The Lord Jesus Christ is wonderful. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
most wonderful person in all the world. Now I'm not going to get between
husbands and wives here or friends and girlfriends and boyfriends. but the Lord Jesus Christ is
the most wonderful person in all the world. Wonderful is a name that characterises
the Lord Jesus Christ. It characterises his person and
it characterises his works. in foretelling about the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, hundreds and hundreds of years before
he was born in the incarnation. The prophet Isaiah said, his
name shall be called Wonderful. Therefore we call him Wonderful. and we fulfil the prophecy of
Isaiah. We have a wonderful saviour. Why do we call him wonderful? Because it portrays who he is. We call him wonderful because
It describes all he has ever said. It defines all that he
has done. He is wonderful. We read together in Philippians
chapter two at the beginning of our service, and we read there
in verse nine these words. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. And that name is wonderful. That name which he has been given
is Wonderful Lord. The Apostle Peter, one of the
Lord's disciples during his ministry, he left us a very fitting and
beautiful name by which the Lord Jesus has been known ever since. Peter calls him our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. That's a lovely title. And if
you use that title to describe the Lord Jesus, you do well. The Lord, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Do you know that Peter is the
only one who uses that phrase of the Savior? And he uses it
four times in his epistle. our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And it recognises that this most
descriptive of titles describes the wonderful Saviour that we
worship in Jesus Christ. He is Lord. Lord because he is
God. The Bible tells us, thou shalt
have no other God before me. So we worship this Jesus of Nazareth
as the Lord, the Lord our God. Isaiah chapter 48 and verse 17
says, thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord thy God, which
teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way which
thou shouldst go. This is the Lord, the Lord our
God. He teaches us. He leads us. He is the one that we have come
to worship. He is the one that is worthy
of our praise and our hymn singing and our prayers. He is the one
who is wonderful. He is Jesus Christ, the Lord. But not only is he the Lord God,
he is the Lord God, our Saviour. He is Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. And that title, Saviour, confirms
the uniqueness that he possesses to fulfil the need of his people. Again, Isaiah writes in 43 verse
11, I, even I am the Lord. Beside me there is no saviour. Look where you will. Search where
you want, pursue whatever it is takes your heart's desire,
but there is no saviour apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 45 verse 21 says, there
is no God else beside me, a just God and a saviour. He is the Lord He is our Saviour. He is Jesus. That word Jesus
is a Greek form of an old Hebrew name, Joshua. So Joshua is a
name that some people know here, as I recall. And that's Jesus
in Greek. Joshua means deliverer. And when the Lord Jesus was given
this name, it was commemorating the fact that he would be the
deliverer of his people. It was said to his mother, Mary,
call his name Jesus or Joshua because he's the deliverer. He's
the one who is going to save his people from their sins. Now Jesus, maybe a little bit
like Joshua, is not an altogether uncommon name. And that's the
reason why in scripture Jesus was called variously Jesus of
Nazareth and Jesus the son of Joseph because there were a lot
of Jesus's around. But this Jesus, this Jesus, this
Jesus is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Peter uses these four words to
describe his master. And he calls him Christ because
that word speaks of him as the promised Messiah. The Messiah
from the Old Testament. The Messiah that had been anointed
by Jehovah. The Messiah that had been anticipated
for hundreds and thousands of years. And Peter is telling us
that this is Him. He has come. He is the One that
had been anticipated for so long and now this One, our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ, has come. That's a word which opens up
a whole area of study in the covenant purposes of God. Because that promise that had
been made by God that he would save his people had been waited
for for centuries and centuries. And now that covenant, that promise
was about to be fulfilled as Jesus came as a child, yes, but
with a purpose. to save His people from their
sins. So Peter says, He is our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. In 1 John 4, verse 2, we read
these words, Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that
confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God,
and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist,
whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already
it is in the world. What is John saying to us here?
He is saying simply this, this one, our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, is the promised Messiah. And if you see in this child,
the fulfillment of all God's covenant promises, then you are
of God. But if you don't see in this
child, the fulfilment of all God's covenant promises, then
you're none of His. You have no knowledge of Him.
You have no interest in the salvation that He has worked out, that
you are still lost and in your sins, and you are accountable
for those sins before a holy God. To say that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh as the world is doing right now, is not to
acknowledge that the baby was born. Nobody, with any sense
of history and literature and testimony and witness, can have
any real doubt that someone called Jesus was born in Nazareth 2,000
years ago. But that's not the point. The
point is this, that the one who was born was the Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ. God come to deliver his people
in accordance with the purpose, plan and pattern that God had
established in his covenant. way at the beginning of time,
and that he fulfilled every requirement for the deliverance of his people. That is what distinguishes true
faith from the religions of the world. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
is the fulfillment of all of God's promises. The baby that
was born in the stable, the child who lived in obscurity, the man
who went to the cross, who died, who rose again and ascended into
glory. He is the Lord God. He is the
unique saviour. He is the covenant keeper. He is the saviour and deliverer
of his people from their sin, from death and from hell. Well does the scripture call
him wonderful, and we should too. We've read a little bit
about Jonah this morning, and Jonah knew something of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Jonah knew the wonderful Saviour. Jonah knew Him. Though he was
opposed to doing the will of God, though he went off in the
other direction, Jonah knew who the Lord Jesus Christ was. And
in the depths of the ocean, there in that fish's belly, he felt
a need. to turn his prayers towards God's
holy temple by which we understand that Jesus Christ was the focus
of his prayers. And he testified of that experience
that he endured. Salvation is of the Lord because
he was delivered from the whale's belly. And I want to take just a couple
of minutes of your time this morning to point out a couple
of things that we understand from this statement that Jonah
made. First of all, this. Jesus Christ
is a needed saviour. Salvation is of the Lord, said
Jonah. Jesus Christ is a needed saviour. Now I'll tell you frankly, most
people don't need a saviour. Most people don't. Most people
don't want a saviour. Most are self-reliant, self-assured,
self-righteous, self-deceived. Most people don't need a saviour. And in truth, I don't have very
much to say to these people. I don't have very much to say
to those who don't need a saviour. Maybe just this, you're in for a shock. Someday
you will open your eyes in the belly of hell and you will realize
what a mistake you have made. There will be no escape and you
only have yourself to blame. It takes the Lord to open a man
or a woman's eyes. It takes the Lord to show an
individual the need that they have of a saviour. There was
a religious Pharisee in the days of the Lord's ministry, and he
said, Lord, I'm glad I'm not like these other people, these
sinners. And there was a publican, a common
sinner, And he stood in the temple with this Pharisee who prayed.
And he said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Can you see
the difference in those two prayers? One said, I'm glad I'm not like
these other sinners. And the other said, God, be merciful
to me, a sinner. There has to be a personal involvement
with God. There has to be a humility in
his presence. There needs to be that recognition
that we have a need of a saviour. And no religious Pharisee, no
self-righteous individual will ever come to God except to compare
himself with others. But if God is merciful to us,
then he will show us the need that we have of a saviour. And
if the Lord does show you your need, count upon it, it will
not be a pleasant experience, but it will be the best thing
that has ever happened to you. God grant us that grace. The second thing that I want
to say is that God, or the Lord Jesus Christ, is not only a needed
saviour, but he is an able saviour. Have you ever wondered how and
why God became a man? The world is celebrating the
incarnation. Incarnation means the coming
of God in human flesh, the incarnation. It's actually a staggering idea. It's an amazing thing to think
that God who created the universe, who created the world, who created
man and flesh, deigned to stoop and become a man. A man. If that doesn't cause you
to wonder, in fact, if it doesn't cause you to say, this is all
nonsense, this is all ludicrous, this is all make-believe, then
in truth you probably haven't thought about the issue at all.
But the amazing thing is that the testimony of Scripture, the
truth of God is that he became a man. God in the flesh, and
that is much more profound than most people ever imagine. The necessity of God becoming
a man, is shown in the fact that he is an able saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ had to
be God because no created being could bear the weight of perfect
holiness. Not even angels could do that. No created being could bear the
weight of divine wrath against sin and drink it all up. And no created being could bear
the weight of glory that was won at the cross when the Lord
Jesus Christ accomplished his people's redemption. No created
being ever could. It had to be God. And yet, the
Lord Jesus Christ had to be a man because sin must be punished
in the nature of the offender. It would not have been just for
God to have said, oh, forget it. I'll take the blame myself. And they can go free. The soul
that sins must die. The nature that sinned against
God must bear the consequences. That's just, that's justice. And if God is anything, he is
a just God. And yet he's a loving God too.
And so God became man. God became man in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God came into this world as a
man with our nature. Did I say God himself could not
atone and yet still be a just God? And no man was ever able
to deliver himself, far less represent another. But the God-man
alone, unique in his nature, did as no other one could, making
him both a just God and a saviour. That's why we call this a wonderful
story. The willing saviour is the third
point that I want to draw your attention to. He was a needed
saviour, And then he was an able saviour. And thirdly, he was
a willing saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal
Son of God, willingly undertook to fulfil and to satisfy every
obligation, every demand of a wholly offended God. Our sin in Adam's
fall, our wickedness in our own personal disobedience, our iniquities
rise up against God. They are a transgression of his
moral holiness, his perfect law, and it needs to be dealt with.
And the Lord Jesus Christ willingly came in order to deal with the
sins of his people. He is the one who in the eternal
covenant of peace stood forth. And he accepted the role of representative
and surety. You know what a surety is? Surety says that if he incurs
any debt, I'll pay for it. That might sound like a good
idea. It's a legal term. It sometimes
happens in families. It was recognised throughout
the world of commerce. If a debt is incurred and someone
doesn't have the ability to pay for it, the surety will step
forward and pay that bill. And that's what Jesus Christ
promised to do, that he willingly undertook pay the price for those
who didn't have the ability to pay for themselves. Philippians
2 verse 7 says, But he made himself of no reputation, and took upon
himself the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men,
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and
became obedient to the death of the cross. Luke 22, verse 42. Has the Lord Jesus Christ in
the garden of Gethsemane. And he says there, Father, if
thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not
my will, but thine be done. Our Lord Jesus Christ was a willing
saviour. and he was a successful saviour. Brethren, what no man could do,
the Lord Jesus Christ did. What no other created being was
able to achieve, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished. The God-man,
having loved his own which were in the world, loved them unto
the end, until all was accomplished, until all that God required of
him was done. He accomplished our successful
Saviour. He accomplished the redemption
of his people. He accomplished our atonement
and he made us right with God. He satisfied every demand that
God had against us as debtors and transgressors. He justified
us by his death and his resurrection and he has reconciled us to God
and brought us into an experience of grace with him. Colossians
1, verse 20, the Lord Jesus Christ, it is said of him, he made peace
through the blood of his cross. And even now that successful
savior is in heaven. and he is interceding for his
people. Nothing has been left undone. Nothing is left to chance. All is certain and all is sure. And that is why Jonah could say,
salvation is of the Lord. He has done it all. and he's a glorious saviour.
Successful in his accomplishments, victorious over his enemies and
ours, vindicated in his sacrifice, raised to glory by the power
of God. Everything about this God-man
is truly wonderful. Hebrews 1.3 says, who being the
brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and
upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had himself
purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty
on high. Friends, if we could see into
heaven this morning, if we could see into heaven this morning,
we would see a man seated at the right hand of God. And what a man he is. He is the
wonderful Jesus. And the world looks for him in
a manger, but we see him high and lifted up. Religion can cope
with him as a child, but we bow before him as a conqueror. Angels
declared glory to God in the highest. And we know exactly
what they were talking about. They were talking about our wonderful
saviour. I've got one more thing that
I want to say and then we're going to wrap this up. Jonah testified in his prophecy
all those years ago when he had been vomited out from the belly
of the fish. He testified salvation is of
the Lord. Every manifestation of salvation
in time is of the Lord. Think about what I've just said
there. Every manifestation of salvation in time is of the Lord. Every providential protection,
every circumstantial delivery, every shield and shelter, every
escape and rescue every near miss, every close call, every
time, in the providence and circumstances of God, we have been delivered
out of a dangerous situation. Salvation is of the Lord. The lorry that tipped, the car
that swerved, the illness, that abated, the storm that passed. Every providential protection
that we have in this world comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. Every part of spiritual salvation
comes from the Lord. Sinner, you must repent of your sin. You can't deny that you've got
sin. You know it better than anyone
else. You know it better than your
nearest and your dearest knows you. And you're a liar if you
deny that you have no sin. The Bible says that explicitly. but God grants repentance. You must believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ to be saved, but faith is a gift from God. You need an advocate, one who
will stand up for you in the presence of God and plead your
case. and the Lord Jesus Christ is
the only mediator between God and man. You see, every need
in salvation has been supplied freely, graciously, and completely. Every demand has been fulfilled. As the Lord Jesus Christ declared
on the cross, it is finished. and every element of eternal
salvation is of the Lord. Justice is satisfied. Atonement is complete. Peace has been secured. Our eternal life has been won
and our eternal home is right now having the finishing touches
put to it. Our names, if we have trusted
in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we have found Him to be that
Saviour, are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and our wonderful
Saviour is even now coming to take us to glory. If ever there was a theme writ
large in Scripture, it is this. Salvation is of the Lord. How
far can we take that simple statement? Just as far as we possibly can. Salvation is of the Lord. Take it as far as you possibly
can and then some. Sinner. And that means all of
you. And that means me. Sinner. Salvation is of the Lord,
and praise God it is. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to our hearts today. Amen.