Welcome to a new edition of the Weekend Sermon. I am glad that you have taken the time to read the sermon that is posted. I hope that everyone is having a good day.
Yesterday, I asked that you would pray in regard to the bad storms that were predicted to be in my area. The storms were bad all around me. Just one mile to the south of where I live, there was hail over one inch in diameter and 70 mile per hour winds. In another town about 30 miles south of me, they had 4.5 inches of rain in just one hour. Thankfully, all was OK at my house. I am sorry though that others had to have problems. I do thank you for your prayers, and I would ask that you be in prayer for me regarding Sunday evening. The weather people are calling for the same situation again.
Please continue to pray that I might find some extra work. Things aren't going as expected in that area. I know that the Lord Jesus has something good in store.
In other areas of prayer, I would ask that everyone pray for those who had storm damage that they might be able to recover quickly. Pray for those in Indonesia recovering from the earthquake damage. Please remember to pray that the fires in the western part of the United States will be extinguished. I have not seen any reports about the fires in Portugal and Spain. I pray that they are extinguished and all will be OK there.
Please remember to pray for peace in the troubled areas of this world. Let us pray for those in Yemen, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan that they might have peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for Djibouti and Kyrgyzstan. Pray that many will hear the message of the love of Jesus in these countries.
Today, we will continue with our series of messages on who is Jesus. After this week, I have one more message in this series. After that, I have another series of messages already in mind, but I will go more into that when the time comes.
What I want us to focus on today is the fact that Jesus is God's final word. What does that mean for us today?
Hebrews 1:1-2 explains for us the way that God revealed Himself through the course of human history. These verses state, "In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe."
In the Old Testament, we can clearly see that the Lord spoke to the people by means of prophets. There are many prophetic books in the Bible such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel that contain the direct words of the Lord that He wanted the prophets to relate to the people. The Lord wanted to make sure that His people knew where they stood with Him. Both messages of judgment and mercy came through the prophets.
When the fullness of time came, God sent His Son into the world to be the culmination of His message to the universe. I John 4:9 says it like this, "God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him." There is no more clear way that the Heavenly Father could express His love for us than by sending Jesus to live among us. Jesus lived among us, and He demonstrated perfectly the way that we are supposed to live in this world. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. He took our sins upon Himself. He rose again from the dead to conquer death, hell and the grave.
I believe that Jesus is the final world when it comes to the interpretation of the entire Bible. When we look at how we are to interpret anything in the Bible, we need to look to Jesus. Jesus is the Word made flesh who dwelled among us. In the rest of the book of Hebrews we are told that Jesus is superior to any other revelation that was given whether it was Moses or one of the prophets.
Jesus when He was on the earth actually redefined some of what was originally taught in the Old Testament. We see this clearly when Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus would say that it was said at one time that something should be a certain way, but He would give a new commandment. For instance, Jesus said that at one time it was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. However, Jesus said do not resist an evil person. Instead, we are to turn the other cheek.
Jesus had the authority to make these changes because He is God come in human flesh. He has the ultimate authority to enact the laws that He chooses.
Jesus statements and teachings take precedence over what came before. I believe that this is part of what was evidenced at the transfiguration. At that miraculous event, Jesus met with Moses and Elijah on the mountain. Jesus was transfigured before His disciples Peter, James and John.
When Peter saw what was happening, he suggested that three monuments be built. One would be for Jesus, one of Moses and one for Elijah. However, the voice of the Father came from heaven saying that Jesus was the Son, and they should listen to Him. All authority has been given to the Son.
When we want to know how to act in this world, we should look to Jesus. When we are trying to interpret the Scripture, everything should be interpreted in the light of the words and deeds of Jesus. What Jesus taught is superior to anything else.
Now, there is one other important thing that I would like to point out as far as Jesus being God's final word. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. There is no other revelation after Jesus. There is no other way except for Jesus. He is the ultimate expression of the love of God. He is the only one that we can turn to for the forgiveness of sins. He is the one that we turn to for eternal life. He is our all in all.
If you have never put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, I urge you to do so today. Turn to Him. He wants to be your Savior and Lord.
Next week, we will conclude our series on Who is Jesus. On Monday, I will post the verses. On Wednesday, I will post the next chapter in the book about my friend Toby. May God bless you all. Amen.
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