Forward to Zion: Ohio Hometown Camp Meeting 2011

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Forward to Zion

Rick Howard

Thank God for the Great Disappointment

You know, in John 17 3, you know the text.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

It always amazed me that eternal life was described and defined not in terms of length of living, like I would do if somebody asked me, you know, what's eternal life?

But Jesus didn't, he didn't say it that way.

He expressed the quality of relationship rather than the length of time to define what eternal life was.

And I was looking in that prayer while he was singing, open to John chapter 17.

This is so relevant to the church, which is really what I want to talk about tonight, the church, and God's love for the church.

I know it says there that it's about the great disappointment, but that's about the church.

And I will recap that, but look in verse 1 in chapter 17, and picture this, you've got to grasp this scene.

The creator of the universe has taken humanity upon himself, given up his omnipresence, and he's functioning now in his humanity.

And it says he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father that hour is come.

And believe me he has been thinking about that hour every moment all of his life.

And he knew as well as anyone that he took a chance.

When I hear somebody say, you know, Jesus knew he was going to make it through because, you know, he knows the end from the beginning.

I mean, he had faith and he trusted, but when he was on that cross, he paid the penalty for the sins of the world.

And the penalty for the sins of the world is death.

I'm gonna talk about that a little bit, because it's the most wonderful experience to be able to see what it is that Jesus did for me, for you.

What he had to go through and why he did it.

And when you can really see what he did and why he did it, you'll feel different about yourself.

Because when God created man, he created us with the ability to grow in our minds forever.

We were made a little lower than the angels, temporarily.

But we were made in the image of God and we were meant to be, Ellen White uses this word and it's astounding, a counterpart of God.

But that's what she says, we were made to be a counterpart of God.

We were to reveal to the universe forever, and we will, new revelations of the glory of God.

God will reveal more about his infinite being to the creatures that he has created all over the universe through the human race.

And we will wing our way, I guess, to planets far off in some other galaxy, revealing new truth about God.

And God will give us that information in minds that will grow and grow forever and ever.

And it is so unbelievable that God took the people that fell the lowest and most degraded in the universe, redeems them and then has them grow beyond all other creatures, revealing the attributes of God to the universe forever and ever and ever.

And he was so upset that he was excluded from the planning that went on to create this planet and this race.

He was so jealous that there was going to be another race that actually would surpass the angels in mental ability and everything.

I like what Pastor Alden said this morning, or was it yesterday, about the brain, you know.

Anything that you perceive through any of your senses, you've got it forever in your mind.

It's sin that prevents us from being able to recall it, you know, get back to it.

But that's the kind of mind that God gave us.

Jesus is praying this prayer, and it's for his church.

It's for all of us, because he loves us so.

Glorify thy son, that your son also may glorify you." Now what's he talking about?

How does that glorify his father when he dies?

Glorify me means I'm going to go to the cross.

You know, I think it's on the opening page, isn't it?

In the Desire of Ages, where it says, the glory of God was the light of the sacrificial love shining in Jesus' face.

That's the ultimate glory of God was sacrifice.

God gave himself, was willing to cease to exist.

And believe me, that was a real chance when he hung on that cross.

And when he said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Of course, the father was right by his side.

You think about this, the strength and how difficult it was for the father not to reach out and hug his son as he was dying on the cross to let him know that he was there.

Who suffered more, Jesus in dying or the father in withholding this infinite love that he had for his son?

He couldn't let him know that he was there.

Jesus had to perceive that he was alone because he was paying the price.

You know, the second death is the penalty for sin right?

To die and to die is something that takes place while you're alive did you ever think of that?

When you die you're alive after you die you're dead and it's over The penalty phase is in the dying.

It's in the perceiving that you're going to lose your existence forever.

Jesus hung on the cross when he cried out those words, and he had no hope, it says.

He did not see himself going through this experience and being successful.

That's the price he had to pay because that's the second death.

It's while you're alive and you know that you're going to never have life again.

And the horror of that and the shame of the sins of the world being laid upon Him.

He felt the shame that we feel when we sin.

He took it all, but not just mine, everybody's shame.

An infinite being, God, the creator of the universe, has all the shame that exists laid on his shoulders right there.

He felt filthy and his father withdrew his presence, which proved it to him that he was dirty with the worst sins you can think of.

That's how He felt that He had committed them.

This was the agreement that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit had from time and eternity backwards.

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Thank God for the Great Disappointment

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