WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.540 These young ladies are all students at Northwestern 00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:06.679 College. And I must tell you that the reputation 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:09.699 of the college was at stake yesterday at the 00:00:09.699 --> 00:00:14.080 basketball game. The coach, Joe Smith, asked 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:16.239 me if I would come and be an honorary coach for 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.839 the day. He needed a little extra help against 00:00:18.839 --> 00:00:22.780 these Dutch guys from Dort College. And so he 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:26.640 asked me to sit on the bench with him. I told 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:30.120 the team before the... The the game that it's 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:32.219 one thing to have a trustee sitting on the bench 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:34.439 It's another thing to have an angel in the outfield 00:00:34.439 --> 00:00:39.079 and they did not have that advantage and so they 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:41.939 Kindly let me assist them that way, but I had 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:44.479 one mission for the game and that one mission 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:48.179 was Don't get a technical foul called on you 00:00:48.179 --> 00:00:51.219 And I must say that I was able to accomplish 00:00:51.219 --> 00:00:55.399 at least that part of the mission Today we want 00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:58.920 to talk about the mission of the Messiah the 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:02.119 Lord Jesus Christ in the salvation of His people. 00:01:03.100 --> 00:01:06.500 He also accomplished His mission. And to do that, 00:01:06.620 --> 00:01:10.859 we're going to turn to Psalm 8 in our Bibles. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:16.180 Psalm 8. When Christ came in His first Advent, 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:22.500 He came to save us from our sin. In order to 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:26.129 be the Savior of sinful humans, He had to become 00:01:26.129 --> 00:01:31.230 one of us, humans, Himself. Although from all 00:01:31.230 --> 00:01:35.170 eternity He was the Son of God, the Creator of 00:01:35.170 --> 00:01:41.829 humanity who knew us, knew our rebellion, nonetheless 00:01:41.829 --> 00:01:44.849 it was necessary that He identify with us as 00:01:44.849 --> 00:01:49.989 the Son of Man. His union with the fallen race 00:01:49.989 --> 00:01:54.150 of Adam had to be real. It had to be genetic. 00:01:55.409 --> 00:01:59.890 It had to be historical. Psalm 8 was written 00:01:59.890 --> 00:02:03.629 by David, but it is a psalm that expresses something 00:02:03.629 --> 00:02:08.009 of this authentication of his identification 00:02:08.009 --> 00:02:11.689 with the human race. I invite you to follow along 00:02:11.689 --> 00:02:22.949 in your Bible as I read Psalm 8. who has displayed 00:02:22.949 --> 00:02:27.090 thy splendor above the heavens. From the mouth 00:02:27.090 --> 00:02:30.530 of infants and nursing babes thou hast established 00:02:30.530 --> 00:02:34.370 strength, because of thine adversaries, to make 00:02:34.370 --> 00:02:38.469 the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider 00:02:38.469 --> 00:02:41.849 the heavens thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, 00:02:43.050 --> 00:02:46.310 the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, 00:02:46.810 --> 00:02:51.090 what is man? And David uses a term there that 00:02:51.090 --> 00:02:56.229 means, what is weak, insignificant, mortal man? 00:02:57.710 --> 00:03:01.409 That thou dost take thought of him, and the son 00:03:01.409 --> 00:03:05.090 of man, that thou dost care for him. Yet thou 00:03:05.090 --> 00:03:11.030 hast made him a little lower than Elohim. Now, 00:03:11.069 --> 00:03:13.389 my translation puts that a little lower than 00:03:13.389 --> 00:03:16.270 God. Yours may also. It might also read a little 00:03:16.270 --> 00:03:19.169 lower than the angels, because the word Elohim 00:03:19.169 --> 00:03:22.270 is translated both ways. And as we'll see in 00:03:22.270 --> 00:03:24.530 a moment, it is translated angels in the New 00:03:24.530 --> 00:03:37.979 Testament. all sheep and oxen, also the beasts 00:03:37.979 --> 00:03:40.819 of the field, the birds of the heavens, the fish 00:03:40.819 --> 00:03:43.139 of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths 00:03:43.139 --> 00:03:48.000 of the seas. Oh, Yahweh our Lord, how majestic 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:51.800 is thy name in all the earth." Now, I'm particularly 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:54.460 interested in those verses that begin with verse 00:03:54.460 --> 00:03:58.740 four, talking about man. Now, I invite you to 00:03:58.740 --> 00:04:00.639 turn with me now into the New Testament to the 00:04:00.639 --> 00:04:03.060 book of Hebrews, where we have this authenticated 00:04:03.060 --> 00:04:10.599 as a messianic prophecy and message. I will begin 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:13.979 reading in verse 5 of Hebrews 2 where it says, 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:20.000 For he that is God did not subject to angels 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.199 the world to come concerning which we are speaking. 00:04:25.500 --> 00:04:28.819 But one has testified somewhere, and by the way 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:33.639 it was David, saying, What is man that thou remember'st 00:04:33.639 --> 00:04:37.079 him? or the son of man that thou art concerned 00:04:37.079 --> 00:04:41.560 about him. Thou hast made him for a little while, 00:04:42.180 --> 00:04:46.899 or thou hast made him a little lower than the 00:04:46.899 --> 00:04:50.300 angels. Thou hast crowned him with glory and 00:04:50.300 --> 00:04:53.000 honor, and hast appointed him over the works 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.759 of thy hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection 00:04:56.759 --> 00:05:02.209 under his feet." Now the writer continues. For 00:05:02.209 --> 00:05:06.709 in subjecting all things to him, that is to man, 00:05:07.610 --> 00:05:10.750 he left nothing that is not subject to him. But 00:05:10.750 --> 00:05:13.970 now we do not yet see all things subjected to 00:05:13.970 --> 00:05:20.550 him, that is man, humanity. But we do see him 00:05:20.550 --> 00:05:25.629 who has been made for a little while lower than 00:05:25.629 --> 00:05:30.750 the angels, namely Jesus. because of the suffering 00:05:30.750 --> 00:05:35.350 of death, crowned with glory and honor, that 00:05:35.350 --> 00:05:38.269 by the grace of God He might taste death for 00:05:38.269 --> 00:05:41.689 everyone. For it was fitting for Him for whom 00:05:41.689 --> 00:05:45.509 are all things, and through whom are all things, 00:05:46.170 --> 00:05:49.069 in bringing many sons to glory to perfect the 00:05:49.069 --> 00:05:52.009 author of their salvation through sufferings. 00:05:52.269 --> 00:05:54.910 For both He who sanctifies and those who are 00:05:54.910 --> 00:05:58.800 sanctified are all from one Father. For which 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:02.519 reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:05.360 that is Messiah the son is not ashamed to call 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:09.699 them brethren Saying I will proclaim thy name 00:06:09.699 --> 00:06:12.620 to my brethren in the midst of the congregation 00:06:12.620 --> 00:06:15.759 I will sing thy praise and again I will put my 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:19.579 trust in him and be again behold I and the children 00:06:19.579 --> 00:06:25.339 whom God has given me Now since then the children 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:29.490 share in flesh and blood he himself likewise 00:06:29.490 --> 00:06:31.949 also partook of the same, that through death 00:06:31.949 --> 00:06:34.889 he might render powerless him who had the power 00:06:34.889 --> 00:06:38.009 of death, that is the devil, and might deliver 00:06:38.009 --> 00:06:41.550 those who through fear of death were subject 00:06:41.550 --> 00:06:47.389 to slavery all their lives. Man was created by 00:06:47.389 --> 00:06:50.269 God and crowned with glory and majesty by being 00:06:50.269 --> 00:06:53.889 made in the image of God and then by being made 00:06:53.889 --> 00:06:58.410 the creator's regent over creation. Everything 00:06:58.410 --> 00:07:01.970 was put under the rule of mankind, male and female. 00:07:03.290 --> 00:07:07.689 But something dreadful happened. God's regents 00:07:07.689 --> 00:07:11.990 rebelled against Him, lost their high privilege, 00:07:12.089 --> 00:07:16.050 and were judged with death. That is a familiar 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:20.089 story to those of you who know the Bible. But 00:07:20.089 --> 00:07:23.509 it is against that backdrop that we consider 00:07:23.509 --> 00:07:27.449 the truth of our text. that Christ identified 00:07:27.449 --> 00:07:34.110 with sinners in order to save us. Christ identified 00:07:34.110 --> 00:07:40.870 with sinners in order to save us. David ponders 00:07:40.870 --> 00:07:45.089 the frailty of mankind, his mortality, his weakness, 00:07:45.329 --> 00:07:51.910 his insignificance. And yet, the Creator loved 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:56.519 him. And the Creator loves the fallen race of 00:07:56.519 --> 00:08:02.279 Adam. He declares the value of the human race 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:06.740 to Himself. And He speaks here of restoration 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:12.459 to a glory and a privilege that was lost long 00:08:12.459 --> 00:08:17.519 ago. In order to effect this salvation, this 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:21.740 world to come, Christ the Son had to act. He 00:08:21.740 --> 00:08:25.959 had to do something. He had to be our deliverer. 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:29.899 He had to identify with us in our plight. He 00:08:29.899 --> 00:08:34.159 had to become one with us. And that it seems 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:37.259 to me is what David is telling us in this wonderful 00:08:37.259 --> 00:08:41.120 song that we have written. That Messiah identified 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:45.139 first with us in our rank. In our rank. That 00:08:45.139 --> 00:08:48.440 is in our order of creation. Because he tells 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:51.600 us that man was created a little lower than God. 00:08:52.500 --> 00:08:56.419 Or, as the Greek version of the Old Testament 00:08:56.419 --> 00:08:59.899 puts it, a little lower than the angels. And 00:08:59.899 --> 00:09:02.240 it is that Greek version that the writer of Hebrews 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:07.639 follows by the inspiration of God's Spirit. There 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:10.279 are two dimensions of created reality the Bible 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:15.480 refers to. There's the invisible dimension and 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:21.100 the visible. In the former, God created the angels. 00:09:22.409 --> 00:09:28.649 In the latter, he created inanimate matter and 00:09:28.649 --> 00:09:35.309 animals. But above the animals and below the 00:09:35.309 --> 00:09:38.250 angels, in a rank that bridges both of these 00:09:38.250 --> 00:09:40.629 dimensions, the visible and the invisible, he 00:09:40.629 --> 00:09:47.610 created man. Man who is both physical and spiritual, 00:09:47.690 --> 00:09:53.019 who is both material and immaterial. Man is unique 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:57.799 in God's creation. And what it tells us here 00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:03.840 is that the Creator, the Christ, the One who 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:09.799 is above all of creation, Himself entered into 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:16.220 creation at our ranking. He did not come as an 00:10:16.220 --> 00:10:19.559 animal. He did not come as an angel. He came 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:25.320 as a man. He did so that He could identify with 00:10:25.320 --> 00:10:30.639 us in a way in which He could redeem us and rescue 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:36.100 us. Although He's the Creator of the entire universe, 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:43.539 He identifies with us in a unique way. With no 00:10:43.539 --> 00:10:47.399 other level of creation does He identify Himself 00:10:47.399 --> 00:10:51.679 as He identifies Himself with us. He identified 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.200 with us in our rank. That was His first action. 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:58.080 Secondly, He identified with us in our fallenness. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.539 Man has fallen from his place of majesty and 00:11:03.539 --> 00:11:06.639 glory, the regency that God had given to him, 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:11.649 fallen into sin and rebellion against God. It 00:11:11.649 --> 00:11:14.850 is into our fallenness that Jesus came, although 00:11:14.850 --> 00:11:19.970 He Himself knew no sin. He was born without a 00:11:19.970 --> 00:11:24.070 sinful nature that is inherited by all the rest 00:11:24.070 --> 00:11:27.049 of Adam's race, male and female. But He Himself 00:11:27.049 --> 00:11:29.970 did not have such a nature, and He committed 00:11:29.970 --> 00:11:34.909 no sin. He was and is holy, and yet He partook 00:11:34.909 --> 00:11:40.179 of our mortal flesh and blood. And the writer 00:11:40.179 --> 00:11:45.519 of Hebrews tells us that he experienced sufferings, 00:11:46.100 --> 00:11:50.740 sufferings that are associated with fallenness. 00:11:52.620 --> 00:11:54.559 And the writer of Hebrews, rather the writer 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:57.580 of Philippians, the apostle Paul, tells us that 00:11:57.580 --> 00:12:00.100 his identification with us in our fallenness 00:12:00.100 --> 00:12:05.039 was so complete that he ultimately went to the 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:11.710 cross to identify with us in our sin. There He 00:12:11.710 --> 00:12:22.009 says He became sin for us. He, the Holy and Pure 00:12:22.009 --> 00:12:27.470 Son of God, became sin for us in the eyes of 00:12:27.470 --> 00:12:31.509 God so that we might be made the righteousness 00:12:31.509 --> 00:12:38.679 of God in Him by faith. And so, in order to identify 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:41.340 with us, He identified with us in our rank, He 00:12:41.340 --> 00:12:46.480 identified with us in our fallenness, and third, 00:12:46.500 --> 00:12:51.080 He identified with us in our death. Being free 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:54.899 of sin, He needed to pay no penalty for it, and 00:12:54.899 --> 00:12:58.500 yet He knew our bondage and identified with our 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:00.700 condemnation. As the writer of Hebrews says, 00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:06.139 He tasted death for everyone. The word taste 00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:09.139 there is an idiom. It's an expression that means 00:13:09.139 --> 00:13:14.220 to experience it to the full. It doesn't mean 00:13:14.220 --> 00:13:17.000 that he sipped it only. It means that he drank 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:23.080 it in. He absorbed our death fully in himself 00:13:23.080 --> 00:13:28.320 so that he now is able to deliver us from slavery 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:32.220 to the fear of death. And from the one who had 00:13:32.220 --> 00:13:35.159 the power of death, he says, that is the devil. 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:41.139 We have a wonderful Savior, a Savior who came 00:13:41.139 --> 00:13:45.500 into the world and identified with us in our 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:50.659 ranking, in our fallenness, in our death. He 00:13:50.659 --> 00:13:54.720 identified with us so that He might lift us above 00:13:54.720 --> 00:14:00.009 to His state of glory. He came below that he 00:14:00.009 --> 00:14:04.490 might raise us above He identified with us in 00:14:04.490 --> 00:14:07.250 our sin that we might be identified with him 00:14:07.250 --> 00:14:10.929 in his righteousness No wonder then the writer 00:14:10.929 --> 00:14:16.210 of Hebrews says This was by the grace of God 00:14:16.210 --> 00:14:21.490 This action that he took was nothing that we 00:14:21.490 --> 00:14:27.159 deserved it was nothing that we had done so that 00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:35.539 He felt obligated to us, He just loved us. And 00:14:35.539 --> 00:14:39.639 because of His great love, He was willing to 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:44.940 identify with us that He might save us from what 00:14:44.940 --> 00:14:53.059 we deserved. And one day the redeemed will be 00:14:53.059 --> 00:14:55.700 those that will be crowned with glory and honor. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:01.200 as one with Jesus Christ. One day those who trust 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:05.340 in Him, who place their faith in Him, will be 00:15:05.340 --> 00:15:07.980 those who will inherit the new world, the new 00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:10.440 order that is coming, the new heaven and the 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:14.539 new earth. It is a marvelous thing what He did 00:15:14.539 --> 00:15:18.679 on our behalf. I was reading recently Philip 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:21.940 Yancey's book, The Jesus I Never Knew, in which 00:15:21.940 --> 00:15:25.899 he spends a chapter reviewing the birth of Jesus. 00:15:27.299 --> 00:15:29.759 And he talks about Christmas from the angel's 00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:34.519 viewpoint, and there he reminds us of the familiar 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:38.340 fantasy that J .B. Phillips wrote regarding this 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:40.559 matter of Christmas from the angel's viewpoint. 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:45.419 Phillips talked about a senior angel who is showing 00:15:45.419 --> 00:15:47.720 a very young angel around the splendors of the 00:15:47.720 --> 00:15:52.909 universe. He takes this young angel to see the 00:15:52.909 --> 00:15:57.330 whirling galaxies and the blazing suns. And they 00:15:57.330 --> 00:16:00.509 flit across the infinite distances of space until 00:16:00.509 --> 00:16:05.110 at last they enter one particular galaxy of 500 00:16:05.110 --> 00:16:10.070 billion stars. And there they come to one of 00:16:10.070 --> 00:16:13.629 those stars. And around that star is whirling 00:16:13.629 --> 00:16:19.360 one little planet. The senior angel pointed to 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:23.320 that small planet, and he said, I want you to 00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:27.960 watch that one particularly. Well, it looks very 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:30.399 small and rather dirty to me, said the little 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:35.659 angel. What's so special about that one? The 00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:38.460 senior angel explained that although that dirty 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:42.519 planet didn't seem so impressive, it was nonetheless 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:49.559 the visited planet. The young angel said, do 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:53.980 you mean that our great and glorious prince went 00:16:53.980 --> 00:16:57.600 down in person to this fifth -rate little ball? 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:02.419 Why should he do something like that? The little 00:17:02.419 --> 00:17:06.440 angel's face wrinkled in disgust. Do you mean 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:09.220 to tell me that he stooped so low as to become 00:17:09.220 --> 00:17:11.839 one of those creeping, crawling creatures on 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:18.589 that floating ball? I do. Said the senior angel 00:17:18.589 --> 00:17:20.609 and I don't think he would like you to call them 00:17:20.609 --> 00:17:23.670 creeping crawling creatures in that tone of voice 00:17:23.670 --> 00:17:28.250 For strangers that may seem to us He loves them 00:17:28.250 --> 00:17:34.069 He went down to visit them to lift them up to 00:17:34.069 --> 00:17:38.950 become like him The little angel looked blank 00:17:38.950 --> 00:17:42.430 Such a thought was almost beyond his comprehension 00:17:45.570 --> 00:17:48.009 Yancey goes on to say, it was almost beyond my 00:17:48.009 --> 00:17:51.529 comprehension, too, and yet I accept that this 00:17:51.529 --> 00:17:54.450 notion is the key to understanding Christmas 00:17:54.450 --> 00:17:59.470 and is, in fact, the touchstone of my faith. 00:18:00.809 --> 00:18:02.789 Friend, if you're going to understand Christmas, 00:18:02.990 --> 00:18:08.509 you must understand what the angel learned. That 00:18:08.509 --> 00:18:12.170 the great and glorious Prince who flung this 00:18:12.170 --> 00:18:19.200 universe into existence came here, identified 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:26.480 with us by becoming flesh and blood, became one 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:34.980 with us, that He might taste our death and then 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:40.880 set us free to become like Him and to share with 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:45.619 Him majesty and glory. in the world that is to 00:18:45.619 --> 00:18:53.019 come. He identified with us a closing question. 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:57.559 It is this. Do you identify with Him in your 00:18:57.559 --> 00:19:04.640 world? He came to your world to identify with 00:19:04.640 --> 00:19:10.160 you and was not ashamed. In the world in which 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:14.430 you live, are you willing to be identified with 00:19:14.430 --> 00:19:17.509 him. The story is told of a professor at a university 00:19:17.509 --> 00:19:19.950 in California a number of years ago now, an atheist, 00:19:22.430 --> 00:19:25.329 who taught philosophy and who spent a whole semester 00:19:25.329 --> 00:19:28.230 proving to his freshman students in a required 00:19:28.230 --> 00:19:31.930 class that God could not exist. And his arguments 00:19:31.930 --> 00:19:34.230 went on class session after class session after 00:19:34.230 --> 00:19:38.690 class session. And on the last day of the class 00:19:38.690 --> 00:19:41.869 it was his little trick to say, now do any of 00:19:41.869 --> 00:19:45.660 you still believe in God? to see if any of the 00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:49.619 300 students would stand. And if any would dare 00:19:49.619 --> 00:19:51.880 stand, he would say, well, if there is a God, 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:54.160 then he will be able to keep this chalk in my 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:56.359 hand from breaking when I drop it on the floor. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:59.440 He would break it and the chalk would smash. 00:20:01.900 --> 00:20:04.460 And any who dared say they believed in God would 00:20:04.460 --> 00:20:11.400 simply sit down and he would smirk. A particular 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:14.450 young man was a Christian. knew what was coming. 00:20:14.589 --> 00:20:17.289 He prayed all semester. God would give him the 00:20:17.289 --> 00:20:21.109 courage to identify with Jesus on that day when 00:20:21.109 --> 00:20:24.109 that question would come. The day came and so 00:20:24.109 --> 00:20:25.970 did the question. The young man stood up and 00:20:25.970 --> 00:20:28.809 the professor was astonished that someone would 00:20:28.809 --> 00:20:31.849 dare stand and say he still believed in God after 00:20:31.849 --> 00:20:35.509 this semester of ranting and raving against God. 00:20:35.849 --> 00:20:39.369 And he said, young man, you're a fool. For if 00:20:39.369 --> 00:20:41.690 there were a God, he would be able to keep this 00:20:41.690 --> 00:20:43.869 chalk from breaking when I drop it on the floor. 00:20:43.950 --> 00:20:46.630 And with that, it slipped out of his hand, rolled 00:20:46.630 --> 00:20:49.049 down his sleeve, down his pant leg, across his 00:20:49.049 --> 00:20:51.369 shoe, and then across the floor without breaking. 00:20:53.569 --> 00:20:56.190 The professor looked at the chalk. He looked 00:20:56.190 --> 00:20:59.809 at the student and ran out of the classroom. 00:21:02.450 --> 00:21:05.849 The student came forward and shared his faith 00:21:05.849 --> 00:21:10.980 with his 300 fellow students. I'm ashamed to 00:21:10.980 --> 00:21:13.059 identify with Jesus Christ. And that's why I 00:21:13.059 --> 00:21:15.880 think that this question is so profound. Are 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:18.779 we willing to identify with Jesus in our world? 00:21:20.099 --> 00:21:28.019 Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, as we come to 00:21:28.019 --> 00:21:32.640 this communion table, it is a table of identification. 00:21:34.059 --> 00:21:37.400 For here we are reminded of your flesh and blood 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:43.059 body. in which you identified with us that we 00:21:43.059 --> 00:21:49.000 might be saved. We thank you for the gift of 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:51.859 salvation offered freely to all who will come 00:21:51.859 --> 00:21:58.160 in faith. And today, Lord Jesus, thanking you 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:01.200 for the gift, we also determine in our hearts 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:08.180 to be willing to identify with you in our world. 00:22:12.149 --> 00:22:15.170 fortify and encourage our spirits even as we 00:22:15.170 --> 00:22:22.269 partake of this bread reminding us of your identification 00:22:22.269 --> 00:26:22.500 with us. Amen. This represents His flesh. Love 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:28.559 was when God became a man. And He offered Himself 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:37.680 for our sins. Let us eat it in gratitude. And 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:40.059 for the cup, our Lord Jesus, we offer thanks, 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:47.039 remembering that your body was like ours. and 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:51.380 the blood was the life of it, and it was that 00:26:51.380 --> 00:26:55.079 innocent blood that was shed for our redemption. 00:26:56.859 --> 00:30:55.809 Thank you. Our sins were so heinous, the result 00:30:55.809 --> 00:31:00.190 of them so disruptive to what God desired in 00:31:00.190 --> 00:31:05.950 fellowship with man, that the man, Christ Jesus, 00:31:07.670 --> 00:31:14.230 bled to death on a cross as a sacrifice, willingly, 00:31:15.069 --> 00:31:18.289 because he loves you and me. And he tells us 00:31:18.289 --> 00:31:24.339 that this cup reminds us of his blood. He identified 00:31:24.339 --> 00:31:42.079 with us. Let's drink of it. We have remembered 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:46.339 our Lord's death. Let us rejoice that He came 00:31:46.339 --> 00:31:50.640 below, that He might raise us above, that He 00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:54.690 became one of the sons of men. He became the 00:31:54.690 --> 00:31:59.029 Son of Man that we might become the children 00:31:59.029 --> 00:32:05.329 of God and reign with Him. He entered into our 00:32:05.329 --> 00:32:08.230 lost estate that He might raise us to the paradise 00:32:08.230 --> 00:32:13.970 above. He came into our fallenness that He might 00:32:13.970 --> 00:32:16.390 restore us to the majesty and the glory that 00:32:16.390 --> 00:32:20.380 God intended for man to have. And one day we 00:32:20.380 --> 00:32:26.680 will enter into that world that is to come. No 00:32:26.680 --> 00:32:28.819 wonder the writer of Hebrews says, how shall 00:32:28.819 --> 00:32:36.599 we escape if we neglect so great salvation? We 00:32:36.599 --> 00:32:39.900 shall not escape. And I hope today that you know 00:32:39.900 --> 00:32:43.779 this salvation and this Savior, that you have 00:32:43.779 --> 00:32:47.019 trusted Him, that you have placed your faith 00:32:47.019 --> 00:32:53.519 in Him alone. for your salvation. And that having 00:32:53.519 --> 00:32:57.960 done that, you are gladly willing to identify 00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:03.160 with Him in your world. Let's stand together, 00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:07.480 please, for closing prayer as we go. One of my 00:33:07.480 --> 00:33:12.160 favorite choruses has these words to it. Sing 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:14.019 hallelujah to the Lord. Would you sing it with 00:33:14.019 --> 00:33:21.059 me? Sing hallelujah. Sing hallelujah to the Lord. 00:33:21.819 --> 00:33:28.339 Sing hallelujah to the Lord.