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Summary

We talked about how family idolatry and really all idols can come from two different directions we pulled the old testament text that talked about the gods of our ancestors we applied that to how sometimes in family systems parenting from grandparents or parents can be brought into the system poor parenting and that becomes then part of how that system how that family operates or the gods of the Amorites how sometimes that which comes from our culture can influence how a family operates and so family idolatry can result from two different directions it can result from within it can result from without we took a look of course at the gracious word that is the forgiving word of God for us through Jesus Christ if we are convicted of the idol becoming or the family becoming an idol we hear of God's gracious word to us through the cross that is a word to cling to that is the word that gives us to light that is that gracious word that embraces us today I'd like to take a look at the idol of religion the idol of religion it's important as we come to this topic for us to define some terms so let me define what we're talking about when we talk about religion religion is the belief of the world religion is the is the human heart in its natural state religion is the belief that human beings can make themselves right before God religion is human beings going to God to affect this righteousness it's about what we do it's about either being good or bad those are components of religion how different that is from the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ the good news that Jesus Christ has born our sin on the cross that the tomb is empty that the world has been reconciled that we are a forgiven people claimed in the waters of baptism given a wonderful today and a glorious tomorrow life abundant life eternal it's the good news of the gospel how different that is how different it is from religion is what are the components of the gospel the components of the gospel is we can't make ourselves right before God we can't do that that God descended to humanity see the direction change it's not us trying to affect our own righteousness before God know it is God descending to us it is God who makes human beings right it's about not what we do it's about what Jesus did it's the fact that we are born bad Jesus is good and because of Jesus we have a glorious glorious future so here the distinction is then between religion and Christianity between religion and the gospel important point to remember is this Christianity should not be classified as a religion let me say that again Christianity should not be classified as a religion in fact when Christianity first arose it was never recognized as a religion it was understood as a non religion so with those terms then as the backdrop let's explore how religion can become an idol and remember the distinction between religion and Christianity to explore this let's go to Luke the 15th chapter please Matthew Mark then Luke Luke the 15th chapter and this is a parable of our Lord remember parables were earthly stories with heavenly meanings and this is a just an incredibly rich parable perhaps you are familiar with it it's a little bit on the longer side but I think it's important for us to take a fresh look at this parable and so we're going to pick up in verse 11 and I'd like to read through verse 32 so picking up in verse 11 of chapter 15 of the gospel of Luke then Jesus said there was a man who had two sons the younger of them said to his father father give me the share of the property that belongs to me so he divided his property between them a few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country and there he squandered his property in disillute living when he had spent everything a severe famine took place throughout that country and he began to be in need so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs he would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating and no one gave him anything but when he came to himself he said how many of my father's hired hands have bred enough and to spare but here I am dying of hunger I will get up and go to my father and I will say to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son treat me like one of your hired hands so he set off and went to his father but while he was still far off his father saw him and was filled with compassion he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him then the son said to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son but the father said to his slaves quickly bring out a robe the best one and put it on him put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet and get the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate for this son of mine was dead and his alive again he's lost and he's found and they began to celebrate it now his elder son was in the field and when he came and approached the house he heard music and dancing he called one of the slaves and asked what was going on he replied your brother has come out has come and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has got him back safe and sound then he became angry and refused to go in his father came out and began to plead with him but he answered his father listen for all these years I have been working like a slave for you and I've never disobeyed your command yet you've never given me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends but when this son of yours came back who has devoured your property with prostitutes you killed the fatted calf for him then the father said to him son you're always with me and all that is mine is yours but we had to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life he was lost and has been found this parable is historically understood as the parable of the prodigal son but notice back in verse 11 it says then Jesus said there was a man who had two sons I think really a better title for this parable would really be the parable of the two sons or perhaps the love of the father people will oftentimes define sin as immoral living they'll they'll define it in that category we're inclined to see the younger son here then as the only one who's guilty of sin but the older brother who was really highly moral was really far from a loving relationship with his father jump back into verse 1 of chapter 15 now all the text collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him and the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying this fellow welcomes sinners and eat with them so that's the occasion of this parable the Pharisees were just disgusted at Jesus welcoming sinners Pharisees were the most moral group around but their hearts were still far far from God Jesus was not seeking to make the Pharisees more moral now Jesus was seeking repentance by the Pharisees the older brother was just as far from the father as the younger brother the older brother was just as far from the father as the younger brother neither neither brother displayed that he actually loved the father or really cared about the father's happiness now they were both just using him to get the inheritance right the younger basically approaching it by saying I wish you were dead and the older was seeking to get the inheritance through being the upright upright son the one who did everything right but you see he's just trying to get the inheritance by his good behavior what's interesting is that at the end of the story the younger brother is at the feast and the older brother is outside with the Pharisees have understood that point would they have gotten what Jesus was trying to communicate you bet you bet they would the older brother the older brother had not come to the reality that the inheritance was by grace by grace look again with me please at verse 18 I'll get up and go to my father and I'll say to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son treat me like one of your hired hands this was a three-tiered plan then right from the younger a three-tiered plan he's going to go and say I've sinned against you I'm not worthy to be your son and now he's going to work his way back into his father's good graces work his way back into his father's life but what does his father do father cuts him off at the first two go on in to verse 21 then the son said to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son but the father said to his slaves quickly bring out a robe the best one and put it on him put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet get the fat of calf and kill it let us eat and celebrate for this son of mine was dead and alive he's lost in his fawn and they began to celebrate the father refused to let the son attempt to work his way back in the read admittance into the family was absolutely entirely by grace ponder with me for a moment Jesus is the true older brother he's the true older brother Jesus finds us he gives us read admittance into the father's family through the cross Jesus is the brother who paid our way and who gives us access to the banquet of the father grace grace not one one does but grace grace let's go to Galatians the fourth chapter Matthew Mark Luke John Acts and Romans first and second Corinthians and then Galatians and we'll pick up in chapter four Galatians chapter four the Apostle Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes this my point is this airs as long as they are miners are no better than slaves though they are the owners of all the property but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father so thus while we were miners we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world but when the fullness of time had come gods sent his son born of a woman born under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as as children and because you are children god has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts crying abba father so you are no longer a slave but a child and if a child then also an air through god formally when you did not know god you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods now however that you have come to know god or rather to be known by god how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits how can you want to be enslaved to them again you were observing special days and months and seasons and years I'm afraid that my work for you may have been wasted note the words here in this section the words here that highlight that our right relationship with god is entirely by grace and not by works remember the distinction again between religion and Christianity between religion and the gospel religion is all about works Christianity is about god's action to redeem us gods grace look again at verse one notice these words here that give us this gracious gracious message my point is this airs as long as our minor are no better than slaves you see an air means that something is unearned you are given you don't earn it go on to verse five in order to redeem redeem means to to buy back it indicates that we can't save ourselves god has to act to save us going on again into verse five the last part so that we might receive adoption as children adoption is not something for which a child deserves credit air redeemed adopted wonderful wonderful words verse nine now whoever that you've come to know god are rather to be known by god how can you return back again to the weakened beggarly elemental spirits how can you want to be enslaved to them again you're observing special days and months and seasons and years the Galatians had become enslaved by old religious customs they had forgotten that they were saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that is not their own doing it is the gift of god they were assuming you see that it was Jesus plus something else it was Jesus plus adhering to religious rights it was Jesus plus works you hear it that's a slide that's a slide right into religion the idol of religion instead of Christianity so let me ask you a few questions today this can be questions that can test for the idol of religion in our lives here's the first do you ever feel uncertain about the status of your relationship with god how about this one are you often anxious worried and struggling with feelings of personal condemnation this one do you frequently condemn others especially on the basis of issues that are neither commended or condemned in scripture or forth do you feel like your life only has value when you're faithfully adhering to your religions moral codes and accomplishing its recommended activities see those are questions that can get at this whole issue for us about whether we are perhaps even in a subtle way sliding into the idolatry of religion what's the good news for us the good news is that through Jesus Christ we are forgiven that we're forgiven when we try and make Christianity into an idol of religion Christianity you see grace religion just a bunch of works but we can be tempted to slide and even in the subtlest of ways making Christianity into an idol of religion well as we've studied in these five weeks idolatry certainly continues to be an issue today that idolatry just wasn't that which occurred in ancient day no idolatry can take various forms we've talked in these weeks about how success can become an idol how technology can become an idol how the family can become an idol and how religion can become an idol but thanks be to God for the forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ because Jesus is so much more lovely he's so so much more beautiful than all the idols well I pray that this class has been a blessing to you next Sunday I'm going to start a new class it's going to take a look at biblical prophecy we're going to take a look at the wealth of prophecy in holy scripture and how do you understand it we're going to take a look at several different topics we're going to take a look at principles of prophecy we're going to take a look at prophecies that were fulfilled before Christ prophecies that were fulfilled by Christ prophecies that are being filled today and prophecies that will be fulfilled at Christ's return so we'll move into biblical prophecy next Sunday God bless you may you be used by him to boldly proclaim the gracious proclamation of Jesus Christ crucified and risen Good morning. Now putting our fear aside I do have to stress and this is really important that it does not mean when we put our fear aside it does not mean that we stop with discernment right caution is always justified when dealing or encountering strangers it's really important that we don't just cast all caution all discernment aside because we are just not going to fear right we need to be smart we need to work in wisdom and and know people wisely when we set aside our fear we're really setting aside or aiming to set aside our timidity we can make all sorts of excuses not to speak to someone but it's often our own insecurities that are bubbling to the surface so when we're when we're timid right instead of fearful because most of us don't fear fear our neighbor right but we're a little timid about reaching out and meeting our neighbors but that's often our own insecurities that are bubbling to the surface you know this is going to be awkward I don't want awkwardness or maybe I'm an introvert so someone else would really be better at this than me what about my neighbor is going to think I'm really weird or what if my neighbor rejects me can you imagine going to the door knocking with something in hand brownies or or a pie and and they just say nope bye bye right that that's a little scary it's it's a little cause for timidity but let's go to Timothy second Timothy chapter one I keep closing my Bible and then reopening it I just need to leave it open but first Timothy so we were in Ephesians you're going to keep going to the right and you're going to find the tea books so after Thessalonians you'll have first Timothy we want to go to second Timothy chapter one verse seven God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self discipline in the ESV it says that God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control we have absolutely no need to be timid or fearful because God empowers us and enables us to be bold and to take that first step with our neighbors we can remind ourselves all the time as we feel those feelings of fear or feelings of timidity starting to bubble or rise we remind ourselves that getting through the weirdness or getting through the awkwardness is probably going to be the most difficult part in the process of neighboring so if we can make it through the awkwardness if we can make it through that weirdness that's probably going to be the worst part of it which really isn't too bad is it go to the next page so now we're going to talk about taking the first steps and then the steps after that so we want to be a good neighbor we want to reach out to our neighbors but how how do we do this J and Dave who wrote the book The Art of Neighboring they compare this perplexity to cleaning the garage I love this metaphor so if you ever stared into a garage and you think to yourself I know I need to spend the day cleaning this I know I do but I just don't know where to begin right where do I start and you're overwhelmed with the starting point how do I tackle this situation how do I tackle what I know I want to do what I know I need to do but I just don't know where to start or how to do it the thing is is that when we don't know where to start or we're overwhelmed a lot of times we'll give up another neighbor can talk to that one I don't want to do this I give up I quit right but we don't want to quit we want to continue to reach out to our neighbors and we want to continue to have that opportunity to connect and grow in relationship to the impact and glory of God's kingdom right so there's a simple framework that we can use as a helpful tool of where to start and then continue to grow in relationship with our neighbors and that is yep there we go so we are strangers and then we take that next step into acquaintances and then that from there we can build relationships so stranger acquaintance relationship stranger acquaintance relationship so how do we take this first jump from stranger to acquaintance all right we're going to get out that block map again lots of flipping here get out your block map because we're going to use this okay so the people that you don't know as you're filling this in the people that you don't know their names those are the strangers okay those are the strangers those are the ones that you have to meet so the first step as we discovered last week is to learn your neighbors names make it a point to have a conversation with a neighbor who you don't know his or her name so you can you can learn the name now right now that's going to look a little bit differently than it would under normal circumstances when we are not distancing ourselves from people and if we're unable to find a person's name or number right now some of these meetings or getting to know your neighbor some of that might might have to be on hold a little bit until we're able to actually go over to someone's house in person but if there's someone that you don't know their name but you do know their number or you don't know their name and when we're done with the quarantines the shelter in place the social distancing that you actually can get out and meet people a conversation might look at like this hi I'm Carrie I know you've told me your name before I got to be honest I am terrible with names can you please give it to me again right so you're you're telling them I know you've told me your name I can't remember it but I want to know it I want to remember it right and so you're learning their name and you're being honest and they know when you're being honest with them they can trust you more right that that builds right there just a little bit of trust or maybe if it's someone that you've never known their name you can you can approach them say hey you know we wave to each other all the time I'd love to know your name my name's Carrie and you'd say your name of course right um so now you have your names you've got your names what next well the first step is to after you learn their names write it down write it down on your block map you don't have to throw this out right keep your block map write their names down on it and then hang it on your fridge or hang it somewhere that's prominent enough that you will see it every single day this not only reminds you of your neighbor's names right now you know their names but it also keeps that neighbor at the top of your mind it keeps you thinking about the neighbors you know and the ones that you have yet to meet it's a tangible way for you to remember who God has placed you in the midst of right so keep that um and if you want to take it a step further with the block map you can do what one of the authors wife's did wife did she used this block map to make a block directory I love this she went door to door around this block and she ended up doing it for her whole neighborhood it depends on how big your neighborhood is but she went door to door she gathered contact information and she made copies for all of these other neighbors so she had addresses cell phone numbers email addresses and when she then distributed it to all the other neighbors that meant that they could connect with one another too that they all had means of building those relationships with their neighbors it'd be a very very handy tool to have something like a block directory at a time like this right where you could call your neighbor up really easily you have their name you have their number you have their email address and it's already there for you so that's a great way to use the block map um what they found was that by doing the block map where then they they made it a directory they found that the contact information it actually began to facilitate and further new relationships that the neighbors started contacting one another and they would say oh yeah it's laid out and I see your garage is still open I don't know if you want to close that or one woman had used the information to invite all the women of the neighborhood for a girl's night out so they started to see that by taking that step of of using their block map and then gathering the information and sharing it as a block directory they were seeing the fruits of that within their own neighborhood not everyone is going to be more than an acquaintance for us and that's okay but what relationships are we opening the door for if we take these little steps so the next step after learning names is to move into well after learning names and then work acquaintances right so we're strangers we know someone's name now we're acquaintances so now we want to move into that relationship realm we can't force relationships as much as I would love to do that as much as I sometimes try to do that be my friend we can't do that we can't force relationships but we can create the opportunity for relationships to develop right so one couple found that even though they didn't know how to take the first step in meeting people one of the things that they did to open the opportunity for relationships is that they moved their family's center of activity from the backyard to the front yard they put a swing in the front yard they put some chairs out there and instead of staying in the backyard fenced in where no one could access them they couldn't see who was walking on the street they moved everything to the front yard after a short while the other kids in the neighborhood were coming over to play with their kids people walking their dogs would stop to say hi they would be chatting they would get to know their neighbors and then all of a sudden these people were starting to share meals and these block parties were kind of forming out of just moving to the front yard block parties or parties are also a really great tool that can be used in creating warmth and opening that atmosphere for friendship within the neighborhood parties really create a safe space and an easy space for us to talk with others in a relaxed atmosphere this is what we do or attempt to do with the life groups too right we're not inviting someone to a very structured thing that they'll feel out of place it's it's a social time we're wanting people to be able to connect in a relaxed and easygoing atmosphere let's turn our bibles to Luke chapter five so you're going to go back towards the beginning of the New Testament Matthew Mark Luke and then John so Luke chapter five if I can find it which I think I can Luke chapter five we're going to start in verse 27 so after this Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth and he said to him follow me and Levi got up left everything and followed him then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others sitting at the table with them the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to his disciples saying why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners Jesus answered those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick I have come to call not the righteous but the sinners to repentance Levi threw a party there were all sorts there and Jesus used that banquet that time of party of fellowship of togetherness to show his solidarity with sinners not that he is okay with sin not that he encouraged sin but his solidarity that he came for the sinner he came for you and I he emphasized that his mission was to call the sinner to repentance so a block party a block party is not or should not be held with the intent of a bait and switch right we're not inviting people to come and mingle with us so that we can have an agenda and coerce them into hearing the good news of the gospel of course if it comes up if the topic arises we certainly want to bring a word of faith we certainly want to bring the good news to those people but to have that specific agenda to have any agenda it really has a false ring to it people can tell when we have agendas people can tell when we are not sincere or authentic in how or why we are connecting with them we don't want to give a false sense of interest because we are interested in these people certainly as human beings and we do want them connected with Christ we do want them we want everyone connected with Christ but we can't have a weird agenda about it if that makes sense right so it's just not new really so don't have an agenda allow for the godly relationship to develop naturally because it will the Lord will open the time or present the time for those conversations to happen we don't abandon our faith in order to fit in with the sinner we are all sinners right but we don't just throw it all away we don't throw our faith to the wind in order to feel like we fit in with the world but we don't use that false connection because it feels and it will be fake you have in the priesthood of all believers you have every right and you have every authority to speak of your faith and to speak of Jesus Christ as our Savior as our Redeemer you absolutely have that right and don't shy away from it that is not at all what I'm saying do not shy away from sharing your faith but use wisdom in how you bring it to your neighbor I want to encourage you if you have not yet taken the everyday missionary course that everyone has witnessed course or the everyday boldness workshop with Steve if you've not taken those witnessing workshops I really encourage you to do so you will find that in those classes and workshops you are going to find really natural ways of talking with people where you know you want to share the gospel with this person but you also know how to share it and when it's the appropriate time and when it just might not be yet and that's okay the door will open when God is ready for that door to be opened we have to trust that the Lord will work when and where He chooses when and where He wills right we we are open to being used as His vessel but we need to trust the Lord in where He's taking us with that the only way that we can start filling out these block maps that we can start actually moving from stranger to acquaintance and at least opening up the opportunity for relationship is by starting to get out and meet people right we need to actually meet people in order to know people right so for the most part people are not going to be knocking on your door saying hey you I think you need a friend I need a friend let's be friends most people don't do that there are the random occasional extroverts you know who you are who will do that who will knock on a door just to make a friend but for the most part that's not going to happen right but you can be the person to do that with your neighbors not necessarily knocking on everyone's door hey do you want a friend but when you're walking your dog or they're walking a dog or you see someone out waving greeting them saying hi meeting them speaking with them look for opportunities to meet your neighbor go on walks host or co host a block party right now at this time we can offer to get groceries or medicines for our neighbors we can offer to walk our neighbors dog right what if they can't get out and walk their dog maybe that's a service that we can offer for them we can find little ways of connecting all these little ways of connecting that truly truly have everlasting impact I look forward to continuing and wrapping up this study on the art of neighboring with you next week until then I invite you to put into practice your own neighborly selves and have an impact for Jesus in your world bye And a good morning. The Eastern church rejected this they didn't like that they held to the Father holding all the deity really and truly and they were they were fine with saying the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Sun but they did not want to to say that the Spirit was from the Father and from the Sun so that's where that controversy lies that is part of the schism that was created between the Eastern and the Western churches but it's not the only reason and and truly the split came in in about 1054 when when those two churches finally the the patriarch of the Eastern church and the Pope of the Western church excommunicated one another so so that came a little bit later but this was part of it and this was in 381 when they started adding in that Holy Spirit article so moving on to what we're studying today that was just a brief overview of what we had last week with the creeds today we're going to talk about Jesus human nature okay Athanasius said for salvation the correct faith is necessary not only regarding the divine nature in Christ but also regarding the human and if we look at the creeds and take just what they state about the humanity of Christ we can see that it's built right into those creeds so the Apostles Creed says that Jesus was born of the Bible and Jesus was buried those are things that happen to all human beings we are all born we all not all of us are crucified clearly but we all have sufferings we all have pain we all die we will all be buried right so those are very human things that happened to him the Nicene Creed says incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate he suffered died and was buried very similar in those statements and then the Athanasian Creed says that our Lord Jesus became flesh he is man born in the world from the beginning of from the being of his mother existing fully as man with a rational soul and a human body he has taken humanity into himself he does not transform deity into humanity so he's not exchanging one for the other he is completely one in the unity of his person without confusing his natures for as the rational soul and body are one person so the one Christ is God and man he suffered death so that's getting a little more into the nitty-gritty that there are two natures there is a human nature it talks about his birth it talks about his death and that he is fully fully in the flesh fully man so there were some early claims against Jesus's Jesus humanity and and really no one in the very early church no one really denied his deity that seemed to be a given today it's a little bit different today more people deny his deity than his humanity but but it's interesting because the early church they couldn't quite believe that he was human that he had actually been a bit had actually been a human so they would say that Christ's body was not human that it had the appearance of a normal human it had it had the look of what a human has but it's actually a specter it's not a real true human being it looked real but it was more of a celestial substance this was taught by by several groups those who believed this then they also taught that Jesus actions all that he did and all that he suffered or went under or went through those were also fantasy they didn't actually happen so the sufferings that he underwent they only appeared to happen which we know is not true and we do not confess that we confess that he in true human form in his humanity suffered under Pontius Pilate so they taught that he was kind of a kind of a ghosty type thing right but let's open up to Matthew 14 this is the first gospel Matthew 14 so open up to the New Testament and we will see we're gonna look at 26 this is when Jesus is walking on the water chapter 14 verse 26 but when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified saying it is a ghost right they they thought he was a ghost and they cried out in fear but immediately Jesus spoke to them and said take heart it is I do not be afraid he would not let them believe or claim that he's a ghost he's saying it's me I'm here in the flesh let's go over to Luke 24 so we're gonna go past Matthew past Mark go into Luke the third gospel this is after Christ had been killed this is after he had risen from the grave and he is appearing to his disciples we're gonna go to verse verses 36 through 39 so he's coming to his disciples and while they were talking about this Jesus himself stood among them and said to them peace be with you they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost so this is after he's been resurrected they're thinking again they're seeing this ghost and he said to them why are you frightened and why do doubts arise in your hearts look at my hands and my feet see that it is myself touch me and see for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have so even after the resurrection Christ is coming back when anyone could possibly say it's a ghost it's a ghost and he's saying no even now I am not a ghost I have flesh I have bones we see in the gospel of John where he's eating food post resurrection he was a human he is a human it was very interesting I came across an article from a what would be considered a reputable source or reputable reputable publication it's an article from 2014 right before Christmas it's amazing how many articles come out right before Christmas to say Jesus isn't real it's amazing uncanny just watch for it this year there will be articles that come out trying to deny Christ right before we celebrate his birth but this man the author of the article he wrote did a man called Jesus of Nazareth walk the earth discussions over whether the figure known as the historical Jesus actually existed primarily reflect disagreements among atheists believers who uphold the implausible and more easily dismissed Christ of faith the divine Jesus who walked on water ought not to get involved so to discuss Jesus the historical accuracy of Jesus the person of Jesus this writer is is telling his readers that anyone who believes in Jesus really shouldn't be involved in this discussion I want to invite you as believers in Jesus to be involved in the discussion for those of you who have not been to service yet that's what it is that that's our sermon that you'll hear today that we are a part of this discussion this is what we are called to bring and to be a part of is the discussion of God and who God is and so I thought that was really interesting so yes Jesus actually walked on this earth I have a host of and we're just gonna dive in because we have time and I and it's gonna seem a little like wow we have so many Bible verses but this is just a sampling of where we find Christ walking the earth where we find him as a true human that can support anytime someone questions whether Jesus really was real or not really a human you can go to any of these verses and say no no look here here here tell me when you get tired here here right so there's a lot of biblical proof here so we're gonna just start with John 1 so that's the gospel of John so if you flip over probably about one page from where you are in Luke and you find John the first chapter we're looking at verse 14 and the word who if you go to the very beginning of John we're told that the word was with God the word was God and we know that to be Jesus which we will get more into in a couple of weeks but the word verse 14 became flesh and lived among us the word became flesh and lived among us let's jump back to Luke chapter 2 we're gonna jump around in chapter 2 for a moment here so we're gonna start in verse 6 so the gospel of Luke chapter 2 starting in verse 6 while they were there that's Mary and Joseph while they were there the time came for her to deliver her child and she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn she gave birth to an actual human being to a little boy so there is a man or a boy being born let's jump down to verse 21 after eight days had passed it was time to circumcise the child and he was called Jesus the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb so this little infant is taken in the ceremonial custom and he is circumcised and he is named humans well not all of them get circumcised but humans have bodies which things are done to right and we are given names that is a very human thing happening here then let's jump down to verse 40 we're just gonna read the first little bit here the child grew and became strong Christ had a childhood he didn't just appear as a man he was born of a woman he had a childhood and he grew in that childhood let's go back to or go over to Luke chapter 4 we're gonna look at those first two verses Luke chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 Jesus full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil he ate nothing at all during those days and when they were over he was famished if a human does not eat for 40 days he will be hungry God doesn't need food man does right so Jesus was in the desert constantly being tempted I don't know about about any of you if you if you know this too but humanity is tempted we get tempted as human beings so so we've got two things here he is physically physically famished hungry needing food wanting food right but he's also being tempted which the devil was trying to tempt him in his humanity now let's go over to John so we're just gonna go over one more book John 11 John 11 verse starting in verse 33 so Lazarus who was a good friend of Jesus Lazarus died and he went and he saw the sisters and picking up in verse 33 it says when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with him were also weeping he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved he said where have you laid him they said to him Lord come and see Jesus began to weep he mourned his friend he mourned he felt that he he wasn't this unemotional having no feeling man or being in his humanity he had feelings he had those feelings of love and he was mourning and weeping for his friend for his friends who were mourning so there's another human element to him let's jump over to mark so we're gonna go back a couple of gospels it's the second gospel mark two and we're gonna go to verse 16 mark 216 when the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he that is Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors they said to his disciples why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners Jesus as a man ate here he's eating with tax collectors and sinners he's eating he needed food again that's that humanity if we jump back into the Old Testament Isaiah so if you go to the middle of the Bible you'll find Psalms and if you flip to the right you will find the prophets after Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon you're gonna find Isaiah and we're going to Isaiah 53 verses 2 and 3 Isaiah 53 verses 2 and 3 and this is prophesying about Jesus for he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground he had no form or majesty that we should look at him nothing in his appearance that we should that we should desire him he was despised and rejected by others a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity as one from whom others hide their face he was despised and we held him of no account this is telling us that people around him he didn't have an appearance that that looked majestic he didn't have anything special about his look but this is also giving him an appearance we know that Jesus had flesh we know that he had a look he wasn't just this ghosty type being he wasn't celestial in in his form he was a man he had an appearance nothing nothing that that anyone should desire to look at him which I think is really interesting um okay so let's go over to Hebrews so this we're going back into the New Testament we're gonna pass the Gospels pass the letters of Paul and then we're gonna come to Hebrews and we're going to the second chapter Hebrews 2 verse 14 Hebrews 2 verse 14 since therefore the children share flesh and blood he himself likewise shared the same things Jesus shared with mankind the same things of flesh and blood he was a physical human being let's go over to Galatians or back to Galatians you're gonna go back through the letters of Paul if you've got Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians and then you've got Galatians uh Galatians chapter 4 verse 4 when the fullness of time had come God sent his son born of a woman born under the law we are all born of women and we are all born under the law we are all born into the same condition not house or family but we're born into the same condition as human beings as Christ was also born of a woman under the law and let's go back one more to Romans this is the last one but you'll see I mean do you see how there's it's just verse after verse after verse that is proving the humanity of Christ we're going to Romans chapter or verse yeah chapter 1 verse 1 Paul a servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures so he's promising God promised this gospel this good news through holy scriptures concerning his son who was descended from David according to the flesh he descended from David according to the flesh again just putting that humanity right there so this is a relatively long list that we've gone through but you'll see as you flip through scripture it is not hard to find proof from scripture from the Bible that Christ indeed was a flesh and blood man he needed to eat he needed to sleep oh we didn't even get to any of his sleeping right we he needed to function or he did function as a human did because he was a human he was a man so what about the people that say oh that's nice but you're just going to the Bible I don't I don't just go to the Bible that's not for me well there are historical historical accounts of Jesus also so we know that he was a human that walked the earth we have historical sources so the first one is from Tacitus or Cornelius Tacitus he he was a Roman senator and he was considered to be one of the best if not the best Roman historian so this was a history guy right and he studied he studied people he studied cultures he studied cultural phenomenon and and he wrote in this is in the context of a great fire of Rome it went for six days this fire burned it burned a lot of the city in 64 AD during the reign of Nero and he wrote this is Tacitus writing neither human effort nor the Emperor's generosity nor the placating of the gods ended the scandalous belief that the fire had been ordered by Nero therefore to put down the rumor so Nero there was a rumor that Nero started this fire or had this fire going so to put the the rumor down Nero substituted as culprits and punished in the most unusual ways those hated for their shameful acts whom the crowd called Christians the founder of this name Christ had been executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate suppressed for a time the deadly superstition erupted again not only in Judea the origin of this evil but also in the city Rome where all things horrible and shameful from everywhere come together and become popular so Tacitus in this is presenting four four pieces of accurate knowledge that we have about Jesus he said that well he called him Christus or Christ this was used by Tacitus to refer to Jesus he thought it was a name he didn't realize that it was a title but but he used it as a name but he called him Christ he talked about Christ being associated with the beginning of the movement of the Christians right for for the origin of this grouping that this man was executed by the Roman governor of Judea and that the time of his death was during Pontius Pilate's governorship during the reign of Tiberius so we have these four points of historical documentation that he's given us he is not a Christian he was a Roman senator a Roman historian and what he has told or what he has given to us is in line with what we have in scripture there was a Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and he was writing about James who is the brother of Jesus he's writing about his execution and he wrote let's see here there was a meeting of judges called and brought into it the brother of Jesus who is called Messiah James by name and some others he made the accusation that they had transgressed the law and he handed them over to be stone so Josephus had mentioned or mentions at least 12 other that are named Jesus because Jesus was a rather common name and so he's specifying which Jesus he was referring to as James brother so he used the one called or who is called Messiah Jesus who is called Messiah he also had a longer passage in a book that was called Jewish and equities and it refers to Jesus there was a Christian apologist who named Eusibius who added who some people think added some Christian claims in this text of Josephus Josephus wrote around this time there lived Jesus a wise man if indeed one ought to call him a man for he was one who did surprising deeds and a teacher of such people as except the truth gladly he won over many Jews and many of the Greeks he was the Messiah when Pilate upon hearing him accused by men of his highest standing among us had condemned him to be crucified those who in the first place came to love him did not give up their affection for him for on the third day he appeared to them restored to life the prophets of God had prophesied this and countless other marvelous things about him and the tribe of Christians so called after him have still to this day not died out now I don't know for certain if Eusibius added anything or not but all of the surviving manuscripts of this testimony or testament that are in Greek they contain the same version of this passage there are no significant differences which is very interesting that more than one source of this passage says the same thing Josephus also was not a Christian he was a Jewish historian the Celseus was a platenist philosopher he considered Jesus to be a magician who made exorbitant claims so he he didn't believe that Jesus was the Christ he didn't believe that Jesus was the son of man but he gives an account of a man named Jesus who did things that he thought were magical right Pliny the younger a Roman governor and friend of Tacitus wrote about early Christian worship of Christ as to a god little G god Soutenuse a Roman writer lawyer and historian wrote of riots in 49 that were among the Jews in Rome which might have been about Christus but which he thought were incited by the instigator of Christus whose identification with Jesus is not completely certain but this Roman writer is talking about these riots he thinks that at the very least it's linked to this group or this man Christ right um Mara Barcerapione Mara Barcerapione that's a fun name Mara Barcerapione a prisoner of war that was held by the Romans he wrote a letter to his son that described the Jewish the wise Jewish king in a way that seems to indicate Jesus but it doesn't specify his name but again we have that that non non-Christian source talking about a Jewish wise king so we see that there is a case to be made from scripture certainly for the humanity the flesh and bones of Christ but we also see that it's not just the biblical text we have outside sources we have historical sources that were also referring to Christ not Christians themselves but writing of a man who who had a group of followers a man who was crucified under Pontius Pilate so we have these historical these historical sources as well so what's the deal okay we can say yeah okay Jesus was a person he was a man that's great but why is it so important to hold this as absolute truth and to confess it in our creeds have it as a part of our common confession and that's what we're going to talk about next time we don't have class this next Sunday but the following Sunday we're going to dive into why the humanity of Christ actually matters in salvation or for salvation We're going to examine today in the topic of forgiveness. Does that sound kind of familiar to you right whatever communion is done you got the words of institution is based on Matthew chapter 26 Luther maintained and I think correctly so that the verb is means is that scripture doesn't say it represents it doesn't say it symbolizes that when Jesus birthed holy communion there just before the cross he says this is my body this is my blood let's go over to 1 Corinthians the 10th chapter 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 16 the cup of blessing that we bless is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ the bread that we break is it not a sharing in the body of Christ so the question that us Lutherans say is how can you participate in the in the body and blood of Jesus Christ if he is not present there in the cup and in the bread you can't say as scripture says here that we are participating in the very body and blood of Christ so you've got an historicism then 5th century swingley comes along he's got the same problem with the with the natures of Christ that plays out in communion and there you see this this birthing of the understanding of the memorial understanding of communion so let me let me hear the the three understandings of communion and we'll see if we can guess which one is the correct one here okay so you've got we've got three three understandings one one understanding is that there is no bread in communion there's no wine in communion what you have is you have the body and blood of Jesus and the key word is changed into so this is the belief that in in communion you don't have the the bread and the and the wine you have the body and blood of the Lord Jesus that that indeed he is he is present and the key is changed into can anyone guess what denomination this is yep there you go we got some former Catholics here that that recognize this true or Piscopelian I would say for you Marcy or Catholic too okay okay yeah this is this is the view of what's called a transubstantiation that's the Catholic view that when you when you look at the at the elements in communion they may look like bread and wine but they have lost the property of bread and wine they only have the appearance of that that's that that's the Catholic view the Lutheran understanding the little phrase maybe back to your confirmation days if you've grown up a Lutheran that Jesus Christ is truly present in the bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins that's a small catechism and the little phrase that Christ is present in with and under the the bread and wine that's just that's just a little phrase that that is going right after transubstantiation to to refute transubstantiation because Luther said no in scripture Jesus highlights that there's bread and there's a cup and he says body and a blood so Luther said that the Holy Communion is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ given with bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins okay now here's the here's the second one bread and communion you've got bread and wine you have the body and blood of Jesus Christ and the key word is is okay who's that that's us right that's us and and that's scripture what the scripture says that indeed you've got bread and wine body and blood the key word is is okay there's another understanding in communion you've got bread and wine no body and blood yeah key word is represents and symbol yeah yeah that's yeah Baptist right it's that's Baptist it's great you say here you go there you go yeah so you got you've got three different understand you got transubstantiation you've got bread and wine here and the key word of is and then you've got represents and the symbol okay let me let me approach it this way here which one of these is correct the two becomes four the two remain two or the two become two and what is meant here is bread and wine so which one is the is the is the correct understanding here the two becomes four the two remain two or the two become two yeah it's number one right what is holy communion holy communion is the body and blood of Jesus Christ given with bread and wine for the forgiveness of sin which one is this yeah that's Baptist theology memorial understanding and which one is this it's Catholic understanding right right yeah yeah yeah there's there's nothing that affects a sacrament by what a Lutheran pastor does in fact that was a a big deal when the denomination we were formally a part of was merging in for altering pulpit fellowship with the Episcopals Episcopals believe that at one's ordination the priest is given special power by the fact that they are ordained to make the sacrament than a sacrament in the Lutheran Church we say is absolutely nothing about us that that makes the sacrament the sacrament know what makes the sacrament the sacrament is can you guess the word right it it's just the it's just a word that's what makes the sacrament the sacrament and so there were a bunch of us that when that was that was coming about we we said this is an absolute denial of our of our Lutheran doctrine here and and of course the response that we that we got was you you you don't have to believe it you just have to do it I kid you not that was a response that came out of the bishops office on that and and really in the agreement it was it was waiting for months our our term that we put on ourselves months like myself that were not ordained in historic succession which the Episcopals say you have to be ordained in in order to get this special power they said we'll enter into this agreement until people like Ible die off you see and then everybody's going to be in historic succession so that the Episcopal understanding of communion then is what what dominates I mean that was that was just the early seeds of a denomination leaving the authority of the word of God abandoning abandoning a doctor on that yeah right that was that was the plan that that was the plan because we lost we lost the vote on that and and the understanding of of communion then was was was changed yeah in terms of of how communion is made efficacious in in the in the Lutheran understanding sometimes you will hear this word uh banard about with with the Catholic understanding you've got transubstantiation and sometimes you'll hear people say the the Lutheran understanding is con substantiation that's actually not not true because con substantiation means that that a a whole new substance is is formed so so con substantiation is is not a correct terminology to put on on Lutheranism um sometimes you'll you'll hear what's called impanation i m p a n a t i o o n which means that the that the body of Christ is is localized inside the bread as if you kind of tunnel in you could you could get to it that's not phrase is in with and under the the bread and wine so that as we receive the bread and wine we receive the body and blood of Christ that Christ is truly present um in that bread and wine for the forgiveness of our sins and how is that possible if Christ at this very moment is exalted in heaven itself and he is there divine and human it's possible because you've got the communion of the properties you've got the communion of the two natures that you don't have two we yeah because because you're getting right at the heart of the of the sacrament that indeed Christ has established a stack sacrament for the purpose of the delivery of the assurance of our forgiveness through Christ and so when we come to the table if communion is simply that which is a mental exercise for us to remember back to the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ that offers no comfort because you're throwing someone back upon themselves to their own mental approach which interestingly ties into the whole synergistic understanding of I'll pick on our Baptist brothers and sisters here again the whole synergistic understanding of cooperation in their salvation which in the end throws you back on yourself and the decision you make as opposed to the decision that God has made for you um if you if you deny the real presence of Christ then you also don't have any comfort for someone when they receive the the sacrament which is that concrete way of God saying your sins are forgiven swallow it you know it is for you yeah so it's the denial of the sacramental nature that makes this a really important issue in the life of the church I've got like two more minutes I'll let me just wrap this up and can I get you later on Bruce okay when we receive holy communion the sacramental action only pertains to when we are are eating and drinking so in other words if if we went into the words of institution in holy communion and then we said never mind we wouldn't have the sacrament there because the sacrament only occurs when you are consuming it that's why at the end of the of the service you you don't have the the bread and the body and blood of Christ taken off and and going to the sacristy and as it is on the plate there you still have the body and blood of Christ know what do you have you've got remains of the bread right you've got the remains of the wine that's very various practices that that churches do some will say out of respect for how it is how it is used we'll spread it on the ground other churches will we'll just consume the rest of the of the bread because why why let it go to waste or take the remaining wine and and pour it into the reserve to be used next time but it's not as if you have the the bread and the wine or the body and blood Christ still remaining that's why just as a little aside we don't have an acolyte coming along side in case any crumbs are spilled at the at the at the communion rail right because it it only occurs in the in the actual eating of the sacramental action that you've got the the sacrament so when you go all the way back to the storyus that had implications on swingley that then has implications for how communion is understood because swingley was basing off of the storyus in the understanding of the lack of communion of the two natures and conceived of the two natures as a board stuck together um I'd encourage you to to read the Athanasian creed it's an incredible creed gets at the whole understanding of the Trinity gets at the one god three persons one essence well we're going to continue next week and we're going to say who were the Utakeans who are the Utakeans what were they all about and what the world did they believe we'll continue next week Well, we continue along in our study looking at some ancient heresies and how they apply today, where we see the expression of those. Adam and Eve had everything down to the fact that they bore the image of God the idea of not having enough not being enough it wasn't even a question in their mind because they had never experienced lack they had never experienced anything outside of perfection they had never experienced anything outside of the completeness of God and then the devil comes that tricky serpent and whispers into Eve's ear and raises the question of enough in her life the temptation stirs in Eve's heart and she thinks maybe what she has isn't enough maybe there's more look with me please at chapter three beginning in verse six so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they so did leave together and made loincloths for themselves eating fruit seems pretty innocent it's not a huge deal right to eat a fruit why is that really a big deal after all it looked good it seemed like it would be good to Eve was it a big deal yes it was a big deal because God had expressly forbidden it he had expressly forbidden eating of that fruit we like to judge sin and rank it some sins are worse than others some sins not so bad we can joke about it a little bit but sin is sin sin is sin all sin and sin is not determined by how you or I feel about it sin is not determined by whether we want to say something is right or wrong the whole series of acceptable sins with the big question mark it begs the question what sin is acceptable and the answer is a resounding none no sin is acceptable absolutely zero sin is acceptable even if everyone else does it sin is sin sin is wrong and sin earns the full wrath of God the Father Eve sinned when she questioned the word of God and determined for herself what would be right and good she tried to blame the serpent but the guilt lies directly on her shoulders for her own sin and just like Eve just like Eve we sin out of envy Eve envied God his wisdom Eve envied God his authority and his sovereignty and so she determined for herself that what she had the word of God was not enough and she ate of the fruit just like Eve our envy says that we what we have been given by God is not enough whether it is a matter of a material thing that God has blessed us with we see others who have more and we look at our blessing and say it's not enough out of envy we see the spouse of another person and look at our own spouse and say what God has given me in this spouse is not enough we see others who are wiser than us more talented than us more skilled than us funnyer than us and we envy because we are not enough in our envy we delight in the downfall of others when another struggles we take delight when another when another has a mishap we find little glimpses of joy or humor our envy our envy ultimately comes down to the envy we have over our own lives, over our own morality, over our own decisions that we do not hold the authority that we do not hold the ultimate wisdom that we do not hold ultimate sovereignty and we envy God we envy God and we determine for ourselves what is right and what is wrong in our gospel reading today we have that period where pilot is bringing Jesus before the Jewish people and he has a custom to turn over one of the prisoners to the Jewish people to release him and let him go free and surely he's expecting that he'll let Jesus go because as it said he knew that Jesus had been handed over by the chief priests out of envy the chief priests envy Jesus they envied the power that he had they envied the fluence that he had and they sought his downfall they sought his demise we envy God Jesus stood before the crowd in a crown of thorns and they mocked him and called for his crucifixion do you envy God in that moment they beat him and flogged him stripping away pieces of skin do you envy God they marched him through the streets holding across that he could barely carry do you still envy God they nailed him to two pieces of wood do you envy God Jesus hung there on the cross struggling for breath while those around him crucified with him taunted and tormented him the soldiers at the foot of his cross teased him mocked him while his mother and his friends stood by weeping unable to do a thing do you envy God on that cross the entire wrath of the father was poured out so heavily the burden of the sin of this world of all time all places all people thoughts words and deeds the punishment poured out upon the sun so devastating that he called out my God my God why have you forsaken me and he gave up his spirit to death do you still envy God they removed the body and buried it in a tomb Jesus had died if that had been you or I or any person to ever walk this earth the story would end there it would be done and it would be deserved and just but God God is God he is not you or I God in the second person of the Trinity Jesus Christ walked this earth to live the life that you and I cannot live he walked this earth out of his love for you and I so that when he died experiencing the full punishment unjust punishment of the father he could do what neither you nor I could do and he rose victorious he conquered death he conquered the grave he conquered your sin he conquered my sin even the sin of our envy Jesus did for you and for I what we could never do for ourselves or for anyone else from the beginning of your life of faith when you were born through waters of baptism you were born free you were born into salvation you were born into eternal forgiveness and you were born once again in the image of God and as Paul writes in Galatians it is no longer I who live but it is Christ who lives in me and in Christ you come before the father not enough in yourself but you are in Christ and in Christ you are enough because you stand redeemed in Christ and this was planned from before the beginning in Ephesians chapter one Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love he destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will to the to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the beloved in him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us what you have my brothers and sisters is Christ there is no need to be in Christ you have forgiveness in Christ you have salvation in Christ you have life in Christ and what you have in Christ is enough and so the joy that you have in Christ is enough the peace that you have in Christ is enough the love that you have in Christ is enough and so I encourage you I encourage you to live live in Christ because not only is Christ enough Christ is everything Hi, my name is Carrie and I am a recovering like a hollock. In their concern over obedience to God's rule and law the Pharisees miss the entire purpose of the rules and regulation of the law of God they look past the very humanity that the law is there for them to pay attention to to serve the prophet Amos writes for the Lord regarding the law he says I hate I despise your festivals and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings I will not accept them and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon them take away from me the noise of your songs I will not listen to the melody of your harps but let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream you see the Pharisees the Pharisees took the law took the rules and the regulations and they they turned it very mechanical in interpretation and all of a sudden the humanity was lost due to obeying the law due to seeking out how others were flawed and failing when it came to the law seeking to use the rules to embolden themselves and abuse of the law led the Pharisees to self love and self righteousness when the Pharisees were questioning Jesus when they were questioning the lack of fasting the lack of righteousness under the law Jesus says something new is here something new is here I usher in a new era a new word a new way of righteousness and what's key here is that new way is in the presence of Jesus the new way is in the presence of Jesus in verse 19 Jesus says the wedding guests cannot fast while the bride groom is with them can they as long as they have the bride groom with them they cannot fast the days will come when the bride groom is taken away from them and then they will fast on that day Jesus compares his presence with the disciples as to when a bride groom is present with his bridal or bridal company and no one is fasting at the wedding feast no one is fasting in the presence of the bride groom it's a celebration it is a time to rejoice there will be a time when there will be fasting there will be a time when the bride groom is taken away from these disciples and we of course know that Jesus is speaking of his crucifixion when he will be taken from his disciples and there will be persecution there will be trials there will be suffering there will be a time for that solemn fasting for that solemn quiet but now in Jesus presence now was not the time the disciples they don't fast because of who they are with they don't fast because of who they are in the presence of and what he has come to bring he has come to bring a new way this is not to say that the old covenant is no and void if we remember in the gospel of Matthew Jesus says I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it he did not make it no and void but he fulfilled the very law of righteousness which no man or woman ever could or will the old covenant is not no and void under Christ but it is fulfilled righteousness is not found in the law scripture says that sin sin is found in the law in Romans the third chapter Paul writes through the law comes the knowledge of sin when we stand ourselves up against the holy law of God we find that we fall woefully short woefully short of righteousness woefully short of obedience great in our sin part of what Jesus brings to the people around him to the disciples is a word to repent and turn to the Lord we repent and we turn to the Lord because the law shows us our sin and in our sin there is nowhere to turn but to the Lord who saves the only place righteousness is to be found Jesus is the way we read that in the gospel of John Jesus says I am the way the truth the life no one comes to the Father except through me Jesus is the only way of righteousness Jesus is the only way we are able to stand before the Father we are able to be in the presence of the Triune God the old cloth that we read about the line skins that we read about those are metaphors for living the old life under the law the the old covenant but Jesus fulfills that law for us and when we're living in this new covenant the Christ's blood we can't be bound by the old laws the ceremonial laws the ritual law in Galatians the third chapter Paul writes for all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse for it is written cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law now it is evident that no one is justified by God a before God by the law for the one who is righteous will live by faith but the law does not rest on faith on the contrary whoever does the works of the law will live by them Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us we are not redeemed we are not made righteous by following the old covenant by making sacrifices of grain offerings animal offerings by making sure that we are we can never be fully obedient to God's holy and perfect law but Jesus Jesus was obedient Jesus fulfilled the very law every single one of them every single point of the old covenant and what are we told in the last supper what does he say that this is a new covenant in my blood shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin Jesus Christ fulfilling the law he lived a perfect life that none of us can do but he took it further he did not lord it over us that he can live perfectly and we cannot instead he became a curse for us instead he took his perfect life under the old covenant and he placed himself upon a tree and he hung outside the city and he died and he died to the old law he died under the old covenant and in that death to the old covenant he took every single one of our sins thoughts words and deeds and he brought them with him into death and in our baptisms as we are washed through the waters we are washed with his perfection we are brought into this new way of Jesus Christ into this new way of righteousness by his blood and his blood alone and this new way when we try to fit it back into the old covenant when we try to work our way into righteousness the new way bursts forth and says mm mm you cannot earn your way to righteousness I give you your righteousness out of my mercy out of my grace out of my love and then God's law not the ritual not the ceremonial law the moral law the law that says love God love your neighbor that law enters into us by the power of the Holy Spirit and we are able to relate with one another through God's perfect law God's righteousness and by his grace and his guidance by the Holy Spirit we are able to live into the new covenant and we don't seek to find this old way of righteousness we are given righteousness we are given away the way to eternal salvation to the great wedding feast through Jesus Christ can it be that simple we try so hard to drag in the old covenant for our righteousness what are we doing we have been given the only way to the Father through the blood of Jesus Christ we don't have to wonder am I doing this right we don't have to look at our brothers and sisters to see how flawed they are but we live in the freedom that we have been given through Christ and Christ alone and we have been invited to that eternal wedding feast in the presence of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit out with the old in with the new doesn't quite work right always with the new always with the new the old then is not tossed but the old is made new because we are new in Christ and Christ alone Would you open your Bibles this afternoon to the book of Galatians, the fourth chapter, please?

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