WEBVTT 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:13.919 Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church. 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:19.359 You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:21.280 Thank you for listening. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:30.239 That's really what I want to talk about on this holiday weekend is just taking a moment to praise Jesus for the depth of his love. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:38.159 If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12, and we're going to talk for a few moments this morning about the depth of Jesus' love. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:43.520 Just as we've sung about it, the only person who could have saved us is Jesus. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:45.840 The one who did save us is Jesus. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:51.600 The promise and hope of heaven comes only through Jesus, our Savior. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:54.560 As you're turning, I want to give you a little preview. 00:00:54.960 --> 00:01:00.880 Next week, we're going to start a church-wide study on the book of Philippians. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:07.359 So we'll go through this fall, breaking down the book of Philippians each week, and it's going to be a great study. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:12.879 I'm excited about it, and we're working through that, and then we're going to land somewhere around Thanksgiving. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:26.879 And then, just to give you another little preview, starting at Christmas time, we're going to start with the birth of Jesus, and we're going to work our way through the life of Jesus from his birth in December through his death, burial, and resurrection at Easter time next year. 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:30.159 So it'll be a great time as we study these together. 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:34.560 But today we're going to talk about the depth of Jesus' love. 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:40.799 So read with me here in Hebrews chapter 12, beginning in verse 1. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:42.799 Therefore. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:48.079 Now, when we see the word therefore, we always ask the question, what is it therefore, right? 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:52.319 So we're connecting back to this previous chapter. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:54.079 Hebrews chapter 11. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:59.200 Sometimes old time preachers used to call that the faith hall of fame. 00:01:59.359 --> 00:02:11.919 And that one line in the middle song that the choir led, and then we joined in singing later, it talked about the saints and the hall of saints and all of those who'll be singing with us in heaven and their testimony. 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:16.800 And that's really what the book of Hebrews chapter 11 is about. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:36.800 It begins with the it teaches us what faith in Jesus is, and then it runs through the uh sort of a reader's digest version of the Old Testament, and it says things like, by faith, Abraham, when he was called, by faith, Sarah, when she was unable to receive children, received power to conceive offspring. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:41.120 By faith, Abraham, by faith, Isaac, by faith, Moses. 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:47.759 And so it goes on and on through there, describing faith and the promises of God. 00:02:47.919 --> 00:03:06.800 Now the entire book of Hebrews is written especially to the Jewish people to explain and show how Jesus is the Savior, and he is the culmination of all the promises that they were looking forward to in the coming Messiah, in the promised Savior. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:18.240 And so you get to chapter 12, and he says, Now, after teaching us about how the tabernacle and the sacrifices and all of that were a picture of the Messiah who would come. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:25.759 Then he gives us chapter 11, and he says, Look at all these folks who had their faith and the promises of God. 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:39.599 It says in verse 39 at the end of chapter 11, all these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, not yet, because Jesus was coming, but he didn't come in their lifetime. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:49.199 Since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect or complete without us. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:58.400 In other words, the people who come after the culmination of God's promises in the person and the work of Jesus Christ. 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:14.319 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and then he uses the illustration of an Olympic event, sporting event, to cast this picture. 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:23.839 Since we have a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:51.120 Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter or completer of our faith, who for the joy that lay before him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God's throne. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:05:04.560 And there's what it says, this next verse for consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, so that you won't grow weary and lose heart. 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:18.480 I want to think about this morning the depth of Jesus' love, and I want to put up for you, for us to just keep in front of our minds today this concept for the joy that lay before him. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:24.319 Why would Jesus go through the cross and the pain of all of that? 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.160 Why would he go through the shame of becoming sin for us? 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:32.959 Because that's how much Jesus loves us. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:35.120 That's how much he loves us. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:39.439 Now, he paints this incredible picture and this illustration for us. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:45.680 And in these three verses of Hebrews, these are some of the richest three verses in all of Scripture. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:50.399 We could do a month-long study on just these three verses. 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:57.920 And so what we're going to do is I just want to pull this one theme out for us, and that is the love of Jesus. 00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:04.399 Now I know there's so much more in this, but what I really want to capture, this idea, is how much he loved us. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:12.959 For the joy that lay before him, he endured a cross and shame for us to be our Savior. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:14.480 Now get this picture. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:18.240 It's awesome to have football season back. 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:19.120 Amen. 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:21.759 That should get a good reaction right there. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.480 And so most people won yesterday. 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:25.519 That was a good thing. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:27.360 So we're excited about that. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:32.000 But football season is fun, and it's something that we can relate to in this illustration. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:43.199 So picture here in this time, this time of Rome and all of that, when that sort of universal experience, this illustration would make sense. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:52.480 You're picture in the Roman Colosseum, and you have here the runners, and they're beginning to tow the line, and he's painting this incredible picture. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:58.000 You have all the crowd around them in the stands screaming and cheering and all of that. 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:20.480 Then you have the runners who come and they take off an outer robe, and they're down just like runners today, into a very minor type of easy-to-move in, just barely keeps them modest, so they don't have anything that gets in the way, nothing that slows them down, so they can run a pure and fast race. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:27.600 They set them toes on the mark, they look to the finish line, and they focus on that finish line. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:32.399 The crowd is screaming and all of that, and they're ready to run. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:40.560 And Paul paints that picture for us and says, Listen, I want you to run a race just like that. 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:46.639 And I want to illustrate to you how much Jesus loves you by all of this. 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:51.360 So there's a lot of discussion at times about this phrase. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:56.240 Such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:01.600 Now, we need to unpack that just a little bit to understand that. 00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:12.720 Sometimes when we have someone who we love who's gone to heaven or whatever, we we think about the idea that somehow they're up in heaven cheering us on. 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:40.480 The picture is all of these witnesses that were described and run through in chapter 11, all of them, it is the cheering of the crowd, is their testimony to point us to Jesus. 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:44.240 It is the testimony of the faithfulness of Jesus. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:57.679 They are cheering by their testimony when they look to the promise of the Redeemer, and God met that promise, that it is that testimony that speaks to us. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.639 The word witness there is the word. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:08.320 We have that root word in the original language it was written in, is the root word that we get the word martyr from. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:22.559 It is this idea that they have sold out their lives onto the promises of God, and God was faithful to that, and now that testimony points us to Jesus. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:28.639 Now that's a loud and a caucophonous sound and testimony. 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:34.480 Just because it's this way does not mean it's lessened in any way. 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:36.399 In fact, it's even greater. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:56.879 If you think about a runner who comes to the line, they could be surrounded by people screaming and shouting like us, but what if they were sitting and they were about to start the race and all the people in the crowd around them were all Olympic champions, all screaming and cheering that if you run the race well, you will win the prize. 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:01.759 Keep your eyes on the finish line, and you can win the prize. 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:05.600 And you think about the depth even greater of that crowd. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:08.960 Crowds and sporting events have a huge impact. 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:19.600 Um years ago, September 21st, 1996, I had an opportunity to have a guy's weekend with my dad. 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:23.039 That was a significant date for us as sports fans. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:28.080 Uh, the Tennessee Volunteers and the Florida Gators were ranked number one and two. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:30.240 And they were playing in Knoxville. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:42.240 Peyton Manning was the quarterback of the Tennessee Volunteers, and Danny Worfell was the quarterback of the Florida Gators, and it was a humongous game with national title implications on the line. 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:44.960 And I called my dad and I said, Hey, I got tickets. 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:46.159 This one's on me. 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:48.399 You're coming with me, I'm taking you to the ball game. 00:10:48.559 --> 00:10:50.480 Now, he was not a volunteer fan. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:10:58.080 He hated the volunteers, but he loved me, and he was glad I had a job, so he was grateful they gave me a degree. 00:10:58.399 --> 00:11:01.519 So we uh so he loaded up in the truck and went with me. 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:05.840 We were sitting on the top row of Nayland Stadium. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:12.240 Now, if you've never been there, Nayland Stadium, a lot of stadiums are like spread out, kind of like a bowl. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:17.919 The uh stadium and the University of Memphis is like that where I grew up and was a Tiger fan. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:23.600 But in Knoxville, it's very much a straight up, almost like a piece of glass, almost like a glass. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:25.919 And so it's very, very vertical. 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:31.759 If you're sitting on one of those upper stands, I mean you're you're you're always afraid you're gonna fall over down the steps. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:35.919 We're literally sitting on the top row of the stands. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:42.240 And there were at that point the largest college football game in history. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:52.320 Now it's been broken a number of times over and over and over again, but then on that particular day, there were 107,608 people in the stadium. 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:56.480 107,608 people. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:01.120 We're sitting on the stand and they're starting to play and they're doing Rocky Top and all of that. 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:02.320 My dad's rolling his eyes. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:03.600 He's like, I hate that song, son. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:04.720 Will they please stop? 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:08.480 And I said, hopefully, Dad, you're gonna hear it a lot today. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:12.159 And so here we are, and so now it's time. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:27.120 Everybody cheers, everybody begins to scream, they the band forms the power tee, they open that up, the team begins to run onto the field, and it is so loud I can't hear anything. 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:32.639 I lean over to my dad and I start to say something, and he just looks at me like that. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:38.320 So I literally took my hands and I cupped them on his ear. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:49.759 I made a seal on the side of his head, and I screamed as loud as I could into my hands, and he turned to look at me and said, I can't understand anything you're saying. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:55.279 A crowd that is giving testimony is awesome. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:12:57.519 It is cacophonous. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:08.559 One of my favorite scenes is in the movie, uh, the movie about um uh the guy that was the lineman, uh, Burlsworth, at the University of Arkansas. 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:10.960 Greater, if you've never seen it, I encourage you to see it. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:13.600 He was a walk-on, he had incredible testimony. 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:24.720 When he finally made the team, his first game down on the field, if you've seen that scene, an older guy who's been mentoring him and encouraging him and trying to help him make the team and all of that. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:26.159 He was so excited with him. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:30.159 He said, You're on the field for the first time, you're wearing a jersey for the first time. 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:34.720 And he says, Come here, and he takes him over to the table where the Gatorades are. 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:36.960 And he says, Watch this. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:38.559 They're about to call the hogs. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:41.600 And the guy says, I've been hearing them call the hogs my whole life. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.279 And the older player says, Never like this. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:52.320 And they stand there at the table with the Gatorades, and he makes him look at the Gatorade cups. 00:13:52.480 --> 00:14:08.399 And when the crowd begins to call the hogs, it is so loud it shakes the ground, the table begins to shake, and all of those Gatorade cups have Gatorades sloshing out of them because of this, because of the crowd. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:14.879 A crowd is an incredibly powerful motivation. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:23.440 It is incredibly powerful to think about that cheering and the volume and the loud and what that means. 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:31.360 And if you go to one of those other schools, like Texas or somewhere and they don't know how to cheer, I'm sorry for you that you don't get these experiences. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:38.960 It's an awesome thing to hear that crowd and what it does to the players down on the field. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:52.399 My son played trumpet in the marching band at the University of Arkansas, and he was just on the corner down where the Razorbacks run into the field, and he said, Dad, it's so awesome to be on the field and to hear the crowd. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:56.000 And that's the picture here. 00:14:57.200 --> 00:15:05.440 Listen to the testimonies of the people who have given their lives to Jesus and they are cheering to you. 00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:08.879 Keep your eyes on Jesus. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:10.559 He is faithful. 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:23.200 Since we have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, you get those pictures. 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:26.960 And then here's the command of this verse. 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:31.039 Lay aside every weight and sin that so easily ensnares us. 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:31.840 Why? 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:34.720 So we can run the race that's set before us? 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:35.440 Why? 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:37.600 And how do we do that? 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:49.600 Keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and completer of our faith. 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:53.200 We fix our eyes on Jesus. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:56.080 We rivet our attention on him. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:16:01.039 Listen, we're not looking at the crowd and the people that are cheering us on. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:04.559 They are telling us keep your eyes on Jesus. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:08.960 Jesus is the only one who can get you there. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:24.960 Jesus is the one who loved you enough to design your race and to give you the finish line and to create the strength and his promises and his work in you to get you to the end. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:28.960 They are pointing us to Jesus. 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:33.759 We are fixing our eyes on Jesus. 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:37.279 Now there's a lot to unpack in this passage. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:43.679 There's a lot here in the lay aside the weights and the encumbrances that keep us from Jesus. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:47.200 Cast off those sins that are getting in the way of that. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:48.879 But listen, here's what I believe. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:56.320 So much about that, it doesn't begin with starting with the sin and looking at that and removing that. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:02.000 Pastor, where I grew up, used to say all the time, you don't clean yourself up to come to Jesus. 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:05.200 You come to Jesus and He cleans you up. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:09.039 You see, it's all the work of Jesus. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:18.559 And the point of this is not to begin with all of that, is to cast this vision of the race, but it is to fix your eyes on Jesus because He is the one. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:28.000 And once you have your eyes on Him and you see how much He loves you, then you want to get rid of the encumbrances and the barriers. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:37.279 Then you want to get rid of the sin that pulls you away from the Jesus who endured the cross for you. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:40.240 I love this picture. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:45.519 Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:54.720 The more you read and study this and you get some of these word pictures from the original language, there's two layers to this, I believe. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:00.079 The first race that he's talking about is just the race of being a faithful believer. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:04.160 It is surrendering your life to Jesus who died for you. 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:08.079 It is to be faithful to his teaching and the scriptures. 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:19.759 It is to be in that transformation process we talked about last week in those three core values for our church evangelism and presence of Jesus and transformation. 00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:23.440 It is to surrender yourself and be in that transformation. 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:28.480 But I think there's another layer here as well. 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:39.279 You see, every one of those witnesses that he describes in chapter 11, they have a different journey in how God worked in their lives and through their lives. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:43.039 They each had different choices of faith. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:49.039 They each had different ways that God was using them and working in their lives. 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:56.480 And so there is the layer of the race that is that being transformed in the image of Jesus. 00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:59.839 But there is an even deeper picture in this illustration. 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:06.880 Because even in those days when they would run a race, you weren't just willy-nilly running over people. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:09.519 You have a lane in which you ran. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:22.960 And leaving aside those encumbrances and setting aside that sin is part of preparing yourself to run the race in the lane that you are assigned. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:29.279 And each one of us has a lane in our lives that we are assigned. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:37.119 God, the Bible tells us, designed you before you were even born. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:41.039 You are fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:43.039 He has a plan for your life. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:52.559 Even in salvation, we'll use this verse often in Ephesians 2.89, for by grace you're saved through faith and not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:20:04.319 But then it says in verse 10, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that he has prepared beforehand for us to walk in. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:08.960 That's where we get the idea that God has a plan for your life. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:12.880 He knows what he wants to do with you, and he knows what he wants to do through you. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:23.599 And that transformation is that race at one level, and the next level is how that transformation occurs in the lane in which you are as a runner. 00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:33.839 And so he says, this command fix your eyes on Jesus. 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:42.319 You're going to run this race, and it's going to be hard, and it's going to require endurance, and there are going to be distractions. 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:47.599 People are encouraging you, keep your eyes on Jesus, and he says, This is how you do it. 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:56.720 You fix your eyes on Jesus, and it's important because of who Jesus is and how much he loves us. 00:20:57.359 --> 00:21:00.400 In all the ways that he could describe Jesus here. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:18.799 He says, You run the race that God has put in front of you by you fixing your eyes on Jesus, and then he describes him, the source and completer of our faith, who for the joy that lay before him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God's throne. 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:21.920 He describes Jesus as the Redeemer. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:25.680 In fact, he only uses the one name of Jesus. 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:29.519 So often you see Christ Jesus or Jesus Christ or whatever. 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:33.599 And he focuses here on Jesus as our Savior. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:37.279 You fix your eyes on the person of the Savior. 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:48.640 The name Jesus would be the New Testament name, and the Old Testament name, you would say it Joshua, and it means Yahweh saves or Jehovah saves. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:50.799 That's the name what Jesus has. 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:55.119 He is a redeemer from his name through all of his actions. 00:21:55.359 --> 00:22:11.839 And he's saying, listen, you fix your eyes on the Redeemer and the Motivation that we have that is the deepest in all of our lives for every choice of faith that we ever make is the depth of love that Jesus has for us. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:21.599 Who for the joy that lay before him endured a cross and despised the shame. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:27.920 No one ever loved us as much as Jesus Christ. 00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:38.559 So many times we get so, we don't mean to, but we get either into gotta do this or gotta do that. 00:22:39.200 --> 00:22:53.359 Or so many times in life we're just focused on trying to get it all done that we are distracted and encumbered or tempted to take our eyes off of Jesus. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:23:06.559 And there are times we need to be reminded of Jesus hanging naked on a cross, beaten and bloodied, and dying there with the weight of our sin. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:14.000 And he finished his course for the joy set before him. 00:23:14.880 --> 00:23:18.400 Jesus came here knowing what would happen. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:30.960 Jesus spent his ministry preaching and teaching about the salvation that comes through Jesus and that he was the Messiah, he was the Son of Man, He came to seek and to save the lost. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:32.960 Jesus always knowing. 00:23:33.599 --> 00:23:46.559 I think every time he went down that road, coming in or out of Jerusalem, I'm gonna die and carry sin there for them. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:51.279 Jesus was so burdened when he went to the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:24:01.440 The Bible says he got on his knees and he prayed, and it was so intense, it was like he was sweating drops of blood. 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:07.200 And he said, Father, if there's any other way to do this, can we find another way? 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:20.799 Jesus at that point not only was the sinless and holy Son of God, he had then, as a man, lived a sinless life up to that point. 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:32.640 And the idea that he would have to become not just sin, but all sin. 00:24:43.119 --> 00:24:47.599 And yet there was a joy on the other side. 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:53.359 There was a love that drove him to see the results. 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:57.920 There was a love that drove him to see the plan while he was there. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:03.519 Father, if there is another way to do this, please can we find one? 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:11.759 But Jesus said, Not my Jesus will, but yours, the Father, be done. 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:17.279 For the joy set before him, he endured the cross. 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:23.119 Let me just give you three thoughts about how deeply Jesus loves us from this passage. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:34.640 If we're to fix our eyes on Jesus, he says first, the author or the designer or the source and completer of our faith. 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:36.880 Jesus loved us so much. 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:43.920 The Bible says from the very foundation of time, he was set to be our Messiah. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:54.319 Jesus knew that when we sinned, there was no other way for redemption to occur than for Him to do it. 00:25:55.759 --> 00:26:08.880 Jesus knew from the very beginning, from the time Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, and from the time that sin was replicated through the lives of generation after generation after generation as it moved throughout humanity. 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:17.599 When you reached the point where it was so bad, God said, Listen, I'm gonna start over with Noah and his family, and it didn't fix any of it. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:22.400 It just continued to expand and down through our lives and all of that. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:29.039 Jesus loved you so much he went to the cross because he knew that he was the only one who could do it. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:32.319 He designed it. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:35.519 He knew this is the price that must be paid. 00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:37.359 Sin must be punished. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:41.119 A holy God the Father must punish that sin. 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:44.640 How in the world are we going to pay the price for that sin? 00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:53.359 And Jesus knew someone would have to die, a man's death to pay the price for man's sin. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:27:01.119 And he designed it knowing that then he would have to be the one who completed it and did it. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:13.519 Jesus loved you and me so much that he designed salvation and he created the plan of salvation, knowing what it would cost him. 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:17.440 And yet he designed it and came anyway. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:27.039 One of the most shocking stories that when you begin to unpack it in Scripture, we don't know a lot about the childhood of Jesus. 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:34.240 We know after he was born, he was taken to the temple and they did what they were supposed to do in terms of dedication and purification and all of that. 00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:37.519 We know at some point when Herod started killing babies. 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:49.119 Have you ever noticed in Scripture every evil nation kills unborn and innocent babies? 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:54.960 Just look that up in Scripture. 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:04.480 How God never blesses and always judges a nation who kills unborn. 00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:16.160 And so God told Joseph to take his family to Egypt when Jesus was a toddler to protect him from that evil. 00:28:16.400 --> 00:28:46.960 At some point they moved back, and then somewhere around his teenage years, his younger teenage years, scholars estimate 11, 12, 13, somewhere around there, they go to the temple and we get this one story where they pack up their belongings after being there at the Passover in Jerusalem, and they head back to where they were living, and they get a couple of days out, and Mary looks at Joseph and says, Hey, where's Jesus? 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:48.480 And Joseph says, I don't know. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:49.759 I thought he was with you. 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:52.000 And Mary says, No, he's with you. 00:28:52.240 --> 00:28:54.400 And he says, No, you're the one that said you were going to get him. 00:28:54.559 --> 00:28:55.680 And they said, No, you're going to get him. 00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:56.720 No, where and then where are they? 00:28:56.880 --> 00:28:58.960 And they realize they left him back in Jerusalem. 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:02.319 And they pack up and they head back to Jerusalem and they find him in the temple. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:03.680 And here's what Jesus says. 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:08.079 He is sitting there learning from the rabbis, and they are in awe of what he knows. 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:10.559 And they get on to him, Jesus, what are you doing? 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:11.839 You're supposed to be with us. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:12.960 We were so terrified. 00:29:13.039 --> 00:29:14.000 We thought we'd lost you. 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:15.119 What are you doing here? 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:19.680 And he says, Did you not know I would be about my father's business? 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:22.079 Now, on the one hand, that's awesome, man. 00:29:22.160 --> 00:29:23.359 You think, boy, that's great. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:25.920 He's that young and he's already learning scripture and he's already doing that. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:28.559 But listen, what do you think his father's business is? 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:36.559 He knows who he is and what he's come to do. 00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:45.039 Jesus lived his life knowing that he was the only plan for us. 00:29:47.519 --> 00:30:04.640 But he came and he went through every temptation the Bible says in this very book of Hebrews that we go through, and he did it all so that one day when we face trouble, we would know we would have a high priest who went through every single temptation that we ever go through as people. 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:15.119 The complexity and the fullness with which he designed our salvation and walked through all of the struggles that we go through. 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:18.000 He did all of that because he loves you. 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:30.319 I cannot imagine living 30 years of your life, knowing what the end was going to entail. 00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:39.279 This setting our eyes on him or keeping our eyes on him or fixing, some translations say. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:51.359 That word in the original language has the idea that it is you have put your eyes on the only hope that you have and you have excluded anything else from your view. 00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:58.480 Jesus is the source and the perfecter or complet of our faith. 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:05.599 It is understanding that Jesus loved me more than no one else, but Jesus is the only one who can save me. 00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:10.240 Jesus is the only hope that we have. 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:31.200 And Jesus says, I'm going to take everything that Satan gives. 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:33.920 I'm going to take every weight of this sin. 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:39.599 I'm going to take every failure and mistake and choice that every person has ever taken. 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:45.200 And I'm going to take it to that cross because I see the redemption at the other end. 00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:57.279 Jesus, who planned that redemption, who knew he was the only one who could accomplish it, now he steps into that role and he takes that sin. 00:32:58.720 --> 00:33:08.480 Every whip from a Roman soldier, Jesus took for you. 00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:36.480 When we got to the end, there would be hope. 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:41.599 He saw that redemption and he said, Whatever it takes, I'm going to get there. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.160 Not my will, Father, but yours be done. 00:33:44.240 --> 00:33:45.440 I'm going to get there. 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:50.640 He hung on that cross and he never lost his heart for us. 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:56.880 When that thief cried out, remember me today. 00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:03.440 And Jesus said, Brother, that's why I'm hanging on this cross. 00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:05.279 It is for your sin. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:08.400 And today you'll be with me in paradise. 00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:11.360 Jesus went through every struggle of that. 00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:14.400 But have you ever thought about all of our sins? 00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:16.800 The shame of that sin. 00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:32.079 The shame as holy Jesus, when he knew that Heavenly Father looked down out of heaven and he looked at him and he saw the sins that had to be punished on Jesus. 00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:38.719 When Jesus cries out on the cross, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:42.000 He knows the shame of sin. 00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:47.360 The perfect and holy Jesus. 00:34:48.719 --> 00:34:51.199 And he took that shame for you. 00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:55.760 In fact, the Bible says he took it joyously. 00:34:56.719 --> 00:34:59.679 There is a joy on the other end of this journey. 00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:02.559 And I'm going to save my people. 00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:05.840 I'm going to create hope through salvation. 00:35:06.079 --> 00:35:11.199 I am going to accomplish the work that we set out and that we designed to do. 00:35:11.599 --> 00:35:13.039 I can keep going. 00:35:13.280 --> 00:35:19.599 I can make it to the end because redemption for my people lies on the other end. 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:23.679 That's how much Jesus loves us. 00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:28.639 That He endured that cross and shame for us. 00:35:30.239 --> 00:35:32.480 One other thing about that joy. 00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:34.559 I love this phrase. 00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:39.679 He says, He endured for the joy set before him. 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:49.599 He endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God's throne. 00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:52.559 We sang about that moment this morning. 00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:56.880 That's one reason I got so excited because I knew what we were singing. 00:35:57.360 --> 00:36:02.880 For the joy set before him, Jesus designed redemption and he knew what it looked like. 00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:05.920 Jesus knew that he was the only one that could accomplish it. 00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:12.639 Jesus grabbed a hold of that vision and that joy, and he endured everything that he went through to get there. 00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:14.400 And now it is real. 00:36:15.199 --> 00:36:17.280 He sits at the right hand of God. 00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:19.280 What happens there at the right hand of God? 00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:22.320 Look with me in your Bibles in Revelation chapter 5. 00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:26.480 Jesus had a vision of redemption. 00:36:26.800 --> 00:36:30.960 He had a vision of the completion of what salvation meant. 00:36:31.119 --> 00:36:40.559 He had a vision, and the joy of death would lose its sting and power over us when he conquered it, when he rose again. 00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:47.360 Jesus knew the plan was not just forgiveness to Greg, but it was restoration. 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:49.039 It was full redemption. 00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:50.719 It was the body of Christ. 00:36:50.800 --> 00:36:53.039 It was all of eternity spent. 00:36:53.760 --> 00:37:00.320 When Jesus is honored in heaven, he is honored as the Redeemer. 00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:03.679 That's what it means he's sitting down on the right hand of the Father. 00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:06.480 Just read with me in Revelation chapter 5, verse 1. 00:37:06.800 --> 00:37:17.760 John in this vision says, I sat, I saw on the right hand of the one seated on the throne, a scroll with writing on the inside and on the back sealed with seven seals. 00:37:18.159 --> 00:37:28.320 I also saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals? 00:37:29.119 --> 00:37:36.480 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or even to look in it. 00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:46.239 And I cried and cried because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to even look in it. 00:37:47.039 --> 00:38:02.480 Then one of the elders said to me, Stop crying! Look! The lion from the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has been victorious so that he may open the scroll and his seven seals. 00:38:03.039 --> 00:38:07.519 Then I saw the one like a slaughtered lamb. 00:38:08.559 --> 00:38:14.239 You see, this is what Jesus saw ahead. 00:38:14.800 --> 00:38:16.960 It's what he planned from the beginning of time. 00:38:17.119 --> 00:38:19.599 It's what he endured the cross to accomplish. 00:38:19.840 --> 00:38:30.800 I saw the one like a slaughtered lamb standing before the throne, and four living creatures among the elders, and he had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent into all the earth. 00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:38.159 He came and he took the scroll out of the right hand of the one seated on the throne. 00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:46.639 When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. 00:38:46.960 --> 00:38:53.679 Each one had a harp and gold boils filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 00:38:54.079 --> 00:38:56.159 Chapter 11 of Hebrews. 00:38:56.480 --> 00:38:58.159 And they sang a new song. 00:38:58.400 --> 00:39:00.559 And what is the song that they sing? 00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:04.480 It is the celebration of redemption and the redeemer. 00:39:04.639 --> 00:39:17.920 You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals because you were slaughtered, and you redeemed your people for God by your blood. 00:39:18.159 --> 00:39:27.679 From every tribe and language and people and nation, you made them a kingdom and priests to our gods, and they will reign on the earth. 00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:31.519 That is who Jesus is, seated at the right hand of Father. 00:39:31.679 --> 00:39:35.119 That is the vision of redemption that Jesus had. 00:39:35.360 --> 00:39:37.840 He went so that we could be redeemed. 00:39:38.000 --> 00:39:47.119 He went so he could open the scrolls, so he could open the Lamb's book of life, so that he could redeem the people who he died for that placed their faith in him. 00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:50.639 Jesus saw fully this is what's going to happen. 00:39:50.880 --> 00:39:53.199 This is what an eternity in heaven looks like. 00:39:53.440 --> 00:39:57.679 This is what happens when I bring my people to me for the joy set before him. 00:39:58.159 --> 00:40:01.440 He endured a cross and the shame of sin. 00:40:02.800 --> 00:40:14.079 And now he is in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father as the victorious Lamb of God, and we are looking forward to the redemption of Jesus. 00:40:14.320 --> 00:40:21.280 So when you find your race tomorrow, when you find your race this week, as you were grappling with your lane, what is your lane? 00:40:21.360 --> 00:40:22.400 What are you running in? 00:40:22.480 --> 00:40:26.639 Listen, listen to everyone who has ever known the faithfulness of Jesus. 00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:29.840 Keep your eyes on Jesus, fix your eyes on him. 00:40:30.159 --> 00:40:31.519 Nothing else will help you. 00:40:31.679 --> 00:40:33.280 You don't need anything else. 00:40:33.519 --> 00:40:34.880 Jesus loved you enough. 00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:41.280 He designed this for you, he did this for you, and he will accomplish this for you. 00:40:43.760 --> 00:40:47.679 For the joy set before him. 00:40:52.880 --> 00:40:54.960 Are your eyes on Jesus? 00:40:55.360 --> 00:40:57.519 I mean, are they fixed? 00:41:00.639 --> 00:41:07.519 Is there anything else that you're depending on, that you're looking forward to, that you're trying to rely on? 00:41:08.239 --> 00:41:15.360 Is there anything other than the work of Jesus, the plan of Jesus, the person of Jesus? 00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:23.920 If you're trying to rely on anything else, if you're living on anything else, listen, I want to encourage you this morning, remember how much Jesus loves you. 00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:33.760 This is who he is and what he's done for us in our lives to keep our eyes fixed on him. 00:41:34.159 --> 00:41:48.400 We have to spend time thinking about, focused on, clinging to Jesus, the source and completer of our faith. 00:41:49.679 --> 00:42:00.559 Who, for the joy that lay before him, endured a cross and shame and is now seated as the victorious Lamb of God on the right hand of the Father for you. 00:42:01.440 --> 00:42:03.519 Let go whatever else it is. 00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:06.800 Quit clinging to whatever else you're clinging to. 00:42:06.880 --> 00:42:24.320 Quit looking at whatever you are fixated on, whatever is getting in the way where you are not seeing the race that He has given you and prepared for you, and the finish line that he has created for you, and the person that he is to carry you through that race. 00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:31.280 Quit looking at other things, depending on other things, and cling to Jesus. 00:42:31.920 --> 00:42:35.039 I want you to bow your heads as we close this morning. 00:42:35.440 --> 00:42:40.480 That fixing your eyes on Jesus begins with salvation. 00:42:40.719 --> 00:42:45.760 Has there ever been a moment in your life where you trusted Christ and Him alone as your Savior? 00:42:45.920 --> 00:42:48.880 Listen, you've got no hope outside of Jesus. 00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:58.000 But if you'll come and you'll surrender your life to him, if you'll say, I know I'm a sinner and I know that you had to die for my sins, but I am placing my faith in you. 00:42:58.159 --> 00:43:00.000 Jesus, you're the one who can save. 00:43:00.159 --> 00:43:01.119 Please forgive me. 00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:02.239 I give you my life. 00:43:02.400 --> 00:43:05.599 If you'll just tell him in your own words and give your life to him. 00:43:06.159 --> 00:43:10.159 Listen, friends, this is what he died to do for you. 00:43:11.519 --> 00:43:19.599 If you've never trusted Christ as your Savior in a moment, God's people are going to stand, and just like a cloud of witnesses, we're going to sing about the faithfulness of Jesus. 00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:23.360 We're going to sing about Jesus and we're going to try to point everybody to Jesus. 00:43:23.440 --> 00:43:25.199 And if you need to be saved, you come. 00:43:25.440 --> 00:43:31.039 We'll have pastors in our aisles here, someone to pray with you, answer questions, walk the journey with you. 00:43:31.119 --> 00:43:40.079 Whatever it is you need, we're here to walk with you because we want you to see Jesus and to run the race he has created for you. 00:43:41.360 --> 00:43:43.679