 |
| Rev. Brent Russett |
Pastor of
Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in Ottawa:
http://www.sunnysidechurchottawa.com/ _______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to CFRA broadcast - Sunday, May 15th, 2016:
Jesus
– Before Abraham was “I AM”
Good morning. And
welcome to good news in the morning. My
name is Brent Russett. I am the Senior Pastor at Sunnyside Wesleyan Church here
in Ottawa. It is my pleasure to look at some of life’s challenges, and then
bring you some good news in the morning.
I am
glad that you tuned your dial to CFRA. I want you to know that you can also
find Good News in the morning on the internet at Goodnewsinthemorning.ca. There you
can keep up to date with what is happening around Good News Christian
Ministries.
This
morning’s program has been sponsored by a Donner who wants to stay anonymous.
Thank you so much for your partnership in the gospel this morning.
I
want to say a special welcome to our international listeners, who listen via
the internet. We are glad that you have found us, and that you are finding this
ministry an encouragement.
**
This
morning we are going to look at what Jesus said in John 8. “Before Abraham was, I AM” ..But before
we get there I want to tell you the story found in the second book of the Bible
Exodus chapter 3
***
Moses,
who was born to Jewish parents, adopted by a princess in Egypt, and went on to
become a prince of Egypt did something stupid, and had to run for his life. He
ended up on the backside of the wilderness, tending sheep for his
father-in-law.
So
one day he took the sheep really far out into the wilderness and ended up on Mount
Saini. He was just out walking around, doing what shepherd do. When he spotted
this bush that was burning.
He
thought to himself, this is pretty weird. The bush is burning, but it is not
burning up – I think I will go check it out. So he did.
When
God saw Moses get close to the bush, He called out from the center of the bush,
“Moses, Moses” – Moses knew immediately who it was – He said, here I am.
Exodus 3:5–6 (NLT)
5 “Do not come any
closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy
ground.
What do you do when you hear the
voice of God and it tells you to take off you sandals. – You take off your
sandals.
The
Lord goes on
6 I am the God of your
father*—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses
heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
Abraham
had lived 400 years before this. Moses got it. He was standing before the
eternal God. He was standing before the all powerful God. Before where he was
looking at the burning bush, now he covered his face. He was afraid to look at
God. Moses had good instincts.
***********
As I
look through church history, Christians have had a tendency to do one of two
things with God. Sometimes we have made God great ---and austere and distant.
Sometimes we have tended to shrink God down, so that he is small and close. I
believe that is our tendency right now.--- But the reality is that God is both
great and close.
Moses
was afraid to look at God, because you can’t see God and live. Sunlight is
good, and we need it – but if you stare at the sun for too long you will go
blind.
God
is good and we need him, but to look at him in all his beauty and purity, and
holiness, and goodness our spiritual eyes could handle it an we would die.
So it
is a little scary to think of this atomic blast of spiritual life being really
close. So we tend either to distance ourselves from him, or we tend to pretend
he is not as great as he is. But Moses got it. God was both great and close,
and he took his sandals off and bowed in reverence.
Back
to our story
God
says to Moses, I have heard the cry of my people who are enslaved in Egypt, and
I am sending you to do something about it. Moses said, God you have the wrong
guy. God says I will be with you.
Now
catch this
Exodus 3:13–15 (NLT)
13 But Moses protested,
“If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has
sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell
them?”
14 God replied to Moses,
“I Am Who I Am.* Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” 15 God
also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh,* (Or I AM) the
God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob—has sent me to you.
This is my eternal name,
my name to remember for all generations.
The
main name of God in the Old Testament is Yahweh, or some translate it Jehovah,
The translation. I am who I am. This name of God was so sacred that the Jewish
people would not pronounce it in the public reading of scripture. This is how
God revealed himself to Moses. Yahweh, I am Who I am, - God said,
This is my eternal name,
my name to remember for all generations
Fast
forward 1600 years. Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin Mary,
verified by the voice of God at his baptism, authenticated by miracles and he
was telling the people who he was, and they would not believe him.
Let
me summarize John chapter 8 for you.
The
whole chapter is a discussion about who Jesus is. Let me give you the short
version.
Jesus is saying I am the light of the world.
I came from heaven
I speak what the heavenly father tells me to speak
You are slaves to sin, but I will make you free
The people said
We are decedents of Abraham
That makes us God’s people
We are not slaves
Jesus said
Abraham is physical father but not your spiritual
father
Your real father is the devil because
You keep on doing evil
You are not listening to God
If you obey my teaching you will never die
The people said
You are a Samaritan and a devil and demon possessed
Abraham died , the prophets died
Who do you think you are.
Come with me to vs 56
John 8:56–58 (NLT)
56 Your father Abraham
rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.”
57 The people said, “You
aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?*”
58 Jesus answered, “I
tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!*”
Now
either Jesus was using bad grammar, or he was saying something profound.
The
people who were listening to him knew it. He was claiming to live before he was
born. But worse than that for them, he used the name of God. I AM.
They
tried to kill him right there and then, but Jesus was hidden from their sight
and escaped.
This
chapter is all about who Jesus is, and the answer to that question matters.
Some
say Jesus was a great man, a great moral teacher. ---Jesus did teach some great
things. The golden rule – Do onto others
as you would have them do unto you.
But
if Jesus were just a mere man and said the things that he said in this chapter – he would be deluded at best
and wicked at worst.
You
can’t tell people you are the light of the world, that they should put their
faith in you, that if you know God the Father, you would know who I am, I
existed before Abraham. I am calling myself by the same name that God revealed
to Moses. I AM. A mere man who says things like that – is not a great moral
teacher – he is either deluded or intentionally misleading people.
When
it comes to it we either believe Jesus or we don’t. He is making himself out to
be God. The light of the world. The one who knows the father, who came from the
father, who has the power to set you free. The one who says, I AM – and stakes
his claim to the Godhead. Either we believe him or we don’t. But you have to do
something with the claims of Jesus.
I
will tell you this, that if Jesus was a mere human, just a great moral teacher,
then the gospel is a lie and Christianity is a lie. A mere human could not die
for the sin of the world. He could not take upon himself the sin of the world.
No forgiveness would be available in Jesus if he were just a mere human.
But I
believe that he was who he said he was. I believe that he was and is God. In
the beginning was the word and the word was with God, and the word was God.
Before Abraham was – Jesus existed.
I
know that some of you listening believe that as well. You have put your faith
in Jesus and his work on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. That is
what Jesus asked of each of us. When we do that we start on a spiritual journey
with God who became a man so that we might know God.
MUSIC- In Christ Alone – Heart of Worship Vol 3 4:50
***************
Most
of us see most people through one lens.
Most
of the people in the church I pastor see me as a pastor or a minister because
that is the hat I wear on Sunday morning
Now
you know I am a husband, a father, a student, but most of them see me through the lens of pastor.
My
kids don’t see me through the lens of pastor; they see me through the lens of
dad. My extended family doesn’t see me through the lens of pastor; they see me
through the lens of Bill and Dorothy’s son. They know I am a pastor, but that
is not who I am to them. (Are you following me?)
******
We
have another member of our household: Nikki the cat, Aka Nikki the terrorist.
This cat sees me as the one who feeds it. It lets me know in a loud voice when
she thinks she should be feed. Nikki sees me through the lens of kibble scooper. The reality is that I am so much more than that. I am the one who goes
to the store and buys her food. She has no concept of that. I am the one who
provides a warm place for her to live. She takes that for granted. In fact she
thinks she owns the place. But the reality is that everything she has, I have
provided for her – but all she sees is that I am her kibble scooper.
I
think most of us view Jesus through one lens as well. The reality is that he much
more to us than we will ever know. Just like my cat has no ability to
comprehend me, we have really no ability to comprehend Jesus. The Bible says,
in him all things hold together. In him the universe continues, but we don’t
understand much of that. We have our lens that we see Jesus through.
****
I am going to
make a vast generalization here. I have been around long enough to know that
different people see Jesus through different lenses. But in my branch of
Christendom most people see Jesus through the lens of friend.
To
some he is a good friend. To some he is a distant friend. Some would describe
him as a best friend. Some would say he is a faithful friend. Some would say
they have been disappointed with his friendship.
Friendship
is a good lens to see Jesus through. I love that great hymn of the church.
“What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a
privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.”
John 15:14–15 (NLT)
14 You are my friends if
you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because
a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have
told you everything the Father told me.
Seeing
Jesus as a friend is a good thing. But it is kind of like my cat seeing me a
kibble scooper. I am that, but I am so much more.
******
Let
me take you to the late first century. Rome was firmly in control. The temple
in Jerusalem had been destroyed. Most of the apostles had been executed for
their faith. The Apostle John was the exception. He had been exiled to the
Island of Patmos, under the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian.
Domitian
didn’t like Christians. Under him whether or not you were a Roman citizen – it
didn’t matter – If you were a Christian you were in danger? …Danger of death?
…Danger of persecution? …Danger of losing it all?
So it
was a Sunday, and the Apostle John was sitting on the Island of Patmos praying
for the churches across the Roman Empire when he had a vision.
Revelation 1:9–16 (NLT)
Vision
of the Son of Man
9 I, John, am your
brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient
endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for
preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus. 10 It
was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit.* Suddenly, I heard
behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. 11 It said, “Write
in a book* everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities
of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 When I turned to see
who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And
standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man.*(remember
that is how Jesus referred to himself) He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash
across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like
wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His
feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered
like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right
hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like
the sun in all its brilliance.
Doesn’t
that description of Jesus make you want to walk up to him, throw an arm around
his shoulders and say Jesus, buddy, friend. I don’t think so. As you might
guess, each piece of that description symbolizes something about his character.
John,
one of the disciples who was in Jesus’ inner circle, one whom Jesus had called
friend, the disciple who is described as the one who Jesus loved, saw this
vision – he didn’t go up and throw his arms around him and say buddy,
Revelation 1:17–18 (NLT)
17 When I saw him, I fell
at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said,
“Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the
living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys
of death and the grave.*
The
same response that Moses had to the voice of God in the burning bush, John who
had seen the risen Lord, fell down as if dead.
The
question is, why did Jesus show up to John like that? --- The Churches to which
he was speaking needed to understand that the one who they were worshiping, the
one who they were relying on, was not just the friendly man upstairs, or the
buddy from down the street. They needed to see his power and his majesty. They
needed to hear his voice thunder. He was the one who had defeated death – He
came as a warrior and he was on their side.
They
need to know that internally, because as you read further, some of the churches
had become lukewarm in their faith, others were tolerating heresy, others were
tolerating immorality and idolatry. They needed to know Jesus in his glory and
power.
They
needed to know who he was to meet the external threat. They were under threat
of persecution. But the one who they served had overcome death and was walking
with them.
******
I
wonder if Jesus was to reveal himself to us afresh today, how would he show
himself? Or, to ask the question a different way, is their a fresh lens through
which you need to see Christ?
Could
it be that you need to see him as the King of Kings who had authority over all
yet chose to lay down his life. He is the king. He rule is to be acknowledged
and followed. You see when a friend asks you to do something, or gives you some
advice, you try to do it, but if you don’t take their advice – oh well.
When
the king of kings and Lord of lords asks you to do something, it is a whole
different deal. When he tells you to do something, you shouldn’t ignore it.
***
Or
maybe you need to see Jesus through the lens of the Saviour of the world. We
have a lot of problems in our world. There is the abuse of power, and the
scarcity of resources. There is lack of stewardship of our environment, and the
loss of the knowledge of what is good and bad. There is injustice is our word,
and people are ruled by fear and anger and despair.
The
real problem in our world though, when you get to the bottom of all those
things, is sin. We were born in sin, and we are inclined to sin. The only
answer for us and for the world is that we need a Saviour. His name is Jesus.
He is not a self help guru, he died for our sins according to the scripture. He
is a Saviour. Maybe that is the lens through which you need to focus.
******
I
don’t know what lens you need to focus through. But I have the sense that God
wants to expand of vision of who he is. Here is how the word of God describes
our Lord.
The Lord is my shepherd
The Lord is my light and my salvation
The Lord is my strength and son
The Lord is with you – ever present
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my saviour
The Lord is a shelter for the oppressed, a refuge in
times of trouble
The Lord is king
The Lord is good
The Lord is faithful
The Lord is a friend
The Lord is just
The Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength.
The Lord is a great God, a King above all gods
The Lord is compassionate and merciful
The Lord is like a father to his children
The Lord is kind
The Lord is great
The Lord is close to all who call on him
The Lord is your security
The Lord is watching everywhere
The Lord is our righteousness
The Lord is the everlasting God.
The Lord is coming
Jesus
said, “In this world you will have trouble but take heart I have overcome the
world. “ God is both great and close. Will you allow you vision of him to be
expanded. Will you see him through a different lens – that will allow him to be
all of who he wants to be for you.
Let’s
pray:
Lord
God, Thank you for each person who is listening. Lord, whether they are far
from you or near from you, I pray that they would see a fresh vision of you. I
pray that they would encounter you for who you are.
Lord,
you had a way of showing up to people and sometimes they didn’t recognize you,
and then they caught it; they caught a fresh glimpse of who you are.
Lord,
some need to know that you are forgiving, because they’ve been in places where
they know they shouldn’t have been. I pray that they will see you there.
Other
people need to know that you are powerful because the situation they are in
warrants it.
So,
Lord, I pray that you show up to people, in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
Pray – for God to show each person who he wants to be
for them right now.
“ If Good News in the Morning has been a factor in
your journey of faith, we would love to hear your story. Nothing could
encourage us more in this work. Contact
us by e-mail or Twitter via the web site –goodnewsinthemorning.ca
And
Thank you for listening this morning.
This
program is on the air by the grace of God and donations of many faithful
people. A special thanks to the person who sponsored this program anonymously .
If you can
help financially we would really appreciate it. You can make a cheque payable
to Good News Christian Ministries, and
send it to Box 184 , Rideau Ferry , On. K0G
1W0.
You
can also give by going to our website. Good News in the morning.ca
May you know
Jesus Christ personally and profoundly.
May the Holy Spirit reside deep within your heart . And may the heavenly Father surround you with
His constant and abiding and accompanying love
MUSIC
– Because of
You – Keith Green 2:57
By Rev. Brent Russett
Pastor of Sunnyside Wesleyan Church in
Ottawa:
_______________________________________________________
PODCAST LINK to the CFRA broadcast:
No comments:
Post a Comment