back to index2019-05-12: Jesus Tastes Death on our Behalf
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Gracious and loving Father, we thank you so much for this morning. 00:00:06.720 |
Lord, we do want to confess our love for you. 00:00:10.760 |
We thank you for our mothers who have labored and sacrificed that we may be here as an evidence, 00:00:22.180 |
We pray this morning that you would enlighten us, that your word would truly speak to us, 00:00:29.080 |
cause us to have a greater vision of you, that our life, our worship, all of it, Lord 00:00:35.240 |
God, may be a reasonable response to what you've given. 00:00:38.280 |
May your word come alive as we continue to seek you. 00:00:44.880 |
Now as I was preparing for this message, you know, I googled "mothers who sacrificed themselves 00:00:53.600 |
I googled to see, you know, if I could find some stories. 00:00:56.400 |
And I was surprised just how many stories, and again, not made up stories, about actual 00:01:05.680 |
And I couldn't, there were so many that I couldn't go through all of them. 00:01:09.820 |
So many story after story after story about moms sacrificing their bodies to protect their 00:01:14.620 |
child or in a burning building and finding the mother cradling the child and then the 00:01:20.320 |
mother burns to death and the child is saved. 00:01:22.680 |
And over and over and over again about stories about how mothers sacrifice themselves to 00:01:33.840 |
So you know, but naturally when we think of mothers, we automatically, and I know that 00:01:40.200 |
we may not have all experienced childhood in that sense, but just universally, naturally, 00:01:47.320 |
when we think of mothers, when we think of the greatest love, humanly speaking, that 00:01:50.840 |
we can relate to is probably a mother's love for us. 00:01:55.400 |
You know, one story in particular stood out to me. 00:01:57.840 |
This lady, a young lady named Chelsea Russell, 35 years old, and she had a two-year-old child 00:02:03.920 |
and they were in a lake and she turned around and found her child slipped into the lake. 00:02:13.800 |
And she jumped in and not being a good swimmer, she had to save her child and there was no 00:02:19.120 |
So in order for her child not to drown, she went in under the water and held her child 00:02:23.960 |
up above the water while she was drowning underneath. 00:02:27.240 |
And she held her in that position for over five minutes before any other relatives realized 00:02:31.480 |
what was happening and they came out and they got them out of the water. 00:02:36.120 |
But by the time the relatives came to get her, she was already under the water for five 00:02:39.980 |
minutes, trying to keep her child afloat, and they tried to resuscitate her and they 00:02:44.320 |
could not and she gave her life trying to save her child. 00:02:47.920 |
Again, I can tell you countless number of stories. 00:02:50.840 |
The only reason why this one stood out, just five minutes, thinking how she probably in 00:02:57.680 |
every ounce of her energy wanted to get out of that water, but she gave, literally gave 00:03:06.360 |
The Gospel message at the core is about our Savior who gave his life for us. 00:03:15.220 |
The text that we looked at this morning, it ended, last time that we were in this text, 00:03:19.820 |
it ended by saying how God created us in majesty to have all things subjected under us and 00:03:26.320 |
that it ends at the end of verse eight, but now we do not yet see all things subjected 00:03:31.360 |
In a nutshell, it's a summary of where we are as mankind, that all have sinned and fall 00:03:38.660 |
Even though God created man to be a reflection of God's glory, that is not where God sees 00:03:46.100 |
And he said, because of the fall of man, we begin in verse nine, but we do see him. 00:03:52.860 |
Even though we don't see man in the place where God created him, but now we do see him 00:03:58.700 |
who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus. 00:04:03.060 |
In other words, because we had fallen, Christ came to us in our fallen position in order 00:04:12.980 |
He came to get us because we could not go to him. 00:04:16.980 |
And that's in a nutshell what the gospel message is. 00:04:20.740 |
He is in glory and honor now, but he became lower than the angels to suffer death. 00:04:28.020 |
You know, if you look at Hebrew chapter 2, 9, it says, we do not see him who was made 00:04:32.260 |
for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of 00:04:37.780 |
So if you look at the NASB version, the word for because, it kind of makes it sound like, 00:04:44.260 |
if you don't read it correctly, that because of his suffering, he was crowned with glory. 00:04:50.920 |
If you look at the King James version, it actually gives a better rendering that you 00:04:58.220 |
He says, we see Jesus who was made for a little lower than the angels for the suffering of 00:05:07.100 |
Did you catch the subtle difference between the two translations? 00:05:10.580 |
The NASB and most other translations translates it because, and it makes it sound like, because 00:05:20.260 |
In actuality, the way it really should be read, like the King James, that Jesus was 00:05:25.140 |
lowered a little while for the suffering and now raised in glory. 00:05:39.580 |
Do you see the difference between the two translations? 00:05:45.220 |
So in the first translation, which most of the other translations have, that because 00:05:51.300 |
So the emphasis in that he was honored because he lowered himself. 00:05:54.780 |
In the actual translation, the word for for, gar, is really connected to the previous, 00:06:00.900 |
that Jesus lowered himself for the purpose of suffering. 00:06:05.860 |
For the purpose of suffering, but now is in glory. 00:06:10.300 |
The whole reason why he became a man is to suffer and taste death on our behalf. 00:06:18.500 |
Now whenever we hear the word taste, right, if you want to convince your friend that the 00:06:24.220 |
boba that you're drinking or the pizza that you're eating is delicious, right, how do 00:06:33.520 |
You buy it and then you're eating it, and say, "Well, just take a bite. 00:06:39.220 |
So the scripture says that Jesus tasted death on our behalf. 00:06:43.220 |
Now when it says he tasted death, it doesn't mean that he just took a small bite and was 00:06:49.180 |
The reason why the author used the term taste is because Jesus did not stay dead. 00:06:56.980 |
For everyone else, when we die, it is permanent. 00:07:01.940 |
You enter into death and that's where you stay. 00:07:04.900 |
But in Jesus' situation, we know that he tasted death. 00:07:09.380 |
And so it doesn't mean that he only tasted a portion of it. 00:07:12.200 |
He experiences death, but it is not his permanent state because there was a goal to him tasting 00:07:19.480 |
In fact, in 2 Corinthians 5.21, the passage that we know well, "He made him who knew no 00:07:30.000 |
Paul is very precise in the way that he describes this. 00:07:36.580 |
You notice that he doesn't say that he made him who knew no sin to be a sinner. 00:07:57.880 |
He didn't become a human being and lived in humility and became a sinner and died because 00:08:06.520 |
Paul is being very precise that even though he was crucified on the cross because of sin, 00:08:15.500 |
And you notice he goes on, "On our behalf so that we might become the righteousness 00:08:26.880 |
Jesus becomes sin in order that we may become not righteous on our own, not righteous on 00:08:44.680 |
When Christ became sin for us, his righteousness was imputed to us in order that when God sees 00:08:53.920 |
us, he no longer sees sinners, but he sees the righteousness of his son, Jesus Christ. 00:08:59.920 |
The language that he uses here is very, very precise. 00:09:03.620 |
And that's why it's important for us to not to just read it and kind of like, "Oh, 00:09:07.320 |
Jesus died for us because of our sins and he was raised in..." 00:09:11.280 |
But when you dissect exactly what it says, we see a better grasp, we have a better understanding 00:09:21.720 |
Can you think about what the greatest sacrifice you've ever made? 00:09:26.640 |
Most people, if you think about the greatest sacrifice, you might try to think of an event. 00:09:32.000 |
But most likely, when you think of the greatest sacrifice, it's not an event. 00:09:35.880 |
It's probably somebody in your life who continuously is watching out for you. 00:09:40.840 |
Small things that they do year after year after year after year is probably a greater 00:09:48.520 |
Maybe you graduated and a bunch of your friends got you this nice car. 00:09:51.280 |
Man, that was the greatest thing that I've ever received. 00:09:55.400 |
But in reality, there is somebody in your life every single day, every morning, every 00:10:00.800 |
night, no matter what you do, is behind your back, watching over you, sacrificing. 00:10:05.920 |
And oftentimes, those kind of things don't stand out. 00:10:09.560 |
Until way later, after we've lived many, many years, we look back and think, "Wow, there's 00:10:25.000 |
The greatest love that you've ever received, the greatest love that you've probably ever 00:10:32.960 |
But the love that you may have sacrificed for or we've received comes nowhere near how 00:10:47.320 |
I mentioned to you many times that being involved with the homeless ministry for many years, 00:10:57.720 |
Because you use your own finance, and you go out there, and you think you're doing something 00:11:02.560 |
And then you go out there, and then every once in a while, you'll get yelled at for 00:11:06.200 |
not bringing enough coffee, for not bringing enough hot dog. 00:11:09.840 |
And I remember routinely, we would collect jeans and jackets and blankets, and we would 00:11:14.000 |
go out there and start spreading it out, and we didn't bring enough. 00:11:17.220 |
So every once in a while, we would have a crowd of 20, and then every once in a while, 00:11:21.760 |
we would have 60 or 70, and we only brought enough for 30. 00:11:25.080 |
And so we have 30 people who are happy and then 30 people who are discontent. 00:11:38.920 |
To take time out of your day and collect jeans and your own money to go give it out to these 00:11:47.220 |
You know, we have these great ideas of what it means to serve sinners, and then as soon 00:11:51.200 |
as you are faced with the sin, our natural reaction is to run the other direction. 00:11:58.620 |
Romans 5, 7 through 8 says, "For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps 00:12:05.100 |
for a good man, someone would dare even to die." 00:12:09.060 |
You know, we hear stories oftentimes about soldiers. 00:12:13.720 |
You know, they're in a time of war and somebody throws a grenade, and in order to save his 00:12:17.900 |
friends, they jump on the grenade and he dies. 00:12:24.980 |
They'll talk about him and remember him the rest of his life. 00:12:29.580 |
But that does not describe the love of Christ, because that was the death that he died for 00:12:38.640 |
He says, "For a righteous man, for a good man, someone may possibly die. 00:12:43.240 |
And if he does, that person is a hero, will be honored and venerated all of his life, 00:12:50.260 |
But in verse 8, "But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet 00:12:58.960 |
The love of Christ isn't a love for the righteous. 00:13:03.660 |
The love of Christ aren't for the people who are desirable and loving, who are thankful. 00:13:10.440 |
The love of Christ is a love for sinners while we were yet blaspheming, while we were yet 00:13:23.400 |
Even the people who loves us the most, at our ugliest state, at our most selfish state, 00:13:36.840 |
If a child acts up, no matter how much you love that child, it is hard when they're being 00:13:46.480 |
See, the illustration of a soldier jumping on a grenade doesn't do the gospel justice. 00:13:54.400 |
He would have to have jumped on a grenade to save the terrorist who killed his family. 00:13:59.880 |
He would have to have planned the whole thing for years and years to enter into enemy's 00:14:03.920 |
territory, learn his language, eat his food, become their citizen, living among them, and 00:14:11.440 |
then years and years and years and years of sacrifice and planning, knowing the exact 00:14:17.640 |
day that that would happen, and you walk in and do that voluntarily to people who are 00:14:28.520 |
That's how the Bible describes what Jesus did. 00:14:32.520 |
Because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, because we are not yet, 00:14:37.840 |
we are not in the position of honor in which God created us. 00:14:41.480 |
He says, "Now for a little while we see him who humbled himself, became one of us." 00:14:49.140 |
He was made like us so that he can make us like him. 00:14:55.000 |
He was made like us so that he can raise us back to glory of what he intended. 00:15:01.220 |
Jesus humbled himself and he learned under the Pharisees. 00:15:08.400 |
You know, if you've ever read the Gospels, if you've ever read the Gospels, you know 00:15:12.920 |
the kind of disdain that Jesus has toward the Pharisees because of their hypocrisy. 00:15:19.080 |
Even the righteousness that they practiced, it was only for other people to see. 00:15:22.800 |
And yet, as a child, he humbles himself and he goes to the temple and he sits under their 00:15:33.420 |
Think how humbling, think how difficult that must have been, knowing who these people were. 00:15:45.540 |
Think about the paradox of Jesus being a carpenter's son. 00:15:48.940 |
The Bible says that all things were created by his hands. 00:15:53.000 |
And yet he was making chairs and tables, fixing houses with his hands. 00:16:00.140 |
It may not seem like much, but for knowing who he is, how humiliating and humbling that is. 00:16:06.980 |
Though he was immutable and all-powerful, he tasted fatigue, he tasted hunger, he tasted 00:16:13.500 |
thirst, cold, sadness, loneliness, betrayal, and pain, and all voluntarily. 00:16:22.220 |
For a little while, he became lower than his own creation, the angels. 00:16:28.420 |
It wasn't just a nail in his hands and feet and the whip on his back and the crown on 00:16:35.500 |
Every moment of his human existence was suffering for him. 00:16:39.860 |
To be humbled, another way to describe humility is to be humiliated. 00:16:47.120 |
The reason why we don't like to humble ourselves is because it's humiliating. 00:16:51.640 |
Because we see ourselves a certain way, and that's beneath us. 00:16:55.540 |
And so we try not to put ourselves in those situations. 00:17:00.060 |
His whole life was humiliation, and he did this voluntarily. 00:17:06.940 |
We do not yet see all things subjected to us, but we do see him, who was made for a 00:17:12.300 |
little while, lower than the angels, namely Jesus. 00:17:19.340 |
I mean, if that isn't crazy enough, if you look at verse 10, it says, "For it was fitting 00:17:24.740 |
for him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons 00:17:29.360 |
to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through suffering." 00:17:36.760 |
How can you possibly describe what Jesus did as being fitting? 00:17:43.100 |
The word fitting basically means to become, or simply, right or proper. 00:17:50.460 |
I hope when you read that, you didn't just pass through. 00:17:59.460 |
How can you possibly say that what Jesus did was fitting? 00:18:05.220 |
The author of life, everything was made by him and for him. 00:18:13.500 |
All the angels worship at his throne, and it was fitting for him to humble himself beneath 00:18:21.100 |
his own creation and to be humiliated as a human being, as a carpenter, and then to be 00:18:33.820 |
For sinners who are shaking their fists at him. 00:18:39.420 |
How can we possibly think that that is fitting? 00:18:45.540 |
The greatest injustice in history is not the Holocaust. 00:18:54.020 |
Even to this day, when we think of US history and slavery, people cringe. 00:19:00.060 |
You know, one thing I learned as I traveled throughout the different parts of the world, 00:19:04.260 |
every country has certain things that they're ashamed of in history, and they don't like 00:19:09.740 |
In fact, oftentimes, if enough years pass by, they just get rid of it. 00:19:14.420 |
People outside the country talk about it, but within the country, they get rid of it 00:19:18.220 |
So the people within their country know very little about the injustices that their own 00:19:23.780 |
government committed against their own people, because they don't like talking about it. 00:19:31.820 |
We can think of all kinds of injustices that mankind has committed to other human beings, 00:19:38.980 |
but none of that is compared to the injustice that was put on Jesus Christ. 00:19:45.540 |
The greatest injustice in Jesus Christ is the crucifixion of the Son of God, because 00:19:51.100 |
all of the injustices are sinners hurting other sinners. 00:19:57.600 |
People who are under condemnation condemning other people. 00:20:00.940 |
No matter how horrendous it is, because no one is righteous. 00:20:07.500 |
Whether we were, we suffered greatly while we were living, or we suffered greatly after 00:20:15.460 |
The scripture says all is under this condemnation. 00:20:18.260 |
Only one person, the king of kings and Lord of lords, suffered this injustice. 00:20:35.260 |
You know, previously we looked at Hebrews chapter 2, 6, where David is crying out saying, 00:20:40.580 |
"What is man that you remember him, or the Son of Man that you are concerned about him?" 00:20:51.440 |
Anybody who has a proper grasp of who it is that we worship, anybody who has a proper 00:20:56.660 |
grasp of who we are, and knows even a bit of the sin that dwells within us. 00:21:02.740 |
That's the first question that we should be asking. 00:21:16.660 |
Now as crazy as that is, that was said in the old covenant. 00:21:23.820 |
David was in the old covenant before the cross. 00:21:29.540 |
Why would this holy God have anything to do with me? 00:21:37.500 |
Imagine what David would say from this side of the cross. 00:21:46.140 |
But can you imagine if he was looking at the cross, and he had a clear vision of what Jesus 00:21:57.100 |
What is man that you would send your only son to die for me? 00:22:04.500 |
What is man that you would suffer and become sin so that I might become the righteousness 00:22:16.060 |
Exodus chapter 15, 1 through 6, Moses breaks out in praise because they just experienced 00:22:27.580 |
They come in and they cross the Red Sea, and as a result, they were desperate, and God 00:22:33.380 |
miraculously saves them, and they're on the other side, and they break out into this spontaneous 00:22:40.500 |
And Moses sings, "I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted, the horse and its 00:22:48.740 |
The Lord is my strength and song, he has become my salvation. 00:22:52.740 |
This is my God, and I will praise him, my Father's God, and I will extol him. 00:23:00.340 |
Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has cast into the sea, and the choices of the officers 00:23:07.180 |
The deeps cover them, they went down into the depths like a stone. 00:23:10.620 |
Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power. 00:23:12.980 |
Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy." 00:23:15.060 |
And he goes on and on for the rest of the chapter, this spontaneous praise to God. 00:23:20.180 |
And there's many records of spontaneous praise when God performs a miracle and delivers them. 00:23:27.260 |
But none of these things can be compared to what we see at the cross. 00:23:34.140 |
That's why Paul says in Romans chapter 12, in view, in light of this mercy, that he spent 00:23:40.700 |
11 chapters expositing, describing why and what he did and what he accomplished, 00:23:46.740 |
he says, "It is a reasonable response, a spiritual act of worship, 00:23:57.820 |
If a simple deliverance from Pharaoh's army broke out into this spontaneous singing, 00:24:05.180 |
what response would God's people give when we come to realization what Jesus did for us? 00:24:11.740 |
What the Son of God, he didn't just snap his finger and part the Red Sea and then 00:24:18.780 |
He came down and he took on human flesh, was humiliated all of his life, 00:24:25.000 |
knowing full well that at the end of 33 years of serving them, that they would spit on them, 00:24:37.020 |
What kind of praise would God's people give spontaneously when we come to the full realization 00:24:46.980 |
That's why, this is the reason why Jonathan Edwards says in Religious Affection, 00:24:54.180 |
"The greatest evidence of someone who has met the Lord is his affection for God." 00:25:10.420 |
All of these things are byproducts, but the greatest single evidence that somebody met this Lord 00:25:18.260 |
in full realization of what it is that he has done for him, and he believes that with all his heart, 00:25:27.740 |
How can you not love a God who gave you everything? 00:25:35.780 |
Not because they're prettier than any other moms. 00:25:38.820 |
It's not because their breakfast is more tastier than any other person. 00:25:44.020 |
I mean, we could name all these things, and when we're younger, you ask a young child, 00:25:51.660 |
And they'll answer you, "Because you made me breakfast," like the kids, right? 00:26:01.020 |
They'll give you straight up because that's what they know. 00:26:05.780 |
But as we get older, we know that those are very minor things compared to the larger things that 00:26:15.620 |
They sacrificed, they served us, and they loved us so much, and we know that our love 00:26:19.540 |
for our moms is simply a response, a response of realization of what it is that we were given. 00:26:29.380 |
How much more when we come to the realization of what it is that we have in Christ? 00:26:36.820 |
Part of the reason why so many Christians live their lives nonchalant, 00:26:42.260 |
almost as if they've never met Christ, is one, that may be evidence that they never 00:26:52.020 |
They love the church, they love what the church is about, they love the friends at church, 00:26:55.860 |
they love the mission of the church, but they don't love Christ. 00:27:01.220 |
And it could be, I'm not saying it is, it could be evidence that they never really met Christ. 00:27:07.220 |
But another reason could be that we are so entangled and tempted with the things of this 00:27:12.820 |
world that we so easily just drift, just like the recipients of the letter of Book of Hebrews. 00:27:24.180 |
There's nothing that Paul or the author of Hebrews is saying that they didn't already know. 00:27:30.100 |
He was reminding them, "Remember when your property was being confiscated and you were 00:27:37.020 |
fellowship with those who were in prison and you were glad to do it? 00:27:40.820 |
Remember at that time when Jesus meant everything to you? 00:27:47.420 |
Why are you drifting back to your old way of life? 00:27:51.140 |
Remember the height from which you had fallen. 00:27:53.380 |
Repent and do the things that you did at first." 00:28:02.700 |
It is not proper for the Son of God to experience what he has experienced. 00:28:08.180 |
When he says it is fitting, basically what he's saying is that the only way that you 00:28:12.700 |
and I could have been saved is through what Jesus did. 00:28:21.060 |
If there was any other way that we could have been saved, wouldn't God have done that? 00:28:27.940 |
If God's righteousness could have been imputed upon us just by God saying, "Forget it," 00:28:37.620 |
If there was even a 1% chance that he'd throw down a rope and whoever can climb this with 00:28:49.260 |
The only reason why the Son of God was sacrificed on our behalf, because he was the only fitting 00:29:01.020 |
Not that it is just, not that it is right, but it was the only way. 00:29:07.060 |
And not only was it the only way, it was only fitting because that's who he is. 00:29:12.900 |
The Bible describes God as being holy, holy, holy. 00:29:27.700 |
We don't say Jesus is love because we see all these actions. 00:29:31.860 |
We know what love is because of what we see him doing. 00:29:36.260 |
He is the standard of love because the Bible says he is love. 00:29:41.380 |
So he tells his disciples before he leaves, "The primary evidence that you are my disciples 00:29:47.600 |
If you have love for one another as I have loved you." 00:29:51.700 |
The primary identity of Jesus that he left with his disciples is his love. 00:29:58.780 |
But it is built upon the foundation of his holiness. 00:30:03.860 |
So the only way that God's holiness and his love can be satisfied was at the cross. 00:30:12.460 |
And when Jesus says, "It is time for me to go to the cross so that I may glorify you 00:30:18.980 |
Basically what he meant was to highlight the cross. 00:30:25.020 |
The word to glorify basically means to take God's nature and put it on a pedestal so all 00:30:31.020 |
You know, there is a spotlight right here, right? 00:30:37.820 |
It's not because I'm better looking than all of you. 00:30:44.980 |
That's why in the stage area we have a lot more lights than we do there. 00:30:48.740 |
Because we're spotlighting this area because we want you to pay attention to what's happening 00:30:55.020 |
When Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, it was put on a stage to be displayed. 00:31:02.220 |
And every aspect of the gospel, there's a reason why there's four different gospels. 00:31:06.340 |
Because every gospel highlights a different aspect of the cross. 00:31:11.420 |
Of his kingship, of his humanity, of his servanthood. 00:31:18.100 |
And then after that, all the epistles are describing what other people saw of the cross. 00:31:30.400 |
And over and over again, we see different aspects of the cross. 00:31:34.380 |
Because God's glory is being displayed at the cross. 00:31:41.740 |
If you want to know who God is, study the cross. 00:31:46.540 |
If you want to know the core nature of our God, know the cross. 00:31:55.160 |
And you will see why God displayed himself at the cross. 00:31:59.540 |
That's what he means when he says it is fitting. 00:32:05.580 |
Exodus 34, 6, "Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the 00:32:09.980 |
Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness 00:32:27.900 |
Years ago, Dr. Harris came to our church and he gave a bunch of messages that very few 00:32:35.660 |
He wrote a book called "Darkness and the Glory," one of my favorite books. 00:32:43.260 |
But in his chapter, he has one chapter called "The View." 00:32:48.220 |
And in the chapter, basically he describes the view that Jesus has from the cross. 00:32:58.540 |
And he takes bits and pieces of what clearly is messianic and what Jesus is seeing. 00:33:13.660 |
He describes the view of the demons who tried so hard to prevent this and what they are 00:33:20.660 |
He describes the view of his disciples of what they're seeing as Jesus is being crucified 00:33:27.060 |
He's describing the scene from his earthly mother. 00:33:31.140 |
What does the cross look like from the earthly mother, from Mary's point of view? 00:33:34.860 |
He describes the view from the Pharisees and the Sadducees who wanted him dead. 00:33:47.780 |
And he takes passage after passage after passage after passage, highlighting from every angle 00:33:59.620 |
None of it was new, but all of it put together made so much sense. 00:34:06.020 |
All of it was to put Christ and his crucifixion at the center. 00:34:12.900 |
He says he was made perfect, the author of their salvation through suffering. 00:34:26.460 |
He's very careful to describe that Jesus was perfect. 00:34:31.820 |
God allowed him to suffer to perfect the author of our salvation. 00:34:36.020 |
The word "perfect," "teleo," basically literally means to bring it to completion, 00:34:45.380 |
What God had planned, what God had ordained, what God had predestined, he was going to 00:34:53.020 |
So what he means by perfecting the author of our salvation is what he had planned, what 00:34:59.140 |
he had promised in Genesis 315, that the son of the woman was going to crush the head of 00:35:05.220 |
the serpent, that as soon as man fell, God revealed his plan, that my son is coming. 00:35:14.340 |
And for thousands of years, God had been preparing. 00:35:22.820 |
He would correct them, build the temple, made the sacrifices, sent his prophets, wrote scriptures, 00:35:30.220 |
and then finally he sent his only begotten son. 00:35:33.740 |
He said at the fullness of time, fullness of time, in God's ordained time, at the perfect 00:35:43.480 |
And God, through his suffering, perfected, completed what he had planned. 00:35:48.900 |
Jesus came, learned our language, ate our food, made things with his hands. 00:35:56.260 |
He learned what it felt to be cold, to be hot, to be fatigued, to be betrayed, to be 00:36:02.900 |
lonely, to be tired, and to be in pain and in agony to the point where he, even though 00:36:12.060 |
he volunteered to do this, as he was facing the cross, he prays to God, "Is there another 00:36:20.700 |
He experienced the anxiety of facing death like any other human being. 00:36:30.460 |
You know the word here, "author" here, archegos? 00:36:33.880 |
In every translation, it's translated differently. 00:36:37.340 |
In the NASB, it says he's the author of our faith. 00:36:39.980 |
In the ESV, he's the founder of our salvation. 00:36:42.660 |
In the New King James, he's the captain of our salvation. 00:36:45.500 |
In the RSV, he's the pioneer of our salvation. 00:36:48.900 |
And the reason why there's a different word to describe this word "archegos" is because 00:36:53.300 |
it's one of those words that is so rich in theology that you can't capture it with one 00:36:59.300 |
So you could have written a sentence and described it in all these ways, but they chose what 00:37:09.500 |
But if we were to take this word "archegos" literally, it basically means to lead, to 00:37:14.300 |
originate, to be the founder, to be the chief, to be first, to be prince, and to be distinguished, 00:37:25.300 |
He is the originator, the founder, the leader, the chief, captain, pioneer, first, and the 00:37:31.700 |
In other words, our past, present, and future of our salvation is firmly in his hands. 00:37:40.420 |
Our justification was made perfect through his suffering. 00:37:43.600 |
Our sanctification is being made perfect through his suffering. 00:37:46.900 |
Our glorification will be made perfect through his suffering. 00:37:52.700 |
This is the reason why Jesus says to his disciples in John 15, 4, "Abide in me and I in you, 00:38:01.500 |
as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can 00:38:10.940 |
He didn't say it'll be very hard for you to bear fruit. 00:38:19.480 |
He didn't say you're not going to like the fruit that you get. 00:38:27.140 |
Whatever fruit that you think you see, while you are not abiding in Christ, it is not a 00:38:41.920 |
It is not fruit because you cannot bear fruit unless you abide in me because unless you 00:39:00.820 |
You cannot bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit unless we are abiding in Christ. 00:39:16.420 |
Unless you're going to prove him wrong in this text, he makes it absolutely crystal 00:39:22.880 |
You cannot bear fruit because the archegos of our salvation is Jesus Christ, and he was 00:39:32.660 |
There is salvation in no other name but Jesus Christ. 00:39:41.380 |
There is no salvation in any other name but Jesus Christ. 00:39:45.260 |
And that's why the conclusion of the book of Hebrews, we're many years away from that 00:39:58.840 |
In conclusion of all of this, he says, "Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter 00:40:13.980 |
Looking is just casually like you're just driving, just kind of like, you know. 00:40:17.820 |
That word that he uses here is like if you're watching the game seven finals, you know, 00:40:23.780 |
I know it's outdated, but Kobe has the ball, right? 00:40:30.340 |
And clock is ticking down, and you're watching intently to see what's going to happen. 00:40:38.620 |
And then so when he makes that game-winning shot with the clock running down for the championship, 00:40:45.060 |
everybody is celebrating at the same time because we all know what just happened. 00:40:50.660 |
And people are going to be talking about that for years and decades to come. 00:40:55.460 |
That's what he's describing in Hebrews chapter 12. 00:40:58.860 |
Knowing all of that, knowing all of what he described about what he has done, fix your 00:41:09.460 |
Not just casually look at him, not just casually skim over the Bible, not just be a casual 00:41:17.460 |
You know, you stay up till five in the morning every Saturday and then you kind of, you know, 00:41:22.700 |
just stumble into church and then get it over with. 00:41:26.380 |
You're just kind of casual listeners of God's Word. 00:41:28.940 |
He says, "No," he says, "fix your eyes, commit to fix your eyes the author and perfecter 00:41:34.660 |
of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the humiliation, 00:41:42.140 |
the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 00:41:50.660 |
I know just like any other human being, there are times we get busy with things and our 00:41:56.740 |
I mean, that's a temptation of living in this world, especially in Orange County. 00:42:02.940 |
And that's why we're studying the book of Hebrews, to help us, to help us to get on 00:42:11.060 |
But man, when we come face to face to the Savior who saved us and the way he saved us 00:42:20.060 |
and what he did to save us, how can we not break out in spontaneous praise? 00:42:28.220 |
And you know the difference between praising God and singing songs. 00:42:33.260 |
Singing songs, you sing because it's time, because somebody's playing and the lights 00:42:37.620 |
are on, and the words are up, and it's time for you to sing. 00:42:48.300 |
It doesn't matter if other people are singing. 00:42:51.180 |
You know, "Oh, how come other people aren't raising their hand?" 00:42:54.140 |
It doesn't matter because you're not even thinking about that because you can't help 00:42:59.460 |
You can't help looking at Christ and what he has done. 00:43:07.340 |
You know, Nathan and Kat, yesterday at their wedding, they sang this song, and I prepared 00:43:15.060 |
I think I shared with you many times that this is probably my most favorite praise song. 00:43:21.340 |
Years ago, I think it was the first or second time I was out in India, and early in the 00:43:27.860 |
morning, couldn't sleep, I woke up around 4.30, and about 5 o'clock, the mosque nearby 00:43:33.500 |
in the city of Bangalore, India, they have a call. 00:43:37.460 |
If you've ever been to the Middle East and other parts of the world, the mosque would 00:43:42.700 |
I think they do this about four or five times a day, basically calling all Muslims, "It's 00:43:50.700 |
I woke up in the morning, and I was doing quiet time, and I was being blasted. 00:43:54.220 |
It's like, "Oh my God, this is ruining my quiet time." 00:43:57.860 |
Some of you guys may remember because I posted it up on Facebook. 00:44:04.260 |
As this was blasting, I heard somebody downstairs playing this song, "As a Deer Panthers for 00:44:15.380 |
It almost felt like God was giving me hope, that in this dark country, I have witnesses 00:44:22.220 |
I remember, I was just ... It was my favorite song to begin with, but that made it even 00:44:28.060 |
more precious, because now I have a context whenever I sing this song, "As a Deer Panthers 00:44:33.260 |
I don't know if Nathan chose this or Catherine chose this, and I was thinking yesterday, 00:44:40.660 |
As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after thee. 00:44:45.340 |
You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee. 00:44:55.460 |
You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee. 00:45:00.820 |
You're my friend, you're my brother, even though you are a king. 00:45:04.500 |
I love you more than any other, so much more than anything. 00:45:14.180 |
You alone are my heart's desire, and I long to worship thee. 00:45:19.620 |
Let's sing this song together, as our worship team comes and leads us. 00:45:23.900 |
Then as they lead us, as we sing, I invite you to take some time to pray, to make this