Believer’s Basics #1 – Jesus Christ (Part C)

Christ died for us. Everyone is redeemed, but not everyone is saved. In other words, the price has been paid, but not everybody will come and receive what has been paid for.

It's sort of like if you win the lottery, if you don't go take the ticket and cash it in, you don't get it, even though you've won. Well, Christ is one for us, for humanity. We've got to come get it.

Today, Pastor Rick will bring you the conclusion of his message called, Jesus Christ, in 1 Peter chapter 3. It is, the other things are not important. They are very important. You've got to eat, for example.

Something as simple as, you've got to breathe. But the reason why we do those things is so that we can preach the faith. And it's going to take as much as we can muster to do it. And Satan, he trips us up, he gets our attention going in other places, and we've got to be mindful of that. Right now, I'm talking to you about the uniqueness of our Lord and Savior. That he was marred more than any other man because of us. His vicarious death, his death on the cross in our place. 1 Peter 3, For Christ also suffered once for sinners, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit. And as I'm reading the verse, I'm thinking of other verses that say more things that I want to say that time won't allow.

John saying, for example, it is a reasonable service to serve him. He became sin and was separated from the Father, this sense of the cross, for the first and the only time for us. Matthew 27, 46, about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. He put it on him for us.

We got that. In other words, on the cross, he died as me for me so that I could live eternally. And so he says, continuing that verse in Corinthians, that we might become the righteousness of God.

What does that mean? Well, it means we're acceptable to God too, yes, but that the righteousness of God would flow through us. One of my favorite authors, Bible teachers, a pastor from long ago, said apart from the cross of Christ, you will never persuade me that God loves me. You want to show me that God loves me?

Take me to Calvary. Romans 5, 8, but God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, before we repented and came to Christ and were made righteous, Christ died for us. Everyone is redeemed, but not everyone is saved. In other words, the price has been paid, but not everybody will come and receive what has been paid for. It's sort of like if you win the lottery, if you don't go take the ticket and cash it in, you don't get it, even though you've won. Well, Christ is one for us, for humanity.

You've got to come get it. Unique in the resurrection, getting up from the dead, on his own no less, not just being resuscitated. The resurrection is not resuscitation. Lazarus was resuscitated in that sense. He did not receive his glorified body.

He couldn't walk through walls. Christ could when he was resurrected, just to make that distinction clear. You know, incidentally, the resurrection cannot be disproved? I'm just saying. I mean, someone says, well, you can't prove it. You can't disprove it. The biblical record of the resurrection, Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20 and 21, Acts 9, Acts 1, those are historians.

Why can't their record be received? 500 people witnessed Christ resurrected, 1 Corinthians 15, 16. After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at once. One of our subjects through the Believer's Basics, two sessions are set for it at least, is the Word of God. Because if I can't trust the Word of God, quoting Scripture is useless. But if the Word of God is indeed the Word of God, then that settles everything. 1 Corinthians 5, 17 reminds us all that our faith rests on the resurrection, and if Christ is not risen, Paul writes, your faith is futile, and you're still in your sins. But I'm not in my sins because the resurrection is real, and it needs to be shared with unbelievers when God opens the door. It's okay to ask an unbeliever, what do you think about the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Who do you say Jesus Christ is? These are good starting points if they will engage. This is basic stuff, and I'm giving you the verses in case you don't have them. You can have difficulty finding such texts to support what we believe.

I'm helping you out, I hope. His life was a qualified life. Not anybody could say, well you know what, I'm going to die for sinners too.

They weren't worthy. Luke chapter 9 verse 35, and a voice came from the clouds saying, this is my beloved son, hear him, this is the one. No one else had that distinction. He is the only true mediator between God and man, not Mary. Mary is not co-redemptrix, we're not picking on Mary at all. She is blessed among women. She's a saint, just as beautiful and special as all the others. But we are picking on the idea that someone would dare put any human being on the level of Christ.

We're not only picking on it, we are attacking it with as much ferocity as we can muster, kindly as, as kind as possible, but with a fierce determination to not give an inch to the side that would dare to make any human being a co-redeemer as the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church has it written down. 1 Timothy 2 5, because we choose to believe the scripture, not the popes, not the cardinals, not the bishops or anybody else that disagrees with the scripture. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ.

You do not have to be a genius to understand what the word one means. It's the only way to the Father, as we all know from John 14 6. Have you been with me so long, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. That's another way of saying I am equal with God.

Imagine you saying that. Well, have you seen me? You've seen God. You see, this is what makes the absurdity of Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons who reject the deity of Christ. They say he is not God. He is not equal with God. Well, that's your view. Fine. For you, because you're going to hell with that view according to the scriptures for rejecting what the clear scripture says. And so I am encouraging you. I would say to one trapped in that darkness, come out, come out from them.

Be separate, lest you perish. Jesus alone is the savior of sinners. From what? What is he saving us from? The wrath of God. I think sometimes we don't think enough about the wrath of God. Just type in wrath of God in your concordance and see what pops up. And you'll understand God has something to say about his wrath, that he's not looking for us to lose sight of it. We shouldn't be terrified by this.

We should be motivated, kindled or stoked. Romans 1 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. You say, well, I'm not perfect. I'm a sinner. Well, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. But if you are outside of Christ Jesus and suppressing the truth concerning Christ Jesus, then the wrath of God is on you. Ephesians 5, and I'm not going to read them all. I've got a bunch here, though.

How much time you got? For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Colossians 3 6, because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.

Revelation 16 1, I heard a loud voice from the temple saying, to the seven angels go, pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. There is no salvation in any other from this wrath but Christ. Acts 4 12, nor is there salvation in any other name. For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

There's no one else. He holds it all because he's strong enough to hold it all. So we escape the wrath of God. He's died for us.

For what? To have peace with God. There's more than just escaping the wrath of God. There are the blessings of God for all eternity. Romans 5, therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Doesn't say that about anybody else. We have access to God unlike anyone else. Even unlike Moses in this sense, we know the Son because we have more information about the mercy of God. We have an expanded view, if you will. It doesn't make us better.

It does increase our responsibility, I think. Romans 5 2, through whom we have access by faith into his grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. See, Peter was trying to get at that when he writes, he says, we've got more than the prophets concerning Jesus Christ who has come from the Father. Don't be frightened by this.

That's not the intention. Although fear is a great motivator, we have Christ-like love. We didn't have that before. Many Christians, I think, struggle with Christ-like love because they're too busy living for this life. Romans 5 5, the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. The love of God has been poured out in our hearts. It doesn't mean it's just, okay, we got it.

That's it. Remember the analogy. You look at your maps and you see up at the top the Sea of Galilee. You see the streams going in it and you see the streams coming out of it.

And in that lake there's food, there's life, and all around it there's vegetation. And then you follow that stream coming out of it and it goes to the Dead Sea and there's nothing coming out of that Dead Sea and there's nothing living in that Dead Sea, not worth mentioning, and there's nothing living around that Dead Sea. And if we just take in God's love but it doesn't flow out of us, we become like the Dead Sea. And then there is His cross. There are many crosses. Many people have been crucified on crosses, but there's only one cross of Christ. Jesus died on the cross of Barabbas, who was a thief and a murderer and, far as we know, an ingrate on top. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he was converted.

We don't have it in the Scripture. Barabbas was guilty and deserving of death. Even if he never murdered or stole anything, he was still guilty before a holy and pure God and deserving of death because he's born a sinner. He's born defective. He's born impure.

Every baby, as cute as they are, as wet as they become, they are spiritually impure, except one. That is the Christ when he was born. But we don't talk to him. He's not a baby in a manger. He's God on the throne. We don't interact with him as a baby in the manger. We interact with him as God Almighty, the Son of God.

So not only did he take the place of Barabbas, but he took your place, he took my place, he takes the place of every sinner that will receive him. 1 John 1.17, the blood of Jesus Christ, not Mary, his son cleanses us from all sin. Blood is always serious. If you see blood, the first thing you want to know, whose is it?

Is it mine? Am I leaking here? Somebody's bleeding. I mean, if you see a spilled Coca-Cola, it's no big deal. Is it a rule?

Depends on, well, anyway. But blood, nobody says it's blood. It's also a biohazard.

It is always serious. It alarms us whenever we see it because it is the emblem of pain and of life and of death. Leviticus 17, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. Of course, that is a type of Christ to come. Ephesians 1.7, in him we have redemption, not Mary, through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.

And you could put any name there. It says in him we have redemption, not deeds, not religion, not talent, not special favors. In him we have redemption. Hebrews 13, 12, therefore Jesus, again no one else, also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood. And so his cross continues the distinction and uniqueness.

We're almost done. His humanity. This is where I think so many people get confused when they come to scripture verses. If Christ came out and said, I am God the Son, I am God Almighty, to the Jews of his day, they couldn't handle it like that.

So it had to be toned down for them. His deeds, his miracles, the apostles got it, surely you are the Christ. They got it after a while, even then they struggled. And to take the gospel of Christ to a pagan world after the ascension of Jesus Christ was quite a task of having to share the humanity of God in Christ. To explain to them that the Trinity was not polytheism, there were not multiple gods. These distinctions the apostles dealt with and they dealt with it wonderfully. And using the word man, the Son of Man, Jesus took a stand with us, as the prophet Isaiah said.

He was numbered with the transgressors. He grew out of his humanity eventually, but he started off limiting himself. And so we read such verses in Luke chapter 2, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. He limited himself. And as the Son, the Son of Man, Jesus is the living link between heaven and earth.

That's the point that he was making through these things. So we catch a correlation between the Son of Man and the Son of God. He's united to us in the phrase Son of Man, he's united to God in the phrase Son of God. John chapter 1 verse 51, and he said to him, Most assuredly I say to you hereafter, you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. He's referencing, of course, Jacob's ladder from Genesis, but he is saying, I'm the living link. I am the ladder. You get to the Father through me, and he gets to you through me. And so when he was good and ready, he dismissed his humanity.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. No one can do that. No one in this room can say, you know what, I'm just going to check out.

Hands free, I'm not going to touch any dials, no buttons. Watch this, and dead. He did it. Matthew 27 verse 40, You who destroy the temple and build it in three years, save yourself if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. But he would not, and we all know why. And then there is his lordship. All this serves to announce and present him as divine and awesome.

Everything I've been saying is the foundation of everything we're going to consider and everything we have been considering as a church, as Christians. He is the one person in all the universe that no one can possibly escape. No one can escape the judgment of Jesus Christ. So to acknowledge him as God and take no further thought of his displeasure is insanity. It is to bring his wrath. It is an indication of rebellion.

Yeah, I know who he is, I'm just not going to submit to it. Luke chapter 6 verse 46, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say? Matthew 7 21, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. And many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? Then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

And you may say, man, that makes me nervous. I preach Christ, but I struggle. He's not talking about those who fall victim to the weaknesses of the flesh. He's talking about those who have no interest in knowing him and being personal with him, who don't love him and don't want him.

They want his powers, they want his name. We see this in many of these prosperity churches, where they're just getting rich off the name of Christ. It's not something new. There are those that paid indulgences to have their sins taken away, and those who got rich because of it. These kind of unscrupulous shenanigans have been going on since the days of Christ. The New Testament writers had to deal with this junk in the Gnostics and other false preachers of Christ. He warned, our Lord did, that they're going to be coming some in my name, saying that I am the Christ.

Don't fall for it. We submit to his Lordship that he is indeed my Savior, but also my Master of my life, and I order my life by his Word as best I can through his Spirit. And finally, man's need. The need for a Savior is created by the presence of personal sin. And this is, I think, where we sometimes forget to tell the unbeliever that they have personal sin.

And unless that personal sin is covered in the blood of Christ, it will suck them down to an eternal hell. Romans 3.9, we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. There's no other category of human being in Scripture. There's Jew and there's Gentile, that's it.

It covers everyone. All are under sin. All need a Savior, one to rescue them from the wrath of God. On sin. The Savior is God the Son and there is no other.

And I close with this thought. Men like the Apostle Paul came, of course, to realize this. And in so doing, in the midst of all the wrath to come, the severity, purity of God, he fell in love with him. He gave his life to him.

He wrote about it extensively. And we hang on these words because we understand they're words from God himself through Paul. And every Christian should be encouraged by this. And I want to leave you on a note of encouragement concerning the person of Jesus Christ. Galatians chapter 2, I've been crucified with Christ. It's his flesh. It is no longer I who live, Christ lives in me.

In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So when we come in touch with those who challenge our love, that is not a cue to abandon love. Okay, love's not working on this person here. Maybe, especially when it's somebody who knows all the Bible verses, but just is not doing it. Do you know any Christians? I know some. They know a lot of Bible verses, but they are some of the most miserable people to be around.

And I always look forward to when they leave. But that does not give me the right ever to not search in my heart to love them, to be concerned for them. It does not allow me to hate them. My daughter asked me last night, is it okay to hate the devil? Yeah, no, I didn't say that. Is it okay to hate the devil was the question.

And my response was, that's not where we turn our energy. Hatred is not something God encourages us to have, to do. It comes natural to us. What is encouraged is that you love one another because that is not natural, that is spiritual. And there are people that you just don't, you know, connect with, you just don't like.

That does nothing to do with love. You better love them. And you better ask yourself, am I truly interested in this person's well-being?

I close with this one thought. I have neighbors. Be careful because they might one day attend a church and I'll be in trouble.

I heard your message talking about me. But I have some neighbors I'm not crazy about. I have some that are okay. None of them are as good as I want them to be. But I have some that I just don't like them. But I always say when I'm avoiding them, Lord, here I am. If you want me to, I'm here.

But if you don't make it clear, I'm out of here. Because I've learned when I do it in my own strength, it is a disaster. And I've learned to just look at what's in front of me, work with what God has given me and what I have as best I can. It seems to work much better for me serving my Lord than trying to be someone I'm not.

And I get strong from that grace in Christ. Thanks for joining us for today's teaching on Cross Reference Radio, the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia. We hope you've been blessed by this Believer's Basics series, exploring the fundamentals of what it means to follow Christ. If you'd like to listen to more of this series or share it with someone you know, please visit crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast, too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just visit crossreferenceradio.com and follow the links under radio. Again, that's crossreferenceradio.com. That's all for today. We hope you'll tune in next time to continue studying the Word of God right here on Cross Reference Radio.