Seeing my penchant to seeing
us. But I also noticed that Rupert
knew I was up today. No course book singing today.
Give me a few minutes. We're going to leave by 12, right?
Is that your hope? I just had to go across the park.
Yeah. So it doesn't matter if you go
after 12. If you're going to be up here, I'm going to put
you to doing the prayer. All right, if you would, let's
bow our heads, please. Dear Lord, once again, you've
been so gracious to us to bring us to this place of worship once
again. And for these brief few moments,
please, as I always pray, allow our attention to turn to your
book and to what your book about is all about, the Lord Jesus
Christ. For a few moments, take away
these earthly concerns So many of which Doug mentioned in his
prayer, we lift those folks up to you once again. But for this
brief time, turn our eyes and our attention to your holy scripture
and let us learn more and love more your dear son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Thank you, sir. Okay, if you would, begin turning
to 1 Peter. 1 Peter. And as you're turning,
I'm going to make one comment. I finally decided to go with
this passage Monday night. And we're going to be looking
mainly at 1 Peter 2. But for some reason in my mind,
I keep coming out with 2 Peter. So if I say 2 Peter today, I'm
not referring to that. It's 1 Peter. 1 Peter. And during this morning's service,
my subject will come from really just part of a single verse,
but I would like to do some reading for you this morning. And for
our reading, I want to actually start with the very first verse
of this epistle. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 1. And it's written here, Peter,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. Now, ideally, I would like to
just keep on reading here, but for me to make any headway this
morning, I've got to stop right here. But I urge you all, when
you can, take time and continue reading on through chapter one. Each verse is a precious jewel. Every one of them has so much
to teach us and we can learn so much from them. But now, most
people, when you're reading a book, you just skip over it or gloss
over it. But most of the time, near the front of a book, when
you start looking through those pages, there will be a section
titled About the Author. And if you're reading a fiction
book, that doesn't much matter. But if you're reading some kind
of an instructional book or a textbook, it makes a difference who writes
that book. You want someone that's qualified
in that subject matter. In the past, I've read a few
financial books. If you're going to read a financial
book, you want to read something that Warren Buffett, the billionaire,
wrote. Or do you want to read something
that MC Hammer wrote, some bankrupt pop star wrote? I urge you to
read Mr. Buffett, unless you want to learn
what not to do. This epistle starts with something
about the author. His qualifications are listed
right here. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Our author is an apostle. He
was specifically chosen by the Lord and Savior to be his disciple
and then in turn to go and to spread the gospel by preaching
and with also what we have before us today through his writing.
He was the penman by the Spirit's guidance of this very epistle.
He had the opportunity to talk and learn directly from God Himself. He didn't have to do it through
praying and through studying the Scripture, but he could speak
with God directly. If he wanted to know something
from God, and the four Gospels have numerous examples of this,
all he had to do was turn around and say, Jesus. And he oftentimes
did. So with that, you have to believe
that he gained some insight that would benefit us. But also looking
at this man, it can also bring comfort to those of us who have
heavy hearts. But what do I mean by this? Peter
is a picture of grace and mercy. He had experience with what he
wrote here in verse two. You go back and you read and
study some of the questions that he asked of Jesus. And most especially,
you look at some of the responses that he gave to Jesus when Jesus
would ask him a question. All you can do is shake your
head and say, how can a man, a supposed apostle, be so spiritually
blind? Well, don't get too puffed up
with yourself, because that is the condition of all man by nature. We are spiritually dead. Yet
God taught this man and God gave this man life. Think about some
of his deeds. Think of that fateful night in
the garden when Peter drew his sword out and he cut off the
ear of the high priest's servant. What happened after that? Jesus
picked it up, he put that ear back on, he healed it, and he
made that servant whole again. After this, it was almost as
if Peter had never removed his sword from his side. What a picture
that is of grace and mercy. Jesus covered the sin that Peter
did that night, swinging that sword in anger and fear. He covered
that sin that night with the touch of his hand. The next day
he died and he covered all of Peter's sin. And then there's Peter's three
times denial of the Lord and Savior. First time, I don't know
him. Second time, with an oath, I
swear I don't know him. And the third time, it was even
worse, expletive, expletive, I do not know that man. But even
with that, Jesus knew him and never forgot him, even to this
very day. So are you like Peter? Are you
a spiritual infant? Are you a sinner that acts out
irrationally and emotionally? Do you ever deny Christ? Peter
found comfort and peace. He had a great Savior. Maybe
you do also, just like Peter. There are some who do. There
are some who have this great Savior. And they're called here
in verse two of 1 Peter, elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, speaking of
being spiritually blind and denial of the truth, how many times
have we in the past read this in similar passages and been
completely oblivious to what they're saying? Everything you
ever need to know about how a sinner is saved, I just read to you.
And it didn't even take an entire verse of scripture to do it.
First, God's people are chosen of him. They are elect, elect
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. So the next
time that you have someone who wants to argue election with
you, don't, don't. Just turn here to this passage.
Let them read it or read it to them. and then pray that God
opens their understanding, just like He did yours, because you
never believed this. You never understood this until
He did open the eyes of your spiritually blind heart. God
wrote it. That's an end to it. Period. No argument. Also take note here in this verse,
salvation is the work of the triune God. These elect, first,
it's God's foreknowledge. Secondly, these elect, here it
said, are sanctified by the work of the Holy Spirit. They are
brought to God in Christ, they're given spiritual life, and they
have their souls purified, as it says in verse 22 of the same
chapter. And they are returned to the
state man was in before the fall of the father Adam. They are
made holy. This is the work of the Spirit.
Then there's the work of the Son. And seeing as He is our
subject this morning, I'll just let this passage stand here and
we'll return to something similar down the line. But one more comment
before we move on. Notice that in this verse, this
picture of salvation, like I said, everything you ever need to know,
nothing is said about what man must do for himself in salvation. That's because salvation is of
the Lord and not of man whatsoever. Salvation is a work done on man. It is not a work done by man. Huge difference. Huge difference. Now turn to chapter 2. I do want
to read a few verses for us this morning and make a few comments
on them. I'm going to begin with verse
1. Peter writes, Wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile
and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings, as newborn
babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow
thereby. The Apostle begins this chapter
in reference to what has come before, and that's the new birth
that he references in verse 23 of chapter 1. Peter is encouraging
his readers to put aside their previous manner of conducting
themselves, and verse 1 is a great description of what all men are
by nature, how they're born, how they act. He's telling them
to put it aside and to embrace the desire that comes with being
given a new heart. A new heart that wants to learn
and desire and to know more of God. Not just to increase your
knowledge, but to experience grace and mercy which comes along
with being taught by the Spirit. Verse three, if so be you have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. Once again, we have here a description
of the elect of God. There are those that have tasted
that the Lord is gracious. And the Lord mentioned here is
none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. And the elect are united
with Christ. Think about it. You can hear
and you can smell and you can see something from a distance.
But in order to taste something, There's got to be a coming together.
There's got to be a union. And what is there about something
that tastes so good? It leaves you wanting more, doesn't
it? Hence this desire that's spoken of in verse two. You want
to learn more about the truth about Christ as revealed in his
autobiography. His autobiography, the one that
you hold in your laps this morning, this Holy Bible. And it says
here in verse four, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed
indeed of man, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also, as
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to
offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Now, just a few words I want
to share with you here because I could easily spend the rest
of our time right here. But I do just want to say a couple
of things. I just can't skip over it. Verse
four describes the believer's permanent state. It says, to
whom coming, he is always coming to Christ. He never finds any
place else to go. When times are good, he goes
to Christ with praise and thanksgiving. When trials come, he turns to
Christ for help and guidance. And when he's weighed down by
sin, he goes to Christ for grace and mercy. He's always coming
to Christ in each and every situation. And here Jesus is called a living
stone. He is living. Christ has always
been here. He's always been living. John
1.1, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God
and the word was God. And Jesus is always here. I tried
to speak to you a few weeks back about all the witnesses who saw
Christ resurrected from the dead and then ascend into heaven where
he now resides at the right hand of God. He is the living stone. And the fact that Jesus is living
speaks not only to his being alive today, but it also speaks
to his vibrancy and his vitality. He has the dew of his youth.
He is ready and able to do His work today just as He was when
He walked on this earth. And He's just as ready and able
today as when He first formed this earth. He still has to do
of His youth. And He's a living stone. Now,
on the surface, that's an odd description to think about a
Savior, to be a stone. But what does a stone represent? And we're not talking about a
pebble here, we're talking about a boulder. A stone denotes strength
and permanence and protection. For those of you who might have
walked out onto the Cape Field River there at the fish traps
and stood on those rocks, just think about those, those mighty
stones. Day after day, thousands upon
thousands of gallons of water wash over them, but yet they're
still there. They never go away. They never
erode. Strength, permanence. What do
you want to build your house on? Sand or stone? Stone, of
course. And when the enemy comes, what
do you want between you and the enemy? A bush or a stone? How does a song go? Rock of ages,
cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Christ
is the only protection you can find from Satan. And not only
that, He's the only protection you can find from your own sinful
self. Christ is that stone. And it's
the people of God here said to be lively stones, build up a
spiritual house. They live because He lives. They
are stones because they are made to be like Him. and his characteristics
are now theirs. And they are the stones that
are laid upon the chief cornerstone, which builds the house of God.
These stones make up the very church of God, which has only
one foundation, Jesus Christ, her Lord. Verse six, wherefore
also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Now Peter references Isaiah 28,
16 here, and it's just more evidence which speaks to the fact that
scripture has as its one subject, Christ. And Christ is the chief
cornerstone, elect, precious. You remove this cornerstone and
all salvation crumbles. There can be no salvation without
him, none whatsoever. It all rests on his shoulders.
Without him, it would be left to man to save himself. And man
just cannot do that. He was chosen to do this job,
to fulfill this role. Why? Because he's precious. Verse
seven begins, unto you therefore which believe he is precious,
but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a
stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which
stumble at the word being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. Now Jesus himself made reference
to his being rejected, though the verse of scripture he used,
or he referenced when he spoke, it came from Psalm 118. It's
written in Matthew 21 that Jesus saith unto them, did you never
read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected,
the same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's
doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. That's speaking of
none other but him. Therefore say I unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this
stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it
will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke
of them. But when they sought to lay hands
on him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a prophet.
Now here, Christ speaks to the priests and Pharisees who stayed
tied to their traditions and to their reputations, and they
rejected the one true Messiah. He was their stumbling stone.
And though the Lord's words are directed to this specific group
of people, the apostles' words are more general, because Jesus
has always been a stumbling block. Some won't have him as king.
They've made king of themselves when you get right down to it.
Others won't have him as a savior. They're fine with justification
by faith, as long as they can mix in a little bit of work with
it. They won't have him and him alone. When they come face to
face with how the Bible tells us that salvation is all due
to the works that this man did and not one thing you do can
contribute to this work, Well, it's a stone that they cannot
get over, and they cannot go around. They stumble over it,
and it rolls on them, and it grinds them to powder. Verse
nine, that you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy
nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. which in time past were not a people, but are now the
people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have
obtained mercy." To me, these are two very comforting verses
to God's people. And look what it said about them.
They are chosen. They're chosen in Him before
the foundation of the world. They're royalty. Why? They're the bride of the King.
They're a priest. They're a priest. Not daily offering
up blood sacrifices, but daily offering up prayer and praise.
And they're holy. They don't feel it. They don't
really know it, except that they read it. And they know that through
the work of the Spirit and their Savior, they're made so. They
are peculiar. God's people are different from
all others. They have different desires,
they have different needs, they have different goals, and they
have different loves. They still share many of the
same desires that other men have. They want this life to be better.
They most especially want it better for their children. But that's not their main focus. Their eyes look to another direction. It really looks to the future.
They're not looking for the best day today. They're looking for
the better day tomorrow. They're looking for where their
Savior is at the right hand of God. They act different. They have different loves. Their
love is not of this world. It's of the world to come and
the one who has provided and will make it so. this very one
we're speaking about this morning, this Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to end there with my
reading. So what I want to do and what I want to spend probably
the rest of our time this morning is a word that was used several
times throughout those 10 verses. And I don't know if you picked
up on it or not, but it's this word, precious. And the first
two times it was mentioned, it was in reference to how God views
Christ. And the third time is what the
elect think of him. And in all three cases, we get
this truth. He is precious. Jesus Christ,
our Lord, is precious. Now we have two different perspectives
of Christ, but they result in the same outcome. God calls him
precious. Why, for the complete satisfaction
of performing and completing the task for which he sent him
to accomplish. And God's elect call him precious
because he is their savior. God calls him precious for saving
his people, and the people cry precious for being saved. So
during the time remaining, I want to spend just a few minutes about
why this Jesus Christ is so special, why he's so precious to both
God and his bride. And of course, it's not going
to be comprehensive. I'm just going to have time to
look at one thing. But I do want to spend just a
few minutes and speak on this subject with you this morning. Just who is he and what is he,
or what he is. He is the God-man. I just can't
get over that sometimes. God taking it upon himself to
wear human flesh in order to procure salvation for these very
elect. I guess as I age, it's the Archie
Bunker coming out in me. But I have to wonder, why would
God want to subject himself to what we go through during our
lifetimes? As I age, there just seems to
be a whole lot more bad than there is good. True, there is often a lot of
good that does come our way. The love of a good spouse, many
of us enjoy. The births and raising of children
in some of our cases, the children have turned out a whole lot better
than what we are. Good dogs. Success at work. Many have special interests and
hobbies, and that keeps them occupied and motivated. There's
good food. I enjoy that. Helping others
and making a difference to them, if only for a brief moment. Another good thing for many of
us here is that we take a special delight in hearing God's word
preached. These are all good things that
come to many of us. And if you add it all up, there
probably is a whole lot more good than bad. But still, why
the son would willingly subject himself to any of this is just
a wonder to me. So let's just take a few moments
and think of some of the things that he went through. Nowadays
from where I live at now and I leave pretty early in the morning.
So there's little traffic I can to be at work in 27 minutes And
I don't go that far But still I figure the way I think it Jesus
would have had the height pretty hard to make that distance in
one day And those of you got a little
age on you if you're not 30 yet you really probably don't understand
this I But you get a little age on you to walk that distance.
A lot of aches and pains come with that, especially when there's
no paved roads. You're walking on rock. Jesus
had aches and pains, suffered physically just like we did.
He got tired just like you and I did. He had to stop and rest. He got hungry also. He had to
eat. And he wasn't five minutes away
from the nearest McDonald's. Food wasn't always readily available
back then. I've got a feeling that what
so many of them called meals back in biblical times, if they
were able to procure and eat that particular meal at all,
it's what we might would call a snack nowadays. Times were
tough, nothing like now at all. Jesus went through all of that,
all of this physical suffering. that even more profound was probably
his emotional suffering. We've all suffered loss, loss
of loved ones, loss of friends. I've already mentioned my reunion
last week. They had a little memorial. I
couldn't believe how many have already passed away. And I just
don't feel, I'm getting old, but I still didn't think I was
that old. Jesus felt the loss of loved ones also. Think about
his reaction when told that Lazarus had died. He wept. When you weep
over the loss of a loved one, Jesus knows how you feel. And
how you feel, he wept also. He had disappointment, bitter
disappointment. We've all seen people come and
go at this church, and they'll sit under this gospel preaching
for a few weeks sometimes, sometimes a few months, and there's been
many for several years. But all of a sudden, they'll
go away, and they'll never return. It's hugely sad and disappointing
if it's a loved one or a close friend, isn't it? It breaks your
heart. What makes it even worse, so
many times when they leave, they return to the false religion
that they had just left earlier. We know in that there's no hope.
How sad it is when this occurs. Now, if possible, and I don't
even know if I should say such a thing, but put yourself in
Christ's shoes for a moment. We're talking about a small number,
one here, one there. He had thousands turn away from
him. Thousands. Now, as God, he knew
what was in each and every heart, so it came as no surprise to
him when they turned away. But as a man, he suffered the
same sadness as you and I do when just one walks away. Multiply
that. by all that rejected him. We
have no inkling of an idea of what disappointment he must have
felt in that. Many of us like to joke around
a lot with each other and it's all in good fun. It's because
we love each other. I don't think my daughter could
talk to me if she couldn't make ball jokes. I don't think the
little girl had anything at all to say to me. but to be ridiculed and mocked
and even spit upon with malice. And really, when it comes with
the blessing of the government in power at that time, think
about what the Nazis did to the Jews, the horrific crimes that
they committed. That's a different matter. And
I don't know anyone that would take too kindly to that. Jesus suffered through that. Without a cause, he was humiliated
and he was on the receiving end of just unwarranted verbal attacks
and abuse. And like I say, it was all done
either at the direction or with the knowledge of the powers that
be of his time. The insults and ridicule that
he received during his final days as recorded in the scriptures,
they just probably a drop in the bucket of what was really
directed his way. as he taught and preached. Why
did he subject himself to that? And what a burden it must have
been to his heart to put up with that religious leadership of
his day. The very ones who had been given the duty and responsibility
of looking after the things of God, these were his worst enemies. Everywhere he went, they had
spies report him back just trying to find him in a single error
of wrongdoing. When they had the opportunity,
they constantly were asking him questions, trying to trip him
up in his words. Why? Just to discredit him in
the eyes of the people. And what they did to his temple,
turning it into a house of merchandise. Remember how angry that made
him? He felt those emotions just like you and I did. Yet, he allowed
it to happen. He allowed himself to go through
this. And think about this. I've got
time, I'll share a personal story with you and I just hope to help
illustrate my point and maybe through my story I'm hoping you
can relate this and something in your life. But I had a good
golfing buddy some 20 some years ago. We used to play almost every
weekend. I wasn't very good and he was
usually about two strokes better. And I don't know if you ever
played any golf, but one thing you don't do, you don't hit off
rocks and you don't hit off roots. You can break a club and a wrist
if you do such a thing. I would not so much as even move
my ball without saying, hey, I'm going to move my ball. Never
once, I mean, it took me a lot of strokes to get around on the
golf. I could have scribbled down a different number of many
a times to beat this fellow. I never did. On a good week,
I tied it. that usually I'd lose by one,
two, three strokes. I never cheated him. We were
playing in a tournament together one time. And I asked him, we were partners,
and I asked him a question. And when he gave me his answer,
that was the answer for the team in my mind. Well, later on, and
it's complicated how you do these things. A lot of you wouldn't
understand. But that was my answer. Competitors later on didn't like
the score I wrote down for a particular thing because I went with his
answer. He didn't have my back. In other
words, he called me a liar. I ain't going to say I never
cheated, but I never cheated him in golf for years. And then
when I needed his backup, he accused me also. I've never forgotten
it. I don't play golf with them anymore.
That doesn't speak highly of me. Have any of y'all ever been
accused falsely? Did it get under your crawl like
it did me? Now think about our Lord and Savior. It happened
to him often, but most especially that final night. Every charge
laid against him. It was false. This man had never
hurt anyone. He had only healed and helped
countless numbers. It's not even recorded all the
good he did, yet he was lied on. It might be because of my own
situation, but I have to think that that final night when those
lies were being told on him, The next day he got nails through
the hands and feet. That night he got nails through
the heart. Why did he take it? Why did he suffer through it? And I can't forget temptation. We all suffer temptations and
all too often we give in to them. But think of Jesus. He was specifically
targeted by Satan, if I remember correctly, for 40 days and 40
nights. It takes us about two seconds
to give in. He was tempted unceasingly, never
wavered. He had no sin. And for that,
today, Satan stands defeated. And I've spent way too long on
this. But I wanted you to just get some sense of what Jesus
went through as a man, and there's no way my words can even get
close to how he suffered. So many people, and it's one
of the reasons I've come to really dislike Christmas, but so many
people only think about his birth. They never get over the fact
that he was the little baby Jesus, that he didn't stay a baby long.
He lived a full life. And no matter what has or what
will come your way, he's already walked in your shoes with one
huge exception. When you stopped walking, he
had to keep going on because the burdens he bore were such
a more tremendously heavier load than any of us will ever carry. He suffered all that. And finally, he suffered something
that none of us have yet to experience. He died. So many a times he escaped
death in his lifetime. So many times the wrath of man
and their love of false religion, they led them to attempt to lay
hold on him and put an end to him just then and there. Yet
he'd pass through them to live another day. That is, until that
fateful day on Calvary, when his time was finally come. He
could have passed through that day. No, he willingly took that
cross on his back, and he started carrying it up that hill. He
hung on that cross, and instead of calling on angels, he continued
doing what he came to do. not missing a single thing, fulfilling
every prophecy, even one so simple as mouthing the words, I thirst. And when all was accomplished
and completed, he hung his head and he died. Why did he do it? Why? He's God. He could have remained
in heaven. He could have left us on our
own to fend for ourselves. If you would, turn to Romans
5, verses 6-10. This one passage is the only
time we'll need to turn and try and answer that question with
this one passage. Why did He do all of this? Romans chapter 5, I'm going to
read verses 6 through 10 rather quickly. Paul writes, for when
we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for
the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of his son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life. Now in these few verses, four
reasons jump out at me of why Jesus took it upon himself to
live and to suffer as a man. First of all, in order for a
man such as you and I, a man or a woman such as you and I,
to find any favor in the sight of God, something has to be done
for us. I've already spoken to that.
It has to be done on our behalf. And as the text before us tells
us, we are incapable of doing it for ourselves. Two statements,
verse six, for when we were yet without strength, and from verse
seven, while we were yet sinners. Here it is in black and white,
and if you doubt these words and my conclusion that we're
unable to do anything for ourselves, well, I'm just afraid that you
don't know yourself very well. I can't put it any more simply
than that. And what has to be done for us? A perfect and an
unblemished sacrifice had to be made to satisfy God's law. To quell that justified wrath
that's due for each and every sinner for whom he came to save. Verse 9 again, much more than
being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through him. We Peter, or in this case, Paul,
when he wrote this, it's Paul and who all who believe on Jesus
Christ, each and every one of them. That's why Jesus had to
be not only born and then die, but he had to live that perfect
life. He had to fill our infirmities
and he so very well did indeed. I tried to speak on these this
morning. He had to be tempted to sin, but not sin. He was tempted,
and he did not. Not one. And God's law requires
a blood sacrifice, and that blood he did shed on the cross. The
perfect died and paid the penalty for the imperfect. And I can't
emphasize this enough. Only this God-man was capable
of doing this for an undeserving sinner. It was absolutely necessary
that it was Jesus. Verse 10 gives us a third reason.
Reconciliation. We're born so spiritually dead
we don't even realize that we're born hating God. We think highly
of God in our imaginations, the God we've made up for ourselves,
but this God that's revealed in the Scriptures, He's our enemy.
We're His enemy because we've sinned against Him. He's our
enemy because, like Satan, we don't want Him to rule over us.
That's what sin is, rebellion. But when Christ died, it was
as if he brought God and man together and brokered a truce
between these two warring parties. Christ satisfying God's law and
appeasing his wrath, and man, through the work of the Spirit,
being given a new heart which not only does not hate God and
does not hate God's law anymore, but it sees the beauty in it
and it strives to keep it. This could only happen because
Jesus took it on himself to die. I've got quite a bit more, but
I'll end with just one or two more little things here. The
last reason, the fourth reason I see here, it is probably the
one that happened first chronologically. The initial motive that set this
ball into rolling, which not only led to Jesus' living on
this earth, but dying on this earth, and also now sitting at
the right hand of God and serving as the role of intermediary,
it comes from verse 8. Doug spoke to it this morning.
That word is love. God has a people whom he loves. Christ has a bride whom he loves. The problem is we're born dead
in trespasses and sins and then we compound it. But to be made
a church of which the people are the membership and to be
made an acceptable bride to the king of all heaven and earth,
a work had to be done on her behalf. And because he first
loved them before they were even born, the Lord Jesus Christ took
it upon himself to be the great physician and to heal God's people,
to make them well and acceptable in God's sight. Everything about
Jesus is precious. I've got a list, 10, 12 things
here. I was just going to mention to
you right quick, but time's gone. But that's a good test for you.
Think about what's precious on this earth. There's precious memories, precious
moments, but they're all the pool. But this precious that
Peter's talking about back in first Peter chapter two, it's
singular. There's only one thing really
precious in this world, and it's a good test for you. If it's
what's precious to you, then maybe you do believe on this
Lord Jesus Christ. He is definitely precious to
God the Father. He told us so right here in His
Word. Is He precious to you? Thank you. I don't know how this man finds
so many things in so many different places in the Bible. But I appreciate
it, Curtis. We're thankful. To properly read this book, it
requires a miracle of grace. And if we're not in grace,