Luke 3:21-38
You’ve Got What It Takes
Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church
March 19, 2006
Introduction
What do you want to be when you grow up? Do you remember being asked that question when you were growing up? Some of you still ask me that question. A few weeks ago Mrs. Coffin asked me how tall I was. When I told her she asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
When I was growing up it seems like all the boys wanted to be policemen and firemen. Superman and Speed Racer were my TV and comic book heroes. In the living room I would watch the action as Superman used his x-ray vision to look through brick walls to find the lady in distress. Speed Racer had these awesome saw blades that came out of his car and cut down paths through the forests when he was escaping the bad guys. I always wondered where he stored them.
I don’t know about you, but as I watched those cartoon heroes, and was influenced by the real life ones I had at home and school, I didn’t really know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I wanted to help people and save the day just like those guys.
Think it no accident that God has written into each of our hearts that same epic. Every great book or movie or play is the same. The characters, setting and problems may change, but the story is always the same. Things start out quiet, then events begin to take place that create a crisis, then a hero emerges that brings victory. All the great westerns have that theme; just watch any episode of Bonanza or the Lone Ranger. Even the love stories are written with that element of crisis, a hero emerges and saves the day.
In the text we’re reading today we find part of the greatest epic ever told, and here Luke reveals to us the emergence of the hero. From Genesis to Revelation we read of the showdown between the forces of Satan and those of God. God sits on the throne and Satan wants that throne. It’s the classic, “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us.” God kicked Satan out of heaven and since then Satan has been attacking God by attacking His people. He’s been attacking God by deceiving the lost and keeping them blind to their need of salvation, and like the villain that he is, he’s convinced himself that he can really win this thing.
But we know better! God promised Satan in Genesis 3:15 that he would bruise the heel of Christ, but Christ would crush his head, and thus the epic began. The villain might put a bullet in the hero’s leg, but the hero puts a bullet right through his heart.
You strip the Old Testament down and it becomes the story of God preparing the way for the hero to emerge. In fact, Luke 3:23-38 is a recounting of that story. Jesus was the son of Joseph, who was the son of Heli, who was the Son of Matthat…” Jump over to Revelation and look past all the bowls and trumpets and vials of wrath and you’ll find the grandest showdown in history. Did you ever wonder why the great western heroes wore the white hat and the bad buy always wore black? That theme originated in God! Christ comes riding into town on His white horse with victory and salvation! He alone can save the day!
Luke tells us about its earthly beginning. Of course much has gone on in the halls of glory before this event, but earthly speaking, here is where Jesus shows up in town. Let’s read verses 21-22.
“Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.”
Did you ever think about Jesus growing up and being asked by folks, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Of course most would assume that He would be a carpenter like His father. He was certainly trained in that trade. But Jesus knew from an early age what He had been sent to do. “When I grow up I’m going to be the Savior of the world.” Now that’s ambition! But it wasn’t ambition at all – it was His purpose. “When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son,” the Scriptures say.
The human body of Jesus Christ had been groomed to go to the cross. For 30 years Jesus prepared for this moment. The eternal destiny of humanity hung on His decision to follow through, and the very character and truthfulness of God was on the line. Had Jesus refused to do this thing He would have been no different from Adam. Adam’s sin was not in eating the fruit; it was choosing to act of His own volition rather than being obedient to God. Had Christ refused to set His face toward the cross, He too would have been guilty of acting of His own volition, but the Bible says “He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Today God is writing the epic of your life. I don’t care whether you prefer westerns, romances or sci-fi, the story is the same. Satan is waging war in your life for your heart. God wants you to abandon all for Him. He wants you to surrender all. He wants you to love Him with all your heart and all your soul and all your might. I think the most effective thing Satan does in our lives is not to turn us away from God, but simply to keep us from full surrender.
Now here’s the good news: you are the hero of your story. You’ve got what it takes. On a day long ago Jesus Christ set His face to the cross of Calvary; but today God’s inviting you to set your face to your cross too. “If any man will follow me,” Jesus said, “let him deny himself daily, take up his cross and follow me.” If you’ll do that today, then there are three things you need to do.
Know why you’re here
Don’t suppose for a minute that Jesus mindlessly wandered down to the Jordan River that day. He had been planning this since before He created the Jordan River He was standing in. He had come to earth for one purpose, and that was to glorify the Father. Everything God does He does to bring glory to Himself. Yes Jesus came to go to the cross. Yes Jesus came to pay for salvation. Yes Jesus came to redeem mankind, but the ultimate reason Jesus came to earth was to bring glory to the Father, and the way He did it was by going to the cross. Listen to the words of His prayer in John 17,
“Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”
It’s all about glory! Jesus came to bring glory to God the Father, and the only way for Him to do that was to go to the cross. Had Jesus refused to accept that calling on His life the effects would have been devastating.
Listen to me: you have absolutely got to know that you are here for one reason and only one reason: to bring glory to the Father! How do you do that? You do it by surrendering everything you are and have and could be to Him! “All to thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all!” Why? For the glory of God.
Why do we need godly mothers? For the glory of God! Why do we need godly fathers? For the glory of God! Why do we need husbands and wives to love one another and stay together? For the glory of God! Why do we need Christians in the workplace? Why pray? Why study? Why does God want you to commune with Him? For the glory of God! Do you see it yet? Do you know why you’re here? Just in case I’ve been a little vague about it – you’re here to bring glory to God!
Burn the bridges
Now watch this in Luke 3:21,
“Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized…”
Baptism may not mean much in America, but it could be a life and death proposition to a Jew. Jesus didn’t approach this moment of his life and say, “Well, if this cross thing doesn’t work out I can always build houses.” He burnt the bridge! There was no going back. That’s what baptism is supposed to represent in our lives, and it’s what surrender is supposed to mean. It’s what Jesus meant when he said to deny yourself daily and take up your cross.
The cross isn’t some pretty piece of gold you hang around your neck – it’s an instrument of death. Death to yesterday; death to the past; death to the old man; death to your ambitions and thinking and values and life to those of Christ’s. The only way to follow Christ is to abandon yourself to Him. Abandon everything to Him.
One man says to Jesus, “Let me first go bury my father.” Another wanted to go tell his friends and family good-bye. Jesus says abandon all of it. ALL of it. God says…
• Restore that relationship – You can’t? You haven’t abandoned all.
• Accept that individual – You can’t? You haven’t abandoned all.
• Trust Him when you can’t see everything – You can’t? You haven’t abandoned all.
• Love your sorry husband – You can’t? You haven’t abandoned all.
• Let go of your way of thinking
• Lay down your nets
• Let go of your past – You can’t? You haven’t abandoned all.
There are so many people who are enslaved to yesterday and tomorrow. They worry what others will think. They fear what might happen. We get anxious about what we can’t control, all because we cannot abandon everything for God.
I think I told you about the last time I canoed the Pecos River. I didn’t take any food along for the week long trip. What I did take was my fish fryer, a frying pan, some corn meal and ketchup. My canoe partner had a load of food. He had candy bars and cans of soup. He had beanie weenies, crackers and tuna fish. I wanted to get to know God better as my Provider, so I went trusting that I would catch enough fish that I wouldn’t need any food, and I trusted that if I didn’t catch fish that God would provide for me by sustaining my strength.
Brad and I canoed along and fished for two days. He was in the front, I was in the back. We used the same lures, fished the same holes. I caught fish and he didn’t. Not one. The second night I caught enough fish to feed him and the others. He was frustrated.
On Wednesday morning of the trip, I went to the canoe to load up and found Brad giving away all his food. This is what he said, “I haven’t caught fish because I’m not trusting God. I’m giving everything away. God will either provide for me or He won’t.” And that day Brad caught fish. You know what He did? He burned the bridge.
Step into the river
When Jesus stepped into the river and received the baptism of John, He was declaring to the world around Him that there was a new sheriff in town. “I am the way,” He would say. No man builds a barn or goes to war without first counting the cost. Jesus had counted the cost. He knew what lie ahead. He knew it would be hell. He knew that this path would lead to a cruel Roman cross where He would suffer the physical pain of the cross, where He would suffer the agony of taking our sins upon Himself, and where He would suffer the very abandonment of God the Father. Jesus had set Himself for war. He was about to storm the gates of hell. It would start right here.
I don’t know where you are today in your relationship with God. You may be wrestling with whether to place your faith in Him as your Savior. You may have been saved a long time but you know you’re in need of abandoning yourself to Him. You may have made a mess of yesterday, and you may be confused about today.
Let me tell you something: there’s nothing you can do about any of those things. Step into the river and follow Christ. You can’t change what’s been done. You can’t undo your past. You can’t tell the future and you’ll never figure out every step God wants you to take. I can’t promise you a bed of roses and God’s not going to. The Bible doesn’t say that following God will be easy or well accepted, but that it is the right thing to do and what is best for you.
You were created for this. You were brought into this world to be a lover and a follower of God. You were placed here to bring glory to Him. Surrender to that calling on your life. Put a torch to the bridges you’ve been keeping erected in your life just in case things don’t work out, and step down into the river where a glorious and exciting future awaits you.
Conclusion
When Jesus did these three things, Luke records for us what happened in verse 22. I’d like to read 21-22 again.
“Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.”
On that day 2000 years ago Jesus Christ surrendered to the purpose for which He had been sent to earth. It was not finished; it had only begun, but when it did some amazing things happened that I believe will happen in your life as well when you surrender everything for the glory of God. When you abandon all for Christ’s sake, then you’re going to experience three things.
You’re going to experience the fellowship of the Son.
You’re not going down some road that hasn’t been traveled before. It may be the road less traveled, but you’re not the first. Jesus Christ went before you and showed you without error what absolute surrender looked like. “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are…” When you abandon everything to walk with God; simply to be with Him, you’re going to be following in the very footsteps of Christ.
The presence of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove. So many people have no idea what it means to know the presence of the Holy Spirit, but once you experience it you’ll never be content to walk any other way. When you are surrendered to Christ the Holy Spirit is going to manifest Himself to you. When you abandon everything to God, the Holy Spirit is going to be in your corner. He’s the cheerleader you need on the sidelines cheering you on. He’s there, and you’re going to know it!
The affirmation of the father
Listen to those words, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” There are no greater words you can hear from the lips of any human mouth that compare to those glorious words spoken by God the Father. When Jesus stepped up to the plate that day, acknowledging the calling on His life, burning any opportunity to go back and stepped down into that river, God the Father expressed in just a few simple words His love and affirmation for the Son. He heard the words every boy needs to hear from his father, words that every husband needs to hear from her husband, words that every one of us longs to hear from the Father, “You’re the man!”
What a wonderful story God has written into each of our hearts. Satan is fighting for that heart today, but Christ longs for a heart that will worship and enjoy Him. Satan wants you to sit in that proverbial pew and do nothing. Christ invites you to lay down your nets and follow Him.
He doesn’t promise a roadmap and He’s not going to show you what lies ahead, but I want to tell you that if you’ll recognize this morning that you were placed here to live for the glory of God; if you’ll burn whatever bridges have been holding you back; if you’ll step out into the water this morning; the adventure of your life awaits you.
Too old? Tell that to Caleb who at 85 decided to kick the giants off the mountain. Tell it to Daniel and Noah and all the other great saints who served God in their old age. Too young to abandon all? Tell that to King Josiah, to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Burn those bridges we call excuses and follow Christ.
