I've entitled this morning's
message, Blatant Favoritism. Blatant Favoritism. Blatant means completely lacking
subtlety. Very obvious. What did Abraham do with Isaac? He gave him all he had. He demonstrated
blatant favoritism toward his son, Isaac. What about the sons of the concubines?
Somebody's thinking, well, what's Abraham doing having concubines?
I don't know. He was wrong then, just like
it's wrong now, but he had them. And what did he do with the sons
of the concubines? He wasn't cruel, he gave them
gifts, but he sent them away from his son, Isaac. They were not going to have any
connection with Isaac at all. Blatant favoritism. Now, Isaac is one of the glorious
types of Christ and one of the clearest types of Christ in all
of Scripture. He's the child of promise. God
promised him before he was ever conceived and even named him
before he was even conceived. He was the child of a supernatural
birth. His mother had already gone through menopause, his father
was 100 years old, and his birth was miraculous. like that of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I love the way Sarah said to
Abraham, cast out Ishmael, the bond woman, or the bondman, the
bond woman, cast out Hagar and her son, Ishmael, but the son
of the bond woman's not gonna be here with my son. He stands
alone. what a type of Christ Isaac is
in Genesis 22 when God says, take now your son, your only
son, whom you love. Do you know that's the first
time love is found in the scripture? First time. Take now your son, your
only son, whom you love and offer him up as a burnt offering to
me on a mount that I'll show thee of. What a glorious type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I love in Genesis 24 where He
is the groom that Abraham's servant is gone to seek a bride for.
Christ is called in the New Testament, the bridegroom. And here, everybody
else is turned out. And blatant favoritism is shown
to Isaac. Now this is all given to typify
the Son of God. He is said to be the heir of
all things. God has an agenda, the glory
of his son. If you and I are not on board
with that, we're God's enemies. He does all that he does for
the glory of his son. I was at a wedding this year,
actually, and the father was giving a speech with regard to
his daughter. And I've known this young lady
all of her life. I've always thought the world
of her. Every time she sees me, she says,
take your finger off for me, because I did that for her when
she was a little girl. This thing, I'm good at that. But he was
speaking of his daughter and his special relationship with
her. And she's quite a very beautiful young lady, quite an achiever.
I mean, she's something. And he was speaking of her and
he also has two sons. And he seemed to show favoritism
to his daughter. And one of his sons came in at
one time and he burst into the room and he said, you show blatant
favoritism toward her. He said, and? How is your response when you
hear of the blatant favoritism shown to the Lord Jesus Christ? Talk about somebody the Father
favors. I could easily entitled this
message, the supremacy and the preeminence, the excellency and
the glory of Jesus of Nazareth. In reality, this is the key to
understanding all things. What I'm going to attempt, pray
for me as I try to bring this message. This message is the key to understanding
all things. The excellency, the preeminence,
the glory of Jesus Christ the Lord. The favor the Father has
toward Him. Now there's not really much differences
between one man and another man. As a matter of fact, Paul put
it this way when writing to the Romans, there's no difference. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. There's no difference between
me and you, not really. There's no difference in God's
sight between the most moral man and the most immoral. They're
on the same plane. All have sinned. and come short
of the glory of God. There are no different races
with one being better than the other. Hitler tried that, didn't
he? Hitler tried to promote the Aryan race and put out other
races in order to have a more pure race, but there are no races
but the human race. Me and you are in that. There
are different ethnicities, but one race. And I would say that
everybody in our race who has the power of reason, some don't, I realize that, but
everyone in our race, whatever ethnicity, whatever type of person,
wherever they're born, whatever continent it might be, They've asked these questions
in some form. Who am I? What is my purpose? What's wrong with the world?
Obviously, there's a lot of things wrong with the world. That catalog could go on forever,
couldn't it? There's a lot of things wrong with this world.
What's wrong with the world? And how can this be fixed? No matter what language, no matter
what, uh, place of birth, everybody has at least thought of those
questions in some form. Now we know from the scriptures, you see the Bible is the word
of God. Let me repeat that. The Bible is the word of God.
This has divine authority. The authority of God, every word
inspired. And we know from the scriptures
that that is starting in the wrong place. Who am I? Wrong place to start. Who is God? That's the starting place. Who
is God? Now when we start with man, who
am I? Who am I? When we start with
man, and that's what man does until God does something for
him. When we start with man, who am I? We're either left with
no God or a little God. When we start with us, here's
what we're left with. No God. or a little God, a small
g God, a God that's not like the God of the Bible. And when we ask the question,
who am I? If we don't believe God, we're
chance. The result of some kind of cosmic
whatever that took place in some primordial stew that life came
from. Or who am I? I have power to make what I am. I have free will. And that's
the result of believing in a little God. If you have a little God,
you have a free will. Your will trumps God's will.
That's who I am. I'm someone who can determine
who I am. What's my purpose? Well, if I
don't have a God, my purpose is to consume and enjoy as much
as I can while I'm here. That's it. And once again, if
I have this small G God, what's my purpose? Well, I determine
what my purpose is. I determine it. I'm the bottom
line. When we ask what's wrong with
this world, Well, the man without a God says, well, the problem
is we don't have proper education to educate people how to deal
with things, and we don't have proper government to make things
are okay. That's what's wrong with the
world. And if I have a little God, here's my answer, you're
what's wrong with the world. You're the problem, not me. You
have created this position that's made things hard for me. Wrong with the world, what's
you? You. Blame you. You're the problem. What can fix this? Well, if I
don't have a God, proper education, proper government. If I have
a small God, me, I'm the one who can fix this. It's ultimately
up to me. But like I said, that is wrong
thinking from the beginning. If I begin with me, who am I? What a self-indulgent, narcissistic
question in the first place, as if the whole universe revolves
around me. Who am I? Ask me after the service
and I'll tell you exactly who you are and who I am. But the point is, we don't begin
there. Who is God? You see, if that
question is answered, all the rest of those questions are answered.
I'm his creature. I'm his creature. What's my purpose?
His glory. What's the problem with the world?
Me. How can this be fixed? Only he can fix it, and he does. Now, what I would like to do
is look at two passages of scripture that tell who Jesus Christ is. And if the Lord will be pleased
to make himself known to us from his word with regard to who he
is, All of these questions of who am I, what's my purpose,
what's wrong with the world, how can it be fixed, will be
answered. Would you turn with me first
to Hebrews chapter one. This is the only book in the
Bible that begins with this word, and I love this beginning, God.
What a way to start this book, God. No explanation for God. You know, everybody knows God
is. Nobody begins an atheist. He might end up there through
whatever false reasoning he uses to convince himself of that,
but everybody's born knowing God. I love the way this book
begins, don't you? In the beginning, God. God, who at sundry times and
in different manners spake in times past unto the fathers by
the prophets. Aren't you thankful God speaks?
He spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Verse two, hath in these last days. We're in the last days right
now. You know, the Lord might not
come back for another 10,000 years, I don't know. But the last days
are all the days between the resurrection of Christ and his
second advent. Those are the last days. We are
in the last days. I hope we're in the last of the
last days. You know, wouldn't you be thrilled if the Lord came
back today? Well, he says, in these last
days, he hath spoken to us by his Son. And I like the way His is in
italics to let us know it's not in the original. Here's what
God has to say. My son. My son. This is God's message. This is my beloved son. Hear ye him. Now he describes his son, the one whom Isaac typified,
remember he was the heir of all things. Abraham gave everything
to his son, everything. Whom he hath appointed heir of
all things. By whom also he made the worlds.
Jesus Christ is the heir of all things, all things. Jesus of
Nazareth is the creator of the universe. He spake the world into existence. That's who he is. Verse three. who being the brightness
of His glory and the express image of His person. Jesus Christ is the very brightness
of the glory of God. Now, I wish I could give an explanation
as to what that means, but you know, with something like that, All you're ever gonna see of
the invisible God is Jesus Christ the Lord. And notice what it says in verse
three next. Upholding all things by the word
of his power. You know the last breath you
took? That was his air. And the only reason you took
it is because he willed it to happen. And the last breath you'll
take will be when he wills it to take place. You're in his
world. You're in his world. My world? No, it's not your world. It's
his world. for His glory. And everything that happens,
happens because He wills it to happen. He upholds all things. That covers everything. He upholds
all things by the word of His power. Now, this is talking about
creation. He created all things. It's talking
about providence, everything that happens in time. He upholds
all things by the word of his power. Somebody once said simply
by nod, simply by nod. Now he talks about salvation
when he had by himself purged our sins. What's that mean? Well, if your sins are purged,
you know what that means? They are no more. It means they've
been washed away and they are no more. Isn't that what salvation
is? Salvation from sin. And the only
way you can be saved from your sin is if he purges them away. There's not one thing you can
do about your sin. You can't make it go away. You can't make
it not to be. He did. And he did this By himself,
with no cooperation from you or me, no help from us, he did
this by himself. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down. Why? The work was finished. The
work was finished. The sins have been purged. They've
been put away. Now that's salvation. When he,
he is salvation. And he did it by himself. It
was not a joint effort. It was not a cooperative effort
between you and God. He did it by himself. And he
sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high being made
so much better than the angels, those mighty creatures. They're
his creatures. And they're greater in might
and power than we are. The scripture says, I don't know much about
angels. But you know one of the things I love to think about
is those seraphims or cherubims or whatever they are, they're
called both. I don't know if they're the same creatures. They have
six wings. And with two, they cover their
face. They can't behold God. And with two, they cover their
feet. They don't want to really be seen. They're ashamed of their
walk. They're the elect angels. The
only reason they've been preserved is because he willed it. But
they cover their feet and with two they fly. And these mighty
creatures that are given such close access even to the throne,
Christ is infinitely better than them. They're his creatures. For unto which of the angels
said he at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee. He's the only begotten and well
beloved son of God. Now I realize Colts take this,
see there was a time he was born. He's the eternal begotten son
of God. This begetting is not an event
that took place in time. He's the eternal only begotten
son of God. And again, I will be to him a
father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth
in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all
the angels of God worship him. Once again, God's blatant favoritism
toward his son. And of the angels he saith, who
maketh his angels and his ministers, who maketh his angels spirits,
and his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith,
this is what God says to his own Son, thy throne, O God, is
for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows,
blatant favoritism. And thou, Lord, in the beginning
has laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
work of thine hand. This is the Father speaking to
the Son. They shall perish, but thou remainest. They shall all
wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold
them up. And they shall be changed, but thou art the same. And thy years shall not fail,
you are eternal, immutable. But to which of the angels said
he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of
salvation? Turn to Colossians chapter one.
Here's the second passage that identifies the excellency and
the glory and the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ and the
Father's favoritism toward him. Now in this passage, I'm going
to read, we read the phrase, all things eight times, eight times, all things. Now let's begin reading in verse
13, who has delivered us from the
power of darkness and has translated us under the kingdom of his dear
son in whom we have redemption. Says we got it. The Lord did not make redemption
possible. He redeemed. And we have as our
possession through his glorious work, redemption. I'm redeemed. I've been redeemed. Redeemed
how I love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb, in whom we have, present tense, right now. In whom? Don't miss that, in whom? That's
the point, in whom? We have redemption through His
blood, And here's what that means. The forgiveness of sins. My sins, which are most real
are forgiven sins. All of them. are forgiven sins. And God's forgiveness is so unlike
my forgiveness and your forgiveness. Now I want to truly forgive anyone
that's sinned against me. And I want to do so from my heart.
And I want to do so without holding a grudge because of what has
taken place. I wanna totally and completely
forgive. Notice I said, I want to. I want
to. He does. And here's how. When he forgives sins, what he
does is those sins aren't still there for him to remember. They've
been put away. That's why he remembers them
no more. Listen, when I'm brought into
heaven, the Lord's not gonna look at me and say, I remember
what he did. No, he's going to remember nothing
but perfection. Because that is. Verse 15, who is? The image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. And here's
what all that means, for by him were all things created. that
are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible.
Now, when he says that, he's saying not only is he the creator
of the material universe, not only is he the creator of this
moon and the stars and the galaxies and the vastness of the universe
and the minutia of the atom, not only is he the creator of
the physical universe, He's also the creator of thrones, dominions,
origins, powers, principalities. All things were created by him.
You know what that means? Everything that's happened is
his creation. All thrones. King's heart is
in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whither so ever he will. All dominions, authorities, all
principalities, he's the origin of everything. He's the cause
of everything. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible.
Things you see, things you can't see. Whether they be thrones
or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created
by him and for him. For his glory. What blatant favoritism. God has toward his son. Everything
was created for him, for his glory. Verse 17. And He is before all
things. Whatever there is, He's before
that. He's before. Whatever it is,
He's before. He's ultimately the cause of
all things. He's before it. He's before all
things and by Him. All things consist. That's saying the same thing
as Hebrews 1. Everything's held together by
Him. What's going on in every corner of this world is according
to His will. What's going on in your personal
life right now is according to His will. By Him, all things
consist. And he's the head of the body,
the church. Now, what is a body without a
head? Dead, dead. He is the head of the body, the
church. Here's the great mystery of the
church being the body of Christ. If you're in the church, you're
a member of his body. who is the beginning. He's the origin. He himself is
the beginning. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. The firstborn from the dead, You know, I love thinking about
his resurrection. And you know what else I love
thinking about with regard to his resurrection? Just as he
was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, he was the lamb
raised from the foundation of the world. And God's people have
always been viewed in him. He's the firstborn from the dead. That in all things He might have
the preeminence. There's the father's blatant
favoritism toward his son. In all things, he's to have the
preeminence, for it pleased the father that in him should all
fullness dwell. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. That pleases the father. That's
his will. That's his purpose. That's what
he loves. That's what gives him pleasure.
That all fullness dwells in his son. Verse 20 and having this
one we've been describing, here's what he did. and having made
peace through the blood of his cross. This is the same thing as saying
when he by himself purged our sins. Same thing. Having made
peace through the blood of his cross. Oh, the power of his blood.
I said this a couple of weeks ago, and let me say it again.
Somebody says, I've made my peace with God. You're in real trouble
then. It ain't gonna be good for you. If you made your peace
with God, you're gonna find out you were wrong. But here he made
peace. Having made peace through the
blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself,
by him I say, whether they be things on earth or things in
heaven, and you, Remember that question, who am I? Remember
that question, who am I? Here you are. And you that were
before time alienated and enemies in your mind. Enemies of God. Now here's what an enemy of God
will do. An enemy of God, if it were in
his power, would make God not to be. And I'd put myself in
his place. That's an enemy of God. I don't
like the way God is. I don't like his attributes.
It doesn't do me any good. And I would rather him be non-existent. That's an enemy of God. When
they hear the gospel, how many times, my God's not, I've heard
this, my God's not like that. Well, I know he's not. I know
he's not. But this is who God is. AND YOU
THAT WERE SOMETIMES ALIENATED AND ENEMIES IN YOUR MIND BY WICKED
WORKS, YET NOW HATH HE RECONCILED IN THE BODY OF HIS FLESH THROUGH
DEATH? AND HERE'S HOW POWERFUL THAT
RECONCILIATION IS TO PRESENT YOU HOLY AND UNBLAMABLE AND UNREPROVABLE
IN HIS SIGHT. NOW, EVERYBODY THAT JESUS CHRIST
DIED FOR, I gotta say this, well, didn't
he die for everybody? No, but everybody he did die
for, here they are. They're holy and unblameable
and unapprovable in his sight because he put away their sins. Let's revisit those questions.
If we begin with Jesus Christ, all of these questions are answered
Who is Jesus Christ? Well, He's the heir of all things. Oh, the blatant favoritism that
God exercises toward His Son. He's the creator. God's agenda
is for the glory of His Son that in all things He might have the
preeminence. Amen? Who am I? His creature. And either his child or his enemy. Either his child or his enemy. What's wrong with this world?
Me. I am the problem. Not bad luck, not circumstances.
I am the problem. I am what's wrong with this world. And the reason there's so many
problems in this world is because there's so many eyes. There's
so many people just like me. I mean, you've got, you've got
seven or 8 billion sinners. Huh? Yeah. They're going to be
have problems in the world. What can fix the problem? Who
can fix the problem? Jesus Christ, having made peace
through the blood of his cross. And my dear friend, this excludes
all other ways. The only way is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, I am the way. He's the
way that excludes all other ways. I am the truth. Everything else
is a lie. I am the life. My life is the
only life God will accept. No man comes to the Father but
by me. And that excludes all other ways. Now, here's my closing thought. God shows blatant favoritism
toward his son. Yeah. And you know what? The same favoritism
he shows toward his son, he shows to you if you're in him. Now
let me show you that from the scripture. Turn with me to John
chapter 17. John chapter 17, verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone,
just these disciples, but for them also which shall believe
on me through their word. That's me and you right now,
every believer. Don't you want to have the Lord
praying for you? You know if the Lord prays for you, what else is needed? 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 has sent me and the
glory which thou gave us me, I have given them. that they may be one, even as
we are one. I in them and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that
thou has sent me. And look at this next line. You've
loved them as thou has loved me. The favor, the blatant favoritism
that God has toward his son, he has toward every believer
without exception. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, truly, we stand amazed
at the favor we have in thy son. And Lord, all we can say is all
thanks and praise to him. To you for giving him. For him. Making it so. for your spirit,
giving us a heart to believe it's true. Lord, we see your
glory in all the persons of your Godhead. Glory to our father,
glory to thy son, the Lord Jesus, glory to thy spirit. Lord, we
ask in his name that you would take these words and bless them
to our heart for your glory. In the high and holy name of
thy son, we pray.