Gospel Basics Part 2 -- 3 Dimensions of the Gospel and Salvation

Now there's a couple of problems with a with Christians and we call it cognitive bias in the scientific world. Basically cognitive biases you have a preset understanding of what the price.

For that so I'm going to use if it's a mou solution D. If it's B, I'm going to use solution. Now that's a problem because you have already put me binders on your vision on your thoughts. So you don't start with binary? You always start with inductive logic inductive a message. What do I mean when someone says I saw a boy with a red flag, someone else says I saw a boy with a white flag. So if you're limited you say it has to be either one or the other can't be both really it can't be both.

Oh.

So there are always other options. You don't start binary this or that right or wrong you first have to wait and gather all the facts, right? Otherwise, we'll be making a mistake that a lot of people may not say nothing happens in this is a problem in science. This is also a problem with Christians and their Bible study.

So instead of always being too we have to be inclusive we have to do inductive reasoning and deductive a fact-finding because it may not be a teeter-totter with A and B. It could be a b c d and so forth and so on everybody tracking me, so that's why we doing the gospel basics. From my self-respect. Now the reason you have in your bulletin this slide, that's why I smile because I know you have it in your bulletin. Now. What did I do? I was doing my Bible study. I was taking note and every place is a gospel or salvation of being saved. I started taking notes. Some people will tell you salvation is about EX. right Well, when I was doing my Bible study, I know this there are three different aspects of the Gospel. It's not just a and it's not just be. And most people don't mention see right. They only do a now if it's a child that's understandable. You don't want to confuse the child give him all the variables that just like when you take us to the ice cream parlor and their 500 flavors.

You get from the children's menu and the children will tell you what sizes do for. Otherwise, you'll be there 4 hours, right? Cuz the kids want to try. That's too confusing. But we are adults. So we should be able to walk into that ice cream and do what we wanted. Hold up the Life of Pi. So when you look at the gospel. There are three dimensions just like this cross as a vertical. Horizontal and hopefully I will knock it down a width or death the gospel also have three dimension and that's what we're going to talk about so that you will have a full orb understanding of the Gospel. Now let us pray first O Lord God. We just thank you for this opportunity to review your the basics of Christianity the basics of the Gospel. We thank you that you willing to teach us and lead us you didn't have to do it. You could just Proclaim this to all the world clearly with a voice and he will fall down just like the Israelites hearing you Lord. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your gift part of your gift-giving this weekend. So last week I talked about the vertical how Christ's death reconciled Humanity you and I to God how you made peace for? lonely

across one part of the Gospel so we talked about that first God so loved the world.

Been at The Human Condition are seeing her tablets hang up. What was the wages of that death? And then finally the gift and we talked about gift exchange and gift-giving.

Today, I'm going to focus on the horizontal and the depth Dimension. The horizontal is about the relationship between human-to-human group to group. Now why is this important? We'll see about that because in the past Christians have silently says my religion is private and between God and me then I could be like the Godfather I can do all the dirt kill as many people as I want long as I go to make confess to God and and give you All right. We know what happens when it's only the vertical. Scripture is not just about the vertical it's also about to horizontal.

Ephesians 2 11 through especially 14th and 18 will give us that so if you have your Bibles pick it up.

Help you to see this is something that we usually don't give two little children cuz we're concentrating on the vertical but this is something that all Christians should know.

Ephesians 2. We're going to start at 11 when you do your Bible study.

save time

Ephesians 2 11 now fusions is in the New Testament go to table of content look on the New Testament Ephesians and it's about halfway through the New Testament.

I'm read that verse 11. Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outside as my birth. We print out cuz we're not do you were called the uncircumcised ones by the Jews? Most of us now males are circumcised because that's just a medical procedure. But back then it was only the Jews and the Egyptians and certain other people midianites. By the Jews who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their heart and those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God's people Israel and you did not know the promises God has made to them you lived in this world without God and without hope but now you belong to Christ Jesus. So you once were far away from God. Now, you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ noticed that because of the blood of Christ for Christ himself has made peace between Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us by his death. He ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded to just have his purpose noticed that his purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by Curry.

Together as one body Christ reconciled both groups to God by means what by means of his death and our hostility toward each other was put to death. He brought this good news a peace to you Gentiles who are far away from him and to us Jews who were near now all of us but Jews and gets out may come to the father through the same. Holy spirit because of what Christ has done for.

So you see that the purpose that Ephesians says we're not just to reconcile you and me too.

Humanity to each other

Now I'm not going to read the other text. I am Revelation about Autumn's tribe people's but I am going to read John's because this ties in with Ephesians so 1st, John.

The letter to John not the Gospel of John.

1st John and a 4 free

4 7 through 13

dear friends, let us get

Is born of God? Anyone who?

Is love God shows how much you loved us by sending his only son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love is it not that we loved God, but that God loved us as soon as son as a sacrifice to take away our sins dear friends since God loved us.

No one has ever seen God, but if we love each other God lives in us and his love has been brought to full expression through us.

And then I'm going to skip to.

first 16

we know how much God loves us and we have put our trust in him. God is love and all who live in love live in God and God blessed them and we live in God our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment because but we can face them with confidence because we are like Christ here in the world such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. And then for 20 if someone says, I love God but hates a Christian brother or sister that we don't love people we can't see. How can we love God whom we have not seen. and God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters to map so you see the Ephesian says the purpose and then it John. Love perfect love drives out fear. That's nasty.

We have a knife. Built in fear of the other children when they're infants, they imprint on those around them.

It doesn't look like you your alarm to go out because they probably don't mean you. Well, they mean you harm, but we live in a different Society. I we don't live in tribal societies like native first people used to live unless you were Confederate like the Iroquois largest cities, but if you are a hunter and gather you lived in my bad, if you're in Africa you lived in small bands if you were lazy lived in small bands if you wouldn't

Did you go in French? Are those who are most like you so when you see someone different alarm Bells will go out my babies. My grandbabies. They were afraid of me for 3 years. Why because their mother is half Mexican half Puerto Rican 52.

Okay. Now my son is is 58. I'm 62. He's a shape. I'm a little round. I have facial hair. So what happens when they see me this little baby see me and then Printing and all these other? And I'm darker than all of them.

That was their nature. That's something God built inside of them. I don't know if they came before. The fall or after the fall, but it's something inside of us. So it didn't bother me my son would like

Now they just running and tackling. Okay, that's something we have to get over. That's why that scripture says I know this a beat or 1st, John.

Having the Holy Spirit in you it's like having a software update. You're hardwired to be fearful of others. But when you have Christ in you that Holy Spirit is reading right in your brain rewired in your heart. We

So this is very important for us to understand. If someone is that mean that they're not a Christian, it's just that they haven't had an adult understanding of what salvation mean and we are there to help people because if they really took a hold of her they will be like

Thanks about who died for. folks who hurt their own family

Elisabeth Elliot she took to the gospel to the berry tribe that killed her husband.

so that's why the horizontal is important.

God died on the cross so that we can be brothers and sisters teach the world what love is and that's our attraction. They don't understand why Christian will be kind to their enemy, you know the western civilization.

Because of Christianity western civilization developed some rules, right if an enemy.

Your enemy you are to love your enemy. That's why doctors American doctors Western doctors. They still triage servicemen and enemy combat. Whoever's the worst they treat it's not that this person. Just got my buddy this person shot one of mine. Why am I going to save him? That's not natural instinct is no, but you have to

Like spiritual antivirus Checker and says no, we're going to use a different program. And it will be hard. There's nothing wrong.

basic we can get that not that between us, but it's in Christ who dwells in US?

So we got one more and that's the depth dimension. And that represents time.

Hi, why is this important?

In our regular life, we have asked you a bit and then people write novels, you know, like a historical novels about the Hamilton UniFirst Hamilton lives and did all the stuff. Then you write a novel about Hamilton and history books about Hamilton and then later you get to see play or the musical right? That's how it goes. next light sign

it's something different.

God started with the shadow first for the theatrical then he did Prophet.

The actual B. Which is Jesus death, so that's why I'm sure you this is kind of reversing the Bible. There's the Moses mosaic. Does the prophetic and now? I've been Jesus arrived on the scene. Why would you put the Shadow or the theater right first to fiction first and then give us

Hebrews however, the Bible however changes it so I'm going to read through this you don't have to look in your Bible cuz I know we have time I was short on time. So what Christ did not enter into a holy Place made with human hands, which is only a copy of the true one and have it was only a copy. It was not the true one. It's the fake one, right? The internet to Heaven itself appear now before God on our behalf. He did not enter Heaven to offer himself again. And again like the high priest here on Earth who enters the most holy Place year after year with the blood of animals if he has if if that have been necessary Christ would have had to die again and again ever since the world began began, but now

He has appeared at the end of the age to remove said by his own death as a sacrifice and just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes the Judgment. 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 sin but to bring Salvation, I mean the culmination of our Salvation when the trumpet blows and the Saints rise out of the grave and we who are alive rise up in the air to meet him to rain in

I'll be glad I can run again man. I can't wait till I can run. to all who eagerly waiting for him The old system on the lawn Moses was only a shadow ADM preview of the good things to come not the good things to sell the sacrifice under that system repeated again and again year after year, but they were never able to provide a perfect cleansing for those who came to worship if they could have provided perfect cleansing. The sacrifices would have stopped for the worshippers would have been purified once for all time and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared but instead those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year for it's not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away send that is why when Christ came into the world he said to God you did not want animal sacrifices or sting offering but you have given me a body to offer. You are not pleased with burnt offerings the other offering for sin. Then I said look I have come to do your will of God as it is written about me in the scripture 1st. Christ said you did not want animal sacrifices. Our sin offerings are burnt offerings or other offerings for send nor were you pleased with them so they were are required by the law of Moses. Then he said look I have come to do your will be cancelled the first Covenant in order to put the second into effect for God will was for us to be made Holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never send but he died for Sinners to bring you safely to God. He suffer physical death, but He was raised to life in the spirit. The last ones 1st Peter 3:18 once and for all once and for all.

now why is all that important?

If you only have a vertical understanding. other gospel like I was talking before you have all these problems of sexism classes and racism nationalism classism, you know how they working class look down on the poor are they selfish blank blank blank in the rich look down on the floor. They too lazy to work we get all that mess because we don't have an adult understanding of the gospel and what God besides God gave some people the ability to make money so they can supply for the church's need for the needs of people. There's some people don't do that. But that doesn't mean everybody right? There are some working-class people who work really hard, but if you been an adult in the

So it's not black or white again? It's not binary right you want people to judge you as an individual, but then we turn around and just people as group. That's because you don't have an adult understand there's nothing wrong with sociology. There's nothing wrong with surveys because it's talks about the aggregate. There's nothing.

But it's wrong when we start making it about salvation. Okay, so that's the first problem the second.

I have still have that human nature in me. I am not changed right I am growing just like an infant is fully human as an infant right is fully human, but didn't have to do anything else to be fully human, but to be mature it has to grow and grow the right way.

Which is why Christians don't believe that you are naturally born good and we're all good. And then we have to be corrupted. I don't have I never had to teach my son. That the world revolves around them. I didn't have to teach him that I'm hungry feed me right now. So you more right?

That's natural how to share I had to teach my son not to share right? No kids don't want to sit up here with mommy or daddy. Did I get a little older right?

We have a natural propensity. To Veer away. It's just like flying a plane. The wind causes you the drift send causes us to trip you got to recalibrate. That's why the holy spirit is there so we can recalibrate we have to learn to periodically recalibrate. We can't go on autopilot because what will drift so that's why it's important.

Feed that with the vertical we have these problems and then the whores I know.

I was talking about the horizontal. The horizontal is because you can't depend on what we see here in the horizontal playing with other humans. They're not our example. I may be better. Ben Hitler I may be better than Stalin. These are famous atheist. If you don't know that are mile another atheist. I may be better cuz I didn't kill anybody. They killed 20 million. 6 million 60 million, whatever the numbers are But I'm still not getting to heaven we talked about that last week. God is a pure God a gracious God. So if you only have the horizontal you don't see God's value system and will God required. and then.

Yeah, the horizontal now you got group Wars why whose value will count there's no grounding. Everything is absolute then if you're an evolutionist then it doesn't matter. Right. I'm priday. I moved and probably be territory and kill all the male lions and and the female lions kill all the female Lions of that Pride. If you're an evolution that you like so what you know, the survival of the fittest Friday gets to do whatever it wants cuz it's the biggest this is toughest same thing with you and that's why there's no ground now atheist will speak in religious values, but they won't tell you where they came from cuz you don't see that in the natural world. So they can take that into the back door. So that's why you have to know not just the vertical but also the horizontal that's why people say, oh, it's about the gossip about social justice only who's social justice. How do you say social justice? What are the value? So you see the problem if you only have the horizontal dimension

This is the time. This is a problem because if you don't understand that Christ died once and for all then you have everything that's wrong with just having a vertical understanding everything is wrong with having encores on understanding. Why?

One of the problems with Works righteousness is there's no Grace. If you are an LDS and you are baptized all your sins are wiped away because of that baptism. But what happens if you live another 20 years. You don't know right so you got to do work right since I got to somehow get that scale of high because I know I send but if you know the depth to mention Christ died for your sins past. present and future

and you have insurance because God does not why God said this was his plan for before the world began before he said let there be light you do not have to earn your way or earn your keep and salvation all you have to do it. Just trust the Lord and say peligro you have to choose to grow now. We're not like little kids, you know, why can little kids naturally wants to start moving crawling walking running. We are adults sometimes I don't feel like doing anything except laying back and not doing anyting metaphorically. We have to have the spirit says no, I need to exercise. I need to move in my face emotionally intellectually physically using my whole body so that I can grow cuz you know what happens if you only lose use your right hand or left hand gets very weak. You only use your left leg. Your left leg is very weak people just lay in bed. They don't do any movie. That's why I physical therapist have to come and give him and why joint locked up you have to grow through to the end of your life. There's no coasting. There's nothing in the Bible talk about retirement. Nothing in the Bible talks about retirement Moses work right up until he what went to the mountain and died.

Those are the prophet. Those are Jesus work until he died. There is no retirement. You are First Responders for Christ till you die. Revive tracking me. So that's why this definition is important. Now I have some we can skip that I did that already.

Now we talked about the three dimensions of the Cross vertical horizontal the death now some of you especially online want some type of application you come because the application that we talked to weeks ago applications. Right are the icing on the cake. The gift is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Not what he can do for you. We don't want to pimp God right? There is some icing with sprinkles on the cake, but that is not the man.

So if you want the applications. It's on the slide. You can get it off the internet you can.

Get it through faithlife.com. Look under Central Christian Church, and it's all there for you, but I wanted us to focus on the major gift. That is the relationship with Christ and growing.

So that you can help me with that. This isn't poor. Pedantic is not just information if we understood the basic of the Gospel. It will help our marriage relationship.

I so look at those and then that would be a bridge for you to talk to friends and neighbors, you know the gospel. You know if it comes up you prayerfully comes up and gossip not just you one sister all I made that commitment. I made that comment with you or your spouse and there's this is how love covers a multitude of sins love what perfect love drives out fear the sphere.

Ruin your marriage or destroy your marriage then the gospel has something to say about it.

Let us pray.

Oh Lord, God. We thank you for this opportunity to bring your message see it with Clarity help your people to reach those they love those take care of. To be a beacon of light to strangers neighbors co-workers this we pray. Amen.