time. We did all kinds of fun
stuff, the typical things, shopping, hiking, lots of relaxing. Like I was saying to you guys,
I'm really good at sitting around. But as we were doing it, we do
a lot of hiking, we do a lot of outdoor stuff when we were
out there, and we enjoy that as a family. And as we were hiking,
I can't help but start thinking of things. about, like, as we're hiking
through the forest of the Black Hills, and I come across a little
area, and there's a rock covered in moss, some bugs flying around,
and a deer over there. You just start to think about
all these things, all these moments, all these places in the world,
100% under the control of God. And it kind of helps you, makes
you start to contemplate things a little bit. I mean, the intricacies
of the world. The minute details that we don't
even see, let alone understand, that are all under the absolute
power and control and authority of God. The animals, the plants,
the moss, the rock that you see over here that was obviously
up there at one point. And all these things aren't happening
by chance. All of these details are under
the authority of God. And it gets me thinking about
all the parts of the world that we don't see. We don't even, as
far as what we could experience, we don't even know they exist.
All of them filled with the same amount of intricacies and details
all over the planet. Each one of those places filled
with the same details that we see here and over there and other
side of the world. All of these things that we don't
even know are happening, so minute, that are all under the absolute
authority and control and direction of God. Even inside these living
things. Inside. And this is where my
mind goes as I'm thinking about these things. But I start to
just really think about the intricacies of the world that God has created.
Inside each cell, or strand of DNA, there are literally thousands
of chemical reactions happening at every second. Down to that
minute detail, God is orchestrating every aspect of everything. and how he makes it all work
perfectly together for this world to even exist. It's mind-blowing
when you think about it. I read the other day when I was
looking into this stuff that if gravity was even a tiny fraction
stronger than it is, the entire world would collapse. The entire
universe would collapse. If gravity was even a tiny smidge
less powerful than it is, everything would fly apart. That's just
gravity working perfectly. Think about all the thousands
of aspects and intricacies of life that have to work perfectly
for it all to work. All of that is orchestrated by
the fingers of God. It's pretty amazing. All these
things completely under the direction of God. Not a bug crawls, not
a wing flaps, not a breeze blows, not a cell divides without the
authority and direction of God. If you can turn to Psalm 8, verse
3 and 4. It says, when I consider your
heavens the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which
have been set in place, what is man that you are mindful of
him, the son of man that you care for him? It says when you
consider the heavens, the moon and the stars, it's the work
of your fingers. To give you an example or just
an idea of how that works, this entire universe down to the minute
DNA strand, to the billions of light years that expand into
the universe, they're all the work of God's fingers. That's an example to show you,
it's not even arms, he's not putting his back into it. This
is easy for him. Size is not, does not affect. Gigantic universe, tiny DNA strand,
there's nothing too small or too large, it's all just his
finger work. The scriptures call it his finger
work, the minute chemical reactions of the living cell to the expanse
of the universe, so large beyond our human comprehension. All
of it, no muscle required. It's his finger work. Inside
a living cell, like I said, billions of light years, it's all the
same to him. Nothing is too big, nothing is too small. So this
got me thinking. Out of all these moments, that
happen all the time in all these different parts of the world.
From the creek bed in the Black Hills where there's so much happening
in that little area, to all the other areas all the way across
the world, to the other side of the universe. All of these
things are the finger work of God. All of these moments are
happening all the time. And it started me thinking about
moments. and how all of these moments,
as much as you can be amazed by them, point to one moment. There was one moment that changed
everything. What moment matters? With all
this going on all the time, it's fine, like I said, to be astounded
by God's creation, but it all points to one event. It says in 1 Corinthians 2, Paul
writes, I resolve to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. That's the moment that matters.
What Jesus has done is the moment that matters to everyone, especially
His people. Without that moment, nothing
matters. of all creation from the beginning
of time until now at all points to Christ and Him crucified. That moment, that event, the
single event that changed everything. If you turn back to Ephesians
that I read earlier, Ephesians 1, 3 through 5, Praise be to God and the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly
realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ, for he chose us in
him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless
in his sight. So God chose a people before
the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his
sight. But at the same time, those people, because of Adam,
are absolutely sinful. And he also says that he will
not leave the guilty unpunished in Exodus. So he has a people
before the beginning of time that he will save. He will give
every heavenly blessing, but yet those people are fully sinful
and he will not let sin go unpunished. Every spiritual blessing promised
to his people, but they are immeasurably sinful at the same time, and
the guilty do not go unpunished. How can God be both merciful
in his promise from the beginning of time, before the world was
created, his promise, and just in his judgment of all sin. If
you look at the exact same Ephesians, praise be to God the Father,
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in heavenly realms with every
spiritual blessing in Christ. He didn't just bless us with
every spiritual blessing. There was a way that this happened. And there was only one way. that
this problem could be fixed. The guarantee of every spiritual
blessing to his people and also the guarantee that every sin
would be punished. In Christ. Powerful words. If you keep reading it says,
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to
be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined
us for adoption to sonship Through Jesus Christ. Adoption to sonship
is an incredible phrase for God's people. What that truly means
is amazing. But it pales in comparison to
the next three words. Through Jesus Christ. That's where the power comes
from. That's what makes it effective. Before the creation of the world,
the salvation of his predestined people already hinged on Christ. Before the world was created,
The fate of our souls, of God's people's souls, completely dependent
on this one moment, on this one event, Christ and Him crucified. If you look at this moment closely,
throughout the event of Him being crucified, there are multiple
aspects of that event that show us exactly what it means. There's
symbols throughout the crucifixion that show exactly what the crucifixion
means for his people. If you'll turn to Luke, chapter
23, and we'll start in verse 13 and read
through 23. Pilate called together the chief
of priests and rulers of the people and said to them, you
brought me this man as one of who is inciting the people to
rebellion. I have examined him in your presence
and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither
has Herod, for he sent him back to us. As you can see, he has
done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him
and then release him. With one voice, they cried out,
away with this man. Release Barabbas to us. Barabbas
had been thrown into the prison for an insurrection in the city
and for murder. Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate
appealed to them again, but they just kept shouting, "'Crucify
him! Crucify him!' For the third time he spoke to them, "'Why? What crime has this man committed?
I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore,
I will have him punished and then release him.' But the loud
shouts With loud shouts, they insistently demanded that he'd
be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided
to grant their demand. He released the man who had been
thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, and the one that
they had asked for, and they surrendered Jesus to their will.
Barabbas. Barabbas is a perfect picture
already, before Christ has even been crucified. He's on his way. This is like the first step there,
already showing us what this is going to mean for God's people.
Joe mentioned what Barabbas means not that long ago. It means son
of the father. Barabbas, son of the father. So Barabbas is sitting in a prison
cell waiting to die, locked up probably in the dark. Absolutely
zero hope, doesn't even know what's going on outside. He's
just sitting there waiting to die. That's us. That's humanity. Because of Adam
and the sin and our own on top of that. We are literally sitting
in a cell waiting to die in the dark with no hope whatsoever.
Dead in our transgressions and sins. We're actually, even worse
off, we're basically dead in a prison cell. We got nothing.
We got no chance. We got no hope on our own. Zero.
But Christ is working for us. Just like he was working for
Barabbas. He took his place. perfect example of what Christ
is about to do. So not only was all of a sudden
Barabbas dead, sitting in his cell waiting to die, moments
probably from the death penalty, all of a sudden the door swings
open and he's free. 100% free. Absolutely no limitations
to his freedom. Matter of fact, not just free. When we are set free from our
sins, we aren't just set free from our sins. It says in Ephesians
that we are predestined us for adoption to sonship. We become
the son of the father. That's amazing. to go from moments
from death penalty, moments from the condemnation of God for eternity,
to not only being set free from our sins, but to be welcomed
with love as a son and a daughter. We don't see God in the wrath
that we deserve, we see Him as a Father who loves us. And that
is only because of what Christ has done. Because He spilled
His blood and paid for all our sins. This picture of Barabbas is a
perfect example and a perfect picture of what Christ was about
to do. We weren't even there to plead
our case. Which is a good thing, because we wouldn't have done
a very good job. Now turn to Luke 23, 35. We'll read through 43. The people
stood watching and the rulers even sneered at him. They said,
The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him
wine vinegar and said, There was a written notice above
him which read, This is the King of the Jews. One of the criminals
who hung there hurled insults at him. Aren't you Christ? Save
yourself and save us. But the other criminal rebuked
him. Don't you fear God, he said? Since you are under the same
sentence, we are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds
deserve. But this man has done nothing
wrong. When he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,
Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be
with me in paradise. It says actually in Matthew that
at one point both of these thieves on the cross were hurling
insults and rebuking Christ before the one changed. Another perfect
example of what Christ does for his people as he's about to be
crucified. There are pictures throughout
this of what the crucifixion means. This guy was literally
hanging from a cross and dying, and using his very last breaths
to curse and hurl insults at Christ. Last breaths. Think about that. He was dying,
and instead of conserving energy, he's hurling insults at Christ.
That is us. That's man. We're not above that. None of us. We would have done
the same thing. But it's only by what Christ
was about to do, by the Spirit of God, His eyes were opened. He, it's quite an amazing situation
when you think about this. He was saved by Christ, predestined
to be with Him in paradise that day before the beginning of the
world. He happened to just be there at the moment that it was
happening. He got to see it happen. I don't know if he realized that,
but it's pretty amazing. It's not like His eyes were open
that day, yes, but he was predestined to be with Christ in heaven,
in paradise, before the beginning of the world. And moments before
that, he's hurling insults at our God. And only because of
the Spirit of God, only because of what Christ was about to do,
were his eyes opened. And he'd be able to see that
this is not a man about to die on the cross, weak and suffering,
yes, suffering, but not weak. Because of what Christ was about
to do, the death he was about to perform and finish and accomplish,
hadn't even been done yet, he could see that that was the king
of the world, the lamb slain for his sins. I tell you, today you will be
with me in paradise." What wonderful words. And that's the truth for
all of us. For God's people. We are no better than this man.
We are no better than Barabbas. We deserve nothing, and we can
earn nothing. What can this man do? He's hanging
from a cross. What can he do to help his situation?
Nothing. Matter of fact, what does he
choose to do? Make it worse. Hurl insults. That's us. But Christ does the work necessary
to take us from that cursing, dying thief, to have the eyes and the heart
to be able to see that Christ is his only hope. Jesus, please remember me when
you come into your kingdom. That's a question we should all
ask. All the time. And the beautiful part is, if
you ask that question, you will not get a maybe. You will not
get a, let me think about it. You will not get a, well, get
yourself off that cross and try to live a better life. You will
get, truly I tell you, truly, truth, right now, you will be
with me today in paradise. Oh, what a great answer. So there's your second symbol
of what Christ is about to do on the cross, right there. Instead of death in hell, later
that day that man was in heaven with Christ, where he was always
going to be. Before the beginning of the world,
he was predestined to be there. He had no idea until about five
minutes before. More proof that the mercy and
grace of God is absolutely free. It can't be anything but free. How could that man on the cross
pay for anything? How could he earn anything? He could barely
breathe. He was nailed to wood. What could
he do to earn the grace of Christ, to earn the mercy from God? Nothing. It was decided before the beginning
of the world. He was just led in on it. His eyes were opened. And once
they're opened, the first thing he did is say, Christ, think
of me today. Because he knew that's all it
took. All it takes is for Christ to
think of you. And truly, I tell you, you will
be with me in paradise today. And all of this is just according
to the pleasure and will of God. It says that if you can continue
reading Ephesians 1, 5 that I was reading earlier, in love, predestined
us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ in accordance with
his pleasure and will. Thank the Lord. His pleasure
and will is to save his people. We don't deserve it. Now if you'll read, still in
Luke, go to 44. And we'll read through 46. Another picture of what the crucifixion,
that one moment that really matters, means to God's people. It was
now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole
land until the ninth hour. For the sun stopped shining,
and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called
out with a loud voice, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.
When he said this, he breathed his last. I love the torn curtain. Separation from God before this
moment was absolutely necessary. Man was in no state to be in
God's presence. We would've been killed. We would've
been destroyed. Because sin cannot be in God's
presence. Sinful man would be destroyed
in the presence of God. That's why the curtain was in
the temple. It separated the people from
the most holy place, which is where God was. The only person
that could go on there was the high priest. And he was about
to. Matter of fact, he just did. Our high priest, entered where
God was, for us. That's why the curtain was in
the temple, though, before that, was to separate the people from
the most holy place, to separate us from God, because our sin,
our sinful nature, could not survive in the presence of God.
But when Christ died, he faced the ultimate wrath. He took away all of the punishment,
All of the reasons why we can't be in the presence of God without
being destroyed. He who is, think about this,
was once perfectly in the presence of God in absolute love, went
back to the presence of God with every sin from every believer
of all time on him. I'm not gonna pretend that I
understand all of the things of God, because I'm human, I
can't. But to think that he was there before he became a man,
in perfect harmony with his father, to go back with the sins of his
people on him, and instead of being there in perfect love and
harmony, to be there in utter wrath, condemnation, and to be
completely forsaken by his father. He was treated the way we all
deserve to be treated, combined. He faced the full extent of the
wrath of God and was forsaken by his own father. My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? and to do that for us, for the lowly sinner. And when he died, all of the
sins of his people existed no more. They'd been paid for by
the blood of the lamb. Turn to Revelations 5. I love this scripture. Revelations 5 verse 5, I'll read
verse 5 and 6. Then one of the elders said to
me, Do not weep. See, the lion of the tribe of
Judah, the root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open
the scroll and its seven seals. Then I saw a lamb, looking as
if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne. Our lion of the tribe of Judah,
a fitting name, filled with power and majesty, saved his people
by being slain. I love how it said, see the lion
of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has triumphed. And when
he looked over, he saw a slain lamb. That is the lion of the
tribe of Judah. But he's a slain lamb in order
to save his people. And he's on the middle of the
throne. The slain lamb on the throne
saved his people by being slain. And that curtain, torn in two.
For God's people, there was no longer a need for separation.
We no longer needed to hide. Nothing left to be ashamed of. Nothing left to hide. Nothing
left to be punished for. It says we can go confidently
to the throne, which feels so unnatural for humans, because
we understand how sinful we truly are, but God sees us as perfect. He has to. If He doesn't, He's
taking away the power of the blood of His own Son. That power of the Son of God,
Jesus Christ, has removed the sins from His people. We can
walk boldly and confidently to our Father because of what Christ
has done. Our sins have been paid for in
full by our Lion, by our Lamb, by our Lord Jesus Christ. And
the blood of the Lamb needs no help. These debts have been paid,
and God would never ask for more. If he would, that would diminish
the value of the blood of Jesus Christ. And that cannot be diminished. Not the blood of the Son of God. So if you look at all these symbols
that are throughout the crucifixion, you've got Barabbas, you've got
the thief, you've got the torn curtain, what did we have to
do with any of them? We were Barabbas in a jail cell
in the dark, waiting to die. We were a thief on the cross
with absolutely no shot, waiting to die. We were separated from
God, and necessarily, because of the sin that we carried, that
torn curtain shows us that that sin is gone. We did nothing to
earn any of this. Christ released Barabbas. Christ told the thief that he
would be in paradise today. And Christ's death tore that
curtain. Christ is everything. And he's
perfectly powerful and capable of saving every one of his people. Where sin Where sin is, I can't remember
the scripture now, but grace, you know it. Come on, help me. Where sin abounds, grace abounds
more. You know what I mean. You can't
sin more than what His grace can afford. The curtain is torn. The separation
is no longer needed. We are Barabbas, adopted to sons
and daughters of the Father. Someday we will also be with
Him in Paradise, just like the thief. And the Lamb, the slain
Lamb, is on the throne. Heavenly Father, we thank You
for our time this morning. We thank You for what You've
done for us. We thank You for saving us from our prison cell,
from saving us from our own cross, for tearing the curtain that
we can approach you, Father, with love and assurance and confidence
that we know you love us because of what Christ has done. What he has done is perfect in
your eyes, which is all that's needed. We thank you, Christ. We thank
you for everything you are, everything you've done for us. We pray this
in your name. Amen.