Father, thank you for your grace to us in the Lord Jesus Christ
in revealing yourself to us in the person of your Son.
And we pray now that as we come to the Scriptures
that we would delight in him
and that you'd help me to speak clearly about you.
And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Tim Keller has written in his book, Every Good Work,
that people cannot make sense of anything
without attaching it to a storyline.
You can't make sense of anything without attaching it to a storyline.
So he uses the example, after the attacks of September 11,
no one mentioned the event without placing it
into some sort of narrative structure, story structure.
So some people said this is the result of America's abuse
of its imperial power in the world.
And other people said there are many evil people out there who hate us
because we are a good and free country.
And so depending on which story you believed,
you would be associated with either the antagonist or the protagonist.
And your response and your emotions and your actions
would be completely different depending which story is yours.
And he quotes a modern philosopher and he said,
and this is what he writes, I'm just reading from the book,
imagine that you're standing at a bus stop,
a young man comes up to you, you don't know him,
and he says, the name of the common wild duck is Histrionicus,
Histrionicus, Histrionicus.
And even though you understand the sentence,
his action doesn't make any sense.
What's it mean?
And the only way to make sense of it
is to try to learn the story into which this event fits.
So perhaps the young man is mentally ill.
That would explain it.
Or what if somebody,
what if yesterday someone who was your gender,
your age, your appearance,
had approached the young man in the local library,
asking him the Latin word for the wild duck,
and today he'd mistaken you for that person?
That would explain it too.
Or perhaps the young man's a foreign spy,
waiting at a prearranged rendezvous
and uttering the ill-chosen sentence,
which will identify him to his contact.
And so he says,
the first story's sad,
the second story's comic,
and the third story's dramatic.
But the point is,
without some sort of a handle on this story,
there's no way to understand the meaning
of what just happened,
and there's no way to even know
how to answer this man.
So he says,
if you call the police
and it was a simple case of mistaken identity,
it's going to be really embarrassing.
If you pick a fight with somebody
who's a trained assassin,
the result will be even worse.
But in any case,
if you get the story wrong,
your response will be wrong,
and if you get the story of the world wrong,
if, for instance,
you see that life here is all about
your self-actualisation
and your self-fulfilment,
and it's all about you,
rather than the love of God
and knowing God,
then you will get your life responses wrong.
We need to know God's story
if we're going to know God
and how to live in his world.
The Bible begins with Adam and Eve
living perfect harmony
with God and his creation.
Life is good.
Access to God was easy.
They could converse with him in his garden.
They could see him.
They could talk with him.
They could be naked with one another
and with God,
and they would know no shame.
And the tragic end
to a great beginning
comes when Adam and Eve
go it alone,
disobey God.
He shuts them out of the garden,
and perhaps the greatest tragedy
in that judgment
is that they are shut out
from God's personal presence.
They no longer know God
in the intimate way
that they had previously known him.
They're shut out from his presence
and they have lost access to him.
And in some ways,
the entire movement of the Bible
is about how can we come
to know God again
despite our sin,
our failure,
and great wickedness,
which is in all of us.
God's story
is a story about our redemption.
It's about us
coming to know God again.
The journey
of the Bible
is about how God
chooses to reveal himself
to us again.
It's about God
doing something
to bring us out
of the deep darkness
of our own sin
to be able to
for us to be able
to stand safely
in his presence.
And he has taken
extreme measures
to make us safe.
Deb said already
this series
is about God.
He wants us
to know him.
He wants us
to delight
in who he is.
And I've been saying
throughout this series
that we can't know God
in his entirety.
We can only know
as much about him
as he chooses
to reveal
about himself.
We can only see
as much as he
pulls those curtains
back for us
to be able to see.
I've also been saying
that God reveals
himself to us
as three persons
Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
Three distinct persons
who have different roles
do different things
but each of them
is fully God.
Last week I spoke
about God the Father.
It was a delightful
surprise to me
that he is
to see that he is
hardly known as Father
in the Old Testament.
That was like
an aha moment for me.
It is when Jesus
bursts on the scene
that God as Father
begins to be revealed.
And Jesus' most
common way
of referring to God
is as his Father.
And you see
that Jesus
shows us
God the Father.
He teaches us
to pray to the Father,
that the Father
provides bountifully
good gifts
to his children,
that anyone
who has seen me
has seen the Father
and that the Father
is supreme over all
and the Father
is wonderfully good
and totally glorious.
Let me tell you,
I got to sit with
a friend this week
who I've been talking
to about Christ
for the last three years
and we didn't talk
two ways to live
but he asked me
what I've been preaching
and I told him
what I'd learned
about God the Father
last week.
I think that's evangelism.
It's revealing
what God is like.
Today,
we turn to
his magnificent son.
I'm going
all over the place
in the Bible.
You're welcome
to try to follow
with me.
You might find
I'm moving
a little quickly
sometimes.
John 1,
verse 10 says
he was in the world.
Speaking about Jesus,
Jesus was in the world
and though the world
was made through him,
the world
did not recognise him.
John makes
the extraordinary claim
that Jesus existed
before he was born.
It's not the only place
in the Bible
that makes that claim.
Colossians 1 tells us,
verse 16,
For by him,
by Jesus,
all things were created,
things in heaven
and on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones
or powers
or rulers
or authorities,
all things were created
by him and for him.
Both passages declare
that Jesus,
that the world,
was made through Jesus.
Colossians says
that the world
was made by Jesus
and it was made
for Jesus.
The world
is the stage
where Jesus
will magnificently
do the extraordinary work
that his father
sent him to do.
The big word
that we use
is incarnation.
God coming amongst us
as a person
and not just any person,
he was the perfect person.
So it's not,
this is not some
eastern doctrine
of reincarnation
where creatures
go round and round
in endless cycles
of existence.
existence.
This is the incarnation
coming into the world,
God coming into the world
in the person
of his son.
So the creator
God of the universe
enters into his creation
in the person
of his son,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew's gospel
goes to a lot of trouble
to help us to understand
that Jesus wasn't born
because Mary and Joseph
had premarital sex
and something went wrong.
It is very clear
that Joseph is not
Jesus' biological dad.
He was born
because the Holy Spirit
of God
caused Jesus
to be conceived
in Mary
while she was a virgin.
Our creator
became like us,
his creatures,
except that he was
without sin,
he was God himself
entering our world
and he grew
to become
the perfect human being,
he was prepared
to be,
being prepared
to be
a perfect sacrifice.
So Jesus
is human
and in some ways
that's clear.
He was born,
he lived,
he cried,
he laughed,
he had friends
and he had enemies,
he showed compassion
and mercy,
he got hungry,
he suffered,
he grieved.
Hebrews chapter 5
says he is able
to deal gently
with those
who are ignorant
and going astray
since he himself
is subject
to weakness.
Now I don't know
about you
but I think
when we think
human weakness
we think sin
and failure.
You know,
I opened my mouth
and said that sentence
that I really knew
I shouldn't have said.
Or I went surfing
somewhere on the internet
that I knew
was destructive.
Weakness
for Jesus
wasn't sin.
It was experiencing
the limitation
of life
as a flesh
and blood person.
It says in Hebrews
chapter 5
that during the days
of Jesus' life
on earth
he offered up
prayers and petitions
with loud cries
and tears
to the one
who could save him
from death.
And he was heard
because of his
reverent submission.
And although
he was a son
he learned obedience
from what he suffered
and once made perfect
he became the source
of eternal salvation
for all who obey him.
He hungered in the desert
for 40 days of testing.
He experienced deep grief
when his friend
John the Baptist
was beheaded.
He was abandoned
by many disciples
in John chapter 6
when they didn't
understand his teaching.
His suffering
was unjust.
He did such good
to so many people
and the leaders
of the nations
hated him for it.
They falsely accused him
of being empowered
by Satan.
He was bashed
nearly to death.
He was executed
by suffocating
on a cross
because people
had lied
at his trial.
God
my whole message
last week
was that Jesus
is the one
who reveals
the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ
and every true thing
that we know
about the Father
is revealed
by his obedient son.
Jesus had a difficult life
and he persevered
in that difficult life
absolutely dependent
on his heavenly Father.
His amazingly selfless prayer
in the Garden of Gethsemane
the night before he died
he fell with his face
to the ground
and he prayed
my Father
if it is possible
may this cup
be taken from me
yet not my will
but as you will
my Father
if possible
yet not what I want
but what you want.
He's the Lord's prayer
personified.
Your kingdom come
O God
your will be done
ahead of mine.
It's a prayer
of dependent trust
Father I am hurting
in this moment
but I trust
in your good will
and your purposes.
You know
when we hurt
what do we want to do?
We really want to tell God
what he needs to do
to get us out of this mess.
Take this pain
away from him.
And you see in Jesus
that he doesn't hesitate
to tell his Father
that he is hurting
but he does not insist
on his way out
he trusts his Father's
plans and purposes
being for good.
Three times in Matthew's
gospel he teaches
his disciples
that he's going to
suffer
at the hands
of the religious leaders
that he will die
and three days later
he will rise.
He was trusting
that his Father
was going to raise him
from the dead
by faith.
Hebrews chapter 10
says it another way
it says
therefore when Christ
came into the world
he said
sacrifice an offering
you did not desire
but a body
you prepared for me.
With burnt offerings
and sin offerings
you were not pleased.
But then I said
here I am
it is written about me
in the scroll
I have come
to do your will
O God.
So Christ
came into the world
he accepted
the limitations
of a human body
he was sinless
his sinless body
became the only
possible sacrifice
for our sins
there is no
other perfect person.
isn't that a relief
that we don't even
have to look for one
or try to be?
But more amazing
still is the view
that Christ
had of himself
in Mark 10
Jesus has been
teaching his disciples
about dark days ahead
and he's going
about this really
serious teaching
which is obviously
causing him
a reasonable amount
of grief
and the disciples
are bickering
about status
and position.
And James and John
they make their move
and they ask
for special position
in heaven
ahead of the rest.
And there is this
very unedifying
argument about
who will have
the most important
place in heaven.
We could try
here this morning
I wonder
who it's and Paul's
will be more
important in heaven.
It's embarrassing
and it's
extremely unhelpful.
And Jesus says
if you are going
to be great
learn to be a servant
a slave
or a servant.
And he explains
his own life
and his mission.
For verse 45
Mark 10
verse 45
this is a keeper
this is one of
those verses
you learn
and you remember
forever.
The son of man
did not come
to be served
but to serve
and to give his
life as a ransom
for many.
Philippians chapter 2
is an awesome hymn
of praise
to Christ
describing his mission.
The one who being
in very nature
God
did not consider
equality with God
something to be grasped
but made himself
nothing
taking the very
nature of a
servant
a slave
being made in
human likeness
and being found
in appearance
as a man
he humbled himself
and became
obedient to death
even death
on a cross.
And therefore
God exalted him
to the highest place
and gave him
the name that is
above every name
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.
God the Son
absolutely
equal with God
in nature
didn't try
to cling
to the rights
of his position.
it's been called
God's great
bungee jump
left heaven
stepped away
from entitlement
and prestige
and honour
and fell
face forward
and smashed
into the earth.
As a man
he allowed himself
to be subjected
to indignity
and humiliation
ultimately
God permitted
his creatures
to do their worst
to him
they tried
to snatch
the kingdom
from God
by launching
an all-out assault
on his son.
And Jesus
anticipated
what was going
to happen
when he
retold
the parable
of the vineyard
from Isaiah
and applied it
to his own rejection.
The man
who owned
the vineyard
he put tenants
in charge.
The tenants
refused to
acknowledge the owner
by not paying
the rent.
They beat
and killed
the messengers
who were seen
climaxing in the
death even
of John the Baptist.
and finally
he says
I will send
my son
whom I love
they will
respect him
and the tenants
see the son
and they decide
to kill him
and steal the kingdom
and the inheritance
for themselves.
to reject
Jesus
is the
most awful
expression
of our
rejection
of God
the Father.
It's as though
we have tried
to seize
God
with our own
hands
and sought
to destroy
him
it is the
most terrible
thing to have
been done
in the whole
of human
history.
and God
holds us
all culpable
because it is
the ultimate
re-expression
of Adam
and Eve's
sins.
We shut
God out
of our
lives
we try
to kick
him
out of
his
garden
and destroy
him
forever.
It is
great
wickedness.
God's
point of
view
Psalm 2
says
he laughs
not because
he thinks
our efforts
are funny
but because
they are so
puny
and ridiculously
ineffective.
He deals
with the
rejection
of his
son by
vindicating
in a
flash
he makes
him alive
again.
We did
our worst
to kick
God out
of the
picture
and he
reverses
it in
an instant
and raises
him as
king in
heaven.
So
Psalm
Philippians
chapter 2
therefore God
exalted
him to
the highest
place and
gave him
the name
that is
above every
name 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.
Yes.
So God
has vindicated
his son and
we are
accountable to
him whether
we like it
or not.
The son of
God has
conquered
through service.
He didn't
seek glory.
He was given
it by his
heavenly father.
His ultimate
ministry was to
submit to his
father's will and
lay down his
life.
In John 10
he says the
reason that my
father loves me
is that I lay
down my life
only to take it
up again.
No one takes
it from me
but I lay
it down of my
own accord.
I have
authority to
lay it down
and authority
to take it
up again.
This command
I receive
from my
father.
Brothers and
sisters we
cannot emulate
Christ in
perfection and
that's not what
he calls us to
do.
His sacrifice
is unique.
His
personhood is
unique.
He is God
himself fully
God.
He is also
fully a
person.
And he has
taken perfect
humanity in
himself into
heaven right
now.
But we
must take
heed of what
he has said
to his
disciples when
they are arguing
over status and
position.
I have
known a lot
of joy since
coming to
St. Paul's
and I have
done a lot
of growing
too.
I have
experienced
things I have
never experienced
before and
worked in a
team which
has just
been wonderful.
But let
me tell you
that what I
find very
difficult and
it has been a
significant problem
here that has
occurred over and
over and over
again.
People who push
hard for things
to be done
their way.
Now let me tell
you I have got my
own willfulness so
I am probably a
player in this as
well.
But this is how
we do it.
Don't you know
who I am?
This is my
ministry at
St. Paul's.
When I went to
my last parish
13 years ago
a woman was on
my doorstep in
the first few
days and she
said I am the
women's evangelist
use me.
Let me tell you
when you first go
to a parish
you are like a
rabbit in
headlights.
You are trying
to get a handle
on this strange
new place and
I didn't meet
her expectations.
But what she
couldn't see was
she brought to
me a very
exalted view of
herself as an
evangelist.
And she saw
herself as better
than others.
And she pushed
herself forward
over others.
And she didn't
get the recognition
that she thought
she deserved
and she left.
Now she wasn't
giftless and
she wasn't
Christless and
she could have
been a huge
help in our
church with her
gifts and her
heart for the
Lord Jesus if
she had just
come forward
and asked how
can I serve
these are some
of the things I
think I can do.
but she came
as a Lord
and not as a
servant.
Jesus says if
you are going
to be great
learn to be a
slave or a
servant.
Service is
ministry.
And the word
means the same
thing.
The ministries
that Christ
gives us are
not so that we
can glory over
one another and
say how important
we are.
He allows us to
serve for the
benefit of his
people and his
purposes.
So whenever we
slip into a
mindset of what
about me,
it might be
appropriate to
us sometimes but
other times we
lose our
servant-heartedness
focus becomes
and the focus
becomes me and
I lose my
focus on my
master's business.
I love some of
the work that
Deb's been done
helping us to
think about the
mindset that we
bring to church.
You know, the
people in the
car park in the
morning, they're
not just trying to
line up cars and
maximise space so
that we can get
51 cars instead of
50 into the car
park.
That's not what
it's about.
They're
welcomers.
They're the
first point of
contact when a
new person comes to
church and drives
into our car park.
And so they have
this wonderful
opportunity to
communicate to
people that we're
really glad to see
this.
We're glad for you
to be here.
Is there anything
that you need to
know from us in
terms of where to
go or who's who
or what's what?
They help people.
And so a servant
is a person who
operates with the
other in mind and
not with their own
to-do list.
When my child or
my spouse is
needing and hurting
or crying, are
they just this
bother and
trouble to what I
plan to do?
Or do I see
myself as their
chief provider and
carer and
respond accordingly?
It comes from
Jesus.
The Son of Man
did not come to
be served but to
serve and to give
his life as a
ransom for many.
The last thing I
want us to see is
that Jesus both
identifies as God
and is worshipped
as God.
And when people
like Jehovah's
Witnesses want to
tell you that Jesus
isn't God, know
these things.
Colossians chapter
2 and John
chapter 12
describe Jesus'
victory at the
cross in cosmic
terms.
Colossians 2
15, having
disarmed the
powers and
authorities, he
made a public
spectacle of them
triumphing over
them by the
cross.
In John
chapter 12,
now is the time
for judgment on
this world.
Now the prince of
this world will be
driven out but I
when I am lifted up
from the earth
will draw all
people to myself.
in Mark
chapter 2,
Jesus heals
the paralyzed
man that the
religious leaders,
when Jesus heals
the paralyzed man
in Mark 2,
the religious
leaders are
scandalized when
Jesus says to
this man,
your sins are
forgiven.
Absolutely
scandalized.
And they
rightly declare,
only God has the
authority on earth
to declare sins
forgiven.
How dare you do
such a thing?
But they don't
recognize that God
is standing in
their midst.
Throughout John's
gospel, Jesus
calls himself,
I am.
It's the same way
that God identified
himself to Moses at
the burning bush.
Jesus said, I am
the bread of life,
I am the light of
the world, I am the
good shepherd, I am
the true vine, I am
the way, the truth
and the life.
No one comes to
the Father except
through me.
He speaks as God.
The end of the
Bible, it's filled
with thanks and
praise to our
glorious Lord Jesus
Christ.
There are three
songs in Revelation
5, we read them
often enough, but
these are glorious
songs and they're
worth singing.
The creatures, you
get this picture,
there's different
groups of people
who are singing
the songs.
So the first
song is sung by
the 12 living
creatures, the 24
living creatures,
whatever they are,
that are in the
immediate presence of
God around you.
around the throne
of God in
heaven and this
is what they
sing.
They sing this to
the Lamb, to the
Lord Jesus, you
are worthy to take
the scroll and to
open its seals because
you were slain and
with your blood you
purchase people for
God from every tribe
and language and
people and nation and
you have made them to
be a kingdom and
priests to serve our
God and they will
reign on the earth.
They praise the Lord
Jesus for the ransom
price that he has
paid to bring people
into God's kingdom
from all the nations
of the earth, even
us.
And we're a
multinational lot,
aren't we?
They praise him for
his selfless act of
service.
That's the song that's
sung in heaven around
the throne of God.
God.
And then the third
song, it's a song
which is now sung by
a different group.
It says, every
creature in heaven
and on earth and
under the earth.
It includes us.
And we sing to him
who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb be
praise and honour and
glory and power for
ever and ever.
The Father on the
throne and his Son,
the Lamb, receive our
worship.
They are worshipped as
God forever.
So brothers and
sisters, God has
shown his face amongst
us in the person of
his Son.
He has clearly revealed
himself to be a
servant in submission
to his Father.
Father, he is now our
risen God, the King.
And Psalm 2 tells us
how to respond to such
a mighty Son who is
King.
Psalm 2 says, be
wise, serve the Lord
with fear and rejoice
with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be
angry and you be
destroyed in your way.
For his wrath can
flare up in a moment,
but blessed are all
who take refuge in
him.
If you do not yet
know the Son, what
do you do?
You kiss him.
You make peace with
him.
You find yourself a
safe place with him
so that you are not
burnt when his wrath
flares up in a moment.
Amen.