REDEEMER – Chris Shore
· A couple of years ago my daughter arrived home to her apartment complex late on a Friday night and there were no parking places available. So, she had to park in a handicap space.
o When she got up early the next morning to go to work her car had been towed and impounded and it became quite a fiasco to get it out.
o The towing company’s storage facility was closed on weekends.
o My daughter went to pay the bill on Monday morning but they wouldn’t take her money and release the car to her. She was frustrated and helpless to do anything about it.
o The car was registered in my name and the law required that only the owner could get the car out of impound.
o But I had left town on Sunday for four days!
o I had to send a picture of my driver’s license and a notarized letter to my daughter so she could get her car.
o My name was the only name that carried the authority to pay the debt and release this car from the towing company!
o I redeemed the car from impoundment…I was a redeemer.
Definition of Redeemer:
· We don’t use this term much today but it was a familiar concept in the ancient world.
· Several O.T. ideas involving “redeemer.”
o “Redeemer” – payer of a debt.
§ When somebody had a debt they couldn't pay, their land, their property, they themselves or even their children were sold to pay the debt.
§ The person typically had the right to buy back or “redeem” their property or their people once they were able to fulfill their debt or obligation.
§ Financial transactions were not viewed as a purely individual matter. Loss of land wasn’t just viewed as an individual loss but as a tribal or a family loss.
§ Family members had the right, and it some cases, the responsibility to pay a debt for another member of the family.
o “Redeemer” – rescuer from oppression
§ One who delivered a weaker person from a more powerful oppressor – an avenger
§ God declared Himself as the redeemer of His people from Egypt.
o “Redeemer” – savior from sin and injustice
§ Isaiah introduces this concept of “redeemer.”
§ Isaiah lived in a messed up, sin-filled world full of injustice characterized by murders, lies, corruption, and evil deeds of all kinds.
§ Isaiah summarized the moral and spiritual condition around him:

Isaiah 59:9-13 (NLT)
So there is no justice among us,
and we know nothing about right living.
Among the living,
we are like the dead.
We look for justice, but it never comes.
We look for rescue, but it is far away from us.
For our sins are piled up before God
and testify against us.
Yes, we know what sinners we are.
We know we have rebelled and have denied theLord.
We have turned our backs on our God.
Isaiah says the world is a mess and the problem is sin!
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
This exactly what Benjamin Watson, tight end for the New Orleans Saints, pointed out recently in his blog as he reflected on recent events in Ferguson, New York, and other places:
“…ultimately the problem is not a SKIN problem, it is a SIN problem. SIN is the reason we rebel against authority. SIN is the reason we abuse our authority. SIN is the reason we are racist, prejudiced and lie to cover for our own. SIN is the reason we riot, loot and burn.”
Isaiah then speaks for God in declaring His intent to intervene.
Isaiah 59:15-16, 20 (NLT)
TheLordlooked and was displeased
to find there was no justice.
¹⁶He was amazed to see that no one intervened
to help the oppressed.
So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm,
and his justice sustained him.
²⁰“The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem
to buy back those in Israel
who have turned from their sins,”
says theLord.
God declared that He would come as the redeemer for those who repented.
But as we look through the lens of Isaiah, we also see God was looking into the future through Isaiah’s words to the ONE who would come into the world to redeem our very lives…not just from physical oppressors but from a spiritual one.
Jesus is our Redeemer
For every one of us, there is a debt that is much bigger and of much more significance than a tow bill and there is a problem much bigger than an impounded car.
The world is broken in many ways and all of the brokenness in the world emanates from the fact that every human being is separated from God because of sin and disobedience.

Jesus fulfilled our need for a redeemer through his life, death, burial and resurrection.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. Ephesians 1:7
Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer. He made a payment we were unable to make for ourselves. He took our place and reconciled the separation problem.
For those who repent and surrender their lives to Jesus—for those who are redeemed—everything changes.
Results of Redemption:
Cursed --> Blessed
Galatians 3:13-14 (NIV)
¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the lawby becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”¹⁴He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus,so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law. Galatians 3:13

• Our debt has been paid
• No longer controlled by sinful desires
• We’re given the Holy Spirit—the presence and power of God in our lives to live differently from the world and make a difference in the world.
• Benjamin Watson knows and believes this. He concluded his blog post by saying:

“BUT I'M ENCOURAGED because God has provided a solution for sin through his son Jesus and with it, a transformed heart and mind. One that's capable of looking past the outward and seeing what's truly important in every human being. The cure for the Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner tragedies is not education or exposure. It's the Gospel. So, finally, I'M ENCOURAGED because the Gospel gives mankind hope.”
Slaves --> Children (1:12)
Galatians 4:7 (NLT)
Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

• Slaves are not their own they are controlled by their masters. Slaves don't have freedom to move and act and create. Sons and daughters do.
• Slaves have no rights but sons & daughters of the King have full rights and privileges. We now have relationship and access to a loving dad that we can go to any time.
• As sons & daughters, we become heirs. And we receive an unbelievable inheritance that begins now and stretches into eternity.

· My daughter’s car needed a redeemer and only my name could “redeem” her impounded car.
· The world needs a redeemer.
· You need a redeemer.
· Only the name of Jesus can redeem your life from sin. Jesus is our Redeemer —and THERE IS NO OTHER NAME!



IMAGE OF GOD – Barry Rodriguez

When I first visited Ukraine, I could tell immediately Pastor Peter was a remarkable man.

“Larger than life” only scratches the surface in describing him. He was boisterous [BR1]and jolly and outgoing. He was always ready with a huge smile and a bear hug when new visitors came to town. The man also pretty much single-handedly planted churches across a whole region of Ukraine. I’ll never forget the sound of the two English phrases he knew: “Praise God! Thank you very much.”

When he passed away last year, there were people literally all over the world who grieved his loss. It’s not hard to see why.

But there is one memory I have of Pastor Peter that is absolutely seared into my mind. It’s an image I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

One of Peter’s great delights in life was hosting dinner parties. Whenever teams of visitors would come to town, he would insist on having them all over for dinner. Even though he and his wife, Vera, lived in a tiny little house, we’d cram in, shoulder to shoulder around their small dining room, and then eat - like - crazy.

Seriously. We’d have 5 appetizer courses, 3 salads, soup, 6 different kinds of meat dishes, bread, fruit, and no less than 4 different desserts, and I’m not exaggerating any of those numbers. By the end of the meal, serving dishes would be stacked on top of each other three or four high. The whole time, Vera was in and out of the kitchen like a babushka tornado.

When dinner was over, Peter and Vera would sing us a favorite hymn, and then every single one of us would get a stack of chocolate bars and a jar full of honey Peter had harvested from his own bee hives in the village.

During one of these epic meals, we were all passing plates, and telling stories, and laughing like crazy. And in the middle of the chaos, I looked up and saw Pastor Peter standing in the corner with his arms crossed, a big, satisfied grin on his face.

Out of nowhere I was struck with this image of God as our father. God, who delights in giving his children good things. Who longs to pour out ridiculous abundance into our lives. Who loves to see us joyful.

In that moment, Pastor Peter was an image of the fatherhood of God and it changed my perspective forever.

Now, when I want to think about what it means to be a child of God, I pull up that image in my mind and the concept becomes crystal clear.

IMAGES
Wouldn’t it be great if we all had “images” like that for all the aspects of God? An image of God’s goodness, and his mercy, and his justice, and his love…

If we could sink our teeth into tangible images of God’s character, we could stop worshiping him as some sort of esoteric concept, and start loving him as a person. Actually have a relationship with him.

Well guess what? Those images do exist. The person of God is accessible in a way we can actually get our head around. All we have to do to see God is look at his son.

Jesus is like Pastor Peter times infinity. Pastor Peter was an image of God. Jesus is the image of God.

THE IMAGE OF GOD
I think this is what Paul was trying to say in Colossians when he refers to Jesus as the “image of the invisible God.” If you were here last month, you might remember what we talked about when we looked at this letter.

The Christians in Colossae were trying to find God through angelic visions, strict diets, etc. A religion of “Jesus AND.” And Paul’s message was, “It’s not Jesus AND, it’s Jesus PERIOD.”

Jesus is the image of God.

ANALOGIES
Now, I’m not going to lie. Getting into the specifics of how this concept actually works can get a little tricky. All the analogies we might want to use fall short.

For example, that image on the screen is me, right? It’s an image of me. Except, it’s not me. That image is two dimensional. I am three dimensional. Even though it is a very accurate representation of me, you could go up and have a conversation with that image, but it’s not going to respond.

So the analogy falls short. They all do. Even the analogy of Pastor Peter.

Here’s why. Jesus is an image of the Father, but he also is the Father. All of space and time was created through Jesus, but he also existed in three dimensional space at a point in time. And he continues to exist now… fully human and fully God. Within time and outside of time.

Our poor, puny little brains aren’t up to the task.

THOMAS AND PHILIP
Of course, we aren’t the only ones who’ve struggled to get our heads around this concept. In fact, some of Jesus’ own disciples, who’d been with him for years, still needed some serious help.

Grab your Bibles. I want to look at a conversation where Jesus tries to clear things up. John 14

Now, at this point, Jesus knows his death is approaching. He knows his disciples’ worlds are about to get completely rocked, so he tries to comfort them.

John 14:1-10
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

And this is where we see how confused the disciples really were.

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?”

KNOWING GOD
It’s so easy to shake our heads at Philip. He’s been with Jesus for three straight years and he still doesn’t grasp this concept. But really he’s just asking the question we’re all asking. We just want to know God. Who is he?

-Stressing about our finances, we want to know that someone is looking out for us
-Disturbed at the violence and chaos we see on the news, we want to know that there is a God who’s in control
-Faced with all of our own sin and addictions and brokenness, we’re desperate for a God who forgives

At the end of the day, we are all like Philip. “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

But even though we’re asking the same questions 2000 years later, the response of Jesus hasn’t changed. “You don’t have to wonder about those things. Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

What does that mean? It means that when we read through the gospels (the books describing the life of Jesus) we will get a picture of God.

Do you want to understand God’s goodness? Spend some time reflecting on Jesus’ boundless love and compassion for the poor and marginalized.

Do you want to grasp God’s grace and mercy? Re-read the moment when Jesus tenderly forgives Peter, who denied him three times at his crucifixion!

Do you want to see God’s holiness and sense of justice? Look at Jesus’ outrage at the men who had turned a place of worship into a den of bribery and corruption.

On and on and on.

Something mystical happens when we read the gospels. When we soak up the words and narrative of Jesus’ life, God is telling us who he is.

Jesus is God’s autobiography.

When I was in Ukraine and I saw Pastor Peter as an image of the fatherhood of God it was like a little tiny sliver of the Creator. But here, in the person of Jesus, we get the whole picture.

Jesus is the Image of God, and there is no other name…




PRINCE OF PEACE – Tim Ayers

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem near the beginning of the first century the entire Roman world was basking in a period of time known as the Pax Romana: the Peace of Rome. The Pax Romana was a two hundred year long period from 27 BC to about 180 AD when Rome was not at war and peace and prosperity reigned throughout almost all of the Roman Empire. There was just one problem with the Pax Romana though: the Romans didn’t regard peace as an absence of war, they defined peace as a time when all of their opponents were so beaten down and destroyed that they’d lost all ability to resist. Rome had used its iron fist to create its empire and it wasn’t afraid to use that same iron fist to keep the peace. And history tells us that just about every nation that Rome had conquered knew that it wasn’t a good idea to create problems for the Romans… but for one: the Jews… and they were a continual thorn in the Roman’s side! The main reason the Jews were such trouble was that the entire nation lived in the great confidence that their God was going to send them a powerful deliverer… a Messiah they called him… a warrior who would overthrow the Romans and free the Jewish people forever. Now, we know that many Jewish people were eagerly looking forward to the coming of this deliverer when Jesus was born, but by the time Jesus began his ministry some 30 years later, the Jewish people were so excited about the coming of their Messiah that the whole nation was infected with a bad case of ‘Messianic Fever!’ And this fever wasn’t simply wishful thinking; some Jews had even taken up violence against Rome in the hope of preparing the way for their Messiah’s arrival. To be fair, the Jews had good reasons for feeling that God was going to deliver them from their Roman oppressors. Their confidence came from the many Biblical prophecies that they’d received centuries earlier that told of a day when a new king descended from the greatest of all past Jewish kings, King David, would again rule in Jerusalem… And possibly the most influential of those prophecies, one that figured strongly in the Jewish hope that the Messiah was coming soon was found in the Old Testament prophetic book of Isaiah where in chapter 9 verses 2-7 we read: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You, oh God, have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:2-7. And when the Jewish people heard this prophecy all they could think was, ‘the Prince of Peace’ is coming soon to rid us of the rod of our oppressors!’ Well, into this mix comes Jesus… and all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John tell us that the greatest ‘Messianic fever’ moment in all of Jesus’ ministry was the day we call Palm Sunday, the day he entered Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover festival. Passover was one of the biggest weeks of celebration on the Jewish calendar and every Jew who could get to Jerusalem was expected to be there… and come they did! The city swelled from around 50,000 year-round residents to 250,000 people during Passover week. Jesus was at the height of his popularity; his words and actions were causing a stir everywhere and he’d just raised a man who lived near Jerusalem named Lazarus from the dead. Everyone wanted to see Jesus… see him, hear him speak and see him perform miracles… and many were openly proclaiming him to be the Messiah! There was no way that Jesus could peacefully enter Jerusalem for that Passover celebration. Long before he reached the city gates he was greeted by throngs of enthusiastic people, waving palm branches and shouting out, ‘Hosanna, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ The scene was incredible! It was like the coronation of a new King! But in the midst of all the uproar the crowd was missing a huge sign from Jesus. The crowd was acting as if Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, a town whose name, by the way, means ‘the place of peace,’ as a warrior ready for battle. But Jesus was sending another signal; if he’d meant to signal that his mission was to be a conquering warrior he would have entered Jerusalem riding on a large, intimidating steed. That kind of entrance would have said, ‘I am coming in power to take power!’ But Jesus wasn’t riding a large, powerful stallion; he entered Jerusalem that day on a donkey… a donkey colt. And in the ancient world riding a donkey was the universal sign that you were coming in peace. Jesus wasn’t coming to lead a rebellion… he wasn’t coming to start a war. Yes, he was the expected Prince of Peace, but the humility of his entrance said that the peace he was coming to bring was anything but the kind of peace that Jewish crowd expected.

Truth is, though, Peace has always been a difficult word to define: There is the kind of peace the Romans and the Jews were looking for: freedom from war and civil disturbances… this kind of peace is defined by security and order and tranquility. It’s interesting that the Romans so wanted this kind of peace that they were willing to use their great military power like a sledge hammer to maintain it; and the Jews so longed for this kind of peace they were willing to kill to achieve it. This is a peace that many long to see in our world: peace between nations, peace between religious groups, peace between people groups. But this is just one kind of peace.

There is also the kind of peace that we seek in our personal relationships with others. Now, this is something I hear a lot about during Thanksgiving and Christmas time. People often tell me about their desire for an end to the tension at family gatherings; they hate living in the continual fear that everything could blow up at any moment. They want peace. I get this. I think we all want this kind of relational peace: we want it in our families, in our neighborhoods and in our workplaces. But there is also another kind of peace.

There is inner peace; peace in our souls… this kind of peace is freedom from the twisting and turning that takes place in our hearts and minds … inner peace can be freedom from our pasts… our mistakes… our fears… our sorrows… our insecurities... our wasted years. It is finally being content with who we are. Ultimately, though, it is the kind of rest that we can only feel in our souls when we know that we have a restored relationship with God.

And to get right straight to the bottom line: that day when Jesus rode a young donkey into Jerusalem he was making a grand statement… yes, he was the royal deliverer, the Prince of Peace, sent by God to bring about a new kingdom. But, the primary kind of peace that Jesus came to offer wasn’t in any way the kind of peace the crowd was expecting: it was inner peace; peace that can only come through reconciliation with God. The crowd that day fully believed that if the political circumstances could be changed then the possibility existed that relational peace and inner peace would then be possible. Jesus’ arrival said exactly the opposite. The pathway to finding all that peace can mean in the world has to start in our souls… it starts in knowing that our relationship with God has been restored… and restoring our relationship with God is exactly the reason Jesus came in the first place: it was this kind of peace he was talking about when he said this to his disciples in John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives so do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. As it turned out, that Passover celebration was Jesus’ last. Within a week he’d been arrested, crucified, died… and then he rose from the dead and won a victory far greater than overthrowing the Romans. Jesus overthrew death and his victory made possible all forms of peace: peace with God, peace with ourselves, peace with one another and peace in the world. Jesus, through his resurrection, answered the prayer of the angels at his birth when they cried out: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’ It is only when we surrender to the Prince of Peace that we can know God’s favor is resting upon us and then in him we can finally find our peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace and there is no other name.






Grace Church - Fishers


REDEEMER – Dave Rodriguez

A story of redemption (2:05)

The police officer must have been waiting…because the flashing lights came on just as she drove into her apartment complex.

Apparently the police take seriously the fact that your license plates are expired…especially when they are expired by six months.

A little background…She was only a year and a half out of college so she was unaware of a little thing called license plate renewal. And it was complicated by the fact that she had moved recently from one apartment to another so the renewal notice may not have shown up in the mail. It didn't really matter why because she had broken the law.
Btw-The she in this case is my now wife but then girlfriend Suzy.

The officer was kind. Instead of impounding the car immediately, he allowed her to drive the last bit to her apartment. She unloaded her stuff from her weekend trip. Soon after the tow truck came and hauled her car away to a remote part of Marion County.

She called me that evening to let me know what happened partly embarrassed, partly amused. But she obviously needed a ride to go get her car back.

So the next day we made the trek to the impound lot. Getting her car back was more involved than either of us expected. I don’t completely remember why…
But I do remember this:

She had to prove who she was and that she owned the car. And then therefore had the right to pay to get it back. Also, payment had to be made in the appropriate form. No credit cards. No checks. Only cash. Who carries carries several hundred dollars in cash with them? We had to find a bank.

In the end, with the proper identification and the appropriate form of payment, she was able to redeem her car. Suzy was a redeemer.

Redeemer the Concept (2:04)

While we don't use the term or concept of redemption in everyday life, it was common in the ancient world.

When somebody had a debt they couldn't pay, their land, their property, they themselves or even their children were sold to pay the debt.

If the person was eventually able to fulfill their debt or obligation, they had the right to buy back or “redeem” their property.

But sometimes, the person wouldn’t be able to fulfill their debt. So, the OT law put into a place a system where the closest male relatives had the obligation to redeem persons or property if they had the means. This person was known as the kinsman-redeemer.
So, the redeemer began to take on more than just a financial connotation but also a military or rescue sense. One who delivered a weaker person from a more powerful oppressor – an avenger.

God declared himself as the redeemer of His people from Egypt immediately after He sweeps away Egyptian army at the Red Sea.

Isaiah – a turning point of the concept of redeemer (2:57)

In the book of Isaiah we see this concept of redeemer over and over again but it begins to take on a more spiritual sense.

Isaiah speaks for God in declaring the spiritual condition of His people was in need of a serious overhaul.
Sin, disobedience and injustice were rampant.
There was no on who could intervene and turn it around.

In Isaiah 59, and we see God personally taking action:

The LORD looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm worked salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord.
Isaiah 59:15,16,20

God sees the wrongs & the injustice in our world and arises to do something about them. He sees the sin and brokenness in our lives and steps in to set us free. It’s interesting to note that the name Isaiah means “Yahweh is salvation.”

Isaiah was writing to the people of Israel in a time of great turmoil politically and spiritually, and they needed to be reminded of their special relationship with God as protector AND redeemer.

But as we look through the lens of Isaiah, we realize Isaiah’s words also pointed into the future to the ONE who would come into the world to redeem our very lives…not just from physical oppressors but from a spiritual one.

Jesus is our redeemer

Jesus fulfilled our need for a redeemer through his life, death, burial and resurrection. Because only He was fully-God and yet fully-man, only He had the right to redeem us. And because He lived a sinless life and sacrificed himself willingly on the cross, He made the appropriate payment to redeem us from our sins.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. Ephesians 1:7

Jesus is our kinsman-redeemer. He made a payment we were unable to make for ourselves.

What we are redeemed from and what we are redeemed to.

For those who repent and surrender their lives to Jesus ---for those who are redeemed, everything changes. When we are redeemed, we are not merely redeemed FROM something but also redeemed TO something. In redemption our status changes.

Cursed --> Blessed (1:22)

First we move from cursed to blessed.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.
He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
Galatians 3:13,14
· Our debt has been paid
· Given right standing with God
· We’re given the Holy Spirit

Are you living as if you have an unpaid debt? Is there something from your past that haunts you? Some of us are living as if our debt was not fully paid. Jesus says “I took on your curse and paid your debt. It is paid IN FULL. You are no longer cursed but blessed. And to show you how blessed you are, I will come to residence up in you through my Holy Spirit.”

[pause] We go from blessed to cursed.

Slaves --> Sons (1:12)

Second, we move from slaves to sons.
So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Galatians 4:7
We redeemed FROM slavery to our sinful desires and redeemed TO being adopted as sons and daughters.

Galatians reminds us that when there we are redeemed that we might receive the full rights as sons and daughters.
· Slaves are not their own they are controlled by their masters. Slaves don't have freedom to move and act and create. Sons and daughters do.
· Slaves have no rights but sons & daughters of the King have full rights and privileges. We now have relationship and access to a loving dad that we can go to any time.
· As sons & daughters, we become heirs. And we receive an unbelievable inheritance that begins now and stretches into eternity.

Are you living as if you are still a slave? Is this there something keeping you captive? Jesus says “I paid for your freedom. Grow into the person I created you to be. Discover the purpose I freed you for. As my son, as my daughter, come into my presence and rest.”

We are redeemed from slaves to sons & daughters.

This concept of being redeemed is a beautiful one. But is it really played out in our lives? I wonder what people see when they look at us? Do they see us living as blessed sons & daughters--alive in the delight of a Father who loved us so much He was willing to pay any price to buy us back?

Closing (:44)

There is a debt much bigger and of more significance than a tow bill and there is more at stake than an impounded car for each one of us.

Just like Suzy had the only name that could redeem her car and she needed the right form of payment, only Jesus had the right, the authority and the ability to make appropriate payment to redeem us.

There is no other name.





IMAGE OF GOD – Kevin Roth

Charlie and my relationship with him.

The other day I realized why this is so important to me. Charlie in a small but important way represents God to me. When Charlie looks at me with a smile and tears in his eyes it’s as if God is looking at me that way.

· I feel valued
· I feel affirmed
· I feel heard

In that space over that cup of coffee…for one small moment, all is well…

…and honestly it feels as if God is the one valuing, affirming and hearing me

He’d hate me telling you this since he is so humble and yes, he is as imperfect as I am but…Charlie is the image of God to me. And through Charlie I know that God loves me dearly.

IMAGES
Wouldn’t it be great if we all had “images” like that for all the aspects of God? Some tangible person or thing who would make all of who God is real…who would explain him…who would clear up our theological fuzziness.

Someone who would clearly represent God’s goodness, his mercy, his justice, his holiness, and his love…

Well guess what? We’re in luck. Those images do exist. The person of God is accessible in a way we can actually get our head around. All we have to do to see God is look at his son.

Jesus is the image of God.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Colossians 1:15

This word is a very important one but at the same time very mysterious.

· Eikon:
o assumes a prototype, of which it not merely resembles, but from whichit is drawn"
o more than a "shadow"; rather it is areplication
o In popular Greek religion, the god is present in the image, as is shown by the miracles and magic associated with images. The copies have the same powers, feelings, etc. as the originals. Rulers are also gods in visible manifestation.

· ANALOGIES

Now, I’m not going to lie. Getting into the specifics of how this concept actually works can get a little tricky. All the analogies we might want to use fall short.

For example, if I held up a picture of myself and asked you who that is…you'd say me. Except, it’s not me. That image is two dimensional. I am three dimensional. Even though it is a very accurate representation of me, you could go up and have a conversation with that image, but it’s not going to respond.

So the analogy falls short. They all do. And even with Jesus.

Jesus is an image of the Father, but he also is the Father. All of space and time was created through Jesus, but he also existed in three dimensional space at a point in time. And he continues to exist now… fully human and fully God. Within time and outside of time.

Our poor, puny little brains aren’t up to the task.
THOMAS AND PHILIP
Thankfully, we aren’t the only ones who’ve struggled to get our heads around this concept. In fact, some of Jesus’ own disciples needed some serious help.

Grab your Bibles. I want to look at a conversation where Jesus tries to clear things up. John 14

Now, at this point, Jesus knows his death is approaching. He knows his disciples’ worlds are about to get completely rocked, so he tries to comfort them.

John 14:1-10
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

And this is where we see how confused the disciples really were.

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?”

Philip is just being honest and expressing what most human beings desire (whether they ever articulate it or not) …”I just want to see God.’

· Philip: There’s got to be someone or something beyond me…I confused about life and scared about death…just direct me to God.
· Jesus: Philip…wait…look at me…you’ve been with me for how many months and you still don’t get it…If you want to see God…look at me.

Jesus is the image of God. And in him and in his voice and through his words we can know God.
· This is why the 4 gospels are the pinnacle of the scriptures. The OT is the lead up to them and the rest of the Bible the application.
· In the gospels we see Jesus and when we see Jesus we see God.

Do you need to understand God’s goodness? Spend some time reflecting on Jesus’ boundless love and compassion for the poor and marginalized.

Do you need to grasp God’s grace and mercy? Re-read the moment when Jesus tenderly forgives Peter, who denied him three times at his crucifixion!

Do you need to see God’s holiness and sense of justice? Look at Jesus’ outrage at the men who had turned a place of worship into a den of bribery and corruption.

At the end of the day, we are all like Philip. “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

But at the end of the day, the response of Jesus is the same. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Because Jesus is the image of God and there is no other name.




PRINCE OF PEACE – David Bell

Introduction – Bumper Sticker Profundity
We don’t see bumpers stickers quite as much anymore, do we? We’ve upgraded to magnetic car “stickers” and glass “stickers”. But when you think of bumper stickers, what comes to your mind?

Maybe ones like this: political bumper sticker

Or like this one: honor roll bumper sticker

Or ones where people are sharing their opinion: coexist bumper sticker

Or seeking to express one’s faith: real men love Jesus bumper sticker

Maybe you’ve seen this and can’t get that image out of your mind: car covered in bumper stickers

For whatever reason, when I think of them, this one always stands out for me: “peace” sticker.

Some might simply say it is a clever play on words. Others might argue it is more like a cliché. Either way, phrases such as this one, are noted as clever OR cliché most often because they are true. In this case…

No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus; know Peace.

…I believe that is very much the case. It is phrase whose truthfulness makes it profound, not simply clever or cliché. Why so?

But why is it true? And why is it profound?

Very simply because Jesus – the child born in Bethlehem as prophesied – is the Prince of Peace.

Prince of Peace
That name “Prince of Peace” is only spoken once in the Scriptures.

READ Isaiah 9:2-7
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:2-7

For its original hearers, Prince of Peace was an attribute of a child who was to come in that day as a king in the line of David - a child king born who would bring about peace.

But it did not stay as a prophecy solely for that day. Over time, it became a prophecy that figured strongly in the Jewish hope that a Messiah would come to deliver Israel from oppression, raising her up once again to be the nation of power in the world. Jews were looking for a Messiah who would be the Prince of Peace, the establisher of peace – peace for Israel.

This messianic hope of peace, however, looked eerily similar to the peaceful time in which Jesus was born RATHER THAN the peaceful vision of God’s kingdom.

What do I mean? How so?

Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem came during the time period of Roman rule known as the Pax Romana: the Peace of Rome. For the Roman Empire, this peaceful time was not regarded as such because of the absence of war. Rather for Rome it was peace as the result of war. Pax Romana peace meant all opponents had been beaten into submission under her rule. We might liken it today to the peace experienced by countries taken over by communism in the second half of the 20^th century. Though “peaceful,” I don’t normally think the Soviet Bloc was a banner display of what peace among the nations is meant to be.

Similarly, Rome had used its military might to conquer all and establish “peace” and they would do whatever necessary with that military might to keep such “peace.” And history tells us that basically every nation had accepted their submitted state with one exception: the Jews.

Why not the Jews?

Because of prophecies such as Isaiah 9. While for Rome this time of Jesus’ birth and life was Pax Romana, for the Jews it was the time of “Messianic fever.” It was the time of strong conviction that God was going to finally deliver Israel from her oppressors, namely in this case the evil, pagan Roman Empire.

And when God did deliver them, it would be through a triumphant King who would usher in the same type of peace as the Romans. Empowered by God, this Messiah King would lead Israel in military might to bring all opponents, particularly Rome, into submission. He would be a Messiah King who would come in power in order to take power raising up the nation of Israel!

But this “child born… this son given… on whose shoulders the government rested… who would be called” among other names, “the Prince of Peace” did not bring the peace of military might. No this Prince of Peace born as a babe in Bethlehem brought an unexpected, uninvited for some Jews even, peace.

This Prince of Peace brought the peace of God’s kingdom.

And if they would have been paying attention on the day that they thought was the beginning of the coronation of their king, they would have understood that this Messianic Prince of Peace had another agenda than the nationalistic agenda that they wanted.

It was the day we call now, “Palm Sunday.” Jesus was making his triumphal entry into Jerusalem in anticipation of celebrating with all Jews the Passover feast. As he approached, the crowds began to celebrate. Even before he reached the city of Jerusalem – the city whose name by the way means “the place of peace” - the cries of the people rang out, “Hosanna, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” as they created a scene one would expect for a king coming to be crowned. A scene they created because that is what they thought about Jesus. They knew who he was, the miracles he had done, and these Jews thought Jesus was coming as Messiah to fulfill the Messianic hope of bringing the peace that comes for the nation that has subdued all of her foes.

But they missed the sign of what Jesus’ peace really was about. For Jesus did not come as a king riding a glorious, powerful steed the way a victorious king would enter a city in that day – the way a king would who was bent on war as his means to “peace.”

NO this king came in riding on a donkey, the universal sign in that day that this leader was coming in peaceful peace: true peace. This king (was) coming not in military, nationalistic might, BUT humble, selfless service intent on ushering in God’s all-encompassing PEACEABLE KINGDOM.

True peace.

Jesus as the Prince of Peace then and still now proclaimed and brought God’s shalom: God’s all-encompassing peace.

In His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus the Prince of Peace ushered in a peace that was and is to touch every part of life, every fabric of every broken place in this world, God’s peaceable kingdom come, coming, and will come one day in fullness.

It is the peace that exists when the creation is no longer in decay and the lion will lay down with the lamb as has been foretold.

It is the peace that happens when all nations and peoples live in unity, the day of peace that will come when truly there will be war no more the stories of racial and ethnic unrest will no longer transpire and all oppression shall cease.

It is the peace that comes when you experience of God’s presence in the midst of personal pain and suffering, the ultimate peace experienced when that sorrow is gone.

It is the peace that wins the day when justice is enacted and mercy triumphs over judgment.

It is the peace that is shared when one in isolation finds life in community with others, all your tensions and fears dissolve in the wake of relational harmony.

It is the peace that sings with the angels, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” because lives lived in alienation from God have found reconciliation through Jesus.

It is the peace come because the Prince of Peace has come – the peace through Jesus that makes the cliché oh so true:

No Jesus; no peace. Know Jesus; Know Peace

The peace that is offered to you, to us, to our hurting nation, our broken world this day and every day IF we will but come to the Prince of Peace, Jesus, in surrender and trust to follow Him.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace and there is no other name.