1 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,440 Well, good morning, everyone. I want to also welcome those of 2 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,320 you who are new with us here to Forward. 3 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:15,960 And if you're already connected to forward, you've been 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,640 journeying with us for a while, you know that we've been walking 5 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,760 through the book of Luke for the last number of months, but we're 6 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:25,120 going to take a pause on the book of Luke as we move into the 7 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,680 Easter season. So if you would take your 8 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:32,280 Bibles, open up to the Gospel of John chapter 5, John chapter 5, 9 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,480 it's page 946. If you are using one of the 10 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:38,280 Bibles in the seat underneath of you, you can grab that. 11 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:40,800 If you don't have a Bible that is our gift to you, please take 12 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:44,840 that home with you and use that just as you're opening up to 13 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,080 John chapter 5. I was reflecting this week on 14 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,040 how much I love a good mystery story. 15 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:57,080 I I love like seeing what's at the end, whether it's a like a 16 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,520 good murder mystery as a pastor allowed to say that, I don't 17 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,680 know, but I just did And I just seeing that and then trying to 18 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:06,760 put all the pieces together of the evidence. 19 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:11,640 Where does the evidence take us to to come to a conclusion at 20 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,040 the end of things, to try and figure out what exactly 21 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,960 happened. Sometimes there are mysteries 22 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:21,600 that they're so big that when you follow the evidence, they 23 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:26,280 can be potentially life changing for yourself or for the other 24 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,720 people that are around you. For example, I want to show you 25 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,600 a picture up on the screen. This this is a picture of what's 26 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:36,680 called the Copper Scroll. It was found in 1952 right 27 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,840 beside the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran in Israel. 28 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:46,280 Now, it is believed that this is actually a treasure map, a 29 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:52,360 treasure map that will take you to over $3 billion worth of gold 30 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:55,440 and silver that was hidden in the 1st century. 31 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:58,960 Here's the cool thing, nobody has solved it yet. 32 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:03,160 So this is your opportunity. And I want to say if you decide 33 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:07,360 to take the challenge and go and solve the mystery, your tithes 34 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:09,600 and offerings can be made payable to Forward Church. 35 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,880 All right. Over the last number of weeks, 36 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,640 we've also been looking at the evidence for Jesus. 37 00:02:17,640 --> 00:02:21,000 We've been exploring the question, who exactly is Jesus? 38 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,520 And we've looked at stories that tell us more and more about his 39 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,320 character, the way he operates, his nature. 40 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,640 And one of the things we know about Jesus is that he lived in 41 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,240 a Jewish culture. He was a Jew living in a Jewish 42 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,760 culture. And himself and some other 43 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:38,440 people around him are making a bold claim about him. 44 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,480 They are claiming that he is the Messiah, the Savior of the 45 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,440 world. But Jesus knew that simply 46 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,160 making the claim that he was the Messiah was not going to be 47 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,040 enough, because in the culture in which he lived, he was going 48 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:57,600 to be required to have multiple witnesses to that claim before 49 00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:59,800 it could be verified as being true. 50 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:04,120 That Jewish culture required at least two valid witnesses for 51 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:06,360 something to be established as fact. 52 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:11,880 So in John chapter 5, Jesus is beginning to unpacked a number 53 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:17,440 of the witnesses that exist for who He is as the Messiah. 54 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,200 We're not going to take the time to read the first number of 55 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:25,560 witnesses, but from verse 31 down to verse 37, we see several 56 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:28,040 witnesses show up. Jesus says hey, John the Baptist 57 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,400 testifies to who I am. John said that there would be 1 58 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:35,440 greater than me who was coming. And so John is testifying to who 59 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:38,600 Jesus is. He, he says, Jesus says even the 60 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:42,120 works and the miracles that I do, the things that I do to heal 61 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,720 people, to set people free from demonic oppression, all those 62 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:51,120 things testify to who I am. And then Jesus says even God the 63 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:55,120 Father testifies to who I am. When Jesus is baptized, we hear 64 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:58,960 the words well done, good and faithful servant from we hear 65 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:00,600 the words, this is my beloved son in him. 66 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,120 I'm well pleased. That's what the Father speaks 67 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,000 over Jesus. But then Jesus gives us one more 68 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,200 witness for who He is. I want to begin reading at verse 69 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:15,360 39 of John chapter 5. Jesus says you pour over the 70 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,079 Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, and 71 00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:23,200 yet they testify about me, but you're not willing to come to me 72 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,720 so that you may have life. I do not accept glory from 73 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:30,240 people, but I know you, that you have no love for God within you. 74 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:33,880 I have come in my Father's name, and yet you don't accept me. 75 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,400 If someone else comes in His own name, you will accept Him. 76 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:41,080 How Can you believe, since you accept glory from one another, 77 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,160 but don't seek the glory that comes from the only God? 78 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,680 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. 79 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:52,120 Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope for. 80 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,360 If you believe Moses, you would believe me because he wrote 81 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:57,600 about me. But if you don't believe what he 82 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,000 wrote, how will you believe my words? 83 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:03,760 So here's the big idea of what Jesus is unpacking. 84 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,560 And this 4th witness in these verses. 85 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:11,280 And he's saying the entire Bible is a witness to who Jesus is and 86 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:15,360 the truth that you can only find life in him. 87 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,680 Now, if you're a Christian, you're going, well, duh, of 88 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,920 course that is true. We know that Matthew, Mark, 89 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,840 Luke, and John are all the stories of Jesus and his life 90 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:26,440 and his death and his resurrection. 91 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:31,040 We know that Acts, in a number of the early epistles, letters 92 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,720 that are written to the early church, are really unpacking the 93 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:38,920 story of people who are living in light of the life of Jesus. 94 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:43,240 Even the Book of Revelation is a book that is centered on Jesus 95 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,360 as being the sovereign king over all things and the judge of the 96 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,800 world. Most of us who are believers in 97 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,800 Jesus followers in Jesus understand that the New 98 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:59,480 Testament is all about Jesus. But very few people think of the 99 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:03,280 Old Testament as also testifying about Jesus. 100 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,160 But here in the moment that Jesus is speaking in, in these 101 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:11,680 verses S not referring to how the New Testament speaks about 102 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,480 him because the New Testament hasn't been written yet. 103 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:17,800 He's referring to how the Old Testament speaks about him and 104 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,240 testifies about him. Jesus is saying the Old 105 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:23,560 Testament is also a witness to who he is. 106 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,520 Now if that's new language for you, you don't know the words 107 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,680 Old Testament and New Testament. Let me just take a minute to 108 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:33,280 unpack that for you. The Old Testament are the 109 00:06:33,280 --> 00:06:36,640 scriptures before Jesus is born. They tell they tell the story of 110 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,920 creation, they tell the story of God's relationship with the 111 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:43,960 people of Israel, his deep covenant faithful love, and they 112 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,840 tell the story of a group of people waiting for a Messiah to 113 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:49,080 come and rescue them. The New Testament starting the 114 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:53,280 book of Matthew is telling us the story of Jesus from from the 115 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:56,600 point of Jesus birth on to the rest of his life. 116 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,240 If you were a Jew in the day listening to Jesus say these 117 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:05,720 words, this would have rocked your world because your entire 118 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,640 life has been built around this set of scriptures. 119 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,800 Your entire life has been built around understanding it, 120 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:18,320 believing it, memorizing it. And so all they knew was the Old 121 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,440 Testament and Jesus is saying all the things you've ever 122 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,760 studied. It's ultimately pointing to me. 123 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:30,600 It's about me Now I know that while that meant something for 124 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,480 people in that day, for us today, the Old Testament tends 125 00:07:34,480 --> 00:07:36,160 to mean something very different. 126 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,960 For most people, the Old Testament is something that's 127 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:43,240 one of the most difficult, highly controversial, and easily 128 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:48,560 ignored parts of the Bible. There are not a lot of people 129 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,680 who, when they are going through a hardship in life, are going, 130 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:54,880 hey, I wonder what Joel and Amos and Obadiah have to say right 131 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:58,840 now. That is not where we tend to go 132 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:02,960 when we're going through it. But as we move towards Easter 133 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,160 over the next few weeks, we're going to unpack more about the 134 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:10,360 Old Testament and how exactly the Old Testament testifies to 135 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:13,800 who Jesus is. But for today, I just want to 136 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,920 spend some time unpacking the words of Jesus in John chapter 5 137 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,640 as an introduction to the next few weeks as we move towards 138 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,440 Easter. And in these verses, Jesus is 139 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:31,120 going to identify three mistakes that people then and now make 140 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:35,240 when it comes to the Old, the Old Testament, both in reading 141 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:37,640 it and understanding it. Here's the first mistake. 142 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,039 Mistake number one is studying the Old Testament and missing 143 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:47,360 how it points to Jesus. In verse 39, Jesus talks about, 144 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:51,200 you pour over the Scriptures and you think they've got eternal 145 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,920 life in them, but yet they testify about me. 146 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:56,800 Verse 46, he says the same thing. 147 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:59,680 If you believe Moses, you would believe me. 148 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,000 Now, if you grew up going to church, you probably learned all 149 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:05,440 the stories of the Old Testament. 150 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:07,880 And there are some pretty epic stories in the Old Testament, 151 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,840 aren't there? Like you've got Noah's ark and 152 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,880 you've got Moses and the people of Israel coming out of Egypt. 153 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:20,160 You've got David and Goliath, which is way more violent than 154 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,120 what it was when I was six years old. 155 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,920 Honestly, when you read the Bible, you got Daniel in the 156 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,000 lion's den, you got Daniel in the fiery furnace. 157 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:33,240 You got so many things that are going on going on in those 158 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,040 passages. And we often look at the stories 159 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:39,480 of the Old Testament and we think, boy, those are cool or 160 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,240 they're confusing. We're not really sure which we 161 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,840 land on depending on the story, but the mistake that often gets 162 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:51,160 made is that people will miss seeing how each individual story 163 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:55,280 fits into a grander narrative, a grander story that the Bible is 164 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:57,440 unfolding. We we look at each individual 165 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,320 story and go, man, that's cool, or I don't understand it, but 166 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,480 actually each individual story is pointing us to a bigger 167 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:07,480 story, the story of the whole of Scripture that is centered 168 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,920 around Jesus. That's what Jesus trying to tell 169 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:12,920 us here. The Bible is not this series of 170 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:18,000 disconnected moral stories. We, we look at the people and 171 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,320 the stories and we look for the moral lessons that we can learn 172 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,120 for ourselves. We go like, how do I have faith 173 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,720 like this person or courage like this person? 174 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,440 And, and it's good to think about that and challenges 175 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:35,840 ourselves with that, but that's limiting the whole perspective 176 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:39,840 that the Bible wants us to see. All of those stories are 177 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:44,960 designed to point us to Jesus. Or maybe you're like Kirk. 178 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,080 I'm way past all the Bible stories. 179 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:51,280 I like to go deeper into all the hidden meaning of all the words 180 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:53,960 in the Old Testament. I want to dive in deep and 181 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,800 really understand what the Old Testament is saying in these 182 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,320 passages. So you want to understand every 183 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,680 possible interpretation of a passage, and it's great that you 184 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:05,680 want to do that. But Jesus tells us that the 185 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:09,960 mistake we make when we pour over the Scriptures is we miss 186 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,720 seeing how they testify about him. 187 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:18,120 There are so many people who are great students of the 188 00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:22,720 scriptures, but if your Bible knowledge does not lead you to 189 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,760 know Jesus and see Jesus, you've missed the point. 190 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,640 The the Old Testament consistently points us to Jesus. 191 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:34,320 It's it's not like we get through the Old Testament and 192 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:36,440 suddenly we get to the good parts of the Bible in the New 193 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:39,520 Testament. OK, The Old Testament has things 194 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:43,880 like prophecies, prophecies that talk about the Messiah, 195 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,360 including his life and his birth and his death and his 196 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,600 resurrection. Over 350 prophecies in the Old 197 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:54,960 Testament about the Messiah are fulfilled by Jesus. 198 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,720 The Old Testament has what's called types and shadows of 199 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:04,520 Jesus showing up, people, events, institutions that give 200 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:08,360 us this foreshadowing of Jesus. And we're going to talk more 201 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,360 about how that shows up next Sunday. 202 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:12,920 But let me give you a quick example of what that looks like. 203 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:17,080 Think about the story of Joseph, the coat of many colors that 204 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:20,800 shows up on Joseph. And with Joseph, you have a guy 205 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:27,360 who is sold out by his brothers, who suffers and lives in 206 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:32,280 isolation and ultimately rescues and saves his family. 207 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:39,240 Sound familiar to anybody? The Old Testament sacrificial 208 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:43,040 system easily one of the most confusing things for us in 2026. 209 00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:46,760 But the rituals of the Tabernacle and the temple are 210 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:51,560 all given to symbolize the need for atonement of sins and the 211 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:56,280 future sacrifice of Jesus. We even have times in the Old 212 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:01,480 Testament where the Son of God before he is born as Jesus 213 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:05,440 appears in the Old Testament. One of the most powerful 214 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:09,200 pictures of Jesus showing up in the Old Testament is found in 215 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,200 Isaiah chapter 6. And we're not going to take the 216 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:13,960 time to look there. If you want to look there 217 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:15,720 quickly, you can. I'm going to paint this picture 218 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:17,720 of the first few verses of Isaiah 6. 219 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:22,480 Isaiah is brought into the throne room of God himself. 220 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:27,520 He's brought into this space where he is able to be in the 221 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:29,960 presence of God. And when he walks into the 222 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:34,480 presence of God in God's throne room, what he sees is, is the 223 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:38,400 robe of God that fills the entire temple. 224 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:44,320 And he sees this, this reality of angels, seraphim, angels all 225 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:49,960 around the throne and, and they are crying out holy, holy, holy 226 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:56,200 is the Lord God Almighty, Holy is the Lord of armies. 227 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,320 This majestic scene is unfolding in front of Isaiah. 228 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:04,680 And as he hears the voice of these angels, it says that the 229 00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:08,480 foundation of the temple literally started to shake at 230 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,280 their voice and it was filled with smoke. 231 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:17,240 And Isaiah's only response is, woe is me. 232 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:23,800 He recognizes the holiness of the presence of God, that he is 233 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:29,320 completely unworthy to stand in the presence of God. 234 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:31,960 He says I'm a man of unclean lips. 235 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:34,400 But then Isaiah says something else. 236 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:41,880 He says, my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of armies. 237 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:46,680 Now, who in the world is Isaiah talking about? 238 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,760 If you turn over to John chapter 12, go ahead and do that. 239 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:57,600 Let's we're in John already. Look at John chapter 12 and look 240 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:04,400 at verse 41 of John chapter 12. Here's what John writes. 241 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:10,200 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory, meaning Jesus 242 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:15,760 glory, and spoke about him. Isaiah saw the Son of God in 243 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:18,120 Isaiah 6 before the Son of God was ever born. 244 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,120 Jesus shows up in the Old Testament. 245 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,360 But then back in John chapter 5, Jesus throws down the big weight 246 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,960 of evidence for a Jew and he says even Moses wrote about me. 247 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:37,640 Now that's a big deal to a Jew because for them Moses is the 248 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,600 supreme prophet because he spoke with God directly. 249 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:43,720 You might be going, well where did Moses talk about Jesus? 250 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,840 I'm glad you asked. The first Christian said this. 251 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:49,640 I'm going to put a verse up on the screen in Acts chapter 3 252 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,240 quoting Moses. Moses said the Lord your God 253 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,040 will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your 254 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:58,640 brothers. You must listen to everything 255 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,280 that he tells you, and everyone who does not listen to that 256 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:06,080 prophet will be completely cut off from the people. 257 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:11,840 The very first Christians quote Moses from Deuteronomy to say 258 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:15,280 that Moses is talking about Jesus. 259 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:19,880 Way back in the book of Deuteronomy, even Moses said 260 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:22,960 there's another prophet that the people would need to listen to 261 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:27,520 everything that he tells them. That's not where it ends for 262 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:29,120 Moses. When you read the writings of 263 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:32,880 Moses, you will see again and again how the grand story of 264 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:36,800 redemption is designed to foreshadow Jesus. 265 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:39,320 We're going to see that through a story we're going to look at 266 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:43,800 in a couple of weeks from now. Moses shows us so many signs 267 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:48,960 that point to God's redemption for humanity through Jesus. 268 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:53,800 Now a lot of us go looking for signs and they're saying like 269 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:55,560 God, would you just give me a sign to show me that you're 270 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,120 there? Would you give me a sign to show 271 00:16:57,120 --> 00:17:01,560 me that you care? There's a reminds me of a movie 272 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:03,800 from probably about 20 years ago now. 273 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:06,960 Jim Carrey starred in a movie, Bruce Almighty. 274 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:11,280 I do not recommend it for theological purposes, but one of 275 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:15,400 my favorite parts of the movie is Jim Carrey's in his car and 276 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:18,000 he's kind of going through it and he's driving and he's 277 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,200 saying, God, would you just give me some guidance, please? 278 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,319 Would you just give me a sign that that you're there? 279 00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:25,520 Would you give me a sign that you care? 280 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:27,520 Just give me a sign. And the whole time he's saying, 281 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:29,840 God, give me a sign. He's driving his car on a 282 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,680 highway and there's signs showing up everywhere. 283 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,520 Stop driving. This is dangerous. 284 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:37,320 Don't go there wrong way. Stop. 285 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:38,920 And he's like, God, please give me a sign. 286 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:41,640 And he just keeps going and driving and missing all the 287 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:43,200 signs that are already in front of him. 288 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:48,680 And so many of us, we keep saying, God, would you give me a 289 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:53,360 sign that you're really there? And sometimes we miss paying 290 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:55,560 attention to the signs that God's already given us. 291 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:01,320 Sometimes we just ignore and walk past all the signs that are 292 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:03,200 there. And, and God's saying like when 293 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:07,720 it comes to is Jesus really God? Is Jesus who he says he is? 294 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:10,600 He's saying the signs are there, you just have to pay attention 295 00:18:10,600 --> 00:18:14,760 to them. That's what Jesus is trying to 296 00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,240 tell us about the Old Testament. The signs are there. 297 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,440 The only question is, will you pay attention to them? 298 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,800 The second mistake that we make is being unwilling to interpret 299 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,400 the Old Testament through the person of Jesus. 300 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:33,480 In verse 40, Jesus says these words and back in John chapter 301 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,520 5, you're not willing to come to me so that you may have life. 302 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:43,920 Every time that you and I read the Bible and in particular Old 303 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:47,400 Testament passages, you're going to be faced with a challenge of 304 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,200 trying to interpret what does this mean for me today? 305 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:56,520 If you are unwilling to interpret the Old Testament 306 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:00,480 through the person of Jesus, you are going to miss finding the 307 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:06,440 life that God wants for you. Sometimes we already have in our 308 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,280 mind our our own idea of what we want the Bible to say. 309 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:14,240 We, we often want the Scriptures to give us the life that we've 310 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,320 already decided that we want for ourselves. 311 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,080 And we try to interpret the scriptures through the lens of 312 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,560 what I already want them to say for me. 313 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:27,680 OK. And, and, and sometimes many 314 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:32,880 times when you interpret Old Testament passages through the 315 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:37,840 person of Jesus, it is going to upset you because it's going to 316 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:40,160 change the way you should be responding in any given 317 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,000 situation. Let me give you a couple of 318 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,680 examples of how that shows up today. 319 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,200 The way that you choose to interpret the Old Testament can 320 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:52,120 lead you to two very different places. 321 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:57,160 There are some of us who we love our rules. 322 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:02,240 We love everything to be just structured just so. 323 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,240 All of life needs to be about the rules and structures. 324 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:08,680 So you love the Old Testament because it is filled with all 325 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:12,120 kinds of rules. When you read the Old Testament, 326 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:14,800 you see rule after rule of what needs to happen if you're going 327 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:19,560 to honor God with your life. And, and deep down inside, you 328 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:25,320 carry that thought with you, that if everyone just obeyed all 329 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,120 the rules, life would be so much better. 330 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,600 And so we end up playing the role of referee. 331 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,880 We look at how to enforce the rules on anyone and everyone. 332 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:39,800 And honestly, you can have a great biblical case for rules. 333 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,960 You can quote all kinds of passages from the Old Testament 334 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:48,680 and say God commanded this. The the Jews of Jesus day would 335 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:51,280 have understood the Old Testament to have over 600 336 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,000 different laws or rules for them to follow. 337 00:20:55,320 --> 00:21:01,040 Now, if you're a parent, you probably have rules at home, and 338 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:05,040 you probably also know that every single one of your 339 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:09,520 children break the rules that you have at home or have at some 340 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:13,640 point broken those rules. Without fail, every single rule 341 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:15,600 ends up getting broken. What's the old saying? 342 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,640 Rules are made what to be broken? 343 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:25,840 Why do we all inherently know that in workplaces you have 344 00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:28,520 policies at work? Why do we have policies at work? 345 00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,560 Because at some point in time somebody did something really 346 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:35,960 dumb, and so somebody said we need to have a policy so that 347 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:38,520 nobody does this again. But guess what? 348 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,000 Somebody goes and breaks that policy. 349 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,560 Now you need a new policy to replace the old policy because 350 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:44,920 somebody else did something dumb. 351 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:46,880 And it just keeps going on and on and on. 352 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:51,840 It's why we have policies. Jesus is trying to say to us, 353 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,040 like, if you think everything's going to be better if everyone 354 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:58,080 will just keep the rules, you're sadly mistaken. 355 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:02,640 Romans chapter 5 tells us that the law, the Old Testament law, 356 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,680 came along to multiply the trespass. 357 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:11,160 If the law of the Old Testament was not created just to inspire 358 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:15,760 people to be better, that it's actually a mirror of what's 359 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:17,680 really going on inside our hearts. 360 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:22,920 That what the law does is it reveals the truth that you and I 361 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,920 and every other human being are not able to keep the rules. 362 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:32,280 If we only focus on the commands of the Old Testament without 363 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,880 interpreting them through the person of Jesus. 364 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,440 Here's what you end up doing. You end up piling more and more 365 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,880 and more guilt on yourself and other people with no real way 366 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:48,920 out. You you focus on behavior 367 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,800 transformation first. When Jesus focuses on heart 368 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,080 transformation, that leads to behavior transformation. 369 00:22:59,120 --> 00:23:03,440 Yeah, of course Jesus had rules. But but when we interpret the 370 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,680 Old Testament through Jesus, we understand which rules are 371 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,800 timeless and which are for a particular group of people in a 372 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:16,800 particular time and place. Here's another way that 373 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,280 interpreting the Old Testament through the person of Jesus 374 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:24,800 makes a difference when it comes to our thoughts and our desire 375 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,720 to have God honoring cities and countries. 376 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,600 Now please listen carefully to what I'm about to say because 377 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:35,560 some of you are going to Take Me Out of context. 378 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:41,400 Wanting a community and country to operate in a way that honors 379 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:47,040 God is good. The Old Testament teaches us to 380 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,400 seek the welfare of the place we live in. 381 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,160 The New Testament says that we are to be salt and light in the 382 00:23:55,160 --> 00:24:01,160 world in which we live. But don't make the mistake of 383 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:06,400 only quoting Old Testament passages about how a country 384 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,520 should be run without interpreting those passages 385 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,120 through the lens of how Jesus navigated an incredibly 386 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:20,600 difficult political environment. There are way too many 387 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,840 Christians who have made their highest priority the country 388 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,680 that they live in over their citizenship in the Kingdom of 389 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:34,480 God. There are too many times where 390 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:40,280 people are using Bible language to mask what is really a desire 391 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:46,360 for power and our own agenda, and we miss being people who 392 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:51,760 genuinely love our neighbors. NT Wright said this. 393 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:56,520 He said Christian nationalism is impoverished because it seeks a 394 00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:02,000 Kingdom without a cross. It pursues victory without 395 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,320 mercy. It acclaims God's love of power 396 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,000 rather than the power of God's love. 397 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,200 You see, the lens that you use to interpret the Old Testament 398 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:19,800 is critical because it's not only going to shape your life, 399 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:24,000 it's going to shape the lives of the people around you and how 400 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:27,720 you relate to them as well. Always make sure your 401 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:30,560 interpretation is filtered through the person of Jesus. 402 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,600 Third mistake that we make not believing the Old Testament is 403 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:41,680 valuable or true. In verse 47, Jesus says this. 404 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:43,760 If you don't believe what Moses wrote, you're not going to 405 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,360 believe my words there. There are a lot of people who 406 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:50,280 go, well, if we just interpret it through Jesus, then why do we 407 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,840 even need the Old Testament? Let's just start with Jesus and 408 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,800 go on from there. The Old Testament is filled with 409 00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,320 all kinds of stuff I don't like, I don't understand, I don't even 410 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:03,840 know if I believe to be true. Like, it's got wild stories 411 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:09,960 about a global flood and a guy who lands in the belly of a big 412 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:14,880 fish. It's got pages and pages and 413 00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:18,320 pages and pages and pages of genealogies. 414 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,600 What's up with that? It's got violence. 415 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:27,120 Tons of violence, some of it even commanded by God. 416 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:33,480 It's got weird rules and laws like in Leviticus Chapter 11. 417 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,120 Don't eat bats. Who needs to be told don't eat 418 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:41,640 bats. Don't eat bacon. 419 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:49,040 Come on now. And then it's got like poetry, I 420 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,760 hated poetry when I was in school, and it's got hundreds of 421 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,960 psalms of poetry. Who can possibly understand any 422 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,560 of the poetry? What's the point? 423 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,440 And so many people have that kind of attitude when it comes 424 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:04,960 to approaching the Old Testament. 425 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:09,920 But Jesus wants us to see that the Old Testament has incredible 426 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:14,920 value all on its own. Jesus thought so highly of the 427 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,640 Old Testament that he frequently quotes it. 428 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:21,800 In fact, Jesus quotes from 19 different Old Testament books. 429 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,520 When the apostles preach sermons in the New Testament, they are 430 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,000 quoting again and again from the Old Testament for their sermons. 431 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:33,680 What one person I read this week actually went into a sermon that 432 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,320 Stephen preached in the book of Acts and counted. 433 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,520 He quoted the Old Testament 50 times in one sermon. 434 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,920 The New Testament is great. It's got passages that say, hey, 435 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:50,200 if any of you lacks wisdom, and who doesn't lack wisdom right 436 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:51,640 now, right? Different things going on. 437 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:55,360 It says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let them ask of God and 438 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:57,160 God will give it to you generously. 439 00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,200 That's a great promise for us to lean into. 440 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:03,720 The Old Testament says we've already got much of God's wisdom 441 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,400 written down for us in books in the Old Testament. 442 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:08,920 Sometimes we ask God to give us wisdom. 443 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:11,680 And God's like, I've already given you wisdom, just read 444 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:19,480 Proverbs. The Old Testament is incredibly 445 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:21,960 important to unfolding God's grand story. 446 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:25,240 The brokenness of the world makes so much sense when you 447 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:30,120 understand the Old Testament. The Old Testament is filled with 448 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:36,200 real people like you and me, who in a real moment in time we're 449 00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:40,840 struggling with real life and trying to understand what does 450 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:44,560 it mean and look like to follow and trust and have faith in God. 451 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,240 You learned so many things about the character of God from the 452 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:51,880 Old Testament. You learn about God's deep love 453 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,520 for people. You learn how patient God is. 454 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:59,080 It's the Old Testament that teaches us that God is merciful, 455 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:05,000 that that he is slow to get angry, that he's abounding in 456 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:09,360 steadfast love and faithfulness. The Old Testament teaches us 457 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,440 things about the the character, the attributes of God, the 458 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:15,720 majesty of who God is. It tells us that God is eternal. 459 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,680 He's always been and always will be, tells us that he's the 460 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:23,840 Creator and He's holy. He's unlike anyone else. 461 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:29,240 In the Old Testament, we learn how to lament the grief that we 462 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:32,680 carry in life and how to maintain hope while we're 463 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:35,560 waiting on God to fulfill His promises. 464 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:39,480 The Old Testament also shows us just how much God hates sin. 465 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,120 You see how offensive sin really is to God. 466 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,920 When you study the Old Testament, you see how much He 467 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:55,840 hates it. He hates what sin does to people 468 00:29:56,480 --> 00:30:01,080 made in His image. He hates what sin does to His 469 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:05,200 creation, all the things that He called very good. 470 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:08,880 He hates the damage that sin does. 471 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,160 And you also see the extent to which God is willing to go for 472 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:19,360 justice and freedom to happen. When you read Old Testament 473 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:21,960 books and you put them in the context they were written in, 474 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,800 when you understand the difference between wisdom books 475 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:28,240 and poetic and prophetic and historical books, you see this 476 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:31,800 incredible picture of God unfolding human history. 477 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:39,240 And as the New Testament teaches us, all Scripture, all Scripture 478 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:45,600 is inspired by God, and it's profitable for teaching and 479 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:50,480 rebuking and correcting and training in righteousness, even 480 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:56,920 a genealogy. All Scripture, the Old Testament 481 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:01,480 is like a treasure map. Now, not all of us are old 482 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:06,520 enough to remember using printed copies of maps, but we all 483 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:09,200 understand how important it is to read a map properly. 484 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,960 I I've had all kinds of strange adventures with maps. 485 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:19,560 Shannon and I had our first date 34 years ago this week and I 486 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:21,480 didn't have Google Maps back in the day. 487 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:26,120 All I had was a paper map in front of me and use this paper 488 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:29,240 map to try and navigate my way through the thriving metropolis 489 00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:34,320 of Paris ON. And as I use this paper map to 490 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:39,120 get into Paris ON, I ended up still getting lost and miss 491 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:42,240 reading the map and being half an hour late for our first date 492 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,080 and she's still with me. It's a miracle. 493 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,840 Reading a map properly is the difference between getting to 494 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,520 the right destination or getting lost. 495 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,760 Reading a treasure map properly is the difference between 496 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:01,480 finding the treasure or missing out on it. 497 00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:07,560 If you've ever watched any movies, you know that reading a 498 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,240 treasure map properly can be the difference between life and 499 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,800 death. And the single most important 500 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:15,840 message of the Old Testament is this. 501 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,960 Jesus is the treasure the Old Testament is designed to help 502 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:28,000 you find. See, the one thing that is part 503 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:35,160 of the human condition, both then and now, is the constant 504 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:41,480 desire and need to find life. We all go looking for a purpose. 505 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:43,600 We all go look looking for meaning. 506 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:46,000 We all go looking for peace and joy. 507 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:51,200 It's been the story of humanity since humanity had a story. 508 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:54,800 We go searching for it everywhere. 509 00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:01,720 We go searching for it in money and in relationships and in 510 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:08,520 power. We go looking for it in sex and 511 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:11,240 whatever we put our identity in. We go looking for it in our 512 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:15,160 careers. We look to our goals and our 513 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,920 dreams to give us that sense of life. 514 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:23,880 But if there is one thing that we can observe about the human 515 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:26,440 reality is this. Humans are never satisfied. 516 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,400 We're never satisfied. There's always this sense in us 517 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:36,240 that I still need to find life. No matter how hard we try, it 518 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:38,720 always feels slightly out of reach. 519 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,440 And so we go looking to religion to give us answers. 520 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,640 We study religious texts like the Bible. 521 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:51,400 Over 80% of the world's population identifies with a 522 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:52,720 religious group. Why? 523 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:56,040 Because there's something about religion that draws our 524 00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:00,200 attention that says, hey, I can find peace and hope in religion, 525 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:04,720 even. But Jesus wants you and I to 526 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:10,960 know that hope and life is not found in your ability to be good 527 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:15,239 or to have more knowledge of religious scriptures or even 528 00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:20,840 doing more religious activity. Like if I could simplify the 529 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,760 entire Christian message for you into one sentence, it would be 530 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:27,920 this. It's all about Jesus. 531 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:34,520 It's all about Jesus. I know that in this room and 532 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:37,480 watching online, there are some people who you've got no 533 00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,400 personal faith in Jesus. You're here, you're exploring, 534 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:44,600 you're asking questions. But what the Bible constantly 535 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:47,360 points us to, and what the Old Testament even points us to, is 536 00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:51,840 that as much as humans may try to be good, we will always 537 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,600 consistently fail in measuring up to God's standards. 538 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:01,040 The Old Testament also promises that God would one day send 539 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,800 someone to rescue us from the penalty of our sins. 540 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:08,480 But God doesn't just send anyone, He sends his only 541 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:13,640 begotten Son, Jesus. If you want to find true life, 542 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,880 Jesus says, put your faith in me. 543 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:24,040 If you want to be made right with God, put your trust in 544 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,520 Jesus. If you want to become the person 545 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:31,920 you are always created and designed to be, trust Jesus. 546 00:35:34,600 --> 00:35:37,760 Jesus says I've come to give you life and life more abundantly, 547 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:42,480 not not by us working harder to be better people, but by us 548 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,720 placing and our our trust in our lives in his hands. 549 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:49,000 Jesus is the way, he is the truth. 550 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,600 He is the life. No one gets to the Father except 551 00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:56,400 through him. And for those of us who are 552 00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:02,200 already believers in Jesus, you always hear us talking about the 553 00:36:02,200 --> 00:36:04,920 importance of doing things like reading your Bible. 554 00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:06,880 And it is important for you to read your Bible. 555 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:10,720 But I want you to hear this. The treasure of the Christian 556 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:14,960 life is not having more information about the Bible. 557 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,680 Read your Bible because it brings you to the real treasure, 558 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:25,760 Jesus. Read your Bible because it's 559 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:27,600 going to help you know Jesus more. 560 00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:30,160 Read your Bible because it's going to help you love Jesus 561 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:31,360 more. Read your Bible because it's 562 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:35,640 going to help you see Jesus. Think like Jesus, love Jesus, 563 00:36:36,240 --> 00:36:38,240 and know how great His love is for you. 564 00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:43,200 Jesus is our King and our Savior. 565 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:47,200 He is our Lord, He's our friend, He's our brother, He's our 566 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:52,640 teacher. We are here because of Jesus 567 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:56,520 like none of this happens apart from Jesus. 568 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:02,280 Most of us would never choose to hang out with each other, never 569 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:04,720 mind hang out with each other first thing on a Sunday morning. 570 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:08,880 But why do we do it? Because of Jesus. 571 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:12,800 He's the reason all of this exists. 572 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:16,560 He's who we serve, He's who we worship, He's who we love, He's 573 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:20,800 who we celebrate. It's all about Jesus. 574 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:30,840 We pray. Father, thank you for how great 575 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:39,880 Your love is for us. Thank you for sending your son 576 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:45,440 for us. Thank you that all of Scripture 577 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:57,240 points us to Jesus that I pray that you would help us to have a 578 00:37:57,240 --> 00:38:02,160 new level of appreciation for how you've intricately woven the 579 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:08,800 fullness of the Bible, both the New Testament and the Old 580 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:14,080 Testament to draw our attention to lift high Jesus. 581 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:19,640 God, I pray that even this week it would change the way that 582 00:38:19,640 --> 00:38:22,120 some of us are reading our Bibles, the way we're 583 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:26,040 interpreting our Bibles and maybe God, some of us have 584 00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:28,640 walked away from even paying any attention to the Old Testament. 585 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:35,240 I pray it would give us a new passion and vision to read and 586 00:38:35,240 --> 00:38:40,600 study and understand the grand story that you give to us. 587 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:47,440 God, we are so grateful for how you've given us sign after sign 588 00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:52,640 after sign to say that Jesus is the one worth treasuring. 589 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:56,520 Jesus is the one worth placing our faith in, our hope, and our 590 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,800 trust in. I pray that you would help us to 591 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:03,600 do that. Above all else, help us to find 592 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:10,120 life and the only one who can give us life, King Jesus and his 593 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:12,160 name, I pray. Amen. 594 00:39:12,720 --> 00:39:14,200 Amen. Would you stand together as we 595 00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:15,600 close our service in Psalm?