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The Rock Family Worship Center
Taking The Church Outside The Walls
The Rock Family Worship Center
How Powerful Was The Cross?
What if Adam's sin wasn't more powerful than Christ's redemption? This provocative question forms the foundation of a message that challenges our most basic understanding of salvation and the cross.
Romans 5:18 tells us that "through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life." Most Christians readily accept that Adam's sin affected all humanity automatically—yet somehow we struggle to accept that Christ's redemptive work impacts humanity with the same universal scope. We've created a theological contradiction where Adam's failure is universal and automatic, but Christ's victory is limited and conditional.
The cross wasn't just about creating the possibility of salvation—it was about securing it completely. When Jesus said "It is finished," he meant it. Salvation was objectively secured for all humanity at that moment. Think of it like someone paying off your debt without telling you. The debt is truly gone, but until you realize it, you'll keep making payments, living as if you're still in debt. Similarly, many people continue living under condemnation and separation simply because they haven't awakened to what Christ has already accomplished.
This isn't about everyone being automatically saved regardless of response. It's about recognizing that Christ's work was complete and inclusive—it included everyone. Our response doesn't make salvation happen; it awakens us to what's already true. We're not trying to get right with God; God has already made things right with us. We're not trying to find Jesus; Jesus has already found us.
Are you ready to break free from an "Adamic theology" that keeps you focused on sin, condemnation, and separation? Are you ready to embrace the fullness of Christ's finished work and live from that place of freedom? The cross was powerful enough to take away the sin of the world, reconcile all things to God, and fully undo what Adam did. The question is: do you believe it?
Join us as we explore what it means to live on this side of the cross, where we find our identity not in Adam but in Christ, where we speak not words of condemnation but words of life, and where we discover that we are already included in God's finished work.
I say it about every week. I try to tell you where the sermon kind of originated from. Most of the time I won't get into detail on this one, but I will tell you it did originate from somewhere. Sometimes what we're teaching is new to a lot of people. It's different to a lot of people. It's not new, it's original. But it's new to people because they haven't heard it, and sometimes people don't know how to take it. They don't really understand it. So, therefore, if I don't understand something, I'll bash it. So this is where this is just really an explanation on something that I want us to be able to answer. I'm not saying this to anybody that may listen online. I'm saying this to us, that we need to know how to answer some of these questions that may come up about what we teach or what we stand for. So this one this morning the title of it seems a little crazy, but you'll see why I'm going here. How powerful was the cross? How powerful was the cross? Now, you know, the number one answer to that originally is going to be oh, it was all powerful. But do we teach like we believe If I say that? I believe that, that it was all powerful we believe. If I say that I believe that that it was all powerful, do I teach? Does my teaching line up with what I'm saying? Because I believe the cross was totally all powerful. But I need to make sure that what's coming out and what I'm teaching people and what I'm saying and the way I'm living is lining up with that idea that it was powerful.
Speaker 1:Let's start out this morning in one specific verse and then we're going to kind of jumpstart from here, but it's Romans 5 and 18. I've looked this verse up in so many different translations just to see the differences in it. There's not a whole lot of difference in them. Whether you look at New King James, king James, niv, you know I've looked them up in many of them. I looked up in the mirror Bible, so there's not a lot of difference in here.
Speaker 1:When you really get down and you pull the meat out of this verse, but let's read it, it says Therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to who? To all men. I want to stop here because we've got to see this to really understand what I'm getting to this morning. Therefore, as through one man's offense and we're talking about one man here, being Adam through one man, which was Adam's offense judgment, came not to just a few people, not to just the ones who did not believe, not just to the ones who did not confess Christ, not to the ones who were this or that. It came to all men. Most people will have no problem agreeing with this, because we believe that what Adam did represented all of humanity. Everybody was included in what Adam did. The one act of Adam, the one man's offense judgment, came to all, resorting in condemnation. Even so, through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resorting in justification of life, resulting in justification of life.
Speaker 1:I wanted to pull this verse out because this is the crux of, I guess, the argument, if you could say, the differences, the different viewpoints when we talk about inclusion and what we understand to be inclusion. I try to keep it really simple. When I use that word, inclusion means all, everybody's included, and I pulled this verse because this is exactly what it was saying. Because when people use the word inclusion sometimes and they don't understand what inclusion is, what they're doing is they're taking one step to inclusion to knock it down, and then they're headed right to universalism. He's a universalist. He's saying everybody's saved. He's saying this, he's saying that and it's the furthest from the truth. But that's where they're headed to with this.
Speaker 1:And I put this verse out right here because I don't think there's a Christian out there in any denomination, in any church this morning that would not agree with the first part of this verse, that because of Adam, because the act of one man, all of humanity fell. Every church would amen me on that. I mean every church would amen me on that. And it says offense and judgment came to all men. That's about as universal as it gets. Can I tell you that's more universalism than what we teach, because this is saying one man done something and now everybody was included. That's universalism. Okay, that means everybody was included in it. But then what Jesus done, everybody was also included in it. But we turn that word around and we only use that word universalism for salvation, and we try to knock it down and say, oh, he believes everybody is saved. If we're going to use the word for what it means, universal, then let's use it like that all the way around. Okay, let's look at it everywhere.
Speaker 1:This is talking about universal, don't care how you look at it. It says all men were included. With the bad part of it and the good part of it, all men were included. So here's a really big question right here Did Adam have more power to condemn than Christ had to save? Did Adam have more power to condemn than Christ had the ability to save? That's where the difference, right here, comes. If I'm going to look at the first part of this verse in one way, but then I'm going to turn around and say, well, that really can't be included in the second part of the verse, I got a problem here. I'm looking at this and I'm deciding how I want to read this text. I can't say all men were included in one part of it, from Adam, but all men were not included in the next part, from Jesus. It just don't line up like that. All men is all men in both parts of this verse. If I try to look at it a different way and only say the first parts really matters, then I'm saying that Adam had more power to condemn, why he had the power to condemn all men, but Jesus only had the power to save just a few men. Now we know that's not right. So it really comes down to how am I choosing to interpret this verse We've heard this taught our entire lives.
Speaker 1:Because Adam's sin.
Speaker 1:All were made sinners. We've all heard that. We've all been taught that our entire life. But if you believe in Jesus, you can be saved. That's what we've been taught. All have sinned because of Adam. All were made sinners, but I'm telling you, if you believe in Jesus, you can be saved. That's been the message for years. That's what we've all been taught and it sounds like really, really good news, until you think about what's really being said. We're told that Adam's one offense impacted everyone, no matter what they believe, where they live, whether they've ever heard of the name Adam or not. You didn't have to know who Adam was. What he did impacted every single one of you. That's what we're being told. But the one act of Christ his life, his death, his resurrection only works for those who meet certain conditions. That's not good news, but it's been taught as good news. So Adam's failure is universal and automatic, but the victory of Christ is limited in condition. Make that make sense to me, and I think this is where the I'm telling you. I'm struggling with this because this I read some of these verses and I'm like what is so difficult about this verse, this verse here. What is so difficult about this verse? That we've got to twist it and turn it to make it say something that it really don't say. Because we got to try to make it line up with what my belief system is, because this is challenging what I've always taught, and if I teach it in context, then what I've always taught don't line up with it, and that's a challenge. But I don't understand why we don't want the good news out of it. I don't understand why it's hard to say that what Christ done for us saved us. What Christ done for us was universally what was good for everyone. Let me ask you a question that we rarely, probably never, hear in church how powerful do we really believe the cross was? And that's probably never asked in church, because it sounds like a really silly question to ask Christians, because we're going to say automatically that the cross was all powerful. So let's look at the Word a minute. I'm going to stay right here just a minute on Romans 5.18. One man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. Even so, one man's righteous act, the free gift, came to all men, resulting in the justification of life. If you go on, though, to verse 19. Look at what it says. It throws a little bit more context into it. For, as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. Let's stop rather just a minute, because it's really saying the same thing. It's just adding a little bit more context to it. For by one man's disobedience who disobeyed Adam, because of Adam's disobedience, many were made sinners. That's where we get this teaching from, that we were all made sinners through Adam. Okay, so also by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. It just throws a little bit more in there to look at.
Speaker 1:Paul is not saying that Adam made it possible for people to sin. That's not what Paul's saying here. He's saying Adam's disobedience made them sinners. This is something that you've really got to dive in there and just really dig into to be able to look at what Adam's really saying in this. In the same breath, he says Jesus' obedience made many righteous. This isn't about potential. What will happen one day when I get to heaven?
Speaker 1:This is about power. This is about the power that Adam carried and the power that the cross carried. So let me ask you again how powerful was the cross? Was it powerful enough to truly take away the sin of the world. If we don't believe that, then we need to go back and look at John 1 and 29. It says Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That verse is right there. It's pretty plain. Was the cross powerful enough to reconcile all things back to God? Colossians 1 and 20 says and by him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross, was it powerful enough to fully undo what Adam did? Was it powerful enough to fully transform and change what Adam introduced to the world? And I wasn't going to get on this today, but I'm seeing the picture in my head that I was talking about this yesterday or last night me and Cindy was talking about it and I'm seeing that picture in my head now.
Speaker 1:If you go back and you look and I want to make this simple If we believe that what he did on the cross changed everything, and it changed everything that Adam introduced Sin was no longer a problem, sin had been defeated, we were redeemed, we were restored. We were restored to relationship with Christ. Therefore, there's no more separation. All this happened because of what Jesus done on the cross. If I believe that, then nobody born after the cross can connect themselves with Adam. You cannot connect yourself with Adam and say I'm still a sinner because of Adam. Why? Because in between that Jesus climbed on a cross. But every day we still try to connect ourselves with Adam. We keep trying to go all the way back and tie ourselves to something that was already restored and I, just for the life of me, can't understand why we want to do that. Why don't we just rejoice in the victory? Why are we not just happy what happened on the cross and not go back pre-crossed? Did Adam's fall somehow carry more weight than Jesus' finished work? Because that's the way we teach sometimes, that the fall was more powerful. The fall had more power than what Jesus' finished work had.
Speaker 1:Paul calls Jesus in the Bible the last Adam. Actually, let's go to 1 Corinthians, 15 and 45. And so it is written the first man, adam, became a living being. I love this right here because there's things in here that you've got to grab on to. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. I love this right here because there's things in here that you've got to grab onto. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. One thing I love about this verse because I've heard it said before. I've heard people say the second Adam. The Bible never says the second Adam, the Bible says the last Adam. You see, if we had the first Adam and then Jesus was the second Adam, then that tells me there's a possibility of a third Adam. But this verse makes it clear there was a first Adam and there was a last Adam. There's no more after this. So we can go ahead and close the chapter on who Adam. You are no longer connected to him. You are no longer separated from Christ because of what Adam done. You are no longer caught up in sin and just an old sinner because of what Adam done. Why? Because in there Christ come and fixed it and we still try come and fixed it and we still try to connect to it. But Paul calls Jesus the last Adam.
Speaker 1:Let's think about for a minute what Adam brought. The first Adam in the garden. What did he bring? He brought sin, he brought death. He brought death, he brought separation and he brought shame, sin, death, separation and shame All the things that we don't want to be a part of. Jesus the last Adam. He brought righteousness, he brought life. He brought life, he brought union, he brought boldness before God. So let's think about that for a second.
Speaker 1:If you were automatically included in Adam's sin, could it be that you were also automatically included in the righteousness of Christ? Something in there makes us, makes us see that different. Not sure what it is, but something in there stops us. We have no problem connecting to Adam, but when we try to say every one of you, every single one of you, is connected to Christ because of what he done, we have a problem with that. We don't have a problem. Some people have a problem with that and it don't make sense. So that question I just asked could it be that you've also automatically been included in the righteousness of Christ? Let's just say your answer is no, because there's a lot of people out there that would answer no.
Speaker 1:Was Adam able to do something that Christ couldn't undo? Did something happen in the very beginning that Christ, in the act that Adam done? Did he do something that was too powerful for the cross to take care of? Because, without using those words, that is exactly what we're teaching. We're saying that, no matter what happened on the cross, it has not been powerful enough to take care of Adam. Because we're still preaching Adam, we're still preaching sin. We're still preaching separation, and if the cross took care of that, then why are we still caught up in it? Why are we still teaching? Why do we walk into a church service and before we get out, we done taken everybody into hell with us? Why do we continue to teach on things like that, that the cross took care of? How much power did the cross have?
Speaker 1:I think that's a question that we have to answer individually Because, again, is what I'm teaching after that lining up? If I stand here and tell you all about the power of the cross, is what I'm teaching after that lining up with what I just said? And if it's not, then I need to step back and really look at it. Where am I taking people to? We got too many people hanging out with Adam Instead of realizing Adam's gone, adam's dead and that I was born post-resurrection. So, therefore, nothing that Adam did is alive in me. The only way it's alive in me is if I make it alive in me, if I choose to live in that, if I choose to live with condemnation, if I choose to live in that, if I choose to live with condemnation, if I choose to live with sin, if I choose to live with guilt. I have that option. But here's the thing If that's all I ever hear, that's my only option. What am I doing?
Speaker 1:I believe that I'm called in this community to introduce another option To share with people that we don't just have this, but we also have life, that we also have Christ, that we have something more than just living in sin and guilt and condemnation. Because if I never hear anything different, then I think this is the only place to live, and we've got a lot of people who live here because it's the only place that they think they have to live. What if we offered them more? What if we just said I'm not trying to change your theology, I'm just offering you a different place, an alternative way of thinking, an alternative way of looking at things. And then you decide when do you want to live? You want to be free or you want to be bound, you want to be happy or you always want to be beat down. To me, that seems like an easy choice for people to make, but they have to have the choice. If I don't have the choice, then I'm always going to just go with whatever's there, whatever's available, and there's too many people living with only one option right now.
Speaker 1:The real problem isn't sin, it's blindness, being blind to what we already have. We say that all the time and I truly believe that If we're blind to what Christ already done for us, then there's no way we can step into it. If I don't know what the cross actually represents and what it actually meant, it's hard for me to truly believe in the truth behind the cross. I've got to understand what it really meant. 2 Corinthians 5.19. We ain't got to go there, but I'm just going to read it real quick.
Speaker 1:We talk about this verse every Sunday. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses against them, not holding their sins against them, and has committed to us the word or the ministry of reconciliation. That word reconciliation means the restoring of relationship. That restoring of relationship is not between me and you, necessarily. What we're talking about right here is restoring of relationship, is not between me and you necessarily. What we're talking about right here is restoring of the relationship between God and humanity. The one that Adam messed up has already been restored. God was in Christ reconciling everybody back to himself. But we know that everybody does not see that Everybody does not understand that in the same way.
Speaker 1:But guess what? It don't change what God done, he still done it. We're just blind to it. For a long time I was blind to it for a long time. I was blind to it for a long time before my eyes were opened up and I started saying wait a minute, what I'm hearing here, it don't sound right. It just don't make sense to me. This means that the world has been reconciled. God is not holding sin against us. That's the Scripture I'm reading right there. He's not holding sin against us. The message now is be reconciled. I love that part in the verse because it says be reconciled. He's done His part and reconciled us. But we have to make a decision to do what, to grab it, to understand it, to understand what it means for us. Because the issue today isn't that people are in Adam A lot of them are living there, but that's not the issue. It's that people are in Adam and a lot of them's living there, but that's not the issue. It's that they're still blind to what Jesus has already done. Because if I don't know the truth of what's already happened beyond the cross, then I'm going to live back here Because that's all I know. That's all I understand. That's all I've ever been taught.
Speaker 1:Faith doesn't make it through. Faith awakens us to it. We say that so often. So you may. And this is what people are going to ask and this is what's going to keep coming up over and over, and I want you to be able to answer this question. But somebody's going to come up if you talk about this and say are you saying everyone is automatically saved? That's the number one question people are going to ask. It's already being asked out there. Things are already being said. I can tell you, let's be clear on this. Salvation was objectively listen to that objectively secured by Christ. Salvation was objectively You've got to understand those two words objectively and subjectively. That makes a difference. It was already objectively secured by Christ, but many still live as if it never happened Because they don't know. That's why we preach, not to make salvation possible, but to announce that it's already accomplished, already available and already true.
Speaker 1:Salvation is not because of what I do. Salvation don't happen because I say a prayer. Salvation happened on the cross. I come to terms with it. I awaken to what happened on the cross. Maybe when I say a prayer.
Speaker 1:There's nothing wrong with saying a prayer. We say that so often. There's nothing wrong with coming up say a prayer. There's nothing wrong with saying a prayer. We say that so often. There's nothing wrong with coming up saying a prayer. Now, if I turn that into a rule that must happen Before you're saved, then I've went against the word. Because the word never says that. It never says Jesus, never the guy hanging beside him on the cross when he says today you will be with me in paradise. He never said a prayer with the guy. Nowhere in the Bible will you see the disciples leading anybody in a sinner's prayer. It's just not there.
Speaker 1:Again, just because we don't see it in the Bible don't mean that we can't use it as a tool. But we can't turn it into a theology. We can't make it the gospel because it's not. We can use it. If somebody says I just don't know how to pray, I don't know what to say, can you help me? Absolutely Use it as a tool to help guide them on what to say and help them understand the choice, the awakening that's happening with them. But to sit there and say, if you don't do this, you're not saved, you can't do that, that's wrong, it's not biblical and we got so many people today doing it.
Speaker 1:But this is why we preach we want to open people's eyes up to what happened on the cross. Why don't we say come get right with God. When Paul says God already made you right. But think about those terms that we use, all those quotes we use Come to church. You need to get right with God. You need to find Jesus, but Jesus already found you. You need to get right with God. Well, god already made it right with you. You need to open your eyes up to what he's already done. That's what we're trying to get people to do. He said in John 19, 30 it is finished. We've got to see that for what it said.
Speaker 1:I was thinking about it to the example. I was trying to think of a way to make it make it make sense. I had to make it make sense to me in weird kind of ways and sometimes I don't use those examples up here, but this one made sense to me when we're talking about the objective and the subjective that salvation was objectively secured on the cross. When he got to the cross and he went through what he went through on the cross and he gave up His Spirit on the cross. Salvation was objectively secure. He never asked us about it. He done that because he chose to do that. He never asked my opinion on it. And it's sort of like this If I went to the bank and I paid off all your debt, everything that you owe, I paid it off for you, your debt is objectively paid.
Speaker 1:That means I've done it. That means you don't owe anything to the bank. Why? Because I paid it off. Now you may not ever come to terms with that. You may keep sending your monthly payment in every month Because you haven't come to terms with the fact that something already occurred that took care of it, but it has. So you're sending a monthly payment that ain't really doing nothing. Why? Because there's no debt there. It was objectively paid off. What does that objectively mean? It means I've done it and I didn't need your permission for it. I chose to do it. That saying that I always use from Jamie Englehart. I love it and it makes sense to me.
Speaker 1:Something is true of us, but it may not be true to us. It's true of you that I paid your debt off and you are now living debt free. That's true of you, but you ain't realized it yet and you still living paycheck to paycheck Makes a difference. But when you wake up, when I go to you and I hand you the debt and the loan payment from the bank and I rip it up in your face and say you don't owe anything else to the bank, and it finally hits you and you're like, wow, I'm debt free. I guarantee you your life's going to change. The way you live is going to change Because you realize I'm no longer under that debt, I'm free. When we realize that what he done objectively on the cross is that actually happened, we're going to be like, wow, I don't have to do anything to prove myself, I don't have to do anything, but wake up to the fact that he's already accomplished it and I just live my life from that place, same way as the bank. You just start living your life now from a place of freedom, being debt free. You won't make the same decisions you made when you were sending that money in every month. Your mindset will shift. When you realize that he's already secured your salvation, your mindset will shift. You won't think the same way anymore.
Speaker 1:Now again back to that question. Are you saying that everyone is automatically saved? Objectively, yes, but we have to come to terms with it, because if I never make a decision to do a sinner's prayer or receive him or anything else, let's say I never make that decision Did it change what he done? Never changed what he done. So again, you have to understand what we're saying when we're saying that it never changes what the cross done. And he went to the cross for what Salvation? But when I come to terms with that, when I wake up to it, everything in my life will begin to shift. From that point Let me leave you with this question right here. Let me get to it.
Speaker 1:I have another question I want to ask what if Jesus didn't just win a possibility? What if he went to the cross not to just give us a possibility? He went to the cross not to just give us a possibility, but a finished, total, complete victory that included everyone, not just those who figured it out. He didn't just do it for a few, he actually went to the cross for everybody. But what about those people who's never heard of Jesus? They were included. Why? Because it says all people. What about the ones who just, totally just reject Him and they're atheists and they don't believe that God exists. He still died for them too. What about the ones who's a Muslim or another religion or whatever, and they don't believe in Jesus? They're still part of humanity and he died for them too.
Speaker 1:What he did on the cross was for everybody. That's where inclusion comes in at. Everybody was included, but not everybody is going to come to terms with it. Everybody's not going to believe it, everybody's not going to grab on to it. We can't take that and say, oh, he said, everybody's not going to believe it, everybody's not going to grab on to it. We can't take that and say, oh, he's saying everybody's saved. No, that's not what we're saying. And without a little bit of conversation at least, you won't ever get that. You'll keep making up what you want to say and saying, well, he's saying this or he's saying that. No, you can't do that. Either have conversation about it and saying, well, he's saying this or he's saying that. No, you can't do that. Either have conversation about it or hush. I want to have conversation about it. I would love to talk with some of these who are saying some of this stuff and say, hey, let's sit down and let's have a Facebook conversation live, and let people decide for themselves. Let's not debate, not no argument. Let's sit down and let's break the Scripture out and let's talk Bible and let people decide for themselves what's being said. That's discussion. I don't see anything wrong with that.
Speaker 1:So I'm not here, and you will never. I hope that I never get in this place again. I'm never going to be here to try to scare you into making a decision. I'll never do that again. I'm here to tell you what's already true. I'm here to tell you what Christ has already secured on your behalf. I'm here to tell you that it is a finished work. Why? Because he did it and it's done. It's complete. He said it is finished.
Speaker 1:Now there's things that we have to do to wake up to that. What am I going to do? I'm going to tell you what we need to wake up to. I'm going to share with you what he's already done for you on your behalf, without your decision, I mean without your choice in it. He said I'm doing this because I love you, not because I ask your opinion. I'm doing it because I want to, and he never asked us about it. You've already been included. You've already been reconciled. The cross already worked. Now just say yes to the truth. Wake up to it, walk in it, realize that it includes you, because listen to this Adam's fall was great, but the finished work of Jesus is greater. We are no longer living in Adam. We are no longer held to the things that Adam held us to. Why? Because the cross has power. The cross works. The work is finished and I'm no longer living back in this place anymore. I'm not tied to Adam anymore, unless I tie myself to him.
Speaker 1:We have the ability right now to take people who are living in I call it an Adamic theology, an Adam theology, where everything's about hell and separation and condemnation and guilt and sin. We have the ability to break people out of that by simply telling them there's an option. Now people can keep living in that place, and there's some people I've come to realize you ain't taking them out of that box. They don't want to come out of it. But I also believe that one reason people don't want to come out of it is ignorance, and ignorance is not a bad word. Ignorance simply means I don't know. I don't know any other place to live. So therefore, I'll live here. You have the option Because you've been taught that there's more than that. You know there's more than that and you have the ability now Not just the ability, but the calling on your life now to go break the sides of that box and say you can come out of here.
Speaker 1:You don't have to live like this anymore. There is more to it that you haven't heard about, and I'm going to share with you what that is. You're already redeemed. Sin's already been defeated. You are over here worried about a devil that has already been defeated and disarmed.
Speaker 1:I remember one pastor one time. He was teaching on it. He said he's been disarmed and defeated. We're fighting a little stub right here. I mean, he's not even nothing. He's been defeated and he's been disarmed and we're worried about it. We give him more power than what he has.
Speaker 1:Why don't we just believe in what Christ already said? Why don't we just take the scripture and say I believe this. That's what he said. I believe it. Why don't we just take it and say I'm going to walk this out of my life.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to worry about condemning myself. I'm not going to worry about the sin that I used to live in. I'm not going to worry about what people think about me. I'm not going to worry about that I've got to get this right or that right or that right, or I'm going to burn in hell. I'm not worried about all that, all that falls over here in this Adamic place. I'm over here living in this new covenant that says Christ finished the work and if I can just wake up to it, grab on to it, live out of it, live from it. I don't worry about all this anymore. This is not even a concern.
Speaker 1:Why don't I preach on hell? Because hell's not a concern to me. Why don't I preach on sin? Because sin is not a concern to me. Is it happening out there in the world? Absolutely, but I don't have to keep telling somebody how bad they are to try to make them better. I'm going to tell them how good they are. I want to tell them how blessed they are, how loved they are, what God has done for them, what Jesus has done on your behalf. I don't have to beat you down to get you to see that, but the church has taught us that's the gospel Tell you how bad you are, so that it gets so ugly that you realize I need God. I mean, that's the message. But why can't we just believe in? I'm going to tell you how good Jesus is, so that you realize I need him. Look at everything that he did for me While I was yet a sinner. He did it anyway. They're not wrong in teaching.
Speaker 1:We're taking different approaches to it and I choose to take this approach. I choose to take the approach to focus on what, focus on the cross, to focus on what he did, to focus on everything this side of it and not anything that side of it, and I believe that's good news, and I've got a pretty reliable source of 66 books that back me up on that. It backs up what we're saying and it backs up very little of what's being said on the other side. So we have an opportunity. We have a chance to bring a different message, give people an option that there is a second door here. You don't have to just live in that and just keep praying that one day God will take you out of this old bad place and that you're going to walk through the pearly gate.
Speaker 1:Live life now. It ain't going to be perfect, it ain't always going to be pretty, it ain't always going to feel right, but we have power in our tongue. We can speak to these things. We can change our day. We can change our tongue, we can speak to these things. We can change our day. We can change our life. But I'm not speaking it from a place of condemnation. I'm speaking it from a place of finished work and I'm telling myself every day what am I doing? I'm repenting every day. We can start a whole new sermon right here and going back to speaking those words of Christ.
Speaker 1:I'm not speaking the words of Adam. I'm not speaking the words of. I'm trying to get my identity from Christ. Listen, you will never, ever, ever, find your identity in Moses or Abraham or any of the old time prophets, not taken away from them. That don't change the fact that they were prophets and for a period of time there was a purpose for the old covenant. We're not throwing it out and saying be done with it, but it's not in effect anymore. It showed us certain things that's really important to know, because what? It builds our faith in Jesus, because everything that was prophesied from the more prophets, everything that was spoken Jesus has now come back and fulfilled it. So it was good for a period, for a specific time, but we're not living there anymore. We're living on this side of the cross now we're living in an old covenant.
Speaker 1:We shifted from old covenant to new covenant and it changes my perspective on things. We have to look at, on things we have to look at it differently. You have to look and say my identity has to be found in Christ, not in Adam. If I look at Adam and I say that because of Adam, that is my life now Where's my identity coming from Adam and I think I'm just an old sinner, saved by grace. Just why? Because he was a sinner and he made me a sinner and I'm still a sinner. No, you're not, because sin has been dealt with. Sin has been defeated on the cross. Quit giving Adam more power and more authority than Jesus. That's why I asked the question in the very beginning how much power does the cross have? How powerful is the cross? Don't just say it, because that's the Christian thing to say. Do you really believe that it had more power than Adam? If we do believe that, then our message should change. Our words, our ministry, what we're saying to people should shift. I should come to terms with certain things that was not biblical and come to a place and say I'm not teaching that anymore.
Speaker 1:I was telling Ronnie before church. We were sitting there talking. I said you know, I know a lot of people don't like Cleflo Dollar. Some of y'all may not even know him, but some people y'all do. I don't care for him that much. But listen, I can respect the fact that this joker has come back and said I was wrong and he has repented for a lot of things that he has preached over the years. I'm just talking about the money side of it, because he was a big prosperity and a lot of people got on him about that. And he's come back and he's changed his perspective on a lot of things. I don't know if you've gone there and watched he preaches that in the Mirror Bible now.
Speaker 1:He was one of the first mainstream pastors that really started doing that nationally and when I say nationally I'm talking about he's got a congregation of still thousands, so he's got a huge church. He was one of the first ones to come back and say no, I looked at this stuff, we're all wrong. I was teaching you stuff that was not biblical and now he is turning back. Not many people are doing that, even when they realize it. Not many people are doing that. Why? Because congregations are too big to lose. The money coming in is too much Turn away. There's just certain reasons. I'm nothing too old and I don't want to change it up now. There's all kinds of reasons. People are not doing it.
Speaker 1:I believe in my heart, more people are seeing it, but they're not changing things up. We are. We're going to change it up. We're going to teach finished up. We're going to teach finished work. We're going to teach inclusion. We're going to let people know they're included. I don't care how bad you were, I don't care what you went through. I don't care what you had to battle in your life. You are included in what Christ has done. How do I know that? Because the Word says it, and I don't care how bad we try to twist and turn the Word, we can't change what it actually means. So we're going to continue to teach that.
Speaker 1:There's people who are going to ask questions and I want us to be ready. We need more than one person in here speaking this stuff. We need more people. One person in here speaking this stuff. We need more people grabbing on to it and being willing to go out into the community, into your little friends group, into Facebook, into different places, and really begin to speak this Because people need to know there's an option.
Speaker 1:I don't know why I'm stuck on that, david. I guess that's kind of what I'm seeing, the way I'm seeing things. People are stuck, they think they're stuck in a place and they're not. That may be. Some of you may look and say that's a huge calling for us. Yes, it is. That's why God I believe God causes some people to be forerunners and I ain't saying that as a lack of pattern Back in the day. I'm saying forerunners in certain areas and certain communities. Again, there's only two people I know of teaching, inclusion and finished work in this area, and that's myself and my brother. We're the only two Teaching on the level that we're teaching it on, and there's people that are hearing it and there's people that's grabbing on to it. But there's a lot more that I believe could utilize it and their life could change.
Speaker 1:You have the opportunity to it ain't just coming from the pulpit. You need to take this and we need to go with it. Two minutes late, I was finished by 12. Let's pray, father, god, I thank you. Thank you for this day and this opportunity to continue to preach your word, continue to speak the good news, the gospel of this house. Father, I pray that you just continue to open up the ears of every person here, the hearts, father, open them up to receive the truth of your Word, to gain understanding into this Word, to see that what Jesus Christ done on the cross absolutely included every single person. Help us to help people, father, to wake up to the fact that they're not stuck in a place of condemnation, they're not stuck in a place of guilt, they're not stuck in a place of living in Adam, but they have the opportunity right now to live in Christ. So, father God, we thank you for who we are. We thank you for this opportunity You've given us to be a forerunner in this community. I'll speak that boldly, father this church, the people of this church, are forerunners in this community, and we thank you.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it's frustrating, sometimes it gets a little irritating to wonder where everybody's at and why we can't grow and why this can't happen or that can't happen. But, father, you're beginning to show me something that we are called and you've anointed us to be a forerunner. And being a forerunner is difficult. Being a forerunner is sometimes not pleasant, it's not always fun.
Speaker 1:But, father, you've put something in us that's special. You've put something in us that's special. You've put something in us, father. You've given us the ability to grab on to things that a lot of people are not taking the time to grab on to. And, father, we thank you for that.
Speaker 1:We thank you for this opportunity, we thank you that you've given us this and I pray that you just give us strength, give us courage and speak out the things that you've given us. Just give us the courage to speak out the things that you've given us. Just give us the courage to speak in the face of adversity. Give us the courage to speak even when it's not going to be popular, it's not going to be a popular message to a lot of people, but give us the faith and give us the strength to speak it anyway. And, father, I know that you're going to bless us in more ways than we even realize for the work that we're doing. And, father, we thank you and we'll be careful to give you the praise, the honor and the glory In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.