GUEST SERMON: October 6, 2024 with Rev. John Romick
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MORNING PRAYER
PRAISE AND WORSHIP
SUNDAY SERMON
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The Utmost Importance of the Church of God
The Importance of the Church – Short version
okay
The church is powerful, it’s the body of Christ
i.e. A politician said…
The word church comes from the Greek ekklesia (ek: “outside”, kaleo: “call”), it is an assembly formed by those who have been called out of a certain place.
• It is an assembly of people who live for the most part in the same locality and who, professing to believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, gather to praise and worship God, pray, share testimonies of the move of God, teaching of the Word, the celebration of the Holy Supper, being baptized in water and the Spirit, participating in Christian fellowship, having the opportunity to honor God with his goods, sending our tithes, offerings and first fruits there, as another of the ways to worship God (Proverbs 3:9-10) and primarily help spread the Gospel throughout the world. (Matthew 28:18-20 – Acts 1:8).
The local church is not a building, since the term Church refers to people. It is more correct to say “I am going to the headquarters or temple where the church meets.”
Other names of the church in the Bible
“Body of Christ” and “Bride of the Lamb.” “You then are the body of Christ and members each one individually” (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 5:23).
“Churchless Christian” is not a biblical category. Ask Paul, John, or Peter what they think about unchurched Christians, and they would respond: “Why do Christians call if they are not part of the church?”
The New Testament does not see the Christian life happening outside the church, that is, the local church.
You cannot have a high opinion of Christ and at the same time have a low opinion of the church. Jesus declared: “On this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:18). The church belongs to Jesus. Christ Himself is building the church and nothing can defeat the church of Christ.
The church is the most valuable thing on earth. Paul exhorted the Ephesian elders: 28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church [a]of God which He purchased with His own blood. “ (Acts . 20:28).
The church is the flock of God, purchased with the blood of Christ. There is no institution in the world more valuable than it: not the family, not business, not the government. There are many worthy causes in the world that deserve our support. But no secular cause should usurp our commitment to the church for which Christ died. The church which preaches Jesus is the only hope of the world.
They have said strong families make strong churches, well the truth is strong churches make strong (spiritual) families.
Hebrews advises us: 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. (Heb. 10: 24-25).
This is why we should not neglect gathering with the church for public and corporate worship.
The bride of the Lord…
“7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints..” Revelation 19:7-8.
Let's ask ourselves: How can I help the local church, of which I am a member, fulfill its purposes through my natural abilities, supernatural abilities (Gifts) and through the physical resources I possess?
Prov. 14.34
34 Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a]reproach to any people.
Many speak badly of the church and its influence
Light of the world and salt of the earth
Without the church the world would be in darkness and without flavor
We are stopping the antichrist and his system
Acts 27
Accident protection
i.e. Jonah – 120,000 souls
i.e. A church in a neighborhood
Or in a block, city or a nation
How everything changes
Scientific study: Jesus is the most important figure in history
Jesus Christ has been chosen the most important figure in human history by a new internet-based ranking system developed by two American researchers.
The classification was developed by computer scientists Steven Skiena and Charles Ward to analyze the impact that a character has had over time on general opinion, reports the British newspaper 'The Independent'. The researchers explained that to make the list of historical figures, their fame, number of followers and historical reputation were estimated, which were analyzed through the Wikipedia portal and other data sources. "The classification was done in the same way that Google does with web pages (...). We used quantitative analysis to classify more than a thousand historical figures and prominent people," said Skiena, a computer science professor at the Stony Brook University, New York. Jesus Christ leaves behind figures such as the republican general Napoleon Bonaparte, the playwright William Shakespeare, the philosopher Aristotle or the Macedonian king Alexander the Great. "2,000 years after his death, Jesus is an incredible historical success," added the researcher.
Scientist, politician, king, philosopher or inventor, who has the most influence on the history of man?
In truth, the most influential person in history was an itinerant preacher, his name is Jesus Christ.
H.G. Wells, “I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this poor preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the center of history. “Jesus Christ is simply the most dominant figure in all of history.”
Anonymous, “Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40, and Jesus for just 3. However, the influence of Christ's 3-year ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by their combined 130 years of teaching. men who were among the greatest philosophers of all antiquity”
Norman Geisler, “So I stay with Him, not with the one who claims to be wise, Confucius; or the one who claimed to be enlightened, Buddha; or the one who claimed to be a prophet, Muhammad; but with the one who claimed to be God in human flesh. He who declared: “Before Abraham was, I Am” – and proved it”
Jesus and his church have changed the world for the better more than anyone else in human history.
The legacy of Jesus and his followers (his church)
What impact has the church had on the world?
1 Corinthians 15:58
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
We have grown to over 1 billion followers of Jesus in the last 100 years.
Matthew 5:14-16
The light of the world
14 “You are the light of the world; A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do you light a light and put it under a vessel, but on the lampstand so that it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Good works help other people be saved
1 Tim 3:15
15 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and [a]ground of the truth.
We are the only defenders of truth in this world
ie. With abortion...
Some examples…
Women's Rights
Throughout history we see women who were mistreated and abused
Jesus ministered to women
Gal 3.28
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
The first time in literature that this principle appeared
Now the Lord's church has been flooded with women, to the point that the church was criticized as a women's religion.
What made the difference? Well, Jesus treated women with dignity, respect and pure love, very different from how society treated them.
Psalms 68:11
Modern English Version
11 The Lord gave the word; great was the company of women who proclaimed it:
i.e. Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman, she received salvation
I forgive the woman who committed adultery
I honor his Mom, I entrust Juan with the care of his Mom
Even to his own harm Jesus ministered and spoke to all types of women, including sinners, prostitutes and unclean.
Women were the first witnesses of the resurrection.
In the Roman world, women had less value than men, but in the eyes of Jesus women had equal value to men because they were made in the image of God too.
Every Jewish man, as part of his daily prayer, recites: "Blessed are you, LORD our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has not made me a woman." Before that he also blesses God for not making him “gentile” and “slave.”
Roman husbands viewed their wives as property or playthings, but Christianity and the church demanded that a man love his wife and be committed to her and needed to love her sacrificially.
Even Jesus opposed divorce to protect wife abuse
The legacy of Jesus and his church remains today, but slavery, sex and discrimination against women is normal in countries where the Lord's church has no influence.
If it were not for the church, society would not care about women's rights, Jesus' sacrificial love for women has undoubtedly made our planet a better place to live.
Women in the West can thank Jesus and the church for their freedom.
Children's Rights
Jesus loved children
Matthew 19:13-14
Jesus blesses the children
13 Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
This was not common in this culture
i.e. In Africa if twins were born they thought one of the two was evil and they killed one of the two. Until missionaries came with the gospel of love and respect for children.
Cannibals were won for Christ and changed their diet
Cannibal lunch...
i.e. After lunch, one cannibal says to another:
Did you like mom's soup? He answered with tears in his eyes – “Yes, but I am going to miss her a lot.”
i.e. The Indians of North and South America offered their children as sacrifices to their gods.
In the ancient world, children were often put outside to die if they were unwanted or sick. Many times they were sold into slavery markets. Through Jesus and the church, these practices were reduced, and orphanages and child care grew.
Children became people through Christianity
i.e. abortion
The Family Unit
Ephesians 5.22, 25, 6.1
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
The teachings of Jesus and the church have given permanent strength and understanding to the most important institution in society, the family.
Women are not slaves, but they do not rule the house either, and they must respect their husbands, men must love their wives, provide for the family and not be tyrants in the house, children must honor and obey their parents.
Parents must raise their children in the admonition and discipline of the Lord
The Christian truths of love, submission, honor, equal value, partnership, equality, sacrificial love gave harmony and protection to the family.
Matthew 19:3-5
3 Then the Pharisees came to him, tempting him and saying,
—Is it permissible for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?
4 He answered and said to them: —Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning, “made them male and female,” 5 and said, “For this reason a man will leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?”
This is the only type of marriage that Jesus validated.
The world is attacking the family
Not having children, abortion, common-law union (children), marriage is prohibited, same-gender marriage, schools raise the values of youth, and Hollywood
Human Rights
Human rights…
Although the Bible does not present a catalog of human rights, from the Old Testament it is evident that God showed special care for the poorest, the unprotected, the orphans, the widows, the foreigners (displaced), in a word, for the people in need.
Maybe you think that human rights is common sense but it was not always like that, that all men should be treated with dignity and respect was very rare before the church was planted on earth.
The Bible teaches that each human being is created by love, made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). This statement shows us the immense dignity of each human person, who is not just something, but someone.
ie. In America, slavery was eradicated by the church and Christians (Abraham Lincoln)
ie. The church has fought against racism around the world
ie. Rhema South Africa
Apartheid (lit. 'separation' in Afrikaans)
Matthew 5.44
44 But I say to you: Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you,
love your enemies including all men
Men were created in the image of God and deserve dignity
Humanitarian Aid
Luke 14:13
13 When you make a banquet, call the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind;
1 John 3:17
17 But he who has the goods of this world and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God dwell in him?
i.e. Canteens, crisis help, orphanages, drug rehabilitation homes, programs to get rid of alcoholism
i.e. The Pastor en la Mariposa
Helping those in need and those in crisis has been a part of our legacy as Christians
i.e. In an earthquake or flood or fire or famine
In many countries more than 75% of charitable donations are from people of faith and faith organizations.
Galatians 2:10
10 They only asked us to remember the poor; which I also hastened to carry out with diligence.
i.e. Samaritan's Purse by Franklyn Graham
This helps open hearts to the gospel message.
Missionaries around the world have preached the gospel, helped the poor, fed the hungry, and cared for the sick.
It is difficult to measure the giant impact the church has had in helping humanity.
Education
Christians have always been interested in the development of the mind
Matt 22.37
37 Jesus said to him: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
i.e. School of the sons of the prophets, school of Tyranus
Almost all universities in North America and England have been started by Christians and everyone copied the idea
Col 2.3
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
I knew according to Tiempo magazine, the most important event of the last 500 years was the printing of the Gutenberg Bible because it made truth and knowledge easily available to the masses.
i.e. The Bible is the most printed and read book in human history.
The numbers may dance, but, today, these are the 10 most read books in history.
10. Lord of the Rings
The first book of J. R. R. Tolkien's famous trilogy is also his best-selling text, and one of the volumes whose sales have grown the most in recent times. It is estimated that 150 million copies have been shipped.
9. Book of Mormon
The text that brings together the teachings that the prophet Mormon revealed to Joseph Smith is another religious volume that is distributed throughout the world. It is believed that since 1830 more than 150 million copies have been printed.
8. A Tale of Two Cities
The famous book by Charles Dickens is the second novel on the list, and the first original in English. Since its publication in 1859, more than 200 million copies have been sold.
7. What does the Bible really teach?
The flagship manual of Jehovah's Witnesses may appear in your mailbox at any time. The congregation has already distributed 237 million copies of it and it continues to be printed around the world.
6. Selected articles of Mao Zedong
Another must-read book in China, of which 252.5 million copies have been printed.
5. Don Quixote of La Mancha
Miguel de Cervantes' famous novel is probably the best-selling fiction text in history. There has been long discussion about the number of copies of Don Quixote that have been printed, but it is certain that it far exceeds 200 million and could be around 400.
4. Poems of Chairman Mao
Of the second book on the list signed by Mao Zedong, it is believed that 400 million copies have been published.
3. The Quran
The sacred text of Islam could not be missing from the top positions of this list, which since its publication in the 6th century has been printed some 800 million times. It is expected that in the coming years it will surpass Mao's book in the ranking.
2. Quotes from Chairman Mao
This text, also known as the Little Red Book, has been required reading in China since Mao's revolution. It is believed that since 1964, when the first edition was published, between 800 and 900 million copies have been distributed.
1. The Bible
In its different editions and languages, it is estimated that the sacred text of Christianity has been printed between 5,000 and 6,000 million times. Probably the best-selling edition is the English one, known as the King James Bible (King James Bible), which was first published in 1611.
More Bibles have been printed than the other nine books combined
Society tries to paint Christians as unlearned and uneducated when the Lord's church has done more to advance education than any other group.
1 Timothy 4:13
13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to [a]doctrine.
i.e. Yoga teaches you to empty your mind, we teach you to fill your head with the truth.
Brought the idea of schools after the Middle Ages
Science
Many people do not know that modern science was developed mostly by Christians
John 1:3-4
3 All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. 4 In him was life, and life was the light of men.
It was the church, who said that the design points to the designer.
And that man could use this knowledge for the benefit of men
The Bible contains scientifically accurate information, although it is not a science book. Next, we will examine some biblical teachings. You will see that they agree with scientific discoveries and that they differ greatly from the ideas that existed at the time the Bible was written.
Some examples…
• The universe had a beginning (Genesis 1:1). In contrast, many ancient myths imply that the universe is something that was organized out of already existing chaos, and not something that was created from nothing. The Babylonians believed that the gods who created the universe came out of two great oceans. And other legends say that the universe comes from a giant egg.
• The universe is governed day by day by a set of logical and precise laws (Job 38:33; Jeremiah 33:25). On the other hand, myths from different parts of the world teach that humanity is defenseless against the unpredictable, and even cruel, acts of capricious gods.
• The Earth is floating on nothing in space (Job 26:7). Ancient civilizations claimed that the world was a flat disk resting on a giant or an animal, such as a buffalo or a turtle.
• Rivers and springs exist thanks to rain, snow, or hail that falls from clouds that form when water evaporates from the oceans and other sources (Job 36:27, 28; Ecclesiastes 1:7; Isaiah 55:10; Amos 9:6). The ancient Greeks thought that rivers were fed by groundwater from the sea. This idea lasted until the 18th century.
• Mountains emerge or disappear; those we know today were once under the oceans (Psalm 104:6, 8). However, various myths claim that the gods formed the mountains as we see them today.
• Hygienic standards protect health. God's Law required the Israelites to wash after touching a dead body, quarantine those who contracted a contagious disease, and properly dispose of human excrement (Leviticus 11:28; 13:1-5; Deuteronomy 23: 13). However, the Egyptians of that time used human excrement to prepare an ointment that they applied to wounds.
For many years of history people thought that gods and spirits and demons were influencing the forces of nature.
But the church believes that there is a God who created the heavens and the earth. And they understood that God left certain laws and forces in the physics of nature.
The scientific revolution began in Europe in the 16th century, and nowhere else, did it begin through the influence and work of Christian theologians and scientists.
All the pioneering scientists (Newton, Francis Bacon, Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, Pascal) were Christian men.
The reality is that when we think about the great achievements of modern science and technology, society owes all of this to Jesus and his church.
• Hospitals & Clinics
They were the idea of Christians, and today in many countries
i.e. Cleft surgeries in children by Christian doctors
Thousands of children helped in developing countries
Changed Lives
The greatest change that Jesus and his church have made is found in the personal testimonies of born again and changed people
John 5:24
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
1 John 3:14
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
God's love changed us, gave us a new heart
The Lord does not heal old hearts, but he gives us new hearts
The world has been changed by lives changed by the power of the preaching of the gospel
i.e. Sinners made righteous
i.e. Drug addict rehabilitation
i.e. People who were going to commit suicide. People in depression
i.e. Lonely and fearful and depressed people
i.e. People tied to vices
i.e. Persons under guilt
i.e. Moms who did not get an abortion
i.e. Marriages and families restored
i.e. People without purpose
Christ in us the hope of Glory
i.e. Zacchaeus
Luke 19:1-10
19 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up [a]and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all [d]complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
i.e. Paul, Naaman
i.e. Testimonies here in the church
Romans 8.2
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
i.e. Marriages restored, people lifted up, drug addicts freed, alcoholics freed, selfish people turned givers, Popes who learned how to raise their children in the light of the Word, thieves reformed, prisoners turned productive citizens, businessmen straightened out, politicians turned honest, depressed turned joyful...
i.e. There are billions of testimonies
People with new hearts
Romans 11:12
12 Now if their ]fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
• has benefited other nations
• the rest of the world received help,
• served to bring many blessings to non-Jews
Help has come mostly from preaching the gospel of salvation
Civil Government
Romans 13:1,4
13 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
God's goodness toward man is seen in the double provision he made to govern, care for, and protect man: (1) spiritually, through the church; (2) in the natural, through the state. The Bible teaches that the authority of the civil government and the authority of the church are ordained by God
Business and the free market
Col 3.23
23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,
The dictionary defines capitalism as "an economic system, characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by particular decisions, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined primarily by competition in the free market." Although the Bible does not mention capitalism by name, it does talk a lot about economic issues and the principles of capitalism. For example, entire sections of the book of Proverbs and many of Jesus' parables deal with economic issues. As such, we learn what our attitude toward wealth should be and how a Christian should handle his or her finances. The Bible also shows us a description of our human nature, which helps us evaluate the possible success or failure of an economic system in a society.
Also because of the natural and carnal man's greed, capitalism is not a perfect system, but rather adequate in this current world. Capitalism helps a population lift itself out of poverty better than other systems.
The Bible teaches the importance of labor, industry, and hard work. For a long time in human history, there were a few very rich tyrants and masses of poor people, for thousands of years there was no middle class, there was no freedom through individual initiative. When the gospel was preached in Europe the biblical concepts of labor and industry, private property, eventually lifted the world out of almost universal poverty.
The Arts
The church has influenced and improved every sphere of society. This includes the arts.
♣ God does everything with excellence and beauty, his throne is surrounded by color (Rev. 4:3). A rainbow.
3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.
i.e. Video of a rainbow in Sopo
♣ With God everything is more beautiful, He gave artistic abilities to men.
Exodus 35:30-33
30 And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, 32 to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.
♣ God gave Bezaleel the ability to design
♣ There is an anointing to make art holy. The world doesn't understand it.
♣ The enemy wants to distort it, but God makes everything better.
Job 35:10
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,
♣ The world looks for muses, but we have God.
♣ The Holy Spirit is the greatest source of inspiration. (You don't need anything else - drugs).
♣ In heaven there is music.
♣ Angels, living creatures, elders, righteous and saints sing worshiping God, (Rev. 5:9).
9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
Illustration: When asking Beethoven how he wrote his songs, he said “I did not listen with my ears, God gives me music, and I listened to them here” Pointing to his inner man.
A fragment of the film “Copying Beethoven” talks about this,
♣ The best harmonies, the best lyrics have not yet been written.
♣ God can give you songs that no one has written.
Other Examples of Contributions of Christianity in the arts:
More songs have been written about Jesus than anyone else.
Christian music
It's the best music in this fallen world
Hallelujah, The Messiah - Georg Friedrich Händel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUZ0Rv-lhcc
Before there was no music like this in the world
Music anointed by the Holy Spirit!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj8gGf7-FVI
written by a disciple of Rhema, Sinach (Nigeria)
Hope
The best is yet to come
The Way, the Truth, and the Life was in the manger, causing angels to rejoice, Mary to wonder, shepherds to worship, and us to have hope.
Hope Is a Person
The Christmas story clearly shows that the hope of the universe is a person. Hope was what the angels sang about. Hope lay in the manger. Hope caused Mary to wonder in her heart. It was hope the shepherds came to worship. Hope was presented with gifts from the Magi who had traveled so far. The Advent story is a hope story because it chronicles the coming to earth of the One who is hope, Jesus. For a people born in sin and for a world damaged by sin there simply could not be any other source of hope. Good education would not solve the problem. Benevolent government had no power to solve the problem. More and better laws couldn’t penetrate to the source of the problem. People couldn’t help one another, and they surely couldn’t help themselves.
You see, the inescapable condition of sin infects every single human being and has scarred every aspect of the cosmos, which cried out for one thing and one thing alone: divine intervention. The only solution was a Savior, and the only suitable Savior with the wisdom, power, and righteousness to accomplish the task would be God himself. The One denied would come to rescue his deniers. The One rejected would move to save his rejecters. The One who had been rebelled against countless times would come to redeem the rebels. The One who had been replaced in people’s hearts with an endless catalog of idols would invade the world he had made and rescue people from themselves. He would not come to set up an earthly kingdom and enforce his rule on the unwilling. He would not come to judge and condemn. He would not come demanding the service that was his rightful due. No, he came to serve, to suffer, and to die so that his kingdom would reign in the hearts of people. He came to seek and to save. He came to suffer and forgive. He came to rescue and restore. He came to call, draw, and love those who without his grace would continue to live for themselves. He came, and because he did, there is hope that sinners can be redeemed and the world can be renewed. It really is true: hope is a person, and his name is Jesus.
Before Jesus went to the cross to do what he came to do, he detailed for his followers why he is the only hope that could ever give hope to sinners. He made his identity and mission clear with these words: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In these brief words Jesus clearly explains why he is humanity’s one and only hope.
1. Jesus is the way to God.
Sin had created a horribly unnatural separation between God and the people he had created. God created people to dwell in loving and worshipful moment-by-moment fellowship with him. People were not designed to live independently. They were not made to figure life out on their own. People were meant to live according to God’s will and for his glory. The great question of human history was, “How will this gulf between people and God ever be bridged?” Jesus came as the only possible answer to this question. He could meet God’s moral requirement in every way by keeping his law without one instance of failure. He would be the final Lamb of sacrifice, paying the ultimate penalty for our sin. In his perfect life and acceptable death, he became the only way to restore relationship with God. He would return things to the way they were created to be
God sent Jesus as the ultimate, physical reminder of the depth of our need.
2. Jesus is the truth from God.
It is no exaggeration to say that Jesus came to earth as God’s ultimate and final sermon. He didn’t just communicate God’s truth; he was God’s truth. First, in a way that had never been done before, Jesus revealed the Father to us. He made the Father’s character clear—so clear that he could rightly say, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). But there’s more: he revealed God’s redemptive plan to us. Hanging on the cross, Jesus demonstrated how God planned to deal with our sin. He sent a Savior to die in our place. There’s one final thing. The coming of Jesus preached the truth about our condition. We were in a state of impending doom, without any ability to rescue ourselves, so God sent Jesus as the ultimate, physical reminder of the depth of our need. Yes, it’s true: Jesus is the truth from God.
3. Jesus is life.
Jesus doesn’t just preach life or provide life; he is life. Ephesians 2:1–2 talks about the dire condition we were in, apart from the person and work of Jesus: “and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.” Dead people need life breathed into them or they will never rise and live again. Jesus came to be that life-giver. He came to conquer the ultimate result of sin: death. His resurrection was the firstfruit of a myriad of resurrections to come, as by grace his Spirit would breathe new life into all who would put their trust in him. He came as life to defeat the power of death and ignite eternal life in the hearts of his redeemed children.
Hope in the here and now and hope in the great forever that is to come rests on one set of shoulders. It rests on the almighty shoulders of Jesus, who is for you today the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He offers you what you have no power to provide for yourself: restored relationship with God, a knowledge of what really is true, and life that will never end. How’s that for hope?
The protection of people
We were half dead on the road to death
The Good Samaritan
Romans 8:1-2
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
There is no condemnation for those who believe
If it weren't for the Lord, how many would have been dead?
i.e. Twins in Africa, they thought that one of the two was possessed by a demon, that's why they killed one of the two
i.e. Pablo on the boat, 276 people saved and rescued
i.e. abortions, the shedding of innocent blood
400-500 million in communist China
i.e. How many suicides are prevented?
i.e. How many reformed murderers?
i.e. How many people who did not die in accidents?
i.e. How many alcoholic or drug addicts were freed?
i.e. Japan, highest suicide rate in the world
Without gospel
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the suicide rate in Japan is one of the highest in the world.
How many times has the Lord protected us in crises, accidents, robberies, etc.?
How many people have been healed and were able to live longer here on earth?
i.e. I know I would not be here on earth if I had not received the Lord into my heart
Conclusion:
Romans 11:12
12 Now if their [a]fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
12 And if their transgression has served to enrich the world, and their fall has served to enrich the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration be?
Romans 10:15
15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:“How beautiful are the feet of those who [a]preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
i.e. There is a saying in Israel that flocks of sheep have feet of gold
They improve the fields
Is there anything we can do? Certainly. Perhaps this is the 23:59 hour before Christ returns to look for his Church and like Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, we go out to preach the ever-living, effective and powerful Word of God, by all available means and resources. There is hope for the world in Jesus Christ and his Church.
Thank God for the Church!
For you