I think I was as shocked as everybody on Friday. I was studying in my office at home when I got an email about our president winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I thought it was a joke until I checked several news sources and found out it’s true. Now, you know how I feel about politics. As Christians, our main political responsibility is to pray for whoever it is that’s in office. But I have to tell you, this absolutely took the cake. I thought I might have been confused, so I went back to look at the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize. It was started by a man named Alfred Nobel. He was the inventor of dynamite. Over his lifetime, he made a fortune selling military weapons. Late in his life, a newspaper called him “the merchant of death”. They credited him with becoming “rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before.” I don’t know if he felt guilty or what, but he decided to put all of his fortune into a trust fund, so that when he died, it would be given out as a peace prize each year. In his will, he said that the Peace Prize should be awarded “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promoting of peace congresses.” So, if that’s supposed to be the criteria for winning the Peace Prize, no wonder so many people were surprised. Even somebody on his own staff thought it was a joke when they heard about it. Now, politics aside, why is that? Because the Nobel Peace Prize is supposed to be a tremendous honor. And everybody can recognize when honor is given to someone who doesn’t deserve it. And the fact is, that he hasn’t been in office long enough to do anything to deserve it. Mark Twain once said, “It is better to deserve honors and not have them, than to have them and not deserve them.” Honor should only be given to those who deserve it. And the level of honor should only be commensurate with the level of honor that person deserves. That’s why the words of Jesus in our passage this morning are so stunning. Jesus is telling the Jewish leaders that He deserves honor. In and of itself, that’s not so stunning. Because, throughout history, people have given Jesus different levels of honor. People say that He was a good man. They say that He was a wonderful teacher. Some even say that He was a great prophet. That’s what Muslims say. Mormons would say that Jesus deserves honor because He is the first of all created beings. Very few people would say that they give Jesus no honor. But let me ask you something. Is it truly honor to give someone less honor than they truly deserve? No, it’s not. Just as it’s not really honor to give someone honor that they really don’t deserve. When President Obama was given the Nobel Peace Prize, all it did was discredit the integrity of the honor. It made the honor itself worthless. And that’s the exact same thing that happens when a person is given honor—but it’s less honor than they truly deserve. Think of it like this—when you were in grade school, if you got a 100% on a paper, the teacher might have given you a gold star sticker. That honor would be perfectly in line with your accomplishment. But think about this. If you fought through 8 years of college and grad school, then spent two years working on your 500 page doctoral dissertation, spent all day in front of a panel of professors defending it, and when you were finished, they handed you a gold star sticker, that wouldn’t quite match would it? The gold star sticker was honor. But it didn’t match the accomplishment. So, since it fell short of the accomplishment, it really wasn’t honor at all. It was an insult. That’s the thing about honor. If you give too much honor where it really isn’t deserved, it discredits the honor to the point where it’s worthless. And if you don’t give enough honor where it is truly deserved, it’s still worthless and even insulting. So, back to these incredibly stunning words that Jesus told the Jewish leaders in verse 23. He covered both sides of the coin, didn’t He? He said, “Here’s the kind of honor that I deserve.” “I deserve the exact same kind of honor that God the Father deserves.” And then He flipped the coin. He said, “If you don’t give me that kind of honor, you’re insulting God.” In other words, if you honor the Father as God, you must also honor the Son as God. Don’t try to give Jesus a gold star sticker. I want us to give Jesus the honor that He deserves this morning. I want us to see Him for who He is. I don’t want us to short change Him. But in order to do that, we need to figure out what kind of honor Jesus truly deserves. Throughout this whole passage, Jesus has been telling the Jewish leaders all of the ways that He is God. So the question is, As God, what kind of honor does Jesus deserve? He deserves our fear. He deserves our worship. He deserves our service. And He deserves our sacrifice. First, as God, Jesus deserves our fear.
Now wait a minute. Jesus is supposed to be my friend. He’s supposed to be meek and humble and lowly. He’s supposed to be tender and loving and kind. Isn’t He? Yes. But only out of His infinite grace and love and mercy. But Jesus is God. And as God, He is holy. Holiness is something that we don’t really have a grasp on. There are some people who teach that holiness is something that we can work for. They say that holiness is something that comes with the way that we act or the way that we dress. If we follow a list of things we’re not supposed to do, then we’ll be holy. If that was the case, then the people Jesus was talking to in this passage would have been holy. Because they followed every rule you can think of to the letter. If you and I looked at them, we would have thought that they were perfect. But they weren’t. They weren’t because they weren’t the ones who set the standard. And we wouldn’t be able to tell, because we’re not the ones who set the standard. Who is the one who set the standard? Jesus did. And He reminded us that He did in the Sermon on the Mount. He told us that the standard of holiness is perfection. Be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect. That is what holiness is. Holiness is complete and total perfection. And there is only One who is completely and totally perfect. God—in all of His three Persons is the only One who is perfect. He is holy. God is holy. So, if God is holy, what does that mean for us? It means that He is the standard that we’re measured against. I might keep a list of rules better than you do. Or you might keep a list of rules better than someone else does. But that doesn’t really matter. Because you’re not the standard. I’m not the standard. God is the standard. That means that He is holy and we aren’t. That means that He is perfect and we’re far from it. And there is nothing we can do to change that. There are no bootstraps we can use to pull ourselves up from that. So do you know what that means? It means that the only thing we are, in and of ourselves, is imperfect and unholy. And because we are only imperfect and unholy and there’s nothing we can do to change that… the only thing we deserve is to be removed from the face of holiness. But God is everywhere, isn’t He? So it’s not like He can hide us behind His back. If He did, then He would be guilty of tolerating sin. And if God tolerated sin, then He would no longer be holy. So the only thing God can do to keep His holiness is to judge and punish all sin. From the biggest, most heinous sin to the smallest, most seemingly insignificant sin. In order to remain holy, God must judge and punish all sin. And what did Jesus tell the Jewish leaders in verse 22? He said that the Father has committed all judgment to the Son. The only way that Jesus can judge sin is if He is completely perfect and holy. And God is the only one who is completely perfect and holy. Therefore, Jesus must be God. Now, when you really understand that, you see how, as God, Jesus deserves our fear. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Who can stand uncovered at the judgment seat of Christ? Who can give an account of their lives and stand before the pure righteousness of Christ? No one can. At least, no one can of their own accord. It is only because of the shed blood of Jesus that we can stand before Him cleansed. And it is only because of His resurrection that we can stand before Him righteous. What honor does Jesus deserve? He deserves our fear. He deserves the fear that comes from being our holy and righteous judge. Each of us will one day stand before Him. And the only thing that stands between us and Hell is His shed blood and resurrection. Jesus deserves our fear. We honor Him when we fear Him. We also honor Him when we worship Him.
As God, Jesus deserves our worship. When you begin to realize what Jesus has saved us from, you’re going to want to do one of two things. Either you’re going to want to fall down and worship Him, or you’re going to want to get up and serve Him. Well, actually, we need to do both. Because, as God, Jesus deserves both. But it seems that the first thing that happens is that we fall down and worship Him. That’s the picture that we have in Revelation 5. Turn to Revelation 5:6-14
REVELATION 5:6-14
Jesus is the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world. And with His blood, He purchased people from every tribe and tongue and nation. He paid the price that only He could pay. The price that He paid is the purchase price for our redemption. He bought us back from the slave market of sin. The price that He paid is also the cost of our judgment. Sin infuriates God because it is a slap in His face. He created us to be holy as He is holy. And every sin that we have ever committed spits in His face. And the holy fury that our sin causes does nothing but fuel God’s wrath. And God’s wrath is only satisfied with death. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death. But our sin is an offense to an eternal God. And when we offend an eternal God, it is an eternal offense. That means that God’s wrath is eternal. And it is only satisfied by eternal death. Scripture has several descriptions of that eternal death. It’s called the second death. It’s called the lake of fire. It’s described as the place where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. The price that Jesus paid with His blood purchased our redemption. But the price that He paid also satisfied God’s wrath. Only an eternal sacrifice could satisfy the eternal wrath of God. On the cross, Jesus paid the price of our redemption from sin. He also paid the price of God’s wrath because of our sin. And in Revelation 5, when all of heaven sees Jesus as the Lamb who was slain, what do they do? They worship Him. They fell on their faces and cried out and sang and shouted, “Blessing and honor and glory and power to Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever!” Just as the Father is worthy of worship, the Son is worthy of worship. As Jesus told the Jewish leaders that day, “all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” As God, Jesus deserves our worship. We honor Him when we worship Him. We also honor Him when we serve Him.
Like I said before, when you begin to realize what Jesus has saved you from, you’re going to want to do two things. First, you’re going to want to fall down and worship Him. Then you’re going to want to get up and serve Him. And let me tell you something. If you’ve never been to the place where you’ve felt the need to worship Jesus, you’ve not gotten to the place where you’re ready to serve Him. Because, before we can get to a place where our service is right, we have to recognize Jesus for who He is. The fact is that Jesus doesn’t need our service. He is God and as God, He is the only being who is completely self-sufficient. Every other religion in the world believes in a god that needs human help. Idols have to be carved. Temples and altars have to be built. Certain steps have to be achieved. The sacrifices that are made, are made to supply something to their god. They feed it or empower it or placate it somehow. And if they don’t do their acts of service, their gods suffer somehow. Look at the earth religions. Which, by the way, are where all of this Green movement has come from. They all believe that we have to serve Mother Earth to keep her from suffering somehow. Jesus doesn’t need your service. If you choose not to serve Him with your money, He will accomplish His purposes anyway. If you choose not to serve Him with your gifts and talents, He will accomplish His purposes anyway. So if Jesus doesn’t need our service, why do we serve Him? Because we love Him and want to honor Him with our service. Our service to Him is an extension of our worship. And since we serve Jesus because we love Him, our service isn’t limited to just doing a few churchy things. Our service is in everything we do. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.” As God, Jesus deserves His honor. And we honor Him through our service. And since, as God, Jesus isn’t limited, our service to Him shouldn’t be limited either. Whatever you do, do it to the Lord. Why? Because you serve the Lord Jesus Christ in everything you do. If He has saved you, that means He is your Master. Not just at church. Not just when you feel like praying to Him. Not just when you need something. He is your Master and you give Him the honor He deserves by serving Him in all areas of your life. Serve Him with your tongue. Serve Him with your hands. Serve Him with your wallet. Serve Him with your schedule. Serve Him with your attitude. Serve Him with your time. As God, Jesus deserves our service. He deserves our fear. He deserves our worship. And he deserves our service. He also deserves our sacrifice.
Wait a minute. I can understand having a healthy fear of Jesus. I mean He created me, He holds me in His hand, and He will judge me one day. I can see the worship thing. I don’t want to get to emotional about it or too carried away, but I can see it. And the service thing, I can see doing some things that might be considered service. But sacrifice? Isn’t that asking a little bit much? Actually, it’s asking a whole lot more than that. Because sacrifice is asking for everything. Everything you are, everything you have and everything you ever will have. Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” We brush by that verse a lot of times. But what does it mean to be a living sacrifice? It means that you are willing to give all you have to obtain Jesus as your treasure. Salvation is free. Jesus paid the full price of everything that’s required for you to be saved. There is nothing at all you could possibly pay for it. There is nothing you could do to possibly earn it. Salvation is completely free. But at the same time, it will cost you everything. Jesus wants to know, who do you love more? Me or your money? Me or your business? Me or your family? Me or your children? One time Jesus asked Peter, “Peter, do you love me more than these?” The Text isn’t real clear what “these” Jesus is talking about. And I think that’s on purpose. Because Jesus is asking you the same question this morning. “Do you love me more than these?” What is it in your life that you fear more than Jesus? What is it that you are assigning more worth to than Jesus? What is it in your life that you’re serving more than Jesus? What are you sacrificing more of yourself to that Jesus?
You know, there’s an interesting thing in the wording of verse 23. Jesus said, “He that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father which hath sent Him.” Notice that He didn’t say, “He who dishonors the Son.” You see, you don’t have to actively dishonor Jesus and deny Him and blaspheme Him to earn His judgment. What do you have to do? You just have to fail to give Him the honor He deserves. And what kind of honor does He deserve? He deserves all of you. Your fear, your worship, your service and even your sacrifice. Does He have all of you this morning?
