Remembering Our Saviors Sacrifice for our Salvation

It is wise and worshipful to take time to remember Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our salvation. Watch our special Good Friday message to be encouraged to honor our Holy Savior. A practical reminder for any time of the year.   

1. Jesus Reveals His Plan for Us to Follow (John 12)   
2. Jesus Prays to the Father for Us (John 17)  
3. Jesus Endures the Cross to Cover our Sins (John 19)

The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

Chris T 0:16

Coming to our Good Friday service. You know, a lot of pastors don't know what to expect for services like this. So some have given up or some have some form of stations of the cross where they let people walk through. But fewer and fewer people are doing Good Friday services. I think the reason you come to a Good Friday service is not for what you can get, but what you can give and your thankfulness to the Lord as you hear scripture read, as we sing a few hymns, as we have a short and encouraging message. In the time that we have, maybe you'll hear God's word and you'll be like, thank you, Jesus. Thank you so much for doing all that for me. And maybe you'll even say, Help me, help me, Jesus, help me to change, help me to do that better, help me to live in a way that honors you. Help me to be more committed. Um or maybe you'll even step up and say, Here am I, send me whatever you need me to do, Jesus. I'm available. You gave so much for me, I am so willing to give things up for you. Because we gather to remember that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, that Jesus suffered, that Jesus suffered pain and shame for great gain. And there were a lot of people who died on crosses. I mean, the Romans killed a lot of people on crosses, but Jesus is the only one that did not deserve to be there because he was perfect in every way, sinless, yet he took on the sins of all of us and um made it possible for us to have a safe bridge to salvation, made it possible for us to be saved. In Philippians chapter 2, I'm gonna read the verses from uh Philippians chapter 2, and then we're gonna sing a couple songs. Jesus, I thank you so much that we have this opportunity to gather in this place, and I pray that your Holy Spirit would work in our lives and help us to honor you with everything that we do, with the time that we have left, with the resources that we have, with the relationships that we have. Lord, help this to be a special night in our spiritual growth. And we ask us in Jesus' name, amen. All right, so Paul writes uh in Philippians chapter two, uh, as far as encouragement uh in the body of Christ when he talks about how Jesus uh set aside his powers to become a servant among us. Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ, any comfort from his love, any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are hearts tender and compassionate? I don't know, are they? Do your hearts feel tender and compassionate towards the things of the Lord and the people in the church and the works of the spirit? Loving one another and working together with one mind and purpose. And we often do that around here. There are so many people that can get things done around here and in the church and in the uh universal church people serving the Lord. All right, don't be selfish, don't try to impress others, be humble, thinking of others is better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges and he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue in declaration, every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. You know, it's easy to take things for granted, you know, remembering our Savior's sacrifice for our salvation is easy for us to just, you know, go through life and say, that's been paid. You know, let's move on. You know, let's celebrate our life in Christ. Let's celebrate how the Holy Spirit empowers us to do works and uh to live the Christian life. But it's a good thing to look back and to remember all that Christ has done. As a matter of fact, Jesus is the one who wanted to make sure that we celebrated the Lord's Supper, that we have communion together, and we're going to do that tonight. And so um, somewhere along your row, there is a basket, or maybe other every other row, a basket where there's some communion cups. And if you're looking for a gluten-free one, I think they're on the back there by the door, and they are marked with a blue gluten-free. So if you just have a white one, that is just normal. And so, anyway, we're going to have communion to remember what Jesus has done. Because as we just sang, Jesus paid it all. And as I read in Philippians chapter 2, Jesus set aside his privilege, his power, his royalty, his authority, his glory to come down and to live among sinful people. A humble life. He didn't come as a king, he didn't come as a rich person, he didn't come in comfort, he said he came to a humble family and lived among them and um taught us how to live, and then died for our sins so that we could live for all eternity. And he worked his plan. He knew what he was doing, and um as the the time went on in his public ministry, I mentioned this last week, last Sunday, but at first he was like, Shh, I did a miracle, I healed you, I helped you. Don't tell anybody right now. Let's just keep this a secret. And then eventually, as we get to John chapter 12, then um the Palm Sunday, people are shouting Hosanna, he's accepting that as he rides into Jerusalem, because he knows that within six days that he will go to the cross and that he is going to lay down his life on purpose. And that's something worth celebrating is that nobody took Jesus' life from him. Jesus wasn't surprised that he ended up on the cross. It was prophesied that he would end up on the cross. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing, and he did it for you and me and all those people who would hear the message and believe. There are so many people who hear the message and they scoff and they walk away or they say, Well, sometime later, you know, I'll I'll get serious about following Jesus later. You know, when I after I after I finish high school, or after I start my career, or after the kids are growing, or after I retire, and there's just it never happens, and they never turn to Jesus, and some do, some do, late in their lives, and they look back and they have great regret that they should have, could have done more to follow Jesus and experience that joy and excitement and that purpose in life. So, okay, so I'm gonna uh jump around in John a little bit. So, first uh let's look at I'll be in John chapter 12, that Jesus reveals his plan for us to follow. So he revealed his plan in scripture, he revealed his plan to his disciples, uh, he revealed his plan for us, because all scripture is God breathed and useful for teaching us, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man and woman of God can be thoroughly equipped for every good work. And so um the scripture that is written in these red letters in the Bible can be applied to our lives as we look for what we are to do and how we are to follow Jesus. In John chapter 12, verse 23, Jesus replied, The hour is come for the Son of Man to be glorified. So if you're here on Sunday, uh earlier in the chapter in John chapter 12 uh was uh the Palm Sunday passage and everything, and before that uh was him uh raising Lazarus from the dead. Um so Lazarus and Jesus were at a dinner party with Mary and Martha, and um, all this stuff comes together, and then so Jesus is laying down his life. He's ready, he's ready to progress and to move forward, and he knows that it is time, and he says, The hour is come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. And I think we learned in biology that the um the kernel of wheat actually does die before it reproduces, and Jesus died on the cross. See, we all I think we all agree that Jesus literally died on the cross and then he miraculously rose again. So there's lots of theories that people have. It's like, well, you know, he was on the cross, but it wasn't it wasn't really that long, you know, so they took him down and he regained his strength and he walked off, and so he wasn't really dead. And so that's why there's no body, is because he walked off and the disciples uh they hid it or dogs ate him, or there's all of these, you know, other ideas of what happened to Jesus. But he literally died so that he could produce many seeds in us as Christ followers, as um Christians, as uh those who would follow Jesus. So Jesus says in John 12, 25, anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servant will also be. My father will honor the one who serves me. And so Jesus was prioritized. He was prioritized because he wanted to conquer sin in the world and to set us free and to help others find Jesus to glorify the Father. The Father is seeking those who will worship him and in spirit and truth. And so Jesus came and he wants us to respond to that in such a way that we too will find him more important than all the other things we could do. There's just so many, so many hobbies out there, just so many possessions out there, there's just so many things out there that can capture our interest. You know, for one or maybe two brief days in the entire winter, there was a good time to go snowmobiling, to call in sick on a mental health day and say, I'm just not feeling it today, and then maybe go out on that snowmobile. Um, but distractions are everywhere. Uh, distractions can pull you away from serving Jesus. Fear can pull you away from serving Jesus because you value your life, you think you need to live it up, you think you need to put uh yourself first instead of God first. And so, in perspective, you need to put Jesus first. And sometimes when you do put Jesus first, um you can still enjoy all of those other things. But your priority is to put your life in Jesus' hands. Your priority is to live your life for Christ and to put him first. And I think I'm preaching to the choir if we had a choir, because you're literally here at a Good Friday service on a Friday night when a lot of people aren't. So that is good. It's a good way to honor the Lord. Jesus says, My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven. I have glorified it and will glorify it again. And you look at that passage and you're like, was Jesus having doubts? Did he need some kind of affirmation? Um, but no, no. The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered, another said an angel had spoken to him, and Jesus says, This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself. And he said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. So Jesus knew that he was going to conquer Satan. Jesus knew that that voice was for the other people around to hear it, to um, so that John would write this and share with us that Jesus did not end up on the cross as an accident, that Jesus did not um, you know, have a have some bad luck on a bad day. Instead, he says, When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself. You know, it's interesting in the Old Testament, all these people sinned and they were bitten by snakes. And God told Moses to lift up the snake in the wilderness, and when people looked on it, they would live. And so I think that's where the American Medical Association seal thing comes from. But um, Jesus knew that he was going to end up on a cross. Um, maybe the cross didn't look exactly like we have here, but he knew that's where he was headed. He knew that it was going to be a terrible thing that he was going to endure, and he was ready for it. He was resolved to go to the cross. If you skip forward to John chapter uh 17, Jesus prays to the Father, and Jesus prays to us, prays for us. Um he prays for his disciples and he prays for those other people who will follow, and that's us. We follow the disciples. So after Jesus said this, so I'm kind of jumping around here. I'm sure that you have been reading through the gospels maybe this Easter season. Um I'm sure you're familiar with the gospel story. So, but after Jesus praying, he looked toward heaven and he prayed, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son, that your son may glorify you. And God, the Father, was glorified when Jesus took on the sin of the world on the cross, and then he rose again victorious, so that we could be those worshipers the Father is seeking, so that we could be adopted as children of God, so that we could be set free from sin, so that we could be guaranteed salvation, so that we could receive the Holy Spirit and be empowered to live this life and have a deposit on our salvation that God is going to get us through. So we're not perfect, but when we're living in Christ, he helps us to overcome those sins. He helps us to live a life that honors and glorifies him. I hope that when you look back on your days, I hope that you can say something like, I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior way back then. And maybe you haven't, and maybe today is a day that you realize that you're a sinner in need of salvation, and you bow the knee before Jesus, that you in prayer admit, Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. Please forgive me of my sin and come into my life and save me. I want to follow you. Make me the person you created me to be. In Jesus' name. Amen. And if you did that, let us know because we want to help you. We have New Testaments out there that will help you in your spiritual walk. And take those if you are a Christ follower so that you can share them with somebody and we'll just keep buying more. But we come to Christ and hopefully uh we can see a progression in our life where we glorify God more and more by the way our attitudes change, by the way the words of our mouth change, by the way our actions and our hearts' desires change, by the way we use our time and our resources, the things that we read, the things that we listen to, the things that help to transform our life into better Christ followers. So, but Jesus glorified the Father and is glorified because he has done this wonderful thing for us. John 17,2, for you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. So what is eternal life? Is it just living forever? If I offered you, if I could offer you some way that you could live forever right now in this world, in this political system, system, in this country, in this economic system, would you like to just keep going on forever and ever for all eternity? Right here? No, I don't, I don't, I don't, I wouldn't. But to know that eternal life starts now and then it progresses so that when we when we die, that we go through basically the door, a door that um leads to eternal life with Jesus when we're Christ followers, that our life just continues on. And there's great things ahead for the believer that has eternal life, and that is a good thing. So unfortunately, everybody has eternal life. Some people will spend eternity separated from God in hell. Some people will spend eternity, those people who believe in Jesus, who place their faith in Jesus, will spend eternity with the Lord in heaven. And heaven isn't just this up in the clouds, you know, uh place that's boring. No, heaven is where Jesus is. So um God's gonna make the earth renewed, and there's gonna be a period of time where we celebrate and have great opportunities to serve Jesus as he reigns on this earth for a thousand years in the millennium. What a great thing. So uh Jesus says, I brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. And I can only imagine what that was. All those angels around, all that wonderful uh purity and light and glory. So, John 17, six, I revealed to you those who you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word. I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I still am in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them. They are not of the world any more than I am of the world. For my prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message. Jesus knew that his word would be carried on, that his disciples, by the power of the Holy Spirit, would write it down, and that the original autographs of Scripture would be translated and carried throughout the world, and that even now, two thousand years later, we still have reliable manuscripts to base our faith on because God has preserved his word. And so the disciples heard the message, and as they were apostles spreading the message around the world, they shared it with others. And I hope that when you think about your life, you think about okay, who is it that first told me about Jesus? What is the trail of me and my faith story? And who is it that told me about Jesus, and how, or how many people told me about Jesus, and what did Jesus do so that I would be get saved, you know, that I would come to Christ? And then how many people have I been telling? How many people have I been sharing my faith with? How many people have I been trying to make a difference in the world by bringing people to Jesus? I know a lot of people that are afraid to share their faith. And so in April, in May, we're going to talk about how to share your faith story and how to lead people to Christ and what a good thing that would be. In John chapter number three, Jesus endures the cross to cover our sins. You know, some people, when they're terrified of what's going to happen, they just freeze up and they they just shut down. And Jesus just kept going. So carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. Therefore, there they crucified him with two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross, and it read, Jesus is of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek, so that the commoners could read it, so that the Jews could understand it, so that the Romans would understand it, that Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. So pretty sure Pilate was being sarcastic when he said that, but he was right. And in Revelation chapter 20, it talks about Jesus coming back and reigning for a thousand years on the earth, which is what we call the millennium. And so just think about what that will be like. All those Old Testament promises that haven't been fulfilled that talk about this righteous reigning king that reigns with justice, and you know, we know point to Jesus, but we didn't really see it happen in history, will be fulfilled at that time. That's something very exciting to look forward to. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Cloopus, Mary and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, Woman, here is your son, and to the disciple, here is your mother. And from that time on, this disciple took her into his home. So when John writes about himself, he uses some pretty interesting language, like he refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, and right here, whom the disciple whom he loved, and so uh this disciple. So basically, Jesus on the cross cared so much for Mary that he made sure that she was taken care of, cared so much for Mary, because Joseph, it appears Joseph died somewhere along the way, and Jesus wanted, even though he was suffering on the cross, he wanted to make sure that Mary was taken care of. And he thought about who is the person that I can trust the most, who is the person that I entrust the most, and that would be John. And from that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Sometimes Jesus has a mission for us, he entrusts us with something special, puts it into our hands, and enables us to do it well. And then later, knowing that everything had now been finished, so he completed his mission. He did everything that he was supposed to do, he even took care of his mother, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty, and a jar of wine vinegar was there. So they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. And we had when he had received the drink, Jesus says, said, It is finished. And with that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Jesus, when he completed his mission, chose to end his life right there. He gave up his spirit, he died at that moment. Because he was in full control. So when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water, which fulfilled prophecy and also helps to ensure that he was really dead. So by piercing his side and the things flowing out, that would guarantee that he couldn't live through that. And there's some good medical information if you research it on Jesus' crucifixion. When these things happen, so that the scripture would be fulfilled, not one of his bones would be broken. And as another scripture says, they will look on the one they have pierced, taking Jesus' body, the two of them. Now, who is the two of them? So it's Joseph of Arimathea, who owns the tomb, and then Nicodemus, the Pharisee, who secretly showed up to Jesus at night to ask in John chapter 3. And so they were part of the ruling council at Sanhedrin, and so they came to get Jesus' body. So taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it with the spices and strips. I read there was like 75 pounds of spices, which would be pretty expensive. Somehow Joseph of Arimathea could afford it. So in strips of linen, this was in accordance with the Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid, and it was the Jewish day of preparation. And since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. So we think about all that Jesus did, all that Jesus carried out, how we worked out God's perfect plan, how we have it to read about, how all of that was according to God's perfect plan. And then we look forward to all this other prophecy stuff about Jesus returning and all of these things, and we can look forward with confidence and know at just the right time that God has it all in control, and we can trust him with our lives, we can trust him with our salvation, we can trust him with our love.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

The day of trial, betrayal, and denial. The day after the Last Supper, the day before the Sabbath, it was the day that Jesus would die. This is Friday. In the city of Jerusalem, the city of peace, there would be no peace today, because this was not a day of peace, but a day of war. Humanity at war against God, and God at war against sin. This is Friday. A purple robe, a crown of thorns, a sign above the Savior's head. All hail, King of the Jews. And someday they will, but not today. Today is not a day of worship, but a day of mourning. Today is the day that Jesus would die. This is Friday. But Sunday is coming.