Grace for the Race

Today I’m going to take you through the final sermon that was part of our Advent series at Cross Community Church: “The WHY of Advent,” which is rooted in John 3:16.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Genesis 3:6

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

At first glance, the WHY of Advent might seem to suggest that it was the sin of our first parents, who were living in paradise yet chose to rebel against the Word of God, that necessitated the coming of Christ.  Not so fast!  Sin had already entered the world prior to Adam and Eve’s act of cosmic treachery.

Isaiah 14:12-14

How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

Luke 10:17-18

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” [Jesus] replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

Sin had reared its ugly head long before Adam and Eve were in existence.  Adam and Eve were the first human sinners, but not the first sinners.  There was a sinful creature waiting for them in the Garden of Eden . . . one who had descended into a wicked, depraved, and fallen condition before God placed the first two humans there.

Adam and Eve followed the voice of the Serpent (fallen angel) and responded to God in the very same way the fallen angel did.  They centered their entire existence on the same “I” that the fallen angel did.  Notice that the same “I” is lodged directly in the middle of both SIN and PRIDE!  The angel was filled with sinful pride . . . and so were Adam and Eve after listening to him in the Garden.

Take a look at the five “I WILLS” of the fallen angel, as recorded by the prophet Isaiah:

• I WILL ascend to the heavens
• I WILL raise my throne above the stars of God
• I WILL sit enthroned on the mount of assembly
• I WILL ascend above the tops of the clouds
• I WILL make myself like the Most High

For Lucifer, it was not enough to be in the presence of God.  He wanted more than anything else to be in the position of God.  For Adam and Eve, it was not enough to be made in the image of God; they wanted to assume the position of God!  And all mankind has been vainly pursuing the same position ever since.

So if sin was already in this world, and God did not go after the first sinner—the fallen angel—there had to be something behind Adam’s sin that caused God to pursue the sinner.  And that, dear reader, was the special love God had for humanity.

God could have pursued the fallen angels . . . but He did not.  He chose instead to pursue fallen humanity.  God sent His precious Son because of His special love for those who were His special image-bearers.  This is the WHY of Advent, and this Gospel truth in all its glory makes it crystal clear that God’s love for us is unparalleled!

“I have loved you with an everlasting love,” the Lord says to His people; “I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3).

The love of God for you, expressed through Jesus Christ, is as measureless as it is fathomless.  It cannot be explained.  Paul declares that it “surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:19).  The best we can do is simply receive God’s love by faith and respond with a heart of adoring gratitude to the One who showers it upon us—not only daily, but moment by moment.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Today I’m going to review the second sermon from the Advent series we’ve worked through at Cross Community Church: The HOW of Advent, rooted in Isaiah 9:6…

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.”

Some have claimed this verse represents what is called a “tautology,” which means using needless repetition to repeat the same idea.  But as we will clearly see, this Word from God is no tautology, but rather the emphatic truth of The HOW of Advent.  In the birth of Christ, we see the glorious fulfillment of divine promise.

1^st statement – Unto us a child is born . . .

As a child in His human nature, Jesus was truly born, just like any other person who has ever lived.  To be sure, He was begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, but in His humanity Jesus is a child born unto us, a fact which is fully established.

Prophecy – Genesis 3:15

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.

Fulfillment – Galatians 4:4

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.

2^nd statement – Unto us a son is given…

As Jesus Christ is God’s Son, he is not only born, but also given to us.  Jesus is begotten of His Father from before all creation—begotten, not made, being of the same substance with the Father.

Charles Spurgeon wrote:

The doctrine of the eternal affiliation of Christ is to be received as an undoubted truth of our holy religion.  But as to any explanation of it, no man should venture thereon, for it remaineth among the deep things of God—one of those solemn mysteries indeed, into which the angels dare not look, nor do they desire to pry into it—a mystery which we must not attempt to fathom, for it is utterly beyond the grasp of any finite being.  As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the Eternal God.  A God whom we could understand would be no God.  If we could grasp him he could not be infinite, if we could understand him, then were he not divine.

Jesus was not born into this world as God’s son, but He was freely given as the One who would save His people from their sins.  This distinction clearly sets forth a difference containing within it a great truth.

Prophecy – Psalm 2:7

I will tell of the decree: the Lord said to me, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you.”

Fulfillment – Matthew 3:17

A voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

That great prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon made it clear that we cannot plumb the depths of this great mysterious truth of The HOW of Advent.  The wisest thing we can do is embrace the truth of Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.”

Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.  Is it true for you today?  Have you received this truth as your only hope of salvation and eternal life?

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

This week our Gospel-encouragement comes out of the Advent sermons I am preaching at Cross Community Church, leading up to our Christmas celebration.

Our word advent comes from the Latin word adventus which means “coming.”  Advent encompasses the span of time from the fourth Sunday before Christmas until the nativity of our Lord is celebrated.  It cuts across denominational & theological boundaries.  The symbols of Advent include wreaths, candles, and calendars to track the building excitement & set a spiritual tone day by day.  It is a reminder—both of the original waiting done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah, as well as our waiting for Christ’s return.

Today we will focus on the first advent sermon of our series: The WHO of Advent.  It is rooted in the Revelation of John and asks three important questions:

1. Who Does God The Father Say He Is?

2. Who Does Jesus Say He Is?

3. Who Do You Say He Is?

Then 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. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”  (Revelation 5:1-5)

Who Does God Say He Is?

In Matthew 3:17 we read, “A voice from heaven said, ‘This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”  This testimony from heaven confirms the identification of Jesus as the Son of the Living God.  He is the One God promised to man all the way back during those terrible moments immediately after the Fall: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Who Does Jesus Say He Is?

Jesus confirms what God the Father said when He responded to Peter in Matthew 16:16-17. “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’  Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.’”

Here are a few other things Jesus said about Himself:

I and the Father are one.  (John 10:30)

I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.  (John 14:6)

He was saying to [the Jews], “You are from below, I am from above, you are of this world, I am not of this world.”  (John 8:23)

God the Father confirmed from heaven that Jesus was His beloved Son.  Jesus Himself asserted that He was the Son of God, born from above, and equal with the Father.  But what about you? Who do you say Jesus is?

Who Do You Say He Is?

Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15), and He is asking us that very same question today.  C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

Either Jesus was who He said He was or He was not . . . and if He was not, there is nothing good about Him or His teaching.  So who do you say Jesus is?  To be sure, Jesus is the WHO of Advent, the only One worthy and able to do for us what we could not do for ourselves: to save us from the penalty of sin and the power of our sin. And when He comes again, he will remove us even from the presence of sin!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Ophthalmology is the branch of medical science that deals with the anatomy, functions, and diseases of the eye.  Because we are all affected with one particular disease of the eye, we all need a daily visit from our Omnipotent Ophthalmologist.

Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.  (Matthew 7:1-5)

Three times in five verses we are diagnosed with “plank-in-our-eye” disease.  So the question we need to ask is not, “Do I have a plank?” but rather, “Just how big is the plank in my eye and how much harm is it doing to others?”

You and I find it much easier to spot the speck in our brother’s eye and make a big deal about it . . . while never acknowledging the rough-hewn planks jutting out of our own eyes.  To be sure, the sins and shortcomings in the lives of others that offend us most are no more or less conspicuous in the sight of God as those sins and shortcomings that are most pronounced in our own lives.

And that is why we need our Omnipotent Ophthalmologist to give to us a daily eye exam and extract that protruding plank of self-righteousness that serves to lift us and lower others . . . in our own estimation.

Only the power of the Gospel will cause us to identify our own plank problems.  The Gospel frees us to acknowledge our sins—both the flagrant and the more subtle ones—and take them to the foot of the cross to plead the blood of the Lamb.  Our Omnipotent Ophthalmologist is pleased to go to work on every plank and every speck, and He will not stop working until every last splinter of every last plank has been removed.  He has promised to carry the good work He began in us on to completion (Philippians 1:6).

Granted, this process can be painful at times.  The eyes are very sensitive and easily irritated.  But over time, as our Omnipotent Ophthalmologist washes us with His Word and His Spirit, applying the truths of the Gospel to our hearts, we find that when we rub our tired, aching eyes our protruding plank has shrunk down to speck-size!

When we our ugly plank is removed, we begin to see others as God sees them: as image-bearers of God.  Every man, woman, and child has dignity and value.  Because there is a God—and we most certainly are not Him—we can begin to accept others for where they are in their story and give them what God gives to us each day: unconditional love and unlimited forgiveness.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

What is your top priority in life?  Is it your marriage?  Your family and raising your children?  Perhaps it’s your job and climbing the ladder of success?  Maybe a special relationship with someone?  Could it be your favorite recreation or hobby?

Today we’ll see what the first priority is to be for those who are in Christ.

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.  (John 1:40-42)

What a remarkable passage of Scripture—one that is both instructive and inspiring!  The first thing Andrew did after hearing John the Baptist say, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35) was to find his brother, Simon.  He told him about the Christ and brought Simon to Jesus.

Wouldn’t that be well said of all of us—that the first thing we were known for doing was bringing others to Jesus?  Andrew, who lived much of his life in his brother Peter’s shadow, is known for doing just that.

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”  (John 6:8-9)

Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus; later he brought this little boy with the loaves and fish to Jesus.  In reading through the New Testament, it is striking to find that—outside of John’s Gospel—Andrew is only identified in the lists of the apostles.  We read of his brother Peter in a variety of circumstances, from walking on water . . . professing to die with his Savior . . . to actually denying Him to a servant girl . . . and to preaching at Pentecost, where 3,000 were saved.

It seems that Andrew lived an anonymous life for the Almighty compared to his brother, and yet we see him doing what every believer is called by God to do: bringing others to Christ . . . sharing the Gospel with those who do not know Jesus.

Now, before you start thinking you need to quit your post and get into full-time vocational ministry, know this: God is calling all of us to simply “grow where we are planted,” and our growth is to be marked by the growing number of people whom we tell about Jesus.

Take a moment to invite someone to come to church with you this week or to a Bible study.  God will be glorified and you will be blessed!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Let’s take a good look at a truth that is an encouragement, a comfort, and a source of great inspiration to every child of God.

They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.  (Luke 22:13)

In describing an event from the final hours of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the good doctor Luke provides us the truth behind every truth we find in the Bible:

JUST AS JESUS HAD TOLD THEM!

It is always just as Jesus has told us.  Here Peter and John were sent into Jerusalem ahead of the disciples to prepare the Passover meal.  Jesus told them they would encounter a man carrying a pitcher of water who would take them to a house.  Upon entering they were to tell the owner, “The teacher asks, where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?”  Jesus told them they would be taken upstairs to a large room that was already set up for the Passover Supper.  And, of course, everything was “just as Jesus had told them” it would be.

Is this not a word of encouragement and comfort and inspiration to you today, regardless of where this finds you?

• Facing trouble in life . . . it is just as Jesus told you
• Fighting spiritual battles . . . it is just as Jesus told you
• Dealing with a little unbelief . . . it is just as Jesus told you
• Satan looking to sift you as wheat . . . it is just as Jesus told you
• Persecuted for your faith . . . it is just as Jesus told you

Nothing is happening in your life right now that has not first passed through His nail-scarred hands.  God has ordained all things, whatsoever shall come to pass, and that includes everything that is going on in your life right now.

To be sure, we play a role in some of these things.  If you play with fire you will probably get burned.  If you stare at the sun you will probably damage your eyes.  If you walk in traffic you will probably get hit by a car.  If you jump off the roof of your house you will probably be greeted by the ground.  Some of the stuff we have to deal with in life simply happens as a result of living in a broken, sin-filled world as broken, sin-filled people.

So, let’s close out today with a few reminders of what Jesus has told every child born of grace.  These promises will encourage you, comfort you, and inspire you to live the life God has called us to live.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  (Matthew 11:28-29)

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.  (Isaiah 40:29-31)

This same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 4:19)

Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.  (Romans 8:37-39)

You can take it to the bank with confident assurance that it always has been and it always will be . . . just as Jesus has said.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

I am constantly thirsty!  When Kim and I go out to either of our two favorite restaurants for lunch, those who serve us know me well and always bring me two diet sodas to get started.  They know how much and how fast I drink, and it saves them running back and forth for refills.

The Bible talks about a far more important thirst and the real Thirst Quencher.

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.  (Revelation 22:17)

Did you know this is the final command given in Scripture?  “Let the one who is thirsty come and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”  Wow!  God gives us a thirst for the soul-quenching, life-giving water of life and then bids us to come and drink.  How thankfully, gratefully, and expectantly we should come to the water of life when the Author of life invites us to come.  Yet how often we find ourselves drawn to the troughs of untruth, where we pay dearly to drink what leaves us still dying of thirst.

God tells us to bring our thirst to Jesus because He is the only One who can truly quench it.  His water quenches our thirst for approval.  His water quenches our thirst for acceptance.  His water quenches our thirst for affection.  All too often I return to the bitter, dirty waters of my broken cisterns, thinking somehow that they will do for me what only God in Christ can do for me.  And yet Jesus never turns His back on me . . . even when I turn away from Him and drink from wells that were never meant to satisfy any of my thirsts.

The Real Thirst Quencher not only gives us the thirst we have, He slakes them by giving us the soul-satisfying waters of the Gospel.  Speaking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus pointed to a worldly well and said, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

Everything we need we already have in Jesus, and the more we run to drink from His well the more we find our deepest thirst satisfied.  Let us thirst to forgive more freely.  Let us thirst to love unconditionally.  Let us thirst to accept openly.  And the Real Thirst Quencher will satisfy our every thirst.

So today, regardless of where you have been seeking to quench your thirst, Jesus says to you, “Come!” Come and partake of the water of life; immerse yourself in the sweet, living water and you will thirst no more.   Let us drink early and often each day, so that we might experience a quenched thirst that will never leave us thirsty again.

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

When was the last time you set out in the direction of your “Tarshish,” rather than the direction God was calling you to go? I pray that today’s message will be a word of great comfort to you right where it finds you.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for the port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. (Jonah 1:1-3)

Jonah was so committed to his own agenda—rather than God’s—that he hopped a ship that was headed in precisely the opposite direction from where God had called him to go. Rather than surrender his will to God’s will and go to Nineveh and preach God’s word, Jonah headed off to Tarshish to satisfy his own selfish desires. To Jonah, the wrong way looked like the right way . . . but instead of looking up at God, he looked in at himself and chose to serve the advancement of his own little kingdom rather than God’s universal kingdom.

Because we are still sinners after we are saved, we all have to struggle with this same tendency to see the wrong way as the right way. We want what we want when we want it, and often we don’t care who gets hurt along the way. So the next time the wrong way looks like the right way . . . look up!

When you are feeling short-tempered with your children, look up. When you are filled with anxiety at the office, look up. When you are growing weary and impatient with the ones you love, look up. The wrong way so often looks like the right way, simply because it is the easy way. Often it’s easy to do what we want to do, rather than what God wants us to do . . . especially when we have no interest in doing what God wants us to do!

This was the case with Jonah; he would have been much happier to see the people of Nineveh cursed and crushed under the hand of God. The last thing he wanted to do was preach to them about the way of deliverance.

There is instruction here for you and me! We must remember that God is in the habit of calling us to things we would rather not do. He knows that in doing “the hard things,” we will be conformed more and more to the likeness of Christ. No one knows more about what it is like to do the hard things in life than our Lord Jesus Christ. He left the glorious throne room of Heaven to enter this fallen and broken world. He lived and He loved and He served a people who did not receive Him . . . who did not deserve Him! And they proved that by falsely accusing Him, betraying Him, beating Him and spitting on Him, mocking Him, denying Him, and nailing Him to a dirty tree.

But the hideous betrayal wasn’t the hardest thing He had to endure; not even the unspeakable agony of crucifixion was the worst thing.

The Bible tells us that from the 6th to the 9th hour, while Jesus hung upon that cross, darkness covered the land. For the very first time in all eternity, God the Father could not look upon God the Son. It was during that time of unimaginable horror that our Savior uttered His anguished, desolate cry: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). And because of that period of time, you and I will never have to experience the unimaginable–being forsaken by God.

Jesus was forsaken for your sake and mine; if we have placed our trust in His atoning death, we will never have to experience the ultimate “hard thing” of being separated from God. So, no matter what God is calling you to deal with today, deal with it knowing that Jesus has gone before you and now goes with you.

Remember, whatever God is calling you to do, and wherever He is calling you to go, know that it is for two promised reasons: your good and His glory. So when the wrong way looks like the right way . . . look up!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
!

When was the last time you set out in the direction of your “Tarshish,” rather than the direction God was calling you to go? I pray that today’s message will be a word of great comfort to you right where it finds you.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for the port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. (Jonah 1:1-3)

Jonah was so committed to his own agenda—rather than God’s—that he hopped a ship that was headed in precisely the opposite direction from where God had called him to go. Rather than surrender his will to God’s will and go to Nineveh and preach God’s word, Jonah headed off to Tarshish to satisfy his own selfish desires. To Jonah, the wrong way looked like the right way . . . but instead of looking up at God, he looked in at himself and chose to serve the advancement of his own little kingdom rather than God’s universal kingdom.

Because we are still sinners after we are saved, we all have to struggle with this same tendency to see the wrong way as the right way. We want what we want when we want it, and often we don’t care who gets hurt along the way. So the next time the wrong way looks like the right way . . . look up!

When you are feeling short-tempered with your children, look up. When you are filled with anxiety at the office, look up. When you are growing weary and impatient with the ones you love, look up. The wrong way so often looks like the right way, simply because it is the easy way. Often it’s easy to do what we want to do, rather than what God wants us to do . . . especially when we have no interest in doing what God wants us to do!

This was the case with Jonah; he would have been much happier to see the people of Nineveh cursed and crushed under the hand of God. The last thing he wanted to do was preach to them about the way of deliverance.

There is instruction here for you and me! We must remember that God is in the habit of calling us to things we would rather not do. He knows that in doing “the hard things,” we will be conformed more and more to the likeness of Christ. No one knows more about what it is like to do the hard things in life than our Lord Jesus Christ. He left the glorious throne room of Heaven to enter this fallen and broken world. He lived and He loved and He served a people who did not receive Him . . . who did not deserve Him! And they proved that by falsely accusing Him, betraying Him, beating Him and spitting on Him, mocking Him, denying Him, and nailing Him to a dirty tree.

But the hideous betrayal wasn’t the hardest thing He had to endure; not even the unspeakable agony of crucifixion was the worst thing.

The Bible tells us that from the 6th to the 9th hour, while Jesus hung upon that cross, darkness covered the land. For the very first time in all eternity, God the Father could not look upon God the Son. It was during that time of unimaginable horror that our Savior uttered His anguished, desolate cry: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). And because of that period of time, you and I will never have to experience the unimaginable–being forsaken by God.

Jesus was forsaken for your sake and mine; if we have placed our trust in His atoning death, we will never have to experience the ultimate “hard thing” of being separated from God. So, no matter what God is calling you to deal with today, deal with it knowing that Jesus has gone before you and now goes with you.

Remember, whatever God is calling you to do, and wherever He is calling you to go, know that it is for two promised reasons: your good and His glory. So when the wrong way looks like the right way . . . look up!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

I doubt there’s an American over the age of 5 who isn’t familiar with the marketing slogan about the Energizer Bunny who keeps on going . . . and going . . . and going!  Well today I want to talk about our Eternal Energizer.  Did you know that God is so good that His promised good to His people keeps on going . . . and going . . . and going?

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  (Psalm 23:6)

When was the last time you thought about the goodness of God following you around day in and day out?  If your honest answer sounds like mine (“Uh, I’m not sure”), this truth exposes the narrow-sighted view we have of the glorious Gospel and the unlimited bounty of God’s goodness toward broken sinners like you and me.  This incredible truth about goodness following me all of my days seems to suggest that God’s amazing grace has nothing to do with me and everything to do with God.  And I thank God for that!

Imagine for a moment the psalmist saying, “Surely God’s goodness will follow me all the days of my life . . . as long as I continue following my good God.”  Changes everything doesn’t it?  If my experience of God’s goodness is based on my “goodness,” then my experience of God’s goodness would be only as good as I am—and at times that is not all that good!

But the Gospel-saturated promise we receive from God is a guarantee of goodness apart from anything we think, do, or say.  You might think it was too good to be true . . . if it wasn’t written down.  You can be absolutely certain in your belief that God is good to us even when we are not good to Him.  Marinate on this for a moment:

• When we have divided affections . . . God is good to us
• When we are consumed with selfish ambition . . . God is good to us
• When we are serving anything smaller than God . . . God is good to us
• When we are running in the opposite direction from God . . . God is good to us
• When we forget God in the details of life . . . God is good to us

By nature we find it easy to think about a God who would reward us with His goodness when we are good.  But to think about a God who is still good to us when we are bad and are deserving only of His anger and displeasure is—well, in a word—unimaginable!  Yet this is exactly what the Gospel does for everyone who believes it.

The good news is so breathtakingly good!  God’s goodness flows to those who have not earned it and do not deserve it in any way.  How freeing to know that our relationship with God is based on His faithfulness toward us and not our faithfulness toward Him.

The prophet Jeremiah echoed the psalmist when he gave us these words from God: “I [the Lord] will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them” (Jeremiah 32:40).  To know that God’s goodness is always in hot pursuit of rebels on the run like you and me is as encouraging as it is empowering.  It is the Gospel-fuel that lights the fire of our faith.  If you have placed your trust in Christ for your eternal salvation, you can be utterly confident that God’s goodness and love will follow you all of your days . . . regardless of the circumstances we are currently facing—whether we face them with big faith, little faith, or even no faith at all!  “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:18).

May God give us the grace to embrace the truth that His goodness keeps on going . . . and going . . . and going!

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

God must really like gardens, because they find great importance in His sacred story.  On the night He was betrayed, Jesus agonized over His coming death, to the point of sweating drops of blood, in the Garden of Gethsemane.  You will, of course, remember that it all got started for the human family in the Garden of Eden, where our first two parents were placed to care for and have dominion over their new home.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it . . . Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.  (Genesis 2:15, 22)

The paradise of the Garden of Eden was our first home.  But that quickly changed when Adam and Eve turned toward the serpent and away from God.  But God did not leave them to wallow in their dreadful rebellion.  He pursued those “rebels without a cause” and promised to send His Savior to save them from their sins.  And in His grand salvation project, God has promised something very special for all His people:

You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  (Isaiah 58:11)

Here is a garden better than the Garden of Eden!  Here is a “Gospel-Garden,” where the water never runs dry.  In other words, God will forever be on the throne of our lives; sin and death will be no more.  To be like a well-watered garden is to be full of the life that can only come from the truths of the Gospel.  We are liberated to live lives of freedom, joy, and faithfulness to Jesus, because we live under the banner of His finished work.

John recorded that “Jesus . . . said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’” (John 7:37-39).  To be a well-watered garden is to be saturated with the super-abundant blessings that flow freely from the Spirit of God.  And they will flow forever.

• The blessing of total forgiveness
• The blessing of unconditional love
• The blessing of unbroken fellowship with God
• The blessing of complete approval
• The blessing of unimaginable joy
• The blessing of unmerited favor

Jesus is the Gospel-Gardner and we are His Gospel-garden.  Nothing can ever come between us (Romans 8:38-39).  Our sins—past, present, or future—cannot separate the Gospel-garden from our Gospel-Gardner.  Neither Satan nor his demons can separate the Gospel-garden from our Gospel-Gardner.  Not even death can separate the Gospel-garden from our Gospel-Gardner.

The Gospel-Gardner has promised to complete the good work He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6), and what He has promised He will do.  “For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?  His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” (Isaiah 14:27).

This is the Gospel.  This is grace for your race.  NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!