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I BELIEVE "in Jesus Christ" - January 17, 2016 - Pastor Scott Christenson

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St. Paul's Lutheran Church Orange, CA

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it today as I mentioned in the first few weeks we what about the first phrase I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and Earth  and this morning we're transitioning to what is traditionally called the second article of the Creed and that's the part about Jesus today we're looking at these words and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who is conceived by Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified died and was buried and to a guy person that meditation I want to reflect on the words that we just read from the first chapter of the Gospel of John John starts his gospel this in the beginning was the word  and noticed that capital W on Word add just take long to figure out who John is talking about the word is Jesus right you got to ask what what does need to say that then in what isn't you just say in the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God and Jesus was God all this been all kind speculation about that over the centuries but one idea that intrigues me in particular is the realization that the word of a person is what best reveals who they are I was thinking about this cuz sometime some time ago now I was in a meeting and I was sitting with set a guy just right across the table from me and for a long long time he never said a word not a single word but that was okay because I knew exactly what he was thinking he was obviously agreeing with everything that I was saying he didn't have to say a word because it was just obvious from his chest is his posture and his facial expressions that he was liking every word I said or so I thought until he started to speak and then it became obvious very quickly that he was actually disagreeing with every single thing I had search  she couldn't know that until you had his word words matter is someone John calls Jesus the word one of the things he's doing is he's making a truth claim  he's essentially Shane the only way you can really know who God is and what God's really like is by knowing Jesus Christ and that was as audacious Acclaim back then as it is today now let's be clear about it he wasn't sane the only way you can know anything about God Is by knowing Jesus that's not true that there are some things that you can learn about God in other places of the the beauty of nature for example Reveals His power and creativity and even other religions teach some truths about God we don't vagina say only Jesus can tell you fully and accurately who got he is and what he's really like  he goes on to tell us what we can only know about God through Jesus and make some a few sentences to start blowing our minds  in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God the Word was God he was with God in the beginning  through him all things were made another words Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit In the Womb of the Virgin Mary about 5 BC as the Creed says but Jesus unlike all of us did not come into existence at the time of his conception going to say Jesus has existed forever  we just didn't start calling Jesus until 2000 years ago put Jesus the word the second person of the Trinity. The Son of God is eternal  richest play there has never been a time even before the creation of the world when Jesus did not exist that's mind-boggling  belgians have a word for this it's the word transcendent Transcendent means greater and higher and more amazing than anything we could experience or even imagine that's what God is light that's what Jesus is like he just like God the father is utterly transcendent and you know that sounds wonderful that sounds like the kind of God that we want and that we that we need powerful Transcendent God knowing everything capable of doing anything and that's true but there is little problem the problem is that Transcendence is not all that we need many years ago now there's a terrible terrible incident that took place in New York City that illustrates to us Starfleet why that's true and it's the story of this woman Kitty Genovese  Kitty Genovese was 28 years old in 1964  and on one day in March of that year she came home from work very late she parked her car and she was walking up to her apartment complex where she lived when suddenly she was attacked she was stabbed in the back with a knife by an unknown assailant  and she screamed out in pain she's at all stop me help me no unfortunately even violent crimes like these happened in can you places lots of times but what made the story of Kitty Genovese so famous was what happened after that a few days later the New York Times revealed in the story about the incident that at least 37 other of the apartment complex were genovisi live heard her screams for help that night but did absolutely scene to help her they'll turn on their lights  they all look out their windows I want man even shouted down from his apartment Window at the assail and he said leave that girl alone  but even he didn't come down the stairs to help her so the attacker ran off when the lights all came on but 10 minutes later when he real the no one was coming to help her he came back and raped her and murdered her that was like  Missy just the Transcendent God dwelling up on high like all those people and the apartment complex watching every sing that we do but doing nothing  other than maybe simply shouting down some words of Direction here or there you're some religions teach that God is exactly like that  but if he is like that I think we'd all agree that's not enough Transcendence is good but we need more than just Transcendence and thank God John says God isn't like that the only way the only way you can do that is through the word Jesus Christ because Jesus is not just the word who was God and was with God in the skinning he's also the word who became flesh and made his dwelling Among Us  which is to say that Jesus did what Kitty genovese's neighbors should have done he came down from on high he put himself in thermos way for are sick I love how Eugene Peterson translate servers 14 in his translation the mess he says the word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood  that's exactly right that's what use a step  diligence have a big word for this to its the word eminence  Eminence means right there with you closer than the air you breathe she God the true God the only God there really is is not content to just sit up there somewhere A Million Miles Away ruling the universe know the real God came down down into this mess we live in with his grace and truth so Transcendence end imminence  that's what we really need God to be like both and because we know the word flash Jesus we know that God is both and thank God he is both  because if God was not the Transcendence powerful god well then he could really help us very much  what if it was only the Transcendent all-powerful God will then why would he to help us no understanding all of this gives you a critical inside into God's purpose for your life  because you see if God only wanted to rule over you well then Transcendence would be enough women or if you only wanted to know you and be friends with you you know if you if you only wanted to be that that meet grandfatherly figure that many people imagine God to be well then imminence would be enough  what's a God's for your life and mine is not simply to dominate us or to simply be close to us what God really wants to do is to change to change us to become more and more like him  take a look at this versus is Isaiah 57 verse 15 for the says the high and exalted one who lives forever whose name is Holy that's obviously God ring  R12 on a high and holy place what does that that's Transcendence  but also with the contrite and lowly of spirit what's that that's imminence he's both in order to here's the purpose in order to revive the spirit of the lowly add to revive the heart of the contract I wonder what's going on in your spirit this morning that need Reviving  what's coming to your mind right now is I share these thoughts the possible that the spirit of God is nudging you at all right now and saying you know here's what I want to change in you  see far too many Christians confess the Apostles Creed week after week after week and when they say the words I believe in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord all they're really thinking about I think is information these are the right things to believe and as long as I believe the right things about Jesus will then I'm all set but we need to understand that confessing Jesus Christ as Lord was never intended to end their  God has never wanted to just inform you  his will has always been to transform you 2nd Corinthians 3:18 says it like this we are being transformed into his make this Jesus like this with ever-increasing Glory that's the way it's supposed to work Romans 8:29 says God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son noticed that not just informed about Jesus conform to be like Jesus I Need A John one actually tells us this in his opening words in the skinning in the beginning he says was the word and there's just simply no way that any first-century Jew read those words and not thought immediately of the Book of Genesis  because those are the exact words that when the Old Testament Genesis 1 verse 1 says in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth this is a clue who it's a clue that John's gospel is a creation account more accurately it's a recreation story  in fact it's your story and my story it's the story of God remaking all of us into his image and likeness receive God's really going to do that  it's going to require both immanence and Transcendence eminence so that he really knows what needs to be changed in all of us and Transcendence so that he actually has the power to change it and that is precisely what God has done through Jesus Christ  and so John writes these Amazing Word the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us we have seen his glory the glory of the men only who came from the father full of grace and truth let's power handsome frame oh God our Father we know how desperately the world needs to see be transformed lives in the lives of Christians  Lord forgive us for the many times that we have set with being informed instead of conformed to you  change us Lord From the Inside Out so that in everything in every way we can reflect the Heart of Jesus Christ  we ask it in his name

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I BELIEVE "in Jesus Christ" - January 17, 2016 - Pastor Scott Christenson

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