1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,000 Welcome to Go Church Beirut, your place to love, grow, and go. 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:11,000 Get ready to hear an inspiring message recorded during a Go Church Beirut gathering. 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,000 Thank you, Pastor Matt. Appreciate you. Thank you. 4 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,000 Thank you. 5 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:26,000 Well, Pastor Matt and I are not only from the same state, we are from the same town. 6 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:33,000 And when we get our internet working, we're going to find out how far his house was from my house. 7 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Because I don't think it was very far. I think we were pretty close, maybe 10, 15 kilometers, something like that. 8 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:51,000 So, but I so appreciate what God is doing in Beirut. I've gotten to meet many of the pastors here and so many of the students. 9 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:56,000 And now to be able to be with you at the church is just a real honor and a privilege. 10 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:03,000 I believe this is my number four time to be in Beirut, and I've just so enjoyed it. 11 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:11,000 And I'm going to be sharing with you a message today that's been really big on my heart for many months. 12 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:17,000 There are so many things that people can associate with Christianity or the Christian faith. 13 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:23,000 And sometimes people, they get their eyes on the wrong thing. 14 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:28,000 They think about, well, I knew a Christian once and he wasn't very nice. 15 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,000 Or, you know, I went to a church and they weren't very friendly. 16 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,000 Or they associate different things with the Christian faith. 17 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,000 And I understand we tend to do that. 18 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:49,000 But what I want to share with you this morning is the only thing that ultimately matters about the Christian faith is Jesus himself. 19 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,000 People can misrepresent Jesus. 20 00:01:53,000 --> 00:02:00,000 People who claim his name may or may not be walking in light and obedience and things like that. 21 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,000 But Jesus will never, ever fail. 22 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:10,000 And one of the great truths that I've learned over the years is that Jesus is not, 23 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:18,000 not only does he need to be the center of my life, but he really is the center of the Bible. 24 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:28,000 And when we have Jesus in his proper place in our lives, it's just amazing how much better our spiritual life goes. 25 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000 I want you to turn to your Bibles to Luke chapter 24. 26 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,000 And we're going to begin looking at a particular verse, verse 27. 27 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:44,000 And this is establishing the fact that Jesus is the center of the Bible. 28 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:52,000 I've often wondered if a person who had no background in the faith just picked up a Bible and began to read. 29 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:57,000 And they began to read in the book of Genesis and Exodus and Leviticus. 30 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:07,000 They'd have to come a long way all the way to the New Testament before they actually begin learning about the person of Jesus who lived on this earth, 31 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:14,000 who was manifested in the flesh, who demonstrated the love of God and the character of God and the nature of God. 32 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:24,000 So what would a person do with, you know, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, all the way through to the prophets and so on? 33 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:29,000 And Jesus gives us a little bit of insight on this in Luke chapter 24. 34 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,000 This is after Jesus was raised from the dead. 35 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:44,000 And Jesus being raised from the dead is the most, in my opinion, the most important fact in all of human history. 36 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,000 You could say, well, Jesus being born was the most important. 37 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,000 Well, certainly it's tremendously important. 38 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:57,000 But if Jesus was born and died but was not raised from the dead, 39 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:04,000 and some people likewise will say the crucifixion of Jesus is the most important thing that ever happened. 40 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:13,000 But if Jesus died, was born and died, but did not resurrect, was not raised from the dead, 41 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:20,000 then his birth really doesn't mean that much and his death really doesn't mean that much. 42 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:24,000 You may think that, well, Tony, why are you saying that? 43 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,000 I'm not really saying it. 44 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,000 The Apostle Paul in the New Testament said it. 45 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:40,000 He said if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our preaching is worthless and your faith is in vain. 46 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:47,000 Because he said if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then we are still in our sin. 47 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,000 So we want to focus on the resurrection of Jesus. 48 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:56,000 Of course, he couldn't have been resurrected if he hadn't been born, 49 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:02,000 and he couldn't be resurrected if he had not died on the cross and shed his blood for our sins. 50 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:07,000 So I'm not trying to pit these against one another competitively. 51 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:14,000 Actually, it's kind of part of the same package, him becoming human through the virgin birth, 52 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:22,000 him being born in Bethlehem, him living a sinless life, him dying a substitutionary death. 53 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,000 What do we mean by that? 54 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:28,000 We mean that when Jesus died, he died in our place. 55 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:34,000 The only sin that Jesus ever knew was our sin. 56 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:38,000 He took our sin upon himself on the cross. 57 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,000 He bore the punishment and the penalty. 58 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,000 He was the sinless, spotless Son of God. 59 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:50,000 He was the righteous one who was dying for the unrighteous. 60 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:58,000 The only sin that Jesus ever knew was our sin when he took it upon himself on the cross. 61 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:04,000 And then when he was raised from the dead, when he was given new life, 62 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:10,000 then he extended to us forgiveness, righteousness, acceptance, and so on. 63 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,000 And we can say it this way, too. 64 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:20,000 The only righteousness that we have ever known is his righteousness. 65 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:28,000 So he took our sin on the cross and gave us his righteousness in the resurrection. 66 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,000 I think we got the good end of that deal, don't you? 67 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:34,000 So Jesus was raised from the dead. 68 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:40,000 And Jesus told his disciples during his earthly life, 69 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:44,000 he told them many, many times that he was going to die. 70 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:48,000 And they just couldn't, it didn't sink in. 71 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:53,000 He told them many times that he was going to be raised from the dead. 72 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,000 And that just didn't sink in. 73 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:00,000 It just, you know, they heard it and they heard it, but they didn't absorb it. 74 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:06,000 And so finally, at the end of the Gospels, Jesus is crucified. 75 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,000 He sheds his blood. He dies for our sins. 76 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,000 And then he's raised from the dead. 77 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:20,000 And what we're reading here in Luke chapter 24 is that Jesus finds two of the disciples 78 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:25,000 walking on a road that's called the Road to Emmaus. 79 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,000 And Jesus, I don't fully understand this, 80 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:33,000 but the Bible says that somehow Jesus kind of concealed his identity. 81 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,000 So they didn't know who they were talking to. 82 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,000 I don't know exactly how that happened. 83 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:43,000 But so Jesus begins to ask them questions. 84 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,000 Why are you so sad? What's going on? 85 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,000 And they start saying, are you the only person that doesn't know what happened? 86 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:55,000 You know, Jesus of Nazareth was a righteous man, and he, you know, taught many wonderful things. 87 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,000 And they just killed him. 88 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:05,000 And so Jesus is just thinking, you know, I told you several times this was going to happen. 89 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:08,000 I told you many times I was going to be raised from the dead. 90 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:15,000 But he understood their hardness of heart, their being slow to believe and things of that nature. 91 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:22,000 And finally, in Luke chapter 24 and verse 27, the Bible says that Jesus, 92 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:30,000 then Jesus, excuse me, took them through the writings of Moses. 93 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,000 That's Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, 94 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:43,000 explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself, oh, and all the prophets. 95 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:48,000 That's Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, all the way through to Malachi. 96 00:08:48,000 --> 00:09:01,000 So basically what Jesus does, and it says he explained from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 97 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:06,000 I want to give you an example of what this would look like today. 98 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:11,000 Let's say you came to church. Maybe this is your first time. 99 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,000 Maybe you've been here many times. 100 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:17,000 And I come up to speak after Pastor Matt's gracious introduction. 101 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,000 Don't you love and appreciate Pastor Matt and Julie? 102 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,000 They are so wonderful. 103 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:27,000 They're not just wonderful because Pastor Matt is from my hometown. 104 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,000 They're just awesome, wonderful people. 105 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,000 I appreciate you guys so much. 106 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:38,000 Thank you for being faithful and being great teachers and pastors and servants of God. 107 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:43,000 So Pastor Matt gives me this gracious introduction. 108 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:51,000 And I bring my Bible up here and I say let's all open our Bibles to the book of Genesis. 109 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:56,000 So we turn to the very beginning of the book of Genesis. 110 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:08,000 And I say, and we're going to go through all the Bible from Genesis all the way to, let me find Malachi here. 111 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:14,000 I mean that's most of the Bible and it's actually even more than this. 112 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,000 Let me get back to Genesis chapter 1. 113 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:22,000 Okay, so I'm holding up my Bible. Can you see how much Bible that is right there? 114 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,000 That's a lot of Bible. 115 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,000 And I say now here's what I want you to know. 116 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:35,000 Everything that's written from Genesis to Malachi, all of the writings of Moses, 117 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:42,000 all of the writings of the prophets, it's all about me. 118 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:47,000 It's describing me. It's promising that I would come. 119 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,000 It's prophesying that I would come. 120 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:56,000 Everything from Genesis to Malachi is about me. 121 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:01,000 Now what would you do if I said that? 122 00:11:01,000 --> 00:11:07,000 I hope you would get up and run for the door as fast as you could run for the door. 123 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:17,000 Because somebody that would say that other than Jesus is a very, very deceived person, 124 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:27,000 a very narcissistic person, a person who thinks he's the Messiah, you know, that type of thing. 125 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:32,000 There's only one person that can take the Bible and start in the book of Genesis 126 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:41,000 and go all the way through the book of Malachi and honestly and accurately say it's all about me. 127 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000 The only person that can say that is Jesus Christ. 128 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:51,000 One way to kind of look at the Bible in different categories 129 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:59,000 is to understand that the Old Testament is all preparing the way for Jesus. 130 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,000 It's all preparation for him. 131 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:11,000 In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, what we call the four gospels, it is the manifestation of Jesus. 132 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:19,000 It's when the one who is promised in the Old Testament actually shows up here upon earth. 133 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:24,000 Genesis through Malachi is preparation for Jesus. 134 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:28,000 The four gospels are the manifestation of Jesus. 135 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:37,000 The book of Acts is the proclamation of Jesus going throughout the world, 136 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,000 including up in the book of Acts chapter, I can't remember which one, 137 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:46,000 but it talks about how they came up to Phoenicia preaching the Word of God. 138 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:53,000 The Bible talks about how they went to Turkey and to Greece and eventually to Rome. 139 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:58,000 The gospel was proclaimed everywhere throughout the world. 140 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:03,000 So you have the Old Testament is preparation for Jesus. 141 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:09,000 The gospels are the manifestation of Jesus when he actually shows up on the earth. 142 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:14,000 The book of Acts is the proclamation of his message. 143 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:21,000 The epistles, the letters of the New Testament, Romans all the way through the book of Jude, 144 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:28,000 the epistles or the letters are the explanation of Jesus' work. 145 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:37,000 It explains in the gospels we see what happened, but in the epistles, the letters, we find out what it means. 146 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:42,000 What does it mean for me as a believer? What does it mean for us as a church? 147 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:49,000 And finally, the book of Revelation is the consummation of Jesus' kingdom. 148 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:56,000 So you have the Old Testament, the preparation for Jesus, the gospels, the manifestation, 149 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:01,000 the book of Acts, the proclamation, the epistles, the explanation, 150 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:07,000 and you have the Revelation, which is the consummation of Jesus' kingdom. 151 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,000 It's when he's going to bring all the, what we would think are loose ends, 152 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:15,000 he's going to bring all the loose ends together. 153 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:20,000 So if you read the gospels, if you read the Bible, any part of the Bible, 154 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:30,000 without realizing that Jesus is the central theme of the Bible and that everything revolves around him, 155 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:36,000 you're going to miss the most important part of the Bible, because the Bible is about Jesus. 156 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:44,000 One person wrote a song, I am not a singer, so I will read the words, I will not sing them. 157 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:49,000 Didn't you appreciate the worship team and how they picked up when the sound system went up? 158 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:56,000 Pastor Matt, I preached in 31 nations, and something always goes wrong with the sound system 159 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:59,000 all over the world. It's just a universal thing. 160 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:03,000 But anyway, very good job by the girls and the ladies. 161 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:09,000 But this person writes this, talking about how Jesus is the theme of the Bible. 162 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,000 In Genesis, he's the breath of life. 163 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:17,000 In Exodus, he's the Passover lamb. 164 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:21,000 In Leviticus, he is our high priest. 165 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:25,000 In Numbers, he is the fire by night. 166 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,000 In Deuteronomy, he is Moses' voice. 167 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:34,000 In Joshua, he is salvation's choice. 168 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,000 In Judges, he's the lawgiver. 169 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,000 In Ruth, he is the kinsman-redeemer. 170 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:45,000 In 1 and 2 Samuel, he is our trusted prophet. 171 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:49,000 In Kings and Chronicles, he is sovereign. 172 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:53,000 In Ezra, he is the true and faithful scribe. 173 00:15:53,000 --> 00:16:01,000 In Nehemiah, he is the rebuilder of broken lives, broken walls and broken lives. 174 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:05,000 In Esther, he is Mordecai's courage. 175 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:08,000 In Job, he's the timeless redeemer. 176 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:12,000 In the book of Psalms, he is our morning song. 177 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:16,000 In Proverbs, he is wisdom's cry. 178 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:21,000 In Ecclesiastes, he is the times and the seasons. 179 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,000 In the Song of Solomon, he is the lover's dream. 180 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:29,000 In Isaiah, he's the prince of peace. 181 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,000 In Jeremiah, he is the weeping prophet. 182 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:38,000 In Lamentations, he is the cry of remorse. 183 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:42,000 In Ezekiel, he is the call from sin. 184 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:46,000 In Daniel, he's the stranger in the fire. 185 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:50,000 In Hosea, he is forever faithful. 186 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,000 In Joel, he is the Spirit's power. 187 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,000 In Amos, he is the arms that carry us. 188 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:01,000 In Obadiah, he is the Lord, our Savior. 189 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,000 In Jonah, he's the great missionary. 190 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:08,000 In Micah, he is the promise of peace. 191 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:12,000 In Nahum, he is our strength and shield. 192 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:17,000 In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, he's pleading for revival. 193 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:21,000 In Haggai, he restores the lost heritage. 194 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:24,000 In Zechariah, he is our fountain. 195 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:29,000 And in the book of Malachi, he is the son of righteousness 196 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:34,000 who rises with healing in his wings. 197 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,000 Now that's kind of an artistic presentation, 198 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:41,000 but you can see those themes in all of those books. 199 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:45,000 But the reality is that in the Old Testament, 200 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,000 Jesus is prophesied from the very beginning. 201 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,000 When Adam and Eve committed sin, 202 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:55,000 just on the first couple pages of the Bible, 203 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:59,000 they immediately felt shame and they immediately felt guilt, 204 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:02,000 and they felt they had to hide from God 205 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:05,000 because sin consciousness, you know, 206 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,000 keeps you from coming to God. 207 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:11,000 Our brother shared this morning about how that, 208 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,000 reading from the book of Hebrews, 209 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:18,000 how Jesus gives us access to God, 210 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,000 but sin creates a barrier. 211 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,000 So when Adam and Eve had sinned, 212 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:28,000 they were full of guilt and shame and condemnation, 213 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:33,000 and they felt, we're unworthy, we have to stay away from God. 214 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:37,000 And then God said, Adam, where are you? 215 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:41,000 God is calling out to lost humanity. 216 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,000 God is calling people to come close to Him. 217 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,000 When God said, Adam, where are you? 218 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,000 It is not because God did not know. 219 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:57,000 We played a game with my daughter when she was very little, 220 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,000 and when she was still in her high chair, 221 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,000 probably before she could walk, I don't remember, 222 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:06,000 but she discovered that she had a bib. 223 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,000 You know what a bib is, that you keep your clothes clean 224 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,000 and keep the food from getting... 225 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:15,000 And she discovered that she could take her bib 226 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:19,000 and pull it up over her face and hide. 227 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:23,000 And so we would say, where's Laura? 228 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:27,000 And then she would pull it down and laugh, ha ha, 229 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,000 and she thought she was tricking us. 230 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:34,000 And then she'd pull it up again, and we'd say, where's Laura? 231 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,000 And she'd pull it down and laugh. 232 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,000 And we'd say, there she is. 233 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:42,000 We knew where she was. 234 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:45,000 The reason we were saying, where's Laura? 235 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,000 Is because we were trying to have fellowship with her. 236 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,000 We were trying to interact with her. 237 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,000 And when God said, Adam, where are you? 238 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,000 He knew where they were. 239 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:01,000 They were hiding from Him because of sin, shame, and guilt. 240 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:07,000 And they had done something to try to cover up their sin 241 00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:08,000 and their guilt. 242 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:09,000 They were embarrassed. 243 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:10,000 They were ashamed. 244 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:15,000 And so what they did was they took leaves and sewed them 245 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:22,000 together and made themselves a garment made out of leaves. 246 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,000 And God did two things. 247 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:30,000 Number one, He said, there is coming in the future, 248 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:39,000 the seed of a woman who will crush the head of the serpent. 249 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:46,000 God prophesied before man and woman were even kicked out 250 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:50,000 of the garden, He talked about a seed of woman. 251 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:54,000 Isn't it interesting that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary? 252 00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:01,000 God talked about the seed of a woman who would come and crush 253 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,000 the head, the authority of the serpent. 254 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,000 And that's exactly what Jesus did. 255 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,000 Born of a virgin, lived a sinless life. 256 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:16,000 In His death, burial, and resurrection, He conquered death. 257 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,000 He destroyed the works of the devil. 258 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:23,000 He rendered Satan's works inoperable and ineffective. 259 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:28,000 Jesus fulfilled a prophecy that was given about Him before Adam 260 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,000 and Eve ever got kicked out of the garden. 261 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,000 And then God did something else. 262 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,000 God looked at them wearing that garment of leaves that they 263 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:37,000 had made. 264 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,000 Do you know what that represented? 265 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:45,000 That represented their human effort to try to cover up their 266 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:46,000 own guilt. 267 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:51,000 Did you know that is the basis of every human religion? 268 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:57,000 Every human religion is based on man's works, man's efforts to 269 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:01,000 try to somehow make himself presentable to God. 270 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:04,000 And God looked at that and said, you know what, that represents 271 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:09,000 your attempt to clean up yourself, to save yourself. 272 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,000 And God said, that's not going to work. 273 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:19,000 And in Genesis we see that God took an innocent animal or more 274 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:27,000 and blood was shed and God took the coats of skins and put it on 275 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,000 Adam and Eve. 276 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:33,000 What God was saying is the leaves won't work because they 277 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,000 represent your own effort to save yourself. 278 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:40,000 But there's going to be an innocent life taken. 279 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,000 There's going to be innocent blood shed. 280 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:47,000 And from that, I will give you a covering. 281 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,000 And what did that symbolize? 282 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:53,000 It symbolized that man could never save himself by his own 283 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:57,000 human effort, but God sent an innocent one. 284 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:01,000 God shed the innocent blood, had the innocent blood of Jesus 285 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:07,000 poured out on the cross, and then we now receive a covering of 286 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:11,000 righteousness that is not of our making, but it comes from the 287 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,000 innocent life and the innocent blood. 288 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:20,000 And the Old Testament is loaded with prophecies and prophetic 289 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,000 images all through just like that. 290 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:27,000 And many of those are reflected in that song that we just 291 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,000 quoted a few minutes ago. 292 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,000 I want to share with you this morning a few thoughts about why 293 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,000 did Jesus come. 294 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:40,000 The first thing we've established is that Jesus must be 295 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,000 the central theme. 296 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,000 He must be our primary focus. 297 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:49,000 You know, so many times people, they get kind of focused on 298 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:54,000 maybe the side benefits of knowing Jesus. 299 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:59,000 In other words, they come to Jesus because they want peace. 300 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,000 And that's okay. 301 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:06,000 But don't just use Jesus to get what you want. 302 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:10,000 Come to Jesus for who He is. 303 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,000 And don't just, you know, some people, they come to Jesus when 304 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:17,000 they have a crisis because they want Jesus to give them peace. 305 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:22,000 But as soon as they get peace, they ignore Jesus until they 306 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,000 have another crisis. 307 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:28,000 So we don't want to just use Jesus for what He can give us, 308 00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:32,000 although He certainly gives us some amazing things. 309 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:37,000 But we don't want to receive the benefit but not love the 310 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,000 benefactor. 311 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,000 Jesus is the one who gives the blessings. 312 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:46,000 And yes, He wants us to enjoy the peace and the joy and the 313 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,000 righteousness and the blessing and the assurance and the 314 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:55,000 provision, but He doesn't want us to love the things He gives 315 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,000 us more than we love Him. 316 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:03,000 So I want to share with you just a little bit today about why 317 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:05,000 Jesus came. 318 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,000 Why did He come? 319 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,000 And I'm going to give you a few reasons. 320 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:14,000 Number one, and this is so important, Jesus came to reveal 321 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,000 the Father. 322 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:20,000 Jesus came to reveal the Father. 323 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:25,000 What you think about when you think of God is the most 324 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,000 important thing about you. 325 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:34,000 Because how you perceive God is going to determine not only how 326 00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:39,000 you see Him but how you see yourself, how you see your 327 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,000 purpose, your role in life. 328 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:47,000 I know as a kid growing up when I was young, for some reason I 329 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,000 always thought that God was mad. 330 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:53,000 I always thought that God was angry. 331 00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:59,000 And I remember part of that was because, you know, I would think 332 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:04,000 about Jesus even on the cross and Him crying out, My God, My 333 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,000 God, why have you forsaken me? 334 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:12,000 And I thought, wow, if God doesn't come to the help of Jesus, 335 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,000 why would He ever come to my help? 336 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,000 Why would He ever assist me? 337 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:21,000 And then reading all the things in the Old Testament, it just 338 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,000 seemed like God was angry. 339 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:29,000 And I remember finding this passage when I was a little bit 340 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:34,000 older and Jesus saying, this is John chapter 14 verse 9 in your 341 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:42,000 Bibles, Jesus said, Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. 342 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:48,000 And I used to believe that the Father was the mean side of God 343 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:52,000 and Jesus was the nice side of God. 344 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,000 So I didn't really want to deal with the Father. 345 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,000 I just wanted to deal with Jesus because He's the nice one. 346 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,000 The Father must be the mean one, the angry one. 347 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:07,000 And then I found this, that Jesus came to show us what the 348 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:10,000 Father is really like. 349 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,000 I want you to know God loves you. 350 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,000 The Father loves you. 351 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:20,000 Jesus one time said, There's coming a day and you won't ask 352 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:26,000 Me, you can ask the Father because the Father Himself loves 353 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:27,000 you. 354 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:31,000 I heard someone say when I was first getting started in walking 355 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:36,000 with God, and this helped me so much to understand the love of 356 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:40,000 the Father and the compassion of the Father and the mercy of the 357 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:46,000 Father, they said, If you want to know what God is like, look at 358 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:52,000 Jesus because Jesus, and there's so many Bible verses, in 359 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:59,000 Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 it says the sun radiates God's own 360 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:04,000 glory and expresses the very character of God. 361 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:10,000 Colossians chapter 1 verse 15 says that Christ is the visible 362 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,000 image of the invisible God. 363 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:20,000 So one reason why Jesus came is He came to reveal the Father to 364 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:21,000 us. 365 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:27,000 Number two, Jesus came to carry out the will of the Father. 366 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,000 One of the things that Jesus taught, and this is found in 367 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:36,000 John chapter 6 verse 38, is that Jesus said, I did not come 368 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:42,000 down from heaven to do my own will, but the will of Him who 369 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:43,000 sent me. 370 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:47,000 Jesus modeled perfect obedience. 371 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:51,000 Jesus modeled perfect submission. 372 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:56,000 Because Jesus had taken on flesh, and this is what we 373 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:00,000 celebrate at Christmas, is what we call the incarnation where 374 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:06,000 the Son of God who existed from eternity past with the Father 375 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:10,000 and with the Holy Spirit through the conception of the Holy 376 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:15,000 Spirit, the Son of God took on flesh. 377 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:20,000 And when Jesus took on flesh, He took on, the Bible says He was 378 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:26,000 made like us in every way except that He was without sin. 379 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:31,000 Jesus was 100% man, He was also 100% God. 380 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:36,000 Now some people say, well could Jesus really be 100% human? 381 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:41,000 Could He really be fully human if He had no sin? 382 00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:42,000 Absolutely. 383 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:47,000 Adam was fully human before He sinned. 384 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,000 He was just pure human. 385 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,000 He wasn't corrupted, tainted human. 386 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:56,000 And Jesus, the Bible says, was made like unto us in all ways 387 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,000 except that He was without sin. 388 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:04,000 And so because He had human flesh, He had a human will. 389 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,000 He had human emotions. 390 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:13,000 You know, when He knew that He was going to face dying on the 391 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:18,000 cross for our sins, He knew how badly He would be tortured, 392 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:22,000 how severely He would be beaten and whipped, how He would be 393 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:26,000 nailed to a cross, how He would pour out His life blood. 394 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:31,000 And not only the physical aspect of it, but He knew that 395 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:37,000 He was going to be...Jesus died physically, fully, but He died 396 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:42,000 to death like no one else has ever died, a very unique death 397 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:48,000 in that He not only died physically, but He bore the sin 398 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,000 and the consequences of human sin. 399 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:56,000 And this is why Jesus had to cry out, my God, my God, why have 400 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:57,000 You forsaken me? 401 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:01,000 It's not that God was not faithful, it's that this was part 402 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,000 of the plan because Jesus took our sin upon Him. 403 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,000 God had to turn His back on that sin. 404 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:16,000 And Jesus experienced separation and rejection and alienation 405 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:22,000 for that moment so that we would never have to. 406 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:26,000 I never have to face rejection from God because Jesus 407 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,000 experienced it for me. 408 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:35,000 I never have to experience abandonment by God because Jesus 409 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:39,000 was abandoned as our substitute. 410 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:44,000 He took our sin and all the consequences of it, and He died 411 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:46,000 an effective death. 412 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:51,000 And then when He rose, He took all of our problems, we get all 413 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,000 of His blessings. 414 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,000 But Jesus knew that He was going to have to go through that 415 00:31:56,000 --> 00:32:01,000 horrible time that we call the Garden of Gethsemane, that we 416 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:04,000 call the scourging, the crucifixion. 417 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,000 He knew He was going to have to go through all that. 418 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:11,000 And in agony, He said, God, if there was any other way that 419 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:16,000 this could happen, let this cup pass from me. 420 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,000 But then what did Jesus say? 421 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:25,000 He said, nevertheless, not My will, but Your will be done. 422 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:30,000 Jesus was totally surrendered, totally submitted, totally 423 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:32,000 committed to the will of God. 424 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,000 And not only at the moment of His death and the moments leading 425 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,000 up to that, but all during His life. 426 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:44,000 If you want to know what the will of God is, look at what 427 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:45,000 Jesus did. 428 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:50,000 He went around healing people, comforting people, encouraging 429 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:51,000 people. 430 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:54,000 People blame things on God all the time. 431 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,000 Well, God did this and God did that. 432 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,000 Somebody's barn burns down. 433 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,000 Well, God must have burnt your barn down. 434 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,000 Well, did Jesus go around burning down people's barns? 435 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,000 Jesus did the will of the Father. 436 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:12,000 If God wanted to burn people's barns down and things like that, 437 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:15,000 then Jesus should have been doing some of that. 438 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,000 He never did that. 439 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:19,000 But He was doing the will of the Father. 440 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:25,000 Number three, the third reason that Jesus came was to testify 441 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:26,000 to the truth. 442 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:29,000 I don't know what it's like here in Beirut. 443 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,000 Things have gotten a little bit crazy in my country. 444 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,000 There's a whole lot of people that don't know what the truth 445 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:36,000 is anymore. 446 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:41,000 There's a whole lot of people that think that truth is a 447 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:47,000 human construct, that I can decide what truth is. 448 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:53,000 And they act like there is no absolute truth in the universe. 449 00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:57,000 I believe there are moral absolutes. 450 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:02,000 The Bible says time and again throughout the whole Scripture 451 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:07,000 that God's Word is true and that God is not a man that 452 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:08,000 He should lie. 453 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,000 Jesus said in John 17, I think you're working from that 454 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:16,000 passage in some of your teaching, Jesus said, 455 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:18,000 sanctify them through the truth. 456 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:21,000 Your Word is truth. 457 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,000 But we live in a world where many, 458 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:29,000 many people have rejected divine authority and said, 459 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,000 no, we don't want that truth. 460 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:36,000 I want to fabricate my own truth. 461 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:40,000 And Jesus said, I am the way. 462 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,000 I am the truth. 463 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,000 I am the life. 464 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:48,000 Truth is not something that each and every person gets to 465 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:49,000 decide. 466 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,000 Now, people can say, well, this is my truth. 467 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,000 In reality, that's your preference. 468 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:57,000 That's your opinion. 469 00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,000 That's your perspective. 470 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:04,000 But in the absolute sense, it's not the truth. 471 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:10,000 You know, I can say, well, I don't believe in the law of 472 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:11,000 gravity. 473 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,000 I don't believe it. 474 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:19,000 And actually, my truth is that I believe in floating. 475 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,000 That's my truth. 476 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:27,000 But there comes a point in time where we have to deal with 477 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:28,000 reality. 478 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,000 I can say I believe in floating all I want, 479 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,000 but the minute I step off this stage, 480 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:39,000 notice how Pastor Matt just leapt up here in one mighty, 481 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,000 I wish I could still do that. 482 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,000 I went around and came up the safe way. 483 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,000 But anyway, if I say I don't believe in the law of gravity 484 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:52,000 and I'm going to floating is my truth, 485 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:54,000 I can say that all I want. 486 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,000 I can think that all I want. 487 00:35:56,000 --> 00:35:59,000 But the second I step off of this stage, 488 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:05,000 I'm going to find out that the law of gravity is absolute. 489 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:09,000 When Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, 490 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,000 and Pilate was asking him these questions, 491 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,000 and Jesus said this in John 1837, 492 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:21,000 he said, I was born and came into this world to testify to 493 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,000 the truth. 494 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:29,000 And Pilate, probably being cynical, 495 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:34,000 probably had seen so many dishonest people and everybody 496 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:38,000 with their own personal agendas and people willing to lie 497 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:42,000 and distort and Pilate just mockingly said, 498 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:44,000 what is truth? 499 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:45,000 And you know what? 500 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:48,000 The world still doesn't know what truth is. 501 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,000 Jesus said, I am the way. 502 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,000 I am the truth. 503 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,000 I am the life. 504 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,000 And he said, I came into the world to bear witness to the 505 00:36:58,000 --> 00:36:59,000 truth. 506 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:05,000 And until we accept Jesus Christ as the truth of God 507 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:10,000 manifested in the flesh, we're going to be bouncing here and 508 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:14,000 bouncing here and in the darkness here and confused over 509 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:15,000 here. 510 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:19,000 It's only when we get our bearings in Jesus Christ as the 511 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:24,000 truth of God that we're going to have the stability and the 512 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:27,000 solidity that comes. 513 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,000 Jesus said, if you continue in my word, 514 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:38,000 you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. 515 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:42,000 So Jesus came into the world to bring and bear witness to 516 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:43,000 truth. 517 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:50,000 Number four, Jesus came to shine as a light. 518 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:52,000 We've heard it so many times. 519 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:55,000 You know, we've heard Jesus saying in John chapter 8, 520 00:37:55,000 --> 00:38:00,000 verse 12, I am the light of the world. 521 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:04,000 He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, 522 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:08,000 but will have the light of life. 523 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:13,000 The concepts of light and darkness are, 524 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:16,000 I mean, on the first page of the Bible, 525 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:21,000 God said, let there be light. 526 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:23,000 And there was light. 527 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:27,000 And then the Bible says God separated the light from the 528 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:28,000 darkness. 529 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,000 And at the very end of the Bible, 530 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:35,000 in Revelation chapter 21, verse 23, 531 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:38,000 I mean, almost the very last page of the Bible, 532 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:42,000 it says the city, the heavenly Jerusalem, 533 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:47,000 had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, 534 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:51,000 for the glory of God illuminated it. 535 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:57,000 The Lamb is its light. 536 00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,000 God is light. 537 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:01,000 Jesus is light. 538 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:05,000 When you live in a place like Lebanon, Beirut, 539 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:08,000 you're right here on the beautiful Mediterranean. 540 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,000 You get the sun all year round. 541 00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:15,000 I'm sure you have some foggy days or hazy days. 542 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:20,000 But if you live in a place like north of the Arctic Circle, 543 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:24,000 like way up in Norway or somewhere like that, 544 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,000 I've been in those countries. 545 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:33,000 And thankfully, I was there in late March and they had the sun 546 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:38,000 like 23 hours a day or 21 hours a day, I think, in March. 547 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,000 It was only dark for a couple hours. 548 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:45,000 But if you go that far north and you're there in December, 549 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:53,000 January, you might have 30 minutes of sunshine and 23 hours 550 00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:55,000 and a half of darkness. 551 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:58,000 I think of people, every once in a while you'll hear about a 552 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:02,000 situation that's happened in many countries where there is a 553 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:08,000 mine where miners are digging out coal or diamonds or copper 554 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:12,000 or something like that, and part of the mine collapses. 555 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:19,000 And those men are trapped there in total, hundreds of meters 556 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:21,000 below the surface of the earth. 557 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:25,000 And if they're blessed to have a rescue attempt, 558 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:29,000 sometimes they'll drill a hole for air. 559 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:34,000 But some of these have gone on for 20 days, 30 days, 560 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:40,000 and these miners are down there in absolute darkness. 561 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:44,000 And if they take their hand and do this, 562 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:46,000 they can't see their hand. 563 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:49,000 It's absolute darkness. 564 00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:53,000 There is no light whatsoever. 565 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:56,000 But the Bible says that God is light, 566 00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:00,000 and in Him there is no darkness at all. 567 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:05,000 Jesus, He said, I am the light of the world. 568 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:10,000 He's the one by whom we're able to see all things accurately. 569 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:12,000 And His light is very beautiful. 570 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,000 Number five, this is so powerful. 571 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:19,000 Jesus came, He said, this is a direct quote from Luke 572 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:27,000 chapter 19 verse 10, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. 573 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:32,000 Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. 574 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:34,000 That's one of the things I've always appreciated 575 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:37,000 about this ministry. 576 00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:43,000 And even today, who said the theme of the go, grow? 577 00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:50,000 You said that, Melissa, go, grow, go, right? 578 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:53,000 What is it? 579 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:56,000 Love, grow, thank you very much, I got all turned around. 580 00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:59,000 Love, grow, go. 581 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:02,000 Well, it's good to start with love because God is love. 582 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:06,000 It's good to do with grow because God wants us to mature. 583 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:11,000 But if we're going to grow into the fullness of God's heart, 584 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:16,000 we will never continue to be self-centered. 585 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:19,000 We'll never only think about ourselves. 586 00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:21,000 It's good to think about yourself. 587 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:24,000 It's good to, you know, the Bible says examine yourself, 588 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:27,000 make sure you're in the faith. 589 00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:31,000 You know, let God show you what you need to focus on 590 00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:33,000 for your next stage of growth. 591 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:39,000 There's a proper focus on oneself. 592 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:44,000 But if you spend your entire Christian life only focused 593 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:48,000 on yourself and your own growth and your own blessing 594 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:53,000 and your own peace and you never embrace this third concept 595 00:42:53,000 --> 00:43:02,000 of go, in English, two-thirds of God is go. 596 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:05,000 That doesn't work in Arabic, I'm sure, but in English. 597 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:11,000 Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. 598 00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:16,000 Jesus didn't just come so that we could have comfortable, 599 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:19,000 enjoyable lives, although He does want us to have peace 600 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,000 and blessing and things like that. 601 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:27,000 But Jesus said in John chapter 20, maybe 21, 22, 602 00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:34,000 He said, as the Father has sent me, so I send you. 603 00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:37,000 We're people with an assignment. 604 00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:40,000 We're people with a mission in the earth. 605 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:43,000 Not only is Jesus the light of the world, 606 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:45,000 but then He turns around and says, 607 00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:47,000 now you are the light of the world. 608 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:49,000 So we have an assignment. 609 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:53,000 Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. 610 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:56,000 We have to love humanity. 611 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:59,000 We have to love others. 612 00:43:59,000 --> 00:44:04,000 And we should never forget what we are forgiven of. 613 00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:06,000 I think Brother Chance said something about, 614 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:08,000 did you say something, Brother Chance, 615 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:11,000 about you remembered what you were before Jesus? 616 00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:16,000 And we don't need to dwell on that and wallow in that. 617 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:19,000 We need to know who we are in Christ. 618 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:24,000 But who we were outside of Christ is not pretty. 619 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:28,000 The Bible says that Christ died for us 620 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:32,000 while we were yet sinners. 621 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:35,000 A friend of mine, a person I know, 622 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:37,000 was preaching at a conference, 623 00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:41,000 and this conference was being held at a huge hotel. 624 00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:44,000 And they probably had many different kinds of conferences going on, 625 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:48,000 but he was preaching for a group of Christians. 626 00:44:48,000 --> 00:44:51,000 And after one of the evening services 627 00:44:51,000 --> 00:44:54,000 where he had preached the gospel, 628 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:57,000 he went to the hotel in the main lobby 629 00:44:57,000 --> 00:45:01,000 and he pushed the button, the door opened, he stepped in. 630 00:45:01,000 --> 00:45:04,000 And before the door closed, two men stepped in, 631 00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:11,000 and they were drunk, I mean, falling down drunk. 632 00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:14,000 And they were cursing, and they were, you know, 633 00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:17,000 obnoxiously loud and things like that. 634 00:45:17,000 --> 00:45:20,000 And my friend is standing there, 635 00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:24,000 and he just kind of moves to the corner of the elevator 636 00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:25,000 to get away from them. 637 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:30,000 And he's just thinking, they are disgusting. 638 00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,000 You know, they are humiliating themselves, 639 00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:36,000 acting so terribly in public. 640 00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:40,000 And he realized, you know, when the Lord spoke to him, 641 00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:42,000 the Lord spoke to him and said, 642 00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:51,000 Son, the only difference between them and you is me. 643 00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:54,000 And he realized, I can't be judgmental. 644 00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:56,000 I was lost. 645 00:45:56,000 --> 00:46:01,000 Back in the 1700s, a famous preacher was walking 646 00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:05,000 and he saw a man being walked to the gallows. 647 00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:06,000 He was going to be executed. 648 00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:10,000 He was going to be hanged for crimes that he had committed. 649 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:12,000 And just up out of his spirit, 650 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,000 welled these words there, 651 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:17,000 except for the grace of God. 652 00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:22,000 That's me, except for the grace of God. 653 00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:28,000 So we need to take ownership of God's heart for the world. 654 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:32,000 The next reason why Jesus came is very, very similar. 655 00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:37,000 Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. 656 00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:39,000 He came to call sinners to repentance. 657 00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:42,000 In Mark 2, 17, Jesus said, 658 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:45,000 Those who are well have no need of a physician, 659 00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:47,000 but those who are sick. 660 00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:53,000 I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. 661 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:58,000 And see, this is where it really helps us to understand the Bible 662 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:04,000 because we may think, well, I'm not a bad person. 663 00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:06,000 Yeah, I've made a few mistakes. 664 00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:08,000 I've told a little lie here and there, 665 00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:11,000 but I've never murdered anybody. 666 00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:16,000 I've never robbed a bank. 667 00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:19,000 So I'm a pretty good person. 668 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:21,000 And the truth of the matter is, 669 00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:25,000 nobody's good enough to be accepted by God 670 00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:28,000 because the Bible says we've all sinned. 671 00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:32,000 We've all come short of the glory of God, Romans 3, 23. 672 00:47:32,000 --> 00:47:37,000 The Bible says if we keep the whole law 673 00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:40,000 and yet offend in one point, 674 00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:43,000 we're guilty of the whole thing. 675 00:47:43,000 --> 00:47:46,000 So what that brings us to is when Jesus said, 676 00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:50,000 I did not come to call healthy people to repentance. 677 00:47:50,000 --> 00:47:53,000 I came to call sinners to repentance. 678 00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:58,000 We all have to acknowledge that without Jesus, we're all lost. 679 00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:00,000 We've all sinned. 680 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:02,000 We've all come short of the glory of God. 681 00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:05,000 So Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. 682 00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:09,000 Number seven, Jesus came to serve 683 00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:14,000 and to give his life as a ransom for many. 684 00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:17,000 That's Mark 10, verse 45. 685 00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:20,000 Jesus came to serve. 686 00:48:20,000 --> 00:48:26,000 You know, Jesus, he was the eternal Son of God. 687 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:31,000 The Bible says he laid aside, 688 00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:33,000 he never ceased being God, 689 00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:40,000 but he laid aside his divine privileges and became human. 690 00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:46,000 And when he came, he wasn't born in Rome, 691 00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:49,000 you know, the capital, the empire. 692 00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:54,000 He wasn't born in Athens where man's philosophy reign. 693 00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:59,000 He was born in a stable with animals. 694 00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:07,000 And even in his death, he died between two criminals on a cross. 695 00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:16,000 Jesus said, I did not come to be served, but I came to serve. 696 00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:23,000 And what he demonstrated when he washed the feet of the disciples 697 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:26,000 was the heart of a servant. 698 00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:31,000 If we want to be like Jesus, and that is God's goal for our lives, 699 00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:36,000 we will learn to serve, not to exalt ourselves above others, 700 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:37,000 but we'll learn to serve. 701 00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:40,000 But Jesus didn't just come to serve, 702 00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:44,000 he came to give his life a ransom. 703 00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:47,000 Those two are very far apart. 704 00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:49,000 I can, if you're walking into the building, 705 00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:53,000 I can serve you by opening the door, 706 00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:55,000 and you know, so you don't have to open the door. 707 00:49:55,000 --> 00:49:57,000 That's an act of service. 708 00:49:57,000 --> 00:50:00,000 If you're thirsty, I can bring you a drink of water. 709 00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:02,000 That's an act of service. 710 00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:05,000 That's one thing, and that's really good. 711 00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:07,000 But Jesus didn't just come to serve, 712 00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:12,000 he came to give his life as a ransom. 713 00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:16,000 So let's pretend we're on a boat out in the Mediterranean, 714 00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:20,000 and you fall overboard and can't swim. 715 00:50:20,000 --> 00:50:22,000 You're in trouble. 716 00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:28,000 I can serve you by throwing a life ring out, 717 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:31,000 letting you lay hold of it, and then I pull that back, 718 00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:35,000 and you could even say, you saved my life. 719 00:50:35,000 --> 00:50:41,000 I did it by serving you, but I didn't give my life for you. 720 00:50:41,000 --> 00:50:45,000 But instead, let's say that we're out on the Mediterranean, 721 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:49,000 it's a storm, and you fall in the water, 722 00:50:49,000 --> 00:50:52,000 and the water is really rough, 723 00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:56,000 and there's no life ring to throw, 724 00:50:56,000 --> 00:51:01,000 but I think I can swim, and I can save this person, 725 00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:05,000 I can save you, but I may not have enough strength 726 00:51:05,000 --> 00:51:07,000 to pull myself back up. 727 00:51:07,000 --> 00:51:11,000 And let's say I know that I have just enough strength 728 00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:17,000 to save you, but then I'm going to pass out and drown. 729 00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:21,000 That's more like what Jesus did. 730 00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:23,000 He didn't just throw us a life ring. 731 00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:27,000 Jesus threw Himself in the water, 732 00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:32,000 knowing that we would come out alive, but He would not. 733 00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:35,000 So Jesus died so that we could have life, 734 00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:38,000 but then God gave Jesus life again. 735 00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:41,000 That's not the best illustration in the world, 736 00:51:41,000 --> 00:51:43,000 but it works a little bit. 737 00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:49,000 In verse 8, Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. 738 00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:55,000 1 John 3, and verse 8, Jesus came to destroy Him 739 00:51:55,000 --> 00:51:57,000 that had the power of death. 740 00:51:57,000 --> 00:52:00,000 Hebrews 2, verse 14 and 15, 741 00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:04,000 Jesus came to destroy Him that had the power of death 742 00:52:04,000 --> 00:52:08,000 and destroy Him who through fear of death 743 00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:11,000 had kept us in bondage. 744 00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:14,000 But when Jesus rose from the dead, 745 00:52:14,000 --> 00:52:20,000 the Bible says He triumphed over principalities and powers. 746 00:52:20,000 --> 00:52:24,000 That's why we don't ever have to fear the enemy. 747 00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:28,000 That's why we have a more powerful name, the name of Jesus. 748 00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:33,000 One of my friends told me he had been on a missions trip in Africa, 749 00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:36,000 and the tribe was gathered and worshiping Jesus, 750 00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:39,000 and he said they sang the most powerful song, 751 00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:42,000 and the words of the song went something like this, 752 00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:46,000 Under the blood, under the blood, 753 00:52:46,000 --> 00:52:48,000 where the devil can do me no harm. 754 00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:51,000 And they just sang that over and over again. 755 00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:55,000 We need to understand that Jesus destroyed the works of the devil 756 00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:58,000 and that He has no authority over us. 757 00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:01,000 And Jesus in one place said, 758 00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:04,000 I'll give you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, 759 00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:07,000 and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 760 00:53:07,000 --> 00:53:11,000 We have absolute and complete victory in Jesus Christ. 761 00:53:11,000 --> 00:53:16,000 Number nine, Jesus came to die. 762 00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:18,000 It was His purpose. 763 00:53:18,000 --> 00:53:23,000 When He was facing the agony of Gethsemane, 764 00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:26,000 when He knew He was about to go and travail in prayer 765 00:53:26,000 --> 00:53:29,000 to prepare Himself for that, 766 00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:33,000 He said now, this is in John chapter 12, verse 27, 767 00:53:33,000 --> 00:53:38,000 Jesus said, now is my soul troubled. 768 00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:43,000 Going to the cross, being scourged, being beaten and whipped, 769 00:53:43,000 --> 00:53:45,000 was not easy. 770 00:53:45,000 --> 00:53:49,000 Bearing the sin of the world was not easy. 771 00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:55,000 As Jesus faced it, He said, now is my soul troubled. 772 00:53:55,000 --> 00:53:57,000 But what should I say? 773 00:53:57,000 --> 00:54:00,000 Father, deliver me from this hour? 774 00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:04,000 He said, for this hour I came. 775 00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:08,000 There was nothing accidental about the death of Jesus. 776 00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:11,000 He was not in the wrong place at the wrong time. 777 00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:14,000 He was not a helpless victim. 778 00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:20,000 The Bible says in Acts, Peter said that Jesus was delivered to you 779 00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:25,000 by the predetermined purpose and the foreknowledge of God. 780 00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:30,000 Jesus' death was 100% intentional. 781 00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:32,000 It was 100% deliberate. 782 00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:38,000 It was really a trap to destroy the kingdom of darkness 783 00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:40,000 from the inside out. 784 00:54:40,000 --> 00:54:42,000 In 1 Corinthians 2 it says, 785 00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:47,000 if the princes of this world had understood what was going on, 786 00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:51,000 they would have never crucified the Lord of glory. 787 00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:56,000 Jesus willingly, voluntarily, deliberately allowed Himself 788 00:54:56,000 --> 00:54:59,000 to be taken to the cross and die 789 00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:05,000 so that He could not only save us, get us forgiven, get us accepted, 790 00:55:05,000 --> 00:55:08,000 but so that He could then destroy the kingdom of darkness 791 00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:10,000 from the inside out. 792 00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:14,000 And finally, number 10, this will be our last point, 793 00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:21,000 Jesus came to give us an abundant life. 794 00:55:21,000 --> 00:55:24,000 Jesus said there's a thief in this world 795 00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:28,000 who comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy, 796 00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:33,000 but Jesus said, I have come that they might have life 797 00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:36,000 and that they might have it more abundantly. 798 00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:39,000 When we are born again by the power of God, 799 00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:46,000 God's very life and nature transforms us from the inside out. 800 00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:51,000 Now sometimes it takes a while for it to get fully manifested 801 00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:56,000 through our mind being renewed and our flesh being affected by that, 802 00:55:56,000 --> 00:55:59,000 but Jesus came not to make us miserable, 803 00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:03,000 not to take everything away from us. 804 00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:08,000 Jesus came to give us spiritual life, eternal life, 805 00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:10,000 a blessed life. 806 00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:13,000 There is no happier life. 807 00:56:13,000 --> 00:56:16,000 There is no more fulfilling life. 808 00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:20,000 There is no more peaceful life or satisfying life 809 00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:23,000 than knowing Jesus Christ. 810 00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:25,000 That's why He came. 811 00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:28,000 He is the center of the Bible, 812 00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:38,000 and He needs to be the center of our lives. Amen. 813 00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:00,000 In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.