Jesus Our Sufficiency

ME

HOW DO I STRUGGLE WITH THIS?

Here, the communicator introduces a dilemma they have faced or are currently facing.

My insufficiency

Independence

Direction to get somewhere

*First day at MBBC

Went with Troy the previous day

Had a different schedule

Had to drive alone

Need directions? NO, I got this

Before I go on, to my defense it was a 45 minute drive to somewhere I had only been one other time in my life and there were no smartphones with GPS

I remember hopping into our red four door Saturn

Left the parking lot of the apartment complex and headed to class.

I was feeling great!!!!

With each turn I was feeling like “No sweat…I can handle this”

The more correct turns the more confident I felt

I did great until I was coming into Watertown

Remember, I had only gone that way once and it was in the midst of the excitement and stress of starting college

There was one of those Y’s in the road and I was so sure that I chose right

My confidence way through the roof…I KNEW I had it all under control

I didn’t

I too the wrong turn

I drove for several miles until I realized I had gone the wrong way

Then I had to turn around and drive all the way back

My confidence sank…for a while

It was one wrong turn…I’m back in the saddle now…I’ve got it from here

The problem with taking a wrong turn is that after you turn around you are going a direction you have never gone before

The simplest thing would have been to stop and ask for directions

But I was in control here and I was going to find my way

Dove around till I found my bearing

I did not need any help

Was late for class

Why?

My pride

I failed to realize my insufficiency when it came to driving to class the first day

WE

HOW DO WE ALL STRUGGLE WITH THIS?

Find common ground with your audience around the same or a similar dilemma.

Getting turned around on my first day at college seems is so insignificant compared to the areas of live where we pridefully choose to

We turn to anything and everything

Financially

Pay Day loans

Credit Card debt

Health

Gyms

Pilates studios

Supplements

Vitamins

Creams

CBD

Relationships

Pornography

I’m not getting what I want so I’ll find what I want

Physical abuse

I’ll force them into it

Verbal/emotional abuse

I’ll manipulate them

Divorce

I’ll just leave them and start over

Our guilt and sin

Substance abuse

Instead of processing my feelings I will drown them or numb them

Overeating

Instead of going out and drinking excessively we attack that quart of ice cream

Toxic relationships

Instead of waiting and trusting I will jump into the first relationship that presents itself

Cutting

I can deal with the pain by feeling a different pain

Suicide

I can end the pain

There is no limit to how far the human soul can run from God in order to appease ourselves

We put all our ducks in a row

That morning I left for my first day of class I had all my ducks in a row…

Then came the wrong turn

GOD

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THIS?

Transition to the text to discover what God says about the tension or question you’ve introduced.

Here in 1 John we are given three titles to Jesus Christ that is the answer to the reality of our insufficiency

Read 1 John 2:1-2

We are going to leave our normal expository message and look at three titles that John gives to Jesus

Next week we will be back into our expository messages

Titles…Pastor and Reverend

Social Media- Child of God, Husband, Father, Pastor

Matt, Matty, Abe, Hammy

The titles we find here in these verses declare truths to us about Jesus Christ

That truth we find here is that Jesus Christ is sufficient

We see His sufficiency in the three titles John gives Him by way of the Holy Spirit

He is our

Advocate

Righteousness

Propitiation

What does John mean when he gives these titles to Jesus?

Let’s take a few minutes and look at each of these

Jesus is our Advocate

This word in the Greek is actually a more common term for the Holy Spirit.

Paraklete…it refers to one who comes alongside in a time of need

This word is used 5x in the NT and four of the five speak of the HS

This is the only occurrence in relation to Jesus

I think that when it comes to this term we need to notice a difference

When referring to the Holy Spirit this word refers to one who comes alongside and helps…which is why the Holy Spirit is often called the Comforter

When this same word is used of Jesus Crist who is seated at hre right hand of the Father it is stressing someone pleading for us…

Jesus in this sense is like our defense attorney

The difference is that he does not prove us innocent, He admits our guilt.

He then presents His death, burial, and resurrection and grounds for our acquittal

We are guilty, and there is nothing we can do about it.

But Jesus stood in our place

He now is seated beside the Father presenting His sacrifice and obtaining our justification

He is our Advocate…John secondly refers to Jesus as the Righteous

I know this doesn’t sound as much like a title…but it is

This title points us to the truth that Jesus is the foundation for what we could never accomplish

He is righteous…He is pure…perfect…holy

His righteousness is the foundation for our salvation

We could not provide our own righteousness but Jesus was the righteous sacrifice on our behalf.

How do we receive that righteousness?

Romans 1:17 “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

When we by faith accept Jesus’ sacrifice as payment for our sins we are given the righteousness of Jesus

Jesus is our Advocate, He is our Righteousness

Thirdly He is our propitiation

This word has meant, even from the start in Classical Greek, the idea of bringing a gift to the gods to appease them and obtain mercy

I have heard a lot of definitions of this word include the idea of appeasing wrath

That can be a part of it but isn’t always

It often refers to a gift to obtain mercy for a need

In the Septuagent, the Hebrew Bible in Greek instead of Hebrew, this is the word used for the “Mercy Seat”

The Mercy Seat did not have to do with wrath but finding mercy to make up for shortcomings.

Romans 3:25 “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God

Paul is making the declaration here that Jesus Himself was the Mercy Seat, the true mercy seat that the Arc in the OT pointed to

Paul declares Jesus not only as the High Priest but the Sacrificial Lamb as well

Jesus Christ, in these three titles is everything we can never be

We are insufficient, but He is sufficient

YOU

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO ABOUT THIS?

Challenge your audience to act on what they have just heard.

When we come to understand Jesus based on these three titles the response should be a life of faith

Based on the truths of these titles we ought to step out in faith and trust God

Based on the titles John has shared for Jesus we can trust Him

Go from believing that Jesus is these things to acting upon the truths that He is these things

We need to move from knowing these truths to loving Him enough to live out these truths

WE

HOW CAN WE ALL LIVE THIS OUT TOGETHER?

Close with several statements about what could happen in your community, your church, or the world if everybody embraced that particular truth.

How do we practically live this out?

Love the unlovable…reach the unreachable

Maybe they look different

Talk different

Believe different

Give up that pet sin

That one that makes you feel in control

When you are about to step out in faith and it gets tough…we all have something we fall back on

Instead of falling back on that thing…take that next step forward.

Share the Gospel

That family member

That co-worker

Neighbor

Old friend

Instead of appeasing them and playing it safe not to strain your relationship maybe it’s time to step out in faith and stop trusting in your own wisdom and allow the Holy Spirit to lead

I struggle with my own insufficiency just like anyone else

It is more than just in my driving

I get the challenges

I get the temptation to play it safe

We have not been called to a life of ease

We have not been called to a life of safety

We have been called to a life of faith

21- Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow