His Salvation
The Whole Thanks • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 6 viewsGod's salvation is beyond understanding and seemingly beyond our reason. He offers it freely to even the most undeserving individuals. It is something that is intangible and so often overlooked in casual discussions of thanksgiving, but yet it is the most enduring and powerful gift we have ever received.
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Series Outline (Original)
Sermon Series Outline (Original)
November 2: Thankful for His Dominion
God Simply Is (Connect God's words at the burning bush, that He is the "I AM", with Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes that there is a season for all things. God will be whatever He Wills which means that all moments contain God's benevolence, judgment, graciousness, and sovereignty.)
God is Good in the High Points (Reference moments in the Bible such as the consecration of the Temple by Ezra as a moment to remember God. Reference David's victories and Psalms associated with thanksgiving as evidence God is there in the good times.)
God is Good in the Low Points (Mirror the last section by referencing some of David's Psalms showing thanksgiving for God even as he cries out for help. Point out our dependence on God's goodness in those moments and reference the healing of 10 lepers in John 17. Conclude the sermon by highlighting that of the 10, only 1 returned and was "healed by his faith"... use that as a charge to be the 1.)
November 9: Thankful for His Compassion
Compassion for the Outsider (Use the story of the Centurion who asked for healing for his servant as evidence that Christ is compassionate to those seen as outsiders.)
Compassion for the Sick (Use the story of the woman with internal bleeding as evidence that God healed those who were sick.)
Compassion for the Lost (Use the story of the feeding of the 5,000 and point out that it says Christ had compassion on the crowds seeking him.)
Compassion for the Broken (Use the story of Lazarus as evidence that Christ has compassion on all of us for the tragedies sin causes in this world.)
Compassion for the Sinners (Use imagery of the crucifixion and the statement that 'they know not what they do' as a display of God's compassion on us despite ourselves.)
November 16: Thankful for His Desire
God's Image (Start by pointing out that we were made in God's image and then relate this to the fact God is all about displaying His glory throughout the universe... this means that you are a reflection of what God wishes to display... WHOA!)
God's Pursuit (Identify several examples of God enacting His judgment, but also providing pathways for salvation and/or redemption, relating it to a pursuit of us rather than simply destroying us.)
God's Adoption (Point out that the ultimate show of God's desire is in adopting us as "sons". Reference Paul's words about being "heirs" of the kingdom and how that serves as a now-eternal display of God's desire.)
November 23: Thankful for His Salvation!
Salvation As Promised (Start with imagery of atonement after the fall in Eden, then carry through Abrahamic Covenants, prophecies of Jeremiah, and then Christ)
Salvation For All (Point out that the tax collector in Matthew and Samaritan woman at the well shows God wants forgiveness for even the most rejected and deeply-entrenched sinners)
Salvation Without Qualification (Identify the thief on the cross as an individual who had the 'deathbed confession' and Christ validates his salvation)
The True Atonement
The True Atonement
Over the last few weeks, we have covered Thankfulness in many forms...
Thankful for His Dominion.
Thankful for His Compassion.
Thankful for His Desire.
Today we RECAP some of the scriptures we used in these messages, but frame them differently.
BUT FIRST.............................................
Day of Atonement...
Aaron (Moses’s Brother/Priest) is to be made holy...
3 “Aaron is to enter the most holy place in this way: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He is to tie a linen sash around him and wrap his head with a linen turban. These are holy garments; he must bathe his body with water before he wears them.
6 “Aaron will present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household.
The people select two goats as offering to God...
5 He is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.
One goat is sacrificed...
7 Next he will take the two goats and place them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 After Aaron casts lots for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for an uninhabitable place, 9 he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering.
One goat is chosen to represent all the people’s sin (the scapegoat)...
20 “When he has finished making atonement for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live male goat. 21 Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the Israelites’ iniquities and rebellious acts—all their sins. He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness by the man appointed for the task. 22 The goat will carry all their iniquities into a desolate land, and the man will release it there.
Biblical “Atonement” involves...
I made a cool ABC acronym to help you remember this, because it’s relevant to our lives as Christians...
ADVOCACY: Someone who advocates to God (Aaron’s role)
BLOOD: Death of the goat, ram and bull
CLENSING: Symbols of cleansing (Baptism?)
23 “Then Aaron is to enter the tent of meeting, take off the linen garments he wore when he entered the most holy place, and leave them there. 24 He will bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes. Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering; he will make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 He is to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. 26 The man who released the goat for an uninhabitable place is to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; afterward he may reenter the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the most holy place to make atonement, must be brought outside the camp and their hide, flesh, and waste burned. 28 The one who burns them is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.
This atonement mirrors what we experience in our own lives when we come to know Christ.
We have an advocate in the Holy Spirit which calls us.
We are purified by the blood of Christ; the living sacrifice for our sins.
We symbolize our redemption through the symbolic cleansing of our selves through washing in baptismal water.
Images of Atonement
Images of Atonement
Covered by the blood in Genesis… Adam and Eve’s Nakedness
So, yes, let’s study nakedness for a second. Are you wake for this?
Nakedness is connected to shame...
25 Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.
Reinforced by man/woman creating clothes to cover their shame...
6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
God deemed their actions insufficient, so He gave them clothes made by taking life.
21 The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.
This is considered “the first atonement” by many. The wages of sin are death and the knowledge of this sin leads to shame.
God connects two concepts here. By giving Adam and Eve clothes made of skins, he proves that (1) what Adam and Eve did to cover their shame was insufficient to cover the impact of sin, and (2) the only justice for sin is the death of innocence. The animals who died to give Adam and Eve clothes didn’t commit violence to deserve to die, but the death had to come so that justice could be paid for crimes against the creator.
Profound thoughts...
Death was the penalty for sin. Why? Counter-question: Can the creation live independently from the creator? No!
The atonement isn’t about “making innocent”; it’s about paying the penalty… we’re STILL GUILTY of sin, but Christ pays the price.
Those with Christ are not innocent; their penalty is paid making us no better than those who have not come to know Christ… SO WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE!!!
By Grace Alone
By Grace Alone
This all points to our primary source of thankfulness: the undeserved, unearned, unqualified grace offered through Christ.
39 Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other answered, rebuking him: “Don’t you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment? 41 We are punished justly, because we’re getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three, 45 because the sun’s light failed. The curtain of the sanctuary was split down the middle. 46 And Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” Saying this, he breathed his last.
Christ’s Last Miracle...
Forgave an undeserving sinner
No opportunity for sinner to “earn it” or “prove it”… God knew
Scene Rarely Considered a Miracle...
Highlights how easily we forget our spirit of thanksgiving.
Christ knows our weakness, so He blesses us in this world as well...
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was deeply disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born. 5 “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet: 6 And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” 7 Then Herod secretly summoned the wise men and asked them the exact time the star appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you find him, report back to me so that I too can go and worship him.” 9 After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. 11 Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.
Our forgiveness is the ultimate reason for our sense of thanksgiving. It is what we should cling to in every season, sufficient to overcome any malaise which befalls us.
God knows our weaknesses, so He has blessed us in this life as a sign that we may remember Him.
So… as you consider all you are thankful for, put these in the correct perspective. Understand that thankfulness isn’t about what you have or the opportunities you get. It is about a little reminder of God’s goodness which is a foreshadow of God’s ultimate goodness brought to you on the cross.
