Sermon
The Identity of Jesus | Charles Zimmerman | Calvary Church
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Last week, Carlos kicked off the fall by
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looking at Acts chapter 1. And the book
Acts 1 chapter mention
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of Acts is Luke's second volume. And he
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mentioned, not sure you caught it or
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not, he mentioned that our series for
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the fall is going to be on Luke's first
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volume. And the reason he looked at Acts
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1 is because the second volume, the book
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of Acts, is all about how the early
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church continued exactly what Jesus was
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doing. So what we're going to do for the
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next number of weeks, we're going to
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look at those things that Jesus began to
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do. And we're going to do that by
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looking at Luke. And so this morning,
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we're going to look at what and why.
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That first few verses. And then who.
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That's the second part. So if you know
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the what and the why and the who, you
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basically know what we're going to talk
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about today. We're going to talk about
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the introduction to the book and the
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identity of its primary subject. So, if
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you have your Bibles, uh, you can grab
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it or use your phone, your iPad, or just
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kind of listen as I read. I'm going to
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read the first four verses, and we're
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going to look at the story of Jesus. And
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Paul begins Paul, Luke begins in a very
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interesting way. He tells us what the
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book's going to be about. How's he doing
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and why he's doing it this way? Listen
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to how he begins.
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Many have under have undertaken to draw
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up an account of the things that have
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been fulfilled among us just as they
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were handed down to us by those who f
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from the first were eyewitnesses and
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servants of the word. With this in mind,
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since I myself have carefully
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investigated everything from the
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beginning, I too decided to write an
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orderly account for you, most excellent
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Theophilos, so that you may know the
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certainty of the things you have been
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taught. All right. So, what's going on?
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Well, let me call your attention to a
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few things in those verses. And the last
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part that I just read, he uh addresses
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this to most excellent Theophilos. Well,
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who the heck is Theophilus? And who
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would ever name their kid that? Well,
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Theophilus is a a compound word. It's a
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compound word that means God lover.
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Theos and then fileto, right? And so,
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God lover. And there's some debate about
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is it written to any God lover or I
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think more likely it was written to and
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and commissioned by this most excellent
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Theophosa Theophilos, a person named
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Theophilles. Because you got to remember
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to do all this investigation was going
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to be an expensive endeavor. And so
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usually usually a wealthy high-profile
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person would commission the research to
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perform a particular task. And then the
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book of Luke and the book of Acts, they
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would be the result of what the patron
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commissioned. And so probably the
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beginning Luke's saying, "Hey,
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Theophilles, thanks a lot for the
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commission and I'm writing this back to
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you as a result of the investigation,
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but not only to Theophilus, to all of
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those God lovers or those who want to
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understand uh what he's going to write
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about. Uh in the first couple verses
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there, let me uh mention a couple other
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things that that will get you started.
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Luke tells us that this is going this
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book is going to be the story of Jesus.
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And he says it's going to be the account
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of those things that were fulfilled.
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Now, isn't that weird? Why didn't he
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say, "I'm going to write about the
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things that happened. I'm going to write
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about the things that occur." He doesn't
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say that. He said, "I'm going to write
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about the things that have been
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fulfilled." Why do you think he said
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that? Well, here's what I think. Do you
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realize that a little more than 75%
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of the Bible is in the Old Testament?
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Only about 25% in the New Testament. The
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Old Testament gives the foundation,
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gives all of the building blocks. The
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New Testament gives the climax and the
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culmination. But you really can't
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understand what's happening in the New
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Testament unless you understand
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something about the 75% from the Old
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Testament. You have temples and priests,
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sacrifices, you have prophets, you have
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descriptions, you have rituals, all this
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stuff. But they're all like signposts.
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They're all signs along the road
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pointing to something in the future. The
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something in the future is Jesus and his
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ministry. So we often say the Bible's a
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point and a purpose. The point is Jesus.
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The purpose is to lead you to him. But
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for 75% of the Bible, the foundation's
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being laid. The signposts are being put
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in place. And then Jesus shows up. Luke
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says, "I'm here to tell you, I've done
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my research. I'm here to tell you about
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the point and the purpose. You need the
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container and you need the content." I
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was thinking about this that this
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morning as I went to get my Starbucks.
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And by the way, Starbucks and Giant is
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closed. Closed yesterday. Very sad day.
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A lot of tears. So, I had to go to
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corporate Starbucks today and that was
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fine, too. Um, but as I got my
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Starbucks, I was walking to the car and
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I thought, you know what? This is kind
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of what Luke does.
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Uh, how's that work? Well,
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you need a container
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and you need the contents.
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Um, it would be ridiculous to get the
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cup without the contents. Yet, the only
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reason for a cup is to deliver the
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contents. The only thing worse than
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having a cup without the coffee is
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having the coffee without the cup. You
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see, they both have to go together. You
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need a container in order to have the
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content delivered. That's what Luke's
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saying. So, I've done my investigation.
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I put together I'm lay I'm building on
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the foundation. I'm giving you the
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content story of Jesus in the container
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of this gospel. Just like we could
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extrapolate and say the whole Bible is
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the container. The primary content in
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the container. The only reason for the
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container is to deliver the content of
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Jesus, the things that were fulfilled
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among you. He then says, um, I'm going
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to report to you what the eyewitnesses
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have seen and heard. Now, you need to
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remember Luke was not an eyew witness of
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the [snorts] things that Jesus did and
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said, huh? But he interviewed lots of
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eyewitnesses and he takes their
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accounts. He investigated thoroughly and
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he writes this gospel based on the
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eyewitness accounts. And that's really
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important. The gospel of Luke was
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probably written in the early 60s as
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best we can tell. Jesus was crucified
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and rose from the dead. Say 30. So, uh,
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it's about 30ome years between the
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events that Luke's recording and the
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actual document that he's red producing.
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Well, you know what? Lo's eyewitnesses
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are still living. It's one thing to
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fabricate a story that happened like a
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zillion years ago and there no
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eyewitnesses around. It's another deal
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to say, "Hey, this happened and there
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are eyewitnesses around that can
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contradict and correct your story." So,
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for example, suppose you were to say,
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"But if Flyers have been terrible for a
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while,
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I don't think they'll ever win, and they
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have never won a Stanley Cup."
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That's not true.
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I was there.
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I went to the parades. I saw the wins. I
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saw the Stanley Cup. And even though it
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was like over 50 years ago, it happened.
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Then if that's 50ome years ago, there
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were still eyewitnesses eyewitness
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around 30 some years. You can't tell a
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story. You can't present things that
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aren't true if there are eyewitnesses
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still running around. We also know from
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the book of Acts that even though Luke
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was not an eyewitness, he traveled with
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Paul on his missionary journeys. And
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just like he lays just like um Luke lays
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out in Acts, Judea, Samaria to the ends
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of the earth. That was kind of Luke's
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itinerary. Judea, Samaria, the ends of
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the earth. Luke had lots of opportunity
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as he traveled with Paul to interview
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people that were eyewitnesses. Luke
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gives us the most detailed account of
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Jesus birth with the shepherds and Mary
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and all. Where did he get that? He
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probably talked to Mary. He pro she was
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probably one of the eyewitnesses. He
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said, "Mary, what'd you feel? How'd it
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go? What did the angel say?" He's
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recording what the eyewitnesses said. So
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even though he was not an eyewitness, he
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interviewed people that were still
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alive. They were eyewitnesses. He put
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all this together into an orderly
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account so that now he can communicate
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the content, the point and purpose of
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Luke and of the Bible as Jesus. Now
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there's one other thing I want to say
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about those verses. Notice it says, "I'm
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going to report to you the things that
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were fulfilled among us." So Luke is not
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a record of all the teachings of Jesus.
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It's not a collection of the Now there
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are teachings in there and it's not a
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collection of all the things Jesus said.
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Even though there are lots of sayings in
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there because you ever realize
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we are not forgiven, we don't experience
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salvation because of what Jesus taught.
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We experience salvation or forgiven
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because of what Jesus did.
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Now, what he said illustrates and
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explains what he did. But if you were
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saved by what Jesus taught, that means
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you would be f you would you would save
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yourself by doing what Jesus said and
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you kind of earn your way. That's not
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it. We're not saved by what he taught.
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We're saved by what he did because we
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cannot do what he taught. Therefore,
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Jesus came to do what we couldn't do so
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that we can then experience what we do
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not deserve. So Luke begins by telling
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us what and telling us why he put all
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this together. So we will have the
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contents of g of Jesus, the point and
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purpose of scripture. But that's kind of
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the who and the what. Oh, excuse me, the
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the what and the why from chapter 1.
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Now, we're going to look at a couple
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sections from chapter two and chapters
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two and three that tell us the who. Now,
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some of you are thinking, "So, are we
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going to talk about Christmas?" We're
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not talking about Christmas. In fact,
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I'll kind of lay out the next few months
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for you. We're going to look at the main
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thing, right? Who is Jesus and how we
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can follow him. And we're going to do
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that by looking at select passages in
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Luke. We're not going to go verse by
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verse. We're going to kind of select
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passages. We'll work with the passage.
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And we're going to skip over all the
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Christmas stuff. You know, Luke has the
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most detailed Christmas stuff. Why are
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we going to do that? Because in
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December, we're going to do the
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beginning of Luke. Because if you
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understand the point and the purpose of
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what it's about, then we'll go back and
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look at how Jesus entered our world and
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you'll see that all of those details are
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actually given to us in in minuscule
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upfront as he's about to do it. Well,
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what do we learn about the who? We learn
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all about sunship. Chapter 2 and three
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of Luke is all about Jesus, the son of
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God, right? He's the son. And he gives
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us two examples of what Jesus did and
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and what happened. And they're really
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interesting. The first of those is in
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the temple temple sunship in the temple.
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Now, we don't have time to read that
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whole account, but let me kind of tell
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you what's going on. You read it later.
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So, here's what's going on. Mary and
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Joseph, as good practicing Jews, every
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Passover, they would take the family,
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right? Jesus and the oldest son, they
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would take them and they would travel to
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Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.
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Well, we don't know anything. Luke only
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tells us when Jesus bore nativity and
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then it fast forwards and at the end of
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chapter 2, we have this one weird
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incident when Jesus was 12. Fast forward
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from birth to 12. Then we get these few
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verses about 12. So when Jesus was 12,
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the family travels from where they
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living, Nazareth. They travel down to
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Jerusalem and a really weird incident
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happens. They go, they celebrate
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Passover and they're heading back home
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and they're heading back home and after
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a day or so on the journey, they realize
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um they're missing something
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like the son. Where's Jesus? Now, that's
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kind of easy to some of you think, boy,
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they're terrible parents and Mary and
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Joseph. Wow. How how can you leave your
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son, right? You have to Well, it's easy
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to understand if you think of it like
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this. The men probably traveled together
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and the women probably travel together
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and the men would talk about, you know,
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the eagles and work and their aches and
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pains and the women would travel alone.
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They would talk about the men and so
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they're traveling separately home. And
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so Mary probably assumes Jesus is with
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Joseph and Joseph probably assumes,
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well, Jesus is with Mary. And lo and
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behold, after a whole day, they maybe
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get together for dinner. And Joseph
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says, "Well, where's Jes?" Mary says,
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"Well, I thought he was with you." No,
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he's not with me. Uhoh. Where is he?
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They go back to Jerusalem. And after two
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more After 3 days, they find him. He's
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in the temple
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debating, arguing, and talking to the
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religious leaders, the priests, and the
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teachers.
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And that they're like amazed at what
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this 12-year-old kid knows. And he's
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kind of, well, that's not true. He's
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correcting what their interpretation is
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about the Bible. They're arguing and
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debating. Mary then says, "Let me uh
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read these verses to you."
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Mary says,
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as soon as I find it,
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when his parents saw him, they were
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astonished. His mother said to him, now
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check this out, "Son, why have you
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treated us like this?" Typical mom. Your
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father and I are anxiously searching for
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you. You kind of throw the dad name in,
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right? To add weight. your father. Um,
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why are you searching for me? Jesus, why
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are you searching for me? He asked.
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Didn't you know I had to be in my
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father's house?
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That's not just an interesting way and
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turn of phrase. What does Mary say? Your
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father. What's Jesus say? My father.
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Huh? Now, so what's going on? Uh, there
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are some people that write books and
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they don't know what they're talking
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about. They'll say, "Well, this is Jesus
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bar mitzvah." Bar mitzvah doesn't come
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to the middle ages. Nothing about bar
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mitzvah. But we do know this as Jewish
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kids were being raised. Um they kind of
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had a two-prong approach to education.
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One was you learn how to read so you can
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read Torah. You learn how to understand
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the Bible, right? And so you did that
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part time. But the main purpose of
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education was to learn the family trade.
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And so Joseph is a carpenter. And so
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Jesus would go to school and he'd learn
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how to read so he could read Torah. And
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he would learn from Joseph how to be a
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carpenter. Two-prong. But when you hit
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your early teens, you know, kind of when
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you're uh you're done with school and
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there are no middle schoolers here and
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that doesn't work in our culture, but
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back then you got to hit your early
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teens and you don't you that one prong's
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done. You know how to read, you're done.
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Now you're full-time learning daddy's
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trade. You're learning the family
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business. And so Jesus is right at that
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point. Not exactly sure how to hand a
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handoff works, but the one thing is
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clear. Jesus is transitioning from a
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two-pronged education to a singular
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prong of educ education where he's going
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to learn the family business.
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Matter of words ring a little
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differently. Mary says
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Jesus your father
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family trade. You got to get home to
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learn the family business. What's Jesus
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say? My father.
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Mom, I am learning the family business.
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Joseph's family business is carpentry.
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Tables, chairs, doors.
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My father's business is redemption,
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salvation.
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I'm learning that. And in the very next
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chapter, it begins the ministry where
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Jesus has learned the family business
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and he's commissioned then to fulfill
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the family business of redemption and
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salvation. not carpentry and making
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tables.
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Isn't it also amazing? Mary says my your
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father. Jesus says my father. And at the
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beginning of the sermon on the mount,
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Jesus says, pray like this, our father.
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That's where this is going. You kind of
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know where the end of the message is.
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So, we got sunship in the temple where
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Jesus says, "I am the son. I'm learning
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the family business. I'm sitting here
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with the scholars. I'm sitting here with
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those who understand and those that are
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supposed to lay this out for people. I'm
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learn. Can you imagine? He's correcting
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what their what their understanding of
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the Old Testament was. Well, guys, let
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me explain to you what that really
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means. Um, and they're dumbfounded.
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But then we get another sunship passage
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in chapter 3. Now, in in chapter 3, it's
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not sunship in the temple. Now, it's
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sunship in the river. Fast forward
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again. So, the first couple chapters of
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Luke, Jesus is born, nativity. Fast
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forward to the end of chapter 2, Jesus
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is now 12. Fast forward again to chapter
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3, Jesus is now 30. So, this is not a
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biography like biographies we read with
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every detail spelled out of a person's
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life. Luke's hitting the highlights.
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He's investigated everything. He's
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laying out what must be fulfilled and
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how it's going to fit together.
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Now, it's sunship in the river. So Jesus
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comes to be baptized and uh a strange
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incident happens as Jesus is being
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baptized. Now here's what God says.
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Jesus is baptized. John the Baptist. And
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as he's being lifted from the water, a
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voice booms from heaven.
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You are my son. Oh, there we are again.
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Right. Sunship in the temple. My father.
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Sunship in the river. You are my son
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whom I love.
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With you
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I am well pleased.
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Now those words probably sound familiar
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to you a little bit.
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And maybe you're thinking, "Yeah,
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they're familiar because I've read that
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a few times before, right? Matthew has
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it in mind. There I've read it before."
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Others are thinking, "No, no, no. I
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remember I didn't sleep that Sunday
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morning, Charles, when we did Psalm two
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and we talked about sunship in Psalm
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two." because you realize um you are my
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son. That's a quote from Psalm 2. Psalm
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2 is a messianic psalm. And what's Psalm
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two about? In a nutshell, Psalm 2 is all
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about God saying, "One day, I'm going to
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send my son, the Messiah. He will be the
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conquering, victorious king. He's going
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to come to make things right." Yeah, you
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live in a broken world. Things aren't
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fitting together. I'm going to send my
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son. He's going to be a king and he's
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going to make all things right. Justice
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will rule. Psalm two. So, as Jesus is
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being baptized, God says,
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he's here.
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He's here. Remember that promise? I'm
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going to I'm going to send my son. He's
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going to be the Messiah. He's going to
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be the king. He's going to bring
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justice, makes it great. He's here. Here
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he is.
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But that's not the end of the quote.
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That's not even the end of a sentence
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from Luke 2. But here's the weird thing.
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The second part of the sentence, with
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you I am well pleased, that does not
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come from Psalm 2.
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It does come from the Old Testament,
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part of that 75%, but not Psalm 2. You
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know where that comes from? Isaiah 42.
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Huh? Isaiah 42 is not about the Messiah
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as the conquering king to bring justice
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and make things right. Isaiah 42 is a
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servant song, a suffering servant song
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that finds its climax in Isaiah 53. And
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we learn from the servant songs that God
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is going to send a servant, a suffering
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servant, and he is going to take the
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guilt of all of the world, the guilt of
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those that trust in him, and he's going
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to pay. He will bear the punishment that
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that guilt deserves.
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Because if the conquering king comes to
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bring justice and make things right,
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well, there's not a human being that's
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ever lived that will then be able to
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stand. So then God says, "Yeah, but I'm
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going to send my suffering servant." And
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the suffering servant realizes not
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everybody has their acts together. In
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fact, nobody does. But those who admit
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their problem, admit their sin and hand
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their guilt over to the suffering
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servant, the ser the suffering of the
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servant will actually pay for the for
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those that trust him by taking the guilt
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away.
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What does Luke say?
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One Messiah,
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conquering king who comes to make things
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right,
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suffering servant who comes to bear our
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guilt. Not two, one.
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The conquering Messiah is the suffering
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servant. And what does Luke say? The
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voice booms from heaven.
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He has arrived.
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The conquering king to bring justice.
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the suffering servant to pay for guilt.
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He has arrived. He is now here. That's
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the who. That's the content. And right
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at the beginning, Luke says um who the
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who the climax is Jesus. He's the one
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that is all of the content. He's the one
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that all the signs point to. Now,
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before we continue, let let me just make
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a point here that sometimes we we mix
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up. Do you understand the order?
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Remember what Luke said? I've
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interviewed all these eyewitnesses and
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I'm putting together an orderly account.
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That doesn't mean everything's
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chronological in the book, but it does
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mean it's an orderly account. Here's an
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order of first importance.
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Sunship precedes ministry.
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Jesus hasn't done anything yet.
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What does he need
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as he goes into the desert to follow and
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he's tempted by the devil? What does he
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need as he engages with people who won't
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believe? What does he need as he begins
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his ministry? What does he need as he's
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going to take our sin and suffer for it?
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What does he need as he's going to raise
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from the dead? He needs to know above
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everything else who he is. He's a son of
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God. Identity precedes ministry. That's
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true for us. You don't become a son by
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doing lots of ministry. You do lots of
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ministry because you're a son. Sunship
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precedes ministry.
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But Jesus didn't go through his min. You
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read Luke and tell me if this is right.
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Jesus didn't go through the rest of his
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ministry saying to people, "I'm God's
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son and you're not." He doesn't do that.
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What does he do? He said, 'I am God's
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son, God's unique son, and by trusting
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me, you can be sons and daughters of
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God, too. Right? Your father, my father,
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our father. That's how the transgression
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go or that that's how the transition
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goes.
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So, what's our sunship in Jesus? Well,
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Luke's going to lay that out through the
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rest of his gospel. But maybe a place
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for you to see that real clearly was
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written by Paul. And Paul, in my mind at
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least, Paul's thinking about the river.
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He's thinking about Jesus sunship in the
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river as he records these words.
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Now, Paul's writing to the people in
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Romans, but he's also writing to us.
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Listen to what he says about sons and
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daughters. The spirit you've received
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did not make you slaves so that you live
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in fear again. Rather, the spirit you
-
received brought about your adoption to
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sunship, and by him we cry, "Aba,
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Father." The Spirit himself testifies
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with our spirit that we are God's
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children.
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Now, what does that mean? I would say it
-
like this.
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If you've admitted that you need a
-
savior and you're trusting Jesus for
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forgiveness and acceptance, if
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you need to hear the father say over you
-
what he said over Jesus in the river,
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you are my son.
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You're my daughter
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whom I love.
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With you I am well pleased.
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Not just to Jesus, but as we trust him,
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God says those words over us. Sunship
-
precedes ministry.
-
All right. Well, uh, what does that mean
-
practically? Well, let me tease out a
-
couple things and then we're done. First
-
of all, it means intimacy. It means
-
intimacy. Do you realize that, um, your
-
kids
-
can do, say, and request things of you
-
that nobody else can? Uh, let me give
-
you an example.
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Uh, a few weeks ago, it's kind of late
-
one evening. Uh, I'm lying in bed
-
watching a game. Kim's kind of cleaning
-
up, getting ready to come to bed, and
-
the phone, her phone rings, and I can
-
tell from Kim's end of the conversation
-
that this is going to be a long night.
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The conversation goes something like
-
this. Well, how did you do that?
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What do you want me to do?
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I'll see what he's doing.
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Well, anyway, here's what I find out.
-
Megan took the two French bulldogs for a
-
walk. Mike's at work and the door locks
-
behind her.
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Not the strong door, you know, wood. The
-
screen door.
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She said, "I come back, the screen door
-
is locked. I can't get in." I pull the
-
screen door. I'm pushing. I can't get
-
in. Um, Kim says, "We'll be right over."
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I'm think, "What? What do you mean we?
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We what?" Um,
-
so I got out of bed
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and I put on my shorts
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and I found Kim's utility knife
-
and we jumped in the car and we went to
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Megan's in a very short order. I cut the
-
screen out of that door. We reached in,
-
opened the door, they went in, and I
-
went home.
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Now, what's the moral of that story? If
-
you ever get locked out of your house,
-
do not call me. I'm not coming. But
-
Megan, even though she's 37, she got mad
-
when I said that. Even though she's 37.
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She can call me and Kim can say, "We'll
-
be right over." Because it's different
-
if your kid calls and says, "I need
-
you." And if you call and I'm not even
-
answering.
-
See how that works?
-
Well, through Jesus, God has become our
-
father
-
24/7.
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He waits to hear from us even more than
-
we want to talk to him.
-
Time, energy, priorities at our disposal
-
because through Jesus, we're his kids.
-
Intimacy, 247
-
access.
-
That's pretty amazing, isn't it? the
-
king of the universe.
-
You have him on speed dial waiting to
-
listen. Not just intimacy, but also
-
safety. Now, safety, protection, Jesus
-
is our shepherd. All those things we
-
learn. I was reminded of that yesterday.
-
Two grandsons had their first little
-
league game yesterday. So, we show up,
-
there must be thousands of people at the
-
Hardiesville Fields. And a lot of the
-
kid first game, right, the little kids,
-
six, seven years old, they're all
-
nervous and I don't know what to do
-
until dad shows up. Dad's behind the
-
batting cage. All of a sudden, the
-
seven-year-old thinks he's he's been
-
just been inducted to the Hall of Fame.
-
He walks up twirling the bat. Watch the
-
one kid said, "Watch this, Dad. I'm
-
going to nuke it." Yeah.
-
And dad being there kind of makes all
-
the difference, doesn't it?
-
Well, our heavenly father being I'm the
-
present and I'm the He's always with
-
you. Always. Well, there's kind of an
-
upside and downside there. Always with
-
you. He sees what you're doing, but also
-
always with you to protect you, take
-
care of you. We're safe. Isn't it a
-
maybe one of the most sobering days of
-
your life is the day you realize that uh
-
your father can't fix all your hurts,
-
can he?
-
And your father can't make all the
-
problems go away,
-
but your heavenly father can. There's no
-
problem beyond his ability, no situation
-
he can't handle. He's your dad. Intimacy
-
and safety. Well, there's one more, and
-
that's community. Somebody, yeah, I knew
-
you were going to get here, Charles. I
-
comm Well, if God's our father and we're
-
sons and daughters of God through Jesus,
-
that means we're brothers and sisters.
-
Um, you don't always like your siblings,
-
right? But they're blood.
-
Now,
-
most of you in this room are parents.
-
And so, let me uh at least mention a
-
hypothetical situation that you probably
-
have never experienced, but in my
-
wildest imagination, I can think of
-
something like this happening with
-
little kids. Mom, he wore my shirt and
-
didn't ask me. Dad, he took my iPad.
-
Now, I can't get back to where I was.
-
Mom, he wore my shoes. No, I didn't.
-
Your feet stink. I don't want to wear
-
your shoes. Mom, he's in my room
-
messing. You've ever heard those
-
conversations, right? I often wonder why
-
the uh parent when I hear them or in my
-
mind. Um I feel like the parent should
-
walk in and say,
-
"Your shirt,
-
your iPad,
-
you you own nothing. You don't have a
-
job. You didn't pay for it. IT'S ALL MY
-
STUFF. You know what? They're my shoes.
-
That's my shirt. That's my iPad. And you
-
know what? I'm lending it to you because
-
I'm kind and gracious. I brought you in.
-
I can take you out. It's my stuff.
-
You ever
-
wonder if God thinks like that?
-
It's all my stuff. And you brothers and
-
sisters down there fighting about yours
-
and mine and hoarding. It's all mine.
-
I've graciously given it to you. And
-
here you are hoarding my stuff, acting
-
like somehow you deserve it. Somehow you
-
weren't. It's my stuff. And what pleases
-
a parent more
-
than siblings who lovingly share. I I
-
know. Imagine that, right? In your
-
wildest dreams, it may happen. They
-
share. They generously give. They help
-
each other. If that pleases you as a
-
parent,
-
that's got to please God as our father.
-
So this whole sunship thing, preceding
-
ministry,
-
not just an exercise in understanding of
-
cool principles from the beginning of
-
Luke,
-
it's all about intimacy with the King of
-
Kings. 247
-
access.
-
Make yourself available today.
-
safety.
-
You can trust God to take care of your
-
schedule, take care of your bank
-
account. Okay? You can trust him. Again,
-
he gives us a part to play. You can
-
trust him with all that. Oh, yeah. In
-
community, why don't we stop hoarding
-
and start lovingly sharing, being
-
generous with our brothers and sisters.
-
Sunship precedes ministry. out of the
-
well of all that we have through Christ
-
now live as sons and daughters of God
-
through him. That's kind of the whole
-
message of Luke in like 30 minutes.
-
That's not bad, right? Let's pray.
-
Father, we give you thanks for all the
-
work that Luke did. We're not exactly
-
sure about the hours he sat down with
-
the eyewitnesses. We're not sure about
-
the headaches he may have gotten or the
-
problems he may have experienced putting
-
it together, wrestling over words,
-
allowing your spirit to move and maybe
-
erasing some things that he put
-
together.
-
But Lord, we're thankful for what the
-
spirit energized him to write
-
because he tells us what and why.
-
Most importantly, he tells us who. Lord,
-
help us to view the Bible accurately.
-
just a container.
-
You only need the container to deliver
-
the contents. But without the container,
-
he can't get the contents. The point and
-
the purpose is Jesus. Lord, help us to
-
uh see him more clearly, follow him more
-
closely, and may this fall be a really
-
key step in that whole process. We pray
-
in his name. Amen.