Focal Point

Guest (Male): Today on Focal Point with Pastor Mike Fabarez.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: You weren't redeemed with perishable things like silver and gold. You were redeemed or purchased by the precious blood of the lamb. We're talking about the fact that an innocent person died so that you could go free. You want to talk about the sobering reality of Christ who could be and should be our judge becoming our defender? It's a huge turn of events.

Dave Drew: It's a sad truth that we often don't appreciate the things we have until they're gone. We tend to take things for granted unless we truly understand just how valuable they are. Today on Focal Point, Pastor Mike Fabarez continues a study in Hebrews 12, reminding us of how serious the sin problem really is and rejoicing in the wonder of God's priceless solution.

When was the last time you thought about your redemption won by Jesus? Pastor Mike Fabarez encourages us to reflect on our new life in Christ. Let's listen.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: I've talked a little about justification, but our series is about sanctification, right? And the point is you can't be justified unless you grapple with the guilt of sin. You have to know you're sinful before you can embrace the grace of God. If the whole point is hating sin enough to forsake sin and say no to temptation, I've got to despise it. I need to hate it.

The perspective of Sinai, don't ever lose it. I recognize we've passed Zion, past Sinai to go to Zion. I get it, but don't ever forget Sinai. Sinai is the reminder of the desperate need we have for Zion, to put it in terms of Hebrews 12. We've got to remember that. You're never going to despise or detect sin in your life unless you're willing to measure yourself humbly against the law of God. And that's what Mount Sinai is all about.

But here's the good news. You've come to Mount Zion. As I said, the idealized picture of the poets in the Old Testament about God reigning as he should over his people. It's the heavenly Jerusalem. Please note this carefully. I've already underscored it, but if you missed it because I talk too fast, a lot of people say that about me, it's not the old Jerusalem and it's not the new Jerusalem.

It's the heavenly Jerusalem. Your relationship with God right now is not living in some theocracy in the Old Covenant. And it's not the new Jerusalem that comes out of heaven. That's coming. The one we live in now is a spiritual, relational Jerusalem. You live in a relationship with God that is spiritual. It is Mount Zion, God hopefully ruling over your heart, the city of the living God.

See, this is a huge contrast. This goes from barrier and separation to union, access, and oneness. It's called reconciliation. And what happens is I'm separated, but now I'm reconciled. The difference and distinction and contrast between Sinai and Zion is we were separated here, but now we're joined together here. That's called reconciliation.

Parties that were alienated because of sin are now joined in union with one another. And that is a major, major truth. Though you were dead, see, God's grace breaks through. Your enemy, and God is your natural enemy. Do not mistake that because he's holy and you're not. He is your natural enemy. Your enemy has become your friend. Your enemy has become not only your friend, your redeemer.

Your enemy has become your defender. Your enemy has become your protector. And you not only have access to God, the one that should take you and wipe you off the face of the universe is someone who's looking at you and saying, "I love you though, and I'm going to pay the price through the mediatorial work of my son, and you will be completely forgiven." And if you have your name written in the registry of Mount Zion, so to speak, then you're in good shape.

Turn to Psalm 87. Psalm 87, what a great, great, great passage that maybe brings this together. And I've got to say this because I've talked about Mount Zion. Our passage talks about Mount Zion. And if you want to talk about this idealized poetic view of Mount Zion, here is a great passage. 1,000 years, by the way, before the coming of Jesus, okay? This is an Old Testament text, but you will see as he drifts from a geographical mound on the south of the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem, he moves into something much more spiritual and idealized than that.

Sons of Korah wrote this song, or at least it was dedicated to them in Psalm 87. And it says in verse number one, Psalm 87 verse one, that he has set, speaking of God now, his foundation on the holy mountain. Yahweh, verse two, loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. And so far, I'm thinking physical place. I'm thinking I know where Mount Zion is. You're thinking geography.

Then he says glorious things are said of you, O city of God. Selah. What's Selah mean? Selah probably just musical term, maybe an interlude of music, maybe pause. Whatever it means, it's a time for the reader or the singer to ponder what was just said, to let that resonate. So I'm thinking now, city of God, that's a little bit because I've been to Zion, man. There's a lot of stuff going on in Zion. It's not perfect. City of God. Now that's kind of taking me to the top shelf now.

Now watch where it goes after you've pondered that, after the Selah in verse three. Verse four now. He says, here it gets really bizarre. "I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me." Stop right there. Rahab, do you know what that is? It's not the prostitute in Joshua's day. Rahab is the word used for the nation of Egypt.

Now let's think. Pretend you're a Jewish person now in the Old Testament. Egypt, now I know it was 400 years earlier, but Egypt and Israel weren't getting along too well. It's the whole Pharaoh-Moses thing. That wasn't good. Rahab, you mean Egypt? And then Babylon, which was yet to come. Babylon would be the nemesis of Israel for the next 400 or 500 years after this was written.

So Babylon and Rahab, you mean they're going to be on your team, God? Is that what you're saying? How about this next one, middle of verse four? Philistia too. Ever heard of the Philistines? They didn't get along real well. Talk to David about a big tall guy in a battle with a slingshot. Philistines are not good guys here. And yet all of a sudden Philistia and Tyre, along with Cush, which was the upper Nile crescent in Egypt, those guys that are always defending their borders and wanting to fight us.

Those guys are going to be on our team? You're going to have those people acknowledge you? Yeah, keep reading verse four. "And will say," okay, here's God now. And God will say, "This one was born in Zion." Now we're not talking about a mountain in Jerusalem anymore, right? Something about you from Philistia, from Babylon, from Egypt, from Cush, you're now going to acknowledge the King and live in fellowship with him. And so much so that he's born in Zion? Trust me, the Philistines were not born in Zion, right?

But this ain't a physical geographical Zion we're talking about. Keep reading. Talk about the Gospel in the Old Testament. Look at it. Verse five. Indeed, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one, they were born in her." And the Most High himself will establish her. Do you see the Gospel of the Book of Acts now in the Old Testament songbook? Out of all these foreign countries, the Gentiles will be picked out and it will say, even of a bunch of Americans thousands of years down the road, "That one's born in Zion."

"Oh, and that one over there, born in Zion." "Oh, that one's got the birthright from Zion." The picture's beautiful. Indeed, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one were born in her." And the Most High will establish her. Verse six. "And Yahweh will write in the registry of the peoples, 'This one was born in Zion.' Selah."

Isn't that a great verse? I mean, that's what it's all about. It's about me being a child of Zion. I want to be born, I want to be a citizen of Zion. And there's only one response to that, by the way. And the angels are ahead of us on this one. Verse seven. "As they make music, they will sing: 'All my fountains are in you.'" What's that about? Sustenance, fulfillment, happiness. In this poetic picture, everything that is important to me comes from that.

Comes from what? That your name is written in the registers of the people of Zion. Are we talking about being a national Jew? We're not talking about that. We're talking about you and me being in fellowship with God and no longer having the caution tape up before the mountain of God. Now I'm living in the mountain of God. I'm not only accepted, my name is written in the registry.

And that just transferred into the Greco-Roman world in the New Testament as well. How often did Paul pull out his citizenship of Rome going, "Hey, look at me. I've got rights here"? And so it is with us. You have the right to full access as the firstborn, the church of the firstborn, because your name is written in the registry of Zion. Does that sound New Testament?

Jesus liked to put it this way in the New Covenant. He said through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Revelation, he called it the Lamb's Book of Life. Remember that? I love the concept of a name written in a book as it relates to my heritage because that is something legal and that is something firm and that is something secure.

Isn't it great to know that no matter what happens in your external life, even if in your life you feel like you've had one of the hardest lives of all, if your name is written in the registry of the people of Zion, man, that's a pretty darn good secure thing. That changes everything about perspective. Can you celebrate no matter what happens in your life if that's true of you?

That's huge. Born in Zion. Lamb's Book of Life. It's not only a great blessing, it's necessary. What's the last thing about it said in the scripture? Revelation chapter 20. "And those whose names were not written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire." The point is you're going to have to meet God without any kind of protection if your name is not written in the Lamb's Book of Life. I'll write in the registers of the people, "This one was born in Zion."

This is not an evangelistic message about justification. It's really a practical message about sanctification, but I hope that sends a chill down your spine to make sure that you and I are genuinely Christians. Because before you can celebrate reconciliation, you better make sure you are reconciled to God. Make sure that your name is written in the registers. How do you do that?

What did Luke 15 say? When do angels rejoice? When they see sinners repent. And of course, we've read in Romans chapter five, it's all about faith. Repentance and faith, those are the two keywords in scripture. How's this affect your worship? If there are lyrics on the screen that speak to these supra-circumstantial issues of my reconciliation and redemption that God has laid down his son for my life so that I might be reconciled, let's just enjoy that, right?

And all I'm telling you is let us engage in worship, and not just on Sundays. You ought to worship every single day. Music is one way to do that. Prayer is one way to do that. How you live is one way to do that. But we need to joyfully celebrate our reconciliation. The angels are doing it. Your name is written in the book. You have access to God. That's a big deal.

One more section of this, bottom of verse 23, Hebrews chapter 12. The tone changes just a little bit here. It says you've come to God, the judge of all men. Hmm, that's sobering. And to the spirits of righteous men made perfect. That takes me back to the cloud of witnesses, right? I mean, there are people here and they've been made perfect, but they're righteous also, doing righteous acts. They're justified and they're being sanctified. They have been sanctified. They have righteous lives.

And you've come to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, a new promise, a new arrangement, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Now think that one through. The covenant of Christ is like the covenant of the Passover, which was a promise of God, a small-C, where God promised that if you put the innocent blood's lamb on the doorpost, you would not suffer the wrath of God in Egypt.

Remember that? And all you had to do, you had to take the hyssop branch after you executed and slaughtered a lamb that you would eat for dinner, lamb chops. You would first take the blood from the hyssop branch and you'd stir that in the branch and then you'd go out to the front of your house on the doorpost, you'd sprinkle the blood. Remember that picture? And the sprinkled blood in Egypt was a picture of them escaping the wrath of God as the wrath of God came upon Egypt for the sin of the people. The blood sprinkled protected you.

Now, the thing about that is, and it was bad enough at the Passover, you had to live with an animal for a week that you started to see as a pet and now he would die so that you would be forgiven. But now it's not about a lamb, it's not an animal, it's about a person. It's about the Son of God. It is, jot this down, First Peter chapter one. It is about the precious blood of Christ.

You weren't redeemed, he says in verse number 18, with perishable things like silver and gold. You were redeemed or purchased by the precious blood of the lamb. Number three, we need to live soberly. Live soberly, soberly live in light of your redemption. Redemption is a strategic word, a purchase of blood. We're talking about the fact that an innocent person died so that you could go free.

Isn't that what the lamb of the Passover was all about? The innocent animal that now I've become attached to and I kind of like has to die so that I get to live. And that's what the blood of the covenant was all about. Christ, the perfect one, would have my sins laid on him and the justice of God would be poured out on him so that I could go free as innocent and his righteous life would be applied to me.

The great transaction, think about this now. His righteousness applied to me and my sin applied to him. And because of that, now I can, hey, enter into the mountain of God. And it's not like Sinai, there's no barrier there anymore. If you are justified, you've got access. But it came through the high price of the blood of Christ. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer was known to say, "Grace might be free, but it's not cheap."

And here's the reality. You may be rejoicing in the fact that we don't earn justification, but it came at the blood of the Son of God. And by that mean, God's wrath was poured on him and not on you. That's a big, big deal. And that leads to not gleeful joy, it leads to sober joy. It leads to a happiness and a thanksgiving that is profound and not like, "Hey, high five, can't wait to high five all the angels and Jesus when I get there."

I think you're going to be reverentially humbled before the throne of God. And by the way, think about him as your judge. That's what Peter said. If we call on God, this father of ours, who is the judge of all the earth, he's going to judge everything. See, shouldn't we live our lives in a reverent fear before God? I mean, we're dealing with the judge here. This isn't just a dad who just kind of works for the city. I mean, this is the judge of the world.

Now, I understand he's brought us near, but that's not gleeful, mindless living. This is sobriety. This is reverence. Your judge has become your defender though. Don't forget that. Romans chapter eight, it's so good. If God is for us, who can be against us? Right? And I love how that goes. Who is the one who condemns? Do you remember that passage? Let's turn there. Romans chapter eight.

You want to talk about the sobering reality of Christ, our mediator, who could be and should be our judge becoming our defender? It's a huge turn of events. Romans chapter eight verse 30. Let's just jump into the middle of this. "Those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he justified; and those he justified, he glorified."

I thought that hasn't happened yet. It hasn't. That's what we call a prophetic perfect. It's so confident in the chain of events that it's spoken to us as a past-tense reality. We're going to be glorified. Verse 31. Nothing's going to thwart God's plan. What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, if he's working us to the New Jerusalem and we now have contact with the heavenly Jerusalem, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? Who will bring a charge against those whom God has chosen? If your name is written in the registry of Zion, who could be against you? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns?

Well, there is a condemner, there is a judge. All judgment has been given to the Son, Christ Jesus. Yeah, you're right. He is the judge, but your judge now has become your mediator, who died for you. More than that, he was raised to life and is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

What a powerful truth. The Christ who should judge you, the God who should pour out retribution on your sin, has now become your defender, your protector. And Christ himself, who was slain for your sin, has become your mediator, your intercessor, and stands as your advocate and argues your case. Nothing better than that.

But it's not a gleeful joy. It's not some brainless happiness. It's a sober truth. It's a kind of reverential fear. It's a kind of sobriety that leads us, I hope, humbly to make sure that we approach our Christian lives carefully. Also, just one last note on this. I hate to skip this one phrase. If you still have Hebrews 12 available there, look at that last phrase of verse 23. You've not only come to God, the judge of all men, and the mediator, verse 24, of a new covenant sprinkled blood.

But you've come to the spirit of righteous men made perfect. The spirits of righteous men made perfect. Again, talk about humbling, talk about sobriety. Nobody earns it. Everybody is made perfect. We may be being made righteous, or as it said over there in Hebrews chapter 10, he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. Remember that verse?

The point is I may be progressively becoming more righteous in my life and working at it, but I've been made perfect forever by the sacrifice of Christ. And the point is, again, that's humbling. What did the first verse you learned about not earning salvation, Ephesians 2:8 and 9, right? It's by faith, it's not of works. The last line there, "so that no one should boast." Talk about humbling. No one's going to be doing this when they enter into the kingdom because of anything they've done. This is all about grace.

There is one more line, I guess we should catch this too. Verse 24, "the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." What did Abel's blood cry out for? He was killed by Cain unjustly, and his blood cried out from the ground, the Bible says, and wanted what? Justice, right? Now wait a minute, let's think through that again. Abel, Cain, Cain kills Abel. So then God executed him, right?

No, he should have, but he didn't. Do you remember what God does for Cain? God, for Cain, puts a mark on him and protects him. God, for a guilty person that deserved death, ended up becoming his defender and his protector. What about the blood of Abel? It kept crying out, "Justice, justice, justice." What does the blood of Christ do? It provides justice, right? It's called propitiation in the Bible.

Propitiation. God is not winking at your sin. He's not looking the other way. You will be accepted into the kingdom of God. You are right now in the heavenly Jerusalem, accepted as a citizen of heaven. Why? Not because God's looking the other way and holding his nose and saying, "Well, come on in. We'll just deal with it." No, he has dealt with it.

Remember Good Friday? Paid in full. Tetelestai. The point of the cross was that the blood of Christ is the propitiation for the injustice of sin. It speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Nothing better than that. I know that's a lot of information, but when it comes down to it, it should change the way we live.

As one Christian writer has rightly put it, the Christian life is a lot about remembering where we're going without forgetting what we're missing while celebrating what we have. And that's really what we've been preaching about. Hell has been canceled. Heaven's been secured. You have full access to God, but it is all by faith, completely predicated on grace because of your response of recognizing that your sin is utterly sinful. It's the essence of the perspective of Hebrews chapter 12. May we carry it into our week and live accordingly.

Let's pray. God, we need this perspective to permeate our minds. I pray that most of us would have engaged. I pray a high percentage of us would not only have engaged intellectually on this topic, but I pray that it would percolate in our minds, penetrate our thinking, and ultimately affect our choices this week.

We are people that have, because of the grading of our lives, been found wanting. As a matter of fact, so bad was our sin that we should have no access ever to fellowship with our creator. And yet, God, in your grace, as our sin was crying out for justice, you sent your son, the God-man, to pay for sin in human form.

You had to put on human flesh yourself, and Jesus Christ, you had to come and live among us, not only rack up the credit of righteousness, but you had to take on the penalty of sin and your life became our propitiation, the satisfaction of divine justice. And it's not something that we can waft in and out of. Our names are recorded in heaven in the registry, as it were, of Zion, in the Lamb's Book of Life, as the New Testament puts it.

God, let us celebrate that security. Let us, even with no matter what's going on in our bodies, our checkbooks, our health, our homes, that ultimately if we are your children, we are redeemed, we have hell canceled, heaven secured, and full access to fellowship with you. That's a good thing, worth rejoicing over, worth celebrating. May we do it so not only in our words and our songs, but in our lives this week. And I pray this all in Jesus' name, our mediator. Amen.

Dave Drew: Full access to fellowship with him. A thought worth remembering today. You're listening to another portion of the series from Mike Fabarez called "Our Fight with Sin," and this is Focal Point. Today's message is called "Motivated by Heaven's Perspective." And you can revisit these daily lessons any time at focalpointradio.org or take them with you wherever you go, no matter what your schedule looks like through the free Focal Point app.

This month, Pastor Mike has handpicked a resource for you: Making a Difference, Impacting Culture and Society as a Christian by R.C. Sproul. Sproul isn't chasing culture war slogans or longing for some bygone Christian era. His point is far more direct: Everyone who follows Christ shapes the atmosphere of every room they walk into. And Sproul spells out exactly what shaping it well looks like.

Read this book, and suddenly the small stuff, your job, your ballot, what you'll put up with stops feeling separate from your faith and starts feeling like the very shape of it. We'd be glad to send this book your way when you make a gift to Focal Point today. Ring our office at 888-320-5885 or give online at focalpointradio.org or mail your gift to Focal Point, Post Office Box 2850, Laguna Hills, California 92654.

We're inviting you today to join our team of Focal Point partners with an ongoing monthly gift. This kind of support reaches beyond today's costs toward the listener still hunting for something solid and true. Get signed up today at focalpointradio.org or call us at 888-320-5885. And if this happens to be your first time with us, we've got something free waiting for you: a brand new booklet titled Battling Sin by Pastor Mike Fabarez. It's ours to give simply for getting in touch at focalpointradio.org.

Well, most people have preconceived notions about God, but how do we sort through these ideas, these images, and discover the truth about who God really is? I'm Dave Drew, inviting you to join us tomorrow when Pastor Mike Fabarez talks about the true character of God presented in scripture. Tuesday on Focal Point.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Pastor Mike here. You know, it's an honor to be with you every day helping you explore the depths of scripture. But I want to be clear: no amount of Bible knowledge is ever going to save you. Be sure where you stand with God. Get in touch with us. We'd love to pray with you and for you. Visit us today at focalpointradio.org. We look forward to hearing from you.

Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.