back to index2019-05-26: United With Christ
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If you turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 2 verses 9 through 13, we're going 00:00:10.280 |
to be finishing up this section focusing on verses 11 through 13, but I want to read it 00:00:14.880 |
in context in Hebrews chapter 2 verses 9 through 13. 00:00:20.960 |
But we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, 00:00:25.640 |
because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace 00:00:32.580 |
For it was fitting for him for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in 00:00:36.280 |
bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. 00:00:41.680 |
For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from the Father, for which 00:00:46.360 |
reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, "I will proclaim your name to my brethren 00:00:56.760 |
And again behold, I and the children whom God has given me." 00:01:02.640 |
Heavenly Father, you truly are a gracious and loving God. 00:01:10.800 |
We eagerly wait to see what heaven would be like, to know you close up, to be able to 00:01:20.800 |
worship you, Father God, truly in spirit and in truth, without the hindrance of our sinful 00:01:27.120 |
I pray that you would open our eyes to the visions that you show us, Lord God, through 00:01:31.800 |
your word, that our reality would become more and more real in Christ. 00:01:37.000 |
So I pray for your blessing, your powerful spirit, Lord God, would lead, and the grace 00:01:50.000 |
You know, obviously every part of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is inerrant. 00:01:56.760 |
But when you study the Bible, you'll see that there are certain things that kind of are 00:02:02.320 |
Just like if you're writing an essay or reading a book, there are certain chapters that you 00:02:06.080 |
know that all the previous chapters kind of built to set up. 00:02:11.120 |
And then there are other chapters that kind of point back to that. 00:02:18.040 |
Even reading the Old Testament, it builds to set up for the coming of Christ. 00:02:22.280 |
Everything that we know after that is pointing back to what Christ has done. 00:02:25.960 |
But even within the gospel, there are certain things that are highlighted, that all of the 00:02:31.440 |
suffering, all of the beating and death and resurrection, even within the gospel, there 00:02:37.720 |
is a peak in it that all of the gospel itself points to, and all of the rest of the gospel 00:02:45.360 |
The text that we're looking at today is one of those texts that highlight that. 00:02:49.960 |
So I can't emphasize enough how important this is. 00:02:53.840 |
And again, what we've been studying in the book of Hebrews, everything that we've been 00:02:57.320 |
studying in the book of Romans really is highlighted in what he's saying in this text. 00:03:02.680 |
So if we're not careful, you can just read this through and just kind of add that to 00:03:06.700 |
many other things that you understand about the gospel. 00:03:09.360 |
But again, I'm asking you to pay very close attention because this is at the heart of 00:03:17.280 |
If you miss this and you get everything else, you could easily miss the gospel itself. 00:03:24.960 |
We've been talking about what Jesus has done, his suffering, and how he did all of this 00:03:31.120 |
and sacrificed all of this to bring many people to glory in Hebrews chapter 2.10. 00:03:35.920 |
"For it was fitting for him for whom are all things and through whom are all things, 00:03:41.200 |
bringing many sons to glory to perfect the altar of their salvation through suffering." 00:03:46.120 |
Again, you could just read that and just kind of skim through it and say, "Well, he did 00:03:54.180 |
The heart of the gospel is what he just said. 00:03:57.560 |
The point of his suffering, he says, is to bring us to glory. 00:04:02.520 |
The Bible describes the sin of mankind as what? 00:04:10.280 |
So all of mankind, all of the sin, all of the state of human beings is summarized in 00:04:17.800 |
So when he says in Hebrews chapter 2.10 that he suffered and died and was resurrected, 00:04:22.240 |
became one of us, all for the purpose of what? 00:04:35.160 |
If you see salvation is simply not going to hell, Jesus died for us, I'm justified, so 00:04:39.000 |
let's just live until we get to heaven and heaven will be better. 00:04:47.800 |
Salvation is not about how hard this life is and if Jesus comes in, he makes it better. 00:04:54.640 |
That we have security and peace and he allows the husband and wife relationship to grow 00:04:58.800 |
stronger and raise children in a good godly environment and build a church where we can 00:05:08.320 |
The core of the problem is that the glory that God has created us for was tainted because 00:05:19.520 |
And so all of salvation is summarized is to bring us back to that glory. 00:05:28.200 |
Everything that we've been studying is a setup to what he's about to say in verse 11. 00:05:34.080 |
If the whole point of salvation points to restoring us back to glory, what is that glory? 00:05:38.840 |
And we have to be careful that we don't project our idea of glory. 00:05:44.240 |
Like yesterday we won the women's softball championship and it's like, "Oh, we experienced 00:05:51.800 |
Or you do a great job in your presentation or you're working hard as a salesman or an 00:05:58.120 |
engineer and something great happened and you were acknowledged and so you got some 00:06:05.240 |
We have to be careful that we understand how the Bible describes this glory and that's 00:06:11.480 |
There's two things that he says here that describes this glory in detail. 00:06:17.600 |
One, he says to be brought to glory means to be united with Christ. 00:06:22.360 |
He describes this union as a union between two brothers, that we've become brothers because 00:06:28.920 |
Hebrews 2.11, "For both he who sanctifies and those who are sanctifier are all from 00:06:34.800 |
In other words, we have become united with Christ because of what he has done, for which 00:06:40.160 |
reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren. 00:06:44.320 |
This union with Christ, Charles Spurgeon said, "There is no joy in the world like union with 00:06:52.440 |
The more we can feel it, the happier we are." 00:06:57.080 |
John Piper, talking about the same union with Christ, "Union with Christ is the center of 00:07:01.880 |
our salvation and our sanctification and central to all of our deepest joys in this life." 00:07:08.720 |
So again, it is not an exaggeration to say this union with Christ is at the crux of our 00:07:13.880 |
And then John Murray, again, writing about union with Christ, he said, "It is the central 00:07:23.520 |
It is not simply a phase of application of redemption, it underlies every aspect of redemption." 00:07:31.640 |
So this idea of being united back in this family as Jesus as our brother is at the core 00:07:40.680 |
The whole point of his death and resurrection, the whole point of his suffering is to bring 00:07:44.320 |
us to glory, and this bringing us to glory means that we are united back with Jesus' 00:07:54.080 |
And it says, "When this glory happens," what does the Bible say? 00:07:57.000 |
"When a sinner repents and he is restored, all of heaven rejoices." 00:08:04.800 |
If we simply see it as a sinner who is deserving of hell, and God forgives them and then they 00:08:17.640 |
You know, the best way for us to understand this, if we do not see our union with Christ 00:08:24.160 |
as restoration of family, like brothers, we don't understand the affection. 00:08:30.360 |
We don't understand the affection, the personal affection that belongs and that's at the core 00:08:39.480 |
The gospel was never meant to be taken cognitively alone. 00:08:44.080 |
At the core of it, there's a set of doctrines, there's teachings that we acknowledge and 00:08:49.040 |
But if that's all it is, what does the Bible say? 00:08:55.240 |
Because even the demons will acknowledge who God is, that He's an almighty God. 00:09:00.960 |
But the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is a Christian, this set of 00:09:04.680 |
doctrine that they believe it's for them, and that this union with Christ is restored 00:09:11.480 |
And the reason why the heaven rejoices is because this family is reunited. 00:09:17.920 |
Years ago, back in the '80s sometime, I remember watching a program where many Korean families 00:09:25.480 |
who were separated during the Korean War, because Korea was so poor, during the escape 00:09:32.480 |
from North Korean army coming, and many families, like we have so many young families here with 00:09:38.100 |
Can you imagine packing up everything that you own in your car and just going, and in 00:09:42.520 |
the process of going, you lose one of your kids and you don't reunite with them? 00:09:49.920 |
Husband and wives, grandparents with uncles, and even children. 00:09:55.000 |
Mothers who had five, 10-year-old children got separated crossing one of these rivers, 00:10:00.200 |
and by the time they got to the other side, they don't know if they drowned to death, 00:10:03.520 |
they don't know if they got killed, they don't know if North Korea and South Korea, when 00:10:06.640 |
they got separated, if they got dragged into North Korea, they didn't know. 00:10:10.320 |
So for 30 years, they lived longing to be reunited either here or in heaven or somewhere, 00:10:17.560 |
Well, I don't know why it took 30 years for a reporter to come up with this idea, and 00:10:24.480 |
Now that the country has television and is able to communicate a little bit better," 00:10:29.560 |
he had an idea that he's gonna take the pictures of children and parents and uncles that they 00:10:34.760 |
were separated, and they started posting it up on the wall. 00:10:38.560 |
And so all these families, hundreds and thousands of people who lost their children or separated, 00:10:44.080 |
began to go back to these walls and they found out many of these families actually lived 00:10:50.760 |
And young children who were separated from their moms when they were 10, 11, even young 00:10:55.560 |
as five-year-old, 30 years, they didn't see their parents, and then this... 00:11:01.520 |
I saw the program where they were being reunited. 00:11:04.800 |
Can you imagine the sadness of seeing your child last time as a five-year-old, and then 00:11:12.080 |
next time you see him, he's a 35-year-old man? 00:11:15.440 |
Or seeing your mother as a 35-year-old, and then seeing her as a 65-year-old? 00:11:21.640 |
And the tears of sadness, but at the same time, the tears of joy of being reunited with 00:11:29.880 |
And the Bible says that when a sinner repents and he is restored, the reason why they celebrate 00:11:36.280 |
is because the glory that God has created mankind for, this family unit, was destroyed. 00:11:43.600 |
And to be restored back to this glory, Jesus comes to restore us to him that we may be 00:11:53.280 |
That's why this union with Christ as our fellow brother is at the core of the goal of salvation. 00:12:14.200 |
That's why when a sinner comes to Christ, it is not just a declaration of doctrine. 00:12:18.920 |
I believe that I stand here or I stand there. 00:12:22.360 |
There's a child who lost his family being restored back. 00:12:27.800 |
I saw the Bible repeatedly over and over describes our salvation as union with Christ. 00:12:32.520 |
Galatians 2.20, "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but 00:12:38.760 |
And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved 00:12:44.860 |
When Jesus was crucified, we were united with him. 00:12:47.040 |
When he was buried, we were united in his burial. 00:12:50.000 |
When he was raised, we were united with him that we may be united with him in life. 00:13:00.160 |
In 2 Corinthians 2.14, it describes us as the fragrance of Christ. 00:13:07.040 |
There's a few of us in this room who's been married for more than 20 years, right? 00:13:15.000 |
But the longer you live together, you really become one. 00:13:24.160 |
And then eventually, you start smelling the same. 00:13:27.840 |
Because the same soap, you use the same soap, you use the same, you know, same shampoo, 00:13:33.440 |
the same soap to wash your clothes, you use the same thing. 00:13:36.360 |
So eventually, you don't realize it because that's all you smell in the room. 00:13:40.840 |
But after a while, you even have a similar aroma, okay? 00:13:44.880 |
I know I'm milking that illustration, but you know what I'm talking about, right? 00:13:48.520 |
You see couples who've been together for a long time, they actually start to even look 00:13:53.500 |
It describes our union with Christ as so intimate, he says that our presence in this world is 00:14:00.360 |
In fact, in Colossians 3.3-4, our future life and glory is directly tied to Jesus' glory. 00:14:10.240 |
For you have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 00:14:13.960 |
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in 00:14:21.280 |
Our hope, our joy, our life, all of it is directly tied with Christ because we have 00:14:26.160 |
been united with Christ in His death and His resurrection. 00:14:29.760 |
That's why an individual who says that he is a believer and yet does not have a relationship 00:14:37.840 |
That's a contradiction because the whole point of salvation is to be restored in relationship. 00:14:43.800 |
So I know it's a cliche that it's not a religion, it's about a relationship, but it's a cliche 00:14:52.080 |
It's a cliche that is abused, it is misapplied, but at the core of the message, it's truth. 00:14:59.640 |
It is not simply about doing the right things. 00:15:01.680 |
It's about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ because that's how it is described 00:15:07.460 |
To be restored back in glory means to be restored back in our union with Christ. 00:15:13.880 |
But here, it doesn't end there because our union with Christ causes us to be united with 00:15:23.440 |
To be brought to glory means to have God as our Father. 00:15:28.280 |
Verse 11, "For both he who is sanctified and those who are sanctified are all from one 00:15:35.640 |
Now this idea of God as our Father, that's the distinction between a Christian and a 00:15:45.120 |
A Christian and a non-Christian, the distinction is a non-Christian sees God and he believes 00:15:57.340 |
He may believe that God is almighty and powerful. 00:16:00.680 |
But a non-believer will never see God as his Father. 00:16:06.440 |
It is not a distinction between a believer of God and an unbeliever of God. 00:16:11.640 |
So we see that very clearly in John chapter 8, in verse 32, where Jesus is talking to 00:16:21.360 |
He says, "If you abide in the truth, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you 00:16:31.320 |
And then in verse 44, it says, "You do not believe what I say because your Father is 00:16:39.060 |
So the distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian is not one who believes and 00:16:43.660 |
professes right doctrine, but is one who is able to call him or her Abba Father versus 00:16:49.280 |
somebody who just says that he believes in this being. 00:16:53.440 |
Karl Barth says of this, "Perhaps you recall how when Hitler used to speak about God, he 00:17:04.400 |
We cannot understand from the standpoint of a supreme concept of power who God is. 00:17:08.960 |
The man who calls the Almighty God misses God in the most terrible way." 00:17:24.360 |
In fact, he himself declared that he believed in the Judeo-Christian God, and he called 00:17:30.880 |
What Karl Barth is saying, to call him Almighty without knowing him as a father, all it produces 00:17:42.360 |
Now, let me ask you, when you think of something very powerful, what do you think of? 00:17:50.080 |
Some of you guys may be thinking Spider-Man, Superman, Iron Man. 00:17:59.980 |
When you think of something powerful, very powerful, I don't know how many of you have 00:18:10.280 |
You know, I had a glimpse of that when I was a young child, and our family went on a trip 00:18:14.880 |
with our cousins and uncles, and we were at a coast, and a typhoon came in. 00:18:23.520 |
What freaked me out was adults freaking out, because I was a young kid, and they were scared 00:18:29.520 |
to death because this typhoon came in, and they saw trees being blown over, and from 00:18:34.680 |
a distance, we could see houses getting knocked over. 00:18:37.680 |
And we were in this small, tiny house, and similar houses are being blown in a distance, 00:18:43.400 |
and all our uncles and older cousins, they're freaking out. 00:18:48.160 |
And I look out the window, and I see this crazy stuff happening, but I was a little 00:18:52.640 |
kid, but seeing the adults freaking out freaked me out. 00:18:57.360 |
You don't normally think of a typhoon or something powerful like that and think, "Wow, I'm glad 00:19:02.880 |
the typhoon came because there's a leak in my roof, and maybe that's gonna fix it." 00:19:07.640 |
You don't think of order when you think of power. 00:19:14.860 |
When I was in college, I lived next to a train track, which I do now also. 00:19:23.160 |
I don't even wake up for that, 'cause I've gotten so used to it. 00:19:26.720 |
Some of you guys may remember, most of you will now, but some of you will remember the 00:19:39.880 |
We knew somebody who bought a house right before the earthquake, and the house just 00:19:42.840 |
cracked in half, and everybody who had homes back there saw damage. 00:19:46.440 |
But to me, that wasn't the biggest earthquake, even though on record it was the biggest earthquake 00:19:52.040 |
But there was another earthquake prior to that in 1987 or something, the Whittier earthquake. 00:19:58.560 |
And when that Whittier earthquake hit, I was maybe a sophomore in college, and I was standing 00:20:04.160 |
at the Biola parking lot, and I saw the parking lot wave. 00:20:10.360 |
I don't know, some of you guys may know, some earthquakes shake like that, and some earthquakes 00:20:15.920 |
And I just got out of my car, getting ready to go to Old Testament survey class, and I 00:20:20.320 |
stood there, and I initially heard the rumbling, and next thing I knew, the car on the other 00:20:32.040 |
And then I saw the building that I was standing next to start to swerve. 00:20:39.200 |
I was waiting for the earth to open up and something disastrous happened. 00:20:45.440 |
And I saw my fellow classmates who already got into the classroom opening up windows 00:20:51.280 |
It was on the first floor, so it wasn't that dangerous. 00:20:56.040 |
They might have used that as an excuse to leave the class, but they were coming out 00:20:59.520 |
of the class, and I remember all of us were just freaking out, right? 00:21:03.520 |
When you think of something that powerful, you don't automatically think peace, joy. 00:21:12.760 |
There's a reason why people don't want nuclear plants around their homes, even if it is built 00:21:21.200 |
Because if something goes wrong, the power that is contained in this nuclear plant can 00:21:29.880 |
We don't automatically think that something that contains this much power is safe. 00:21:35.920 |
So to view the Almighty God, I mean, we're uncomfortable with a typhoon. 00:21:42.920 |
We're uncomfortable with tsunamis and earthquakes. 00:21:46.760 |
The God of the universe who created all things, the Almighty God, doesn't induce peace and 00:22:01.040 |
And that's where natural man in his natural state is completely blind. 00:22:08.560 |
Because in his natural state, somehow he is convinced that if he dies, that he's going 00:22:15.760 |
to confront this almighty power, and he's going to be introduced to glory and peace 00:22:30.080 |
Because naturally, when we think of any power, we would be concerned what is going to happen 00:22:37.960 |
That's what Karl Barth means when he says, "If all we know God is the Almighty God, not 00:22:43.080 |
only is it a mistake, there's horrendous consequences." 00:22:51.760 |
In fact, prior to this passage, he said, "All things are made by him and for him." 00:22:58.720 |
But along with that, God is continually introduced to us as a father. 00:23:02.920 |
Exodus, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Israel is called repeatedly, "My firstborn son." 00:23:10.240 |
Deuteronomy 1.31, he carries his people as a father carries his son. 00:23:15.080 |
Deuteronomy, in Hebrews 12, he disciplines his people as father disciplines his son. 00:23:19.560 |
In Psalm, Jeremiah, Malachi, he has compassion, his father has compassion on his son. 00:23:24.720 |
And Isaiah himself prays in Isaiah 63, "You are our father." 00:23:31.000 |
Despite this repeated presentation of the Almighty God as the father of Israel, there 00:23:36.200 |
is no record of a single Jewish rabbi who prays to God as father before or after Christ. 00:23:45.120 |
And that's why it was so strange that the first Jewish rabbi who comes and prays to 00:23:55.680 |
In fact, exclusively, with the exception of one, every time he prays to God, he prays 00:24:02.520 |
And when the disciples asked Jesus, "How should we pray?" 00:24:06.500 |
He says, "Pray in this way, 'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.'" 00:24:13.120 |
It was such a foreign concept to the Jews, even though it is peppered all throughout 00:24:16.880 |
the Old Testament Scripture, that they thought it was blasphemous. 00:24:22.000 |
How can a mere man claim him to be the father, not realizing the division between a believer 00:24:28.600 |
and non-believer is the Father and just the Almighty? 00:24:31.640 |
In fact, the Jews are so afraid of his presence and making a mistake that they wouldn't even 00:24:38.600 |
They don't even, even to this day, is it Jehovah? 00:24:44.280 |
Every time his name was put in Scripture, they said, "We're going to say Adonai, just 00:24:48.000 |
in case we make a mistake and God strikes us down." 00:24:52.640 |
Michael Reeves, in his book, "Delighting in the Trinity," says this, "For it is only when 00:24:58.000 |
we see that God rules his creation as a kind and loving father that we will be moved to 00:25:08.200 |
Our worship, our obedience, our hope is to be based on his love. 00:25:14.760 |
Longing for heaven is not just longing to not have hardship or sorrow or to be lonely. 00:25:23.080 |
Longing for heaven is a longing for the Father. 00:25:33.520 |
That's why the greatest commandment, all the commandments of keeping the Sabbath holy, 00:25:38.760 |
taking care of the poor, everything he says is summed up in this one commandment. 00:25:42.920 |
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:26:00.020 |
Why does he want to be loved by sinful creatures? 00:26:06.520 |
Not just respected and feared, but to be loved. 00:26:15.120 |
The only thing that makes sense is because he sees us as his children. 00:26:20.120 |
And that's why he says, "You can have all these things. 00:26:27.840 |
And if you do not have love," what does he say? 00:26:34.160 |
Because at the center of what God desires from our salvation is love. 00:26:45.120 |
There's three ramifications of this restored relationship with God the Father. 00:26:50.640 |
One is that this love relationship is restored. 00:26:55.360 |
In John 3.35, "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand." 00:27:00.600 |
And again, John 5.20, "For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself is doing." 00:27:07.360 |
So, repeatedly, over and over again, he said, "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased." 00:27:12.440 |
As to be united with Christ means to be united in this love relationship with God the Father. 00:27:18.600 |
And that's why the Bible describes in John 3.16, what motivated God to send his only begotten Son? 00:27:30.400 |
As he saw his lost children like prodigal children who went away to restore that glory, 00:27:36.160 |
so when he comes back, "What do I need to do?" 00:27:47.400 |
You can have a child who obeys and does all these things, but then not have love, 00:27:50.680 |
then, you know, that contradicts the relationship with the Father. 00:27:56.120 |
That's why it says in John 14.31, "But so that the world may know that I love the Father, 00:28:07.200 |
In 1 John 3.1, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, 00:28:13.280 |
that we would be called the children of God, and such we are." 00:28:19.960 |
Look at the love that he has bestowed upon us. 00:28:26.800 |
The fact that we are called the children of God. 00:28:32.960 |
When he says, when the author says, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving in your hearts," 00:28:41.880 |
What is the motivation behind that thanksgiving? 00:28:44.320 |
Because we're being called to the Father's house. 00:28:46.360 |
When the Bible says, "To enter the throne of grace with confidence." 00:28:57.960 |
Even if the governor, and I'm not even going to say the president, 00:29:00.400 |
even if the governor calls and says, "Hey, come to the governor's mansion, 00:29:03.800 |
and we have the authority to go because we are invited," we don't enter there 00:29:08.440 |
with confidence walking and saying, "This is the governor's house. 00:29:12.400 |
You put on your best dress, and you're humbled, but you don't go there 00:29:20.560 |
You know, my office upstairs, you know, it has sofas, right? 00:29:26.280 |
And so that's where, you know, we have our leadership meeting. 00:29:29.120 |
But, you know, typically, you know, it's closed. 00:29:31.960 |
Every once in a while, I'll go in there, and I'll see one of my children lying 00:29:36.400 |
And I have a refrigerator there, and I have some water, and sometimes some 00:29:39.360 |
soda in there, and they'll just take it out and drink it. 00:29:48.360 |
So sometimes, they're there, something's missing, or I'll see a bag sitting there, 00:29:53.720 |
You know, I don't go in there, "How dare they put their bag in my room?" 00:29:59.000 |
It's because it's their father's, because I'm their dad. 00:30:02.520 |
So that room is just an extension of the house because they do that at my house, 00:30:08.160 |
They don't ring the doorbell when they come into the house. 00:30:15.600 |
They open the door, and they just come right in, and they open the fridge. 00:30:28.360 |
When the Bible invites sinners to come into His presence with confidence, 00:30:36.360 |
He's not simply inviting us to the Almighty God who rules the universe. 00:30:42.040 |
He's inviting us to the inner room of Abba Father. 00:30:48.560 |
Because we have been united with Christ, we have been united with our God, 00:30:55.520 |
So the father-son relationship is a love relationship. 00:31:00.560 |
Second, the father-son relationship is naturally glorifies one another. 00:31:05.200 |
In verse 12, it says, "I will proclaim your name to my brethren. 00:31:09.160 |
In the midst of the congregation, I will sing your praise." 00:31:13.120 |
Naturally, the father-son relationship glorifies each other. 00:31:16.360 |
That's why it says in John 17.1, Jesus says, "Jesus spoke these things, 00:31:20.960 |
and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, 'Father, the hour has come. 00:31:24.720 |
Glorify your son that the son may glorify you.'" 00:31:28.960 |
And again, in Hebrews 1.3, a passage that we studied again, 00:31:32.080 |
Jesus is described as a radiance of His glory, the Father's glory, 00:31:36.200 |
and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word 00:31:41.200 |
When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand 00:31:50.120 |
Some of you guys have children who play baseball or softball or soccer or 00:31:54.280 |
basketball, and some of them are really good at it, right? 00:31:59.320 |
And typically, if you see sports stars, right? 00:32:02.840 |
And then right now, we're getting into the NBA Finals, and some of you guys may 00:32:06.600 |
remember the Portland Trailblazers and the Warriors are playing. 00:32:09.680 |
He had two Curry brothers who were wearing two different uniforms, 00:32:12.880 |
and the father wore the one son's uniform, the mother wore the other son's uniform. 00:32:17.520 |
And there was a lot of hoopla, a lot of attention paid to these two parents. 00:32:28.360 |
But the reason why there was so much attention given to them is because it's 00:32:34.080 |
And they're sitting back, and every time they did something fantastic, 00:32:45.920 |
You know, if one of the kids makes an awesome shot, you know, 00:32:52.760 |
You know, that's years of the father's training in the gym. 00:32:56.520 |
I hear that the mother's very athletic, and so you kind of see a glimpse of their 00:33:00.280 |
upbringing and, you know, their mannerisms and all this stuff, 00:33:03.360 |
and kind of going back to the parents because it points to them. 00:33:09.080 |
When we are restored into this relationship, our father and son relationship, 00:33:18.760 |
And that's why the Bible says, "Be holy because he is holy." 00:33:23.080 |
The motivation behind our holiness is not to appease this holy God. 00:33:28.000 |
It's because our sins and our ramification of sin has been justified, 00:33:33.560 |
and we had this relationship with God restored. 00:33:36.000 |
He says, "Be holy because your father is holy." 00:33:45.160 |
So, naturally, this relationship with God glorifies one another, 00:33:52.960 |
So, if you do not see him as your Abba Father, if the love for God is not present, 00:33:59.640 |
then this command to be holy because he is holy is like, "Well, 00:34:09.360 |
Third and finally, the father-son relationship invites us to put our trust 00:34:15.520 |
In verse 13, "And again, I will put my trust in him. 00:34:17.960 |
And again, behold, I and the children whom God has given me." 00:34:24.080 |
Seeing God as almighty and only as almighty, one, it brings terror, 00:34:33.520 |
Because when God says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, 00:34:36.560 |
and all these things shall be added unto you," if you're hearing that from an 00:34:40.880 |
almighty God, we know that he is capable, but we don't know if he desires it 00:34:52.320 |
And the only way that that promise becomes our promise is if we hear it 00:34:59.520 |
So, an individual who does not have an affectionate relationship with God the 00:35:03.520 |
Father hears that command of, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, 00:35:08.040 |
and all these things shall be added unto you," you hear like a 00:35:12.000 |
If you invest your money here, you know, that there's going to be enough 00:35:15.640 |
interest, and by the end, you'll get some money. 00:35:27.760 |
So, all the commands of God are nothing more than things to observe and to test 00:35:36.080 |
And then if it seems like it's a good investment, and then it seems like if I do 00:35:40.440 |
this, this is going to happen, okay, then I'll do it cautiously. 00:35:44.160 |
Let me give you the distinction between a father-son relationship and somebody not. 00:35:48.480 |
Like when I was younger, again in Korea, you know, like me and my friends, 00:35:54.440 |
and I must have been no more than about four years old. 00:35:57.360 |
So, me and some of my friends went up to the roof. 00:36:00.640 |
It's not really a roof, you know, but it's pretty small. 00:36:04.520 |
It's probably no more than maybe about six feet tall. 00:36:11.080 |
And he saw us playing up there, and it was pretty dangerous. 00:36:14.160 |
So, as soon as he saw us up there, he said, "What are you doing up there? 00:36:20.640 |
And the only way for us to come down safely at that point was to go down that 00:36:25.400 |
But we were small children, so my dad basically looked up at me and he said, 00:36:36.480 |
So, if my dad puts his hand up, it's enough for me to just kind of lean 00:36:42.880 |
So, it wasn't a, like, life-threatening thing that I'm doing, right? 00:36:46.960 |
But my friends looked at me, I mean, they don't know this, man. 00:36:52.840 |
So, they're being cautious, but because my dad, I know who he is, right? 00:37:00.080 |
And so, when he told me to come down, I just kind of leaned forward, 00:37:02.640 |
and he caught me, and he brought me down, right? 00:37:07.280 |
That wasn't a local, you know, like, policeman or just anybody. 00:37:14.440 |
My other friends looked at that and said, "Huh, maybe we can trust him." 00:37:20.480 |
But they didn't jump down the way I jumped down. 00:37:22.240 |
I just kind of leaned forward, my dad grabbed me. 00:37:24.520 |
They kind of stuck their feet out, you know what I mean? 00:37:27.560 |
Holding on to the roof and kind of dragging themselves down as far as they 00:37:31.600 |
can, and then hopefully this strange guy is going to catch them on the way. 00:37:36.680 |
And just gingerly, one by one, slowly, they crept down, and my dad helped them 00:37:42.800 |
The reason I share this story is because so many Christians live their lives 00:37:52.520 |
So, they're testing him, like they're testing the water. 00:37:58.680 |
If I entrust him with my finances, if I entrust him with my family, 00:38:15.640 |
It's not a father who's calling him into his life. 00:38:18.680 |
It's not a father who's calling him into his inner chamber. 00:38:25.880 |
That's a distinction between a Christian who is living his life and his obedience 00:38:29.800 |
is producing joy, versus another person who is living his life, 00:38:34.000 |
obeying, sacrificing, and all it produces is burden. 00:38:40.480 |
Father and son relationship naturally calls us to trust him. 00:38:43.760 |
James 1:17, "Every good thing given in every perfect gift is from above, 00:38:48.520 |
coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation 00:38:53.760 |
God himself, his very nature, he gives good things. 00:38:58.360 |
In Matthew 7, 11, "If you then being evil know how to give good gifts 00:39:02.360 |
to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good 00:39:10.280 |
To see God as our Father naturally produces trust in him. 00:39:18.760 |
Let's say you're driving a car and you happen to get lost in this really 00:39:31.280 |
You get lost in this neighborhood, and I'm not going to name the neighborhood 00:39:35.040 |
You're in this horrible neighborhood where it's known for their gang activity, 00:39:39.320 |
there's drugs, there's prostitution, all kinds of things that are happening, 00:39:46.480 |
But for some odd reason, you're going to go get some churros or something, 00:39:59.760 |
And all of a sudden, you're driving, and it gets dark, and you're trying 00:40:03.720 |
to find it, and this is, you know, you don't have GPS in your car, 00:40:06.440 |
and every turn that you make, it gets worse and worse, and you're starting 00:40:14.480 |
Next thing you see, this is big semi behind you with this high beam on and 00:40:20.920 |
And so your mind is racing, like, "What is this? 00:40:26.600 |
And so you're trying to evade this truck, and every turn that you make, 00:40:30.560 |
that the truck is, like, coming and it's gaining. 00:40:33.280 |
And so you're trying so hard to get away, and then you make a wrong turn into this 00:40:38.960 |
And next thing you know, the semi is coming with the high beam on, 00:40:41.440 |
you can't see who it is, and you're imagining, "Oh, these things, 00:40:46.280 |
We're trapped," until the truck comes right by, and then the driver comes out, 00:40:58.640 |
And you realize your dad was coming to get you because he heard that you got lost in 00:41:26.640 |
He comes out of the car, and at the moment you get a sight of that dad, 00:41:30.160 |
every anxious thought that you had disappears. 00:41:33.840 |
And all you hear from him is, "I knew you were lost. 00:41:49.240 |
That's how salvation is described for us in Scripture. 00:41:53.680 |
He knew we were lost, and the almighty God, that all things were created by him 00:42:06.800 |
He brought us to himself, called us his brother, and then reintroduced us 00:42:13.880 |
And now, that's why he says, "Live up to the calling." 00:42:20.920 |
He didn't give it to us because you had potential. 00:42:23.080 |
He didn't give it to us because if I got you, that you have so much more that you 00:42:31.040 |
The Bible says we were dead in our trespasses. 00:42:34.880 |
And there's only way that we can find our way back is the father to come and get us. 00:42:39.680 |
And now that you're in the truck, he says, "Come to me, all who are weary 00:42:51.240 |
That's what the salvation is, to give us rest in the father's arms. 00:42:55.880 |
And that's why our sanctification is called to live up to what he has given us. 00:43:08.600 |
If we really believed it, how could we not obey this God? 00:43:16.960 |
How could we not declare this God and glorify this God if we really 00:43:25.360 |
Let me conclude with this passage, Romans 8, verse 15 to 17. 00:43:30.120 |
"For you have not received the spirit of slavery, leading to fear again, 00:43:35.400 |
but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 00:43:39.800 |
'Abba, Father.'" The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are 00:43:46.360 |
And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. 00:43:51.200 |
If indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.