Eternal Lamb of God Ever Present

April 25, 1993

Luke 24:13-35

1 Peter 1:17-23

Isaiah 43:1-12

Introduction

Our Scripture lessons for today have one encouraging theme:

GOD IS NEAR TO THOSE WHO SEEK HIM AND WHO WANT TO LIVE IN HIS PRESENCE AND TO DO HIS WILL.

The Lesson from Luke 24 brings us back to the beautiful story of the Emmaus Road. The children have read it again for us: As the disciples walked along, talking about the events of the day in the light of a faith that had been almost lost, Jesus was there, He went with them, they believed and they shared.

The text from I Peter says it in a profound, theological framework:

For He (the Lamb of God) was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."

The vision of Isaiah gives us the word as from the very mouth of God Himself. And powerful, comforting, but challenging words they are!

I. GOD SAYS WHAT HE IS TO HIS PEOPLE

They have not been all they should be. In fact they have been in captivity because of their earlier rebellion, and the rebellion of their parents. But God still loves them. He has heard their hearts cry. And so God says these things:

  1. I HAVE FORMED YOU. I am Your Creator. I know what really makes you tick!

    If we are self-made people, then God's words do not apply.

    If our church is of our own efforts; if we in fact are not a living stone, built into the living structure of the One True Church that Jesus is building, then these words do not apply.

    We are not "the only church." But by God's grace we are a part of God's church! We have life, we have an open door. We are God's because He has planted us here!

  2. I HAVE REDEEMED YOU. I have removed your sins; I have paid the price for you. I am the Suffering Servant as well as the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. You do not have to continue in your unhappy condition.

    If we have not sinned, we have never been redeemed.

    If we are righteous in our own goodness, these words are meaningless.

    But by the grace of God we have been washed in the blood of the everlasting sacrifice and been cleansed of our iniquity, and clothed in Christ's own righteousness. We have been redeemed.

  3. I HAVE NAMED YOU. I have called you by name. Not only do I know your name— the details of your life— but I have given you a new name. [Remember Jacob and the wrestling scene at Jabbok, and how in the course of the night the angel (Theophany) said, "What is your name?" "Jacob!" "No! Your name is Israel!"
  4. YOU ARE MINE! God-owned! That sounds so limiting, so confining to the un-believing mind, I suppose. But to my mind it is the most satisfying thing I can think of, to have the great God of heaven and earth unashamed to call ME His own!

    I have seen children who were ashamed of their parents because they were out of style. I have seen parents ashamed of their children— and sometimes I may have wanted to pretend my children belonged to someone else (not really!!) But to have God say "You belong to me!" gives me great security. I would think twice before messing around with Almighty God's property!

II. GOD SAYS WHAT HIS PEOPLE ARE TO HIM

  1. A covenant is not "one-way;" it is in some way "reciprocal"

    God has said, "I AM your God!" And in that statement are all the wonderful things God has done for us. But God is also saying, "You are mine!" The covenant is not just one sided, with nothing for us to be and do. God makes it plain; His statement is simple, it is repeated, it is clear:

    YOU ARE MY WITNESSES!

    "These are to be the conditions of our covenant relationship: I AM YOUR GOD! YOU ARE MY WITNESSES!"

  2. Witnessing involves: Talking about God! But this involves more than "speculation!" Everyone, it seems is an "expert" on God; God wouldn't do this; God isn't like that—

    What is involved in our covenant? We are to be witnesses to what? To the fact that I AM God! And that the I AM God is the center of our lives! This acknowledgment of God in every facet of our lives sums up our duties as God's people, His servants, His witnesses.

  3. To WHOM do we talk about God?
    1. We talk about God to God Himself! We tell GOD what He is to us! That is WORSHIP!
    2. We talk about God to our selves! (Psalm 103) We tell ourselves what God IS to us: that is HUMILITY!
    3. We talk about God to each other! We tell each other what God is: that is FELLOWSHIP IN WORSHIP! (The importance of what we used to call "testimony time."
    4. We tell everyone who will listen who God is TO US! We tell everyone who will listen who God is and that becomes EVANGELISM.

      What do we tell them? (1) What we know for certain! (2) "God is GOOD!" And God has said He inhabits such God-talk! If God is in our God-talk He says (in this Isaiah passage:)

      "I will bring your family together from the north and the south and from the east and from the west."

CONCLUSION

A résumé of the year is in your hands. God has helped us this year. Pastor Nielson has worked with ad hoc committees this year who have helped develop a ministry that is solid for our people from birth through teens; Mike Schutz has developed the College Sunday School class and has worked with Chaplain Mark Sanford in that area; I have mentioned some exciting things in the younger adults ministries in my report. It remains for us this year to continue to seek to develop opportunities for adult ministry and growth.

I asked church leaders, staff and board members and others, to share their best dreams for our church in a sentence or two. What I received could be summed up, for the most part, in a desire that every individual who worships here might be folded into a caring, sharing group— for prayer, Bible study, encouragement; and that every individual who worships here might be encouraged to discover, develop, and use gifts of the Spirit in service to God.

Last year ... "no vision"

Haddon W. Robinson, distinguished professor of preaching at Gordon Divinity quotes the 19th century poet/essayist John Ruskin as saying:

The greatest thing a human ever does in the world is to see something and tell others what he saw in a plain way. Hundreds can talk for one who can think, but thousands can think for one who can see. To see clearly and tell others is poetry, prophecy, and religion all in one."

If that is anywhere near true, then the greatest thing we can do as individuals, and more importantly for this message today, the greatest thing we can possibly do as a church is to learn to see God and to talk about Him in a plain way to each other in encouragement, and to anyone who will listen in the sacrifice of praise, which really is the whole end and purpose of our being as a church— and encompasses all the tasks of worship, evangelism, education, service and fellowship as well.