April 3: The Messiah

All right, good morning. Welcome to episode, 30 of the plan. We are going through the entire story of the Bible, and this is the 30th sermon in that series and we started in September with Genesis. And now we are in the ministry of Jesus and we're actually beginning the journey towards the cross today in Palm. Sunday, is next weekend Easter is the week after that. So this is all coming to a climax very soon. We'll go through, axon and Revelation in May but that the key moment is coming and where That Journey today and I'm really excited about seeing all these things from 30 servings coming together. Before we get to that, we need to remind ourselves of the story that we've been telling over the past twenty nine weeks. It was a story that we've seen scripture telling the Bible is the story of God's plan, to establish a Place full of people who live out their purpose, in his presence, but God made the world, he put people in it and he gave them a job. Their purpose is to rule the world on his behalf, and then he came down to live with them. And that was the seventh day. That was the day that he blasts. That was the goal. But human beings messed it up and we can't mess it up and we kept messing up. And it's clear that God needed to intervene. And so he intervened through one family that we call the Israelites. And he decided to make them a special example to the rest of the world of what God's plan is supposed to look like because people didn't understand who got is or what he wanted. So he took this one people and he gave them one particular part of a piece of And he gave them a purpose to live out that he laid out explicitly in the law of Moses. And then he came to live with them in the temple. And saw you had this place where God's people are living out his purpose, in his presence. And the whole world is supposed to be able to look at is real and understand what it is. The god ones for the world. They're supposed to get to know God through Israel, turns out, whatever's wrong with humanity is wrong with Israel to and they kept messing up just the way the rest of us did. And so did eventually God had to say, all he got to end the Covenant. He said the Covenant is broken because what they are doing does not represent. My design. Israel is not is not showing you what I want the world and Humanity to look like. And so the only way he could reveal himself to the world was to say, I'm not that whatever I want. It's not what they're doing. There's been four or five hundred years since then and is real is still in Exile. Some of them have come back to the promised land. Most of them have not and they aren't in control of the land. And they've been waiting for God to restore them. And all of a sudden this Jesus fellow shows up, and he says that he God is restoring the world. The real story is real to his plan and an ultimate for filling his plan through Jesus. And we've been looking at his ministry over the past few weeks, to his ministry of, proclaiming that new self. A few weeks ago. We talked about how he went out and announce the good news to the world. In the good news was that God is restoring Israel, the kingdom of God, that's what that means. And so Israel is coming back into the plan and then the next week, we talked about how he went around for giving people and healing people and, and restoring people into into what gods we were supposed to look like, so, he's putting together a true Israel, that can be ready when Jesus restores is real to the plan. And then last week we look, The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus, preached to the Jews. Exactly what following God's plan would look like as opposed to what they were actually doing so that they would be able to get on board. Cuz remember there's this ticking clock that Israel needs to choose to repent and follow God's plan before the path are on leaves into destruction. But what Jesus hasn't really laid out for people is that Central thing that all of this revolves around which is, how is God going to restore his people cuz so far, he's been telling them, it's going to happen. Get ready. This is what it looks like to be ready. But the question that we haven't been seen the answer to what? Exactly is going to happen. Is the Jews were all speculating about what is going to happen? What's going to look like when God sort all this out? They weren't spending quite as much time on. How do we make sure we're ready for it. So today what we're going to do is we're going to start looking at the time when Jesus begins preparing his disciples for what it looks like for the for Jesus to accomplish this Central thing that will restore the Kingdom. So as we go into our opening passage, remember the way we keep our coordinates in a biblical story for the plan. We're watching for four things. Who is the story about where God's people, where is their home and what's their relationship with their home? How can they meet with God? How they have access to his presence? And finally, what did God tell them to do? We're going to jump into the Gospel of Luke in a conversation that changes the whole trajectory of what's going on. Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him. He asked them who do the crowds say that I am, they replied, some say, John the Baptist other say, Elijah and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago, has come back to life. But what about you? He asked, who do you say that? I am Peter answered, God's Messiah. Jesus, strictly warn them. Not to tell this to anyone. This, this reminds us of a really interesting thing about when Jesus went around preaching the gospel, when we preach the gospel with, you can't do it without saying Jesus as the Messiah, but Jesus was not going around. Announcing. I am the Messiah, knowledged it to some of his to, his followers, in private and told them not to say anything. Well, we actually knows that Jesus was not preach to the world is Messiah until after Easter. But he does acknowledge to his disciples at this point that he is the messiah. And that's a really big deal because the Messiah that means anointed one that basically means he is the heir to David. He is supposed to be the next king. So as we look at the our coordinates, we asked, who is the story about as it's been for the last few weeks. It is about Jesus and the Jews. The Jews are God's people and Jesus as their leader, and we've known that Jesus was their leader, but God has appointed a variety of types of leaders, Moses and Samuel and John the Baptist where leaders as profits. We've known that Jesus is was proclaimed to be God, Son, but he was really explicit. Lee says, I am the Messiah, the anointed one. I'm going to be king. That is my claim to leadership in Israel.

Where is their home? Their home? Right now? We would describe as Galilee and Judea and this is the main obstacle facing anyone who claimed to be Messiah. He's claiming to be king over Israel, but they're currently is a king over. Israel is actually a seizure and he's divided the promised land into provinces Galilee and Judea to the Romans are the big obstacle to anyone claiming to be Messiah. And by this point, they're actually really good at killing people who claim to be Messiah as they do it all the time and never been so many failed. My size at this point because that's the main obstacle is the Romans. At this point, how can God's people meet with God? A lot of them think they can meet with God in the temple. We actually know is that there were quite a few Jews, who weren't quite, sure, whether the second temple was legitimate. And so, not all of them were super excited about the temple. But if you were going to meet with God, that Temple is supposed to be the place for it. From his God didn't come back to the temple, and but the good news is God's present is available in Jesus. So, rather than finding God in the temple, you actually find got out in Galilee, and when you encounter Jesus, And the last question is, what did God what? What instructions does God have for? Jesus. Doesn't speak in this passage. But when Jesus says that he is the Messiah and he admits that, he's the Messiah. He is essentially taking on a whole set of instructions. The whole Vision that was cast in the Old Testament of what the Messiah was supposed to do. Messiah is a job. So, when Jesus says he's saying, I'm the one who's supposed to take on this job. What is the job of the Messiah, the best place where we can find that is and just succinctly put is in Psalm chapter 2 and where to read most of that and you'll see remember Messiah Christ. They both mean anointed one. Talk to says, why do the nation's conspire in the people spot in vain the kings of the earth? Rise up in the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed is Messiah. The one in throne in heaven last. The Lord scoffs at them saying I have installed my king on, Zion my Holy Mountain. He said to me ask me and I will make the nation's your inheritance. The ends of the Earth, your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron Dash them to pieces like Pottery. Therefore you came to be wise, be warned, you rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and celebrate, his rule with trembling kiss, his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your Destruction for his raft and flare up in the moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. You got in and I'm not showing this song. The vision of what the Messiah is supposed to do in the first thing. The Messiah supposed to do. Is he supposed to take the throne in Jerusalem? I gots it says the set up his King on. Zion my Holy Mountain X Jerusalem. To the king is meant to come to Jerusalem and then he's the Messiah is meant to come to Jerusalem and become king.

The other thing that this actually the song is actually about is the fact that once he's King, he's supposed to defeat the enemies of Israel. Do the dash thing to pieces, like pottery?

Is a very Marshall, kind of the song about the king ruling over other nations. So, this is what people were expecting from the Messiah. Would you design them aside? You saying? I'm going to come King and I'm going to defeat the enemies of Israel. The question is, and then he's basically saying this is the way the kingdom is going to come. the question is, How is Jesus going to accomplish this? And this is where he starts flowing in his disciples about what that looks like. They're going to pick up in the same conversation. We left off and just a very next verse. Jesus said, the son of man must suffer, many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and he must be killed. And on the third day. You raise the life. Not yet familiar with the gospels. You'll know that Jesus tells us the disciples multiple times, and they don't understand. And it's really easy from our perspective, looking back to say, why don't they understand? He just lays it out there really simply, because really obvious what he say, is not a complicated. There's no Parables. There's no imagery. He just says it, but I don't think it's hard for them to understand is the statement. He's making the thing that's hard for them to understand. How does this statement link with him claiming to be the Messiah? How does this statement accomplish the vision of Psalm 2? Is kind of like, if you were to take your car in like, you need to replace the starter, and you tell the guy I need to replace my starter, is this. Okay? What I'm going to do is I am going to make a peanut butter and jam sandwich and eat it. Are you understand what he's saying? Right? It's not. But what you don't understand, is how him eating a peanut butter, jelly sandwich, fixes the starter in your car. That's what you don't understand. So, when Jesus says, I'm going to go eat. We talked about the chief priests and the teachers in the elders. That means he's going to Jerusalem. So he says, I'm going to go to Jerusalem, which is a big deal. For them is what it means for the Messiah to go to Jerusalem. When I get there. I'm going to suffer and die and be and race rise from the dead. Like, okay, what does that do? They don't understand how this could accomplish the mission of the Messiah. The Jesus told his disciples is going to Jerusalem to suffer and die. I should have put one more blanket that he said he was going to rise again, but that's not the hard part to understand the suffering and dying is the hard part for his disciples to understand. The question is, why does Jesus believe that he needs to suffer and die? Instead of lead an army and conquer? The Roman is that what they were expecting. And and there's actually the Jews had their own expectations about what Jesus was supposed to do and then we have now a different set of expectations that I find cannot be entirely scriptural. Which is that we think that I was raised in Sunday school on the idea that Jesus needed to die because God was angry at Humanity for sinning and he couldn't get over that until somebody died, but he's got to hit somebody and Jesus steps in the way and takes the hit so that God can forgive us. Cuz if it's if if he doesn't then God is incapable of forgiving Humanity.

And so what we're going to do is we're going to look now at what Jesus shows us about his reason why he believes that. He needs to come and die because usually only talk about why Jesus died, we look at the letters and we look at what Paul said about why Jesus died and those who hate. But we don't often look at what Jesus said. So I want to start by looking at the evidence that Jesus gives us of why he needed it. He doesn't give us very much, cuz his normal answer is to fulfill scripture. He's doing what he's supposed to do, but he does give us a few clues about exactly why it is that that his method, his approach deals with the Human Condition. So, let's let's pick up as their journey into Jerusalem. He has this. He intervenes in an argument between his disciples about who's the greatest. Jesus called them together and said, you know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles, Lord it over them and their High officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all or even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. The Jesus says, I didn't come here to conquer and dominate people as cake. That's not the kind of thing that I came to be. I came to serve my people and to give my life as a ransom. Now, the Greek word that they that they translate his Ransom, you know what it means. Did Ransom. Get means the payment? It comes from the the word for releasing a loosening someone from slavery or bondage? And it's the, the payment that makes that possible. We just what a ransom is, but often, if you're, if you're raising the Sunday School classes, I was raised in there. Don't you taught in the theology that, that a lot of people are taught in the ransom, ransom mean, us from God, or the gods of the one who's demanding a payment and he needs that to be satisfied before he will let us out God's the Jailer demanding payment in Jesus is the one who makes a payment. Which technically, that could be what Ransom means, except that, if you connect this idea of Ransom with the other things that the other clues, that Jesus gives us. That's not what he's talking about. Going to give you another clue that you don't pick up on in English translations, but it's really telling there's a story that 14 so we won't have time to get into. If we did all the stories I want to do for the planet, would take us like three years to get through it. So the Transfiguration didn't make it but they go on a mountain and while they're up there. Suddenly, he starts glowing like a light bulb and is surrounded by cloud and these amazing things happen. And here's one key thing that happens in Luke's description to men. Moses and Elijah appeared in glorious Splendor talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure which one he was about to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem. Now here's the thing about this verse. If you read it in Greek. Do you know what the word for departure is? Even though the Greek word for departure is It's in the notice that the names we have our Old Testament books are actually Greek. The word for departure is Exodus.

The Greek word in that versus Exodus to Jesus is talking to Moses about the Exodus. He's going to accomplish in Jerusalem. What is he connecting was mission with, he's connected with the story of the Passover story of Exodus, which is when God's ransoms his people out of Slavery to an evil power. Imposter in in in the accident they were not freed from slavery to God. God is the one who saved them out of Slavery to an evil power. Now, you may say that's a lot to build out of one word. Oh, sorry, here's a slider actually show. You is Exodus forgot to do that part of the big reveal.

Where was I? So that may seem like a lot to make out of one word, but then I went to point something out to do when somebody pointed out to me. It's smacked me in the face. If I just obvious, like this has been staring at me, the whole time. Is it? Who decided when Jesus would go to Jerusalem and confront the the powers and died? Whose choice was that was Jesus's choice, right? Jesus provoked. This they didn't come out to Galilee and get him. Jesus went to Jerusalem and end where the talk next week about The Showdown that he forces. It's because Jesus decided it would happen if Jesus could have done that at any Festival he wanted. Jesus chose the day. What happened? What day did he choose? What festival did he choose? Passover. Jesus made the choice to associate what he was going to do with one particular part of the calendar. Interesting Lee. He didn't pick the day of atonement. He picked Passover. When all of Israel is supposed to gather in one place. And remember how God freed them from slavery to an evil power. Do Jesus saw his mission as a new Exodus when God freezes people from an evil power? We don't need to be freed from God. We need to be freed from an evil power. Now that pushes on our categories, but it actually fits right into the the categories of the people. Jesus is talking to that excites him. Like yeah, we want an exodus because they are all concerned about an evil power that has them in slavery. Who's the evil power, they're thinking of Rome because the original Exodus was the enemy was Egypt. It was a king and an Empire and there is a world dominated by King and Empire. Now besides going to, he's going to liberate us from a new Empire. And so Jesus is going to push back against that misconception as well. One of the things we haven't talked about very much love in. Jesus ministry at all actually is his exorcisms. Jesus was known for doing exorcisms. Any interesting thing about his they were not prophesied about the Old Testament. There's nothing in the Old Testament that says that there's going to be then my size going to do exorcisms that'll happen when God was about his none of that. So, Jesus is doing exercises to make a stop point, and we see that point made at one of the exorcisms that he does on his way to Jerusalem. Diesel was driving out of demon. That was mute. When the demon left, the man, who have been you spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, by beelzeboss, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons others. Tested in by asking, for sign from Heaven. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, any Kingdom divided against itself will be ruined. And A house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against itself. How can his kingdom stand? I say this, because you claimed I drive out demons by Vi was a bowl. Will pause there. And notice what this tells us about how Jesus thinks about exorcisms for Jesus exorcisms. Are a form of warfare against Satan. Because when they say all, he's using Satan to drive out saying they might not be thinking of exorcisms as Warfare in Jesus without. No, I'm, I'm making war on Satan. Why would Satan give me the power to defeat him? That doesn't make sense. If you, if you give, you know, your nuclear launch codes to your enemy. That's not how you win. Right? That's a terrible way. So why would he do that? Clearly, if I am driving out demons and I am Satan's enemy on conquering Satan.

Is it. Now, if I drive out demons by Beelzebub by whom, do your followers, drive them out? So then if they do, then they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. As there are other people who drive out demons, but Jesus is not just an exorcist. He's a person who gives the power to drive out demons who also claims to be bringing the kingdom of God. Do Jesus asked me if I was lying about the kingdom Godwin to give me the power to drive out demons, but if I can drive out demons by the power of God, then that means that I am, I'm bringing the kingdom. Like I say, I am. The one last picture. He says, when a strong man fully armed guards, his own house, his possessions are safe, but when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder. Who's the strong man? How many Satan do the same? If I can, if I can come into his house and take people out front in from his power? Clearly? I'm defeating him clearly. He must be tied up because he's not going to just let me bring people in. So what Jesus is saying, is I'm fighting a war with Satan, and I'm winning. That's what these exorcisms prove to you. I'm fighting with Satan and I'm winning. To the evil power that Jesus intended to overthrow with Satan, not roam. Now here's the tricky thing, though, is that we've been looking this is only the third time. We talked about Satan in this sermon series. And the first time was just to point out that he doesn't actually appear in the garden. Does the story that we tell about Satan is not really based on what the Bible says about Satan. We try and fill in his biography, a lot more than we, then we can. And the big thing is we say that Satan is this rebel against God. He tried to overthrow God, which never quite made sense, because you think an archangel with no, you can't overthrow God. But we've actually been pointing out. Is it in the Old Testament? Satan is a member of God's Court was a very particular job. He is God's prosecutor. He is the one who goes around and points out, when people are are being righteous or not. Maybe points out potential flaws in, God's God's justice, when he doesn't jobe's like like this Joe guy is really likes you a lot. But you also give him a lot of stuff. So maybe it's just cuz you gave him stuff they got in. So last place we see Satan in the Old Testament is accusing Israel when God is considering restoring them after the Exile number, that Zachary has a vision, the Angels show me Joshua, the high priest standing before the age of the Lord and Satan standing in his right hand to accuse him sitting job at this point cuz he is God, prosecutor, his attorney general is, he makes sure to let everybody gets punished to the full extent of the law. And Satan standing. Next to Joshua, who's representing Israel saying, they haven't repented. They're not worthy. They They disobeyed, you never returned. You can't forgive them. They're not worth it. They don't deserve it. That's what been Satan's role. Zoe. Satan was Israel's accuser. His job was to make sure that they were punished for breaking the Covenant.

The question then is how does Satan come into this as being the enemy of Jesus?

We're going to look at another story where Jesus Jesus, there's bring the estate and more as they get closer to Jerusalem. And there's this encounter that I have where there's a woman who has been bent over. She's been her back is been so some kind of condition where she's been bent over for a very long time and Jesus heals her on the Sabbath in a synagogue, and the leaders get mad because they say that's six days of the week that you can do that. Don't do it on the Sabbath. And Jesus makes a very important point about this about her, Sabbath is the best day to do this. The Lord answered him. You Hypocrites, doesn't each of you on the Sabbath? Untie your ox or Donkey from the stall and Lead it out to give it water. Then should not this woman a daughter of Abraham who Satan kept Bound for 18 years. Be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her. Sabbath is the day of God's New Creation. The Sabbath is a day that we're supposed to live as much as we can as if the plan has been restored. Isn't that the day that someone should be set free from bondage. But notice bondage to who? Satan. This crippling experience that she's had is bondage to Satan. A why would that be bonded to Satan? Remember is Satan's job, is to make sure that Israel is punished for breaking the cup. You make sure the people get the justice is done in the terms of punishing people for what they deserve. What Israel is in a state of having broken the Covenant. And there are curses that come with that and self Deuteronomy says, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully, follow all his commands and decrees. I am giving you today. All these curses will come on you and overtake you. The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land. You are entering to possess the Lord will strike you with wasting disease with fever and inflammation with scorching heat and drought with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. When Israel is in a state of broken Covenant. They received the curses that show that they are that they've broken the Covenant that they're not receiving God's protection. And so actually all the things that Jesus heals could fit under the category of Covenant curses of evident, that Israel is not right with God. It's not necessarily to say that this particular woman was especially evil, and that's why she was crippled. I've no idea what her spiritual state was but his real experience these purses as a community. So, the reason why she was crippled, was because Israel, was in a state of failure, out of having broken the Covenant. And so, she was in the power Satan because Satan is the wants to make sure that those coming across as Heaven. Satan is not just prosecutors also kind of jailer. And that's what Satan pushes for. And so they are in slavery. They are in bondage to Satan because the Covenant hasn't been they haven't been saved out of the broken Covenant. But that just pushes us back to. Why haven't they been saved from the broken Covenant? Is that because God can't forgive them yet because he won't forgive them unless somebody dies will know. God has already told them what they have to do to be restored to the Covenant. When all these blessings and curses I have set before you, come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord, your God disperses you among the Nations. And when you and your children return to the Lord, your God and Obey him with all your heart and with all your soul into everything I command you today. Then the Lord, your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. What it is. You'll need to do to be restored after breaking the cover. They need to repent and return to God, right? Which is exactly what Jesus has been preaching and John the Baptist, repent and obey. Return to God, but for the last five hundred years, the Israelites have been going in every direction except returning to God. Remember, they came back to Jerusalem and Ezra Nehemiah the weather in Appling. There was not God's design for God's people. It was a let's keep the Gentiles as far away from us as we can. And let's focus on the meticulous rule, keeping and and at any cost and it failed, right? And even trying that plan. For 500 years in Jesus is telling them what you're doing, is not God's plan. You have not actually return to God. You are not actually living the way that God has called you to live. So the reason why they're in Satan's power is because they broken the Covenant and they refuse to walk through the door that got open for them. Right. God gives them the door to return to me. The only way you can get out of this is to come back to me and walk the path. I called you on and they refuse to walk it. Does Satan have power over Israel? Because they broken the Covenant and still refuse to return to God's plan. So who's the alternate obstacle to Israel's salvation to Israel's restoration? Israel Iz. We are our own worst enemies. The amazing thing about the Bible. When you tell the story, you realize, if the categories, like the protagonist of the person who drives the story forward, and the antagonist, in their way, you're right. The protagonist is God is God story. You find out, wait a minute. The the antagonist, the bad guy. It's been off the whole time. Where are the obstacle? With it because we we don't return to God. It's not because God won't forgive us. It's because we won't return to him. And we want to accept the Forgiveness. We decide to try other ways of, of living out. That's why we decide to try, just whatever of our own plans. We can come up with but there's something about us, something in us our sinful nature. We get sucked into the power of sin. And we can't see our way out. It's like it's like a bee trap is I just thought it's just like a bee trap. You know how those work when you got the cone because they come up into the cone and then they get stuck because they can't figure out if they went back to the hole in the top of the cone and out, they could get in and get out at any time. But there's something about bees that can't figure out to just go back down the hole. They came in, right? That's human beings were like bees.

And so if Israel is going to get restored, somebody has to deal with this power of sin, that's got them and Tangled, and it keeps them from being able to return to God this pattern that they get sucked into because he is right from after five hundred years, if they proven anything yet, so they can't get themselves out of it.

So that's what Jesus is going to do. It's a right before they head into Jerusalem. Jesus called Disciples together for one last pep. Talk one last. Alright, let's go over the plan. Again. I want you guys to know what's going to happen to 12, aside, and told him, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything that is written by the prophets about the son of man will be fulfilled. You will be delivered up to the Gentiles. They will mock him and sold him and spit on him. They will flog him and kill him on the third day. He will rise again. The disciples did not understand any of this, its meaning was hidden from them and they did not know what he was talking about. When he says everything the prophet said about the son of man. It's not just the province said a lot more about about the Fulfillment of God's plan than just those details. That Jesus mind out. So those are the means by which it can be fulfilled. But when he says he's going to fulfill everything they said, that means the whole promise is going to get fulfilled through the process of Jesus being tortured and executed and resurrected. All the promises that we've been talking about everything that you're hoping for is finally going to happen through this process that I'm telling you about to undergo the through his death, Jesus with free, Satan is real from Satan's Power by dealing with their sin and their guilt. How exactly that works. There is a mystery of the heart of that. We're going to talk more about that as we get Easter and I'm not going to spoil my Easter Sermon. I wouldn't do that. So we'll get more into kind of looking closer at the hell that supposed to work at Easter. But for now, it's important that we know that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, that part of you that just can't seem to do things. Right. No matter how many times you try. I think that that metaphor, that that image of a woman being bent over is really powerful because that is often what's in does to you, right? If not just that, you did something wrong and then you go back to normal and you get a fresh and clean slate. Every time you do something wrong. It kind of always on you, right? And it can destroy you. And it can, it can build up on you in bend you over and, and sometimes we can say, well, I'm just going to pretend that I'm not the sin isn't affecting. I just there's nothing wrong with me, but you're still, you're still bent over, right? You're pretending that you're fine, but you're still bent over. The truth is this sin has this power over us that we get sucked into and we all need to be freed from that and just walking around like this. Pretending that we're not bent over. It's not the solution. Someone needs to straighten us out. Productive things that Jesus didn't have to overcome Rome or the Jews are God's anger. He overcame the power of human sin and guilt. That's what lay at the heart of it. It's this this thing that bends down and was looking thing is when your back hurts, your pretty cranky, right? It's it's, it's harder to get along with people when you're in constant pain. And that that's a good metaphor for what happens. Does it ever sucked into the power of evil? You know, that it is, it is the source of all the destruction, the pain and everything. That happens in this world. Everything negative. That happens in this world and Jesus. That's what Jesus came to overcome. The obstacle wasn't God's anger that he just can't get over. I just need anger management. Training. It's, it's what we keep doing in the power that that takes over us. And so for those of you who feel like this, we all have felt like this. And I bet all of us feel this way at least a little bit right now. At any given point. The good news of Jesus is a Jesus has the power to free us from our patterns of sin and guilt and enable us to stand straight again. He has the power to not only help you avoid one more cycle of the sin and guilt cycle where you, you know, you do something wrong and then you correct in the wrong way or you just don't deal with that and it weighs down on you. And all those ways that the failed ways. We try and get ourselves out of sin. Not only does he help us? Stop going through those Cycles, but he actually stands us up straight again. He actually restores us. He changes Us in the people who can live out, the way God wants us to live our lives. The way he made us to live in this world so that we can fulfill the plan. The river. We are the obstacle to the plan. Working God could Jesus can transform us over any. One of you who is struggling with sin with a weight of sin, with the guilt with feeling like you can't get out of that that cycle. Jesus has the power to free you from it.

The last thing I want is to remember is that Jesus looked at a world where his people were dominated by the Romans. While his people were dominated by the Jewish leaders who were taking him down the wrong path and they were all dominated by the Romans and there was all kinds of horrible things going on in that time and Jesus came in and look at the problems and diagnosed it as Sin, the power of sin. Not the Romans, not even the Jewish leaders butts in and he came to address that he didn't destroy the Roman Empire. He destroyed the power of sin and we as God's people we take on the same Mission as Jesus, right? Whatever. Jesus came to do. We are meant to serve that cause, right? That means that we are meant to serve that. Same purpose and fight, that same battle who Jesus is out of these are our enemies. And only Jesus's enemies are our enemies.

Paul tells us until the Ephesians. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly Realms was. Jesus telling the Ephesians. There is he say, look, I know that you think like the emperor and the Roman soldiers around you and and the the Jews are throwing out our synagogues, and then the guy down the street who, who, who doesn't keep the HOA rules for taking care of his lawn? Like you think that they're the enemy, but the enemy is actually the power of scent. And that's who we're fighting. That's what makes sense of Jesus command to love your neighbor. You love your neighbor because I love your enemy because your enemy is not actually your enemy. Your enemy is held in the power of the true, enemy, which is sin and guilt. And weight of a human failure that just builds up power and in traps all of us. So, as we follow Jesus, we fight the same battle as him, not against people that against the power of sin over their lives.

And the best news for us taking on that mission is that we don't have to defeat sin all over again. Jesus, has defeated the power of sin. And what we do is we connect people with the one who has defeated sin. We invite them to know Jesus to be released to be healed. We don't, I'm not the one who can do it, but I know the one who can do it. That's our mission. And that's why it's so important. The way we deal with our enemies does not drive them away from the one who can actually heal them.

Cuz we closed. I'm going to ask you to consider what next step. Maybe put it in front of you. There's a lot of things. Maybe, he's putting a name a person on your heart. Maybe putting something that you need to do or what. I don't know. Why he's putting on your heart, but there are few things that you might be. The first one is a give your life to Jesus. If you haven't given your life to Jesus. He's putting it on your heart today. He's putting it on your heart. Every time you hear the word of God, that you can give your life to him, and you can be restored and you can be freed from the power of sin, and you can have that help in Jesus, and so if that's you, that we encourage you today to to answer that call come forward during the last song you can talk with one of our ministers after the service. If you're watching online, you can get in touch with a church or you can talk to a Christian that you know, and trust but don't let another day go by without finding healing in Jesus.

Another think I might be calling you to do is to join us small group or servicing. These are ways that you can get connected with the people of God. And you can send your small groups are where we help each other to live out this new life that we've been given and we build each other up and and we just go through life together, service teams are opportunities where you can serve others and you can build the kingdom by serving as of the church serving others in our community. You can sign up for one of those to connect card. Last thing is, if you're interested in getting in committing to a congregation that is seeking to live out God's Kingdom in to live out this renewal in this, this Freedom From Evil, from sin, in this community that two were seeking to be. And so, if you'd like to find out more about becoming a member here, you can sign up for connect class on your connect card. And we'll schedule one of those where we talk about who we are, what we do, and how you can be a part of it. So encourage you to consider taking one of those steps as we stand and sing our final song.