Live from the 3ABN Worship Center, 00:00:40.07\00:00:42.65 Welcome to Pillars of Our Faith event. 00:00:42.69\00:00:45.24 There is no problem too big God cannot solve it 00:00:58.30\00:01:07.26 There is no mountain too tall, He cannot move it 00:01:07.29\00:01:16.60 And There is not storm too dark God cannot calm it 00:01:16.64\00:01:26.58 There is no sorrow too deep, He cannot soothe it 00:01:26.62\00:01:36.49 If He carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders 00:01:36.52\00:01:44.59 I know, my brother that He will carry you, 00:01:44.63\00:01:55.76 If He carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders 00:01:55.79\00:02:04.14 I know, my sister that He will carry you, 00:02:04.18\00:02:16.06 He said come on to me all who are weary 00:02:16.10\00:02:27.95 and I will give you rest. 00:02:27.98\00:02:39.97 There is no problem too big, God cannot solve it 00:02:40.00\00:02:55.05 There is no mountain too tall, He cannot move it 00:02:55.08\00:03:07.66 And There is no storm too dark God cannot calm it, 00:03:07.70\00:03:19.10 There is no sorrow too deep He cannot soothe it, 00:03:19.14\00:03:30.47 If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders 00:03:30.51\00:03:39.42 I know, my brother that He will carry you 00:03:39.45\00:03:50.92 If He carried the weight of the world upon His shoulders 00:03:50.95\00:04:00.00 I know, my sister that He will carry you 00:04:00.04\00:04:09.02 I know my brother, I know my sister, 00:04:09.05\00:04:18.89 I know that he will carry you through. 00:04:18.92\00:04:28.72 He will carry you. 00:04:32.37\00:04:42.91 Amen! Thank you Tammy. That's my baby sister 00:04:44.47\00:04:46.84 Tammy Chance. I appreciate Tammy and her husband Bruce 00:04:46.87\00:04:49.30 and their support in the ministry 00:04:49.33\00:04:51.01 that they do here 3ABN. What I want to do, 00:04:51.04\00:04:55.47 I'm getting ready to introduce Reggie 00:04:56.15\00:04:57.67 he is gonna come out and sing again you all been 00:04:57.70\00:04:59.34 bless so far right, by singing in by the music 00:04:59.37\00:05:02.54 and Reggie Smith is gonna be out, but before that 00:05:02.57\00:05:04.76 I just want to say a couple of words and he is familiar 00:05:04.79\00:05:07.71 I'm sure to almost all of you, but we have new folk 00:05:07.74\00:05:10.69 all the time watching 3ABN 00:05:10.72\00:05:12.52 around the world. About our speaker 00:05:12.55\00:05:14.25 is a Ty Gibson, he is co-director 00:05:14.28\00:05:16.97 of Light Bearers Ministry they publish books, 00:05:17.00\00:05:19.60 he has written a brand new book. 00:05:19.63\00:05:21.33 Just handed me one awhile ago that can't wait to read 00:05:21.36\00:05:24.96 and Tye and his brother in the Lord, James Rafferty. 00:05:24.99\00:05:30.26 They are doing incredible ministry and they print 00:05:30.29\00:05:33.00 literally millions and millions and million of books 00:05:33.03\00:05:35.42 and pieces of literature that are going around the world 00:05:35.45\00:05:38.35 and I've known these guys since they were in 00:05:38.39\00:05:40.66 probably early 20s. 00:05:40.70\00:05:42.09 So I've known them 20 some years 00:05:42.13\00:05:43.56 and they have stuck to the Pillars of Our Faith, 00:05:43.59\00:05:46.61 they have never deviated from what we believe 00:05:46.64\00:05:49.44 as Seventh-Day Adventist Christians. So, right 00:05:49.47\00:05:52.23 after Reggie sings and Reggie you are gonna 00:05:54.19\00:05:55.16 be singing what Song? Now is the Day. 00:05:55.17\00:05:57.66 Now is the day, and so I see Chris is 00:05:57.70\00:06:00.19 coming out, you gonna be playing too, alright. 00:06:00.22\00:06:03.04 And so now is the day and is another one of our Pillar 00:06:03.07\00:06:06.52 Songs of course, thank you Reggie. 00:06:06.55\00:06:08.50 Amen, amen. 00:08:50.82\00:08:54.06 Wow! Thank you Reggie what a blessing ha! Amen I just, 00:08:54.09\00:08:59.08 I'm impressed every time I hear music that lifts my soul 00:08:59.11\00:09:02.83 with Zephaniah 3:17. Do you know 00:09:03.91\00:09:07.46 Zephaniah 317? This is one of a very select 00:09:07.49\00:09:12.87 few scriptures that actually informs us 00:09:13.29\00:09:16.50 that God almighty the creator of the universe 00:09:16.53\00:09:19.03 is himself a song writer and a vocalist. 00:09:19.06\00:09:22.81 Did you know that? That God sings the scripture says 00:09:23.52\00:09:26.87 in Zephaniah 3:17 it's God's speaking 00:09:26.90\00:09:29.43 and he says I will rejoice over you 00:09:29.46\00:09:32.99 with singing and quiet you with my love. 00:09:33.02\00:09:36.52 Is not incredible. God himself is a singer 00:09:36.55\00:09:41.87 and a song writer and that tells us something 00:09:41.90\00:09:44.91 very important and beautiful about God, 00:09:44.94\00:09:46.78 he is not just a force and energy, 00:09:46.81\00:09:49.04 he is not an impersonal being, 00:09:49.07\00:09:52.64 God is the ultimate person. Not only does he think, 00:09:52.67\00:09:57.19 but he feels because only people who feel 00:09:57.22\00:09:59.92 write and sing love Songs and God is the ultimate lover, 00:09:59.95\00:10:04.52 because he says that he will rejoice over you 00:10:05.32\00:10:08.36 and me with singing and quiet us with his love. 00:10:08.39\00:10:12.20 So thank you Reggie for that beautiful song. 00:10:13.07\00:10:15.00 Are you glad to be here at this Pillars Event? 00:10:15.64\00:10:18.06 I'm so eager to launching a subject, but you must have 00:10:18.09\00:10:22.13 a very large appetite for spiritual food. Amen. 00:10:22.16\00:10:25.17 We're having two messages back to back 00:10:25.20\00:10:28.65 this evening and as I was standing back there 00:10:28.68\00:10:31.94 listening to CA, I was thinking, 00:10:31.97\00:10:34.18 I just hope, we don't give anybody spiritual 00:10:34.21\00:10:36.37 indigestion here. How many of you 00:10:36.40\00:10:38.71 like eating? One of my absolute favorite things 00:10:38.74\00:10:40.99 to do is eat. Ah! There are so many 00:10:41.02\00:10:44.43 incredible flavors out there to just bring into you mouth 00:10:44.46\00:10:48.48 and just bathe your tongue with incredible flavors. 00:10:48.51\00:10:52.45 I love food not long ago, although my wife 00:10:52.48\00:10:55.18 was warning me as I came home 00:10:55.21\00:10:57.34 I hate to admit kind of late at night 00:10:57.37\00:10:59.36 after some meetings, I hadn't eaten since the day 00:10:59.39\00:11:01.42 before and I was hungry on a scary level 00:11:01.45\00:11:04.43 and I opened the refrigerator and I proceeded to eat 00:11:04.46\00:11:08.10 a piece of lasagna left over from the day before 00:11:08.13\00:11:10.94 and then I thought, I think I need a bowl of cereal. 00:11:10.97\00:11:14.25 So I had bowl of cereal, I said you know what 00:11:14.28\00:11:17.11 that humus looks good, I'll put that on the piece 00:11:17.14\00:11:19.42 of toast, I said Sue, we have any Rice Dream 00:11:19.45\00:11:23.02 and then I had bowl of Rice Dream. I didn't sleep well 00:11:23.05\00:11:28.61 that night. I want you to know that 00:11:28.64\00:11:33.41 if you combine the wrong kinds of flavors 00:11:33.44\00:11:36.51 and the wrong kinds of foods you can end up 00:11:36.54\00:11:38.89 with spiritual indigestion that is not going to happen 00:11:38.92\00:11:41.56 this evening. Because the message just delivered 00:11:41.59\00:11:45.58 is the preparation for the one that we are going 00:11:45.61\00:11:49.55 to explore right now. CA dealt with the sin problem 00:11:49.58\00:11:54.82 and defining sin very clearly and now it is my assignment, 00:11:54.85\00:11:59.55 my privileged assignment to open before you 00:11:59.58\00:12:03.39 the most awesome subject imaginable. 00:12:04.26\00:12:07.45 The Atonement of Christ. And I want to hasten 00:12:07.90\00:12:11.60 to share with you this evening 00:12:11.63\00:12:14.02 that this is no easy task because in fact, 00:12:14.05\00:12:17.91 the atonement of Christ is one of a very small handful 00:12:17.94\00:12:23.56 of ideas and realities to which the word 00:12:23.59\00:12:28.00 infinite maybe rightly applied without exaggeration. 00:12:28.03\00:12:32.13 In fact, we are told that the collective energies, 00:12:33.20\00:12:37.81 the collective intellectual and the emotional energies 00:12:37.84\00:12:41.69 of all the unfallen angels and all the redeemed 00:12:41.72\00:12:46.00 human beings will be concentrated to the task 00:12:46.03\00:12:50.96 of probing God's atoning love for all eternity 00:12:50.99\00:12:57.81 and we will never exhaust the subject. 00:12:57.84\00:13:00.55 Can you imagine probing the subject 00:13:01.44\00:13:05.82 from millions of years and then billions, 00:13:05.85\00:13:08.63 and still trillions of years looking 00:13:08.66\00:13:12.67 into the heart of God and still discovering 00:13:12.70\00:13:17.00 an oceanic beauty that we never imagine 00:13:17.03\00:13:20.28 was there before. Its like getting to know 00:13:20.31\00:13:23.00 a person for a long, long time. 00:13:23.03\00:13:27.04 I had the privilege of being married to my best friend 00:13:28.79\00:13:31.35 for 28 years now and just the other day some things 00:13:31.38\00:13:36.51 she said the way she turned to her head, 00:13:36.54\00:13:40.06 a little sassiness I wasn't expecting 00:13:40.09\00:13:43.31 that was cute, I said you know 00:13:44.19\00:13:47.12 what, I just encountered her in a way I've never 00:13:47.15\00:13:50.75 encountered her before. I mean, we've been together 00:13:50.78\00:13:53.62 since she was 13 and I was 14 and just the other day 00:13:53.65\00:13:56.67 I came to know her in a way. I had never known her before. 00:13:56.70\00:14:00.84 And she was more beautiful than ever before 00:14:01.84\00:14:04.94 as I have the privilege of encountering her personality 00:14:04.97\00:14:08.35 and her character. Love is in fact the only truly 00:14:08.38\00:14:15.17 exponential reality in circulation in the universe. 00:14:15.20\00:14:18.97 Love doesn't have any cap, doesn't have any floor, 00:14:19.00\00:14:21.92 doesn't have any edges. In Ephesians 3, 00:14:21.95\00:14:24.44 Paul says that God's love has height and depth 00:14:24.47\00:14:27.43 and width. So, it's multidimensional alright. 00:14:27.46\00:14:30.93 You can look into the heart of God forever 00:14:32.53\00:14:35.58 and ever, and always come forth from 00:14:35.61\00:14:40.48 that intimacy with new things to share that nobody else 00:14:40.51\00:14:44.71 has ever, ever considered or thought of. 00:14:44.74\00:14:46.98 We are told in inspiration and I love this 00:14:47.01\00:14:50.11 that the plan of salvation will be our science 00:14:51.60\00:14:54.48 and our song for all eternity. 00:14:54.51\00:14:58.52 Our science and our song. Why science and song? 00:14:59.59\00:15:01.77 Because as our science it will be our 00:15:01.80\00:15:04.43 intellectual pursuit. We will be plan of salvation 00:15:04.46\00:15:08.59 scientists forever probing the depths of the wonders 00:15:08.62\00:15:13.15 of God's atoning love. Our science because 00:15:13.18\00:15:16.00 it will be our intellectual pursuit forever 00:15:16.03\00:15:18.99 and our song because it will be our emotional pursuit 00:15:19.02\00:15:25.63 forever and ever. It will be the focal point 00:15:25.66\00:15:29.27 of all our artistic expression. 00:15:29.30\00:15:32.24 Every song that is written in eternity future 00:15:32.96\00:15:36.63 will be a song about the love of God 00:15:38.05\00:15:41.76 from some new and beautiful angle. 00:15:41.79\00:15:44.71 Our science and our song forever and ever. 00:15:45.51\00:15:47.30 Well having said that, I want you to know that 00:15:48.34\00:15:51.56 according to scripture the atonement is a subject 00:15:51.59\00:15:56.24 that is enormous in it's implications. 00:15:56.27\00:16:00.49 The atonement of Christ maybe looked at 00:16:02.04\00:16:04.79 from a variety of different angles is what I'm saying. 00:16:04.82\00:16:08.08 It is as if the atonement saves human beings 00:16:09.52\00:16:16.20 at every possible level of our need for salvation, 00:16:16.23\00:16:20.95 we need to be saved for example from the guilt of sin. 00:16:21.79\00:16:26.31 The sense of self loathing and condemnation that hugs us, 00:16:26.34\00:16:30.15 because of past deeds that we've done and are ashamed up. 00:16:30.18\00:16:34.00 It's that inner conscious those eyes that 00:16:34.03\00:16:36.87 stare back at us continually saying shame on you, 00:16:36.90\00:16:40.38 I can't believe I would do such a thing. 00:16:40.41\00:16:42.31 So the atonement of Christ has a dimension 00:16:44.70\00:16:48.43 of its wonder that specifically deals 00:16:48.46\00:16:51.46 with our guilt. But guilt isn't the only 00:16:51.49\00:16:57.31 aspect of sin, there is also the power of sin. 00:16:57.34\00:17:01.45 It has a way of addicting us and raining over us have 00:17:02.70\00:17:08.27 you noticed? And so the atonement of Christ 00:17:08.30\00:17:11.54 not only deals with the guilt of sin, 00:17:11.57\00:17:13.52 but the atonement of Christ deals with the dominating 00:17:13.55\00:17:17.69 power of sin that it exerts over us and according 00:17:17.72\00:17:21.70 to Romans chapter 6, the atonement has a way 00:17:21.73\00:17:24.70 of liberating us from the dominion of sin. 00:17:24.73\00:17:28.99 In fact, the word Salvation in the New Testament, 00:17:29.02\00:17:32.71 in the Greek is the Greek word Sozo and it literally means 00:17:32.74\00:17:38.32 to be liberated, to be set free. 00:17:38.35\00:17:40.62 And so the atonement deals with us at the guilt level 00:17:42.92\00:17:46.90 of our need at the power of sin over us level of our need 00:17:46.93\00:17:50.42 but then they are legal ramifications to the sin 00:17:51.12\00:17:53.41 problem. Have you noticed, noticed in scripture the 00:17:53.44\00:17:57.68 legal ramifications of the sin problem. 00:17:57.71\00:17:59.92 God created Adam and Eve in his own image and he said 00:18:00.68\00:18:03.71 I'm going to make you Stewards, 00:18:03.74\00:18:05.64 I'm gonna give you dominion over the whole earth, 00:18:05.67\00:18:08.55 you remember? When Adam and Eve 00:18:08.58\00:18:11.15 were created in their unfallen state they had dominion 00:18:11.18\00:18:14.34 over the world, when Adam and Eve sinned 00:18:14.37\00:18:16.93 there is a sense on a legal level 00:18:16.96\00:18:18.89 in the larger scope of the great controversy 00:18:18.92\00:18:21.79 between Christ and Satan, when Adam and Eve 00:18:21.82\00:18:23.74 sinned there is a sense in which legally 00:18:23.77\00:18:26.09 they abdicated their leadership, their regency 00:18:26.12\00:18:30.30 over this territory in God's universe, 00:18:30.33\00:18:33.82 planet earth. They gave control 00:18:33.85\00:18:37.29 and dominion to Satan that's why when Jesus 00:18:37.32\00:18:41.34 encounter the Devil in the wilderness for his three 00:18:42.54\00:18:44.74 temptations you remember? The Devil in one of those 00:18:44.77\00:18:48.19 temptations said, I will give you 00:18:48.22\00:18:51.90 all the kingdoms of the world if you will bow down 00:18:51.93\00:18:56.63 and worship me for they have been given 00:18:56.66\00:18:59.51 to me. When the Devil said that all the kingdoms 00:18:59.54\00:19:03.17 of the world have been given to me 00:19:03.20\00:19:05.17 what was he referring to vain precisely 00:19:05.20\00:19:08.55 was the world given to Satan at the fall of Adam and Eve, 00:19:08.58\00:19:14.37 they abdicated their position of stewardship 00:19:14.40\00:19:17.78 and rulership over the earth. Satan then in the 00:19:17.81\00:19:21.17 book of Job for example presses his legal claims 00:19:21.20\00:19:25.38 by appearing in a heavenly council. You remember 00:19:25.41\00:19:27.95 that story, there was a day when the Son's of God 00:19:27.98\00:19:30.38 that is the representative heads of all the 00:19:30.41\00:19:32.43 different world's God has made. There was a day 00:19:32.46\00:19:35.12 when the Son's of God came to present themselves 00:19:35.15\00:19:37.06 before the Lord and Satan came also among them 00:19:37.09\00:19:39.31 and the Lord said on to Satan from when come us though, 00:19:39.34\00:19:43.33 from where do you come. Notice the question of 00:19:43.36\00:19:45.97 the Lord is state your point of origin. What territory 00:19:46.00\00:19:49.97 in my universe do you purport to be here representing? 00:19:50.00\00:19:54.33 From where do you come and what was the Devil's answer? 00:19:54.36\00:19:57.17 From walking to and fro and up and down in the earth 00:19:58.57\00:20:00.91 that was the Devil's way of saying I have the right 00:20:00.94\00:20:04.24 the legal right within the rules of engagement 00:20:04.27\00:20:07.84 within the great controversy. I have the legal right 00:20:07.87\00:20:10.49 to be represented in this heavenly council 00:20:10.52\00:20:12.98 meeting with these other representative heads 00:20:13.01\00:20:14.70 of other worlds because I'm here as the rightful 00:20:14.73\00:20:18.23 ruler of planet earth and the human raise 00:20:18.26\00:20:21.28 because the world of humans was given to me. 00:20:21.31\00:20:26.75 And so there is a legal dimension to the great 00:20:28.45\00:20:30.12 controversy. That's why Jesus 00:20:30.15\00:20:32.58 numerous times referred to Satan as the prince 00:20:32.61\00:20:36.70 of this world. Paul said that he is the God of this world. 00:20:36.73\00:20:41.85 There is a sense in which he has a legal dominion 00:20:41.88\00:20:45.96 over the human race and the Salvation wrote out 00:20:45.99\00:20:49.96 for us in Christ the atonement of Christ meets 00:20:49.99\00:20:54.12 that need as well, because when Jesus died 00:20:54.15\00:20:56.79 on the cross in principle he triumphed over the Devil 00:20:56.82\00:21:01.68 and reclaimed humanity in planet earth 00:21:01.71\00:21:04.25 as his own possession and was given power just as he said 00:21:04.28\00:21:09.09 in Mathew 28, all power authority has now by virtue 00:21:09.96\00:21:15.30 of the cross all power has now been given back to me. 00:21:15.33\00:21:19.23 In all heaven and all earth the Devil is defeated 00:21:19.26\00:21:23.32 the great controversy has been won atonement is achieved 00:21:23.35\00:21:27.74 at the legal level. So there is the guilt level, 00:21:27.77\00:21:30.64 there is the power of sin over our lives level 00:21:30.67\00:21:34.41 that the atonement needs to meet, 00:21:34.44\00:21:35.87 there is the legal dimension, there's the substitutionary 00:21:35.90\00:21:40.16 dimension of the atonement of course. 00:21:40.19\00:21:42.84 In other words, the Bible speaks 00:21:42.87\00:21:46.11 often of the fact that Jesus died for us that 00:21:46.14\00:21:49.73 is in our place taking upon himself that his 00:21:49.76\00:21:54.30 not on his back like a sack of weighty materials 00:21:54.33\00:21:58.19 Substance, but he took upon himself in the sense that 00:21:58.22\00:22:01.36 he took within his conscious, within his own psyche 00:22:01.39\00:22:05.07 he took into himself the collective hold 00:22:05.10\00:22:08.20 of all human guilt and transgression 00:22:08.23\00:22:10.63 and he exhausted it's power by dying 00:22:10.66\00:22:14.51 for you and me. So, as you can see the atonement 00:22:14.54\00:22:18.77 and we are just scratch in the surface the atonement 00:22:18.80\00:22:21.12 has many different dimensions brought to view 00:22:21.15\00:22:24.84 in scripture. In fact, you will notice in 00:22:24.87\00:22:27.34 the first Bible verse of your outline, which I'm hoping 00:22:27.37\00:22:30.52 you have that outline entitled cosmic atonement 00:22:30.55\00:22:32.55 you'll notice in the first scripture that 00:22:32.58\00:22:35.92 in Old Testament Messianic Prophecy, 00:22:35.95\00:22:38.84 which calls Jesus the stone is a prophecy 00:22:38.87\00:22:43.34 that brings to our attention the large scope 00:22:43.37\00:22:47.48 of the atonement the multidimensional reality 00:22:47.51\00:22:50.44 of the atonement. Notice, Zechariah says 00:22:50.47\00:22:54.26 God speaking through him for behold the stone 00:22:54.29\00:22:59.36 that's Jesus symbolically the stone that I've set before 00:22:59.39\00:23:03.25 Joshua notice this on one stone or seven what 00:23:03.28\00:23:08.44 seven eyes that's kind of strange. Can you visualize 00:23:08.47\00:23:11.84 that a rock with seven eyeballs that's kind 00:23:11.87\00:23:14.76 of weird isn't it? But in the Hebrew language, 00:23:14.79\00:23:18.05 it's not eyes as in the physical eyeballs that 00:23:18.08\00:23:22.75 we're familiar with, the Hebrew says literally 00:23:22.78\00:23:25.80 and I give this to you in the marginal reference 00:23:25.83\00:23:27.66 from the amplified Bible and literally how it's rendered 00:23:27.69\00:23:31.47 from the Hebrew literally what it means 00:23:31.50\00:23:33.64 is on the stone there will be seven points 00:23:33.67\00:23:37.42 of visual contact. There will be seven facets, 00:23:37.45\00:23:42.00 so this stone is dune, it is cut as a heptagon 00:23:42.03\00:23:46.85 stone. What is septagon mean? What is Sep, 00:23:46.88\00:23:49.91 seven. What is a septagon shape it's a shape 00:23:49.94\00:23:54.03 with how many sides seven sides, so Zechariah 00:23:54.06\00:23:57.74 sees in vision, he sees the savior represented 00:23:57.77\00:24:00.90 by a seven sided stone. Does the number seven 00:24:00.93\00:24:03.85 mean anything to us here this evening. 00:24:03.88\00:24:05.40 What is the number seven indicate 00:24:05.43\00:24:07.55 in scripture? Perfection, totality, completeness, 00:24:07.58\00:24:12.15 and so he says I saw this stone that represents 00:24:12.18\00:24:16.10 the coming savior and this stone had seven facets 00:24:16.13\00:24:19.29 so seven sides and the same inscription he says 00:24:19.32\00:24:25.48 was inscribed on each of the seven sides. 00:24:25.51\00:24:30.02 And what is the inscription notice that I will remove 00:24:30.05\00:24:37.08 the inequity of that land in one day. 00:24:37.11\00:24:42.84 What is this one day in which one historic event at which, 00:24:42.87\00:24:50.04 in which sin will be atone for in totality completely 00:24:50.07\00:24:56.91 with utter perfection. What is the one day 00:24:56.94\00:25:00.06 when the Septagon Stone dealt with the sin problem 00:25:00.09\00:25:04.62 on every level Calvary at the cross Jesus fulfilled 00:25:04.65\00:25:12.07 this prophecy and he declared an end to sin 00:25:12.10\00:25:17.62 in every respect. Now it's fascinating 00:25:17.65\00:25:20.98 that when you fast forward to the New Testament 00:25:21.01\00:25:23.17 you discover that the wisdom of God that is applied 00:25:23.20\00:25:26.94 to the sin problem is called. In Ephesians chapter 3, 00:25:26.97\00:25:30.10 it is called Manifold Wisdom. What is the word 00:25:30.13\00:25:33.69 Manifold, well just divide it up many folds are you familiar 00:25:33.72\00:25:38.23 with Origami anybody. What's Origami? 00:25:38.26\00:25:41.54 It's an art, it's a Japanese art form in which a piece 00:25:41.57\00:25:45.34 of paper usually a colorful piece of paper 00:25:45.37\00:25:48.23 is folded many times in order to create a bird 00:25:48.26\00:25:52.65 or some other animal or a flower and so all those 00:25:52.68\00:25:56.69 many folds create a beautiful work of arts. 00:25:56.72\00:26:00.90 The wisdom of God that is applied to the sin problem 00:26:02.04\00:26:04.98 is a Manifold Wisdom. It is a wisdom that has many 00:26:05.01\00:26:10.08 dimensions, many folds and to this wisdom 00:26:10.11\00:26:14.45 that God has applied to the plan of salvation 00:26:14.48\00:26:17.74 is so enormous in it's implications that notice this 00:26:17.77\00:26:22.39 the apostle Paul informs us that eventually through 00:26:22.42\00:26:26.64 the church as the repository of the grace of God 00:26:26.67\00:26:29.89 by which salvation is achieved that through the church 00:26:29.92\00:26:33.10 a testimony of God's Manifold Wisdom 00:26:33.13\00:26:37.06 will be given to who? What is that say 00:26:37.09\00:26:38.59 there in Ephesians 3 to who? Well through the 00:26:38.62\00:26:42.69 church God's manifold wisdom will be revealed 00:26:42.72\00:26:45.49 to who, the principalities and powers in heavenly places 00:26:45.52\00:26:51.33 or the heavenly Rome. Now this is enchain us 00:26:51.36\00:26:54.81 in this language toured that's specific aspect 00:26:54.84\00:26:59.54 of the atonement that we want to get to this evening 00:26:59.57\00:27:03.60 and that is the cosmic level of the atonement, 00:27:03.63\00:27:08.30 cosmic of course from cosmos informing us 00:27:08.33\00:27:12.94 that the atonement not only has salvation 00:27:12.97\00:27:16.68 and redemption implications for the individual humans 00:27:16.71\00:27:20.64 but in fact, this is so incredible. 00:27:20.67\00:27:23.74 The atonement has ramifications 00:27:23.77\00:27:26.94 for the whole universe. Let's explore this 00:27:26.97\00:27:31.78 point by point, step by step, and let's discover the 00:27:31.81\00:27:36.93 cosmic level of the atonement along our way this evening. 00:27:36.96\00:27:41.99 First of all, we need to explore the oneness of God. 00:27:42.02\00:27:46.14 The word atonement has as its center three letters 00:27:46.17\00:27:52.35 that compose the word what one, 00:27:52.38\00:27:54.80 so atonement literally at its root means oneness 00:27:54.83\00:27:59.19 to be brought to a place of unity. 00:27:59.22\00:28:03.28 Now the atonement of Christ that we see rout out 00:28:03.31\00:28:07.95 in his incarnation, his life, his death, 00:28:07.98\00:28:10.49 his resurrection the atonement of Christ my friends 00:28:10.52\00:28:13.51 is rooted listen in the identity of God 00:28:13.54\00:28:19.26 for all eternity past. God himself constitutes 00:28:19.29\00:28:25.22 the original oneness, the original unity. 00:28:25.25\00:28:30.50 Notice in Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 4, 00:28:30.53\00:28:35.63 the Shema this is the prayer that the Israelites prayed 00:28:35.66\00:28:41.35 collectively as a body with a unison of voices 00:28:41.38\00:28:45.04 and still to this day and synagogues around the world 00:28:45.07\00:28:47.60 Jewish believers come together and they say these words 00:28:47.63\00:28:51.81 here, Oh! Israel the Lord our God the Lord 00:28:51.84\00:28:57.03 is one, what is this mean, the Lord is one 00:28:57.06\00:29:01.29 in the Hebrew language there are two words 00:29:01.32\00:29:04.56 for one. One is the word Yakid with a Y 00:29:04.59\00:29:09.10 and it means singularity like for example 00:29:09.13\00:29:13.34 this is a single object, it is a pen alright. So, Yakid 00:29:13.37\00:29:18.99 is singularity, but there is a second Hebrew word 00:29:19.02\00:29:22.90 and it is with an E, Echad and that word interestingly 00:29:22.93\00:29:28.17 enough means compound unity, it means harmony 00:29:28.20\00:29:33.32 and the word that is employed here, which word do 00:29:33.35\00:29:35.30 you think it is singularity or unity. Unity the scripture 00:29:35.33\00:29:40.87 literally says the Lord our God the Lord is unity, 00:29:40.90\00:29:46.85 harmony, connection. God according to scripture 00:29:46.88\00:29:52.40 is not a singular reality, God is a social 00:29:52.43\00:29:57.36 unit in scripture. This beautiful truth of the God 00:29:57.39\00:30:01.64 had the Trinitarian love of the Father, Son 00:30:01.67\00:30:04.93 and Holy Spirit is the far reaches of eternity 00:30:04.96\00:30:09.61 past from which the atonement of Christ 00:30:09.64\00:30:12.30 was eventually brought forth into this world. 00:30:12.33\00:30:15.15 When God is introduced to you and me in scripture 00:30:16.73\00:30:18.58 he is introduced by a name, the first line of scripture 00:30:18.61\00:30:22.67 in the beginning what? God now that's the English 00:30:22.70\00:30:26.36 but it's very limited for us. In the Hebrew 00:30:26.39\00:30:30.28 it's not God as in a generic deity it doesn't say 00:30:30.31\00:30:34.67 in the beginning deity or in the beginning the divine. 00:30:34.70\00:30:38.06 No it's a name in the beginning Eloheem it's a name. 00:30:38.09\00:30:43.64 Now this is vital to understand because this is our first 00:30:43.67\00:30:47.63 encounter with this God of scripture. Who is he? 00:30:47.66\00:30:50.73 What is the nature of God? What is the character of God? 00:30:50.76\00:30:54.16 He is Eloheem and the fascinating thing about 00:30:54.90\00:30:57.43 that name my friends is that it is a plural noun 00:30:57.46\00:31:01.98 that would be like me introducing myself 00:31:02.01\00:31:04.50 to you this evening and say please to meet you 00:31:04.53\00:31:06.07 I'm Ty's. You would draw one of two conclusions either 00:31:06.10\00:31:12.43 he is making a very sloppy and ill-use 00:31:12.46\00:31:15.12 of the English language obviously he is not referring 00:31:15.15\00:31:19.21 to himself plurally as he. Or you think ah poor fellow, 00:31:19.24\00:31:24.70 he thinks there is more than one of him 00:31:24.73\00:31:26.42 and the diagnosis would be schizophrenia, 00:31:26.45\00:31:30.30 I guess. There is no sense in which 00:31:30.33\00:31:33.58 I could introduce myself to you in a plural language. 00:31:33.61\00:31:39.28 I'm not Ty's, I'm just one individual, but listen 00:31:39.31\00:31:42.15 carefully now. There is a plural dimension 00:31:42.18\00:31:45.12 to Ty because Ty is married to Sue 00:31:45.15\00:31:49.38 and we have three children Amber, Jason and Lia. 00:31:49.41\00:31:52.60 Collectively, we are the Gibson's. Now have I made 00:31:52.63\00:31:56.42 a proper and legitimate use of the plural, yes. 00:31:56.45\00:32:00.50 So when God is introduced in scripture he says 00:32:00.53\00:32:03.85 please to meet you, I am one and yet more than one. 00:32:03.88\00:32:09.24 In other words my friends God is an eternal 00:32:10.89\00:32:15.35 relational bless. If you go back into eternity 00:32:15.38\00:32:20.92 past before all of creation before humans existed, 00:32:20.95\00:32:24.85 before angels existed. What would you encounter? 00:32:24.88\00:32:28.24 God and God alone is the only uncreated reality, 00:32:29.73\00:32:33.57 but once you encountered God and God alone 00:32:35.40\00:32:37.36 in the next nanosecond you realize that there 00:32:37.39\00:32:39.90 is another sense in which God has never been alone ever. 00:32:39.93\00:32:45.79 Because God has always existed in relationship 00:32:45.82\00:32:50.06 and this is what the scripture means when it says here 00:32:50.09\00:32:53.71 Oh! Israel the Lord our God the Lord 00:32:53.74\00:32:56.18 is what again one the Lord is one. 00:32:56.21\00:32:59.53 Now first John or John chapter 1, 00:32:59.56\00:33:04.01 you know the scripture well, don't you? 00:33:04.04\00:33:06.73 In the beginning what's the word and the word was with God 00:33:07.93\00:33:11.76 and the word was God, the same was in the beginning 00:33:11.79\00:33:15.17 with God. Do a little bit of editorial sculpting 00:33:15.20\00:33:19.33 take out some of the words put some ellipsis 00:33:19.36\00:33:21.01 and do you know what you read there. 00:33:21.04\00:33:22.61 In the beginning God was with God. How do you do that? 00:33:22.64\00:33:27.46 Well, that's like same Ty is with Sue, 00:33:27.49\00:33:31.24 Sue is with Ty that is to say God was with God 00:33:31.27\00:33:36.62 in the sense that the word Jesus had existed 00:33:36.65\00:33:40.59 with the Father and the Holy Spirit in eternity past 00:33:40.62\00:33:43.73 in an irrational bliss of other centered 00:33:43.76\00:33:47.04 self giving love. This is the idea of oneness, 00:33:47.07\00:33:52.69 now this is incredible because it's from that oneness 00:33:52.72\00:33:57.61 that God created human beings in his image 00:33:58.78\00:34:01.14 as we learned earlier today in our session together 00:34:01.17\00:34:03.88 at 2.30 from the whom of God's eternal oneness 00:34:03.91\00:34:10.02 of love in the past, he brought human beings 00:34:10.05\00:34:13.50 into existence for union with each other 00:34:13.53\00:34:16.26 and with himself. God walked with Adam and Eve 00:34:16.29\00:34:20.40 in the cool of the day in the Garden of Eden 00:34:20.43\00:34:22.84 scripture testifies there was a relationship of faithful 00:34:22.87\00:34:28.71 integrity. Adam and Eve lived for one another 00:34:28.74\00:34:32.00 and for God and God lived for them 00:34:32.03\00:34:33.91 and they had sweet fellowship but the sin problem 00:34:33.94\00:34:37.27 broke up that unity. Isaiah 59 informs us 00:34:37.30\00:34:43.72 that your sin has separated you from your God 00:34:43.75\00:34:48.02 and your inequity has hidden his face from you. 00:34:49.30\00:34:51.63 There is a fracture in the universe isn't there? 00:34:51.66\00:34:55.75 There is a Severn of a vital connection that God 00:34:55.78\00:35:00.99 intended to go on forever and ever. Can you imagine 00:35:01.02\00:35:04.34 what it would have been like if Adam and Eve 00:35:04.37\00:35:06.18 had never fallen. Can you imagine, 00:35:06.21\00:35:08.90 if the fall had not occurred. 00:35:08.93\00:35:10.31 Adam and Eve would be right now themselves 00:35:10.34\00:35:12.41 approximately 6000 years old. Would they look elderly 00:35:12.44\00:35:16.33 by the way, no would Adam have his teeth 00:35:16.36\00:35:19.95 and enjoy by the bed, no. What Eve be scooting 00:35:19.98\00:35:23.62 around on a walker, 6000 years old 00:35:23.65\00:35:26.01 and they would be what they would be. 00:35:26.04\00:35:27.65 Oh! You look Adam and say I don't know 00:35:27.68\00:35:29.96 maybe are you 26 their would have been no sin problem, 00:35:29.99\00:35:34.12 their would have been no aging process, 00:35:34.15\00:35:35.99 their would have been no death. 00:35:36.02\00:35:37.06 Adam and Eve would still live in their home town 00:35:37.09\00:35:39.56 of Eden over by Iraq by the way and we could go 00:35:39.59\00:35:43.32 there and visit them they would still 00:35:43.35\00:35:44.60 be the representative heads of planet earth, 00:35:44.63\00:35:47.18 they would be our great, great, great totally great 00:35:47.21\00:35:49.79 grandparents and we could go visit them 00:35:49.82\00:35:52.45 anytime we like right, and whenever 00:35:52.48\00:35:55.39 there are heavenly council meetings called who would 00:35:55.42\00:35:57.49 go to represent planet earth. Adam and Eve not Satan, 00:35:57.52\00:36:02.22 but more importantly do you know if Adam and Eve 00:36:02.25\00:36:06.72 had never fallen. There would be 6000 years 00:36:06.75\00:36:10.83 of a progressively deepening love relationship 00:36:10.86\00:36:16.34 with the God of the universe, their would be a beautiful 00:36:16.37\00:36:21.25 blossoming maturity of friendship with God 00:36:21.28\00:36:25.11 that we can't even imagine. We would all be getting 00:36:26.41\00:36:29.17 to know him as the posterity of Adam and Eve; 00:36:29.20\00:36:32.69 we would all be getting to know God 00:36:33.57\00:36:35.12 in face to face communion. But my friends 00:36:35.15\00:36:39.15 something happened to sever that oneness what is God's 00:36:39.18\00:36:44.88 response to that severing? The atonement of Christ. 00:36:44.91\00:36:50.58 Jesus departs from the heavenly courts, 00:36:52.69\00:36:54.64 where he had existed according to John chapter 1 00:36:54.67\00:36:58.13 in verse 18, Jesus had existed for eternity past 00:36:58.16\00:37:01.71 where John 1:18 do you see at there in the Bosom 00:37:01.74\00:37:05.68 of the Father. What is this mean 00:37:05.71\00:37:07.89 in the Bosom of the Father, nowadays we don't say 00:37:07.92\00:37:10.49 anymore to guys don't say hey we're bosom buddies 00:37:10.52\00:37:13.62 but I guess back in the 1950s that used 00:37:13.65\00:37:15.84 to be a common term bosom buddies what is that mean? 00:37:15.87\00:37:18.33 Close friends, we're intimate, 00:37:19.83\00:37:21.56 we're connected right. Jesus for eternity past 00:37:21.59\00:37:25.56 was in the Bosom of the Father 00:37:25.59\00:37:27.21 that is to say he lived in intimacy with the Father. 00:37:27.24\00:37:31.35 According to Proverbs chapter 8, Jesus as personified 00:37:31.38\00:37:35.45 wisdom says that he was with the Father beside 00:37:35.48\00:37:39.18 him daily the Father's delight rejoicing 00:37:39.21\00:37:43.92 always in his presence. I mean think about this, 00:37:43.95\00:37:47.33 think of the intimate friendship, the union 00:37:48.43\00:37:50.65 that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit shared 00:37:50.68\00:37:53.23 for all eternity past. Get that as a clear vision in 00:37:53.26\00:37:57.07 your mind, Jesus says I was with the Father 00:37:57.10\00:37:59.59 and he took delight in me. Is there somebody 00:37:59.62\00:38:02.25 you take delighted? A grandmother, a grandfather, 00:38:02.28\00:38:06.30 a husband, a wife, a child, isn't amazing 00:38:06.33\00:38:10.74 to have an experience as a human being 00:38:10.77\00:38:13.46 in which you genuinely with all your heart 00:38:13.49\00:38:16.28 not only love somebody else, but actually like them. 00:38:17.85\00:38:20.76 A number of years ago my wife throw 00:38:20.79\00:38:23.84 me a curveball, she would always said 00:38:23.87\00:38:26.19 I love you, I knew she had to love me 00:38:26.22\00:38:28.70 she is good Christian girl, the Bible says love 00:38:28.73\00:38:31.34 you enemies not that I'm but I thought oh 00:38:31.37\00:38:33.66 of course you love me of course 00:38:33.69\00:38:36.35 you do, it is your duty 00:38:36.38\00:38:37.61 to love me. You're born again and then 00:38:37.80\00:38:44.90 she throw me this curveball she said, she said, Ty 00:38:44.93\00:38:46.94 I'm so in, I thought I mean love with you, 00:38:46.97\00:38:49.01 you know that's would I'm so in what's the next word 00:38:49.04\00:38:51.77 usually love no she said I mean like with you 00:38:51.80\00:38:54.60 I lean to her and said really? You actually like me 00:38:54.63\00:38:58.58 after all these years she said yeah I like you. 00:38:58.61\00:39:01.51 Dear friends Jesus says in eternity past 00:39:03.20\00:39:06.28 I was with the Father and he took delight in me 00:39:06.31\00:39:10.75 Proverbs 8 and verse 30. It's one thing to know 00:39:10.78\00:39:15.87 that you delight in somebody I'm sure you can visualize 00:39:15.90\00:39:18.90 some bodies face right now that just being in their 00:39:18.93\00:39:21.33 presence that sheer joy for you. 00:39:21.36\00:39:23.16 But think about this just turn it around 00:39:25.19\00:39:27.94 is there somebody you know 00:39:27.97\00:39:29.66 for whom it is sheer joy for them to be with you. 00:39:29.69\00:39:34.96 Jesus says the Father really likes me, 00:39:37.84\00:39:39.24 the Father himself takes delight in me we are the best 00:39:39.27\00:39:45.39 of friends. Wow! That's where Jesus came from, 00:39:45.42\00:39:50.92 from the Bosom of the Father for your salvation 00:39:50.95\00:39:55.09 and mine dear friends. Jesus one moment 00:39:55.12\00:39:58.65 he had been there for all eternity past 00:39:58.68\00:40:01.44 in that fellowship and the next nanosecond 00:40:01.47\00:40:05.19 he vanished from the presence of the Father 00:40:05.22\00:40:09.61 and the heavenly host and was an embryo 00:40:09.64\00:40:13.27 in the womb of teenage girl. His omnipresence 00:40:13.30\00:40:20.42 put in remission laid aside Jesus became local to time 00:40:22.02\00:40:30.11 and space. He departed from the Father 00:40:30.14\00:40:33.96 and you hear this, you hear this cry 00:40:33.99\00:40:35.83 from the heart of God the Father in Zechariah 13:7 00:40:36.81\00:40:39.57 this cry looking, looking down through the ages 00:40:39.60\00:40:43.61 to the time of the incarnation of Christ 00:40:43.64\00:40:46.60 and his crucifixion Zechariah 13:7 awake, O sword, 00:40:47.48\00:40:52.47 sword of justice against who my shepherd 00:40:52.50\00:40:58.20 the one who is my companion. The Father refers 00:40:58.23\00:41:03.38 to the Son as what my companion, my intimate, 00:41:03.41\00:41:09.21 my friend. If you would ask Jesus, 00:41:09.24\00:41:11.98 Jesus what were you doing before you came to this world, 00:41:12.01\00:41:16.38 before your incarnation where were you. 00:41:16.41\00:41:18.84 Did Jesus exist before he became a human being? 00:41:18.87\00:41:21.92 Where did he exist? He existed in fellowship 00:41:22.73\00:41:27.73 with the Father and the Holy Spirit if you said to Jesus 00:41:27.76\00:41:30.37 where were you? What were you doing 00:41:30.40\00:41:31.95 for eternity past? He would say to you 00:41:31.98\00:41:34.72 and me exactly what he said in John 17. Father you loved me 00:41:34.75\00:41:38.68 before the foundation of the world. 00:41:38.71\00:41:40.53 Jesus would tell you and me I'll tell you 00:41:41.81\00:41:43.16 where I came from. I came from an intimate 00:41:43.19\00:41:46.28 fellowship with the Father and the spirit 00:41:46.31\00:41:49.50 for all eternity past. I left all of that for you 00:41:49.53\00:41:55.77 and he descended, he come descended 00:41:55.80\00:42:00.22 into our world not as a shred 00:42:00.25\00:42:05.85 this wasn't play acting Jesus literally took 00:42:05.88\00:42:09.66 upon himself our human nature. God became human 00:42:09.69\00:42:19.28 if we can even began to imagine that, and this 00:42:20.41\00:42:23.51 was not play acting this was a literal transmigration 00:42:23.54\00:42:26.98 of nature for God. God who had always been God 00:42:27.01\00:42:31.31 and God only, now also grafted into his divinity 00:42:31.34\00:42:36.79 a 100 percent humanity retaining the fullness 00:42:36.82\00:42:42.85 of his divinity and yet becoming also truly 00:42:42.88\00:42:48.10 and fully human. Now dear friends here's 00:42:48.13\00:42:51.64 the wonder of it all, when Jesus died on the cross 00:42:51.67\00:42:55.14 came forth from the grave on the third day 00:42:55.17\00:42:59.01 and ascended to heaven, he was resurrected 00:42:59.04\00:43:02.30 and ascended with our humanity intact. 00:43:02.33\00:43:05.56 Jesus didn't die human and come forth from the grave 00:43:06.87\00:43:10.24 having laid aside our humanity. 00:43:10.27\00:43:11.79 Jesus came forth from the grave as much 00:43:11.82\00:43:15.16 a human being as he went into the grave. 00:43:15.19\00:43:18.09 He is our brother in the flesh for all eternity future 00:43:19.72\00:43:24.34 and so Paul says that by virtue of the representative, 00:43:26.21\00:43:30.30 ambassadorship of Jesus as our fellow human being. 00:43:30.33\00:43:35.57 Paul says that we are presently through our 00:43:35.60\00:43:39.67 representative seeded in Christ in heavenly places 00:43:39.70\00:43:43.56 at the right hand of the Father. 00:43:43.59\00:43:44.87 I mean think about this even if all of us 00:43:44.90\00:43:48.84 want to say no to the atonement, there is a sins 00:43:48.87\00:43:53.34 in which humanity has been actually literally redeemed. 00:43:53.37\00:43:58.68 A specimen of the human raise came forth 00:43:58.71\00:44:02.22 from the grave and has seeded at the right hand 00:44:02.25\00:44:04.70 of the Father. Jesus is there waiting for us 00:44:04.73\00:44:09.56 by his redemptive grace to catch up 00:44:09.59\00:44:12.28 to where he is. And to take our place 00:44:12.31\00:44:15.55 according to Revelation 3 verse 21, 00:44:15.58\00:44:19.02 at the throne of the universe to him whoever comes 00:44:20.23\00:44:24.04 I'll grant to sit with me in my throne even as 00:44:24.07\00:44:30.74 I also over came in my humanity and have sat down 00:44:30.77\00:44:36.94 in the Father's throne. Can you imagine 00:44:36.97\00:44:40.17 human beings falling in sin and yet redeemed 00:44:40.20\00:44:44.05 destined for the throne of the universe. 00:44:44.08\00:44:48.52 Jesus as our ambassador and representative 00:44:48.55\00:44:52.50 in the flesh is there this very evening our brother 00:44:52.53\00:44:56.44 for eternity future. Now that atonement 00:44:56.47\00:45:03.35 that was achieved in Christ for you and me my friends 00:45:03.38\00:45:07.01 involved a very painful Severn in the God 00:45:08.02\00:45:12.45 head going all the way back to Genesis 15 00:45:12.48\00:45:15.63 this is by the way the first vision, the first enactment 00:45:16.97\00:45:22.99 ever given to the human race of the upcoming sacrifice 00:45:24.09\00:45:29.57 that would be made at Calvary. 00:45:29.60\00:45:30.90 Abraham found himself in the evening in the mist 00:45:32.06\00:45:36.34 of a vision and in that vision God said Abraham 00:45:36.37\00:45:40.79 I have some thing I want you to do, 00:45:40.82\00:45:42.89 I want you to take three sacrificial animals 00:45:42.92\00:45:46.38 I have for a goat and a lamb 00:45:46.41\00:45:50.52 and I want you to sever them, check this out 00:45:50.55\00:45:54.24 I want you to sever each of these three animals 00:45:54.27\00:45:57.37 straight down the middle are you following 00:45:57.40\00:46:00.50 the symbolism. I want you to sever these animals 00:46:00.53\00:46:03.14 straight down the middle Abraham 00:46:03.17\00:46:04.54 and I want you to place them across 00:46:04.57\00:46:07.41 from one another each half of the sacrifices 00:46:07.44\00:46:11.16 forming a path between the pieces and then 00:46:11.19\00:46:17.20 Abraham went into a vision in which he saw 00:46:17.23\00:46:20.42 well first he felt the horror of a great darkness 00:46:20.45\00:46:24.82 the scripture says. Psychologically, he felt 00:46:24.85\00:46:28.45 the darkness in the weight of the sin problem 00:46:28.48\00:46:32.69 and as Abraham watched that gantlet, that path between 00:46:32.72\00:46:39.12 the pieces all the sudden he saw a fiery entity. 00:46:39.15\00:46:43.39 God is often represented in scripture by fire, 00:46:43.42\00:46:47.98 Moses encountered God in a burning bush, 00:46:49.03\00:46:51.94 the three worthies in the fiery furnace 00:46:51.97\00:46:55.97 were not consumed by the flames 00:46:56.00\00:46:58.05 and there was a fourth one there, the Son of man. 00:46:58.08\00:47:00.27 Ezekiel, In Ezekiel chapter 1 says, 00:47:00.30\00:47:03.17 I saw visions of God and then he describes 00:47:03.20\00:47:06.94 the vision as flames of fire moving in circular motion 00:47:06.97\00:47:12.12 after one another. God is represented in 00:47:12.15\00:47:14.90 Hebrews as a consuming fire. Throughout 00:47:14.93\00:47:18.86 scripture God is represented by fire 00:47:18.89\00:47:21.32 and Abraham sees a fiery entity 00:47:21.35\00:47:25.56 in his vision and he describes that in chapter 15 00:47:25.59\00:47:30.03 of Genesis he says, I severed the pieces 00:47:30.06\00:47:32.46 that God told me to cut them right down 00:47:32.49\00:47:34.56 the middle laid them across from one another 00:47:34.59\00:47:37.06 and then he says I saw this fire past between 00:47:37.09\00:47:43.05 the severed pieces. This is the earliest 00:47:43.08\00:47:48.68 biblical prophetic representation of the infinite 00:47:48.71\00:47:54.51 sacrifice that would be made to atone 00:47:54.54\00:47:59.13 for sin and to save you and me. Ellen White, 00:47:59.16\00:48:02.99 makes the very interesting statement 00:48:03.02\00:48:05.64 that in order to save humanity this involved 00:48:05.67\00:48:11.62 the sundering of God of the divine powers. 00:48:11.82\00:48:15.13 That is father, son, and Holy Spirit. 00:48:15.16\00:48:18.01 the sundering of God just as those sacrificial animals 00:48:18.04\00:48:22.56 were sever into creating a path 00:48:22.59\00:48:25.87 between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 00:48:25.90\00:48:30.24 who had existed for all eternity past 00:48:30.42\00:48:33.53 in this beautiful relational bliss. 00:48:33.56\00:48:35.94 Oh! How they, how they loved and enjoyed 00:48:35.98\00:48:39.27 one another's friendship. And then the Severn 00:48:39.30\00:48:43.48 occurred and Jesus can't descended and he came into 00:48:43.51\00:48:48.68 our world from the Bosom of the Father 00:48:48.71\00:48:51.01 he felt the separation with intensity 00:48:52.85\00:48:56.50 as he came into the Garden of Gethsemane 00:48:56.53\00:48:58.98 bowing on the cold ground. Desire of Ages says, 00:48:59.01\00:49:04.60 clutching at the dirt, sweating according 00:49:04.63\00:49:10.98 to Luke's Gospel great drops of blood Jesus 00:49:11.01\00:49:15.95 in Gethsemane began to experience the full 00:49:15.98\00:49:20.74 ramifications of the sin problem as your sin and mine 00:49:20.77\00:49:26.10 came upon his conscious, as if it were his own. 00:49:26.13\00:49:29.53 Jesus felt to the depths of his being the full separation 00:49:31.11\00:49:36.81 that sin makes between God and guilty sinners. 00:49:36.84\00:49:41.89 But he submitted to that separation 00:49:44.14\00:49:46.15 process voluntarily. In John chapter 10, 00:49:46.18\00:49:51.22 he said no man takes my life from me, 00:49:51.25\00:49:56.48 I lay it down of myself. Dear friends, 00:49:56.51\00:50:02.17 he was never trapped, his back was never against 00:50:02.20\00:50:05.05 the wall, he told, he told Peter in Gethsemane 00:50:05.08\00:50:09.00 after Peter cut off the ear of the high priest servant, 00:50:09.03\00:50:11.97 he told Peter, Peter put your sword away don't you know 00:50:12.00\00:50:14.40 that if I wanted to I can call my Father 00:50:14.43\00:50:15.85 he would immediately send 12 legions of angels 00:50:15.88\00:50:18.70 to deliver me. I don't need you 00:50:18.73\00:50:20.66 with a sword to defend me. I could call 10,000 angels 00:50:20.69\00:50:24.46 and in a moment leave the human race 00:50:24.49\00:50:27.81 to it's demise and go back to my place 00:50:27.84\00:50:31.02 of untouchable bliss. Jesus wasn't trapped; 00:50:31.05\00:50:36.71 he gave his life for you and me. 00:50:36.74\00:50:39.17 He endured by the sheer insua, 00:50:40.11\00:50:42.88 the power of his will he chose to love 00:50:42.91\00:50:47.18 you and me more than his own existence. 00:50:47.21\00:50:50.17 Desire of Ages says, interestingly enough 00:50:51.92\00:50:54.64 his decision is made referring Gethsemane, 00:50:54.67\00:50:59.00 his decision is made he'll save man 00:50:59.03\00:51:01.79 at any cost to himself. Well, what would that cost 00:51:01.82\00:51:07.63 entail? A Severn of the God head, Jesus cries out 00:51:07.66\00:51:15.74 upon the cross my God, my God, 00:51:15.77\00:51:19.55 why have you forsaken me? Experiencing in the depths 00:51:19.58\00:51:26.90 of his heart the complete horror and darkness 00:51:26.93\00:51:30.90 that Abraham saw in vision would be the lot of God 00:51:30.93\00:51:35.67 in order to save us. He was enveloped 00:51:36.96\00:51:39.26 in a darkness, we are told in Desire of Ages 00:51:39.29\00:51:41.71 that was so impenetrable a psychological darkness 00:51:41.74\00:51:45.30 of guilt that was so impenetrable 00:51:45.33\00:51:47.76 that she says he could not see through the portals 00:51:47.79\00:51:51.96 of the tomb, bright hope did not present to him 00:51:51.99\00:51:54.39 his coming forth from the grave as a conqueror 00:51:54.42\00:51:56.94 and the restoration of his Father's approving 00:51:56.97\00:51:59.89 smile into court. Jesus literally from 00:51:59.92\00:52:04.25 the beginnings of this dark horror of guilt 00:52:04.28\00:52:08.33 in Gethsemane and leading right up to Calvary 00:52:08.36\00:52:10.52 with the cry my God, my God why have you forsaken me. 00:52:10.55\00:52:14.21 Jesus felt to the depths of his soul a separation 00:52:14.24\00:52:18.51 from the Father that were so intense 00:52:18.54\00:52:20.41 that he literally could not see life for himself 00:52:20.44\00:52:25.44 beyond the grave. Jesus made the decision 00:52:25.47\00:52:31.24 that he would be willing to die eternally if that's 00:52:31.27\00:52:37.01 what it would cost to save you and me? 00:52:37.04\00:52:41.10 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me, 00:52:43.42\00:52:45.64 and at that moment a victory resounded 00:52:45.67\00:52:51.71 throughout the universe you know 00:52:51.74\00:52:54.20 don't you that we live in an inhabited 00:52:54.23\00:52:57.00 Universe, yes. We are not alone 00:52:57.03\00:52:59.50 in the universe, planet earth is just one 00:52:59.53\00:53:01.59 of the planets with inhabited life 00:53:01.62\00:53:06.29 in the universe. Hebrews chapter 1 says 00:53:06.32\00:53:09.26 that God through Christ made the worlds plural. 00:53:09.29\00:53:11.80 Paul says that there are principalities 00:53:11.83\00:53:14.90 and powers that is rulers and authorities 00:53:14.93\00:53:18.35 that reside in the heavenly realm 00:53:18.38\00:53:20.01 and heavenly places, where there are rulers 00:53:20.04\00:53:22.63 and authorities their must be population 00:53:22.66\00:53:24.28 groups that are governed right. 00:53:24.31\00:53:27.35 You read Job chapters 1 and 2 00:53:28.79\00:53:30.10 and you get the distinct impression that there is 00:53:30.13\00:53:32.84 an inhabited universe and all of the universes 00:53:32.87\00:53:37.86 according to the apostle Paul in First Corinthians 4:9, 00:53:37.89\00:53:40.88 the whole inhabited universe has been observing 00:53:40.91\00:53:45.74 the great controversy unfold on planet earth. 00:53:45.77\00:53:48.37 Paul says that we are a spectacle to the whole 00:53:48.40\00:53:53.28 universe. The word spectacle there in the Greek 00:53:53.31\00:53:58.26 is theatron from which we get the English word 00:53:58.29\00:54:02.31 of course what theatre. Paul says this world 00:54:02.34\00:54:07.69 in every human life is under observation; 00:54:07.72\00:54:11.05 we're being watched and have been watched 00:54:11.08\00:54:16.32 for our entire lives in all of human history. 00:54:16.35\00:54:18.88 The whole universe is focused on the events 00:54:18.91\00:54:22.98 transpiring on planet earth the whole world 00:54:23.01\00:54:25.51 is a theatre and they're all looking on and as they look 00:54:25.54\00:54:31.03 on they came to Calvary. Can you imagine 00:54:31.06\00:54:35.42 what the unfallen angels must have felt watching 00:54:35.45\00:54:38.45 their beloved master undergo the torture 00:54:38.48\00:54:45.80 and the crucifixion at Calvary? 00:54:47.37\00:54:49.92 We're told in one inspired statement that the angels 00:54:50.81\00:54:53.54 literally were eager to intervene, 00:54:53.57\00:54:56.94 they were chomping at the bit, they were waiting 00:54:57.99\00:54:59.54 for the Father, they couldn't bare it, 00:54:59.57\00:55:01.48 they were watching him be abuse 00:55:01.51\00:55:04.04 and whipped and tortured and they wanted 00:55:04.07\00:55:06.24 to intervene and deliver him and the Father said no. 00:55:06.27\00:55:09.82 He needs to follow through the whole world, 00:55:12.81\00:55:16.25 but even view on unfallen angelic host 00:55:16.28\00:55:19.21 all the universe needs to witness in Christ, 00:55:19.24\00:55:22.15 the magnitude of the love of God in order to set 00:55:22.18\00:55:27.66 the universe on a secure foundation for all eternity 00:55:27.69\00:55:32.53 future, so that sin never raises it's ugly head again. 00:55:32.56\00:55:37.16 As the universe of unfallen angels and unfallen worlds 00:55:37.19\00:55:42.54 looked onto this world and they saw the sacrifice 00:55:42.57\00:55:47.77 of Christ at Calvary my friends. 00:55:47.80\00:55:49.91 They were forever solidified and convinced 00:55:51.45\00:55:55.15 that all the charges of Satan level against the character 00:55:56.68\00:55:59.88 of God were utterly false and that God 00:55:59.91\00:56:03.55 is to be loved and adored and trusted 00:56:03.58\00:56:07.11 voluntarily from free will beings forever and ever. 00:56:08.71\00:56:14.66 You know, an eternity future it won't be that 00:56:14.69\00:56:16.99 we can't sin, it will be that we won't sin 00:56:17.02\00:56:22.65 because the demonstration of God's goodness 00:56:23.83\00:56:27.05 at Calvary proves false. All the charges levels 00:56:27.08\00:56:32.45 against him opening the way for a voluntary adoration 00:56:32.48\00:56:37.45 in worship, in love and loyalty that will know no 00:56:37.48\00:56:41.75 end into eternity future. We will be made to use 00:56:41.78\00:56:45.52 the words of Ellen White eternally secure 00:56:45.55\00:56:48.93 from the tempters devices. We will be brought to a place 00:56:48.96\00:56:52.93 in which sin can never rise again 00:56:52.96\00:56:54.73 because we are so utterly and completely 00:56:54.76\00:56:56.78 convinced of God's goodness. In Ephesians chapter 2, 00:56:56.81\00:57:03.19 the apostle Paul informs us that we are saved by God's 00:57:03.22\00:57:09.73 rich mercy and his great love and having saved us. 00:57:09.76\00:57:15.53 He will take us into eternity future as the trophy 00:57:17.52\00:57:20.47 Revelation of his goodness for all eternity future 00:57:20.50\00:57:25.48 redeemed human beings will be the master piece 00:57:25.51\00:57:28.19 of redeeming grace that all the universe looks 00:57:28.22\00:57:32.12 at as the evidence that God is love 00:57:32.15\00:57:36.47 and can be utterly and completely trusted without 00:57:38.12\00:57:40.07 reserve, the question for you and me this evening 00:57:40.10\00:57:43.66 is have we come to the place. 00:57:43.69\00:57:46.97