Sunday 19th November 2017
Jesus the same yesterday today forever Phill Vickery
Readings
Revelation 1.8:
‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come,
Rev 4:8-11
‘Holy, holy, holy,
the Lord God the Almighty,
who was and is and is to come.’
9And whenever the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
11 ‘You are worthy, our Lord andGod,
to receive glory and honour andpower,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.’
Colossians 3:9-23
Last week Ralph preached from Hebrews Chapter 10 a passage that reminds us that Christ’s sacrifice for us was once and for all that no other sacrifice was needed. In our studies in Mark’s Gospel on Wednesdays we reached the point where Peter announced the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus responded to His disciples telling them that He was going to be crucified and rise again from the dead. The beginning of the Kingdom of God through history, now and to come. This Kingdom is centred on the reign of Jesus as Lord that started at the resurrection.
Jesus who was
Firstly, the Bible clearly states that Jesus as part of the trinity part of God was involved in Creation but also physically came to live with us as a human being, being totally human and totally God.
Asour reading from Colossians says
.15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16for in* him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.
Secondly, we have the incarnation the birth and life of Christ that we will soon be celebrating again. 2000 years ago Jesus walked on this earth. We are not celebrating a myth at Christmas but aPerson.
We know fromhistorical evidence, both outside and inside the New Testament, that Jesus existed.
We know he was fully human. He had a body, emotions, experiences. Some people today would agree, but think He was only a great human being, a great religious teacher – but no more than that. But the Son of God - to suggest He’s God, that’s going too far.
But I believe, we at Blaenycwm Chapel believe He was and is the Son of God
What did he say about himself:-
Jesus said: ‘I am the bread of life.’‘If you want that hunger satisfied, come to me John 6:35
Jesus said: ‘If the Son sets you free,’you really will be free.’John 8:36 Jesus setting us free from the things which bind us and tie us down
. Jesus said: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I’ll give you rest.’ ‘If you want peace, peace of mind, come to Me. He deals with our guilt and anxietyMatthew 11:28.’
He also said: ‘If you receive me, you receive God.’Matthew 10:40 and
‘If you have seen me, you have seen God.’John 14:9
In John 10:30–33. Jesus said this:
‘I and the Father are one.’ To the people around at the time this was blasphemy and they picked up stones to stone him. it’s clear that Jesus did make that claim, an astonishing claim which needs to be tested.There are only really three possibilities. Either it was not true and Jesus knew perfectly well it was not true, in which case He was a con man. Or else it was not true and he just simply didn’t realise it was not true – he genuinely thought he was God – in which case he was deluded, mad.
But logically there is only really one other possibility, and that is that it’s true.
We then get to the purpose of His life…. To die:- The crucifixion but closely followed by the resurrection,His conquest of death. This is the cornerstone of Christianity. It’s so relevant to every single person here, because statistics showwe all will die one day!
Jesus rose from the dead
When the disciples heard that Jesus had been raised from the dead, they ran to the tomb, and when they got to the tomb, they looked in, all they found were the grave-clothes of Jesus. Nothing was stolen, the piece that had been around His head had been folded up and put in another place. The Bible says when they saw that, they believed.
So not only theempty tomb; butHis appearances to the disciples. Jesus was seen on several occasions, on one occasion by more than 500 people. All saw him on the same occasion. This was no hallucination. The disciples were not the sort of people to have hallucinations. They were cynics, like Thomas. They were tough fisherman. and tax collectors
The disciplesthemselveschanged from a disillusioned group to a group that proclaimed a new kingdom based upon the resurrection of Jesus.
Something they stuck to despite torture and death
The Resurrection of Jesus was as a Physical Body,He ate and drank yet He appeared through closed doors This was a new type of body.
And after a while He did not die again,He ascended into heaven. He left the disciples and they saw him transfer into heaven.
We say Heaven is up but we do not really know, what we doknow is Jesus is there.
Which brings us to today to now
Jesus who is
Jesus is physically alive, But in another place seated at the right hand of the Father .Eph 1:17-22
17I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Him, 18so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20God* put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Jesus Having won a great victory in His death and resurrection is now in a position of authority, His Kingdom has started. But at the moment it is a kingdom in disguise, He is operating through his people in a different way not as a ruler we would normally expect but as a servant leader. Some call it an upside down Kingdom because it operates through sacrifice and forgiveness and grace. Mostly through the church where we are tasked to bring about His kingdom of grace and justice in our lives and the people and communities we are part of.
To do this, the same power that raised him, physically, from the dead is operating
He is also present with us by the Spirit. That presence is real, He talks to us through the Spirit, He lives in us through the Spirit. We can and do have a relationship with Him
We are in Jesus and He is in us by the Holy Spirit
Let’s look at Ephesians again.
Eph 3:14-19
14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,*15from whom every family* in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
The Holy Spirit guides us and empowers us to bring about God’s Kingdom.
Here and now. What we are doing is in preparation for and forerunners of the transformation that will come to the world when God brings about a new Heaven and a new earth when Jesus comes back.
Jesus who is to come
Yes, Jesus is coming back and that power that raised Him from the dead and gave Him a new type of body will give us the same new bodies as we are raised and transformed to join with Jesus to continue the transformation of the new earth and new heaven until the final judgement when all will be judged.
In the meantime, Jesus is inviting us all to be part of His transformation, part of His Kingdom; to join with Him and His body, the Church. Not just to sit and sing hymns but to be a transforming agency where we live and work. Sharing his grace and love in words and action as individuals and as His church, in our everyday life, how we speak how we act and how we are to people, family and strangers alike.
If you are new to this and want to be part of this then the beginning point is to accept Jesus’ forgiveness, to open yourself up to His grace and find that He will through His Spirit give you the power to live differently.
In the evening we explored together how our forgiveness of people can release grace into people’s lives giving us the power of love and the wonder of grace,as mentioned in Stewart Townend’s song ‘Vagabonds’
How do we, how do you release this healing into peoples’ lives? By forgiving them just as Jesus forgave those who crucified them.
This is part of putting the kingdom into action. Let us encourage one another in these actions