Participants: Ty Gibson
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000003
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00:13 Welcome to Anchors of Truth, live from the
00:16 3ABN worship center, the Extravagant 00:18 Love series with Ty Gibson. 00:23 Good evening, when I was young most of the texts 00:26 that I learned, I learned the King James Version 00:29 of the Bible. One of the most enduring and 00:31 endearing text to me was found in Book of Romans 00:35 chapter 5; I think it begins about verse 7. 00:38 The Bible says for scarcely, for the 00:40 righteous man will one die, perhaps for a good 00:43 man one would dare to die? And I always 00:46 loved that text, it's always been very dear 00:50 to me as it talks about the power of God's 00:53 love, but I found a different version 00:55 I want to just read for you. I gotta put 00:59 on my specs. This is the, the clear word version 01:04 of that very same text. The Bible says: 01:09 A person would hardly give his life for 01:13 a self-righteous man, but you might find 01:16 someone willing to give his life for a truly 01:20 good man. But God showed His love for us 01:25 while we were still sinners, His natural 01:28 enemies, by giving His Son to die for us. 01:33 Our series is of course called Extravagant Love, 01:38 and I dare say that that is an example 01:42 of Extravagant Love. I think the best kind 01:46 of love is demonstrated love, not 01:49 theoretical love, not love that is only 01:51 spoken about or even thought about or 01:53 dreamed about, or sung about. 01:57 The best love is love that is put in action, 02:00 and that's what we have been talking about 02:02 the last several nights Extravagant Love, 02:05 I really love that that, that title. Tonight's 02:08 sermon is called Off The Charts, Love 02:13 off the Charts, I really like that idea. Our 02:15 speaker is of course our pastor, our friend, 02:18 our Bible teacher Ty Gibson, I was told 02:20 to him just a little bit ago. He has been 02:23 given the ability by God to make that 02:25 which is profound, very simple, very plain, 02:30 very use of friendly that is a gift of God 02:33 to take some of the profound things of the 02:36 Bible and make them very simple and very 02:38 plain for those of us who are not geniuses, 02:41 we too can understand the word of God. 02:43 And God has given him that gift, and so 02:45 we expect that the Lord will bless him abundantly 02:48 as he speaks to our hearts this night 02:50 as he did on last evening and the evening before. 02:53 We are thankful that it is not raining and 02:55 pouring as it has been doing before it is 02:57 a cool, dry night and God has bless that is 03:02 nice and warming here and we know that 03:03 His Spirit will warm our hearts. Our music 03:05 ministry is coming from Yvonne Lewis and 03:08 she will be singing His name, but before 03:10 we call her forward and then just in advance 03:13 of the speaker I am gonna ask you to bow 03:14 your heads with me in a word of prayer. 03:16 Gracious Father, we do thank you, we 03:19 thank you for the power of Your love and 03:21 how it does indeed draw us to the precious 03:24 bleeding side of Jesus. We thank you for 03:28 extravagant, extraordinary, special 03:32 love. The kind of love that is committed itself 03:35 to us unworthy children of thine. We thank 03:38 you for the speaker and I ask for him heaven's 03:43 very best, so that he maybe this night a 03:46 conduit of Your love. And that Your love might 03:50 shine through him to us as we understand 03:53 more of Your will for our lives as a loving 03:57 Heavenly Father. Bless the word this night, 04:01 He who gives it, those of us who receive it, 04:05 may Christ be glorified, we love You, 04:08 we praise You and we thank You for 04:11 every good and perfect gift, in Jesus 04:14 name, amen. And now Yvonne Lewis. 04:32 There is a name that is so precious, 04:40 A name so wonderful to me. 04:47 A name that's worthy of all praises. 04:54 Because of him, I am made free. 05:01 And that name is Jesus, oh, how I love him. 05:08 The one who gave his life for me. 05:15 Because of love, so unconditional, 05:22 I will have life, eternally Oh. 05:46 His name speaks peace, to all my storm clouds, 05:54 His name speaks calm, to all my fears. 06:00 And when I think that no one loves me. 06:08 His loving presence is so near. 06:15 And His name is Jesus, oh, how I love him. 06:22 The one who gave his life for me. 06:29 Because of love, so unconditional, 06:36 I will have life, eternally. 06:44 Oh! Praise that name! 06:52 Praise that Holy name! 06:59 Praise that name! 07:06 Praise that name! 07:15 Someday I will leave this earthly dwelling, 07:23 Through time and space, we all will soar. 07:30 And finally see the face of Jesus. 07:38 And praise that name, forevermore! 07:45 That name is Jesus, oh how I love him! 07:53 The one who gave his life for me! 08:04 Because of love so unconditional 08:11 I will have life eternally 08:20 Ohhh! Blessed is the name Jesus! 08:28 Oh glorious is the name Jesus! 08:35 Oh! Wonderful is the name Jesus 08:42 Oh! Praise... That name. 08:59 Amen. 09:04 Thank you Yvonne, wow! What a blessing huh? 09:07 Amen. Just lifts your heart. Well, I hope 09:10 you had a fabulous day, did you? Amen. 09:12 I had an excellent day, a lot of great 09:15 thoughts developed during my study time, 09:18 and so I am eager to get into our subject 09:22 for this evening. And I want to do that by 09:25 beginning with a certain experience that 09:29 some of us have, maybe all of us have this 09:30 experience. Have you ever seen something or 09:35 someone that you thought you knew really well, 09:38 maybe for years and years in a whole new light? 09:43 As if you never knew that thing or that person 09:46 before, have you ever had that experience? 09:50 I don't know about you but, but I just 09:52 continually go through this, this experience 09:57 as I age, where I am reacquainting 10:02 myself with subject matter that I thought I 10:05 knew, have you had that experience? Amen. 10:08 And acquainting myself with people that I 10:12 thought I knew well. And, and even geographical 10:16 locations, I mean this happens this, this 10:19 psychological phenomenon happens in 10:23 all different kinds of ways. For example, a 10:27 few years back a friend of mine landed 10:29 in my backyard in a helicopter, which 10:33 was really cool if you think about it to, 10:34 to have a friend with a helicopter is, is pretty 10:37 nifty to begin with, but the house was just 10:40 shaking as he landed and he motioned with 10:43 his hand and my wife and I we ran out into 10:46 backyard, we jumped in this helicopter and 10:48 we went straight up. Now, we had lived in 10:52 this location for many years I knew every 10:57 inch of our own property, which was 20 acres. 11:00 I knew the roads all around because I've 11:03 driven back and forth to the airports nearly 11:06 every week to go to meetings, I knew 11:09 the roads, I knew even the countryside 11:13 because I had done a lot of just wondering 11:15 around and hike. I thought I knew this 11:16 area, but when we lean up in the air in this 11:19 helicopter and began to get the aerial view, 11:24 to really see this place first of all, first 11:28 of all I saw some errors in the, the roofing 11:31 job that I had done myself that I didn't 11:33 know were there on the house, but I began 11:36 to see our property and our area in a way 11:40 I had never seen before and I said something 11:42 to myself the something like wow! So, 11:44 so that's where I lived. I had never seen it 11:48 before from that particular vantage point 11:50 from that angle. So, so we do see things that 11:54 we thought we knew in a whole new light 11:56 sometimes. I remember I was in a hotel and 12:02 this documentary came on, this was also a few 12:05 years back and believe it or not this was 12:08 a documentary about what lives in your eyebrows, 12:14 it is a jungle in there I kid you not. They 12:18 magnified people's eyebrows I don't know 12:23 maybe a million times they magnified what's 12:27 going on in your eyebrows and, and I was 12:30 amazes I sat there watching and saw 12:34 creatures, that that resembled dinosaurs and, 12:42 and crawdads and lizards, just very 12:46 microscopic and small though, but when they 12:49 magnified you see, they're just wondering 12:51 around in your eyebrows grazing, they 12:54 live there and I had this friend at Church, 12:59 a buddy of my, one of the greatest guys 13:00 I have never known and he is deceased now, 13:02 but we used to go get firewood together. 13:05 And I have been wanting to talk him 13:07 about this situation because he had what my 13:10 wife calls a unibrow you know what that is? 13:14 And so, when I sense that the time was 13:17 right and I had just seen this documentary 13:19 after all and I wanted to help my brother out 13:22 I said, I said listen brother, listen if you 13:24 knew what's going on in that bushy thing 13:29 you would let your wife plug it. And I can 13:33 guarantee you she wants too. And she 13:37 will correct the situation if you only 13:39 knew what lives in your eyebrows. For weeks 13:42 after seeing that documentary I found 13:45 myself just, just unconsciously just 13:47 with a reflex just, just, just wondering 13:51 visualizing what's going on in my eyebrows. 13:54 And so, we can see things from a whole new 13:57 perspective, can't we? But that's not the half 14:01 of it, what about people? My daughter Amber 14:04 came into the world 8 pounds, 10 ounces 14:07 out of my wife's 5 foot, 200 pound body, 14:11 this was a monumental event and we 14:15 raised her. I thought I knew my little girl, 14:19 her name is Amber and then the day came when 14:24 she got married, and we were visiting, 14:26 my wife Sue and I were visiting their home 14:31 and I was sitting in a chair in the living room 14:35 and my daughter Amber, now a full grown adult 14:40 woman and her new husband were kind of 14:45 preparing the meal and flirting in the kitchen 14:49 and I thought no, no stop, stop, that's my 14:52 daughter, get your hands off her that's, 14:55 that's what I was going through in my mind, 14:57 it was a very difficult experience to let 14:59 her go, to give her away, to watch her become 15:03 this full grown woman and then you're in the 15:05 kitchen and they are, and all of the sudden 15:07 she grows upon her tiptoes and he is a tall 15:08 guy upon her, and she, she gives him a gentle 15:11 kiss, and I thought can't handle it. My wife 15:17 Sue said she's grown up, she is married, 15:19 you, you need to just get with the program. 15:26 I saw my little girl in a way I had never see 15:28 her before. Now, the full grown woman and next 15:32 thing I knew pretty soon she was a mommy 15:36 and I saw her holding her own son and I 15:40 fell in love with her all over again. I thought 15:43 wow! She is beautiful. My little girl is so 15:47 beautiful. Now, as a woman, as a wife, and 15:53 as a mother, but I've had this experience 15:57 of seeing all over again for the first time most 16:03 of all with my wife. Sue and I have been 16:06 together since she was 13 and I was 14 16:10 we've been best friends. I mean I really think 16:13 I know this chick, but you know what? 16:17 Just before coming here, just literally 16:21 less than two weeks ago I got an angle, 16:25 a perspective on her personality I had 16:30 never seen before and she was more beautiful 16:34 then I had ever known. Parts of her who she 16:39 is just came to the surface in the process 16:46 of a day and certain events and a 16:49 conversation and tears forming in her eyes. 16:55 I knew her suddenly in a way I had never known 17:00 her before; certainly you have that experience, 17:03 right? A place, a topic, a person that you 17:10 thought you knew and you suddenly see as 17:16 it were for the first time all over again. 17:20 Have you had that experience, anybody 17:22 here? Well, tonight I want to bring to you 17:27 a topic that has to be regarded as the most 17:31 familiar topic in Christianity. I want to 17:36 bring to your attention that which we go into 17:42 psychological neutral so easily but as soon as 17:46 the topic is brought up, we think oh! Yeah, 17:47 yeah, yeah I think I'll just take a little, 17:49 a little Nano nap as the preacher talks because 17:53 I have heard this before. May I, may I 17:57 respectfully urge you this evening to 18:01 somehow psychologically and emotionally go into 18:05 a, a place, a position where you assume that 18:09 you have never encountered the 18:14 Cross of Jesus Christ before. This very 18:17 familiar territory we sing about it, the 18:21 preacher preaches about it, but I want to, 18:23 I want to share with you that I think, 18:24 I think that often times we circumvent our 18:31 potential for deeper inside because we 18:35 get locked in to certain aspects of a topic 18:42 and assume that that's all there is. What 18:45 I want to suggest to you is that when it 18:47 come to the Cross of Jesus Christ we often 18:50 times have so focused on the physical dimension 18:54 of the sufferings of Christ, the what 18:56 dimension everybody? The physical dimension. 18:59 We've so focused on the physical dimension 19:01 that we have failed to, to pear within the deep 19:07 interior of the heart of Jesus as He hung 19:12 between heaven and earth. I mean what was 19:15 going on inside of Him, what was the thought 19:20 process, what was the emotional process 19:23 that He was enduring. Do you hear my question? 19:28 Certainly he was physical abused; he was 19:31 tortured, wasn't He? But I would like to you 19:37 to consider the possibility that what 19:41 Jesus endured by way of physical torture 19:46 was by comparison almost nothing compared 19:53 to what He endured in His heart and in His mind 20:00 for you and me. So, allow your mind to access 20:05 the subject tonight as if maybe you have never 20:08 considered it before. Now, last evening we 20:14 conceptually prepared ourselves for where we 20:18 are going tonight? We laid some ground work, 20:20 we introduced some concepts and some ideas 20:23 you remember, we explored the incredible reality 20:30 of the incarnation of Christ. Which is 20:34 preparatory as I pointed out in the Apostle 20:37 Paul, preparatory to the Cross. Jesus literally 20:43 engaged in a, shall we call it a quantum 20:47 leap of transformation. I mean He was God 20:53 and had always been God. Philippians 2 said, 20:56 He was in very nature God. So, this one that 21:03 we are talking about this evening He had 21:05 always been God and only God, forever and 21:09 ever for all eternity past. This was his 21:13 familiar domain of nature. Shear divinity 21:20 in all it's glory, but then, then He, He 21:27 moved not just geographically, not from 21:30 heaven to earth alone, He moved in nature, 21:36 He literally became something He had never 21:41 been before, He became human. The Creator 21:48 of all things became a part of His very 21:54 creation. I mean He is in Mary's womb, He 22:00 comes forth from the womb she begins 22:03 to raise the one who created her. She 22:09 begins to teach and to educate the 22:13 Creator of the Universe, if we can 22:16 comprehend what that would mean? 22:20 Jesus endured; He experienced what we 22:24 refer to last evening as a dramatic fracture, 22:28 a severing, a cutting off between Himself 22:37 and the other members of the Triune God. 22:39 Father, Son and Holy Spirit, these three who 22:41 are one, who had always been together 22:45 in a beautiful ebb and flow of other centered 22:48 self giving love, they had only ever known 22:51 one another's fellowship in the deepest 22:53 intimacy imaginable and Jesus according 22:57 to Scripture. Jesus condescended and stepped 23:03 out of that inner circle of beautiful intimate 23:07 love. He endured what we refer to as a 23:12 transmigration of nature, He became something 23:18 He had never been before, He became 23:23 a member of the human race. Now, the 23:27 Apostle Paul begins to work this subject, 23:31 He begins to finesse it and, and to, 23:35 to bring to the surface of this greatest 23:38 of all mysteries. He begins to develop for 23:43 our understanding just exactly what 23:45 was involved in this amazing reality we 23:51 call the incarnation, that is the enfleshment 23:54 of God. He begins to bring it to the surface. 23:58 Look with me at Hebrews chapter 2, 24:02 we refer to this text last night, but we 24:04 didn't actually read them look at Hebrews 24:06 chapter 2 and in this sacred text the 24:12 Apostle Paul brings to our awareness the 24:17 astounding relationship between the Incarnation 24:20 and the Cross that is the God logic for God 24:24 becoming human. God has an agenda, He is 24:27 up to something, and the first stage of God's 24:31 agenda, His saving plan is to become human. 24:36 This is stage one. So, in verse 9 of Hebrews 24:40 chapter 2 we read these words. But 24:41 we see Jesus, who was made a little lower 24:46 than the angels for, notice the word for 24:50 the suffering of death, crowned with glory 24:53 and honor, that he by the grace of God, 24:56 might taste death for everyone. Note 25:00 grammatically what Paul is saying to us, 25:03 he is saying that Jesus became human 25:08 for the suffering of death. In order of that 25:12 He might experience death as an authentic 25:17 experience, not as a charade, not as a 25:20 projection, not as an illusion He is 25:24 hoping we will believe, but as a concrete 25:27 reality for God. He became human in order 25:34 that He might experience the full ramifications 25:38 of our death. Look at verse 14 he repeats 25:43 himself, but he gets even clearer. In as much 25:45 then as the children have partaken 25:48 of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise 25:50 took part of the same, the same what 25:52 everybody? Flesh and blood, what's the first 25:56 word after the comma? That in order that so 26:00 that He through death might, what? 26:05 Destroy him who had the power of the death, 26:08 that is the devil. So, here's this bridge in 26:11 Paul's understanding. This, this, this bridge 26:13 between incarnation and cross, the incarnation 26:18 creates the necessary metaphysical 26:24 situation in which the almighty creator 26:27 of the universe who can in himself know 26:29 no death. This God who cannot die moves out 26:35 of himself becomes human in order that 26:41 he might submit himself to the circumstances 26:47 that would make it possible for him to 26:50 experientially, authentically undergo an 26:53 experience that in and of himself with a 26:56 completely retained divinity that is not 27:01 grafted to humanity could never ever authentically 27:05 experience and you'll see what I mean more 27:06 as we continue. Now go to Philippians chapter 2, 27:13 you're gonna have to sit up a little straighter 27:14 and breathe a little deeper, because we're 27:17 going to exercise the frontal lobe this 27:19 evening. We are going to be engaging 27:23 in a process of Bible study that opens 27:27 and unveils to us the deep things of God, 27:31 the deep interior of the love of God, 27:33 the extravagant, extraordinary, 27:36 over the top, off the charts love of God. 27:39 And you are gonna want to make sure that 27:41 you prepare yourself for the punch line by 27:45 grasping where we're coming from as we arrive 27:50 at the punch line. Right now we're contemplating 27:53 the practical ramifications of the 27:56 incarnation of God in Christ. Chapter 2 28:01 of Philippians notice verse 5 let this mind 28:03 be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. So, 28:07 now what Paul is about to do, is He is about 28:10 to actually described to us the mind, 28:13 that was in Christ Jesus. Let this mind 28:15 be in you which was also in Christ Jesus and 28:18 here we go, I'm about to describe it for 28:19 you Paul says. This is the disposition, 28:21 the mind, the Spirit, the character that we 28:24 witness in Christ Jesus. Who, being in very 28:29 nature God, did not consider his equality 28:35 with God something to be grasped to held onto, 28:39 I am giving it you from the New International 28:41 Version from memory here, you're probably reading 28:43 the King James, New King James. The New King 28:46 James Version says: Who, being in very form 28:50 God, did not consider it robbery to be equal 28:54 with God. What's that mean robbery? That's 28:56 a little bit too, too arcade, that's the 28:58 Queen's English from 300 years ago, 29:00 there is no way we are going to access that 29:03 just on the surface. Look at me, He didn't 29:05 consider it robbery to be equal with God. 29:08 It was His inherent right, this wasn't 29:11 something that that He, He took by fiat, 29:14 He didn't, He didn't steal this identity, He 29:17 is in very nature who? None other than 29:20 God, but He did not consider this equality 29:25 with God something to be held on, 29:28 to be grasped, His disposition, His 29:32 attitude toward this high state, this divine 29:35 state, His attitude toward it is a 29:38 willingness to just abdicate, to just lay 29:42 it aside. I mean, can you imagine what it 29:45 would like to just be you and be willing 29:49 to lay aside the totality of your history and 29:54 identity and all that you have and possess 29:57 and all that you are by nature to become 30:02 lets say an ant, or a possum or can 30:09 you imagine having the disposition toward 30:12 your humanity that says you know what? 30:14 If it is for the best good of others that 30:17 would be willing to literally lay aside my 30:19 human nature to become a lower life form, 30:25 are you with me? That's right. Okay, 30:27 the distance between what it means to be human 30:30 and what it means to be a possum is a shorter 30:34 distance then what it means to be God and 30:37 to become human. That's right. Okay, Jesus 30:41 who was in Himself God took that quantum leap 30:46 out of eternity past into time and space realities 30:52 where he literally became a human being, 30:56 and He didn't feel a jealous regard for 30:59 holding on to that past status. He was like; 31:03 if that's what it takes I will do it, why? 31:07 Because He has you, He has me, He has 31:10 everybody that you have ever known, and 31:11 everybody you have ever locked eyes with, 31:13 everybody you love, everybody you 31:15 haven't love, He has everyone of us at the 31:19 center of His heart. So, this is the one 31:23 who is equal with God, New International 31:25 Version says: The one who wasn't very 31:27 nature God made Himself nothing. Made 31:30 Himself what everybody? Nothing. Nothing 31:33 by comparison that is. Now, then New American 31:39 Standard Bible renders the Greek here 31:42 differently, but it accesses an idea that 31:46 we need to, to take in. It says: The one 31:49 who was equal with God, New American 31:51 Standard Bible emptied Himself, He did 31:53 what would Himself? He emptied Himself. 31:56 So, so you get the idea that in His divinity 32:00 as God there is content, right? And he empties 32:07 that content. What it means to be equal 32:12 with God, to be in very nature with God? 32:14 What would it mean to be God and to empty 32:17 the content of that divinity? Well, the 32:21 Philips translation does something remarkable 32:23 here with the Greek. The Philips translation 32:26 says: He laid aside His advantages as God. 32:33 His prerogatives, his privileges, those things 32:38 that are shall we say inherent to divinity. 32:43 There is, there is a certain content to being 32:47 God, there are certain attributes, there 32:50 are certain things that are true of God and 32:52 not true of anybody else in the universe, 32:54 you have to be divine to have these things. 32:57 And they fall into three basic categories; 33:00 we refer to them as the three Omnis, Omni 33:03 is Greek for all, there is number one, 33:07 omnipotence, what is potence? Its power, 33:12 so what does it mean to be omnipotent? 33:15 All powerful, that's why he is called the all, 33:17 what? The Almighty. And then what's the 33:22 second Omni, omniscience, what does it mean 33:26 to be omniscient, not that you would know, 33:30 not that I would know, it means to know 33:32 how many things, all things, how often? All 33:36 the time, simultaneously you just happen 33:39 to know everything. God never, God never 33:43 has an Aha moment, let's put it that way. 33:46 God never ever, ever, says whoa! I 33:49 never thought of that before ever, ever. 33:53 He knows everything all the time, 33:55 this is omniscience, nothing ever occurs 33:57 to Him. Okay, what's the third great Omni? 34:01 What's the third Omni? Omnipresence, 34:05 that means that he is how many places, 34:07 everywhere all the time, not in a pantheistic 34:10 sense, He is not present in everything, 34:12 He is present to everything. Okay, He 34:15 is present here right now for example God is, 34:18 but He is also present everywhere 34:21 else geographically in the entire world and 34:25 in the entire universe. Now, these are the 34:29 things that pertain to the divine nature and 34:33 Paul is trying to tell us something here, 34:35 he I saying listen this one who in very nature 34:41 is God, emptied the divine content, He laid 34:46 aside His advantages and prerogatives 34:49 and abilities, you see wait a minute Ty 34:52 this is, this is, are you, are you pushing 34:54 the edges Ty? Are you seriously? No way, 34:57 He didn't do that, did He? Do you really 34:59 want psychologically and emotionally to access 35:02 the magnitude of this extraordinary, 35:05 extravagant love? Do you really want to 35:07 see it, yes or no? Okay, open your mind to what 35:10 Scripture saying here? I will give you clear 35:12 biblical examples of the fact that Jesus 35:14 did lay aside, but say put into remission 35:20 the three Omnis. According to Luke 35:24 chapter 2 the child, that is God in human flesh, 35:28 grew in stature and in wisdom. What does it 35:33 mean to grow in wisdom, to grow in knowledge, 35:35 what does it mean? It means you're learning 35:37 things you didn't what? Know before, you read 35:39 the book Desire of Ages you learn that Jesus 35:42 at 12 years of age went to his first pass over 35:46 feast, he watched the mysterious ceremony 35:50 unfold, there is the Lamb, there's the knife, 35:54 there's the blood flowing, there is the 35:56 fire, there is the sacrifice, and he 36:00 watches and ponders the whole thing and 36:02 we're told in Desire of Ages that it dawned 36:04 on him for the first time as it were that 36:09 that is me, that is symbolically 36:13 representing my destiny and where I am going 36:15 and what I am here for? Mary literally 36:19 had to teach him, he, he had the one, 36:22 the one who inspired the Bible had to memorize 36:26 it. Mary taught Him Isaiah 53 and said, 36:31 Son I don't, I don't really get it, but the 36:33 angel at your birth explained that this has 36:36 something to do with you, oh! We like 36:38 sheep have gone astray, we have turned 36:40 everyone to his own way and the Lord is laid 36:42 on him, son that's you, the inequity of us all, 36:46 it is mommy? Yes, it is, I don't know what 36:51 that means, but you need to allow the 36:54 Holy Spirit to open your mind to your mission 36:57 and who you are? Jesus didn't come into this 37:00 world and just, just at 5 years of age, 37:02 could just go kick back under a sycamore 37:04 tree and reminisce about what life was 37:06 like in heaven before he came here with 37:08 the Father the Holy Spirit and Gabriel 37:10 all the other, oh! I remember when we 37:12 created Mars, no. Jesus came into this world 37:17 then according to the Testimony of Scripture 37:19 he grew in knowledge and wisdom, 37:23 he learned things. He explicitly states 37:28 in the Gospel of Mark and again it is 37:31 recorded in the Gospel of Matthew that 37:34 Jesus told His disciples no man knows, 37:40 no man what everybody? Knows the day nor 37:44 the hour of the coming of the Son of man 37:47 not even myself, but the Father only. 37:52 Who knows the day and the hour of the second 37:54 coming according to Jesus? The Father. 37:56 Does Jesus, when He speaking to His 37:59 disciples at least, does He know? No, 38:02 He explicitly says there are things I don't, 38:05 what? Know that is not omniscience, Jesus 38:10 has laid aside, He has not ceased to be 38:13 divine, He is fully 100% God and His divinity 38:18 has now been fused with or grafted into a 38:24 very real living humanity. And that 38:27 humanity is during His earthly experience 38:30 that humanity is superseding His 38:33 divinity. He is allowed the divine abilities 38:37 and powers by voluntary choice to go into 38:39 remission my friends. What about 38:41 omnipotence, so you laid at aside? Absolutely, 38:44 John chapter 5, the Lord Jesus Christ said, 38:47 I can of my own self do nothing, that is 38:51 nothing an omnipotence statement, 38:53 that is a human being saying I am utterly 38:56 dependent upon the Father for all these 38:58 miracles you see me doing, I raise the dead 39:00 by the power of the Father's omnipotence 39:03 channeling through me. I heal the sick 39:06 by the Father's power and that's why 39:09 by the way the disciples could turn 39:11 around and do the same things and they 39:12 weren't God. Jesus modeled for them 39:16 and accessing of divine power, when you come 39:21 to Acts chapter 2 when Peter is preaching 39:24 he says, we testify to you this Jesus Christ 39:27 who did many signs and wonders, which God 39:32 did through him? It was the Father's 39:37 omnipotence acting in the human personhood 39:42 of Jesus Christ that we witness, are you with 39:44 me so far? And the same as true and for 39:47 the sake of time I won't go there, 39:48 the same as true of omnipresence. 39:50 Jesus was local to time space consideration 39:55 when He was in this world. This is the 39:57 essence of what Paul is telling us in his 40:00 treatment of the incarnation in Hebrews 40:02 chapter 2 and Philippians chapter 2. 40:06 So, he says that, Jesus emptied himself 40:10 of this divine content, why? He goes on 40:14 and He says in chapter 2 Philippians still, 40:18 but made himself nothing of no reputation, 40:22 taking the form of a servant and coming in 40:25 the likeness of man and being found in 40:28 appearance as a man, He humbled Himself 40:31 and became obedient unto death even 40:35 the death of the Cross. Do you see Paul does 40:37 it again? Just like he did in chapter 2 40:39 of Hebrews, Paul says there is a, 40:42 a bridge of understanding that we need to 40:44 have between the Incarnation and 40:46 the Cross. He became human, 40:48 He emptied Himself, so that an authentic 40:52 self sacrific could be made, 40:54 so that we could behold it and stand in all 40:57 and wonder at the love of God. 41:00 Because think about it for a moment, 41:03 if Jesus had retained omniscience and 41:08 omnipresence during His time in this world. 41:13 Got that so far? And then He having 41:17 omniscience and omnipresence fully 41:20 operable went to the Cross and cried 41:23 out my God, my God why have you forsaken me? 41:25 What would it mean? Approximately nothing, 41:29 I mean think about it because in the moment 41:32 of the cry of despair and the feeling of 41:35 separation and forsakenness He 41:38 would have simultaneously 41:39 have been transcending the event, 41:44 He would have simultaneously 41:45 have been in heaven with the Father 41:48 if He were in that moment omnipresent, 41:51 He would have simultaneously 41:53 been on the other side of the experience 41:56 if he had omniscience, transcending the 41:58 event and knowing exactly what the 42:00 outcome would be? The sacrifice would 42:02 have been rendered absolutely meaningless 42:08 if the incarnation were not an authentic 42:11 condescension, but it was, 42:15 He literally did become human, 42:17 it was an authentic condescension my 42:19 friends and He became human, 42:21 so that He could experience the full 42:26 ramifications of the sin problem that you 42:31 and I experience and ultimately will 42:34 experience, but His grace save us from 42:39 the ultimate consequence. So, Jesus in our 42:44 humanity now finds Himself at the final few 42:50 days of His experience in our world as our Savior. 42:55 He is walking with His disciples, 42:56 I'm in chapter 26 of the Gospel of Matthew, 42:59 He is walking with His disciples up a 43:02 dusty path into the Garden of Gethsemane 43:07 we're told and you can figure this out 43:09 if you understand the calendars of the Hebrew 43:13 people and the fact that Passover was 43:15 about to happen, it was a full moon 43:17 they could see his person and Jesus began 43:21 to stagger under the weight of some kind of 43:23 unseen burden according to Scripture. 43:28 Peter, James, and John were taken deeper 43:31 into the heart of the Garden wit him as he 43:33 told the other disciples to remain in a certain 43:34 place and pray. And as they walked 43:38 and he staggered and stumbled unto no 43:41 apparent physical trauma, nobody had laid a 43:45 hand on his physical body as of yet, 43:49 Jesus is staggering and the disciples wonder 43:53 and whisper among themselves, 43:55 what's wrong with the master, 43:56 why is he so burdened? And Jesus breaks in to 44:00 their wondering He says, He tells them the 44:03 mystery, the secret of His agony. 44:08 He says my soul is exceedingly sorrowful 44:13 even unto death. My what everybody? 44:17 My soul, now you know what the word soul 44:20 means in scripture, don't you I don't need 44:22 to take the time to define that? 44:26 The word soul in scripture means being 44:29 that means the totality of personhood, 44:31 that means all that you are, 44:32 the physical dimension, the emotional dimension, 44:35 the psychological dimension, 44:37 it's the whole person, that's the word soul 44:40 in scripture. Here when we come 44:42 to the New Testament it is homing in on a 44:45 certain dimension of personhood, of being. 44:50 The word that is chosen here for soul in Gospel 44:53 is the Greek word psyche; 44:56 it's what Greek word everybody? 44:58 Psyche from which we get the English word 45:01 psyche that's right. And it refers to what 45:05 dimension of human experience, the mind, 45:07 the hearts, the internal content. 45:11 Jesus says I want you to know what I am 45:13 experiencing, my soul, my mind, 45:16 my hearts is exceedingly sorrowful to the point 45:21 of death. There is something of a lethal 45:25 nature going on inside of me. 45:29 In other words, Jesus has not 45:33 experience any physical tortured yet, 45:34 yes or no? None, not one drop of blood 45:37 has been drawn from His flesh by brutality. 45:41 The crown of thorns has not been pressed 45:43 on his brow. The nails have not 45:46 been driven through His hands. 45:47 And yet Jesus in the quietude of a midnight 45:50 serene garden says I am dying on the inside. 45:58 Something is going on inside of me that 46:01 is taking my life away, I am exceedingly 46:06 sorrowful to the point of death. 46:09 And then Jesus unveils through a metaphor 46:13 what he's going through? He falls to the ground 46:18 and He clutches at the earth, 46:21 ripping at it with His fingers because 46:24 of the sense of separation that he is 46:27 enduring between Himself and the Father. 46:32 And as He is there upon the ground 46:36 He prays a prayer, if it be possible Father 46:41 let this, what's the metaphor He uses? 46:43 Let this cup pass from me nevertheless 46:45 not as I will, but as your cup, what cup? 46:49 This cup is mentioned other places in 46:50 the Bible, the one you will be most familiar 46:52 with this in the Third Angels Message 46:54 it is there called the cup of the wine of the 46:57 wrath of God, which is poured out without 47:00 mixture of mercy that is into the cup of 47:03 His indignation. This is the full ramifications 47:08 of justice, undiluted righteousness and 47:14 holiness with no buffer of mercy between. 47:19 This is Jesus telling us that He holds in His 47:22 hand a cup of infinite magnitude suffering 47:29 that no human being has ever, ever, ever 47:31 experienced. And He has this cup in 47:35 His hand and He says nevertheless Father, 47:39 I don't want to drink this, 47:41 I don't want to endure this, 47:42 I feel myself slipping away from You, 47:45 the separation is intense. Nevertheless, 47:53 and in not nevertheless He sees 47:56 you and He sees me. Nevertheless, 48:01 if this is what it takes to save them, 48:07 even this I am willing to endure? 48:11 Jesus then arises from this suffering in the 48:17 garden and He has taken to the Cross of Calvary. 48:24 The physical suffering is intense it's brutal, 48:29 it's hard to contemplate and that Jesus never 48:33 utters a complaint about what's done 48:36 to His body. Never, never people, people, 48:39 why are you torching me? But He does cry out 48:42 from the depths of His divine human soul, 48:46 my God, my God where are You? 48:52 Why have You forsaken me? 48:55 The sense of abandonment, 48:57 this chasm of separation, 49:00 this most awful and horrific of all 49:04 experiences imaginable, my God, 49:08 my God where are You? Jesus in His heart 49:12 and in His mind turned with me to Psalm 88 49:17 as I prep you for it, Jesus in His heart 49:20 and in His mind is undergoing an experience 49:24 that has a certain, a certain content to it, 49:29 it has, it has a specific kind of color 49:35 and contour to it, Jesus is going through 49:38 something. What is He going through 49:41 my friends? Psalm 88 is a 49:44 messianic prophecy, it's what kind of 49:46 prophecy everybody? Messianic that means 49:49 it's foretelling who the Messiah. 49:52 It is a prophecy that foretells what 49:55 Jesus goes through psychologically 49:58 and emotionally on the Cross. 50:01 This chapter in Psalms, Psalm 88 draws 50:05 the veil aside, so that we can, 50:07 we can look into the mental and emotional 50:11 process of Jesus as He hangs between 50:13 heaven and earth. There in the New 50:15 Testament all we hear is, let this cup pass from 50:18 me and my God, my God why have You forsaken me? 50:21 But here is what's going on? 50:23 I am in Psalm 88 verse 2, he says: 50:28 My soul is full of troubles and My life 50:35 draws near to grave. I am counted with 50:39 those who go down into the pit; 50:44 I am as a man who has no strength. 50:46 Adrift among the dead, like the slain who lie 50:55 in the grave? This is astounding whom You 51:01 remember no more. Father, I feel like I am 51:07 sinking into a pit of death from which You 51:12 will never remember me again, 51:15 from which You will never call me forth in 51:18 resurrection life. This is second death 51:22 language. This is a death in which there 51:25 is no more remembrance of the individual 51:28 and God's mind. Look at verse 6 amazing. 51:35 You have laid me in, which pit. 51:39 The lowest pit in darkness, 51:43 in the depths. Your wrath is heavy upon me, 51:50 what is this darkness? You have laid me in 51:53 the lowest pit in darkness, 51:55 is this turn the lights out blow the candles 51:57 out kind of, sun down kind of darkness. 52:00 No, no, no this is mental and emotional darkness. 52:03 This is, this is the darkness of what it 52:05 feels like to be guilty, and filled with shame 52:10 and dread of sin. This is what it feels 52:16 like to know your sin with perfect acuity 52:23 and feel no buffer of mercy in between. 52:27 No sense of forgiveness, no compassion, 52:30 all you see in your heart and your mind 52:32 is just justice and holiness and 52:35 righteousness and its eternal distinction 52:39 from sin. It's infinite and it feels it to 52:45 the depths of His being, verse 8. 52:50 This is the climax. You have put mine 52:53 acquaintance far from me, 52:55 watch this, you have made me an abomination 52:59 to them: I am shut up, and I cannot get out. 53:05 That's King James, New King James, 53:06 I am shut up, and I can't what everybody, 53:10 get out. New International Version 53:12 says something to the effect I am confined 53:15 in oblivion and cannot escape. 53:20 What does it mean? When he says I am, 53:22 I am shut up, shut up where, 53:25 what's the context? In this pit of darkness, 53:29 in this utter and complete sense of 53:30 separation from God, my God, my God 53:34 why have You forsaken me? 53:36 I am shut up in that separation from God 53:40 and all the collective hold of human 53:43 transgression and sin is owned by me 53:47 as if I were the guilty pardon, 53:49 every sin ever committed. I bare all of that, 53:53 the whole load and it has separated me 53:57 from My Father and I am shut up in this 54:02 deep dark psychological place, 54:06 and I feel like I will never ever get out. 54:10 What is this language? If you are dead and 54:14 you can't get out of death, 54:17 what are we referring to here? 54:18 Resurrection and so we come down to verse 54:23 10 and He muses as He hangs on the Cross. 54:27 Will your work, excuse me. 54:30 Will You work wonders for the dead? 54:32 Shall the dead, what everybody? 54:35 Arise to praise You? What about verse 11? 54:42 Shall Your loving kindness be declared 54:44 in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in 54:46 the place of, what? Destruction, 54:49 second death language again. 54:52 Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? 54:54 And Your righteousness in the land of 54:57 forgetfulness? God, are you going to 55:01 forget me for eternity? I am sinking into a 55:04 death from which it appears there is no 55:06 resurrection, will you ever call me 55:08 forth from the grave? Jesus, 55:13 my friends came in to our world took our 55:18 humanity upon Himself and submitted to all 55:21 its inherent limitations. And then He went to 55:26 the Cross and He entered into the deep 55:31 dark physiological place of guilt and shame 55:34 and sin, so that He felt to the depths 55:38 of His being what it means to be cut off 55:43 and severed and sundered from God, 55:47 he felt it. And that any point in the process, 55:52 scripture tells us, He tells us, 55:56 He could have called 12 legions of angels 55:59 to deliver Himself, but the Bible says that 56:03 He loved them and that is us. 56:08 Chapter 13 verse 1 of the Gospel of John, 56:09 He love them to then end, 56:12 to the end of Himself my friends, 56:16 to the utter and complete end of Himself. 56:19 Jesus literally faced the prospect of eternal 56:23 damnation, never to see the light of day 56:26 again and He voluntarily for shear love, 56:30 extravagant love for you and me was 56:33 willing to die forever, so that you and I 56:37 could have eternal life. We witness at the Cross 56:41 God's value system, and astoundingly 56:44 He literally values all others above 56:47 and before Himself. And in the beautiful 56:51 way that convinces us that we are in 56:56 the best of all imaginable universes, 57:00 governed by a God of infinite other centered 57:03 love and we can forever trust explicitly 57:08 and never be disappointed. 57:11 God loves you tonight with an extraordinary, 57:14 extravagant love and the Cross proves it. 57:18 Father in heaven, we love You because 57:23 You have first loved us. I pray that we love 57:27 You tonight in a new way with new vision. |
Revised 2014-12-17