Last week we started a series on
forever things. Most everything we
experience, we know, does not last.
Buildings deteriorate, bodies age, things wear down. Even the great majestic mountains which seem
to stand against all are slowly worn away by the smallest of raindrops and the
expansion of ice in winter.
There are some things that are
forever. The verse on the right (my
left) says, From everlasting to everlasting you are God. Over and over in scripture we see that God is
described, praised, and understood as being forever. In fact the foreverness of God is essential
to him being God. If Go were any less
than forever, eternal, without time, unconfined, he would not be God. For me it simply is wrapped in this one
simple statement “GOD IS.”
This statement, “God is” is
actually how God described himself. In
Exodus chapter 3 Moses encounters God in a burning bush. Not very impressive you might think. Haven’t
we all seen burning bushes, or trees or fires.
Nice, warm, light giving. Even a
big fire can be impressive –a bon-fire or forest fire. Last summer when we had the fire in town here
Shelley and I went up to the balcony and had a pretty good view of the
event. One and a while a tree would
flare up. You could see the fire rush up
the tree –spectacular, impressive. But
short lived. In a moment it was gone.
But not this tree, or bush, in
Exodus 3. We read in verse two that the
bush burned but was not consumed –that it did not burn up. It was so strange that Moses had to go and
see. (verses 2-3) In a small way the eternalness of God was
shown here to Moses and to us. A flame,
a burning without end. By all natural
law and by all human understanding and perception the bush should be burned
up. But it was not.
And out of this seemingly unending
burning of a bush, the voice of the Lord comes out and when Moses asks, Who are
you (abbreviated) God says, “I am.”
Verse 14 (READ). And then he goes
on in 15. This is my name, forever! Yhwh.
This name, this description, this
title of God is so sacred, so special, so central to the Jewish faith that they
will not even pronounce it out loud. In
the reading of scripture, whenever they would come to this word they would
pause, not say it and then move on.
And so when Jesus came to the earth
and claimed to be God, it was shocking, scandalous, sacrilegious. CS. Lewis writes this in his book , Mere
Christianity; “ (as per copy page 93).
And claim to be the I am, Jesus
did. His claim to be the Son of God, the
word of God, to be one with the Father, the be the good shepherd, the way and
so many other things that connected him to his goodness. But one of the clearest statements, one that
really got the Jewish leaders upset, is found in John 8:54,ff. And it was this
which really caused the high priest at least to seek the death of Jesus –he was
blaspheming in claiming to be “I am.” (Mark 14:61-65)
Rather than a look at the Godhood
of Jesus this morning I just want to look at his eternality and what that means
for us. You see, many people have a
perception, and many in the church, that Jesus came into existence at Christmas
–he was born. And even more that He died
at the crucifixion. In other words, he
was a human just like us.
But Scripture is full of passages
–both in the OT and the NT, speaking about the foreverness of Jesus. That he was before all things -even created
all things is seen in the familiar passages of John 1:1-4 and Colossians
1:15-20. Many scholars see Jesus even
appearing in the OT. Many believe that
it was Jesus who sat with Abraham and told him he would have decendents more
numerous than the stars, that it was Jesus who came and wrestled with Jacob,
that it was Jesus who stood with Shadrack Mishacka and Abednego in the fiery
furnace.
Those aside, Jesus own claim to
have been before Abraham and that he came from the Father (John 3:13) and would
return to the Father are bold declarations
of his eternity. The writers of
the NT speak of his resurrection, his appearing after his death to as many as
500 people. To his ascending to heaven,
to his being at the right hand of the father, to his return (Acts 1:9-11; 7:54-56)
John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, records for us the powerful and wonderful
picture of Jesus in heaven in revelation 1.
Listen to the eternal-ness of the words of Jesus in 7-8, 17-18.
Just as the eternality of God is
essential to God being God, so the eternality of Jesus is essential for
him. Why?
The forverness, the eternality of
Jesus means his power has no bounds, his love has no end, his grace has no
stopping, his goodness does not cease.
His eternalness means that he can do all he said he will do and he has
the power and ability to do it. Stop and
think of this for a moment.
Because “He is” when he says I know my sheep, he knows his
sheep. He knows all of them and all
about them. John 10:14-15 “I am the good
shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.
Just as the Father know me and I know the Father…” Nothing about us surprises or shacks Jesus. He know us.
He can meet all our needs because he knows all aout us. Not mostly about us, not just what we tell
him about us, not just what is written on facebook, not the lies or deceptions
or half truths we even tell others, he knows us and can meet our needs. I care for the sheep, he says, even to the
point of laying down my life!
Even now, the good shepherd, the I
am, knows your needs. Rather than
something to be scared of it is something to be delighted in. he knows what we need! And even more…
Because he is the “I am” he has the
power and ability to meet those needs. If Jesus were not eternal, he could only meet
most or some of our needs. And this is a
subtle but incorrect fallacy about Jesus and about God we have fallen into as a
church –Jesus did not do what I wanted so he must either not care, not be able
to or not want to.
Because jesus is infinite, he cares
infinitely. He is infinitely able to
meet our needs and he has the infinite desire and delight in us. So often like a spoiled child we throw a
tantrum when we do not get what we want and scream out –you do not love me, we
mistakenly see the wise, caring, loving with-holding of God as a sign that he
is powerless, loveless or finite.
Last week we looked at this verse
in Isaiah –“His ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our thoughts”
(Isaiah 55:9-11). God is up here (hand
high) and we are down here (other hand down).
We cannot, we must not, seek to bring ourselves equal to or above God
nor bring his down to the petty foibles of humanity. God is.
And in the same way Jesus is. But also know this, “I know my sheep, I care
for my sheep, I protect my sheep, I love my sheep, I listen to my sheep, I lay
down my life for my sheep.” And as sheep
we can trust the good shepherd, even when we do not know why we are in this
pasture and not that, why we are walking this path and not that, why we are not
getting what we want when we want. We
can be assured that he know and he cares and he has the power to do what he
said he would do because he is!
Because he is forever, he can be
the perfect sacrifice for all. Imagine
if Jesus was not eternal, but finite and could only die for some or most. Imagine if the blood of Jesus could only
cover most of our sins. Imagine if the
forgiveness of Jesus would only be effective for most of our confessions.
But because Jesus is forever,
because “he is,” we know that his death is sufficient, that his sacrifice is
complete, that his blood covers all, that his forgiveness is as far as the east
is from the west (interesting not north to south!).
Because he is we can have complete
assurance that when Jesus says, “What the father has given to me I will never
let go of.” Let’s take a look at that
passage in John 6. Begin reading at
verse 35 –already starting with the eternalness of himself as bread and
water. WOW! Read on, to verse 40.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is
Mine! (319 look at if time). I am has and he is mine. Because
he is, he can!
And this foreverness of Jesus
extends into all of his promises. My
peace that passes understanding is yours, not as the world knows or gives. This is an eternal peace I have and extend to
you! My joy, everlasting, my joy is in
you and made complete! My love I pour
out to you, the inexhaustible love that comes from my eternal being, a love
that has no bounds, high, wide, long deep as the fathers is mine for you. Imagine, imagine if Jesus could only love us
mostly! We would be in danger of
exceeding that love, or his forgiveness, or his joy, or his patience, or his
goodness. The foreverness of Jesus is so
central, so essential to all he is and does because it brings completeness –he
loves, forgives, gives and holds completely!
The foreverness of Jesus means he
hears our prayers and carries them to the father. And even more that he intercedes for us as a
perfect high priest. Both Paul in Romans
8 and the writer of Hebrews in chapters 5-7 talk about the high-priesthood of
Jesus. As the high priest he is the one
who stands before God to bring our needs and speaks on our behalf. Listen to the words in Hebrews 7:23-25. Another WOW!
Did you catch the words? Lives
forever! Permanent! Save completely! Always lives (again)! And then you go on
into verse 26, then 27b. Jesus is! He is eternal! And in this we have great hope, complete assurance,
confidence! Ask in my name and the
father will hear! He is our great high
priest, our advocate, our intercessor!
And lastly I just want to touch on
one more important things that comes out of the foreverness of Jesus. And that is his promise given in 28:20. I am with you always. How can Jesus, who is dead be with us? How can Jesus who may have risen and is in
heaven be with us? How can Jesus who is
limited in any way be with “us” always?
Because he is the I am, the one who is.
And this brings us back full circle
to the account of Moses and the burning bush.
Jesus sends out his disciples with a promise –to be with them. And it is the same that the eternal God did
with Moses.
God said to Moses, go and bring
this message to Pharoah, and I will be with you! (Ex 3:12).
Because Jesus is the I am, we can
have absolute confidence that he will be with us. He will save us, he will keep us, he will
meet our needs in all wisdom and love, praise be to the lamb, to receive power
and glory and riches and strength!
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