Untitled Sermon (5)

In Him

(NKJV)

[16] For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Last time we talked about belief- that belief means to have faith- that having faith necessarily means to trust

· That faith has three essential parts:

o Knowledge of the facts

o Acceptance of those facts as true

o Personal trust

§ This is where the rubber meets the road of living out what you know and believe to be true

§ Where what you know in your head comes right down to what you believe in your heart

· What you believe in your heart necessarily affecting your will – redirecting your actions

· Which flow out like a river from your life in a living/ breathing response

o In your thoughts, and in your words, and deeds

Today we focus in our attention on the words “in Him” – Him being the object of our faith…. Whoever believes… “in Him” should not perish

· Whoever trusts “in Him”, whoever has faith “in Him”

Now the question we often ask, the critical question we really must ask is… Can we trust Him?

The command in is to trust IN Him… And when we look at ourselves and our lives, we think… Wow that is a big demand.

· We might be thinking…. That really is a leap of faith…

Did you ever see that Indiana Jones movie where he is searching for the Holy Grail

That was one of my favorites as a young teenager.

· And Indiana Jones comes to that part of the movie where he has to cross this giant chasm

· It looks like a thousand feet down and he has to take that fateful step into what appears to be thin air

· But when he does his feet land on solid ground, and he is able to walk across the bridge that was previously invisible to him

Perhaps it seems that we as Christians must take that kind of step of faith….. Like a step off the ledge, and the heights seems dizzying sometimes.

We ask questions like:

· Can I trust my life in His hands?

o Is he really able to catch me?

o I’ve got big problems

§ Can he bear the weight of all my troubles?

· Can I trust my heart to him? Will he keep his promises?

· Can I trust my finances to him?

· Can I trust my illness to him?

· Can I trust life’s big decisions to be made according to His word?

· If I take this chance and speak up for him, and speak the truth of the gospel will he use that for his kingdom?

· If I take this step, will he be there to catch me as he has promised?

o Can he really forgive me for ALL the sins I’ve done in this life?

· Will he keep his word and bring me on home to him in the end?

To Gain a right/ proper perspective on these big / daunting questions we are faced with, We ask: Going back to , who is the “him” here?

Who is the “Him” so that I may trust “IN HIM”

And if I do, can I be sure he has the ability to do as he has said?

· Well, Him here is of course is referring to God’s only begotten son,

· The one and only Son that God gave over as a perfect living sacrifice because of His great love for us.

· This Him is God the Son, This Him is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.

o this Him is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.

And if you really try, if you really consider the question here…

If we made run at it…. to fully answer that seemingly simple question, “who is he?”

· Well, then we immediately find ourselves looking into an ever expanding, or even infinite set of answers.

o “IN Him” we begin to see an infinite vastness, a timeless and unlimited power, “in Him” we see limitless sovereignty, knowledge and wisdom

o “in Him” we see unstoppable justice and immeasurable love

· It is just when we begin to look away from our seemingly big problems and take a good long look “at HIM”,

o then we begin to see His ability,

o then we begin to see His trustworthiness,

§ and His greatness to do all that he has said.

We can get a sense of his greatness and infinite ability in the ways the Bible speaks of our savior.

The scriptures use many names for Christ to describe to us in word pictures just “who” he is…

Each name used for Him, describes something more about who He is…

· There are over 200 titles used for Christ in the scripture in both Old and New Testaments,

o and each one teaches us something about His character /his nature

§ Something about His work

§ Something about who He is

§ Something about His trustworthiness/ability

Listen to a few of them: The Bible says He is the

· The Son of God, Son of Man, our Advocate, the Author and Perfector of Our Faith

He is the:

· Bread of Life, the Beloved, the Bridegroom, the Chief Cornerstone

He is the:

· The Christ, the Good Shepherd, the Great High Priest, the Head of the Church

He is the:

· I am, Immanuel (God with us), the Indescribable Gift

· The Judge, the King of Kings, the Lamb of God, the Lord of Lords,

o the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Lily of the Valley

He is the:

· Messiah, the Mighty One, Our Hope, Our Peace

· The Prophet, the Redeemer, the Risen Lord, the Rock, the Savior

· The Son of the Most High

He is the:

· Supreme Creator, the Resurrection and the Life

· The Door, The Way, The Word, The True Vine, The Truth itself

· The True Bread from Heaven

He is our:

· Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace

Paul tells us who He is…. In

Paul speaks of the greatness and glory and preeminence / the supremacy of Christ

(ESV)

[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

[16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

[17] And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

[18] And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

[19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

[20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Paul makes it clear to us that Jesus our Lord, our God, our King….. Is in all things, through all things, sovereign over all things….

It is like as if you could pull back the curtain of the world you would only and ultimately find God in Jesus Christ there….

One of my favorite songs that I’ve played in my home time and again… Its by Larnell Harris and in it, in the chorus, he says:

Larnell Harris “You can look this whole world over for the meaning of it all- for the purpose that mankind has always sought, but in the end you will discover there is no other answer but God.”

Everything in all of creation exists because He determined it and created it….

Every single part of creation:

· the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, comets, trees, rocks, dust, dogs, cats, bats, you and me continue to exist –

o on a moment by moment basis only because he wills it and empowers us to continue to exist

In HIM, Paul says, all things hold together…

· As if to say every single atom, every microscopic molecule is at this and every moment being held together by His hands

· At any instant, if he so determined to release his sustaining power on His creation, it would all simply go “poof” and cease to exist

Your next breath is a gift from Him, your heart continues on with its rhythmic beat by his command, your mind only functions at His good pleasure….

We belong to Him, we do nothing, say nothing, think nothing, eat nothing, whether asleep or awake without His sustaining us in every moment.

· Every piece and part of our existence is utterly and completely dependent on Him.

· YET, we go about our lives nearly convinced that we are the ones pulling the strings, making it happen, that somehow we’ve got this on our own

o Or that we are all alone

If we could just get a sense of what is just behind the curtain, we would see God in and through all things… That there truly is no other truth except Him, that everything is fully dependent On Him…

I’m reminded of when the armies of Syria came against the prophet… Remember when the army surrounded Elisha and his his server exclaims 2 King 6:17 “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”

and Elisha says “Do no be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

· You can just see that Elisha’s servant looking around at the vast army surrounding them in wonder at the prophets words

· Then Elisha prays for the servants spiritual eyes to be opened

o The Lord answered that prayer “and behold (he saw), the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

We must ask/pray that the Spirit would give us this sense of who Jesus is, in His greatness and unrivaled sovereignty,

We need new/renewed spiritual eyes to see who it is we are trusting in, and when we begin to fix our eyes “on Him”

· then our big and daunting questions / our larger than life fears into a right perspective

· Our big problems are quite small in fact, our giant fears are all under control of our God who is working all things to those who believe.

o We will be strengthened and put at ease in the knowledge of the vastness and greatness, the trustworthiness and ability of our God and Savior Jesus Christ

says we must put our trust In Him….

· He who humbled himself and came down in the form of a man…

o And did what we could not, what we would not do…

§ Obey God perfectly….

· And then He went to the cross to be sacrificed in payment for our sins, for our disobedience

o God raised Him up on the 3rd day and seated him above all

o so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And we are to trust In Him… and IN Him alone for salvation…

Luke tells us

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Paul tells us

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus

In Him is the truth

In Him is the light of the Gospel

In Him is the only door to salvation

In Him is the one and only way to everlasting life

There is none other… There is only one road to eternal life and it is in and through Him alone.

Imagine you are a passenger on a jet airliner:

· Your flight takes off from Texas to Seattle but somewhere over Colorado

o The captain come on and make an announcement

§ “I’ve got bad news, the planes auto pilot is frozen and we will very soon be crashing into the side of the Rocky Mountains.”

§ “The plane will be utterly destroyed but don’t panic, there is a parachute underneath each of your seats…”

· Now if you had any sense, even though it was scary, you would realize that

o There is only one way off the plane alive

o And you would take that parachute and put it on…

o And you would walk to the door and jump

§ You would place your whole life on that life saving parachute

In this life, we know that ultimately our lives are headed for a collision course with our great enemy of death.

As it stands now and until Christ returns the mortality rate of life on earth is still holding at 100%

We also have been given the one any only way off this world with our lives….

put on the Lord Jesus Christ

as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

We must clothe ourselves in Christ, we must, by faith, put on the Lord Jesus

· Who the Father gave as a gift to save those who are perishing

o To all who will put their faith, their hope, their lives In Him

And one day you will find as you stand before God, as you are taken behind the curtain, as it were…

You will see Jesus Christ seated on the throne…. IN all/above all/through all

For those that trust IN HIM

In that great final courtroom – to your wonder and amazement

· You will find (as promised) that Christ is your advocate,

o also it is Christ your brother,

o also it is Christ your friend

§ who also happens to be the presiding Judge over your case.

And you will know…. You had nothing to fear…

All things are in his hands, you can trust “IN Him”….

[16] For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

This is the great and glorious promise of God –

· IN Him, our salvation

· IN Him, our restoration

· IN HIM, eternal and everlasting life

Won’t you give your heart to Jesus, you can trust it in his loving and capable hands.