Participants: Chris Holland
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201615A
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00:11 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time.
00:14 God's book, The Bible 00:18 Still relevant in today's complex world 00:24 It Is Written 00:26 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 00:38 There are many individuals who are left to wonder who who their mother or father might be. For 00:45 some, they were given up for adoption at an early age for a variety of reasons. For others, 00:51 a parent or both parents dies, leaving the child orphaned. For Marissa Thamann, that was the 00:59 case. Her mother passed away from a pulmonary embolism when she was only 3 months old. She 01:06 would never have a conscious recollection of her mother Marissa's father, who took his 01:13 role as a single father very seriously, later would meet a special woman, Heather, and the 01:19 two of them got married. Heather helped raise Marissa as if she were her own daughter. For 17 01:27 years she has paid that price that parents pay to show Marissa the ways of life. Yet, during 01:35 that time, she did not adopt Marissa because of the amount of money it would cost and the 01:40 sizeable amount of paperwork it would take. Yet Marissa and Heather were an unseparable duo 01:47 that acted and functioned as any mother and daughter would. But on Christmas day, 2016 something 01:54 amazing happened. As their family was opening presents, Heather opened a gift from 02:02 Marissa.it was a small ornament and on that ornament were the words "would you adopt me?" 02:09 Marissa had taken care of all the paperwork and what became a viral video and international 02:17 story, the entire family cried in the joy of moving forward in that process. 02:26 Marissa: You know how I told you I was so doing it? Well, we're doing it together. 02:40 Heather: I've been waiting for so long. 02:41 Marissa: I know, sorry it took so long. 02:44 In touching words that Marissa wrote on a little note with the ornament, ""You have been the 02:51 best thing my dad has given me, calling you my stepmom is almost insulting . Thank you for being 03:00 the mom that I needed." Not only could Heather legally adopt Marissa, but both desired it to 03:08 be so. 03:12 Friends, that is a beautiful reminder of what Jesus desire for you and me.do you desire it 03:19 from Him? That He would adopt you as a son or daughter Jesus came to this earth with a 03:27 distinct mission. His mission was one of redemption and adoption. On today's program I 03:34 want to talk more about that. See, Jesus' mission was more than to simply be born and then 03:47 die. He had a mission of peace and comfort and healing. He not only desired to save humanity, 03:55 to adopt each of us and sons and daughters, but through His love heal us and redeem us. The first 04:06 steps of Jesus ministry demonstrate this desire through action The first 8 chapters of 04:14 John show us the care that Jesus has for humanity and His desire to bring healing and redemption. 04:22 In John 2, Jesus visited a wedding and provided an ample supply of the fresh juice of the 04:30 wine, saving the master of ceremonies and the newly married couple the social embarrassment. 04:38 In John chapter 3 Jesus met with Nicodemius under the shadows, saving Nicodemius the social 04:45 pressures of publicly acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Saviour, yet teaching hime the 04:51 essential nature of being born again. In John 4, Jesus visited Samaria and brought social, 04:59 physical and spiritual healing to the woman at the well. This was such a significant 05:05 event.first because Jesus went to Samaria - a place that Jews thought was unclean and in 05:13 traveling from Judea to Galilee, although straight through Samaria was fastest would go all 05:22 the way around to avoid it. Jews would have nothing to do with Samaritans.yet Jesus went to 05:31 Samaria to bring healing and redemption. The second reason this was so amazing is because 05:37 of Jesus' interaction with a forsaken woman.Jesus care and love for each of us is so great 05:44 that He will go to tremendous lengths to bring that healing and redemption. Then in John 5, 05:52 Jesus brought healing to a paralytic man. Depite it being the Sabbath and the Jews 05:57 believing that it was against the law to heal on Sabbath.Jesus fulfulled the true meaning of 06:03 Sabbath though healing. Once again Jesus demonstrated His core desire of healing and 06:10 redemption. In John 6, Jesus fed the 5000 and provide for both their physical and spiritual 06:16 needs. Finally in John 8, an event that summarizes the entire ministy of Jesus and His desire 06:26 for each of us, He healed the woman caught in adultery. Now you might ask.how does that 06:32 summarize what He wants to do for me when I haven't committed adultery.let's examine what 06:39 Jesus did. According to John 8 beginning in verse 1, it records that event, 07:31 Picture the moment in your mind.Jesus was teaching and then these religious leader came and 07:39 cast this woman before Him. She was likely unclothed or with very little clothing.they had 07:46 caught her in the act. Some commentators surmise that these leaders had set a trap for her 07:54 and actually had committed adultery with her to make the accusation. Now they were trying 08:02 to trap Jesus. Would He uphold the law of Moses and have her stoned? Or would He break it? 08:10 They believed that they had Him in a catch 22.the Bible records that Jesus didn't answer them, 08:18 but crouched down and began writing in the sand.they continued to ask Him what He 08:24 would do.He then said, let he who is without sin cast the first stone.then crouched again 08:34 and kept writing. The Bible doesn't tell us what He wrote.but the simple process of 08:42 deduction helps us conclude that He was, in fact, writing the record of their sin in the sand. 08:52 Each of them left one by one to save embarrassment. Then Jesus with soft words, I'm sure, asked 09:04 "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" Many will say that they 09:14 were all gone.that is actually incorrect. There was only one that day who could have justly 09:21 accused her. That was Jesus, yet He chose not to which is why the Bible records in verse 11, 09:48 Jesus desires to not only adopt us, but to bring healing and redemption for each of us. He 09:59 desires that we experience the freeing affect of entering into a relationship with Him. By the 10:09 way, He was trying to reach those religious leaders as well.He wrote their sins in the 10:22 ground and not in stone. The wind would later blow away the record and He would try to bring 10:30 healing to them. Later in the book of Acts we do see that some who rejected Jesus gave their 10:40 lives to Him. 10:46 Jesus came to bring life, but the Bible records that there is another who has brought a 10:52 message of death and destruction. John 10:10 says, 11:09 As the devil has seen and heard the desires of Jesus, he has viciously attacked those that 11:16 Jesus loves. 1 Peter 5:8 says, 11:34 But Jesus wants to save us and free us from the attacks of Satan. Jesus lived a life of 11:41 service. He was and is the Savior of the world. He did so many great and powerful and good 11:47 things - all because of His desire to adopt and redeem you. This is why the apostle Paul, 11:57 writing to the church of Rome, recorded these words in Romans 3, beginning in verse 21, 12:59 Did you hear that? All of us are sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God. Yet, Jesus 13:05 wants to be the justifier of you, the surety of your salvation and Romans 5:9 tells 13:13 us that, 13:26 His desire for your adoption, redemption and salvations is so great, that He died before you 13:33 made a decision to come to Him. 13:40 Think for just a moment of Jesus as He was closing His ministry. Think of Him as He stopped in 13:47 the Garden of Gethsemne prepared for the final actions in this earthy ministry. There as He 13:55 entered the garden, the sins of the world were being placed upon Him. One of my favourite books 14:02 on the life of Christ, The Desire of Ages, says this, 14:51 Come back to that garden with me. While Jesus was anguished and feeling this terrible 14:57 separation from the Father, the serpent, the devil lurked in the background trying to dissuade 15:04 Him from going through with it. Desire of Ages continues, 16:28 At Christ's weakest point, at His darkest hour Satan strikes back at Jesus with a vengeance. 16:37 He lashes out with an intense attack and the passage continues, 17:54 We each know the rest of the story. Jesus was arrested, illegally tried, and then Satan 18:01 would stir the crowd and they would crucify the Savior. His disciples thought it all was 18:08 lost. I imagain all the beings of heaven realms were shocked by the actions of that fallen 18:15 angel. It would seem that Satan had struck back with a most devastating blow, he had killed 18:24 the Son of God. 18:29 For three days they would wonder. They had forgotten the promises of Jesus. But as we all 18:35 know, early that Sunday morning, as Matthew 28:2 records, 18:55 In the midst of the greatest blow struck by the enemy of good, it was Jesus who would 19:01 conquer the grave and He rose again. Although Satan had struck, Jesus would conquered 19:07 the grave and defeated him. Here is what this means for you and for me Romans 3:21 19:33 Righteousness is not found in the law. The word righteousness carries with it the idea that it 19:38 is the divine act of God making a person right before Him. It is also the idea of right living, 19:45 being right before God. Paul here emphasizes the point that righteousness cannot be found in 19:52 the law of God itself. Rather this righteousness is found in faith in the promises of God, 20:00 but the passage also says 20:10 All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The word sin, as you can see, is in the 20:13 past tense, however in the Greek it conveys that it is on a continual basis. It says that 20:18 yes we have sinned in the past, but we continually sin and fall short of the glory of God. It 20:25 conveys the idea that sin is more than simply an action, but rather it is a part of our 20:29 nature. And our nature must be overcome. Our nature must be transformed. Don't 20:38 misunderstand, this is not to excuse sinning yet it conveys that it is a part of our nature 20:42 which we cannot change on our own or by our own will power. The passage then promises 21:19 Justification is made available through redemption. Justification is the action of 21:25 God saving us from our past life. It is that adoption that we have discussed previously. 21:32 How is it that Jesus can make that claim upon us? Through redemption. The word redemption 21:38 literally means a releasing by payment of ransom, while the word justification is literally 21:44 to be declared righteous before God. Jesus Christ through His sacrifice has released us from 21:53 the penalty of sin by purchasing our ransom and adopting us as sons and daughters so that we 22:00 might stand justified before God. 22:05 Yet, this is not all that Christ did. The Bible says that Jesus is also our propitiation. If you 22:12 are reading from a more modern version it says that that He is our atonement. Literally this 22:17 word means to be made right with God. Splitting the word into parts.. at.one.ment. Jesus 22:25 bridged the chasm that exists between us and God. Christ is the sacrifice. By His death He 22:33 has met the blood sacrifice requirement of sin. His death, which was the experience of the 22:40 second death, fulfilled the price that was required to be paid. Lastly and most 22:49 importantly the text says, 23:00 Faith in Jesus, belief in Jesus. That is all that is asked. All of this is available through 23:08 faith. Friends, this is a choice, it is free will, it is not forced. And Jesus cries out 23:17 to you today. He cries out to each and every one of us. The serpent, the devil lashed out 23:28 against God's plan and killed Jesus Now he lashes out agains you and me. We must not fear. 1 23:38 Peter 5:8-10 promises, 24:10 Friends, we must understand that Jesus is working towards our salvation. He has made the 24:14 provision for our salvation. Yet, in order for us to fully experience the joy of salvation 24:19 we must accept it by faith. By faith we make the choice to enjoy the salvation of the Lord. 24:25 Friend, do you want to experience that salvation? Do you want to have the assurance 24:30 of your justification and your redemption from sin? I would invite you today, by faith, to 24:37 reach out and clasp the hand of Jesus and accept His plan for your life. 24:48 Heavenly Father, there may be some who are watching today who are hearing for the first time 24:53 the promise of the Gospel message. For that individual, I want to pray for them, that by 25:00 faith, they would accept Your promise, that they would be adopted as a son or a daughter, 25:05 that they would come to You and enjoy life eternal. For others who are listening today, they 25:11 accepted this promise of salvation some time ago, I would pray that they today would renew 25:18 that decision that they've made, that they would lay all things aside, come to You, give their 25:23 lives to You, and be committed to You until Your Son Jesus comes again in glory. Please, 25:29 Lord, keep us for that day. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 26:02 Friends, it is a thrilling journey to walk with Jesus Christ, the One Who wants to 26:09 adopt you as a son or daughter, Who wants to redeem you. As you accept that mission by faith, 26:17 Jesus wants to enter deeply with you in that relationship. And so today, I'd like to offer you an 26:23 edition of Signs of the Times that is called "What the Bible says about Salvation." In that 26:30 little magazine, you will find resources to help you grow in this relationship with Jesus. 26:37 You will be able to dive deeper in your understanding of Who Jesus is and what He wants to do 26:43 for you. Here's the information you need to receive today's offer. 27:49 My dear friends, in the great cosmic battle "Star Wars" between Christ and Satan, the 27:56 Bible is clear: Jesus is the Victor. And here's the amazing thing: He wants to be your 28:02 Father. He wants to adopt you as a son or daughter and be that perfect Father. If you'd like to 28:08 get more information and resources to grow in your spiritual life, I want to invite 28:13 you to go to our website, ItIsWrittenCanada.ca. You can also follow us on Facebook, and 28:19 there receive an occasional special quote to inspire you for the day. Friend, I hope that 28:26 today's program was a blessing. I invite you to join us again next week. Until then, remember, 28:32 it is written: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from 28:40 the mouth of God." |
Revised 2017-02-14