WEBVTT 00:00:19.099 --> 00:00:27.660 Going to be talking to you for a few minutes about something uh of which I know virtually nothing, and that is soccer. 00:00:27.899 --> 00:00:46.219 Now, apparently, every four years, almost every country on the planet uh collects the greatest players inside of their sphere of influence, and they come together and they compete in this tournament called the World Cup. 00:00:46.460 --> 00:00:53.579 Now, this is, without comparison, the largest sporting event on the planet. 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:55.740 It is bigger than the Super Bowl. 00:00:55.820 --> 00:00:58.060 It is bigger than March Madness. 00:00:58.140 --> 00:01:01.579 It's bigger than the World Series combined. 00:01:01.740 --> 00:01:03.740 That's how huge this thing is. 00:01:03.899 --> 00:01:08.299 And this year, the World Cup is being played here in this country. 00:01:08.460 --> 00:01:10.700 Now, for some of you, you don't know, but the U.S. 00:01:10.939 --> 00:01:17.579 actually has a soccer team and they compete in this particular tournament, not always with great effect. 00:01:17.659 --> 00:01:19.180 Uh, but they they work well. 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:21.340 I usually do uh very well, in fact. 00:01:21.579 --> 00:01:25.579 But um, you know, it's soccer's not really our our thing in this country, right? 00:01:25.659 --> 00:01:28.859 When we say football, we mean the kind of football you play with your hands. 00:01:29.019 --> 00:01:31.739 I don't know why, but it's just what we do. 00:01:31.980 --> 00:01:35.659 So uh there's an individual, his name is uh Greg. 00:01:35.900 --> 00:01:37.739 Uh see here's how much I know about this. 00:01:37.900 --> 00:01:39.900 Greg Burrhalter is his name. 00:01:40.060 --> 00:01:41.500 Yeah, Greg Burrhalter. 00:01:41.579 --> 00:01:44.140 Uh he was coach uh for several years. 00:01:44.219 --> 00:01:52.060 He retired about two years ago, and uh Greg was uh the leader of the World Cup the last time that it was played in Qatar. 00:01:52.140 --> 00:02:01.819 And as he played, uh led the team there in Qatar, in the stands was an individual who had petitioned him to play on his team, the U.S. 00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:03.420 team in Qatar. 00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:08.860 And Greg had told him, You're not ready, you're nowhere near ready, you need to work a lot harder. 00:02:09.019 --> 00:02:15.019 Now that happens as a coach, that's one of the things that you have to do is you have to tell people when they are or are not ready. 00:02:15.340 --> 00:02:16.860 Dads, that's tough, right? 00:02:16.939 --> 00:02:23.019 When we're the coach in our home, it's sometimes tough to tell our kids the truth when they're ready and when they're not ready. 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:29.579 Well, for Greg, that's the challenge he faced because the individual who was in the stands who wanted to be on the U.S. 00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:34.220 team was actually a young man named Sebastian, and that was Greg's son. 00:02:34.379 --> 00:02:37.579 He had to say to his own son, you're not ready yet. 00:02:37.740 --> 00:02:43.500 If you can't compete in your own club, you're nowhere near ready to compete in the club that I'm playing with. 00:02:43.740 --> 00:02:46.379 Tough words, but they meant a lot to Sebastian. 00:02:46.540 --> 00:03:00.459 Sebastian went out and he bought a little uh a mock World Cup trophy and he took it home and he set it on his shelf just to motivate him to work and to dedicate himself to the game that his father loved so dearly. 00:03:00.779 --> 00:03:07.660 And now, uh two years later, four years later, Sebastian is playing on the U.S. 00:03:07.819 --> 00:03:08.540 soccer team. 00:03:08.699 --> 00:03:20.779 Greg's no longer uh coach, so this isn't nepotism, but Sebastian has earned his way to the team that he so desperately wanted to play for whenever his father was coach. 00:03:21.100 --> 00:03:33.259 Now, the FIFA has these moments, they call them uh letters that unite, where players receive letters from family members and they read them on air. 00:03:33.420 --> 00:03:44.379 Now, if you're here this morning and you're looking for a good, healthy, happy cry later today, you need to pull this video up because it is a real moving tear jerker. 00:03:44.459 --> 00:03:45.100 I won't lie to you. 00:03:45.180 --> 00:03:52.779 Like I watched it, and Kim was over next to me and she was working, and I'm like, I'm like bopping my looking away because I didn't want her to see that I was crying watching this video. 00:03:52.939 --> 00:03:58.540 So as Sebastian read this letter from his father, because what his father did is his father reminded him. 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:10.779 He said, It was tough to tell you that you weren't ready, but it was needful, and you've worked hard, and I'm so happy that now you're going to be on this field playing in the World Cup. 00:04:11.100 --> 00:04:21.100 And at the end of the letter, Sebastian read a particular a particular paragraph that caused him to break up and he started to cry. 00:04:21.339 --> 00:04:31.019 And the the phrase was this his father said, I'm proud of you because of who you are, not because of what you have accomplished. 00:04:31.339 --> 00:04:34.300 That's a significant word of encouragement to a son. 00:04:34.860 --> 00:04:40.699 To know that you are not in a performance-based relationship. 00:04:41.020 --> 00:04:46.300 Now, I'm just going to tell you, there is nothing worse, nothing worse in a marriage. 00:04:46.460 --> 00:04:59.180 There's nothing more difficult in a family, there's nothing more complicated in a church or a business setting, even though, like in business, we got business to do than living in a performance-based environment. 00:04:59.259 --> 00:05:01.740 It takes the joy out of everything. 00:05:01.900 --> 00:05:10.060 And yet, as fathers, we know we have to challenge our children to do better, to do more, to do right, to avoid wrong. 00:05:10.220 --> 00:05:21.180 Like we're called to challenge them to do those things, but yet our love for them, our affirmation of them isn't based on what they accomplish. 00:05:21.420 --> 00:05:24.060 It is based on who they are to us. 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:37.740 Now, the reason we're beginning with this story this morning is because I wanted to take us to Matthew chapter three, because Sebastian wasn't the first son to hear a word from his father, a word of affirmation. 00:05:37.819 --> 00:05:41.500 And we're going to see how Jesus hears that same word. 00:05:41.660 --> 00:05:47.340 Of course, Jesus, well, he has a whole different skill set than Sebastian did. 00:05:47.420 --> 00:06:01.740 And yet, whenever the father looked at him, the love of the father was based not on what Jesus had done, although he had already done a lot and was going to do much more, but it was based on who he was to the Father. 00:06:01.980 --> 00:06:03.580 So let's just look at this text together. 00:06:03.740 --> 00:06:04.379 Here's what we're going to do. 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:11.340 We're going to walk through this text very briefly, and then we're going to talk quickly about two applications for us as fathers. 00:06:11.420 --> 00:06:19.340 And if you're here this morning and you're not a father, this still applies to you because we are all coaching, we are all parenting, we are all leaders. 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:23.819 If you are called to salvation, you are called to service. 00:06:23.980 --> 00:06:27.259 And service in the Christian world is leadership. 00:06:27.420 --> 00:06:28.860 The two are synonymous. 00:06:28.939 --> 00:06:31.740 And so this is going to apply to you as well. 00:06:31.900 --> 00:06:35.819 But let's look, if you will, with me down to verse number 11. 00:06:35.900 --> 00:06:37.420 Now, this is John the Baptist. 00:06:37.580 --> 00:06:38.699 He's in the wilderness. 00:06:38.780 --> 00:06:44.460 He has started his ministry by a proclamation that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 00:06:44.699 --> 00:06:47.180 This is how preaching always started in the New Testament. 00:06:47.340 --> 00:06:54.460 Whenever John started his ministry, his proclamation ministry, the message was the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:06:54.620 --> 00:06:56.939 When Jesus started his ministry, same message. 00:06:57.020 --> 00:06:58.699 The kingdom of God is at hand. 00:07:06.620 --> 00:07:17.980 Now, of course, the kingdom of God being at hand comes with a great deal of celebration for those of us who are in the kingdom, who are in Christ, but it comes with a great deal of warning for those who are not. 00:07:18.220 --> 00:07:22.460 And John warns the people, especially one particular group. 00:07:22.620 --> 00:07:32.460 There were a group of religious leaders who had come down to the Jordan River where John was baptizing at way out in the wilderness, out in the sticks. 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:36.939 And whenever they showed up, John had some words for them. 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:38.379 They were heavy words. 00:07:38.460 --> 00:07:40.780 Sometimes heavy words are necessary words. 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:41.819 Can I get a witness? 00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:48.460 Like sometimes you got to tell people the truth, and it's not easy, but it's necessary for them to hear. 00:07:48.780 --> 00:07:51.500 John's message message is really heavy. 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:54.060 Arguably, maybe maybe it misses something. 00:07:54.139 --> 00:07:55.100 Listen to what he says here. 00:07:55.180 --> 00:08:08.139 He says to the crowd, he says, I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than me, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. 00:08:08.460 --> 00:08:12.860 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 00:08:13.020 --> 00:08:22.780 Now, John the Baptist had already spoke to these religious leaders in particular and had said to them, Who is it that has warned you to escape from the fires of judgment? 00:08:23.020 --> 00:08:31.900 I mean, the heavy hand of that was simply, hey, you're about to be judged for your unrighteousness, masked as righteousness. 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:45.659 And then he turned to them and he says, This concerning what this Messiah figure was going to do, the one who was coming after him, whose sandals he was not worthy to pick up and carry and untie. 00:08:46.059 --> 00:08:48.139 What was that individual going to do? 00:08:48.299 --> 00:08:50.220 Look at what John the Baptist says here. 00:08:50.460 --> 00:08:54.300 He says, his winnowing fork, and that's not a good thing, right? 00:08:54.460 --> 00:08:58.379 The one that he stabs into the earth and flings up in the air. 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:03.580 That's never fun, is it, to get stabbed and flung up in the air for God to winnow us? 00:09:03.740 --> 00:09:18.460 It's not easy, but his winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:22.620 Gary, I've heard a sermon or two like this once in a while, haven't you? 00:09:22.860 --> 00:09:24.860 Man, this is how the old timers would preach it. 00:09:24.940 --> 00:09:29.019 They'd preach hell so hot, they say, hell so hot that you could feel it. 00:09:29.180 --> 00:09:32.379 There's a place for the proclamation of judgment because it is true. 00:09:33.019 --> 00:09:41.899 God does have wrath towards sin, and sinners who connect themselves to their sin and refuse to let go of it are going to be consumed by that same wrath. 00:09:41.980 --> 00:09:43.980 There's no question about that. 00:09:44.139 --> 00:09:46.379 Now, I'm not sure exactly what's going through John's heart. 00:09:46.620 --> 00:10:00.700 Someday I want to ask him what the rest of that sermon sounds like, but I do know there's a big, there's a significant contrast between what John says here about the Messiah and what he experiences. 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:25.740 I mean, see, if you've heard these two verses and you didn't know anything about Jesus, you might expect whenever he shows up, he's going to have like this red face, this scalinous face, he's gonna be he's gonna be angry, and he's gonna be hot, and he's gonna be sharp, and he's gonna be direct, and he's not gonna joke about anything, and he's nothing if we're not careful, we can imagine a Jesus that's nothing like the one presented in the New Testament. 00:10:26.539 --> 00:10:36.300 Because the one who shows up here before uh before John is radically different from the message he has just spoken. 00:10:36.700 --> 00:10:37.580 He's there, right? 00:10:37.740 --> 00:10:41.180 Jesus does say specifically that he's going to judge the world. 00:10:41.419 --> 00:10:42.700 Like that's going to happen. 00:10:43.100 --> 00:10:46.460 But here on the banks of this river, well, there's a contrast. 00:10:46.620 --> 00:10:47.659 Let's see if you see it. 00:10:48.460 --> 00:10:56.539 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. 00:10:57.259 --> 00:10:59.740 Now, John was the famous one in the family. 00:10:59.899 --> 00:11:01.659 He was the one everyone knew about. 00:11:01.820 --> 00:11:11.019 Everyone whispered about this outlier, John, who was telling the rich people what for and putting the religious elite in their place. 00:11:11.259 --> 00:11:13.980 Like John would preach very well, very well. 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:16.620 If John were alive today, he'd have a podcast. 00:11:16.700 --> 00:11:17.980 There's no doubt about it. 00:11:18.139 --> 00:11:18.779 That's what he would do. 00:11:18.860 --> 00:11:20.539 And he and like it would be huge. 00:11:20.779 --> 00:11:21.419 It would be huge. 00:11:21.500 --> 00:11:25.019 And so Jesus shows up, specifically, we're told, from Galilee. 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:28.539 And of course, everyone knows how people felt about people from Galilee. 00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:32.220 Nothing good came from Nazareth because nothing good came from Galilee. 00:11:32.379 --> 00:11:35.740 If you were a holy person, you were in the holy city or they're close by. 00:11:35.820 --> 00:11:39.180 And Jesus comes down out of obscurity. 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:53.820 For 30 years, he's been in Galilee, apparently mastering the art of chairbuilding or something, working as a carpenter, and he's up there in obscurity, and he's coming down to John to be baptized, and he's about to become very well known. 00:11:53.899 --> 00:12:03.259 How many of you know that dwelling in obscurity, serving in obscurity is often required before doing anything great? 00:12:03.580 --> 00:12:05.340 It takes a while to work. 00:12:05.659 --> 00:12:09.259 It takes a while to be ready. 00:12:09.580 --> 00:12:20.539 This is what Jesus has done here in his ministry, not that the Son of God needs to be ready for anything, but yet he has been in obscurity and he shows up here before his very well-known cousin to be baptized from him. 00:12:20.700 --> 00:12:22.620 And John's response is understandable. 00:12:22.860 --> 00:12:26.220 John's response is probably our response. 00:12:26.620 --> 00:12:32.139 John looks at Jesus and says, Whoa, literally, Matthew says he would prevent him. 00:12:32.300 --> 00:12:36.539 The idea here is like this isn't just like him being all shucks. 00:12:36.620 --> 00:12:39.019 I don't think maybe we shouldn't do it this way. 00:12:39.419 --> 00:12:42.860 He's like, No, absolutely not. 00:12:43.019 --> 00:12:43.899 Are you, no? 00:12:44.060 --> 00:12:48.220 I mean, I know you're not crazy because you're God in the flesh, but seriously? 00:12:49.340 --> 00:12:53.980 I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me. 00:12:54.300 --> 00:13:12.779 This did not make sense to him that John found himself in this place, this person who he has just been preaching, who has the winnowing fork in his hand, whose sandals he's not worthy to bear in any fashion, now has come to him and says, Hey, listen, I need to be baptized. 00:13:12.940 --> 00:13:15.500 I want to be baptized by you. 00:13:16.060 --> 00:13:20.940 Now, in this day, baptism was already being practiced for many, many years. 00:13:21.180 --> 00:13:26.539 And it was a way of someone identifying with the teachings of a particular person. 00:13:26.779 --> 00:13:33.180 And so if you were under a rabbi and then you went and left and went to another rabbi, you would be baptized again. 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:44.700 You would be baptized, immersed into their teachings, and you would come out demonstrating that you died to that old teaching, to that old way of life, and you're raised now to a new way of life. 00:13:44.860 --> 00:13:46.300 That's why we baptize today. 00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:52.220 It's why we're Baptists, is because it illustrates what God has done in your heart as an individual. 00:13:52.460 --> 00:13:54.860 It has nothing to do with your connection to the state. 00:13:55.100 --> 00:14:01.259 It has nothing to do with your connection to the church, it has everything to do with your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:06.060 But here's the thing Jesus Christ already has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:10.139 Some of you, that's way too deep for you. 00:14:10.620 --> 00:14:12.539 Like he didn't need to be baptized. 00:14:13.820 --> 00:14:14.940 He was already okay. 00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:16.379 Like there was no right. 00:14:16.539 --> 00:14:18.620 John to one point was correct. 00:14:18.779 --> 00:14:22.139 He didn't need to be to be baptized by John. 00:14:22.220 --> 00:14:23.259 He was perfect. 00:14:23.820 --> 00:14:26.060 And yet Jesus presents himself. 00:14:26.379 --> 00:14:27.580 Why is he doing this? 00:14:27.899 --> 00:14:33.580 Look at the next verse because Jesus tries to explain this to John as best he can in the moment. 00:14:33.659 --> 00:14:36.779 He says, but Jesus answered him and says, Let it be now. 00:14:37.259 --> 00:14:38.220 You're going to do this. 00:14:38.379 --> 00:14:42.139 I understand you don't want to, and it makes you very uncomfortable, but you're going to do this. 00:14:42.300 --> 00:14:43.419 Let it be so now. 00:14:43.659 --> 00:14:49.740 For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. 00:14:49.899 --> 00:15:02.060 Now here is the son of righteousness, the very embodiment of righteousness, the fountain of righteousness from which each of us must draw. 00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:05.740 You will not manufacture your own righteousness. 00:15:05.899 --> 00:15:08.379 You will not create your own goodness. 00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:09.100 Give it up. 00:15:09.180 --> 00:15:10.060 It's not going to happen. 00:15:10.379 --> 00:15:10.940 Not going to happen. 00:15:11.019 --> 00:15:11.259 Yeah. 00:15:11.419 --> 00:15:12.300 Do good, you should. 00:15:12.460 --> 00:15:13.500 Do right, you should. 00:15:13.659 --> 00:15:18.620 You're not going to earn or create or manufacture your own righteousness. 00:15:18.779 --> 00:15:25.100 If you have righteousness, you get it from the same place everyone else in history has ever gotten it. 00:15:25.259 --> 00:15:30.539 John the Baptist included, you're getting it, you get it from the man who's about to be baptized. 00:15:30.620 --> 00:15:36.700 And yet here he is, he says, this is necessary for us to fulfill our righteousness. 00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:38.060 Now, why is he doing this? 00:15:38.300 --> 00:15:49.419 Well, you probably know, if you've heard this story many times, you understand what's happening here, that Jesus is, he's identifying with sinners, which is why he came. 00:15:49.659 --> 00:15:59.500 He's not some God somewhere out there, like the gods who are worshiped throughout this world and throughout history, that give you a checklist. 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:09.259 And if you fulfill that checklist just well enough and you die just the right moment, whenever you don't have sin in your heart, then you'll be okay with the deity. 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:11.899 We don't serve a God like that, ladies and gentlemen. 00:16:12.060 --> 00:16:23.100 We serve a God who loved us so much that he came down to be one of us, to suffer like us, to experience the consequences of my sin. 00:16:24.539 --> 00:16:25.899 He came for that. 00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:29.820 Now, the reason he did that is because he loves us. 00:16:30.539 --> 00:16:36.379 And the reason he loves us is not because it's something he's chosen to do because we're so great. 00:16:36.620 --> 00:16:37.820 I'm not great. 00:16:38.060 --> 00:16:39.019 I'm not lovable. 00:16:39.180 --> 00:16:44.779 I mean, some days I may be lovable, but my family will tell you there are other days they won't tell you today because it's Father's Day. 00:16:44.860 --> 00:16:47.580 But ask them tomorrow when it's Father's Day and over, and they'll tell you. 00:16:47.659 --> 00:16:49.820 They'll tell you, some days he's not lovable. 00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:51.820 I'm not lovable enough. 00:16:52.539 --> 00:16:56.620 I am loved by the Father because he is love. 00:16:57.580 --> 00:16:58.460 He's love. 00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:02.860 Now we've talked about this before, but let me just remind you what that means. 00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:10.220 What that means is love is not something that God does, it's not an act he performs, it's not something that he created. 00:17:10.539 --> 00:17:17.819 The triune God for all eternity past has existed in a relationship within himself. 00:17:18.619 --> 00:17:34.779 The Father loving the Son, the Son loving the Father, the Spirit loving the Son, the Spirit loving the Father, the Father loving both the Son and the Spirit, and this beautiful connection for eternity, he's existed in this state of loving each other. 00:17:35.500 --> 00:17:48.939 And so, whenever at some point in history past, in in eternity past, whenever God decides he's going to create the first human, and he's going to define the relationship, or let's say the first being, not human. 00:17:49.099 --> 00:17:57.659 When God decides he's going to create the first being other than himself, he also has to define the relationship he's going to have with that person. 00:17:57.819 --> 00:18:00.059 What kind of relationship is that is that going to be? 00:18:00.139 --> 00:18:03.339 It's the same kind of relationship that's inside him. 00:18:03.899 --> 00:18:04.859 Now that's huge. 00:18:04.939 --> 00:18:06.859 I know that's deep, but stay with me. 00:18:06.939 --> 00:18:07.419 That's huge. 00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:14.619 That means God did not create love as some idea whenever he created the first being. 00:18:14.939 --> 00:18:18.859 God simply shared what was in his nature. 00:18:19.819 --> 00:18:23.740 The love of God is as old as God is. 00:18:24.699 --> 00:18:29.579 And if it's as old as God is and part of his nature, it will not change. 00:18:31.339 --> 00:18:32.939 That's when you got that. 00:18:33.099 --> 00:18:34.379 That's good news. 00:18:34.699 --> 00:18:39.259 Because I'm going to change and not always for the better. 00:18:39.819 --> 00:18:41.899 I'm going to alter myself. 00:18:42.059 --> 00:18:44.219 I'm going to make decisions I shouldn't make. 00:18:44.299 --> 00:18:47.579 I'm not going to be the same on my best day, like that's just going to be my best day. 00:18:47.659 --> 00:18:51.099 And every other day is going to be a day downhill from there. 00:18:51.339 --> 00:18:54.139 And I need something that's going to be consistent for me. 00:18:54.619 --> 00:18:56.539 I need the love of God. 00:18:56.859 --> 00:19:01.019 Now we're going to see the love of God here in this passage illustrated. 00:19:01.419 --> 00:19:09.659 So John relents to simply, it's a very short phrase, but it's deep and profound in its in its meaning. 00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:13.099 All Matthew tells us is then he consented. 00:19:13.339 --> 00:19:17.179 Like I would have loved to have seen the image of this take place. 00:19:17.259 --> 00:19:18.859 Of like, what does John say? 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:23.500 John's like, okay, if you insist, but I don't know about this. 00:19:23.659 --> 00:19:31.099 I mean, like the the words he must have chosen as they walked down in that water together must have been rich. 00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:33.019 John consented. 00:19:33.259 --> 00:19:37.179 He baptizes Jesus, and then when Jesus comes out, look at verse number 16. 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:54.059 When Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down and resting on him. 00:19:54.859 --> 00:19:55.979 What's happening here? 00:19:56.459 --> 00:19:58.139 It's a very interesting passage. 00:19:58.379 --> 00:19:59.899 And let's be honest for a moment. 00:19:59.979 --> 00:20:01.740 It it kind of comes out of left field. 00:20:02.299 --> 00:20:03.339 The spirit comes down. 00:20:03.740 --> 00:20:04.779 It looks like a dove. 00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:12.139 And out of all things, the spirit could have looked like he comes down and he looks like a dove. 00:20:12.859 --> 00:20:18.299 I mean, you know, it could have like a bunny rabbits are cute, you know, that would have been okay. 00:20:18.459 --> 00:20:20.139 Or, you know, uh eagles. 00:20:20.219 --> 00:20:20.939 What about an eagle? 00:20:21.019 --> 00:20:22.379 I mean, look at but but a dove. 00:20:22.459 --> 00:20:23.259 Why a dove? 00:20:24.539 --> 00:20:25.979 Watch what's happening here. 00:20:26.699 --> 00:20:35.419 In this moment, you have the triune God concentrated right here in this little spot on earth. 00:20:36.139 --> 00:20:37.179 Pretty cool, isn't it? 00:20:38.219 --> 00:20:43.099 The essence of all that God is is is going to manifest himself right here. 00:20:43.259 --> 00:21:00.299 The Son of God steps out, drenched with water, the Spirit descends like a dove and lands on top of him, and then the Father God speaks and says, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. 00:21:00.699 --> 00:21:08.459 So it's like the entirety of who God is is involving himself in this moment. 00:21:09.579 --> 00:21:15.019 You and I are the deep affections of the entire essence of God. 00:21:15.740 --> 00:21:16.939 It's huge. 00:21:17.339 --> 00:21:21.419 And it's not this isn't just the work of the spirit of the Son dying for us. 00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:25.500 Now the Spirit walks with us day by day. 00:21:25.979 --> 00:21:34.059 It's it's for me is a huge blessing to think about the fact that God is all in whenever it comes to my redemption. 00:21:34.459 --> 00:21:35.819 It's huge, isn't it? 00:21:36.299 --> 00:21:38.779 Alright, so here's here's what we want to talk about. 00:21:39.019 --> 00:21:39.339 Okay. 00:21:40.219 --> 00:21:44.939 Because I know you're saying to yourself right now, well, okay, great, that's f but it's Father's Day. 00:21:45.099 --> 00:21:47.979 Like what why what's all this about? 00:21:48.619 --> 00:21:59.339 Here's the thing, ladies and gentlemen, is depending on who you talk to, what it means to be father has a wide range of meanings. 00:21:59.819 --> 00:22:13.899 I read an article this week um out of um New York, where New York State has just appointed a head of fatherhood for the state. 00:22:14.619 --> 00:22:22.459 So uh his title is uh uh the the head Of fatherhood care, I think is what it is. 00:22:22.699 --> 00:22:24.139 The state has done this. 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:28.139 And the idea is, is the state's beginning to recognize that fatherhood is important. 00:22:28.299 --> 00:22:31.500 How many of you knew that like from the time you were a little boy or girl? 00:22:31.659 --> 00:22:33.259 Like fatherhood's very, very important. 00:22:33.339 --> 00:22:37.419 Even if like you didn't have a great dad, like that just underscored in your heart even more so. 00:22:37.500 --> 00:22:40.619 Like it like one having one of those would be very, very helpful. 00:22:40.859 --> 00:22:51.419 And so the state's beginning to recognize that, and they're trying to create this atmosphere and this attitude where fathers are active in their families. 00:22:51.659 --> 00:22:53.500 It's an interesting stats. 00:22:53.899 --> 00:23:05.579 Actually, it's the case that fathers who are fathers, like actually who have children, actual fathers, are more engaged now than they were 40 years ago. 00:23:05.740 --> 00:23:07.579 That's a word of encouragement. 00:23:07.899 --> 00:23:21.659 But at the same time, fewer people are having children because we are so consumed with doing things for ourselves and avoiding responsibility at all cost. 00:23:22.139 --> 00:23:26.619 And I have heard that having children requires quite a bit of responsibility. 00:23:27.019 --> 00:23:28.859 So uh there's there's that. 00:23:28.939 --> 00:23:33.740 And so the point being is like there's a there's a whole lot of like, what does it look like to be a father? 00:23:33.819 --> 00:23:36.699 And you know, and and and what path do you choose, right? 00:23:36.859 --> 00:23:56.379 I mean, are you gonna be the heavy-handed kind of father who's like the drill sergeant who's gonna make sure that your kid is disciplined enough to go out and to conquer the world, or are you gonna be the friend who's like always there for your kid and you know, ready to hear and to listen and to, you know, to walk with them, and the kind of person who's like, hey, they can come and share anything with you. 00:23:56.539 --> 00:23:58.859 Like, what kind of what kind of father are you gonna be? 00:23:59.019 --> 00:24:09.099 I'm gonna suggest to you that maybe the best plan that you and I could have is to attempt to emulate the fatherhood of God. 00:24:10.219 --> 00:24:11.740 He is the father, right? 00:24:12.059 --> 00:24:28.139 See, sometimes we think of the metaphor that, like, okay, we're fathers, and so this is what we know, and so if we want to understand who God is, then we understand him as father based on what we know about fathers down here. 00:24:28.379 --> 00:24:36.379 The problem is, is that for a lot of folks in this room, imagining God being like your dad is not necessarily a great thing. 00:24:36.859 --> 00:24:40.539 I mean, it's it's problematic, and it's also backwards. 00:24:41.579 --> 00:24:53.579 We are not the example to understand to metaphor who God is, God is the example through which we should understand what our responsibility is. 00:24:53.819 --> 00:24:59.099 And here in this moment, the father is well, he's being father to the son. 00:25:00.379 --> 00:25:03.899 And and I see specifically two things that he's doing here. 00:25:05.099 --> 00:25:06.459 I'm gonna show them to you. 00:25:06.619 --> 00:25:14.619 I'm very excited about this moment because it's not very often that I get to share something with you that I've never read in a commentary. 00:25:15.659 --> 00:25:20.859 It's a little unnerving because that that does make me worry that maybe it's not true, but I think this is. 00:25:21.179 --> 00:25:35.659 But more importantly, I want to share it with you because this is something that I feel like God has just revealed in my studies to you, and and it hits me hard because it's something that I've not been great at as a father. 00:25:36.699 --> 00:25:44.379 I think what God is doing here is he is first off bathing his son in the word. 00:25:45.979 --> 00:25:52.459 Bathing his son, his child in the in the word of the living God. 00:25:53.659 --> 00:25:55.099 You can do no better. 00:25:55.339 --> 00:26:00.859 You're gonna bathe your children in something, you're gonna wrap them in something, you're going to instruct them in something. 00:26:01.099 --> 00:26:08.699 Man, if you want to see my ire get up, if you want to see me like get all carnal, then come to me and say, Yeah, I just want my kids to make their own decision. 00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:11.179 I don't really want to impose my religion on them. 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:12.779 Come on now. 00:26:13.099 --> 00:26:16.139 I mean, that itself is imposing a religion on them. 00:26:16.219 --> 00:26:21.979 And if your religion happens to be right, then maybe it's the kind of thing you should impose on them. 00:26:22.139 --> 00:26:25.019 Kind of like you say to them, don't go near the road. 00:26:25.099 --> 00:26:27.740 You're going to impose that yellow line on them, right? 00:26:27.899 --> 00:26:31.740 Don't touch the, you know, don't put that fork inside of the outlet. 00:26:31.899 --> 00:26:36.299 You're going to impose that rule on them because you know that's the best thing for them. 00:26:36.459 --> 00:26:46.779 Well, if you've read the gospel and you understand what's happening in the spirit, the work of the spirit through Jesus Christ, then you know the best thing for your kid is faith in Christ. 00:26:47.819 --> 00:26:53.819 There's none of this, let them make the I'm not saying you like you chain them up and drag them to church. 00:26:53.979 --> 00:27:02.539 I like I get it, that we have to not be militant about this and we have to woo our kids in, but the wooing should be the objective of our faith. 00:27:02.619 --> 00:27:08.859 And like I'm with you, like there are days, even as pastor, I'm telling you, I preach the word to my kids, and I'm not sure, man. 00:27:09.819 --> 00:27:11.740 This has to be bathed in grace. 00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:13.179 More on that in a minute. 00:27:13.259 --> 00:27:18.699 Because I know some of you are that you're there and you're like, okay, yeah, how's he bathing Jesus in the word of God? 00:27:18.939 --> 00:27:22.619 God's speaking, and so Jesus is being bathed in the word of God. 00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:24.619 Pastor, you're just cheating. 00:27:25.179 --> 00:27:26.139 But I'm not. 00:27:26.379 --> 00:27:27.579 Watch what happens here. 00:27:27.819 --> 00:27:33.419 Now, in the New Testament times, they had their copies, versions of Scripture the same way that we do. 00:27:33.659 --> 00:27:38.059 They were usually in different languages, but they were organized usually the same way. 00:27:38.299 --> 00:27:44.059 They were organized into law, uh, prophet, and writings. 00:27:44.219 --> 00:27:45.579 This is what Jesus says. 00:27:45.740 --> 00:27:55.979 In uh the book of Luke, he talks about how that all of the Bible, Old Testament points to him, and the law, the writings, the prophets, rather, and the writings, Jesus says. 00:27:56.059 --> 00:27:59.179 And so he takes the Old Testament and he divides it into these three categories. 00:27:59.339 --> 00:28:01.259 It's how they would have understood their Bible. 00:28:01.419 --> 00:28:08.299 In the same way you think Old Testament, New Testament, in your Bible, they would have thought law, writings, prophets. 00:28:08.459 --> 00:28:09.179 Real simple. 00:28:09.419 --> 00:28:15.979 Now, watch what happens here whenever whenever God speaks from heaven. 00:28:16.779 --> 00:28:19.979 He gives a single sentence, but it's in two phrases. 00:28:20.219 --> 00:28:25.819 And each of these phrases refers back to an Old Testament passage. 00:28:26.219 --> 00:28:28.619 The first one comes from the writings. 00:28:28.779 --> 00:28:31.819 Now, the the writings began with the book of Psalms. 00:28:32.059 --> 00:28:36.619 The book of Psalms was the head book, the lead book for the writings. 00:28:36.699 --> 00:28:40.859 In fact, sometimes it wasn't called the writings, it was just called the Psalms. 00:28:40.939 --> 00:28:43.339 That entire section of their Bible. 00:28:43.500 --> 00:28:46.539 It'd be kind of like us referring to the New Testament as the book of Matthew. 00:28:46.619 --> 00:28:47.579 It's what they did. 00:28:47.740 --> 00:28:53.979 And so uh whenever whenever the Father speaks, he begins with the very first Psalm. 00:28:54.139 --> 00:28:56.459 Now, caveat here, I know what's on the screen. 00:28:56.539 --> 00:28:59.740 It says Psalm chapter 2, and I can count, I promise you. 00:28:59.899 --> 00:29:03.579 But originally Psalm 1 and 2 were the same psalm. 00:29:03.819 --> 00:29:15.819 It was all this messianic king is coming psalm, and in the middle of it, the psalmist writes, As for me, I have set my king in Zion. 00:29:15.899 --> 00:29:18.059 This is God speaking through the psalmist now. 00:29:18.219 --> 00:29:20.539 I have set my king in Zion, my holy hill. 00:29:20.699 --> 00:29:22.139 I will tell of this decree. 00:29:22.219 --> 00:29:24.299 I'm going to announce this decree. 00:29:24.459 --> 00:29:27.179 The Lord said to me, You are my son. 00:29:27.419 --> 00:29:29.339 Today I have begotten you. 00:29:29.819 --> 00:29:32.619 Now, this is most theologians think. 00:29:32.699 --> 00:29:39.899 This is a very clear allusion back to this passage, whenever the Father announces from heaven a decree. 00:29:40.299 --> 00:29:42.779 This is my beloved son. 00:29:43.259 --> 00:29:45.339 He's not just son, he's beloved son. 00:29:45.899 --> 00:29:54.939 Now, the prophecy comes from Isaiah 42, 1 and 2, where the Father says, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 00:29:55.339 --> 00:30:04.619 Isaiah chapter 42, verse 1 is the beginning of the servant, of the servant Messiah prophecies. 00:30:04.779 --> 00:30:12.139 And so it's a critical shift in the book of Isaiah, where Isaiah is now talking about the work and the Messiah and what he's going to do. 00:30:12.299 --> 00:30:24.379 And in the very opening verses, this is what it said: Behold, my servant who I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights. 00:30:25.339 --> 00:30:32.539 The second phrase in this proclamation from heaven is that very phrase. 00:30:32.699 --> 00:30:35.579 This is my beloved son in whom I delight. 00:30:35.740 --> 00:30:39.819 It's translated differently because it's Hebrew and not Greek, but it's the same idea. 00:30:40.139 --> 00:30:47.500 This is my beloved son, Psalm chapter 2, in whom my soul delights, Isaiah 42. 00:30:48.059 --> 00:30:52.699 I know what you're sitting there thinking, Pastor, but you still got the law. 00:30:53.019 --> 00:30:56.459 You got the prophets and you got the writings. 00:30:56.859 --> 00:31:00.779 Jesus has been wrapped in the word of God, is what we're talking about. 00:31:01.099 --> 00:31:02.779 But where's the law? 00:31:03.339 --> 00:31:08.059 And you may notice that we're out of words in this verse, don't you? 00:31:08.699 --> 00:31:10.139 Oh, but no, no, no, no. 00:31:10.299 --> 00:31:12.699 Preachers are never out of words. 00:31:13.819 --> 00:31:16.299 I could go to two o'clock, I promise you. 00:31:16.539 --> 00:31:18.539 We are never out of words. 00:31:19.579 --> 00:31:29.579 Well, the passage doesn't open with when the passage, this section opens, when Jesus comes out of the water, water, do you recall what happens? 00:31:30.299 --> 00:31:37.099 An angel or the spirit descends as a dove and lands on him. 00:31:37.579 --> 00:31:46.379 Well, if you were a Hebrew and you knew your, you know, your your Tanakh, your your Torah, Nephilim and Kephalim, your Tanakh, you knew your law. 00:31:46.619 --> 00:31:54.299 Well, this would remind you of some very important passages out of the law, out of the book of Genesis, Genesis 1 and 2, for example. 00:31:54.459 --> 00:31:56.939 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:31:57.019 --> 00:31:59.419 Here it is at the very beginning of the Bible. 00:31:59.579 --> 00:32:01.339 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:32:01.419 --> 00:32:03.899 The earth was without form and void. 00:32:04.539 --> 00:32:08.699 Um, darkness was upon the face of the earth, and the what does that say? 00:32:09.339 --> 00:32:13.979 The spirit was hovering over the face of the deep. 00:32:14.059 --> 00:32:18.939 It wasn't landing anywhere, it was just hovering, it hadn't made quite made contact with the earth. 00:32:19.099 --> 00:32:23.500 It was just, he was just hovering over the face of the earth. 00:32:23.579 --> 00:32:33.259 And then later in the story of Noah, whenever Noah sends out the birds, he sends out that last what is it? 00:32:34.059 --> 00:32:34.779 I forget. 00:32:36.139 --> 00:32:42.299 He sends it out, and the dove does not return to find a nest. 00:32:44.139 --> 00:32:50.779 I think what's happening here is this is an allusion to the beginning of scripture, the law. 00:32:51.419 --> 00:32:55.740 And so out of this, what is happening is the spirit is descending. 00:32:55.819 --> 00:33:00.379 It couldn't, like it didn't, it didn't land in Genesis at creation. 00:33:00.459 --> 00:33:05.419 It didn't land at Genesis chapter six after the great flood. 00:33:05.979 --> 00:33:11.819 The spirit lands as a dove on the Son of God at the baptism. 00:33:11.979 --> 00:33:14.219 You see, it didn't come out of left field at all. 00:33:14.539 --> 00:33:22.379 It makes perfect sense given what's happening here because the next thing, the next thing the Father does is he has just illustrated the law. 00:33:22.699 --> 00:33:27.740 He is speaking the writings and he is speaking the prophecy. 00:33:27.819 --> 00:33:30.059 He's wrapped his son in the word. 00:33:30.299 --> 00:33:36.699 Can I just tell you we can do no different, even like if you don't buy that, and I think you should because it's so cool. 00:33:37.579 --> 00:33:43.500 The truth is, the truth is, what you see there is the Father speaking his word over the Son. 00:33:43.659 --> 00:33:53.019 And throughout Scripture, we are just encouraged to do the same thing, to speak the truth of God's words over each other. 00:33:53.419 --> 00:34:00.619 And to, as the proverbs would tell us, to teach our sons in the way that they should go. 00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:05.099 Dads, you can do no better than to point your children to the word. 00:34:05.339 --> 00:34:06.219 That is tough. 00:34:06.539 --> 00:34:08.860 Show them the truth. 00:34:09.579 --> 00:34:10.860 Show them the truth. 00:34:11.099 --> 00:34:20.539 Now, I know that's difficult to do because for many of us, like showing them the truth is complicated because we're not, I mean, at times we're not very good at it. 00:34:21.019 --> 00:34:36.300 But everywhere we go, we should try to live up to the teachings of Deuteronomy chapter 6 that as we go out and as we come in, as we walk by and past, and in the morning and the evenings, we teach our children the Lord's ways. 00:34:36.780 --> 00:34:41.099 To love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, to implant their word. 00:34:41.340 --> 00:34:46.140 We're always looking for an angle where we can drop in truth about the word of God. 00:34:46.220 --> 00:34:47.980 That's why we're doing this series, by the way. 00:34:48.059 --> 00:34:53.340