Lost in Translation: The Salvation Plan of Jesus

Today's episode of A New Beginning is brought to you by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Learn more at harvest.org. And while you're there, browse our library of free eBooks designed to help you grow in your faith. One day he will rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but before Christ would wear a crown, he would first have to bear a cross. Pastor Greg Laurie calls his series in the book of Mark, The Gospel for Busy People. It's God's full plan of salvation explained and applied to our lives today. And on this edition of A New Beginning, we hear Jesus explain that full plan of salvation to disciples who were hearing it unfold for the first time. It's a fascinating discussion where Jesus polls the disciples on perhaps the most significant question of the ages, a question that carries eternal consequences. In this message, I want to talk to you from, again, the Gospel of Mark. We're in a series there. And the title of my message is Lost in Translation.

So grab your Bible and turn to Mark chapter 8. Again, the title is Lost in Translation. I heard about an older couple. They were celebrating 50 years of marriage together. Now the problem was the wife was getting a little hard of hearing. And the husband announced in front of family and friends to his wife, my dear wife, after 50 years I have found you tried and true. Again, she couldn't hear very well. She said, what? He said, my dear wife, after 50 years I have found you tried and true.

And then she shot back, well, after 50 years I'm tired of you too. Now there's a little communication breakdown there. You know, there's a lot of American companies that have tried to offer their products overseas. But sometimes there's a language barrier that has to be overcome. It's called something getting lost in translation.

As an example, the Parker Pen Company was expanding their ballpoint line to Mexico. And their slogan was, it won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you. But the problem was they didn't fully understand how it would come out in Spanish. And instead it was translated to say, on billboards this pen will not leak in your pocket and impregnate you. A little different than intended. In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes tonic water translated into Schweppes toilet water.

Needless to say, not a lot of people wanted to drink toilet water. Jolly Green Giant. You remember them?

Ho, ho, ho. And their slogan, the Jolly Green Giant, they tried to market in the Arabic market. And instead it came out to intimidating green ogre. Have you tried some of those beans from the intimidating green ogre? In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan, come alive with the Pepsi generation, instead came out to say Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead. Depending on what ancestors those were. Maybe that's a promising thing.

Maybe not so. Clairol tried to market its mystic curling iron in Germany. And instead of it saying mystic, it said manure stick. Not a lot of German ladies were all that excited about using a manure stick. In China, Kentucky Fried Chicken took their slogan, figure licking good, and instead it came out in Chinese as eat your fingers off. It gives a whole new meaning to chicken fingers, doesn't it? And finally, Scandinavian vacuum cleaner manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American ad campaign. So they came over to America and used this phrase, nothing sucks like an Electrolux. Yeah, something is lost in translation.

Well guess what? Jesus seemed to have this issue with his own disciples. They did not understand why he had come to this earth in the first place. Jesus came to this earth to die for the sins of the world.

But his disciples did not get that because it was lost in translation. Their hope and their belief was he was going to establish an earthly kingdom then and there. Their hope and belief was he was going to drive the Romans out who were occupying the land. In fact, you remember after he fed the 5,000, that was his most popular miracle to date, the people wanted to make Jesus king by force.

And what is that all about? That means that they wanted to make him the king so he would drive out Rome. They didn't understand that that is not why he had primarily come. Now look, one day Christ will come back and establish his kingdom. One day he will rule as king of kings and lord of lords. But before Christ would wear a crown, he would first have to bear a cross. Now as we come to our text here in Mark chapter 8, his ministry in Galilee is coming to a close. This is a transitional moment in his ministry and for the first time he's going to speak very clearly and in great detail about why he has come. And he also asks a powerful question that we still need to answer today.

Let's look at our text. Mark chapter 8 starting in verse 27. Jesus and his disciples of Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along he asked them, who do people say that I am? Well, they replied, some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elijah, and some say you're one of the other prophets. Then Jesus asks them, but who do you say that I am? Peter replies, you are the Messiah.

And Jesus warned them to not tell anyone about him. Now this is the most important question of all. Jesus asks this question, who do men say that I am? And this is a question we all must ultimately answer.

I'm going to tell you the answer now. Ultimately everyone will say Jesus Christ is the Lord. Every Christian will say it. Every non-Christian will say it. Every atheist will say it. Every agnostic will say it. Every person will ultimately say Jesus is Lord.

You'll say, now Greg you're wrong about that. Not everybody believes. Well I didn't say they would necessarily say it during their lives on earth. But one day when they stand before God Almighty they will acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord. Philippians 2 10 says at the name of Jesus Christ every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Now here's a big thing we don't want to miss. Where did Jesus ask this question? This question, who do men say that I am? Where did he ask it? He asked it at a place called Caesarea Philippi.

Now we could breeze by that and miss its significance altogether. Caesarea Philippi was named after the Greek god Pan. So basically in a place of paganism and false belief Jesus Christ asks his disciples to make a stand. You know it's one thing to say oh Jesus is Lord when we're with our Christian friends. Oh Jesus is Lord when we're at church and singing praise to him. But will you say Jesus is Lord when you're gathered together with family from out of town? Will you say Jesus is Lord when you're at work? Will you say Jesus is Lord when you're out and about in life? See it's one thing to make us stand with fellow believers.

It's another thing to make us stand in our culture. Jesus said this if a person is ashamed of me and my message I the son of man will be ashamed of that person when I return in my glory and in the glory of my father with the holy angels. Don't be ashamed of Christ.

Speak up for him. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Pastor Greg Laurie talks about his new book Billy Graham the Man I Knew. Billy said to me I'm just a country preacher.

He was just a country preacher but God elevated him and he had packed events thousands of young people and when he spoke those kids listened. You could have heard a pin drop. Are you forgiven? Are you sure of it? Are you certain that God has forgiven you? Well that's why Christ died on the cross and that's why he rose again so that you might be forgiven. You say do you believe in instant salvation? I certainly do. Now is your moment.

Write this instant. Who could have ever thought that that lanky farm boy would go on to be the greatest evangelist in history? So I write about that a lot more in this new book I've written called Billy Graham the Man I Knew. Get to know the country preacher who some millions come to Christ. Let Pastor Greg introduce you to Billy Graham the Man I Knew.

A brand new biography available for your gift of any size at harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg is presenting his message today called Lost in Translation. Jesus is addressing his disciples in Caesarea Philippi as recorded in Mark chapter 8. So Jesus asked them who do men say that I am? Basically the Lord saying hey guys what's the word on the street?

What are people actually saying about me right now? Here's the question did Jesus know what the word on the street was? Did he know what people thought about him and what they said about him?

Absolutely. In fact he would call people out for their thoughts while he was engaging them. Why do you think this in your heart he would say to someone. So he was aware but the reason he asked this question of his disciples is he's giving them a test. And why does a teacher give a test?

Answer to see if the class is learning the material. They'd seen Jesus perform his miracles. They'd see Jesus walk on the water. They'd seen Jesus heal leprosy and drive out demons from people and even raise the dead. Did they really understand who he was yet?

Apparently not. Because they replied well some say you're John the Baptist. Others say you're Elijah. Still others say you're one of the prophets.

That was not the right answer. But Simon Peter known for his outspokenness got it. Peter says in verse 30 you are the Messiah. In Matthew's version of this story he has Peter saying you are the Christ the son of the living God. You're not Elijah. You're not John the Baptist. You're not even a mere prophet.

You are the very son of God. See Jesus was not a mere man. He was not just one of the prophets. He was God coming to us in human flesh. God had a face. It was God with skin on walking among us as the Lord entered our world. The birth of Jesus Christ was the most momentous event it has ever occurred in the history of the planet. It was the eternal God confining himself to a single cell and being born of a woman in order to be the savior of the world.

God literally became a fetus. And then in this earth-shaking event Simon Peter got it. You he says to Jesus you are the Christ the son of the living God.

And in Matthew's version of the story Matthew 16 Jesus says blessed are you. Simon bar Jonah flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven and I say to you you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. Can you imagine how Peter felt?

Singled out by Jesus. Hey Peter guess what? You didn't just come up with that on your own. My father gave that thought to you. That's where the inspiration for those words came.

Man Peter was just thinking this is so awesome. I'm being singled out and complemented by Jesus. But now the Lord continues on and he drops what could best be described as a bombshell. Look at Mark chapter 8 verse 31.

Then Jesus began to teach him that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders the chief priests and the teachers of the law and that he must be killed and three days later rise again. Notice the detail in those words. He laid it out. Guys here's who's going to betray me. It's going to be the elders the chief priests and the teachers of the law and I will be killed and I will rise again in three days. He spoke plainly about this. Now look at this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him and when Jesus turned and looked at the disciples he rebuked Peter saying get behind me Satan for you do not have in mind the concerns of God but merely human concerns.

Stop there. By the way this is the first time Jesus ever talked specifically clearly and I might even add graphically about the fact that he was going to die. I don't even think they heard that he'll be raised on the third day part. They just heard he was going to die.

I don't think I'm overstating it when this was really shocking to them. He was effectively saying I Jesus who you've given up everything to follow I'm going to be murdered in cold blood. I'm going to be taken from you and they're thinking how could that be part of any plan. You're the Messiah.

You're supposed to establish your kingdom here and now. How is this going to be part of something good for you to be taken and murdered and in fact we've given up everything to follow you Jesus and and we made these great sacrifices. And so Peter thought since he's the guy who got an inspired thought from the father that he would sort of set Jesus straight. And we read in verse 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

And by the way in the original language that implies it was done over and over again. I mean I'm trying to imagine this. Peter says Jesus come here for a second buddy listen come on man what are you doing. I rebuke you Jesus.

You cannot do this. He's rebuking God almighty. I mean this is insane and Jesus listens to him and then Jesus turns and rebukes Peter.

Now we say boy I that I can't believe Peter did that. Oh excuse me have you ever given God advice before. You know the Bible asks the questions in Romans 11 34. Who has known the mind of the Lord and who has been his counselor. Well I would say the answer to that question is I have.

You have. And we'll say to the Lord now Lord I've got this all figured out. I met this girl. This is the one I'm supposed to marry.

So you need to reveal this to her. And Lord here's my business plan and you need to bless it. And here's the way I'm going to do my ministry and here's what you need to do next. I'm not asking God for wisdom. I'm not praying about direction. I'm making my plan and asking God to bless it. And the question is who's in charge here and who is leading who.

Jesus was in charge. Peter says no bad plan. I veto it. I reject it. Jesus says I rebuke you Peter. The devil gave you that thought to deter me from this course. Listen it was always God's plan for Christ to die.

I already mentioned that. We read in Revelation 13 8 Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world. What does that mean. That means before there was a planet called earth. Before there was a garden called Eden. Before there was a couple known as Adam and Eve who ate of the forbidden fruit. God knew man would blow it. The sin of Adam and Eve did not come as a surprise or shock to the Lord. He knew it would happen. It was just the Lord knowing the future.

And so he said I already have a plan and it's not a backup plan. It is the main plan. My son is going to come to this earth and be born in a manger live a perfect life and is going to die on the cross for the sin of the world because of the sin that will be committed there in the garden of Eden. And the result is sin spread through the human race. And this reminds us that the devil was trying to stop Jesus from reaching his objective.

Again what was that objective. It was to die on the cross. Don't forget when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness the devil showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and he said all of this is mine and I can give it to whomever I choose and if you will worship me all of this will be yours. The devil tried to stop Jesus from reaching his objective way back at the beginning of our Lord's ministry. Remember that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. The father spoke from heaven and said this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.

The Holy Spirit came upon him in the form of a dove. And we read immediately Jesus was driven into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And among those temptations the devil said to Jesus here's all the kingdoms of the world. They all belong to me and I can give them to you if you will simply worship me. Jesus replied it is written you should worship the Lord God in him only shall you serve.

What was that all about. The devil is saying allow me to loosely paraphrase Jesus we both know why you're here. We both know you're going to go die on a cross for the sin of the world and I'm going to make you an offer now. I'm going to give you what you've come for. I know you've come to purchase back that which was lost in the Garden of Eden.

I'll give it to you on a silver platter if you'll give me the momentary pleasure of worshipping me. And Jesus rejected that. Jesus knew he had to go to the cross. And this is a reminder that the devil often hits us as Christians in the beginning and at the end of our lives in the middle too. But you remember when you were a brand new believer some of the first attacks that came your way were the devil the devil challenging what had happened. You had that little thought in your mind am I really a Christian?

Did Christ really forgive me? He challenges us to doubt our salvation. Now fast forward we're coming to the end of our journey as a follower of Jesus the devil wants to trip us up because if he can he can discredit all the good we did for all of those years. That's why Paul said I want to finish this race with joy. So it's a good thing to know that God will be with us and give us the strength we need to finish the race we need to run.

So Jesus is saying look I'm going to die on the cross and there's no getting around this. Such important revelation in this discussion between Jesus and his disciples. Pastor Greg Laurie is presenting a message called Lost in Translation today here on A New Beginning and there's more to come. But if you missed any part of today's study that insight isn't lost forever. Just catch up by listening online at harvest.org.

You can stream the message while you're online or download an mp3 for later. Well Pastor Greg we've been talking recently about Billy Graham. Yes. Of course you just released your new book Billy Graham the Man I Knew. Yeah. And you're revealing 10 things 10 surprises about Billy that most people just don't know. You've already mentioned that Billy first dreamed of being a major league baseball player. Right.

What's the next on your list? Okay number two he had his fair share of trouble. Billy Graham as a young man was what we would call today hyperactive somewhat mischievous and he actually wasn't born walking on water. He teased his siblings. He didn't have blinders on when it came to pretty girls. He got into scrapes with his schoolmates. He wasn't crazy about sitting in church on Sunday morning and he would shoot wads of chewing gum paper at women's hats with a strong rubber band according to his brother Melvin.

In fact he went to see a doctor and the doctor said he was simply built differently and he was. I think God was going to take that energy that coursed in the veins of Billy and use it because he had such a long ministry such a long career. He actually lived almost to a hundred but preached for a good part of his life so that energy served him well. Here's another thing Billy Graham used to be a fuller brush salesman.

Oh yeah. So back in those days the 30s you could get a job with a fuller brush company and go door to door and get people to buy your brushes literally getting your foot in the door and it was actually during his time with a fuller brush company that Billy was able to develop confidence that he did not previously have. He also had to deal with rejection. One lady saw him coming and dumped a whole pail of water on his head as he stood on her doorstep but the cool thing about Billy and his friends TW and also Grady Wilson who are brothers is is they would not only sell the brushes but they would share the gospel.

So they would sell the brushes for money but they would share the gospel for free but it was actually working as a door-to-door salesman. Billy was developing a way to get over his shyness and and become more confident in what he was saying and these are just a couple of things I mentioned. I mentioned a whole lot more in my new book Billy Graham the Man I Knew. I intentionally went out of my way to share things about him that maybe people don't know. Billy wasn't born walking on water.

He was a human like the rest of us but he was used in a singular way by God. So in this book I'm trying to share with you here's what I've learned by observing him and by being with them one-on-one. You know Dave some things are caught some things are taught. So you know I would watch Billy preach and I would read his books and listen to him on cassette tapes that dates it. So those are things that are taught but other things are caught that's by being with the person observing them and their interactions with other observing them and their interactions with you and so it made a great impression on me and there were takeaway truths from those things and I wanted to share with the readers of this book which is simply titled Billy Graham the Man I Knew available for you for your gift of any size. Whatever you send you can be assured that we'll take that money and use it to reach people with the gospel. If there's one thing I learned from Billy Graham it is that we should leverage every opportunity be it on radio or on the internet or on television or in a movie or whatever platform we're using at the moment in the written word to get the gospel to people and so that's what we're all about here at Harvest. I think you know that if you've been listening for a while so if you believe in the power of the gospel and you want to see more people come to Christ then order your copy of Billy Graham the Man that I Knew and give what you can and we'll use it to reach more people for Jesus. Yeah that's right and we appreciate those who partner with us. Your generosity helps change lives and we'll thank you with this new book from Pastor Greg.

It's one you won't be able to put down. It's a fascinating look at the life of history's greatest evangelist and we'll send you a copy to thank you for your investment in making these daily studies possible. It's only through listener support that we can feature Pastor Greg's teachings each day.

So send your gift today to A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime again at 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and look for Billy Graham the Man I Knew. Well Pastor Greg you've been teaching the Bible here on radio for many years now in fact almost 40 years but you have some exciting news about television. Yeah Dave I'm very excited to share this news with our listeners and supporters. Listen everybody we're launching a new television program called Harvest with Greg Laurie to major TV networks across the United States. This show will air on Sunday mornings on some networks you might be familiar with like the Lifetime Network, Fox Business Network, Newsmax, Daystar, TBN and KCAL here in Los Angeles. Combined these air times will reach, listen to this, over 60 million viewers annually. That is exciting and some of these are secular TV networks so we're reaching more people who need to hear the gospel. So I'm really excited about this and I'm also grateful for our Harvest partners and donors who have helped us launch this new TV program. Join us Sunday mornings you can find air times at harvest.org. What is the cross we have to bear in following Christ? Pastor Greg says it may not be what you think it is. Good clarification coming next time as our study called Lost in Translation continues here on A New Beginning with Pastor Greg Laurie. The preceding podcast was made possible by Harvest partners helping people everywhere know God. Learn how to become a Harvest partner, sign up for daily devotions, and find resources to help you grow in your faith at harvest.org.