:41] They didn’t have to be afraid of Roman swords any longer [27:45] You and I we don’t have to live in fear of cancer [27:50] Not to fear anything Jesus rose from the dead it changes everything
[27:59] Friends you simply can’t ignore Jesus [28:03] No other person in the history of the world has had the effect that he has had [28:08] Nor has the validity of his resurrection lost any impact and well over [28:15] 2,000 years [28:17] At least it demands your attention whether you believe it or not [28:21] You cannot simply brush the claim surrounding him under the rug and then claim a few of his teachings as being somewhat
[28:29] helpful for your life [28:32] He is as Lewis said either a liar to be rejected a [28:37] Lunatic to pity or he is the son of God come to save the world from sin [28:43] Now you must either accept everything about Jesus and submit your life to him or reject him completely friends [28:51] He will not have it any other way [28:56] so demands your attention, but it also demands a
[29:01] Reorientation for your life that means a complete turn in your life and John chapter 2 [29:09] One of his disciples wrote that once Jesus rose from the dead they then remembered his claims and [29:17] believed everything he had said verbally as [29:21] Well as what was said in the Bible about him [29:24] Believing in light of events changed their perspective [29:27] Which did lead to reorienting their lives around the commands of Jesus
[29:35] But understand that this reorientation is not just a claim that was important for his followers [29:42] in contemporary times in the first century [29:45] but rather [29:47] It’s a claim that matters to you and it matters to me [29:51] If Jesus is God then I [29:54] Must look at the record of what he said. I must look at the record of what was said about him
[29:58] I must look at the record of what he said [30:00] I need to do and I need to be I must look at a record of what I need to trust and how I [30:05] Need to think and how I need to live and the way I need to live to my [30:08] Life and the way I need to treat others and the way I need to treat God and the way that I worship [30:12] There is no [30:14] aspect of life
[30:18] That the answer to the question of is Jesus really God doesn’t affect it affects absolutely [30:26] everything. [30:29] It means that I can entrust my life and my future to him. [30:37] I can trust all of my allegiances to him. [30:41] I can trust all of my commitments to him and none of them can possibly be wasted because [30:46] number one, this is God and number two, this is someone that has power over all of the
[30:52] things that I live my life avoiding or fearing.
[30:57] Whether it be pain, whether it be sickness, whether it be failure, whether it be death. [31:02] Jesus has shown through all of his power and all of his feats and ultimately through the [31:06] power of his resurrection and eternality that he can be trusted with absolutely all of it. [31:11] And if he is trusted with absolutely all of it, then I must submit my allegiance to [31:17] his mission and his commands.
[31:22] Friends, Jesus himself warned that we cannot ignore him. [31:29] In John chapter three, starting in verse 17, he’s quoted as saying that he came to bring [31:35] life, but without him, there’s nothing but condemnation left. [31:42] See verse 17 is a popular verse because it speaks to what we want. [31:47] It says that he didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save the world. [31:51] That’s a fantastic thing to dwell on.
[31:54] But verse 18 warns us. [31:58] It says that if we believe in him, then we won’t be condemned. [32:02] But whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the [32:08] name of the only son of God.
[32:16] You see, I submit to you that Jesus is God.
[32:22] I submit to you that Jesus did rise from the dead and I also submit to you that that is [32:28] the final verdict on his identity and his personhood and who he is eternally.
[32:36] Let me also reason with you that if those things are true, then even one more moment [32:43] spent not submitting your life to him, not giving yourself over to him, is a blasphemous [32:52] act that he warns will be condemned.
[33:00] So the identity of Jesus is not something to really make light of. [33:04] It’s not something that I can make a joke for you to be comfortable about. [33:09] As much of culture will treat us towards in our time, some of it humorous, some of it [33:15] blasphemous. [33:17] But Jesus is not a mythic spiritualist who comes in to simply give us some inspirational [33:26] terms to help us in our relationships.
[33:30] Nor is he a spiritualist who comes in to give us a motivational talk so that we feel better [33:36] about our plight in this world or feel better about our failures or our pain or our shortcomings [33:43] or anything in life. [33:45] He doesn’t just come to give us peace.
[33:50] That peace can only be known if you submit to the reign of the King of all of the universe. [33:57] And his name is Jesus. [34:00] And you cannot trifle with his authority, nor should you deny it. [34:05] You can. [34:06] You do have that ability in your sin. [34:09] But in doing it, you’re believing a lie.
[34:12] And in doing it, you will not just lose your life, you will lose your eternity. [34:17] And you will fall under the wrath of God. [34:21] Because think about it just for a moment. [34:24] If he is God, and he has sought to make it abundantly clear, not just through prophets, [34:33] not just through priests, and not just through kings, but at a point in history, God himself [34:42] came, walked among man at a time in history where it would actually be recorded that
[34:49] he did such a thing. [34:51] Did things that showed that he was God. [34:54] Said things to show that he was God. [34:57] Then died a death foresaying that he was God. [35:01] And then three days later got up to say, hey, you don’t have any authority over me. [35:06] You can’t kill me.
[35:09] And then brought to himself thousands and thousands and thousands of followers to go [35:16] throughout all of his kingdom on this earth to tell everyone the King, the God of all [35:25] has made himself known and desires not to condemn us, but to bring us into an eternal [35:34] relationship with himself.
[35:38] Friends I tell you, your refusal to turn to such wonderful mercy, to such unexpected [35:48] grace from the one who has all of the power, all of the authority, and all of the offense [35:54] from our rebellion and the ability to do something about it, our refusal to accept [36:00] those terms is worthy of his eternal condemnation.
[36:11] But it does not have to go that way for you. [36:14] Nor does it have to go that way for anyone. [36:17] If you will place your trust in Jesus Christ as God, turn from your sin, request his forgiveness [36:29] and seek to follow him and trust.
[36:35] He will save you. [36:37] Not because I think so, but because in John 3 he promises so. [36:44] And he has proven that he is no liar.
[36:49] Trust him and you will have real life.
[36:57] He has worked to get your attention and to change your life. [37:03] And he will not tolerate your distrust or your attempts to even ignore him. [37:10] Trust him or all will be lost. [37:12] As the band comes up, I am very thankful for Jesus.
[37:21] If life can be summed up, then one key thing for you, it’s not about your success, it’s [37:28] not about your failure, it really is, what do you do with the question, is Jesus really [37:36] God?
[37:38] That’s what your entire life will ultimately be summed up by.
[37:44] If you say yes, then friends I tell you, it demands more than just an assent, it demands [37:52] more than just an agreement. [37:55] It demands the submission of your entire life. [37:59] If you say no, well friend, then you’re denying all of history, you’re denying God himself [38:10] and you are trusting you as God.
[38:16] I don’t know about you, but if you’re anything like me, there’s not a lot of history to [38:23] me being God. [38:24] There’s not a lot of evidence that points to my deity. [38:27] There’s actually a lot of evidence to the contrary, a lot of evidence that I can’t [38:32] trust myself, a lot of evidence that there’s a good chance that I’m going to wake up tomorrow [38:36] feeling completely different than I did this morning in a completely different mood with
[38:41] a completely different outlook on just me. [38:43] And that’s not even my outlook on everything else.
[38:48] So if you’re anything like me, then you have to admit to one key term, one key fact. [38:53] You’re a terrible God.
[38:56] And you need to stop trusting you.
[39:01] I’ve spent lots of time talking about someone that we can trust and he displayed all of [39:06] the attributes, all of the evidence, all of the claims. [39:10] And then he proved once and for all that he is God and he’s going to keep his word and [39:14] he’s going to come again and he’s going to save all that trust him and friend, he will [39:18] condemn all that don’t. [39:22] Trust him.
[39:23] It’ll change your life. [39:25] If you’ve not trusted Jesus before and you want to, you want to give him your life or [39:29] you want to ask more questions than I was able to answer in the few moments that we’ve [39:34] had together. [39:35] There are people in the foyer that would love to talk to you, that would love to pray with [39:39] you that maybe you just need some encouragement from them to keep exploring.
[39:43] But if you have trusted him today, then my request for you is a very simple one. [39:49] Continue to trust his grace. [39:52] And in just a moment, come proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. [39:58] The bread represents his broken body. [40:00] The cup represents his shed blood. [40:03] And we eat and drink to remember the death of Jesus Christ.
[40:08] And we want to remember that because it was a death for our sin. [40:12] So it reminds us of his grace and his wonderful mercy and his absolute forgiveness that’s [40:18] never ending. [40:20] But we also look at it in memorial and in celebration. [40:26] Because he did not stay dead. [40:28] And he’s ruling and he’s reigning right now over the entire universe.
[40:35] So if you’ve trusted Jesus as your Savior in the front and in the back, come remember [40:41] the death of our Lord.