Who do you say I am? (2)
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Happy Birthday Everyone!
246 years old. You all look great for your age.
It was at first considered a new experiment. A way of government and nationhood that had never been tried before. Imperfect people, living free on a foundation of Christian principles…not that all were Christian, but that there was a foundation for law and free living outside of humanity. Not a King…Not an authoritarian government. A new way of being united, but being governed by representatives both at the state level and on a federal level.
And this work…as we have seen can be…arduous. I believe I remember a number of our founders saying that this method of government would be arduous…meaning long and with great labor.
If you’re a king or an authoritarian government, you just decree something and it is. For us, we have process, through elected officials, who attempt to consider the opinions of their constituents.
And this can be hard and long with great labor…amen? But … would we have it any other way? I don’t believe so.
And when we think of freedom…we understand that the freedom we’re talking about isn’t (and we mentioned this a few weeks ago) freedom isn’t the idea that we can do anything we want.
Our freedoms are wrapped up in (as the Declaration admits) principles from a Creator God…someone outside of imperfect humanity. That’s the foundation…not just what mankind thinks is best…but what God thinks is best.
Now…we live in a hyper political time. Everything is political. We want freedom, but we also know we need ways of saying this is right or this is wrong. Some of the founders talked about freedom. George Washing, in his farewell address mentioned that, unless the citizens keep a “religious” foundation for morality or ethical living, the type of government that was created could not be held. We also had similar references from others through the years as well. Ben Franklin is famous for his response to a lady who asked him while leaving the signing of the constitution…A republic Madam, if you can keep it.
Our founders, while not perfect people, also were keenly aware of humanity’s ability to change. Franklin, in a longer version of this is quoted as responding further to the question…and why not keep it?....“Because the people, on tasting the dish, are always disposed to eat more of it than does them good.”
Freedom. Freedom from what…and why? We need to keep asking the hard questions. We’re thankful for what we have…we know it isn’t perfect. But we’re more thankful for the Kingdom Jesus brought which is higher and eternally more valuable to keep than anything else here on earth. Of course, this is only true if Jesus is really who He said He is.
Think about freedom for a minute. Freedom…some would say that freedom in life means simply to do what you want. The difficulty with that is that in doing whatever you want can be detrimental to ourselves and others. So …then is freedom sometimes bad?
Let’s think about it this way. Freedom, might be something different than what we’ve always thought.
Anyone like swimming…or floating…haha? Has anyone ever wished…even in your own mind…as you watch a fish swim through the ocean…that it might be really cool to be that free…to just swim and swim…at times it seems so peaceful. To be as free as a fish.
Think about that…free… the but best way for fish to live well…is to stay in the water. So they can’t go anywhere they want. So …is that really free? Also, fish kind of need to stay in water that is healthy for them. Saltwater, freshwater. Then there’s water temperature. Then the envioronment needs to be in a place that supplies their nourishment. Then they need to to stay safe. Reef, open water, top surface, bottom feeder.
As free as a fish…so freedom includes boundaries and barriers. As full free life is within the context of what is best for a full life.
If God want us to have a full life…then it will be within His best ways for a full life. And he defined this pretty well. We just need to know and understand Him well. Know His heart well. And follow well.
So think about that as we consider the question again…the question from Jesus. So who do you say I am?
Last week we looked at our third statement of faith as a church family. And its all about Jesus. We looked, quickly, over the first 4 of 8 beliefs we have about Jesus.
Today we’ll go over the next 4
So last week was...
Deity, Virgin Birth, Sinless Life, Miracles
This week we’ll be looking at
His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His role as head of the Church
So last week we looked at this question.
“Who do you say I am?”
We also looked at how this question is probably the most important question in your life.
If we answer as Peter did when Jesus asked the disciples, You are the Christ, the Son of God....that means something.
What do you think? Did Peter just know that? Or, did He understand it?
In Jeremiah 9:23-24
23 “ ‘This is what the Lord says: The wise person should not boast in his wisdom; the strong should not boast in his strength; the wealthy should not boast in his wealth.
24 But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understands and knows me— that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the Lord’s declaration.
God wants us to know and understand. This isn’t just knowledge. It is knowing Him personally as He knows you personally. He also knows your heart. That can be a bit intimidating…but I think it well help us to consider something when we look at these next things about Jesus.
Something occured to me this passed week when I was thinking about the phrase “If Jesus is who He said He was, it means something huge.” Also…how about looking at it this way, If Jesus is who He said He is....then what He says about us matters.
If all of what He said is true..then all He said about us is true as well. Now…I personally think this carries more weight when you think about it personally.
If He is who He said He is....God, the Creator…What He said about us is true too.
His Death - Now, this is historically true. We know that to begin with. We know historically he was a man who walked on the planet. But he also is known historically as one who was killed on a cross. We know this from ancient texts concerning Roman history…not just the Bible. Isn’t that cool?
But why did He die? That’s the question. What does His Word say about His death? We have instances where Jesus tells of His upcoming death. And we find these as He gets closer and closer to His death…but why. Why was it necessary? There’s a reason.
31 For he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise three days later.”
So this kind of covers two of our things for today. He stated that this is what is going to happen. This is unlike any other “holy man” or religious leader. He set the standard for belief. Here I am, I’m going to tell you this. I’m going to die. Then I’m coming back to life.
Why? John 5:25
25 “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
23 “You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
24 Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
What’s that mean? The Gospel is for those who are dead. Who is the Gospel for? Everyone. Wow. What does this say about me and you. Unless we hear and believe…we are _______.
Now…If Jesus is who He said He is…we are dead without Him. Dead meaning eternal separation from God. We understand physical death here on earth…but eternal?…Jesus here gives us a truth claim. He even begins it with the words “I tell you the truth”....We need Him to live.
17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
This means something…coming from the mouth of Jesus as the son of God. Repent. This is a Greek term …that means turn. Turn from what? Sin. So …if we need to do things different....”ACTIONS” what does this mean? The Bible talks about sins. It lists sins. It defines sins. If Jesus said we need to turn, and our turning and believing in Him is necessary for eternal life with God, then He’s not going to leave that ambiguous. As thought its a general thing. He’s going to explain to us what sin is. He’s going to explain what the enemy thinks about sin and how the enemy will try to confuse or give us illusions of sin.
All through the scriptures, we find very descriptive descriptions about that.
The question… Who do you say I am? We need to be able to answer that…not just how we want to answer that…but answer it according to how He defined himself…and how he defined us.
Resurrection - We know that Jesus predicted His death and resurrection. He was going to come back to life.
I love the account of when the disciples are hiding out, most likely in the upper room, doors and windows closed and locked out of fear that they were next…this is just after Jesus brutal death…and Jesus pops into the room.
26 A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.”
28 Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Thomas’ words here are a truth claim. Jesus is not only alive, He is Lord…meaning authority…and God…meaning He is the creator …standing in front of Him.
And to add…He is bodily alive. Just after this Jesus said, Hey do you have something to eat? Further showing He is alive…bodily. Not just spirit. There are some versions of Christianity that now say…He wasn’t really fully alive....
Listen, Here’s what I think Jesus is doing. He’s not just alive to say, Hey I’m back…He’s showing us what life after death looks like! For us! Remember…Jesus isn’t just telling us about Him…He’s telling us about full life here and after here. This is what it is…because HE....
And this is our next statement. He ascended.
9 After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
The thing that He said before this was that the H.S. was going to help them spread the Good News.
And how did he rise…bodily and spirit. Both. Paul wrote that we will exchange the perishable for the imperishable. Jesus said, I’m making all things new.
He ascended …bodily. He walked with them to the mountain…after walking around Jerusalem for 40 days…showing himself to others. What was He showing? Death has been defeated. Death doesn’t have an eternal hold anymore. Death maybe just for this body on this side of things…but that is just how far the curse goes. But Jesus said He had all authority in Heaven and on Earth. So He is showing us, as the one with all authority…this is now how it is!
Authority. Now ....Paul says this...
22 and he subjected all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,
Paul also wrote about the church…that the church is the body of Christ. body....not the Head. The Head....being the Head means something. The hand doesn’t just do what it wants to. The ear doesn’t just hear what it wants to. The mouth doesn’t just say what it wants to...
Now some of you are now thinking…wait…sometimes I hear things watch things, decided things…say things…I shouldn’t.
Jesus said…carry your cross daily....meaning we need to die to ourselves so we can do, say, think only what the Head…Jesus is willing us, the body to do, say, think.
Amen? Ha....Yes…if Jesus is who He said He is…then His word is true…and He is the head of the church…the body of believers…then we should be doing and believing and acting and speaking how the Head…remember…some of you who are older will remember this song…Be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little ears what you hear, be careful little feet where you go…hands what you do....why?
Because we’re suppose to be pointing people to the one who leads the church…the one who said He is truth. We are the light in darkness. We live to influence others for Jesus.
Freedom - Jesus said…the Truth will set us free. What’s that mean? The truth is, believe in Jesus and you will be set free from what?
32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Truth - set free....free from...
34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.
“Christ died for sin. Believers die to be rid of sin. Unbelievers die in sin.”
Some time ago I mentioned that most of the Bible talks about the dichotomy of life. Either this or that. God or Satan. Evil or Goodness. Darkness or Light. Freedom or bondage to sin and its curse. If Jesus is who He said He is…what He says about being a slave to sin matters. We are either a slave to sin and its consequences, which we already talked about …its eternity without God…or it’s freedom, through the Truth (truth has a name) through Jesus.
Died, Returned, Ascended, Head of the Church
Died for us..in our place…taking the punishment of eternal separation for us…but then returning to life…body and spirit, and then not only that, but going back to the father…body and spirit, so we could receive the Holy Spirit…and be the church as His Spirit leads us...
Who do you say He is? If those things are all true, then what He says about us is true…what we need, what true life is, Who we need to believe, And that we have eternal hope in Him....its all true.
Do you believe that today?
If you have questions about that today…what does this really mean? If you have been thinking about this and just need some prayer as it sinks in…there will be some people up here who can pray with you.
Before we pray I want you to hear a prayer from one of the guys who was around at the very beginning. He knew he wasn’t a perfect man. He knew that this nation wasn’t the Kingdom of God, but if people would try their best to believe and follow, it could be a nation of goodness. We know that we’ve walked through tough things…are walking through tough things. But I believe his prayer will resonate with you…and what we’ve talked about this morning.
George Washington’s personal prayer book. Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the lamb and purge my heart by the Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of thy son, Jesus Christ.
Please stand together.
24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you;
25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’
In the name of Jesus we all pray, Amen!