Looking At Christ Part 3 - A Patristic View of Christ and their desire for orthodoxy

Preliminary:

Good to see each one

I have really been enjoying the services. I have recieved good out every single one so far. I’m glad God knows just what we need, when we need it.

It is Sunday - a high-day in Camp meeting in my way of thinking. I’m looking forward to what God has for us today.

We gather for church on Sunday and we call it the Lord’s Day because of Christ -because of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

Every Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection

I’m going to get to my topic in a moment: but this morning I woke up with that hymn we sang the other morning, “I Surrender All”

The particular line that was going over and over in my mind was,

“I will ever love and serve him, in His presence daily live”

I think that is what my Brother Tim was talking about last night -

I’m glad we can know HIM not just about Him

...We have been attempting to Look at Jesus

I have been trying to give a mix of technical and devotional - but my goal has been to lift up Jesus to talk about Jesus

I don’t know that I’ve been able to get across what I have had on my heart and on my mind - but I trust you have been seeing Jesus

One poet talked about the Life of Christ this way:

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn't go to college. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself. He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend. centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned--put together--have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary life.* *Attributed to James Allen Francis.

I have attempted to show a couple of things so far about Jesus

Jesus is the final part of the accumulative, and progressive revelation of God - disclosing to finite humanity as much of Infinite God that we can attempt to grasp.

That this Revelation is better and superior than all of the previous forms of revelation through angels, prophets, the Law of Moses, or any other way God has spoken in the past. We attempted to use the illustration of Macintosh -

The Revelation or God spoken to us is better for two reasons:

It is the final revelation: That doesn’t mean God doesn’t speak to each of us individually or still speak through His word to us - God is not silent now - it means that as far as disclosing who He is -

The second reason is - - Jesus is God -

He is the Brightness of His [God the Father’s] Glory

He is the express image of his person

I talked about the importance of Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus

Look to Him - Because He is the author and finisher of our faith

because He is enough

Because He is the demonstration of God’s love

Because He is lovely

Because He is worthy

But you know when we look to Him - we need to look to the real Him not just an imaginative or creative mental picture of Him.

I read an article several years ago about living life through the camera lens. This was not a reflection on photographers - it was about people constantly taking photos and videos of their children and family and the events they were going through - that they missed the moment

I’ve been there so caught up in capturing something to help me remember the moment - that in reality I missed being present and involved in the moment.

I remember in Sunday School we would sing a little song

“My God is so big so strong and so mighty - there’s nothing my God cannot do, The mountains are his the rivers are his the stars are his handiwork too. My God is so big so strong and so mighty there’s nothing my God cannot do.”

But sometimes I wonder are we looking to this great God are we looking to Jesus or are we looking at something that resembles him -

Dr. Andy Miller recently elected the 9th president of Wesley Biblical Seminary, was for several years in the Salvation Army, he has since become an elder in the recently formed Global Methodist church. During his ministry in the Salvation Army he tells an event that happened that I want to share with you this morning:

Dr. Miller and his family were in Tampa, FL. They had a kick off of sorts of the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign.

During this event there was a special time when he would be presented a check like the honorary first gift.

Dr. Miller learned that Dave Andrews was going to be the one presenting the check.

Now if you are like me, I don’t really know anything about sports - but Dr. Miller points out and I did a little research, and found out that Dave Andrews is a famous trophy winning ice hockey player.

In fact right outside the stadium where they were holding the event in Tampa, FL was a bronze statue of Dave Andrew holding up the Stanley Cup - the top award in Hockey

Later that even as Dr. Miller was able to meet Dave Andrews, he went through all the customary greetings and thanks, and introductory remarks in conversation and then he said,

“I saw your statue on the way in and he kind of rolled his eyes a little bit and said, yeah, I know. He said I've I walked by it every day now And he said one of the funny things is, a lot of times people want to take pictures with me.

Dr. Miller thought, well, that's pretty normal.

But Andrews said this interesting thing he said.

“But most of the time, as I'm walking by, they hand me their camera and they ask me to take a picture of them with my statue.”

And so there they are, putting their arms around the statue and he's snapping the picture for them.

And I said, do you tell him who you are? h

e's like, no, I don't want to embarrass him.

Dr. Miller went on to say something that I have been thinking about alot lately

"I I think sometimes that that might be what we do at Jesus. That we're glad to have him as a statue. Like when in reality the cosmic real Living Christ is available to us now, like right, right in front of us. But after all, if he's a statue, we can control him. More like he stays. Where we want we could take a selfie like we have our time with. Jesus.”

But there is so much more to “just having our time with Jesus” or “going for the statue - when we could have Him”

I have attempted to share what Jesus said about Himself, what the Apostles said about Jesus -ending with John,

John lived according to what history has passed down to us is that John returned from Patmos and lived in Ephesus until up his ninety’s where he died from natural causes

So as far as I know John was the longest living apostle, but we see the message continuing on.

This is something I failed to mention the other night in the Why Bible School service:

Growing up I often saw the church within in the framework of the last 50 to 100 years. Sometimes we would go back to Martin Luther, but all I knew about the church was within that framework.

Going to Bible School, and you don’t have to go to Bible School to learn this, just pick up a good Church History book, I have a couple of good recommendations if you want to talk to me privately later, but often we talk about Old Fashion and we have in our mind like it was in the 30’s or 40’s

But that is not when it started

- we can trace our roots back further than the Bible Holiness, or Fire-Baptized, beyond the Methodists, Asbury, John Wesley, Martin Luther,

God has always had a people - they may have had to deal with different issues, but He has always had a people

But the church goes back much further than our three or four generations

- The church as we know it today is vastly different from where it started -

So the first -third centuries of the Church were very similar to our historical connections to Wesley - While no one here ever met John Wesley - yet he is a household name still among our people

If I went around the room probably everyone could tell me a little something about John Wesley - but we don’t know him personally and yet he died 233 years ago

But just as it was in the Old Testament when all those who knew Moses and Joshua died off that is when things begin to change

When all those who knew Jesus, knew the apostles, had died - questions began to arise that needed answers that they weren’t around to give -

But remember the promise from Jesus - He would send the Holy Spirit that would guide them into all truth:

That guidance isn’t always by dreams and visions - but by God speaking in and through individuals and groups of people.

With all of those who knew Jesus while on earth personally, gone there had to be a way to keep the message going - to perpetuate the Gospel.

One way they had of doing that is by creeds.

Now our Articles of Faith states that we Bible Holiness people are non-creedal

I’m not 100% sure of all of the meaning or intent behind that - but I do know we are interested in doctrine and in what we believe as we have “Articles of Faith” and in place of a “creed” a motto of sorts was inserted.

But our “Articles of Faith” are based on what we believe

and that is what “creed” means, It means “I Believe”

One of the ways the first-third century church kept the message going - so that is was consistent and easy to grasp was by short concise creeds.

There are several, I won’t talk about all of them - but I do want to give a historical, theological overview of how our understanding of Jesus stems from these creeds.

One of the first - some of the early writers say in its original form was written by the apostles in their time together during Pentecost - while we have no real documentation of that - that is what has been said.

The first recorded usage of the creed came around AD 150

Built on the Baptismal formula (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)

The phrase “He descended into hell” was added in the fifth century

Listen to how they speak about Christ - concerning his natures - both natures

although deity is implicit

humanity is clearly depicted and emphasized

although It doesn’t give much about how the two natures relate

I do know that around 300 AD it was put in its form as we know it today:

The Apostles Creed:

The Lexham Bible Dictionary The Later Creed

I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born from the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, descended into hell,

on the third day rose again from the dead,

ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty,

thence He will come to judge the living and the dead;

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the remission of sins,

the resurrection of the flesh,

and eternal life.

Amen.

This encapsulates the very essence of Christianity - and it has been used for thousands of years to pass the beliefs of Christianity from one generation to another.

This is what we refer to as doctrine - teaching

It puts into easy to remember phrases the essence of all the teachings of the Bible

This was sufficient for many years - although it went through some revisions for clarity, not so much teaching

It was a looking to Jesus - pointing the way

The Bible wasn’t nearly as accessible as it is to us today and this was a way they passed the message along

Then around the middle of the third century a man name Arius came along who was a leader in the church and was well respected and influential and he began to teach some things that were different and new - that should always be a red flag

I had a professor one time caution us preachers, “that if it is new, never been said in some form or fashion by someone in the past, it’s probably heresy”

He was not being completely serious, but at the same time he was admonishing us to be sure we go back and run through the Scriptures and the thoughts of those who have gone before who were true to the Scriptures and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

While Arius intentions might have been honorable, and his heart sincere, as he was no doubt trying to get away from what he perceived to be polytheism -

polytheism is the belief in multiple gods -

Christianity teaches theism or the belief in one God.

Well they had already assumed as you can tell by the Apostle’s Creed a trinitarian view of God - or the belief in the Trinity - Father, Son & Holy Spirit

But Arius was having trouble grasping the doctrine and began to teach that Jesus was a created being

Arius was a presbyter in Alexandria who was bothered by a sermon the Bishop preached on the Trinity.

He began to teach that Jesus was not eternally existent but was created by the Father

He taught that Jesus was of a different essence than the Father, meaning that Jesus was divine but not fully God

He began to preach and teach this and began to spread it throughout the church - there was no small stir among the Church at the time.

So Emperor Constatine said - this has to be hashed out, we’ve got to get to the bottom of this, we need to find out the truth.

And he called together the bishops and leaders of the church and had a counsel

This would have only been fourteen years after the horrible persecution and I can only imagine the gathering - yes some wealth and status change had been instituted and things had changed - but after only 14 years, there would have been gathered there many who had faced the storm of persecution, maybe some had even lost family members to previous emperors who were not friendly to Christianity. It is documented that several had spent time in prison and had been tortured for their faith in Jesus Christ

This wasn’t just a group of people getting together to pass around personal opinions, or to say lets create a set of beliefs

They were serious about Jesus, they were serious about the Bible, they were serious about the truth.

But the council is called together in 325

They met and began to discuss and debate and try to settle the issue at hand.

Was Jesus created? What does the Bible say - and the Bible is very specific in its choice of words, “begotten”

I have spoken to this the first day of our study, but if He was created, he can not be fully God

If he is not of the same essence of the Father, he cannot be fully God

Legend has it, although some sources site it as an historical fact, but I think it is more of folklore than anything,

But the story is told that the debate got so heated that Nicholas of Myra (who over the years thanks to legend, and superstition has turned him into modern day Santa Clause) Now and old man but in the debate emotions began to rise and he became so agitated and upset that jumped up and before anyone hardly knew what was going to happen had socked Arius right in the nose.

Now I have no proof that that actually happened, but I will say they were very serious about protecting the integrity of the doctrine of Christ and keeping the church unified in that belief.

This is one of the dangers of heresy - even though the council did condemn the teaching and exile Arius, his teachings are still around today in theological teachings like Unitarianism, that is the teaching that rejects the Trinitarian view of God.

Which has affected:

Oneness Pentecostals

Jehovah Witness

Mormons

Many others

Very briefly the orthodox Trinitarian view of God holds that there is one God who exists eternally as three distinct, co-equal, and co-eternal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons share the same divine essence and work together in perfect unity, particularly in the work of creation, redemption, and sanctification.

This council put together a creed we now call the Nicene Creed 325 AD that says this:

Nicene Creed

Written at council of Nicea

Deity of Christ and humanity is emphasized more in this creed

Most of the last part about the Holy Spirit was added at the Council of Constantinople

It was focused on Christ’s divinity and the homoousios {homo- you-sea-os} this is a Greek word that means of the same substance

The Nicene Creed (325 AD, updated in 381)

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets.

STOP Reading HERE - The rest goes on to talk about other beliefs that were to be passed down on the remission of sins and the resurrection of the dead.

And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Now you may not see the significance of this - but the importance is we would not understand that Jesus is the only Begotten of the Father they are equal in substance and essence

These creed helped to foster consistency and consensus among the early church

One more I want to talk to you about this morning:

3. Chalcedon Symbol (Sometimes reffered to as Calcedonina Symbol or definition.

This is where they are responding to two or three major heresies where the full deity and humanity of Jesus is under attack.

One Person, Two Natures (Fully divine and fully human)

These natures are: unconfused, unchanged, indivisible, inseparable.

Unconfused means no mixing of the natures

Unchanged - Deity is not transmuted into humanity vice verca

Indivisible - unable to be divide the natures

Inseparable - undisolvable even in eternity.

The Definition of the Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D)

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.

Heresies still exist and it is important that we are dilligently seeking the truth from the Word of God, not our opinions, not our feelings, not what those around us want us to say -

You can have the statue if you want, but I want the real - I want the Real Jesus

I am going to keep looking to HIm!!!

I Want to close with this:

In our looking at Jesus we need to remember He is Unique:

How is He unique? Three ways

1. In His pre-existent State and Nature

Eternally existent

There are two theological terms I want to bring up. Now these words themselves are not found in the Bible but the principles are.

The terms are called

1. Theophany and

2. Christophany.

These often overlap and are often the same thing so I may use the terms interchangeably but they mean Jesus did appear on occasions in the OT =

these appearance are called “pre-incarnate” appearances.

Theologians call such pre-incarnate appearances either “theophanies” or “Christophanies.”

The word “theophany” means an “appearance of God,”(Can be a voice, or in fire, or thunder and lightning.)

and the word “Christophany” means an “appearance of Christ.” Both terms are referring to appearances of Jesus.

Now our logical reasoning to this conclusion is the fact the scripture says, “No man has seen God...”

That is referencing God the Father, so any other time God has appeared it has to be the Begotten of the Father

One of the most interesting of these is found in Genesis 18:1-3

Genesis 18:1–3 KJV 1900

1 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, 3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

Now I don’t have time to go into all of this passage, but as the story unfolds you become keenly aware that this isn’t just a group of random strangers.

Warren Wiersbe put it this way, “Abraham was hospitable to three strangers, and discovered that he had entertained the Lord and two angels”

But think of this a moment - there was not time machine, no Mr. Whitaker’s imagination station, but through the power of God the very one that wrap himself in the flesh of one of Abraham’s descendants was standing in front of him -

Only a pre-existent and eternal Christ could accomplish such a thing.

2. In His Incarnation

The Incarnation. That is just a fancy word for Jesus becoming flesh. Deity in Diapers one author said. The Term Incarnation: “In the flesh”. The incarnation of Jesus means the time Jesus assumed a permanent fleshly body.

Dr. Vic Reasoner gives these Seven Spiritual Truths from the incarnation -

Seven Spiritual truths derived from the incarnation -

We know what God looks like - No one has seen God, Christ has made him known by becoming flesh. Wonder what God is like look at Jesus. (If you've seen me you've seen the Father. That was his purpose in coming here, to show us what God was like. We have seen his glory full of grace and truth which one was full father or son? Both It provides us with a High Priest who can sympathies with human weakness. The Bible is very clear. Jesus never became a sinner, but he identified with the human race. If Jesus had sinned then he would have needed a substitute to take care of his sin. We have a high priest HEB tempted like as we are yet without sin. We can now approach the throne of grace. Sin is not originally a part of our nature. God didn't create us sinners. So Jesus could be fully human and not a sinner. It provides a substitutionary sacrifice for all the sins of the world. It was a prerequisite for the atonement before Jesus could ever take our place he had to be one of us. Hebrews tells us this clearly. To destroy Satan's stronghold and deliver us. 1 John 3:8 to destroy the devil's work. Peter says he came to provide us an example show us how to live Provided us with a judge John 5:42 The Father judges no one but gave it to the Son. He has This doctrine of the incarnation is a litmus test of true doctrine. It is non-negotiable. It is not something we can take or leave. John ?? Do not believe every Spirit but test the Spirits to see if they be of God etc if a spirit denies the incarnation it is a demonic spirit. Same thing is said in 2 John There are three passages that describe the incarnation and birth of Jesus:

Matthew 1:18-25 (the Annunciation to Joseph) Luke 1:26- 2:20 (the Annunciation to Mary and birth of Jesus) John 1:1, 14, 18 (Jesus’ pre-incarnate state as the Word and His incarnation) John 1:14 is the classic passage on the incarnation - "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." WORD or the Greek (logos) describes the Son.

He is called the “Word” because He is the One who communicates to us what God is like. A “word” is a means of communication. Jesus is the primary communicator of the God head I like what Lee Strobel wrote in his book "The Case for the Real Jesus" “If John had simply written, ‘God became a human being,’ it would have given the false impression that the Lord was no longer filling the universe or reigning in heaven, but that he had abandoned his throne to take up residence here, like one of the pagan deities. Instead, John tells us that it was the divine Word that became a human being, and through the Word, we can know God personally." Lee Strobel (2012-01-03T16:45:27+00:00). The Case for the Real Jesus (Kindle Locations 3665-3692). Kindle Edition. John 1:18—"the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him. Jesus’ purpose was to “declare”(exegete: interpret, reveal, explain) the Father. This is why Jesus said in John 14:9, "he that hath seen me hath seen the father." Probably one of the greatest of all questions of humanity, Why did not Jesus come earlier in the history of mankind?

The answer - Galatians 4:4—: "In the fullness of the time." God did not send Jesus earlier because the fullness of time had not arrived. Charles Wesley in his hymn "And Can It Be" He writes of Jesus - "Emptied Himself of all but love." Now I think that Wesley is taking creative license here because if anyone believed in Jesus being God in the flesh it was Charles Wesley.

But we do find an interesting passage of scripture one of my favorites in Philippians 2:5-7 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Now that phrase in verse 7 "but made himself of no reputation" is one Greek word - κενόω,v \{ken-o'-o}

1) to empty, make empty 1a) of Christ, he laid aside equality with or the form of God From <http://www.greekbible.com/l.php?keno/w_v-3aai-s--_>

Now the Question is of what did Christ empty? Did he leave his Godhead behind to become man?

There is what is called a "Hypostatical Union" simply put it is this union in Christ of two natures.

We are born with one nature. That nature is either alive unto Christ or Dead in trespasses and sins. Christ has two natures

Humanity - Although without sin Deity - Complete God.

He is not half and half, but All God and ALL MAN!!! DO NOT DIMMINNISH OR INCREASE HIS HUMMANITY – IF YOU DO YOU STOP HAVING A REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN YOU HAVE A SUPER HUMAN. Jesus does not pretend to be human he is a normal human being.

When Jesus identified with the human race, that was a permanent identification. That was not terminated with his resurrection and ascension. That Jesus Christ in heaven today is still the God-man. That he has permanently identified with us. It wasn't that He for a while was God and then for a short time was a God-Man and then went back to God. He has permanently identified with us. Heb. He has become a priest forever…

The Incarnation was a humiliating experience. Emptied Himself What did he empty himself of?

He did not lay aside his Godhead. He laid aside his glory.

John 17:4-5— 4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. He did lay aside the glory He had with the Father when he came to earth. (He gave up His majestic glory.) He did not divest Himself of His deity prerogatives—He divested himself only of His glory. He came into this world in disguise incognito. If he hadn't laid aside his glory the blazing brilliance of his majesty would have killed people. He came and Isaiah said he had no form or comeliness. That was humiliating to lay aside. He emptied himself of his glory.

There was a change in his form - his appearance became like a man There was a change in his position he became a servant But there was no change in his nature. He was God before and he was God afterward and He's still God.

I want to look at another passage Colossians 1:15-20

Colossians 1:15–20 KJV 1900

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

This is often called an ancient hymn Verse 15 - Jesus is the "Image of the invisible God"

I think Phill Cross got this point when he wrote the lyrics, Compassion has a tear. Joy has a laughter.

Here ever after, peace has a smile.

Redemption’s blood has veins to flow in

A temple to glow in. Light is a child. CHORUS -

Hope has hands, Freedom has feet

Truth will stand, the Word will speak

The holy and lowly will finally embrace,

For love has a heartbeat, and grace has a face. From https://truthandsong.com/weekly-music-recommendation-grace-face-hope-hands-greater-vision/

3. In His being our Redeemer

Reconciliation: The Greek word used for reconcile is used for mend the nets. - To make right.

Redemption: To buy back

These both have a part in the atonement.

“if you make sin a legal issue - you’ve missed it - it’s a broken relationship issue”

How are the two connected?

Redeem – to buy back.

What was He redeeming?

Jesus was not redeeming individuals -

Titus 2:11-14 -

1 For the grace of God has appeared with salvation for all people, 12 instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a people for His own possession, eager to do good works.

Two sides:

Redeeming from something (Free from sin)

Redeeming to Something (To be His possession)

The church has been purchased but is that all?

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

9 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at price.

Here we have those who have the Holy Spirit have been purchased.

But is that all?

Colossians 1:19–22 KJV 1900

19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled 22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

See from something/to something

twice he uses reconciliation & redemption (Making peace through the blood of His cross...)

He bought us back -

John Newton - wicked wicked man - so deeply stained with sin that he was willing to become part of human trafficking.

People now had a price, and he was willing to participate in that

A horrible man, a man we would tell our children to stay away from

A man who many would think there is no hop

A man that beyond help from human hands

But this is why Jesus came to redeem

Well it was battered and scared, And the auctioneer felt it was hardly worth his while, To waste much time on the old violin but he held it up with a smile, Well it sure ain't much but its all we got left I guess we aught to sell it to, Oh, now who'll start the bid on this old violin? Just one more and we'll be through.

And then he cried one give me one dollar, Who'll make it two only two dollars who'll make it three, Three dollars twice now that's a good price, Now who's gonna bid for me? Raise up your hand now don't wait any longer the auctions about to end, Who's got four Just one dollar more to bid on this old violin?

Well the air was hot and the people stood around as the sun was setting low, From the back of the crowd a gray haired man, Came forward and picked up the bow, He wiped the dust from the old violin then he tightened up the strings, Then he played out a melody pure and sweet, sweeter than the Angels sing, And then the music stopped and the auctioneer, With a voice that was quiet and low he said now what am I bid, For this old violin and he held it up with a bow.

And then he cried out one give me one thousand, Who'll make it two only two thousand who'll make it three, Three thousand twice you know that's a good price, Common who's gonna to bid for me? And the people cried out what made the change we don't understand, Then the auctioneer stopped and he said with a smile, It was the touch of the Master's hand.

You know threes many a man with his life out of tune, Battered and scared with sin and he's auctioned cheap, To a thankless world much like that old violin, Oh, but then the Master comes, And that old foolish crowd they never understand, The worth of a soul and the change that is rought, Just by one touch of the Masters hand.

And then he cried out one give me one thousand, Who'll make it two only two thousand who'll make it three, Three thousand twice you know that's a good price, Common who's gonna bid for me? And the people cried out what made the change we don't understand, Then the auctioneer stopped and he said with a smile, It was the touch, that's all it was; it was the touch of the Master's hand, It was the touch of the Master's hand; oh, it was the touch of the Master's hand

Redeemed how I love to proclaim it

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb