Jesus As Friend - sermon

[Music] but you get to a point where you realize that God made everything there was something about five or six years old God made everything and later on I came to learn that Jesus is my Savior and that he came and forgave me of my sins and rising from the waters of baptism I became a new creation and those of us are not yet baptized it's something to really look forward to when you can start a new life and the last chapter in my book that I've written is just looking tight at all because of Jesus and we read in Revelation with the angelic hosts go Lord of Lord and King of Kings and they look back on creation and see all that God has made and know that he is Lord of creation and we read some intriguing things in scripture where Christ was slain from the foundation of the world and God knew us before the foundation of the world and we wrestle with that I've been reading a book in six days why 50 scientists choose to believe in creation rather than evolution and to see their explanation that if you were to get a single piece of DNA and unravel it from a cell it's about six foot long thinner than your human eye can see and in that blueprint on about a thousand amino acids as they perfectly come together is the whole code of predefined knowledge that determines the next generation so in fact in Adam's loins was Noah an Abraham and you and I today because we can trace our ancestry back to our first great great great grandparents Adam and Eve we read scripture based on what the psalmist said you we are fearfully and wonderfully made and reading a scientific book on it just goes Wow God you are awesome and it takes him back to when I was six years old and realized in a simple way God made everything that accounts for everything around me you know when we come to Jesus we realize that Jesus said something that showed he's preincarnate nature he said before Abraham was I am and that really frustrated the religious leaders of the day I want you to hold that thought before Abraham was I am anyway in time you learn more about God and you more learn about the son of God you learned that Jesus was high priest and if you study through Leviticus and Deuteronomy and you see the Levitical priesthood being established you'll see the rituals and sacrifices you'll also go back to the milk is a Dec priesthood that Abraham tied to a priest without genealogy and now we understand the lordship of Christ exalted itself on earth in the form of Melchizedek a long long time ago and as you go from this rich symbolism you realize that Jesus is intercessor he intercedes with groanings more than we can understand we saw today in our scripture reading Jesus as healer the compassion that he had on the brokenness and suffering of humanity and the cry from the two blind man son of David have mercy on us and he says what do you want me to do for you we've got to receive our sight and jesus healed we talked about the Great Redemption so these are little pieces in our journey that we've come to understand and really live and hold dear jesus's teacher would just read the gospels rabbi means teacher and he was called teacher we know him as the righteous judge the judges rightly hears a voice that's going to call us up at the resurrection we see him as the exact representation of a father Phillip said show us the father and jesus have I been with you so long to see me if you see me you've seen the father the exact representation in fact Jesus ativy that he said was not done by his own authority he said the words that I share are given to me for my father and every loss up a season we really reverse Jesus of suffering servant suffering on our behalf Jesus as Lord of hosts remember with Joshua outside Jericho was confronted by a mighty beam with a sword and he said are you for us or against us and then the person that said I am captain of the host of the Lord and I'm a paraphrase here Joshua realized who he was tending in front of we see that crying in the book of Revelation Lord of lords and King of Kings and no longer it's Joshua's recognition of who was standing in front of it in when you asked who he was if the Angelica's praising him for us personally we discovered we understand who God is what covenant means to God God is really important about covenant he wants covered as and marriage binding till death do us part he wants covenant between himself and people on the level of the oneness of intimacy and he causes into a covenant relationship and he says that the type of covenant relationship I want you to have is the same relationship that I had with a father and I want that to have with you and we go wow we discover more about Jesus as we work collectively in church life the church building Jesus the Jesus who says I will build my church we seem doing this in the book of Revelation where he's encouraged of the church but also corrected and admonish ER so he comes out and says look I know your works I know your good points but I have this against you and almost every church in the book of Revelation people just like you and me the lordship of Christ is solely there as the builder of the church edifying and I want to take today on the authority of Scripture are you ready for this to stretch this even further because for me it was a milestone that really confronted me so the God who knew you before the foundation of the world the God who spoke light into existence the God who formed the earth as Carl Sagan said said a pale blue dot on a sunbeam as a space photo of it it's kind of beautiful you can see the Sun beaming his tiny blue dot and a black expanse the God who spoke trees and ants and animals great whales of the fish tiny earthworms in the ground who spoke it into existence the God then who decides to replicate himself out of the dust of the ground a clay model so that's why we talk about the Potter on the claim and he breathes into a damn his nostrils the breath of life probably was more than just a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen it was probably the spirit of man as best as we understand it and then God grants him companionship because his work was not complete it is not good for the man to be alone so right from the bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh God forms woman and binds them in covenant and in the Genesis chapter we read it's connected with a future where you know the snake will bite your heel and his heel head would his heel would crush the serpent etc and we understand when God said - he wanted he didn't just want two people on the earth he put within than what they called the seed in Scripture go forth and multiply and look after this garden of the earth we've multiplied on this but we haven't looked after the garden of the earth so I really believe that when we go back to us sitting here today in 2017 who knows what will be in 2027 but God under somebody I believe knows God was thinking of you somewhere along line because he tells us in Scripture that he knew us before the foundation of the world I don't know how that works out but I believe in my faith that the sovereignty of God is so exalted we learn about the process of human existence on the earth because we see it for a God who grieve says another part of God who grieves he's made humanity and easy man woman and you look at the first humans and God grieves to the point that he regrets making humanity be even with the ancient Israelites regretted everything so I'm going to walk them away because he saw a violent bloody world because he's given us free choice so God starts again with Noah he wipes the slate clean he reboots the process but as we heard a few weeks ago Noah was a flawed character and the Florida this of human nature permeates new things straight after the flood so then God reboots the process again and starts with Abraham God who loves God who's sovereign God who forms his own children of the dust of a ground now one of the things we're going to explore about this God is how God engages with us all of us the good and the bad so to speak and he begins at the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve were hiding with a sovereign great God who spoke everything to existence comes and asked the most banal question ever at least on the surface he says where are you and I'm going what god knows where they are why did God ask the question where are you seeing where they were he gave them free choice God asks a question and it reveals something about this God okay first take back to Abraham God visits Abraham he's an old man by now and God asks a question he says shall I hide from Abraham what I'm going to do got us a real Oracle question because God said I'm going to make him a father of many nations and I want to tell you what I'm going to do in Sodom Gomorrah this is shall I hide from Abraham God asks another question or via grreat Oracle recorded in Scripture and Abraham was going to be promised at ninety nine years of age to be a father of many nations as many children as sand on the seashore this is God's Word God's Word speaking as many stars as you see in the sky of what were you and I are testimony to Baberaham couldn't see it at that time do you think God was thinking of you at that time because God was so sure he's promised to Abraham that we would be a part of the numbers of stars in the sky and the sand of the seashore that's how many children would come through Abraham do you think God was thinking about you hold on to that thought I want to look at that in John chapter 17 and I've got some of the scriptures on-screen where jesus prayed in John 17 that they may be one as we are one I in you and you and me that they may be one of us if we jump at the previous verse Jesus says I don't pray for these alone but also for those who will believe in me through their word and very seldom a sermon goes by where we don't refer to their word the gospel testimonies of those who lived with Jesus at that time who said this is my life this is my testimony this is my Lord and Savior Thomas finally got the picture my Lord and my god in a moment of Epiphany reveals do you think God was thinking of you back then hold that thought because Jesus prayer in John 17 from the Garden of Gethsemane reaches out to us today he wasn't just praying for those few disciples were with him he was praying that their testimony would be magnified to the promise to Abraham that he would have children of stars of the sky and Jesus words in his prayer that he's praying for those who will exist in the future that we would be one United filled with the Holy Spirit those who would believe against the backdrop of a world of unbelief and that's what we live in this takes me back to another part of the story a moment of betrayal in the Garden of Eden the garden feeds I wishing what the garden of the garden at nighttime and Judas comes up and he greets Jesus and Jesus knows what he's about but listen to how Jesus responds the Judas is his friend why have you come because judges are surprised but he's old make buddy one of the 12 disciples I know there's two things here number one Jesus calls Judas who else wheezes was better for him if you've never been born but embracing the man Judas he's his friend and then he asks a question the sovereign God who speaks everything to existence who knows everything who knew that how many children Abraham would have in his progeny who tells us he knew us before the foundation of the world that's the question why have you come it kind of striking God asked the question because he knew he wasn't because he didn't know Adam and Eve were hiding now because he asks every a toll of the question because Abraham was on his mind it wasn't as if he wasn't on Abraham's mind he asked a question because it wasn't because he didn't know what Jews was up to it wasn't because he didn't know what the two blind men saying son of David had mercy on me they would blind they wanted to receive their sight though heard about the miracles Jesus is what do you want me to do for you Jesus wants us to engage and respond I was with a friend one day and he completed about the dysfunctionality in his marriage where his wife was totally not interested in anything that he did and it was just happening he was on there doing this and doing that and his wife he never interested and somebody said to me we know he has to learn the art of asking the question when you are talking about something and sometimes we end up and I've learned a lot from that we can talk about ourselves or we can talk about what concerns us but she said he said you know maybe maybe she'll learn in time to ask you know how was your day did you enjoy doing that sometimes you can bring a person out to engage or simply ask a question even though you find it totally disinterested I'm not interested in the in the footy results of last weekend I said you enjoyed the game last week oh yeah yeah you hit a common ground simply by asking a question and God is so much higher above our level because wants to engage our heart he's not playing silly little mental games with us I'm convinced of that it's because he cares for us it's because he loves us and because he wants us to think it through and engage acquaints spoke in parables and then he explains the parables in certain points so in Genesis 39 God asked I've gone through quickly a little Bible study this week picking on some high points and there's so many Genesis friend ina asks Edmund Eve where are you two the two blind man and Matthew 20 what do you want me to do for you - Judas which we've already talked about why have you come on the cross he asked a rhetorical question even of his father he's one with his father and yet he says my God my God why have you forsaken me showing his humanity but also showing that for those who are listening understand the veracity of what's actually happening here on the stormy sea he said Lisa suffers why were you fearful oh you of little faith these were hard and fishermen - Peter sinking of the water why did you doubt - the rich young man why do you call me good is that exploring the way Jesus engages with us and he asks a question he engages our heart and we begin to share it around from our adequacy have tried to answer why we've departed while we had life aim to those hypocrites in Matthew 22 the Pharisees is why do you test me you hypocrites they were always asking loaded questions it's not as if he didn't realize they were far from God they didn't have the love of God in their hearts when Jesus was twelve years old he said to his mother why did you seek me even at twelve years of age he asks his mother had been searching for him for three days on the journey after passing from Jerusalem when he's my twelve year old son and he was in the temple of the priests amazing them with a twelve-year-old mind that was filled with the Spirit of God in the Garden of Gethsemane exhibit his disciples why do you sleep three o'clock in the morning the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak to Peter when Peter when Jesus predicted Peters denial he said we you lay down your life for me think this through Peter and the grieving woman by the turn of Mary he says woman why are you weeping oh hang on a minute I just mean Jesus has just been resurrected he has only ascended to his father he sees she thinks he's the gardener she's by the tomb she is broken she is crying because the body's gone not only has she suffered the trauma of seeing her Lord and Master crucified but now the turns gone and they had Roman soldiers outside in a sealed tomb and Jesus says why are you weeping and we know the story but he engages her heart and mind from a godly perspective to the human condition so this Jesus as meting tells us God with us Emmanuel is the son of God the exact representation of the Father we are called to know this God the author and finisher of our faith in Christ we heard today where the sheamus's encourages us to love and as Jesus reiterated love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and all your strength and we get a feeling for as we look at the testimony of Scripture to see that we are really loved God loves us so much so that if you describes himself and one of the prophets as being a clucky Chuck wanted to hold the little chickens behind underneath him such as he's care for us and a powerful scripture speaks to us which is the benchmark of all Christianity God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish I don't want my children to die all the way from Adam right down to Abraham and beyond to us and God wants to give us life verse 17 fits in with this for God did not send his son to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved the zeal but everything is really the center of the universe when it comes to what God's handiwork is doing and it's being molded and shaped and we are recipients of that and once we understand when God says I want you to love God with all your heart and mind and soul and strength is not as if something that God has not modeled he said I want to show you how much I love you and how much I will pay for your debt and I will Jesus sacrificed his divinity came down as a baby and the thirty three and a half years of age paid for your and my sin through his blood and we see that there are victorious Jesus in the book of Revelation with a robe dipped in blood his own blood not someone else's blood and it speaks powerfully of God's trying to convey to us how much he loves us let's a little bit John chapter 15 you've gotta be on the screen young jeezy this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you I don't I don't think so in my growing up years I realized how much God loved me I think that had contribute a little bit to my disconnect sometimes he says in verse 13 greater love has no one than this then he lay down one's life for his friends and all proverbs is a friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity and Jesus saying greater love no there's no greater love than being able to able lay down your life for your friends in World War two we have examples of people willing to take the bullet for somebody else and that's pretty noble on a human level then Jesus says something in verse 14 you are my friends if you do whatever I commend you this is a reciprocal relationship this is not just a one-sided relationship John chapter 10 Jesus says I lay down my life for the sheep in verse 17 the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again no one takes it from me but I lay it down to my own power authority that throws a spanner in the works as most of us would be the two criminals together with Jesus were probably fighting all the way to the nails on the cross or the state whatever it was and Jesus is no I'm not fighting it that's kind of like that ones that's kind of powerful when God demonstrates it that way you are my friends if you do whatever I command you and then he goes on to say I no longer call you servants for a servant does not know what his master is doing but I had called your friends even Judas for all things that I've heard from My Father I have made known to you go back to Abraham God says shall I hide from Abraham what I'm going to do no wonder Abraham was called a friend of God in the book of James Abraham is called a friend of God and here Jesus with his disciples is calling them friends because I'm going I'm sharing was that I had shared with you everything that I've received for my father there's a difference between a servant relationship and a friend relationship then he talks about the origin of life you did not choose me but I chose you it's easy enough to say look I'm a friend of Jesus Jesus as well you didn't initiate that you've entered into it after I prepared a way for you you know that's why I love the song of Rebecca thing you know just the words were before the world was made you were on his mind it's not a far stretch thought when you look at the scriptures and I appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain ah now because of this relationship because of our sins being paid for because of Christ choosing us and because of Christ elevating us friends providing we do what He commands lived by every word that comes from the mouth of God that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you these things I command you that you love one another it's kind of powerful to think that we can go before the throne of grace and pray for someone who's sick as we have done today and God would grant that prayer because we pray in Jesus name I encourage you John chapter 15 those verses and the verse in John 5 15 12 to 17 memorize those scriptures write it on the doorpost of your heart printed out on your laser printer and print it up somewhere in the bathroom so you sort of look at it and most of all talk about it during the day we're not closeted Christians were called to a level of fellowship that defies the human understanding to be called as Friends of God on the same kin as Abraham so the God who made the universe the God who made the earth and the Marvel Beauty all in it the God who asks questions who invites us into relationship who invites us into covenant the God who expresses his love for us the most powerful way invites us as friends the Lord of the universe invite us as friends I have called you friends I chose you I'm sharing with you everything my father showed you showed me so the Creator the protector the Redeemer the king the Lord the high priest our Savior tells you that you're no longer a servant you are a friend it's so encouraging I had struggled in my past to comprehend that because I got back after work and I feel alone and routine of busyness of life but Abraham was a friend of God look at any times Abraham is mentioned in Scripture and for all his failings all these faults God loved him and rebooted the whole humanity human story through him Moses conversed with God at a very close level study how much time scripture refers to Moses at the Last Supper the closest of all the disciples was John and what is John doing he's leaning his head on the breast of Jesus then I used to setup reclining positional closer to the floor if there was something close there and this is where John's testimony speaks it very powerfully to us John understood something of the closeness to be with Jesus and into this circle of friends you and I have been invited to the church in Revelation one of the churches there revelation three Jesus as I stand at the door and knock there was a church a part of the body of Christ that had Christ outside the church if anyone will open to me I will come in to him and dine with him and he with me it's not just Jesus dining last we going together as friends it's very encouraging and very empowered because in today's experience how many really close trustworthy honorable friends do we have perhaps we can count them on one hand it's the reality of living in this world now we're blessed with mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters within the body of Christ but even then out of the disciples 12 disciples was Judas then on the Transfiguration Jesus just took for either of them the three closest disciple Peter John and James and we understand John refers to himself in the third person as being the disciple whom Jesus loved he understood something none of the other disciples refer to themselves as the disciple whom Jesus loved many adjani on making a talk all they're known he knew what it is to be loved really loved and that's why he was leaning on Jesus breast now when we go before the throne of grace and we pray in Jesus name do we ever consider that we are name-dropping we we are name-dropping by going to her father and saying I'm with Jesus the name above all names he's my friend he has the authority yes why I pray in Jesus name he loves me he chose me and so we pray to our Heavenly Father in Jesus name it sounds like name-dropping can I ask you another question doesn't the Jesus name drop us in heaven do you think Lee your name is mentioned in heaven now you and I know that our names are written in the book of life so at some point if God knew us from before the foundation of the world if he's absolute sovereign Hitchin in heaven well jesus said and I don't have a scripture on the screen but Jesus said in Matthew 10:32 whoever confesses me before men I will also confess before my father who is in heaven so my willingness to say I'm with Jesus as a testimony for my life in this community in this world it's sufficient reason for Jesus to give echo to my name now I know the scripture says as Rebecca reminded me this morning that God will give us all the new name I don't understand I'm going to read that in Revelation I treasure that our names are written the book of life but also treasure that Jesus name drops as well I will confess your name before my father in heaven that's why we pray in Jesus name and how do you think our Heavenly Father responds to a request like that I could go there live a look um I've just come from the Prime Minister's office and we've all come with the Prime Minister's name I've name-dropped to use a week example Jesus is truly I say to you whatever you ask of the Father in my name he will give it to you you know true friends a trustworthy there's nothing were more beautiful than a trustworthy friend and truth faith is trustworthy and Jesus commends even the smallest little bit of faith you are my friends that Jesus if you do what I command and this is where we hit on another note this is a reciprocal relationship we have a responsibility and I've been meditating on that of the risk constable nature of covenant relationship it isn't a one-way street with a marriage between a husband and wife it's not one way there's a responsibility Jesus said man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God Jesus you are my friends if you keep my Commandments my command so we as a result come before the father living an obedient life living by every one of a girl's worth we spend our life looking at the Scriptures measuring it against Christ and believe that God says we are friends because we believe and live in our brokenness and in our completeness through faith we have saved by faith and through that saving faith the grace that extended to us strengthens us in obedience I thought we couldn't the law sentence us to death but the law is perfect and holy and good and in Christ's life and death and resurrection is made complete brass to live that victorious life taught that relationship jesus said not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father in heaven so that friendship relationship causes us to be reciprocal I can't say I'm offended with Jesus and live a corrupt sinful life no see Abraham is a fine example despite his failings of God's grace and mercy he was a friend of God as James a text at ninety nine years of age God kept him on the shoulder he was faithful over a long life he believed God I was told me to Rebekah this morning about faithfulness of Abraham and God tests us over a lifetime Abraham Abraham his flocks and his nephew flock Lots flocks we're starting to have problems with the shepherds and and pastoral leases and all that so abraham makes a decision he says not you choose what you want love chose the big fertile valley and Abraham rather difficult mountains I don't you Abraham shepherds were really happy with that decision but through a lifetime of grace and love fellow mankind God couldn't know what he was dealing with even with Isaac years later God says now I know the all-knowing God invites us to participate in His grace for us and Abraham stands tall we have a right hand of fellowship extended to us on the same level of Abraham it's sealed in Jesus blood Abraham knew that from each prodigy nee God's purpose would be fulfilled we've seen that fulfillment of the awake Jesus return this subject that we're discussing as of the wrap this up today isn't a peripheral subject it's not one of the smaller pillars of what we believe it's one of the central doctrines that we can hold on to him the lordship of Christ and the covenant relationship that we've been invited to and how we've been elevated as joint heirs of the grace of life it undergirds the complete dynamic of covenant relationship and what it means and without it we wouldn't understand a john lived it that was his testimony we trust his testimony and because he lived at an experience there on a level that he had gained in the little bit of begins I had never been at a lord's supper leaning on someone whose breasts you know most of us are sort of had the true Brit rule we like our personal space but freedom I don't know whether you know that most of us probably know the story of David and Jonathan there was a male friendship that we've lost in this society because the corruption in the society where scripture sometimes reveals that sometimes men can be bonded stronger than the eros of love of women it's a non-sexual relationship very powerful I think we have it in Australia makeshift determined in times of war men come back and there's a special bonding there that they carry with into the grave it's an honorable bonding it's a powerful bonding John headed with Jesus Jonathan Jonathan sacrificed his whole royal kingship for David was they love for one another those scriptures speak out to us as a testimony as an example to encourage us and I think today in my life Jesus has been reaching out to me and is reaching out to all of us this is the church that Christ is building and that we are subject to the Lord of all that hear the good work that God is beginning in us will be brought to fruition through his will improve his purpose as Jesus at all authority in heaven on earth has been given for me given for me that's why we pray in Jesus name now from that strength of veracity we can bare our hearts to God trustworthy like Davidson show me my hidden thoughts how many of us have prayed that to God and recent times little scary prayer do you know what God will find out inside you show me my hidden faults help me to be amenable to admonition and correction I want to know you as friend but am I also prepared that the scripture says a faithful are the wounds of a friend so if Jesus touches you on the shoulder and sort something out in your life I've always said God dude gently because I know the scripture says a friend loves at all time but never prayer God who loves me show me my hidden faults that I may be whiter than snow today God is asking all of us to take a step further to open the door to receive him and to know in this friend if you've never thought of Jesus Christ as friend hold it dear hole betting it because it transforms our Christian journey completely we are on his mind from the foundation of the world Ephesians 1:4 said that beautiful just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world elevates God's sovereignty and his love and his capacity to bring forth his good work so will you call Jesus my friend and will you tell others about that friendship this is the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God King Lord master and friend Jesus says in John 15 verse 5 and that's what I'll finish on I am the vine you are the branches whoever abides in me and I in him here it is that bear much fruit for apart from me you can deny [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh [Music] you [Music]

Channel: messageweek

Views: 305

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Friend, Saviour, King, Judge, Redeemer, Intercessor, Son of God, Jesus, Messiah, Christ, sermon, Mundaring, Church of God, Seventh Day, gospel

Id: 6tTTvL2T3ew

Length: 38min 15sec (2295 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 22 2017