Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Question That Answers All Others. Now that question is, who is
Jesus Christ? Most people believe there was
a man named Jesus of Nazareth and that he died on a cross and
that it is said that he was raised from the dead. Most people have
that information, but who is Jesus Christ? The answer to that
question answers every other question. Who is Jesus Christ? Now, I'm speaking from Hebrews
1. We're going to look at verses
1-3 where that question is answered in such a powerful way by the
Word of God. Now, let me remind you that the
Bible is the Word of God. It claims to be the Word of God.
It says all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And if
God is able to create the universe from nothing, he is able to inspire
men to write a book and to keep it preserved without error through
the ages. So we're reading from the word
of God. The book of Hebrews begins like
no other book. It begins with God. I love that. God, who at sundry
times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto the
prophets. God. There's no attempts to prove
his existence. Creation says God is. Somebody made all of this and
nobody made him. God is. God who at sundry times and in
diverse manners spake in times past to the prophets, through
the prophets. Thank God he is a God who speaks. He's not a God of far off. He
is a God who speaks. Now, my words, unfortunately,
do not always line up with my actions. I may say something
and it could be that my actions contradict what I've said. The
same is true of you, but not God. His word is His action. So supreme is His Word that when
He says it, it is already done. His Word cannot be separated
from His actions. Now, He's the God who speaks,
and we read in Hebrews chapter 1 that He spake in times past
unto the fathers, by the prophets, sometimes in dreams and visions,
sometimes in what are known as theophanies, pre-incarnate appearances
of Christ before he was born of the Virgin Mary in the town
of Bethlehem, sometimes through parables, sometimes through the
law, sometimes through sacrifices and ceremonies and all the paraphernalia
of the Old Testament tabernacle and the temple, he spake in times
past unto the fathers by the prophets. But listen to this,
he hath in these last days spoken to us by his son. Now, my dear friends, we're living
in the last days. Does that mean that the return
of Christ is imminent? It could mean that. I hope it
is. But the last days are all the
days between the first and second advent of Christ. Now, the Lord
may return today. He may return in 2,000 years. I do not know. And when someone
makes a claim as to knowing when he will return, They're dead
wrong. The Bible, the Lord Himself said,
no man knows the hour or the day. But we are living in the
last days. And we read that He is in these
last days spoken to us by His Son. Now Jesus Christ, who is
Jesus Christ? He's the Son of God. the uncreated
Son of God. God is one God in three distinct
persons. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. Now, you won't get that in any
other religion. God is one God in three distinct
persons. That's the religion of Revelation. God has made himself known in
the Bible, and only in the Bible, as the one God in three distinct
persons. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. In John chapter one, verse one,
we read, in the beginning was the word and the word was with
God as a distinct separate person and the word was God. The Lord Jesus Christ is equal
to his father. The Lord said, he that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which has sent him. We
give all glory and honor to the Son who is Jesus Christ. He is God the Son. Now let's
go on reading in verse two with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It says, whom he hath appointed heir of all things. Know what that means? Everything
belongs to Jesus Christ. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. The earth, the world, and they
that dwell therein. You're breathing his air right
now. You're sitting in His space right now. He owns and is the
heir of all things. Everything was made for His glory. He's the heir of all things.
There is nothing that does not belong to Him. He's the heir
of all things. And next, the writer says, by
whom also He made the worlds. Jesus Christ is the creator. He is the one who spake the world
into existence. It was he who said, let us make
man in our own image. He was speaking that time as
the second person of the Trinity and said, let us make man in
our own image. He is the creator of the universe. Now listen to me. If your concept
of Jesus Christ begins in a manger and ends up in a cross, you've
missed Him altogether. Jesus Christ is the Creator. Next it says in verse 3, who
is Jesus Christ? Well, He's the Son of God. He's
the one who owns everything as the heir of all things. He's
the creator of the universe from the vastness of the galaxies
to the minutia of an atom. He made everything. And next
it says, who being the brightness of his glory and the express
image of his person. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the
brightness, the effulgence, the shining forth of God's glory. The express image of His person,
the transcript, the character of God. He's not like God. He's not like God at all. He
is God. He is the brightness of God's
glory and the express image of his person. Colossians 2.9 says,
in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a body. All that God is in His infinite
immensity, in His sovereignty, in His holiness, in His justice,
in His independence, in His omnipotence, in His omniscience. He knows
all things in His omnipresence. He's everywhere. You can't go
anywhere where He's not. All the fullness of God dwells
in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who he is. He's
the brightness of God's glory. He is the express image of his
person. Now next it says, with regard
to the Lord Jesus Christ, he upholds all things. by the word of His power. And
you know what that means? Jesus Christ controls everything. Everything that takes place,
He is in absolute control of. He has complete sovereign control
over your free and uncoerced actions. Do you know you're in
His hand? And anything you do is according
to His will. You don't do it, except He wills
it. Now somebody says, I don't believe
that. Well, He controls that too. He
controls everything. He controls the thoughts going
through your mind. He's working everything together
for His glory and the good of His people. And He controls everything,
upholding all things by the word of His power. That's why I'm
not worried about what's going on in the world. He is in control
of it. I might not understand what he's
doing, but he understands what he's doing. And he is in absolute
sovereign control. That's who Jesus Christ is. He
is the one who upholds all things by the word of his power. Now let's go on reading. It says
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, when he had by himself purged
our sins. Jesus Christ is the one who by
himself purged our sins. Now the first thing that you
and I need to consider is who is meant by the pronoun our when
he had by himself purged our sins. The reason I ask that question
is if we don't know the answer to that, we won't really understand
what is meant by the purging of sins. When he said he by himself
purged our sins, does that mean all men with that exception?
Well, if it does, one of two things are true. If he means
all men without exception, every son and daughter of Adam to ever
live, that would mean that they'll all be saved. If their sins are
all purged, either all of them will be saved or his blood, his
purging was not enough to save them. There's something else
you need to do to make that blood work. If he purged everybody's
sins and some of those people whose sins he purged wind up
in hell, that means his blood was not enough. And there was
something they needed to do to make what he did work. But understand
this, in this thing of the purging of sins, the hour is the elect
of God. The sheep, not the goats, those
the Father gave him, those he represented. He said in John
chapter 17, nine, I pray for them. I pray not for the world,
but for them which you have given me." Now, the point is, is if
he purged our sins, everybody whose sins were purged, they're
gone. They're purged. He's incapable
of failure. When he had by himself purged
our sins, that's the church, that's all who believe, that's
the elect of God, everybody he died for. He said in John 6,
verse 38, and this is the will of him that sent me, that of
all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up
again at the last day. He by himself purged our sins. Now, let me say this. Here's
what all of the elect have in common. Here is what everybody
he died for has in common. They're defiled by sin, and they
need their sins purged. Now, would that describe you?
Are you someone defiled by sin, and you need your sins purged? There's nothing you can do to
make your sin go away. It's still there no matter what
you do, and you must have Him do something for you. In and
of yourself, you're defiled by your sin, and you can't make
it go away. You're evil inside and out. That is the person that Christ
died for. He died for sinners. Christ Jesus
came into the world to save not good people, not righteous people,
sinners of whom Paul said, I am the chief. Now, when he had by
himself purged our sins, you know what that means? He put
them away. He paid for them. He put them
away. He paid the awful cost, the wrath
of God against sin, the justice of God against sin, and He put
them away. He made them not to be. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, for
He hath made him to be sin. That's how he purged them. He
was made to be those sins. And the justice and wrath of
God came down upon him. He was made to be sin. He actually
became guilty of the commission of those sins that he himself
never committed. But when he, in Gethsemane's garden, drank
of that cup, he said, the cup which my father giveth me to
drink, shall I not drink it? What was in that cup? The sins
of his people. He bore their sins in his own
body on the tree. And what did he do while he was
on the tree? He purged them. He made them not to be. They were put away. Romans 4.25
says he was delivered for our offenses and raised again for
our justification. Now here's the glorious thing
that his purging did. Everybody he died for is now
justified. Sinless. They have no guilt. When they're brought before God
on Judgment Day, they will be people who have never sinned. That's the power of His blood.
Now don't miss this. When He had by Himself purged
our sins. He was by Himself. He didn't have anyone helping
him in this great work of the purging of sin. His father was
not helping him. He said, my God, my God, why
have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping
me? The father wouldn't help him.
He was by himself. The angels wouldn't help him.
Now they helped him in Gethsemane's garden, but while he's on the
cross, he has no help from his angels. He's by himself. He has
no help from His people. They're not standing at the foot
of the cross saying, we love you for doing this for us. No,
they had forsook Him and fled. He was by Himself. And the great work of the purging
of sins, He did this by Himself. No one helped Him. No one aided
Him. He did this by himself, not by
enabling me or you to do something that would make what he did apply
to us. By himself means, listen to me,
forget doing. You didn't help in this. You
made no contribution. He did this by himself. Don't think about what you need
to do. It's done. It's finished. Now, please listen very carefully
to me. If my salvation is dependent, ultimately dependent, upon me
doing anything, if my salvation is dependent upon me coming up
with the faith, if my salvation is dependent upon me first coming
up with the repentance, If my salvation is dependent upon my
holy living, if my salvation is dependent upon me being able
to stop committing any one sin, I have no hope. And neither do you, my friend. But here is the gospel. when he had by himself, at a
point in time, at a particular place, Golgotha's Hill, when
he had by himself, with absolutely no contribution from me or you,
when he had by himself purged, made purification for our sins. Who is Jesus Christ? He is the
one who by himself, that ought to ring as music in your ears.
That means nothing's required of you to do. When he had by
himself purged, put away, made not to be, washed away, our sins. When he said it is finished,
everyone he died for, all their sins were made not to be, and
they stand before God sinless. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down. He sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high, the place of favor, the place of power,
sitting, his work finished. Sins purred, sitting, not pacing
back and forth in frustration because his will is not being
done, sitting. in regal splendor, undisturbed
by opposition, sitting, the sitting Savior. Now, in the tabernacle,
in the Old Testament, there was the brazen altar There was the
table of showbread. There was the altar of incense.
There was the veil separating the holy place and the holy of
holies. There was the Ark of the Covenant
with the mercy seat. In the temple, in the tabernacle
and in the temple, one piece of furniture that was not there,
a chair. Why? Because the work of the
typical high priest was never done, because he never really
accomplished anything. He typified something, but his
work was never done. He went in once a year into the
holy place, but you know what? He had to do it again the next
year and the next year. And when he would die, the other
high priest would have to go in again and again. Why? Because
sin was not put away by what they did. But I'd like to read
a passage to you from Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11, and every
high priest standeth. Daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
Now those sacrifices never took away sin and they knew that,
they understood that, they simply pointed to him who would come
to put away sin. No blood of an animal ever put
away one sin. But this man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God. Why did he sit down? Because his work was finished.
From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool
for by one offering, he hath perfected forever. them that are sanctified." Now
when he sat down, he sat down because his work was finished.
Now what does that mean? It means the Father was completely
satisfied with what he did. If he died for you, God the Father
isn't looking for anything else. There's nothing that you need
to do to add to what He has done. The Father is satisfied, completely,
infinitely satisfied with what He did. The Son is completely
satisfied with what He did. He shall see the travail of His
soul and be satisfied because of what Christ did for everybody
He did it for. He can look at them and say,
thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. He's completely satisfied with
his bride. God the Holy Spirit is completely
satisfied with what Christ did. This is the message he testifies
of us to. He testifies of the work of Christ. That's what the Holy Ghost bears
witness to, that there's no more sacrifice for sin. He did it
all. God the Father's satisfied. God the Son's satisfied. God
the Holy Spirit's satisfied. Are you satisfied with what He
did? Can you rest in what He did? Now somebody says, give me something
to do. Okay. There remaineth therefore a rest. for the people of God. Hebrews
4, 9. There remaineth therefore a rest for the people of God.
For he that's entered into his rest has ceased from his own
works as God did from his. What am I called upon to do?
Rest. Cease from your own works. If you're thinking it's going
to be, I'm going to do better after this, don't think that
way. Oh, I'm going to change my life. Don't think that way.
Rest in what he has done. What must we do that we might
work the works of God? Here's the answer of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is the work of God. that
you believe on Him whom He hath sent. Have you ever quit working,
ceased from your works, and looked to Christ only, what He did when
He by Himself purged our sins, as all that's needed to make
you perfect before God? Now, who is Jesus Christ? He's
the express image of the person of God. He's the creator of the
worlds. He's the one who upholds everything. He's the one who by himself purged
our sins as the son of God who cannot fail. What are you and
I called upon to do? To look to Him only and to look
nowhere else. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you write the church call,
we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Niber praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer,
amen. To receive a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send
your request to todd.niber at gmail.com. or you may write or
call the church at the information provided on the screen.