Today on Real Life Radio, and your salvation, your redemption is secure because of a transaction that took place between the Father and the Son, and all you do is enter into it. This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibs. I'm David J. Thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God's Word, the Bible.
Hey, I'm very excited to promote this new book by Dr. Tim LaHaye, not only a mentor of mine but a precious friend. He has written a book, How to Study Bible Prophecy for Yourself. Remember, Dr. Tim LaHaye is the one that brought you the remarkable Left Behind series.
I bet with all of your knowledge of Bible prophecy, there's still a hole somewhere. And this book is going to help you as he walks you through how to study Bible prophecy for yourself. How to study Bible prophecy for yourself. Get it for a gift of any amount at jackhibs.com. On today's edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack continues with his series now called "The Book of Ephesians," and a message titled "Our Great Redemption, Part Two." Ephesians is a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, showing every believer who they really are in Christ.
And here in part two, Paul shows us just how far Jesus went to buy us back. You see, we've all sinned against God, and it's a debt that we could never pay on our own. But Jesus stepped in, and He's paid that debt in full, covering our past, our present, and even our future.
So today, Pastor Jack teaches that Jesus took the judgment that really should have fallen on us on the cross. He satisfied every demand of God's word and set us completely free from not only sin but the death that we totally deserve.
Now, with his message called "Our Great Redemption, Part Two," here's Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs. Remember the Emmaus Road. Remember when the disciples were walking down the Emmaus Road, and Jesus walks up alongside them, and he goes, "Hey, what are you guys so down about?" And they said, "What are you, a stranger around here? Haven't you heard what's going on?" They didn't recognize him. He says, "Well, what things?
Oh, only about Jesus Christ, the greatest, most precious thing that's ever happened. We believe that he was the Messiah, but you know what? It's been three days." And he says, "You know what? Didn't the scriptures say that Christ must suffer, and be rejected by this nation, and be spitefully treated by the Gentiles, and be crucified, and three days later rise from the dead? The scripture says that he took bread and broke it, and their eyes were opened, and they understood who he was." There's a lot of reasons why that's true.
Why they didn't or didn't recognize him? He was scarred. I'm sure from the events that had happened three days earlier, and in his resurrected body, he bore those scars. We know that's true in the Book of Zechariah and the Book of Psalms. Another thing we need to consider as point two is that Jesus has redeemed us from.
He has not only redeemed us back. He has redeemed us from. And what is that? A couple of things—he's redeemed us from the judgment to come. Judgment was the path that you and I were heading down, though we didn't even believe in it, though we didn't even think so.
And how great his redemption has been offered up for us on our behalf—that this judgment has been completely removed. And I want you to hang on to your seats for a minute and think about this. God said in Genesis two seventeen, He says, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." Is that true? It is true. Did they die the day they ate of the of the fruit?
Ah, yeah, they died more than you think. When they stood there and they ate of that fruit, they didn't keel over with their feet sticking straight up. But the moment they ate of that fruit, they died spiritually in an instant. They died. You and I don't know what that's like because we were born dead.
We were all spiritually stillborn. When we came into the world, we were spiritually dead. That's why we have to be born again, born of the Spirit. But the day that that happened in the Garden of Eden, it sent a message throughout all time that judgment would rest upon the human race. But listen, we have a problem, or should I say, God had a problem.
He doesn't really, but for argument's sake, let's put it like this. The Scripture declares that the soul that sins it shall surely die. God says in the Book of Genesis, "The day that you eat, you will die." That's His word, and it's holy. But listen, the love of God for you resulted in God taking action against the very sin that separated you from Him. God took action not against you, though judgment was pending.
Isn't that amazing? Think of the police officers that are in this church. We have so many police officers that attend this church. Think about what they do. They go out on the streets, and they're going to they're going to pull somebody over, or they're going to arrest somebody, or they run somebody down and tackle them and cuff them.
Now, the judgment of the state of California is to be against them, or the city, or the county, to protect the righteous, the the innocent, the citizen. But can you imagine an officer standing the guy up, and he said, "You know what? You smell. You're ugly. I don't really see anything within you, or on you, that is commendable to me." But I look deep down inside of you, and I see a heart and a soul and a life that's broken.
And I love that soul. I love that spirit. I love that heart that's down deep inside and locked in you and perishing. And that officer releases those cuffs and puts them on his on himself, and marches himself off to the precinct or to the Division, but that's not all. The judgment that was pending against that individual who had sinned, somebody comes by in a police car and picks him up and takes him down to where I was the other night.
Had the best meal ever. Went to the Cheesecake Factory, and if you ever go there, you got to get. The the Cobb salad, Lisa and I had the Cobb salad. It was terrible. We had the it's huge, the Cobb salad in the jambalaya.
I think it was Cajun shrimp with chicken, and the noodles. And we just kind of ate there until we got sick.
So this guy goes down there. Not only has he been set free from judgment, he's been blessed. That's what God's done to us, and somebody picks up the tab. God loves you, but you and I were sinners, and there's this thing that's got to be settled.
Somebody's got to pay the price. God loves us, but God took action against the sin that separated us from Him. We didn't do it, and in doing this, Jesus met all the demands of the righteous and holy law, and He freed us from the judgment to come. Listen to this. He's also redeemed us from the wrath to come.
Listen, judgment is a decree. You're guilty. Judgment is coming, and when judgment's executed, that's the wrath. Matthew twenty seven forty five. Matthew twenty seven forty five says, Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over the land, and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out from the cross with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
That is my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And the land became dark, and the earth began to quake when Jesus was hanging there. And the darkness symbolized the sins of the world, as God, according to Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 53, laid on Jesus the sins of us all. Can you imagine that? The sky goes dark, the earth begins to shake, and God the Father is putting on His Son the sins of the world.
Why did it turn dark? Habakkuk one thirteen says that God's eyes are so pure that they cannot behold evil, and nor can he look upon wickedness. Was Jesus wicked? Heavens no. But the sin that was put upon him—your sin, my sin, our wickedness—was placed upon him.
That's an awesome thought. The wrath was to be placed upon us, and Jesus took the wrath for us. And when God the Father laid upon Christ Jesus the sins of the world, and the sky became dark, when Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" It's because in Jesus's absolute redemptive act, it was at that moment when the Father, as Habakkuk says, the sins. Being placed on Christ, the Father's too. His eyes so pure, not to behold evil.
I think it's symbolic that the sky went dark. The Father, so to speak, turned his face away while judgment was laid upon the Son, and the wrath of God's demand upon sin was meted out on Christ. He took that place for us. In John chapter eight, you know this many times over and over again. Remember the woman; we've mentioned her so many times, taken in the very act of adultery, and Jesus says, "He who is without sin, let him be the one to first cast the stone." Well, you know what?
I read this and looking at this just recently, and it dawned on me for the first time. I've never seen this before. Maybe you have. I'm slow. I didn't get this.
It blessed my heart. All of the religious guys standing there couldn't throw a rock at her, but who could have? Who should have? She's half naked and sitting in front of them. He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone.
Well, every angel in the universe could have said, "You're the only one." Jesus. You throw the stone, you kill her.
Now, would he have been mean? Would he have been unjust? Would he have been unfair? He would have been holy and pure still, and he still would have been God if he would have picked up the rock of Gibraltar and dumped it on her head. That's what the law of God demanded.
That sin, that the soul that sins, it shall surely die. What did he say to her? Go. I don't condemn you. Sin no more.
This is God talking. How could He do that when He says that the soul that sins shall surely die? It's because He's removed the curse of death that sin held us bound in. Not only judgment, not only wrath, but of the death that it would eventually lead us into. Jesus says, "Neither do I condemn you no more." He has absolutely redeemed us, people, and he would have been the only one justified in killing that woman.
And what do we see as an example? He sets her free. Why? Because of what he was going to do on the cross. You're listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs.
To learn more about this ministry or to catch up on some previous episodes, go to jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com. And now let's get back to today's message. Once again, here's Pastor Jack. Third, final point.
We'll wrap this up on this point. Jesus has redeemed us for several things. We'll give three of them. Jesus has redeemed us for His pleasure. It pleased God, it says in the book of Isaiah, to sacrifice the son for us.
It pleased the Father. Ephesians two ten says, "For we are his workmanship." The word in the Greek is poema. We're his song, we're his sonnet, we're his song, his work, his poem. We are His poem, created in Christ for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Jesus has redeemed us not only for His pleasure, but the Bible teaches us for His glory.
We've been redeemed for the glory of God. Isn't that something? He's going to show us off in eternity. Isn't that weird? He's going to show us off, probably to, to.
You know each other. He's gonna, he's gonna pick you up and go look. To all the rest of us, look at me, look. And remember what you're thinking about him. You said, didn't you say he'll never get saved?
Didn't you say that? Yeah. The whole, the whole. You know, heaven will go, yep. And I'll go look, saved him.
What about this one? Got this one right here. Everybody gave up on this guy. And you know what? He's saved.
He's here, and you could just hear, you know, it's great. It's great. And then God's going to say, "Now turn around and greet one another." And you're going to turn around and go, "No way! How did you make it here?" Him right up there. Think of the people we're going to see from high school.
Right? Think of that. What are you doing here? Got saved? No way.
There's no way. What are you doing here? I got saved. Come on, give me a break. I'm a I'm a pastor down on earth.
There's no way. It's awesome for his pleasure, for his glory. God will forever be praised in eternity for what He's done for us. Listen, the Bible says even the wrath of man God will use to praise His name.
Now I can't figure that one out, neither can you. But the wrath of men, God will turn it about to praise His name.
Now I don't want to get off on this, and I won't. I promise. And it's too horrible. But the evil that's out there in the world, the the If you think the world is getting better, ran into somebody last week who said the world is just getting better. Can you believe this?
I almost wanted to buy them CNN. The world's getting better.
Well, all you have to do is take a walk down to Children's Hospital. And see kids who have been burned with cigarettes, cut with razor blades by their parents, by their babysitters. Kids who have been abused, thrown against walls, nine months old. World's getting better. World's not getting better.
The world is sick. You struggle with that like I do, because what you want to do. Is settle the score on the spot. You see somebody who's getting beaten up, and this is a very terrible weakness of mine.
So don't tell a soul about this. But if I see some, if I see somebody getting beat up, you know, if it's two lunatics and they're absolutely wanting to do this to themselves, then you know, have fun. Just don't. You know, get blood on the sidewalk or something. You know, they're crazy.
But if somebody's picking on someone, you know what? I have a hard time with that. I kind of go ballistic on that, and I need prayer in that area. I can't stand to see somebody picked on. And you want to settle the score?
God doesn't settle the score at the moment. He waits for a better time. And he'll take the wrath of men to even praise his name. The things that we see in the paper, the bombings in Israel, the bombings all over, the sabotage with this and that and the other. God's going to use it to give him praise and glory.
I don't know how it's going to happen, but it will result in God's honor and glory in the end. Isn't that amazing? I I just have to believe that. I don't understand it. I don't see that, but it's coming.
Jesus has redeemed us for not only His pleasure, not only for His glory, but for His name. And I want you to hang on to your seats, and we'll wrap this up for His name. Ezekiel eighteen twenty says, "The soul that sins, it shall surely die." God loves His creation; He loves the human race. That's always been His heart toward us, but we have sin. He says, "The soul that sins, it must die." But He loves.
So, how does He reconcile these two things? Please listen, and we'll be all done. How does He reconcile this? He loves you immensely, but He's already decreed that the soul that sins, it must die. What's He going to do about that?
Is He going to change His word? He can't, nor should He, nor could He. Because he only speaks holiness, righteousness. He cannot say, "Oh gosh, I said that." Oh, I told that to Moses, didn't I? Oh no, what am I going to do?
Now I'm really in a jam. No. He never changes. He knows exactly.
So the redemptive process began. In Numbers fifteen twenty-eight, God says they're given an instruction. He says, "So the priest shall make atonement for the person who sins unintentionally. When he sins unintentionally before the Lord to make atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him." Okay, he's forgiven. God begins the redemptive process, but how?
How can God be holy and just to His word, in His love for you? Holy and just to His word, in fulfilling that every soul that sins it must surely die. Are you ready for this? Jesus has redeemed us for us or for His name, and I want you to jot down these three things. Number one, God's judgment demands payment.
You know that. God's judgment demands payment. God's holiness demands justice. Justice demands death. Jesus died on the cross, not only to give us life eternally, but Jesus, in his mission as redeemer, died on the cross.
Are you ready for this? To vindicate the word of God, God's word had its decree. God loves you. Jesus dies on the cross and fulfills both demands. He fulfills the demands of the Father in His holy word.
He demands. Or he fulfills the demands for the soul that sins; it shall surely die. He goes there for our place and fulfills the demands of the Father at the same time. Jesus died on the cross for not only us, but for God's word and its integrity. If Jesus hadn't died on the cross, there's a lot more at stake.
Than the last two thousand years, it would have been the very word of God, and your salvation, your redemption, is secure because of a transaction that took place between the Father and the Son, and all you do is enter into it. That is exciting stuff. Jesus died to vindicate the word of God, and that's incredible. Not only does God's judgment demand payment. But all of a sudden, God's mercy extended a reprieve.
All those souls that had sinned—you could have died in the Old Testament, but believing in the future sacrifice—that's what that little lamb every year was all about—and you would have been saved. And now we look back at that lamb, ultimately that was upon the cross. And we lived our lives, and we came to a point where we trusted Christ, and we've been saved, even though we didn't even know Him. God's judgment had to execute its victim, but God's mercy was extended. Mercy is not getting what you are supposed to get.
Mercy is not getting what you're supposed to get. God God made a reprieve; He held off. Isn't it awesome? You and I should have been dead. But God and His mercy didn't give you and I what we deserved.
What He did do was turn around, and God's grace provided for us forgiveness. And not only that, He showered us, the offender, with forgiveness. Quickly, Jesus' sacrifice upon the cross upheld all the holy demands of the law, the Word of God. Jesus' sacrifice met all the holy demands of the law. That is the need.
He met that need. Jesus' sacrifice fulfilled all the holy demands of the law, and that took away the problem. Jesus died for man. Jesus died to vindicate the word of God. It's incredible, and I think that's what Jesus was referring to in John eight twenty eight.
In John eight twenty eight, Jesus says, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of myself, but as my Father taught me, I speak these things. And He who sent me is with me. The Father has not left me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." Isn't that amazing? Jesus goes to the cross, pleasing the Father, but also buying us back. Pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibs here on Real Life Radio with his message called Our Great Redemption, Part Two.
Thanks for being with us today. You know this message is part of Pastor Jack's series called The Book of Ephesians. It's a series through Paul's letter to the Ephesians, discovering the riches, the walk, and the warfare of every believer. And we'll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. Are you searching for answers these days in a world where truth is hard to find?
Well, my friend, as you heard in our broadcast, Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And if you'd like to learn more about what that means to you personally, just go to our website, jackhibbs.com, and then click on that tab there that's labeled No God. And there you'll be guided through what committing to Jesus Christ really means and the freedom that you'll find in knowing God. That The No God tab at our website jackhibs.com. That's jackhibs.com.
Hey, thank you again so much for listening. And if you'd like to hear or see more of what we do here, you can always go to jackhibbs.com for all the latest on what's going on with this ministry. And please, if you're ever in the Southern California area, come see us at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills. We'd love to see you there in person. It has been so good to be with you today, and I pray you find yourself in the grace.
Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. See you on the next episode. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That's jackhibbs.com.
Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We'll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
