Speaker 1: Hey, what up?
Speaker 1: It's Mark Carter.
Speaker 1: I'm the pastor of Fierce Church.
Speaker 1: Welcome to our podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm so pumped that you're able to join us today.
Speaker 1: I hope this encourages you, inspires you, strengthens you, gives you hope to keep pressing on, and it's my prayer that this sermon gives you a more expansive view of God's love for you.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the message I want to talk to you today about.
Speaker 1: Jesus will vindicate me when the time is right.
Speaker 1: It is a Christmas message, but you'll see how that's relevant.
Speaker 1: My favorite Christmas movie.
Speaker 1: Again and again.
Speaker 1: There's some Christmas movies I can't keep watching every year.
Speaker 1: Like we watch them and then I'm like ah guys, I need a few years off of this one.
Speaker 1: But one of the ones that is captivating enough of a story for me that I'm in the story with the main character every time is it's a Wonderful Life, george Bailey.
Speaker 1: Okay, so what's happening to George is through no fault of his own.
Speaker 1: He's in big trouble with the law and if he doesn't do something he's going to go to jail.
Speaker 1: As some of you know, he's got to find a way to get vindicated to get out of this and by the end, circumstances just kind of work together that he becomes vindicated, even though he didn't really pull it off himself.
Speaker 1: I have felt at times like, oh man, I sure wish I could be vindicated about this, because I feel misunderstood.
Speaker 1: Or I feel like when I tried to explain it, people just took things out of context and then it sounded like I was saying something wrong when I was trying to say something right.
Speaker 1: Or maybe my motives were really right towards somebody, but because they knew somebody who looked like me, they interpreted my actions as something a little bit different.
Speaker 1: And I'm waiting to be vindicated.
Speaker 1: And sometimes that comes and sometimes you can explain yourself, but sometimes it just doesn't come.
Speaker 1: We're in the Christmas series, prepare the Way, and one of the things I like to do, I wanted to do, is I wanted to take you through.
Speaker 1: In the first half of the series, some Old Testament passages that you might not have known were about Jesus, and we talked about a passage in the life of Abraham last week, and this week we're talking about a passage from the life of Job, and what I mean is that even when the inspired author was penning the book of Job, he didn't necessarily know everything about the Messiah.
Speaker 1: Even as Job was living through it, he didn't know necessarily that he was talking about Jesus, but the Spirit of God writing through him, inspiring his words and giving him a real hope, picturing and seeing some version of a Messiah happened to be talking about the Messiah, and so the one we're talking about today is I know my Redeemer lives and he will stand upon the earth at the last.
Speaker 1: That's actually about Jesus, and we're going to see how.
Speaker 1: The book of Job is interesting.
Speaker 1: It's one of the wisdom books and it's very much like Ecclesiastes as a counterbalance to the book of Proverbs.
Speaker 1: Some of you know this.
Speaker 1: The book of Proverbs is essentially just like a father's list to the son of.
Speaker 1: Here's some things that are going to tend to be true.
Speaker 1: This is how it works on planet Earth.
Speaker 1: These are the rules, so to speak, and he talks a lot about.
Speaker 1: You know, if you do good, you're going to get good.
Speaker 1: If you do bad, you're going to get bad going to get bad.
Speaker 1: If you walk with wise people, wise things will happen to you.
Speaker 1: If you're generous, people will be generous back to you.
Speaker 1: If you throw in with scoundrels, you're going to end up in a bad way, and so it just says, hey, man, this is how it is.
Speaker 1: But then Job and Ecclesiastes come along and they counterbalance and they say well, those are true, but it's not always true that if you do good you'll get good.
Speaker 1: It's not always true that if you obey, you'll be healthy and wealthy.
Speaker 1: It's not always true that if you do bad you'll get bad, because sometimes and we know this people do bad but they end up with what seems like good, at least for now.
Speaker 1: So the book of Job is here to provide some much-needed correction to our hearts and minds, because we can begin to think this if we're not careful.
Speaker 1: Our hearts and minds, because we can begin to think this if we're not careful, we can begin to think why is it that I'm doing something right but wrong?
Speaker 1: Things seem to be happening to me in consequence, and one of the things the book of Job is trying to say is you may have underestimated how damaging sin was.
Speaker 1: See, if we were in the perfect paradise that God originally created for us, there would be no bad anything there God originally created for us.
Speaker 1: There would be no bad anything, there'd be no bad decisions and there'd be no bad consequences.
Speaker 1: Now, if you cranked up the evil a little bit and the damage a little bit, you could say well, there is damage on earth now.
Speaker 1: Now, good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people.
Speaker 1: The damage is here to good people and bad things happen to bad people.
Speaker 1: The damage is here, which means if you choose the bad, bad things are going to happen.
Speaker 1: But if you turn the damage that was done to planet earth up to 11, as it was, you find that's not only true sometimes.
Speaker 1: Sometimes the innocent suffer.
Speaker 1: Sometimes bad things happen to the very people that were doing something good.
Speaker 1: And that is the picture of the creation that we live in, and Job is telling us about it.
Speaker 1: So the book of Job starts with this heavenly kind of courtroom and God is there with a bunch of his entourage and Satan rolls in and God and him get to talking about Job and God's a little bit bragging on Job.
Speaker 1: He's like man.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've seen Job, but he is dope man.
Speaker 1: He's my servant, he's awesome, he's always doing right.
Speaker 1: And Satan just kind of throws down the gauntlet and says you know, he only does that because you bless him.
Speaker 1: If you stop blessing him, he'll curse you to your face and God's like I'll take that bet.
Speaker 1: And that's alarming to us.
Speaker 1: We're like you're going to bet with this guy's life.
Speaker 1: But God has purposes and plans for everything he does that are always visible at the very start.
Speaker 1: And so he allows Satan to go in and damage is done for sure To innocent Job.
Speaker 1: Job who's doing right, relatively innocent.
Speaker 1: He's not entirely without sin, but he's not actively trying to oppose God.
Speaker 1: Satan gets to bring the hammer, he kills some of his family members, he damages his property, he gives the dude disease and boils and he's sitting down and Job is pondering this now, not really knowing that this conversation happened between God and the devil, and he's beginning to wonder what the heck man?
Speaker 1: Why is this happening?
Speaker 1: So then his three quote unquote friends will come, the three amigos.
Speaker 1: They roll up and they're saying hey, we'd like to take you to court, job, because what you're saying is blasphemous.
Speaker 1: Have we got a picture of the three amigos?
Speaker 1: Just to make sure we know who we're talking about here?
Speaker 1: There they are.
Speaker 1: So picture these guys.
Speaker 1: They're rolling up to Job and they're saying Job, you're a little bit blasphemous because you're beginning to complain.
Speaker 1: You're saying that you're innocent and yet all this evil has obviously happened to you, and so it's kind of a mirror of the heavenly court.
Speaker 1: Now there's an earthly court.
Speaker 1: They're taking Job to court and they're saying we don't like what you're saying about this Job.
Speaker 1: Now, while they're the ones kind of prosecuting Job, god is not there.
Speaker 1: God is not defending himself.
Speaker 1: It's just these three dudes presume to defend God.
Speaker 1: So they're telling Job hey, man, you're way off.
Speaker 1: Because, job, see, if you were right, this wouldn't have happened to you.
Speaker 1: Like Job, I mean, look at your life, you're in pain, you're in suffering.
Speaker 1: That only happens because you're doing bad.
Speaker 1: That's how they're thinking about it.
Speaker 1: Now, that's not what the Bible teaches, but that's their worldview.
Speaker 1: They don't have room in their worldview for ah, but sometimes you suffer when you're innocent.
Speaker 1: And so they spend this whole book.
Speaker 1: They go round after round and Job is getting really frustrated.
Speaker 1: He's angry with them and they're fighting back and forth.
Speaker 1: And Job, he's trying to be controlled, he's wanting to lash out at God, and sometimes he does a little bit.
Speaker 1: He's like oh my gosh, would you just, if this is what you're going to do to me, would you just leave me alone?
Speaker 1: Why don't you just kill me, god?
Speaker 1: Why don't we just get on with it?
Speaker 1: And these guys keep pushing him and pushing him, and pushing him, and eventually it gets to the point where Job is entirely exasperated and God shows up and gives his own defense of God in the midst of this suffering.
Speaker 1: You know what it's like to suffer, don't you?
Speaker 1: You know what it's like to have the particular kind of suffering, not just pain, but where you feel wronged, you feel disgraced, unfairly, you feel denounced, you feel dismissed, you feel like you were valued less than you should have been.
Speaker 1: You were competent and you were treated as incompetent.
Speaker 1: You were wise and you were treated as unwise.
Speaker 1: You were the only one acting virtuous and yet you were treated as though you were not.
Speaker 1: And we can all begin to wonder what is up.
Speaker 1: God, like, is this because I was like, am I poor because I'm lazy?
Speaker 1: I don't feel lazy.
Speaker 1: Why am I so poor?
Speaker 1: Or God, like I'm sick and all these other people aren't?
Speaker 1: Do you hate me?
Speaker 1: What is going on?
Speaker 1: Or they're really like way ahead in doing the thing I wanted to do?
Speaker 1: God, why?
Speaker 1: I guess you like them more than me.
Speaker 1: I guess I better work a little harder to get back into your good graces or God?
Speaker 1: Why did their marriage work out and it seemed like I had two that tanked?
Speaker 1: Is that because you're against my happiness?
Speaker 1: And we can begin to ask God questions about that Now, what God does when he shows up to really defend himself.
Speaker 1: He's gentle, but he's firm with Job.
Speaker 1: Because Job is getting a little bit disrespectful with the way he's talking to and about God and essentially what he says is Job, just because you don't see my purpose does not mean I do not have one.
Speaker 1: Just because you don't see what I'm doing does not mean that I don't have one.
Speaker 1: And he begins to ask him a series of questions that are really just meant to humble him and they're not philosophical kind of like the three amigos are asking.
Speaker 1: They're really just like cosmic, they're like Job.
Speaker 1: Just to clarify, where were you when I created the entire universe, when I spun your solar system into existence?
Speaker 1: Where were you when I created molecules?
Speaker 1: Where were you when I invented the wind?
Speaker 1: Where were you, job, when I did all these processes in your body that cause you to be able to exist?
Speaker 1: Where were you?
Speaker 1: And he's not doing it to be mean, he's doing it to help Job understand.
Speaker 1: You can't even understand a ton of other stuff I do.
Speaker 1: Why do you presume you would even be able to understand everything I do?
Speaker 1: Even in your case right now, job, why do you think that you can understand that You're just a little thing, you're just a little guy and you're suffering pain, but you're not considering the possibility that I may be doing something that is greater than anything you can possibly comprehend?
Speaker 1: Job doesn't know that the book of Job is going to be written.
Speaker 1: He doesn't know what's going to happen later on.
Speaker 1: He doesn't know how that's going to encourage folks over the centuries.
Speaker 1: He doesn't know any of that.
Speaker 1: All he knows is he's trying.
Speaker 1: He really is trying.
Speaker 1: Like you watch Job.
Speaker 1: He's trying.
Speaker 1: He's trying like you watch joe.
Speaker 1: He's trying.
Speaker 1: He's trying to trust, but everything is working against his experience.
Speaker 1: He knows that it's unfair and he feels utterly disgraced.
Speaker 1: And then he breaks out with this idea, verse 23 oh that my words could be recorded.
Speaker 1: Oh that they could be inscribed on a monument carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead and engraved forever in rock.
Speaker 1: He's saying I didn't do it.
Speaker 1: What they're saying I did, I didn't do.
Speaker 1: I'm probably going to die any day now and I just want the world to know I did not do this, and I wish I could have a monument, like the ancient kings would set up a monument and write all the things that they did, just so future generations would know.
Speaker 1: I want future generations to know when they hear about me.
Speaker 1: I've denied this right to the very end.
Speaker 1: I did not do anything to deserve these things that are happening to me.
Speaker 1: Let's pretend, let's contemporize it a little bit.
Speaker 1: Let's pretend there's a businessman who's been framed for fraud and it's bad, and he's going to go to jail forever, except the enemies that framed him.
Speaker 1: It's all over the news.
Speaker 1: The enemies that framed him, though they also poisoned him and he just realized he's about to die and he wants the world to know.
Speaker 1: It's all over the news.
Speaker 1: This guy is a fraud, he did all this bad stuff and he wants to write it down.
Speaker 1: I didn't do this.
Speaker 1: I've been treated wrong.
Speaker 1: That's how Job is feeling right now.
Speaker 1: I did not do this.
Speaker 1: Why am I experiencing this?
Speaker 1: And here becomes like the super cool paradox for Job, and really it's a lesson for us.
Speaker 1: See, job is angry with God, he's angry at God, and yet he also realizes.
Speaker 1: And yet my only hope is God, like I can be angry with, and you can be angry with God, as long as you come back to the idea.
Speaker 1: But then again, the only way I'm getting out of this is if God comes and rescues, if God comes and helps me and this is where he utters the lines.
Speaker 1: But, as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives and he will stand upon the earth at last.
Speaker 1: It's God that will get the last word, and after my body has decayed yet in my body I will see God.
Speaker 1: Whoa, this dude's got some faith.
Speaker 1: He's thinking even though I die, I trust God so much that, even though I actually die, my body at some point is going to be back and it's going to be saying hail the King.
Speaker 1: God is real and he did right and he saved me, even though he let me die.
Speaker 1: Is that crazy dude?
Speaker 1: Is that crazy?
Speaker 1: So what he's challenging us to do and what this passage challenges us to do, when there are places where it seems like God is your enemy, god is hurting you, god is allowing things and maybe it appears that way to you, maybe it appears that way to someone else.
Speaker 1: When you're seeing that happen, what we need to remember is because Jesus Christ was treated unfairly and Jesus Christ was denounced.
Speaker 1: And Jesus Christ, who was the most innocent, was rejected and he was treated the worst.
Speaker 1: Because of that, I will be vindicated at some point and good will come of this.
Speaker 1: I will be vindicated at some point, maybe not today, but I will be vindicated about everything at some point, and good will come of this, just like good came for Job, but, even more importantly, just like it came for Jesus.
Speaker 1: Like good came for Job, but even more importantly, just like it came for Jesus.
Speaker 1: He says my redeemer lives.
Speaker 1: Now there's a redeemer.
Speaker 1: Folks who are under Israelite law, they knew there were redeemers.
Speaker 1: If your family member gets in a lot of trouble, okay.
Speaker 1: If maybe the spouse that's supposed to be taking care of the money around here dies, there's a relative, the redeemer, the kinsman redeemer has to sweep in and they have to defend them, they have to rescue them, they have to go get them and protect them.
Speaker 1: They can't just let them fall away.
Speaker 1: And Job is saying that there's a, there's a redeemer for me who's going to come.
Speaker 1: For those of you who remember, who are familiar with the story of Boaz and Ruth, boaz is the redeemer.
Speaker 1: He's supposed to come in and rescue everybody and Job says that's who my God really is, even though I feel like he's my enemy.
Speaker 1: He's the one who has to come in and defend me and avenge me and rescue me, and it's the cry of his heart.
Speaker 1: But, my friends, it's more than the cry of Job's heart.
Speaker 1: It's the reason, one of the reasons for Christmas.
Speaker 1: It's the reason Jesus was sent.
Speaker 1: It was sent to be the Redeemer, and the Redeemer that lives.
Speaker 1: Jesus was sent to be the Redeemer.
Speaker 1: Christmas is not just about extra lights on the Christmas tree.
Speaker 1: It's not just about eggnog.
Speaker 1: It's not just about terrific meals those are great things to bring along but Christmas is about the fact that I find myself on the doomed planet and I need a redeemer.
Speaker 1: I find myself on the planet where everything is going wrong, and maybe, my friends, maybe it's not that you're all that jacked up, maybe you just you're on like the hardest planet to be on because just hard stuff happened and it's so bad that sin is cranked up to 11.
Speaker 1: It to be on because just hard stuff happened and it's so bad that sin is cranked up to 11.
Speaker 1: And so even the innocent suffer sometimes.
Speaker 1: I want to read you these.
Speaker 1: I want to just remind you of things that were said about Jesus before Jesus ever showed up, before the time was right for him to come Psalm 72, 11.
Speaker 1: May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him, for he will deliver, deliver like a redeemer.
Speaker 1: He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no hope.
Speaker 1: Who will do it?
Speaker 1: This one, who all the kings bow down to Malachi.
Speaker 1: You might've seen it before too.
Speaker 1: You might've seen this on a Christmas card.
Speaker 1: But to all you who fear my name, the son of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings, with healing.
Speaker 1: You know what redeemers do they heal, they deliver, they heal, they avenge, they protect and they vindicate.
Speaker 1: And at the right time, Jesus will vindicate.
Speaker 1: You Say it with me now, at the right time, jesus will vindicate me.
Speaker 1: At the right time, jesus will vindicate me.
Speaker 1: One of the things, one of the ways, the picture of Jesus in Job or the foreshadowing of Jesus, is this idea of vindication.
Speaker 1: Vindication is proof that something or someone was actually right or that they were justified.
Speaker 1: It's the clearing of blame, it's the removal of suspicion that was upon somebody.
Speaker 1: Now, jesus.
Speaker 1: Do you remember how he was blamed?
Speaker 1: Do you remember how Jesus did everything right and yet by the end people were saying he's the worst guy, he's blasphemous.
Speaker 1: He's not only not for God, he's against God.
Speaker 1: The only thing that we can do, the only right thing that we can do he's so bad, we've got to kill him.
Speaker 1: There's nothing else we can do.
Speaker 1: We can't stand him being on the planet anymore.
Speaker 1: The absolute most unjust thing happens to Jesus.
Speaker 1: So, my friends, jesus knows what it is to suffer and even knows like the kind of suffering where you're experiencing reproach that you don't deserve, or you're misunderstood, or people are projecting evil onto you and there is no evil there.
Speaker 1: Jesus gets it.
Speaker 1: And when we experience loss and suffering, jesus says just so you know, as your redeemer, I experienced all the loss for you.
Speaker 1: Now you might even be able to squeak by with the idea yeah, but see, carter, you have sinned, so you do kind of deserve to suffer.
Speaker 1: But check this out, jesus didn't sin ever and yet he suffered for your and my sin, so our reproach could be taken away.
Speaker 1: People said about Jesus he's wrong.
Speaker 1: And people will say right now, right now, people will say about you and me they're wrong, they're bad, they did the wrong thing, they made the wrong call, they were irresponsible, they failed at that season of life.
Speaker 1: They missed it.
Speaker 1: People will say that now, but there comes a day when they'll stop saying that because you'll be vindicated.
Speaker 1: Comes a day when they'll stop saying that because you'll be vindicated.
Speaker 1: For those of us who trust in the approval that is given as a gift from Jesus Christ, as we believe him, he will vindicate us at the right time.
Speaker 1: I know that you're having a hard time believing it, so let me just take you to the scripture so you know for sure that it's true.
Speaker 1: 1 John 2, 1,.
Speaker 1: My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.
Speaker 1: But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, jesus Christ, the righteous one.
Speaker 1: I hope you don't sin.
Speaker 1: This is what John says.
Speaker 1: I hope you don't sin, but when you do, because you will, you've already got an advocate.
Speaker 1: You're already covered.
Speaker 1: There's already someone who's thinking about you.
Speaker 1: There's already a redeemer on the way.
Speaker 1: There's already a redeemer, actually, that's made room for it.
Speaker 1: He doesn't like it, but he knows it's going to happen, and so he covered it.
Speaker 1: He paid for it.
Speaker 1: He brings his perfect obedience to you.
Speaker 1: Let's do another one Matthew 10, 32.
Speaker 1: Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my father in heaven.
Speaker 1: We're getting there.
Speaker 1: One more Romans 8, 34.
Speaker 1: Who, then, is the one who condemns?
Speaker 1: Who is it?
Speaker 1: Who's condemning you right now?
Speaker 1: Who in your life, or they did before?
Speaker 1: They were like you.
Speaker 1: You're the villain, you're the bad one.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's just your own voice accusing yourself, and yet your kinsman, redeemer, jesus Christ, steps in.
Speaker 1: He says who, then, is the one who condemns?
Speaker 1: No one.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, who died more than that, who was raised to life at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Speaker 1: He doesn't condemn you, he accepts you, he completely covers any Dude.
Speaker 1: You can't condemn you if Jesus is defending you.
Speaker 1: Nobody can.
Speaker 1: Jesus says out the way.
Speaker 1: I've already vindicated them.
Speaker 1: It's already been done on the cross.
Speaker 1: So let's get real down in your life here.
Speaker 1: The breakup that people swear was your fault, right, and yet they were the one cheating on you.
Speaker 1: Or the family failure that you did everything in your power to stop from happening, and yet you're the one who gets told you're the problem around here.
Speaker 1: What about the in-laws, who?
Speaker 1: It seems like it doesn't matter what you say, they're determined to not like you and they're going to misunderstand whatever you do.
Speaker 1: Or the place where people looked at your motives or they didn't look at your motives and they said you're just got a wrong heart.
Speaker 1: I know you, even though you're tricking other people.
Speaker 1: I know that you're bad, and for some of us, maybe it was even at church.
Speaker 1: You're at church and people didn't give you enough grace, they didn't give you enough time, they didn't give you enough leash, they didn't give you enough grace.
Speaker 1: And you're like how can you guys withhold grace from me?
Speaker 1: Aren't y'all the ones that need all the grace?
Speaker 1: Isn't that the whole doggone message?
Speaker 1: Now, here's what's wonderful about Jesus.
Speaker 1: See, there comes a time when Jesus, he's going to stand up in the courts of heaven and he's going to vindicate you publicly.
Speaker 1: When Jesus, he's going to stand up in the courts of heaven and he's going to vindicate you publicly, he's going to say they trusted me.
Speaker 1: Okay, so every place that they were right, here it is.
Speaker 1: This is where they were really right.
Speaker 1: Everybody, take a look.
Speaker 1: I'm standing up for them now.
Speaker 1: But here's what's so dope Even the places you were wrong, jesus is going to say well, they were wrong, but because they trusted me, their wrong was put on the cross, and so they are officially and forever forgiven.
Speaker 1: Because you know what they did?
Speaker 1: They did during the time when they were waiting for Jesus to come back.
Speaker 1: They used their time on earth.
Speaker 1: They threw in their lot with me, and it was a wise decision, because when I come and settle all the scores, I'm going to bring that up before the father.
Speaker 1: By the way, they trusted me.
Speaker 1: They did a lot of other things wrong, but they did the most important major thing right.
Speaker 1: They trusted me to cover their sin and evil.
Speaker 1: And that leads us to point number two resurrection.
Speaker 1: After my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God.
Speaker 1: What an awesome truth.
Speaker 1: After my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God.
Speaker 1: As you get older and some of you know this that becomes a greater and greater promise, because you're like doggone man.
Speaker 1: This thing ain't working right.
Speaker 1: A little feedback for you, okay.
Speaker 1: I'm getting smatterings of people that like the message and are giving me some amens, others of you.
Speaker 1: I'm wondering did you drink too much eggnog on the way in what's happening right now?
Speaker 1: Hopefully you're just being ministered to by the Holy Ghost, but if you want to give me some shouts, that might help the sermon a little bit here.
Speaker 1: Resurrection is not the same thing as resuscitation.
Speaker 1: Resurrection is a whole new deal.
Speaker 1: It's a whole new upgrade.
Speaker 1: You had one version of a body and now you're upgraded to a new and improved, never going to die.
Speaker 1: Sin isn't in it anymore, body.
Speaker 1: And this is the ultimate way.
Speaker 1: Guys, do you see this?
Speaker 1: This is the ultimate vindication, see, because Jesus says there's a timeline here and we get to a point on the timeline where everyone who's trusted Christ they're given a brand new body in front of everybody else, and that giving of a new body that, oh, I've got the new body, that is the ultimate vindication, because it doesn't matter what anyone else says at that point Uh the doy, I've got the body here to show it Like Jesus approves of me because I trusted him.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if you disapprove, jesus approves.
Speaker 1: Here's the body and it's going to tell all heaven and earth Jesus is saying this one, they've got my seal of proof that they trusted me.
Speaker 1: And you know that's what happened to Jesus.
Speaker 1: Right, jesus was called bad, but he was good.
Speaker 1: And then he was called so bad that they murdered him.
Speaker 1: But then he came back, resurrected, glorified.
Speaker 1: It's him, but it's also like an upgraded human body, um, and he says that's exactly the kind of body that we're going to have.
Speaker 1: Romans 8, 23.
Speaker 1: And we believers also grown, even though we have the holy spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.
Speaker 1: We too wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as adopted children, including the new bodies he's promised us.
Speaker 1: Can I tell you, guys, heaven is not just like a place you go, when you just kind of like relax and lounge in a cloud.
Speaker 1: Heaven is earth part two, with no sin, and all the pains and all the hurts and all the bads.
Speaker 1: They're all gone and you're a new and improved, better version of yourself.
Speaker 1: And there's part of like the walk, there's part of the sojourn here on planet earth.
Speaker 1: There's part of that where we're supposed to be anticipating that, we're looking forward, we're adventing toward that.
Speaker 1: We're saying, you know, dude, like this is all great, but soon this will be gone and I'm never going to have to worry about this old back ever again.
Speaker 1: And this is what Job is saying.
Speaker 1: He's saying even if I die, god will be faithful to me.
Speaker 1: Even if I die, god will be faithful.
Speaker 1: Let me give you a picture of kind of how this works.
Speaker 1: Okay, so here's another man.
Speaker 1: He's convicted of a crime and he's thrown in jail.
Speaker 1: Doesn't get poisoned, he's thrown in jail.
Speaker 1: Evidence comes out, though later.
Speaker 1: Oh, actually, we've got some DNA.
Speaker 1: He didn't do it.
Speaker 1: So right there in the court they decide he's free.
Speaker 1: He's not guilty, he's free to go.
Speaker 1: Now, for some reason, they're only using fax machines and so it takes three weeks for them to actually get him out of jail.
Speaker 1: So he's waiting these three weeks.
Speaker 1: Now he was declared innocent and free at one point.
Speaker 1: Then he waits and then, boom, he's completely out and free.
Speaker 1: My friends, right now see, the world doesn't get it because many of you, you've trusted Jesus Christ and you're declared right and vindicated, even though the world still thinks you're wrong.
Speaker 1: Are you hearing that the world still thinks you're wrong, but the day is coming when they're not going to be able to say that anymore.
Speaker 1: You're waiting for that moment of like.
Speaker 1: Okay, I was already free, but now everybody can see me, and here I am, absolutely vindicated and resurrected and fulfilling the scripture in Job.
Speaker 1: Because Jesus Christ, god so loved the world that Jesus Christ was sent that anyone who believes in him will have eternal life and be vindicated and be restored and be redeemed and be resurrected.
Speaker 1: So what do we do with this?
Speaker 1: What do we do with this Christmas?
Speaker 1: What am I challenging you to do?
Speaker 1: Well, one thing I'm challenging you to do is I want you to be confident.
Speaker 1: Apply this to all the areas where you've been misunderstood, where you've been hurt, where you've been wronged, where you got the bad rap even though it wasn't even you.
Speaker 1: Apply this to you and say God, you are going to vindicate me and I'm confident of it.
Speaker 1: It may not even happen before I die, but it's happening.
Speaker 1: It's going to come to pass.
Speaker 1: You don't just have to get over it.
Speaker 1: God is going to bring it out in the open.
Speaker 1: They trusted me.
Speaker 1: And here's the second one you and I have got to love.
Speaker 1: Here's the why you and I have got to love God for himself.
Speaker 1: God could have told Job, couldn't he?
Speaker 1: He could have said Job, relax, just so you know, this is going to be like super cool.
Speaker 1: This is going to be used later on.
Speaker 1: Write this book.
Speaker 1: You're going to be in it.
Speaker 1: You're going to be the star, everyone's going to be in it.
Speaker 1: You're going to be the star, everyone's going to be encouraged by it.
Speaker 1: So I know it's hard, but hey, man, just hang on.
Speaker 1: If he would have told him that Job would have been like okay, all right, going to persevere, going to get through.
Speaker 1: Now, if he would have done that, though, why was he doing it?
Speaker 1: He was doing it for some good result to happen.
Speaker 1: I'm going to do this because it's the noble thing to do, it's the righteous thing to do.
Speaker 1: I know people are going to remember it, so I want that.
Speaker 1: If God doesn't tell him why this is happening, the only reason left to go through it with a good attitude is for God himself.
Speaker 1: Don't you see that that's what God wants?
Speaker 1: The reason some of us are in some of the trials we're in, and God's not explaining it to you, is because if I explain it to you, then you'll do it for that reason.
Speaker 1: But I want you to do it just for me.
Speaker 1: Just do it because you love me, just do it because I'm worth it.
Speaker 1: And is he worth it?
Speaker 1: He is.
Speaker 1: That's the right answer.
Speaker 1: He's worth it.
Speaker 1: Just go through it because he's worth it.
Speaker 1: And then, on the day of the great revelation, when you're out of jail and you're in your brand new body, jesus is going gonna stand up and he's going to applaud all the places.
Speaker 1: You took it in the gut and you did it just for him.
Speaker 1: Let's pray.
Speaker 1: Oh, sweet Jesus, you are the vindicator, you are the redeemer, you are the champion, you are a rescuer.
Speaker 1: God, we can't, we can't, oh, we can do stuff, but we cannot fix the broken planet.
Speaker 1: I think that you're the only fixer.
Speaker 1: I think that you offer to not only fix it, but fix us.
Speaker 1: Lord, we come to you and we bring all the places where we were misunderstood, the places we were wrong but nobody knew about it.
Speaker 1: And then we also bring all the places we were dead wrong, we were absolutely not in the right.
Speaker 1: We bring all of that to you and we say, jesus, would you be our vindicator?
Speaker 1: Would you show yourself to be awesome?
Speaker 1: And that, show us in the real world, places where you vindicate us now, in some places.
Speaker 1: Help us see it when you do it, but also give us faith and patience for the ones you're only going to do later on.
Speaker 1: God, I also pray for everyone that's going through a really tough time right now.
Speaker 1: I don't mean to minimize how hard some things are, lord, so I pray, in Jesus' name you give them an extra boost.
Speaker 1: I pray you'd give them like an extra drink of water.
Speaker 1: I pray that you'd help them.
Speaker 1: They don't understand it, but help them to just go through, for you.
Speaker 1: Teach us in our trials to love you In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1: Join us either digitally or in person.
Speaker 1: Also, if you're looking for leadership development-related content, don't forget to check out the Fierce Leadership Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts from.
Speaker 1: Special thanks to those of you who give generously to support this ministry.
Speaker 1: It's because of you that this is possible.
Speaker 1: You can click on the link in the description to give now or visit fiercechurch for more information.
Speaker 1: If you enjoyed this podcast, why not subscribe?
Speaker 1: Share it with your friends, click on the share button, take a screenshot and share it on social media or wherever you would share such things.
Speaker 1: Whatever challenges you're facing, I know you can make it.
Speaker 1: Don't give up.
Speaker 1: Hang on to Jesus.
Speaker 1: He won't let go of you.
Speaker 1: Jesus loves you so much and we love you.
Speaker 1: I hope someday we get to meet in person.
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening.