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Save Those Who are Eagerly Waiting

Why was it so essential that Jesus be seated at the right hand of the Father and that we know that He is coming back?  What is the work of the King of Kings that He does on our behalf as He entered His kingdom?

I.  Colossians 1:9-20.  Jesus is on a rescue mission.  He had to enter His kingdom to deliver us from the dominion of darkness and transfer us to His kingdom.  He accomplishes this through the church (Matthew 16:18), which is His body, which He bought with His blood (Acts 20:28), over which He is head (Ephesians 1:7-23).  We are rescued when we obey the gospel (Acts 2:36-41).

II.  Hebrews 7:23-25.  We need Jesus to intercede for us.  Jesus’ constant work on behalf of those who have obeyed the gospel until the Day of Judgment is to sit at the right hand of the Father as our permanent High Priest and offer intercession for us (Hebrews 9:11-15).  And, it is good that He does as the accuser of our brethren is constantly about his deceitful work (Revelation 12:1-17).

III.  Hebrews 9:23-28.  Because we know that Jesus will return for us (Acts 1:9-11), we must be eagerly waiting for Him.  The time for His redemptive work is done, His sacrifice for sins on the cross and overcoming of death at the tomb accomplished.  He has gone away to prepare a place for us (John 14:1-4), so we must live faithfully, watching and preparing (Matthew 25:1-13).

Jesus has gone away to do His important work of saving us.  Are we about our important work of eagerly waiting for His return?

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The Old Rugged Cross

We are to let the Word dwell in us richly, Colossians 3:16 tells us, and one of those ways to teach and admonish with thankfulness in our hearts is by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another.  “The Old Rugged Cross” is a beloved hymn that proclaims Jesus’ death for our sins and then gives us a glimpse of our glorious future if we not only obey but live out the gospel.

I. Romans 3:21-25.  After describing the place of Jesus’ vicarious sacrifice (John 19:17-19), the song tells us that the cross is an “emblem of suffering and shame” (Galatians 3:11-13).  And yet we “love that old cross.”  How?  Because, we discover, that the “dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain.”  As we realize that Jesus died for us, we want to live for Him (Galatians 2:19-21) … and the horrific cross takes on new meaning.

II. John 15:18-19.  The world doesn’t get it, and in the best of its wisdom despises the cross … and so us who have obeyed the gospel and are living it out in our lives (1 Corinthians 1:18-25).  But to us, the cross is the power of God and the wisdom of God.  That the “dear Lamb of God” would leave His “glory above” to “pardon and sanctify me” (John 1:29; John 17:4-5) is the “wondrous beauty I see.”

III. 1 Peter 4:12-13.  Then promising that living out the principles of the gospel will be hard, we’re encouraged in the song to persevere to one day share in Jesus’ glory.  If we “cling to the old, rugged cross,” we will one day secure a crown (James 1:12).

Since Jesus gave all for you, won’t you give all for Him?

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Obtained with His Own Blood

When my dad would leave for his two weeks’ active duty in the Navy Reserves every year, he would tell me I needed to be “the man of the house” and take care of my mother.  He didn’t expect me to take care of things that were beyond an eight year-old like fixing the washing machine or drive to the store for milk, but it didn’t stop me having fantasies of wrestling a robber to the ground in the middle of the night to save mom.

In many ways, Jesus wants us to take care of His bride, the church, until He returns.

I.  Ephesians 5:25-27.  As Paul spoke with the Ephesian elders, he states that Jesus’ church was “obtained with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).  Like a medieval knight battling a dragon to rescue the princess, Jesus overcame sin and death on the cross to win those who would be His.  The church is His bride, His treasured possession, that He gave Himself for.  He died for His greatest love!

II.  Hebrews 13:7-17.  Jesus obtained His bride with His blood, but He has gone to prepare a place for her (John 14:1-3), and entrusted her to shepherds.  Speaking to those same elders, Paul states that they are to “care for the church” (Acts 20:28).  Like my dad trusted me to care for my mother while he was away, the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-16) entrusts His greatest love with shepherds under Him.

III.  Revelation 19:7-8.  Every bride needs to make herself ready for her wedding day!  The church is no exception.  When the bells ring, it is not time to roll out of bed.  Knowing that our Knight, our King of Kings, has shed His blood for us to rescue us from such a foe (Revelation 5:9-14), we must don our fine linen (righteous acts) and be eagerly waiting for Him when He returns for us (Hebrews 9:28).

Are you by obedience and repentance making yourself ready for when the groom comes for His bride?

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New Covenant in My Blood

Apparently in the religious world at large, some suggest that Jesus’ plans to establish His Kingdom were thwarted by wicked men who put Him on the cross, and so He had to establish His church instead.  Ridiculous on so many levels, this false idea is easily refuted through a look at the new covenant that Jesus said He was establishing through His blood.

I. Acts 2:22-24.  How would you ever surprise an omniscient and omnipresent God with a surprise party?  Yet, at the base of this false teaching is the idea that man somehow tricked God, that the One who breathed everything into existence was derailed by wicked men who were too clever for Him.  The cross was done through God’s purpose and foreknowledge as evidenced by how often Jesus spoke of His impending death.

II. Luke 24:25-27.  What a Bible study the two disciples must have had when the resurrected Christ revealed ALL the Old Testament scriptures that spoke about His suffering, death, and resurrection!  Among them must have been the fulfillment of the Passover (Exodus 12:5-11) and the eyewitness-like descriptions of Him on the cross in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 recorded centuries before He came in the flesh.

III. Jeremiah 31:31-34.  Perhaps the most convincing was the prophet’s description of the new covenant that God would make with His people, its hallmark forgiveness of sins and knowing God.  Jesus announces that that is what is being established at the Last Supper (Luke 22:19-22) with plenty of time to avoid the cross if that truly indeed was what God was trying to do.  Indeed, the new covenant, as with the old one, was established through blood (Hebrews 9:16-28).

Many passages use Kingdom and church interchangeably, but the establishment of the new covenant through the blood of the perfect Lamb truly shows that the church is His Kingdom on earth.  Have you entered the new covenant with God through Jesus’ blood being shed for you?