Turn back in your Bibles to where
we read there in John chapter 9 this morning. The pool that Jesus sent this blind man
to had a special significance. Look back with me in that seventh
verse. He said unto him, Go wash in
the pool of Siloam, which is by interpretation sin. It was really called sin. And if you compare that to what
the Lord Jesus Christ had just said to him in verse 4, I believe
we get a glimpse of the true significance. Christ said, I
must work the works of Him that sent me." That's who I want to
talk about this morning, the One sent. You see, the One in
whom all spiritual healing and all cleansing from sin is the subject of every part
of this book. And he is none other than that
fountain or that pool, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one
sent from the Father. And all the pictures and the
types and the names and offices given to Christ, they are given
to teach us something about Him and something that He accomplished
when He came. He is the one sin. And there are many who may make
many claims, but only Christ, only thee, Lord Jesus Christ,
who was sent of God, can really deliver us and save us and make
us righteous. If you remember, There were two
men who came to David from the battlefield, and one got there
fastest. One said that he wanted to run
with a message from the captain of the host, and so he ran on
ahead, but he didn't tell David the truth. But there was one that was sent
by the captain. And he didn't get there first. But when he got there, he had
the true message. He had the message that was sent
to David concerning his son. And so the only one that we should
be interested in And the one that is clearly distinguished
in Scripture is this one sent from the Father. You see, it
is by this very thing that we find Him prophesied before in
the Old Testament. Turn over to Genesis. Chapter 49, and listen to when
this old patriarch, Jacob, gathers his sons around him, and he speaks
in Genesis 49 and verse 8 concerning Judah. He says, Judah, thou art he whom
thy brethren shall praise. thy hand shall be in the neck
of thine enemies, thy father's children shall bow down before
thee. Judah is a lion's whelp from
the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he couched
as a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up?" shall not depart from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come. And unto him shall the gathering
of the people be." Now, there are several interpretations of
that word, Shiloh. one of which is its connection
to the word peace. But one of the definitions of
this word shallow is simply this, sent. He is the one who is sent
of God. And then if you look over in
Hebrews chapter 3, turn over in the New Testament, to Hebrews
chapter 3. We read here of the great Apostle,
the great Apostle, Hebrews 3 and verse 1. The Apostle says, Wherefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the
Apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus." If
you notice there, Apostle here is with capital letters, which
means that he is an Apostle in a unique and special sense. But what does that word Apostle
mean? It literally means something
like this, one cent for. Like all of these apostles, these
that he sent forth, he is himself uniquely the one sent forth. And the apostle says, consider
him. And that's what I want us to
do. I want us to consider this apostle, this one sent forth. Because, you see, Jesus did not
come into this world without authority. The one that we are
talking about, the one that we preach, there is reason to look
to Him and to listen to what He says and to bow to Him and
believe on Him, first of all, because he's the one sent from
God. Now, if I send you a messenger,
it may not mean anything at all. As a matter of fact, in an earthly
sense, it does not matter who is sent to us. But it certainly
matters concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, and He really needs no
other credentials than this, because He speaks not only as
God, but with all the authority and all the backing of the Godhead,
He came from heaven. He didn't come just from across
the ocean or down the street. He came from heaven. And to deny Him or to reject
Him or to disbelieve what He says is to reject the very God
of heaven and earth. And to refuse or deny what God
says in His Word about Him is to deny God Himself. You see, God, being who He is,
and we as sinners being who we are, there was no other way,
and there is no other one but Him. I've told you this a lot
of times. When you stop and think about
what God Almighty has done for this world, has done in creating
the world, what He has done as the Creator, as the Sustainer,
as the Provider of everything in this world, He could do and
has done everything from His throne in heaven but the one
thing, that we must have done for us if we are to be saved
from our sins. He must send His Son to accomplish
this. And not only that, but this means
something else. It means to not receive His gospel
is to not receive Him. Men and women have a notion somehow
that they can reject the Word and Gospel of Jesus Christ, but
on the other hand, somehow receive God. But he says this, he that receiveth
me, he that receiveth you, speaking of those that he himself sent
out, He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me
receiveth him that sent me. Listen to this verse. He that heareth you heareth me,
and he that despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me
despises him that sent me." In John 7, the Lord Jesus says
this, My doctrine is not mine, but him that sent me." In other
words, the gospel of Jesus Christ is to be believed because it
has the authority of all the Godhead behind it, and to reject
it is to fly into the face of the triune God. When the Apostle Paul writes
in Romans chapter He writes wonderful and glorious words to sinners
who are in need of the good news of salvation. He says, For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But then he says this, How then
shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And
how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent?" This isn't just a matter of somebody
deciding to go into the ministry. It's not something, it's not
a vocation that somebody decides to take up. It's not an opinion
that they decide to stand up and vocalize to people. It says,
how can they preach this gospel, this Christ, except they be sent? As it is written. How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. And this means that to believe
on Him who is sent is to believe what the Scriptures say that
He was sent for. Turn over to Luke's gospel. and the fourth chapter. Luke
chapter 4 and verse 18, this is what the Lord said when He
stood and read the Scriptures in the synagogue at Nazareth,
which was His earthly hometown. He says, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me. because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor? He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. Christ said, He has sent Me,
and the Spirit of God is upon Me, because He has sent Me to
do all these things. And if they do not have a spiritual
meaning, then He failed. But they do have
a spiritual meaning. That's what it's all about. And
if you look down in verse 25, Our Lord stood there on that
same occasion, and He reminded them, as He reminds us, that
He was sent to a particular people. Do you remember what He said?
I'm not sent, I'm not come, but for the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. He wasn't talking about that
national people. He was talking about that spiritual. He was talking about his sheep.
And listen in verse 25. He stands up and he declares
this on that same occasion. He says, but I tell you of a
truth. Many widows were in Israel in
the days of Elias when the heaven was shut up three years and six
months, when great famine was throughout all the land. You
talk about need on every hand, famine and starvation on every
hand. But listen to this. Here is the
sovereign grace of God. He says, but unto none of them
was Eli sent. Save unto Sarepta, a city of
Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow." Salvation does not
have to do, first of all, with the need of sinners. Salvation
has to do, first of all, with the glory of God and the sovereignty
and freeness of His grace and glory. Then he went on. In case you
don't understand what I'm saying here, he says, and many lepers
were in Israel at the time of Elisha the prophet, and none
of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian. We have a world that declares
that Christ was sent to every body, that He was sent to make
something possible for every person. Christ stood on that
occasion and He looked that idea in the face and He showed them
the freeness and the sovereignty of His grace. I will have mercy
upon whom I will have mercy. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious." He is sent from God, and that is the very
right of God. That is the very thing that Christ
praises the Father for in Matthew 11. He says, I thank thee, O
Father, that you have hid these things from the wise and prudent,
but you have revealed them unto babes. even so seemeth it good in thy
sight." You see, we think we deserve
something. That's the blindness of our sinful
nature, that we deserve something, that God ought to give us something
because of who we are or what we are. But if He's come to us,
if He's confronted us with this truth, it may well be to show
mercy on us. You see how they responded? And
all they in the synagogue, all these Jews by nature and by birth
who thought that they had a corner on God, who thought that what
they did pleased God, who thought that they were in some way able
to do something to make up for their sinfulness, It says, "...and
all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, they
were filled with wrath." I'll tell you what, only when
God comes in the grace and power of His Spirit into our hearts,
into our lives, into our beings, and subdues that natural rebellion
and gives us faith to believe on Him and to see Him for who
He is and what we are. Only then can we be confronted
with these things and say, God, that is exactly the way it is. That is exactly who You are.
And we deserve Your wrath and Your fury, and we deserve Your
judgment because of our sin. And if You cast us into hell,
You'd be right in doing so. And then you look down in verse
43 at what he says, And he said unto them, I must preach the
kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent. I am sent to a people. I'm sent not to just an earthly
nation, but I'm sent to a nation. I read a church sign that through
the 4th of July was used to speak of our national relationship
to God. They quoted that verse out of
Scripture, blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord. That's not the United States.
That's not England. That's not any earthly nation. But that is that nation, that
people that the Apostle speaks of, that holy nation. the elect of God, the people
of the Lord Jesus Christ, those chosen in Him before the foundation
of the world, redeemed by His blood and called out by His Spirit
to believe on Him. That's the nation whose God is
the Lord. That's who He's sent to. John 10, He says, "...say ye
of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the
world, thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God?" You see, the one sent from God
is none other than the Son of God. And he said, the Father
sent me. And they said, well, you blaspheme
God because you make yourself to be God. You call yourself
the Son of God. But that's who the Father sent.
God manifests in the flesh. Son of man, Son of God. And it says, for God sent not
His Son into the world to condemn the world. The world is already
condemned. But that the world through Him
might be saved. You see, He was sent on a mission.
Christ Jesus. I'm not talking about this generic
Jesus. I'm talking about the Son of
God. I'm talking about Jesus of Nazareth. I'm talking about
the Jesus of Scripture. He was sent for a reason. He was sent to do a work. He was sent on a mission, a particular
mission. This is what he said. They offered
him on one occasion. They said, aren't you hungry?
We'll run into the city and get some food. Don't you want something
to eat? He said, my meat. My meat is
to do the will of Him that sent me and finish His work. He was on a mission. He is sent
on a particular errand from God. John 5 says, All men should honor
the Son even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not
the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. There is not any getting around
the Lord Jesus Christ. There's not any honoring God.
I don't care if you give everything you have. I don't care if you
bow down your face and crawl up stone walkways in repentance. I don't care what it is. If we
don't honor the Son, we don't honor the One who sent Him. My friend, that just deals away
instantly with about two-thirds of all the religions in this
world. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me." You can't believe on the one
that sent Christ unless you hear Christ's words. It just won't
work. To start with, you don't know
anything about Him. But every one that hears His word and believes
on Him that sent Him hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." What's the evidence of our being
passed from death to life? What is the evidence of our having
received everlasting life? We hear what Christ says and
we believe on Him, therefore we believe on the One who sent
Him. Christ said, I can of mine own
self do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment
is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me. You say, well, isn't Christ God?
Isn't He co-equal with the other two Persons of the Godhead? Absolutely. But He is speaking there as Jehovah's
servant. That's what he means when he
says, my doctrine is not of myself, but it's the doctrine of Him
that sent me. That's Jehovah's servant talking
there. They came to do the will of the
Father which hath sent me. John 5 says, but I have greater
witness than that of John, for the works which the Father hath
given me to finish, the same works that I do, they bear witness
of me that the Father hath sent me. He's the sent one. There may
run a million messiahs, so-called. There may be a billion saviors
self-identified or spoken of being such by men and women in
every station of life and generation, but there's only one son of God. He said, I must work the works
of Him that sent me while it is day. The night comes when
no man can work. And I'm going to tell you this
this morning again. His coming, sent of the Father, and doing
the will of the Father, that's our salvation. Not free will. Not man's will. Sometimes I just want to take
people by the collar almost and shake them and say, open the
Bible, get you a concordance, and just look up the word will
and see whose will it is in this book that decides everything in salvation. Turn over to John 6. This is such a plain portion
of Scripture. This is what the Savior Himself
says. John chapter 6, and look down
at verse 28. Then said they unto him, What
shall we do that we might work the works of God? What can we
do? That's what they said in Moses'
day. That's what sinners say in every day. That's what they
try to do. That's what religion offers them,
something to do. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he
hath seen. I am afraid that we even misinterpret
that. So we say that this is the work,
believing. Well, the truth is, believing
is non-working. Not to him that works, but to
him that works not, but believes on God who saves the ungodly. But the truth of it is, what
this means first, I think, is this is the work of God. This
is the only work there is. And it's the work of God. If
you ever believe, it will be because of the work
of God. And when you believe, it will be believing on Him who
He hath sent. Alright, look down in verse 38. Let's back up to verse 37. Christ says, "...all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me." Really? Really. Every one of them. There is not one given to the
Father? Not one that Christ was sent from heaven to save and
to give His life. Not one of them is going to be
lost. If it was left up to them, they'd
all perish. If it was left to their free
will, they'd all die in their sins. If it was left up to them,
they'd never believe on Him. They could never do anything
to make what He does effectual. What He does will be effectual
to them. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out." Now listen, "'For I came down from heaven
not to do mine own will.'" Here's Jehovah's Servant again. Don't
ever let anybody make you think that Jesus Christ is anything
less than God manifest in the flesh because of statements like
this. This is Him in His subservient
role as Jehovah's Servant coming to do the will of Him that sent
me. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me." When I began to look at this last week in
the Bible, I was in utter awe at how many times Christ emphasized
this and spoke of this. How many times He reminds us
that He was sent of the Father. You think it's safe to believe
on Him? Absolutely. Do you think He was
a success in His errand? Did He accomplish His mission? Absolutely. This is the Father's
will which has sent me that of all which He hath given me, I
should lose nothing. I'm not going to lose one of those
sheep. but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on
Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day." Have you seen the Son? The only way you can see Him
is through this Word, and the only way of seeing Him through
this Word is by a God-given enablement to see Him for who He is. And
we only see Him for who He is when we see Him for what He's
done, what He's accomplished. You see, no man knows God except
through the One he's seeing. Says, Then Jesus cried in the
temple as he taught, saying, You both know me, and ye know
whence I am, and I am not come of myself. But he that sent me
is true, whom ye know not, but I know him, for I am from him,
and he hath sent me. You're going to look out and
gaze into heaven and see God? Absolutely not. You're going
to look in a flower or a baby's face or a sunset or a rainbow
and see God? Not at all. He said, no man knows the Father
except through the one he sent, and that's Christ. It's also
written in your law, he said, that the testimony of two men
is true. I am one that bears witness of
myself, and the Father that sent me, He bears witness of me." He spoke audibly from heaven. He says to some, ìIf God were
your Father, youíd love me, for I proceeded forth and came from
God, neither came I of myself, but He sent me.î He sent me. Can you imagine the
depths of such love that God would send His only begotten
Son in this world for you? Here you are, and here I am,
black-hearted rebels, members of a fallen race, the very head
and first of which stood in the face of God and just denied Him
in every way and rebelled against His sovereign right to be God.
Here we are, whose thoughts are nothing but filth and putrefaction,
whose words and whose deeds and whose motives are just the opposite
of Him. And he sent his son to die. Turn over to John 17. John chapter 17. And look down
at that third verse as we eavesdrop into this conversation between
the father and the son. The son says, And this is life
eternal. that they," who is they? Those that He has given Him.
"...that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom Thou hast sent." Turn over and look at verse 21. He says, "...concerning these
that the Father has given Him, He says, "...that they all may
be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they
also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast
sent me." Verse 23, "...I in them, and
thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them as thou hast loved me." Did the Father love the Son?
Unquestionably. And he says that you, that the
world may know that you've sent me, and this is the evidence
that you love them as you love me. Man, that's unbelievable. And that's why none can believe
it apart from the grace and power of God. But I want us to go to
one Scripture in particular. And that is to be found in 1
John chapter 4. 1 John chapter 4. Now, we live in a generation
where everybody is talking about the love of God. What is the love of God all about?
Well, the Bible says that the love of God is in Christ Jesus. But how is it in Christ Jesus?
Well, listen to what it says here in 1 John chapter 4 and
verse 9. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us." Now, when I read something like that in
this book, I'm expecting to get a clear definition. The Spirit of God is not going
to make a statement like that and leave us hanging to wonder
what He means by it. He says, in this was manifested the love
of God toward us because that God sent His only begotten Son
into the world that we might live through Him. That means we were dead. That
means that everything about us is death. That means there is
no life except it come from God and except it come through Him
who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He sent his Son that
we might live. Now, you listen to this next
verse. Herein is love. For over 25 years, I've been
trying to preach what I'm trying to preach again this morning. Sometimes people say, well, he's
not a very lovable fellow, is he? Herein is love. I can't love
you any more than to tell you the truth about the love of God. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son. Now, notice those two next words
are in italics. Sent his Son the propitiation
for our sins. The Father's love for his people
is seen in his sending his only begotten Son. No other one could
accomplish the mission of saving us from our sins, of redeeming
us, of making us righteous, of rescuing us. And central to and
essential to that work was Christ enduring the wrath
of God against our sin in our place. You see, God had sent many men. That's how John is described.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. But John was the first one, the
fastest one to stand and say, Whoa, whoa, I'm not that one
sent. Not that one. I'm not worthy
to unlace his shoelaces. And he surely sent many glorious
angels, but none of them could accomplish
this work of redemption. None of them could satisfy infinite
justice but the infinite Son. None of them could do this work
because none of them could die this death, only the God-man. How can a holy God love sinners? How is His love manifested? How can we live who deserve death? Only because the one sent is
called the propitiation for our sins. Now, what's a propitiation? He sent His Son. who is the propitiation
for our sins. Well, in the Holy of Holies,
you remember there was the Ark of the Covenant, and there was
a lid on the top of it, all of which was covered with gold,
two golden cherubims, one on each end, God's presence, the
Shekinah glory, Between those cherubims, he said, that's where
I'll dwell. And the high priest would come in once a year with
that blood, and he'd sprinkle it on that lid in the presence of God. It was called the mercy seat.
The word for mercy seat is propitiatory. The sacrifice, the blood that
was offered on that mercy seat was the propitiation, the perpetuatory
sacrifice. There was a picture in Leviticus
16 when they would take the two goats, you remember, and they
would cast lots. One lot would be for the Lord
and one lot would be for the people. They would take one lot,
I mean, cast the lots, draw the lots, and the lots, the goat,
the lot fell on that it said was for the Lord. You know what
they did with him? They killed him. Why? To show that it was necessary
that blood be shed, that a life be laid down in order for sin
to be put away, for God to be propitiated. And didn't they
take the other goat? confess the sins of the people
on his head, and it says that a fit man would take him out
far into the wilderness and lead him, and he'd never be seen again. That's our sins. That's the forgiveness. That's the mercy. That's the
grace that we have in Christ. Sins never to be remembered again.
But what had to happen first? That one that pictured Jesus
Christ had to be taken and slain. Why? Because he had to bear the
wrath of God because of sin. And many try to change propitiation
simply to expiation, which means the removal of guilt. And there
certainly is, through the sacrifice of Christ, the removal of all
the guilt for the sins of His people. But there's no expiation
without there be propitiation. It would seem to me that that
goat that was led away into the wilderness with the sins of the
people confessed on his head, that was a picture of expiation. The removal of their guilt is
just gone now. But there first had to be propitiation. The goat upon which the Lord's
lot fell had to die and his blood had to be shed. And the reason that men try to
deny the true perpetuatory aspect of Christ's death is because
they try to do with any notion that God can in any way be a
God of wrath. But the truth is, divine wrath
fell on Christ as He bore the sins of His people, and it had
to either fall on Him or fall on us. Do you know that well over 500 times
in the Old Testament we find that word wrath? That doesn't fit the God of our
day, does it? He loves everybody. He's like
a big Santa Claus or a grandfather sitting in heaven in a rocking
chair and, oh, He just wishes you well and He wishes you do
something. That's not the God of this book. In the New Testament, the term,
the wrath of God, is used nine times. We hear the prophets speak of
God's wrath being demonstrated. In Psalm 78, it says, "...the
wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them,
and smote down the children, the chosen men of Israel." Was
that the wrath of God, or was that the wrath of God? And you know what God says, this
same God, He said, I am the Lord, I change not. But right after that, in the
same sentence, He said, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore,
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the propitiation. Paul said in the New Testament,
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. It's promised in the future to
those unbelievers in the book of Revelation. It says, "...and
the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If
any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark
in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink the wine
of the wrath of God." They shall drink the wine of
the wrath of God. Well, what's our hope? Christ
already drank it for us. That's what I was trying to tell
you last Sunday. He drank that black brook dry. He consumed
it all. You see, the definition of propitiation
is to appease, to turn away wrath. But in the Bible, the sense of
it seems to mean not only to appease his wrath so as to satisfy
his holiness and justice, but at the same time to obtain favor
as a result. When the Lord Jesus Christ hung
on the cross in the place of his people, God looked from heaven with a
frowning face to the degree that Christ said,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why is your favor turned away
from me? But I can tell you this, for
every sinner who this moment looks to the Lord Jesus Christ,
looks to this One that is sent of the Father, this One who has
accomplished the Father's will, this One who in our place has
hung there and died under the heavy hand of divine wrath, To
everyone that looks to God in him, there's a smiling face. You know, I can look at myself
and I can see why God should frown on me. I can really, every
day. Some people say they're getting
better. I think I must be getting worse. But only when we see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ can we see a divine smile. That's
what Paul said, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Is that true? We shall be saved
from wrath through Him because He died and the death that He
died was the suffering of all the wrath of God for all His
people for all time. He is the propitiation. His blood is the propitiatory
sacrifice. He sent His Son, the propitiation. God laid our sins on Him. He imputed our sin, the mass
of it. Made it to meet on his son. What
did he do? Just like the Lord's goat, he
slew him. You see, to deny that aspect
of Christ's work is to deny His glory. He laid down His life
for the sheep. He's the sent one. He was sent,
the propitiation for our sins. It said it behooved Him to be
made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of His people. What does God say of the soul
that sins? It shall surely die. And I'll read this verse to you
out of Romans 3. Paul says to God's people, being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus whom God has set forth, a propitiation. That's Romans 3.25, whom God
has set forth a propitiation through faith in his blood to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness. You say, if God said, soul that
sinneth shall surely die, we've all sinned. Why aren't we going to die? Because Christ died that substitutionary
death in our place. Because He bore our sins in His
own body. What does that mean? It means
that He took the responsibility upon Himself and God killed it
for us. He says, those who have faith in His blood. What does that mean? Well, I
believe that if there is a verse in Scripture in the New Testament
that narrows down what we're to trust in and rely upon, it's
probably that verse. We believe on Christ. We believe
on Him as this person, this divine person. And we rest in His death. When they came to get the Lord
Jesus Christ, He said, have you come after Me? They said, we'll
come after you. He said, well, let these go then. That's salvation. when the fullness of time was
come. That's what Paul says to the
Galatians. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And because you are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Now, what does that mean? I guess
I have wrestled with that one portion of that verse, verse
4, so much. But when the fullness of the
time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law. What does it mean to be made
under the law here in this text? It means to suffer the consequences that
the law always demands against sin. How can he do that to be
made of a woman? That's the only way he could
do that, to be sent of God, made of a woman, made under the law. When a man gathered sticks on
the Sabbath, what did it say? Well, send him
to a correctional facility. Well, give him a chance. Send him to a rehab center and
get him straightened out. I'm talking about going to gather
enough sticks to make him a fire and bake bread on the Sabbath
under the law. The law said take him out and
stone him. stone him to death." So that's
pretty severe, isn't it? God's pretty severe in the matter
of sin. And that's what that was a picture of. Made under the law. And bless
His name, that's why the apostles couldn't say to us, we established
the law. The Lord's people, true people.
They establish the law. They say, we can't keep the law.
We're surely under the condemnation of the law. We surely are in
every way guilty. But our guilt and our punishment
and God's wrath against our sin is in our Savior. Two men went down to the temple
to pray one day. Remember them? The Pharisee and the publican. The Pharisee looked at that publican
and he said, God, I'm thankful that I'm not like the other man.
I'm not like this publican over here. I tithe, I give of all
that I have. I keep the Sabbath. I do all
these things. And then the Bible says of that
publican that he smote himself on the
breast. He wouldn't even lift up his
head toward heaven. But he said, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. That's what it actually
means. And the word merciful there means
propitiated. God be propitiated to me, toward me, the sinner. What's he doing? He's looking
to that God-provided sacrifice. And that's my only hope this
morning. As a matter of fact, that's the only hope there is
for us. God, be propitiated to me through Christ
and Him crucified. Thank God those in Christ don't
have to fear the wrath of God. Our Savior has already consumed
it. He said, a Waco sword and smite
the shepherd. What's that? That's the sword
of His justice. That's the sword of His wrath
that was buried to the hilt in the bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ
on that cross. And He said, let these go free. He's the one sent. May God give us grace to look
apart from every other one, and most especially from ourselves,
and to look to Him and trust Him and rest in Him. Father, we thank You this day
for such great mercy and grace bestowed upon us. in the Lord
Jesus. Grant to us that faith that rests
in His sacrifice, in His blood, in His death, as that which has
thoroughly consumed and absorbed and borne your wrath against
our sin. Grant that we may see in Him
your smiling face, and know in Him the bounds of your everlasting
love, and give you all the glory and
the praise forever and ever. For we pray in His name. Amen. Thank you.