Sermon on 26 September 2021 by Ps Justin
Romans 1:1-6 - “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name. And you are included among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.”
You are called to be a holy person. The deepest theology is in this phrase - God is love and God is in control. Our calling is to hear fruit so that the world will know that we are His disciples. We didn’t choose Him but He chose us. We are to live a life as a new covenant Christian. We are in the new covenant. The new covenant is the New Testament. The new commandment He gave us is to love one another as He had loved us so that the world knows that we are His disciples. What does it mean to be a Christian? Simply put, a Christian is someone who is born again, not of flesh but of God. For Christians, we have two births and one death. When we receive Jesus Christ, we are born again. However, this isn’t complete. A born again Christian is also a follower of Jesus Christ. A follower of Jesus Christ must have the mark of the cross. The Bible taught us clearly that no one can be His follower unless they bear their own cross. It means to die to your own self will. At the beginning of His ministry, He told His disciples to follow Him. Towards the end, in His last teaching, in John 15, he told them to abide in Him. A true Christian is a born again Christian, is a follower, an abiding disciple which does what Jesus instructed us to do. He will believe all of what Jesus believed. He will obey what Jesus instructed. He will be a doer. That defines a Christian. Believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light. Believe that no one can go to the father except through Him. We have to believe His purpose for us, to seek and save those who were lost. We have to believe in His challenge for us. We are to love one another. We are to please Him. Everything you do, let your life be questionable. We have to believe in His hope for us and His coming again. There is a heaven for Christians, a new Jerusalem. The gospel is to tell the story of Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:3-4 - “The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.”
To preach the gospel, the good news is to tell the story of Jesus Christ. Our Lord always told stories. He spoke in parables. When you share your story on how Jesus changed your life, you are preaching the gospel. In sharing our faith, we must remember that it is by the blood of Jesus and the testament of His word that we have this victory.
Paul talked about Jesus’s credential as Messiah, His birth from the line of David in Romans 1:3. It also talks about His validation by the spirit of God and His resurrection in Romans 1:4. It is about His eternal throne, His embodiment, His atonement for sins and His invitation. Jesus died for our sins to be a substitute so that we can be redeemed from the penalty of sin - death.
2 Timothy 2:8 - “Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach.”
In Acts 13, it shows how Apostle Paul told the story of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the embodiment of God Himself in the New Testament. We don’t want to neglect reading the Old Testament because it reflects and contains the New Testament. The New Testament explains the Old Testament. You will see the connection. Every book will have Jesus inside. If we don’t teach our children faith, the world will teach them. Be ready to answer any questions by telling the story of Jesus. You cannot tell the story of Jesus if you aren’t familiar with Him. You must read the Bible.
Every book contains Jesus. These are the 4 gospels to begin with if you want to know who he is and what he did. In reading the word, you must give yourself a specific time. If you just read it when you have spare time, you won’t go far. I encourage you to seek His Kingdom the minute you wake up. Do the realignment in the morning and not from your phones first. If you are willing, God will make you able. Matthew presents Jesus as King, the Messiah. Mark presents Jesus as a servant obeying the will of the father. Luke presents Jesus as a perfect human, the son of man. John presents Jesus as the son of God. When you understand the story of Jesus, you will be able to tell His story. You will know what Jesus did and who Jesus was.
1. Who was Jesus?
John 14:6 - “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
Acts 4:12 - “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.””
You will never find the truth until God finds you. When you are called, you are justified. When you are justified, you are glorified.
There are 7 sayings of ‘I am’ in John. First is ‘I am the bread of life’.
John 6:35 - “Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
The second is ‘I am the light of the world’.
John 8:12 - “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.””
John 9:5 - “But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.””
The third is ‘I am the gate for the sheep’.
John 10:7 - “so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.”
John 10:9 - “Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.”
The fourth is ‘I am the Good Shepherd’.
John 10:11 - ““I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.”
The fifth is ‘I am the resurrection and the life’.
John 11:25 - “Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.”
The sixth is ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’.
John 14:6 - “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
The seventh is ‘I am the true vine’.
John 15:1 - ““I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.”
John 15:5 - ““Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
When Jesus claimed I am, He is claiming himself God.
John 8:24 - “That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I Am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.””
John 1:12 - “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Hebrews 1:3 - “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.”
Colossians 1:15-16 - “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.”
In the book of John 1:3, all creations were created through Him. Without Him, nothing that was made was made. In Romans 9:5, who is God over all.
Isaiah 9:6 - “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
2. What did Jesus do?
Romans 1:1 - “This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.”
As a well trained Jewish teacher, He is quick to pick up that Jesus was the one that was prophesied in the Old Testament.
He was a sacrifice.
Romans 3:23 - “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
Romans 5:8 - “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
He was a redemption. He redeemed us through His precious blood.
Romans 3:24 - “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”
Ephesians 1:7-8 - “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”
He was a verdict.
2 Corinthians 5:21 - “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
He was a reconciliation. The cross broke the barrier between God and us. Jesus died to reconcile us even if we are sinners.
Romans 5:9-11 - “And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:19 - “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.”
If you have never shared the gospel before because of your lack of understanding, share your story about how Jesus changed your life and how you are different from the rest of people. The Bible promised us that if we trust Him, we are like a tree planted by the riverside. Your roots will always receive nutrients and your leaves will never turn yellow. You will flourish and bear fruit. Blessed is Him whose strength is in the Lord. I encourage you to read the 4 gospels too so that you are able to share His story.
Pray always to the Holy Spirit. When Peter was drowning, He sought help from the Holy Spirit. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world onto righteousness and judgement. The Holy Spirit is a wooing Spirit that directs people into the Bible.
John 16:13 - “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.”
If someone were to ask you what you know about Jesus, what would you say? This is a question we have to seriously ask ourselves. Ponder on this question.
Amen.
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