The Baptism

[0:00] The following message is given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee.! For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com.

[0:14] ! Mark chapter 1. This is the Word of God. In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

[0:34] And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

[0:49] And a voice came from heaven, When you are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.

[1:03] Grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of God abides forever. That is the Word of God. It's what we're going to root our faith in this morning in such an exciting Scripture.

[1:15] You know, famously, Mark Twain once said, Life would be infinitely happier if we could all be born at 80 and then gradually approach 18. Instead, as another famous author said, Youth is wasted on the young.

[1:34] They don't know how good they have it. I've been sitting with a couple of college students this week and just said, This is the good life. You understand that, right? This is when it's really good. And so they wasted wishing they were older.

[1:46] But the rest of us are just older and getting older. For me, getting older has meant regular trips to the eye, regular trips to the optometrist for eye exam.

[1:58] I used to have great eyesight when I was a kid and when I was a high schooler, but age and books have taken their toll on me. And I have to plan my annual trip to see how much damage has been done in the previous 12 months.

[2:12] And you know how it is. You go and you sit in a little chair and you look at this graph across the room. It's one of those pyramid-shaped graphs where the letters are big up top. And gradually, they work down to these very small letters at the bottom.

[2:26] And I can barely see any of them without help. They make you take out your contacts when you get there until you realize you can't see much. And they kind of lower this contraption over you. And they start to narrow in your vision.

[2:38] Have you ever had that experience? And start to narrow it in until I can see across the room and basically read the graph. Then it gets real fun. They cut out the lights.

[2:50] And the optometrist gets about 10 inches away from your face, maybe 6 inches. Real close. You can smell his breath. And they start working on more and more magnification to get it clearer and clearer.

[3:04] That's when they go through these lens. You're looking at one letter at that point. It's not a whole pyramid of letters. And you're working through these different lenses one at a time while he's two inches from your face. He says, is one clear or is two?

[3:17] What about A or B or three or four? And then you kind of get a little mild anxiety going on. Which one's right? You know, was it one? No, it was two. No, I'm pretty sure it was one.

[3:28] And you go back and forth. The whole process takes about 10, 15 minutes until you can finally see this letter clearly. Then he writes you a new prescription and sends you on your way.

[3:40] This morning, we come to one of the most important scenes in the book of Mark. I know we're only three Sundays in, you know. But Mark doesn't tell us everything at once.

[3:54] He doesn't tell us everything up front. The scene unfolds carefully, step by step, almost lens by lens. Much like an optometrist's office.

[4:08] The scene, this encounter, this vision lowers lens after lens until we behold Jesus Christ in all his glory. The glory he had before the foundation of the world.

[4:20] What we see in this passage, I don't know if I can do it justice, but completely breathtaking. And so we're going to unpack it like that. We're going to unpack it lens by lens to try to take in what we see so that we can see 2020 or perhaps better at Jesus Christ.

[4:34] The importance of this passage is obvious from the get go. If you notice immediately, we talked a lot about John the past two weeks and verses two to eight are all about John. But John takes a back seat here. You see right there in verse nine.

[4:46] In those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John. John is merely a baptizer. He's merely a helper in that way.

[4:56] And secondly, if you notice in this passage, each member of the Trinity shows up. If anyone asks you how the living God is three in one, this would be one of the passages you want to take him to.

[5:08] That and the Great Commission and some other ones. So the Jehovah's Witnesses, friends that knock on your door, this would be a good one for them. And the whole scene, though, interestingly, is through the eyes of Jesus Christ.

[5:19] When he came out of the water, he saw. None of the crowd or even John sees what he saw. Saw what he saw. And yet Mark preserves it for us to see something amazing about Jesus Christ.

[5:34] So lens number one, if you will, is the heavens are torn open. Lens number one is the heavens are torn open. If you look down there in verse 10, when he comes out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open.

[5:49] And so that's that's the first thing Jesus sees in this scene. And many passages talk about the heavens being open. Ezekiel talks about the heavens being open. The martyr Stephen, as we studied last year, talks about the heavens being open.

[6:02] Stephen said, I see Jesus Christ at the right hand of God the Father on high. The apostle Peter in Acts 10, he sees the heavens open. The sheep drop down in the words every Tennessean likes to hear. Rise, kill and eat.

[6:14] The apostle John in the book of Revelation, he sees the heavens open. And he sees a man on a white horse with a tattoo, King of Kings and Lord of Lords come out. Even Matthew and Mark, when they tell this very scene, they talk about the heavens being open.

[6:29] But only Mark says they're torn open. The whole Bible, when it talks about encounters like this, talks about the heavens being open.

[6:41] Mark says they were torn open. So why does Mark break away from the pattern is what you should ask, what we should ask for describing encounters with God by saying the heavens were torn open.

[6:54] Now, just just to be clear, this is not a moment where the words could mean to one word could mean two different things. Torn or open. It's the word schizo, like a schizophrenic, a split mind.

[7:10] That's the same word. The heavens were split open. It's only used two times in the gospel. Mark, I'll tell you the other one later.

[7:21] It seems Mark is intentionally rest referencing Isaiah 64 one. Many Jewish readers would have known we're going to read that in just a moment. But as we talked about last week, Jesus is the promised Messiah from Isaiah 40, who will lead the people into the new Exodus.

[7:38] You know, he's the new Moses, the better Moses. And Mark is referencing Isaiah again to say something very significant. And if you remember, we went through this back in the Old Testament when when the Lord would lead his people.

[7:48] We did this back in December. He would lead them out and they would tremble because the Lord was powerful among them. And so with Moses, he came down in power. He delivered the people out of Egypt, out of slavery. Remember all that the showdown with Pharaoh with an outstretched arm.

[8:02] He split the seats so that they could walk through it. He he dwelt with them with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. And so so really in Isaiah 63 and 4, they're just crying out for the Lord to do that again.

[8:16] They're crying out for the Lord to be powerfully among them again. Look at these verses. A couple of samplings from there. He says, look down from heaven and see from your holy and beautiful habitation.

[8:27] Where is your zeal? Where is your might? I want to see your power. The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me. We have become like those over whom you have never ruled.

[8:41] Like those who are not called by your name. Oh, that you would. Here it is. Rind the heavens and come down that the mountains might quake at your presence.

[8:55] Mark is saying so. So rend the heavens, come down that the mountains might quake at your presence, just like they were on Mount Sinai. So Mark is saying this prayer is being answered right now.

[9:05] So that word rend, and we're not going to stay in this tedious stuff for long. That word rend is in the Greek Old Testament is the same word in this sentence.

[9:17] Okay. So he's saying, oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down. Something that is open easily like a Ziploc bag closes right back.

[9:28] But something that is torn is not easily closed. So what they're saying is, oh, Lord, don't just open the heavens. Don't just peek out. Rip them open so that heaven might come down.

[9:41] And so Mark is saying, he's quoting these verses that say the heavens are being torn open and all heaven is breaking loose. God is interrupting the course of history and intervening powerfully for his people.

[9:55] Right now. It's precisely here and other places, but here that we see the utter uniqueness of Christianity. As you know, numerous people have claimed to have gone to heaven and seen Jesus at a near death experience.

[10:12] Heaven is for real. Just sold gobs of copies by a three year old's encounter with the Lord after an emergency appendectomy. If he were my son, I'd say, buddy, I think that's the drugs.

[10:23] I don't think you saw anything. But, you know, one of the authors collected a lot of these stories about about these encounters with the light and these people that whisked up to heaven or something like that.

[10:33] And and the most interesting story is about a 45 year old teacher who dies, goes up to heaven and sees the king. Elvis. Elvis. Elvis. In fact, this encounter, this vision was so common that another author collected a book called Elvis after life.

[10:51] So he is alive, you know, and people were searching for others throughout the Bible and throughout religious history claimed to have gone to heaven. The Muslim Mohammed claims to have been taken up to heaven.

[11:02] And even some in the Bible claim to have gone to heaven. Isaiah, Ezekiel, John, Paul, though he doesn't mention it by name, but only Jesus claimed to have come down. This is where Christianity is completely unique.

[11:16] You know, sometimes we talk and we think and talk as if God is on top of a mountain and all the religions of the world are just ways up the mountain. So Judaism is a way up the mountain.

[11:28] Buddhism is a way up the mountain. Mormonism is a way up the mountain. Islam, Hinduism, they're all ways up the mountain. How could it be any other way? If someone is born into a family that holds to a certain religion, if they believe in that religion with all their heart and work hard to align their life with it, how could it not be a path up the mountain?

[11:48] It's how Christianity is often pitted alongside these other ones. But Christianity never says it's a way up the mountain. Christianity is not about another way to make our way up to God. Christianity is about God making his way to us.

[12:01] Jesus said again and again, he came down from heaven. Many religions claim to have gone up.

[12:14] And the person returns to point you in the way, but only Jesus claims to have come down. You know, that's powerful, actually. I find talking to people that don't know the Lord.

[12:25] I'm sure you have people in your life that don't know the Lord. And interacting with the uniqueness of Christianity, and particularly this point, is powerful when trying to witness to them about Jesus Christ.

[12:38] Christianity is not just one way up to God. Christianity is about God making his way to us. John 3 says, no one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of God.

[12:51] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, you remember that. He raised up the snake on the stick. In the same way, the Son of God must be lifted up.

[13:05] Whoever believes in him may have eternal life. So what Mark is telling us is that the Son of God has come down from heaven to earth in Jesus to be powerfully present with his people again. The first lens is all about the Son.

[13:23] This is huge. Heaven has broken loose. God has come down. Jesus is on the moon. Point two, or lens two.

[13:35] The Spirit descends like a dove. The Spirit descends like a dove. The next thing Jesus sees is the Spirit descending.

[13:48] Look down there in verse 10. When he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being opened and the Spirit descending like a dove. So descending through the torn open heavens is a Spirit.

[14:01] Now what's this all about? You know, this is where the scholars disagree. You know, did the Spirit descend on Jesus like a gentle dove, I guess? You know, did it just come on him?

[14:14] And it came on him in a gentle way like a dove? Or did Jesus see a literal dove? I think Jesus saw, well, not just I think, but other guys I've read, I stand with them.

[14:29] I think Jesus saw a literal dove. It wasn't a literal dove. How could he have known it was the Spirit? The Spirit is invisible like God. God is invisible. And so he sees this literal dove.

[14:41] Interestingly, but why a dove? Why not an eagle or a hawk or a rhino? That would be pretty cool. You know, marches on the scene. Nowhere in the Bible is the dove a symbol of the Spirit.

[14:53] But I think this is what's going on. I think it's a more obvious explanation. If you remember doves, where do doves play a prominent part in the Scriptures? Yeah. And Noah.

[15:07] So after 40 days and 40 nights and the rain had ceased, Noah sent out a dove. The first dove came back because he couldn't find anywhere to rest his feet. Waited seven days.

[15:17] Noah sent out another dove. This dove went out and came back with an olive leaf in his mouth to show that the water had receded. Seven days later, when Noah was sure that the water had receded even more, he sent out a third dove and that dove never returned.

[15:33] I think this is what is going on. God has sent another dove to say the judgment is over. And a new day is dawning in Jesus Christ.

[15:45] It seems that Mark is continuing what he said with that first lens. At the beginning of the gospel, at the beginning of a new creation, heaven has come down. And Jesus is making all things new.

[15:57] You know, there's another thing we need to see, though. This is an interesting passage. There's a lot of oddities to it. The one who said he was going to baptize others with the spirit is baptized by water. First, the one who said he was going to baptize others in the spirit is then filled with the spirit through this dove.

[16:15] So what's going on? Why did the spirit come down? And there's really important things going on. The spirit of God comes down from heaven to commission Jesus and accompany him on his mission. So that's what this moment is.

[16:27] Verse one says Jesus is the Christ. He's the son of God. Jesus is his name. Christ is a title that later became a name. It means anointed one. It means the one who comes to act with anointing, the one who is a prophet and a priest or a king after the Lord.

[16:44] But Jesus is not anointed with oil right here. He's anointed with the Holy Spirit. As the scriptures promised in Isaiah 11 and other places.

[16:56] Look at after Jesus' baptism in Luke 4. He says, And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to me, unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written. The spirit of the Lord is upon me.

[17:10] He has unrolled his scroll and found the place where it is written. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. And he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captains and recovering of the sight to the blind.

[17:23] To set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And so what I think Mark is saying is this is Jesus' ordination, sir. This is where it happened.

[17:34] This is where God said, This is my man. That's going to carry forward this mission. But it's also a moment where the spirit comes down to accompany him throughout his life.

[17:49] The spirit comes in this moment to be his constant companion. The spirit comes to go with him, to assist him, to help him. John says in John 1 that I saw the spirit of God descend on him like a dove and it remained on him.

[18:00] And if you remember last week I pointed out that only two more times after these first 13 verses, only two more times is the spirit mentioned in the rest of Mark's gospel.

[18:12] I think the idea is that the spirit came on him and remained on him all the way to the end. So this is really fascinating.

[18:24] I mean, you might think, why does Jesus need the spirit? Isn't Jesus strong enough? Does he really need help? But wonderfully, what we're getting into is we're looking into the way God works.

[18:36] God is one and therefore always works as a team. And so even as God plans this great work of redemption and sends his son for this great work of redemption, he sends his spirit to accompany Jesus Christ and empower him in all he does.

[18:50] In the same way that he works in our life, the spirit completes the work. It's the spirit who gives life. So, too, the spirit gives confidence, comfort, power, fruit and joy. The spirit goes with Jesus and works in and through all that Jesus does.

[19:04] Look at the way Acts 10 puts it. And I think that we have that for you. Acts 10 and a message from Peter after he saw the sheet. He said, God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.

[19:16] He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. For God was with him. God showed the world that he was with him by by the powerful works that came through him by the spirit.

[19:31] All that happened to show that Jesus was a man. What's so interesting or there's so much amazing things going on here. The heavens are torn open to show that the son of God humbles himself to take on human flesh.

[19:44] And then the heavens were also torn open so the spirit comes down and humbles himself as a dove to make much of Jesus Christ. We live in a incredibly self-absorbed culture.

[19:56] Amen. There there is there is just everybody talks about himself. I read this interesting story this week about Jim Harbaugh, admittedly one of my least favorite coaches.

[20:09] So in college football. But it's striking because of the world we live in. Back in 2007, Jim Harbaugh had just been hired to coach Stanford football.

[20:21] This is the author of the article writing. Our local school district invited him to join a Monday night football fundraiser with the area dads. Being new, he agreed.

[20:32] But two days prior, Stanford, a 41 point underdog against USC, miraculously won 24 to 23.

[20:44] Pete Carroll was coach at USC, too. In what people call the greatest upset ever. Mr. Harbaugh was all over ESPN that Monday morning.

[20:56] And yet he didn't cancel the fundraiser. Guy continues. I knew he played at Michigan and was drafted by the Chicago Bears, but did a little homework and noted that he played briefly with the Indianapolis Colts.

[21:09] That night, I got up the nerve to finally talk to Mr. Harbaugh. I noticed that he was the last quarterback for the Colts before Peyton Manning, our man. He looked at me funny and then said loud enough for the entire room to hear.

[21:20] Oh, no, you don't understand. Those people in Indianapolis owe me. I was so bad. My final year, we only won three games and the Colts got the number one pick and got Peyton Manning.

[21:35] Who does that? Mark says the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit comes to magnify Jesus Christ.

[21:48] The Spirit's not about himself. The Spirit is all about the glory of Christ. Anytime you get in a church, it's all about the Spirit. It's most likely it's not a church that's all about Jesus Christ. Not really about the work of the Spirit, because that's what the Spirit's all about.

[22:01] Lens three. Lens three. A voice from heaven. So there's kind of this buildup. We're beginning to see who this Jesus Christ is.

[22:16] And the next thing that occurs is not something Jesus sees, but a voice from heaven that Jesus hears. Look down there in verse 11. A voice came from heaven.

[22:27] You are my beloved son. With you, I am well pleased. When Jesus comes up out of the water, he hears these incredible words.

[22:38] If you notice, those words are addressed to Jesus Christ. The voice doesn't speak to the audience. It doesn't say, this is my beloved son. It says, you are my beloved son.

[22:49] So the voice wanted to convey something specific to Jesus Christ. And there seems to be so many different Old Testament roots here. Psalm 2, the Lord says to the king, you are my son.

[23:01] Here, the word beloved is added there. You're not just my son. You're my beloved son. And in a lot of ways, in the way Hebrew was written, the beloved son includes the idea of being an only son.

[23:12] And so when God commands Abraham, you remember that father with his only son, the son he waited for for so long up the mountain. He uses the same word to say, take your only and your beloved son.

[23:24] And so what this voice from heaven is saying is that Jesus is God's only and beloved son. But we kind of know that already in an objective sense from verse 1.

[23:34] If you look there, it says the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. So in a lot of ways, how are we supposed to look at Jesus Christ as being a son of God? There are many sons of God in Scripture.

[23:46] Many people are called sons of God. Adam's called a son of God. A random group of men in Genesis 6, who you probably hit in your Bible reading plan, are sons of God. They come and intermarry on the earth.

[23:57] And David, as the king, is called the son of God in Psalm 2 and in other places. And Israel, representing the people of God, is called the son of God.

[24:08] But there's something going on here that's very important. The voice from heaven is declaring that Jesus is God's only son in an utterly unique sense. Now, a little bit of background here.

[24:20] At the height of his power, in about 1000 BC, the Lord told David that he would establish a dynasty through him. Kind of like Saban's done in Alabama. You know, a dynasty we wish we were having established.

[24:33] We just keep firing them after three years. I don't think it'll ever come. But remember 2 Samuel 7, he says, You shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom.

[24:46] Your son shall build a house for my name. I'll establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I'll be a father to him, and he will be my son. Promises continue to anticipate and unpack what this son would look like.

[24:59] Psalm 2, as I mentioned, says that God will put him on the throne. This son. Psalm 110 tells us that he will sit at God's right hand. And so the people continue to look forward to this greater son to come.

[25:11] A son who would sit on David's throne. A son of David's line. He is the son who would come. And Isaiah says this son will be God. He says, For to us a child is born.

[25:22] To us a son. And that should just jump off the page to you because of what sonship means in the Bible. And the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be mighty God. And so the voice from heaven is declaring that this is that son.

[25:34] He's the one who was promised. He's the Messiah. He's God's anointed, as we covered a few moments ago. But it's also telling us something different. Isaiah also said this son would be a servant.

[25:46] This son would be filled with the Spirit. This son would be a light to the nation. This servant would suffer. This servant was sent on a mission for God and from God. And this servant is dearly loved.

[25:59] Look in Isaiah 42. He says, Beloved, behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. That's the reference there. You are my beloved son.

[26:09] With you I am well pleased. That's what's in Mark's mind. I put my spirit on him. So the voice from heaven is declaring that Jesus is God's only and beloved son.

[26:20] In an utterly unique sense. He's not just another son of David. He's a son of God. But why? Why?

[26:33] Does he tell us this now? Jesus was with the Father before the foundation of the world.

[26:46] He knew these words. You know, I heard one conference speaker say you should always take note of first words. The first words Adam utters when God gives him a wife are poetry.

[26:58] No other words will do, you know. At last. Something created like me, but definitely unlike me. You know, praise the Lord.

[27:09] Those first words tell us so much about the way marriage is supposed to be. And we would do very well to greet our spouse with a little more poetry and less logistics. And so to these first words from the father to the son are all poetry.

[27:27] They tell us so much about the way fatherhood is supposed to look. You know, the same conference speaker pointed out the details of this scene for fathers. First off, if you notice, when Jesus is baptized, the father is there.

[27:42] Second, he is not just there. He makes his presence felt by sending his spirit to rest upon Jesus. Third, he makes his presence known by speaking. He's not an absentee father.

[27:53] He sits there. He announces how much he loves his son. Fourth, he expresses his love for his son. He puts it into words and states it over him. Fifth, he expresses his pleasure in his son.

[28:06] Every man is a son of some man. Every woman is a daughter of some man. But few daughters and sons hear their father say something like the father in this verse. I'll never forget reading the story of Andre Agassi.

[28:22] Agassi was successful by any measure. The trophies, the money, the houses. But driven into tennis by a ruthless father, he could never please.

[28:34] Agassi became quite a successful tennis player, but began to hate tennis more and more for all that it meant to him. In fact, he threw himself into harm's way, began using meth and other drugs to try to shorten his career in any way possible.

[28:52] He hated tennis because of the ruthless father that stood over that tennis ball machine and yelled at him to hit it harder and harder and harder. And in his memoir, before his final tournament, the 2006 U.S. Open, he tells a story of hobbling through the lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel the next morning after losing when a man steps out of the shadows and he grabs him by the arm.

[29:18] He says, quit. What? Agassi says. It's my father, he writes, or a ghost of my father.

[29:28] He looks ashen. He looks as if he hasn't slept in weeks. Pops, what are you talking about? Just quit. Go home. You did it. It's over.

[29:41] But he never said, good job. That's what Agassi's trying to say. He's haunted even to his final tournament because of this dad that would never say, good job. You know, our culture rants and raves about this problem called toxic masculinity and how men make the world worse.

[29:57] But the numbers do not add up. 43% of boys are raised by single mothers. 78% of teachers are female. So close to 50% of boys have 100% feminine influence at home.

[30:08] 80% feminine influence at school. Toxic masculinity is not the problem. The lack of masculinity is. And this doesn't even account for the men who are there but aren't there.

[30:20] But for all who are there, this verse tells us how to be there. For all who are fathers, for all who have children, these verses tell us the most important thing about fatherhood. There will never be a more perfect relationship between a father and a son than this relationship between God the Father and God the Son.

[30:38] There will never be a more perfect father-son moment than this one. And the key note of this perfect father-son moment is pleasure. It's joy.

[30:50] It's delight. It's all poetry. The first thing the father says to the son is, You're doing a great job. Say it. Say it to your boy.

[31:02] Say it to your girl. Get down on the ground and wrestle them and say it in a thousand ways again and again. And again, it will keep them from a thousand missteps. So why did Jesus announce this?

[31:15] Why did the father announce this from the heaven? Why did this voice emerge in this moment? Because his son was separated from him. The son that he dwelt in eternity with, worshiping and praising the Lord and perfect joy and communion and fellowship.

[31:34] Well, this son was separated and his son was setting out on his earthly mission. And this earthly mission would cost his son his life. And because before he set out on his earthly mission, the father wanted the son to know that he loved him and he was 100% behind.

[31:51] So God the father speaks from heaven to establish Jesus in his unshifting delight. So what do these lens show? Jesus is the only beloved son sent to make all things new and bring many sons to glory.

[32:09] Jesus is the only one. This is heaven's vantage point of Jesus Christ.

[32:24] The rest of Mark's gospel will tell about his humiliation. This king who is spat upon, who is mocked, who is nailed to a cross beside two thieves, is the son in glory.

[32:45] These three lenses come together one other time in Mark's gospel.

[32:58] Look there with me. Mark 15, 37 to 39. Jesus uttered a loud breath, a loud cry and breathed his last.

[33:09] And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion who stood facing him saw that in this way, he breathed his last. He said, truly, this man is the son of God.

[33:21] So this is going to be a few months before we get to this verse. I wanted to point out how they come together. Jesus breathes his last. The same words for spirit, pneuma, is used there.

[33:35] So he's there, I think, with the idea in Mark's gospel. He's breathing his last breath. And so, too, the spirit returns to heaven. That's pretty amazing, isn't it?

[33:46] The curtain is torn in two. So Mark's gospel begins with the heavens being ripped in two.

[33:57] All heavens breaking loose. It concludes with the curtain that separated the clean and the unclean. And the most holy place from the rest of the earth is ripped in two.

[34:08] Because the presence of God will be with his people forever and ever. That same word. Only twice in Mark's gospel, here and there. His work is complete. Many sons come to glory now.

[34:20] Galatians 3, 26 says, For in Jesus Christ you are all sons of God through faith. Sadly, the NIV, NLV, KJV, and others changed this sons to children.

[34:36] Now, I say that not because I'm against women or something like that. But it misses the point. In Jesus Christ you are all sons of God through faith. In a patriarchal culture, only the son received the inheritance.

[34:49] So through Christ. So through Christ. Paul's saying. The implication of this.

[35:01] What Jesus came to do is that you're sons of God through faith. You're all sons. Whether you're born male or female. You're a son of God through faith.

[35:13] And so Paul concludes in 4, 7 of Galatians. That you're no longer a slave but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God. So the words that were spoken by God the Father from heaven to Jesus.

[35:28] Now are the words that are spoken from God the Father to you. Because all who turn to Jesus Christ become sons of God by faith.

[35:46] I don't know where you are this morning in relation to God. In relation to Jesus Christ. Jesus says everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

[35:58] Everyone who's not turned to Jesus Christ is a slave to sin. And Jesus says the wrath of God remains on him. So if you haven't turned from your sins to Jesus Christ. You haven't turned in faith and repentance to Jesus Christ.

[36:09] The wrath of God remains on you. And we could preach a gospel all about the judgment that is coming. Because the wrath of God is coming. On account of things. These things. The wrath of God is coming.

[36:20] But what this passage tells you is that behind the wrath of God is a God who is a father. Who longs to bring you in to a family where you'll finally be treated as a father should treat a son.

[36:35] That you would be welcome and to receive grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. So the curtain is torn in two. Many sons are invited to glory through Jesus.

[36:48] Indeed as the centurion says. Beginning it was a voice from heaven. It was God the father. Here's the centurion. Who says this one.

[37:00] Is the son of God. Isn't that amazing? Let us pray. Father in heaven we worship you and praise you. We pray that you would. Help us to live in light of these things.

[37:15] Pray that you would. Draw us in. To experience afresh. A sense of.

[37:27] Peace and security and acceptance. That we enjoy freely through Jesus Christ. As a son of God. By faith.

[37:38] But we pray. I pray for anybody who is. Unclear about where they stand in relation to the Lord. I pray that you would open their eyes to see Jesus Christ.

[37:49] In all his glory. That these limbs would. Would drop into place. So that we could clearly see. This one is unlike all the others. This son.

[38:02] Though he was rich. He became poor. So that we by our poverty. Might become rich. We who were slaves. Orphans. Might become sons.

[38:15] We praise you. We worship you. In Jesus name. Amen. You've been listening to a message given by Walt Alexander.

[38:25] Lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee. For more information about Trinity Grace. Please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com