Why Jesus – Part 5
Because In The Beginning
Scriptures: Genesis 1:1-2; 26-27; John 1:1-4; Galatians 4:1-7
Introduction:
This message will conclude my series on “Why Jesus.” To date I have shared with you the odds of any other man fulfilling the prophecies pertaining to the Messiah. Jesus is the only man that has done so. I have shared with you why, from a very personal perspective, why I need Jesus – “Why Jesus” for me. Last week I also shared with you documentation that existed outside of the Bible that references Jesus life. I did this because there are many people in the world who question whether or not Jesus actually lived. Regardless of the information in print about Him, they resist the notion that any man could live a sin free life and then die a horrible death so that others could have a relationship with God. Sadly, they will learn the hard way that this is exactly what Jesus did.
This morning we will be dedicating two babies to God and it is fitting that the conclusion of this series coincides with this dedication because this is the real reason for “Why Jesus.” When a parent makes the decision to give their babies to the Lord it does not mean that this child will accept Christ at the appropriate age, but what it means is that the parent is entering into an agreement with God that they will do whatever they can to make they raise their child in such a way that this child will grow to know and love the Lord. This means the parent will make difficult decisions to ensure their child will have this opportunity. Well, this is what Jesus did for each of us. He made the way clear for us to have the opportunity to have a relationship with God the Father. So Why Jesus – because in the beginning…….
I. In The Beginning - Genesis
Genesis 1:1-2 says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”
John 1:1-4 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”
Genesis 1:26-27 says: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
In these verses of Scripture we see that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit were all involved in the creation process. Jesus was on the scene and actively involved in the creation of man. No other prophet or religious leader could ever make this claim. When God created Adam and Eve they became His children. He was their Father. They had a relationship. Jesus was there – He had a relationship with them. They fellowshipped together and were in tuned with each other. However, when Adam and Eve chose to sin against God versus obeying Him, a separation developed. They were no longer in full communion with God. God could not fellowship with them because of their sin. Man had become something other than what God had created him to be. Even in their sinful nature, God was still their Father but they were separated from Him. They needed a way to be joined back to Him but because they were the created ones, they could not come up with their own solution for how that would be done. Remember the story of the prodigal son? Remember how he asked his father for his inheritance and after his father gave it to him he went out and squandered it? Remember when he came to his senses he decided to go back home where his father was waiting for him? His father never gave up on his son returning. This is where we were with God! Although Adam and Eve caused us to be separated from Him, God held out hope that one day we would be reunited. That hope was fulfilled in His Son Jesus the Christ!!! Unlike the prodigal son, man could not come to their senses and find their way back to God so God came to man in the form of His Son! Jesus chose to leave heaven, come to earth in human form, show us how to live in victory, become the final sacrifice for the sins of mankind, and then go back to heaven and sit on the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf. This was the plan that was put in place and carried out.
John understood and knew this and wanted to ensure his readers knew this first. Therefore, he opened his gospel by stating that in the beginning Jesus was and was involved in everything that was created. He opened his Gospel with this fact so that nothing would be left to chance for those who would hear it. Before time existed, Christ was already in existence with God. John refers to Jesus as “the Word.” The Greek word for word is Logos and means “word, thought, concept and the expression thereof.” John was saying here that Jesus is all that God is and the expression of Him. He was with God yet He was also distinct from God. John says that Jesus was involved in all of creation.
Why is this important for us to understand “Why Jesus?” It is not enough that we hear about Jesus and come to accept Him as our Savior; we must come to know Him so that we can help other know Him. Our acceptance of Him is not a “one and done” meaning that after I accept Him I am good to go. No, it means a life change. Have you ever thought about what it means to be a son or daughter?
II. An Heir
A child, by blood or adoption, have certain rights as a descendant (heir) of the parent. An heir is one who inherits or is entitled to inherit another’s property, title, etc. Keep this mind because I want to show you why Jesus as it relates to our being heirs.
Galatians 4:1-7 says: “Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son then as heir through God.”
Why Jesus? It is through Jesus that we become heirs. During the Old and New Testament times, when a child was born in family of means they would be turned over to a guardian until they reach a certain age. This child would be unaware of the differences between themselves and those around them. The slave that worked in his/her house would be no different to them than their own family member. Although this child through in heritance owns everything, while a child they are no different than a slave. While this child is under their guardian, they are taught what it means to have responsibilities. They are taught and prepared to help maintain and run the family business as an heir. At the appointed time they will be presented to their father for approval. Their father would examine them to determine if they were ready for the responsibility of being an heir and once they passed his inspection, they were treated as an heir with developing responsibilities. At this point they began to understand the differences between their lives and the lives of those around them.
Paul told the Galatians that this is how we were. When we were children we were in bondage to the things of the world. However, when Christ came, He “redeemed” us. In other words, we left our bondage and took on the roles of sons and daughters. We became heirs. So what did we inherit? We inherited what Adam originally lost – the right to rule this earth. We inherited the right to have a relationship with God. Remember what happened when Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden? They eventually had two sons. These two sons communicated with God. Why? Because Adam and Even knew God and had a “different” relationship with Him, their children by default also had a relationship with God. This is why we see God interacting with both Cain and Abel. They had a relationship with God because their parents did! Are you starting to understand this? But let me get back to my point.
Jesus came to redeem us. In other words, Jesus purchased us back through His death on the cross. No man is able to do this – only the Christ! When Adam sinned, he gave his inheritance to Satan. When Satan was tempting Jesus he told Jesus the following as recorded in Luke 4:6: “And the devil said to Him, ‘I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.” Who gave it to him? Adam did when he sinned! When God created man He told them to rule over the earth. When Adam sinned he gave his authority to rule over the earth to Satan. Well, guess what – when Jesus rose from the dead He took it back! Matthew 28:18 records “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” This is what we inherit if we are heirs with Christ! Please understand that no man can give us the right to become an heir except Christ. Jesus created the world and when Satan was tempting Him he offered Him a small portion of what Jesus already owned. He could do this because he understood that Jesus was walking on the earth as a man and not God. So he knew that Jesus was susceptible to the same things that make us “human.” What Satan apparently did not know was that Jesus’ relationship with His Father was more important than His flesh and desire for material things. Jesus redeemed (re-purchased) us back from Satan whom Adam had sold her to before we were ever born!
Conclusion
As I close this morning, I want to provide you with one last analogy for you to take home with you. I just shared with you that Jesus redeemed us – from Satan and from the curse of the Law. He became our final sacrifice. Through His death we were given the right to become sons and daughters of God. For those who choose to accept Christ, we become those sons and daughters who are now heirs. We receive an inheritance that was given when man was first created. We are called to be rulers, meaning that we have a special place in God’s heart. We have communion with Him. We have the right to call on our Father when we have a need or on the behalf of others and our Father will answer. Why? Simply because we are His children! But I want to give you one final visual for “Why Jesus!”
Back during the times of slavery, the slave owner, the master, would allow his slaves to marry. They could marry another slave that he/she already owned and in some instances they would purchase another slave to be the spouse of one of their favorite slaves. When two claves married, this was both a blessing and a curse. The curse factors in because they lived under the constant fear of being sold off separately whenever the master chose. The master, at any given time, could take one of the spouse or one or all of the children and sell them to another plantation. When this happened, the family members who are left behind seldom see them again – it was if they never existed. This was the fear that families lived under during slavery – that on any day the master could come and take a family member and sell them to someone else. The family member who was sold would now have a new master and would be subject to the new master’s rules and regulations. It did not matter where they came from or what they were used to, their world was new. They may have been a slave who worked in the house and not in the fields but was now required to work in the field. Their past lives did not matter all the time as their existence and job function was based on what their new master needed.
When Adam and Eve sinned, they sold themselves into slavery under a new master Satan. Not only did they sell themselves into slavery, they sold everyone who would exist after them into slavery. Everyone existed in slavery until Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected on the 3rd day. Moses delivered the Children of Israel out of Egypt, but as great as he was, he could not deliver them out of their spiritual bondage. Samson was a strong judge, but as strong as he was, he could not deliver us out from under the master who owned us! All of the different religions of the world and the men and women who started them could not deliver us out of the hands of the master who owned us! On Jesus was able to do that! Why Jesus?
Think about this from a slave’s perspective. I was a slave assigned to the plantation of Satan. All of my family members were assigned to that plantation – and I do mean all of them! Everyone that I was ever related to worked on that plantation. One day Jesus came and said it was time for me to return to the master who first owned me. He paid the price demanded for my freedom, not only my freedom, but for everyone one of my family members who were willing to leave with him. But it did not stop there. While we were on our way to the new plantation owned by His Father, He stopped by the courthouse. He had a book in His hand and went before the judge. He told the judge that He not only purchased us, but His Father was now adopting us! We would no longer be slaves, we would now be sons and daughters! The judge asked if He knew what that meant – that His Father would not have to include all of us in His inheritance and Jesus responded that His Father knew exactly what He was doing. That morning we woke up as slaves of one master and by the time we went to bed, we were sons and daughters of another master, NEVER to be slaves again! Can you see this picture in your mind?
Why Jesus? Because He was the only one who cared enough for me to buy me back. I was on my way to hell and he purchased me and gave me a new home.
I want to leave you with this thought. When I left the plantation that Satan owned, some of my family and friends refused Jesus’ offer. They stayed behind. If nothing changes, when we leave this world, I will never see their faces again. If they never accept Him they will continue to live as slaves on Satan’s plantation and die as slaves. Who in their right mind would choose to live and die as a slave when they could live and die as sons and daughters?
Why Jesus? He redeemed me. When I could do nothing for myself, He did it all! If you’re still confused on “Why Jesus”, tell Him. Tell Him what you’re thinking and allow Him to answer you. Don’t waste another day thinking you have the answers when you don’t! Jesus is the only One who can save you as He saved me!
“The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
