The Deep Fake Jesus: Why Christ Alone is Enough

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] All right. Well, good morning. How are you guys doing today? Good, good, good. Hey, would you do me a favor? If you've got your Bibles, would you turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2, and we're going to be in verses 5 through 6. Some of you are wondering, wait a minute, where's Pastor Derwin? Pastor Derwin right now is in Norway, and he is ministering to and preaching and teaching for some pastors and ministry leaders in that area. And I want to just start by addressing something. I don't know if you guys know about this, but the last like two to four weeks have been really tumultuous to say at the least, right? It's been really confusing and chaotic. And just two weeks ago, I probably had more phone calls than I've ever had from pastor and ministry friends, probably 30 phone calls, just trying to figure out these pastors who love Jesus and want to be obedient to Jesus and his word, and also shepherd and love the people that the Lord has brought to their congregations really well. And inevitably, at some point in the conversation, the comment is, man, Joel, would you just let Pastor Derwin know how grateful we are for his love for Jesus and for his leadership in this area? And I know sometimes we just like week after week, we get to hear from Pastor Derwin, but I wanted to encourage all of you as I travel and I'm out, the work that is being done here at TC is making a huge difference for pastors all over the globe. And so I just want to honor Pastor Derwin and Vicki and the team here at Transformation Church.
[00:01:37] So we're going to be in 1 Timothy chapter two, verses five through six, and we're going to continue our series through the solas. And this specific week, we're going to talk about solus Christus. And so that's a Latin phrase. If y'all would just indulge me, would you just repeat after me? Solus Christus.
[00:01:56] Perfect. Brilliant. So solus, that's the Latin phrase for solus.
[00:02:00] Only. And Christus is the Latin phrase for?
[00:02:03] Well, y'all are Latin scholars? That's great. That's great. I love it. Okay. And so a little bit of history. This entire kind of concept is rooted in the year 1517 with the great reformer Martin Luther, who took 95 theses that he penned down and he nailed them on a castle on a church door in Wittenberg. And this process started what is now known as the Reformation. And so we stand here today, and what's happening kind of at that time period are a group of people that are following Jesus that are trying to get back to the centrality of the scriptures. They're trying to get back to like, like, what is the Christian faith fundamentally all about? And so when we talk about solus Christus, this is a statement that is confessing the sufficiency of Christ's work.
[00:02:59] In other words, what we're saying is very simple, far from simplistic. Christ is enough.
[00:03:07] I want to do something with you last. Actually, I'm gonna do this now. Would y'all stand? I want to read first Timothy chapter two, verses five through six. And I want to honor the word of God. And I want to stand as we read these verses. And the reason I want us to stand is because last week, I was in London. And on Wednesday, I spent the entire day in a place called Oxford. Any of y'all heard about Oxford?
[00:03:29] Yeah, if I didn't know any better, I would think that Oxford is also known as Eden. Okay, I mean, it is the most magical place. And I found myself at this place called St. Aldate's Church. And St. Aldate's Church is a church that has been around, check this out, y'all, for 1000 years. So for 1000 years, as the people of God would gather into Oxford, and they would come in this kind of cathedral, tiny little spot, they would pack in, they would pack in, they would pack in, they would pack in, they would pack in, they would pack in, they would pack in, they would pack in.
[00:04:00] For 1000 years, when the word of God would be opened, they would stand together to read and to honor the word of God. And already right now, some of you are like, Joel, you asked me to stand about a minute and a half ago, and my legs are tired. Are you going to preach the entire time with us standing? I might, you don't know what the Holy Spirit will do.
[00:04:21] But I want us to do something here. I want us to together read first Timothy chapter two, verses five through six. And we live in a culture and a society.
[00:04:29] That wants everything to be tied up nice and neat in a bow, don't we? We want it to be clean, and we want it to be efficient, and we want it to be orderly. And yet, I just want to encourage you that if you've lived life for more than a second, you know that life is messy. And why is life messy? Because we are messy.
[00:04:50] And so for a moment, I just want us to put aside the Instagram filter pictures of everything perfect, nice and neat. And I want just our messy selves with our messy hearts being led by the Spirit of God to just read these words.
[00:05:06] And this is what this means. You're going to want to be tempted to follow along with other people. You're going to try to pay attention to my rhythm and the speed at which I read. And we're going to try to, and I just want to encourage you, just go for it.
[00:05:18] Just read the text.
[00:05:20] So let's do this together. 1 Timothy chapter 2, starting in verse 5. It says this.
[00:05:38] Let's do this one more time. 1 Timothy 2, starting in verse 5. And remember, this is a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to, I think, his favorite disciple, his favorite mentee.
[00:05:48] His name is Timothy.
[00:05:50] He is pastoring a church in Ephesus. Y'all, just so you know, you think Vegas is wild? Ain't nothing compared to the ancient city of Ephesus. They were wild and out to the nth degree.
[00:06:01] And so here's Paul's like, I got to help this guy out for a little bit. So these are the words that he says. So 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 5 through 6, it says this.
[00:06:09] For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testament.
[00:06:20] This is the testimony given at the proper time. You guys can have a seat.
[00:06:23] For there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
[00:06:44] In other words, what this verse is trying to say.
[00:06:50] is that it's all about Jesus.
[00:06:54] It's all about him.
[00:06:56] I get the incredible opportunity to travel quite a bit.
[00:07:00] In the last couple of years, I found myself on college campuses with young adults and some of the major universities and I go to a room and we do these question and response times and I want to tell you that a couple years ago, my great fear for the generation was that they would not know the name of Jesus.
[00:07:19] That was my great fear.
[00:07:20] I was like, oh man, they might not know the name of Jesus and after the last two years and as I've spent time with these young adults, I've spent time on college campuses, I no longer have that fear.
[00:07:29] I actually have a different fear.
[00:07:31] It is a deeper, more deceptive fear and a tactic of the enemy.
[00:07:36] The issue is not, are people going to know the name of Jesus?
[00:07:41] The issue is going to be, what Jesus do they know?
[00:07:46] Y'all have heard of this thing called AI deep fakes.
[00:07:49] Have you not?
[00:07:50] Right?
[00:07:52] And this is kind of my concern.
[00:07:56] As an example, I have been coming to Transformation Church for the last 10 years.
[00:08:00] My wife Britt and I have been married for 16 years.
[00:08:03] Our last couple of kids were born right here in the Charlotte, South Carolina area and they were right here.
[00:08:08] This is all they've ever known is TC.
[00:08:11] And so when we come to church, we typically say, hey, we're going to come to the first service with four kids.
[00:08:16] That just means we're coming to the second service.
[00:08:19] Yeah.
[00:08:20] Well, they're laughing because you know, y'all are my people.
[00:08:22] All of you said we're coming to the second service and you're here right now.
[00:08:26] Right?
[00:08:27] And so for 10 years, and over the 10 years, y'all have, some of you have gotten to know me.
[00:08:32] You know who I am.
[00:08:33] You know that I'm a Chicago kid, born and raised.
[00:08:36] I watched MJ win the three-peat, repeat the three-peat.
[00:08:38] In fact, the very title of this message is, there can be only one.
[00:08:45] I know, right?
[00:08:46] Already you're thinking, oh, he's going there.
[00:08:48] Now listen, the Holy Spirit has matured me, over the years, and has restrained me.
[00:08:52] So I'm not going to go there, but you know, like the things that I say, and so you might be shocked, because today, I have a really important, just declaring that I have to do.
[00:09:03] This is a very important announcement that I want to make to all of you today.
[00:09:08] Hey guys, it's Joel.
[00:09:09] I want to apologize to you all about something.
[00:09:11] For many years, I have said that Apple is better than Android.
[00:09:14] I was wrong, and I need to come clean about it.
[00:09:17] Android is a far more innovative and versatile platform.
[00:09:20] I will be using Android products exclusively going forward.
[00:09:27] Well, wait a minute.
[00:09:33] Joel, like I'm Joel.
[00:09:34] I'm embodied right here.
[00:09:37] And you saw my words, like my mouth moving, but then it's wild, because the sound that you heard, I'm Joel, right?
[00:09:46] I'm here, I'm saying, the sound that you heard, the words that you, you heard, listen, listen, listen.
[00:09:51] We're incongruent with who I have always been.
[00:09:57] Listen, this is my great fear.
[00:09:59] My great fear is that we will take Jesus and attempt to try to conform Jesus into our image instead of being a people who are conformed into the image of Christ.
[00:10:14] When we say Christus solus, we're saying, that Christ is efficient, that Christ is sufficient, and that Christ is enough.
[00:10:26] But listen, we have to be precise in who we mean by Christ Jesus.
[00:10:34] What Jesus says about himself, not what we want Jesus to say about himself.
[00:10:41] So, who is this Jesus?
[00:10:46] In 1 Timothy chapter two, verses five through six, we find four.
[00:10:49] We find four identity statements of Jesus.
[00:10:52] I want us to walk through each of these because these are so incredibly important.
[00:10:56] The first statement is that there is one God.
[00:11:03] Now, if you're an ancient Israelite, you're a little kid and you grew up in Judea and you heard that phrase for there is one God.
[00:11:11] And so you're like, wait a minute, I've heard this before.
[00:11:14] I remember my grandparents telling stories about this whole one God thing.
[00:11:18] And today, the theological term is monotheism, that there is one God, distinct ontologically in essence, but also distinct in three persons.
[00:11:28] God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.
[00:11:31] And so, when we look back, we're like, wait, God is one.
[00:11:34] We know what that statement means.
[00:11:36] It's kind of like today.
[00:11:37] If I were to say, just do it, I'm referring to Nike, right?
[00:11:43] You can say a phrase like, oh, I know, it's the swoosh.
[00:11:46] Or if I were to say, you can have it your way, I'm referring to Burger King.
[00:11:51] Did you guys know there's like one Burger King left?
[00:11:54] It's over on like Providence Road somewhere.
[00:11:56] And y'all, we need to pray for that one location because I love me a Whopper Junior with cheese.
[00:12:03] Like, when we say a statement, it's like, oh yeah, I know what that means.
[00:12:06] I know what it's rooted in.
[00:12:07] And the exact same thing is happening here.
[00:12:10] When Paul writes, he says, for there is one God, everybody instantly goes, wait a minute, I know where this is from.
[00:12:15] I've heard this before.
[00:12:16] Where's it from?
[00:12:17] Deuteronomy chapter six.
[00:12:18] Verse four, it's historically referred to as the Shema.
[00:12:22] It's the Hebrew word for hear, and y'all need to know that this is not a passive kind of hearing.
[00:12:31] It's a kind of hearing that would make you want to lean in and pay attention because the words you're about to hear are gonna call you to something and someone.
[00:12:42] This is what Deuteronomy six, verse four says, listen, Israel.
[00:12:48] The Lord, our God, the Lord is one.
[00:12:51] Now, normally I would have an iPad and we'd do a screen share and display and I would do some nerdy Greek and Hebrew stuff with you, but I think y'all can just follow along.
[00:12:59] And so I want to go slowly through this word by word, and I want to introduce you to the Hebrew text underneath this.
[00:13:05] It says, listen, Israel, the Lord, and in your Bibles, you probably see the little caps right there, right?
[00:13:10] This is an indication for you that the Hebrew underneath this is the word of God, the word of God, the word of God, the word of God, the word of God, the word of God.
[00:13:18] Underneath this is actually the Hebrew term or word, Yahweh.
[00:13:23] Y'all say Yahweh.
[00:13:25] Yahweh.
[00:13:26] Excellent.
[00:13:27] And then it says, the Lord, Yahweh, our God.
[00:13:30] Everybody say Elohim.
[00:13:31] Elohim.
[00:13:32] This is another term for God.
[00:13:33] It says this, our Lord, Yahweh, our God, Elohim, the Lord, Yahweh, is one.
[00:13:41] Okay, now let's just cement this into our hearts.
[00:13:44] So when I say the English term, I want you to say the Hebrew term, okay?
[00:13:48] Yeshua, Yahweh, our God.
[00:13:50] Elohim.
[00:13:51] Look at you.
[00:13:52] The Lord.
[00:13:53] Yahweh.
[00:13:54] Is one.
[00:13:55] Is one.
[00:13:56] Joel, why are you just spending all this time on this?
[00:14:01] The Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, and it's called the Septuagint.
[00:14:07] And the Septuagint is very, very important because, in fact, when Jesus quotes the Old Testament, and when the disciples, the apostles, when they write and they quote the Old Testament wild, the vast majority of the time.
[00:14:18] they're actually quoting the Hebrew Bible in Greek.
[00:14:22] Fascinating detail that the Hebrew term Elohim is referred to or translated into Greek as Theos, which would mean the Father.
[00:14:34] Here's another very interesting detail, that Hebrew word Yahweh, which when I was studying Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew, I had a professor, and every time we came across that Hebrew word Yahweh as we were reading out loud in class, we were never allowed to say that word out loud.
[00:14:46] You see, that word was the personal, intimate name of God.
[00:14:53] So if you went to the Shai from where I'm from and you met some people that knew me, you would be surprised because they wouldn't call me Joel, they'd call me Joey.
[00:15:02] That's how I grew up.
[00:15:04] They knew me as a little baby, and that's just how they, and wow, there's only a few people now would refer to me as Joey.
[00:15:12] So when you say Yahweh, we're actually saying something that's not just a word, very profound, very intimate.
[00:15:17] It is God's self-disclosure of himself in an intimate way.
[00:15:23] A really fascinating detail.
[00:15:25] Every time the Hebrew word Yahweh is translated into Greek, it's translated into Greek as kurios, which is the Son.
[00:15:34] I know, some of you are like, wait a minute.
[00:15:37] Let's look at 1 Corinthians 8, verse 6.
[00:15:41] Yet for us there is one God, Theos, the Father.
[00:15:46] All things are from him, and we exist for him.
[00:15:50] And there is one Lord, kurios, Jesus Christ.
[00:15:57] All things are through him, and we exist through him.
[00:16:02] What is this saying?
[00:16:04] This is saying, in one of the most mind-blowing ways, that the Father and the Son are one.
[00:16:14] This is how Paul starts.
[00:16:16] The statement of Solos Christus.
[00:16:20] He starts with this eternal truth.
[00:16:22] There is one God.
[00:16:25] And now in our mind we go, oh, who is this one God?
[00:16:27] This one God is both God the Father and God the Son.
[00:16:32] Now we get to our second point.
[00:16:34] There is one mediator.
[00:16:37] This is what the text says.
[00:16:38] For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind.
[00:16:43] And then there's a clarifier on who this mediator is.
[00:16:45] The man, the Anthropos, Christ Jesus.
[00:16:50] This is, I mean, now what does a mediator do?
[00:16:52] A mediator tries to bring reconciliation for two parties that are at odds with each other, huh?
[00:16:58] There's person A, there's person B, and there's some offense or conflict, and that offense or conflict has created a gap between person A and person B.
[00:17:09] And now we need a mediator to step in and to be able to draw the two parties, who are distanced by this offense, back together.
[00:17:18] My daughter MJ is five years old.
[00:17:20] And my girl, she is, you know, always around.
[00:17:23] You ever have a child that just is always around?
[00:17:25] You know?
[00:17:26] I'm like, don't you have somewhere to be?
[00:17:28] She's there, right there.
[00:17:29] She just started kindergarten, you guys.
[00:17:31] Somehow, even when she's away at school, she is still around.
[00:17:34] It's like she has put recording devices all around her house.
[00:17:36] Now, my wife Brynn and I, we've been together for a long time.
[00:17:39] We've been together for a long time.
[00:17:40] We've been together for a long time.
[00:17:41] We've been together for a long time.
[00:17:42] We've been together for a long time.
[00:17:43] We've been together for a long time.
[00:17:44] We've been together for a long time.
[00:17:45] We've been married for 16 years.
[00:17:46] And along those years, this is far, a little bit fewer and far in between, but still often.
[00:17:52] And that is, did you know that we get into conflicts, marital conflicts?
[00:17:57] We just call them fights.
[00:18:00] Now, I am, when we get into a fight, I am a shutter downer.
[00:18:05] Do you guys know what that is?
[00:18:07] I don't like to talk.
[00:18:08] I like to hide.
[00:18:09] I like to shut down.
[00:18:11] Now, my girl, since day one, has been a processing all the time and a timer.
[00:18:16] Do you know what that means?
[00:18:18] That girl loves to talk, and talk, and talk, and talk.
[00:18:23] In fact, she specializes in this thing after we've reconciled, we'll keep talking, and then she'll reinstate the fight after it's already been reconciled.
[00:18:30] Any of you experienced that?
[00:18:32] Whole other situation.
[00:18:34] And so here we are.
[00:18:35] I'm a shutter downer, and my wife is a processor.
[00:18:38] And so typically what happens is when we get into a fight, I'm going to be honest with you guys.
[00:18:42] You have nothing to look at me and be like, oh, wow, it's Joel.
[00:18:44] Like, you should think so less of me after every time I get up here because I'm just a normal person.
[00:18:50] And this is what I do, right?
[00:18:51] When we get into a fight, my instant reaction is run.
[00:18:56] I run.
[00:18:57] Where?
[00:18:58] To hide somewhere because I don't want to talk.
[00:19:00] Now, my girl, she's trying to chase me around.
[00:19:03] Where is this guy?
[00:19:04] We've got to process this.
[00:19:05] Here's where I am.
[00:19:06] Wherever she's not.
[00:19:09] I know.
[00:19:10] So I'm hiding.
[00:19:11] I'm in my home study.
[00:19:13] And typically I'll be like, hey, babe, I've got to study the Bible and do some research.
[00:19:16] Really what that means for all of my closest friends is I'm watching NFL Red Zone on Sundays, okay?
[00:19:21] And I'm keeping track of my fantasy teams.
[00:19:23] And then my girl, Emmy, will walk in at five years old, and she'll say, hey, Dada, we have to talk.
[00:19:31] I'm watching the game.
[00:19:34] You were really mean to Mama.
[00:19:38] What?
[00:19:39] Dada, you have to say sorry.
[00:19:42] I know Mama said some things, but, like, Jesus teaches us to forgive.
[00:19:48] And then I, you know, sometime before this, she'll have found Britt, probably trying to find me.
[00:19:56] I say, Mommy?
[00:19:58] Yes, Emmy?
[00:19:59] I say, Mama, you know how Daddy can be.
[00:20:03] I know he said that he was listening to you, but he was also staring at his phone, and he wasn't listening.
[00:20:10] We know how Dada can be.
[00:20:12] But you've got to forgive him.
[00:20:14] Don't you know that's what Jesus teaches us?
[00:20:18] What is it that makes my little girl at five years old such a great mediator?
[00:20:23] Here's what it is.
[00:20:24] She is aware, and she knows who her dad is and who her mom is.
[00:20:29] She's observing, and she's watching, and she knows our intricacies, and she knows our deficits.
[00:20:34] And so she can perfectly step in and be like, Dad, you know how Mom can be.
[00:20:38] And she can be like, Mom, you know how Dad can be.
[00:20:40] And she can take these two people and bring them back together.
[00:20:45] Do you know who Jesus is?
[00:20:49] Jesus is God himself.
[00:20:52] And then in the incarnation, he took on humanity upon himself so he could be the perfect mediator.
[00:21:00] Because he has been tempted in every way that we have been tempted, and yet in all of our faithlessness, he is faithful without sin.
[00:21:08] Amen.
[00:21:09] And so he can go to the Father on our behalf and say, like, I understand.
[00:21:13] And he can come to us, and he can say, no, no, no, the Father loves you.
[00:21:16] He desires you.
[00:21:17] And here is Jesus, the mediator, the one who can take two people who have been opposed.
[00:21:23] Well, why are we opposed?
[00:21:25] There's this thing called sin, and sin has destroyed us.
[00:21:31] The Greek word for sin is amartia, and it has in mind an archer.
[00:21:36] You can imagine an archer, and the archer has a target, and lines up his sights, and he shoots, and he misses the mark.
[00:21:42] The fascinating thing about amartia is it does not have in mind the distance of the miss.
[00:21:48] You can miss far.
[00:21:50] You can miss tiny.
[00:21:51] But amartia, sin, a miss is a miss is a miss.
[00:21:57] There is none of us that have ever been born in human history that have not missed, which means we are in need.
[00:22:08] We are in desperate need of someone to rescue us.
[00:22:11] And Jesus is our mediator, the one who can come on behalf of the Father and also represent his children.
[00:22:22] Now, here's the interesting thing about my girl, Emmy.
[00:22:25] She loves being a mediator until it costs her something.
[00:22:30] I know.
[00:22:33] You see, every now and then I'll get annoyed.
[00:22:36] I'll say, babe.
[00:22:38] If you keep talking, your Barbies are going away.
[00:22:42] And at that moment, she has run away.
[00:22:46] Don't mess with that girl's Barbies.
[00:22:49] I used to be in youth ministry and had a friend, and his dad was a SWAT officer.
[00:22:55] We used to do youth ministry events together, and we used to go out to dinner afterwards, and he would usually volunteer his time to just bring security in the area.
[00:23:06] And I used to always just pay attention to him.
[00:23:08] He would always be so particular about everything that he did.
[00:23:11] When he came into the restaurant, he would never let himself sit with the door behind him.
[00:23:16] He would always, that man just knew everything.
[00:23:19] I remember one day driving with him, and I said, hey, like, why is that?
[00:23:24] Like, you're always, and he goes, Joel, well, you know, they teach us early on when we're in doing all of this.
[00:23:30] They teach us very early on that when there is a crisis, when there is danger, when there is something that goes down that everybody's terrified for, while 95% of the people have a fight, flight, and freak out response.
[00:23:43] So 95% of us, we would probably freak out and flight.
[00:23:48] There's some that have it in them, and they've been trained to this, and in the midst of that danger, they run into it.
[00:23:58] This is the third point.
[00:24:01] So you have this one God.
[00:24:03] Who's also the one mediator between God and man.
[00:24:09] And here we are, unable to deal with the offense on our own.
[00:24:14] Sin and death is far too much.
[00:24:17] So what does this one God do?
[00:24:19] He is our ransom.
[00:24:22] He is the one ransom.
[00:24:24] What is the ransom?
[00:24:25] He sees the cross, and he runs to the cross.
[00:24:31] See, this term, ransom, it's rich in the Hebrew language.
[00:24:37] There are three primary words that deal with this ransom in Hebrew.
[00:24:41] One is kofar, and it has in mind a covering in the place of punishment.
[00:24:47] What does Jesus do but on the cross shed his divine blood to cover our sins?
[00:24:55] The other word is goel, and it means to redeem or to reclaim.
[00:25:00] It has in mind Ruth and Boaz.
[00:25:02] Boaz, the kinsmen redeemer.
[00:25:04] What does Jesus do but on the cross redeems you and I to himself?
[00:25:11] The third word is pideon, and it has in mind a ransom or a payment.
[00:25:17] This is the word that's used of the Israelites.
[00:25:20] You see, God saves the firstborn of all of Israel.
[00:25:23] And as a response, the Israelites dedicate their firstborn children to the service of the Lord.
[00:25:28] Who is Jesus?
[00:25:30] He is the firstborn of all creation that willingly and lovingly endured even death, death on a cross.
[00:25:42] When we say Christus Solus, we're saying he is enough, Christ is enough, because he is the one God.
[00:25:53] He's the one mediator, and he is the one ransom.
[00:26:00] This is what Jesus himself declares in Matthew 20, verse 28.
[00:26:03] He says, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
[00:26:14] This word ransom in the New Testament, it's so rich.
[00:26:18] It has both an idea of coming on behalf of someone, so it's representative, but it also has in mind being in the place of someone.
[00:26:30] It's substitutionary.
[00:26:33] This makes sense of C.S. Lewis' famous phrase, the great exchange.
[00:26:38] What is the great exchange?
[00:26:40] But you and I receive the righteousness of Christ.
[00:26:45] But in order for us to receive the righteousness of Christ, which we did not deserve, and yet we are freely given, that thing that was freely given came at a great cost.
[00:26:56] Because Jesus receives our unrighteousness.
[00:27:00] And he takes all of our unrighteousness, all of our sin, all of our shame, past, present, and future, and he marches it to the cross, so that on the cross, while the dark powers thought that Jesus was going to be hung, and they were going to be victorious, they had no idea that a Haman was just pulled on them.
[00:27:19] Haman built a gallows thinking Mordecai was going to be hung on the gallows.
[00:27:24] Instead, Haman himself hung on those gallows.
[00:27:27] The dark powers thought the cross, the cross is going to be the thing, that we hang Jesus on.
[00:27:31] And when Jesus hangs on the cross, we will be victorious.
[00:27:34] Don't you know?
[00:27:35] The dark powers, they just hung themselves on that cross when Jesus hung.
[00:27:40] Jesus defeated sin and death through death itself.
[00:27:46] Jesus is both our representative and our substitution.
[00:27:52] He is our ransom.
[00:27:54] I love what Jonathan Edwards, the Puritan, says.
[00:27:56] He says, "'Tis the Lamb of God." I love the imagery of Lamb.
[00:28:02] Innocent, without blemish, also vulnerable.
[00:28:08] "'Tis the Lamb of God alone that can take away the sins of the world.
[00:28:14] And it is the Lion of the tribe of Judah." Y'all see that?
[00:28:20] The Lion and the Lamb.
[00:28:22] It is the Lion of the tribe of Judah alone that is strong enough to work our way through.
[00:28:27] To everlasting happiness.
[00:28:31] Christus solus.
[00:28:34] Christ alone.
[00:28:37] So we have this one God.
[00:28:40] Who is our one mediator.
[00:28:42] And he's our one ransom.
[00:28:45] And this all leads us to one testimony.
[00:28:49] That's the fourth thing.
[00:28:51] It says this, that, "'Who gave himself as a ransom for all, "'a testimony at the proper time.'" I'm gonna say something to you, and it's gonna sound odd, but just follow with me.
[00:29:04] You do not have your own individual testimony as a Christian.
[00:29:09] What?
[00:29:10] Joel, I thought we were supposed to, no, no, no, just listen.
[00:29:14] Your testimony has a beginning spot, a starting spot, and it is a shared testimony amongst all believers, all Christians, ages past, present, and future.
[00:29:24] Your testimony starts at the cross of Jesus Christ.
[00:29:28] We have one testimony.
[00:29:31] One shared testimony.
[00:29:33] And it's from this place that you have an inflection of your own story.
[00:29:37] But your story, it honestly means nothing without Jesus.
[00:29:42] Jesus brings meaning to your story.
[00:29:45] And this testimony has two images in mind.
[00:29:48] What are those two images?
[00:29:49] One, a cross.
[00:29:52] And two, an empty grave.
[00:29:54] This is the starting spot of our story.
[00:30:00] You see, the act, this act of the one God who mediates on our behalf at the highest price that can be paid, serving as a ransom, becomes our one testimony.
[00:30:18] Our life has been ransomed from sin and death so that we may, in our life, put on display the victory of Christ Jesus on the cross.
[00:30:30] This is the shared testimony of all believers.
[00:30:33] Christus victor.
[00:30:36] The victorious one in and through his atonement.
[00:30:41] This is why you and I today declare Solus Christus.
[00:30:46] Christ alone.
[00:30:48] Why?
[00:30:49] Because Christ alone is sufficient to heal our wounds.
[00:30:55] Now, when I say heal our wounds, I want to say that some of those wounds are self-imposed.
[00:31:06] Now, some of those wounds are placed on us because of sin and evil in this world.
[00:31:16] But Christus Solus.
[00:31:20] But Christ alone can heal our wounds.
[00:31:25] And he heals our wounds with the purpose that our healed wounds would be a testimony of the healing work of Christ Jesus alone.
[00:31:34] In this way, Christ heals our wounds and he deploys our scars.
[00:31:43] You see, I first heard this phrase by Rector Stephen Foster last week when I was at St. Aildate's Church in Oxford.
[00:31:50] And here I am, sitting and listening and praying and learning in this historic church of a thousand years.
[00:31:58] And I hear this pastor and I hear him pray this over a group of leaders that were all there.
[00:32:02] And he prayed this.
[00:32:03] He prayed that the Lord would heal our wounds and deploy our scars.
[00:32:07] And instantly I thought, miss me with that.
[00:32:10] No, no, no, no, no.
[00:32:12] I need an edit.
[00:32:13] How about this?
[00:32:14] How about heal our wounds and erase our scars?
[00:32:19] Even better, how about this?
[00:32:21] Prevent our wounds so we never have to deal with any scars.
[00:32:29] I find it fascinating that the Apostle Paul, when he writes to the church in Corinth, when he has to give a defense for the faith and as he's trying to point people to Jesus, he can do anything.
[00:32:39] This is Paul we're talking about.
[00:32:41] This is Ivy League Paul.
[00:32:44] He could be like, in the words of Shaq, Google me.
[00:32:49] Look at what I've done.
[00:32:50] Look at the churches that I've planted.
[00:32:52] And I find it fascinating that what Paul does, he lifts up his shirt and he says, look at my scars.
[00:32:59] And in so doing, what he's doing is not pointing to himself, he's pointing to the cross of Christ.
[00:33:06] He's saying, Jesus alone, Christ alone, Christus victor, the victorious one, is the one who can heal your wounds and then, in a significant way, there is not a single wound that is meaningless.
[00:33:27] In the economy of the kingdom of heaven, God can take your wounds, heal them, and the place where they're scarred, deploy them to be a blessing to a broken world that is desperate for healing.
[00:33:45] Why?
[00:33:46] Because they're desperate for solus Christus.
[00:33:52] Some of you today, you're carrying some anger.
[00:33:56] It's like a pressure cooker building up in your heart and it is about to burst.
[00:34:01] Friend, Christ alone can heal your wounds and deploy your scars.
[00:34:08] Some of you are holding onto resentment from words that were spoken over you that have become the labels by which you live your life.
[00:34:15] Friend, Christ alone can heal your wounds and deploy your scars.
[00:34:21] Some of you are replaying words of rejection from those that you just desperately wanted to love you and accept you.
[00:34:30] That has been a baggage.
[00:34:33] Friend, Christ alone can heal your wounds and deploy your scars.
[00:34:41] Some of you don't even know who Jesus is and this is the first time you're hearing about him or you have heard of Jesus, and in hearing about him, you painted your own picture of who this Jesus is.
[00:34:50] And now you're like, wait a minute, this Jesus is God?
[00:34:54] This Jesus is also man?
[00:34:56] This Jesus is the one who mediates for us?
[00:34:59] This Jesus is the one who ransomed us?
[00:35:02] This Jesus is our one shared testimony?
[00:35:05] Man, I'm in.
[00:35:06] I want that Jesus.
[00:35:08] Friend, let me tell you, Christ alone is the one who can heal your wounds and deploy your scars.
[00:35:19] Solus Christus.
[00:35:21] Christ alone.
[00:35:23] He is sufficient.
[00:35:26] He is enough.
[00:35:28] Let's pray.
[00:35:29] God, thank you for the goodness of your son, Jesus, that we are not left wondering.
[00:35:36] We're not left in worry that we are left with the powerful presence of your son, Jesus, through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit as we're drawn to you, Lord God.
[00:35:46] May we know deep in our hearts that you are God, that you are the mediator, that you are the one who has ransomed us, and that our story first starts with your testimony on the cross.
[00:36:02] We love you and we trust you.
[00:36:05] Amen.