Restoration 2018:  Our Picture of God

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Restoration Ministry

Dee Casper

The Faith of Jesus:  Why He Left

Sweet Jesus, I thank you that because I can come into your presence in prayer right now, I can come boldly because I have a high priest who's acquainted with my weakness.

And I ask now, Lord, that you would bless us even more so than you have over the course of this last week.

I feel even more unprepared as I would like to be for this message, because it's such a heavy topic, and I just pray that you would do for us what I certainly cannot, And I reminded the words of a song, that if you would choose to use me my savior, in spite of my fears and all of my failures, I'm not much to look at, but whatever I am, I'm yours.

And so what I'd like to do is begin with this premise.

Well, we're told that the faith of Jesus, it is talked of but not understood.

What constitutes the faith of Jesus that belongs to the third angel's message, something that we as Seventh-day Adventists believe is an important message that needs to be brought to the world?

So what in the faith of Jesus has to do with that?

Jesus becoming our sin bearer that He might become our sin-pardoning Savior.

He came to our world and took our sins that we might take His righteousness.

And faith in the ability of Christ to save us amply and fully and entirely is the faith of Jesus.

And we're told in this precious devotional, Sons and Daughters of God, that the simple story of the cross, his suffering and dying for the world, his resurrection and ascension, his mediation in sinners' behalf before the Father subdues and breaks the hard and sinful heart, and it brings the sinner to repentance.

The Holy Spirit sets the matter before him in a new light, and the sinner realizes that sin must be a tremendous evil to cost such a sacrifice to atone for it.

How grievous must sin be that no lesser remedy than the death of the Son of God could save man from the consequences of his guilt?

It was because God loved him and was not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and believe in Jesus as a personal Savior and have life eternal.

So does the cross sound like an important topic?

Does the faith of Jesus sound like an important topic?

That's why we're closing with this today.

Jesus says in Luke 19 10 that the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

This implies that Jesus saw value in what he was seeking, in the people he's seeking.

It also implies that Jesus is taking the initiative to bring about the solution, even though we're in a horrible condition.

He still sees value in us even when we're in a broken condition.

In Hosea chapter 2 and verse 13, God says that his people went after other lovers and forgot him, and then he responds in this unexpected way, really.

He says, Therefore behold, I will allure her.

I will bring her into the wilderness and speak comfort to her.

And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that you will call me my husband and no longer call me my master.

When we encounter the wooing love of God, our view of how to approach him and our relationship changes.

It says, I will betroth you to me forever.

Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy.

I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy.

I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.

And then I will sow her for myself in the earth, and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy.

And then I will say to those who were not my people, you are my people.

Even when we've wandered, even when we've run, when we encounter the wooing, pursuing love of God, we realize this is what I was looking for all along.

And he tells you, you are what I have been looking for all along.

So what has to take place to make this a reality?

The next chapter, chapter 3, begins with a price that must be paid to buy back an unfaithful woman.

But Jesus, in his great love and mercy, pursues us nonetheless and pays a ransom for fallen humanity to draw us back to himself so that we can be reunited once again.

So in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 14, Jesus tells the disciples, and this gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Now, I'm left with the impression that he's using a very specific language, something about the specific gospel he's preaching, not a gospel, this gospel, and he says that when this goes to the world, then I can come back.

So, then maybe there's something here that he's needing from us.

I kind of get the impression that if A, then B, if Jesus isn't here yet, He's needing something from us.

He alludes to the same gospel in Revelation chapter 14 in the third angel's message, in the first angel's message specifically, that the everlasting gospel will be preached to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.

And we're given some insight as to what that everlasting gospel could be.

The message proclaimed by the angel flying in the midst of heaven is what?

The same gospel that was declared in Eden when God said to the serpent, I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed." So some component of the everlasting gospel will sound very similar to the gospel that was preached in the Garden of Eden.

Well, what was it that was talked about in the Garden of Eden?

That the heel of the Messiah would be bruised, right?

The seed of Eve will crush the serpent's head, amen, but he will be bruised in the process.

We're also shown in the Garden of Eden that it took something innocent dying on behalf of the transgressors to be able to cover them of their shame and nakedness, their lack of righteousness.

This is also alluded to in the Garden of Eden.

What else is the Old Testament and throughout the whole span of salvation history teaching us?

In the sanctuary, we're taught that a lamb will be slain on behalf of humanity.

Because they don't want this guy who's just going to suffer for people.

It doesn't sound near as spicy as taking the land back from the Romans.

And yet this is exactly what Jesus came for.

And he's beside himself when he's walking with disciples on the road to Emmaus after the resurrection, and then it happens again in the upper room after all this transpires, he says, "'Didn't you know that he ought to suffer?

"'Didn't you know that the Messiah had to suffer?

They seem to have missed the whole point.

What do you think the Apostles were preaching in the book of Acts?

And lastly we see in the book of Revelation that the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

We see a consistent picture from Genesis to Revelation.

Something about the everlasting gospel better involve a suffering Messiah.

But my question to you is how often do you hear messages that highlight the sufferings of Christ?

I'm not talking about a Mel Gibson bloodbath, don't misunderstand me, because Jesus' sufferings were intensely physical, but they weren't only physical.

And yet we wonder why our older and younger generations are wrestling with unhealthy pictures of God and their lacking assurance of salvation.

I've been to 22 academies in North America and I see a very similar picture.

Conference schools, self-supporting schools, doesn't matter.

Our young people are hurting desperately.

3ABM's pastoral department is getting an alarming amount of phone calls from Seventh-day Adventist adults and pastors who have 0 assurance of salvation.

They're also getting quite a few phone calls from people who are sure that they're saved because of what they do.

The Faith of Jesus: Why He Left

Transcript

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