Is He Worthy?

Today on Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. As always, I'm your host, Molly Bitovitch. Wherever you're joining us from today, I hope that your Christmas day has been filled with loved ones and good cheer and a fresh awareness of how good and merciful God is for sending Jesus into the world for us. Today's teaching is a little different than usual as it's part of a special Christmas service at the Summit Church a few years ago. Pastor J.D. teaches us that there are only two responses to Jesus, worshiping or weeping. It's those worshiping because they have found in Jesus the Savior they longed for and those weeping because they face one disappointment after another.

So let's join J.D. right now for this unique and poetic Christmas teaching that he titled Is He Worthy? I want to take just a few very brief moments here to unpack the scene in the book of Revelation that was depicted in the song that our kids choirs just sang to us. It's an incredible scene in Revelation that I believe holds the meaning for all of Christmas.

In fact, I would say it holds the meaning for your entire life. In Revelation 5, the Apostle John sees a vision of a vast throng of angels and people from every nation under heaven around the throne in heaven. The world beneath them is in complete and utter chaos. Then John says, I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll? But nobody in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and I wept because nobody was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look inside. The question, of course, is what is written in this mysterious scroll? Well, John's original audience would have recognized this to be some kind of legal document. Think of it like a last will and testament. So what is written in this last will and testament and why does not being able to get to the contents of it, why does that make John weep?

One of the chapters that follow, you're going to see that this scroll contains all of God's foreordained plans for history, all the ways that God had intended to bless the world with happiness and peace and prosperity. Honestly, all the things that we long for at Christmastime, all the things we want to be true of Christmastime, but sometimes cannot bear to hear about at Christmastime because we know that these do not describe the world that we are experiencing. I'm talking about a world of justice, a world where rights are protected, where the strong cannot exploit the weak, where there is no abuse or war, prejudice or discrimination, a world of family and relational harmony. That means a world without arguments or divorce or estranged children or alienated friendships. I realize this might be especially difficult for some of you at Christmastime because you're going to look around that table this Christmas and for the first time there's going to be a seat that's going to be empty that used to be filled by somebody you assumed was just going to be around forever. Or maybe this Christmas is going to remind you of a broken relationship that you thought you could depend on that's no longer a part of your life. Or maybe it's just a dull ache of loneliness that comes from being alone again at another Christmas when you thought, surely this year it would not be that way. He's talking about a world without loneliness, a world without addiction.

I've never known an addict who loved their addiction. I've known most that wanted to get free of it, but they just didn't have the power to. Imagine being in a world where things could not control us but we could control them. This will describes a world of prosperity, a world where there are no more tears, no more crying, a world without hunger or famine or homelessness or pollution.

In short, the world that we have always wanted, home, heaven, the promised land, the shire, whatever you want to call it, the world that God has always wanted to give to us. John weeps because there's nobody that can be found in heaven or on earth or under the earth. That means people who have died who can open this scroll and gain this inheritance. Imagine a wealthy woman who leaves behind her entire fortune to her family, but she stipulates in her will that the only one who can execute the will has to meet a certain criteria. So, as the family gathers to hear the will read and the lawyer stands up to read the will, they hear the criteria. Things like they have to be a blood relative, but they also have to have won a Nobel Prize, and they have to be able to run a four-minute mile, and they have to have never said an unkind word about anybody in the family, and they have to have written to this woman faithfully every week of her life until she died. As the family hears this will being read, they realize there is nobody in their family that is able to execute the will.

Nobody meets that criteria. That's similar to what is happening here in Revelation 5. John looks down through the annals of history for somebody, anybody who meets the criteria to open the scroll to give us the world that we've always longed for, and he finds nobody.

Why? Why is nobody in all of human history worthy to open this scroll? Well, see, it's because we're all under the curse of sin. You see, it is sin and injustice that messed up the world, and every single one of us that has ever been born here on earth is guilty of sin, so to open the scroll would bring upon us God's judgments.

That's what those seven seals represent is God's righteous judgment against sin. You see, essentially John is looking for what so many of us have looked for in life, a hero, a champion, somebody who can be that missing piece in our lives, somebody that can lead us to salvation, somebody that can give us the world that we have always longed for, and that world that we sensed at Christmas time might be out there and might be possible. You know, this won't surprise some of you, but I grew up loving superhero stories. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, the Shazam. By the way, I thought the Shazam was lost to history, and I just saw a trailer for a new Shazam movie coming out, and I am super excited about that, but I'm talking about old-school superheroes where they, you know, the kind where they punch somebody and the screen would fill with curse splat or kapow, that kind of superhero. Well, I've noticed that there's been a development in superhero stories of recent. I'm not exactly sure when this transition took place. I feel like it was sometime in my mid-teenage years, so about a decade or so ago, but it's that we started to tell these superhero stories, and these superheroes started to be people with as flawed characters, people who had demons of their own. Maybe they had superhuman strength, but they also had super blind spots or super dysfunction.

They were corruptible. I know many have called this the rise of the antihero. It's like we have a hard time presenting to anybody, anybody, even a fictional character, as being entirely good. Why do you think that is? What does that say about the culture that produces those kinds of stories? I think maybe it reveals that a lot of us have been let down or grown disillusioned with those that we thought were supposed to be good. Maybe that happened first for you in childhood when you experienced abuse at the hands of somebody that you thought that you could trust. The statistics on that are truly shocking.

Maybe it happened when somebody that you thought you could depend on, a spouse, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a best friend, betrayed you, stabbed you in the back. For others, the disillusionment, I think, comes with a constant barrage of reports about corruption in our leadership. It seems like every day we hear about some other trusted figure, some religious leader, some cultural icon who turns out not to be what we thought they were, not what they presented themselves to be. It's like we love the concept of royalty. We love the concept of this exalted class that we could admire, even though we know that the real history of kings and queens is awful. It's full of slavery and exploitation and full of tyranny. We're obsessed still with royalty.

Some of you knew that Meghan Markle was pregnant before you knew you were pregnant. We're obsessed with royalty, but the closer we get to the real people behind the crown, the more they just disappoint. That's what John is experiencing here in Revelation 5. He looks down through the annals of history and all the heroes that have ever been in the entire human race, and he says, Is there nobody? Is there nobody that's worthy, nobody that is whole, nobody that can break the seal and open the scroll without unleashing the judgment of God? I know what you're saying.

You're like, Wait a minute. What about John himself? John was a good guy. He was an apostle. He was the one who didn't abandon Jesus when Jesus was on the cross.

Why didn't John take the scroll and open it up? Why didn't John think he was worthy? Well, I can only imagine that John realized about himself what I've realized about myself, and that is that there is nobody who has disappointed me more than me. There is nobody who has lied to me more than me, nobody who has made false promises to me more than me. The more I come to know myself, the less impressed with me that I am.

I'm pretty sure I heard my wife say Amen real loud over there. You probably know that about yourself too, at least if you're honest about yourself. You realize that you're the one who has let you down more than anybody. I talk about wanting to go to heaven where there's no more crying and no more pain, and yet I think about how many times my own selfishness has caused tears in somebody else, or I think about how many times my cruelty or my insensitivity has caused pain to somebody else. So if heaven is going to be a place of no more crying and no more pain, how am I going to be there? Because the moment I walk into heaven, it's going to cease to be heaven. Do you see the dilemma John is facing, the dilemma I am facing?

The bottom line is there's nobody who has ever lived that is worthy to open the scroll. I heard a story about a guy who was deep-sea fishing and saw his buddy get swept over the side of their boat. His friend couldn't swim. So this man jumped into the sea to try to rescue his friend. The problem was he couldn't swim either. So both of them were drowned.

Both of them were lost. You see, the one who would do the saving can't have the same problem as the one who needs to be saved. So when John looks down through history, he sees that every single person who has ever lived is under the curse of sin and under the curse of death, and those that are under the curse of sin and the curse of death cannot be the Savior.

So what's he going to do? Then one of the elders said to me, John, don't weep. Don't weep.

Don't despair. See, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, he is triumphed. He is able to open the scroll at its seven seals. But then I saw a lamb, not a lion, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne. Now what John sees is confusing, because first it's a lion, a picture of might and strength. But as the lion comes closer, John calls him a lamb. Then John looks closely at this lamb, and he sees on this lamb not the fangs of strength or the shoulders of might and power. He sees on this lamb the marks of suffering and death.

John is confused, because at first he saw an indomitable lion, and then he sees that the lion was a tender lamb who had suffered and died. Thanks for joining us for Christmas Day here on Summit Life with Pastor J.D. Greer. We'll get back to today's teaching and let you get back to your festivities in just a moment. But first, I wanted to make sure that you're in the loop about all of the resources that we make available to you at jdgreer.com completely free of charge. At our website, you can access our entire library of Summit Life broadcasts as well as our preaching catalog of full sermons with a transcript for each. You'll also find Pastor J.D. 's blog with an archive of more than 10 years of content for you to learn from. You'll find links to Pastor J.D. 's podcasts, his social media accounts, and you can sign up for our daily devotionals all for free. And while you're on our website, be sure to check out jdgreer.com slash donate to learn more about how you can be a part of helping this ministry grow and thrive so that we're able to reach more people with the gospel of Jesus in 2024. Once again, all of these resources are available for you at jdgreer.com free of charge.

So browse away. Now let's get back to today's teaching on Summit Life. Once again, here's Pastor J.D. Friends, this is the gospel. Jesus, the beginning and the end. Jesus, the first and the last.

Jesus, the lion who sat on the throne of history and was in control of it all. He came to earth to open the scroll, but he came as a lamb so that when he did, all the judgments that came from our sin would not go into us, but they would enter into him. On the cross, all the curse for my sin, for your sin, for our sin, for every sin and injustice ever committed by somebody in the human race passed into Jesus.

The key word of the gospel, one word, substitution, substitution. Jesus lived the life that we were supposed to have lived, the life we wanted to live, the life we knew that somebody should have lived. Then he died to death, that we were condemned to die for not living that life.

He died in our place. Around the Summit Church, we say that you can summarize the gospel in four words. In fact, Summit members, you know these four words, don't you? The gospel in four words. Say it with me. Jesus in my place. Jesus living the life I was supposed to live and then dying to death, I've been condemned to die in my place. We say Jesus did not just die for you, Jesus died instead of you. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for my iniquities. The price of my salvation was placed upon him so that by his stripes, I could be healed. Because of that, he can open the scroll for me because the curses that I had incurred for bringing injustice and sin into the world went into him and he put them away forever. He is the hero that we're looking for, and that means he can give us what we have always yearned for that is written in that scroll.

Is anybody able to break the seal and open the scroll? The lion of Judah who conquered the grave. He is David's root in the land who died to ransom the slave. Is he worthy? Is he worthy?

He is. So John ceases his weeping, and John joins with those around the throne as they begin to sing a new song, songs very similar to what we have sung in here this afternoon. You are worthy. You are worthy to take the scroll, and you are worthy to open its seals because you were slain and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation, from every ethnicity, from every socioeconomic class, from every religious background, the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the black, the white, the Hispanic, the same Lord is Lord over all to all who call upon him. Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and you have made them to be a kingdom and priest to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.

Y'all, listen. This story shows you that there are only two options in relation to Jesus. There are worshipers, and there are weepers. There are those who are worshiping because they have found in Jesus the Savior they have been searching for, and there are those who are weeping because they're going to face one disappointment after another.

You see, I can tell you this. Life without Jesus is never really going to work. Yes, you'll have temporary times of happiness, and you might even be comfortable, but you were created for God, and because you were created for God, until you find your place in God, it's never really going to feel like it's whole or complete. Blaise Pascal, the famous French philosopher and mathematician, said, Every human being seems to be born with a vacuum in their heart, an abyss, a hole. We spend all of our lives trying to figure out what goes in that hole. When we're teenagers, we turn to popularity. We turn to athletic accomplishment, sexual prowess.

When we get older, we turn that into career success or maybe romantic love or maybe family stability. He says it makes us happy for a while, but none of it ever actually makes us whole because we were created for God. That hole is in the shape of the love of God, and until we find ourselves in God, until we find our rest in him, we are never going to find our souls at rest. What that means is that Jesus is the peace you're missing. You may not even know what you're searching for, but he is who you're created for. The good news is he wants to save you. He wants to restore you. He wants to bring you home. He wants to forgive your sins and make you whole, but you have to choose to receive him.

You have to choose. To receive him means you have to surrender…get this…full control of your life to him. That is where so many people get hung up. They're scared of anybody else, much less Jesus being in charge of their lives. You might be fine with Jesus as a moral lawgiver. You're fine with him as a safety net. You're fine with him as a life coach, therapist, influence. You're fine with him as a savior that you worship at Christmas time, but to lay your life down before him as a blank check is scary. I'm telling you, it's the only way.

It is the only way. I want you to know that you can trust him. I'll tell you that when I gave full control of my life to Jesus Christ at 16 years old, it was one of the scariest things I had ever done in my life. I was terrified, because I wasn't sure what he was going to do in my life.

I wasn't sure what condition he was going to leave me in. I didn't know where he was going to take me, but I knew it was the only way. So, I gave up full control of my life to Jesus. It was terrifying, but now I can tell you what some 29 years later… I can tell you that if I had 10,000 lives to live, I would live every single one of them for Jesus Christ, because he is the missing piece in my life.

He's who I was created for. Before I came to Jesus, I was frustrated and fearful. I was always trying to prove myself to everybody. I was always trying to earn approval and love from people around me. I was scared of failure.

I was terrified to die. Then Jesus gave me peace. He gave me security, and he gave my life a purpose and a joy I couldn't even have imagined was possible. Is anybody able… Is anybody whole?

Is anybody able to break the seal and open the scroll for me on the line of Judah who conquered the grave? He is David's root and the lamb who died to ransom the slave. Is he worthy? Is he worthy?

He is. Before Christ, I was a slave to guilt, afraid of God, and isolated myself from trusting anyone. I believed lies about myself that weren't true. I tried to hide my sin and rebellion by being a good person. I was separated from my Creator. Before Christ, I was searching for purpose in my life, and I was living by my own moral standard, hoping that would outweigh my sin. Before Christ, I was in constant war with God, but in Christ, I am in perfect peace. Before Christ, I was acting out in my feelings of being unwanted by my own Father, but in Christ, I am fully known and fully loved by God, my Heavenly Father. Before Christ, my soul was thirsty, and I drank down sexual sin as though it were water, but in Christ, I found a fountain, a fountain of living water that satisfies my soul. Before Christ, I was never enough, but in Christ, I am satisfied in His unfailing love.

I know that God has a plan for my life, and He gives me everything I need. I am whole and full of joy. I am free from guilt and shame. I'm a new creation, and I have a new identity. Before Christ, I was fearful and alone, but after Christ, I am fearless, and He is with me. You were created for God. You were created for the love of Jesus, which means that you will never find your soul at rest until you find your rest in Him. The good news of the gospel is that's what He wants for you. In fact, I would even go so far as to say it's why He brought you here this morning. That invitation that you received was not an accident.

The circumstances in your life that have led up to this moment are not an accident. It is God drawing you, and it's God saying that He wants to restore you to Himself, but you have to choose it. I will tell you what breaks my heart more than anything is when I see people resist from fear, resist the one who can actually complete their lives and give them the love and the security they've always been looking for. What more would Jesus have to do to prove Himself to you? What more could He give up to demonstrate His love for you than what He has done when He died on the cross and He rose from the dead?

He wants to save you, and some of you are resisting Him out of fear, and you are keeping out of your heart and your life the one who can bring it together, the one who can make you whole, the one who can begin to piece together your family and begin to make you the one, the person, that God has made you to be and to give you the world you've always wanted to exist. Have you ever received Jesus personally as your Savior? Have you ever opened up your heart and received His salvation? Thank you for joining us for this special Christmas message. If you missed any part of it, you can always re-listen to today's teaching or any other teaching from our entire Summit Life library free of charge at jdgrier.com. Once again, I hope you are in the middle of enjoying your Christmas Day, but I also want to give a special shout-out to those of you who are having a hard time this Christmas, maybe dealing with the loss of a loved one, maybe some difficult relational dynamics, or maybe even one of life's burdens. We want you to know that our team here at JD Greer Ministries cares about you and we're praying for you.

You can count on that. Another shout-out I'd like to give on this Christmas Day is to our gospel partners, the ones who give monthly to help make it possible for us to broadcast gospel-centered teaching on the airwaves all over the country and even on Christmas Day. If you'd like to join our gospel partner team with a regular monthly gift in 2024, you can visit our website at jdgrier.com or you can call us at 866-335-5220. Every month, we thank our gospel partners and one-time financial supporters with a specially curated resource designed to help you grow in your walk with the Lord. This month, we'll send you our ever-popular Summit Life Day Planner for 2024.

It's a great tool for busy students, parents, businessmen, and women, anyone really. You can keep track of your deadlines, create to-do lists, and throughout the planner, you'll find Bible verses to remind you of God's promises. We're even including a year-long Bible reading plan to help you grow deeper in your knowledge of the gospel throughout the year. Be sure to call or visit us online today with your year-end gift. If you'd rather mail your donation, our address is JD Greer Ministries, P.O.

Box 122-93, Durham, North Carolina, 27709. You also don't want to forget to follow Pastor JD on Facebook and Instagram for more updates and encouraging content. I'm Molly Vinovich, so glad to have you with us this Christmas Day. We'll see you tomorrow as we continue to focus on the miracle of Jesus' birth right here on Summit Life with JD Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by JD Greer Ministries.