on kind of what Christ and the
gospel means to the world as opposed to his people. And it
started in an interesting place. I don't know if you guys follow
the news, and I'm certainly not going to be preaching on political
stuff or even topical stuff, but that's where this began,
so I'm just going to start there. In the news this week, there's
a guy named Harrison Butker. He's a kicker for the Kansas
City Chiefs. Difficult for me to even talk
about the guy, because I'm a Raiders fan, and I have been for like
35 years. But he came out this past week,
he was brought in to give a speech, a commencement speech at a Catholic
college in Kansas. And he came out and he said some,
well, certainly not Controversial to us, but apparently to the
world some controversial things. Basically promoting Christian
values, promoting family values. Talked a lot about family, the
importance of family, the importance of mothers and fathers. Importance of, he rebuked feminism,
he rebuked LGBT, all that. And of course, that didn't go
over very well in the world. Again, as you can imagine, the
world responded as expected, calling him every popular word
they can muster, even though none of it actually fits. But
again, I'm not here to preach about family values. I'm not
here to preach about political ideologies. Nothing like that. But, where this all began, I
was scrolling, reading about this on Twitter, or X, which
I don't suggest, by the way. It's an awful place. You want
to see what humanity can be? When face-to-face is taken away,
go on X or Twitter, and it's pretty awful. It's the cesspool
of humanity, and it's actually kind of funny. It actually shows
what humanity is like. I mean, you remove any layer
of accountability, what we turn into, You take away that face-to-face
consequence and people will say the most awful things to each
other. I mean, it just shows how wicked we really are. And
that's just a sliver of it. We're just looking for opportunities
to be more wicked. And that's everyone. Anyway,
I was scrolling about this Harrison Butker, and of course I had to
check the comments. And I was pleased to see that
there was, it's like 50-50 people supporting it, and 50% obviously
not. But the first one I saw, he said
something along the lines of, it feels strange to support Harrison
Butker because I'm a Broncos fan, but then it also ended with,
but I'm also a Jesus fan. Which, you know, it just shows
that the Christian values he was putting out there are associated
with Christianity, even though he necessarily didn't say that. And the following comment is
what spurred this entire idea, or this entire message today.
There's always a follow-up comment, and this one it said, Jesus is
the problem for the world, is what a guy wrote. And I stared
at that for a while, and at first I was, you know, normal initial
gut reaction was, you know, this guy has no idea what he's talking
about. But then I looked at that sentence. Jesus is the problem
for the world. And I'm like, wait a minute.
He's right. He's speaking the absolute truth
and has no idea that he's speaking the truth. He meant, of course,
he didn't mean In the way that I'm about to explain, he meant
it that Christianity is a problem for those people that don't agree
with those types of thoughts and those types of ways of living.
But the way that he worded it is perfectly accurate. Jesus
is the problem for the world. The world, as we can see in the
Bible, actually turned to John 7, 6. I've got a lot of marked spots,
so it's gonna take me a second. John 7, 6. "'Therefore,' Jesus
told them, "'the right time for me has not yet come. "'For you,
any time is right. "'The world cannot hate you,
but it hates me "'because I testify that what it does is evil.'"
The world hates God. That is, an absolute truth came
directly from the mouth of Christ. The world hates Christ. Why? Jesus actually says it right
here as well, in the very last sentence of what I just read.
Because I testify that what it does is evil. Christ is the light
that shines on the world's darkness. Actually, if you'll turn back
to John 3, 19, It says exactly that. If I can find it. There it is. This is the verdict. Light has come into the world,
but men love darkness instead of light because their deeds
were evil. Everyone who does evil hates
the light and will not come into the light for the fear that his
deeds will be exposed. So the world loves darkness. The world loves the way it is
right now, sin and wretchedness. I mean, they embrace it. And they know internally, they
know it's not right. And the only way that's exposed
is by Christ, the light of the truth, the light of the gospel.
So they hate that. And it says it right here. They
will not come into the light for the fear that his deeds will
be exposed. So the world loves its darkness.
The darkness isn't just the condition of how they're living, it's the
condition of their souls. And darkness, in being able to
keep hidden, what they know is wretched. Christ exposes all
of this, so they truly hate him, they despise him. So it makes
sense to me why they hate him. But this guy's statement had
a much deeper level of the truth than just the world is against
God. He didn't just state his disdain
for Christ. He said that Christ is the problem
for the world. He's absolutely right. But how
is Christ the problem for the world? Well, first of all, what's
the world? The world throughout Scripture
and throughout Well, many years, the word has been a word symbolizing
everything outside of God's people. This entire world, and everyone
in it, that aren't the Church of Christ. So, if that's the
world, why is Christ the problem for them? First of all, how is He the problem for them? If John 3, 18, that's a verse
before I was just at, if you're still there on John, If you go
back up to 18 instead of 19, it says, whoever believes in
him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned
already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and
only Son. Condemned. That's how he is the problem
for the world. When the guy wrote, Jesus is
the problem for the world, he had no idea how right he was
and no idea how awful that is for him. He thought he was making
a cute little comment. He has no idea the weight of
what that means. They don't fear him. So they don't understand the
weight of when Christ is a problem for you, when God's wrath is
a problem for you, without understanding the reasons to fear Him, they
don't get it. And they can't. You can't see
that unless you've been shown. They have this picture, even
a lot of Christianity nowadays has this picture of Christ as
this good-looking guy in a white robe knocking on the door, just
hoping so bad someone will open it and let him in. That is not Christ. What I read
at the beginning of this, of him in Revelation returning on
the white horse with a sword coming out of his mouth and legions
of angels behind him and king of kings, that is not a guy knocking
on the door. just hoping someone will open
the door for him. But that's the way the world
sees Christ. There's no fear. There should be. Especially if
you're not one of his people. That's why he can say in a cute
little comment, Jesus is the problem for the world. Yes, he
is. And you don't want that. Christ was sent to do his Father's
will. to die and suffer the full wrath
of God, his Father, in order to save his people. And he finished
it perfectly. That is not a knock on a door. He did it fully. He did it completely. He did it perfectly. There is no wanting. from God. There's no hoping from God. There's no wanting or hoping
from Christ. There is only pure accomplishment. Finished. That's why he uses
that word. Pure victory. That is Jesus. That victory is the greatest
To his people, that victory is the greatest news imaginable. But to everyone else, it's the
opposite. So when he says, Jesus is the
problem for the world, it's not what he meant. But man, did he
nail it. Go back to Revelation, I read
at the beginning, if you want. Revelation 19. I'm gonna talk
about what he means to the world Of course, I pulled out my marker. Does this sound like someone
that's just hoping? Someone that's I don't know, I lost it again.
Here we go. Someone that's knocking on the
door said, I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was
a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True. With
justice, he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing
fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written
on him that no one knows but himself. He is dressed in a robe
dipped in blood. and his name is the word of God.
That's Jesus. That's Christ. Continue. Do you When you see this happen, the
day he comes back, you're gonna see it one of two ways. You're gonna see it as something
that is absolutely terrifying, or you're gonna see it as something
that is absolutely glorious. And you will not make a joke
about it at that point, neither will that guy on the internet. He is avenging those that He
loves and utterly striking down those in His way. He is the Savior
of His people. We throw that word around, but
He's a Savior. They have no shot without Him. We have no shot without Him.
We have no life. We are dead in our trespasses
and sins. What can a dead man do besides
continue being dead? But then Christ comes as a savior,
avenging his people, saving them. The rest will get what we all
actually deserve. Eternity in hell. And that's
harsh, but that's the truth. How do you wanna view that day? This is why Jesus is the problem
for the world. But then go to 2 Thessalonians. Chapter one, verse five. This
is gonna sound very familiar to what we read in Revelation. We'll read through verse 10.
All this is evidence that God's judgment is right. And as a result,
you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which
you are suffering. God is just. He will pay back
trouble to those who were trouble to you, or trouble you, and give
relief to those who are troubled, and to us as well. This will
happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing
fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not
know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what it means to the world. To be punished everlasting. To
be shut out forever. And it's actually, you know, I said earlier,
I don't want to sound like I'm judging the world, because I
can't. I am just as much deserving of
that as everybody. The only difference is the blood
of Christ. That's it. It has nothing to do with any
of us, because we all deserve what 2 Thessalonians just said.
Every one of us. The only difference is what Christ
has done. His blood shed for His people. He was counted guilty. so that
his people wouldn't have to deal with this, that they would be
seen as innocent. Utterly terrifying to think about
this, like to see this happen as someone outside of Christ.
The most terrifying experience I can imagine, to see that sight
and to know that that sword and damnation and judgment is meant
for you. to see Him, King of Kings, Lord
of Lords, Creator of everything, coming out and looking at you
with hatred and wrath. That's how Christ is the problem
for the world. But look at the last line in
2 Thessalonians of verse 10. So it just gets done saying,
they will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from
the perseverance of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.
But on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people
and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. What
a difference. The experience I was just talking
about for those people outside of Christ, that utterly terrifying
sight, for God's people, marvelous. Says that it will be marveled
at. The exact same thing that they're looking at. Him coming
out, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Looking at those outside with
wrath, but every time he looks at his people, it is nothing
but love and acceptance. It's amazing. We won't see a creator and ruler
of all things that's back to pass judgment. no longer willing to hold back
the judgment this world deserves. He's here to fully execute the
judgment that the world has deserved from the beginning, since Adam
sinned. But we, God's people, when we
see that sight, we will see our Lord and Savior on His way to
fully execute the salvation of every one of His people. to finally rescue them all, fully
implement the salvation that He finished on the cross, we will see not the face of anger
and judgment. We will see the loving face of
our Redeemer who sees nothing but a faultless bride in all
of us. He is our hope. He is our answer. He might be a problem for the
world. He is the answer to the problem
for His people. God, when sin was introduced
through Adam, became the problem. There was judgment there from
Him. He introduced the answer. A perfect answer. The only answer
that was pure and perfect enough to quell the judgment and wrath
that we all deserved. And that's Christ. But outside
of that, it's the opposite. So when this guy makes this comment,
he has no idea what he's saying, but he's hitting the nail on
the head for the world. That day in Revelation will be
so terrifying, but for God's people, it will be marvelous.
We will marvel at it. John 11, 25. He is our hope. He is our answer to the problem.
He is our Savior riding in on his white horse. In 1125, it says, That's the
answer. There is no problem any longer for God's people. So while
Jesus is the problem for the world, for those that believe
in Him, For those of His people, there
is no problem. Christ solved that problem. It's amazing when you think about
how we had really zero to do with it from the beginning to
the end. The curse happened long before
us. The implementation of the answer to that curse happened
long before us. The finalization of The salvation
of his people happened long before us. The problem that the world sees
in God doesn't exist for God's people. And it's all done by
the work of Christ. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for the gospel. We thank you for the truth. We thank you for what you've
done for us. We thank you that you've given us the opportunity
in this world to hear the truth and to believe it. That is simply
another act of yours. Because we in this world would
turn our backs immediately if you let us. But yet you give us a yearning. You open our eyes and our hearts
and give us a desire. to hear more about you and to
love you and to hear more about your love and what you've done. To hear more about how you gave
your life so that we could live. We thank you, Lord, for the truth.
We thank you, Lord, for loving your people and never, ever,
ever letting them go. We pray all of this in Jesus'
name. Amen.