[0:00] I tell you, there are times when you just don't want to stop singing.
[0:17] ! What a great time of worship. Reminders of what Jesus has accomplished for us. The victory, and you probably have seen this, a victory that we have in Jesus.
[0:30] That has been the theme of our singing and the theme of this morning's message as we look into his word in Romans chapter 8. It might not seem apparent what the connection is to Father's Day, but there cannot be a better one.
[0:49] Because you cannot be a father, and you cannot be a mother independent of the power and the victory that Jesus has obtained for you, and the victory that he wants to accomplish in and through your parenting.
[1:10] Psalm 127. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. That's the message. Essentially, repeat it again for us in Romans chapter 8 that we're going to see this morning as we look into the word.
[1:29] Victory in Jesus. I was reminded of a story related to victory and kind of related to kind of the impossibility of victory.
[1:47] Several years ago, back in actually the 1980s, there was, and I think continuing on even to this day, there is a race that takes place in Australia.
[1:58] I don't know the specific name, but essentially, this race begins in Sydney and goes all the way to Melbourne, Australia, which is 544 miles away.
[2:12] A race that usually takes about seven days to complete. They're running over 77 miles in a given day.
[2:23] So like three times the length of a marathon they're doing every single day. Well, in this race, of course, as you would expect, there were the big names.
[2:34] There were those who had these big sponsors, corporate sponsors. They were the elite racers. They came prepared. They had all the right gear. And one guy in particular who was racing this race had already just previously won a 1,000-mile race in South Africa earlier that year.
[2:56] He was kind of the favorite to win this 544-mile race in Sydney, Australia. And up to the line, along with these elite athletes, comes this old man, older man.
[3:11] I want to be careful. Older man. I'm getting there myself. So I got to, you know, age is relative, and it's not so old anymore. So he was 61 years old, and he comes with his boots, and he comes with his overalls, and he is stepping up to the line ready to race.
[3:28] His name was Cliff Young. Well, these elite athletes look over at Cliff Young and say, you've got to be kidding me. Has anyone informed him that this is a race?
[3:43] We're not in the pasture land. This is Cliff Young. He was a shepherd in Australia. And one of the things that he would have to do oftentimes was he would have to run after the sheep, and he had this huge amount of property, and no horse and no vehicle to get him to where the sheep were.
[4:04] So his only mode of transportation was to run after the sheep and to try to herd them before a big storm would come. And he would literally run for two consecutive days just trying to round up these sheep and get them to the right spot.
[4:18] So he thought, hey, I am well equipped for this race. Well, they got started, and as you would expect, the elite racers left Cliff Young in the dust.
[4:30] And the strategy was we race for 18 hours and then rest for six so that every day you could maximize your speed and also your rest and so compress the number of hours of rest and maximize the hours of running, and that was the strategy.
[4:51] Well, no one told Cliff Young what the conventional wisdom of this race was. He had absolutely no idea. He had never raced a day before in his life. Well, Cliff Young, of course, lumbering along and more of a shuffle than a run, he is making his way and never stops except for a couple of hours the first night and only one hour the second night.
[5:20] He just kept running and running and running. And after that first evening where everyone else was resting, in the morning of that second day, he ends up passing this group of elite racers.
[5:35] Well, that wasn't a problem because, you see, by the second day they had taken off and they had covered that ground and increased that gap once again. But after the second day and then the third day and now into the fourth day of racing, Cliff Young had put enough distance between him and the rest of the racers that he was beginning to create a measure of fear in their lives.
[6:01] Hmm. Maybe he's not going to stop after all. Maybe we need to get a move on and try to cover this distance as fast as we can.
[6:11] And on the fifth day, Cliff Young shattered the record of seven days by crossing the finish line, ten hours before the second place runner.
[6:25] It was a feat that was incomprehensible, impossible in everyone's opinion. It was something that was never considered to be a logical conclusion, but in fact, Cliff Young had victory in that race.
[6:43] As we've been talking about no condemnation in Romans 8, verse 1, it begins with, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
[6:57] For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God did what the law weakened by the flesh could not do.
[7:11] By sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
[7:31] As we've been walking through this passage, we have been realizing that the declaration of no condemnation is not because you do not deserve condemnation.
[7:45] It is not because I don't deserve condemnation, but because there was a declaration of God of righteousness on you because of Jesus Christ, His Son.
[7:57] And what He accomplished for you, He continues that work with the Holy Spirit, creating a whole new law in your life, a whole new power, a whole new principle, that that law of the Spirit of life turns you loose and sets you free from the law of sin and death.
[8:16] You no longer have to succumb to the sin that is in you. And this morning, as we look at the Scripture, we look at verses 3 and 4, we will begin to see what is truly incomprehensible in relationship to how victory was obtained.
[8:37] It was a logical impossibility that Jesus Christ Himself, God, would become flesh and dwell among His people in the likeness of sinful flesh and then conquer sin in His flesh.
[8:58] This morning, I want to look at three, three ways that Jesus Christ claimed victory for Himself and makes victory possible for you.
[9:10] But before we do that, let's pray. Lord, this morning, as we look into Your Word, at the amazing truths that we will see, we pray that You will impress those truths on our heart and life and that You will make them true for us to Your glory.
[9:29] That the victory that You have obtained through Your Son, Jesus Christ, is a victory that would be realized in us. Not just a victory that You declare, not just a righteousness that You give, but a righteousness that we live through the power of the Holy Spirit, working victory through us for Your glory.
[9:55] We pray that You would be pleased with all that is communicated this morning through Your Word. In Jesus' name, amen. First, I want you to see in verse 3 that we have victory because Jesus fulfilled the law.
[10:14] Jesus fulfilled the law. It says in verse 3, For God has done with the law weakened by the flesh, could not do by sending His own Son in the likeness of human flesh.
[10:32] Jesus fulfilled the law. And He did that two ways. First, He fulfilled the law through His humanity. He fulfilled the law through His humanity.
[10:48] God has done with the law weakened by the flesh, could not do by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. We've seen that there is no condemnation.
[11:01] We have come to realize that God has given us this gift, this declaration of righteousness over those who are in Christ Jesus.
[11:13] That is the condition. It is not over the world in its entirety, but over those who are in Christ. Those are the ones who get to enjoy the benefits of this gift.
[11:24] No condemnation. Paul wants us to understand that it was not because the law was not good. It was not because God did not give us something that was perfect and right and helpful in the law.
[11:43] But the law could not be fulfilled because it was conditioned upon the weakness of human flesh. because of humans' sinfulness, because of our tendencies through Adam to sin.
[11:59] Even though the law was good, it could not do for us what it was intended to accomplish. Just turn back with me for a moment to Romans chapter 7, and I'll just walk through this briefly for you.
[12:13] Beginning in verse 7. Romans chapter 7, verse 7. If you're a guest with us, you'll find that on page 943 and 944. That's Romans 7 and Romans 8.
[12:26] Here's what Paul says. He says, What shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means. Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.
[12:38] Now verse 8. But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.
[12:51] Now down to verse 10. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. Verse 12. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and righteous, and good.
[13:07] Verse 13. Did that which is good then bring death in me? By no means. It was sin producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
[13:28] Paul's point is this. The law is not the problem. You and I are the problem. It was not that God didn't communicate or give the perfect standard, and that perfect standard being very good for us to receive.
[13:48] But the law couldn't accomplish its intended objective because the law was weakened by the tendencies and the sinful corruption of those who were seeking to carry out the law's demands.
[14:02] So, what does God do to address the weakness of sinful flesh? What does God do to help correct the sin problem?
[14:19] Well, He decides to send His Son. To send His Son in the likeness, and that's a really important word, to send His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh so that He could conquer sin once and for all.
[14:38] He accomplished it in a way that defied all of logic. God became man. God Himself took on human flesh, the likeness of sinful flesh, and He was able to live a perfect life.
[14:57] Philippians chapter 2, 7 puts it this way, He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant and coming in the likeness of men.
[15:09] Jesus was willing to subject Himself to every human emotion, every human temptation, every human weakness, so that He could not only experience it for Himself, but so that He could conquer it once and for all.
[15:28] He was willing to weep. He was willing to be grieved. He got hungry. He showed compassion. He displayed righteous anger.
[15:39] He depended on God the Father. He was guided by the Holy Spirit. He was tempted in the wilderness and also before the cross. He needed to be strengthened.
[15:50] He was limited in knowledge and He limited His knowledge based upon what the Father gave to Him access to. He had friendships.
[16:01] He built community. All of the things that we would experience in life as humanity, Jesus was willing to embrace so that He could then conquer sin once and for all for us.
[16:15] but in His humanity, He did not submit to human sinfulness. We find from Hebrews 4, verse 15 that He was tempted in all points, just as we are, yet without sin.
[16:34] And that leads us to this next point. He fulfilled the law in His humanity, but He also fulfilled the law through His holiness. through His holiness.
[16:46] God did what the law could not do. God was able in holiness to meet the standard of the law.
[16:59] He says in Matthew, chapter 5, verse 17, this is Jesus speaking, Sermon on the Mount. He says, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
[17:13] For truly I say to you, unless, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Because, Jesus came to fulfill the law.
[17:29] To do what no one before Him had ever been able to accomplish. There had been no man, no woman, no priest, no prophet, no king, not even Moses or Daniel or anyone was able to fulfill the law as God had prescribed.
[17:51] Only Jesus was able to do this. Only Jesus was the fulfillment of the law. And we see even in the earliest stages of Jesus' life, this conformity and compliance to the requirements of the law itself.
[18:07] even His parents on the eighth day circumcising Him and then on the fortieth day bringing Him to be consecrated in the temple. That's where we find in Luke chapter 2 He's brought in the company of Simeon who sees the future Redeemer right there in His hands.
[18:27] He took pilgrimages with His parents to Jerusalem on Passover. He honored His parents. He obeyed the commands of the Sabbath.
[18:39] He spoke the truth. He paid the temple tax. And even in healing on the Sabbath He conformed His life to the standards of the Sabbath and that was mercy.
[18:51] Mercy for those who needed it. He confronted sin. He washed feet. He served the crowds. In every way Jesus was the composite of perfection.
[19:04] And as Jesus describes in Matthew chapter 5 and 6 and 7 it wasn't just the outward expression of the law that was important it was also the secret intentions of the heart the motives that were also significant.
[19:21] And so Jesus didn't murder but even more Jesus did not get angry at His brother. Jesus did not commit adultery but He also did not lust after another person.
[19:33] He did not demand eye for an eye or tooth for a tooth and He also was willing to turn the other cheek. When reviled He did not revile in return as we find in 1 Peter chapter 2.
[19:50] He did not curse His enemies but loved them and prayed for them and asked the Father to forgive them. He did not perform His righteous deeds out in the open so that people could revere Him but He prayed in private and even so many of His prominent miracles were done in privacy of home.
[20:12] He concealed His glory in the transfiguration. The glory that He had access to He was willing to conceal for the sake of humility.
[20:25] He honored the law to the letter both internally and externally. And by fulfilling the law Jesus then positioned Himself to condemn sin in the flesh as we find continuing on in this passage.
[20:42] Jesus not only fulfilled the law but He condemned sin as we see in the second part of verse 3. Jesus condemned sin.
[20:55] It says by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin He condemned sin in the flesh. Well how did Jesus do this?
[21:07] How did He condemn sin in the flesh? And I just want to make sure we understand we're all on the same page. When it says He condemned sin it's not just talking about the fact that He proclaimed judgment against sin that He called it what it was that it was wicked and wrong.
[21:23] It wasn't that He just assigned a label to it as being condemned by God but that Jesus in actuality received the punishment for sin and it was condemned.
[21:36] The sentence and the penalty for sin was absorbed by Jesus Himself. Of course our minds go immediately to His death on the cross as being the foremost way in which Jesus condemned sin.
[21:52] But I want to just back up for a moment and I want to suggest to you that Jesus also condemned sin through His ministry. And He did that in at least three different ways. He condemned sin through His ministry.
[22:05] First we see the condemnation of sin and even the purpose statements that Jesus has for the ministry that He had. Luke chapter 4 verses 18 and 19 says this Now we'll get to this in just a moment.
[22:38] But I want you to recognize that in this purpose statement what Jesus is saying is He came to free oppression. And not just spiritual oppression but we will see in just a moment that Jesus wanted to illustrate the work that He intended to do in a physical way by reversing the effects of sin and healing people of those very things that sin ravaged bodies experience.
[23:07] The effects and consequences of sin Jesus came to deliver. We'll get there in just a moment. But this verse particularly in pointing to the work of God in freeing the real oppression that we experience not just in a physical way but especially in a spiritual way.
[23:26] His purpose statement in Mark chapter 10 verse 45 says this For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.
[23:38] And then in Matthew chapter 9 verse 13 I desire mercy and not sacrifice for I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
[23:52] Does that leave any question in your mind? What Jesus came to do the purpose of His ministry which means not just the final objective of His ministry but His purpose of His ministry all the way through every one of those three years was committed to this purpose and to demonstrate it in a vivid illustrative way to give us a portrait of what God desires to do for sinners.
[24:22] Second we see throughout His ministry that He occasionally says your sins are forgiven you. He says to the paralytic he says when the men bring him in the first thing he does is say your sins is forgiven you.
[24:40] And the Pharisees and the scribes in objective say who is this person? Only God can forgive sins. To which Jesus responds yeah that's exactly what I'm trying to say. Is it easier for me to say rise and walk or is it easier for me to say your sins are forgiven you?
[24:58] And to demonstrate I have power to do both I'm going to say rise up and walk so that you know that God has given me the authority to do both. Jesus came to forgive sins.
[25:10] He says the same to the blind man who he healed. One of my very favorite stories in the book of John where this really smart mouthed blind man comes to faith in Jesus Christ and he goes into the temple and he's confronted by the Pharisees and he says hey what are you doing here?
[25:28] And he has this little interaction with the Pharisees and he said hey you want to be disciples of Jesus too? and I just gotta love that guy. He was able to say what Jesus couldn't in some ways.
[25:42] His sarcasm really got to the heart of the difficulty that these Pharisees had with Jesus' ministry. And Jesus tells him your sins are forgiven go and sin no more.
[25:57] And also to the woman who was caught in adultery his compassion and forgiveness for him for her but also sending her out and saying go and sin no more.
[26:09] There was in Jesus' life in ministry a commitment to forgiveness. He was the friend of sinners and tax collectors. That was the focus and the objective of his ministry.
[26:24] But third he condemned the consequences of sin by healing broken bodies. By healing sin ravaged bodies.
[26:36] By reversing the effects of the consequences of sin Jesus said I am here to fix all of this. Raising Lazarus from the dead.
[26:52] Healing leprosy. Overcoming years of paralysis. Restoring sight to the blind. Casting out demons. Jesus states emphatically I am here to resurrect.
[27:08] I am here to save. I am here to deliver. I am here to turn the effects of sin upside down. But as we know even in that physical way it was only temporary.
[27:21] It was only meant really to point people to the enduring reversal of sin that could only come through Jesus' death.
[27:33] It was a picture. A temporary picture however it was to point to the enduring picture of what his death was meant to accomplish.
[27:44] To totally and ultimately and finally reverse the effects of sin through his death he condemned sin in the flesh.
[27:58] Jesus in condemning sin in the flesh through his death agrees with the father that sin is worthy of eternal punishment.
[28:10] Jesus in submitting himself to the will of the father stepping into the cross and into death a willingness to endure the suffering and the pain and the condemnation for us agrees with the father to say sin is worthy of final punishment eternal damnation.
[28:34] Jesus willingly on that Passover becomes the Passover lamb. Why death? Well because the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[28:51] Why blood? Well because as we find in Hebrews 9 22 without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin that life would correlate excuse me the blood would correlate to life it would be a symbol of life and as the priest would sprinkle their garments as they would sprinkle the people as they would sprinkle the altar it would be a representation of the blood the life blood sacrifice the costliness of sin that Jesus would ultimately pay through his blood and through his life on the cross 1 Peter 1 2 says this we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the father in sanctification of the spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ John 3 17 and 18 confirms that by saying this for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved he who believes in him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God now we have a third point but we don't have time to get there this morning and I don't want to rush it because
[30:22] I want to make sure we spend some time on this but I want to conclude just with just with some statements this morning if you are not one who has believed in him you put yourself in a place of condemnation you are rightly condemned as we all are rightly condemned because of sin the wages of sin is death but because of the offering of Jesus Christ because of his work of death on the cross and resurrection life he has obtained for us for any who believe he has obtained for us the gift of no condemnation so the call for us this morning the call to you this morning are you one who can say there is no condemnation written over your life because condemnation landed on the shoulders of your savior it is an open call it is a beckoning of our savior come all those who are weary and heavy laden and you will find rest for your soul for my yoke is easy my burden is light so come to me one song that has really ministered to me over the years is the song alleluia what a savior says this man of sorrows what a name for the son of god who came ruined the sinners to reclaim alleluia what a savior bearing shame and scoffing rude in my place condemned he stood sealed my pardon with his blood alleluia what a savior guilty vile and helpless we spotless lamb of god was he full atonement oh how can it be alleluia what a savior lifted up was he to die it is finished was his cry now in heaven exalted high alleluia what a savior let's pray miracle