Why Jesus Satisfies | Michael Ramsden | The Saturday Session | RZIM

all of us are leading lives which we think will make us happy we're all consuming things buying things building things taking things in trying to satisfy some kind of inner desire we all want to be fulfilled how do we truly measure what it means to be satisfied in this world [Music] if you're familiar with thinking about both government policy and even ngo charitable activity on a global platform you may be familiar with a term called social well-being swb and all kinds of different measures have been invented by the united nations the world health organization different schools of thought and different ivy league schools around the world to try to answer one simple question how do we truly measure what it means to be happy fulfilled satisfied in this world and why is it that as we see wealth going up in a nation happiness reported levels of happiness seem to go down why is it that once we've reached a point where we have enough food and enough water that we keep adding in more and more in terms of our economic success and yet inside we can feel poorer at times how is that possible and this question has been around indeed for a long time which is why so often we fill our life with distractions to distract ourselves from the problem of our own emptiness and so we're looking to be entertained through television through radio through drinking partying whatever it may be anything that can distract us or momentarily hold our attention because there's something within us that seems to be missing when the distractions are taken away all of a sudden things are revealed and where we're wrestling with what it truly means to be full and what i'd like to share with you is actually how jesus christ himself directly addressed this issue so i want to read to you from luke chapter 12 verse 13 where it says someone in the crowd said to him that's to jesus teacher tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me and jesus replied man who appointed me a judge or arbiter between you then he said to them watch out and be on your guard against all kinds of covetousness or greed life does not consist in the abundance of possessions and he told them this parable the ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest and he thought to himself what shall i do i have no place to store my crops then he said this is what i'll do i will tear down my barns and build bigger ones and there i will store my surplus grain and i'll say to myself you have plenty of grain laid up for many years take life easy eat drink and be merry but god said to him you fool this very night your life will be demanded from you then who will get what you have prepared for yourself and this is how it will be whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards god now this story is fascinating someone comes to jesus and says jesus i want you to tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me now what is this well in the time of jesus christ if you were an older brother you inherited the bulk of the estate when your parents died you inherited most of it in some cases all of it and your young brothers got nothing so this is the younger brother and he's coming to jesus and he's saying look please you tell my brother divide the estate now the question is why does he want the estate divided and the answer to that question is the same answer to the question why do any of us want money and the answer is we don't want money for the sake of just having money we want money for the things it will buy for the things it will bring into our life for all the satisfaction the joy the fun that's why we want it there's no point having it and doing nothing with it we want it so that we can use it so the chain of thought in the younger guy's mind is look i don't have this and it hasn't happened and i actually feel it isn't really very fair so if you jesus tell him to do this and he does it i will get what i want and then i will be happy i will be fulfilled so the chain of reasoning is a very common one and jesus starts off by doing something fascinating in this story his first response is to say okay you want me to answer this question for you who has appointed me the judge in this issue now it doesn't matter how the guy answers if the guy says well i'm appointing you then jesus has authority the next question is will you listen to what i have to say if the guy says well you have authority from god jesus will say well will you listen what i have to say it doesn't matter how he answers that question the question he's saying is do you really want me to tell you are you actually listening who is giving me this authority and it doesn't matter how he answers it you know that sometimes there are questions which we ask and we often sometimes hope that somebody won't answer it unless they give us the answer we want so frequently we're worried about what it could mean to come to know christ sometimes it is very very difficult we want other people to be like christ we don't want to be like it if he tells us what he wants us to do we better behave that way do you know the story of the two boys who are arguing in the kitchen and they're fighting there's one cookie left and there are two of them and they're fighting and they're arguing about who had the most and who that one belongs to the mother comes into the room and she's got a headache she's tired and she says i can't believe it you shouldn't be fighting like this if jesus were here jesus would say let my brother have it so the older brother turned to the younger brother said okay you be jesus sometimes we're asking a question sometimes we're asking real questions but we have to stop and say wait a minute who has authority in my life to answer this question will i actually listen to what you have to say so jesus first of all takes him back to a point of authority then he actually drives him now back to an even deeper point and he says to him be on your guard against all types of greed now the word translated greed there is a compound word as it's given to us in the bible it literally means to have a desire that cannot be satisfied so when jesus says in verse 15 watch out be on your guard against all kinds of greed old fashioned translations translated covetousness it means to have an unsatiable desire a desire it doesn't matter how much you feed it how much you give it is going to come back and jesus says you need to be careful of those kinds of desires desires which can never properly be satisfied and now he's actually making the guy stop and think now notice something jesus is not saying it is wrong to look for satisfaction or to want it as a matter of fact the bible never questions the legitimacy of our desire for true happiness and fulfillment it doesn't there's a very famous passage in isaiah chapter 55 some of you may be familiar with it and the lord speaks these words he says come all of you who are thirsty come to the water you who have no money come buy and eat come buy wine and milk without money and without cost why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy listen listen to me and your soul will delight you will delight in the richest affair now did you hear that so do you see what god is saying here in isaiah 55 he's not questioning the desire for fulfillment and satisfaction he's questioning where you can find it and there's a big difference between the two he's saying look the desire you have is right but the means by which you're trying to satisfy it are wrong this inner desire you have for fulfillment for satisfaction cannot be satisfied by external means it doesn't matter how much labor how much time you pour into it it doesn't matter how much gold how much money you spend trying to achieve it you will not find it there but if you come to me if you drink from the water i give god says you will be full and you will be satisfied god is not questioning our desire for satisfaction he is ultimately questioning where is it found and so we now see this here in luke 12 where jesus says be careful of greed unsatiable desire he then goes on to then say to the guy life does not consist in the abundance of possessions in other words even if you have more than enough your wealth will not give you life even if you have more than you ever dreamed of that wealth cannot give you life jesus says look there was a man and he owned land and the land produced a big crop okay a large harvest now there's a little play of language here in the greek and of the gospel of luke as it's written the word to bring forth is freighto it means to produce now in greek if you take the letters e you and you put it in front of a word it expands it it makes it bigger so as it's written in in the gospel of luke it says you freto from the eu frost from the abundance of things so jesus is saying look what happened here is very unusual we're not talking about a usual harvest we're not talking about so much acreage producing so much grain or so much fruit what we had here was an over abundance an oversupply okay everything produced way more than he could have hoped for way more than you might expect this is a bumper crop it is huge and thankfully it's not in a perishable state this is actually grain he's producing so it can be stored so the guy is now thinking i've made it life is okay the only problem i have he now says is what do i do with the wealth so he looks at his barns and he thinks well those are no good so he tears them down he says build big ones i need huge bombs and they build these huge barns and he stores all of this grain all of this wealth in the barn and he's thinking to himself you know what i can take a holiday and not just for a week or a month i can take a holiday now for years i don't need to sew next year i don't need to harvest next year i don't need anything next year i don't need anything the year after that or the year after that i've got so much stuff i'm made for life and so now having come into more than he could have possibly have imagined more wealth than he ever could have possibly dreamed of he tears down his barns and he builds big ones and he says to himself you have plenty of grain for many years take life easy eat drink and be merry now this word which has translated mary here it can have be positive or negative it's the context which allows you to tell whether it's good or bad it is the same word here we translate merry that in luke chapter 15 when jesus says there was a man who had two sons and the one younger one asked for his inheritance sold it and went away and he lost everything and when he was starving he came back and then the older brother comes and complains do you remember this story the prodigal son what are you doing the father said we had to celebrate now the word translated there celebrate is the same word to be merry we had to be happy what is the appropriate response if something is lost and found it's the same word it's the context which allows us to tell whether it's positive or negative so the question here is is it positive or negative so it's a very powerful image when it's used in luke 15 about the lost son a child that was lost and you found them how would you feel if you got them back so when the father said we had to celebrate we had to be married do you understand the intensity of the word the word actually translated mary is the greek word you throne now the throne is the diaphragm okay to euthrone to put the greek word e u in front of the diaphragm means to make it big so how do you make the diaphragm big there must be singers in the audience how do you expand your diaphragm and the answer go okay well done you breathe in and as you breathe in the diaphragm is pushed down and now it's expanded so when it says be merry it's saying literally i'm going to be big diaphragms it's saying i'm going to go ah that's the word so you see how the guy's thinking from the eu frost from the abundance of things comes the eu throne this deep inner satisfaction that deep side where you can go everything is grace it's the same word the father says about his lost child we had to celebrate we had to you throne we had to from the abundance of things from the eu frost the euphrates comes this abundance in life the eu throne now interestingly as jesus tells the story as soon as the guy says this god looks at him and says you fool now the word fool here is also very carefully chosen the normal greek word for fool when you're reading the greek new testament when you're reading the bible in the language it was written in the word for fool is the greek word it means to be a it means to be really stupid foolish an idiot but actually that's not the greek word used here when it says you fool it's not it's not the word you're expecting the word actually is a throne which is a more unusual word but it still means to be a fool but it has a different mental picture the throne is the diaphragm the left the greek letter a the greek letter alpha normally operates as a negative it negates what comes after it it means to be diaphragm less jesus is saying you who think that from the eu frost the abundance of things comes the eu throne the abundance of life you will end up a throne you won't have a diaphragm at all and now the mental picture is not of someone breathing deep going everything's fine the mental picture is now the opposite it's of someone who is completely empty inside in other words this is going to deliver into your life the exact opposite of what you hoped it would it's a very strong picture imagine how disappointing it is to climb all the way up to the top of the ladder of life only to realize the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall well that's what christ is saying here it is possible to set yourself on a course believing it will bring one thing but when you actually get it you're going to end up somewhere else this story once you get it into your head you can't get it out jesus says this is what it's like you know there are so many things that we bring into our lives the reason we bring them in is we think they're going to make us happy all of us do that all of us are leading lives which we think will make us happy we're all consuming things buying things building things taking things in trying to satisfy some satisfy some kind of inner desire we all want to be fulfilled and the good news the incredible news in the bible is god isn't challenging that he's not saying if you want to become a christian if you want to truly worship me that what you need to do is deny yourself everything and just simply look miserable and be miserable and the more miserable you are the more holy you are and the less happy you look you know the more the better the closer to god you are he's not saying that at all when we think of holiness we assume that means incredible seriousness but actually what god is talking about here is an incredible joy i was speaking in hong kong last year and there was a lady a very senior business executive and she was on the front row and all the time she kept looking over her shoulder looking around all the time every 20 seconds she would she would look over her shoulder it was actually a friend of mine who was speaking and afterwards she went up to this woman they got talking she said do you mind if i ask you a question she said all the time when everyone was singing you kept looking around said all the time during the message you kept looking around why were you doing that and the woman said should i lead a very large business and i know what fake happiness looks like and i know what it's what it's like to pretend to be happy in front of reporters you're bored other people he says what i don't understand is i'm looking around at everyone's face and i'm not seeing fake happiness i've seen something real and i can't understand it how is it possible for so many people to be rejoicing all at the same time there is something that christ is able to bring into our life that fulfills us he is not challenging your desire to be fulfilled what he is challenging is where that fulfillment ultimately comes from and he's saying well you need to be rich before god now what does that mean well let me just bounce back into isaiah 55 because we started reading that passage and the answer is actually found in the following verses he says seek the lord while he may be found call on him when he is near let the wicked forsake their way the unrighteous their thoughts let them turn to the lord he will have mercy on them and to our god he will freely pardon verse 10 god says as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater so is the word that goes from my mouth it will not return to me empty but will accomplish what i desire and will achieve the purpose for which i sent it you will go out in joy and you will be led forth in peace now do you see what god then says my thoughts are higher than your thoughts my ways are higher than your ways as the heaven is as high above the earth so are my thoughts and ways above yours but just as the rain comes down from heaven and the snow to earth my word can come down from heaven to the earth and water it and make it flourish and it will achieve the purpose for which i sent it well what's the purpose he sent it well we're told the purpose was he wants to forgive us and pardon us so when this word of god comes from heaven to earth it achieves the purpose for which he sent it we are forgiven he can forgive us and what is the result you will be sent forth in joy you'll be rejoicing you will suddenly know there's true you throne in life this deep satisfaction because he has come to you this is about god coming from heaven to earth jesus christ is the word of god he came from heaven to earth the purpose for which he came was to forgive and freely pardon this word achieves the purpose for which it was sent from heaven to earth where does your satisfaction come from where is true joy found and the answer is only in jesus christ but notice the means by which he achieves it first of all god comes from heaven to us that jesus is not talking about god is not talking about us trying to find god there isn't a path from earth to heaven but there is a path from heaven to earth god makes it he comes down to us and then he offers to freely pardon us now why is this so important the answer is it's because we've all done things which are wrong in the pursuit of pleasure we have done things which have hurt us which have harmed us which have broken us we have done things which have damaged us now then you have any idea what you're looking at okay this is hebrew now let me explain it do you see the difference between these two words they look very identical to you the one at the bottom here is hebrew hal you put you yah at the end you have the word hallelujah praise his name this word here hal with a hard h hallelujah profane his name the difference between a hallelujah before god a praising of his holy name and a hallelujah a profaning of his name happens by closing this little gap here and it converts this from a soft h to a hard one the distance between what it means to live a life that profanes god's name and pleases his name is covered by the distance between these two when you close that gap and the result is when you live that way you end up hurting yourself it literally damages our bodies we're seeking pleasure we're doing something which at the time often feels good and we desperately want it but we're reaping the harvest in our own bodies and we live with the consequences of it and it's impossible to get rid of there are other things which we do spending our money our time on things that we think should satisfy us should please us should fulfill us and they don't so we do more of it and more and more and every time you need to do something more extreme to get the same amount of pleasure we need something bigger and bigger more and more just to give us the same amounts that we end up going faster they call it a hedonic treadmill from hedonism trying to get pleasure the hedonic treadmill you have to run faster and faster just to maintain the same level of satisfaction in life and in the pursuit of that we do all kinds of things which are wrong we compromise ourselves we hurt ourselves we live with the guilt or the pain or the fallout of it we wonder how on earth do we get past it and the answer isn't to run faster the answer is to stop and turn to god and instead of drinking salt water of this that from this world you drink the pure water that comes from him it doesn't matter how much salt water you drink it will never satisfy your thirst and actually if you keep on drinking it it will kill you but if you turn to him he can forgive you he can wipe the slate clean jesus christ came from heaven to earth he came into this world and he made himself one with us that's what happens when you put your trust in christ you become one with him and all the stuff that's flown into your body all of the poison all of the brokenness all of the pain it becomes his he takes it on into himself and when he goes to the cross he pays the price for what we have done by his stripes we are healed all of that pain all of that hurt all of that poison in life all of the curse that flows from going against him and doing the wrong things all of that becomes translated onto jesus christ all of the sin we have done becomes his that's why the bible says when jesus christ went to the cross he became sin for us all of the curses in our life all of the spiritual damage and hurt that is in our life gets onto him that's why the bible says he became a curse for us this is very powerful language he's saying everything which was in us is now put on in him and he pays the price he takes on the consequences for what we have done wrong and he lays down his life and he pays and through his resurrection he conquers over all of it and he comes to us and says turn to me drink from me your soul will delight in the richest affair i don't know what it means to you to be a christian or what you think it may mean to lead a holy life or to be made holy by god he's not interested in emptying you he's actually interested in filling you he can feed you and water you with things that you cannot possibly imagine some of you have already heard parts of my testimony where i talked about the fact i didn't want to become a christian because i thought i would become miserable after i became a christian i couldn't hide the joy which i knew it was impossible everybody thought i'd gone crazy i can remember i'd go to church i'd come back one sunday lunch i was having lunch with some friends they looked at me they said what did you do this morning i said i went to church they looked at me they said but you look so happy you could see the logic you've been to church you should be feeling miserable why are you so happy and the answer is because i've been forgiven because someone's changed my life because there's a fulfillment in my life i thought wasn't even possible it doesn't matter how much money i spend how much how much time i put into it and i put a lot of time into trying to make myself happy what are the things that you're pursuing where is your energy going your creativity your money your labor your gold where is it going does it satisfy christ came into this world he alone can meet the deepest desires of our heart he alone can satisfy us he's able to deal with all of the guilt the pain and the hurt in this world because he came from heaven to earth the living word and at the cross he crucified it there and through his resurrection he offers us a new life in him and we can know that forgiveness and we can know that joy it will not return to me empty it will accomplish what i desire it will achieve the purpose of which i sent it and you will go out enjoy and you will be led forth in peace

Channel: RZIM HQ

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Keywords: RZIM, Ravi, Ravi Zacharias, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, apologetics, evangelism, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Christ, Christianity, Christian, Christian Apologetics, philosophy, God, truth, Bible, gospel, Lord, salvation

Id: DgYe5kwPXdM

Length: 30min 34sec (1834 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 19 2020