The Restoring Redeemer
You don't have to say as a guy I really like action movies, right anybody else like action movies. 3 people are a couple cats. All right, I'm a big action movie fan. Of course. I like, you know things blowing up and I like lots of action and Chase scenes and all that kind of stuff. But I think what really makes a good action movie is a really sympathetic villain. All right, somebody that is his kind of compelling it almost makes you feel sorry for the bad guy. And I think that's what makes a really interesting action movie. Don't get me wrong. I still like all the blowing up and all the chassis and stuff. All right. I think it really compelling movie is when the bad guy seems to almost be the good guy or least you feel sorry for him. Right? I think you could have really compelling bad guy, especially when that sympathetic villain is somebody who has been hurt life is been unfair for them in some sort of remarkable way. And what usually happens is that bad guy then and movies that Drew this really well is that they want to take over the world but not just to take over the world to rule it. They want to just hit the reset button. They want everything to just change the way that they think it should be. So if you're an action movie buff, all right example, this will be the last year this movie called The Black Panther came out and the bad guy in their head had a really kind of abusive childhood. And when he grew up here comes as bad guy and he says he just wants to burn it all and start the whole world over again. All right, or if you're a big fan of Star Wars what you should be like me. All right, you had this movie called The Last Jedi that came out last year in the bad guy in that wants to leave everything behind you wants to leave the Jedi behind you wants to leave all the other different factions behind and he just wants to start this New World Order. He wants to see everything behind just follow and just start brand new. I think what makes them compelling villains. He's this idea that they just want that and everything and start everything a fresh to start everything brand new. It's an attractive idea, isn't it? But I think what makes him the bad guy but the good guys usually learn from this is that the bad guys don't believe in Redemption.
Redemption where you keep what's behind even if it's fraud? Can you bring it to something new?
See the bad guys. They just want to just destroy everything that's come behind. This road is flawed and just start something new and usually the bad guys because they're bad guys want to make the world and their image not in what it should be like God's image rights. That's where they get really bad. But I think that's sometimes an attractive concept for us. It's hard for us to believe in Redemption. We just want to leave the past behind and maybe it's our past. Maybe it's a passive somebody else. Maybe it's just looking at the past in the world. All the world wars that we've had all the famines violence. We just want to leave it all in the past and start brand new. T Redemption is loving and valuing and investing in things that are not perfect.
Yo last week we talked about how Heaven Is Not Our Hope, which is maybe a kind of a a striking statement. Especially as Christians. We probably grown up thinking that that our hope is Justin dying and going to heaven. Wish don't get me wrong. That is still very true. We still die. We still go to heaven and that's a very good thing. Don't get me wrong there. But our hope is not just in dying and going to heaven are hope primarily is Jesus coming back here and bringing Heaven down to earth a heaven on Earth. That's why the Bible talks about the new heavens and the Earth. It's his new creation. This world this planet Earth made knew that we look forward to And I think that this idea really kind of fits with who God is because God is not just saying well, let's just burn it all us just get rid of the past and let's just start new and from now on there's no more planet Earth. It's just going to be Heaven from here on out. Instead. God says let's save what is flawed? What is bad? And let's bring Heaven to Earth. Let's marry the two. This is why we called Jesus a redeemer.
a redeemer somebody who redeems what has come before and doesn't just get rid of it. And this is just how God works. He doesn't destroy with come before he doesn't destroy creation. He restores creation. I think it works the same way for you and me and our conversions when we become Christians that is what happens to us. Jesus redeems and restores you as part of the new creation. He makes you a new creature. And it just plays out in our reading. So if you look at the story of saw the story of Acts that we read you can see that conversion is not a couple of things that we usually think it's alright. First of all conversion is not some sort of intellectual assent conversion is not accepting Jesus now as Christians, should we accept Jesus? Of course, he said right but that's not what conversion is. Thank you for that pole. Dancer. You were right, right. We we should accept Jesus but that's not how we become Christian as Christians. We do accept you this but that's not how we get there in the first place and you see this play out with the Apostle Paul when he still saw because when he saw he is going trying to find Christians, he's trying to take them prisoner. He is even killing them and fast, I think if we were to make an apt comparison today saw would have been a lot like Isis. He was a terrorist. He was a terrorist against the church. And what's remarkable about the story of Saw is that when God talks to ananias got to saying, you know that saw guy Public Enemy Number One of Christians. Yeah.
Is My Chosen instrument? In fact to write most of the New Testament and they do a lot of missionary work? It was kind of the skin was idea that God has. And what changes saw is not him saying, you know what? I think those Christians have a right? God intervenes in saws life God changes saw before he even figures out what Christianity is. Christianity is not some sort of intellectual work that you do to become a Christian Christianity is not accepting the facts of Jesus and then saying yep, then I will be Christian. The Holy Spirit Works in you first the Holy Spirit brings you to Faith first and then you say okay now it makes sense. In fact books, that's why we baptize babies. That's why we baptize people it's not because they get it. It's not because they're know everything there is to know about the Christian faith. It's because we believe because the Bible says in baptism that the holy spirit is working in the people that are brought to baptism. And that could include babies. I miss your other thing is that conversion is not a magic spell. I didn't some people think well if this if you can baptize babies, well, let's just get the baby baptized and it will be good and then we can just say we're good and we never have to go to church again, right? Conversion is not a magic spell because notice how it works with Paul. Paul is not just magically become Christian is encountered by the one who was crucified and was now risen is encountered by Jesus a magic spell kind of suggests that well. You don't really need Jesus in the process as long as ritual called baptism done. You'll be good. No, that's not what you just says about baptism baptism connects you to Jesus death and his resurrection. In fact, check out of Romans chapter 6 verse 4. I think you got this on the screen for you two. Alright says we were buried there for with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father. We too might walk in newness of life.
The baptism saves you the Bible says that but it doesn't save you as a magic spell just all on its own. The reason baptism saves you was because Jesus has said that by doing this you are connected to what he has done on the cross. That's what baptism dies conversion again. It's not a magic spell. It's not some sort of intellectual assent conversion is redemption. When you become a Christian it has it is because you have been redeemed. Conversion is restoration by the word of the crucified one conversion is Right Redemption by the word of that Jesus by his choice. It's God's choice about you. It's not your choice to be with God. It's God's choice about you even against your sinful will You notice that we don't usually ask the babies permission we baptize them, right? We just do it to him. And that's how God works because if he ever needed you to be part of the process guess what would happen? You would never become a Christian. Did Jesus redeems you without anything that you contribute Jesus redeems You by recreating you and he takes what his old and he renews it. He takes the old sinful you and he makes you brand new. Jesus takes you w**** old and dead and helpless and he restores you. CN Paul is an example of this conversion and this kind of Faith because you notice when Paul when he becomes a Christian, he's baptized immediately and he turns Away Paul was a Pharisee and the Pharisees were all about what you had to do to be in a good place with God. It was all about what you were doing to make sure that you stayed saved. Paul dies is immediately when he becomes a Christian he gives up what we would call synergism go and say synergism. Are you still awake? Good? Alright synergism is this idea that you work with God in order to be saved? That you at least have some sort of small part if not a big part. That you are helping God and your sort of Salvation project. Paul doesn't he becomes a Christian is he gives all of that he realizes that it is nonsense. He can't do a thing to be saved. So appalled as he counts everything as loss except the word of Jesus. Cuz here's the thing if you think that you need to help God or you think that you are somehow responsible for your salvation or you think that you feel like you might blow your salvation. You just might blow it and you might lose your status before God. Stop it.
It's not your responsibility. To try to live as good Christians. Yeah sure. We should that's because Jesus has given you a new status. But if you think that you can somehow be responsible for your salvation and any small way at all stop it. But Paul learns that he must trust God alone for his salvation. Trust Jesus word when he says that he has done enough.
In fact that this kind of the definition of faith that I try to teach to our conference, if you ask one of our conference ask them what faith is because what I tell them is that faith is taking God's word for it. Take God's word for that. You're forgiven. Take God's word for it that baptism saves you take God's word for it that this bread this little wafer and that wind is really his actual body and blood just take his word for it because in his word is supreme Comfort if comfort knowing that Jesus what he did on the cross is enough.
See Christianity is not about living this sort of anxious life. Wondering if you're saved. Christianity is not about being anxious. Christianity is about having the comfort knowing that Jesus has done enough for you.
Your brothers and sisters Christ the word that has been decreed over you and your baptism. Cheap baptism is a word that you can see it trickles down your face. It's a historical event of your salvation in the worst of times when you're in your ugliest spots, you can still say well, you know what? I'm baptized.
Jesus gives you the gift of comfort in his salvation for you because being a Christian means that you have already been declared a citizen of that new Earth to come jesus takes you who are a sinner an ugly rotten no-good Sinner and he loves you. He values you and he invest in you for the new creation. So that's why we've got her memory verse this evening Psalm Chapter 30 verse 3. I'm sure you got it memorized by now. It's going to say that together again. Oh Lord. You have brought up my soul from Shea. Ole you restored Me to Life from among those who go down to the pet Psalm 30 verse 3 see that. Is a verse about being secure? Secure and what God has done for you? It's not about being anxious. It's about a God who knows the ugliness in your life. Who knows the anger who knows the hatred who knows the sin and yet he's still read themes you any promises to restore you. Did Jesus is the restoring receiver? And he has chosen you as his instrument. in Jesus name