The Pioneer of Our Salvation: How Jesus Secured Our Lost Destiny

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
Good morning, First Pres.
[00:06:31] How are we doing today?
[00:06:32] Doing okay?
[00:06:35] Well, it's a blessing to be here with you guys.
[00:06:37] Let's stand to our feet and make a joyful noise as we praise the Lord this morning.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
He became sin Who knew no sin That He might become His righteousness He humbled Himself And He carried the cross Love so amazing Love so amazing Jesus Messiah
[00:07:38] The rescue for sinners The ransom from heaven Jesus the Messiah Lord of all His body the bread His blood the wine
[00:08:09] All for love, all love trembled and the veil was torn Love so amazing, your love so amazing Yes, Jesus, Messiah, name above
[00:09:15] All our hope is in you All our hope is in you All the glory to you God The light of the world Jesus Messiah Name above all names
[00:09:46] Blessed Redeemer, Emmanuel The rescue for sinners, the ransom from evils
[00:10:18] of the Holy Spirit.

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Amen.
[00:10:46] We're working through a sermon series on Hebrews and the real theme is hope in Jesus.
[00:10:51] Jesus, Messiah, fixing our eyes on Him.
[00:10:54] I think living this past week is easy to get entangled in stuff and to be brought down and discouraged and I want to keep that in front of us as we work through this.
[00:11:06] Our hope is angered in Christ.
[00:11:09] and we can rise above yeah we are in the world but not of the world we can rise above and be part of that hope rather than just feeding into the chatter and all that so this morning welcome to first presbyterian church in mooresville our our mission is loving god loving people and making disciples so glad you chose to be with us and be in person uh welcome to those online as well let's join our hearts as we come before the lord in prayer
[00:11:38] Lord, it's a blessing to be here.
[00:11:42] Lord, we lift you up this morning.
[00:11:44] We sing songs of praise.
[00:11:46] We express gratitude for the gift of your Son.
[00:11:48] We live in a broken world.
[00:11:51] We feel the hurt, we feel the pain.
[00:11:54] Lord, you hear our cries and you desire to come alongside us.
[00:11:59] You've given us the solution through your son, Jesus.
[00:12:02] He paves the way for our hope, for our peace, to make things right.
[00:12:07] This morning, may you be celebrated.
[00:12:09] May everything that takes place in this room be centered on you.
[00:12:14] Help us to set aside the distractions
[00:12:18] and really take advantage of this time.
[00:12:21] Lord, again, we dedicate this service to you as we worship you.
[00:12:25] And we pray these things in Jesus' name.
[00:12:27] Amen.
[00:12:27] Let's worship our Lord together.

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Messiah

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
How wonderful and marvelous How wonderful and my song shall ever be How marvelous
[00:13:36] He took my sin and my sorrows He made them His very own And He bore the burden to Calvary He suffered and died alone
[00:14:18] How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me How marvelous and how wonderful then my song
[00:14:45] and Rebellious.
[00:15:00] Oh, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me!
[00:15:01] When with the ransomed in glory His face I at last
[00:15:13] The Lord will be my joy through the ages, to sit up his love.
[00:15:52] How marvelous, how marvelous, how wonderful then my song shall ever be.
[00:16:15] How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me.
[00:16:20] Yes, you're marvelous, we're singing

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
Praise God!
[00:16:53] Praise God!

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Father, the well that overflows
[00:18:21] Glory and power, Amen.
[00:18:41] Behold the way, the truth, and the life.
[00:18:42] Oh, He's perfect, the Savior, the blood that's washed us white,
[00:18:46] The Lord is and shall be forevermore.
[00:19:30] The power of men we sing holy Holiness has a name and it's Jesus Victory has a name and it's Jesus Yes, it is the Word, the Word
[00:20:17] The Word has a name and it's Jesus It's always Jesus The Word has a name and it's Jesus Redemption has a name and it's Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
[00:22:00] Amen.
[00:22:06] Amen.
[00:22:07] That's hitting that this morning.

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER UNKNOWN]:
Amen.
[00:22:23] Amen.
[00:22:23] Amen.
[00:22:23] Amen.

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Amen.
[00:22:26] Amen.
[00:22:27] Please have a seat.
[00:22:33] And I do want to acknowledge Moses' mother is here this morning.
[00:22:39] Give a warm welcome to her and their new addition.
[00:22:46] Now, be careful.
[00:22:46] She's young, so don't everyone come grabbing at the baby after.
[00:22:49] But Isabella is in church for the first time, so you can stand if you'd like.
[00:22:55] Yes.
[00:23:00] I do think she looks a lot like Moses.
[00:23:06] So let's, we're going to take a moment.
[00:23:08] Last week we had reception of new members, and one couple that couldn't be here last week that are here this week is Mike and Sue Tribby.
[00:23:16] So I'm going to ask them to come forward.
[00:23:20] I made it clear with Mike that I behaved myself because he mentioned you do know I'm working tech, so if I try to embarrass him in any way, he's one up on me.
[00:23:31] So if you come forward, Mike and Sue, they've been attending for at least a year.
[00:23:37] They've gotten real active and involved in Bible studies Wednesday night together.
[00:23:40] And they will be joining us through Affirmation of Faith.
[00:23:45] They were part of the Inquirer's class.
[00:23:47] And then with the Inquirer's class, they were recommended.
[00:23:50] The elders have received them along with the larger class.
[00:23:53] But part of joining the church as we do this publicly, you are involved too.
[00:23:58] In the reception of new members as well.
[00:24:00] So I'm going to ask before God and those here if you'd please affirm these questions.
[00:24:05] One, do you confess Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord?
[00:24:10] Do you trust in Christ alone for your salvation?
[00:24:16] Do you intend to be Christ's disciple to obey his word, to show his love?
[00:24:22] And will you be a faithful member of this congregation, giving of yourself in every way?
[00:24:26] And will you seek the fellowship of the church wherever you may be?
[00:24:31] If so, I will.
[00:24:34] And then to you as a congregation, do you as members of FPC Mooresville receive these new members to our church family with your love, support, encouragement, and prayer for them to continue in their spiritual maturity?
[00:24:51] If so, just raise your right hand.
[00:24:53] And I affirm this to them as I do to you.
[00:24:56] I believe that when we add to our body like this, we strengthen as a church family.
[00:25:02] I'm going to say a prayer over them.
[00:25:04] Before you sit down, Moses is going to take a picture because all of you are going in the newsletter for everyone in the church to see.
[00:25:10] So please join me.
[00:25:11] Lord, I thank you for this moment.
[00:25:13] I thank you for this, your church.
[00:25:16] For really blessing us in this community.
[00:25:20] It's a privilege to serve in it.
[00:25:22] Lord, I thank you for both Mike and Sue.
[00:25:25] First and foremost, their heart for you, but then also for calling them to this setting to live out their faith or to nurture their faith and to be part of this local community.
[00:25:36] We ask your blessing upon them.
[00:25:37] Again, we express gratitude for them becoming part of this community, and we pray all these things in Jesus' name.
[00:25:45] Amen.

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]:
All right.
[00:26:04] So yeah, thanks for shouting out my mom and baby.
[00:26:07] That's great.
[00:26:08] I'm not embarrassed at all by that.
[00:26:12] Just a nonsense for us before we continue with our worship today.
[00:26:16] Wednesday night was a great kickoff for all of you that went.
[00:26:19] It's great to see you again and great to see you on Wednesday.
[00:26:21] And if you weren't there on Wednesday, highly encourage you to come on back.
[00:26:25] And if you feel like you've missed a week or you missed a couple of weeks because your schedule is just wonky, that's okay.
[00:26:31] It's designed for you to come and to eat and to fellowship with the body of Christ and to plug into a group.
[00:26:37] It doesn't matter if you missed five weeks.
[00:26:39] Just come when you can and be blessed by just us being together as the church.
[00:26:44] It was a great time and it was some great food and there's just many more weeks to come.
[00:26:49] So we're looking forward to it.
[00:26:51] And before we enter into a time of prayer, I'd like to be bold with something, and just first, for the sake of our hearts.
[00:26:56] I know some of us have been up to date on our social media and the news cycle this past week and the many things that have been going on.
[00:27:03] It is not my desire to be political, nor is it this church's, but it is my desire to be pastoral.
[00:27:10] A fellow brother of the faith lost his life this week.
[00:27:13] And he stood for his convictions in the faith of Jesus Christ and his conservative values.
[00:27:19] Charlie Kirk, if you don't know who he is.
[00:27:20] I didn't know who he was until we heard the news.
[00:27:23] And then I found out he was about my age and that he had a newborn and a wife.
[00:27:27] And that affected me.
[00:27:29] And I'd like for all of us to be able to grieve wherever you stand and whether you agreed with his views or not.
[00:27:36] Still, he was a brother of the faith.
[00:27:38] He'd put his faith in Jesus.
[00:27:40] He set his eyes on Jesus, and so should we.
[00:27:42] And as the message today will declare, Jesus set his eyes on us, and he sees the pain that we experience in this life.
[00:27:50] And I want us as a church to be always mindful of the tragedies of life, the darkness of life, because it wasn't just Charlie.
[00:27:56] It was a lot of other terrible things that happened this week.
[00:27:59] And so, as a church, I want us to have our eyes and our hearts soft and in pain and grieving for those that lost their life and for those that are hurting.
[00:28:13] Because most of us in this room, I don't know all of you, but I know none of us are perfect.
[00:28:18] None of us are living perfect lives while a lot of us are suffering and in need.
[00:28:22] But we serve a God who sees us and meets us in our needs, amen?
[00:28:26] So please join me in prayer.
[00:28:32] Heavenly Father, we declare today that you are Creator who created this world.
[00:28:40] You created a paradise and you invited us into it by making us in your image and giving us dominion over this beautiful creation that you called good, very good.
[00:28:52] But Lord, by our own hand, we brought sin into the world and darkness and evil and especially death.
[00:29:00] So we do not want to be a people that are ignorant and turn a blind eye to death and to pain in this life.
[00:29:07] Instead, Lord, we want to be a people that consistently turns to you and asks, Lord, that you would have mercy on us.
[00:29:17] May we be the church, Lord, that continually looks to Jesus, a church that loves God, that loves people, and makes disciples, but disciples that are not just book smart in the Bible, but rather we live out what the Bible teaches us, which is to pursue love and peace and justice and mercy and generosity and all these things that Christ is.
[00:29:39] So Father, we pray over the Kirk family, his children, a wife left behind,
[00:29:46] that you would bring them comfort.
[00:29:48] We also pray Lord for all the families that suffered from a school shooting this week and so for so many others that have endured tragedies of multiple different kinds, both present here and abroad.
[00:30:02] And Lord we bring all these heavy and dark things to you because you are the God of light, you are the God of comfort, you are the God of mercy.
[00:30:13] And wherever we all stand,
[00:30:15] I love and remember Pastor Dave's words on communion days that at the foot of the cross, the floor is level.
[00:30:23] And we humble ourselves and look to you, Lord, and trust that you are God and you are Christ that will one day return to make all things very good once more.
[00:30:36] You will restore us.
[00:30:38] You will redeem us.
[00:30:40] So please have mercy on us, Lord Jesus.
[00:30:43] And as we pray and ask for mercy, Church, let us now take this moment to silently confess our sins before our holy God.
[00:31:10] Jesus Christ,
[00:31:12] Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
[00:31:18] I acknowledge, Lord, that outside of you, I am powerless to save myself.
[00:31:25] I'm powerless to do what is good and holy and just without your strength and without your spirit.
[00:31:32] And so I ask forgiveness, Lord.
[00:31:34] I ask for forgiveness that you would forgive us for when we did the things that you have asked us not to do,
[00:31:43] And forgive us, Lord, when we didn't do the things that you have called us to do.
[00:31:49] Forgive us, Lord, when we have turned our back on you, a God who has never turned your back on us.
[00:31:55] And forgive us, Lord, when we have treated our neighbor less than when you have called us to treat them as you have treated us with love, grace, mercy.
[00:32:12] Help us Lord Jesus for we are weak creatures before a mighty creator but you as our creator also have the power to restore us to give us the strength to do what is right help us place our faith in you because according to your word if we do that
[00:32:32] By setting our faith and our hope on Jesus, the Bible says we are justified by His grace.
[00:32:39] So today, brothers and sisters, if you have placed your faith in Jesus and repent of your sins according to the promises of the Word of God, we are forgiven and we are justified.
[00:32:54] Thank you, Lord.
[00:32:57] This day, Heavenly Father, in the name of your Son, Jesus, I lift up this congregation to you, both present and anyone who is tuning in online.
[00:33:06] Lord, you are the God who sees all things, who knows all things, and you are the God who acts and has the power to change things in our lives.
[00:33:17] For every man, woman, and child here today, Lord, I ask that you would see where they're at, the things going on in their lives and each of their stories.
[00:33:26] For those that are experiencing joyful times, Lord, that you would show up and rejoice with them.
[00:33:31] For those who are experiencing stressful times and doubtful times, that you would be with them to bring comfort and assurance.
[00:33:38] For those that just have questions or are feeling angry or feeling depressed, Lord, that you would be present in each of their lives like the Good Shepherd that you are and bring peace and wholeness and restoration
[00:33:57] Lord, only you know what is going on in each of our hearts and minds today.
[00:34:02] But I trust you, God, that when I don't know, you know.
[00:34:06] When I don't know what to pray for or what to say, you do.
[00:34:12] And I'm thankful that we serve a God who the Bible says intercedes on our behalf and is praying for us even right now.
[00:34:20] And Lord, today I lean on that great assurance that you are a good God who sees us and loves us.
[00:34:29] Lord, I ask you to bless these people.
[00:34:32] Would you bless this church?
[00:34:33] Would you bless this community?
[00:34:36] Bless our world.
[00:34:38] Have mercy on us, Lord God.
[00:34:41] And we look forward to the day when Jesus comes back.
[00:34:44] Our perfect hope and he will make all things so wonderful in a way we can't imagine but until that day comes Lord would your kingdom come here and now on earth that it is in heaven help us to be part of that kingdom and represent that good kingdom that represents a good king who sits on the throne we pray all these things in the most holy holy name of Jesus
[00:35:10] And together, Church, let us now pray that prayer our Lord Jesus taught us to pray.
[00:35:14] Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
Good to notice Pete sent us here in church this morning as well, so welcome.
[00:35:49] I know you've started college, yes, up in Massachusetts.
[00:35:53] Welcome.
[00:35:54] Our passage this morning is Hebrews chapter 2, verses 5 through 13.
[00:35:59] Our sermon series is Hope in Christ.
[00:36:04] And I want to open with a story.
[00:36:06] Tim Keller tells the story of a death that took place in New York City years ago.
[00:36:15] An elderly woman was returning to her apartment complex.
[00:36:19] It was late at night and she was attacked by someone with a knife and she screamed so loud that it was estimated 38 windows the lights went on.
[00:36:32] It was late at night.
[00:36:34] The lights went on and people were looking down, curiosity, what's the noise, what's happening?
[00:36:40] And enough commotion took place that the assailant was spooked, so he ran into the shadows.
[00:36:48] And within about five minutes, as the woman was trying to pull herself together and kind of crawling towards the steps, one by one the lights went off, and when all the lights had gone off, the assailant returned, stole $49, and then killed the woman.
[00:37:04] Now, I don't know how they know the number of windows.
[00:37:06] It was 1964.
[00:37:07] They don't have the surveillance we do now, but it was reported in the newspapers.
[00:37:12] And the sadness in all of this is the people looking down chose not to get involved for whatever reason.
[00:37:23] Nobody called 911.
[00:37:25] Nobody went down to, are you okay, or to simply comfort her.
[00:37:31] And what I want to get across this morning, and we see it powerfully in our passage, we serve a God who has heard our cries.
[00:37:40] We live in a very broken world.
[00:37:41] He has heard our cries, but He doesn't look at us from a distance.
[00:37:44] He sent His Son to respond, to get involved.
[00:37:50] Not only did He take that risk, but He gave His life.
[00:37:54] And again, our theme, we're going to keep hitting this week after week, hope in Christ.
[00:37:59] Jesus Christ is the anchor for our soul.
[00:38:02] We're told by scripture in the book of Hebrews to fix our eyes on him.
[00:38:07] This journey that we're living, this life that we live, it's a journey.
[00:38:12] It's a marathon, not a sprint.
[00:38:16] I can't help but think, you know, Moses was pretty eloquent there, but, you know, all the stuff that we've seen in this past week is so easy to get caught up in the noise, right?
[00:38:25] And to be discouraged, to be taken off track, and if we fix our eyes upon Jesus, we can be above.
[00:38:33] Yes, we're in the world, but not of the world.
[00:38:37] We represent him as a light, we represent Christ
[00:38:40] To encourage agents of reconciliation.
[00:38:44] Big idea I want to get from the passage this morning is this, how our original destiny, God designed a perfect world, and we had dominion.
[00:38:54] Our perfect, how our original destiny, though threatened, right, we live in a fallen world, has been made possible.
[00:39:03] Again, Christ is our hope, an anchor for the soul.
[00:39:07] We're going to take a look at that again as Hebrews chapter 2.
[00:39:10] We're going to begin with verse 5, chapter 2, verse 5 through 13.
[00:39:18] Now God did not subject the coming world about which we are speaking to angels.
[00:39:24] But someone has testified somewhere, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals that you care for them?
[00:39:31] You have made them a little lower than the angels.
[00:39:35] You have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet.
[00:39:40] Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control.
[00:39:46] As it is, we do not yet see everything in subject to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
[00:40:05] It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
[00:40:19] For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father.
[00:40:24] For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.
[00:40:28] Saying, I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters in the midst of the congregation.
[00:40:33] I will praise you and again I will put my trust in him and again here am I in the children whom God has given me.
[00:40:42] This is the word of the Lord.
[00:40:45] Thanks be to God.
[00:40:46] I see in this passage three pictures laid out
[00:40:52] So I'm gonna hit them one by one.
[00:40:53] The first two, they'll go pretty quickly and then really focus on the third picture.
[00:40:58] The first picture is this, God's vision.
[00:41:03] You and I were made to rule the world.
[00:41:07] If you read these first three verses, it's fleshing out that you and I, human beings, were made to rule the world.
[00:41:14] We were created in God's image.
[00:41:17] He gave us dominion over all creation.
[00:41:21] what's being quoted here is Psalm chapter 8 I'll read from Psalm 8 verse 6 it says you God made humankind rulers over the works of your hands and you put everything under their feet that's being emphasized here it's a picture
[00:41:44] God's vision, his original purpose.
[00:41:47] You and I were to rule the world.
[00:41:48] We were given dominion.
[00:41:50] We were, in a sense, to be on top.
[00:41:52] We're in control.
[00:41:55] Now there's some responsibility that's attached to that.
[00:41:59] You can go to Genesis chapter one and two and you can read through the creation story and how everything was created and then how we were created in God's image and then you can really see how God spelled out the responsibilities.
[00:42:13] Put in our place.
[00:42:16] You know, we as image bearers with dominion, it meant we had the responsibility to represent God on this earth, to act as he would act.
[00:42:26] We were designed to be caretakers, to manage this world with wisdom and nurture, to cultivate peace and prosperity and to unify.
[00:42:41] Now that's God's vision.
[00:42:43] We see it in these three verses.
[00:42:45] But we also see a picture here, it's a present picture, where the world seems to be ruling us.
[00:42:55] Human rule is not what we see in the present.
[00:42:59] Would you agree?
[00:43:00] Are we in control of this world?
[00:43:06] Or do we seem to be carrying the, almost suffocating,
[00:43:11] by this world.
[00:43:11] Somewhere along the way, we lost control.
[00:43:15] That wasn't God's intention.
[00:43:20] Human rule is not what we see.
[00:43:22] Verse eight, as it is, the world right now, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, humankind.
[00:43:31] We become subject to the world.
[00:43:34] How so?
[00:43:37] We've thoroughly lost control to sickness, yes, disease, natural disasters, to money, to moral issues.
[00:43:48] I could come up with a list this long.
[00:43:51] One day you can feel on top of the world and the next day you might receive a cancer diagnosis and your world gets turned upside down.
[00:43:58] One day you may feel like things are going well with you and your family and the next day a hurricane can pass through and a flood can take
[00:44:07] Everything away just like that this past week.
[00:44:13] I do look at social media.
[00:44:16] I try to get a temperature of what's happening.
[00:44:18] It's not been pretty, has it?
[00:44:20] Because we feel out of control.
[00:44:25] We've seen some ugliness and some hurt and some pain and then we politicize everything.
[00:44:33] The present picture, the world seems to be ruling us.
[00:44:38] And now what I want to focus in on in our passage is the third picture.
[00:44:43] It's fleshed out.
[00:44:46] The third picture is that of future hope.
[00:44:49] Our destiny, how our destiny has been made reality.
[00:44:55] You know, God does desire for human beings made in His image.
[00:44:59] That perfect picture was us ruling, but not in a lording over, but in the best interests of the world, representing God and being nurturing and caring and peacemakers.
[00:45:15] This future hope, how our destiny has been made reality, first and foremost, our hope has been secured through Jesus.
[00:45:26] Again, he's an anchor for the soul.
[00:45:28] Verse nine, although human rule is not what we see, it says this is what we do see, quote, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor.
[00:45:41] Verse 10 then describes Jesus as the pioneer of our salvation.
[00:45:47] A pioneer can be translated, he's the author of our salvation.
[00:45:51] He's the...
[00:45:54] The founder of our salvation, the originator.
[00:45:57] He's the one who's led the way.
[00:45:58] He's defeated the enemy.
[00:46:01] He's broken the barrier.
[00:46:04] You know, we have that barrier of sin and death and it just, it's a burden.
[00:46:08] We carry that.
[00:46:09] We can't break free from that.
[00:46:13] But our hope is in Jesus, the pioneer of our faith.
[00:46:18] I like how one commentator puts it.
[00:46:20] He says, Jesus is like our champion.
[00:46:23] or Captain.
[00:46:24] He has faced the foe that we find impossible to defeat, Satan, sin, death, and he has achieved victory on our behalf.
[00:46:35] He has pioneered or paved the way for us to receive salvation.
[00:46:40] Another commentator puts it this way, quote, what we see, it says we see verse nine, Jesus, what we see is not man, but the man.
[00:46:51] Not every son, but the Son.
[00:46:55] The reality of Psalm 8, again Psalm 8 is being quoted here, the reality of Psalm 8, our destiny of ruling the universe, has been made a reality by God's Son.
[00:47:07] God heard our cries.
[00:47:10] He didn't turn off the light.
[00:47:13] He came down.
[00:47:14] He sent His Son who came down.
[00:47:18] Not only to comfort, but to take that risk, and that risk did lead to his death.
[00:47:24] Death in our behalf so that he could pave the way.
[00:47:27] Our future hope, our hope has been secured through Jesus.
[00:47:33] And the second point I wanna make here with this image of the future, how Jesus has pioneered this hope.
[00:47:40] It's been the last part of this sermon, just working our way.
[00:47:43] How has Jesus pioneered?
[00:47:45] How has he made that way possible?
[00:47:47] How has he done this in our behalf?
[00:47:50] We were helpless.
[00:47:50] We were no better than the lady crawling to those stairs.
[00:47:54] We couldn't help ourselves.
[00:47:57] And he came, not simply to comfort, but to make things right, to restore us, to heal us, to put us back in our rightful position.
[00:48:11] So one way he has pioneered this hope is through his perfect obedience
[00:48:16] It says it right here in the passage.
[00:48:17] Verse 10 says that God made Jesus, our pioneer of salvation, perfect through sufferings.
[00:48:26] Now, that may cause a couple of you to ask, it says God made Jesus perfect.
[00:48:32] I need to clarify something.
[00:48:33] Is it suggesting Jesus was sinful or imperfect in any way?
[00:48:40] God made Jesus perfect by his suffering so what's the the number of perfection in in scripture what's seven okay so seven uh not only means perfect but it's a symbol of completeness so you and i as we've lived out our
[00:49:02] Human existence.
[00:49:03] We face a lot of trials and tribulation.
[00:49:07] We're tested when it comes to our faith.
[00:49:09] How do we do?
[00:49:10] Anyone in this room scored a perfect score on the testing that you faced in this life?
[00:49:15] We have our moments, yes?
[00:49:18] None of us have scored 100%.
[00:49:21] You know, some people live out their lives hoping that you can just tip the scales.
[00:49:24] If I'm 51% good, maybe God will receive me.
[00:49:26] That's not how it works.
[00:49:28] So Jesus...
[00:49:31] Perfectly obeyed, God made himself subject.
[00:49:34] There are two angles to this.
[00:49:37] One, he humbled himself, this perfect obedience, and the other, he became a perfect sacrifice.
[00:49:46] So when it says he humbled himself, he made himself lower than the angels.
[00:49:50] Jesus, who was God, who was part of creation, who in the beginning was the Word, Jesus, the Word was with God, the Word was God, he subjected himself to this broken world.
[00:50:02] Emptied himself of all power.
[00:50:04] It says in Philippians 2, Jesus, who was not only equal to God, was God, was obedient, humbled himself, born in a stable, subjected himself to everything that you and I have to face in this life.
[00:50:19] And the test that, you know, think about that, the humility of being in the desert and Satan tempting him, right?
[00:50:26] Forty days in the wilderness.
[00:50:27] Did he pass that test?
[00:50:30] Absolutely.
[00:50:31] As he lived out his life, as the persecution became worse and worse, remember in the Garden of Gethsemane, God's perfect plan was for Jesus to be a sacrifice.
[00:50:43] So one, he humbled himself, but to also be a sacrifice.
[00:50:47] In the Garden of Gethsemane, what was his prayer?
[00:50:50] It was like, Lord, I just can't wait to fulfill your plan.
[00:50:55] He was sweating drops of blood.
[00:50:57] That's how stressed he was in his humanity.
[00:51:01] He said, Father, if you would, would you take this cup, the cup of death, would you take this from me?
[00:51:08] I don't want this.
[00:51:09] That was his human will.
[00:51:14] But the Lord, he said, Lord, not my will, but thy will be done.
[00:51:20] And he was perfectly obedient, voluntarily.
[00:51:23] God didn't force it.
[00:51:26] God's mission became complete.
[00:51:37] He passed the test.
[00:51:39] He scored a 100.
[00:51:40] Morally, he was perfect.
[00:51:42] It says, Hebrews 4, 15, he, Jesus, was without sin.
[00:51:48] But one way he pioneered this hope for us, the anchor we have for our soul, was through his perfect obedience.
[00:51:55] What did he declare with his final breath on the cross?
[00:51:59] It is finished.
[00:52:02] Where does he sit now as he's conquered death?
[00:52:06] On the right hand of God.
[00:52:07] Notice that we talked about this last week.
[00:52:09] Human priests were always standing because the job was never done.
[00:52:12] In Christ the work has been complete and he sits at the right hand.
[00:52:18] The work has been complete.
[00:52:23] Perfected.
[00:52:24] How has Jesus pioneered this hope?
[00:52:26] One, through his perfect obedience.
[00:52:27] Second, by God's grace and his wisdom.
[00:52:30] This is emphasized in verse 10.
[00:52:32] Our salvation, it begins with the heart and mind of God.
[00:52:35] We're 100% reliant on his saving, on him reaching out, on him working in our behalf.
[00:52:43] We can't save ourselves.
[00:52:48] We see by His grace and His wisdom.
[00:52:51] We were spiritually dead in our sins.
[00:52:53] We were helpless.
[00:52:54] We were hopeless.
[00:52:56] Acts 4, verse 12 says, Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
[00:53:07] It's by His wisdom God saw it fitting, and it's by His grace.
[00:53:13] By grace you've been saved through faith.
[00:53:15] It's right here in the passage.
[00:53:17] The fittingness part goes to his wisdom.
[00:53:20] The grace is him working in our behalf.
[00:53:26] Also, he's pioneered our hope through sharing in our sufferings.
[00:53:33] Many in this room, I think probably every one of you can attest for some type of suffering you've experienced in life.
[00:53:39] And most of you can probably attest someone that helped you through
[00:53:45] That period of time.
[00:53:46] Maybe you're going through it right now.
[00:53:49] Maybe a family member, maybe a friend, maybe a doctor, maybe a pastor, maybe a teacher.
[00:53:54] I find that often the people that we go to are people that we see can identify.
[00:54:01] You know, when I hear of someone in this congregation that's diagnosed with something, sometimes light bulb, oh, someone else has been through that, you should talk to so-and-so.
[00:54:11] If you've been through a divorce, it might help to talk to someone who's been through one and gotten through and dealt with all the blended family challenges and the others of you have maybe dealt with addiction.
[00:54:24] And you've conquered that.
[00:54:26] Jeff, I don't think you'd be embarrassed by that, but I've seen some of the work he's done at AA and they come alongside other people and they talk about sobriety and they, you know, you don't go at it alone.
[00:54:36] Well, Christ can identify
[00:54:39] with you and me by becoming human.
[00:54:42] The shortest verse in the Bible, what does it say?
[00:54:45] It's in the book of John.
[00:54:47] Jesus wept.
[00:54:49] Do you recall why he wept?
[00:54:51] The death of Lazarus.
[00:54:52] He actually raised Lazarus from the dead, but when he saw the weeping and the wailing of the two sisters and in his humanity, he saw the ugliness of sin and death in this world and it grieved his heart.
[00:55:07] We serve a God.
[00:55:09] Again, He's heard our cries.
[00:55:11] He sent His Son.
[00:55:12] Anything that you faced in life, Jesus has been subject to temptation.
[00:55:19] No, He never sinned.
[00:55:20] He's been subject to hurt and pain and insults and betrayal.
[00:55:28] And that can bring comfort.
[00:55:29] The one who has pioneered, who's made the way possible for our salvation to make things right,
[00:55:37] He took the weight of the world on His shoulders.
[00:55:40] He took our sin, the burden of our sin, He took the punishment so that He could conquer death and pave the way for you and me.
[00:55:50] And the last point I want to emphasize is this.
[00:55:54] Our pioneer, Jesus, who has made our salvation possible, who has paved the way, He's done so also by embracing believers as family.
[00:56:06] Now we live in a world today, if you apply for a job, what do you often have to turn in?
[00:56:11] Unless it's word of mouth and you have a connection, but what do we often... We have a resume.
[00:56:18] And what do we, in our culture, emphasize in our resumes?
[00:56:22] If you want to apply for a job and get an interview, would you say, oh, you know, I'd love this job because my dad is the mayor of this town or my grandfather was a pastor for 40 years?
[00:56:34] Does that, you know, that might have a little influence, but is that what you put in a resume?
[00:56:39] You're in danger sometimes in this culture of, you know, that could be accused of nepotism, like, oh, so-and-so got that job because that's not always looked up on in our culture today.
[00:56:49] It's very individualistic, yes?
[00:56:52] What your education is, what your skill sets are.
[00:56:56] I mean, that's what we, in general, what we emphasize.
[00:57:00] In biblical times, what do you think they emphasized for if someone's applying for a job, so to speak?
[00:57:07] What would that resume look like?
[00:57:12] Genealogy was more important in biblical times than your personal resume.
[00:57:19] It was more important who your mom or who your daddy was.
[00:57:22] or your granddaddy or your great-grand.
[00:57:24] And in fact, if you had someone in the family that was shameful, you would take them off the resume.
[00:57:32] You turn in your genealogy and say, hey, this is the line of who I've come from.
[00:57:36] But you might X out that crazy uncle.
[00:57:42] Now, Matthew chapter one, in Jesus' humanity, what's emphasized?
[00:57:49] All of chapter one is his genealogy going back to King David in his human line.
[00:57:55] In biblical times women weren't on their resume.
[00:57:58] Guess what?
[00:58:00] There were women on this resume.
[00:58:01] Also in biblical times there were no non-Jews, Gentiles.
[00:58:06] Well, also in the line of Jesus you have that being emphasized.
[00:58:14] You have Rahab, you have Bathsheba.
[00:58:16] That's unheard of.
[00:58:19] Back in the day.
[00:58:22] Well today, I'm gonna read verse 11 and 12.
[00:58:28] For the one who sanctifies, that's Jesus, and those who are sanctified, believers who put their faith in Jesus, all have one Father.
[00:58:38] For this reason, Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, I'll proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.
[00:58:50] So verse 10, through faith in Jesus, we're called children of God.
[00:58:55] Verse 11, Jesus says he's not ashamed through faith in him to call you brother and sister.
[00:59:04] Think of the implications to that.
[00:59:06] He doesn't hold your past against you.
[00:59:12] Whatever your background, whatever you look back at, would definitely leave off your resume, right?
[00:59:20] And in a culture where your genealogy is everything, Jesus is saying, I am proud despite your past.
[00:59:27] In Christ, you're a new creation.
[00:59:28] In Christ, you're a child of God.
[00:59:30] I am proud to call you brother.
[00:59:32] I am proud to call you sister.
[00:59:33] And that's the beauty of our faith.
[00:59:35] As he paves the way, as he pioneers, he embraces you and me through that faith as part of the family.
[00:59:41] And not, you know, by adoption.
[00:59:43] You're chosen.
[00:59:47] Don't lose sight of that.
[00:59:48] This is our hope.
[00:59:51] It's our certain hope found in Jesus Christ.
[00:59:54] He doesn't leave us on the street corner at the foot of the steps in our helpless estate.
[01:00:02] Birthed in love, He's chosen to come down.
[01:00:07] He's taken the risk.
[01:00:08] He's gotten involved.
[01:00:12] The design, the original design, He wants that restored and renewed.
[01:00:17] In Christ your eternal destiny is secure and that picture in Christ will return.
[01:00:26] The new heaven, the new earth, everything in their rightful place will be placed back on top.
[01:00:35] But now it will be complete.
[01:00:37] It will be perfect.
[01:00:40] Things will be made right.
[01:00:41] Let's close this time in prayer.
[01:00:52] Heavenly Father, it has, for many, been a rough week.
[01:01:01] And we've, it's not been pretty.
[01:01:05] A lot of things have been politicized.
[01:01:06] A lot of hurtful things have, more often they get said behind the scenes or on social media, but hurtful things have been said, lives have been lost, and this isn't unique to this week.
[01:01:19] Lord, I thank you for the gift of your word.
[01:01:23] I thank you for the ultimate gift, the gift of your son Jesus Christ, what he's done in our behalf.
[01:01:29] Help us as we live out our lives not to just become part of the noise.
[01:01:34] May we fix our eyes on Jesus.
[01:01:38] May we allow him to uplift our spirit.
[01:01:41] May we define our identity not in human sexuality or in politics or in...
[01:01:48] We find our identity in Christ, not through our accomplishments, but through His.
[01:01:56] Lord, in Your strength, help us to represent well.
[01:01:58] Help us to stay focused.
[01:02:00] Help us.
[01:02:01] It's a journey, Lord, not a sprint.
[01:02:04] Help us to grow in our faith and be, as we're subject to You, become more Christ-like in the way we relate to the world around us.
[01:02:13] And we do pray for hope and healing.
[01:02:18] Reconciliation and Lord you desire us to be a light and to be agents of that so Lord help us to not escape from the world but to still be part of it a part of that solution that certain hope that you give us in your son Jesus Christ we pray all these things in his name and Lord as we close this service we sing one more song of worship to express our love to you amen let's stand to our feet

[01:02:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]:
We're going to close this time with one more song of worship.
[01:02:53] We have Hope in Christ Alone this morning.

[01:02:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]:
In Christ alone, my hope is found.
[01:03:05] He is my light, my strength, my song, this cornerstone.

[01:03:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are so enshrouding cease My comforter, my all in all Here in the love of Christ I stand
[01:03:49] Confesh fullness of God in helpless babe This gift of love and righteousness Scorned by the ones He came to save Till on that cross that Jesus died The wrath of God
[01:04:21] On Him was laid, here in the death of Christ I live There in the ground His body lay Light of the world by darkness slain Then bursting forth in glorious day
[01:04:51] And as He sets in victory, Since God has lost His grip on me, For I am His and He is mine, Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
[01:05:24] No guilt in life, no fear in death This is the power of Christ in me From life's first cry to final breath Jesus commands my death
[01:05:54] of Christ Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Christ of Latter-day Saints

[01:06:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]:
As we leave this place, I think the power of being together as church is sometimes like sheep, we're prone to wander and we can get distracted and we can get brought down.
[01:06:39] And sometimes it's two steps forward and one step back.
[01:06:42] And just a reminder, don't put off till tomorrow to what you can get right today.
[01:06:46] Just that refocus.
[01:06:48] Fixing our eyes on Jesus.
[01:06:50] It's a journey.
[01:06:52] Yes, the Bible speaks of a race, but it's long distance, not a sprint.
[01:06:56] As we leave this place, may His grace, may His love, may His peace that fully surpasses our human understanding equip you to live in this broken world and to rise above.
[01:07:07] We say this all in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[01:07:10] Amen.

[01:07:11] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]:
Have a great week.

[01:07:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
[01:07:34] Amen.