Counting Stars [Part 3]

Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. To be credited with righteousness is in the first place to have the debt completely paid for by the gift of Jesus and more. It is as though the wealth of Jesus is credited to you. Jesus Christ took into His being, allowed, it was imputed to Him my sin and yours.

Every single thing we've ever done wrong or omitted that we should have done, and every person, every single child of God, all of that sin is put into this one man, Jesus Christ. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I am Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series, It's All Right Now, from Romans chapters four through seven, as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. Now, if you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, we sure want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. So as you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer, and you can contact us at PastorAlan.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now let's get started with today's teaching.

Here is Alan Wright. It was imputed to him, my sin and yours. Every single thing we've ever done wrong or omitted that we should have done, and every person, every single child of God, all of that sin is put into this one man, Jesus Christ. And that's why he swept blood in Gethsemane. And that's why he said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And that's why when he breathed his last, he said, he's finished. I took it all.

I took it all. Paid the debt. Our sin was imputed to Jesus.

But this that Paul is describing is the third imputation. And this is where, in this magnificent, breathtaking exchange with the gospel teaching teaches, is that at the same time that Christ became our sin, we became his righteousness. He, the Father, looked upon Jesus as if he had committed all your sin, and now he looks on you as if you had lived Jesus' meritorious life. That's what it means to be credited with the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. Charles Spurgeon, Prince of Preachers, said it so beautifully and straightforwardly, God considers us as though we were Christ.

Let me read that again of one of the greatest preachers in American history. God considers us as though we were Christ. Looks upon us as though his life had been our life. And accepts, blesses, and rewards us as though all that Jesus did had been done by us, his believing people. That's always been the plan of God.

And he demonstrated it in Abram. And that's what's happened for every believer. And I do believe in it that it really staggers my mind. And I think I have an easier time in the believing that my sin could be given to Jesus, and that his blood could pay for my sin, than I do believing that God, my Father, looks upon me with the same gleam in his eye that he looks upon his only begotten Son. It's a little harder for me to really believe and revel in the deepest part of my being in the words of the Father saying, this is my Son in whom I'm well pleased. And know that now in Christ he sees me the same. But this is the whole gateway and pathway to understanding blessedness in Christ. There is no other avenue to understand yourself as being seated with Christ, or to be an heir and a co-heir with Christ, or to even have your soul to imagine the glory that is to come when you are an heir of the world.

Dwelling in a new heaven and a new earth and reigning together with Jesus. Except for this, you become the righteousness of God in Christ. I don't know what makes it harder sometimes maybe for me to believe, maybe it's the loneliness of a little fourth grade boy who didn't really know why his dad left. Maybe it's the seeds of shame that made that little boy feel like he always needed to be good.

Always make the straight A's, always win the tennis match, always do well enough to have the other's approval. Maybe unconsciously in hope that daddy would come back home and be proud. Maybe that's the seed that goes into us that makes it difficult for us to believe that God could love us in the same manner and to the same degree that he loves his only begotten Son. Who never sinned. Because we always factor in our sin.

And as long as we do, as long as we think of our own performance, as long as we're looking at something other than the stars, then we will be worried and we'll work and we'll wonder if we've done enough. But only when you finally come to this revelation that the blood of Jesus hasn't just paid for your sin, but has imputed to you the righteousness of Jesus and your soul can say the Lord is my righteousness. Only then can you move beyond not only letting go of the worries of the damnation of your soul but letting go of the worry about whether you've done enough for God to show you favor. He doesn't only want you to have the assurance that you are saved from your sin, he wants you to have the assurance that there's nothing that you can do to add to his love.

There's nothing that you can do to increase the favor on your life. Because when he looks at you, he sees Jesus. You smell just like Jesus to him.

You're his righteousness. That's why you're blessed. And that's why God is just in blessing your life. And that's why you have a very great reward, Abram. And that's why we in Christ have a very great reward. We didn't earn it, Jesus did.

And yet is ours. That's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. Seeing as Jesus Sees. It's the title of Pastor Alan Wright's newest book just released, and it's the giant secret of real transformation. Followers of Christ tend to focus on doing, so we've been told to ask, what would Jesus do? But even our noblest efforts to be more like Jesus ultimately fail for the same reason that pledging to keep the law never works.

There's no gospel power in our self-striving. But what if the secret to personal transformation and victorious living isn't found in doing as much as in seeing? Anyone who has ever had an aha moment or has suddenly discovered the truth of a situation knows that fresh vision changes everything. In his eye-opening new book, Alan Wright invites readers into a new, simple spiritual practice, a little breath prayer that can be prayed throughout the day. Jesus, how do you see this?

It's a prayer that the Savior loves to answer, because after all, Christ came to be the light of the world. Clear away confusion, win over the darkness, and open your heart to wonder and joy by getting your copy of the book right away. When you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries today, we'll send you Pastor Alan's new beautiful hardcover book. And as an additional thank you for your support, you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan. Let Jesus take you by the hand and show you a whole new perspective for your life.

As you learn how to ask Christ for his eyes, you'll start seeing as Jesus sees, and you're going to love the view. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org.

Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. To trust in Christ, therefore, means that if you had the analogy of credit card debt, it's not just that your giant debt was suddenly wiped out. It's that a massive injection of wealth was deposited into your account. This is what's happened spiritually. Back to Romans 4 16. That is why it depends on faith. In order that the promise, all these promises, may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring.

This is why grace is so much better. Because if it's even just 1% about your own righteousness, then you'll be forever disqualifying yourself. But if it's 100% about his righteousness, then all the promises of God in his word can rest on his grace and not my performance.

And that's the only way that I'll know for sure and be guaranteed of this blessing. That's what he wants. He wants you to know for sure that you're an heir. He doesn't want you doubting it. He's never going to dangle it in front of you like a carrot. He's never going to try to motivate you by saying, if you'll be better, I'll bless you more. He has blessed you.

This is why it's a master stroke. It's a beautiful thing from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for Paul to go back to Abraham. Because this is, even though the law hadn't come and even though Jesus was 2,000 years still to come, Abraham believed God and it's credited to him as righteousness. But even after he believed, he was still not sure.

This is it. Genesis 15 8. He said, oh Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it? Remember, he's already believed God. He's already been saved. He's already been credited with righteousness. But he wants to say, how do I know it for sure?

How can I be guaranteed of it? And God said, verse 9, bring to me a heifer three years old and a female goat three years old, a ram, turtled up, young pigeon. And he brought them all these, cut them in half and lay them half against each other. Abraham knew as soon as God said, bring me a heifer, bring me a ram, he knew what God was doing. It was time for covenant. The Hebrew word for establishing a covenant is not making a covenant, it is a Hebrew word for cut. So everywhere in the Old Testament, when you see making a covenant, it actually is cutting a covenant. And the reason it's called cutting a covenant is this is the way covenants were made in ancient times.

And have lawyers and all the ways you could legally ensure that someone would keep their word. So what they do is they would take innocent animals, slaughter it, and lay the bloodied carcass in parallel gauntlet type form. And each party in the treaty or covenant or contract would walk through the bloodied slain animal and declare their commitments. You know, maybe it's a suzerain treaty, a stronger nation. The king walks through or representatives as it says, we, the such and such empire, pledge to protect the vassal nation of so and so, and we will.

And they walk through the, and then the next party comes and walks through the bloody gauntlet. And says, we, the smaller vassal nation, pledge to never align ourselves with another king. And we'll always protect you from our borders on whatever their covenant was. And they're each walking through the blood because what they're saying figuratively or literally is if I ever violate my oath, may my life become like this bloodied slain animal. It was a blood oath. And so as soon as God said, go get a heifer and get a ram, Abram knew what was happening. It's time to cut a covenant. And so Abram assumed that's what we're going to do.

He cut him, he put the animals down, got all this blood as a gruesome sight. He's got all these animals that have already been sacrificed, and he's ready to do what you do in a covenant. He's ready to walk through and say, I will always obey you, God. And if you'll, if you'll agree that you'll bless me and give me a family, then I'll always be a faithful you.

And God will walk through and say, I'm going to give you this land. And I'm going to, he knew that's what's going to happen. And that's not what happened. What happened was shocking. Verse 12 of Genesis 15, as the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram and behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. He was anesthetized. He was immobilized. He was struck mute. He couldn't do anything.

He had no part in it. And the Lord said to Abram, when he was immobilized, know for certain, know for sure your offspring will be so generous in a land that's not theirs. Now's your moment to know for sure I'm going to bless your life and give you this land. When Abram could not speak or contribute anything, couldn't talk about Eleazar the servant in his household, couldn't talk about how old he was, couldn't talk about how infertile his wife was, couldn't talk about his strategies for moving forward, couldn't contribute, couldn't say anything. All he could do was lie there under the heavy holiness of God, completely mute before the holy creator of the world. God said, now you're ready to find out for sure. And then something beautiful and powerful that says everything about the power and goodness of God in the new covenant that is being shadowed here. In verse 17, the sun had gone down, it was dark, and behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. Flames symbolizing the Holy Spirit, God himself passed through. There was only one party that passed through the blood, it was God.

And on that day, verse 18, the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying to your offspring, I give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates. God passed to the slain carcass and said, essentially, you can know for sure because I'm the one that's speaking it as I stand and move amidst the blood. God made the blood oath. The writer of Hebrews said there was no one else to swear by, so God swore by himself that I swear by my own life, I'm going to bless you. How much does God want us to know for sure that we're the children of God and co-heirs with Christ?

It's as if God said, if I don't keep my word, let me be like the slain animal. And he came to us and he lived a perfectly righteous life. And he did exactly as he had spoken, except he himself in Christ became the slain lamb and the fire of the Holy Spirit came. If you want to know for sure, Abraham, I want you to always remember the blood and the fire and my voice that spoke in the midst of the slain ram. Remember the blood and the fire and my voice when life feels fragile and the promise seems to tarry and you still have no child and you're wondering whether you're blessed. Remember the blood and the fire and my voice when I said, know for sure. And beloved, when you are looking for faith to pray for a mountain to move and you're wondering how there could be a way when you can see no way.

And your whole heart feels fragile and you wonder if you're going to make it. God says, remember the blood of the lamb and the fire of the spirit and my voice that has spoken the word in the midst of it and know for sure you are my heir, heir of the world. When you want to be sure that you have been forgiven your debts, think of the day that Abraham counted the stars and was put to sleep and was told for sure that he was an heir. And remember that you have beloved better promises in Christ and a better gift than Abraham ever could have had for all he had was a shadow of what was to come and you have the gift himself. You have the Lord Jesus, you have the Messiah, you have the Lord God, Jesus Christ, our righteousness, you have the reality, you have all things in him because he's not only canceled your debt, he has credited you with the very righteousness of Jesus. It means, beloved, that you in Christ are a co-heir seated with him, blessed with every spiritual blessing, not by your merits but by his, but because they're by his and the gift has come by grace through faith, it all is yours and you can be sure of it. And this is the very thing the Holy Spirit wants to convince you of day in and day out because he wants you to know your blessedness in Christ so that you will be able to walk into the inheritance that is yours, take the territory that he's given you to take and be a force of transformation in this world and lie down and sleep at peace at night and wake up with hope in the morning because you're the co-heirs of Christ himself. Wow, you are not merely forgiven sinners, you are the righteousness of Jesus and that's the gospel. Alan Wright, our good news message, Counting Stars, it's from the series It's All Right Now from Romans chapters four through seven.

Please stay with us. Pastor Alan is back here in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. Seeing as Jesus sees, it's the title of Pastor Alan Wright's newest book just released, and it's the giant secret of real transformation. Followers of Christ tend to focus on doing, so we've been told to ask, what would Jesus do? But even our noblest efforts to be more like Jesus ultimately fail for the same reason that pledging to keep the law never works.

There's no gospel power in our self-striving. But what if the secret to personal transformation and victorious living isn't found in doing as much as in seeing? Anyone who has ever had an aha moment or has suddenly discovered the truth of a situation knows that fresh vision changes everything. In his eye-opening new book, Alan Wright invites readers into a new simple spiritual practice, a little breath prayer that can be prayed throughout the day. Jesus, how do you see this?

It's a prayer that the Savior loves to answer because, after all, Christ came to be the light of the world. Clear away confusion, win over the darkness and open your heart to wonder and joy by getting your copy of the book right away. When you make a gift to Alan Wright Ministries today, we'll send you Pastor Alan's new beautiful hardcover book. And as an additional thank you for your support, you'll also receive a free six-week Seeing as Jesus Sees companion video series from Pastor Alan, along with a study guide and a daily reading plan. Let Jesus take you by the hand and show you a whole new perspective for your life. As you learn how to ask Christ for his eyes, you'll start seeing as Jesus sees.

And you're going to love the view. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.

When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Back here in the studio to share Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day at the conclusion of this particular teaching on counting stars. And I sometimes pinch myself and say, why are we as Christians not almost bursting at the seams with excitement when we realize just how blessed we are and the standing that we have with Christ? I just want to leave listeners today, Daniel, with this thought that God really does want us to know for sure that we are his, that we are forgiven and that we are credited with the righteousness of Jesus.

It's guaranteed to us. God doesn't dangle his acceptance in front of his children as a carrot trying to get us to run faster or jump higher. Instead, it is through the assurances of what God's done for us in Jesus is through the assurance of his love. It's through the assurance that we are saved, the assurance that we're his children, assurance that our debt's been paid, the assurance that we're blessed with every spiritual blessing.

Through that assurance, through that deep security, our life changes. You've been credited, Christians, you've been credited with the righteousness of Christ. It means you are the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And if you do not yet know the Lord, this is the thing that should make you run to him with your arms open, as he has his arms open to you, saying, Come be my child. Say yes to the saving mercies of Jesus and be credited with the righteousness of Jesus himself. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online at PastorAllen.org or call 877-544-4860.

That's 877-544-4860. If you only caught part of today's teaching, not only can you listen again online, but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources at PastorAllen.org. That's PastorAllen.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.