WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:04.599 You're listening to City Church Manchester. We 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:07.679 are a church that invites everyone to enjoy Christ 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:11.599 for the glory of God. If we can serve you in 00:00:11.599 --> 00:00:15.480 any way, then visit our website at citychurchmanchester 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:19.660 .org to find out more. Good afternoon, everyone. 00:00:19.859 --> 00:00:23.089 It is great to be here with you today. If you've 00:00:23.089 --> 00:00:25.250 got a Bible, do go ahead and grab it. We're going 00:00:25.250 --> 00:00:29.010 to come to our Bible reading in just a few moments, 00:00:29.170 --> 00:00:31.910 but it is really good to have you here with us 00:00:31.910 --> 00:00:36.929 today, especially if you are here today to see 00:00:36.929 --> 00:00:39.530 this wonderful baptism that's going to be happening 00:00:39.530 --> 00:00:43.469 in just a few moments time as we see Azaria and 00:00:43.469 --> 00:00:46.770 Amy stand in front of all you lovely folks and 00:00:46.770 --> 00:00:50.689 tell their story about what God has done for 00:00:50.689 --> 00:00:54.600 them. in the good news of the gospel. And that's 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:57.700 really what I just want to talk to you about 00:00:57.700 --> 00:01:03.100 today, which is this good news of Jesus. This 00:01:03.100 --> 00:01:07.019 message of heaven that completely transforms 00:01:07.019 --> 00:01:10.980 our reality. A reality that we are going to see 00:01:10.980 --> 00:01:14.540 in real time today that has impacted the lives 00:01:14.540 --> 00:01:18.140 of modern people to the degree that it has changed 00:01:18.140 --> 00:01:21.590 their entire life's trajectory. That is the good 00:01:21.590 --> 00:01:25.370 news, the message of Jesus, the reality that 00:01:25.370 --> 00:01:30.489 God Himself looks on us, messy people, broken 00:01:30.489 --> 00:01:35.189 people, ordinary, weak people, He looks on us 00:01:35.189 --> 00:01:39.590 with love and grace and mercy to the degree that 00:01:39.590 --> 00:01:43.409 He has done something to rescue us. And it's 00:01:43.409 --> 00:01:46.849 that good news, that transformative message that 00:01:46.849 --> 00:01:49.480 I'd love to talk to you about today. Now you 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:50.959 might have heard this before some people talk 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:55.340 about the gospel as being like a Multi -faceted 00:01:55.340 --> 00:01:57.560 diamond, you know, if you imagine having a big 00:01:57.560 --> 00:01:59.760 diamond in your hand You can look at it from 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:03.159 every angle and it's the same beautiful complex 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:05.579 reality But you can look at it through different 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:08.439 angles and and the good news of Jesus is like 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:11.580 that. It's not linear It's beautiful. It's complex. 00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:14.620 It's something that is precious for a lifetime 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:19.319 and yet it's not beyond any one of us. It's not 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:24.120 beyond our grasp. It's complex because it is 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:26.560 at the centre of this message of the Good News. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:30.580 It is a message about God, God who is eternal, 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:34.159 God who is above, God who is beyond, God who 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:37.240 is infinite, and yet it is a message that has 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.620 been given to us. It's not beyond our reach. 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:42.520 You know, if you've come in here today, you don't 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:47.000 need to be a professor of theology, or even be 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:49.939 someone who's attended church before in order 00:02:49.939 --> 00:02:55.180 to hear and receive this multifaceted, beautiful, 00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:00.000 precious message of Jesus. Now, Augustine, Augustine 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:02.460 was a Christian from a long, long time ago, and 00:03:02.460 --> 00:03:05.099 he put it this way. He said, the gospel, this 00:03:05.099 --> 00:03:08.740 message of the Bibles on the screen is shallow 00:03:08.740 --> 00:03:12.650 enough for a child not to drown. but deep enough 00:03:12.650 --> 00:03:15.550 for an elephant to swim. And I just love that 00:03:15.550 --> 00:03:17.789 because it means that if it's your first time 00:03:17.789 --> 00:03:19.710 in church today, and if it is your first time, 00:03:19.789 --> 00:03:22.490 again, so good to have you here with us. Maybe 00:03:22.490 --> 00:03:24.849 already in this service that you've kind of found 00:03:24.849 --> 00:03:27.330 it a bit like it's a bit strange. We were singing 00:03:27.330 --> 00:03:29.250 the songs and you were trying to join in the 00:03:29.250 --> 00:03:31.330 songs, but you don't really know the tunes. Reading 00:03:31.330 --> 00:03:33.729 Confessions, which seems a bit of a strange thing 00:03:33.729 --> 00:03:36.129 to do, is about to get even weirder. We are about 00:03:36.129 --> 00:03:38.169 to watch some people have a public bath. So, 00:03:38.169 --> 00:03:40.800 you know, welcome to church. We are... a little 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:43.939 bit different in here. Church is a new kind of 00:03:43.939 --> 00:03:46.860 thing, it brings a new kind of life, but maybe 00:03:46.860 --> 00:03:49.840 you've walked in, you don't have that knowledge 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:53.419 of Jesus, but actually all I just want you to 00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:55.919 hear from the very beginning, this message of 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:59.460 the gospel, this good news is not beyond you, 00:03:59.900 --> 00:04:02.979 it's not out of your reach. I'd love you to hear 00:04:02.979 --> 00:04:05.949 it today. and consider it because it's a message 00:04:05.949 --> 00:04:08.210 that isn't earned. You don't have to come in 00:04:08.210 --> 00:04:10.990 here and pretend to be someone you're not. Actually 00:04:10.990 --> 00:04:13.509 the gospel message says the absolute opposite. 00:04:13.789 --> 00:04:16.649 It says come as you are, come and hear, come 00:04:16.649 --> 00:04:19.829 and receive. It is a message that is shallow 00:04:19.829 --> 00:04:23.670 enough that not even a child could drown. It 00:04:23.670 --> 00:04:27.750 is whatever your knowledge, whatever your story, 00:04:27.990 --> 00:04:30.709 it is for you. And so I just want to look at 00:04:30.709 --> 00:04:33.620 one Verse from the Bible and if you're a seasoned 00:04:33.620 --> 00:04:37.019 churchgoer, you know this verse. This is like 00:04:37.019 --> 00:04:40.220 a verse with depth This is a verse that you can 00:04:40.220 --> 00:04:44.439 swim for Multiple lifetimes and still never reach 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:47.079 the bottom of its beauty. This is a one verse 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:50.180 sermon by the way So I've said it from the front 00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:52.600 if I go over my time you're allowed to be mad 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:55.660 at me, right? It's this is to Corinthians chapter 00:04:55.660 --> 00:04:59.600 5 verse 21 and in this one verse. I think we 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:04.149 get at least one angle of the beauty of the gospel. 00:05:04.230 --> 00:05:06.870 Here it is, let me read it to you. 2 Corinthians 00:05:06.870 --> 00:05:14.569 chapter 5 verse 21. God made him, that is Jesus, 00:05:15.149 --> 00:05:20.470 the Son of God, God made him who had no sin to 00:05:20.470 --> 00:05:26.129 be sin for us so that in him we might become 00:05:26.129 --> 00:05:29.500 the righteousness of God. We're gonna come back 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:31.180 to that in just a moment, but quickly just give 00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:34.699 me a nod if you recognize This guy on the screen 00:05:34.699 --> 00:05:37.939 Theo von any nods in the room people recognize 00:05:37.939 --> 00:05:40.800 him. It's all just guys nodding right now I've 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:43.560 asked this all week to so many people Very few 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:44.740 females know this, so I don't know what that 00:05:44.740 --> 00:05:47.279 says about us guys. But Theo Vaughan is a comedian. 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:50.720 He is actually kind of from the same neck of 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:53.100 the woods -ish to our Oak Mountain and Macon 00:05:53.100 --> 00:05:54.980 friends who are here today. He's from Florida, 00:05:55.060 --> 00:05:57.379 so you know, he's got that real Southern drawl, 00:05:57.379 --> 00:05:59.740 as we just beautifully heard, being shared with 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:02.220 us from the front here. And there's this clip 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:04.980 of him that went really viral this week, and 00:06:04.980 --> 00:06:07.879 some of you may have seen it. On his podcast, 00:06:07.899 --> 00:06:10.660 he had this session where he was just talking 00:06:10.660 --> 00:06:13.019 about his life. talking about his career, talking 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:15.600 about where he's come from. And on the outside, 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:18.339 if you know anything about this guy, it all looks 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:22.519 good. Like, he's really successful, he's wealthy, 00:06:22.779 --> 00:06:25.600 he's famous, he's really well -liked. You know, 00:06:25.620 --> 00:06:27.740 he's the kind of guy that I imagine if you used 00:06:27.740 --> 00:06:29.980 to go hang out with him, he's just a very likable 00:06:29.980 --> 00:06:33.660 person, very cool guy. But he had this really 00:06:33.660 --> 00:06:37.800 vulnerable moment on his podcast where he opened 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:40.839 up and he... you could see he was he was struggling 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:43.420 with his emotions being able to talk openly about 00:06:43.420 --> 00:06:45.620 this and he was talking about these behaviors 00:06:45.620 --> 00:06:49.060 that he struggles with in his life. He says he 00:06:49.060 --> 00:06:52.120 just doesn't want them anymore. There's this 00:06:52.120 --> 00:06:54.199 brokenness he said that's like deep somewhere 00:06:54.199 --> 00:06:57.620 deep inside him that stops him from changing 00:06:57.620 --> 00:07:00.019 and now Theo Von is not a Christian. And I should 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:02.879 say that if you are a Christian in the room, 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:06.959 maybe don't go listen to him. But he is someone 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.680 who in this moment of vulnerability, he says 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:12.459 he started crying out to God. It seems like God 00:07:12.459 --> 00:07:15.579 is doing a work in his heart. And he said this, 00:07:15.600 --> 00:07:18.800 I'll read the quote. He said, I'm ready for a 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:23.040 new story. I pray God these behaviors, I don't 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:26.790 like them. Will you help me? Even though I might 00:07:26.790 --> 00:07:29.410 do them again, even though I know I want to do 00:07:29.410 --> 00:07:31.870 them again Will you come into those parts of 00:07:31.870 --> 00:07:35.189 me and will you help me there? Will you come 00:07:35.189 --> 00:07:38.709 and he pauses here? And he gets very emotional. 00:07:38.709 --> 00:07:43.370 He says will you come all the way? past the roots 00:07:43.370 --> 00:07:47.970 and I saw that and I thought that is a profound 00:07:47.970 --> 00:07:52.149 statement and it's something that spoke to me 00:07:52.149 --> 00:07:55.730 as I heard him say it I loved it because In that 00:07:55.730 --> 00:07:58.870 clip, I think he is expressing something that 00:07:58.870 --> 00:08:01.189 every single one of us in this room knows all 00:08:01.189 --> 00:08:04.050 too well in our own lives. I mean, hands up, 00:08:04.110 --> 00:08:05.709 and actually joining with me here, this is church, 00:08:05.750 --> 00:08:07.470 you're allowed to put your hands up. It's encouraged, 00:08:07.490 --> 00:08:11.209 actually. Hands up if you know you're someone 00:08:11.209 --> 00:08:14.029 who knows what it's like to know what the right 00:08:14.029 --> 00:08:15.509 thing to do is, but you've gone and done the 00:08:15.509 --> 00:08:16.829 wrong thing anyway. Put your hand up. If you 00:08:16.829 --> 00:08:18.709 know what it's like to know what the right thing 00:08:18.709 --> 00:08:20.490 to do is, do the wrong thing. Okay, put your 00:08:20.490 --> 00:08:22.639 hands down. What we just saw there, I just saw 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:23.959 two hands up there, by the way, whoever that 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:26.579 was. What we just saw there, we got a bunch of 00:08:26.579 --> 00:08:29.160 people in the room who get it, and we also have 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:31.100 a bunch of liars in the room, because not every 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:33.419 hand in the room went up. Because we get it, 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:36.840 right? We all know what it's like to know what 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.700 the right thing to do is, and yet something inside 00:08:39.700 --> 00:08:43.320 us, there's a battle, and we go and do the wrong 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.019 thing anyway, the thing we know we shouldn't. 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:48.320 And this is what I just want to speak about a 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:51.259 moment, because I think you can relate to this. 00:08:51.470 --> 00:08:55.230 There is this complex inner battle going on in 00:08:55.230 --> 00:08:58.450 every single one of us, all of the time, if we're 00:08:58.450 --> 00:09:00.909 honest about it, this battle of we know what 00:09:00.909 --> 00:09:03.049 is right and still we can feel our hearts being 00:09:03.049 --> 00:09:05.850 drawn to things that we know are wrong. There 00:09:05.850 --> 00:09:07.889 is this part of you, a very real part of you 00:09:07.889 --> 00:09:09.549 that you have brought into this room with you 00:09:09.549 --> 00:09:13.889 today, which longs for good, which longs for 00:09:13.889 --> 00:09:16.509 that which is right, which longs for justice. 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:19.700 A part of you that wants to live in a way that 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:24.480 is good and honorable. That's a very real part 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:27.399 of who you are. And actually, the Bible puts 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:30.679 words on that. Romans chapter two, Romans, which 00:09:30.679 --> 00:09:33.559 is in the New Testament. It says there that the 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:38.139 moral law of God has been written on every single 00:09:38.139 --> 00:09:41.559 one of us, on our hearts. And what I'm saying 00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:45.159 here, that is evidence that you and I, whatever 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:47.909 background you come from, Wherever you have walked 00:09:47.909 --> 00:09:50.950 into this room believing this afternoon, the 00:09:50.950 --> 00:09:54.129 Bible is saying that that fact that you have 00:09:54.129 --> 00:09:56.529 morals is evidence that you and I that we're 00:09:56.529 --> 00:10:00.149 made in the image of God. We're different to 00:10:00.149 --> 00:10:02.090 the animals. We're different to the trees. We're 00:10:02.090 --> 00:10:05.009 different to the sea. We are made with the fingerprint 00:10:05.009 --> 00:10:08.470 of God on our lives. It's evidence that we know 00:10:08.470 --> 00:10:11.110 what is right because God made us. God who is 00:10:11.110 --> 00:10:14.350 good. God who is righteous. He made us in his 00:10:14.350 --> 00:10:19.259 image and yet Yet, there is this other part of 00:10:19.259 --> 00:10:21.399 you, a very real part of you that you've brought 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:23.980 into this room with you this afternoon, that 00:10:23.980 --> 00:10:26.519 doesn't always want to live according to what 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:30.299 God says is right. That doesn't want to listen 00:10:30.299 --> 00:10:33.639 to what he says. And actually, you'd rather just 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:37.419 live in your own way. That's my story anyway. 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:40.860 And I just think Theo Von is totally right on 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:44.460 this issue. That simultaneously, There is this 00:10:44.460 --> 00:10:47.240 part of us that, like him, is longing for a new 00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:49.519 story, that is longing for that which is good, 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:52.639 longing for that which is right. But at the same 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:57.799 time, there is this deep, rooted brokenness in 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:01.100 every single one of us that all too often can 00:11:01.100 --> 00:11:03.519 steer the direction of our lives. And we end 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:05.279 up going down roads that we thought we'd never 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:08.559 go down. And the bigger problem, even bigger 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:11.019 problem, welcome to church, by the way, even 00:11:11.019 --> 00:11:12.940 bigger problem, I think, in your life than just 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:17.250 that. is that we can learn to control these behaviors, 00:11:17.970 --> 00:11:21.889 right? We can stop the gossiping. We can stop 00:11:21.889 --> 00:11:24.309 looking at pornography. We can stop being lazy. 00:11:24.490 --> 00:11:26.190 Whatever it is that you know in your life, you 00:11:26.190 --> 00:11:28.750 keep going to, that's not right. It is possible 00:11:28.750 --> 00:11:31.809 that you can stop that wrong behavior, but still, 00:11:31.809 --> 00:11:34.389 so often, there's still a problem. What's the 00:11:34.389 --> 00:11:39.190 problem? Desire. I still desire it. inside me. 00:11:39.409 --> 00:11:42.750 It still lives in here. The roots of my life 00:11:42.750 --> 00:11:46.409 still want to draw up from those wrong behaviors. 00:11:46.509 --> 00:11:49.610 I still want to live like that. A good example 00:11:49.610 --> 00:11:52.129 of this, I think, is when my friend, my very 00:11:52.129 --> 00:11:55.009 good friend, got off cocaine. He'd struggled 00:11:55.009 --> 00:11:58.370 with cocaine for years and he was on a journey. 00:11:58.409 --> 00:12:00.230 He wasn't a Christian, but he was on a journey 00:12:00.230 --> 00:12:04.090 where he was exploring Christianity. And along 00:12:04.090 --> 00:12:07.190 that journey, he got off Coke, he'd been off 00:12:07.190 --> 00:12:09.950 Coke a few weeks, and he had this profound moment 00:12:09.950 --> 00:12:12.070 in his life where he'd been clean for weeks, 00:12:12.149 --> 00:12:14.370 and he looked at himself in the mirror, and he 00:12:14.370 --> 00:12:16.870 had this realization moment where he realized, 00:12:17.649 --> 00:12:21.149 Coke was never the problem. I've changed my behavior, 00:12:21.190 --> 00:12:24.629 but there's still a brokenness inside me. Maybe 00:12:24.629 --> 00:12:27.769 you can relate to that, whatever that version 00:12:27.769 --> 00:12:31.039 of that story looks like for you. And in that 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:33.080 sense, I think we're all kind of like Christmas 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:35.220 trees. Just hear me out on this. I know we're 00:12:35.220 --> 00:12:37.139 heading into summer. I know nobody wants to be 00:12:37.139 --> 00:12:40.700 thinking about Christmas, but guys, it is 235 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:43.240 sleeps until Christmas. So you might want to 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:44.820 be getting on with your Christmas shopping soon. 00:12:44.899 --> 00:12:46.419 It'll be here before you know it. We just heard 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:48.700 it from the front. Your life goes by like that. 00:12:48.740 --> 00:12:51.019 Get on with your Christmas shopping. But we can 00:12:51.019 --> 00:12:53.220 all be a bit like Christmas trees. You know, 00:12:53.340 --> 00:12:57.360 on the outside, we can look good. You know, we 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.860 have the baubles of good behavior. We have the 00:13:00.860 --> 00:13:02.799 fairy lights of discipline. People look at us 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:08.679 and go, that's a good person. But inwardly, we're 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:11.759 dying. Like a Christmas tree, we have been cut 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.779 off from the roots of life. Like, you know, it's 00:13:15.779 --> 00:13:17.820 like that 1st of January when your tree and all 00:13:17.820 --> 00:13:20.500 the needles have fallen, the tree's dead. It 00:13:20.500 --> 00:13:23.120 doesn't look so good anymore. And I just think 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:25.580 so often that's a bit like us. We are living 00:13:25.580 --> 00:13:28.419 life outwardly that can look great, look impressive. 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:29.919 You have all the money, all the friends, all 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:31.919 the whatever in the world. But inwardly, when 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.080 you lie in your bed at night, there's this thing 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.580 inside you that can struggle. It's like we're 00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:38.480 living with this inner brokenness, these dead 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:40.580 roots in our lives. And it's like as long as 00:13:40.580 --> 00:13:43.019 the roots of our lives are sick, ultimately we 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:45.799 know we're a bit sick as well. And if you know 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:47.460 what I'm talking about, and I'm aware I'm kind 00:13:47.460 --> 00:13:50.519 of really going for this quickly right now. If 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:52.100 you know what I'm talking about, please just 00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:54.759 like lean in and take comfort right now. Because 00:13:54.759 --> 00:14:01.299 the Bible gets it. The Bible gets you. Because 00:14:01.299 --> 00:14:04.340 the Bible puts words to this brokenness that 00:14:04.340 --> 00:14:08.120 you and I struggle with. And it's sin. I've already 00:14:08.120 --> 00:14:10.299 spoken about sin from the front this afternoon. 00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:13.460 And here's the thing about sin. Sin isn't simply 00:14:13.460 --> 00:14:16.860 the wrong stuff we do or the right stuff we don't 00:14:16.860 --> 00:14:20.440 do. Actually, the Bible has a more complex view 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:24.120 of sin. It says sin is a condition. It's a condition 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:27.299 inside of us that each of us have and the Bible 00:14:27.299 --> 00:14:31.500 says that this sin inside of us is a root problem. 00:14:32.200 --> 00:14:35.139 And I say root problem not just because it's 00:14:35.139 --> 00:14:37.919 a brokenness that is deep down inside every single 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.419 one of us as individuals, but actually according 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:44.700 to the Bible, it's a root problem that every 00:14:44.700 --> 00:14:47.899 single one of us shares. because it all goes 00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:51.740 back to the same source, the roots go back to 00:14:51.740 --> 00:14:55.879 the same beginning. When we open the pages, the 00:14:55.879 --> 00:14:59.120 opening pages of the Bible, and we meet a man 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:02.940 called Adam, the first man in the Bible that 00:15:02.940 --> 00:15:05.620 God made. And if your name is Adam here, you 00:15:05.620 --> 00:15:07.320 might know this already, in the Bible your name 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:10.059 literally means man, so hey man, it's great to 00:15:10.059 --> 00:15:13.899 have you here with us. Adam was made by God, 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:18.279 and he was made for God, and the whole purpose 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:22.139 of Adam's life was to enjoy God. It was a life 00:15:22.139 --> 00:15:26.379 of joy, a life of freedom, a life with no brokenness, 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:29.440 just glorifying God, enjoying God in freedom. 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:36.779 And Adam stands in the Bible as humanity's representative. 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:39.059 And we're going to kind of, this is maybe a bit 00:15:39.059 --> 00:15:41.590 of an alien concept for some of us. But according 00:15:41.590 --> 00:15:44.769 to the Bible, Adam stood as Adam's representative. 00:15:44.850 --> 00:15:47.769 What do I mean? I mean, Adam was like the prototype 00:15:47.769 --> 00:15:51.210 human when God made him. God breathed life into 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:53.610 him, and this is what humanity will be like. 00:15:53.649 --> 00:15:56.509 He was the blueprint. He was humanity mark one. 00:15:56.570 --> 00:16:01.570 He was like the sourdough startup of humanity. 00:16:02.309 --> 00:16:05.909 Whatever he would be like, all of humanity would 00:16:05.909 --> 00:16:09.139 be like. And you know, this is biblical theology 00:16:09.139 --> 00:16:10.779 we're talking about here and it's not the kind 00:16:10.779 --> 00:16:12.700 of thing you maybe normally think about over 00:16:12.700 --> 00:16:15.799 the weekend. But just bear with me because I 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:19.940 think this story helps to frame your life and 00:16:19.940 --> 00:16:23.000 make sense of that brokenness that you struggle 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:27.179 with the same as me. Because what we see is despite 00:16:27.179 --> 00:16:32.159 being humanity mark one, Adam, when faced with 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:36.360 a moral decision, he knows what is right. God 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:39.879 has told him right from wrong. He has seen what 00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:43.799 God is like. But still, when faced with a moral 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:47.960 decision, what does Adam do? He does what all 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:50.080 of us who just raised our hand up have done. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:54.580 He chooses the wrong thing deliberately, not 00:16:54.580 --> 00:16:58.360 an accident. Despite knowing what is good and 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:02.730 right, he does the wrong thing. And in that moment, 00:17:02.870 --> 00:17:05.509 according to the story of the Bible, in that 00:17:05.509 --> 00:17:11.529 moment the poison of sin enters the story and 00:17:11.529 --> 00:17:13.789 it's like it gets into the sourdough starter 00:17:13.789 --> 00:17:18.009 and it infects every single person who comes 00:17:18.009 --> 00:17:20.950 from the line of Adam. And I just think that 00:17:20.950 --> 00:17:23.940 makes total sense of my life. makes total sense 00:17:23.940 --> 00:17:26.259 of your life because it makes sense of that inner 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:28.779 battle that I know so well because it means that 00:17:28.779 --> 00:17:31.640 when you and I when we desire to do that which 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:36.019 is good when we desire righteousness and justice 00:17:36.019 --> 00:17:38.619 and we want this world to be put to right when 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:41.480 we have that desire we want to live in that way 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:45.180 actually that is an echo in your heart of the 00:17:45.180 --> 00:17:48.339 very purpose that God made you for you were made 00:17:48.339 --> 00:17:51.700 like Adam to know God, to live in freedom, to 00:17:51.700 --> 00:17:57.680 enjoy Him, to live righteously. And yet, our 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:01.839 roots are sick with sin because of what Adam 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:03.859 has done and because of what we have contributed 00:18:03.859 --> 00:18:07.319 to that story. And here's the greatest tragedy 00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:10.099 of sin, the greatest tragedy of that brokenness 00:18:10.099 --> 00:18:12.359 that lives in us. It isn't, oh, I wish I could 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:14.920 just be a better person. You know, if only I 00:18:14.920 --> 00:18:17.160 didn't have this struggle. That's not the greatest 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:20.630 tragedy. According to the Bible, the greatest 00:18:20.630 --> 00:18:23.569 tragedy is that, like the Christmas tree, we 00:18:23.569 --> 00:18:28.109 were cut off from God, cut off from the source 00:18:28.109 --> 00:18:32.890 of life. Because how could our offence stay in 00:18:32.890 --> 00:18:35.890 the presence of a God who is holy? That would 00:18:35.890 --> 00:18:38.569 be like expecting us to be able to fly up and 00:18:38.569 --> 00:18:41.910 touch the sun and not be burnt up. God's sun 00:18:41.910 --> 00:18:45.849 blazes, sorry, God's holiness blazes like the 00:18:45.849 --> 00:18:51.119 sun. this brokenness of Adam has been passed 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:54.880 down through the roots ever since and will continue 00:18:54.880 --> 00:18:58.599 to be passed down. And that's why I think Theo 00:18:58.599 --> 00:19:02.380 is right in what he said. You know, secular comedian. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:05.880 I think he hits the nail on the head with what 00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:09.539 he said there. We do have a problem and it's 00:19:09.539 --> 00:19:12.019 in our roots, but it's also beyond our roots. 00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:15.220 It's beyond anything that you and I can get about 00:19:15.220 --> 00:19:20.920 fixing on our own. We're stuck. But this is why, 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:24.119 and if you're a Christian, like, you know the 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:26.839 gospel. Please, like, lean in, let your heart 00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:29.700 be filled with joy as you hear this message again. 00:19:30.140 --> 00:19:35.000 This is why the gospel is such good news. And 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:37.579 it's not beyond any one of us. It's not beyond 00:19:37.579 --> 00:19:40.160 our reach. Look at the scripture. It's on the 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:43.180 screen again. Second Corinthians. God. This is 00:19:43.180 --> 00:19:47.660 how the gospel starts. God. It's his story. Praise 00:19:47.660 --> 00:19:50.599 God that the solution to this brokenness doesn't 00:19:50.599 --> 00:19:52.539 start with me, and it doesn't start with you, 00:19:52.539 --> 00:19:55.119 and it doesn't start with Adam. It starts with 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:59.420 God, what he has done, what he has done to bring 00:19:59.420 --> 00:20:02.940 us, to make us right again. It's him. He is the 00:20:02.940 --> 00:20:07.579 one who changed the story. God made him. That 00:20:07.579 --> 00:20:12.180 is Jesus, the Son of God, God himself, who came 00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:17.250 down from heaven. God who puts on human flesh. 00:20:17.829 --> 00:20:19.809 Have you let yourself think about that one recently? 00:20:20.109 --> 00:20:24.269 God puts on human flesh. He lives the experience 00:20:24.269 --> 00:20:28.069 that you and I experience. He walks this dark 00:20:28.069 --> 00:20:32.369 world. He experiences pain, frustration. He knows 00:20:32.369 --> 00:20:35.650 what it's like to be in flesh. And because God 00:20:35.650 --> 00:20:40.250 came in flesh, because Jesus joins us in our 00:20:40.250 --> 00:20:43.450 humanity, it means he goes to the very roots. 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:47.440 of who we are. He didn't try to fix the problem 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:51.039 from the outside, he comes into the brokenness. 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:54.259 And that means that Jesus gets you, whoever you 00:20:54.259 --> 00:20:57.440 are, Jesus gets you. And I just think this is 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:00.220 so important that we lean in here, because in 00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:02.940 the Bible, Jesus is spoken about in so many glorious 00:21:02.940 --> 00:21:05.720 ways, like the multifaceted diamond. There are 00:21:05.720 --> 00:21:08.319 so many names of Jesus because he's done so much. 00:21:08.619 --> 00:21:10.240 There's one name that I just want to focus in 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:13.250 on here. in other parts of the Bible where Jesus 00:21:13.250 --> 00:21:18.789 is called the second Adam. The second Adam. Adam 00:21:18.789 --> 00:21:22.269 stood as representative for humanity, but into 00:21:22.269 --> 00:21:25.490 the story of the gospel steps this second Adam, 00:21:25.549 --> 00:21:29.089 a new kind of representative for humanity, where 00:21:29.089 --> 00:21:33.650 the first Adam failed. Where the sourdough starter 00:21:33.650 --> 00:21:37.410 went wrong, this second Adam wouldn't fail. Because 00:21:37.410 --> 00:21:40.430 what does the scripture say? It says, this second 00:21:40.430 --> 00:21:45.930 Adam had no sin. He knew no sin. Jesus lived 00:21:45.930 --> 00:21:49.289 a completely sinless life. Our entire faith rests 00:21:49.289 --> 00:21:52.589 on this reality. Jesus lived a sinless life. 00:21:52.630 --> 00:21:55.150 And I think lots of us make a misstep about Jesus 00:21:55.150 --> 00:21:57.569 here because we think of him being like Superman. 00:21:57.970 --> 00:21:59.690 You know in the old cartoons, Superman's not 00:21:59.690 --> 00:22:01.809 scared to stand in front of the U .S. Army and 00:22:01.809 --> 00:22:03.450 have all his bullets hit him in the chest because 00:22:03.450 --> 00:22:05.930 he's indestructible. And we think of Jesus like 00:22:05.930 --> 00:22:08.329 that, but... That's not what the gospel tells 00:22:08.329 --> 00:22:12.690 us because, yes, it's true, Jesus is fully God, 00:22:13.589 --> 00:22:18.029 fully divine, but he joins us in our humanity. 00:22:18.150 --> 00:22:23.269 He takes on a fully human nature. He was fully 00:22:23.269 --> 00:22:27.009 human, which meant that Jesus would get hungry. 00:22:27.089 --> 00:22:29.589 Jesus would get weak. Jesus knew what it was 00:22:29.589 --> 00:22:33.250 like to get sick. Jesus knew what it was like 00:22:33.250 --> 00:22:35.559 to be tempted. Have you ever thought about that? 00:22:35.819 --> 00:22:38.579 To have the brokenness of the world around him 00:22:38.579 --> 00:22:43.019 trying to reach in to his heart to pull out evil. 00:22:43.180 --> 00:22:44.759 You know, that's what temptation is like, isn't 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:47.160 it? It's like when you go fishing with a lure 00:22:47.160 --> 00:22:48.980 on the end, it's trying to get you to take the 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:52.079 bite. But Jesus never took the bite of the brokenness 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:55.420 around him because he was sinless. No wrong in 00:22:55.420 --> 00:22:58.299 him whatsoever. Unlike us, he never gave in to 00:22:58.299 --> 00:23:01.559 temptation. Unlike us, there wasn't a moment 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:05.460 in his life where he took his eyes of the glory 00:23:05.460 --> 00:23:08.660 of God. He never sinned. No brokenness, no poison 00:23:08.660 --> 00:23:11.900 of sin in his roots. He enjoyed God and glorified 00:23:11.900 --> 00:23:15.220 him in all he did. And here's the profound mystery 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:19.920 of this verse behind me. God made him who had 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:28.619 no sin to be sin for us. Did you hear that? Christ, 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:34.079 the sinless one, the son of heaven, the one who 00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:38.519 only ever loved, the one who healed, the one 00:23:38.519 --> 00:23:42.960 who walked through this darkness as light. He 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:46.380 didn't become a sinner, don't get it wrong, he 00:23:46.380 --> 00:23:53.000 became sin. He became a sin bearer. Now as this 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:57.200 second Adam, he stands as our representative 00:23:57.200 --> 00:24:01.720 before God. And as our representative, He doesn't 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:04.920 say, no, I don't know this crowd over here, these 00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:09.660 messy people, I'm not with them. He 100 % identifies 00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:13.380 with our brokenness, with our sin, taking it 00:24:13.380 --> 00:24:17.319 upon himself. The gospel story tells us he carries 00:24:17.319 --> 00:24:20.859 that brokenness. He carries that sin all the 00:24:20.859 --> 00:24:25.059 way to the cross where this sinless second Adam 00:24:25.059 --> 00:24:30.789 dies in our place and in his death. ends the 00:24:30.789 --> 00:24:33.609 power of sin for all those who would come after 00:24:33.609 --> 00:24:38.109 him. And do you see what's happening here? Jesus 00:24:38.109 --> 00:24:41.170 is dealing with our root problem, our greatest 00:24:41.170 --> 00:24:44.230 problem. As the second Adam, it's like he goes 00:24:44.230 --> 00:24:47.069 back to the very origins of our brokenness, the 00:24:47.069 --> 00:24:49.930 very origins of our story, and he makes a way 00:24:49.930 --> 00:24:53.349 for us to be rooted back into the very source 00:24:53.349 --> 00:24:57.869 of life itself, which is God himself. And at 00:24:57.869 --> 00:25:00.069 the cross, Jesus stands in the place where you 00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:02.190 and I should be found. Maybe you go, wow, that 00:25:02.190 --> 00:25:04.049 seems really harsh. I don't feel like I should 00:25:04.049 --> 00:25:07.509 be killed for my sin. Just remember this. In 00:25:07.509 --> 00:25:11.369 the ancient world, for the Romans, the sign of 00:25:11.369 --> 00:25:14.369 crucifixion was a symbol of being cursed by God, 00:25:15.089 --> 00:25:18.789 cut off from God. That's what our sin really 00:25:18.789 --> 00:25:21.490 deserves. We don't deserve God. And what does 00:25:21.490 --> 00:25:23.910 Jesus do at the cross? He becomes the one who 00:25:23.910 --> 00:25:26.650 is cut off. from the life of God because at the 00:25:26.650 --> 00:25:30.190 cross Jesus truly bore humanity's sin and he 00:25:30.190 --> 00:25:35.150 truly died for us. That's what the verse says, 00:25:35.289 --> 00:25:40.329 for us. He takes our sin, he dies in our place 00:25:40.329 --> 00:25:44.390 and he makes a way for us to go back to God himself. 00:25:45.690 --> 00:25:47.849 And then let me just start closing here because 00:25:47.849 --> 00:25:52.190 it goes even beyond that. Yes, the roots of our 00:25:52.190 --> 00:25:55.450 brokenness are forgiven. Yes. we can have new 00:25:55.450 --> 00:25:58.910 life but then it goes even further past the roots 00:25:58.910 --> 00:26:01.730 because the gospel doesn't simply say this and 00:26:01.730 --> 00:26:03.829 some of you might need to hear this it doesn't 00:26:03.829 --> 00:26:07.430 simply say receive this forgiveness and now just 00:26:07.430 --> 00:26:10.150 go out and behave yourself you know don't get 00:26:10.150 --> 00:26:13.789 into any more trouble it's like sometimes we 00:26:13.789 --> 00:26:15.549 talk about it like we all have this great debt 00:26:15.549 --> 00:26:19.500 of sin but Jesus pays the debt and then we're 00:26:19.500 --> 00:26:22.859 reset to net zero and now the challenge of life 00:26:22.859 --> 00:26:25.480 is to through our morals and good behavior to 00:26:25.480 --> 00:26:27.940 kind of build up the bank again to put credit 00:26:27.940 --> 00:26:31.319 in the bank again but that's not what this scripture 00:26:31.319 --> 00:26:34.519 says what does it say it says no christ bore 00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:39.920 our sin so that in him you and i we might become 00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:45.289 the righteousness of god In Jesus, God doesn't 00:26:45.289 --> 00:26:47.750 simply just take our brokenness and our sin away, 00:26:47.930 --> 00:26:51.309 but He gives us His righteousness. It goes beyond 00:26:51.309 --> 00:26:54.589 the problem of our roots. It is past the roots. 00:26:54.930 --> 00:26:57.730 And do you see what that means for us? It means 00:26:57.730 --> 00:27:00.630 that righteousness isn't something we achieve. 00:27:01.309 --> 00:27:04.690 Righteousness is something we receive. And that 00:27:04.690 --> 00:27:08.390 is good news for us this afternoon. Past the 00:27:08.390 --> 00:27:13.630 roots. God knows. He knows the struggle. that 00:27:13.630 --> 00:27:16.490 Theo Vaughan talks about in his video clip. God 00:27:16.490 --> 00:27:19.549 knows that we're broken, that we're sinful, that 00:27:19.549 --> 00:27:22.710 we're in desperate need. He knows that we can't 00:27:22.710 --> 00:27:25.789 save ourselves from this poison of sin that every 00:27:25.789 --> 00:27:27.869 single one of us has wrestled with throughout 00:27:27.869 --> 00:27:32.069 our lives. And so he did it for us. He took on 00:27:32.069 --> 00:27:36.170 the fight. He defeated the problem. He did it 00:27:36.170 --> 00:27:39.809 for us. The gospel tells us we don't make ourselves 00:27:39.809 --> 00:27:43.420 right with God. God makes ourselves. right with 00:27:43.420 --> 00:27:46.819 God. And that is good news. So let me close here. 00:27:46.859 --> 00:27:50.519 I'll invite the band up as I wrap up here. The 00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:56.319 Bible says the only difference between a righteous 00:27:56.319 --> 00:28:01.019 person and an unrighteous person, it isn't good 00:28:01.019 --> 00:28:03.980 behavior versus bad behavior. It isn't church 00:28:03.980 --> 00:28:07.240 upbringing versus not a church upbringing. The 00:28:07.240 --> 00:28:09.980 Bible says the difference between a Christian 00:28:09.980 --> 00:28:15.920 and a non -Christian is whether or not you are 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:22.000 trusting in Jesus. Where is your life found this 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:26.279 afternoon? Are you resting on Him? Are you relying 00:28:26.279 --> 00:28:29.500 on Him? Are you saying, yes, this gospel message, 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:33.619 this good news, yes, I trust that Jesus in His 00:28:33.619 --> 00:28:36.799 death has put to death that brokenness in me 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:40.680 and in His resurrection, He raises me to new 00:28:40.680 --> 00:28:44.970 life because His The best bit. Jesus didn't stay 00:28:44.970 --> 00:28:49.349 dead. Jesus is alive. Amen. Amen. Jesus is alive 00:28:49.349 --> 00:28:51.390 and he's at work in our lives today, which is 00:28:51.390 --> 00:28:53.650 why in just a few moments we're going to gather 00:28:53.650 --> 00:28:56.670 around this pool and we're going to see how this 00:28:56.670 --> 00:29:00.349 living Saviour, this second Adam, how he has 00:29:00.349 --> 00:29:03.230 transformed the lives of two people who know 00:29:03.230 --> 00:29:06.690 what it's like to struggle with this brokenness 00:29:06.690 --> 00:29:10.089 and yet to be set free from it. to go on through 00:29:10.089 --> 00:29:12.529 life struggling, but resting in the knowledge 00:29:12.529 --> 00:29:15.890 that as long as Jesus stands in heaven, my righteousness 00:29:15.890 --> 00:29:19.650 still stands, and nothing can take that away 00:29:19.650 --> 00:29:21.829 from me. So that's what we're gonna celebrate. 00:29:22.390 --> 00:29:24.490 But let me just pray before we sing together 00:29:24.490 --> 00:29:27.109 and then we're gonna hear the real stories of 00:29:27.109 --> 00:29:29.450 what Jesus is doing in the lives of people here 00:29:29.450 --> 00:29:33.309 in Manchester. Let me pray. Oh God, we thank 00:29:33.309 --> 00:29:36.990 you. We thank you, Lord, that... Despite our 00:29:36.990 --> 00:29:39.690 brokenness, despite this rooted problem, Jesus, 00:29:39.710 --> 00:29:42.769 you have looked on us with mercy and you have 00:29:42.769 --> 00:29:45.309 made a way for us to be rooted back into the 00:29:45.309 --> 00:29:48.250 life of God. And Lord, we pray now that as we 00:29:48.250 --> 00:29:50.829 see this mysterious, beautiful thing happening 00:29:50.829 --> 00:29:53.029 in front of us in just a few moments, God, by 00:29:53.029 --> 00:29:55.670 your Spirit, would you fill our hearts? Would 00:29:55.670 --> 00:29:58.309 you fill us with that joy again, that you are 00:29:58.309 --> 00:30:01.789 the God who forgives broken people. You are the 00:30:01.789 --> 00:30:05.480 God who has carried sin away. Lord, we love you 00:30:05.480 --> 00:30:07.759 and we praise you. We pray these things in your 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:08.720 name. Amen