WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.400 So our last week we finished Psalm 23. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:12.240 This week we are beginning a study of the major miracles of Jesus in the book of John. 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:17.920 So there it will be a seven-part, a seven-week study that will take us up to Advent. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:21.359 Advent then takes us up into Christmas. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:24.719 So the miracles of Jesus. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:33.520 I need to, at this the beginning, to vent all my issues, I feel like, and I have two main issues when it comes to miracles. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:40.000 The first is I haven't seen many physical miracles. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:41.840 I haven't seen any. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:44.000 So that's an issue. 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:46.719 For me, at least, it's an issue. 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:48.399 I've been around. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:50.479 I'm not a young chickadee anymore. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:53.679 I've worked in charismatic churches where we prayed a lot for this stuff. 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:58.960 And I've worked in non-charismatic churches where we didn't pray as much for this kind of stuff. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.240 And I can say honestly, I haven't really seen that much. 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:04.959 Every once in a while we'll see an exceptional recovery. 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:06.480 And maybe that counts. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:07.519 I'll count it. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:08.079 Why not? 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:09.040 Let's count it. 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:14.799 But still, I haven't seen just in front of my eyes a physical miracle. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:17.120 And maybe you haven't either. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:18.640 Let's just kind of take a poll. 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:20.719 I'd be interested in that. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:28.480 Have any of you, firsthand, not your missionary cousin, second cousin Betty in Uganda, but you, right? 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:30.879 Not like the story or the email, but you. 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:35.519 Have you seen a physical miracle firsthand? 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:37.760 If you have, just you raise your hand. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:39.519 Wonderful. 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:40.159 Okay? 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:47.519 So maybe 250 people in here, and two people have seen a physical miracle. 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:48.640 And I don't doubt that. 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:50.799 So praise praise God for that. 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:52.959 But the point is made, right? 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:56.799 The point is made that we just don't see a lot. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:09.840 There's lots of theories and reasons why, but I think it's an issue that we have to talk about, and we have to at least be aware of and acknowledge when we come to talking about miracles. 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:12.240 Which brings me to my second issue. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:14.400 I have asked for miracles. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:18.000 And it didn't happen. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:20.479 And maybe you have as well. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:26.000 How many of you have asked for a physical miracle for you or for somebody else or a loved one? 00:02:26.240 --> 00:02:30.479 You prayed for it and you did not get it. 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:32.159 And you just raised your hand. 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:36.000 Okay. 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:42.319 So we could just all we could just like condemn ourselves that we don't have enough faith, right? 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:44.960 And in some churches, that that is actually what you get. 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:46.639 Just you don't have enough faith. 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:47.280 You know. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:53.439 I think it's a little unrealistic given how many people are in here, and I know some of you, and you seem to be people of great faith. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:58.080 So I'm gonna dismiss that, and I'm gonna dismiss that because I just don't believe in religious shame anymore. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:04.800 So because of that, I'm gonna dismiss the fact that it's the lack of our faith that is not warranting miracles. 00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:11.840 It's just a horrible belief system if you go down that path, because it means every time you don't get a miracle, it is because of you. 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:18.000 And then you somehow have caused this horrible thing to happen because you didn't have enough faith. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:24.400 And that's just shame-based religion and unhealthy, not biblical. 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:30.719 But it kind of all just brings up we need some clear thinking when it comes to miracles. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:41.840 Because we bring into it exactly what I've just addressed: a lack of us seeing miracles, and we asked and we didn't get it. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:48.080 So here are a few points just to guide us, some clear thinking as we enter into this idea of miracles. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:52.400 Number one is this science speaks to the natural order. 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:56.319 Miracles occur outside what science speaks to. 00:03:56.400 --> 00:04:00.000 So it means you can be a person of science and be a person who believes in miracles. 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:03.280 Meaning this one night you lose your keys out in the driveway. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:16.639 It's dark out, you walk inside, you realize you've lost your keys, you turn the floodlight on, you go back outside to your driveway, you look in all the lit area that the floodlight has lit up, and you determine my keys are lost, my keys do not exist. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:20.720 Well, that'd be a very limited view because there is space outside the lit up area, right? 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:22.240 There's the darkness. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:25.839 And possibly your keys are in the darkness. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:30.639 So that's a philosophical argument to say science speaks to a certain range. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:34.000 It is the lit up area, the natural order. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:38.319 Now, do you believe that there is space outside of that? 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:44.399 Well, to say, well, no miracle can occur outside of that, now you have taken a statement and a leap of faith. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:50.480 Just like the person who says that a miracle could occur outside of it is making a statement of faith. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:54.959 Miracles happen outside of the natural lit up area. 00:04:55.120 --> 00:05:04.160 Number two, miracles are not automated by faith, we've all learned that, but an exception to ordinary processes. 00:05:05.199 --> 00:05:07.600 So we hope for them. 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:12.959 Many of us are praying for them right now, for somebody or for ourselves. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:14.560 And that's good. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:22.399 We pray for them, but we're not dependent on a miracle to be a person of faith or a person of hope. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:24.639 And that's also relieving. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.360 Number three, miracles are not a break in the natural order. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:33.279 Miracles are a restoration of the natural order. 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:49.439 Meaning this miracles are a glimpse of what life should be and will be one day, what life was in Eden before the world was broken, and what life will be one day in heaven when decay and destruction are no longer a part of our lives. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:53.439 And miracles are a restoration of the natural order. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:55.680 It's actually what we're headed toward. 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:05.360 Lastly, Jesus' miracles validate him as God and teach us something for our hearts and our lives. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:07.920 The miracles of Jesus have a distinct purpose. 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:18.319 And the purpose is to validate him within his life and his teaching that he is not just a rabbi and a great teacher or a model, that he actually is divine. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:23.360 And his miracles validated him to everybody around him. 00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:35.839 And teach us something, which is great, because when we come in to read this story of John chapter 2, his first miracle, we get to receive something for our own hearts and lives in Marietta in 2022. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:38.160 So here's the passage in John 2, 1 through 6. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:39.839 This is his first miracle. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:43.600 On the third day, a wedding took place in Canaan and Galilee. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:47.439 Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:51.439 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:53.439 Woman, why do you involve me? 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:54.480 Jesus replied. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.240 His mother said to his servants, Do whatever he tells you. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:06.160 So this groom and his friends would be making a procession from his house to the bride's house. 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:08.079 Probably be on Wednesday. 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:09.120 It'd be at night. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:10.480 They might be carrying torches. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:15.759 They would get to the house, they would make welcome speeches, goodwill speeches. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:22.879 The bride would come with that party process back to the groom's house, and a huge feast would be thrown. 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:25.279 Not sweet tea in the fellowship hall, okay? 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:28.879 I mean, this was, they were going, they were having at it. 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:30.319 This was a party. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:34.240 It could be a week-long feast and party. 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:43.439 And failing to provide for this feast, this groom's family, failing to provide for it would have been a social humiliation and even have legal ramifications. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.639 It's a big deal for the wine to run out. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.279 So that's why Mary says to Jesus, they have no more wine. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:52.319 And then in verse 4, Jesus says, Woman, why do you involve me? 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:53.600 My hour has not come. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:56.319 So the term woman there, it's not a derogatory term. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:57.439 It's not like woman. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:00.240 It's like darling. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:05.600 He's like, darling, beloved, my hour's not come. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:13.360 And when Jesus uses this word hour throughout the book of John, he's always referring to his death for us. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:18.800 Our sin put upon him who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:22.399 So every time he says hour, he's talking about his death. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:29.199 So Jesus is at this party, he's dealing with this issue, but at the same time, he's teaching about something else. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.680 So what does the miracle have for us today? 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:32.960 Point number one. 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:37.279 The wine of the world always runs out. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:41.120 The wine of the world always runs out. 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:44.000 You may have heard about it yesterday morning. 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:48.799 Big, big U12 girls uh soccer team game. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:53.200 Big big deal in my life, most stressful hour of my week. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:58.639 Fourth grade team, my team, we were playing some fifth graders. 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:01.200 You see it right away when you walk on the field. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:03.919 Not a good feeling, not a good feeling. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:06.799 And right away we're like, okay, but we went up 2-0. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:08.320 Feeling good. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:09.759 Go to halftime. 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.120 We're preaching intensity, intensity, intensity, you know, keeping the girls motivated. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:14.320 Then it goes to 2-1. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:16.159 Then it goes to 3-1. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:26.159 So we play kind of a defense heavy there for a little bit, but then it goes to 3-2, and the clock's running out, and the girls just haven't learned how to stall. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:29.679 You know, like the ball rolls out of bounds, you accidentally kick it further. 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:33.279 You know, like they haven't, you know what I'm talking about. 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:35.039 They haven't mastered that art. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:36.639 It's like, it's a minute and a half here. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:38.000 I can burn a minute and a half real quick. 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:39.039 Gotta tie my shoe. 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:40.879 You know, I mean like all sorts of things. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.120 But we're playing, we pull it out, three to two. 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:44.639 Huge victory. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:47.360 Fourth graders, meeting fifth graders, huge victory for us. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:48.000 I mean massive. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:48.960 I know you already heard about it. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:51.200 It's a huge U12 girls soccer game. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:58.639 And 30 minutes later, I'm at home reworking the lineup for next week. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:09:59.840 30 minutes. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.000 That's how long that victory was like wonderful for me. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:08.240 It took about the drive home 10 minutes, and it's like, oh, let's go make some changes. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.159 You know, like that's how long. 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:12.720 That's it, not a great illustration, but you get my point. 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:16.159 And the point is, you win and you still don't win. 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:16.720 Right? 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:21.120 Like you get what you want and you it still doesn't end. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:22.320 That's the world. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:23.840 It just doesn't end. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:26.240 It was great, great victory. 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.399 And then you're just like, let's get the next one. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:28.639 Right? 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:30.320 Like that's just that's the world. 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:37.360 And it's not that it's all evil, the world's all evil, it's just that it doesn't satisfy. 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:38.799 It runs out. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:41.759 It just doesn't hold up to its promise. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:47.279 Point number two, the wine of religion also runs out. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:59.440 So the kind of way to think about this, Tim Keller developed, is is world or secular religion and gospel. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:02.000 So we can break it down this way, and I've reworded it. 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:03.360 It's not exactly as he worded it. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:07.200 The world can say like this I obtain or I merit. 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:11.840 Influence, beauty, money, sex, you could keep filling in options there. 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:14.159 I obtain or I merit, I get it. 00:11:14.320 --> 00:11:15.279 I get it. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:18.799 Then I am whole. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:21.440 If I get it, then I am whole. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:22.720 That's the world. 00:11:23.039 --> 00:11:25.360 So it keeps you busy your whole life. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:27.679 Keeps you exhausted. 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:30.080 Religion, also exhausting. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.919 I obey, then I am accepted. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:35.440 That's religion. 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:37.360 You see how it's all demand? 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:40.320 We call that the closed circle of the law. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:43.039 That the law is always in demand over you. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.440 You need to do something, and then you will be. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:52.399 It's like it's a closed circle, just keeping you busy and exhausted, slowly wearing you down. 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:57.120 But the gospel is God's love to you while you are broken. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.440 That's why we say it every week. 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:03.600 The gospel says this I'm already accepted. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:06.320 In God's grace, I am accepted. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:07.919 In God's grace, I am whole. 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:10.559 I'm forgiven, fully righteous. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:16.399 Therefore, because I'm accepted, I am whole and I grow in obedience. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:19.360 It's a totally different way of life. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:23.519 Two weeks ago, we went to the North Georgia Fair. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.279 Maybe you like the rides. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:26.399 We're not ride people. 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:28.159 We like the food and we like the shows. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.120 I saw a man get shot out of a cannon. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:36.720 Like 50 feet in the air, like like half- did you see it? 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:39.679 Who has seen the man get shot out of the cannon? 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:41.279 It's amazing. 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:43.759 Totally unneeded. 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:45.120 Right? 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:46.480 And awesome. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:51.519 Like 50 feet in the air, like half a football field is just flying through the air. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:52.879 It's unbelievable. 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:54.879 Our favorite though is the pig race. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.039 The pig race is the highlight. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:00.639 It's such a highlight, my wife really thought she needed to catch a video of it. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:25.360 So here's like the last 15 seconds of the thrilling. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:33.200 And just by watching that clip, you're a little confused why a crowd would be this excited. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:38.559 And it's because the beginning of the race was quite different from the end of the race. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:41.039 The end of the race is actually kind of how we want life to feel like. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.480 You're just kind of plotting along, just you know, around in the corner to the finish line. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:46.559 That's how we want life to feel like. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:52.000 We just want it to be moving and smooth and round the corner to the finish line. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:53.679 That's what we want it to feel like. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:55.600 Now, the beginning of the race was totally different. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:10.399 It's also why the crowd got so excited when the pigs actually moved, because they came out of the start, and even before corner number one, just the biggest pig turned sideways in the track and just blocked it, and then the rest just smooshed up against them. 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:19.200 And then it's right when you think like they're gonna push through, it's like, no, they're just happy to stay smooshed up together for a long time. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:26.080 And you just stand there until somebody gets motivated to turn and they went a little bit further, then another pig turned sideways and blocked the whole track. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:27.840 That's why we're so excited. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.240 Now, perfect illustration for life, right? 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:32.159 Because that's actually what life feels like. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:34.320 It feels much more like the beginning of the race than the end. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:37.679 It doesn't feel like we're always moving nice and smooth toward the finish line. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:41.600 Life feels a lot, much more like we're hitting a wall. 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:49.679 We back up, we stall out, we change directions, we move again forward, praise God, and then we hit another wall. 00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:53.759 We feel condemned, something happens, we're ashamed, guilty, we're not enough. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:55.360 Then we move again. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:06.080 And the more that we move forward with our hearts engaged toward world or religion, the more walls we hit. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:09.360 The more we're being worn down, exhausted, and condemned. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:11.200 We get stuck. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:25.039 And the last thing that you or I need when we're in those moments, the last thing we need is somebody or something telling us in that moment of exhaustion, when we have nothing left, is to be told we need to do something else. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:27.679 Or we need to be something else. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:48.000 And Gerhard Forday's book on being a theologian of the cross, he writes this God is not one who waits to approve those who have improved themselves, made themselves acceptable, or merited approval, but one who bestows good on the bad and needy. 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:51.200 The love of God creates precisely out of nothing. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:56.240 Therefore, the sinner must be reduced to nothing in order to be saved. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:06.639 Only the friends of the cross who have been reduced to nothing are properly prepared to receive the justifying grace poured out by the creative love of God. 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:09.279 All other roads are closed. 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:13.440 It's by becoming nothing that we become wealthy. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:19.519 In our nothingness we receive the grace of God, which makes us whole. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:22.559 Therefore we grow in godliness. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:24.879 The story continues in John 2. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:32.639 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used for the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:34.799 Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:36.639 So they filled them to the brim. 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:41.759 Then he told them, Now draw out, now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:45.759 They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:49.919 He did not realize where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:17:00.000 And then he called the bridegroom aside and said, Everyone brings out the choice wine first, and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink. 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:02.399 But you have saved the best till now. 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:11.279 What Jesus did here in Cana Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:21.839 Point number three is this Jesus turns the water of law, which is works righteousness, into the wine of grace, which is Christ's righteousness. 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:25.279 He turns the water of law into the wine of grace. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:36.319 So six huge stone jars, each with about 27 gallons, about 160 gallons total, about 900 glasses of wine. 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:42.240 Usually the host would save the cheapest stuff toward the end because everybody's a little tipsy and they're not gonna notice. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:43.759 But no, not in this situation. 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:46.720 The best comes out later on. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:50.319 So here Jesus helps this host lavishly. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:56.160 There's a lavishness here of quality, and there's a lavishness here of quantity. 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:00.640 Because the stone jars were for Jewish rites of purification. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.079 And therein lies what Jesus is teaching within this miracle. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:10.559 Because the Jews in Jesus' day they had this complicated cleansing ritual to feel pure before God. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:16.480 They would use this water and they would bathe themselves and they'd have to do all this to feel pure before God. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:21.599 Now, we do need good moral law. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:22.640 We need it. 00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:26.640 It guides us to how we should act, how we should think, what we should do. 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:28.960 It is all true, it is good, it's holy. 00:18:29.119 --> 00:18:34.000 And at the same time, it guides us, it definitely breaks us because we don't always live up to it doing. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:40.799 So in this way, the law helps us become nothing, that we might receive God's grace. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:45.839 The water of law needs to lead us to the wine of grace. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:52.880 Now, this religious law, these people were living under with these jars of water, this was religious law on steroids. 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.200 Just it going out of hand. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:01.279 People trying to make themselves clean before God and doing this over and over and over again. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:02.559 It would be an undie. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:13.599 Now, the good news to your exhaustion, and my exhaustion of trying to be enough or pure enough or whole enough, is Jesus fulfilled the law. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:17.279 He lived the perfect life that we do not live. 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:22.960 He took the cross, any death or sacrifice needed by us for our mistakes. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:26.960 And he gives to us all the forgiveness we ever need and all the righteous we ever need. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:29.680 This is what it means to live in God's grace. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:44.799 This is the message translation of Galatians 3, 11 through, I'm reading all the way down through, I don't know, 14 or 15 or something like that. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:46.319 It's a bit of reading. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:52.640 Just sort of like contemplate with me as you as you hear it, just kind of like let this wash over you, this truth. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:20:02.240 The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:09.359 The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:14.079 Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. 00:20:14.319 --> 00:20:15.759 Habakkuk had it right. 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:20.400 The person who believes God is set right by God, and that's the real life. 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:29.839 Rule keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule keeping, a fact observed in Scripture. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.160 The one who does these things, rule keeping, continues to live by them. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:40.640 Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:45.119 Do you remember the scriptures that say, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree? 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:48.160 That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross. 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:52.000 He became a curse and at the same time dissolved the curse. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:55.119 And now, because of that, the air is cleared. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:21:00.480 And we can see that Abraham's blessing is present and available for non-Jews too. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:08.240 We are all able to receive God's life, his spirit in and with us by believing. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:10.799 Just the way Abraham received it. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:14.000 Now, think back to those jars of water. 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:18.240 That ritual of law these people be doing over and over and over again. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:20.400 If they do it enough, you know, then they're pure. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:22.880 Now listen to the end of Galatians 3. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:26.799 But now you have arrived at your destination. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:30.400 By faith in Christ, you are in direct relationship with God. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:41.680 Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start, it also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe, Christ's life. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:45.359 The fulfillment of God's original promise. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:58.160 To be put together, to get our acts together, to be enough before each other, or to be enough before God. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:00.079 Cleanse yourself enough. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:01.839 Pray enough. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:03.920 Be enough. 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:07.839 So then you can be whole or accepted. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:10.240 And the gospel is the opposite. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:12.799 Through Christ, you are accepted. 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:14.079 You are forgiven. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:15.599 You are pure. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:22.400 Therefore, you grow in grace and godliness. 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:28.640 This is what it means not to live under the covenant of law, but to live under the covenant of grace. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:32.319 The law leads us to grace. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:39.599 The water of law must lead us to the relief and the celebration of the wine of grace. 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:51.119 There, our hearts are relieved, healed, changed, and begin not just to perform obedience, but to desire to obey the Lord and honor Him. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:52.240 Let's pray together. 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:59.759 God, thank you for your grace to us that the water of law does, in fact, lead us to the wine of grace. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:01.759 That we need your law. 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:05.599 God, may we respect and honor your law even more. 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:09.039 For it guides us of how we should live. 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:16.000 And yet at the same time, may we receive the humility to know that we do not live up to what you have asked us. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:19.119 We are more broken than we originally thought. 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:27.599 But we are more loved by you, more provided, more provided for by you in Christ. 00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:37.839 For all the forgiveness we need, all the secure identity we need, all the justification, all the righteousness that we would ever need comes by gift. 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:44.640 The great sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, your grace to us. 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:53.599 Help us to live not under the burden of the covenant of law, but under the greatness, the relief, celebration of the covenant of grace. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:24:00.400 And may your spirit and our hearts work this deeper into us that we might honor you in always. 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:01.440 In Jesus' name. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:02.240 Amen.