The Jesus Revolution

2018 Advent  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Fourth Sunday of Advent

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Intro:

Revolution. One might think of the orbit of a planet or other celestial body, or the completion of time (a year is one revolution of the earth around the sun); but the definition of revolution upon which I’d like for us to focus is that of a sudden, radical, or complete change.
With this definition in mind, the ministry of Jesus was revolutionary. His birth was sudden (even though the prophecies regarding the Messiah were thousands of years old), the birth of Jesus caught many unprepared.
Upon the advent of the Messiah, there was a fundamental shift in thinking about how God was interacting with mankind. When Jesus came, a revolution began.
The old covenant [established with Adam, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David & the prophets of the Old Testament] was only meant to foreshadow the new covenant established in Christ Jesus.
Most of the priests in Jesus’ day clung to the old covenant. They knew it backwards and forwards. They were experts in the law. Religion to them was in adhering to the old covenant. In fact, the Pharisees and Sadducees were so steeped in upholding the old covenant that they added additional laws to insure no infraction of the old covenant would ever take place. Unfortunately, this only placed undue burden; for the law was meant only to point people to Christ, not pave their way to salvation.
We see Jesus address one of the pharisees in .

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;

2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these bsigns that You do unless God is with him.”

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

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Nicodemus understands that God is with Jesus. He understands that what Jesus is doing is impossible apart from God. And yet, there is still apprehension about laying down the old way in order to embrace the new. You can’t teach old dogs new tricks.
You can almost hear his nervousness, his concern, as he speaks to Jesus under cover of darkness, speaking practically, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
The revolution of Jesus was about far more than the natural, physical world. Jesus was about to change everything.
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REVOLUTION // LOVE

The loving kindness of God was not a new concept for the people of Israel. For generations people had lived and died extolling the lovingkindness of God upon His people. They had performed rituals, offer sacrifices, and tried to live righteous lives because of the loving kindness that God had shown them. But true to our nature, they fell short; just as we fall short - every day. Many try to live by the old covenant, trying to earn their salvation, prove ourselves to God; and all we prove is that none is righteous, no not one.
Praise be to God! He has a better plan in mind. It was the original plan, the one foreshadowed by the old covenant. God planned all along to give His one and only Son, Jesus. Why? Because of His great love for us.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His conly begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

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Yes, God love you. And His plan is much better than any plan you or I could devise. He sent His Son. And when we accept His plan, His Son, we become sons & daughters of the Most High. And because of His love, we can love others. What would life look like if we would see people as God does? Love people like God does? Revolutionary, isn’t it? And when we experience the love of God, and respond to His extraordinary love, we can live life free of condemnation.

REVOLUTION // NO CONDEMNATION

You see, Jesus said,
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17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

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God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

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17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

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This is really good news. News we tend to forget. Instead of letting the people we encounter know that God loves them, we often tell them all the ways that God is disappointed with them. And He did not come to condemn the world.
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He came to save the world. The word “save” in the Greek is sozo. It is a unique word that means more then just “save for eternal life.” It means “saved, healed, and delivered.” Jesus come into the world to bring wholeness, to finally realize the OT idea of shalom. Peace. Father God sent Jesus, in love, to make us whole, set us free, and deliver us from darkness.

REVOLUTION // LIVING IN THE LIGHT

Main Body:

19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

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Love is not an excuse to live however we want or to do whatever we want. Love empowers the gift of salvation. Now that we are set free, now that we are whole, we are to live in the light.
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The revolution Jesus started continues when our lives are lived in the light. We have learned from , that Jesus is the Light of the world. Now that we are saved, made whole, we live in His light. In fact we are children of light:

8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light

9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),

10 atrying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

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Conclusion:

Close:

Main Body:

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Close:

Since we have been saved and are children of the light, we should set our live to finding out what pleases God. We know that spreading the light, inviting others to become sons& daughters pleases Him. Let us invite. Let us live in the light we now have inside us.
Let us choose to live in love instead of condemnation. Rejoice that you are a son or daughter of the Most High. And take the Good News with love in to our homes, neighborhoods, communities, work place, and share it with everyone we encounter.
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