The Presence of Suffering.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Welcome to the village my name is Steve and my table is far lower than I expected [0:05] it to be. I don’t sit quite far that low so we’ll just ignore that for [0:12] right now we’ll move on. I’m gonna take the blame for that one I should have [0:17] checked that. Welcome to the village like I said my name is Steve and I’m glad to [0:21] have you here. Merry two days after Christmas. Christmas was two days ago [0:26] Right about now you’re starting to feel the weight that you’ve gained over the

[0:31] past month and you’re already planning that diet that might start either [0:35] tomorrow or maybe next Monday and you’re like this is gonna be the year. This is [0:41] gonna be the year when I look in the mirror and I like what I see instead of [0:45] getting to the end of yet another year and stepping out of the shower and [0:49] being horrified by what you see. And I speak from experience because this is [0:54] been my last week as I’ve been saying oh man Steve you really let it go this

[0:58] year didn’t you? And it’s a story of my life though I didn’t get this big by [1:02] not eating. Well like I said welcome to the village and what we just saw was it [1:07] was a little video that kind of captures what we’re gonna be talking about today [1:12] and the last song that we sang is sort of captures it as well that we’re [1:16] talking about the fact that God himself became man and today we’re gonna talk [1:23] about the miracle that is what in theology you refer to as the incarnation

[1:29] or God actually becoming a human being and walking the earth. So we’re gonna be [1:34] talking about that today but I want to kind of rewind and just give you a little [1:40] synopsis of what we talked about last week because it’s kind of good this week [1:43] you sort of need to understand last week and last week of course in Richmond when [1:47] it snows everything shuts down so everything shut down last weekend and [1:52] just a few of us gathered in a house and talked about this series that we

[1:56] did for two weeks we’re taking a break from Galatians and it’s called presence [2:00] and last week we talked about the presence of sacrifice in the Christmas [2:05] story and we focused mainly on Mary and Joseph last week and we talked about the [2:10] story of Mary and Joseph two young people who are looking forward to being married [2:16] and then an angel comes from heaven and God kind of intervenes and says your life [2:22] is never going to be the same he intervenes and he calls these two young

[2:27] people to live a life of amazing sacrifice and oftentimes we don’t think [2:33] of Mary and Joseph in that manner we think of Mary and Joseph in a manner [2:37] that they had this amazing privilege and they were these two exalted beings and [2:44] then all of a sudden they’re going to have the Son of God of course their [2:47] family threw them a party and it’s like oh you’ve been picked you know you’re [2:51] the special ones but that’s not really the way the scripture shows us what

[2:55] really happened and that’s not the truth of what happened to Mary and Joseph the [3:00] truth of what happened to Mary and Joseph is they were two very normal first [3:04] century Jewish people and an angel comes to them and basically says life as you [3:11] knew it is over your life will never be the same and God called Mary and Joseph [3:18] to make amazing sacrifices with their lives God called Mary and Joseph to [3:25] really sacrifice their reputations to sacrifice the the meaning of Jewish

[3:32] marriage God called them to live lives of amazing sacrifice and instead of [3:38] doing it in a grumbling fashion or instead of doing it begrudgingly Mary [3:43] says absolutely and if you read Luke 1 it says Mary did more than that Mary [3:49] praised God for calling her to ruin her life God called her to live a life that [3:58] she would have a reputation of not being pure at marriage and for somebody in [4:04] first century Israel and Judea that’s crazy they didn’t have a culture of MTV

[4:13] back then they didn’t have a culture where it’s kind of expected you know [4:16] you’re not going to be pure rather back then the norm was you were pure and so [4:23] God calls Mary to live a life where her purity will always be in question and he [4:30] calls Joseph to live a life where the firstborn son that he will raise will [4:35] not even be his own and so Mary and Joseph live lives of sacrifice but you [4:42] see the reaction of them isn’t as if they’re living sacrificially because

[4:46] when I have to sacrifice I grumble a little bit and I say well I guess I’ll [4:51] do it if God wants me to Mary and Joseph respond and Mary praises God and says [4:58] basically this sacrifice is for the praise of God and she sacrifices because [5:05] she knows that in the sacrifice there will be greater satisfaction there will [5:10] be greater desire there will be greater delight for her from God himself that she [5:15] is trading the life that she will build for a life that God himself will build

[5:23] for a joy that will come from God himself that most people would have never [5:27] understood and to this day we still don’t understand so the presence of [5:34] sacrifice is heavy in Christmas yet we don’t look at it that way often times we [5:39] see these pictures of Mary and the little baby Jesus and he’s got you know [5:42] this golden crown or plate or whatever you want to see over his head and she’s [5:47] got the same and we almost think of people that float through life we sing

[5:50] songs where Jesus is laying in the crib and he’s constantly got this angelic [5:54] smile in his face and when he has a dirty diaper which he probably never had [5:58] he’s smiling about it and he’s like Mary come change my diaper that’s not the [6:04] Christmas story the Christmas story is ripe with sacrifice it’s ripe with [6:11] struggle it’s two young people traveling to Bethlehem from Nazareth I talked [6:20] about this last week but I just I had a child two weeks ago I didn’t my wife did

[6:25] we had a child two weeks ago and I can’t imagine driving anywhere an hour with a [6:29] woman that’s like eight or nine months pregnant much less putting her on a [6:32] donkey or a camel and asking her to walk to Bethlehem so it’s a story that’s [6:39] ripe with struggle and then in the end you have them in a stable which is [6:43] probably a cave like dwelling where the animals are and the baby is born and [6:50] there’s just Mary and there’s just Joseph and the struggle of childbirth as I

[6:58] witnessed the horrific struggle fear man they were in solitude alone and Jesus [7:07] is born but then we have to kind of look at it from the perspective of Jesus

[7:17] Jesus being born into a lowly estate of just another Jewish kid but rather it’s [7:24] birth that should change history and as a matter of fact has changed history [7:30] because you see if you look at it from Jesus’s perspective what you have in [7:34] the story is the presence of mission and you have a mission that the book of [7:39] Revelation says was planned out before the foundations of the earth you have [7:47] the birth of a child who isn’t really a child at all but rather he’s the Son of

[7:53] God and he’s a God that has always existed there was never really a [8:00] beginning for God because of that there was never really a beginning for Jesus in [8:08] his deity or in his godness I guess you could say he always existed it’s just now [8:13] he exists in human form and today I want to talk about what took place to make [8:18] that happen so if you have a Bible go ahead and open up to John chapter one [8:24] and we’re going to talk about it on Matthew Mark and Luke are called the

[8:29] synoptic gospels and you know big seminary terminology and all that means [8:34] is that they’re very similar the stories are laid out very similar that you start [8:40] with birth you go through life then you get to the crucifixion the book of John [8:47] is completely different and you see the difference from the very beginning [8:51] because John does not start with the narrative of how Jesus was born because [8:57] the other three gospels basically take a microscopic view of a moment in history

[9:03] and what the book of John is going to do for us the book of John kind of takes [9:06] the lens back and it looks at it through a telescope and it looks at the whole [9:10] story and it really gives you a wide view of what Christmas is all about in [9:16] John chapter one if you join me it says in the beginning was the word and the [9:25] word was with God and the word was God he was in the beginning with God it [9:32] always amazes me when somebody becomes a believer and they’re very young some

[9:35] people usually give them a little book or gives them a Bible and says start with [9:39] the book of John and so like your Christianity 101 starts with this word [9:44] problem of in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the [9:48] word was God if you really think about those words it doesn’t make much sense

[9:55] logically and as a person that doesn’t make much sense how can something be in [9:59] the beginning be with God and also be God and then he ends it the way starts [10:03] it by saying in the beginning was God you have this amazing look at who God is [10:11] we’ve got to start with this word word because the most predominant word that [10:17] you see here in the beginning was the word the word was with God the word was [10:22] God and this word was in the beginning with God so what is John talking about

[10:28] right here was he go back into the original language this term word as you [10:34] see it in capitalized letters it’s a term that means basically the

[10:42] it means that God is revealing himself to humanity it means that this is the way [10:49] in which God reveals himself but he says something interesting that this word was [10:54] with God and this word was God so this being this word this expression of who [11:03] God is is alongside of God and if you look back at the original language if you [11:09] look back at the Greek this was written in when it says with God it doesn’t mean [11:13] like if someone were to come here and stand side by side with me some people

[11:17] may look at us and say they’re with each other some people may even look at us in [11:21] a building and say we are all with each other that’s not quite what it’s talking [11:27] about when it says it is with God it means it is in an ever connected relationship it is [11:35] in perfect unity it is of the same essence so there is this connectedness of them being [11:43] together but then it takes it one step further and says it is more than just connected it [11:50] is God it’s interesting when you think about God and sometimes we struggle because in Christianity

[11:59] we have this this doctrine or this belief or this understanding from scripture it’s called the [12:05] Trinity that God is three yet he’s also one there are three persons in one being and that’s really [12:15] I understand what it means to have three people you know you can have me another guy and someone [12:21] else but then you say well they’re actually one that doesn’t make much sense but noticing here [12:26] when it’s talking about the word it basically says three statements about the word it says the word [12:31] was in the beginning it says the word was with God and says the word was God I don’t think that

[12:36] it’s circum it’s just kind of circumstantial it’s just kind of accidental that they makes that this [12:41] story makes three statements about God but saying that it’s the same God I think what you have [12:50] here is a revelation of the Trinity and what you have here is kind of a viewpoint of how God is [12:56] going to reveal himself yet continue to be one God I don’t think it’s accidental I don’t think [13:04] it’s just luck that John wrote it this way I think he specifically wrote it this way because of what [13:09] he’s going to continue throughout the entire book to lay out goes on and he says in verse three all

[13:18] things were made through him okay so we start with just saying the word but now he has personality [13:25] it’s a he was in the beginning with God and then in verse three it says all things were made through [13:30] him and without him was not anything made that was made so you have this language that goes all the [13:38] way back to the book of Genesis I said this is different this is different than the other gospels he [13:42] goes back to Genesis how does the book of Genesis start in the beginning how does the book of John [13:47] start in the beginning so he then he goes here he goes back to creation he says this word nothing

[13:54] exists that he did not create more than that in him is life and this life was the light of men do [14:07] you notice a stepladder almost taking place here that throughout the first five verses of the book [14:13] of John he takes this being that’s the word and he kind of lifts him up a little bit then he lifts [14:19] him up a little higher then lifts him up a little higher and he’s exalting him because he started he [14:25] said in the beginning he was then he says more than that he’s been with God since the beginning [14:33] more than that he is God more than that he is a God that possesses life and there’s nothing that

[14:42] exists that he didn’t create and more than that the life that dwells inside of this God is a light [14:50] that is the light of men and then he finished it off and he says this light shines in the darkness [14:59] and the darkness has not overcome it so what John is doing right here is he is taking God and he’s [15:08] saying this is who God is number one he is not impersonal because he has life and this life is [15:18] the light of you and I that when God is there when the word is there when God reveals himself [15:28] to us when he expresses himself in the word then he is the light in your life and there is no darkness

[15:39] that can come overcome that light let’s fast forward a little bit because I can’t go through the entire [15:48] book of John there are 21 chapters in this book so I’ll go ahead and just kind of reveal to you who [15:53] he’s talking about here the word is Jesus you go towards the end of chapter 1 and John goes ahead [16:02] and he tells you this and he tells you that the word is Jesus and that Jesus has come and he is [16:09] among us but what is he really saying about Jesus in verses 1 through 5 first thing and this is [16:18] really the most important thing that I think any person can grasp in their lives is that Jesus is

[16:23] God John reveals to us the very important fact that Jesus is God and in light of everything that [16:32] he says about the word the most important foundation that you can start with is that Jesus is God and [16:41] more than that he’s not a God that is disconnected he’s not an unreachable God he’s not an absentee [16:49] landlord how often in your life have you asked the question where is God why isn’t he active in my life

[17:02] John 1 is this beacon of truth shining a light into your life saying God is active in your life

[17:14] God is there God is with you in spite of what the circumstances look like in your life which are [17:23] typically circumstances that we create God is there and he is there in the person of Jesus Christ

[17:36] so what does it look like why is he telling us this why is he making us this word problem of the word [17:43] being God the word being flesh that God’s going to reveal himself to us fast forward to verse 14 and John says [17:51] and the word became flesh and dwelt among us the Greek word for flesh is sarks and what sarks really is talking [18:00] about is that it is the skin that we have on us typically when it is used but it’s more than that it’s more than just a piece of skin [18:07] what that word means is that word is telling us that this flesh is the embodiment of humanity or what it means to be a person [18:17] so he’s not simply saying God came down and put on a flesh suit and kind of pretended he was human for a little while

[18:24] now what John is saying here is that God really became a human being when it says he dwelt among us what it really is referring to [18:37] is referring to the fact that God made his dwelling place right alongside of people the Greek word there literally means to pitch a tent and live [18:50] it means to build a dwelling place and actually exist that God really became a human being

[19:02] if you think about the Christmas story many times as a Christian we think the greatest miracle that exists is God takes away our sin [19:09] I don’t think that’s the greatest miracle I think the greatest miracle is that God became a man [19:16] if you think about what is involved if you think about being God I can’t even wrap my mind around that but God willingly chose to step down [19:28] and become one of his creatures God literally chose to step down from heaven and become a human being [19:39] Larry King was asked once and Larry King of course is on CNN he interviews people nightly [19:45] Larry King was once asked if you could interview anyone in the history of the world who would you interview

[19:52] and what would be the first question you ask them Larry King said the person I would interview would be Jesus Christ [20:00] out of all of history that’s who I would interview and he said what would you ask him what would be the first question [20:05] and his answer is so profound and it really captures the hope of Christianity [20:10] he says the first question I would ask him would be were you indeed born of a virgin

[20:17] because Larry said the answer to that question would change history for me

[20:30] the question is why what is so significant about the virgin birth about God becoming man

[20:41] consider this I have no idea why that keeps happening consider this if Joseph had been the father of Jesus [20:53] there would be no difference between Jesus and me

[20:59] if Mary had not been a virgin when Jesus was born he would just be another great person [21:09] there would be no difference but in the reality that Jesus was born of a virgin as the other gospels tell us [21:17] and it’s really just rewrapping it in verse 14 here saying there is a miracle about this birth in conception [21:25] there was no human involvement [21:31] God simply reached into the womb of Mary as he spoke the existence of the world and said let it be and God entered her womb [21:40] and then God became flesh in her womb and then he was born and Jesus is God in human form

[21:50] he is God and Larry King says if that is true that is the most defining moment in all of the history of mankind [21:58] and this is someone let me remind you that is not a believer

[22:07] yet most of us and especially most in the medlothian area would say yes Jesus is God [22:14] yes I believe Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born yes I believe that that child was the son of God [22:21] and the question that we must ask ourselves is what effect does that have on our lives

[22:32] if Jesus is God if God became flesh and dwelt among us and we have this tangible picture of God [22:46] what does that mean about our lives does that change anything

[22:55] better yet why did he do that [23:00] see Jesus came on a mission Jesus is God and Jesus came on a mission [23:07] when God was creating earth he had zero surprises he knew we would sin [23:15] because if you go back to verses 1-5 you see that it says that in him was life and this life was the light of men [23:24] and the light shines in the darkness well where is the darkness may I ask you the darkness is us [23:32] you are like no I am not dark I am very light I am cheery no you are pretty dark ok since Adam and Eve sinned

[23:38] since they took a bite of that fruit and since they fell and since they disobeyed God we have been pretty disobedient ever since [23:47] where is the light of God necessary it is necessary in the darkest places of the earth the places that we would look at and say there is real suffering taking place there [23:57] but realize that that light of God is needed in your life as well and Jesus came on a mission to shine the light of God into our lives [24:10] and to dispel that darkness what does that mean [24:16] at the end of the book of John chapter 1 we have this verse in verse 29 there is this man his name is John the Baptist [24:23] and he was prophesied in the Old Testament to be the forerunner of the Messiah who is the Son of God Jesus

[24:30] and it says that John was preaching repentance to Jews and that he was baptizing people signifying their repentance [24:37] and then Jesus begins to walk towards John the Baptist and John prophesies as soon as he sees Jesus [24:45] and in verse 29 of chapter 1 John who is looked at as a great man by all in Israel looks at Jesus and says behold the lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of men

[25:04] Jesus came on a mission and that mission was redemption Jesus came to redeem man [25:13] Jesus came to redeem us from our sins

[25:19] if you look elsewhere if you go fast forward to chapter 14 of the book of John [25:24] Jesus himself is standing and Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the Father but by me [25:32] and this is a verse that is like a speed bump like a stumbling block to so many because we look at that verse and we say [25:40] why does it have to be that one way we focus on the exclusivity of this statement rather than the amazing nature of this statement [25:48] that God is offering us a way

[25:53] that in Jesus in becoming flesh Jesus himself says I will take you to the Father [26:02] I will shine the light of my life into your life and I will dispel the darkness and you can be reconnected to the Father through me [26:12] I will reconcile this relationship I will take you to the Father [26:18] nothing is required of you I will fulfill that requirement but it has to be through me

[26:26] that statement is not as exclusive as it is inclusive

[26:32] because in that statement Jesus is saying I will include you and I will come through you [26:40] and I will come to you and I will redeem you I will take away your sins I desire for you to know the Father [26:49] I desire for you to be connected to him in the same way that I am connected to him [26:56] because remember in John 1 when he said the word was with God [27:02] Jesus says I want you to be with God and I have the way for that

[27:10] he is not excluding he is including [27:16] and Jesus being God bringing redemption [27:26] does not condemn rather in Romans 8 Paul writes that in Jesus there is now no condemnation for those who are in him [27:38] do you understand the great mission of redemption that Jesus brings [27:43] are you grasping the reality that God actually became flesh [27:49] but are you grasping more than that that in bringing redemption Jesus wants to change your life

[27:59] that key element that Larry King understood that if Jesus was actually born of a virgin that would define history for me [28:12] see many of you claim to believe that and I claim to believe that Jesus is God [28:18] but let me ask you a question does that reflect in your life do you live a life that proclaims Jesus is God [28:27] and you can look into my life and see the truth that Jesus is God

[28:36] is Jesus being God is his godness is his redemption having an effect on your life [28:44] because we have a way of looking at the redemption that is available through Jesus [28:49] and we say I can receive forgiveness of my sins I can go to heaven I can have forgiveness [28:56] and then we walk away from that completely unchanged but hoping that we will not have to experience hell [29:04] and we do not read John 1 and say this is a truth that should change my life [29:10] God rather than condemning us he receives us more than that he became one of us

[29:17] more than that he came to take the sins of the world away from us not condemning [29:23] in John 3 it says the son has not come to condemn the world but that through him the world might be saved

[29:35] and I ask you does that transform your life

[29:43] are you continually experiencing life change because of the amazing truth that in that manger God became man

[29:57] Jesus wants to change your life and you may say but my life has been changed [30:02] 30 years ago my life was changed [30:07] that is not a static change that Jesus is talking about [30:10] see static electricity just kind of sits and builds does not really go anywhere [30:16] like that video we watched a few minutes ago [30:20] we should not stay in the Bethlehem story reflecting on what happened

[30:26] rather Jesus is dynamic in that he wants to come into your life and continually transform you [30:33] he redeems you once and then he continues to redeem [30:37] he continues to grow he continues to take you and mold you and refine you [30:42] that is why Hebrews continually talks about this refining fire [30:48] where God molds us and makes us more forgiving [30:52] he makes it so that we will take his mission and he transforms us and he says here is the mission of Jesus

[30:59] now you take it to the world

[31:06] because the church must live on mission [31:12] so you may be listening to me today and saying yeah this is great [31:16] I am trying I am doing the best I can [31:20] you do not know the life that I have you do not know how many hours I have to work or how much debt I have [31:26] or how many people in the church have hurt me my entire life [31:35] you have no idea what it is like to be me

[31:39] but here is the question I have for you [31:41] do you know what it was like for God to become man [31:45] and then come and say I will redeem you I will make you my own [31:49] I will take that hurt onto myself I will take that pain onto myself [31:54] and I will give you a new life and I will live it through you [32:00] that is what Romans 12 means when it says to be a living sacrifice

[32:10] remember when we talked about the great sacrifice that Mary and Joseph made [32:15] here is the key you need to understand with that

[32:19] God calls you to make the same sacrifice [32:23] see Mary gladly and willingly said I will exchange my life for a life that you have for me God [32:30] because in God becoming man everything has changed the requirements on us are wiped away [32:36] the condemnation that we bring on ourselves through sin is completely wiped away [32:41] and God says I will exchange my life for your life [32:44] I will take your sin and give you my righteousness

[32:47] God says I will go and send my Holy Spirit onto you

[32:54] but then you say how do I live this life on my own

[33:01] you won’t

[33:04] you were never meant to [33:07] see when I say the church must live on mission [33:12] see Jesus didn’t come for one person [33:17] he came for many [33:21] if you think about it in logical terms think about one person versus an army how much hope is there [33:27] not much

[33:29] unless you are a robo cop or the terminator

[33:34] but consider yourself in that army [33:38] fully equipped because God became flesh and dwelt among us and he continues to dwell among us [33:45] through his people the church [33:49] but consider what it is that God is when it says the word was with God [33:58] see the perfect relationship do you see the community do you see the connectedness [34:05] see when we say we are Christians we say we are Christ like

[34:10] do you realize God does not exist outside of community

[34:14] God does not exist outside of relationship

[34:19] God exists in perfect community [34:21] God the Father God the Son God the Holy Spirit [34:26] and so to be a Christian means to live in a connected relationship with God

[34:34] and others in the church

[34:39] if you are attempting to live the gospel as an individual

[34:45] unconnected to anyone else because you don’t want that burden

[34:50] you cannot and will not be able to live the mission that God brought to us through his son Jesus

[34:59] you need other people [35:03] and other people need you

[35:08] see we come together and often times we come together on Sunday mornings and we hear a message and then we walk out [35:13] and then we just go to our regular lives and that is not the redemption that Jesus brought [35:18] rather Jesus brought a redemption that should connect us and should form us into his church [35:25] because the church must live on mission [35:28] together Romans chapter 1 verse 23 says that the church when functioning together is the fullness of Christ [35:39] see Christ is the head and we are his body but only if we are connected with each other through the mission that Jesus brought

[35:51] for his purposes

[35:55] over the next few minutes we are going to enter into a time where we reflect on Jesus becoming man [36:03] where we reflect on Jesus taking our sins away and onto himself

[36:11] we are going to take communion it is called the Lord’s Supper [36:14] because this is the way that Jesus told us to reflect [36:17] this is the way that Jesus said should signify that we believe that he is God and that he has saved us [36:25] and he said to do this in remembrance of him until he returns [36:33] the only barrier to this table is if you don’t believe [36:38] is if you have not been redeemed

[36:42] we practice open communion which means even if you are not a regular attender [36:47] feel free to come and reflect on the cross of Jesus when he died on the cross [36:53] and took our sins onto himself and then rose again so that we could experience new life in him [37:00] but if you are not a believer we ask that you not partake [37:06] because it would not mean anything to you anyway [37:09] it is not that we are trying to be rude

[37:12] why would you want to do this? [37:15] but this is a stumbling block because the gospel is offensive [37:19] the gospel is offensive because it says we can’t do it on our own [37:24] we need Jesus [37:26] so if you are not a believer if you haven’t been redeemed [37:29] that barrier can disappear in an instant

[37:33] if you would just trust in Jesus [37:38] reflect on John 1 [37:41] if God was willing to step down from heaven so that you could know him [37:48] how could that not be significant in your life?

[37:53] Jesus is God

[37:58] and if you want to know him as God [38:01] do it today [38:04] there are people that can talk to you [38:07] I am here, I will be in the back, grab me [38:10] and then you can come and you can reflect on the cross as someone who has been redeemed [38:18] through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus

[38:24] so I am going to ask that over the next few moments [38:27] maybe just one minute [38:30] just seek God [38:33] just reflect on what we have talked about today [38:37] and after maybe a minute come forward [38:40] and partake of the body and the blood of Jesus

[38:45] this bread and this juice [38:48] that signifies the life, death and resurrection of Jesus [38:55] spend the next moment in prayer [38:59] and then come forward, come to the Lord’s table