Embracing Jesus: Our True King and Savior

"Well, the next three weeks, you kind of see God's providence, and we are working through the trial, the crucifixion, the burial of Jesus, and as we work through that, I know this are all super encouraging things that we're going to be talking about. They are incredibly important for us as a church, for us to take them into account and to remember them. In fact, they're precisely the things that Jesus said when you observe the Lord's Supper, take these and do this in remembrance of me. It's to remember his sacrifice, his blood that was poured out for us, represented by the juice, and his body that was broken for us, represented by the bread." [00:03:24]

"So back when God finally brought the people of Israel into the promised land, he set them up as a people whose ruler would ultimately be God. They didn't have a king. And unlike the other nations that were ruled by men who often use their power and positions to their own advantage, Israel was ruled by God and God alone. The one who had shown faithfulness to Israel, who has no need of anything, who can't be corrupted like many of the rulers that lead nations. This was their king, their king who does not sleep, who does not grow weary, who is always fighting for them." [00:05:11]

"Samuel went away and he goes and he prays to the Lord. And we read the Lord's reply in 1 Samuel chapter 8. It says, But the Lord told him, Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as their king. They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods. Listen to them, but solemnly warn them and tell them about the customary rights of a king who will reign over them." [00:07:19]

"Yet even in the immediate circumstance of them rejecting him, what do we see? But God gives them warnings. One more chance to avert disaster. But they keep crying out, give us a king like the other nations. Give us a king of flesh and bone like us. And this story plays out much like how we think it would. When an ungrateful child cries out from freedom from a loving parent, only to wish they could put the consequences back in the box that they asked to open." [00:11:04]

"And to show you just on how unlike us he is to these people. In this great rejection, our God did not turn away, but he came and he became Emmanuel, our God with us. Defying all, God, full of grace and truth, arose from his throne in heaven. The once rejected king stepped out of the courtrooms that echo with his praises. He blinked into our reality in space and time, and he put on our flesh and blood. To the people who cried out for an earthly king, the king of kings became earthly." [00:13:06]

"To those who were willing to give up God's perfect justice and kindness, Jesus stepped into their space and declared justice, hope, healing, peace, love, faithfulness, and a future of retaking the promised land with them as his king. To those who followed him, they would themselves become redeemers, going out and driving back the forces of darkness in this world until the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord's glory as the waters cover the sea." [00:14:00]

"Do you realize that with how beaten he was at this point, likely the only way that they could recognize him was just by the name that he was being called, not even by physically recognizing him. I want you to, and this is, I really want you to do this, I want you to close your eyes right now. If you would, close your eyes, and I want you to imagine this. Imagine you're there, standing beside the soldiers. Do you see Jesus there on that dusty stone floor? Nails Jesus, bloodied and wearied." [00:19:00]

"Do you recognize that when we come here and worship Christ and then we leave here and we go back to our lives and choose to go back into our sins? Do you see him? Do you see him? to ignore the clear principles that Jesus tells us when we choose to lie, to hate, to gossip, to tear down others, to break our vows, to lack self-control with substances or in the pursuit of sex outside of marriage, to be greedy with more money than we have earned, to despise our brothers and sisters in Christ, to quarrel, to lack compassion for those who wrong us, to not care for the poor and needy, to cheat, to be selfishly ambitious, even if it means stepping on others." [00:20:51]

"Isaiah 53 says of him, He was despised and rejected by men. A man of suffering who knew what sickness was. You can open your eyes and read the scripture along with me if you want to. Okay, some of you went to sleep during that time. A man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from. He was despised and we didn't value him. Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, carried our pains, but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God and afflicted." [00:22:34]

"Do you see him here scorned by his people and yet he goes out before them to face their greatest enemy, death and sin? Do you see that? Where Romans 5, 8 tells us God proves his love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Leading us into the promises of God that we do not deserve, offering us hope and life that is not ours. He is the king who like David charged out against the Goliath that we stood back trembling from. He's the one that did go before us and fight our battles for us." [00:32:38]

"The only thing we contributed to Jesus was the need to be saved. We are the helpless damsel that can't do anything to help free ourselves. we are the foolish child who disregarded the warnings from our parents and are suffering the consequences of those choices. We are the ignorant crowd that cries out for an earthly king because we doubt our God will deliver us. we are the ones who still to this day choose things of the flesh and of this world rather than our Jesus." [00:34:05]

"Do you see him, the king? Who comes to judge, to fight the battles of his people and to go out before them? This is the king who comes and offers you an invitation for you to come and follow him. Father, we have no right to demand this level of sacrifice, which is why it's all the more beautiful that you willingly gave it. That Jesus, you willingly kneeled before us and endured our shame and our reproach. That you bore the consequences of our choices and you did it so that you may set us free." [00:38:32]