The following is a sermon transcript from our Sunday Service at The Rock Church in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Each week, we gather to worship, learn from God’s Word, and grow together. This transcript is provided as a free resource to encourage and equip you in your walk with Christ. While you’re welcome to read and share this content for personal use, we kindly ask that it not be redistributed or published elsewhere without prior written consent from The Rock Church.
Introduction: The Search for Fulfillment
What is the secret… to fulfillment, lasting fulfillment in this life? Well, maybe it is just getting behind the right cause. Or is it just being more with less? Maybe you just need to be around more positive people. You see, the world offers a lot of advice on this subject.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The cause of God’s kingdom is greater than any other. Surely it’s better to live a life of simplicity rather than the abundance of possessions. And yes, we need the church. We need encouragement. We need each other to support us in the faith.
But the key difference is understanding our focus. Is it upon self? Or is it upon Christ? You see, we can try to implement the three A’s of happiness. It’s affection, it’s acceptance, it’s achievement. Or we can believe that true fulfillment is just a formula. Did you know that 50% of it is determined by your genes, 40% by your activities, and a mere 10% of your life circumstances?
But you see, we’re left with, well, something more of performance. Apathy, frustration, feeling like we’re stuck. We’re stuck in this mentality that this is just the way it is. Oh, well. Or worse yet, you can find true and lasting fulfillment if you just try a little harder. I just need to find the right partner or a career that’ll allow me to use all of my gifts and talents.
We’re either thinking about what we don’t have, which of course leads to dissatisfaction, or it’s the things that we deserve, which leads to certainly pride and entitlement. We can compare ourselves, oh, I’m just so glad I’m not as bad as they are, or man, I wish my life was as good as theirs. You see how endless this is? Being consumed with self.
It’s depressing, man. It’s cold enough out. I’ve been sick enough this season. It’s discouraging. What’s the answer, pastor? What is it? I come to church every Sunday and you just hold out Christ to me. Man, there’s got to be something more than that.
Well, I’m here to tell you that, in fact, it is Christ that is all we need and the one who does bring true and lasting fulfillment. It’s not just who he is and what he’s done, but who he is for you, what he’s done for you. That’s deeply personal, powerfully transformational.
You know the retail world, it’s common for you to hear the phrase, the customer is always right. And what happens when that mentality creeps into the church? Well, I think it’s quite obvious: church attenders become consumers. Just holding out their hands, just give me what I need, give me what I want. And when they don’t get it, it’s time to move on. You see, self takes precedence over Christ.
And then we’re left with shallow relationships and fickle attitudes with one foot out the door and one foot in. But what happens as we pursue true and lasting fulfillment in Christ when we remain committed to a biblically faithful church? You know the leaders will make mistakes. You know that you won’t like everything about the church. But some reason you stay. And now it’s been 5, 10, 25 years. And you look back over your spiritual life and realize something amazing. God has not just changed you. He’s radically transformed you.
You still have problems. You still have difficulties. They’re not defining you. You found more rest in Christ than you ever thought was possible. And it’s all because you realize that true fulfillment is found in Christ. Not in a self-centered world of the three A’s of happiness.
You’re amazed that knowing Christ… It’s not just a project to complete. It’s a lifetime to behold, sustained by his faithfulness to preserve you.
And so we come to the text, and I want you to be encouraged with this focused point here, which is true fulfillment is found in a Christ-centered life, not a self-centered world. Pretty obvious, but it’s important nonetheless.
And I want you to see three things that you can do that are evident of your life in a Christ-centered way rather than a self-centered way. So we’re going to see in verses 5 to 6, as we focus our worship, we acknowledge that Christ is superior over all. Secondly, we’re going to find our rest in Christ by doing what? Submitting to what? His unchanging rule in an ever-changing world. And then lastly, we want to feel your joy in Christ. Oppose what he hates and embrace what he loves.
1. Focus Your Worship on Christ by Acknowledging His Superiority
(Hebrews 1:5–6)
So the first is a focus of your worship on Christ by acknowledging his superiority, his greatness above all others. It’s verses 5 to 6 we read together: For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
What a phrase that the writer begins with—“did God ever say?” Faced with doubt and confusion, keep in mind there are lots of things that God never said. Didn’t you know that it’s one of Satan’s most successful tactics in deception? It goes all the way back to the garden. When he said in the beginning, “Did God really say?” Did he actually say you shall not eat of any tree in this garden?
Now, what was Satan’s strategy here? Well, clearly it was to paint God as a taskmaster, as one who’s just trying to take away all your joy. And his word surely cannot be trusted. Sure, you can enjoy all the garden has to offer, but why not this one tree? That seems really oppressive of God. You know, that seems really unfair. Don’t believe what God has said. It’s not like that. Don’t you want to be able to be like God, to know good and evil?
“Did God really say?” It’s a phrase that people have asked over the whole of human existence. Is the word of God really what God has spoken? How do we know? How can we be so sure? The word of God is what God has said. And because he has said it, we should trust it.
You see, focusing our worship upon Christ is based on what he has said. It’s not what we hope he said. It’s not what we think he said. No, it’s a resounding and powerful—and yet more specifically—it’s about what he has said concerning Christ.
It’s what God has said concerning Christ. That’s where we focus our attention. What God has said concerning Christ. It’s no small thing. As you spend time studying Scripture, looking through all of it, you find that it’s pointing to Christ. What a glorious reality.
Going back to the garden, tracing it through all of the history of humanity. What do we see? When God’s people focus on what God has said, there is blessing. There is trust. There is true fulfillment in life. But more often than not, we find our faith wavering. Our trust waning. Why? Because, man, the flesh, the desires, the corruption within me, it’s so deep.
I can’t… Did God ever say that the Christian life is all prosperity? You know, the guarantee of health and wealth? No, he didn’t. He said the Christian life is often marked by suffering, seasons of depression, loneliness, of loss, and of pain.
But it should always remind us of what he has said. He has said we have all we need for life and godliness. He said that we have a guarantee of eternal life because he has put his Spirit in us. The down payment.
Rather than focus on what he hasn’t said, let’s focus on what he has said. Life is but a vapor, man. It’s here for once, gone the next. He said, let’s go make disciples, baptizing them. He said that his word is now complete. The canon. It’s all we need. He hasn’t added one word, not one accent, not even a letter.
But we can’t help but to think what he hasn’t said. That’s the challenge of the modern church. There must be special revelation. There must be hidden knowledge. There must be insight into the world and my life that God wants to give me. But what? That’s not what he said.
Instead, focus your worship on Christ by acknowledging his superiority over all things. You see, the Jews, the Jewish Christians, they were getting a little too hung up on the angels, trying to worship the angels. And you can do that study throughout all the Old Testament. These angels appear, and they’re in awe. And they say, do not worship me. Worship the one who sent me.
Don’t be discouraged, dear Christian. God has spoken to us today. He has spoken to us through his Son. Don’t fall into that trap thinking the Bible is just a storybook, a fable, a guide to moral living. You just got to be your David, slay your Goliath. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It all points to his Son.
This is why the Israelites were only able to see in part. You see, they put their hope in only what they could see. God, we want the promised land. We want a promised better life. We’d rather go back to the old ways. Egypt had so much more to offer us. Lord, give us a king. We want a king. We need a king. And on and on the list goes.
You see, we worship God not only because of what he said in his Word, but because of who he is. There’s no other name, no other name under heaven which every knee will bow and every tongue confess. This is Christ. This is our Lord. This is the glory of God. And it’s the Son whom the Father is speaking to here.
It’s the Son for whom the Father has said some so, so important things. Christians, don’t skip over this. Don’t ever underestimate this. And don’t ever try to fully understand this. Because you never will. The harder we try to comprehend the glory, the majesty of God, the more that we run into the risk of error.
Here, the writer of Hebrews quotes from Psalm 2, verse 7. He’s talking about the Davidic covenants, King David. You may or may not know the story, but in the Old Testament, God gave this king, particularly, a promise. A promise for another king. A promise for a king who would establish the temple.
But these kings failed. These kings were not perfect. And so they were all pointing to the hope of the great King who would rule in righteousness.
Through David’s son—it was King Solomon—he would enjoy the blessing of building the temple, but he also decided that he wanted to build his own dwelling, which was of far more glory than God’s dwelling, which got him into a little bit of trouble. You see, he failed too.
And so we point to the better King. It’s King Jesus, who would truly be righteous in all his ways and without sin and no deceit. It would be the Son of God, Christ the Lord, who is the God of today.
It’s a hard thing to understand. When God says—look at that in the verse there—“today, today.” What does he mean by that? “Today I have begotten my Son.”
Pastor, are you saying that Jesus is somehow born of God, of the Father? No, the begotten refers to what would be fulfilled at the resurrection of Christ. Today I’ve begotten you. Today I’ve set you apart. Today you will do that work on the cross and rise from the grave and be received in all your glory.
You see, it was Christ who both experienced the humiliation and the exaltation. It was Christ in his human nature that we would see both his commission sent into the world and his resurrection being raised from the dead.
King David didn’t see that full picture. God’s promise to give him a son wouldn’t be fully realized until Christ. And so we focus our worship upon Christ, upon who he is.
Notice the language used between the Father and the Son. Notice the bond of intimacy, the love between them. It’s the reality that the Son of God would be faithful to carry out this great plan of salvation.
So instead of asking, “Did God really say?” we focus on what he has said. He is very God of very God. Jesus is greater than all the angels. He’s greater than all of creation. He’s greater than everything that was and will be. In God’s perspective, there’s no yesterday or tomorrow. It’s just today.
You see that in verse 5? It’s what Moses knew when God told him to say, “Tell them that I AM sent you.” Consider that God is “I AM.” He’s not “I WAS” or “I WILL BE,” but he is.
And so we worship Christ as truly God and truly man. We worship him in the splendor of his holiness. We worship him as the one who upholds the whole universe together.
He’s upholding you. He’s upholding you right now in your pain, in your suffering, in this season of malaise, in this depression. He’s holding you.
But there’s more cause for your worship in acknowledging Christ as more superior than others. Not only do we worship him by what he said, but also who he is, and lastly what he’s done.
You see that in verse 6? It’s the writer of Hebrews: Christ is the firstborn. Much like the word begotten. Firstborn. This has been cause of confusion. But really it’s Jesus is the uncreated One. And he is of highest rank. Highest importance. Highest significance.
Colossians chapter 1 verse 15: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Christ is preeminent. He is supreme. He is sovereign over all. He holds the highest rank. There’s no general, no king, no angel that compares to King Jesus.
And God has brought the Son, the eternal Son, into the world through the incarnation, sent on mission to seek and save those that are lost. He came into the world, born of a virgin, conceived of the Spirit. Keep in mind how powerful this is: the Son of God, the eternal Son of God, left behind all of his divine privileges while fully maintaining his deity.
And don’t forget this: he is fully acquainted with your suffering. He understands and knows what it’s like to be despised and rejected. He didn’t come into the world with all the pomp and circumstance. He came as a lowly servant.
Just as the Father says concerning the Son, “Let all the angels worship Him.”
What does that remind you of? You remember when Jesus was born? You remember when he was laid in the manger? You remember Luke chapter 2, verses 8 to 15? It’s the angel that says to the shepherds at the birth of Christ, Fear not, I got some great news for you. The Son of God has come into the world. He is born. Christ the Lord.
And then he says those words: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those whom he’s pleased.
God has spoken concerning his Son. Worship the Lord Jesus. Worship him because of what he said, who he is, and what he’s done.
And as the song goes:
What he’s done, what he’s done
All glory and honor to the Son
My sins are forgiven
My future is heaven
I praise God for what he’s done.
2. Find Your Rest in Christ by Submitting to His Unchanging Rule in an Ever-Changing World
(Hebrews 1:7–8)
And secondly, I want you to find your rest in Christ by submitting to his unchanging rule in an ever-changing world. This is verses 7 to 8.
“Of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds, and his ministers flames of fire.’
But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.’”
Now, you might be wondering:
“Pastor, I’m not sure why you were referencing the ever-changing world in this text. It’s just not clear.”
Well, I’d like you to notice the unusual reference here to Psalm 104:4. Back to the Psalms. It’s this great—as this Psalm declares—the greatness of God being explained in all of creation. It’s the Lord our God who is clothed with splendor and majesty, and this great light that covers him.
And what does he do? Well, it’s Psalm 104 verse 2: He stretches out the heavens like a tent.
Picture that. Do we have any campers here? Pitching a tent for some of you is an easy task, but for others, it’s a source of deep frustration. But let’s just assume it’s a simple task. That’s how easy it is for God to stretch out the heavens—as easy as it is to just pitch a tent.
He does it with a word. With the word of his power.
But included in God’s creation—all this picture here as represented—he makes the angels like winds. But there’s also a picture of nature: of the winds and the lightning and the storms in this world. Powers for destruction.
And here these heavenly servants—angels—are like wind. How’s that? Well, you can’t see the wind. You see the effects of the wind. You see the force of the wind. And the Lord uses his angels at times to bring about great destruction.
Even the angel of the Lord destroyed 185,000 soldiers in one stroke.
And yet all the angels of the Lord—in their power as wind and lightning and storm, just like that, moving about the whole world doing the bidding of their great God—are nothing in comparison to the power and might of the eternal Son of God.
We’re reminded of this: even “flame of fire.” That same word is used of Jesus when he comes back with eyes like flames of fire.
So what I want you to do is find rest. Find rest in all the changing winds and waves of life, in the unchanging rule of Christ.
Natural disasters, great destruction all over the world—rest in the One who has all rule over all nature. It’s the Lord who will bring about vengeance to the wicked. All those who reject the Savior, who persist in their wickedness.
It’s a great thing to be reminded of the rest that we have in Christ. Because his rule is unchanging. Our God never gets tired. He never changes his mind. He never ceases the work to intercede for his people. That’s where your rest must be—under the righteous rule of Christ.
I know it seems like the world is out of control. It seems like your circumstances just don’t seem to be improving. There’s sin. There’s sorrow. There’s profound grief. But there’s nothing hidden from Christ. And he will bring about his perfect justice.
On that day, we will see the Lord shining brighter than the sun.
On that day, we’re going to know him.
We’re going to lift our voice as one.
And until that day—you hear the song?—until that day, we will praise him.
Why?
Because of your never-ending grace.
We’re going to keep on singing that song on that glorious day.
There’s no wind or force or fire that can compare to the blazing glory of Christ when he comes on that day.
We rest in that reality, but we also rest in his righteous rule. We see that in verse 8. Yet again, the writer quotes from Psalms—this time Psalm 45, 6 and 7. And it’s this great reminder to behold the glory of God as he sits on the throne.
But this throne that Jesus is on—it’s not like any earthly throne. There’s no term limits. There’s no tendencies toward corruption. I know that’s a very hard thing to understand because we’ve never had a really good, good king or good, excellent, perfect president like this. We have no earthly examples of a ruler who did only what was right and never used his power for personal gain.
But that is not Christ. The King—he sits on the throne. He sits at the right hand of the Father. His righteous rule—it never ends. It goes on and on forever and ever.
So if we want to find that true fulfillment in this life, we’ve got to focus our attention on the Lord’s sovereign grace, His eternal love in that righteous rule, in that unending, without-measure, deeper-than-the-vastest-ocean love. Think about those two words—that sovereign grace.
What is that sovereignty? It’s God has the right to do whatever He wants in His righteous reign. Today we think of sovereign nations—those that are independent from other nations, free from control of other nations. But there’s only one who is sovereign. There’s only one who’s truly sovereign. He can’t be controlled. He can’t be forced to do anything.
Now you take that word sovereign and you apply it to God’s grace for you in his unchanging rule. Now we’re talking about salvation—that the Lord sits on his throne, that his righteous rule is over your heart, over your mind. He’s given you his Spirit, and this is all based on his sovereign grace.
In other words, it’s not merited, it’s not owed, it’s not earned. It’s freely and wonderfully given to us so that we might know Christ and have him as the center of our lives. So we might find true fulfillment in Christ, not in self.
It’s not that we might realize. It’s that we might realize how rich God’s sovereign grace is—that God has the only absolute authority to grant this great gift to whomever he chooses.
And I know this is where people get upset. Because they think it’s their right—“It’s my right. I’ll choose or not. How dare you challenge my personal autonomy.” But we can rest under Christ’s righteous rule because the structure of his government is pure and perfectly impartial.
Imagine that for a moment. If we had a government that was purely impartial—what it would look like if all the innocent were protected, all the wicked were punished perfectly according to all that they’ve done. Well, certainly it would be perfect peace. Yet, because of this fallen world, we struggle under the rule of corrupt and wicked leaders.
But pay attention to this verse, verse 8: The scepter of his uprightness.
Surely those of antiquity understood that scepter—this wand, this rod held out by a monarch, symbol of their sovereignty, their authority. But that rod of earthly kings is stained by sin and stained by corruption. But not so of the Lord Jesus.
He holds out his scepter to demonstrate his authority that is perfectly just, completely divine. And it’s in his kingdom that we can rest as believers.
Why? Because in Christ’s kingdom, there’s no sin. There’s only righteous rule—according to his wonderful, eternal, unending love.
No doubt that we should pray for those in authority—those in our government—to lead a peaceful and quiet life. But in our attempt to bring about the righteous rule of Christ in our world, there are some in Christian circles that have decided to ascribe to something called Christian nationalism—that, “Oh, we can do it. We can bring about the kingdom of God. We’ll just pull in some of the elements of the Old Testament. We’ll apply it to our nation.”
But sadly, these attempts to bring God’s righteous rule fail.
So we can’t simply set up Christ’s righteous rule. We can’t just bring in the civil laws from the Old Testament. We’d be left with building structures around the roofs and certain laws about farming. It’d be a very weird thing. It just wouldn’t work.
Only the righteous rule of Christ will be perfect. It’s resting in his kingdom. It’s resting in Christ who will set all things right—to allow us to enjoy his eternal love and perfect peace.
3. Feel Your Joy in Christ by Opposing What He Hates and Embracing What He Loves
(Hebrews 1:9)
This is verse 9.
You’ve loved wickedness. Hold on. Reset. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.
It’s here that the writer of Hebrews, quoting from Isaiah 61, this wonderful declaration that Christ has come into the world. He’s come to proclaim good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to release people from their spiritual prisons that they’ve been enslaved to in sin. He brings comfort to those mourning. He repairs all that is broken in the hearts of men. And He does all these things under the banner of His loving righteousness and hating wickedness.
So what does that mean? What does it mean that Christ loves righteousness?
He takes great pleasure in it. It’s that what He prizes above all others. He’s never going to abandon. Our God will never change His mind about righteousness. Amen.
He holds steadfastly onto all that is good, this righteousness, this uprightness, this integrity and virtue, a life that is perfect in thinking and feeling and acting. Can you imagine what our lives would be like if we found ourselves always thinking, always feeling, and always acting according to what is true? Well, that’s a promise that’s reserved for heaven. So hold on. That day will come.
But right now, we’re in that process of resetting. Lord, make it right. I’m not thinking correctly. I’m not feeling right. My feelings are taking too much precedent. It’s what we long for. We’re traveling through this life. We’re pilgrims and exiles. We’re not yet home. We struggle in this already but not yet reality of the Christian life.
There isn’t a moment or a day that goes by that I don’t need to repent of wrong thinking. Some untrue thought comes into my mind. And if I’m not careful, that lie can quietly, slowly wreak havoc upon me. It comes to the deceitfulness of Satan.
Did God really say? Are you sure that you’re going to heaven? Are you sure that you are really a Christian? Does God really love you? Is He really that good? Does He really want to give you every good thing? I mean, remember what happened in the garden? He didn’t want to give you that one tree.
You can easily see how this wrong thinking can just bring you down and crush you.
This is not God’s will for our lives. He desires that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds, that the Lord would reconstruct, rebuild all the thinking patterns in our lives, that our thought life would change. Resulting in our actual lives being changed. And then finding true fulfillment.
As we grow in the Lord, we’re growing in dependence upon Him. Knowing that this corruption is still within us. And we long and wait for that great and glorious day. We long for the day when righteousness reigns. No more suffering.
And we look to Christ to see the example of what that true joy looks like. Man, it’s a call to embrace what he loves. Joy is not discovered in finding ourselves, but in finding and knowing Christ. It’s not a self-actualization as we’re content in being ourselves, in finding ourselves, in discovering meaning and purpose in anything apart from Christ.
You see, Jesus, he was rewarded. You see it? He was rewarded for his work. He was rewarded for his faithfulness. And yes, we are saved by works. Just not your works. Jesus’ works. His works being finished and complete on the cross. It was the risen Savior, Christ exalted, Christ the Lord, given the oil of gladness. You see it? It’s this great joy.
The Lord Jesus, knowing that He was nearing the end, finishing the work on the cross, and then would go to the Father and receive the oil of gladness. With the joy that he has purchased his people. It’s done. They’re mine. They’re my own now.
And the joy that he has for you. Having purchased you. Having beloved you. Having brought you into his family. It’s his great joy. His great joy to humble himself, to be obedient to death, even death on a cross. His great joy to be exalted, to sit at the right hand of the Father.
This is our God. This is the joy that he has right now for you, for me. Unceasing. And we can share in that joy in loving what he loves.
“The oil of gladness is, quote, the emblem of his perfect power and magnificent majesty.” That’s not my words. I stole them, but they’re good.
The eternal Son of God took the form of a man. He became one of us, but he didn’t remain humiliated. He’s forever making intercession for us. It seems odd. What do you mean he’s praying? I thought he is God. He’s for us. He’s praying for us on behalf of the Father.
And it’s in this joyful position that Jesus is King and Lord of all.
So how do we rejoice in righteousness? What does this look like in my life, Pastor? It’s a great question. And it comes back to certainly what God has said in his word, what’s contained, what do we need for life and godliness? He’s given us a guide for right living, not rules for oppression. God is not a taskmaster trying to keep us from joy. It’s quite the opposite.
You see, the world believes that true fulfillment is found in self. It’s when you discover who you really are and surround yourself with people who will affirm you in just that. But let me ask you a question. How well is that working out in the world? When you consider the tragedy of our young people and their confusion of gender identity and being told to their parents that they better affirm them or they’ll lose their child to suicide. This is a tragedy. This is the pinnacle of evil. Not only that, an abortion, worship to these gods, sacrifice to Satan.
How do we combat this? That’s wickedness. How do we combat this? Well, we turn. We turn to the word. We turn to God’s spirit who powerfully affirms his word in our hearts.
So instead of affirming sin, instead of looking the other way, we love righteousness. We love what God loves. We love what God has said about people being made in the image of God. Male and female. It’s wonderful and beautiful to express that. To express what God has given you in your gender. It’s liberating to consider that.
There isn’t a moment or a day that goes by that I don’t need to repent of wrong thinking. Some untrue thought comes into my mind, and if I’m not careful, that lie can quietly, slowly wreak havoc upon me.
It comes through the deceitfulness of Satan:
“Did God really say?”
“Are you sure that you’re going to heaven?”
“Are you sure that you are really a Christian?”
“Does God really love you?”
“Is He really that good?”
“Does He really want to give you every good thing?”
“I mean, remember what happened in the garden? He didn’t want to give you that one tree.”
You can easily see how this wrong thinking can just bring you down and crush you. This is not God’s will for our lives. He desires that we would be transformed by the renewing of our minds—that the Lord would reconstruct, rebuild all the thinking patterns in our lives, that our thought life would change, resulting in our actual lives being changed. And then finding true fulfillment.
As we grow in the Lord, we’re growing in dependence upon Him, knowing that this corruption is still within us. And we long and wait for that great and glorious day. We long for the day when righteousness reigns—no more suffering. And we look to Christ to see the example of what that true joy looks like.
Man, it’s a call to embrace what he loves. Joy is not discovered in finding ourselves but in finding and knowing Christ. It’s not a self-actualization as we’re content in being ourselves—in finding ourselves, in discovering meaning and purpose in anything apart from Christ.
You see, Jesus—He was rewarded. You see it? He was rewarded for His work. He was rewarded for His faithfulness.
And yes, we are saved by works.
Just not your works.
Jesus’ works.
His works being finished and complete on the cross.
It was the risen Savior, Christ exalted, Christ the Lord, given the oil of gladness. You see it? It’s this great joy—the Lord Jesus, knowing that He was nearing the end, finishing the work on the cross, and then would go to the Father and receive the oil of gladness.
With the joy that He has purchased His people. “It’s done. They’re mine. They’re my own now.” And the joy that He has for you—having purchased you, having beloved you, having brought you into His family—it’s His great joy.
His great joy to humble Himself, to be obedient to death—even death on a cross. His great joy to be exalted, to sit at the right hand of the Father. This is our God. This is the joy that He has right now for you, for me—unceasing.
And we can share in that joy in loving what He loves.
The oil of gladness is, quote, “the emblem of His perfect power and magnificent majesty.” That’s not my words—I stole them, but they’re good.
The eternal Son of God took the form of a man. He became one of us. But He didn’t remain humiliated. He’s forever making intercession for us.
It seems odd. “What do you mean He’s praying? I thought He is God.” He’s for us. He’s praying for us on behalf of the Father. And it’s in this joyful position that Jesus is King and Lord of all.
So how do we rejoice in righteousness? What does this look like in my life, Pastor?
It’s a great question. And it comes back to certainly what God has said in His word—what’s contained, what do we need for life and godliness. He’s given us a guide for right living, not rules for oppression. God is not a taskmaster trying to keep us from joy. It’s quite the opposite.
You see, the world believes that true fulfillment is found in self. It’s when you discover who you really are—and surround yourself with people who will affirm you in just that.
But let me ask you a question:
How well is that working out in the world?
When you consider the tragedy of our young people and their confusion of gender identity and being told to their parents that they better affirm them or they’ll lose their child to suicide… this is a tragedy. This is the pinnacle of evil.
Not only that—abortion, worship to these gods, sacrifice to Satan.
How do we combat this? That’s wickedness. How do we combat this?
We turn to the Word.
We turn to God’s Spirit who powerfully affirms His Word in our hearts.
So instead of affirming sin, instead of looking the other way—we love righteousness. We love what God loves. We love what God has said about people being made in the image of God—male and female. It’s wonderful and beautiful to express that—to express what God has given you in your gender. It’s liberating to consider that.
God has given us this great family called the church, in which we can encourage one another in what is true and right. We can warn one another about the dangers of sin and the deception of the world. We can rescue one another—pulling them out of the fire of sin and rescuing them and helping others to find that freedom.
What greater joy is there than knowing the Savior—knowing that according to His sovereign grace, He has saved you? And His desire for you is to live a life of joy, looking to Him who rules in all righteousness.
Isaiah 61:3—take note.
Let’s put off that garment.
Let’s put on that garment of praise.
Let’s cast off that spirit of heaviness.
Let’s realize that God is doing something amazing. He’s making beauty out of ashes. He’s taking the ash heap that was our lives and now making it something beautiful for His glory.
This is how we once walked—according to the pattern of this world. We were spiritually dead. But now we found life in His Son. Let’s love that righteousness. Let’s do so with all humility—that we found true fulfillment in a Christ-centered life, not a self-centered world.
Closing Exhortation Before Prayer
So we’re going to close now.
We’ve looked at these Scriptures—rich in Christ.
We’re looking to find our rest in Christ.
We’re looking to find our joy in Christ.
And that’s all made possible because God has given us His Word.
He’s given us His Spirit.
He’s given us all that we need to behold Him in humble adoration.
We’re never going to know the depths of God’s nature—the eternal Son becoming a man while fully maintaining His deity. So much mystery.
But we need not worry.
We need not try to figure it all out, understand it.
We just trust God.
We trust You at Your Word.
We trust that You have said what You’ve said, and it’s true.
We don’t need to ask, “Did God really say?”
We know what He said.
He is both completely just and full of mercy.
And we see both the justice and the mercy of God meet right there at the cross.
So let’s take just a few moments now.
Let’s bow before our great King.
Let’s take time to be in awe of His righteous rule,
to thank Him for His kingdom that’s coming,
and realizing that—man—whatever you’re going through,
whatever suffering of loss,
suffering of depression,
suffering of anxiety,
suffering of any struggle—financially, relationally—
Let’s look to the King.
Let’s look to His glory.
Let’s be encouraged that the pain and the sorrow will come to an end.
And it will be on that day
we’re going to see Christ shining brighter than the sun.
Let’s take a moment now,
and then we’ll close in our final song of worship.
Closing Prayer
Our great Lord Jesus, You have all power.
You have all glory.
Seated at the right hand of the Father, You are for us.
We cannot fathom, we cannot understand the depths of Your love for us—
that You would go to the cross,
that You would suffer in the way that You did.
You do it for us—to purchase a people for Yourself.
Lord, we confess that we are a restless people.
We’re an anxious people.
We’re a people that often looks at what we don’t have.
And Lord, we want to look today at what we have in You.
We want to gaze upon Your beauty,
be in awe of Your power,
and for just this moment, sense You in greater glory—
as You’re with us always, even to the end of the age.
Lord, we confess that our joy is in things of this world, not You.
We often are distracted.
We often run to vain things.
Help us to learn to take pleasure in Your presence—
in what You’ve said and what You’ve done.
So be gracious to us, Lord—Your beloved children.
Pour out Your Spirit upon us.
Help us in our time of need.
We pray all this in Jesus’ name.
Amen. Amen.
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