Rooted: Jesus Christ

[0:00] Welcome here for this Sunday, October 29th. Time keeps on slipping into the future. Wow. My name is Kent Dixon. It is my joy to be the pastor here.

[0:12] There are some people here with us who are new, some of them who have been listening online. I'm not going to call anybody's name out, but it is humbling to me whenever I encounter someone that I know from a different time or a different part of my life who has been listening to sermons or shows up at the church, and it's pretty crazy, but God is good, so I have to be on my extra best behavior today, and I promise I will.

[0:43] So good morning. Leah says, aw. So welcome to each of you this morning. There are people, as you know, it's good to see everyone's faces this morning. I'm still going to remove the last third of pews because it feels like you're so far away, but this is human nature, right, to sit as far back as you can out of the splash zone.

[1:05] So lots of people tune in in different ways. As I said, people listen to our podcast. People check out sermons on the website and the phone line and different things, so there's lots of ways to connect, but my favorite is when I get to see you in person, so it's good to see people here this morning.

[1:21] This morning, we're continuing in our sermon series, Rooted, and over the past several weeks in this series, we've been considering many of the things that form the foundation of our faith, things that we need to remember and understand clearly to remain rooted firmly in Christianity, and every sermon in this series, as you know, is available on the website and on the podcast, so people are saying, oh, you know, such and such a sermon, the scripture references, too fast, couldn't write them down fast enough, so they're all listed.

[1:55] So all the sermons are there if you want to catch up, and they are all standalone, but they all kind of go together in this bigger rooted series that we're looking at. So here's your skill testing question for this morning.

[2:09] We're going to put an image up on the screen, and I want you to tell me, just hold on the image, Michelle, tell me which square is darker, the one on the left or the one on the right? And go.

[2:20] Which one is darker? Oh, all this audience participation. Okay, so hold that picture. So keeping this picture up, I have another question for you.

[2:32] Is Jesus Christ A, God, or B, man? Hold your answer. What's your answer? God or man? I hear man, I hear God.

[2:44] Both. So the answer is related to this picture. While these two squares in the center may appear to be different, they are actually the same. They're the same shade of gray.

[2:57] It's the background that causes them to appear different. So while Jesus may have seemed to have been man at times, more God at other times, he was in fact both.

[3:10] So as you can tell, our sermon topic, and if you saw it in the newsletter, that's the spoiler anyway, our topic for this week is Jesus Christ himself.

[3:22] For followers of Jesus, he is unlike any person who has ever lived or will ever live. He walked and talked and ate and slept.

[3:35] And you heard us talk about the chosen Bible study that we've been doing, the viewing and discussion series. In that depiction, Jesus treats, scrapes.

[3:46] He cleans his teeth. All the mundane things of life, human life, Jesus would have experienced. But we recognize that God came in the flesh as the person of Jesus Christ.

[3:59] Jesus Christ was also fully God and fully man. Not 50-50. Not sometimes one, sometimes the other.

[4:10] There wasn't a God-man switch that Jesus flipped when he needed one or the other. And again, to go back to the chosen series, if you've seen it, Jonathan Rumi, the actor who plays Jesus in that series, seems to have captured that fusion of those two natures of Christ.

[4:30] So lots of depictions, we've talked about this in our study time, lots of depictions are very God. So Jesus is very holy. He's very white in his clothing, but also very white in his skin, which you've seen lots of depictions.

[4:46] But then other times, you see a depiction of Jesus where he is very man, where he's very human, very vulnerable. But Jonathan Rumi in The Chosen seems to have been able to fuse these, by God's grace I'm sure, fuse these kind of things together to give us a better sense.

[5:03] Because Jesus was 100% God and 100% man all the time. So my friends who are going, well that's 200%, that's impossible.

[5:15] But that's to say that he was both. He was both and. Jesus was fully man. Matthew 1, 18. That font is pretty small, I'll remember that for next time.

[5:29] Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

[5:41] So right there, we recognize that a miracle happened before Jesus was ever born. The Holy Spirit was involved and something miraculous and unexpected took place.

[5:51] Absolutely. But the event still involved Jesus Christ being born through natural birth from a human woman. I think in first century Christianity, Caesarean would have been probably even more popular for obvious reasons in the Roman Empire.

[6:11] But, little joke, but he was born just like any of us were, right? Absolutely. Born like any other human being. And his ordinary birth, in quotations marks, his ordinary birth means that he was human.

[6:28] So Jesus had a human body just like we do and the Bible backs this up over and over. There's all your references and I will read them for you. Luke 2, verse 40 says, And the child grew and became strong.

[6:43] filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. John 4, verse 6 says, Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.

[6:58] Matthew 4, verse 2 says, And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. John 19, verse 28 says, After this, Jesus, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said, to fulfill the scripture, I thirst.

[7:19] Luke 24, verse 39 says, See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.

[7:34] Jesus knew what they were thinking. So we'll talk more about his resurrection in a moment, but when he came back from the dead, Jesus also had a physical body, and we can see that in scripture.

[7:47] Yes, he had a resurrected body, which no longer got tired or hungry or any of those things. He was also able to, as scripture tells us, appear in different places, but he still had a physical body that could be touched, and even more importantly, recognized.

[8:04] People recognized him as who he was. Jesus had a mind like ours, which hopefully means Jesus was not an overthinker like me.

[8:16] But Luke 2, verse 32 says, And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Jesus learned and developed and grew all of those things.

[8:29] He had a mind. He thought. He reasoned. All of the ways he explained things to the disciples. How powerful, right? Because he knew they didn't get it, so he would come at it from a different direction.

[8:44] Jesus was reasoning. He was thinking and leading people in thought. Jesus had emotions like we have. Matthew 8, verse 10 says, When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

[9:07] So we know that Jesus cried when he found out his friend Lazarus died, right? We remember that. He experienced frustration. He experienced anger and injustice.

[9:19] We see things like that over and over in Scripture. Jesus could be hurt and troubled. John 12, verse 27 says, Now is my soul troubled.

[9:32] This is Jesus speaking. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I have come to this hour.

[9:44] In Matthew 26, verse 38, we read, Then he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.

[9:59] Do you remember our sermon topic from last week? Anyone? Thank you. Sin. Despite being fully human, this is important to remember, there's a really important distinction between the human Jesus and the human you and the human me.

[10:18] And that is that Jesus never sinned. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, says, For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we may become, just like we sang this morning, the righteousness of God.

[10:39] 1 Peter 2, verse 22, says, He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. Hebrews 4, verse 15, says, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who, in every aspect, in every respect, has been tempted as we are, here's the key, yet without sin.

[11:09] So why is it important that Jesus be fully human? Why is that a factor? More verses. Romans 5, verse 19, says, For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

[11:31] Jesus had to be human to serve as our perfect representative. Hebrews 2, verse 17. I hear people madly flipping.

[11:42] Should I slow down? Hebrews 2, 17. Don't get paper cuts. Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation, and Paul did a sermon on the big word, propitiation, for the sins of the people.

[12:09] Friends, Jesus had to be fully human to die in our place. 1 Timothy 2, verse 5 says, For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

[12:27] Jesus had to be fully human to be the kind of mediator that we needed most. Hebrews 2, verse 18 says, For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

[12:46] Jesus can relate. Jesus had to be fully human to be able to fully and personally understand the human experience. So Jesus was fully and completely human.

[13:01] But, Jesus Christ is also fully God. Jesus is totally and completely God. So as we noted when we read Matthew 1, verse 18 this morning, scripture tells us that Jesus was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit.

[13:21] You remember that. Yes, he was fully human, as I said, because of his human birth, but he was also fully God, partly due to that miraculous conception.

[13:34] Humanity and deity were united in Jesus Christ in a way that has never happened before and will never happen again. So in addition to pointing to Jesus' humanity, the Bible also says clearly that Jesus is God.

[13:51] And here's some references. Colossians 2, verse 9 says, for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

[14:03] So Jesus was fully God in a human body according to what is said there in scripture. Now here's, I made these two, this Old Testament, New Testament connection before, so it'll be familiar.

[14:15] Exodus 3, 14 says, God said to Moses, I am who I am. And he said, say this to the people of Israel. When Moses is going, ah, don't make me go, Lord.

[14:28] I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. God says to him, say to the people of Israel, I am sent you. It's a big period at the end of that sentence, right?

[14:40] I am sent me to you. Then, New Testament, John chapter 8, verses 57 to 59, we read, So the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old, and have you seen Abraham?

[14:58] Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I tell you, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

[15:15] There was no doubt, no doubt at all to them. who Jesus was claiming to be. Philippians 2, verses 9 to 11 says, Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

[15:47] God has always been that one person that's the powerful stuff. So there's no doubt to whom the Bible says every knee will bow, every tongue will confess, right?

[15:58] Scripture is clear that one person will get that honor. The Bible also tells us in Hebrews 1, verse 6, that even the angels will worship Jesus.

[16:10] And God is always clear, recognize this, God is always clear never to worship anyone but himself. So if there's a declaration being made that angels will bow to him, there's a correlation there.

[16:26] Jesus is God. So why is it, maybe this one is more obvious, why is it important for Jesus to be fully God? Well, we know that only God is truly sinless, right?

[16:40] And we know that the sacrifice for our sin must be pure and without sin. There's the connection. So unless Jesus was pure and sinless in himself, he could never have borne the full penalty for the sin of the world on himself.

[16:59] It just wouldn't have been enough. Nothing less, we also recognize that nothing less than full payment was required. The full penalty of the world's sin was required.

[17:12] The bill was due. So unless Jesus could have borne it all, there would be no full redemption for the sin of humanity. Do you see that?

[17:24] Wasn't as though Jesus, well, he did most of it. He redeemed part of humanity but the rest of you are not really covered. There would have been no salvation for humanity unless Jesus was enough.

[17:38] So we read about a lot of amazing miracles in the Bible. I'm already thinking towards Christmas Eve service planning. Leah said, slow down, can we do October 29th first? But I think we need to recognize that's coming, that big miracle.

[17:55] But the greatest miracle of them all was Jesus himself. is that fair to say? The Bible's full of miracles but Jesus, to me, tops the list.

[18:07] So I want to spend a little bit of time this morning digging into some other important truths of our faith that are also rooted in, anchored in, Jesus himself. As Christians, we declare the Bible to be true and the Bible makes it very clear that Jesus Christ was crucified, died, and rose again.

[18:29] Right? You agree with me? But why is the resurrection of Jesus important? Why did that matter? Well, 1 Corinthians 15, verses 13 to 19, says, this is a long one and it's one of my favorite passages and you probably know it.

[18:49] Paul says, but if there's no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

[19:02] We're even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

[19:14] Do you follow that? Train of thinking? For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, Paul is just such a logical guy, I can't wait to meet him.

[19:29] If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile and you're still in your sins. Then there are all, then, sorry, then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

[19:44] The end. if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied, he says.

[19:55] And there's so much to unpack there, so I'm gonna go quick. If Jesus wasn't resurrected, preaching about his resurrection, even our faith, is useless.

[20:10] If the resurrection didn't happen, think about the New Testament. Most of it is a lie that never happened if Jesus wasn't raised.

[20:22] If there was no resurrection, obviously, Jesus Christ is still dead. Without the resurrection, we have no forgiveness of our sins.

[20:32] everyone who died before us has been lost. My hope of seeing my parents again is futile. Most importantly, just in general, we have no hope.

[20:48] We must be able to recognize that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is essential to the Christian faith. Because without it, none of this matters.

[21:00] None of it. So, did the resurrection really happen? The Bible testifies that the resurrection of Jesus happened.

[21:14] And if you remember from our first sermon in this series, we talked about the Bible being our essential source of truth. All four Gospels, my friends, give an account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in detail.

[21:29] Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, all recount the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a factual event that actually happened.

[21:46] And the apostles often referred to the resurrection of Jesus in the book of Acts, often. Acts 26, verses 22 and 23 says, to this day I've had the help that comes from God.

[22:00] And so I stand here testifying both to small and great saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass. That the Christ must suffer and that by being the first to rise from the dead he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.

[22:21] So as we've already recognized, the rest of the New Testament is completely dependent on the fact that Jesus Christ rose and is alive.

[22:34] But the Bible doesn't just say that Jesus came back from the dead. Lazarus came back from the dead. The Bible is clear that when Jesus rose from the dead he was the first to experience a new kind of life.

[22:51] Have you recognized that before? His human body had been perfected. He no longer experienced as I said earlier weakness or fatigue.

[23:02] He no longer seemed to be at the mercy of decay or aging or death. It says 1 Corinthians 15 verse 53 suggests that his perishable body put on the imperishable.

[23:16] his mortal body put on immortality. So I'm just going to highlight a few verses in here but we can recognize that Jesus' body was a physical body.

[23:30] His resurrected body that is. One that could be held Matthew 28 verse 29 talks about Jesus being held. He ate and drank Luke 24 verse 30 This new body still displayed signs of the wounds that were inflicted on him before he died.

[23:50] John 20 verse 27 Jesus definitely wasn't a ghost or a spirit. He had a real physical body. Luke 24 verse 39 highlights that for us.

[24:05] So for me I think what a great thing to have a resurrected body. And then I'm going to look down at my hand and see all the scars from my injury still. But there'll be a cool reminder. But the resurrection we recognize is not where this story ended because Jesus returned to heaven.

[24:25] Forty days after his physical resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven. Acts 1 verses 9 to 11 says And when he had said these things as they were looking on he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.

[24:42] And while they were gazing into heaven as he went behold two men stood by them in white robes and said men of Galilee why do you stand looking into heaven?

[24:55] This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. That's cool.

[25:07] Can't wait. Can't wait. Jesus left the earth and his followers. He left them. He left us. But he had a specific destination which was heaven.

[25:20] And when Jesus got there scripture tells us he received the glory and the honor and the authority that are due him. Acts 2 verse 33 says being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

[25:46] Philippians 2 verses 9 to 11 says therefore God has exalted him and bestowed on him we heard this a moment ago the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

[26:12] Revelation fast forward to the end of the story Revelation 5 verse 11 and 12 says then I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the voice of many angels numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands in our sermon on angels we talked about legions and legions of angels imagine that saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory so we can agree I hope that the resurrection of Jesus is an essential element of our faith and to the entire scope of Christianity it is also essential so here's your practical stuff what does the resurrection of Jesus mean for us okay that's great isn't it a story how does it really matter in my day-to-day life well the resurrection of Jesus means that our future is secure in him 1 Peter 1 verses 3 and 4 says blessed be the

[27:27] God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you that's quite a promise the resurrection of Jesus means that we have an inheritance waiting for us in heaven when we die the resurrection also means that we have the power to sin less and less now bear with me on that Romans 6 chapter 6 verses 9 to 11 says we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again death no longer has dominion over him for the death he died he died to sin once for all but the life he lives he lives to God here's the us part so you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ

[28:35] Jesus continuing in Romans 6 verse 14 I love this for sin will have no dominion over you no control since you are not under the law but under grace the resurrection also means that we have right standing correct standing before God we are righteous before God because our sin is covered by the righteousness of Jesus God has accepted the work that Jesus did on our behalf hallelujah for that the bill came due and Jesus said no no I've got it to pay the debt that we actually owe for our sins God recognized that Jesus work was as Jesus himself said on the cross finished Jesus human death completed the task so he didn't need to remain in the grave

[29:39] Hebrews 1 verse 3 says he is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe by the word of his power after making purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high Jesus went home his task was complete so he returned to his rightful place to his rightful station and position and Jesus resurrection is also significant because it made a way for those who believe in him for those who follow his example as disciples to have their own resurrection hope 1 Corinthians 15 verses 51 to 54 says I love this I love the Bible what am I saying Bible nerd 1 Corinthians 15 51 to 54 says behold

[30:42] I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed for this perishable body thankfully must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on the immortality then shall come to pass the saying that is written if you know it say it with me death is swallowed up in victory just as the human body of Jesus was changed at his resurrection our bodies will be changed at our resurrection as well our bodies friends will be transformed and restored diseases and weaknesses will no longer affect and confine and restrict us praise

[31:55] God and we will never die again that fear or dread of death that you might have will no longer have any power over you as a good friend of my mom's shared with me her own fear of death was basically lessened my mom died of cancer as many of you know and in her last days she was just looking forward to seeing Jesus she was not afraid and that is my hope for you as well so as we close this morning let's just circle back for a moment so give me another 20 minutes kidding God knows that the need and response to our sin is forgiveness and that the requirement of a holy God is a perfect sacrifice so God not only recognized that need but he met it in and through himself in and through his son

[33:11] Jesus Christ Jesus Christ met both the needs of humanity and the requirements of God to complete that eternal transaction he gave his life as the only way to meet both our need and God's requirement friends this is how much God loves you Jesus took your place he knew your name before you were ever even a thought he saw you and took your place without hesitation he gave his life as the only way to restore us in relationship with God to free you from your sins and give you the hope of a life with God so do you see what God has done for you do you see what God will do for you if you simply believe you can be right with

[34:15] God you can overcome the power of sin in your life with his help and you can have the hope of eternity if you just believe and follow Jesus I know that you fully know this truth already but take hold of it in a fresh way in your life recognizing that God through Jesus gave his life so that you can live my friends recognizing that amazing gift I encourage you to seek to live your lives every moment of your life for him amen