Sermon Tone Analysis

*Secular:* When the military troops headed in to Iraq…

* They knew there would be soldiers lives lost…

* They calculate that…

* They knew there would be civilian lives lost…

* They calculated that…

* They knew there would be a great monetary cost to the allied forces and to the Iraqi people…

* They calculated that…

* Some things cost more, lives were lost they didn’t count on… there plan was comprehensive… IF NOT PERFECT

 

n      God has a plan… a comprehensive plan… there are casualties… but the plan is perfect…

 

*Biblical:*

NAU Hebrews 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.

When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

*Personal:*

Have you ever started a plan that didn’t make it to completion… something you have talked about… yet never did…

* Let me help… have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution you didn’t keep

* Fail to finish a course of study… an assignment

* Is there a car, lawnmower engine sitting in pieces in you garage or driveway

* How about a half completed quilt, scarf, sweater collecting dust…

* Finishing the task isn’t always easy… actually if it is challenging, a task really worth doing… it probably won’t be easy…

* God made the ultimate sacrifice… the perfect union… the Trinity… sacrificed The Son… to redeem a people.

* This is an intense plan… it is not easy… a lot is a stake…

* Steve’s story…

* Jesus in Gethsemane knew the plan of the Father was unfolding…

* He knew He would be humiliated…

* He knew He would be stripped and lashed

* He knew He would have a crown of thorns

* He knew He would have nails mercilessly pounded into his flesh

* He knew He would be suspended between Heaven and earth on a cross… in agony

* And He knew He would face the wrath of his Father… The wrath of God poured out of heaven onto the soul of his Son for the sins you and I committed…

* *

*Bridge:*

We don’t often figure ourselves into such an intense… self-sacrificing plan… we tend to keep things a little safer… *but*

It can be kind of scary when our plans go off the rails…

Big things come up…

Sudden illness or death…

Factors we were not considering…

Maybe we thought everything was going to go smoothly…

~*~* Out of control is aggravating at the least and often very scary!!

When we were kids it was often helpful when things got all messed up that our father or mother or big brother… maybe a good friend would help bail us out.

* God undertook the scariest… most self-sacrificing plan in history in order to draw you close… give you the promise of eternal life… to redeem you!!

*The Plan:*

*It’s Blueprint*

*            Made Perfect*

*            It’s Power*

*            It’s Success*

*Body:*

The Plan… the blueprint

NAU Hebrews 1:1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways…

* We want to see good planning… (buying a house… title searches, mortgage registrations, money transfers… etc.)

* We want to know someone has taken the task seriously…

*  We want to know there is a plan…

*  God has a plan…

*  Even as early as the garden…Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the *head*, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

* Reveals more about the Messiah:

* Psalm 69:7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Dishonor has covered my face.

8 I have become estranged from my brothers And an alien to my mother's sons.

9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

* And we can see Palm Sunday… (Micah read)

* Zech 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout /in triumph/, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the *foal* of a donkey.

* We don’t have to wonder… He laid out the plan and affirms it in his Word and in his action…

*  God laid the blueprint of Redemption when He spared Adam and Eve

* God laid the blueprint when He Redeemed the Israelites from Egypt

*  God laid the blueprint of Redemption when He lead them through the wilderness

*  God has been our redeemer… and has disclosed it through his Prophets… through his Word…

* The Cross in view of ancient times…

*The Plan… the blueprint*

*The Plan… made perfect*

* We keep making mistakes…

* Manna

* Wilderness

* Golden Calf

 /He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets…/ 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

* “the last days” are the days of fulfillment…

* the Jews were waiting for the promised Messiah… and true to his promises God delivered…

*  Jesus is the perfect revelation of God…

* Isa 9:6 6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful *Counselor*, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

7 There will be no end to the increase of /His /government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

*  He is infinitely superior to any created being…

* He is heir of all things… Lord of creation

* He made the World... through Christ

* John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

* Good Friday in view of the perfect revelation of God…

* *The Plan… made perfect*

 

 

*The Plan… the Power*

3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.

*  When Christ came to earth… the Incarnation… was not a great man, not a simple prophet… He was… and He is God!!

*  /He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature/

* NAU Colossians 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form…

* Rev 4… 6& 11 "*HOLY*, *HOLY*, *HOLY* /is /THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."… "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."

* Nothing worse than a great plan and no will or power to complete it… Jesus has the power and is obedient to the Father’s will….

* On Good Friday it is incredible to think that Jesus… God Incarnate… the radiance, the nature, the power of God… is willing to lay down his life… to face ridicule and scorn… to face the Father’s wrath… that you might be called the children of God!!

 

* *The Plan… the Power*

 

*The Plan… the success*

When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

*  When he had made purification of sins…

* One simple line… that points to the awesomeness of Good Friday!!

* Not only did God have this plan from ancient times…