When Jesus Stops By: There's No One Like Jesus
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Intro:
27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
Today, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, I want to conclude our series entitled, [When Jesus Stops By]. The subject of my message is, [There’s No One Like Jesus].
There are over 4,000 recognized religions in the world. However, 75% of the world’s population practices one of five religions:
2.1 Billion Christianity
1.6 billion Islam
900 million Hindus
400 million Buddhists
15.3 million Judaism
When it comes to religion, from the world’s perspective people can pick and choose which one suits them. The world espouses the idea that if Christianity works for you, that is great, but it doesn’t mean that you are right and Islam is wrong.
In fact, in 1950, the Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼí Faith created World Religion Day on the third Sunday of each year.
The day is intended "to spread awareness and knowledge of the thousands of religions practices in the world today, and a sharing of tolerance and understanding between people of all faiths."
The Baháʼí Faith teaches that there is worth and truth in ALL religions.
To celebrate World Religion Day,
Attend an inter-faith serviceLearn about different religions
Commune with those who practice a different religion
Think about your own religious beliefs and how you got them
Talk to your children about why your family practices the religion it does
Discuss with others the importance of religion in the world
There are many who link Christianity with every other religion, they have one huge mistake that makes their opinion very flawed.
No other religion or belief system has the ONLY God who sent HIS Son to DIE in our place.
Jesus explained it this way:
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
What separates what we believe with what the rest of the world believes is that there is NO ONE like Jesus.
Some might hear that and wonder, do we think we are better than other people?
The answer is ABSOLUTELY not. But Jesus is better, there is no one like Him. He is the one who changed everything.
This morning, I want us to see when Jesus stopped by to change the world. We have spent the last six or so weeks focusing on moments in Scripture when Jesus stopped by.
So far in this series, we have looked at when Jesus stopped by in the Old Testament:
With Abraham at his tent
With Jacob as they wrestled
With Joshua as he prepared to enter the Promised Land
With Gideon as he went into battle
With the three Hebrews as they went into the fiery furnace
How can we say that Jesus stopped by in Old Testament, years before His birth?
We believe in One God, made up of three Persons— Father, Son, and Spirit.
If in the Old Testament God appeared to someone, it couldn’t have been the Father, for no one can see His face and live.
It couldn’t have been the Spirit, for Jesus said we do not see the Spirit, but we feel Him.
Therefore, it was Jesus, in His preincarnate state, who came around to help those who desperately needed Him.
Now, I want us to see how Jesus stopped by to help all of humanity. He came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.
Often when it comes to celebrating the Resurrection, we turn to the Gospels and read of the empty tomb. But the truth is, His resurrection is changed the entire New Testament.
So let’s look at the writer of Hebrews and see why it changed when Jesus stopped by. We will notice that there is NO ONE like Jesus. This is evidenced through, [His Time on Earth] and [His Return to Earth].
Let’s begin
1. His Time on Earth
1. His Time on Earth
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.
12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
The author of Hebrews wrote to a group of people who were discouraged. They were newer followers of Jesus. They identified that the Lord fulfilled the ancient prophecies of Israel.
But they still had questions. Their entire lives centered on the Jewish laws, rules, regulations. They tried to earn favor with God through their lifestyle.
They focused on the earthly temple, and the need to make sacrifices to an earthly priest who would then communicate with God on their behalf.
Now, it was different. All because JESUS came to earth. How did Jesus change everything? His entire life shows us.
NO OTHER god has a birth story like His.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
Even before conception, the angel told His mother, Mary, that her Son would be GREAT, THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH!
Who else can boast of this?
His birth came complete with angels singing out Glory to God in the highest, gifts from the kings of the east, supernatural dreams, visions, and experiences.
Even the prophetic voices of the time identified something amazing about Jesus.
The prophet Simeon spoke of him at forty days old:
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
When John the baptist saw him walking down the road, he shouted:
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Of all the people in history, NO ONE has ever been given credit with taking away the sins of the world. He did not do this immediately, instead He spent three and a half years preparing people for the event that changed history.
After His baptism and His temptation, He goes to His hometown of Nazareth and declares that the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him, that He is anointed to preach the good news, bring sight to the blind, and declare God’s favor.
The crowd did not know how to respond:
22 So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”
Everywhere Jesus went, people were amazed. They had never met anyone like Him.
He was able to heal the sick
He was able to raise the dead
He was able to bring sight to blind eyes
He was able to open deaf ears
The consensus was:
Mark 2:12 (NKJV)
12 … that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
But Jesus wanted them to understand the real purpose of His coming. After a couple of years, He began to lay the groundwork for why He came:
43 And they were all amazed at the majesty of God. But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples,
44 “Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”
45 But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.
People were amazed at the miracles He performed. NO ONE was like Jesus. But He concerned the followers with talks about death and betrayal. How could the greatest Man who ever walked the earth die?
What they did not realize, His entire life would lead to His premature death. The crucifixion is the most famous part of his life.
Many can recite the events that led to His death:
Betrayed by Judas
Denied by Peter
Tried in court by the Jewish leaders and Pilate
Rejected by the crowds
Beaten by the Roman officers
Mocked by the soldiers
Alone on the cross
Breathing His final breath, crying out IT IS FINISHED.
The crowd speculated what happened, but something profound took place:
34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
The Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world hung on the cross, as His blood flowed from His body. Why is this significant?
His blood did what no other blood could do. Remember, we are reading what the writer of Hebrews explained. For thousands of years, the Jewish people looked to the blood of goats and calves to cover their sins.
The problem was, they had to do that every year. NOW, Jesus the LAMB of God who takes away the world’s sins, came and He shed HIS PERFECT blood to become the sacrifice that is necessary to remove SIN.
Once He shed His blood, His life less body lay in a tomb. But everything changed the morning HE ROSE!
5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
His time on earth forever changed history because He shed His blood. And now, we can receive forgiveness of sin because Jesus died on His place.
Of all the world religions, Jesus did what NO ONE else could do— His time on earth shows that there is NO ONE like Jesus.
2. His Return to Earth
2. His Return to Earth
27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
When the recipients of the book of Hebrews got to chapter nine, they would have remembered the life of Christ. This book was written less than three decades after Jesus’s resurrection.
They would have remembered His time on earth.
They would have remembered His shed blood.
They would have remembered His resurrection.
But the author wanted to remind them, His time on earth was only the BEGINNING of His plan, for soon He will return to earth.
He reveals that we need to place our hope and trust in Jesus for salvation, for we will ALL die and after we all die, we will face the judgment of God.
No one can escape His judgment.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We have all sinned and we deserve death, but if we place our faith in Jesus, His blood will wash us white as snow and THEN instead of death, we get the gift of God, eternal life!
But when will this happen?
That is the amazing fact about Easter. It is a celebration of what HAS happened and what WILL happen.
Who believes that Jesus came to earth?
Who believes that Jesus died on the cross?
Who believes that Jesus rose from the dead?
We all have faith in what happened in the past. We know Jesus was offered once. He will never have to die on the Cross ever again.
His blood was perfect, permanent, and powerful.
28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
IF we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we should ALSO believe that He will return for us.
In scripture, for every prophecy about Jesus’ first coming, there are eight prophecies about His Second Coming. Of the 260 chapters in the New Testament, there are 318 references to His Second Coming.
Through Jesus, we have salvation from sin. But we also have hope that through Jesus, He will save us from this world and take us to live with Him for eternity.
This was the Hope of the Early Church!
11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Very soon, this world will discover, there is NO ONE like Jesus. As transformational as His time on earth was, His return to earth will forever change the future.
The first time He came He suffered
The next time He comes He will triumph
The first time He came He was rejected
The next time He comes, He will be welcomed
The first time He came He rose from the dead
The next time He comes the dead in Christ will rise and we will meet Him in the air
The first time He came was for a cross
The next time He comes we will lay our crowns at His feet
Now, it is responsibility to LOOK FOR HIM. To anticipate His return.
IF we believe that Jesus came the first time, IF we believe that His time on earth was amazing, then we should long for Him to come back for us!
7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Close:
There’s NO ONE Like Jesus.
His time on earth proves this truth, but very soon His return to earth will show EVERYONE that there is NO ONE like Jesus.
Everything changed for the world when Jesus stopped by. Everything will change for us when Jesus stops by.
The same Jesus who died on the cross is the same Jesus who loves us with an everlasting love and He wants to change our lives.
The best way we can celebrate this holiday is to place our faith and our future in Jesus.
But, once we do that, we need to daily put our faith into action, live for Him every day, for He will return in the hour we do not expect.
I heard a song that summarizes this truth:
The First Time You Came, To A Stable Long Ago.
They Pushed You Aside, For They Really Didn’t Know.
Who Had Come To Their World To Save And To Heal.
So They Followed You And Your Cross To The Top Of The Hill.
But It’ll Be Different The Next Time You Come Wait And See.
You’ve Got A Lot Of Lonely Children, And One Of Them Is Me.
You Know We Want To See You, We’re Never Really At Home.
So If You’re Waiting To Be Invited, Lord Jesus Please Come.
The Minutes Seem Like Hours, Hours Like Days.
I Don’t Know How Long We’ve Waited, But It Seems It’s Been Always.
Just To Think The God Of Glory Came In Flesh Just Like A Man.
But The Thanks You Got For Coming Was A Nail Through Your Hands.
Are we ready for Jesus to come?
I realize this is not the most polished Easter message I have ever preached. But it has been burning within my heart for over a month now.
Christians all over the globe are celebrating His resurrection today. It would also benefit us if all Christians around the globe would remember:
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
There are over 4000 religions. But we do not have a religion per se, we have a relationship with the ONLY ONE who is UNLIKE ANYONE who has ever walked the earth.
He loved us enough to come the first time to save us from sin.
He loves us enough to come again and reunite us with Him.
Who wants Jesus to stop by?