2016-12-04 Luke 19:8-10 Incarnation's Purpose (3): Such Great Salvation

INCARNATION’S PURPOSE (3): SUCH GREAT SALVATION (Luke 19:8-10) December 4, 2016 Read Lu 19:1-10 – Those last two verses leave no doubt what this passage is about – salvation – the whole purpose for the incarnation. The passage divides into 3 parts – the Sinner (where we learned we’re all eligible); the Savior (we learned Jesus of Nazareth is the key to the whole thing). And today we want to look at Salvation – what characterizes it? What is it all about? A young husband expertly carved his wife’s Thanksgiving turkey into beautiful rows of thinly sliced white and dark meat. Then he turned to his father-in-law, a well-known surgeon, and said, “How’s that for a stunning bit of surgery?” The older man laughed and replied, “Not bad. Now – let’s see you put it back together.” That illustrates precisely what salvation is all about. It is about putting back together again the mess of life that mankind has made corporately and personally. It is about reversing the drastic effects of the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden that have imbedded themselves into every life. The effects of the fall led Zach to made money his god over relationships, country and religion. His god had left him empty, guilty and helpless to save himself. But that’s just who Jesus came to seek and to save. Zach eagerly grasped this rope thrown to him by Jesus. Not all do. But Heb 2:3 issues a solemn warning: “how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” So why is salvation so great? And why will neglect kill? Let’s look at how this great salvation plays out in Zach’s life. Four truths about it. I. Salvation is Promptly Transacted Do you realize how few people know that they are saved? They think so; they suppose so; they hope so; but they don’t know so. Why? Because if you are working for it, you can never be sure. Is it enough? And if it’s enough today, what about tomorrow? Sicilian King Dionysius was envied by Damocles for his power and riches. Dionysius offered to exchange places and Damocles mounted the throne, surrounded by luxury. But Dionysius had a great sword hung over Damocles head, held by a single hair of a horse tail -- representing the uncertainty of great power. Damocles soon opted out of his arrangement. But outside of Christ, there is no opting out. The uncertainty of whether one is accepted by God or not hangs like the sword of Damocles over everyone outside of Christ – for everyone trying to climb the mountain on their own. 1 But that’s not the salvation Jesus offers. It takes effect the moment we repent. When our heart reaches out to Christ in faith, the transaction is immediate and permanent. Look at v. 5: “I must stay at your house today.” Look at v 9: “Today salvation has come to this house.” When Jesus came, so did salvation, and it came to stay. Now it is true that salvation is comprised of 3 parts, described by 3 wonderful theological terms. Justification – God as judge declaring believers righteous – one time act. Permanent acquittal. Not a result of any good in us, but God’s response to our faith in Jesus’ death in our place. Rom 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then there is sanctification – the process by which God gradually makes us in practice what we are in position. And finally glorification – which happens when death comes or when Christ comes which makes us finally perfect. Salvation is comprised of all of these. But the process locks in place the instant we repent our sin and open our heart to Him. Col 3:1, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” How long did it take for Jesus to be raised? One moment He was in the tomb, the next he was raised to live forever. It was instantaneous, just like Lazarus. And just like the initiation of spiritual re-birth in the believer. Salvation is immediate. “Abe believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Rom 4:3). It happened right then. No waiting to see if he’d be good enough. He wouldn’t – but Jesus would, and that was all that mattered. Paul was saved on the road to Damascus -- instantly. The Philippian jailer was saved the moment he placed his faith in Jesus Christ. Good thing for the thief on the cross that you don’t have to do something. He was saved instantaneously and Jesus said, “Today (love that word) – today you will be with me in paradise” (Lu 23:43). II Cor 6:2 says, “behold, now is the day of salvation” – not a whole bunch of days or a month of Sundays or the end of your life – today! Like the Fanny Crosby hymn: “O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, / to every believer the promise of God; / The vilest offender who truly believes, / That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.” Maybe you can’t pinpoint the exact second, but if you have salvation, it came instantly, and you’ll know you have it. II. Salvation is Pricelessly Treasured Why priceless? Because Zach’s had something unmerited. He was held in contempt by others. And he could do nothing to rectify the situation. But even 2 if he had gained acceptance with the people, he could never have earned God. Jesus doesn’t seek him out because he deserves it. Zach has done nothing that might have caused Jesus to say, “Hey, Zach. Congrats. You’ve turned your life around. You’re so much better than you used to be, so the Father has sent me to tell you, ‘You’re in!’” Not the way it works, dear friends. This is God’s unmerited favor being freely offered and enthusiastically accepted by Zach tho both he and Jesus know he’s done nothing to earn it. It is a priceless gift. All Zach does is receive it. He’s exhibit one of Titus 3:5, “He [God] saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.” When Jesus stopped, and looked up into Zach’s eyes, it was mercy with a capital M. That’s the way all salvation is. We can never put God in our debt. George Whitefield, the human instrument of the first great awakening in the 1740’s said: “Before you can speak peace to your hearts, you must not only be troubled for your sins, but you must also be troubled about your best performances. When someone is awakened to his obligation before God, he immediately flies to his performances, to hide himself from God -- to patch up a righteousness of his own. Says he, ‘I will be mighty good now. I will reform. I will do all I can, and then certainly Jesus Christ will have mercy on me.’ But you must see that God may damn you for the best prayer you ever put up; you must be brought to see that all your righteousness-- put them all together, are so far from recommending you to God that he will see them as filthy rags — that God hates them, and rejects them if you bring them to him to recommend you to his favor.” Does God want us to do good things? Yes. But they become odious if we bring them and say, “Now you must accept me. I’ve earned the right!” No, we have not! That’d be like your child saying, “Dad, can I have $1 to buy you a present?” You say, “Sure.” Shortly he returns: “Look, Dad, I got you a present,” and you’re pleased. But now he says, “So, I now expect room and board here as long as I want. I’ll keep my room however I want it. You now owe me for whatever I need or want.” How would that fly? Not so good, I bet. You’d say, “Listen, your gift warmed my heart. But you can’t buy my love. You can’t put me under obligation. I love you because you’re my son. My love is freely given. It’s priceless. Try to put a price on it and it’s going to come between us. You’ll ruin the whole thing.” So with salvation. It can never be earned, only accepted and treasured as a priceless gift. That’s how Zach accepted it and the only way any of us can have it. III. Salvation is Personally Tendered 3 A SS teacher asked her 2nd graders, “Why do you believe in God?” One boy answered, “I don’t know, unless it’s something that runs in the family.” Well, salvation may run in your family, Beloved, but that does not save you. It may push you that direction, but the decision in the end is personal, not because you have certain connections. Each must enter on his or her own. The narrow gate is only wide enough for one at a time. It’s a personal decision. Jesus came to Zach personally, and Zach had to decide for himself. No one can decide for him. He’s not “accepted” because he is in the right group. That is the point of v. 9: “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.” What’s that last phrase about? Why add it? If it means anything, doesn’t it suggest he’s saved because he is an Israelite – a son of Abraham? Read it again! “Today salvation has come. Today.” So when did Zach become a son of Abraham? When he was born, right? He was a Jew from Day one. His physical ethnicity can’t be the issue. So what is? It’s his spiritual ethnicity. Yes, he had been a son of Abraham all his life outwardly, which did nothing for him. But today – today he has become a son of Abraham inwardly. That’s when salvation came to his house. Zach was an Israelite before Jesus found him -- but not in the ultimate sense! Turn to Rom 2:28-29: “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit.” On this day – in that moment – Zach became a son of Abe inwardly, in his heart, by the Spirit. He was saved the instant God regenerated him and by faith he accepted Jesus invitation to move in! Instantly he was a “completed Jew” – inwardly as well as outwardly. That required a personal response to Jesus invitation. We must never think that we have salvation because Mom and Dad had it, or we went to church or we were born in the US. Connection has nothing to do with it. Saving faith is personal. John Stott says in Basic Christianity he used to think when Jesus died on the cross everyone in the world was put right. He goes on: “I remember how puzzled, even how offended, I was when it was first suggested to me that I needed to take hold of Christ in his salvation for myself. I came to realize that while Jesus Christ is the Savior, I must accept Him as my Savior. This way of putting things is certainly prominent in the Bible: ‘The Lord is my shepherd’, ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation,’ ‘You God are my God.” He says the verse that helped him most was Rev 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him.” It’s your decision, Young people. No one 4 else’s. Certain things we must do alone. We are born alone. We die alone, and we make our decision for or against Christ alone -- all on our own. IV. Salvation is Powerfully Transforming 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Get the scene. Jesus and Zach have proceeded to Zach’s home as the crowd murmurs their objection that He has made Himself the guest of a sinner – little realizing that’s exactly why He came – “to seek and to save the lost.” We don’t know what was said on the way, but once they’ve arrived, in front of the whole crowd, Zach stood (lit “took a stand”) and publically confessed Jesus as Lord. This is Romans 10:9-10 in living color: “9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” Zach didn’t know about resurrection yet, but He accepts by faith that Jesus is Savior and Lord, and he stakes his life on that fact. This is salvation effected. But that’s not the end. That’s just the beginning. Because saving faith transforms. It happens in a moment of time; it brings a lifetime of change. I love what Zach says: “Look, Lord.” There’s emotion in that comment. Grace has gone through Zach like a lightning bolt. He’s been given what he could not earn. And he responds: “Because you love me and have saved me, I want to change.” It’s not like, “Because I change, now you accept me.” We don’t change to get God’s love and acceptance. We change because we got God’s acceptance. It’s not change then salvation. It’s salvation then change. Change is the result, not the cause of saving faith. Please see that. Religion says: “I do something, therefore I’m accepted.” Saving faith says: “I’m accepted; therefore I do.” When Zacchaeus says, “I’m going to give away half of everything, and I’m going to pay everybody back whom I’ve cheated,” Jesus does not say, “Now salvation will come to you.” He says, “This is a sign that salvation already came!” Salvation first, then the change. This resolve is the fruit of faith and repentance. Jesus has become the center of his existence. We fool ourselves when we think we can take Jesus on the side! In those days an overnight stay meant full participation in the life of your host. There were no electric lights, no TV, no separate rooms. You lit the torches, ate all evening and then went to bed in the same room. This is Jesus 5 demonstrating that salvation is not just meeting Him on Sunday; it is Him applying grace to every nook and corner of your life. That’s what’s happening to Zach. The gospel is reshaping his existence around Jesus instead of self. II Cor 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” That’s what’s happening to Zach. Change touches every area of his life, including money! He says, “I’m going to give away half my income.” Not the 10% required by the law, but 50%. From seeing how much he can take from people, he’s investigating how much he can give. Grace in action. He says, “If I have defrauded” – first class “if condition” – “Since I have defrauded, I’ll restore it fourfold.” For voluntary restitution, Lev 6:5 required a 20% penalty. Grace has persuaded him to give back 400%. He’s a changed man. Why? Grace. Jesus has come in and he’s no longer seeing how much he can get by with but how much he can give back. Zach came down from the tree because Jesus is going to climb up the tree. Zach goes from being despised and rejected to accepted because Jesus becomes despised and rejected. Zach left home the smallest man in town; he returns as the biggest because Jesus becomes the least in his place. The realization of that grace drove the great change in Zach’s life. Conc – So, has salvation come to your house? Then what’s changed? Kent Hughes tells of a man named Big Jim who used to captain the ferries across Balboa Bay in Newport Beach where Patty and I used to go occasionally for great seafood. So did Kent and his wife and they met Big Jim, got into conversations with him about Christ, the gospel, the need for forgiveness. And so one day in his own living room, Big Jim came to the place where he said, “I’m no good. But I want Christ if he will have me.” And have him he did because he is still seeking and saving the lost, just like Zach. Kent says, “Big Jim” was still a little rough around the edges. He’d come and tell Kent, “Pastor, that was a hell of a sermon.” But he was a true disciple, and life changed. Kent says, “My favorite memory of Jim is of him sitting crosslegged on the dirt in cutoffs, shirtless and tanned (ever the beach boy), working on the church sprinkling system, refusing all advice to go home and rest, saying, "After all Christ is done for me, this is the least I can do." See, grace changes you. You can’t help it. Has it changed you? Has salvation come to your house? Someone once asked, “If you were put on trial for being a Xn, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” There would be if Jesus has truly come home with you. I pray He has because how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation. Don’t neglect; accept! Let’s pray 6