Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. 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. The Old Testament is filled with
types of Christ and Isaac is one of those great types of Christ. He was born supernaturally. His mother had already gone through
menopause, and his father was 100 years old. His birth was
a supernatural birth. And he is the perhaps greatest
type of Christ in Genesis chapter 22, when he is going to be an
offering offered up by his father, picturing Christ, or the father,
offering up Christ. And we read in Genesis chapter
25 verse 5, and Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines
which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts and sent them away from
Isaac, his son. He no doubt remembered the words
of Sarah, cast out the bondwoman and her son for the son of the
bondwoman shall not be heir with my son. We read in the previous
chapter in verse 36, when the servant of Abraham is looking
for a bride for Isaac, here's his appeal. And Sarah, my master's
wife, bare a son to my master when she was old, and unto him
hath he given all that he had." Everything Abraham had, all of
his wealth, it was given to Isaac. The sons of the concubines that
we read of in the first part of Genesis chapter 25 are sent
away. Somebody says, what is Abraham
doing having concubines? I don't know. It was wrong then
and it's wrong now, but he did. And they were all sent away.
There would be no competition with Isaac. Isaac received everything. Now I've entitled this message,
blatant, blatant, let me repeat that again, blatant favoritism. Blatant means completely lacking
subtlety. Very obvious. Abraham was very
obvious with this favoritism. Everything went to his son Isaac. And this is given to typify the
Lord Jesus Christ. God gives everything to His Son. God has an agenda, the glory
of His Son. And let me repeat that, God does
have an agenda. the glory and the exaltation
of His Son. That's why He does everything
that He does. And if you and I are not on board
with that, we are God's enemies. God does what He does for the
glory of His Son. Now, what is your response to
that? When you hear those words, God does everything for Christ.
God does everything for His glory. That is His agenda. He's given
everything to His Son. What is your response to that?
I was recently in a wedding party, and the father of the bride was
talking about his precious daughter. He loved her so much, and she
was a very beautiful young lady, very much of an achiever, and
I could see where he was very proud of her. And he had two
other sons. And his sons got the idea that
he was telling this story about one of his sons coming in. He
came into the room once and said, I've got a real problem with
this dad. You show blatant favoritism toward any named a sister. And
you know how this dad replied, and? Well, God shows blatant favoritism
toward His Son. What is your response? I could have easily entitled
this message, The Supremacy the preeminence, the excellency,
and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you and I can
get a hold of this just a little bit, we will understand everything. The preeminence, the excellency,
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when we talk about men,
there's not much difference between one man and another. There's
very little difference. Actually, there's no difference
before God between me and you as far as men go. Paul put it
this way in Romans chapter three, there's no difference. For all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's no
difference. There's not one man much better
than another man. You take the most moral man and
the most immoral man, and before God, there's no difference. You see, with regard to that
moral man, his righteousnesses in God's sight are as filthy
rags. There's not much difference between
men. There's not a different race or all of the human race. There are not different races.
Hitler tried to make a big issue of that to promote the Aryan
race over other races and exterminate what he considered inferior races
to make the gene pool more pure. Of course, that was ridiculous.
There are not different races. There are different ethnicities.
We know that. We see that. But they're not
different races. We're all from the human race.
We're all made of one blood. And with regard to every ethnicity,
Every man, woman born into this world that can reason, that has
reasoning powers, I don't care what continent they were born
in, I don't know what, I don't care what ethnicity they're of,
they have asked these questions in some form. Who am I? What is my purpose? What's my reason for existence? What's behind the problems of
this world? If you're alive and have any
intelligence whatsoever, you see that there are many problems,
many injustices, many wrongs in this world. The catalog goes
on forever. What's wrong with this world?
Why is it the way it is? What is behind the problems in
this world? And how can these problems be
fixed? Every man that thinks has thought
about those issues before. There's one problem with that.
That's beginning in the wrong place. We shouldn't begin with
who am I. The starting point should be
who is God. Not, is there a God? Every man
knows intuitively that there is a God. All you have to do
is look at creation. The invisible things of Him by
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead
so that they are without excuse. Everybody's born knowing that
somebody made all this. And He's all-powerful, and nobody
made Him. Now, a man might, through false
reasoning, try to come up with the conclusion that there is
no God, but it's illogical, it's irrational. Everyone knows that
God is, and the question to ask is, who is God? Now, when that
question is asked, all the other questions are answered, who I
am, and what the problem is, why the problem is, and how can
it be fixed. Now, what I want to do is look
at two passages through scripture, one in Hebrews chapter one, and
one in Colossians chapter one, that tells us clearly who God
is. What could be more important
than that? Than to know who God is. Now, the first passage I
want us to look at is found in Hebrews 1. And Hebrews chapter 1 begins
with these words, God. It doesn't begin with these words,
it begins with this word, God. No attempt at trying to prove
his existence, that's not needed. God. Very similar to Genesis
1.1, in the beginning, God. All truth is found in that statement.
In the beginning, God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now the writer
of the Hebrews begins with God. No introduction, no explanation,
God. Who at sundry times, different
times, and in diverse manners, various ways, spake. Now God
speaks. He's not a God of far off. He's
not a God that's silent. God speaks. God spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses,
Samuel, all the writers of the Old Testament. He spoke in times
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken to us by a son. Now notice the writer calls these
days, and these are the days he was living in, and these are
the days you and I are living in, he calls them the last days. All of the time between the ascension
of Christ and that time when he comes back again are called
the last days. Now we may be in the last of
the last days, I don't know. I know people have made predictions,
and that's fruitless. The Lord says, no man knows the
hour or the day, and to try to make predictions with regard
to his second advent is foolishness. But know this, his time is coming
when he will come back. I don't know when it will be,
but I hope it's real soon. I'll be very happy if it's today. But all the time between his
ascension back into heaven and the time he comes back are called
the last days. And in these last days, hear
how he has spoken by his son. This is my beloved son, God said,
hear ye him. Now he describes his son, who
is God? Well, here he is. His son is
the one whom he hath appointed heir of all things. Just as Abraham gave everything
to Isaac, God has given everything to his dear son, whom, by whom
also he made the worlds. Jesus Christ is the creator of
the universe. There was a time when there was
nothing but God, Christ, His Spirit, and the sun said, let
there be light, and there was light. He created the universe. He created the galaxies. He created
the minutia of the atom. All things were created by Him. Now, listen to this next verse,
verse three. Here's who he is. Remember, we're
asking who God is. All you're ever going to see
of God is Jesus Christ. Listen to these words, who being
the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person. All you'll ever see of God is
Jesus Christ. He's the brightness of God's
glory. He's the express image, the divine
imprint. He is God manifest in the flesh. Paul said in Colossians 2.9,
in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And next it says, he's the one
who upholds all things by the Word of His power. That last
breath you took, it's because He willed it. And He will will
it when you take your last breath. He upholds all things. He is absolutely in control of
everything. There's nothing that happens
outside of His will. Now, do I understand what He's
doing? No, I don't. But He does. And He, as God,
is the first cause of all things. The lot is cast in the lap, but
the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord, is of Jesus Christ. He controls all things. They're
upheld by the Word of His power. Now, we've talked about creation,
we've talked about providence, and here's what this one does
in saving, when he had by himself purged our sins. Now, a couple of things I want
to point out by that. Who's the hour when He by Himself purged
our sins? Everybody whose sins are purged.
Now, this is not talking about all men with that exception,
but this is talking about His people. Matthew 121 says, Thou
shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sins. That's speaking of the elect.
That is who the hour are. And notice this phrase, when
He had by Himself purged our sins. You know what that means?
Me and you had no hand in this. We didn't help him. He did this
by himself. Christ Jesus is salvation. When he had by himself purged
our sins, what's that mean? Well, that means everybody he
died for, they no longer have sin. They were purged away. They now stand before God without
guilt. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down. Why did he sit down? His work
was finished. There was nothing left to do
in this thing of the purging of sins. They're purged. He by
himself purged our sins and he sat down on the right hand of
the majesty on high. being made so much better than
the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they." These mysterious, powerful creatures, the angels,
they're nothing but His creatures and His servants. Now, the next
passage I would like to look at is in Colossians chapter 1.
Here we have a beautiful description of God in Christ. And remember,
who is God? These other questions with regard
to who I am, why these problems in the world, how can they be
fixed, will be answered when we can determine who He is. And
eight times in this passage of Scripture I'm going to read,
we read the phrase, all things. Now I'm going to begin reading
in verse 13. Who hath delivered us? Who's the us? Everybody he delivered. All who
believe. All for whom Christ died. All
who had been given a new nature. All that God elected before time
began. who hath delivered us. He didn't
make us deliver a bull. He delivered us. Who hath delivered
us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the
kingdom of his dear son in whom we have redemption through his
blood. The forgiveness of sins. Everybody he died for All of
their sins are forgiven sins. Now let's go on reading verse
15. Who is? Remember we're asking who is
God? Who is? Speaking of Jesus Christ. who
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Now, Colts have liked to use
that scripture to prove that Jesus Christ is not eternal. There was a time when He was
born. Now, Him being the firstborn
is not an event of time. It's a fact, an eternal fact,
irrespective of time. Just as He was the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, the Lamb raised from the foundation
of the world, He's the firstborn from the foundation of the world. And Paul goes on to tell us what
he means by Him being the firstborn of every creature. Verse 16,
for by Him, were all things created. Same
thing that the writer to the Hebrews said. By Him were all
things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible
and invisible. Whether we're talking about material
universe or things such as thrones, dominions, principalities, and
powers. All things were created by Him,
and listen to this, for Him. For Him. Everything God does,
He does for His Son. If you're forgiven, He forgave
you for Christ's sake. Not because of anything you have
done, but because of what He has done. For by Him were all
things created. All things were created by Him
and for Him. Verse 17 says, and He is before
all things. Now, whatever you're talking
about, He's before it. He's before it in glory. He's
before it in preeminence. He's before it in purpose. The
only reason it happened is because of Him. He's before all things,
no matter what it is. He's before it because of who
He is. He's before all things, and by Him all things consist.
Just as the writer to the Hebrews said, all things are held together
by the word of His power. And he is the head of the body,
the church. What's a body without a head? Dead. He is the head of the body. And here we have that great mystery
of Christ being the head of the church, who is the beginning. He's the origin of all things,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, he might
have the preeminence. It pleased the Father that in
Him should all fullness dwell. That is the pleasure of God,
for His Son to have all the preeminence and that all fullness might dwell
in Him. Now we go on reading in verse
20, and having made peace through the blood of His cross. That's
what He did. He made peace. He didn't make
peace possible. Somebody says, make your peace
with God. I can't make my peace with God,
only he made my peace with God. Having made peace through the
blood of his cross. That's how he made peace. He
put away sin by his blood, by his death. By him to reconcile
all things unto himself. When we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his son. By Him, I say, whether
it be things in earth and things in heaven, and you that were
sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works.
Now, with regard to that question, who am I? Here's the answer.
By nature, an enemy of God. Now, somebody that's an enemy
of God, what that means is, someone says, I'm not God's enemy. When
you're confronted with who God is, the absolute sovereign God,
who can do with you whatever he's pleased to do, you're either
happy about that or you wish he didn't exist. If you wish
he didn't exist, you say, I don't like a God like that. That means
you're his enemy. You would put him out of business
if you could. If you are a sinner needing grace, you'll know that's
the only way you can be saved and you'll rejoice in that. and having made peace through
the blood of His cross in you that were sometimes alienated
in enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled
in the body of His flesh through death to present you." And this
is what he does for everybody he died for, everybody he lived
for, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. Now, who is Jesus Christ? He is the heir, the creator,
the only savior. God's agenda for His Son is this,
that in all things He might have the preeminence. Now, who am
I? His creature, either His child
or His enemy. But I'm His creature, and I'm
either His child or His enemy, depending on how I view His preeminence. What is my purpose? His glory. What's wrong with this world?
I am. I'm the problem. If you ever
see yourself, you'll see that you are the problem. Now, when
you don't see yourself as the problem, you find somebody else
as the problem, or government, or education, or somebody else
that's brought us into this condition, but if you see who he is, you'll
see who you are, and you'll see that you are the problem. We
have seven billion people in this world, therefore we have
seven billion problem makers. We're the problem. How can this
be fixed? The only way it can be fixed
is by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who by himself
purged our sins, the great and glorious atonement of Jesus Christ. Now, God shows blatant favoritism
toward his Son. But guess what? He shows the
same favor for everyone who believes on the Son. Now, let me read
that to you from the Bible. I would not believe this could
be true had I not read it in the Scriptures for myself. But
in John 17, the Lord makes this statement with regard to His
people. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect
in one, that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast
loved them as thou hast loved me." The same favor that he has
toward his son, he has toward every believer without exception. He shows blatant favoritism. And it is only right that it
should be that way because of the excellency and glory of His
Son. Now, we have this message on
CD, DVD. You call the church, write, or
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.