Who or What do I Rely On?

Father, nobody in the world tells us to beware of idols

that we carry around in our minds and in our wills and in our hearts.

And most of the idols that are in Canada and in our own lives are invisible.

Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit this morning would use your word

and bring your word deeply into our minds and hearts and wills,

our very souls and bodies, and reveal to us, Father,

the functioning and functional idols of our heart that keep us from you,

cause great damage in our own lives, and harden our hearts towards others.

We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would help us to recognize these idols

and then that your Holy Spirit would help us to turn from them

and to become disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel,

living for your glory.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

It's allergy time of the year, which means my throat sounds a little bit rough.

Fall and spring, rough for us allergy sufferers.

We all know who we are, right?

Afterwards, we can all talk about the best antihistamines and stuff to use.

So, here's the thing.

I don't know if you were paying much attention when Jeremiah read the text in 2 Corinthians,

but in the text in 2 Corinthians, Jeremiah read something,

which because those of us who are Christians, we're all going to say,

yes, amen, that's true.

In fact, I have that verse.

It's a magnet.

It's on my fridge.

But the fact of the matter is we also know that it's not true.

And we just don't like to share with each other that, in fact, we think the verse probably isn't true.

And, in fact, one way probably to terrify just about everybody in the room would be to say,

we've arranged a bit of a surprise today,

and ten of your co-workers or your neighbors who aren't Christians are on the other side of that door,

and we'd like you to go and take 2 Corinthians 1, verses 3 and 4,

2 Corinthians 1:3

and share with them how real and powerful it is in your life.

And probably we would all be terrified.

Maybe not all of us, many of us.

Because 2 Corinthians, it says about,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,

who comforts us in all our afflictions.

So, how comfortable?

In fact, it might be very, very funny.

It would cause great affliction in our lives

if we had to tell others about how God comforts us.

I'm the only one who's laughing at that story.

I mean, it's actually part of the irony of this week.

It kept the Holy Spirit kept, like,

it's funny, when you have to,

those of you who have to lead a Bible study or teach the Bible,

I don't know if it's like this for you,

but it's like this for me.

Often it's as if the God, the Holy Spirit,

gets me in a vice and turns me to look at it.

And it caused me a lot of stress and affliction this week

to try to tell you about how God comforts us in our afflictions.

Isn't that ironic?

I mean, that's just part of the process of God comforting me, actually,

and working in my heart.

But the text seems to make a really, really, really, really big claim

that God comforts us in all of our afflictions.

And what happens for us as Christians

is that for many of us Christians,

we don't experience this,

or we don't experience it very often.

And so we often have one of two responses,

and some of us combine them both.

One response is to put on a false front,

to pretend that that's what's going on in our lives.

And the other thing is that we become deeply cynical

about the Bible and about ourselves.

And we maybe cover up the cynicism

by maybe trying to be more prophetic

or talk about other types of things.

And often, which is a real tragedy,

we combine these two responses

to such a big promise and claim

that's been made by God through the Bible,

His Word,

by maintaining a false front,

while inwardly,

there is a fair amount of cynicism

going on in our lives.

So let's look at the Bible.

Like, is God just sort of making

one of those whopper exaggerations

when He talks about this in His Word?

Like, how are we supposed to deal

with something that seems to be

such a big promise?

Especially if many of you,

some of us are here,

may be really going through some real worry

and some affliction even now as I speak.

So let's get the Bible.

It would be very helpful

if you took out your Bibles

and let's look at them.

2 Corinthians chapter 1.

2 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

And we'll start reading at verse 1

just to get the context.

And then we're going to pause

at verse 3 and 4.

And here's how it goes.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus

by the will of God,

and Timothy, our brother,

to the church of God

that is at Corinth,

that's in Greece,

with all the saints

who are in the whole of Achaia,

that's the Roman province,

that Corinth was in at the time.

Grace to you and peace

from God our Father

and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Andrew, could you put up

verse 3 and 4

for me, please?

I just read 1 and 2.

All three, all of us together

using the version on the screen,

could we read verses 3 and 4 together?

Blessed be the God and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies

and God of all comfort,

who comforts us in all our affliction,

so that we may be able

to comfort those

who are in any affliction

with the comfort with which

we ourselves are comforted by God.

One of the things you're going to discover

about the book of 2 Corinthians,

there's probably very few books

in the Bible

that have so many great quotes.

And I was trying to think this week

about how I was going to structure

my talking points,

my sermon points,

and I realized

that really all I was going to try to do

was just make variations on this.

So we're going to say this verse

quite a few times

because it really is the heart

of how Paul introduces

the book of 2 Corinthians.

And notice the very, very big claims

which are made.

He is the God of all comforts,

of all comfort,

who comforts us in all our afflictions.

He is the God of all comfort

for any type of affliction or suffering

or worry or anxiety.

And he comforts us

in all our afflictions.

And it's just as strong

in the original language

as it is in English.

In other words,

there is no,

the claim is made

that God is more than adequate,

that he is abundantly full

of comfort

so that any and every

type of suffering or affliction

that we might do,

any type of anxiety

that we experience,

there is not going to be

a single person here

or one that we will meet

who will have a type of affliction

or suffering

that when we bring it to God,

God will say,

gosh, I have no resources

to deal with that.

It's a huge claim

made by the Bible,

which I believe,

and Christians have always believed,

is God's word written.

Could you say this verse

with me again out loud?

Blessed be the God

and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies

and God of all comfort,

who comforts us

in all our affliction

so that we may be able

to comfort those

who are in any affliction

with the comfort

with which we ourselves

are comforted by God.

If you get nothing else

out of this sermon

but begin to have

this verse memorized,

then God has been

very kind to us

because it's way better

that you remember

God's word

than anything I ever say.

But it's a big, big,

big, big, big claim.

So here's the first thing.

Remember, as I said,

it would be very, very frightening.

It would cause, in fact,

much affliction

for many of us

if we said,

surprise,

your co-workers

or your best

non-Christian friends

are in the next room.

Please explain

from your own life

how this verse is true.

That would probably

cause many of us

a great deal of affliction.

In fact, as we were going to it,

we would hope

that God would comfort us

right then

because we didn't know

how we were going

to say anything about it.

So, you know,

here's the first thing.

Well, maybe Paul

is one of those blessed people.

You know, the other day

I was in,

I was in,

surprise,

a Starbucks

and a guy was telling me,

a guy was,

I just overheard

this conversation

about how

his vintage Mustang

was in the shop

and he couldn't drive it

on this sunny day

so he just had to drive

his Audi.

Now, to his credit,

he's saying this

to a barista

who's probably making,

I don't know,

what's minimum wage, right?

She's making minimum wage.

And then he paused

and smiled.

Isn't it hard

to have first world problems?

More than that,

like 1% problems, right?

So maybe Paul

is like that guy.

Maybe Paul has just,

you know,

he grew up with rich parents,

he lived in a bit of a cocoon,

he never had any troubles,

his life has been pretty easy.

Well, we're going to see

in a moment,

maybe you don't remember it,

but we're going to see

in a moment

that Paul, in fact,

talks about a profound

time of trouble,

but it would,

just flip to the back

of 2 Corinthians.

Here's a very,

very spectacular text

which gives you

a bit of a short biography

of some of the things

that Paul has gone through

before he wrote this letter.

And just for your information,

it's about 10 years

after this

that Paul will die

a martyr's death.

So 2 Timothy is written

about 10 years

after 2 Corinthians.

But just if you turn

to 2 Corinthians chapter 11

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

and we'll begin reading

at verse 22.

Are they Hebrews?

He's talking about people

who are causing him

a lot of trouble

in the church in Corinth.

Are they Hebrews?

So am I.

Are they Israelites?

So am I.

Are they offspring of Abraham?

So am I.

Are they servants of Christ?

I'm a better one.

I'm talking like a madman.

With far greater labors,

far more imprisonments,

with countless beatings

and often near death,

five times I received

at the hands

of the Jewish leaders

the 40 lashes,

less one.

That's 39.

Three times I was beaten

with rods.

Once I was stoned.

And that doesn't mean

with drugs.

That means they threw

stones at him,

hoping that he would be,

the end result would be

that he was dead.

Once I was stoned.

Three times I was shipwrecked.

This is before the description

of the shipwreck in Acts 27.

I was stoned.

Three times I was shipwrecked.

A night and a day

I was adrift at sea

on frequent journeys

in danger from rivers,

danger from robbers,

danger from my own people,

danger from pagans,

danger in the city,

danger in the wilderness,

danger at sea,

danger from false brothers,

in toil and hardship,

through many a sleepless night,

in hunger and thirst,

often without food,

in cold and exposure,

and apart from other things,

there is the daily pressure

on me of my anxiety

for all the churches.

Who is weak

and I am not weak?

Who is made to fall

and I am not indignant?

If I must boast,

I will boast of the things

that show my weakness.

The God and Father

of the Lord Jesus,

he who is blessed forever,

knows that I am not lying.

At Damascus,

the governor under King Aretas

was guarding the city of Damascus

in order to seize me,

but I was let down in a basket

through a window in the wall

and escaped his hands.

So that's who's writing the letter.

So he isn't just a guy

whose big problem in life

is that his vintage Mustang

is in the shop

and he has to drive his Audi.

This guy's gone through,

I'm not going to say

he's gone through more trouble

than us

because I know some of us

have faced horrific things.

I know some of us

are victims of sexual abuse

and some of us

have lived through genocide

and so some of us maybe

could say,

wow, I can relate to that.

Like, wow,

I can relate to that.

But many of us,

it's way beyond

what we've suffered.

So let's,

Andrew,

can you say this verse

with me again?

Now that we see that

Paul's not just,

you know,

he's not just a guy

who's never had to suffer

or who's lived in a cocoon.

Let's read the verse again.

Blessed be the God

and Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies

and God of all comfort,

who comforts us

in all our afflictions

so that we may be able

to comfort those

who are in any affliction

with the comfort

with which we ourselves

are comforted by God.

So,

he makes this big, big claim.

Now,

one of the things

which is really interesting

about this Bible text

is,

which we're going to,

we're going to go and see

how it is,

what other things

that Paul says

about this particular thing,

about this,

you know,

this comfort.

But,

we look at this text

and now that we sort of

are struck with the fact

that Paul actually himself

had a hard life,

but we still sort of

look at this text

and say,

well,

maybe it's going to be

all right for George

or maybe George

lives this a lot of the time

or maybe those really

spiritual people do

and maybe there was

a time in my life

when I knew God's comfort

but there's been

a long time

since I've known

God's comfort

in any type of way

like this

which is real.

And,

and so we look

at this text

and think those things

one of the problems

with a cynical reading

of the Bible

is that it's actually

a very,

very subtle way

for us to stop

listening to the Bible

at all

and exalt ourselves

over the Bible

and not

maybe think

that as the Bible

starts to

lay out

its different truths

that the Bible

is confronting us

with different questions

that we need

to ask ourselves.

So,

the very first question

is

where do I turn

for comfort?

I mean,

you know,

if there's one thing

which is true

of human beings

is that human beings

when they're in stress

and affliction

and suffering

they seek comfort.

That's a human problem.

It's a human experience.

We all seek comfort.

Every single person

that you will meet today

when they're in affliction

they will seek comfort.

But we rarely ask ourselves

where do we actually

go to find comfort?

And the Bible

is going to ask

two other questions

indirectly

in the verses

which just follow this.

And it's these questions

that we now have to listen

to the Bible asking us

which are really important

for us to understand ourselves

and in fact

to understand the Bible.

Look at verse 5.

For we share abundantly

in Christ's sufferings

so through Christ

we share abundantly

in comfort too.

If we are afflicted

it is for your comfort

and salvation

and if we are comforted

it is for your comfort

which you experience

when you patiently endure

the same sufferings

that we suffer.

our hope for you

is unshaken

for we know

that as you share

in our sufferings

you will also share

in our comfort.

For we do not want you

to be unaware

brothers

of the affliction

we experienced

in Asia

for we were so

an utterly burdened

beyond our strength

that we despaired

of life itself.

Indeed

we felt

that we had received

the sentence of death.

Remember I said

that Paul would

very quickly

he doesn't wait

until 11

to make them realize

that this isn't just

pious talk

that he himself

really has to struggle

with something

really really

hard things

in his life.

Continuing reading

but that was

to make us rely

not on ourselves

but on God

who raises the dead.

He delivered us

from such a deadly peril

and he will deliver us.

On him

we have set our hope

that he will deliver us again.

You also must help us

by prayer

so that many

will give thanks

on our behalf

for the blessing

granted us

through the prayers

of many.

Andrew

could you put up

the slide please?

Three questions

help reveal

the functioning

idols of my heart.

Where do I go

for comfort?

What do I rely on?

And what do I hope in?

Three questions

embedded in the text

of the Bible

that the Bible

is asking us

in a sense

the Bible is saying

okay George

you like to have

your false front

you like to be

inwardly very cynical

about your inability

to change

your inability

for God

to work in your life

your inability

the fact that

you know

you're not comforted

like this

the way the Bible

is talked about

the cynicism

that leads

to a type

of weakness

and flaccidness

in terms of

dealing with other people

the type of superiority

you in fact

have over my word

and okay George

that's going on

I have three questions

for you George

just you know

you're asking me

all these questions

God

God says

maybe George

you pour out

your

occasionally you pray

and in your prayers

it's a bit of a rage

against God

a bit of an expression

of disappointment

with me

well George

my word

has three questions

for you to consider

three questions

that the Bible uses

the Bible in fact

asks

that help reveal

the functioning

idols of my heart

where do I go

for comfort

what do I rely on

what do I hope in

you know

all human beings

everyone that we meet

it's part of the

common human experience

that we hope

in something

we rely on something

or someone

because the

second two questions

could be changed

to a who

rather than a what

but what happens

so what happens

when we start to go

through some real

suffering

some real affliction

does our mind

if all of a sudden

you know

somebody could videotape

what's going on

in your mind

and maybe with your body

does our mind

instantly go to drugs

does it instantly

go to alcohol

guys

when you're

suffering stress

do you wish

you could be

looking at pornography

because you find

pornography comforting

and then

the normal

physical things

that people often

do after they've

looked at pornography

do some of you

when you're under

stress and affliction

want to go online

to look at your

bank account

to see how much

money you have

does some of you

turn to anger

to comfort you

anger

can be far more

intoxicating

for some people

than drugs

and alcohol

it can be a source

of

that

an inner source

an inner stream

that we go to

very quickly

when we're under

stress and affliction

to nurture

our anger

because we find

it comforting

in a bit of a

perverse sense

isn't it a bit

perverse to think

that anger can be

comforting

do we go to

imaginary stories

in our minds

about how we're

great athletes

or great

lovers

or great

orators

or

do we go to

imaginary places

do we

when we're

experiencing

a lot of

stress

just wish

we could

get to

the television

so we can

watch

eight episodes

of some

mindless sitcom

and by

having that

experience

of being

numbed

find some

type of

comfort

where

does our

mind

and our

heart

drift

when we're

under

suffering

and affliction

and

and then

where

where do we

tend to go

in our

mind

and in

our

body

when we

have to

maybe

start to

try to

when we

think about

what we're

going to

rely on

to deal

with the

source of

the problem

like

what do we

tend to think

of that we

can rely on

like many

of us

are we

start to

rely

many of

us

think about

how we're

going to

rely on

ourselves

maybe for

some of

us

maybe not

as much

in our

culture

we think

about how

the tribe

or the

union

or the

professional

association

that that's

what we're

going to

rely on

or our

money

or our

power

or our

prestige

maybe some

of us

start to

think of

different

dialogues

and

conversational

things that

we're going

to do

and we're

going to rely

on how

we're going

to be able

to verbally

manipulate

or harass

the other

person to

deal with

the problem

what are we

hoping

do we

start to

in our

heart

think that

you know

if I just

get that

promotion

this problem

is going to

go away

if I just

finish the

degree

then that

affliction

will stop

if I can

just find

the right

person to

marry

then that

will stop

if I could

just have

a change

of my

gender

then my

suffering

will stop

if I can

just live

as an

uninhibited

gay man

or lesbian

woman

then my

troubles

will stop

if I

could just

divorce

my

husband

or my

wife

then my

troubles

will stop

you see

we don't

realize

that we've

maybe made

an idol

out of

pornography

the comforts

the things

we turn

to to

comfort us

they reveal

the idols

what like

we turn

to pornography

as an idol

to comfort

us

we turn

to fantasy

stories

of our

greatness

to comfort

us

we've made

an idol

of this

and then

maybe we're

going to rely

on our

degree

or our

verbal

ability

to solve

our

problem

and we're

going to

maybe hope

in the

right person

to marry

or the

right sexual

experience

or whatever

it is

that that's

going to

be

that's

our

hope

and

notice

that for

many of

us

we have

contradictory

idols

have you

noticed this

that idols

only cause

trouble

because often

what comforts

us

conflicts

with what

we can

hope in

and conflicts

with what

we rely

in

like let me

just give

you a little

bit of an

example

how many

of us

I've lost

my place

in my

notes

how many

of us

we

where we

go to

for comfort

is we

drink

that's

what's

going to

comfort us

if we

can just

have some

alcohol

to drink

and what

are we

going to

rely on

to get

us

through

those

really

difficult

conversations

with our

boss

what we're

going to

rely on

is that

we can

have a

mickey

and we

can just

take a

few

sips

or I

knew a

guy who

couldn't

go into

any type

of conflict

without

having to

smoke a

joint

and at

the same

time

maybe what

our hope

is that

we're going

to get

that

promotion

or that

we'll

have

the

great

marriage

but how

many

marriages

end because

of a

reliance

on the

bottle

the very

thing that's

going to

bring us

comfort

wars

against

our

hope

how many

people get

demoted

or lose

their job

because they

go to

the bottle

the thing

the idol

that they

worship

that we

worship

to comfort

us

is the

very same

thing that

robs us

of the

idol

which is

our

hope

we lose

the job

because of

the bottle

how many

of us

that suffer

and the

way we

the comfort

we find

is in

anger

and what

we rely

on is

all of

those types

of

conversations

that are

going on

in our

head

about how

we're

able to

get that

person

and put

them in

their

place

and that's

the thing

that goes

through our

mind

and that's

the thing

that we're

going to

rely

on

at least

in our

own

mind

and yet

that it

ends up

that we

don't get

the job

that we

hope for

because that

anger

and those

verbal patterns

they come out

in our

job place

and nobody

wants to

give you

the promotion

how many

of us

find our

comfort in

something like

pornography

and then we

also maybe

want to take

all sorts of

other things

in terms of

relying on

jobs

and maybe

making lots

of money

and that's

how we're

going to

deal with

our problems

and our

hope is

marriage

but our

over-focus

on pornography

makes it

really hard

to actually

have a

healthy

relationship

with a

member of

the opposite

sex

where it's

not pornography

but it's

sex and it's

the sexual

release that

comforts us

but the

multiple sexual

partners makes

it increasingly

difficult to

actually ever

marry someone

and marriage

is our

hope

and then

in our

pride

in our

blindness

when we

in our

hearts

turn our

to certain

comforts

and certain

reliances

and certain

hopes

and then we

say that the

Bible is

untrue

and God

will say to

us

George you

never turned

to me for

comfort

you never

turned to

me to

rely on

me

you never

turned to

me to

hope in

me

you've

spent all

your time

with your

idols

and George

your idols

are ruining

your life

and God

doesn't say

this to us

in anger

he says it

to us

with tears

he says

George don't

you realize

that I am

the father

of all

mercies

and the

God of

all comfort

don't you

realize

that I

sent my

son to

earth

knowing

who you

are and

what you're

like

and knowing

fully who

you are

I sent

my son

to earth

to die

in your

place

and don't

you know

that I

raised him

from the

dead

that death

has been

defeated

and so

is sin

so why

don't you

hope in

me

why don't

you rely

on me

could you

put the

second

Corinthians

text up

again please

could you

read it

with me

again

together

blessed

be the

God

and father

of our

Lord

Jesus

Christ

the father

of mercies

and God

of all

comfort

who comforts

us in all

our afflictions

so that we

may be able

to comfort

those who

are in

any

affliction

with the

comfort

with which

we

ourselves

are comforted

by God

the other

thing that our

idols do

because we

might still

say that

I mean

it last

two weeks

ago we

talked about

Amos 8

and Amos 8

had this

powerful image

image of

people dying

of starvation

and dying

of thirst

and the

powerful image

was it was a

tragic image

it was an

image of

people dying

of hunger

and dying

of thirst

while they

were surrounded

by food

and drink

and in that

particular vision

it was because

these as a

people were

constantly telling

God to be

quiet

and to be

silent

and God

eventually

gave them

what they

wanted

and so

while they

were surrounded

by God's

word

and it was

easily available

for them

and it was

true food

and true

drink

they could

no longer

hear it

and in

their frantic

activities

to deal

with the

fact that

they were

dying of

hunger

and dying

of thirst

they could

not realize

that God

could feed

and provide

drink for

them

and it was

right there

they were

dying

amidst

plenty

the other

thing that

idols do

is they

make us

it hard

for us to

recognize

God's

comfort

because of

the nature

like what

is it that

we get

when we

go to a

bottle

or a

drug

you know

you

you

snort

the cocaine

and it

goes

instant

rush

and so

we

listen to

this text

of the

Bible

and we

listen to

it with

the idols

of our

hearts

whispering

in our

ears

so that

we

misread

the Bible

and think

that the

Bible

is a

feeling

the Bible

is like

a drug

that gives

us

ecstasy

that the

comfort

the Bible

is talking

about

that God

gives

is a

particular

feeling

maybe

it's a

feeling

of peace

maybe

it's a

feeling

of ecstasy

maybe

it's

something

that's

instantaneous

that something

that's like

anesthetic

which will

just completely

and utterly

numb us

that God's

comfort

will be

like a

force field

that keep

all bad

things away

from us

that God's

comfort

is going

to be

something

like a

superpower

that just

means

that we

can always

overcome

every

affliction

that it's

just going

to be

something

which is

sort of

there

like a

tattoo

and once

you have

this God's

comfort

on you

it's

just

always

there

or we

think

that somehow

or another

that God's

comfort

is going

to be

something

that exalts

us

that we're

able to

have so much

of God's

comfort

all of the

time

that we

can boast

about it

to our

friends

that we're

worried

that somehow

or another

God's

comfort

is going

to come

to us

it's going

to remove

from us

all courage

that it's

going to

make us

passive

that it's

going to

make us

lazy

that it's

going to

sort of

remove us

from all

hope

because we're

just sort

of blissed

out with

God's

comfort

or that

God's

comfort

is magical

or that

God's

comfort

will remove

consequences

or God's

comfort

will mean

that we

never

suffer

risk

that's

idle

speaking

to us

the word

comfort

is the

same

word

here

as is

used

of the

Holy

Spirit

in John

14

15

and 16

the

comforter

God's

comfort

is not

separate

from the

gospel

and it's

not beyond

the gospel

it's not

as if you

have the

gospel

God made

him

who knew

no sin

to be

sin for

us

so that

in him

we might

become

the righteousness

of God

that's how

Paul's

going to

describe

the gospel

in a few

minutes

and God's

comfort

isn't

well okay

now we

got the

tattoo

for the

gospel

now we

move on

to something

which is

his comfort

no no

God's

comfort

is the

knowledge

that he

is with

us

that he's

beside us

that he

carries

us

that he

is sovereign

that he's

all powerful

that he's

all good

that he's

untamed

that he

knows me

perfectly

and that

he's with

me

we

enter the

Jesus

way

one by

one

when we

put our

faith and

trust in

Jesus

but we

walk the

Jesus way

with Jesus

and with

others

we don't

walk it

alone

and in

heaven

we'll find

out

that a lot

of the

time

that we

think

that we've

been so

strong

and that

we've been

striding along

on the

Jesus way

and heaven

we'll find

out that we

were carried

by the

prayers of

others

and that it

wasn't us

walking

and it will

profoundly

humble us

and once

we're gripped

by the

gospel and

learn to

pray for

others

others will

maybe find

in heaven

that those

times that

they thought

that they

were most

strong in

walking the

Jesus way

is they

were carried

by you

by your

suffering for

them

by your

intercession

for them

by your

financial help

for whatever

way

and God

has no

comfort apart

from himself

and he

makes us

know himself

known and

reconciles us

to him

through the

cross

that Jesus

seeing who

we are

perfectly

and completely

with absolutely

no illusions

about who

and what

each of us

are

knowing each

idol that

we have in

our heart

and especially

knowing those

unrecognized

idols that we

have in our

heart

that he

came and

lived a

sinless life

in fellowship

with God

and dies

upon the

cross

God made

him to be

our representative

God made

him who

knew no

sin to be

sin for us

that on the

cross all

of our

idolatries

all of our

shame

all of the

wrong things

we've done

all of the

good things

that we

failed to

do

all of

those

were laid

on him

God made

him who

knew no

sin to be

sin for

us

and he

takes into

himself

all of the

things that

we've done

wrong

God made

him who

knew no

sin to be

sin for

us so

that in

him when

we put our

faith and

trust in

him

we put our

hands in