agricultural excursion for school, staying in a motel in a small country town.
This motel, for some of you, this will be familiar. It's one of those motels many years ago where they
had the cupboard near the front door where the motel owner or whoever it was could open the door
from the outside, slide the breakfast in, and then you open the cupboard from the inside and get your
breakfast. I had one of those little cupboards still in operation. And in the wee hours of one
morning, a number of my fellow students decided it was a great idea to jump on me, to secure me in my
sleeping bag, and to put me in that cupboard, and to lock the door of the cupboard with the cord from
the kettle, all against my will and without my prior knowledge. It was in that moment, locked in that
cupboard, small cupboard, completely dark, that I realized how much I enjoyed my freedom, and how
little I wanted to be buried alive in a coffin. And it's fair to say that in that moment, I went nuts,
and I kicked that little cupboard apart, totally apart, in my bid for freedom. Of course, their lack of
planning meant that it was their breakfast cupboard, and not the one from my room that got destroyed.
They also had further explained to do when a sheep from the agricultural block of the neighboring high
school ended up in their room painted green. And the green paint discovered in the main perpetrator
of me being placed in that cupboard in his bag. There was a lot of explaining to do. Somehow, I managed to
get out of that one scot-free. All of us, no sheep were harmed in the process, I might add.
All of us value our freedom. We value the freedom to choose to do what we want, behave how we want.
And when that's threatened in any way, there is significant pushback. The importance in the Western
world of individual freedom and personal choice is very high. And ironically, it grew out of Protestant
theology, especially theology of salvation by faith alone through grace alone, and the call for every
person to make a conscious decision to put their faith in Jesus. The culture that we now live in
has gone way beyond what it was once the Bible's revolutionary concept of freedom. Freedom of choice
is now freedom of choice without any form of limitations. And that has become sacred.
There is, in our culture, no concept of objective and absolute truth. In fact, that has been rejected.
No concept of absolute or objective truth that must be understood and accepted. It is up to you,
the individual, to make up your own truth. So absolute truth is rejected, and it's up to you to make up your own truth,
which ironically is itself an absolute truth claim. Freedom from any constraints is the new moral absolute,
absolute truth. So that the only sin which is not tolerated is intolerance.
And so you have things like the Supreme Court in the United States declaring in a judgment case on abortion
that at the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence or meaning
of the universe and of the mystery of human life.
At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence,
even if that concept of existence is to end the life of another.
In this worldview, religion is seen as the enemy.
Religion is seen as stifling of autonomy and freedom because it seeks to impose a universal worldview.
In his recent book on preaching, American pastor and theologian Tim Keller writes,
the late modern mind, which is the culture that we exist in, presents itself something like this.
We have come to realize that we don't need God to explain the world we see.
Science does their job for us.
We don't need God or religion to be moral, to love, and to work for a better world,
or to have meaning and fulfillment in life.
What we need is to be free, to live life as we see fit,
and to work together to make the world a better and more just place to live.
If religion gets in the way of all of that,
it constrains our freedom to live as we see fit,
and it divides us so that we cannot work together.
So get God and religion out of the equation,
and you won't have the external constraints placed on you,
and so you're free to live as you see fit,
and in that freedom, somehow, as we all live individualistically for our own freedom,
we're going to make the world a better place.
We as a church exist in a culture that is drifting like a raft
in a vast ocean of individual freedom and choice
with very few solid anchor points to truth and reality.
It wants to exclude God.
And freedom appears to be up there as the highest of orders.
It appears that we've got freedom,
and yet at the same time, purpose and meaning and hope are declining.
And so rather than taking God out of the picture to find purpose and meaning and freedom,
here at St. Paul's, we want to put God at the center.
It's in our mission statement.
It's a purpose statement.
It is a statement that describes the reason why we exist as a church.
It says that we as a church exist to know Jesus, to treasure Jesus,
to represent Jesus for God's glory and the joy of all people.
And that's what we're going to look at in the next five weeks.
And I want to spend the rest of my time here this morning exploring as to why we want to make that statement
shape our corporate and personal lives here in this church.
And I want to focus on the first bit this morning, just the first bit,
that we exist to know Jesus.
If religion, and especially Christianity, is such a stench in our culture,
why would we say amongst that culture that we exist to want to know the heart of Christianity,
want to know Jesus?
Well, to answer that question, we need to go back to the beginning.
And as Deb has read from Genesis chapter 1,
Genesis 1 makes the very significant point that there was no reality before God.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty.
Before creation, God was.
He stands outside of all things that are created.
God is from everlasting to everlasting, no beginning, no end.
He spoke the universe into existence.
He speaks.
He's a God who speaks and who creates.
He is the one who never had a beginning,
but has always been, always is, always will be,
and therefore he defines all things.
God himself, in himself, is ultimate reality.
The absoluteness of God's existence is incredible for us to consider and ponder.
The fact that he never had a beginning, never will have an ending,
never becoming, never improving,
simply and absolutely there to be dealt with on his terms,
or not at all.
Reality is created, defined, determined by God,
which means that when God speaks as he does,
what he does is he reveals reality.
That is, when he speaks, he reveals truth.
That's what truth is.
It's reality.
It's the way things actually are.
Listen to what Psalm 119, verse 160 says about God when he speaks.
It says,
All your words are true, all your righteous laws are eternal.
What that Psalm says, verse 160 says,
is that the sum total of the word of God is truth,
but it also says,
All your righteous laws are eternal,
which is not just the sum total is truth,
but all the individual parts are truth as well.
The whole and the parts are all truth.
They are true because when God,
who is ultimate reality, speaks,
he reveals things the way they actually are.
And truth is when ultimate reality,
the way things actually are,
and the revealing of ultimate reality,
align with each other.
A lie is the opposite.
A lie is when this is reality,
and what I say about reality,
don't connect.
So if you had a corpse here today,
someone was dead,
and I said the person's alive.
That's a lie.
There's no beat there.
There's no breath.
The person's dead.
And the astounding claim of the Bible
is that the place where reality
and the communication of reality
come together most profoundly
is in the person of Jesus Christ.
First, it's because Jesus communicates truth.
Jesus says in John chapter 18, verse 37,
For this I came into the world,
to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.
And so what Jesus is saying there
is that he speaks truth.
He speaks things the way they actually are.
And if you want to know reality,
you want to know the way things actually are,
you listen to Jesus.
He says something somewhat more profound
a couple of chapters earlier in John.
In John 14, verse 6,
he says,
I am the way,
the truth,
and the life.
No one comes to the Father
except through me.
That is,
he doesn't just speak truth,
but he says,
I am the truth.
Not just communicate the truth,
I am the truth.
And the only reason that he could claim
that he was the truth
or that he is the truth,
that is that I'm absolute
and I'm universal in truth,
is that he is in fact God.
Because that's what God is.
He is truth.
which is exactly what John 1 affirms,
which was just read out to us.
So if you've got John 1 there in front of you,
let's just have a look at what it affirms.
It says,
in the beginning was the Word.
That is,
the Word existed before anything was made.
In the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was with God.
And the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning,
through Him,
that is,
the Word.
All things were made.
Without Him,
nothing was made
that has been made.
So the Word existed
before anything was created.
The Word made everything.
This Word is God.
Therefore, this Word is ultimate reality.
This Word is absolute truth.
And then down in verse 14,
we see something startling.
This Word became flesh
and made His dwelling amongst us.
And we have seen His glory.
The glory of the one and only
who came from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
And so you're left with a question.
Who is the Word?
Who is God?
Who existed before creation?
Who created everything?
Who is full of grace and truth?
Who's it talking about?
Verse 15.
John testifies concerning Him.
He cries out saying,
This was He of whom I said,
He who comes after me
has surpassed me
because He was before me.
From the fullness of His grace,
we have all received
one blessing after another.
For the law was given through Moses.
Grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.
See, Jesus doesn't just communicate
the truth.
He doesn't just communicate
God's Word.
He is the Word of God.
He is the center of God's
self-revelation
to His created order.
And that is why
we here at church,
at St. Paul's,
say that we exist
to know Jesus.
That's why we exist
to know Jesus.
And so if that's why
we exist to know Jesus,
the question is,
how do we get to know Jesus?
And it turns out
the answer to that question
is exactly what
we've just been doing.
We've already seen briefly
in Psalm 119,
God speaks.
God reveals Himself
to His created order.
And 2 Timothy 3.16
is pretty explicit
on God's revelation
to His created order.
It says that all Scripture,
that's referring there
to the whole Bible,
is God-breathed
and useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting,
and training in righteousness.
You see, the Bible
is not just
the record
of God speaking,
it is the means
of God speaking,
of what is real
and absolute
to His world,
His created world.
Jesus made the claim
that this Bible
testifies to who He is.
It says this
in John 5,
verse 39,
you diligently
study the Scriptures
because you think
that by them
you possess
eternal life.
These are the Scriptures
that testify
about me,
and yet you refuse
to come to me
to have life.
That assumption
there in John 5
lies behind
our core value
of Christ-centered
Bible saturation.
The Bible
is the way
that God,
the ultimate
and all-important
reality,
reveals Jesus
to us
with clarity
and authority
today.
If God
is more important
than anything,
then the Bible
is more important
than anything
but God.
And so we desire
here at St. Paul's
to be saturated
in it,
to be shaped
by it,
to be corrected
by it,
trained by it,
rebuked by it,
instructed by it.
Everything that we face
in this world
is touched
by the Bible.
It is either
directly touched
because it's in the Bible
or it's indirectly touched
because the Bible
shapes
the attitude
and the criteria
in which we deal
with it.
It gives light,
it gives perspective
and meaning,
its truth
needs to permeate
everything,
all things
in this world
will find meaning
in the worldview
that's built
by the Scriptures.
And so the Bible
has a dominant place
in the corporate life
of St. Paul's.
Dominant place
in our corporate worship.
We have community groups
that gather
to study the Bible
and apply it
and we want to encourage
every single person
to pursue
regular habits
of Bible reading
and meditation.
As you look forward
into 2016,
how are you going to grow
in that area?
Notice, however,
the warning
that Jesus gives
in John 5.
It is possible
to search
the Bible
for God
and miss God.
If we pursue
knowledge of Jesus
for its own sake,
it is bound
to go bad
for us.
It will make us proud
and it will make us
conceited.
As the great theologian
J.I. Packer
has written,
to be preoccupied
with getting
biblical knowledge
as an end
in itself,
to approach
Bible study
with no higher motive
than a desire
to know the answers
is the direct route
to a state
of self-satisfied
self-deception.
That's a warning
for
high-value Bible people
Bible.
What is the ultimate
aim
in wanting to know
Jesus through the Bible?
The supreme desire
of the writer
of Psalm 119
was to know
and enjoy
God himself.
And he valued
knowledge about God
simply
as a means
to that end.
He wanted to know
about God
in order to
know God.
He wanted to know
the truth about God
so that his heart
might respond
to it
and his life
be conformed
to it.
And so friends,
it's not good enough
to simply know
your Bible.
Our aim
is to seek
to know Jesus
through the Bible
to be led
to Jesus
and in being led
to Jesus
have life
in Jesus.
Our concern
must be
to enlarge
our acquaintance
with the God
who defines
all things.
And so one
quick tip
on how to turn
that knowledge
about God
into knowledge
of God.
It is both
demanding
and simple
at the same time.
it's just
simply this.
Turn
every truth
that we learn
about God
into a matter
of meditation
before God
which leads
to prayer
and praise
to God.
I'll say it again.
Turn
every truth
that we learn
about God
into a matter
of meditation
before God
leading to
prayer
and praise
to God.
Meditation
is the activity
of calling
to mind
lingering
over
dwelling
on
and applying
to yourself
what you've
learned from
the Bible
about the works
and the ways
and the purposes
and the promises
and the character
of God.
And the effect
will be
humility.
That will be
the impact.
It will
humble us
as we
contemplate
God's
greatness
and his
glory
and our
own
littleness
and our
sinfulness.
It will
encourage
and comfort
us
and reassure
us
as we
contemplate
the
unsearchable
riches
of the
Lord
Jesus'
mercy
to us.
So how
do you
know
if
you're
making
progress
in
knowing
Jesus?
Those who are making progress in knowing Jesus have great energy for Jesus.
Those who are making progress in knowing Jesus have great thoughts of Jesus.
Those who are making progress in knowing Jesus have great boldness for Jesus.
Those who are making progress in Jesus have great contentment and joy in Jesus,
no matter what the circumstances of life.
so maybe you're sitting there now and you're thinking well why would i be bothered finding
out about jesus and becoming acquainted with jesus what's the take home for me what's the
take home for our world jesus said another astounding thing a little later in john's gospel
john chapter 8 he says if you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples
then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free
know jesus and you know freedom
jesus promises promises us the very thing that we are all striving for
in this secular individualistic culture true freedom freedom indeed he says
and i take it that every single person in this room wants to be free
free in the in the deepest and fullest sense
i once spoke to a man in hospital many many years ago on a hospital visit
uh he was dying of emphysema hooked up to the tanks i shared jesus with him he said no thanks not for me
and i asked him don't mean to be rude but looks like there's only one way out of here for you
uh why why reject jesus he said to me i don't want to lose my freedom
he's hooked up to oxygen tanks i want to suggest to him that freedom was an illusion
i'm assuming that every single person here wants freedom in the deepest and fullest sense
and that is if the opposite of freedom is bondage and slavery no one here wants that
now i also acknowledge that it's possible that you are enslaved to some habits that are very pleasurable
and in that sense you might enjoy your slavery
even so all of us here would rather be happy in freedom rather than enslaved to pleasant addictions
we all want to be truly free and so jesus makes this walloping statement
if you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples then you will know the truth
and the truth will set you free
and the people gathered around said to jesus
something that we might say to jesus in that moment
what are you talking about jesus i'm not a slave to anyone
they answered him we are abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone how can you say
that we shall be set free you see they're thinking about one aspect of freedom but jesus something
think about something completely different and he immediately clarifies i tell you the truth
everyone who sins is a slave to sin
that is a walloping statement right there
and it would take ages to unpack all the implications of it
and to put it briefly jesus is saying that everyone sins
and therefore everyone is enslaved to sin
and that means that sin is not just some bad act that i do here and there occasionally
but it is a power that controls my heart and rules my life
and it makes us do bad acts and sets us up against god and sets us up against other people
that's the reason why we cannot work together for a better world
there are many kinds of freedoms that we can make for ourselves in this world
but not this one
this slavery is too deep and all of us are entangled by it
sin enslaves by making anything in this world look more desirable than knowing jesus
just dig a bit deeper and find out what the real treasures are in your heart
that's the real issue for sin
i value this more than jesus
and it also enslaves us by eventually damning us
it enslaves us unless something intervenes
and that's why jesus says in verse 36 of john 8
if the son sets you free you will be free indeed
because jesus truth reality is the only one who can set us free
he frees us from the damnation of slavery by becoming damned for us
on his death on the cross as our substitute
and he frees us from the dominion of sin over our hearts
by changing our hearts in such a way
that we see him as infinitely valuable
and desirable
and he frees us to truly love him and love other people
it may be here
you're still here and you're still saying
steve i am already free
you know it's you christians who all get tied up in moral knots
you know i just do what i like
i do what i feel all i like
and i'm thankful a country where i can do that
you know i can go to coles and i can have
eight different peanut butters
it's my choice
it makes the shopping long
and that's all the freedom i care about
so let me just give you a fuller definition of freedom
you are fully free
and what it means to be totally and fully free
you are fully free
when you have the desire
the ability
the opportunity
to do what you want
and it leaves you no regrets forever
that's total freedom
if you don't have the desire to actually do something
you're not fully free to do it
that is you've been coerced or forced to do something
that you don't want to do
so desire is essential for freedom
and if you have the desire to do something
but you have no ability to do it
then you're not free to do it
i want to travel the world
but i'm hooked up to
a machine that doesn't get on planes
might want to do it
but you can't do it
so if you have the desire
and the ability to do something
but no opportunity to do it
so i'm not hooked up to a machine
i want to travel the world
i'm free to do it
but i've got no money in my pockets
i'm a backpacker
maybe
you're not free to do it
and so if you have the desire to do something
the ability to do something
the opportunity to do something
but it destroys you in the end
then you're no longer free
so let me just expand that with an illustration
if you like
let's take parachuting
you make it to the airport
without having an accident in the car
okay
tick that box
you've got the freedom of opportunity
you've done the classes
and you know how to parachute
tick that box
you have the freedom of opportunity
and the freedom of ability
you're up there in the plane
a couple of kilometers up
you're hovering along
you look out the door
tiny clusters of houses
and sheds and dams
and you can't wait to jump out of the plane
tick that box
you have the freedom of desire
you're not frozen by fear in that moment
and so you jump
and as you free fall
every second of it
you're loving it
loving it
unknown to you
your parachute is defective
and it's not going to open
no matter how hard you try
even though you don't know it yet
you are in fact
enslaved
to
destruction
and it will be a regret
it feels like freedom
but very soon
the whole thing
all the exhilaration
will prove to be
an illusion
I was not
truly
free
in 30 seconds
you
will be
dead
it
baffles me
every time
on the news
some bloke
is interviewed
because his mate
has just been killed
he's just been eaten
by a shark
out surfing
and his mate
says
well at least
he's died
doing what he loved
like that
was on his mind
as the great
white
was gnawing
on him
tick the box
at everything else
except
that one
it cost him
his life
as a predecessor
of mine
said in this pulpit
over 20 years ago
self-preoccupation
is a terminal
illness
it will kill you
in the end
you're not
truly free
to be fully free
we must have
the desire
the ability
the opportunity
to do
what will make us
happy
forever
no regrets
it will never
come back
and bite us
and only Jesus
the son of God
who died
and rose
for us
can make
that possible
if Jesus
sets you
free
you are
free
indeed
to be happy
forever
our sins
must be forgiven
and God's
wrath
removed
and Christ
must become
our supreme
treasure
only Jesus
can do that
for us
in fact
he has
already
done it
for us
he died
on the cross
he absorbed
God's wrath
he rose
from the dead
and today
therefore
is supremely
precious
and he
offers us
life
forever
as a free
gift
that's why
we exist
to know
Jesus
by Brother
I
deinem
ond
how
you
are
the
shark
under
us
is
you
can제
nasıl
ever
what
you
can제
yeah
ban
going
this
rock
í
and
going
I
can제
beat
you
can제