Thank you for reading the sermon. I have been posting the messages on Saturday's for the last couple of weeks due to having to work on Fridays. I hope to get back to Friday posting next week. Also, I said last week that I was going to have just one more message in the names and titles of God series. However, after thinking things over, I will have a couple of more messages in the series after this week.
Today, we are going to focus on a name and title for God that is found first in the Old Testament, but it finds its full and ultimate expression in the person and work of the God-man Jesus Christ in the New Testament. In Jeremiah 23:6 we read, "In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is His name whereby He will be called, The Lord Our Righteousness."
This verse tells us that the Lord will see to it that His people will be safe from their enemies. It also makes it plain that the Lord is the righteous one, and He is the one who will make His people righteous. This verse in Jeremiah is a prophecy. It is telling the people to whom it was written what is going to happen at a future date. In reality it is a prophetic word about the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible makes it very clear that people are sinners and they cannot do a single thing to save themselves. We are saved by grace through faith and not by works. The sins of humanity have caused the entire created order to fall away from the perfect plan that God had at the beginning of creation.
The Bible also makes it clear that God desires all people everywhere to be saved. He desires that all of creation be restored to its original state. God is holy and cannot look upon people's sinfulness, so there had to be an atonement that could satisfy the holiness, justice, love and mercy of God all at the same time.
The answer was in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity who came and took upon Himself humanity. He was born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a holy and sinless life allowing Him to be the spotless lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. I Peter 2:24 tells us that Jesus died for us and bore our sins in His body on the cross. He took our sins upon Himself as the once and for all sacrifice for sins.
On the cross, Jesus dealt with sin itself. Through His bodily resurrection from the grave, Jesus dealt with the consequences of sin. He defeated death, hell and the grave. Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father serving as our Advocate and Great High Priest.
So, what does this all mean in regard to the Lord being our righteousness. II Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." Romans 5:1 says, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." And we read in I Corinthians 1:30, "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption."
What this means is this. When we come to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord and confess our sins, a great exchange takes place. Jesus takes our sins from us, and in place of our sins, He imputes to us His righteousness. We are justified, declared righteous, based on the righteousness of Christ. God does not see us as sinful, He sees us clothed in the righteousness of His dearly beloved Son. The Lord is our righteousness.
We are made righteous by the Lord Jesus. We cannot make ourselves righteous and we cannot redeem ourselves. All we have is by His grace. Jesus freely offers His salvation and redemption to all who will turn to Him in repentance and faith. You can be made new by the Lord our righteousness. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Thank you for your prayers over the last few weeks. I am feeling quite a bit better. Also, we haven't had any really bad storms. Keep praying for the Lord to guide me in my life. Thank you.
Please pray for all of those who have been harmed by the terrible storms in the US. Pray that they will get the help that they need.
Continue to pray for peace. Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Libya, Syria and Yemen are just a few of the places that need our prayers for peace.
For our prayer focus countries this week let us pray for those in Syria and Tajikistan. Pray that many will come to know Jesus.
Next week, we will continue with our current series. I will post the verses on Monday. May God bless you all.
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