The Coming of Christ

Pastor Mike will be speaking on The Coming of Christ. He will be John 6:38-40

Friends, I want you to understand something about the gospel, and I need you to remember this. The gospel of Jesus Christ either purges us of our sins or it punishes us of our sin. Merry Christmas. Well, almost.

This week is going to be an opportunity for us to celebrate the coming of Christ. And we want to welcome you to our program. My name is Mike Sanders. I serve as the senior pastor of the Open Door Church.

And we’re looking forward to the opportunity to share in God’s word with you today. We are going to be in the gospel of John chapter six, covering verse 38 through 40, learning about the coming of a savior who would bring eternal life to all who believe.

Let’s start learning together this morning. The Bible teaches us that Jesus came. He was a man who was on a mission sent from the father, a man who came to bring hope to those who were hopeless. He came to bring salvation to those who were living under the guilt of their sins.

When we look at the scriptures, we begin to understand the Lord’s mission and we can recognize and grasp his mission as we begin to learn and study the I have come statements. Thirteen times in the gospels, Jesus declared that he had come, reminding us that Jesus Christ was preexistent before he ever came to this earth.

It is unfortunate, but many people think that the existence of Jesus began at his birth. But I remind you that Jesus is God. And long before he came into this world, he was. He was there at the creation of time.

He was there at the creation of the world. He was there at the creation of mankind. And we recognize that He is the eternal God, that He lives within the beautiful harmony of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and that whatever is true of the Father is true of the Son, and that they walk in purpose, in that they have come, Jesus Himself, the Father sent the Son.

Jesus has come to bring eternal life to all who would believe in Him. And as we understand the coming of Christ, we recognize that Jesus is not only God, but He is man, and that He possesses a double nature.

He did not become God, but He has always been God, He always is God, and He always will be God. Even upon His resurrection and ascension into heaven, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father. And the Bible teaches us that He is interceding on our behalf.

He has always existed. He always will exist. He is eternal in the heavens. And His coming to earth was pre -planned. I’ve heard a preacher say that they believed the coming of Christ to earth was a plan B from the Trinity.

But that is not true, church. The coming of Christ is plan A. God in His great sovereignty, God in His great wisdom, God in His omniscience, meaning that He knows everything, pre -planned the coming of Christ to this earth.

And He came to bring eternal life to all who would believe in Him. I want you to understand the importance of the coming of Christ. And as we understand the importance of the coming of Christ, make sure that we see the significance and its meaning to each of our life.

And as we study this morning, I want us to look at the I have come statements in the Bible. So we start out in John chapter 6 and verse 38. Jesus reminds His listeners, For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me.

And this is the Father’s will which has sent me, that of all which He has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up the last day.

There is much packed into these set of verses, but let us understand this morning that each and every one of us are a gift from the Father to the Son, and that Jesus Christ came and purchased our salvation.

And all that the Father has given me, Jesus said, they will come to me. And who are those that have been given to the Son by the Father? Those who believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who put their faith and their trust in Christ.

And we have a promise that is reiterated over and over just in these set of verses. And that is in verse 39, he said I should lose nothing. Meaning that he will not lose any of us. We are secure in our faith in Jesus Christ.

That you and I have the promise that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all working equally to not only bring about your redemption and your salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, but they are working equally.

in the security of your faith. The Father, Son, and Spirit working together to bring about the full culmination of your faith in Jesus Christ. And the Bible says in verse 39 that he’ll raise it up again at the last day.

You see, from the beginning of your salvation all the way to the end of your salvation which is the final resurrection of the believer. Jesus Christ has you covered. Literally the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

To think that somehow you and I can work our way to heaven is just totally contrary to the word of God. To think that somehow even as a believer that I can work to secure my salvation is totally contrary to the word of God.

Again in verse 40, the Bible reminds us that he that believes on him may have everlasting life. Think about that, reflect on that. How long is everlasting? It is forever. Now whatever God starts in your heart, he always finishes.

The Bible teaches us in Philippians he who began a good work in you will complete it. He will perform it. He will finish it. That is that what God has begun, the good work of salvation in your life, he will complete it.

Why? Because he through your faith has blessed you with everlasting life. For by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should, what, church, boast.

We cannot take credit for our salvation. We cannot stand before God one day and say, Lord, look how many times I went to church. Look what I did for you. You should allow me into heaven. We cannot say, well, look at all the rules I kept.

Look what I didn’t do and what I did do. And that should merit me into heaven. Absolutely not, my friends. What merits… us into heaven is the work of Christ is what he did on the cross for us Jesus paid it all he paid the debt for our sins he paid the penalty for our sins and therefore all who believe in him the scripture says in verse 40 have ever lasting life and get this I will raise him up at the last day from the beginning of your faith the moment and time that you believe in Jesus Christ all the way to the finishing of your faith in the point that you are raised and resurrected from the dead meeting you are resurrected from the ground God grants you a new body and all the dead in Christ shall rise the scripture says and we which remain shall be caught up together to be with him forever more listen friends from the beginning to the end whether it’s your loved one whether it’s you personally whether it’s your children whether it’s your parents from the beginning to the end Jesus has you covered in his blood and his power that you might stand before him and give praise and glory for what God has accomplished in your life.

And so as we continue to examine these coming statements that Jesus made, I want you to note first that he came to represent the Father. Jesus said in John chapter five, verse 43, I am come in my Father’s name.

Now when you and I look back at verse 43 of John chapter five, you will note that the Bible says that after Jesus said, I’ve come in my Father’s name, you received me not. If another shall come in his own name, him you will receive.

And the point is that Jesus is bringing to the attention to his listeners that this disbelief that people have and that it is a deliberate disbelief that despite the fact that Jesus has performed miracles and we know in the gospel of John that seven miracles are on display to convince us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to validate the message of Jesus Christ, to verify that he was truly sent by the Father,

Jesus says that even though I have come in my Father’s name, I came to represent the Father, you receive me not. How sad it is that there are those, no matter how much evidence is before them, they will not believe in Jesus Christ.

They refuse to put their faith in him. But here Jesus reminds us that he came to do the Father’s will. He came to represent the Father. The ceiling of a cathedral in Europe was beautifully built, but it was so lofty that it was difficult for guests and attenders to be able to see the details of this beautiful ceiling.

And so the pastor took a mirror and he tilted it near the floor and allowing those who were visiting to… come and see the grandeur of the ceiling at their level. And I want you to understand that that is a beautiful illustration of what Christ is, because Christ is the image of the invisible God at our level.

Jesus said, I came to represent the Father. Again, the Hebrew writer tells us in Hebrews 1 .3, who being in the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His power when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.

What I want you to get is Jesus is the express image of the Father and that He is the brightness and the glory of the Father. Christ is intimately connected to the Father. If you want to know the Father, then you must know Jesus.

A coworker of my wife recently said to her, I don’t believe in Jesus. Jesus came along later. I just go straight to God. Listen to me my friends, you go to God through Jesus. The Bible says, John 14 6, and that Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes unto the Father, but by me.

There’s only one way to have access to the Father. That is through Jesus Christ. There is only one way to know the Father. That is through Jesus Christ. You can’t say, well, I’m just gonna skip Jesus and just know God.

No, friends, they are inseparable because they are intimately connected together. Listen to what the Gospel says. Lest you struggle with what the pastor says, listen to what the Word of God says. No one, this is in John 1 18.

No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Who is it that declares the Father? It is Jesus Christ. Who is it that is the express image of the Father?

It is Jesus Christ. Who is it that gives us access to the Father? It is Jesus Christ because Jesus is the eternal Son of God, who came into this world to reveal God to each of us. Colossians 1 15. He is the image of the invisible God.

You see church, do not buy into the pluralism that is infiltrated into the evangelical movement. Do not embrace the pluralism of anything and everything is okay. There is only one way to the Father and that is through Jesus Christ.

And you and I come to worship Jesus Christ. And the Bible says He is the image of the invisible God. This Greek word translated image is the Greek word icon which we get our English term icon meaning a precise copy Jesus said in John 14 7 if you had known me you would have known my father also and from now on you know him and have seen him have you ever wondered why in John 14 that Jesus Christ begins with this amazing statement I want you to turn over there real quickly because I think it’s a full grasp of what Jesus is trying to reveal the understanding that he represents the Father in this beautiful passage of John chapter 14 where Jesus is encouraging his disciples who have just started to grasp the concept that he is leaving that he will be crucified on the cross and eventually will resurrect and ascend into heaven but Jesus says to his despondent disciples let not your heart be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me. In the Old Testament, they learned about the Father. They learned about the attributes of the Father. They learned that there was a Messiah coming. There was the Christ coming.

And Jesus is letting them know if you believe in God, you can believe in me because I represent God. Of course, he would go on later in verse six and seven and he would answer the question that Thomas had about how can we know this way that you’re telling us about.

And he’s explaining to them, I am the way. And he says, if you had known me, you would have known the Father, the Son, and the Father are inseparable. He came to represent the Father on earth. But number two, church, I want you to understand that he came to kindle a fire.

In Luke chapter 12, verse 49, Jesus said, I am come to send fire on the earth. And what will I if it be already kindled? Now the Bible teaches us that Jesus has come to kindle a fire. Certainly this can be very confusing to us.

And certainly in the way that the King James translates the last part of verse 49, it’s hard to understand. But let me just read it in the New King James. I think it captures it a little bit better in our English today.

And it says, I came to send fire on the earth. And how I wish it were all ready kindle. Did you ever think that Jesus came to kindle a fire? Did you ever reflect upon the truth that Jesus came to kindle a fire?

As we study the scriptures in Luke chapter 12, verse 49 through 53, we can boil these set of verses down to three words, fire, baptism, and division. Christ came to kindle. kindle a fire to undergo a baptism and to create division.

The baptism was his baptism into suffering, his death on the cross. The division is between those who would receive him as Lord and Savior and those who would reject him as Lord and Savior. But what did he mean by bringing fire on the earth?

Luke chapter three, verse 16. John the Baptist said the Messiah would set fire to earth. He had burned the chaff. Fire is a biblical symbol of judgment. Christ came to deal with sin. He came to judge sin.

He came to deal with evil in the world. John chapter nine, verse 39. Again, Jesus said. For judgment, I am come into this world. I know what you’re saying, Pastor Mike, what happened to this loving God that you have taught us about?

What happened to this loving God who forgives us of our sins, who came into this earth because he loves us and he pursues us and he draws us into an eternal relationship with him? Friends, I want you to understand something about the gospel, and I need you to remember this.

The gospel of Jesus Christ either purges us of our sins or it punishes us of our sin. The gospel of Jesus Christ purges us of our sin or it punishes us, what do you mean? In effect, in Luke chapter 12, Jesus was saying, I have come to deal with sin.

I have come to judge sin. I have come to judge evil. I’m going to kindle a fire. I am going to cleanse those who put their faith in me. I am going to judge those who reject me. And so he plunged himself into suffering.

He was baptized into suffering. Then the world would be divided over him and everyone must either accept Christ or reject him. But it is Christ who has taken our judgment on the cross for us who believe in him.

First Peter 2, 24 says, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we having died to sins might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. It is not that somehow through the stripes and the suffering and the death of Jesus Christ, that all of a sudden you’re gonna feel better or God’s gonna heal your broken leg.

That’s not the point. The point is that you would be healed of your sins, that you would be healed of the scars of your sins. that you would be healed from the judgment of your sin. So get this, and please hang on to this, that Christ was judged by God on the cross.

But Jesus was sinless. Jesus never sinned. He was perfect and righteous, I get it, I hear you. He went to the cross, not because he was guilty, because we are guilty. He went to the cross, not to pay for his sins, but to pay for our sins.

On the cross, Jesus took the judgment of God, the wrath of God, and he said in John 19 .30, it is what church? It’s finished, wait, hear me. Everyone who believes in Jesus this morning, your sin has already been judged on the cross.

Your sin has already been taken care of. on the cross but those who do not believe in Jesus you will be punished for your sin you will be cast into the outer darkness into the lake of fire in a place that is called hell for all sin must be dealt with the wages of sin is death and he’s not talking about a physical death but a spiritual death and so the gospel either purges you or it punishes you perhaps you can understand it in this way that the apostle Paul clarified to us in second Corinthians 2 verse 16 in which he said to the one we are the aroma of death leading to death and to the other the aroma of life leading to life I want you to get this that for those of us who preach and teach the gospel and those of us who go out into the highways and hedges and share the gospel and those of us who are actively engaged in ministries that promote the gospel that there is always going to be an element of people who cannot stand us and they hate us and they despise us why because every time they hear the gospel they smell the aroma of death in their life they smell the aroma of death which leads to death for them they reject the gospel they refuse to believe they refuse to hear the gospel and so my friends as we teach that all our sinners and we teach that sin must be dealt with and judged and we teach that Christ went to the cross and he paid for that penalty and he took that judgment on the cross and if you believe in him your sins can be forgiven and your sins can be washed away and that he has resurrected to take care of your future and he died on the cross to take care of your past when we preached that gospel message literally to some people it is an aroma of death it is the stench of death but for those of us who believe in Jesus Christ and we love the Lord Jesus Christ and we humbly express our gratitude this morning for the coming of Jesus and the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus every time we hear the gospel proclaimed every time we hear it taught every time we read about it in the Word of God our hearts are exhilarated because the gospel to us does not punish us it purges us and it is the aroma of life it is the aroma of life that leads to eternal life we love it we love the gospel We love the good news.

We love to hear it over and over and over. It just seems to never get old in our life because it is a reminder to us of the moment that we came to the point that we repented of our sins and we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and we celebrate that moment.

And Christmas is more than trees. It is more than presents. It is more than gathering together as a family in a special holiday. But for us, it is the reminder that Jesus came to kindle a fire and that he absorbed my judgment on the cross and he has brought eternal life to me by purging me of my sins through his good work on the cross.

When Jesus comes the second time, there will be judgment on those who are his adversaries and those who reject him. But there will be mercy for all who believe in him. Jesus came. The coming of Christ helps us understand that he came to preach a message.

The scriptures tell us in Mark 1, verse 38, Jesus said, let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also, for therefore came I forth. Simply put, Jesus is saying to us, the reason I came was to preach a message.

The content of this message is captured in Mark 1, verse 14 and you and I could simply describe it as the good news. It is a wonderful word because it is a combination of two words which mean good message.

This is one of the Bible’s greatest words as we study. It is a word that helps us to grasp that Christ has been. brought us good news. You say why would that be good news? I tell you it is good news because there’s bad news and the bad news is that you and I have entered into this world as sinners and we are in great need of a savior.

We are in great need of our sins being forgiven and left to ourselves we’ll make a mess of ourselves and left to ourselves we’ll die in our sinfulness and there’ll be no hope and there’ll be no eternal life for us and we will be punished for our sins but the good news church is that there is a God who loves us for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting what church?

Praise God there is everlasting life for those who believe in him if you were trapped in a cave that collapsed and you were running out of air and you were in darkness and minutes from death and you heard all of a sudden that there were people who were breaking through the rubble to rescue you, you would call that good news, wouldn’t you?

And here we are separated from God because of our sin, and we are trapped in this planet, in this earth, facing death and hell, and God himself became a man. He came to this earth, he died in our place, and he rose from the dead to give us life.

And I tell you, that is good news, church. And I want you to remember the words of the angels, Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior.

That’s good news. The Bible says the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. You see, church, as I taught you a few weeks ago, his mission is our mission. He said to the Father, as I have been sent from the Father, so send I you, meaning that he came to preach a message.

He came to tell other people about the good news. And the question is, in this Christmas season, are we gonna preach this message? Are we gonna back down from this message? Are we gonna compromise this message?

You know, Pastor Art Brown, how many of you remember Pastor Art Brown? Great servant of the Lord. But Pastor Brown used to teach us all the time, you have to get him lost before you can get him saved.

See, that’s the gospel. The good news is so good because the bad news is so bad. We have to teach people the bad news. I know it’s hard for people to digest it. Nobody wants to believe they’re a sinner, but the Bible teaches us we’re all sinners.

But church, we gotta go and seek the lost, don’t we? We gotta seek them and share the wonderful message. We’re talking about Jesus coming. He came to illuminate the world. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verse 46, the Bible tells us that the Lord or the servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, at the hour when he is not aware, but he will cut him asunder and he will appoint.

him his portion with the unbelievers. Jesus continues to teach over and over again that judgment is coming. Judgment is coming. And so Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Jesus Christ, sent by the Father, came to bring eternal life to those who would trust Him as their Lord and Savior.

He is the eternal Son of God who came into this world to reveal God to us. That’s what we say when we say Emmanuel, God with us. This has been a message on learning about the coming of Christ and I hope that it has been a blessing and encouragement to you.

This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having.