Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

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Living All of Life in View of the Cross

Filed under: jesus

Christmas Sermon Notes and Audio- "Letting Hope Out of the Box" (Romans 5:12-19)

Here are the notes for this week's Creekstone Christmas sermon on Romans 5:12-19, "Letting Hope Out of the Box." The audio is on the Creekstone website here and on iTunes. Hope to see those of you in town for our Christmas Eve service on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. at the High School. NOTE: We are not having a morning service this Sunday, Dec. 25 (so be sure to join us on Saturday night!).

Click here to download:
Romans_5.12-21.letting_hope_out_of_the_box.pdf (41 KB)
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Forecast and Fulfillment

Meteorologists have a hard time forecasting the weather just days out. However, the Bible makes staggering, even outlandish, detailed forecasts regarding the promised Messiah, Jesus, hundreds, and sometimes thousands of years in advance. If the Old Testament is a forecast of the coming Messiah/Savior/Hero of the church, the New Testament is the fulfillment of that forecast. Here are just some of those forecasts with attendant fulfillments:   

  • He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:21-23)
  • Would be a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; 22:18; Matthew 1:1; Galatians 3:16)
  • Would be of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10; Luke 3:23, 33; Hebrews 7:14)
  • Would be of the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Matthew 1:1)
  • Would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4-7)
  • Would be taken to Egypt as a child (Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:14-15)
  • Herod´s killing of the infants (Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:16-18)
  • He would be anointed by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2; Matthew 3:16-17)
  • Would be heralded by the messenger of the Lord (John the Baptist) (Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1; Matthew 3:1-3)
  • Would perform miracles (Isaiah 35:5-6; Matthew 9:35)
  • Would preach good news (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:14-21)
  • Would minister in Galilee (Isaiah 9:1; Matthew 4:12-16) 
  • Would cleanse the Temple (Malachi 3:1; Matthew 21:12-13)
  • Would enter Jerusalem as a king on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:4-9)
  • Would be rejected by Jews (Psalm 118:22; I Peter 2:7)
  • Would die a humiliating death (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53) involving:
      • rejection (Isaiah 53:3; John 1:10-11; 7:5,48)
      • betrayal by a friend (Psalm 41:9; Luke 22:3-4; John 13:18)
      • sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12; Matthew 26:14-15)
      • silence before His accusers (Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 27:12-14)
      • being mocked (Psalm 22: 7-8; Matthew 27:31)
      • beaten (Isaiah 52:14; Matthew 27:26)
      • spit upon (Isaiah 50:6; Matthew 27:30)
      • piercing His hands and feet (Psalm 22:16; Matthew 27:31)
      • being crucified with thieves (Isaiah 53:12; Matthew 27:38)
      • praying for His persecutors (Isaiah 53:12; Luke 23:34)
      • piercing His side (Zechariah 12:10; John 19:34)
      • given gall and vinegar to drink (Psalm 69:21, Matthew 27:34, Luke 23:36)
      • no broken bones (Psalm 34:20; John 19:32-36)
      • buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9; Matthew 27:57-60)
      • casting lots for His garments (Psalm 22:18; John 19:23-24)
  • Would rise from the dead (Psalm 16:10; Mark 16:6; Acts 2:31)
  • Would ascend into Heaven (Psalm 68:18; Acts 1:9)
  • Would sit down at the right hand of God (Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 1:3)

Pretty cool.

Making Much of Jesus

I am reading Restoring Broken Things, by Scotty Smith and Stephen Curtis Chapman. One sentence stood out to me today that I think is profound and helpful. They say, "Christians, more than anything else, are called to 'make much of Jesus.'" Sounds great, but how?  How do I make much of Jesus? I have thought of some ways.

  1. In worship - as if he were on stage and in our very presence... which he is. 
  2. Through repentance - showing that my righteousness is not in my being right or looking good. So I can admit failure freely, looking bad, but making Jesus look good as my Savior and Righteousness.
  3. Through forgiveness - he who has been forgiven much... 
  4. By embracing hope in the context of brokenness. 
  5. By not putting my hope in earthly rulers.
  6. By boasting in my weakness.
  7. By inviting others to receive the Gift.
  8. By giving credit to someone else.
  9. By trusting Jesus in the fog.
  10. By finding joy in my sonship.
  11. By making less of myself.
  12. Etc... 

What would you add?  How can we make much of Jesus?

Jesus + Nothing

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"The death of the Lord Jesus is absolutely unique. It is subsitutionary. There is no death like Jesus' death... His substitutionary death on the cross, in space and time in history, had infinite value because of who His is as God. Thus nothing need be added to the substitutionary value of His death, nor can anything be added." 
 
Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality, p. 221 (Complete Works, Vol. 3)
 
In other words, Jesus + nothing = everything. He is my redemption, justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification, joy, hope, peace, strength, etc. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. 

The Best Gift a Parent Can Give

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In lecture #5 of Sonship, Jack Miller is brutally honest about his failure in parenting, saying, 

"My great sin against my daughter Barbara was that I did not reach her [heart]. I didn't try to. I was really concerned about outward behavior, thinking that if I worked on the outward behavior, it would work inward. It never works that way... I presented the gospel like law, and I was not broken before her."

Psalm 51:16-17, which my Sonship counselor is having ME pray for myself this week, says, "For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." 

God delights in the broken, contrite, repentant, humble, needy heart that comes to him for forgiveness, healing and grace. He will not despise me if I come that way, but welcome me as the Father did the younger son in Luke 15. And neither will my children despise that kind of heart. It may be that the greatest gift that I can give my kids is not material— it is my own brokenness of soul and need for a Savior-Healer-Redeemer. If that is the attitude of my heart, then I will not parent in the all-to-typical self-righteous, I-would-never-act-like-that style. But that is pure hypocrisy, and our kids see right through it... and hate it (even if they can't express it like that when they are younger. But when they reach the teen years, they begin to react in all kinds of unpleasant ways). 

So maybe what my kids need is not a bullet proof Dad, but a nail scarred Jesus. My ever present need for that Savior just might be the best gift that I can give.  

He Knows Me By Name

In John 10, Jesus says that he is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, and that "he calls his own sheep by name..." Yes, Jesus is the redemptive substitute for the church as a people and a "flock" (plural). However, he is also the redemptive substitute for sheep as individuals. He didn't just die for a group (which he did), he died for me. He suffered for McKay... once condemned, now set free.  In the heart of God, I am not just a number, I am a name. It is a powerfully affective thing when someone calls me by name. Not just dude, or chief or man, but McKay. They known me. How much more powerful a thing it is to have Jesus call me by name, and with the deepest of affection. What if you could heard the audible voice of Jesus saying, "I love you, [your name here]. My scars prove this. You are forgiven. You are in the family. You are now the righteousness of God. So please believe that I love you, ___________. I really, really do."

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