Good News - Your God Reigns
Notes
Transcript
Intro - A Bright Future Awaits you...
Intro - A Bright Future Awaits you...
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Last week Pastor BJ did a phenomenal job launching this series - The future is bright…Just a quick set up as a refresher…We spent 5 weeks looking at how Daniel stood strong and loved well in a context, in a setting that wasn’t favorable…what was the why? What was the anchor? What was the hope that gave him the ability to endure…no, more than that, thrive for 70 years in Babylon, the personification of evil?
Jeremiah 29:11…was a prophesy that was made before all of that happened…God promised that in the midst of all of this pain, confusion, frustration, bleakness, darkness, that He STILL…HE STILL…KNOWS THE PLANS THAT HE HAS FOR HIS PEOPLE…THAT HIS PLAN IS GOOD…IT’S SO GOOD THAT IT MAKES THE FUTURE BRIGHT, SO BRIGHT IN FACT THAT WHATEVER IS DARK NOW HAS TO RETREAT…HE HAS PLANS TO GIVE US A FUTURE AND A HOPE...
Daniel didn’t know what that plan was…He didn’t know exactly what that future would look like…it didn’t matter to Him…He knew God…He knew that if God said it was good it will be the greatest good…He knew that if God said he has a plan for a future and a hope…He knew it was bright...
BJ clued us in…what that is for us…what it was even for them, but they didn’t get to see or experience Him…Jesus…No matter what…b/c of Jesus, THE FUTURE IS FOREVER BRIGHT…EVEN IF ITS DARK NOW, THE LIVING HOPE WE HAVE IN JESUS, PUSHES AWAY ALL PRESENT DARKNESS…OUR FUTURE CAN ONLY BE BRIGHT...
A BRIGHT FUTURE AWAITS YOU...
A BRIGHT FUTURE AWAITS YOU...
I had a teacher in 6th grade that I had a love/hate relationship with…I mean I thought she had it out for me…It didn’t matter what I did, I always felt like she had an eye to catch every little thing I did wrong…no granted, she had every reason to do so, but when I was 12, no she didn’t…she was flat out mean...
Now, I was a bit of a stray cat as a kid, I was already heading down a path that wasn’t going to lead to good things…I was a troubled young lad and that’s making light of the real situation...
I remember even believing at this point in my life that I was a bad kid…that this is who I am…my identity and so I didn’t see a whole lot of positive outcomes or even hope…But Mrs. Strazeski, spoke truth to me and over me…she would inform me that she was hard on me because she saw a bright future awaiting me…she saw things in me and what could be…I then accused her of lying…of course...
But those words somehow got into my heart…and those words…stirred up something inside of me that I later learned was something called hope…And as good as those words were and as much hope as it stirred inside of me, I couldn’t find myself fully trusting in those words b/c who is she…not that she’s evil…and what does she know…can she see the future…is it just a hunch of hers…is it just wishful thinking…is she just an overly positive person and of course wants to give hope to a troubled kid...
I’m thankful for her and those words she spoke into me - a bright future awaits you…But I had no idea as to what that even meant...
But here’s the thing - we need those words of hope…more over…we need a concrete, sure hope, that comes from one who knows all, sees all, and who is over all…We need words that are concrete and sure…from one who is true…from one who not only gives words of hope, but follows through in action on those words...
Words and actions that truly allow the hope of the future, the brightness of a future hope, to penetrate any thickness of our struggles, despair…penetrate any gloom and darkness of our present circumstances…words and actions that become our catalyst for living NOW AS IF THE FUTURE IS INDEED BRIGHT...
Because it is…it is because of the words that God spoke…it is because of the acts that God did for all...for those who believe and receive the good news...
Hope from the Hills (outside)...
Hope from the Hills (outside)...
6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.” 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
You see, Israel didn’t know what to do with God’s words of hope…Jeremiah was forewarning Israel about what was coming and that they could allow God’s word to give them a hope that makes their present and future bright…but generally, many in Israel wouldn’t believe it, couldn’t receive those words...
But God is relentless, He is so good, that He will continue to be a light in the darkness, providing words of hope if we would receive them…Here’s what I know to be true of all of us when things look and feel bleak around us…it’s hard to find hope within ourselves, and difficult to find hope in our immediate surroundings…THAT’S WHY GOD OFTEN TIMES BRINGS HOPE FROM THE HILLS...
ISAIAH 52:6-7…Context…Either just before Babylonian captivity or in it…it depends on how we date it…Isaiah 52 is a declaration from God, God bringing hope from the hills, shouting to His people that God will not be silent, will not be distant, or alienated from his people, even in Exile…Even in the darkness, he will bring hope from the hills…hope that informs us, that God has a plan for a future and a hope...
Here we see it…The mention of good news…of the Gospel…how beautiful are the feet of those who bring a message of hope from the hills…God has come to deliver you…PEACE…HAPPINESS/JOY, SALVATION…YOUR GOD REIGNS…THAT ALONE MAKES OUR PRESENT/FUTURE BRIGHT...
What a welcome sound is the footfall of a runner bringing Good News…Think of a Greek Warrior running from Marathon to Athens in 490BC…Rejoice! We conquer! He had to get word back to his people so they wouldn’t surrender to the defeated Persians…
People listen! Peace…Joy…Salvation…YOUR GOD REIGNS…DON’T SURRENDER...
8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.
These watchmen see messengers coming over the hills in the distance, and that messenger is signaling the good news of victory! These watchmen are a picture/image of people inside the city walls as their city is being besieged…it’s that moment Gandalf shows up in battle for Helm’s deep in the LoR’s 2 towers...
At the moment when all seems lost…a message of hope comes from the hills...
9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
God has bared his holy arm…his key strategic play to defeat the enemy, to redeem his people…nothing remains but for the people to lay hold of this message of hope, this sure and solid promise in faith and to live with a different perspective...
YES…YOUR GOD REIGNS…HE’S COMING…HE WILL WIN/HE HAS WON…What does this mean to them? This message is some 700 years removed from when Jesus would come…was it about something else or was this about Jesus? Yes.
Your God Reigns...
Your God Reigns...
700 years from Isaiah to Jesus…then there was 400 years of silence between that time, no words from God…just silence…in that time, history informs us that it got dark, bleak…desperate…what do we do? Is there hope? What do we live for? What are we to hang on to? Fight? Surrender? When will God come through on His promises? When is the promised Messiah going to come? We have these words of hope that encouraged us that our future is bright…what now??? What are we to do with them?
…then comes one running…proclaiming that YOUR GOD REINGS…HIS KINGDOM IS AT HAND! DON’T SURRENDER…Your present-future is bright…it was a message from a person whom was written about some 700 years from when he came...
1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’ ”
3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
A message of Hope has come from the hills…What does this mean? What does he mean that the Kingdom of God is at hand? What is this good news? What light is needed in this darkness that even transcends into our darkness?
This messenger’s name was John the Baptist and his message was that the Kingdom of God is imminent…it’s at hand…it’s going to happen in our time…in fact, all of those messages of hope in the OT about the coming Kingdom with it’s coming King is about to go down...
The Jewish people knew and longed for this reality to happen, especially then...
9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.
They were looking forward to the time when God would be the king over all things and his kingdom is established…where He reigns by His Sovereign power and nothing comes to pass but by His Kingly decree…Where God will rule and have no longer any competitors to the throne…Where God’s Kingdom will be set up in such a way that the Glory of God will be revealed and no longer hidden...
This is the objective message of hope that they believed and expected to happen…but how it is to happen, their expectations, caused SIGNIFICANT TENSION and still does to this very day for all people...
John was Telling them that the One is coming after Him…and his way will be different…in fact it will be something unheard of...
Something unheard of...
Something unheard of...
9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
John’s message is that God is baring His holy arm before all nations…that the King is coming to save…not just in the general sense of reigning as sovereign over all things, but in the new specific sense of baring his holy arm and revealing his glory and defeating his enemies and saving his people and establishing peace and righteousness on the earth...God’s arm is none other than Jesus Himself…
And Jesus made it crystal clear His purpose…the only purpose that give real and actionable hope…the only words that can actually secure a bright future...
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
The Time is FULFILLED…The Kingdom of God is at hand…Repent and believe in the Gospel (the Good News…) Jesus taught this, proclaimed this, lived this, and even died for this...
23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
This was a direct quote from Isaiah 61:1-2…Jesus connected a 700 year old message that gave the people of Israel hope and said this is me…IT IS FULFILLED…I am the one spoken of…my ministry is the arrival of the LONG AWAITED Kingdom of healing and salvation and freedom from oppression…God is now revealing his arm, Himself as King to save and deliver like he never has before...
What Jesus means…THAT GOD IS ABOUT TO EXERT HIS RULE IN A NEW WAY TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE AND DEFEAT THEIR ENEMIES AND REVEAL HIS GLORY IN THE WORLD…The time has come for God to break into the world like never before…to personally reveal his glory, to personally comfort his people, and to personally defeat our enemies...
This is the GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM…This is the hope that comes from the hills…the only hope that makes all things bright in our present and secured our future...
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
What is the Gospel of the Kingdom that the Bible points to? It is this - it’s the good news that in Jesus, God’s kingly power and authority is breaking into the world like never before: He is ruling in a new way to save His people from their sins and deliver them from their enemies and reveal His glory and establish peace and righteousness on the earth...
So why wasn’t this received as good news then to the whole nation? Why did so many reject Him? Cast Him aside? Mock Him? Deem Him a heretic, worthy of crucifixion? Why do so many today reject Jesus? Cast Him aside?
It’s just that Jesus doesn’t seem to fit the mold of what we would expect of such a King…of such a Kingdom…That His methods and His way of life that he called others to embrace…doesn’t fit…That Jesus didn’t really conquer our real enemies, that Jesus doesn’t really comfort us, save us, deliver us…from what? Many are still oppressed…people aren’t as bad as His says we are…Jesus doesn’t seem that powerful if He died…in fact that’s ridiculous to even think that God would die at the hand of his enemies…I mean what kind of God is that?
Just like Israel then, many today, fail to understand that we are all under the law…and that law convicts us…declaring us guilty…because we all have fallen short…sin, evil in the heart, oppressed to lies, death…there is no freedom till this freedom happens…
God sent us His Son when we openly and actively have rejected Him and would rather worship/live for lesser things, idols, ourself...
This only creates a bleak and dark future...
But because of Jesus…the opportunity to have a bright future break into your present is now available to you...
But how you see Jesus and what you do with His message is what makes all the difference…Is your future bright? It all depends - Is Jesus repulsive to you or is He redemptive?
Repulsive or Redemptive???
Repulsive or Redemptive???
52:13…Even here, 700 years ago, the prophet Isaiah speaking a message of concrete hope that is pointing to the Forever King, now we know to be Jesus, is so descriptive and so exact that it is utterly breathtaking…The prophet describes humanity’s hero in such a way that would fit no one’s expectation...
Isaiah starts out…my servant will act wisely, which is a way of saying…He will succeed…there is no question on the outcome…victory is ensured, guaranteed…All of the build up…good news…your God reigns…Good News of the kingdom…he will surely conquer…than what follows doesn’t seem to make sense, or to provide any means of hope...
This is has the sound of triumph but what happens in-between looks like devastation…it speaks of He alone you worship…to someone that who looks repulsive...
Verse 14…appearance so marred…beyond human semblance…his form beyond that of the children of mankind…does this mean He will look different when born? No…for us to understand what this means, we look to Jesus…when the people couldn’t stomach Him anymore, when they were beyond repulsed at Him, the demanded crucifixion…Jesus was beaten so badly by the Roman soldiers, so disfigured, that no one asked beyond mocking, Is he the servant of the Lord…no it was so bad, that people wondered if He was human…Extreme suffering...
He was so badly beaten, that people were astonished when looking at him…but this extreme suffering was what was needed for the extreme sacrifice that we, our sin, our rebellion, our true enemy, needed...
His blood was poured out and sprinkled, Verse 15, for the nations…This is what guaranteed victory…This is something new…No one foresaw this as the means of removing our guilt this way…of making humanity right…Kings had nothing to say…this has never been done before...
Even for the believer, this is still hard to grasp…THAT THE SERVANT OF THE LORD WOULD JUDGE OUR EVIL BY BEARING IT HIMSELF IN HIS OWN SUFFERINGS…But this was the joy that was set before Him…To provide a way to free us from our enemies and oppressors...
Here’s how our victory was won…that in Jesus, by His undeserved sufferings, would make a hope that guarantees our hope in the present and future that nothing else in this world can offer...
This is repulsive to many…He doesn’t look like our version of a King…He doesn’t act like a King…He brings about justice by the means of his own abuse and suffering…how can it be?
Isaiah 53:1-3…The prophet moves from astonishment to flat out rejection…Astonishment that this promised Servant King would suffer for others…to rejection because He’s so unassuming, ordinary, and gentle/meek…Jesus lived in rejection to save you…and, yes, it takes faith to see the glory of God in Jesus…it did then and it does today...
The arm of the Lord has been revealed…it’s Jesus…it’s open to all…but he doesn’t come into the scene like a conquering hero does He…He comes into the world under the radar…people miss Jesus because we are looking for something else…but Jesus moves in our hearts under our defensive radar of prejudices and slowly awakens our hearts to see Him...
On the surface of things, he wasn’t impressive…wasn’t the most handsome fella…he looked unpromising…son of a carpenter…in a failed nation…how can He be the King of a forever Kingdom??? I mean his own family didn’t believe him till after the resurrection…He didn’t have this holy radiance surrounding him…No in fact, he was despised, looked down on, he came to his own people, and was rejected...
He loved his enemies, turned the other cheek, took on the abusive and became a man of sorrows…knowing where he was going and what he was doing, which made Him familiar with grief…people couldn’t tolerate Him…people were often repelled because of him…because of the abuse and suffering and ridicule he took on...
Verse 4-6…700 years before Jesus, Isaiah writes as if we/they were there at the cross…b/c we were…b/c they were…It wasn’t Jesus’ guilt that required His death…NO…it was our guilt, our sins, our transgressions, our falling short, our rebellion, our evil, that required the death of Jesus...
Jesus substituted Himself for us at the cross…JESUS DIED IN MY PLACE…THe sorrows he carried were our sorrows…God has shifted the blame to Jesus as he died for guilty people…He laid on Him the iniquity of us all...
Humanity’s guilt must be paid for otherwise there is no real freedom, no real victory in life…there can be no bright future…THis guilt can’t be swept under the rug and ignored as if it isn’t there…It has to be paid for, made right…God can’t turn a blind eye to our evil that is damaging the world...
This alone is the very definition of love…this is why our future is bright…Jesus substituted Himself, sacrificed Himself, paid off our guilt and shame with His blood so that we are made pure and holy...
His punishment…brought us peace…His wounds heals us..
We all have turned away…all…we all went our own way…all…we the blind, the rebellious, we are the sheep who have gone astray, but he is the one who was beaten for our willful rebellion…Jesus comes and proclaims the Good News all the while knowing this awaits Him…LET THAT SPEAK TO YOUR HEART…THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM MEANS YOU CAN HAVE A BRIGHT FUTURE...
Verse 7-9
Notice the detail of this person’s innocence, His submission, and the injustice and treatment He receives. All of this is true of Jesus…He’s compared to a sheep…not to be compared with intellect but the the defenseless nature of the sheep that is what’s being compared…YES HIS SUFFERING IS UNJUST…but He accepts without protest...
This is this grosses miscarriage of Human justice ever…His death however, was not because He’s weak and unable to defend Himself…No…It was willing…it was an exercise of control…He choose it…He alone can lay His life down… Jesus was not, and could not ever be overpowered…He chose not to fight back…He chose to not speak back...
He did no violence…No deceit in his mouth…His actions and words declare He was innocent...
Verse 10-12…Why? Why did this happen? Because it was the Lord’s will…the Father’s will…How can God be good when this is His will? How can this be good news for us? It’s because there is a greater good to be had…What greater good could possibly justify the crushing of the servant, His one and only Son? The greater good is the offering for our guilt…That many will be born anew...
LISTEN…JESUS DIDN’T COME TO TELL PEOPLE/US WHAT GOD WANTS; RATHER HE CAME TO BE WHAT GOD WANTS FOR US. Yes, this is a mystery…Yes the cross is ridiculous and scandalous, no doubt…but on that human instrument of torture Jesus made His very life, His very soul an offering to God the Father for all…At the cross, and the subsequent resurrection, Jesus achieved God’s will with A LOVE VICTORIOUS...
How beautiful are the feet who bring Good News!…YOUR GOD REIGNS...
It’s His Death and LIfe that produces life and hope in us…HE SHALL SEE HIS OFFSPRING...This tells us that Jesus will see it through!…WHO ARE THEY? Those who believe and receive this gift of life and salvation…THE ONE’S WHO BELIEVE THAT WITH JESUS, OUR FUTURE IS BRIGHT!
All this was foretold 700 years before Jesus came that Christmas morning…700 years before when Israel needed a real and tangible Hope…a sure hope…an actionable hope…that would transcend and forever change all things…Look, here comes a messenger over the hills…YOUR GOD REIGNS...
LOOK THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD…Jesus…this one…who...
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.
So Let me ask you...
Is your future bright?
Is your future bright?
There’s only one who can guarantee you a bright future…A hope that is so bright that it invades your present…It’s Jesus…the one who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and buried, who rose again from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father Almight...
Jesus dealt with the guilt of the human race that has forever darkened and blacked out our hope…Jesus suffered once, He no longer is…He reigns…He’s victorious…and His victory is extended to you…right now...
In order for your future to bright, you must let go of the old, and embrace the cross, embrace all that Jesus has done for you on your behalf…The cross of Christ is a power that evil cannot conquer, that no darkness can cover…It’s the only thing that can wipe away your guilt, your shame, your fear, your anxiety over what’s to come...
If you aren’t sure…I want you to hear this, even if you don’t believe this…Your future can be bright…You can have a hope…You can be freed from Sin, oppression, your real enemies are defeated...
Now…I know that many of you are answering that, Yes, My future is bright…Allow me to ask you a question...
Is their future bright?
Is their future bright?
Live as the messenger
Live as the servant
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Acts 8…Philip and the Eunuch...
…it must go out...
Will you be one who’s feet will be beautiful because of the message you carry?
Now is the time for us to stand up Church!
Christmas invite