Speaker 1: I'm going to come back and share, especially as we are entering into the Christmas season.
Speaker 1: There's a particular message that I think is important for us as believers when we look at the Christmas season, because there's an aspect of the Christmas story that is one of the primary ways that distinguishes Christianity from any other faith in the world, and we're going to talk about today how Christianity is not a religion.
Speaker 1: Now, those who are not Christians might define it as a religion, with a broad definition.
Speaker 1: That religion is any set of beliefs in something that you can't see.
Speaker 1: But there's more to quote unquote religion than just that.
Speaker 1: There is a particular way that religion affects people's lives in a way that is different from Christianity, at least the way Christianity is intended to be lived out, based on the truth of the gospel.
Speaker 1: So we're going to talk about today how Christianity is not a religion, and you're going to see why.
Speaker 1: And one of the reasons why I think this is so important is because, especially in our world today I would say this is the case for the past thousands of years, but especially in our world today we need to be more confident and comfortable in our ability to explain to people who are asking the question well, what makes Christianity different than everything else?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 1: Don't all the paths lead to God?
Speaker 1: Or it doesn't matter what you believe, it all goes to the same place anyway.
Speaker 1: And no, it does not.
Speaker 1: But if we're asked that, as Christians, sometimes we can tremble a little bit, because we might know that Christianity is different, but we might not know exactly how or how to explain it simply.
Speaker 1: And so today we're going to talk about something that is very, very unique about Christianity, and we see it in the Christmas story.
Speaker 1: Now I have three young girls at home.
Speaker 1: They're eight and a half, because we have to make sure we have the half Eight and a half, five and a half and three and a half.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was actually a prayer request.
Speaker 1: And so eight and a half, five and a half and three and a half, and here's the thing.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing Because there is such a distance in my height and theirs.
Speaker 1: In my eight and a half year old, she tries to kind of measure herself, sometimes every day.
Speaker 1: See how much she's grown.
Speaker 1: You know, it used to be like that yardstick or something to mark her.
Speaker 1: Well, now it's my stomach, and so she just comes right there and just, you know, just, I'm like I'm getting, look, I can reach your shoulder, I can do all this stuff.
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, you're growing and we keep feeding you and it's happening, but there is a gap in the distance between me and my kids, so that if I want my kids to experience a hug, whether I initiate it or they initiate it, that gap has got to be closed.
Speaker 1: My youngest daughter, who's three and a half, her name is Grace, so I have at least I have Sidney and I have Grace, and when she was younger she would say up, be daddy, up be daddy.
Speaker 1: You know she's asking to be in my arms and here's why this is so important.
Speaker 1: She would need my help because she can't get there on her own.
Speaker 1: She can't get there on her own.
Speaker 1: Now, if that's the Lord calling, tell them.
Speaker 1: I say hello, if that's.
Speaker 1: If that wasn't, she can't.
Speaker 1: So there's this gap.
Speaker 1: She's three and a half and maybe I'm three feet tall or so and I'm six one, six two.
Speaker 1: She can't just jump up there.
Speaker 1: She can't close the gap on her own.
Speaker 1: If I'm going to hug her, I have to come down to her.
Speaker 1: I can either come down and stay down there and hang out, or I can bring her up into my arms, but she cannot close the gap on her own.
Speaker 1: I have to do something to come down to her.
Speaker 1: If I'm going to play a game, I've got to come down to her.
Speaker 1: If we're going to play with Barbies, I've got to come down to her.
Speaker 1: And why is that important?
Speaker 1: Because because that's what God did for us.
Speaker 1: There is nothing we could do to get up to him.
Speaker 1: There is nothing we could do to be united with him.
Speaker 1: There's no amount of, there's no ladder that could have closed the gap between where we were and where he is, and God, as a father, wanted us to experience his embrace, and he knew we could not come up.
Speaker 1: He had to come down.
Speaker 1: So now, when I'm playing with my kids and I decide to come down there maybe they want me to play on the floor or something like that I decide to come down there.
Speaker 1: There are some things I've got to do, though.
Speaker 1: After the decision has been made in my head that I'm going to come down, I've got to communicate that to the rest of my body so we all cooperate with everything that needs to happen so I can get on down there.
Speaker 1: Then, after I get down there immediately I begin my playing.
Speaker 1: Come on now for how I'm going to get back up Like y'all.
Speaker 1: We can't stay down here forever Knees.
Speaker 1: You hear me Ankle hips right Now.
Speaker 1: When I was growing up, one of my favorite serials was Rice Krispies, and one of the things they said in the commercials was snap crackle pop.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't hear that when I eat cereal.
Speaker 1: Now I hear that when I get up off the ground I have to play with my kids Snap crackle pop.
Speaker 1: Now, here's the thing, though Even if there is some kind of inconvenience, even if there is some kind of strain or whatever, it is worth it to have the outcome of looking at my kids in the eyes, of laying down, playing with them or whatever.
Speaker 1: It's worth it to come down to them and to close the gap coming to them that they could not close on their own, trying to come to me.
Speaker 1: This is what the Christmas story is all about.
Speaker 1: It is about God coming down to us as a baby and a manger and the person of Jesus.
Speaker 1: It's God coming down, and that, my Christian friends, is what makes Christianity unique from everything else in the world.
Speaker 1: All these other religions have a different focus, and what I want you to see between Christianity and religions is the direction of movement.
Speaker 1: The direction of movement Y'all stay with me the direction of movement.
Speaker 1: We want to look at who is moving to who and why.
Speaker 1: So let's go to the first slide with the arrow pointing up.
Speaker 1: This is what religion looks like.
Speaker 1: I have God little G, because all the other religions are little G gods and whatever that God is.
Speaker 1: And in some religions it's not actually a God.
Speaker 1: There's Nirvana, or this state of being one with the universe, or a state of bliss.
Speaker 1: It's not an actual person, it's a state that you get to.
Speaker 1: But here's the main points.
Speaker 1: Religion originates with humanity reaching up.
Speaker 1: It is an upward movement.
Speaker 1: It's humanity reaching up.
Speaker 1: It's humanity trying to be approved, trying to be accepted, trying to earn favor, trying to earn blessing, trying to do all of these things to appease whatever God is there in that religion.
Speaker 1: That's religion.
Speaker 1: It is an upward movement.
Speaker 1: When you think about some of the movies that depict ancient Rome or ancient Greece or some of those other movies, you oftentimes hear them say things like we have to honor the gods, right, if we're going to go to war, you know they might have a seer or some kind of a druidess or some kind of a person that's their version of a prophet who sees in the spiritual realm, and they'll say things like what does it look like for us?
Speaker 1: Are the odds in our favor?
Speaker 1: Are we going to win this battle?
Speaker 1: If we're gonna sail out on the sea, they might wanna do some kind of an offering to Poseidons in Greek mythology.
Speaker 1: Like, poseidon is the god of the sea.
Speaker 1: If we're gonna sail across the sea, we wanna make sure that it's safe, so we gotta make sure that we are honoring Poseidon.
Speaker 1: Right, there's all these different things.
Speaker 1: So, whether it's Greek mythology or even today in Hinduism, there are over two million gods.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine what your life would have to be like to try to appease over two million?
Speaker 1: Have you ever tried to count to two million?
Speaker 1: No, you didn't, because that's crazy.
Speaker 1: That's just way too many right?
Speaker 1: But that's what this looks like Having to appease this god and this god and all this kind of stuff and all this kind of right.
Speaker 1: That's religion.
Speaker 1: But when it comes to Christianity, go to the next slide.
Speaker 1: This is the movement, the direction of the movement.
Speaker 1: Christianity originated in the heart of God.
Speaker 1: We didn't just create this.
Speaker 1: It originated in the heart of God and it's God reaching down.
Speaker 1: This is the main difference.
Speaker 1: It is God reaching down, it's a downward movement where he is initiating relationship.
Speaker 1: We weren't just living in darkness saying, man, sure, dark down here, wish there was some light.
Speaker 1: No, we were in darkness, enjoying darkness.
Speaker 1: We were in sin, enjoying see.
Speaker 1: We were not looking for a way of escape Because we were unaware of being a sinner.
Speaker 1: Period, the whole concept.
Speaker 1: Someone had to let us know.
Speaker 1: Number one I am the creator.
Speaker 1: Number two I created this to be different.
Speaker 1: Number three sin messed it up.
Speaker 1: Number four I'm going to fix it for you.
Speaker 1: And in order for me to fix it for you, see, you can't come up, I have got to come down.
Speaker 1: And so, in Islam, allah is not coming down.
Speaker 1: In Confucianism, no one's coming down.
Speaker 1: In Buddhism, no one is coming down.
Speaker 1: In Sikhism, no one is coming down.
Speaker 1: In the Bahá'í Faith, no one is coming down In the Jewish faith, they're still waiting for someone to come down.
Speaker 1: In Christianity, someone came down for us and did the work to close the gap for us.
Speaker 1: That's why we call it good news.
Speaker 1: There's no good news of Allah, it's good news of Jesus, it's the gospel of Jesus.
Speaker 1: In Islam, when they die.
Speaker 1: They believe that their good deeds and their bad deeds are going to be put on a scale and they're hoping that they've done enough good deeds to outweigh their bad deeds.
Speaker 1: And that's their version of salvation that they have to do good works and their good works have got to outnumber their bad works.
Speaker 1: What a way to live.
Speaker 1: You can have peace like that, but you can have peace if you know it's finished.
Speaker 1: See, you can't have joy if you know that it's finished.
Speaker 1: This is God coming down.
Speaker 1: This makes Christianity unique.
Speaker 1: No other faith or religion, as they call it, has the God coming down to do the work for the people, to close the gap to the people so they can be united with the people.
Speaker 1: No other one.
Speaker 1: And you need to be able to clearly explain that to people.
Speaker 1: You don't need to explain anything else.
Speaker 1: We'll help them to the dinosaurs I'm talking about no dinosaurs.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of things that you might not have to explain about Christianity.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of things you just won't know.
Speaker 1: Don't be afraid to say I don't know, but one of the things you can know is that here's what makes us different.
Speaker 1: God came down in the person of Jesus Christ and he accomplished the work for us and our role is to believe that it worked.
Speaker 1: Yes, that's what we believe.
Speaker 1: We believe that Jesus is our way to God, that God came down to us in human form, that there was nothing that we could do to earn our way, there was nothing that we could do to climb on up into His presence, to climb on up to His standard of holiness and righteousness and perfection, that there was nothing we could do to get there.
Speaker 1: And he knew that.
Speaker 1: And we've gotta confess that.
Speaker 1: And when we confess that, then we can acknowledge that he's coming down to us.
Speaker 1: This is the gospel and this is what we are celebrating during this Christmas season.
Speaker 1: But let me just tell you what.
Speaker 1: Let me just tell you what.
Speaker 1: The one of the downsides of this message being highlighted just around the Christmas season is that, like I said, it's one of the main distinctions between Christianity and everything else and it is a core message of the gospel.
Speaker 1: And if we only talk about this message during Christmas, once a year, then we will relegate a core element of the gospel that should be preached every day to something that is a seasonal message.
Speaker 1: This is not a seasonal message that it's a core message of the gospel, so much so that at the very beginning of John's gospel he says in the beginning was the word he calls Jesus the word, and the word became flesh so we could see Him at the very beginning of the gospel.
Speaker 1: And, like Nate was saying earlier in Matthew, there's a genealogy that goes all the way down from Adam, all the way down to I mean from Abraham to Jesus right, talking about Jesus.
Speaker 1: And Luke goes all the way from Adam all the way down to Jesus.
Speaker 1: They're talking about beginning their gospels this way.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because it's so important.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you something the birth of Jesus Christ in a manger.
Speaker 1: It is not a seasonal message, it is a core message of the gospel that has to be taught 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Speaker 1: Do not relegate this message to December.
Speaker 1: People need to hear this in January and February and March and April and May and every month of the year, because it is central God becoming flesh and then God dying for us and then God being raised from the dead by God, the Father, like this.
Speaker 1: This is the gospel message.
Speaker 1: And why did he do it?
Speaker 1: Because we couldn't come up.
Speaker 1: He had to come down.
Speaker 1: Now let's go back to the first slide, with the arrow going up, you can still live Christianity this way.
Speaker 1: Many of us still live Christianity this way, as if we still have to earn it, as if, even though Jesus died on the cross, that's good.
Speaker 1: Securing our salvation, that's good, but don't I still have to do something?
Speaker 1: Don't I still have to add good works to this?
Speaker 1: No, the works that we do are because of our joy and our rest and our experience of the abundance of God's generosity towards us.
Speaker 1: We work because we're saved.
Speaker 1: We don't work to be saved.
Speaker 1: So the things that we do should come out of a joy, because of what has been finished for us.
Speaker 1: It shouldn't come out of a sense of duty or obligation that there's something we still need to earn, like I still need to do something to make God happy with me.
Speaker 1: I am already in Christ.
Speaker 1: He cannot be more happy with me now if I just do something extra.
Speaker 1: I am in Christ, I am in His Son and His Son is in me.
Speaker 1: There is no more happiness that God adds to how happy he already is with me.
Speaker 1: And you See, but when you believe that you can rest in it.
Speaker 1: If you don't really believe that, you think, ah, that sounds good, that sounds good.
Speaker 1: But now I still think I have to do something.
Speaker 1: And here's why I'm saying this, because so many times, if we're going to live Christianity this way, we still believe that we owe God.
Speaker 1: All right, now, don't raise your hands, okay.
Speaker 1: But how many of you actually, if you're honest with yourself, you still believe at some level that you owe God Because he's been so good, because he's blessed you, that you owe him.
Speaker 1: And the reality is you don't owe him.
Speaker 1: He did what he did to cancel all of your debt, not to create a new debt.
Speaker 1: And so sometimes our guilt and our shame from our past or whatever, that's what's speaking.
Speaker 1: That's not the gospel speaking.
Speaker 1: That's not grace speaking.
Speaker 1: That's guilt speaking.
Speaker 1: It's just like, oh, my God, I got to earn it.
Speaker 1: And here's how you know if you feel like you have to earn it.
Speaker 1: Here's an example Sometimes, if you can come to worship and you're experiencing God's presence, you're with the saints singing to God and you got your hands up, you've got the full extension elbow.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: The full extension elbow.
Speaker 1: Like you just know, god loves you.
Speaker 1: You are happy to be in his presence just because you felt like you did good that week.
Speaker 1: Did anybody ever have a bad sin week?
Speaker 1: You know that.
Speaker 1: You know the week.
Speaker 1: You know you're like, oh, this is not.
Speaker 1: I know God, he can't be proud of me the way I was acting.
Speaker 1: I've been prideful, I've been irritable, I've been jealous, I've been, I had to cuff somebody out and it didn't matter that they deserved it, but I know I shouldn't have done that.
Speaker 1: Then Sunday rolls around.
Speaker 1: You're coming in.
Speaker 1: If you come that Sunday, then you get here and you don't quite have that extension, no more.
Speaker 1: Now you got like the little.
Speaker 1: You know, you got that terrain.
Speaker 1: Final source Rex prays yes, it's like the best you can do, right, joy to the world.
Speaker 1: And we sing and we sing.
Speaker 1: We're not quite singing.
Speaker 1: Why?
Speaker 1: Because we think that something has changed.
Speaker 1: And when you think that something has changed between your relationship with God, because you sinned, you're here, right there, you're living that, because this right here is based on your behavior, it's based on your work.
Speaker 1: If you work hard, are you doing good, then everything's good.
Speaker 1: Right, we have appeased the gods.
Speaker 1: Even if you don't believe in Greek mythology and all that you can still believe the same thing about God.
Speaker 1: Oh, I made God happy today.
Speaker 1: I have appeased him.
Speaker 1: I was, I was, you know, showing love to people around me and I know God is happy with me.
Speaker 1: Like his personality and his mood and his disposition towards me is based on my behavior.
Speaker 1: So what I'm doing good, that he's good towards me.
Speaker 1: If I'm doing bad, I know he's.
Speaker 1: You know I might not be blessed now because I right, that is living Christianity as a religion.
Speaker 1: That is not the gospel, that is not grace, that is not what the cross is about.
Speaker 1: And sometimes we live that and I'm going to tell you right now, if we live that, that would explain why we're not excited to share that, because it's exhausting, there's no certainty, there's no peace, it's a lot of work.
Speaker 1: We don't really want to invite people into that.
Speaker 1: It's like we believe enough about the gospel to go to heaven, but we don't believe enough about the gospel to go to the world.
Speaker 1: This is different than having it here, versus having it here.
Speaker 1: And the word says if you believe in your heart that God raised from the dead, you shall be saved, and confess with your mouth, you shall be saved.
Speaker 1: And some of us.
Speaker 1: We have it here.
Speaker 1: It's not here.
Speaker 1: How do we know?
Speaker 1: Because there's a difference between repeating the truth of the gospel and resting in the power of the gospel.
Speaker 1: You can repeat the truth.
Speaker 1: You can repeat anything you've memorized and anything you've heard.
Speaker 1: Enough you can repeat it.
Speaker 1: You can tell the story of the gospel, but how you live and how you rest is what will tell if you are resting in the truth of the gospel you believe.
Speaker 1: Are you living it this way, or go to the next slide, or are you living it with the arrow going down that way?
Speaker 1: See, there's joy here.
Speaker 1: There's joy here when you're living here, christianity adds a relationship, not just a relationship, but one initiated by God.
Speaker 1: I think we've got to kind of add that to it.
Speaker 1: Oftentimes we say Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship.
Speaker 1: It's not just a relationship, it's a relationship initiated by God coming down, because it's the nature of the relationship that makes it so amazing.
Speaker 1: It's not just a relationship like I started it.
Speaker 1: It's not just a relationship that I'm keeping together.
Speaker 1: This is not a covenant that I started and I created and I'm holding on my end of the bargain and God does not.
Speaker 1: This is not that kind of relationship We've got to be more specific.
Speaker 1: This is a relationship that God initiated while we were yet sinners.
Speaker 1: Christ died for us when you're at your worst.
Speaker 1: He came to you then At your worst.
Speaker 1: He came then While you were still in darkness.
Speaker 1: How much more has your relationship now changed, now that you are a child of light?
Speaker 1: So the difference is, when I have that bad sin week, when I'm living like this, when I keep pouring that because the TV is right there, but when I'm living like this with that bad sin week, I can come into worship and still go full extension, praise and say God.
Speaker 1: This past week has reminded me of the power of the cross.
Speaker 1: This past week has reminded me that I could not close the gap.
Speaker 1: I cannot do this on my own.
Speaker 1: This past week reminded me and my family and reminded my boss and reminded my kids that I needed a savior, because I can't keep this thing together myself.
Speaker 1: I can't be holding it for the righteous enough.
Speaker 1: So thank you, that joy has come to the world.
Speaker 1: That's why we sing.
Speaker 1: So here's the new flash.
Speaker 1: Here it is, you're ready.
Speaker 1: You don't ever have a good week or a bad sin week.
Speaker 1: You don't ever.
Speaker 1: You just have a forgiven week.
Speaker 1: It's forgiven.
Speaker 1: This, this, right here.
Speaker 1: Are you seeing this, this on your very worst day?
Speaker 1: Remember this.
Speaker 1: When you feel like you've blown it, remember this that the relationship is based on what he did for you.
Speaker 1: That's why your junk can undo it, your sin can undo the cross, your mistakes can undo the redemption.
Speaker 1: Your sin cannot take away the power of the blood of Jesus that has washed you from it.
Speaker 1: So you can worship when you feel like you've had a good day and you can worship when you feel like you've had a bad day.
Speaker 1: But I will tell you this that in Christ, you are forgiven.
Speaker 1: God does not ever see you having a bad sin week.
Speaker 1: He just sees you having a forgiven week.
Speaker 1: That's the gospel.
Speaker 1: See everyone else, in every religion.
Speaker 1: They need to be worried, they need to be concerned, they need to be worried about the scale.
Speaker 1: They need to be, not us.
Speaker 1: It's already finished.
Speaker 1: He did it.
Speaker 1: It makes us unique.
Speaker 1: He did it.
Speaker 1: He came down to us and he did it.
Speaker 1: He died on the cross for us.
Speaker 1: He shed his blood for us.
Speaker 1: He rose on the grave for us, for us, for us.
Speaker 1: He came down for us and there's nothing you did to add to it.
Speaker 1: There's nothing you did to improve the gospel.
Speaker 1: There's nothing that you did.
Speaker 1: You just believe that it worked.
Speaker 1: That's what got you in.
Speaker 1: You believe that the blood of Jesus is what God uses to forgive you of your sin when you trust it.
Speaker 1: When you say I recognize that the gap is too big, I recognize I can't jump up into your arms.
Speaker 1: I recognize I can't feed enough homeless people, I can't pour enough bozo soup, I can't give enough coach to earn your favor, earn your blessing, earn your approval.
Speaker 1: I recognize the gap is too big and because of that, I recognize why you had to come and I recognize you as coming.
Speaker 1: And I recognize and believe why you came and what you accomplished for me and I believe that.
Speaker 1: I believe that my sins have been forgiven.
Speaker 1: I believe that the cross actually worked for me.
Speaker 1: I believe that the blood he shed 2000 years ago is still powerful enough today to keep me cleansed Not just cleanse me back in 85, but to keep me cleansed Because he came down.
Speaker 1: This is why this is good news.
Speaker 1: So let me look at this, this passage that Paul is telling to sharing with the Galatians, and he says this in Galatians, chapter four, versus four through seven.
Speaker 1: But when the right time came, god sent his son, born of a woman subject to the law.
Speaker 1: God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law.
Speaker 1: The idea of being slaves to the law is having to abide by the law for approval, for acceptance.
Speaker 1: He bought freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
Speaker 1: And because we are his children, god sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, prompting us to call out Abba, father.
Speaker 1: Now here's the result Now, now, not before, but now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child.
Speaker 1: And since you are his child, god has made you his heir.
Speaker 1: How'd you become his heir?
Speaker 1: How did you become his heir?
Speaker 1: Because you graduated from Sunday school, because you went to VBS, because you served in outreach.
Speaker 1: How did you become his heir?
Speaker 1: God made you his heir.
Speaker 1: That's why it came down.
Speaker 1: Because you were an orphan.
Speaker 1: You were not his child.
Speaker 1: You were his creation, but you were not his child.
Speaker 1: You were not in relationship with him.
Speaker 1: We were in an enmity towards God, a hate towards God.
Speaker 1: We loved darkness.
Speaker 1: We were in darkness.
Speaker 1: We were not looking for the light.
Speaker 1: He knew that we were in darkness.
Speaker 1: He's the one that came to the light.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, he says the light came to the world and the darkness tried to squash it out, but it could not do it.
Speaker 1: The word also says that men were in darkness and we love darkness because we love doing evil.
Speaker 1: We were not looking for God.
Speaker 1: God came because he came looking for us.
Speaker 1: Jesus said I've come to seek and to save those who are lost.
Speaker 1: He came looking for us.
Speaker 1: You know, good and well, we were running, we wanted to do our own thing, so I took some of us a long time to just be like, okay, you know what, I'm just going to stop running, because you were running, because you did not want God.
Speaker 1: You didn't.
Speaker 1: He wanted you and he kept pursuing you.
Speaker 1: He kept coming after you and, matter of fact, we probably have seen that song, the reckless love of God.
Speaker 1: Right, there's no shadow.
Speaker 1: He won't light up, no mountain, he won't climb up.
Speaker 1: Coming after me.
Speaker 1: Right, he leaves the 99 and coming after the one.
Speaker 1: Well, you, at one point you were the one that he was coming after.
Speaker 1: You see, this is why he comes down because he's coming to us.
Speaker 1: He's coming to clean up people who don't even acknowledge that they're dirty.
Speaker 1: He's coming to lift up people who don't even acknowledge that they're down.
Speaker 1: As truth comes, he helps us become self aware.
Speaker 1: And then, when we see ourselves, when we see our sin, when we see the gap, god, how can I, how can I get there with you?
Speaker 1: How can I do that?
Speaker 1: No problem, you can't.
Speaker 1: I have to do it for you, I have to do it for you.
Speaker 1: And so when we live that God has made us his heir, when we live, that's where our joy comes from.
Speaker 1: We're arresting in the power of what he has done for us.
Speaker 1: When we're resting in that, that's where our joy comes from.
Speaker 1: That's where our sense of rest comes from.
Speaker 1: That's where our security comes from.
Speaker 1: And that security is again when I make a mistake.
Speaker 1: I know I didn't fall out of God's favor.
Speaker 1: I know I don't have to try to do something to earn his favor back.
Speaker 1: Oh, I made God mad and I got to do something to make God happy.
Speaker 1: That's religion.
Speaker 1: That's not our father.
Speaker 1: Remember the power of the cross.
Speaker 1: The power of the cross is what secures your position in Christ.
Speaker 1: Now, if you did cut somebody out, well, that's not cool, right, you need to repair that relationship.
Speaker 1: You need to repair that.
Speaker 1: But God's position towards you hasn't changed.
Speaker 1: God's view of you hasn't changed.
Speaker 1: You really do think that because the people in your lives did that.
Speaker 1: So your experience of other people being disappointed in your behavior, of people being hurt by your behavior, avoiding you because of your behavior, feeling betrayed by you, like all that kind of stuff, their emotions, their facial expressions, their neglect, their abandonment, like all those reactions to your mistakes Sometimes we attribute that to God.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you he is not like that.
Speaker 1: When you are secure in Christ, his view of you does not change.
Speaker 1: His opinion of you does not change.
Speaker 1: That's what it means to be secure in Christ.
Speaker 1: When you are secure in Christ, god's mood doesn't change.
Speaker 1: You don't ever have to worry about God's mood changing about you.
Speaker 1: He's happy today, he's mad tomorrow.
Speaker 1: That's not God, that's not our Father.
Speaker 1: Once he puts you in Christ and we say well, what about the Old Testament?
Speaker 1: That was before Jesus.
Speaker 1: That's why, on the night, we observed community today.
Speaker 1: What did Jesus say at the Last Supper?
Speaker 1: This is the new covenant in my blood.
Speaker 1: No one in the Old Covenant was in Christ as a matter of fact.
Speaker 1: Okay, let me give you an example.
Speaker 1: David never met him, but he's got some cool things happen in his life, king David.
Speaker 1: We admire him for some of the real cool things that he did.
Speaker 1: Of course, we see some of his wins.
Speaker 1: We see some of his mistakes.
Speaker 1: We see him having a filled with faith as he kills Goliath.
Speaker 1: We see him having that issue with morality when he sleep with somebody else's wife and instead of repenting, he kills her husband to cover it up, like I just got you know.
Speaker 1: But he loved God.
Speaker 1: Men after God's own heart, I would describe him.
Speaker 1: How is that possible?
Speaker 1: David also knew what it meant for him to be forgiven by God.
Speaker 1: Psalm 51 is him saying creating me a clean heart, oh God, and renew within me a right spirit.
Speaker 1: He's acknowledging I had a wrong one and I need you to renew it in me.
Speaker 1: Renew within me a right spirit.
Speaker 1: My sin is ever before you.
Speaker 1: That's what he says in Psalm 51.
Speaker 1: You go down to verse 11, he says something else that none of us should ever pray.
Speaker 1: He says and don't take your Holy Spirit from me, because in the Old Testament that could happen.
Speaker 1: God's spirit was upon Samson.
Speaker 1: Samson broke the covenant.
Speaker 1: God's spirit left Samson.
Speaker 1: He had this supernatural power and strength when God's spirit was upon him and his hair was long.
Speaker 1: When he disobeyed God and told this lady, you know, he just he had the wrong barber that day.
Speaker 1: You just, you know, you can't trust everyone with your hair, I'm just saying.
Speaker 1: And so he broke the covenant.
Speaker 1: The spirit was your strength is in your hair.
Speaker 1: Don't ever tell anyone where your strength comes from.
Speaker 1: Well, he broke the covenant.
Speaker 1: He told somebody they cut his hair.
Speaker 1: The spirit was gone.
Speaker 1: At the end of his life he said God, bring it back one more time.
Speaker 1: And he repented.
Speaker 1: And he did.
Speaker 1: And then he just brought down the whole situation.
Speaker 1: But so in the Old Testament, the spirit could be upon you.
Speaker 1: You act a fool.
Speaker 1: Spirit's gone.
Speaker 1: King Saul, first king of Israel.
Speaker 1: Spirit of God was upon Saul, right, and David saw it.
Speaker 1: And then Saul messed up.
Speaker 1: The spirit left Saul.
Speaker 1: Bob Cluble says it.
Speaker 1: The spirit left Saul.
Speaker 1: So then David, he's king, he's had the anointing on him, he's had the spirit upon him.
Speaker 1: When he messes up, guess what he has to ask.
Speaker 1: Don't do that to me though.
Speaker 1: Don't, just don't create any clean heart, don't take your spirit from me, because that was possible in the Old Covenant, the Old Testament.
Speaker 1: And Jesus says this is the new covenant in my blood, not the blood of sheep and rams and goats, the new covenant in my blood.
Speaker 1: See, there's a difference New covenant Now, when you put your faith in Christ for salvation and God gave you the spirit of his son, he's given you his spirit.
Speaker 1: Now you are in Christ.
Speaker 1: So God sees you from your position in his son and his son is in you.
Speaker 1: That is inseparable.
Speaker 1: You don't ever, now, ever, have to pray God.
Speaker 1: Please don't take your Holy Spirit from me.
Speaker 1: This is what it means to be in a new covenant the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 1: Does that make sense?
Speaker 1: Is that clear for everyone?
Speaker 1: So you see, because in the new covenant we got to look at things that happened in the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, a little different.
Speaker 1: Some of that stuff that they had to deal with we don't have to deal with right.
Speaker 1: In the Old Testament, god says you better not touch that Ark, the Ark of Covenant, the priest carrying it, the priest, the one's allowed to carry, don't, don't touch it.
Speaker 1: Right, it began to slip.
Speaker 1: What did my man.
Speaker 1: Who's the dude?
Speaker 1: Oh, I gotta catch it.
Speaker 1: Yeah well, god told you not touch it.
Speaker 1: Yep, come on home.
Speaker 1: He's out of the game.
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 1: God comes to meet with Moses.
Speaker 1: On top of the mountain there's fire and smoke.
Speaker 1: God says Moses, I'm coming to meet with you.
Speaker 1: Tell the people to back away from the mountain.
Speaker 1: I've only given clearance for you to come to my presence.
Speaker 1: If they touch this mountain, they're going to die.
Speaker 1: Tell them to back away from the mountain.
Speaker 1: I'm only inviting you to come up here in the New Testament because of the blood of Jesus Guess what?
Speaker 1: You can come boldly before the throne of grace and find help in your time of need.
Speaker 1: You're united with God in Christ.
Speaker 1: You're made alive in your spirit.
Speaker 1: It's a new covenant.
Speaker 1: It's the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 1: God has come down.
Speaker 1: That's what Christmas is about.
Speaker 1: God has come down in the person of Jesus Christ and he changed the game for everyone who believes.
Speaker 1: That's what this is about.
Speaker 1: So, even though I respect a lot of people in the Old Testament, according to the word itself we have a better covenant.
Speaker 1: There are prophets and kings in the Old Testament that wish they saw they could see the day that we and I are living in now.
Speaker 1: None of them believe that God was going to be living in people they don't know.
Speaker 1: They believe the Messiah was going to come.
Speaker 1: They don't know exactly what was going to happen.
Speaker 1: Even the devil didn't even know.
Speaker 1: One verse says had the devil known God's plan of putting Christ inside of us, he never would have crucified the Lord of glory.
Speaker 1: Had the devil known what God was going to do in humanity by his son dying on the cross and being raised from the dead, the devil would say listen, demons.
Speaker 1: We need to all staff meeting, all staff meeting.
Speaker 1: Listen to me, listen to me.
Speaker 1: Leave Jesus alone.
Speaker 1: We need him to stay alive because if he dies, the way for forgiveness will be made for everyone.
Speaker 1: If he dies, the sins of the world will be crucified with him.
Speaker 1: If he dies, these no cohes will become children of God.
Speaker 1: Keep away from Jesus.
Speaker 1: Feed him.
Speaker 1: Bring him some biscuits or something.
Speaker 1: Keep him alive, because if he dies he will destroy us.
Speaker 1: And what did Paul tell the Colossians?
Speaker 1: When he told the Colossians, he says when Jesus died on the cross, he made a show of the devil publicly triumphing over him because of the cross.
Speaker 1: Had the devil known the plan that God had, they never would have crucified the Lord of Glory.
Speaker 1: That's what the word says.
Speaker 1: Y'all better keep Jesus alive.
Speaker 1: We can't let him die, because if he dies he's going to shed his blood.
Speaker 1: If he sheds blood, they'll be forgiven, and if they are forgiven they'll become children of God.
Speaker 1: If they had become children of God, they'll have authority over us.
Speaker 1: Come on, somebody, is anybody in the house today?
Speaker 1: The devil would have changed his campaign.
Speaker 1: Talk about keep hope alive or keep Jesus alive.
Speaker 1: Can't let him die, because if he dies, god's going to raise him from the dead and he will have victory over death, hell and the grave.
Speaker 1: He'll take the sting out of death and our hold on people will be broken.
Speaker 1: Even if you don't believe the good news, the devil does Right and so does God.
Speaker 1: That's what, even in our emotions, when we feel guilt and shame, we feel like we're just this distance.
Speaker 1: Even if we feel that way, god doesn't change.
Speaker 1: Even those moments where you don't believe the power of the gospel, god still does.
Speaker 1: That's the cool thing about this covenant and him holding the covenant together, because even when you don't fulfill your part, it's still intact because he's in, you're in his hand, right.
Speaker 1: Jesus said no one can take them out of my hand.
Speaker 1: Here's one of the things I want you to.
Speaker 1: I want you to see in this list of scriptures here.
Speaker 1: I'm going to go through this relatively quickly, but I want you to notice a pattern.
Speaker 1: I want you to notice a pattern.
Speaker 1: So the real issue of being a child of God is being a receiver, to constantly be on the receiving of the source, to live a life from the source, who comes down to us, and he's still coming down.
Speaker 1: He's still reaching for people, he's still rescuing us.
Speaker 1: In Matthew, chapter one, at the very beginning of Matthew's gospel, this is the end of the genealogy that Nate was talking about earlier, where the angel is speaking and announcing what's going on.
Speaker 1: He says see, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated God is with us.
Speaker 1: Okay, god is with us.
Speaker 1: We're going to come back to that.
Speaker 1: John, chapter one, verse 14, that very beginning of John's gospel.
Speaker 1: He says this the word became flesh and dwelt among us.
Speaker 1: Right, he came down and we observed his glory, the glory as the one and only son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Speaker 1: He came down so we could see him.
Speaker 1: James, chapter one, verse 17, says every good and perfect gift is from where, from above, doing what Coming down from who, the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Speaker 1: In John, chapter six, verse 33, this is Jesus speaking.
Speaker 1: He's referring to himself as the bread of God and the bread of life.
Speaker 1: And he says this for the bread of God is the one, the person the bread is.
Speaker 1: A person, for the bread of God is the one who what Comes down from where and does what Gives life to the world.
Speaker 1: And then, a few verses later, jesus is still teaching.
Speaker 1: He says this is the bread that does what Comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die.
Speaker 1: Again, a main difference Old Testament versus New Testament.
Speaker 1: In the Old Testament, god's blessing and favor was on one nation, israel.
Speaker 1: In the New Testament, the invitation is to who God so loved the world, everyone who believes See my Christian friends, religion.
Speaker 1: When you're trying to go up, religion can never reach.
Speaker 1: That's why it's never satisfied and the work is never done.
Speaker 1: But when God is coming down to reach us, to come to us, when he's the one coming down to do the work, the work can be finished and the work is finished, and when you believe that the work is finished, you can rest you, and I know that when you feel like you owe a debt to someone, the relationship changes, doesn't it?
Speaker 1: When you owe someone money or someone owes you money, because debt creates a distance in the relationship, you don't want to see their number on the ID if you owe them money because you think that's all they're calling about.
Speaker 1: You know you're hiding from them.
Speaker 1: In railings down the aisle You're like, oh, that's them, that's them, that's them, that's them right?
Speaker 1: Debt creates distance and some of you right now you still feel like there's this debt you have to God because at some level, you don't really believe the full gospel of Jesus, that the work is finished, and so some of the guilt you have is you feel like there's still some work you need to do to earn, to owe God back, to pay Him back, to pay.
Speaker 1: No, you can't pay.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's think about it.
Speaker 1: Let's wait, okay, so poach is supposed to pay God back.
Speaker 1: Do you know how much you owe?
Speaker 1: Let's just see where we go with that.
Speaker 1: Alright, so you got to pay God back.
Speaker 1: You got to pay God back for everything.
Speaker 1: Do you know what your credit score is right now.
Speaker 1: Right, it's in the negative and there's no repair for that.
Speaker 1: God either has to give you an 850 or you don't have one.
Speaker 1: In Christ you got a perfect score 850.
Speaker 1: Now you can rest in that.
Speaker 1: Now you know you got an 850 credit score.
Speaker 1: That changes your attitude now, doesn't it?
Speaker 1: Okay, let the gospel change your attitude.
Speaker 1: The fact he gave you a perfect credit, perfect credit.
Speaker 1: We used to walk around like you got a 200.
Speaker 1: You live different when you got a 200.
Speaker 1: It's a possible to have a 200, I don't even know.
Speaker 1: I don't even know if that's possible, but you live different.
Speaker 1: You live different.
Speaker 1: So I want you to think about this verse and we'll close and we'll have some time to kind of reflect here.
Speaker 1: Romans, chapter five.
Speaker 1: Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, by what?
Speaker 1: By faith?
Speaker 1: Not by working hard, not by earning it, but by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ, our Lord, has done.
Speaker 1: You can't have peace with God when there's debt.
Speaker 1: You can have peace with God when you know that debt has been paid, cleared, paid in full.
Speaker 1: That's how you have peace with someone.
Speaker 1: So if you right now.
Speaker 1: You don't have peace with God.
Speaker 1: He has peace with you if you're in Christ, because he believes in gospel, he has peace with you.
Speaker 1: You don't have peace with him.
Speaker 1: I guess awkward to pray or feel comfortable.
Speaker 1: You think he's gonna bring up what you did in 77?
Speaker 1: Like you.
Speaker 1: Just you don't have.
Speaker 1: There's no peace there.
Speaker 1: Paul says Paul, who was attacking Christians?
Speaker 1: If anybody knows about forgiveness and grace, if anybody knows about God giving you a whole new life, about God changing your story right, taking away the old label and rewriting your story, as Nate was saying, if anybody knows that, it's Paul.
Speaker 1: Paul says we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ, our Lord, has done.
Speaker 1: What, for us, that's the gospel.
Speaker 1: Because of our faith, christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where now we stand.
Speaker 1: We confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory.
Speaker 1: No, we didn't earn it, but we sure did receive it.
Speaker 1: I told you I was gonna circle back to God with us, and this is it.
Speaker 1: The purpose of God with us.
Speaker 1: I'm coming in in a minute.
Speaker 1: The purpose of God with us is us with God.
Speaker 1: He had to come down so we can come up.
Speaker 1: The purpose of God with us is us with God.
Speaker 1: This is what Christmas is about.
Speaker 1: This is what makes Christianity different.
Speaker 1: Don't ever forget it.
Speaker 1: This is the core of the gospel that God came down to do the work for us, to close the gap for us, and this is why it changes how we view us and our status with God and our own sin and how we view the sin of other people.
Speaker 1: If we look down on people because of their sin, it's because at some level then we're looking up at ourselves and we have forgotten that the same blood that cleansed us, it's the same blood that will cleanse them.
Speaker 1: Like judgmentalism comes from forgetting grace, the grace that you've received.
Speaker 1: When you go deeper into believing this not just here where you can just repeat it, but here where you can rest in it it will change how you live.
Speaker 1: It'll change your position towards even sharing Jesus with other people.
Speaker 1: I used to believe that for Christians to do more evangelism and sharing Jesus, but I, as a preacher, had to convince them how to do it, why to do it, why it's important, why, why, why, why, why, why.
Speaker 1: This is how you do it, and I came to the conclusion part of reflecting my own life.
Speaker 1: If we really believed it, we'd share it.
Speaker 1: If we believed it, I'm gonna talk about believing it enough for us to go to heaven, but believing it enough for us to go to the world with a message.
Speaker 1: If we believed it, we wouldn't be self-condemning when we make a mistake, when we sin, we mess up.
Speaker 1: If you're self-condemning, you'll also be other-condemning.
Speaker 1: When you know about the grace for you, you'll be able to extend grace to others.
Speaker 1: Let's take a moment.
Speaker 1: I want you to ask yourself two questions, and if you have a notepad that you wanna write and you're a writer, then feel free to do that.
Speaker 1: I wanna ask yourself two questions.
Speaker 1: The first question is what today has changed about my view of God.
Speaker 1: The second question is well, I'll just do one question at a time.
Speaker 1: Let's take a moment with that one.
Speaker 1: We have those of you up front, up top and down here what has changed today about my view of God?
Speaker 1: Let's take a moment and ponder that.
Speaker 1: What has changed today about my view of God?