Rescued By A Hand From Heaven Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. When a man is clinging to a life preserver, he knows he needs help or else.

Still, many people get offended if you tell them there's nothing they can do to make themselves look good before a holy God. The Gospel tells us how God set out to rescue from spiritual death those that believe in His Son. Today, more on how badly we need that rescue. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, as the old song says, I was sinking deep in sin, but most don't even know it.

And you know, Dave, I think that's a tragedy. You and I lived at a time when those old Gospel songs were sung, but the younger generation doesn't know about them. I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. And then it goes on to talk about how Jesus Christ rescued us. And I might say this, that your understanding of sin will determine the way in which you understand the Gospel.

Boy, I could expound on that. But let me simply point out to all who are listening that even Christian parents oftentimes do not raise their children. The cell phone does. And the cell phone in your teenager's hand does more to shape his or her view of reality and her worldview than an hour of Sunday school and an hour of church. That's the way my chapter begins, entitled The Sexualization of Children. And this is in my new book entitled We Will Not Be Silenced, Responding Courageously to Our Culture's Assault on Christianity.

And we are being assaulted, by the way. For a gift of any amount, this book can be yours. Here's what you do.

Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. And now we have the privilege of once again opening God's holy word to the book of Romans so that we might deeply appreciate the fact that we have been rescued. So the Gospel, the substance of the Gospel is Jesus Christ and what he did for us.

What is the scope of the Gospel? Let's look at verse 14. He says, I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians.

What he means is the educated and the uneducated. I have to smile here at this point. You'll have to forgive me. But about 20 years ago, I was invited to Barbados, the island of Barbados, where I spoke.

I think some of you know what's coming, don't you? You're laughing already. Where I spoke at a Bible conference and I said how wonderful it was to be among the barbarians. And I think the correct word was Barbadians, and I said barbarians.

Now everybody laughed. They were very kind. But maybe I should point out in passing that I've never been invited back, all right?

Oh, no. The Apostle Paul says, I am called not only to preach to the Greeks, to the educated. I am called to preach also to those who are uneducated.

And guess what? The message for the educated, the Greeks, and the message for the, I hope I get it right this time, the barbarians is the very same message. Because there is only one message. And no matter what religion you belong to, no matter what your background is, no matter the color of your skin or where you were born, there is only one gospel and it applies to you. There aren't a lot of gospels hanging out there, some other message, because you fit into a different category. Paul is not saying he's going to pay back what God has done, nothing like that. But what he's saying is, I feel an obligation to preach the gospel to everybody, just like you and I should feel an obligation to share the gospel with everybody.

Co-workers, whatever. And then Paul says in verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Why Jew first? Well, the Jews were chosen of God. The whole Old Testament is based on a Jewish understanding and revelations that God gave to the Jewish people, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

So in a sense, they were first, but following close behind to the Greek. And Paul means basically to everyone. This is a gospel for, notice what the text says, to everyone, everyone who believes. And then he says, for in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. Now the reason that the gospel is the power of God onto salvation, the reason for that is because you and I can't change human nature, can we? We can try to motivate people. We can help them to see how they can alter their behavior, how they can begin to try to manage their temper and manage their sins, and we can help them do that. But we cannot get down to the level of desire. We cannot change the affections of the human heart. You cannot go to the human heart and turn it on and on like a faucet on or off and suddenly have people love God and say, I'm going to wake up this morning and I'm going to start to love God and Jesus.

You can't do that. The gospel is the power of God onto salvation because it actually changes our motivations and our desires. It's an old illustration that preachers used to use, but I will throw it in here. It's the old story of taking a pig, you know, and dressing him and putting on a bow tie and making sure that he's nice and clean.

And you do everything that you possibly can, but the minute he begins to see a mud puddle and dirt, you know where he will be. You and I need a hand from heaven. We need God's intervention to actually change human nature. Jesus referred to it as the new birth and said that unless you are born again, you'll never enter into the kingdom of God. So I ask you today, have you been born again?

I'm not asking you if you were baptized because you don't get born again by being baptized or that you belong to a church or that you did this and this. It is a miracle of God whereby something new is created within us that wasn't there before we believed. And so you have the miracle that takes place within. But then there's another miracle that takes place representing the power of God, and that takes place outside of us. It is God's declaration of his righteousness.

Look at what the text says here. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. You see, there is a righteousness that belongs to God as his attribute, but there is also a righteousness which God gives to those who believe so that something intervenes between us and the anger of God against sin, and that something is the work of Christ and the righteousness that he credits to us who believe. And therein, as we shall see in future messages, therein is the power and the wisdom and the glory and the wonder of God, and God says this is the gospel, the power of God for salvation. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of this gospel. Why would anybody be ashamed of a message like this?

Well, just think about it for a moment. Have you as a Christian ever been ashamed of Jesus? Have you kept your mouth shut because you don't want to be branded as strange or weird that you believe that salvation comes through Jesus Christ? You see, there's something offensive about a crucified Messiah.

In fact, there are religions who tell us that the fact that Jesus was crucified proves that he was weak. How can he be a redeemer? So there's that problem. The other problem is that the gospel doesn't speak very highly of our own ability, because it's saying that we cannot attain the righteousness of God on our own.

It's not something that we are able to do. Just like you can add a billion oranges and never get a banana, in the very same way all the human righteousness that has ever been done on planet earth cannot change God's mind regarding a single sinner. And that message doesn't go down easily to human beings who are versed in this idea, look at what I've done and look at my works and how good I am.

Though if you talk to their friends, they may have a very different opinion. So that's the reason why it is easy to be ashamed. But Paul says, look, simple though it is, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God. When I was working on this message, I thought to myself, you know, I'm preaching a very simple message here. You know, I've always prayed that God would keep me simple and my staff thinks that he's overdone it.

And they're saying, you know, stop, stop praying that prayer. It's a very simple message. But I was reminded of the fact that it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. And I'm really preaching today, however, helplessly or insufficiently, I am preaching the power of God unto salvation, because that's what the gospel is. How do we wind all of this down and help us to summarize the effects and the power of the gospel? First of all, would you keep in mind that the gospel is God's plan, not ours?

It's his plan, not ours. You know, getting back to the question with which I began, namely, what's the uniqueness about Christianity? The average person thinks that all the religions of the world are essentially the same and only superficially different. I'd like to turn that around and say that the opposite is true, that all of the religions of the world, if you compare them with Christianity, are essentially different and only superficially the same. They may all believe in God.

They may have some similarities morally and ethically. But what they do not have is a God who chose to intervene, who did work on our behalf, who grants us a gift that he himself worked out. And it is not given to the rich.

It is not given to those who are able to be well educated. It is given to anyone who believes as a free gift of necessity free. And there is no other religion that has that. So remember that it's God's plan. It is God's good news.

And I do have good news for you today, thanks to God's holy word. So first of all, keep in mind that the gospel is God's plan, not ours. Secondly, the gospel is not just information. I see some of you writing this down, and I need to tell you that when I see that, I'm looking at people who are going to be well rewarded in heaven.

Thank you for writing this down because this is important. The Bible is not just information. It is intervention. It's intervention. Oh, there is information as to what you need to believe, but it's not just, hey, here's something to believe and then try to work on it. No, no, no, no. It is the intervention of God breaking in to our sinful selves and saving us.

That's what it is. Seneca was a philosopher and a statesman who lived at the same time as the Apostle Paul. Seneca, for all of his other abnormalities, perhaps did understand something, and that is that human beings are desperate sinners. I want to quote his words, men are overwhelmingly conscious of their weaknesses. And he says, we need a hand led down from heaven to lift us up. Another person quoting him, perhaps a paraphrase said, oh, that a hand would come down from heaven and rescue me from my besetting sin.

When you're desperate, you don't need more information only. What you really need is intervention. You need God to intervene in your life. And that's what the gospel is.

Some of you are struggling with addictions, and those addictions are really symptomatic of a more basic problem that we have as human beings, and that is our selfishness and our penchant for always going with our own desires. You need the intervention of God today. Some of you are going through a time of meaninglessness and hopelessness, and you also need the intervention of God today. And the message to you is the gospel as well.

Some of you overcome by guilt, frustration, anger because of your past, because of what has taken place, because of what you've done and perhaps even what others have done to you. You also need God's intervention today, and that's what the gospel is. It's not just more information. It is God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, bringing us into fellowship with almighty God, and only the gospel can do that. And in subsequent message that will become more clear and more clear as we go along. There is no other option out there but the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so please keep that in mind. Finally, let us say also that the gospel is costly to God. It's costly to God, but it is free to us. It is given to those who believe from faith to faith.

As we shall learn, as it says here in the text, the righteous shall live by faith, quoting the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. And so it is really a free gift given to those who believe, those who recognize, hey, I've given up the weapons of a rebel. I can't save myself.

I come cap in hand as a beggar. I bring nothing to the table except my sin. That's my contribution. My contribution is my sin.

But even though my contribution is my sin, God's contribution is his gift of righteousness to me, his gift of the miracle of the new birth. I said earlier, how do you know whether or not you are called? Well, the only way really you can find out whether or not you are called is to believe on Jesus. And if you come and trust him and are born again, that will prove that you are the called of Jesus Christ.

There's no other way to find out. And so I encourage you to do that. So today, let's just understand that it cost God plenty because we were redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. God gave his son, and he died for us and went through the agony of Gethsemane and the cross. That was costly to God, but it's not costly to us. That's why it's such good news because you and I can't contribute to what God needs anyway.

We can only receive. We cannot think that our giving somehow impresses him. And so I encourage you today, stop trusting what you can do. Stop trusting what you can do and begin to trust what God has already done in Jesus. That is the good news, and that is the gospel. Chicago in many regards is a very religious town. You can go to many, many churches today in Chicago that will tell you this, Jesus Christ is absolutely necessary for salvation.

They'll tell you that. What they will not tell you is that Jesus Christ is enough for salvation. And I'm here today to tell you that he's not only necessary, he's enough. And so we can sing, I have no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, that he died for me. It's enough that he died. And as he took that bread and took the cup and said this drink in remembrance of me and eat in remembrance of me, he was saying to all of us today, in that blood and the broken body, there is enough done for the vilest of sinners who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon to receive.

That is very good news, very good news. Let's bow together in prayer. Father, at this point, we have nothing more to say except to trust your Holy Spirit because in this congregation today undoubtedly there are many who have never received the gift of salvation. I'm talking about good people who sometimes are the last to see their need. I pray that you might cause them to see the gospel today with new clarity, to come and to say, I'm a sinner.

I can't save myself. I bring nothing to this except my need and I receive your grace. Thank you for the hand from heaven that saves us and that Jesus isn't just necessary. He really is enough. We love him in his name. Amen. Well, this is Pastor Lutzer and my friend, if you've never come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, this is the moment to do it. You recognize your sinfulness and then the good news that Jesus Christ did it all for those who believe.

And if we trust him, oh, how grateful I am to be able to tell you he is enough. We never get over the wonder of the gospel, but I also need to emphasize that we are losing the new generation, aren't we? They are moving away from the gospel. They are into social justice. As a matter of fact, our schools oftentimes sexualize our children, which incidentally is the title of one of the chapters in my new book entitled We Will Not Be Silenced. It's entitled The Sexualization of Children. That's where I discuss transgenderism.

Did you know that there's a doctor who said that if someone comes to him and they want transgender surgery, if he were to say no, even though he thinks that it would be best for them if they didn't, he could lose his job. We're living at a time when there are cultural streams that are so powerful and so deceptive and our young people and others are being caught up in that culture. That's why I wrote the book entitled We Will Not Be Silenced, Responding Courageously to Our Culture's Assault on Christianity. My burden is for the church. How do we answer these objections?

How do we stand against a culture that wants to engulf us? For a gift of any amount, this book can be yours. Here's what you do. Go to RTWOffer.com. That's RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. What was Jesus like after God raised him from the dead?

Jan lives in Schaumburg, Illinois, and listens to us on WMBI. She's asking, was Jesus flesh and spirit or just spirit after the resurrection? Jan, I want you to know that when Jesus was raised from the dead, he was both. By that I mean, he obviously had a body. It wasn't flesh like we understand the word flesh. But you remember when the disciples thought that he was a spirit, he said, handle me. He said, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones. Now his body was glorified and therefore it was not subject to decay.

The molecular structure was very different from ours. But remember this, he ate fish. He communicated with his disciples. He was able to appear and then disappear because we'll be able to do that in our new bodies also.

We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. So he wasn't spirit in the sense perhaps that you meant it as if he was a ghost. No, he was flesh. As a human being, he had a spirit, but it's not as if his body was just a spirit.

Very important. And the Bible says someday we will appear with him in glory and we'll have a body like unto his. That's why we believe in the resurrection. If all that we believed in was the spirit, why somehow if people come back spiritually speaking, then why even bother about the idea of raising the body?

The body will be raised because we believe that very body will be remade by God and we shall inhabit it throughout all eternity. Thank you, Jan, and thank you, Dr. Lutzer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337.

You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. In Romans, we see ourselves as we really are. Apart from God's grace, we're capable of awful things. Next time, the amazing light God sheds into those hearts that come to believe in Jesus. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.