WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:07.839 We're in a series right now called The Full Gospel because a partial gospel, a partial understanding of what Jesus has actually done for us, it's not going to cut it. 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:09.279 We need the full thing. 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:11.039 Picture this for a moment. 00:00:11.119 --> 00:00:14.400 If if you took your car into the shop to get it fixed because it's making a noise. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:17.359 I don't know how many of you guys are are really good with cars. 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:19.600 Anyone here like, yeah, I can fix my own car? 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:20.320 Thank you very much. 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:21.199 Anyone in that? 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:21.920 Not many? 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:23.280 Maybe a few shy hands. 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:24.239 I'm I'm definitely not. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:26.960 I'm the guy who, when something's wrong with my car, I always do the same thing. 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:28.719 I always pop the hood and then go, why did I do that? 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:30.480 I don't know what any of this stuff is. 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:31.359 You know? 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:34.159 I like pop it and I look at it and go, cool, there's an engine. 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:35.200 That's checked. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:37.280 Now I should probably get it towed somewhere. 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.799 Um if I took my car into the shop and just picture this. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:43.280 This is a scenario, this hasn't happened, this is a hypothetical. 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:48.000 Let's say you do that, and uh you say, hey, it's making a sound, and like, cool, leave it with us, we got it. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:51.439 You go and they call you back and say, hey, everything's fixed, come pick it up. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:55.520 You show up and you pay, and they say, Great, here's the keys, and then they hand you a bag. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:56.799 And you're like, what's this? 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:58.880 And they say, Oh, those are the spare parts. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:03.039 And you like open up the bag and there's some screws and some mechanical pieces, and you're like, What are you talking about? 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:06.560 Yeah, when we put the engine back together, though there were some leftover pieces. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.799 But you're all good, it's it's running like a beauty. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:10.879 How many of you would be like, Yeah, I'd trust that? 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:12.640 I'd drive off the lot right then and there. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:13.359 Anybody? 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:20.319 How many of you would say, no, I'm kind of assuming that all of those parts are important, and I'd like you to put all the pieces back in before I drive it? 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:21.200 Anyone in that camp? 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:22.560 You're like, yeah, right? 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:28.640 Like a partial engine, it's just not gonna cut it, but a partial gospel is no different when it comes to our faith. 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:33.280 We cannot have a faith that has a bunch of spare pieces. 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:45.519 Because honestly, what that does is it opens us up to confusion, it opens us up to discouragement, it opens us up to accusation, it opens us up to disillusionment ultimately. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:47.040 We need a full gospel. 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:48.959 So that's what we're studying right now. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:50.319 We're actually going through a section of scripture. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:53.439 It's Romans chapter 3, verses 21 through 31. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:55.599 It's dense, it's rich. 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:00.159 I kind of call Romans and really pretty much anything that Paul writes, it's like spiritual cheesecake. 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:04.640 It's very dense, it's very rich, just little bites and take a long time to process. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:12.000 But this might be the most comprehensive detailing of the good news of Jesus that we have in all of Scripture. 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:13.360 So I'm gonna read it. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:21.919 Normally we read out of a translation like the New Living Translation, which tends to put things in more modern day language, but we're gonna read out of the ESV, the English Standard Version. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:28.080 It's a little bit more technical, but it's really, it's really important that we get the technicalities when it comes to the full gospel, okay? 00:02:28.159 --> 00:02:28.960 So we'll we'll read it. 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:33.840 If you're sitting there and you're scratching your head going, like, that's a lot of words, but I don't really know what it all means, that's why we're here. 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:35.120 So we're all in the same boat, okay? 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:36.319 And you're smart, you'll figure it out. 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:36.800 So here we go. 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:38.800 Romans 3, 21 through 31. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:47.680 It says, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:50.159 The law and the prophets typically refers to the Old Testament. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:53.520 Like that, that's all been foreshadowing everything that Jesus did. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:59.599 It says, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:01.520 For there is no distinction. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:07.520 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift. 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:17.120 Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:23.199 This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:30.639 It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:32.159 Then what becomes of our boasting? 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:33.759 It's excluded. 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:35.120 By what kind of law? 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.719 In other words, by what kind of a law or a standard are we justified? 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:40.240 Is it by our works? 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:42.479 No, but by the law of faith. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:48.080 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law, or is God the God of the Jews only? 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:49.439 Is he not God of the Gentiles also? 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:57.520 Yes, Gentiles also everyone, since God is one who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 00:03:57.680 --> 00:03:58.879 Do we then overthrow the law? 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:03.199 By this faith, by no means, on the contrary, we uphold the law. 00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:04.479 Okay, there's a lot there. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.879 Like I said, spiritual cheesecake. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:11.280 There's four major concepts that we're exploring in this series. 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:19.839 And I do believe that if we have a grasp on all four of these, and by the way, if you haven't been here, if you haven't watched in the last few weeks, feel free to tune into the old ones and catch up. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:25.120 Because if we have a grasp on these four concepts, we really have the full gospel. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:30.319 We started with the first concept we saw righteousness through faith. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:31.600 Righteousness through faith. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:34.480 Righteousness is being in right standing with God. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:42.720 That we are in right standing with God, not because of what we've done, not because of our good deeds and not in spite of our bad, but simply through faith in Jesus. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:47.920 Last week we talked about the second concept, justification by grace. 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:51.279 And we talked about the fact that justification, it's different than forgiveness. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:55.920 We tend to kind of lump a lot of these God words like grace and mercy and all this is just I'm forgiven. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:56.800 No, it's more than that. 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:01.279 Forgiveness is God looking at you and saying, I know you're guilty, but I forgive you. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:07.920 Justification is God looking at you and through your faith in Jesus saying, I find no fault in you whatsoever. 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:10.959 You are innocent in my eyes. 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:14.800 Today we're going to look at the third concept: propitiation. 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:15.920 That's a fun word. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:18.720 Propitiation by atonement. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:22.639 And then next week we'll wrap up with the ability to uphold. 00:05:23.199 --> 00:05:24.959 These four concepts, we understand it. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:30.000 We've got the full gospel, and that means we get to experience the full measure of everything that God has for us. 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:33.600 I want you to understand God has more for you than you've experienced. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:36.800 And I it doesn't matter who you are or where you're at in your faith. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:39.360 If you're just getting started, good news, there's more. 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:43.040 If you're 40 years in, good news, there's more. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:46.079 God has so much for you. 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:49.759 He wants you to have all of it. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:53.839 The full thing, the full gospel, the full measure of all his blessings. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:57.839 And the more we understand what he's done for us, the more we experience that. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:02.959 So today we're looking at propitiation by atonement. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:09.600 Now, sometimes, in fact, oftentimes, and in most other translations, that word propitiation, we don't really use words like that anymore. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.240 Uh, so it gets translated as sacrifice. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:15.519 And so that video we watched at the beginning was sacrifice and atonement. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.240 And it's important for us to understand what this word really means. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:28.240 I want to use the word propitiation, not because I like old words, but because sacrifice is a little bit more of a general term, and propitiation is a very specific idea. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:30.079 We've got to understand this. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:34.160 We've all made sacrifices in our lives, all of us have. 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:36.560 All of us have loved someone enough to make a sacrifice. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:43.920 You've gotten up early in the morning to bless somebody that you love, you sacrificed some sleep so that they could sleep in, so that you can maybe take care of something in the house. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.000 Like that's a sacrifice out of love. 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:48.560 All of us have probably sacrificed financially. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:54.079 You've given up something that you could have had so that someone else can have something. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:07:01.759 All of us who are parents know how much we sacrifice, and when you become a parent, you often realize how much your parents sacrificed so that you could have everything that you have. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:04.319 We all make sacrifices out of love. 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:08.560 Propitiation, though, it's it's a different kind of sacrifice. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:13.439 It is out of love, but it is a it is a necessary sacrifice. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:20.959 It's a sacrifice that's being made to satisfy the demands of justice. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:24.879 It's a sacrifice that is necessary. 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:39.199 It has to be made to satisfy the demands of justice because at some point somewhere an injustice has been done, and without that propitiation, without that sacrifice to pay a ransom, to pay off a debt, the injustice stands. 00:07:40.319 --> 00:07:45.279 This brings us to a really necessary characteristic of God that we've got to understand as followers of God. 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:48.160 The better we know the God that we follow, the better off we are. 00:07:48.560 --> 00:07:53.759 Our God, He's amazing, He's incredible, He is the God. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.040 And one of the things that defines his character is that He's just. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:02.399 Every time I say that God is just, I'm reminded of this story when uh I was, oh man, it had to have been college. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:08.079 My nephew, who's now in college himself, which makes me feel awesome and old, um, he uh he came to church with us. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:09.600 He had to be four or five. 00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:14.399 And uh and he went to his little preschool class, and then he came in the car, and we asked him, Hey, what'd you learn? 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.399 And he said, I learned that God is just. 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:19.920 And my dad, who likes to mess with people, was like, just what? 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:21.920 And he was so confused. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:23.759 He was like, I don't know. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:26.800 But he's just something, you know? 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:29.519 God is just. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:39.679 In fact, we'll we'll look at uh Exodus 34, verses 6 through 7. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:50.240 Yahweh, the Lord, the God of compassion and mercy, I am slow to anger, I'm filled with unfailing love and faithfulness, I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:55.120 I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin, but I do not excuse the guilty. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:09:01.759 I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren, the entire family is affected, even children in the third and fourth generations. 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:05.440 Now, be honest, how many of us would have liked it if that cut off halfway through? 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:06.399 Right? 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:08.720 And that's the interesting thing, right? 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:09.600 We we wrestle with this. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:14.399 And by the way, if you've ever wrestled with God, that's a good thing, something we encourage at his hands, be a wrestler. 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:18.399 Sometimes we have to wrestle with these concepts that seem contradictory to us. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:20.799 I mean, I thought God is loving, right? 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:21.840 He's love. 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:30.080 And if he's loving, then how can he also just be this God who's just and he doesn't overlook the guilt that we have or that anyone has? 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:32.399 That's a hard thing for us to wrap our heads around sometimes. 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:43.759 In fact, oftentimes when people fixate on the love of God, which is a good thing to fixate on, by the way, when they fixate on that, they oftentimes grow almost intolerant of the idea of God's justice. 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:47.759 It's like there's just no way that those two things can go together. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:50.720 But we see them put together so often in Scripture. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:56.080 Check out, for example, oh let's look at uh Psalm 89, verse 14. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:00.240 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:04.399 Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:09.600 There you see the unfailing love of God, but also righteousness and justice. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:17.039 We're told in Psalm 11:7, the righteous Lord loves justice, the virtuous will seek his face. 00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:18.720 God loves justice. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:23.200 Now, as people, we tend to like certain types of justice. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:33.039 Like almost all of us probably have a type of justice, a kind of justice that we're all about, that if we see an injustice done in that part of the world or in that sphere of life, it bothers us. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:38.080 But at the same time, all of us, if we're really honest, we're kind of comfortable with other types of injustice. 00:10:39.919 --> 00:10:41.679 God loves all justice. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:44.080 He loves justice, period. 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:50.720 He loves social justice, he loves racial justice, he loves economic justice, he loves former Braves All-Star David justice. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:54.240 He loves all justice, any justice that there is. 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:55.519 He loves it. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:58.240 Because he just loves justice. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:03.759 And this becomes difficult for us because we're told that God is love. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:05.200 And he is. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.639 1 John chapter 4 says that God is love. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:12.240 That anyone who doesn't love doesn't really know God because God is love. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:18.000 He is love, but the challenge is that he loves us and at the same time he doesn't overlook anything. 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.360 And that's that's tough to grasp. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:28.480 Because I think there's part of us that just naturally wants to go, yeah, but if you love us, shouldn't you just sort of ignore all that stuff? 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:30.720 Because that's what you do when you love someone, right? 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:32.480 You ignore all their issues. 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:36.799 And that is what you do if you want to deal with resentment like years and years later. 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:43.039 In fact, sometimes that's the root of a lot of marriage struggles is like, I love you so much, I'll just ignore that, I'll ignore that, I'll ignore that 20 years later. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:44.480 You drive me insane. 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:45.519 Right? 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:47.759 We need counseling. 00:11:49.759 --> 00:11:53.440 But the reality is, God's God's love is powerful. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:55.919 And he loves completely and totally. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.840 He loves you completely and totally, but God never sets his holiness aside. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:02.879 He never sets his righteousness aside. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:09.279 God the Father never never sets his love of justice aside. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:11.840 He can't do it. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:13.840 He loves justice. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:17.759 And we actually see this in so many stories in scriptures, some really powerful stories. 00:12:17.919 --> 00:12:23.039 One, for example, would be very early on, very early on in the Bible, there's a story of two brothers. 00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:28.960 And you've probably heard this story, even if you're not familiar with the Bible, you haven't grown up in church, you've heard of Cain and Abel. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:30.320 And if you haven't, you're about to. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:32.720 Cain and Abel are brothers. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:37.120 And at one moment in time, they bring a sacrifice to God. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:41.840 And this is one of those stories that you have to read between the lines because it doesn't give us a lot of the details. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:46.799 But for whatever reason, Abel's sacrifice to God is is acceptable, it's pleasing to God. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:54.000 Cain's is not, and and all we can try to gather from that is that perhaps Cain was resentful in his sacrifice. 00:12:54.320 --> 00:13:00.480 Perhaps Cain was holding back, perhaps Cain was giving the worst of what he had, where Abel brought the best, we don't know. 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:04.720 But but God challenges Cain. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:08.559 And how many of us know that when you love someone, you challenge them? 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:14.879 When you love someone, you you love them enough to let them know what they need to do. 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:18.879 That happens very often, and God challenges Cain. 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:22.320 And he says, Cain, I see what's happening. 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:23.279 I see what's going on. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:31.600 He says, Man, you're you're in trouble because it's it's like he actually says sin is basically crouching, ready to pounce, ready to overtake you. 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:34.639 But Cain, you've got to deny this, you've got to defeat this. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:36.639 You can't let sin become your master. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:38.480 But Cain doesn't listen to God. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:44.720 Instead, what Cain does is he grows resentful and angry and he grows incredibly jealous of his brother Abel. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:52.879 That Abel was pleasing to God, and Abel's sacrifice was good, and you know, it's like sibling rivalry, like Abel this, Abel that. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.919 And so in his growing anger and jealousy, he actually murders his brother Abel. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:02.879 And then God shows up in the story, and God says, Hey Cain, where's Abel? 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:05.759 And Abel turns around and says, How should I know? 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:06.480 What am I? 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:08.399 Am I my brother's keeper? 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:12.000 And God looks at Cain. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:14.320 We see this in Genesis chapter 4, verse 10. 00:14:14.399 --> 00:14:16.720 He says, What have you done? 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:18.639 Cain, what have you done? 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:22.960 Listen, your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:25.840 He says, The blood cries out. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:28.320 I can't overlook it. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:32.080 Cain, I love you, but I also love Abel. 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:36.399 And an injustice has been done, and I can't just look the other way. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:42.639 Because your brother's blood is crying out to me, and Cain, it cries out, and it appeals to my sense of justice. 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:48.480 And so God has to reprimand Cain, he has to give Cain a consequence. 00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:51.519 And you can tell even in the story that it breaks his heart. 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:54.240 God is just. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:58.080 Yes, he's love, but but those things coexist with God. 00:14:58.159 --> 00:14:59.759 He doesn't ignore one for the sake of the other. 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:00.799 He never does that. 00:15:01.039 --> 00:15:04.559 We do that sometimes as people because we're inconsistent, but God is never inconsistent. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:06.159 And by the way, aren't you glad? 00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:10.960 Can you imagine how terrifying it would be to have a God as powerful as our God who's inconsistent? 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:15.679 Who's just like moody, and every once in a while he's like, Yeah, I was in a real bad mood that century. 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:17.360 Sorry, guys, you know? 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:19.360 That'd be terrifying. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:21.279 Maybe that's what's going on in 2020. 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:21.919 Just hit me. 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:23.039 Maybe no, I'm teasing it. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:24.240 That's not what's going on. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:26.480 But like, that's awful. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:27.600 God is consistent. 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:29.360 And thank God He is. 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:32.799 And so he says, Cain, the blood cries out. 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:40.000 See, when an injustice has been done and there has to be some type of retribution, that is a propitiation. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:41.519 That is that type of sacrifice. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:44.879 There has to be some type of atonement, some type of repayment. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:48.000 And see, this takes us all to the cross. 00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:57.759 This takes us to the cross where the love of God and the justice of God meet together in very certain terms. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:08.399 Because on the cross, on the cross, Jesus essentially said to the Father, hey, put all of the injustice on me. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:10.799 Put it all on me. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:26.559 Every mistake, every misdeed, every wayward thought, every bit of jealousy, gossip, pride, slander, anger, hatred, all of it. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:28.000 Put it all on me. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:30.639 And I'll pay for it. 00:16:32.240 --> 00:16:33.440 That's what happened. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:36.080 God the Father obliged. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:45.679 And Jesus, whose love for us was so great, he paid the price for us. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:51.440 He became our propitiation, our atoning sacrifice. 00:16:52.639 --> 00:16:57.919 And guys, this is so powerful for us to grab a hold of, for us to understand. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:02.879 It's so powerful on so many different levels. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:12.640 The love of Jesus and the love of God the Father to let this happen, to let our price be paid. 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:17.759 The blood of Jesus spilled on our behalf. 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:22.880 Here's why this is powerful: because you know what? 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.720 The blood cries out. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:28.640 The blood cries out. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:38.160 Just like the blood of Cain, or rather the blood of Abel, cried out and appealed to God's sense of justice and accused Cain. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:49.359 The blood of Jesus cries out and appeals to the Father's sense of justice, his immovable, inescapable sense of justice. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:52.319 The blood of Jesus cries out on your behalf. 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:56.400 The blood of Jesus cries out on my behalf, on all of our behalfs. 00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:00.720 And the blood of Jesus cries out to the Father and says, Father, they are innocent. 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:03.039 Father, they are forgiven. 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:04.960 Father, they are justified. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:06.079 They are cleansed. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:07.119 They are pure. 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:10.559 Father, they have life because of the life that I gave. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:17.519 He says, Father, their debt, it's paid in full, it's gone, it's covered completely because the blood cries out. 00:18:20.319 --> 00:18:27.119 The blood of Jesus to this day, with with passion, cries out to God and justifies you. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:36.799 And just like the Father, because he's just, could not ignore the blood of Abel, he doesn't ignore the blood of Jesus either. 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:41.440 The blood of Jesus cries out on your behalf. 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:48.960 Because the sacrifice he made, he became exactly what Romans said: the just and the justifier. 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:55.519 God required a payment, so God became that payment. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:00.079 Which, by the way, is way more powerful than God just canceling the debt. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:02.960 He didn't cancel your debt, he paid your debt. 00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:05.200 That's a whole different level. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:15.359 And what we have to understand, guys, is that we need to grab a hold of this as followers of Jesus because, well, quite frankly, we will stand accused in our lives. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:18.720 We got to remember that we have an enemy. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:21.200 We call him Satan. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:25.119 And that word Satan, it actually means accuser. 00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:31.119 At some point in time, you will feel accused in your life. 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:33.279 If you haven't already, if you don't right now. 00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:39.839 Sometimes that accusation comes from things that other people say or other people think. 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:44.319 I mean, how many of us know what it's like just to know that someone else thinks something about us? 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:46.480 They won't maybe say it, but we know they think it. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:49.119 And we just feel accused in their presence. 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:56.640 How many of us know what it's like to be the ones pointing the finger to ourselves? 00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:58.640 We accuse ourselves. 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:06.079 We run through thoughts in our minds that we're failures, that we've messed up, that we don't measure up, that we're not enough. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:14.480 At least in some area of our life, we we look at ourselves and we say, I'm I'm I'm off, I'm wrong. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:16.480 That's accusation. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:23.039 And even if you're not experiencing that right now and you're like, I've never really experienced that, you have an enemy, he's an accuser, you will. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:25.519 And so what do you do when you feel accused? 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:27.599 What do you do when you feel like you don't measure up? 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:31.759 What do you do when you feel like a failure, when you feel like you're messing up, like you haven't lived up to the standard? 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:36.640 Here's what you do: you say out loud, the blood of Jesus cries out on my behalf. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:41.039 The blood of Jesus cries out on my behalf, and I don't stand accused. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:49.759 Because just like we sang earlier with that song, here's my heart, I am free, I am loved, I'm made pure, I'm made whole, I have life. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:59.359 And the blood of Jesus appeals to the justice of God the Father, and God the Father listens to the blood of Jesus, and he looks at you and he says, You are enough. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:07.680 You are good, you are righteous, you are holy in my sight because I'm listening to the blood that cries out on your behalf. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:09.119 That is propitiation. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:11.599 That is a beautiful, beautiful thing. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:12.400 Amen? 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:14.160 Is that not beautiful? 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:15.839 That's awesome. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:20.480 I never thought I'd like the word propitiation. 00:21:20.559 --> 00:21:23.119 It just sounds like a bad word, you know? 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:27.200 As I was preparing for this, I was like, ooh, I'm not looking forward to week three. 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:28.480 Propitiation. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:30.799 Now it's one of my favorite words. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:36.480 Because the blood cries out on my behalf, as it does yours. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:40.799 We're gonna wrap up by taking Lord's Supper. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:42.400 I have it in my back pocket. 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:44.240 I actually always carry Lord's Supper in my back pocket. 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:44.799 No, I don't. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:45.440 That would be weird. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:46.960 I'd sit on it, it'd be bad. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:49.440 When you came in, we had some at the back. 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:50.319 Hopefully, you grabbed one. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:51.519 If you're new, we do this every week. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:54.319 If you didn't, you by the by the way, you're free to go and grab one. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:56.559 If you're watching from home, grab something. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:58.480 But this meal that we take. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.759 This meal is it's meant to remind us of exactly what we're talking about. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:10.960 This piece of bread that represents the body of Jesus. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:18.240 That body that was broken as an atoning sacrifice to pay for your sin. 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:22.400 Do you believe that that payment was enough? 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:24.880 I do. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:27.200 We talked about this a few weeks ago. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:29.440 It's easy sometimes to feel like it was almost enough. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:31.759 You know, Jesus, he gave his life for you. 00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:34.000 Shouldn't you have to do something to add to that? 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:36.720 Jesus did not get you almost there. 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:39.680 When Jesus died on the cross, he said, it is finished. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:41.200 He didn't say it's almost done. 00:22:41.440 --> 00:22:43.279 He didn't say, Father, I've gotten them halfway there. 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:46.000 God, I've gotten them over the hill, and all they got to do is finish it out. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:46.559 No, no, no. 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:50.799 Scripture says that Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:56.880 This sacrifice, He paid your debt in full. 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:04.400 Madison, a few weeks ago so beautifully spoken, and he said, Stop beating yourself up because Jesus was already beaten up for you. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:06.720 That's what this represents. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:09.599 So with that in mind, let's pray. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:13.920 Father God, thank you for your sacrifice. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:22.799 Father God, thank you for being willing to sacrifice your own son for us. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:29.039 Lord, this bread is precious. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:37.599 It represents the body of our Lord and Savior Jesus broken for us. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:46.799 A propitiation, a necessary sacrifice so that we could be made whole, so that we could know you. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:47.440 We thank you, Lord. 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:48.319 It's in your name we pray. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:48.799 Amen. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:50.079 Let's take the bread. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:58.079 Now this carries extra meaning this morning. 00:23:58.240 --> 00:23:59.119 The juice. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:01.920 This represents the blood. 00:24:04.640 --> 00:24:09.759 And the blood that this represents, remember, it cries out on your behalf. 00:24:11.119 --> 00:24:13.359 And here's the beautiful thing about knowing that God is just. 00:24:13.440 --> 00:24:17.599 If you ever wonder, if you ever doubt for a moment, and is this enough? 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:19.519 Is it enough? 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:22.880 Know that, yeah, it's enough because God is just. 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:27.200 So he listens to the blood that cries out. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:32.319 He did that with Abel, and he does it with Jesus to an even greater degree. 00:24:32.480 --> 00:24:34.400 This blood cries out on your behalf. 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:39.359 It testifies that you are pure in God's sight, that you are worthy. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:42.880 Do you realize how worthy you are this morning? 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:50.000 My dad told me once when I was in elementary school, bragging to him about how much my baseball cards were worth. 00:24:50.720 --> 00:24:54.559 He said, son, those are only worth how much someone is willing to pay for them. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:02.799 How much are you worth knowing what God was willing to pay for you? 00:25:03.920 --> 00:25:05.839 This blood cries out on your behalf. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:07.039 So let's pray. 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:11.279 Father, thank you for the blood of Jesus. 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:13.200 Precious. 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:21.039 God, powerful, valuable, spilled for us. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:33.920 Father God, I pray that as we as we take this juice, we commit to never allowing ourselves to stand accused. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:38.799 Sure we have things to work on, sure we have areas of improvement. 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:44.480 But in your sight, Lord, we are cleansed, we are whole, we are made, we're made pure. 00:25:44.799 --> 00:25:47.920 Because your blood cries out on our behalf and you listen. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:50.960 Thank you, Jesus. 00:25:51.039 --> 00:25:52.400 Let's take the juice. 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:09.440 Wow.