WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.820 If someone asked you, what do you believe about God? 00:00:07.900 --> 00:00:11.000 What would you tell them? 00:00:12.540 --> 00:00:15.540 How would you describe God's nature? 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:19.719 How would you describe His character? 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:21.699 Think about it for a moment. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:26.060 Somebody's asking you what you believe about God. 00:00:26.060 --> 00:00:28.100 What would you say? 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:37.439 Would your description be based on what you think about God? 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:43.140 Or would it be based on what the Bible says about God? 00:00:44.579 --> 00:00:49.140 Would you describe a God of your own making? 00:00:49.140 --> 00:00:57.500 Or would you describe God as He has revealed Himself in His Word? 00:00:57.500 --> 00:01:06.760 Tim Keller says that Jonah's main problem was that he wanted a God of his own making. 00:01:07.180 --> 00:01:07.799 Look at it. 00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:10.219 Jonah wants a God of his own making. 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:19.000 A God who simply smites the bad people, for instance, the wicked Ninevites, and blesses the good people, for instance. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:21.780 Jonah and his countrymen. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:30.319 When the real God, not Jonah's counterfeit, keeps showing up, Jonah is thrown into fury or despair. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:43.900 Now, if you're here for the first time or the first time in a long time, I'm bringing up Jonah because we spent the summer going through the Old Testament book of Jonah. 00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:59.200 While Jonah was a prophet of God, for sure, he had a hard time accepting, dealing with how God graciously deals with people, 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:07.040 specifically in his situation, people who were known to be evil and brutal. 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:10.680 Tim Keller goes on to explain this. 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:18.240 Jonah finds the real God to be mysterious because he cannot reconcile the mercy of God with His justice. 00:02:18.939 --> 00:02:26.680 How, Jonah asks, can God be merciful and forgiving to people who have done such violence and evil? 00:02:27.259 --> 00:02:32.000 How can God be both merciful and just? 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:40.199 Most people in here, you were, went through the book of Jonah with me, we did it together. 00:02:40.900 --> 00:02:51.379 You know that the book of Jonah ends with him never understanding how God could be both just and loving. 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:54.939 Now, in a way, that's really understandable. 00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:58.659 It's not excusable, but it's understandable. 00:02:58.659 --> 00:03:05.379 Because the clearest answer to the question is not given until Jesus comes into this world. 00:03:06.419 --> 00:03:11.759 The clearest answer to the question, how can God be both just and loving or gracious or merciful? 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:17.699 It was not answered until Jesus came and lived a sinless life. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.560 Died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. 00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:26.659 And then arose from the grave triumphantly. 00:03:28.659 --> 00:03:33.979 This morning, I want us to think together in preparation for observing the Lord's Supper, 00:03:34.979 --> 00:03:41.400 how God's justice and love come together in the cross of Jesus Christ, 00:03:41.639 --> 00:03:43.900 in the work that He accomplished on the cross. 00:03:44.419 --> 00:03:48.039 Let's think first, our Heavenly Father is a just God. 00:03:48.039 --> 00:03:57.079 You know, it's just a part of God's nature to be just or to do what's right. 00:03:57.080 --> 00:04:02.900 The word justice means, look, to give to everyone what they are due. 00:04:04.320 --> 00:04:08.800 If we receive justice, we get exactly what we deserve. 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:11.620 No more, no less. 00:04:12.540 --> 00:04:20.439 Deep down, all of us in this room, deep down, we know that justice is right. 00:04:21.199 --> 00:04:22.259 It's good. 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:25.599 It's the way things ought to be. 00:04:26.599 --> 00:04:36.680 Three years ago, there was a judge in California who handed down a mere six-month jail sentence 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:46.360 for a Stanford University swimmer who was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:49.379 behind a campus trash bin. 00:04:49.379 --> 00:04:57.040 Well, that lenient sentence, when it was announced, it sparked national outrage. 00:04:58.180 --> 00:05:04.300 It was obvious to everyone justice had not been served, not by a long shot. 00:05:05.579 --> 00:05:09.439 Well, two years later, that justice was removed from the bench 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:15.719 because he was determined not to be a just judge. 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:24.360 The good news for us this morning is that God can never be accused of being an unjust judge. 00:05:24.900 --> 00:05:27.740 The Bible clearly shows that God is just. 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:30.400 He does what is right always. 00:05:31.440 --> 00:05:33.980 And he always does what's right in dealing with us. 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:36.580 He's just in the way he deals with all people. 00:05:36.940 --> 00:05:40.340 Look at this from 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:43.500 God is just. 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:48.159 He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you. 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:53.179 He was trying to comfort those Thessalonian Christians who were experiencing persecution, 00:05:53.599 --> 00:05:55.919 who were being treated unjustly. 00:05:56.859 --> 00:05:58.179 He was assuring them, 00:05:59.179 --> 00:06:04.120 you can count on God to settle the score, to make things right, because God is just. 00:06:04.919 --> 00:06:07.839 He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:10.199 God takes care of his children. 00:06:11.159 --> 00:06:14.619 But Paul goes on here to talk in a more general way. 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:21.839 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:28.839 What Paul is basically saying is that all sin must be punished without exception. 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:32.779 The Christian writer Jerry Bridges says, 00:06:33.159 --> 00:06:34.500 contrary to popular opinion, 00:06:35.060 --> 00:06:38.819 with God there's no such thing as mere forgiveness. 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:42.839 God never says, 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:45.839 ah, don't worry about it. 00:06:46.659 --> 00:06:48.939 Not that bad, not that big. 00:06:49.599 --> 00:06:50.759 Ah, just go on. 00:06:50.819 --> 00:06:51.000 No. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:59.019 Our Heavenly Father always does what's right, 00:06:59.620 --> 00:07:00.920 what's just, 00:07:02.139 --> 00:07:04.180 what is truly fair. 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:08.779 But we're talking about God's justice, 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:14.540 and it is essential that we understand that God is just. 00:07:14.540 --> 00:07:19.740 He determines and enforces that which is right. 00:07:21.420 --> 00:07:23.120 But that's not a full picture of God. 00:07:24.460 --> 00:07:26.939 God is also a loving God. 00:07:27.080 --> 00:07:28.320 And that's what I want us to look at next. 00:07:28.580 --> 00:07:30.160 Our Heavenly Father is a loving God. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:31.720 Some of you are thinking, 00:07:31.900 --> 00:07:33.280 yes, that's how I think of God. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:35.879 Well, if you don't think of him as both just and loving, 00:07:35.960 --> 00:07:37.080 you think of him incorrectly. 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:42.039 You've conjured up some God of your own making 00:07:42.039 --> 00:07:45.659 if he is not both just, 00:07:46.180 --> 00:07:47.599 holy, 00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:50.300 and loving, 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:51.759 merciful. 00:07:53.740 --> 00:07:57.219 While God's justice requires that the penalty for sin be paid, 00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:01.339 God's love desires that sinful people be forgiven 00:08:01.339 --> 00:08:05.319 and restored to a right relationship with him. 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:08.319 In his infinite wisdom, 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:13.139 God devised a plan before the foundation of the world 00:08:13.139 --> 00:08:16.180 to both punish sin 00:08:16.180 --> 00:08:20.180 and forgive people who are guilty of sin. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:26.539 That plan was fulfilled by God's Son, Jesus Christ. 00:08:27.659 --> 00:08:28.279 Think about it. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:33.059 God's justice requires that the penalty for sin be paid. 00:08:33.059 --> 00:08:35.240 It cannot be let go. 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:41.260 But God's love provides for that penalty to be paid by Jesus 00:08:41.260 --> 00:08:43.900 when he died on the cross. 00:08:45.180 --> 00:08:47.640 The Apostle John explains it like this. 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:51.820 In this, the love of God was made manifest among us, 00:08:52.320 --> 00:08:55.040 that God sent his only Son into the world 00:08:55.040 --> 00:08:57.120 so that we might live through him. 00:08:57.940 --> 00:08:59.460 In this is love. 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:01.240 Not that we have loved God, 00:09:01.320 --> 00:09:02.639 but that he loved us 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:06.980 and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 00:09:07.300 --> 00:09:08.920 That word, propitiation, 00:09:09.460 --> 00:09:11.120 I'm sure anybody here would, 00:09:11.780 --> 00:09:13.540 you know, that's a real familiar word, isn't it? 00:09:14.300 --> 00:09:15.680 I never hear it. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:17.540 If I hadn't studied it, 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:19.220 I wouldn't know what it was. 00:09:19.220 --> 00:09:22.960 So, we need to think, what does it mean? 00:09:23.160 --> 00:09:32.639 A propitiation is a sacrifice that bears the wrath of God fully 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:36.100 and turns God's wrath to favor. 00:09:38.519 --> 00:09:41.899 Some people have a problem with the idea of God being wrathful, 00:09:42.019 --> 00:09:43.899 having righteous anger. 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:46.480 If God is good, 00:09:48.059 --> 00:09:49.319 that which is not good, 00:09:50.379 --> 00:09:51.519 God hates. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:55.279 God must, 00:09:56.199 --> 00:09:58.819 if he's a God of justice and love, 00:09:59.199 --> 00:10:01.980 he must punish that which is not good. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:04.299 What we need to understand is 00:10:04.299 --> 00:10:07.439 God unleashed his wrath, 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:09.399 his holy hatred of sin 00:10:09.399 --> 00:10:11.740 on Jesus 00:10:11.740 --> 00:10:14.279 as he hung on the cross 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:17.220 as our substitute. 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:21.179 He was bearing our sin. 00:10:22.179 --> 00:10:25.079 He absorbed the full wrath of God 00:10:25.079 --> 00:10:26.879 so that we, 00:10:28.319 --> 00:10:29.519 so that you and I 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:31.939 could experience the grace of God 00:10:31.939 --> 00:10:34.699 to turn God's wrath to favor. 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:37.199 Jesus suffered God's wrath 00:10:37.199 --> 00:10:39.159 for all who will believe in him. 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:43.199 God demonstrated his great love, 00:10:43.500 --> 00:10:46.559 his uncompromising justice 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:49.259 by sending Jesus into this world 00:10:49.259 --> 00:10:51.980 to actually die for us 00:10:51.980 --> 00:10:54.100 and pay the penalty for our sins. 00:10:54.959 --> 00:10:57.000 God now invites all who will 00:10:57.000 --> 00:10:58.539 confess their sin, 00:10:58.679 --> 00:10:59.419 turn from it, 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:00.759 to put their faith in Jesus 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:03.500 and receive him as their Savior and Lord. 00:11:03.779 --> 00:11:05.399 Look at this verse that I'm sure 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:07.480 is very familiar to the majority in here. 00:11:07.480 --> 00:11:09.539 For God so loves the world 00:11:09.539 --> 00:11:10.860 that he gave his only Son, 00:11:11.180 --> 00:11:12.600 that whoever believes in him 00:11:12.600 --> 00:11:13.659 should not perish 00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:15.139 but have everlasting life. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:17.779 But to all who received him, 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:19.200 John says in chapter one, 00:11:20.060 --> 00:11:21.860 but to all who received him, 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:23.300 who believe in his name, 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:25.180 he gave the right to become children of God. 00:11:25.860 --> 00:11:27.060 If you don't know Christ 00:11:27.060 --> 00:11:28.500 as your Lord and Savior this morning, 00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:30.779 I want to encourage you 00:11:30.779 --> 00:11:32.779 to trust him now. 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:35.639 Confess your sin, 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:36.720 turn from it, 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:38.259 change your mind about it, 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:40.379 and put your trust in Jesus 00:11:40.379 --> 00:11:41.539 as your Savior. 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:44.059 Surrender your life to him 00:11:44.059 --> 00:11:45.360 as the Lord of your life. 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:47.559 I know that the majority of people 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:48.559 in this room are Christians. 00:11:49.639 --> 00:11:51.740 What we need to do is thank God 00:11:51.740 --> 00:11:54.399 for the way he has demonstrated 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:56.539 his love to us 00:11:56.539 --> 00:11:58.679 by sending Jesus 00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:01.339 to pay the penalty for our sins 00:12:01.339 --> 00:12:03.279 so that we don't have to, 00:12:04.339 --> 00:12:05.599 so that we can just experience 00:12:05.599 --> 00:12:07.000 God's mercy 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:08.980 and forgiveness 00:12:08.980 --> 00:12:11.519 instead of his justice. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:15.059 As we partake of the Lord's Supper this morning, 00:12:15.259 --> 00:12:16.360 we need to let it sink in 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:18.199 that the bread and the cup 00:12:18.199 --> 00:12:19.480 that you're going to hold in your hand 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:22.959 symbolizes the death of Jesus on the cross. 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:24.639 His body was broken. 00:12:25.420 --> 00:12:26.879 His blood was shed. 00:12:28.040 --> 00:12:29.060 When we trust Jesus 00:12:29.060 --> 00:12:29.940 as our Lord and Savior, 00:12:30.160 --> 00:12:33.000 we are actually united to him by faith. 00:12:33.800 --> 00:12:34.639 We're one with him. 00:12:35.400 --> 00:12:37.060 Paul often describes 00:12:37.060 --> 00:12:38.180 our relationship with Jesus 00:12:38.180 --> 00:12:40.360 as being in Christ. 00:12:40.500 --> 00:12:41.180 We're one with him. 00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:43.259 That means his death 00:12:43.259 --> 00:12:45.759 for our sin 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:48.280 is credited to us. 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:49.200 The penalty is paid. 00:12:50.019 --> 00:12:50.480 And also, 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:51.480 his righteous, 00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:52.660 perfect life 00:12:52.659 --> 00:12:53.919 that he lived in this world 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:54.899 before he was crucified. 00:12:55.319 --> 00:12:56.860 That is also credited 00:12:56.860 --> 00:12:58.399 as our righteousness. 00:13:00.019 --> 00:13:01.480 So I want to encourage you. 00:13:02.159 --> 00:13:03.000 We're going to have a prayer. 00:13:03.539 --> 00:13:04.939 Instrumentalists are going to play through 00:13:04.939 --> 00:13:08.659 a little short piece of a song. 00:13:09.860 --> 00:13:12.980 This is a time for us to thank God. 00:13:15.059 --> 00:13:18.279 Respond to whatever God's calling us to do right now. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:21.240 This is a time for us to express our love, 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:21.740 gratitude, 00:13:21.740 --> 00:13:23.700 and commitment to Jesus 00:13:23.700 --> 00:13:26.779 for what he has done for us 00:13:26.779 --> 00:13:28.600 through his death on the cross. 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:29.600 Would you pray with me? 00:13:30.060 --> 00:13:30.460 Father, 00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:33.759 help us to see now 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:36.379 how we need to respond 00:13:36.379 --> 00:13:39.139 to what Christ has done for us 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:43.639 in taking the penalty for our sins, 00:13:43.639 --> 00:13:47.100 experiencing the justice 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:51.480 that our sins deserve, 00:13:51.580 --> 00:13:52.399 that we deserve. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:55.139 Father, I pray 00:13:55.139 --> 00:13:55.960 if there's anyone in this room 00:13:55.960 --> 00:13:56.819 who is not a Christian 00:13:56.819 --> 00:13:58.399 that you will so work in them 00:13:58.399 --> 00:13:59.240 to open their eyes 00:13:59.240 --> 00:14:01.120 to see their need for Jesus 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:05.100 and give them the ability 00:14:05.100 --> 00:14:06.000 to believe now. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:07.439 Father, 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:08.500 if there are Christians here 00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:10.960 who have just sort of lost sight 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:14.059 of your great grace 00:14:14.059 --> 00:14:17.659 and the sacrifice and love 00:14:17.659 --> 00:14:18.779 that Jesus has shown, 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:21.500 help them, Father, 00:14:21.580 --> 00:14:24.100 to be humbled by that, 00:14:24.779 --> 00:14:25.980 reminded by that. 00:14:26.740 --> 00:14:27.460 Help them, dear God, 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:28.940 to renew their commitment. 00:14:30.139 --> 00:14:30.320 And Lord, 00:14:30.379 --> 00:14:31.440 we pray that as we observe 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:32.039 the Lord's Supper, 00:14:32.179 --> 00:14:33.700 that you will enable us 00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:35.600 to think deeply 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:38.360 and that it will be 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:39.580 a true time of communion 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:40.540 with our Lord. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:42.600 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:14:43.560 --> 00:14:43.900 Amen.