WHY JESUS?

The faithfulness of Jesus

One of the goals this year was to try to preach through the Bible to help you see the big picture of what God is doing in your world. And a good way to see what He’s doing in your world is to see what He has been doing in the world all along. And as we see what he has been doing through history, and throughout scripture, it is my greatest desire that you see the Lord Jesus in all of scripture. In fact if you miss Jesus in all of the Bible you have missed everything. He really is the key to life, liberty and an eternal abundance of life.

The enemy of our souls is strong, but the saviour of souls is so much stronger

Today we will be in of the Old Testament and you can be getting there.

The greatest thing I can do as a preacher is to help you see Jesus , love Jesus and become like Jesus as much as you possibly can. And yo help you do that you must have a love for the Word of God, both the written Word, the spoken word, and the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ.

All of scripture is about Christ

The Bible is really a very unique book unlike any other book known to mankind.

UNIQUE IN ITS PRODUCTION

1400 years to compile Written by over 40 different authors through 1500 year span. Three different continents on three different languages. All fits together like hand in glove .

Written by Politicians, and sheep herders, Prisoners and kings. Prophets, poets, and philosophers. Statesmen and tax collectors, tent makers and two carpenters

UNIQUE IN ITS PRESERVATION

IN SPITE OF ITS PERSECUTION , PERVERSION, CRITICISMS, ABUSE AND TIME. THE BIBLE HAS SURVIVED VIRTUALLY Intact AN ANVIL THAT HAS WORN OUT SO MANY HAMMERS. tHE SCRIPTURES ARE UNIQUE IN THEIR QUANTITY, QUALITY, AND ANTIQUITY OF THEIR MANUSCRIPTS. Many have sought to destroy the Bible, but their efforst have been futile

UNIQUE IN ITS PROCLAMATIONS

Over a qwuarter of the Bible is prophetic in the time in which is was written and these prophecies stand alone in the graphic detail, accuracy and scope. It’s message of salvation by faith and not by works , and the whole concept of the sacrifice of the God man on our behalf

which is where I would like to now recap and bring us up to speed in . So far we have kind of skimmed through just 5 of the chapters of the Bible and already there are so many references to the Lord Jesus Christ.

All throughout scripture there is a scarlet thread of redemption. Man has fallen and needs a scripture. Let me show you some references to the Lord Jesus that we have seen

At the Fall of man, when everything went to hell. Man ushered in death, but God prophesied about a son of Eve- of her seed that would crush the devil

Genesis Chapter 3:

Genesis 3:15 ESV

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

It would seem at the Cross He stumbled but in the midst of his stumbling He would crush the greatest enemy Satan. The Serpent would kill him at the cross, but while he was injected with the venom of the serpent, the end result would be that He killed the serpent, robbing him of His power.

And we see the first sacrifice to cover over man’s nakenedss being made by God.

Genesis Chapter 4- Cain and Able-

The brothers brought their sacrifices before God. Cain brought the fruit of the ground, but Able brought the firstlings of His flock… a blood sacrifice. Cains offering represent his hard work, and it was rejected. But Able brought a blood sacrifice by faith and was recieved. Jesus represented that first sacrifice.

Noahs Ark

By the Time we get to the earth has grown so wicked, so vile, so hopelessly redeemable that God has no choice but to destroy it and cleanse the earth of sins violence. But a man named Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and God gave him a design for an ark of salvation- and that Ark represents the Lord Jesus Christ. It was made out of incorruptible wood, that speaks of the holy nature of Jesus, It had three levels in the ark- That speaks of the about of days He would be in the Grave, Black Friday came, but baby Sunday was coming. The Ark was covered in a black tar like Substance called pitch and the word for pitch is the same word used for atonment. It kept the judgment waters out and protected Noah and His family. And listen when the blood of Christ covers you that precious blood that was shed at the crosss, the judgment of God will not touch you. It also had one door, that God shut in after they entered. And listen friend there is only one way to heaven. That is not arrogant to say that, listen that is the most humble thing I could say. The idea of a Holy and righteous Almighty God handing over His son to be brutally beaten, and to be crucified on an old rugged cross, its not arrogant, its is humbling.

In Genesis 12- A man by the name of Abraham finds favor in God’s eyes and God establishes an everlasting covenant with Him, and promises him an heir that will bring the nations of the world blessing, and peace, and there is no name under heaven but the name of Jesus. And people on every naition of the world worship this saviour.

Then we get to and Jacob the grandson is about to die and He calles all twelve of His sons to bless them, to speak a word over them, and to His son Juda He says this

Genesis 49:9–10 ESV

9 Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? 10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

Genesis 49

And He prophesied that from Judah would come a lion. One whom the scepter would not pass, a rulers staff and he shall bring about the obedience of the people.

These is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ-0 the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. David echoed this fact about the Lord Jesus Christ in

Psalm 2:6–9 ESV

6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Get to Exodus

PASSOVER

And with a mighty hand God uses Moses and the final plague that God sends is the death of the firstborn males. And the death angel would go through the whole land of Egypt and kill all of the firstborn malles from the hose of Pharoah to the house of the slaves. But God gave the Hebrews an escape plan… He told them to take a spotless lamb and sacrifice it, and to take this lamb this spotless lamb and to take THE BLOOD OF THIS LAMB AND SPREAD IT OVER THE DOORPOST OF THEIR HOMES AND WHEN THE DEATH ANGEL CAME AND SAW THE BLOOD, THAT A LIFE HAD BEEN TAKEN HE WOULD PASSOVER THEIR HOUSE. Death will eventaully come to each and every person, and the only way that you will escape an eternal death is by having the blood applied to your heart. The Blood of Jesus the Lamb that took away the sin of the World

THE BRONZE SERPENT

wHILE THE Nation of Israel were out in the desert, failing to posess their possessions, they began to grumble and complain and the Lord sent fiery serpent and they bit the people of israel, and whoever was bitten died.

. And the death angel would go through the whole land of Egypt and kill all of the firstborn malles from the hose of Pharoah to the house of the slaves. But God gave the Hebrews an escape plan… He told them to take a spotless lamb and sacrifice it, and to take this lamb this spotless lamb and to take

Numbers 21:8–9 ESV

8 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

And so it is with us, we have all been infected with the poision of the serpemnt and that posion is sin. But just as moses lifted up that serpent on the staff and those that looked towards it lived, so too, we have a saviour that was injected with the poision of the serpent on the cross and whoever looks at him will be saved

Numbers 218-9

AND THERE ARE MANY MORE THINGS I CAN BRING ABOUT< BUT THIS SCRIPTURE IS ALL ABOUT THE KING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. I am simply here to lift him up this morning and as we look to him we will be healed, we will be whole,

So we now get to Book of Joshua Chapter 3- Joshua is the new commander of the Lord jesus Christ and Even Joshua is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus and Joshua in the Hebrew are the Same name. Jesus would be the short form of Joshua in the Hebrew

But now they are about to cross over into their Promised Land. To take hold of their posssiions and God has commanded Joshua to only be strong and very courageous. But not only is there enemies to conquer but there is a raging river that is standing in their way. And as we will see in just a second it is a river leading to death. And before they can even start to fight they must make it through the river.

And to top it off the river is overflowing and its flood season,a nd they have to get a couple million people across with all their belngings, all the women and children thie animals, tents, farming equipmesnt, wepons of war. You get the idea

Joshua 3:

Joshua 3:5–7 ESV

5 Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” 6 And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. 7 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

Joshua 3:10

Joshua 3:10–13 ESV

10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. 13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

The Ark of the Covenant- represented the presence of God… and as we will see represented the Lord Jesus Christ

Verse 11 The Ark of the Covnenat of the Lord of all the Earth… Verse 13, the Lord over all the Earth shall rest in the waters of the Jordan and stand in a high heap

Just some of the artifacts in the Ark of the Covenant

The Manna… While they were in the desert they hadd this stufff fall out of heaven called manna that sustainaed and nurished them. Now

Jesus is the Bread of life. He is the only one that will fill the hidden hungers of your life.

Jesus is the Bread of life. He is the only one that will fill the hidden hungers of your life.Drugs will not do it Money and nice things will not doAlcohol and sex will not do itHollywood will not do it Watching Katy Perry or JZ and Beyoncé with their devil worshipping ways will not do itOnly Jesus can fill the emptiness inside- o you were made for him

Drugs will not do it

Money and nice things will not do

Alcohol and sex will not do it

Hollywood will not do it

Keeping uop with the Kardeshians will not do it

Jesus can fill the emptiness inside- o you were made for him

There were Two sets of stone tablets with the Ten Commandments

One set was broken… the other set whole. Go has a law that all of us have broken, All of us will be held accountable to. We all are all criminals who have broken these laws of a holy God. But then the other set that were still intact and whole speaks of another who was able to fulfill completely.

And by the works of the law no one will be justified for all have fallen short of the glory of God. But that doesn’t mean that God gades on the curve because ll have failed the test. no we will all be condemned equally. But then there was Jesus who fullfilled the Law, went to the cross and became the sacrifice.

But not only is Jesus the sacrifice, but He is the Judge. Andf if you say well I don’t need Jesus on that day before the One sitting on the throne of judgment. Well it will be jesus setting up there. Not sure that will go well for you.

Aarons Staff- Aaron was the brother of Moses who was appointed as High priest. In the Old Testament, a holy man had to go betewwn sinful man and holy God and make sacrifices. And the way that God exaleted Aaron to the position of high Priest in the book of Exodus was he commanded Moses to take the staffs of every leader and the persons staff that budded and produced almonds woould be the Annointed and appointed High Priest that God has chosen. This speaks fo the Lord Jesus Christ. God Brought life out of a dead stick, and when Jesus came back to life after being dead. He brings new life, and not only is he the sacrifice, and not only is he the judge, but he is a faithful high priest who makes intercession for you and I..

Mercy Seat-

On the top of the Ark there was a Mercy Seat, and there were cherubs

And you remember… the Jordan river was flooded and God commands the people of Israel to let eh priest bearing the Ark of the Covenant to step into the Jordan and when the Ark of the Covenant- the presence of Jesus Christ stepped into those waters, God split the waters of the Jordan, but he did not just split them wide enough for the people of God to go through! No, it said that the waters stood up in a high heap all the way back to the city of Adam and the waters of the dead sea where cut off.

Now this what not just happenstance the Holy Spirit is trying to convey a deeper spiritual truth. Rivers only flow one way. So the waters where pushed back all the way to the city of Adam and the and the Sea of Death the Dead Sea was cut off.

There is a river of death that has flowed throughout human history that finds its beginnings in Adam. And this curse of sin has been flowing through the veins of mankind ever since Adam fell.

Rember that this land is symbol of the abundant life that Christ has to Offer you and I but before they can enter into the promised Land they have to make it tthough this river. Now remember that the Ark of the covenant every bit of its design and its contnents speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was made with wood, that speaks of Christ humanity. It was overlaid with Gold, that speaks of his divinity. and The priest are said to be bearing the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. On top there are statues of cherubim, the angels charged with the job of protecting the Thrne and when the feet of the Priest enter into this river, something happens and it is something that you need to catch

Joshua 3:13 ESV

13 And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

And when the Lord entered the waters, the waters were cut off… Underlind that , and the waters whall stand in one heap...

Joshua 3:16 ESV

16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.

Jo

Now notice first the direction of the river. Rivers only flow one way.

And the river stood up, that means its going the opposite way of the natural flow, and notice what the Holy Spirit added in there, from the City of Adam!!! Notice where they were flowing too… The Salt Sea! If you know anything about the geography there in the Middle East, the Great Salt Sea, is also known as the Dead Sea. It’s called the Dead Sea because nothing can live there. It is a Sea of Death. And so this river takes on a new meaning, a symbolic meaning. There has been a river of judgment that has been flowing since Adam, and as the Bible says that all in Adam die, but all that are in Christ shall be made alive!!

And when the Ark entered the waters, the Waters of judgment that were leading to death where cut off, raised in a high heap and went all the way back to adam!!.

Do you know where the Ark entered into the Jordan River? In the exact same spot that the Lord Jesus would be baptised by John the baptist! He was baptised into our judgment and death, so that we may arise in the Resurrection power.

But when Jesus came upon the scene and he stepped into the river of death on the cross, the sin that has been flowing all the way since Adam were pushed back and the waters of death have been cut off.

In Christ all should be made alive, but all in Adam will die. And every person from the beginning of time to the end of time must look to Christ to be saved. Friend that is what Jesus Christ can do.

NO PLAN B FOR SALVATION

There is no plan B for your salvation, God has provided a way for you to be saved and that salvation is through Christ and Christ alone. There is only one religion in the entire world that deals with mans three greatest problems, Sin, Sorrow, and Death.

1. Sin

And that problem is solved in Jesus he overcame the filth and temptations of the World and fulfilled the commandments of God…. That is why in the Ark of the Covenant there where two different tablets one broken and one whole of the Ten Commandments. We have broken them but He fulfilled them

2. Death

He went to a cross and the blood of Jesus was shed for the forgivness of sin, he died the death we deserved. He paid the punishment for our wrongdoing, he died but was raised three days later. And because he lives we will also live. There is no hope beyond the grave for those that know not Jesus. Ahhh but for those that belong to him there is eternal life. No other religion has a savior that died for you and actually, physically, historically raised from the dead and had over five hundred people that witnessed this phenomenon.

3. Sorrow

And then for the sorrow of life. How many of you has experienced intense sorrow? I know I have when he ascended to heaven after his resurrection he sent back his Spirit the Holy Spirit, and and for those that surrender their life to Jesus He gives the Holy Spirit. And while there is still a curse on this ungodly world and on people. Te Holy Spirit will take those deep wounds of sorrow and anoint them with the oil of gladness.

If you go chasing after other religions you are going to end up in bondage

The Children of Israel have crossed over into their Promised Land. And they are about to come against the fortified city of Jericho. But something unsusual happens.

In Christ life just gets Sweeter and Sweeter

(ESV) 10 While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

Now for the last forty years they have been eating Manna this bread like substance that God provided them day after day, and they have been wondering around in the desert, because of their disobedience. Did you know that the majority of Christians live their lives in a spiritual desert never really taking a hold of the abundant life that Christ has for us.

But once they enter into the Promised Land they take the Passover. Now why in the world would they keep the Passover? The Passover was what delivered them finally from Egypt. Pharaoh kept resisting Moses and God sent plague after plague but the one that finally broke Pharoahs pride was the final plague. God would send the angel of death throughout Egypt and he would take the first born male from every household and the only way the death angel would spare that house was if they had the blood of a spotless lamb over the door posts of their home. Why because the blood represented that a life had already been taken, a reckoning had already been acquired. The people of God were spared but those who knew not God were not spared.

This again is a shadow of Jesus Christ. He was the perfect Lamb that took away the sin of the world. And notice that the day after the Passover the people began to eat the produce of the land. Haha no more manna ok imagine if all you had to eat was the same thing. Manna for breakfast, manna for lunch, manna for supper. Want a snack? here is some manna. But once they cross into the Promised Land and take the Passover that had everything to do with Jesus, then they ate of the produce of the Land. Some of you live off of snacks when it comes to your relationship with God and that is why you are still in a spiritual desert

But even though life just gets Sweeter and Sweeter with Jesus there is still an enemy in the Land,

there is still a battle to be fought… Verse 13

(ESV) 13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

So Joshua the Commander has this encounter with a mysterious person. The passage says that Joshua lifted up his eyes and behold a man was stanfing before him with his sword Drawn out. And the man Identitfies himself as the commander of the Lord’s armies. Now I don’t know about you but the only one that I know who is the Commanders of the Lords army and that is General Jesus.

In at the end of time Heaven is split open and one comes riding on a white Stallion who name is Faithful and true, his eyes like a flame of fire, his robe dipped in blood, and verse 14 says and the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen were following him on white horses…and on his Robe he has a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And Joshua has this encounter with Jesus and has the odasity to ask the Lord. You with us or with our enemies? And Jesus says no, but I have come to take over. Listen guys the forces of hell are blowing right now. There is an enemy standing to take you down, but listen you fall down and worship Jesus he will bring the victory. Satan is strong but listen my Jesus is infenantely stronger. And nothing can stand against him…

Do you know him?

I have not come to take side I have come to take over

(ESV) 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.