Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas

NT Framework - It's Paid

• Jeremy Thomas • Season 6 • Episode 142

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Jeremy traces the claim that Jesus came to serve by paying a ransom, why only His life can cover a life debt, and how faith connects that payment to us. 

More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com 

This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).

Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner. 

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament framework. Today, a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.

SPEAKER_01:

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, that's always so interesting because people say, Well, I serve Jesus Christ. Oh, I serve Jesus. Guess what? Jesus served you. People are not comfortable with that statement. But that's exactly what it says, isn't it? He did not come to be served by you and to me. He came to serve us. Our creator came down here and served us. How did he do that? It says to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. That word ransom is a word for paying a price. I mean, what do you do when you ransom someone? You usually have to pay some kind of price, some outlandish price. We'll take two million dollars to release your son that we kidnapped. Or whatever. It's a you've got to pay a price. And that's what he did. He gave his life. That's the payment. He's the, by the way, he's the only one who had life to make a payment. The rest of us are dead in our transgressions and sins. What are you going to give? You can't make the ransom payment. I can't make the ransom payment. All the people in the world can't make the ransom payment. We're dead, and I mean, you're going to take somebody giving you a dead body? Is that a good payment? That's nothing. I mean, we need a lot, we need something that has life inherent to it to be given on our behalf so he can pay our debt, our life debt. And that's what he did. He paid our life debt. And in exchange, when we believe in him, guess what? He gives us his life. This is really good news. That means we are in good standing with God. Luke 168. A couple pages to the right. Luke 168. Redemption, money, payment. And then this one I'll make a point that'll prepare us for next week. In Luke 168, this is Zacharias, John the Baptist's father, you know, who he was told your wife is with child, and he laughed. Ha ha ha. Whatever. Okay, well, I guess I'll just shut you up for the rest of the pregnancy. And every woman said, Thank God. So he doubted, and because of that, well, he couldn't speak for a while. And so when it's all said and done, uh Zacharias uh was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, verse 68, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited us and accomplished redemption for his people. There it is again, redemption. The one who would make the payment for Israel's sin debt. But here's the thing notice the past tenses. He has visited us, he has accomplished, but did you notice this is a long time before the cross? This is a long time before the cross, over 30 years before the cross. But see, it's a done deal in Zacharias's eyes, right? I mean, who's else gonna pay the sin penalty for the world? Is Muhammad gonna do that? Is Joseph Smith gonna do that? No, these people are sinners. They died, they're dead. They're dead right now. They rotted away centuries and centuries ago. Well, century and a half for Joseph Smith. But anyway, um, Jesus Christ didn't rot. He lives forevermore. You're gonna believe in a dead guy? Or you're gonna believe in a guy that lives forevermore? Which one is this? I mean, this is a logical choice. It's not a complicated choice, it's a very easy choice. But he says he has visited us, he has accomplished redemption for his people. Now, when he was on the cross, he he made the penalty in full. The payment's been made, right? Well, why isn't everybody saved then? If he already paid the penalty for everybody's sin, why isn't everybody saved? Because some people don't accept that he made the payment for them. They reject that he made the payment for them. They say, I'll do it myself. I'll pay it myself. Yeah, but you're a dead man walking. You don't have any life to give. You can't make the payment. Yeah, but I'm gonna try to do it myself. I got my good works. Yeah, but all of our good works are but filthy wreck. Yeah, but God's not like that. God's really just gonna weigh it. He's gonna say, Well, you got these good works, you got these bad works, your good works outweigh your bad works, therefore I let you in. Did they ever pay the life debt? No, there's just some good works. What does that do? That's what was required anyway. Now you're telling me that's gonna work? What about all the bad works? You saying God's gonna compromise his justice? That's not who God is. See, it just doesn't work like that. People don't get to choose the way to salvation. You know, God does. He's the creator. That's he did he said, you know, there's no other name under heaven by which man may be saved in the name of Jesus Christ. That's it. That's only one name. You can't choose the way. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. People say, I don't like that. Well, I mean, sorry. I mean, you may not like it, but it doesn't really matter what you like, it matters what's true. What's true is what matters. Right? So we gotta deal with what's truth. I mean, truth is truth. It doesn't change, otherwise, it wouldn't be true. So it's viewing it as a completed act 30 years before it ever happened. But to have that enjoyment of redemption, a person has to believe. They have to accept it for themselves as true. Uh, 238, we might as well, it's just one chapter away, 238. This is Anna the prophetess, who saw him when they took him up to the temple on, I guess it was the eighth day, I believe. Um, verse 37, she is a widow to the age of 84. She never left the temple serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At the at that very moment, she came up and she began giving thanks to God when they've got little baby Jesus there in the temple, and Simeon was there. And uh, she continued to speak of him to all those who were looking for, there it is, the redemption of Jerusalem, which Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, so this is just a metaphor for the people of Israel. Right? They were apparently looking for this, but by the end of the Gospels, they're saying, crucify. We have no king but Caesar. So their sentiments didn't continue 30 years later. All right, so but redemption is sinward, it focuses on the payment due for our sin debt. And uh, as I mentioned, the the problem that we have with debt, debt is a form of slavery, you're enslaved to the debtor, uh, the lender. And so, you know, because of the way that our world's economy is working, which is on a debt system, and this concept that you can just get out of it all by bankruptcy, filing bankruptcy, then you know, it weakens our ability to communicate the power of the cross and what Jesus was actually doing. He's actually had to pay the debt. God can't just forgive, okay? He's not just gonna forgive people. There had the payment has to be made. And what we're saying is Jesus Christ made it.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spoke and Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.