WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 Okay, so the kids have got a worksheet which is related to the theme of what we're doing 00:00:05.080 --> 00:00:10.400 as well today, which is the question about God being good, because this is part of a 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:13.040 series that we've entitled Unbelievable. 00:00:13.040 --> 00:00:18.039 So we've been looking at different questions, put it in the morning, about Jesus' character. 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:19.039 Is he real? 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:20.120 Is he a bigot? 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:23.320 We looked at last week, and is he good today? 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:26.199 Because these are all the kind of questions people ask. 00:00:26.199 --> 00:00:31.119 I'm sure they ask a lot more, but at least these are some of the questions that people 00:00:31.119 --> 00:00:32.119 ask. 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:36.560 And in the evening, we've been looking at more personal questions and relating them 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:37.560 to the gospel. 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:38.799 Are you hurting? 00:00:38.799 --> 00:00:40.439 Are you empty? 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:46.399 And then this evening, by looking at the resurrection, but the question is, are you hopeless? 00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:50.600 And so today we're looking at the death and resurrection, morning and night, if you can 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:51.600 come this evening. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:52.600 That's fantastic. 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:59.719 You can, because obviously Easter Sunday is a Sunday when people around the world are 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:02.160 remembering the resurrection of Jesus. 00:01:02.160 --> 00:01:04.599 And the resurrection, it kind of goes together, doesn't it? 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:07.480 You can't have the resurrection unless you have the death. 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:13.960 And Sunday morning is magnificent because of Friday afternoon. 00:01:13.960 --> 00:01:15.840 Good Friday it's called. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:19.680 And that's an interesting question in itself if you're not a Christian. 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:25.360 Why do Christians call Friday and what Jesus was crucified a good day? 00:01:25.360 --> 00:01:30.480 And it's challenging to think about that because it was both a brutal day, but also a magnificent 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:37.840 day when we understand and know why Jesus did what He did. 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:43.719 But the implications of that question, is Jesus good, is really significant. 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:51.159 I think for all of us, if you say yes to that, then it's very significant because there's 00:01:51.159 --> 00:01:52.159 implications. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:55.200 And if you say no to that, there are also implications. 00:01:55.200 --> 00:02:01.799 So I would, I'm encouraging people who are not Christians to examine Jesus. 00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:04.200 That's really what we've wanted to do in this series. 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:11.439 We wanted to encourage people to examine who Jesus is, rather than maybe making a sweeping 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:18.520 stereotypical rejection of what you've heard about Jesus. 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:23.079 We wanted people to examine Him for Himself. 00:02:23.079 --> 00:02:28.400 So in a context like this, with that question, is Jesus good then? 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:30.240 Definitions are very important, aren't they? 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:36.879 So it depends on how you define good, therefore, doesn't it? 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:41.799 There's lots behind a question like, is Jesus good, but definitions are very significant. 00:02:41.799 --> 00:02:47.519 If your definition of good is different from mine, which it very probably will be, then 00:02:47.519 --> 00:02:51.599 on what basis can we make any statement about God's and Jesus' goodness? 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:56.400 And I think that's a very big challenge for the society in which we live, especially as 00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:00.560 God is banned from the public square or denied altogether. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:06.519 If life is just explained in purely materialistic terms, then isn't it just up to everyone 00:03:06.520 --> 00:03:09.960 to decide what's good and bad and what's right and wrong? 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:14.560 That nobody is the right to tell anybody else because there's no fixed standard and there's 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:18.600 nothing that is absolutely good or evil. 00:03:18.600 --> 00:03:25.000 But I think we find that way of thinking holds within it a basic inconsistency, doesn't it? 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:26.520 You know, who does define? 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:28.760 Who can say there is good? 00:03:28.760 --> 00:03:31.400 Can there be such a thing as goodness? 00:03:31.400 --> 00:03:37.120 And if you say yes, then are you arguing for a standard goodness for everybody or is it 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:41.200 just something that you decide for yourself? 00:03:41.200 --> 00:03:43.280 It's difficult, isn't it? 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:48.840 I do think the society we live in leaves as many questions as it does answers with God 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:50.719 out of the picture. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:56.280 Is it just basically the majority who decide what's good or those with power or those with 00:03:56.280 --> 00:03:57.800 influence? 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:03.719 Maybe it's a fearsome minority, those who shout loudest that decide what is good and 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:06.520 what is evil. 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:12.640 And it's interesting in the society which does espouse individualism and diversity and 00:04:12.640 --> 00:04:18.280 individuality that there is a really scary kind of dogmatism rising up. 00:04:18.280 --> 00:04:24.840 A group think that denies anybody the right to think differently or to have a different 00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:30.079 standard of goodness in their lives. 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:38.599 But I think in our own lives, in the way we live our lives, the experience of our lives 00:04:38.599 --> 00:04:45.559 in our being as it were, we sense good and evil and good and bad. 00:04:45.559 --> 00:04:50.559 It's kind of, it's both instinctive and it's also learned. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:55.199 It's something that we feel just comes from within us but we maybe learn it from our surroundings, 00:04:55.199 --> 00:04:58.319 our family and our culture. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:02.959 And it might be distorted, it might develop along different paths. 00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:11.639 But there is that, we do have, it can't be explained maybe philosophically or morally, 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:15.319 but we do have a sense of good and of what is right. 00:05:15.319 --> 00:05:22.839 Now that good, however you define it, we would also admit is badly bruised, isn't it? 00:05:22.839 --> 00:05:28.920 The world we live in, goodness is badly bruised. 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:36.199 You know, why is there so much badness if goodness is so good? 00:05:36.199 --> 00:05:44.480 Why would you pick up an evening news or watch Reporting Scotland or any world news and see 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:49.319 so much bad news, so many tears? 00:05:49.319 --> 00:05:55.520 Why do people choose to do so many hurtful, selfish things that none of us would describe 00:05:55.520 --> 00:06:00.319 or qualify as being good? 00:06:00.319 --> 00:06:05.560 Why are we drawn in our own characters to crime thrillers and to war films and to violence 00:06:05.560 --> 00:06:06.560 on the screens? 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:11.439 Why do we love rebels, bad boys and sassy girls so much? 00:06:11.439 --> 00:06:18.519 Why do we choose so often to eat and to drink and to smoke and to inject bad things into 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:21.879 our lives and into our bodies? 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:30.920 Why do we often choose the wrong company, damaging friendships and lovers if good is 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:35.000 so important to us in our own lives? 00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:41.920 And I think part of the answer to that, which we don't really have time to go into in much 00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:46.480 detail at all, but part of the answer to that is where there is good. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:50.160 In the world in which we live, where there is good, there will always be evil. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:53.199 There will always be bad. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:54.720 That's a reality. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:07:03.680 And evil is a problem of the human heart and continues to be a problem of the human heart. 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:09.240 And in a spiritual realm, which we believe in, there is a realm of darkness and a realm 00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:14.879 of evil that is very real, even though it's unseen. 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:21.240 And that therein lies the problem that we face as a humanity and as a world, that there 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:28.040 is good, but there is also this tremendously potent and powerful evil. 00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:31.000 And that leads me on into the question, is Jesus good? 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:37.240 Because you can only really look at that question in the light of the opposite assertion that 00:07:37.240 --> 00:07:39.600 He must be bad. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:44.120 And so, you know, the two opposites come together and it's a huge question. 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:50.319 So I'm only going to offer a couple of pointers to you to consider this morning. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:58.800 And the first comes from a quote that Jesus gave to someone who came up to question Him. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:02.360 And the guy said, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:05.840 And Jesus in reply said to him, why do you call me good? 00:08:05.840 --> 00:08:09.560 Jesus answered, no one is good except God alone. 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:15.199 Now there you may think that He's denying the fact that He is good or that only God 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:16.879 is good and He is not God. 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:22.160 But in the context that we find that, and in the provocative way that He's asking, He's 00:08:22.160 --> 00:08:26.160 basically saying, yes, you're right, God is good. 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:30.360 Why do you call me good unless I'm God? 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:37.840 And it's one of the kind of subtle claims that Jesus makes both towards His divinity 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:43.720 and towards His goodness and the goodness of God, which we sung about in the Psalms and 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:46.639 which the Bible is full of. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:54.519 He claims divinity many times in the New Testament, which of course is why Good Friday happened, 00:08:54.519 --> 00:09:00.759 because they wanted to crucify Him for His claims of being divine. 00:09:00.759 --> 00:09:04.000 And even in this chapter, He speaks about the resurrection. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:09.039 He speaks about His own claims to the resurrection in this chapter. 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:18.960 And what is said here and what is said throughout the Bible is a message that God is good in 00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:19.960 His being. 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:21.399 He's inherently good. 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:23.639 He is good through and through. 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:25.480 He made a good world. 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:29.639 He's the author, and He's the standard of goodness. 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:31.840 Everything that is good comes from God. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:37.960 He is good, loving, just and pure, and it's all so fused in together. 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:43.759 And right from the beginning, the Bible is absolutely clear about the goodness of God 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:46.840 in His character. 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:56.519 And therefore the problem of evil exists only in opposition to His goodness. 00:09:56.519 --> 00:10:02.600 So evil would never exist if it weren't for God, and if it weren't for His goodness, you 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:07.240 simply can't have evil, let me look at it philosophically, you can't have evil on its 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:08.360 own. 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:10.360 Evil doesn't exist on its own. 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:15.080 It only exists in opposition to something that is absolutely good. 00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:21.800 It didn't pre-exist God, evil, and it wouldn't outlive God because evil is only a construct 00:10:21.800 --> 00:10:26.120 that comes from opposition to a God who is good. 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:31.840 You can't have God without the possibility of evil. 00:10:31.840 --> 00:10:35.800 Now I'm not going to go deeper into that because that's the great question of the universe 00:10:35.800 --> 00:10:42.280 that many people in a sense remains on so, well, what is the origin of evil? 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:48.799 And ultimately, there's no real answer to that, but we do recognize that where there 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:55.519 is a good God, the opposition to a good God will come in the form of evil, and you can't 00:10:55.519 --> 00:11:03.839 have God without that possibility because evil is a rebellion against God's good and 00:11:03.839 --> 00:11:08.399 sovereign and fatherly and loving rule. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:13.039 And it's a guilt in which we are all complicit. 00:11:13.039 --> 00:11:14.919 It's a guilt in which we are all complicit. 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:22.000 You recognize and see that, that both the reality of good and evil have a spiritual 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.840 genesis. 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:31.799 Science and technology can't explain good and evil, only observe it. 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:37.840 So we're moving into a different field when we look at these matters. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:40.000 So the question is, does it matter? 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:41.000 Does it matter to you today? 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:44.480 Easter Sunday, it's a lovely day, can't wait to get outside, get about the sun, get 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:46.840 a picnic, we should just be over it quickly. 00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:54.639 And I'm sure that's true for all of you, but if it's made up, if it's all made up, 00:11:54.639 --> 00:12:00.280 the reality of God and Jesus and Easter and death and resurrection, if it's made up, no, 00:12:00.280 --> 00:12:02.080 it doesn't matter. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:05.280 It doesn't matter whether we come to a decision about it. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:10.199 If there isn't an ultimate source of goodness or evil, if there's not a standard, if it's 00:12:10.199 --> 00:12:14.759 just something that's evolving within and from ourselves, then we'll just need to battle 00:12:14.759 --> 00:12:15.759 on. 00:12:15.759 --> 00:12:20.759 And we'll see who's voice shouts the loudest and which minority group is most offended 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:24.839 or which largest corporation decides what's good for the rest of us, because we know how 00:12:24.839 --> 00:12:26.159 much money speaks. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:30.399 Well, we'll just do our best and then we'll die and that'll be it over. 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.120 So it doesn't really matter, ultimately. 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:39.639 But if God is good, and if He's the creator of a good world, and He is good, pure and 00:12:39.639 --> 00:12:46.360 just, and we are made in His image, and there is a problem of evil that emanates and starts 00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:51.399 from our own hearts and separates us from Him and is the reason for our death and separation 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:53.560 from life and from God. 00:12:53.560 --> 00:13:00.080 If there is a spiritual realm of evil that is both personal and malevolent, if He speaks 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:07.639 into our condition of separation from Him by coming and dying and rising again on the 00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:15.960 third day because of His deep, outstanding love for us, then yes, I would argue it does 00:13:15.960 --> 00:13:17.639 matter. 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:21.040 It does matter hugely. 00:13:21.040 --> 00:13:27.120 So briefly towards the end here, I want to define, try and define what I mean by God's, 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.919 by Jesus' goodness, is Jesus good? 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:33.799 My answer to that is yes, I think Jesus is good. 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:41.679 I don't want to do it theologically, primarily, but I want to do it using the picture of friendship. 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:47.480 I mentioned the friendship and the question I was asking for the children about friendship 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:55.680 because Jesus always used pictures to help us understand important theological truth. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:14:02.959 And He uses pictures He knows we'll get that He knows we'll understand. 00:14:02.959 --> 00:14:10.120 And friendship is one of the ways He describes Himself and describes His goodness in terms 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:11.120 of friendship. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:15.000 And friendship is a great way, isn't it, to understand goodness? 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:20.079 Friendship is a great way to understand goodness. 00:14:20.079 --> 00:14:25.240 All of us here, anyone could walk into church today and grasp the whole concept of friendship. 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:34.480 And often our very best, our goodest experiences revolve around friendship, whether it's marriage 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:38.120 or family or just our best friends. 00:14:38.120 --> 00:14:44.480 The closest relationships we have that are good are these deep friendships. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:46.480 It's so key to life, isn't it? 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:49.759 It's key to good company that we share. 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:55.639 One who understands me, someone who loves me, who's committed to me, who knows my life 00:14:55.639 --> 00:15:01.439 with all its mistakes and errors and failure, who sticks with me through thick and thin, 00:15:01.439 --> 00:15:02.439 is sacrificial. 00:15:02.439 --> 00:15:06.679 You know, they used to say a friend in need is a pain in the neck. 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:08.439 But I don't think that's true. 00:15:08.439 --> 00:15:15.720 A friend in need is a friend indeed, and there's that element of sacrificial commitment that 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:18.879 friendship develops so much. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:25.759 If we were to have, if we were to choose an epitaph for our grave stone, I think being 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:29.960 a good friend would be a pretty good one. 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:37.279 Whatever else we might want to summarize our life as being a good friend is pretty high 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:39.279 up there. 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:44.240 I would certainly argue it is in my understanding. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:50.919 So Jesus uses the concept of friendship, we'll come back to that in a minute. 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:54.080 But I just want to say, okay, I know it's a bit different, okay? 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:59.720 I know talking about Christ as a friend is a wee bit different for us to think about 00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:05.399 because most of our friends we can see for a start. 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:10.680 We know God is a spirit, we know that God's the Son Christ took on a body, that body died 00:16:10.679 --> 00:16:14.639 and that body was resurrected on the third day and then ascended to heaven, so He's in 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:17.039 heaven, we can't see Him. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:22.839 But believers believe by faith, not a blind faith, but they believe by faith that God 00:16:22.839 --> 00:16:30.439 is real and God is conscious and God is evidenced in creation and in our consciousness and in 00:16:30.439 --> 00:16:33.599 Christ and in the world in which we live. 00:16:33.599 --> 00:16:38.799 He's real, He's not visibly tangible. 00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:42.759 So when I'm speaking about friendship, I'm speaking about a spiritual friendship, one 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:46.799 we can't hold hands with them as it were. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:49.639 It's not an ordinary friendship. 00:16:49.639 --> 00:16:55.279 And it's not ordinary in the sense that Christ is not like us. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:03.759 You know, to a greater or lesser degree, all our friends are like us in that we all fail 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:09.559 and make mistakes and break promises and break trust and do good things and bad things in 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:10.559 our friendships. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:12.640 God doesn't like that. 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:14.359 So there is a difference in the friendship. 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:19.000 It's not a friendship of equals at that level. 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:21.000 He never does wrong. 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:22.119 He never lets us down. 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:24.640 He never breaks his promises to us. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:25.759 It's a perfect love. 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:27.640 We struggle with that. 00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:32.079 I struggle with that because He doesn't act on my terms and He doesn't answer the way 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:38.039 I would expect and He's not like an ordinary friend because He's perfect. 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:42.319 And that's really difficult for us in many ways. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:50.559 Until we come to faith in Jesus Christ, it's a broken relationship. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:17:56.879 It's an estranged friendship we have with God. 00:17:56.879 --> 00:18:01.199 And it's only Christ that can renew that friendship. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:04.000 So how is Jesus then our best friend? 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.600 Well we read it, or Callum read it for us. 00:18:06.600 --> 00:18:12.400 Greater love has no one than this to lay down one's life for one's friend. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:20.039 So Good Friday, culminating in Easter Sunday, is about the greatest love. 00:18:20.039 --> 00:18:23.360 He says, you know, there's no greater love than this. 00:18:23.360 --> 00:18:27.840 Even in human terms, we know and we understand that. 00:18:27.840 --> 00:18:29.840 Although I don't suppose any of us have actually experienced that. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:32.399 I shouldn't say that because I don't know your own experiences. 00:18:32.399 --> 00:18:35.559 But it would be very rare for you to have a friend that is so deep and good that they 00:18:35.559 --> 00:18:37.559 would give their life for you. 00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:42.319 But each of us as Christians know that in Jesus Christ. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:48.839 He's paid the ultimate price to renew our friendship with Him and with God. 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:50.559 He's the author of love. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:56.199 There is no greater act of love, no greater act of sacrifice than Jesus doing what He 00:18:56.200 --> 00:19:06.720 did in order to renew, recover, restore, reinvigorate a friendship that sin and our rebellion against 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:13.080 God had broken and estranged us from. 00:19:13.080 --> 00:19:15.200 So it's the deepest love. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:18.759 But it's also an act of great forgiveness. 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:19.759 Jesus saw their faith. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:22.680 He said, friend, your sins are forgiven. 00:19:22.680 --> 00:19:26.560 I'm just picking out one or two verses from the gospels that speak about, or Jesus using 00:19:26.560 --> 00:19:32.680 the concept of friendship and linking it together. 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:39.039 And we understand this element of friendship probably more than any you know, don't you, 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:40.039 Winnad? 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:49.440 The deepest hurts in life are always come from when a deepest friendship goes wrong. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:55.440 That's where the, if you don't care a lot about someone and they offend you or they 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:59.160 hurt you, then you kind of shrug your shoulders. 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:00.960 That's life. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:05.920 But when it's the deepest friendship, it's devastating. 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:10.480 When you've committed and given your heart and soul to a person in friendship and you 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:17.519 trusted them implicitly and you believe their promises and they betray you, it's the deepest 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:18.519 hurt. 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:25.440 The deepest hurt of all, you know, they say that about the greatest divisions in the world, 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:29.519 which is society, which we live, are not caused between strangers. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:35.480 They're caused between those who are closest, families that have split apart, brothers and 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:40.400 sisters that haven't spoken for years and years, neighbors, people who are closest to 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:41.400 one another. 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:47.799 And you know that friendship in that circumstance can't be healed, can't be put right unless 00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:54.980 there's forgiveness, unless there is that some level of an admission of guilt and a 00:20:54.980 --> 00:20:57.159 change of heart and a change of direction. 00:20:57.159 --> 00:21:02.519 And that's where the crucifixion and the resurrection is so important and what it's 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:07.960 all about because we can't put right what is wrong between ourselves and God. 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:09.799 Only God can do that. 00:21:09.799 --> 00:21:14.000 Only He can forgive our sins because He's paid the price for them Himself. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:16.519 It's a remarkable truth. 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:23.079 And this thing, I dreamt I preached this last night, this bit, because it's not in my notes, 00:21:23.079 --> 00:21:24.079 okay? 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:29.279 And it's just this remarkable truth that Jesus, because I read something that triggered it, 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:36.039 and that's why it's not an original thought at all in any way, but Jesus was the only 00:21:36.039 --> 00:21:43.799 individual person who has ever lived, who's completely innocent, innocent of any wrong 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:44.799 doing whatsoever. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:47.960 I'm not going to talk about the law of God, which is a law of love, loving God with all 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:50.480 your heart, soul, mind, and loving your neighbour as yourself. 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:52.159 He fulfilled that absolutely. 00:21:52.159 --> 00:22:02.799 He was the utterly perfect individual, did nothing wrong in thought, word, or deed. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:08.159 And yet He had to pay the price of being someone who failed, someone who sinned because He 00:22:08.159 --> 00:22:09.559 was doing it in our place. 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:17.399 The only person who ever lived who didn't deserve to die, and yet He died. 00:22:17.399 --> 00:22:22.159 And He's the only person who has died. 00:22:22.159 --> 00:22:25.200 One hundred percent of people have died, including Jesus. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:26.399 One hundred percent. 00:22:26.399 --> 00:22:28.200 Everyone in this room will die. 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:31.359 Everyone who has ever lived before us will die, and that includes Jesus. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:38.200 But of all the billions of people who have ever lived, Jesus is the only one who's been 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:44.440 raised from the dead in His own power to defeat death and never die again. 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:45.440 The only one. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:49.559 That's the utter and complete uniqueness of the gospel claim. 00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:51.519 There's no other gospel like it. 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:53.640 There's no other claim like it. 00:22:53.640 --> 00:23:00.279 It is utterly and completely and devastatingly uniquely different. 00:23:00.279 --> 00:23:07.039 And that Jesus is saying that He took death and sin on Himself because we couldn't pay 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:08.039 the price ourselves. 00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:12.799 We couldn't act and live perfectly and to renew that friendship. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:13.799 Our hearts rebel. 00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:16.920 They do wrong. 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:21.799 We can do evil beyond anything we would ever admit. 00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:26.119 But all that wrongdoing is all punishable. 00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:30.639 It's all against God and that Jesus took the price upon Himself. 00:23:30.639 --> 00:23:32.960 It's the act of greatest love, as He said. 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:36.519 Greater love is no man than this, than He laid down His life for His time so that He 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:39.519 could forgive us. 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:44.440 And the greatest thing we need is forgiveness in our lives with the living God who we will 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:46.759 face one day. 00:23:46.759 --> 00:23:49.200 Friendship is also about loyalty. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:53.559 One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin but there is a friend who sticks closer 00:23:53.559 --> 00:23:56.039 than a brother. 00:23:56.039 --> 00:23:57.639 That's the friendship that Jesus offers. 00:23:57.639 --> 00:24:01.519 That's the goodness of Jesus that He says, look, I'm not going to leave you. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:02.879 I'm not going to forsake you. 00:24:02.879 --> 00:24:04.519 I'm not going to give up on you. 00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:09.799 You may think that I have, you may not feel that I'm around, you may not sense my presence, 00:24:09.799 --> 00:24:15.400 but He says, you've come to me in faith and trust and I will never let you go. 00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:20.000 And I will stick. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:28.000 Brotherly love can be a great thing, fantastic thing, and can be amazingly close. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:34.799 And one of the most terrible things must be to have to stand at the grave of your brother, 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:38.839 knowing that that love has ended through death. 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:41.920 And Jesus says, that will never be the case. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:48.680 I will stick closer than the closest friend, right through death and on into eternal life. 00:24:48.680 --> 00:24:52.480 And lastly, about friendship, in terms of, I'm sure there's many other things we could 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.480 say, but He's honest. 00:24:53.480 --> 00:24:58.319 He says, faithful are the wounds of a friend. 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:03.120 Wounds of a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. 00:25:03.120 --> 00:25:05.799 Again it's an ultimate goodness, isn't it? 00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:11.200 That someone who, you know that in your lives, that's a mark for you, I'm sure, is a mark 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:16.400 of me of a true friend, is someone who's honest with you and who loves you enough to 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:20.000 warn you about the direction that you're going in your life. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:21.000 That's real friendship. 00:25:21.000 --> 00:25:22.360 That's a mark of great friendship. 00:25:22.359 --> 00:25:25.959 And Jesus did that, and Jesus does that for us. 00:25:25.959 --> 00:25:30.119 Sometimes when He speaks to us in our hearts, He's exposing us to the core. 00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:32.439 Sometimes maybe you'll come to church and hear this sermon, you'll think, I never want 00:25:32.439 --> 00:25:33.879 to go back to that place again. 00:25:33.879 --> 00:25:36.559 He was just nagging down at my heart. 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:43.959 And I hope I never nag, but it may be that I have no awareness, I guarantee you, I'll 00:25:43.959 --> 00:25:48.839 have no awareness of what God is saying from His word to us, because God is faithful in 00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:57.119 that way, in a way that is sometimes hurtful, because faithful are the wounds of a friend, 00:25:57.119 --> 00:26:02.759 because He wants to stop us going down a road that's ultimately dark and damaging. 00:26:02.759 --> 00:26:10.000 And that's how we know that Jesus our Savior, when we open the Word of God and we hear Him 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:15.079 saying things to us and we say, He's telling me to change and move because He loves me and 00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:24.559 because He's honest, and therefore God is good, as He is the ultimate good friend we 00:26:24.559 --> 00:26:25.559 could ever have. 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:32.240 There's a music verse at the end of Psalm 8-8, and I conclude with this. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:35.079 It says, the darkness is my closest friend. 00:26:35.079 --> 00:26:42.399 It's an amazing Psalm, it's a very depressive Psalm in many ways. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:47.440 Samus is describing the utter loneliness and despair he feels from any human friendship 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:51.680 that he might have had, darkness there and despair. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:57.720 But even in that darkness, Samus is clinging on to God as his only hope, which is just, 00:26:57.720 --> 00:27:01.320 but he is clinging on to God as his only hope. 00:27:01.320 --> 00:27:05.160 And it could be a terrible thing for you to be in a place where darkness is your closest 00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:09.840 friend. 00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:13.599 And that can be the experience for many people. 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:19.759 And it is only ameliorated by knowing Jesus Christ as light and love and goodness, and 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:22.399 the one who will take us through to complete healing. 00:27:22.399 --> 00:27:28.959 So Good Friday is a place where Jesus took the full experience not only of the betrayal 00:27:28.959 --> 00:27:36.079 of all his earthly friends, but also the forsakenness of his Father in heaven, and suffered 00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:45.119 the isolation of bearing the cost of our sins in order to offer us life and hope in the resurrection. 00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:48.359 So today, he is risen, we say. 00:27:48.359 --> 00:27:50.839 He is risen indeed. 00:27:50.839 --> 00:27:52.960 And that changes everything. 00:27:52.960 --> 00:27:57.199 So all I ask you to do if you're not a Christian here today, if you're questioning or doubting 00:27:57.199 --> 00:28:05.359 or cynical or maybe skeptical, I would ask you to consider the claims of Jesus and recognize 00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:10.000 that all he asks you to do is acknowledge the problem of sin and darkness in your own 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:18.279 heart, that friendship with you in heaven that's broken confess that sin that separates 00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:24.559 you from him and trust in the love of Jesus that he's paid the price so that you can know 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:29.639 an unparalleled friendship with him in this life and on into eternity. 00:28:29.639 --> 00:28:34.639 That's our experience of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we love him for that reason. 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:36.640 Let's pray. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:44.000 Father God, we ask and pray that you would help us to love you more, not because somehow 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.160 that will earn more favor with you. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:50.600 We know we can't earn favor with you, that your salvation is a gift. 00:28:50.600 --> 00:28:57.200 It's full and free, that we are helpless before you, and we simply come and ask that we would 00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:04.680 understand and see more clearly that you love us and that you are honest with us and you 00:29:04.680 --> 00:29:10.680 are faithful to us and that you will not let us go when we put our hope and trust in you. 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:13.720 It's the greatest estrangement that's brought to an end. 00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:21.240 It's the greatest division that has ended with being engulfed in the loving arms of 00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:27.720 the Father who runs to us like he does in the picture of the prodigal Son and embraces 00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:33.240 us and says, this my child was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found. 00:29:33.240 --> 00:29:36.079 May that be our experience. 00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:41.039 What we know to be our own experience as Christians, we long for that to be the experience of our 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:48.319 friends, our neighbors, our family members, and those around us who don't know Jesus. 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:59.159 We want people to have all the kind of misconceptions that they may harbour against Jesus. 00:29:59.159 --> 00:30:08.039 We so want them to be destroyed and the arguments to be discerned and to see both the logical 00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:17.159 reality, the spiritual meaningfulness and the practical joy of knowing forgiveness and 00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:22.680 knowing our identity and knowing the purpose of this world and this universe in which we 00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:32.759 live is based and founded on a personal, real living God and that we're not just alone 00:30:32.759 --> 00:30:35.000 in this vast universe. 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:37.759 For that we give thanks today in Jesus' name. 00:30:37.759 --> 00:30:48.319 Amen.