1. Message Review:
a. Vision, Mission, & Ministry (Habakkuk 2:2-3)
b. Father Knows Best (Col. 3:20-21)
c. Our Heavenly Hope (Col. 1:1-8)
d. Living a Life Worthy of the Lord (Col. 1:9-14)
2. What’s the Connection between the Messages & Vision?
a. Truths: Are all truths equal? (The Gospel is the greatest truth that will change our lives for God’s glory.)
i. God’s Word is Truth
1. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
2. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
ii. Are all truths equally important?
1. Bible
a. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
b. Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the Lord.
c. Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
d. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.
2. Watermelon: it has a sweet spot
3. No, some truths are more important
iii. Since there is a hierarchy of truth what is at the top of the list? What is the one truth that is interwoven throughout the entire Bible? What is the sweet spot for the truth found in God’s Word? What is the central teaching that all teachings are connected?
1. Jesus substantiated a hierarchal system.
2. Scarlet Thread is interwoven from Genesis to Revelation.
a. Before this planet was ever swung into space, God had determined in His heart that He would send His Son to die upon the cross. How wonderful it is to trace the scarlet thread of the blood of Christ woven throughout the Bible! How much more wonderful it is to experience its redemption personally. Praise God for the blood of His Lamb!
b. Interwoven in the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation is a scarlet thread—the story of redemption. Only as we consider that red road do we properly understand the story of man’s sin and the Cross of Christ. Overlook that scarlet thread in your reading of the Bible. Ignore its fact in your religious life. Remove it from your thought, and you have no Christianity. Without knowledge of that scarlet thread we have no knowledge of the supreme theme of the Bible—and we are ignorant of the full price He paid for human redemption.
c. Rahab, the woman spoken to in this passage, was a harlot in the city of Jericho. As the Israelites came to possess the land, her city was destined for destruction—and she along with it. But she was delivered. And her life transformed, simply by tying a scarlet cord in her window. This cord represents the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it pointed toward the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. In fact, the entire Bible is about Jesus Christ and His blood redemption, and you will find this scarlet thread throughout the Word of God.
3. Gospel is of first importance.
4. On this side of eternity the cross is where the highest concentration of God’s glory dwells.
5. All truths found in God’s Word are secondary to, point to, play a supportive role to the Gospel.
6. The Gospel is the centerpiece of God’s Word / Our lives.
7. I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight. Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry—DA Carson.
8. The Gospel is the key to unlocking the power of all truths in our lives.
9. It is only when the Spirit enables us to make the connection with biblical truths and the gospel that our lives our changed.
b. Vision: We exist to glorify God by knowing, applying, & proclaiming the life changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. The answer is within the vision—gospel.
i. Do we ourselves adequately understand the deepest reasons behind the cross?
ii. If not, how can we take hold of those reason—not only to be more compelled in sharing the good news of God’s grace with others, but also to more fully and personally experience the gospel’s “unsearchable riches”?
1. We want to look with more depth and detail at why He suffered and what He uniquely accomplished by His suffering in relation to God and for the sinner.
2. Never be content with your current grasp of the gospel. The gospel is life-permeating, world-altering, universe changing truth. It has more facets than a diamond. Its depth man will never exhaust—CJ Mahaney (The Cross-Centered Life, p. 67).
3. Three main tendencies that draw us away from the cross:
a. Subjectivism—which means basing our view of God on our changing feelings & emotions.
b. Legalism—which means basing our relationship with God on our own performance.
c. Condemnation—which means being more focused on our sin than on God’s grace.
4. If we as Christians, have already come to believe in the gospel—if we’ve already received the gift of salvation He purchased for us with His precious blood—why focus any longer on the cross? Isn’t it time to give our full attention to more “mature” matters of living out our faith. No way. We never move on from the cross only into a more profound understanding of the cross.
a. If you think for a moment that the truth of the cross is something you’ve already adequately understood—if you suspect your life is already cross-centered—allow me to bring to your attention some symptoms that arise from not being cross-centered. Do and of the following describe you?
i. You often lack joy.
ii. You’re not consistently growing in spiritual maturity.
iii. Your love for God lacks passion.
iv. You’re always looking for some new technique, some “new truth” or new experience to pull all the pieces of your faith together.
b. Benefits of a cross-centered life
i. Break free from joy robbing legalistic thinking and living
ii. Leave behind the crippling effects of guilt and condemnation.
iii. Stop basing your faith on your emotions and circumstances.
iv. Grow in gratefulness, joy and holiness.
v. These aren’t the overhyped promises of an orator wanting to convince you to listen to his sermon or buy his book. These are God’s promises to all who keep responding with their whole heart to the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
c. Too many of us have…
i. …moved on from that glorious plan.
ii. …stopped concentrating on the wonders of Jesus Crucified.
1. Therefore we’ve suffered the consequences.
2. It’s not too late…
a. …to change.
b. …be caught up as never before in wonder over the love and grace of God.
5. Conclusion: As we cultivate our understanding & experience for the cross, as we live the rest of our earthly days feeling increasingly as if Jesus’ death happened only yesterday and His return is imminent we’ll be more astonished by God’s grace and motivated to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
