If I Could Only Preach One Sermon...

INTRO

What if I could only preach one sermon… What would that sermon be? What would it be titled? Would it be taken from the Old Testament, maybe the Psalms or Proverbs? Or would it come out of the New Testament, taken from the first-hand knowledge found in the Epistles? Perhaps it would be more “Topical” ripped out today’s headlines filled with controversy! Or would it be something more personal, something painful, coaxed from the darkness of my past or something joyous, shared from the light of my future! Oh, I know! What about a good ole fashion, beat em over the head with the Bible, “HELL FIRE AND BRIMSTONE” message!!! Can I get a HALLELLUJAH! Can I get an AMEM!

But what if it was about all of this at the same time?!? What if it was about something too BIG, too REAL, to put into any one box that I might have in my repertoire, what then? What if it asked and answered all the questions? What if it was truly the only “message” we ever needed to hear?!?

Well, if that were the case then I think it becomes very clear what my one and only message would be about...

” JESUS”.

Main Message

Yes, My Message would be tilled “JESUS”, it would be about “JESUS”, Because He is the same “JESUS” we find in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son (JESUS), that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

“JESUS” is the MOTIVATION: The Divine Love for all humanity (“For God so loved the world”).

“JESUS” is the ACTION: The sacrificial gift of Jesus to the world (“…that he gave his only Son (JESUS)...”)

“JESUS” is the CONDITION: The human response through belief or faith (“…that whoever believes in him…”)

“JESUS” is the PROMISE: The deliverance from spiritual destruction ("perish") and the promise of "eternal life" (…should not perish but have eternal life.)

So, we now see how this lines up with Hebrews 12 that says that “JESUS” is, the Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith!

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It would be a message as old as time itself,

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made John 1:1-3

It would be a message as new as today’s sun rise,

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1: 4-5

And what Version of the “Word” would it be taken from. The KJV, NKJV, HCS, NIV, ESV? The simple answer is this… Any version that has within it covers an “Old Testament” that directly points us to “JESUS” and a “New Testament” that desires to teach us about “Jesus”!

An “OT” that goes from “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” to “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction”.

An “OT” that introduces us to the “First Adam”, exposes us to the “First Sin” and brings to light the "First Gospel”, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15 It establishes that a human "seed" (Jesus) would one day deliver a fatal blow to the serpent (Satan), though he would suffer a "bruised heel" (the crucifixion) in the process.

The “OT” would foreshadow “The Suffering Servant”, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). It shifts the expectation of a military conqueror to a "Suffering Servant" who acts as a substitute for humanity's sin.

The Old Testament will establish Jesus' identity as both a royal heir and a divine figure.

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.2 Samuel 7:12–13