Jesus Came for You!
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luk 4:18)
Intro:
I. God came for people who need a change
II. All who come to Christ are Changed
III. Jesus came for you
I. Broke
a. When your own resources seem inadequate
i. Material – Jesus’ first disciples were poor
ii. Spiritual
1. You are rich but you are spiritually poor, wretched, vile and naked
2. The rich and poor have equal access to and need for the eternal things of the gospel
3. The man who built barns and said to his soul “good job…” but was not rich toward God
4. To recognize your poverty is invaluable
b. God has good news for the poor
i. God of the fatherless and widow
1. Widow’s oil (2 Kings 4)
ii. God who cares for the sparrows and lilies
iii. God who took the lepers from famine to wealth
iv. Christ was born poor and became homeless
v. When Lazarus died he was no longer poor
1. James 2:5
c. Jesus came for you!
i. God gives the gospel to the broke
II. Broken-hearted
a. When people and life are inadequate
i. Trust in the untrustworthy
ii. Hope deferred
iii. Loneliness
iv. Unexpected tragedy
b. “God uses broken things.”
i. “It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to produce rain, broken grain to give bread and broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is the broken Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.”
ii. Your suffering may lead to unforeseeable benefits
iii. Prodigal son became heart broken but it was godly sorrow
c. Jesus came for you!
i. God heals the brokenhearted
III. Bound
a. When sin is inadequate
i. Freedom can be forfeited
1. Folded paper illustration
ii. Jesus came to make a way out for those who have no way out
1. Jesus DELIVERS from sin
2. Jesus FORGIVES sin
3. He gives freedom from bondage to GUILT
b. Jesus came for you!
i. God delivers the captives
IV. Blind
a. When our perceptions are inadequate
i. This glittering world can dazzle and lead to spiritual blindness
1. Illustration: Engagement ring box
2. Worst part is being blind to blindness
ii. Saul on the road to Damascus discovered that he was blind
b. Jesus came for you!
i. Jesus preached harshly in an effort to show the blind Pharisees their need
ii. Blind Bartimeus: …blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. (Mar 10:46b-47)
iii. God restores the sight of the blind
V. Bruised
a. When the healing of time is inadequate
i. Time heals all wounds is not always true
1. Small wounds can become deadly with the passage of time (gangrene, etc.)
ii. Wounds of the past
1. You were abused
a. You felt like it was your fault
2. You were never good enough
a. Now you are hard on yourself
3. You didn’t belong
a. Always trying to fit in
i. Maybe resorting to sin
b. Jesus can help you to let go of your past
i. Realize that you can only control yourself
1. It wasn’t your fault
2. You are responsible for your reactions
ii. Realize that Jesus came for bruised people
1. You are good enough!
2. He loves you!
3. You DO belong
a. You are a part of the family of God
c. Even Jesus will not change the past
i. Jesus liberates from the captivity of resentment
1. Resentment will separate you from God
2. Jesus came to reconcile you
3. You can let go of past hurt and let God take care of it
d. Jesus came for you!
i. God sets the bruised at liberty
Conclusion
I. God came for people who need a change
II. All who come to Christ are Changed
III. Jesus came for you
