From His Heart

Speaker 1

Now, what's church to be all about? It's to be all about Jesus. It's not about Sunday school. It's not about the choir. It's not about the orchestra. It's all about Jesus. That's who it's about. And that's who we're built upon. He's our foundation.

Hey, if we have any other foundation other than Jesus Christ, we need to torch it. It's his church. It's all about Jesus. And anything that you do and anything that I do that isn't for the glory of God is one day going to burn up.

And it's just gonna. Because all that will last are the things that are done for Jesus. It's all about Him.

Speaker 2

This is from his heart with pastor, teacher, and author Dr. Jeff Shreve. Thank you for joining us today for what will be a chilling lesson for some, a challenging lesson for others, and a comforting lesson for those who have claimed Jesus as Lord.

You know, in the hustle and bustle of the daily grind, it's easy to lose sight of what life is really all about. And what is life really all about? Well, the Gospel of John is not shy about making that point emphatically and without the possibility of alternative answers. It's all about Jesus, period.

And that's also the title of the series that we're currently in, "It's All About Jesus." Today, we're continuing with part two of this lesson. You can hear part one online anytime at fromisheart.org. You can download a free MP3 of any broadcast as well as the sermon outline notes from Pastor Jeff.

Just click the Listen link now, though, and open your Bible to John, chapter one. Here's Pastor Jeff again with the proof that in this life and the life after we die, it's all about Jesus.

Speaker 1

Why is it all about Jesus? Let me give you three reasons from the opening chapter in the Gospel of John. Reason number one, it's all about Jesus because Jesus is the one and only God. John says right off the bat, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." How much more plain could it be? He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by him, and apart from him, nothing came into being that has come into being. John is trying to be crystal clear. Why is it all about Jesus? Well, it's all about Jesus because he's the one and only God.

Second reason. It's all about Jesus because he is the one and only God. Man. God became a man. That's amazing. That is mind-blowing. But that's what happened. Jesus became a man. Now it's important to remember this because we have groups out there today who will deny that Jesus is God. In the early days of Christianity, you know what they attacked? They attacked the humanity of Jesus. They said, "Well, Jesus, he wasn't really a man. He was just a phantom. He was just God who pretended to be a man." That's not what the scripture says. The Bible says in Philippians 2, "Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men." John said, "We beheld his glory." Wow. "Our hands handled him, we touched him, we ate with him." This was huge for John to write the Gospel of John and to say those things about Jesus because he had to break through so many things in his head.

To a first-century Jew, God doesn't become a man. And if you have trouble wrapping your mind around that, join the club. Because Paul did too. He said in First Timothy 3:16, "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh." And we beheld his glory, and we touched him, and we ate with him, and we were there with him. We saw him as he preached, we saw him as he performed miracles, we saw him as he was whipped, we saw him as he was beaten, we saw as they nailed him to a tree. We saw him die. Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was revealed in the flesh. Jesus became a man. He's the God-man.

And why did he become a man? He became a man so he could reveal to us the Father. Look what it says in verse 18. "No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained him." Or as verse 18 says in the New Living Translation, "No one has ever seen God but the unique one who is himself God is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us." That's why Jesus came, to reveal God to us—God the Father.

Now the scripture says no one has seen God at any time. If you press that and say, "Well wait a minute, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Well, I've seen Jesus. And those guys saw Jesus. So they saw God. They didn't see God the Father, so to speak. You know, they said to Jesus one day, "Show us the Father and it is enough for us." And Jesus said, "Have I been so long with you and yet you're not knowing me? If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." But see, God the Father is spirit. And so you can't really see God like that. You can only see God in Jesus.

So no one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who's in the bosom of the Father, he's explained God to us. He's revealed God to us literally. The Word is the Word. We get our word "exegete," which is a word that means to read out of the Scripture. When you're in seminary, they always say, "Do proper exegesis. Let the Word speak to you. Read out of the Word, don't isogeet," which means you read into the Word and you put your thoughts and your ideas into the Word. Don't do it that way. Let the Word come out at you. And Jesus, he exegeted God. He showed us what the Father was. He's the exact representation of his nature. He's the image of the invisible.

And see, lots of people have trouble as they read the Old Testament. They have trouble with some things that they read that God does. Because God destroys people. You get into the seventh chapter of the opening book in Genesis, what does God do? He causes a flood to come on the face of the earth, and he destroys everything and everyone except the animals on the ark, Noah and his wife, and Ham, Shem, and Japheth and their three wives. Eight people start over, and people read that, and they're like, "Wow, you know, God in the Old Testament seems kind of scary." You know, people were transporting the Ark of the Covenant. They didn't do it right, and bam, he killed them. Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus, chapter 10, they burned strange incense before the Lord, and bam, they were dead. You gotta tread lightly around this Old Testament God.

And they said, "You know, it's almost like there are two gods. There's the Old Testament God, that's just scary. And it seems like he's kind of mad. And then there's the New Testament God, Jesus. And man, he's a lot easier to be around." And they say, "There are two stools here. There are two gods here." No, they're not. No, they're not. I love what Charles Lowry says about this. He tells the story about a man who was supposed to be the Trojan War hero. His name was Hector of Troy. He was called into battle and he had to prepare quickly. So he was at his home and he put on all his battle armor. As he left the house, he stomped down the stairs to go to battle, and he remembered, "I forgot to kiss my son goodbye."

So he walked back up the stairs with those heavy boots on and his helmet on and all his battle armament. He goes into the house, and his son sees this imposing figure coming at him. His son is scared to death. He cowers. Hector doesn't understand, "Why is he doing that? Why is he so afraid of me?" And then he realizes, "Ah." He takes his helmet off and he says, "Son, it's me. It's your dad." The son comes running to his dad, and they embrace, and he kisses him goodbye.

Charles Lowry says this: "The Old Testament is God with his war uniform on. In the New Testament, God takes his helmet off." And God shows us that you can come to him. It's the same God, but it's in a different way. Jesus presented to us the heart of the Father. Jesus shows us that, hey, you know what? You can get close, and he does love you, and he has his arms open wide.

We read about things in the Old Testament, but God doesn't tell us. He doesn't fill in all the details. Listen, if you had been God in the Old Testament, you would have wiped everybody out after Genesis chapter three. You wouldn't have waited till Genesis chapter seven. You know when people see and they read stuff about how God wiped out the Amalekites? Man, that God, he's mean. He's cruel. He's vicious. No, he's not. The Lord, the Lord, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth.

Listen, you can trust the heart of God. And if God ever makes the decision to wipe out a people group, it's because the patience of God finally ran out. And God has tremendous patience. God is so gracious and so kind and so loving. God does not want to judge. God wants to bless. God wants to save. And Jesus said, "I want to show you the Father." Jesus was the one who would touch the leper. No one ever touched a leper. You don't want to get leprosy. But Jesus would meet the lepers, and he would touch the lepers, and he gave people a word, and he gave people a look, and he gave people a touch.

The little kids would line up to sit in his lap. And that is God, and that is the Father. If you ever wonder who God the Father is, if you ever wonder what his heart is like, when Jesus told the story of the prodigal son, the Father in that story is God who runs to the repentant sinner, who embraces him and kisses his neck, puts a ring on his finger, a robe on his back, shoes on his feet, throws a big party, rejoices, and tells the whole townsfolk, "Rejoice with me, because my son was dead and he's come back to life again." That's the heart of God, and that's what Jesus came to convey to us and to reveal to us—that God is a good God, that God is someone you can get close to, that God loves you so very much.

Speaker 2

And he has shown that to all the world. You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve and the message today called It's All About Jesus from the series of the same name.

Why doesn't everyone turn to Christ and see his wonderful message and life of love for us? Well, God wants our love, but love has to be given freely, just as he gave his life for us freely. But we are prideful and prefer to do our life our way. It's because we live in a world filled with confusion, distortion, and the relentless lies of the devil. So many today are overwhelmed by the noise of our culture and unsure of what or who to believe.

But because of friends like you who now love the Lord and want to help share the good news with others, we'd like to ask you to do that by making a contribution from his heart this month of any amount. And when you do, we'd be glad to send you Pastor Jeff's brand new book called the Devil's Newsroom, muting Satan's fake news and tuning in to God's truth.

The Word says in John chapter 8, verse 32, "You will know the truth and the truth will make you free." Help us share that with the world. Make your gift today and receive the Devil's Newsroom when you call 866-40-BIBLE, 866-40-BIBLE, or go online to fromhisheart.org.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers and for your gifts this month. We couldn't do it without you. Now let's get back to conclude the message. It's all about Jesus. Here again is Pastor Jeff Shreve.

Speaker 1

The Father loves you just as much as the Son loves you and as much as the Father loves the Son. Jesus said that's how much the Father loves you. And that's how much he loves me. We're loved by God.

Why is it all about Jesus? It's all about Jesus because he's the one and only God. It's all about Jesus because he is the one and only God, man. It's all about Jesus because he's the one and only Savior. At his birth, the angel made an announcement to the shepherds: "For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord." When the angel came to Joseph to tell him, "Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She's going to have a son. He is of the Most High. And you shall call his name Jesus." The name Jesus means Yahweh saves, Jehovah saves. That's who Jesus is. He is Yahweh who saves.

The Book of Acts says, "But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus in the same way as they are." Also, that's what they said concerning the Gentiles and the Jews. We're all saved by Jesus through his grace. The Bible says in Titus, "We're looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of our great God and Savior." Who is our great God and Savior? Jesus Christ. That's what it says in Titus, chapter 2, verse 13. Our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus Christ is God. He is the God-man, and he is the one and only Savior.

Now, John talks here in verse 15. He mentions John the Baptist, who came and talked about how Jesus existed before he did. John the Baptist was older than Jesus, but Jesus existed before he did. Why? Because Jesus is the eternal God. That's why he could tell those Jews, "Before Abraham was born, I am," because he is the eternal God.

Then he says in verse 16, "For of his fullness we have all received and grace upon grace." For the law was given through Moses. The people in the first century, the Jews, loved the law. They loved Moses. They would say to Jesus, as they argued with him, "We don't know who you are, but we hold to Moses. Moses. We follow Moses. We're people of the law. We're living by the law." And that's how the Pharisees lived. The scribes and the Sadducees were all living by the law. Moses did bring the law, and God used Moses to give the people the law.

But what people don't understand—what they didn't understand back then and don't understand today—is the purpose of the law. Why does God give the law? What's up with the Ten Commandments? Is that to show us how to live, and that becomes our religion? Is that what we cling to, and does the law save us? No way will the law save you. The law condemns you.

You know what the law is? A good illustration of the law is that it is a thermometer. God gave you the law for one reason and one purpose: to show you how sick you are. Look what it says in Romans, chapter three: "Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given. For its purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." That's what the law does. That's why God gave it. Paul says the law becomes your tutor to show you that you need Christ.

Hey, let me ask you a question. Suppose you're out in the sea and you are thrown overboard, out in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and it's choppy waters. You're in trouble, and you don't have a life vest on. You're thinking, "What am I going to do?" And someone says, "I know what I'll do. Let me throw you this." Who wants that? A boat anchor? "Here, just hold on to this." That's what the law is. It just makes you sink. It just shows you, "I'm in trouble."

Jesus didn't come with the boat anchor. People hold onto the law. The law condemns you. Jesus came with a life preserver. Jesus came to give you this. That's what a man drowning needs: a life preserver. Through Moses, we receive the law, but through Jesus, we can receive life—life-changing grace.

"For of his fullness," verse 16 says, "we have all received and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." Grace: God's riches at Christ's expense. Grace: the power of God given to sinners. Grace: the love of God shown to people who don't deserve it, shown through the cross of Jesus Christ. That's what God has for you. That's what is embodied in Jesus Christ.

Speaker 2

Grace.

Speaker 1

Not a boat anchor, but a life preserver. You're sinking deep in sin. God's not gonna throw you a boat anchor. He says, hey, that thermometer shows you that you're sick. It shows you that you need to turn to my son. Because in him you'll find grace. Grace to forgive all your sins. I don't care what you've done. Grace to change your life. I don't care how messed up you are. Grace so that you can experience the glory of God. Grace so that I can have a real relationship with God. That is true. That is genuine. That changes me from the inside out. That's what God has for you and me in Jesus. He is the Savior of the world. And he saves us through his grace. And he changes us through his grace.

Now, what's church to be all about? It's to be all about Jesus. It's not about Sunday school. It's not about the choir. It's not about the orchestra. It's all about Jesus. That's who it's about. And that's who we're built upon. He's our foundation. Hey, if we have any other foundation other than Jesus Christ, we need to torch it. It's his church. Jesus said to Peter, who is really revered in the Catholic Church, the first Pope, they say, Jesus said to Peter, I call you Peter Petros, little rock. But upon this rock, Petra, big rock, I will build my church. He didn't say, I will build your church. He didn't say, you will build my church. He said, I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This is his church. This is his work. Your life belongs to him. Your next breath belongs to him. Your marriage belongs to him. Your business belongs to him. It's all about Jesus.

And anything that you do, and anything that I do that isn't for the glory of God is one day going to burn up and it's just going to be gone. Because all that will last are the things that are done for Jesus. It's all about him. Scripture says in Psalm 115, not to us, oh Lord, not to us. But to your name give glory. You know what's so sad? That people in this room, they've never received God's grace. I don't know who you are necessarily. God does. You do. A lot of people, they lie. They lie to themselves. They know they've never received God's grace, but they want to be included. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm probably a Christian, sure. I've never murdered anybody. I'm American and I'm probably a Christian. That doesn't make you a Christian just because you don't have murder on your ledger. And you're an American citizen. You have to receive the grace of God.

Verse 10 says, he was in the world and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own. And those who were his own said, see you later. Bye. Those who were his own said, there's no room in the inn. Those who were his own said, get out of here. Those who were his own said, I don't want you, Jesus. They didn't receive him. Life's greatest tragedy right there. Those who were his own did not receive him, but as many as received him. To them, he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood. He's not talking about the blood of Jesus Christ. He's talking about the blood of generation. You can't be born into a Christian family and that somehow makes you a Christian. God doesn't have any grandchildren who are born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh. You know what the will of the flesh is? That's grit your teeth. Determination. Oh, I'm going to try so hard and I'm going to make it somehow, some way. Who are born not of the flesh, nor the will of man. That's nomination. I can't choose for you. Only you can choose for you who are born of God. That's regeneration. And that takes place when you open the door of your heart to the king, when you receive his grace, when you understand, hey, it really is all about Jesus.

Do you want your life to be all about Jesus so his glory can reign, his peace, his joy, his love, his power? That can happen today. Are you ready for your life to be all about Jesus?

Speaker 2

You're listening to From His Heart with Dr. Jeff Shreve, who has asked the question of your life: Is it all about Jesus for you? If it's centered on anything but Jesus, you'll never know how true peace and joy can come to your heart. Now, to find that purpose in life, you have to surrender all of your life to Him through repentance and faith. Faith that He is your Redeemer because of His sacrifice and not by any work that you have done. Are you willing to do that?

If so, we invite you to go to fromhishheart.org and click the "Why Jesus" link. There you'll discover more about who Jesus is, why He died, how He can know you, and how you can know Him. He loves you and He really wants you as a child of God. He created you for that purpose. Go to fromhishheart.org, click the "Why Jesus?" link, and when you do go online, you can also download any broadcast in MP3 format along with Pastor Jeff's sermon outlines and notes. Click the "Listen" link to get those.

And when you're there online, be sure to sign up for Pastor Jeff's weekly Real Hope Email Encouragement Devotional Letter. You'll receive it every Friday morning in your inbox. Again, go to fromhishheart.org and click the sign-up right there on the homepage.

Well, time has gone for today. I'm Larry Nobles. Thank you so very, very much for being with us, and we have faith that you'll be here next time when Pastor Jeff will continue his series "It's All About Jesus" with a lesson, "The Answer to an Empty Life." That's on Wednesday, when Pastor Jeff Shreve will again speak truth, love, and hope to a lost and hurting world. Remember, no matter what, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Find out more at fromhishheart.org.