THE LORD IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Outline)
November 28, 2010 -
Advent 1 -
JEREMIAH 33:14-18
INTRO: Advent means coming. During this season of Advent believers prepare for the coming celebration of the birth of the Savior. We also prepare for the coming of Christ the King on Judgment Day. Through the living and active word of God the Lord Jesus Christ also comes to live in our hearts. The importance of our Savior, the Savior of mankind, is discovered in the very name of Jesus. "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth" (PHILIPPIANS 2:9-10). In Jeremiah another name for our Savior Jesus is “Our Righteousness”.
THE LORD IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. I
. God fulfills his promises. II. Jesus is our kingly priest.
I. GOD FULFILLS HIS PROMISES.
A. Jeremiah was called by God to proclaim God’s truth to God’s wicked and rebellious people.
1. Israel was suffering through a period of very wicked kings. God’s message was judgment.
2. Jeremiah was not well received because of God’s message of judgment against sinfulness.
B. Verse 14. Here is a gospel gem in the midst of a message of doom and gloom.
1. The Lord makes his promises and the days are coming when every promise will be fulfilled.
2. The Lord’s fulfillment includes a “gracious promise”. God will provide grace and mercy.
C. Verse 15. “In those days and at that time” will happen almost a century later.
1. The “righteous Branch” will be Jesus. Jesus would come and do what is “just and right”.
2. Verse 16. The Roman government provided peace during the lifetime of Jesus on earth.
3. God’s wicked and rebellious people were given divine promises. God fulfilled every one.
D. Our gracious God loves his creation with an everlasting love. Adam and Eve lived in the perfect world that God had created. They listened to Satan and sinned against God. The perfect creation of God was destroyed with sin. Imperfection entered the world. God did not destroy Adam and Eve. The very first thing God did for the disobedience of man was to promise a Savior! "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (GENESIS 3:15). There would now be distrust (enmity) between Satan and mankind. The off-spring of woman would not have such a cozy relationship with Satan. Jesus would live, die, and rise again in order to “crush” the very head of Satan. Satan would only “strike” Jesus’ heel (nail prints).
E. Some would to point at Adam and Eve and blame them alone. It is true that the world was changed forever by their willful, sinful disobedience. Others would try to blame Satan for everything evil. This is true. BUT each one of us is also responsible for every one of our sinful thoughts or words or actions. We dare not deny the responsibility of our sinful nature. On this side of heaven we are unable to escape the effects of sin living in us. "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away" (ISAIAH 64:6). All our “righteous acts” are unclean. Sin is alive and well, even in the lives of believers.
F. Thankfully the Lord God does not leave us to fend for ourselves. On our own we would be lost and condemned creatures – forever. This is not what God desires for mankind. Rather our gracious God desires salvation for all mankind. This is why the Lord promised a Savior immediately after the first sin. God is patient. God’s promises are made. God’s promises are fulfilled. It would take thousands of years before the promise made to Adam and Eve was finally fulfilled. "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons" (GALATIANS 4:4,5). God’s Son Jesus paid the price for us to become God’s children.
THE LORD IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Our gracious God fulfills all his promises.
II. JESUS IS OUR KINGLY PRIEST.
A. A time of safety was promised for Israel and Judah. It did not happen during Jeremiah’s time.
1. Verse 16. “The LORD Our Righteousness” would be the descendant of David for peace.
2.T he Lord Jesus Christ would bring and become the righteousness for the sins of the world.
B. Verse 17. The Lord had promised to Solomon that a descendant would always sit on the throne.
1. The time of kings came and was gone. There were no more kings in Israel during Jesus’ day.
2. Who was David’s descendant? Jesus. Jesus was of the house and line of David, eternally.
C. Verse 18. There were many priests offering many sacrifices during the earthly ministry of Jesus.
1. Soon after Jesus’ ascension the priestly office dwindled. Today there are no sacrifices. Why?
2. Jesus is the perfect High Priest that the Lord God Almighty had promised.
D. The Lord is our righteousness! We who are imperfect and unrighteous are saved by the holy, innocent blood of Jesus. Jesus is our perfect and righteous sacrifice. There is no need any longer for anyone to make any more sacrifices to try to pay for sins. Jesus’ sacrifice was complete and perfect. "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit" (1 PETER 3:18). The Lord our righteousness brings us who are unrighteous into his heavenly kingdom. We are saved by grace through faith.
E. Jesus is our priest. Jesus made the perfect sacrifice for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. Not only did Jesus make this perfect sacrifice – Jesus is that perfect sacrifice. Too many today try to add works as a part of eternal salvation. Everything has been done for us once and for all. The complete payment for eternity has been perfectly fulfilled. This is God’s great love for us. In this way we know what love is: Christ died for us. Our lives are changed, forever. "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (EPHESIANS 5:1,2). The Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness.
F. Christ fulfilled the Old Testament offices that God had established for the good of his people. As Prophet Jesus proclaimed God’s gospel. As Priest Jesus offered himself as the perfect sacrifice. Jesus was and is King. Our King is far different than any ordinary earthly king. "They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers" (REVELATION 17:14). Jesus is Lamb and King. A lamb is not very mighty or powerful. Jesus is that Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is Jesus’ might and power. Jesus is also our King who has conquered every enemy for us.
CONC: THE LORD IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Despite our disobedience our gracious God fulfills all his promises. God is not a man that he should lie. The greatest promise made and fulfilled is that Christ the Savior is born. So we prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas (and Judgment Day). "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" (ROMANS 3:21,22). THE LORD IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. We know, believe, and confess this fact by grace through faith. God fulfills his promises. Jesus is our King and Priest. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
ADVENT 1 rdgs:
ISAIAH 2:1-5;
ROMANS 13:11-14;
MATTHEW 23:37-44;
(PSALM 18)
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