Famous Last Words - Week 4

INTRODUCTION

.5 MINUTES

When you were a little kid, did your parents, stepparents, or grandparents ever take you to a fair or an amusement park?

For me, going to a place like this was a no-lose situation. Why? Because it was a win in three very important categories:

· Category 1: The food. Funnel cakes and nachos are both happy places for me. And, one year, there was a fried Oreo option. How can you lose with a fried Oreo?

· Category 2: The games. When I had three chances to throw a ball and knock all of the bottles off the podium, I was having fun. Of course, I never actually won any of these games (total rip-off, right?). But for some reason, it never bothered me.

· Category 3: The rides. All of them. I loved the ones with numerous flips and turns (even though I almost threw up my funnel cakes), and I loved the ones that went around in a slow, safe, predictable circle. What can I say? I’m easily amused! (See what I did there? Amusement Park!)

There was, however, one problem, and it was problem that I ran into a bunch when I was a kid… in fact my son ran into it the last time we went to the Tulsa State Fair.

The problem arises when you see a ride, like the giant slide, and think, 100% of the time, “That looks fun!”

Then you see one of those “You must be this tall to ride” signs. Have you seen those signs?

[Communicator Note: Find a picture of one of these signs and show it on your screen.]

I remember praying when I was a kid, “God, if you’re out there, please let me be tall enough for this ride!”

Of course when I was tall enough, everything was fine.

But when I wasn’t, it was maddening. I would think things like...

· What? Can’t short people have fun, too?

· Why can a kid who’s two years younger than me go on this ride because he’s tall for his age? He can’t even read or figure out subtraction math problems, but he can go on this stinking ride?

· Why don’t they just have a “tall” part of the park in a separate area, and have this sign at the entrance? That way I don’t have to stand here and watch the tall kids have a great time on all the rides I don’t qualify for.

What made this worse was that I have an older brother. So, not only did I see him have a great time on these rides, and not only did I have to wait until this ride is over… But I actually had to hear him talk about how awesome it was. (Which I imagine he exaggerated to make me feel even worse.)

That’s when the amusement park became a depression park! It was 0.0% fun when I wasn’t tall enough, according to the sign.

TENSION

2 MINUTES

In some ways, this is a little bit like what following God felt like when I was younger. It was like, in my relationship with God, there was a sign with a line on it. And I was almost always coming up short.

And you’ve probably never thought about it like that, but maybe you can relate. When it comes to things you read about or hear about in the Bible, or things that you hear people like me preach about, it sometimes feels like this...

· There are a bunch of things I’m supposed to do. Things that have to do with you personally: pray, worship, read the Bible. And things that are about your relationships: forgive, serve, love, and so on.

· There are also a bunch of things I’m supposed to NOT do. Don’t gossip, don’t drink, don’t disrespect mom, and don’t lie.

And like the rides in the amusement park that I was miraculously tall enough for, there were a few areas in my walk with God where I felt like I was doing okay. But for the most part, I usually felt like I was coming up short.

And see, here’s the problem with this: When we constantly feel like we’re falling short in our walk with God, it rarely motivates us to draw closer to Him. We usually just back away, don’t we? We keep our distance because we feel like we’re distant from Him. Once we get ourselves a little closer to the line, then maybe we can walk with God again.

Another problem is that the line isn’t always clear. I mean, how long do I need to pray to be okay with God? How many verses per week do I need to read in order to measure up to that magical God-line? Plus, everybody in the church seems to have a different opinion about exactly what we need to do in order to reach that line and have permission to be close to God.

Here’s the good news today. With just three of His famous last words, Jesus can change the way we see God and our relationship with Him forever!

TRUTH

5.5 MINUTES

Today, we’re going to look at what Jesus said during a huge moment: when He was on the cross.

At the point Jesus spoke these words, He had already been mocked and beaten. He was in extreme pain and close to dying. And then, after all He had endured, Jesus said these powerful words:

“It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:30b NLT).

“It is finished” is one of the biggest three-word statements you and I could ever understand in our approach to walking with God.

But why? What was finished? What does this even mean?

“It” was God’s plan of redemption for mankind. And this plan had been set in motion thousands of years before this moment. Let me explain…

When God created people, they were made to be in relationship with God. In other words, they were created by God for God. God said it was good.

But it didn’t take long before the relationship between man and God was broken. According to Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve failed to trust God, and they ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden, sin and brokenness entered the world. And ever since then, sin kept people from the close relationship God intended for them.

Fast forward and this brokenness was even represented inside temples, which were the places where God’s people met together. They were like an ancient version of today’s church buildings. Each temple had several outer courts and rooms where people could worship. God’s presence, however, was only in the center area that was walled off by a curtain. (A little strange, I know.)

To make your way closer to that center area—and to God—you had to meet certain requirements. If you weren’t Jewish, you were permanently limited to the farthest removed court. Then, moving closer inward, there were dedicated spaces for Jewish women, then Jewish men, and then priests. Basically, it was one “tall enough to ride” sign after another.

And then, once a year, the high priest was allowed in that center space, which was called “The Holy of Holies.” He asked for forgiveness for the sins of the entire congregation.

But before going in, the high priest had to wash multiple times and make multiple animal sacrifices. All of these steps symbolized the act of becoming clean enough to enter God’s holy presence.

In other words, it was like a ride at the carnival that only one man could ride once a year!

But God’s plan wasn’t for things to stay this way. Like His plan with Adam and Eve, God’s plan was to remove barriers between Him and us.

But how? The answer is Jesus! Jesus put an end to all of the “tall enough to ride” signs.

Once Jesus gave up His life, the priests no longer needed the blood of animals for sacrifices. Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice that covered the sin of every person.

People no longer needed to wait for that one day a year when one man could go before God. Jesus’ sacrifice made a way for all people to access God.

In fact, check this out from Mark’s account of Jesus’ life in the New Testament:

“Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Mark 15:37-38 NLT).

Wait a minute. Is that referring to the “curtain” that blocked people to the “Holy of Holies,” the place where only the High Priest could enter only once a year?

Yep.

I love that it says “torn in two, from top to bottom.” It wasn’t like there was a little rip in the seams. The “Holy of Holies” was now wide open!

It was like the “tall enough to ride” sign was set on fire and destroyed completely.

That’s because, when Jesus died, He made it possible to be right with God—to be fully close to God in spite of...

· All the ways we don’t measure up.

· All the things we do that we shouldn’t.

· All the things we don’t do that we should.

You’ll hear people talk about how His death was a sacrifice for sin. This wasn’t just a sacrifice. This was THE ultimate sacrifice. Jesus was dying for all sins—past, present, and future—for all time. In fact, years later, the disciple John wrote to a group and explained it this way:

“He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world” (1 John 2:2 NLT).

“Atone” basically means to make up for. Jesus “made up” for our sins. In other words, Jesus measured up to a line that you and I could never measure up to. It’s the line that allows us to be close to a perfect God, even though we are broken, imperfect people. Jesus “made up” for that forever.

That’s why He said, “It is finished.”

This makes things simple to explain, but difficult to believe and embrace. But here’s the truth:

Because of Jesus, we can be close to God.

The plan God had set in motion, which was all about having a close relationship with us, was now a reality.

And it wasn’t about us, what we do, or don’t do to measure up. It was about Jesus and what He did for us when He died on the cross.

APPLICATION

2 MINUTES

This is why Easter is good news. This is why we celebrate it. Because you and I were created to be close to God and walk with Him. And when you trust in what Jesus did on the cross, you realize that your sin no longer stands in the way of a relationship with Him. Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves. Jesus did on the cross what all the ceremonies in the temple tried to do.

· Jesus provided the only way out of sin.

· Jesus represented grace to cover our sins.

· Jesus’ death made a way for us to be close to God despite our sin.

But this is not the end of the story.

Even though the separation of sin was finished on Friday, Easter morning would hold the promise of something new. After three days in a tomb, Jesus came back to life and defeated death once and for all. Even death wouldn’t stand a chance!

There may be some of you who have always kept your distance from God, because you’ve always been aware of how much you fall short. Maybe you show up here each week, but what that means is that your trust in God is more about you. Today I want to invite you to transfer your trust from you and what you do—or don’t do—and put your trust in Jesus and what He did.

Jesus was lifted up on a cross to carry the sin of the world, which includes your sin and mine. And because of Jesus, you and I can be close to God.

· For those of you who have never put your trust in Jesus and what He did for you, I invite you to trust Him for the first time today. In small group you’ll talk more about what that means, but for now I want you to decide that your sin won’t keep you from becoming a Jesus follower because He has already declared it finished.

· For those of you who have put your trust in Christ to save you from your sins, but have counted on yourself to make yourself measure up after that, I invite you to trust Jesus and what He did. Take Him at His word. When He says it’s finished, the barrier between you and Him is over, believe Him.

LANDING

1 MINUTE

As you head out, I want to remind you of one more thing:

God sent Jesus because He loves you—just as you are.

Jesus died on a cross for your sins because He loves you—just as you are.

It will always be our tendency to think it’s all about what we do or don’t do to measure up to the line. It will always be our tendency to think that God wants to be close to us or far from us based on our behavior, but that isn’t the case.

But Jesus said, in His famous last words, “It is finished.” The curtain was torn completely. The sins of everyone, including you, were no longer a reason to be separated.

Because of Jesus, we can be close to God.