The Word Became Flesh
I Am Jesus – part 3
(FYI – in my notes whenever you see… [Tim…] – this is a time in my message when I call out different people by name. I find that doing this helps to get everyones attention)
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men… 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- John 1:1-4,10-14 (NIV)
1If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care-- 2then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. 3Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. 4Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. 6He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. 7Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! 8Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death--and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. 9Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever… - Philippians 2:1-9 (Msg)
Prayer
Video Clip 4:51-9:16
“The Passion Of The Christ”
Because God’s children are human beings--made of flesh and blood--Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. 15Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying… it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. He then could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted. 1And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are bound for heaven, think about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s Messenger and High Priest.
– Hebrews 2:14-3:1 (NLT)
MAN – I really like that last verse… And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are bound for heaven, ‘think about this Jesus’ whom we declare to be God’s Messenger and High Priest…
Think about this Jesus… GUYS - that’s exactly what we are doing at Central Christian Church in the year 2005… THINKING – about this Jesus. AND WE –are thinking about Jesus in new ways… WE – are taking a fresh look at the one who Scripture declares (among many other things) is both God’s messenger and high priest.
LISTEN – the cry of Central Christian Church in 2005 is, “I want to know Christ!” (C-peat) Do you to know Him? Do you want to know Jesus more in 2005? IF – you do then you need to memorize and meditate on this promise… You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD…
- Jeremiah 29:13,14
AND – I encourage you to also pray this prayer…
Lord, you are so great, so awesome
You are overflowing with grace and mercy
You are my king, my savior,
my redeemer and my friend,
Lord, please help me to know you more clearly
To love you more dearly
And to follow you more nearly
Day by day… amen
AND GUYS – if you really make that your daily prayer… God will answer… AND - you will be transformed in 2005!
Last week in our effort to know Christ more fully we began to unpack… some of the titles and names that we find for Jesus in the New Testament. AND – last Sunday we spent some time unpacking the title ‘Son of God.’ AND – as we unpacked the title, ‘Son of God’ we removed any doubt whatsoever, that this world and our enemy may have put in our minds about Jesus being God… BY - by looking at;
1. What other people said about Jesus
2. What He said about Himself
3. (AND) – by looking at what Jesus did…
• Accepted worship
• Performed miracles
• Fulfilled prophecies
• Rose from the dead
• Spoke words like no else ever has
• Changed History
[Tim…] – the Jesus that you; Love, Follow, Serve, Sing to and worship… the Jesus who said that He is your savior, your friend, that He loves you and will always be with you - is huge, is holy, is mighty… IS – God! AND – because He is God… Jesus can deliver what He promised; He will do what He said; He can guard what you have entrusted to Him.
THIS MORNING - we are going to look at the title for Jesus that we find in the first chapter of John’s Gospel… ‘The Word Became Flesh…” UNDERSTAND - though Jesus was fully God when He walked this earth… HE – was also fully human; He was flesh and He was blood… Jesus was a man.
AND – that’s why I showed the video clip of the scene in garden a few minutes ago…. I showed it; to help us (get past the blond haired blue eyed Jesus with a halo over His head) and see Jesus as he really was…. AS - a man… AND - In the garden we see the humanity of Jesus in bold and vivid color. Those were real tears and real drops of blood… AND – that was real pain, real doubt and real fear… NO - there was no perfectly kept blond haired, blue eyed, halo wearing Jesus in the garden…(saw that famous painting yesterday) INSTEAD – there was a man… struggling intensely over what lay ahead….
Fully God… YET – fully man….
The first point in your notes this morning is;
We Know Jesus Was A Man
AND – we know that he was a man for at least 2 reasons… FIRST
Because Scripture Reveals It…
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth… (John 1:1,14)
When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. – Phil 2:7,8
Because God’s children are human beings--made of flesh and blood--Jesus also became flesh and blood… it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, - Hebrews 2:14,17
the Word was with God The Word became flesh
Jesus was deity YET Jesus became human
Jesus… became flesh and blood
Fully God… YET – fully man….
AND LISTEN – IF that’s a hard concept for you to wrap your brain around… Don’t fell alone. BECAUSE - people have wrestled with this truth for 2,000 years. IN FACT - there were a group of wrestlers in the first century who basically threw in the towel on this God-Man thing… AND – simply denied that Jesus was a man… YOU SEE - they taught that he only appeared to be a man. WELL – the apostle John takes on this faulty thinking as he opens up his first letter…
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard…
– 1 John 1:1-3
YES – even though it is hard for us to get our brain around it… Jesus was a man… How do we know… Because scripture reveals it… AND – also;
Because His Life Reveals It…
UNDERSTAND – when you look at the life of Jesus… YOU SEE – that He lived life as a man…
• Jesus was conceived in a womb
• He was born just like you & I as Mary pushed Him from her body
• And he came bloody and slimy just like you did
• Jesus had to depend on His parents, to fed Him, Bath Him and change His dirty diapers
• Jesus had to learn to walk and no doubt took many falls on that journey
• He had to learn to talk… I wonder what God the Sons’ first word was?
• Jesus got tired and he slept
• He got hungry and he ate
• He got thirsty and he drank
• He fell down and scraped his knee, crying for Mary
• If you hit Him – He bruised
• If you cut Him he bleed
• If you killed Him – he died.
Jesus was a man… I love how one author puts it…
For 33 years he would feel everything you and I have ever felt. He felt weak. He grew weary. He was afraid of failure. He was susceptible to wooing women. He got colds, burped and had body odor. His feelings got hurt. His feet got tired. And his head ached.
To think of Jesus in such a light is – well, it seems almost irreverent, doesn’t it? It’s not something we like to do; it’s uncomfortable. It’s so much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. ( which by the way comes from 2 Latin words ‘in’ and ‘caro’ and literally means clothed in flesh)…
It’s so much easier to keep the humanity out of the incarnation. Clean the manure from around the manger. Wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Pretend he never snored or blew his nose or hit his thumb with a hammer.
He’s easier to stomach that way. There’s something about keeping Him divine that keeps Him distant, packaged and predictable. BUT – don’t do it. For heavens sake don’t. Let Him be as human as he intended to be. Let Him into the mire and muck of our world. For only if we let Him in can he pull us out.
The Word became flesh
Though fully God… Jesus was fully man…
OKAY – now for the second point in your notes….
What Difference Does It Make ?
WHAT – difference does it make, whether or not Jesus was a man? UNDERSTAND – just like with Jesus being God… Jesus being a man, makes all the difference in the world… LET – me share 5 reasons why; FIRST – because…
Jesus The Man, Allows Us To See God…
No one has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father, and He has shown us what God is like. – John 1:18 (NCV)
He has shown us what God is like.
Jesus the man, allows us to see God… UNDERSTAND - before Jesus no one had ever seen God… IN FACT - the closet that anyone had ever gotten was Moses. (1,400 years before Jesus)
YOU REMEMBER – the scene. We read about it in Exodus 33. BECAUSE GOD – was please with Moses, He tells Him that he would give whatever asked… (what would you have asked for?). MOSES - request was, “Lord show me your glory!”
AND GOD – replied; “Awesome request dude.. BUT – here’s the deal, I can’t let you see me directly or you will die SO – here is what I will do, I will put you behind that big rock over there. And as my glory passes, I will cover your eyes with my hand… And then I will remove my hand… I have passed, so that you can my back…”
AND – for 1400 years that was as close as any one ever got to seeing God’s glory… AND LISTEN – it is really hard for finite creatures (like us) to understand an infinite God. YOU SEE – the distance is too great! SO – Jesus became a man… The word became ‘in caro’
Philip Yancey in his book ‘The Jesus I Never Knew” writes;
I learned about incarnation when I kept a salt-water aquarium. Management of a marine aquarium, I discovered, is no easy task. I had to run a portable chemical laboratory to monitor the nitrate levels and the ammonia content. I pumped in vitamins and antibiotics and sulfa drugs and enough enzymes to make a rock grow. I filtered the water through glass fibers and charcoal, and exposed it to ultraviolet light. You would think, in view of all the energy expanded on their behalf, that my fish would be grateful. Not so. Every time my shadow loomed above the tank they dove for cover into the nearest shell. They showed me one ‘emotion’ fear. Although I opened the lid and dropped in food on a regular schedule, 3 times a day, they responded to each visit as a sure sign of my designs to torture them. I could not convince them of my true concern.
To my fish I was deity. I was too large for them, my actions too incomprehensible. My acts of mercy they saw as cruelty; my attempts at healing they viewed as destruction. To change their perceptions, I began to see, would require a form of incarnation. I would have to become a fish and ‘speak’ to them in a language they could understand.
AND LISTEN - a human being becoming a fish is nothing compared to God becoming a man. AND YET - that is exactly what happened. The infinite God stepped down in order to become like us in every respect.
NOW FOR – centuries God had done the best he could to help men to see what he was really like. HE - called on various men (David, Moses, Jeremiah and Isaiah) to be His prophets. BUT – even then all they could see were shadows…
Long ago in many ways and at many times God’s prophets spoke his message to our ancestors. 2But now at last, God sent his Son to bring his message to us. God created the universe by his Son, and everything will someday belong to the Son. 3God’s Son has all the brightness of God’s own glory and is like him in every way.
– Hebrews 1:1-3 (CEV)
Like God in every way… Like us in every way… Jesus brought God close… he brought God near… HE – showed us what God was like… He gave us an up close & personal view of God. AND – what a view it was!
I MEAN – God’s; love, compassion, patience, joy, mercy and grace….. literally explode from the life of Jesus… AND – Jesus the man answered a lot of questions people had about God;
• Does God really care about me?
• Does he love me?
• Will He be patient with my stumbling?
• Will he have compassion for my pain?
• Will He respond to my needs?
• Am I good enough to approach Him?
UNDERSTAND - Jesus the man gives us a view of God that causes us not to dive in fear under the nearest shell… BUT – rather to come out from our shells of hiding and swim as fast as we can to Him!
Jesus The Man, Allows Us To See God
NEXT…
Jesus The Man, Allows Us To See Ourselves…
QUESTION – how do you see yourself this morning? NOW – my guess is that the way you see yourself today (January 23, 2005)… IS - closely connected to the way that you think the world sees you. SO [Tim…] – this morning… DO YOU – see yourself as;
• Important?
• Valuable?
• Desirable?
• Acceptable?
• Significant?
• Do you see yourself as someone who is worth being with?
NOW – my guess is that a large % of people in this room (because of what a parent, spouse, child, a friend, an enemy or the world has said…) DON’T – see themselves as; important. valuable, desirable, acceptable, significant or worth being with… (they’re not pretty enough, smart enough, they don’t have enough and they haven’t accomplished enough)
YES – I imagine that a lot of people feel like a lady from Nashville Tennessee that I heard about this past Friday. (I went to a leadership seminar with Bill Wolf… it was amazing)… One of the speakers Rubel Shelly talked about a lady he met last weekend. She was invited by a friend to come to his church (called the family of God at Wood Mont Hills).
NOW - she didn’t really want to go to a church, but her friend told her that not every church was like the ones in her past they had hurt her so much. So she came… AND – after the service she came and talked with Rubel. AND – she asked him a question… “Could God accept me…”
AND - Rubel said “of course God can accept you” AND THEN – she said, ”NO, you don’t understand I’m dying of aids, I’ve been a heroine addict for years. And to support my habit… I’ve sold my body to more men then I can count… after all that could God really accept me…”
NOW - Rubel spent some time taking to her… AND – he commented that the thing he needed to do for her, was not to get her to repent for her wrong… (because she had already done that over, and over and over again, even before she walked into that church building…)
INSTEAD – the thing he had to get her to do was to believe… To believe that not only could God accept her.. BUT – that God through Christ already had accepted her… (by the way she was baptized that very day)
[Tim…] – Jesus the man, allows you and I to see ourselves. To see ourselves not as the world sees, not as other people see us and not as we see ourselves because of past sin and failure)… Jesus the man allows you and I to see ourselves as God sees us… To see ourselves as we really are… [Tim…] -
• You are awesome
• You are loved by God
• You are precious and valuable to Him
• You are significant
• AND - you are so worth being with…
That God the Son… left all the glories of heaven. AND – became Jesus the man just so he could be with you… OH – if we all could just see ourselves through his eyes… I’m convinced that if we did we would never again wonder; “could God accept me…” Jesus the man screams… for all the world to hear… You are acceptable… you are worth being with. You are so much more then you think you are.
IN FACT – when Jesus the man walked this earth… There was a time when a woman who was a prostitute came to him looking for acceptance. AND – she came to Him with a jar of FULL of expensive perfume and eyes FULL of tears wondering if God could accept her… (we find her story in Luke 7)…
NOW – the Pharisees whop were throwing the party saw her as ‘one of those woman’ and she probably saw herself that way too… BUT – Jesus saw who she really was… awesome, beautiful and acceptable…
LISTEN – too often we have heard and we have spoken the wrong message. ‘A message that says – at the core we are sinners, traitors, rebels, worthless, depraved wretches – pond scum… BUT – God in order to show the world what a great guy he is let’s us in anyway… [kind of like Prince Charming having to marry one of the ugly step sisters…] UNDERSTAND – you are not a booby prize that God gets stuck with for eternity…NO – you ARE;
• The one God pursues with His love
• The one worth stepping down for
• The one worth fighting for
• The one worth dying for…
• The one that God just wouldn’t live without
Isaiah 700 years before Christ wrote about this awesome acceptance that was coming in Jesus.
“No more will anyone call you Rejected, and your country will no more be called Ruined. You’ll be called Hephzibah (My Delight), and your land Beulah (Married), Because GOD delights in you…They will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the LORD ; and you will be called Sought After, the City No Longer Deserted.” - Is 62:4,12 (Msg, NIV)
Who are you [Tim…] – YOU ARE;
• God’s delight
• God’s bride
• Holy people
• The redeemed of the Lord
• The one sough after
• The one whose life is no longer deserted.
HEY – I know that is seems; remarkable, unbelievable, incredible and too good to be true… BUT [Tim, Laurie…] there is really something precious, awesome, desirable and good about you… YES – there is something about you that caused God the Son to put on human flesh; live as a man, and die on the cross just so he could be with you!
Jesus the man, allows us to see ourselves… 3rd;
Jesus The Man, Shows Us Who We Can Become…
HEY – do you know what one of my favorite words is? It’s the word new… MAN – I just love that word. I even like the way it sounds. “new” I MEAN – isn’t awesome;
• To start a new year;
• To get a new car,
• To move into to new house,
• To learn new things
• To read new books
• To hear new songs
• To start a new relationship,
• To get a new beginning
AND – do you know what…? I think God likes the word new. IN FACT – new pumps God up. Throughout the bible we see God talking about;
• New names
• New songs
• A new covenant
• New wine & new wineskins
• New heavens & new earth
• Behold I am making all things new
AND – speaking of new… check out these passages and see if you can see the new thing that has God all worked up…
18They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20“Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people the full message of this new life.” - Acts 5:18-20
all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. – Romans 6:3,4
those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)
For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.
- 1 Peter 1:23 (NLT)
SO - what is the new thing is those passages…? New life! UNDERSTAND – Jesus the man, shows you who you can become… Jesus the man, shows you the new life that you can live. [Tim…] - you don’t have to stay the same… You can live a new life. You can live a life just like Jesus lived when he walked this earth… AND LISTEN – I am not making this stuff up… THIS – is not wishful thinking. UNDERSTAND – new life was, is and always will God’s plan for you! AND – you don’t need to take my word on it… You take God’s…
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters. – Romans 8:29 (NLT)
You have begun to live the new life, in which you are being made new and are becoming like the One who made you. – Col 3:10 (NCV)
22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. – Ephesians 4:22-24
LISTEN – if you are a believer… God has but one plan for you. To live a life like Jesus. IN - the opening chapter of his book; Just Like Jesus, Max Lucado writes;
What if for one day and one night Jesus were to become you? What if, for 24 hours, Jesus wakes up in your bed, walks in your shoes, lives in your house, assumes your schedule? Your boss becomes his boss, your mother becomes his mother, your pains become his pains? With one exception, nothing about your life changes. Your health doesn’t change. Your circumstances don’t change. Your schedule isn’t altered. Your problems aren’t solved. Only one change occurs.
What if for one day and one night, Jesus lives your life with his heart? Your heart gets a day off, and your life is led by the heart of Christ. His priorities govern your actions. His passions drive your decisions. His love directs your behavior.
What would you be like? Would people notice a change? Your family – would they see something new? Your coworkers – would they sense a difference? What about the less fortunate? Would you treat them the same? And your friends? Would they detect more joy? How about your enemies? Would they receive more mercy from Christ’s heart than from yours?
And you? How would you feel? What alterations would this transplant have on your stress level. Your mood swings? Your temper? Would you sleep better? Would you see sunsets differently? Death Differently? Taxes differently? Any chance you’d need fewer aspirins or sedatives? How about your reaction to traffic delays? (Ouch, that touched a nerve). Would you still dread what your dreading? Better yet, would you still do what you are doing?
Would you still do what you planned to do for the next 24 hours? Pause and think about your schedule. Obligations. Engagements. Outings. Appointments. With Jesus taking over your heart, would anything change?
Keep working on this for a moment. Adjust the lens of your imagination until you have a clear picture of Jesus leading your life, then snap the shutter and frame the image. What you see is what God wants. He wants you to think and act like Jesus.
Let that sink in for a moment…
he chose you to become like his Son…
you are…becoming like the One who made you
you are created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness
[Tim…] - Jesus the man shows you who you can become… HE – shows you the life that you can live… UNDERSTAND JESUS – comes where we are and brings us the life we hunger for…”
LISTEN – you really can be someone who lays aside; pride, lust, bitterness, anger, slander, fear, doubt and security… AND – who picks up; kindness, peace, patience, goodness, compassion, forgiveness, gentleness, self control, confidence.
YES - Jesus the man shows us who we can become… (YOU CAN – become a new person, you can live a new life… AND – in 2005 many in this room are going to live this new life like never before…
HEY – let me give you another quick Jesus snap shot before we move on… It’s from John 8… The women caught in adultery… Probably a prostitute probably not the first time… BUT – despite who she was and what she had done and how she had lived before… Jesus looked her and said
“Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?" 11"No, Lord," she said. And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more." John 8:10,11
GO – and live a new life… BECAUSE – you can!
Jesus The Man, Destroyed Death and the devil…
From Hebrews chapter 2 which we read earlier…
Because God’s children are human beings--made of flesh and blood--Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. 15Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying… it was necessary for Jesus to be in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. He then could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people.
NOW – I don’t really have a lot of time to spend on this point, this morning… BUT GUYS – this point is HUGE!!!
• Because God the Son, became a man
• Because He was like us in every respect
• Because He was flesh and blood
• Because he offered his life and his blood as payment, as a sacrifice for our sins…
The devil has been defeated
Death has been destroyed!
Mercy has been given
AND - grace as been unleashed in the world…
Because of Jesus the man… WE – are free!
• Free from sin
• Free from guilt
• Free from condemnation
• Free from the fear of dying
(death is just our trip home…)
Jesus the man destroyed death and the devil..
Jesus The Man, Understands Everything That We Go Through…
QUESTION – have you ever felt like no really understood what you were going through? I MEAN – you have a problem, you’re being tempted, you’re in a struggle, you’re facing a crisis… AND – you feel all alone…
SURE – you try to talk to people… BUT – most of the time all you get back is blank stares… EITHER – people don’t get it… OR – they can’t do anything about it!
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. – Hebrews 4:14-16
15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin.
Fifty years ago C. S. Lewis imagined someone objecting here: "Hey, if Jesus never sinned, then he doesn’t know what temptation is like. He lived a sheltered life and is out of touch with how strong temptation can be." Here is what Lewis wrote in response to that objection:
A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. . . . A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. . . . Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means
LISTEN - if Jesus had not become a man, we would not have a God who really understood us. YOU SEE - although God, would have knowledge of human life (because he created it), we might still be able to hurl the accusation, “God you just don’t understand what it’s like to be me. You can’t possibly understand the temptations I struggle with. AND – besides that I am handicapped by all kinds of weaknesses that you’ve never faced, because you’re all-powerful. My life is filled with so many problems and so much pain. AND GOD - if you can’t understand me you can’t really help me. AND - you certainly have no right to judge me.”
BUT - the fact is that “the Word became flesh and lived among us.”
AND THEREFORE - no matter what we face, whether it’s temptation, weaknesses, or suffering Jesus can say “Been there… Dealt with that…I can help! ”
YES - TO THOSE…
• Who feel alone
• Who are afraid
• Who had a friend betray them
• Who are tempted by (lust, money, popularity and power)
• Who are weeping over the death of a loved one
• Who had their best intentions misunderstood and twisted
• Who are stressed out by the demands of life
• Who are angry at the way the weal and powerless are treated
• Who experience disappointments and set backs
• Who had everyone walk out on them when they needed them the most
• Who had a parent turn their backs on them
• Who are in physical pain
• Who have had family members think they are crazy
• Who have had their name and reputation slander by other people
• Whose lives seemed to be filled with sorrow and grief
• Who don’t have a lot of money or material things
• Who find it so hard to do the right thing and to follow God’s will
Jesus then man says; “Been there… Dealt with that…I can help! ”
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. – Hebrews 4:14-16
