In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the need for redemption for every individual. He explains that man's attempt to redeem himself is futile and that only through God's grace and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ can true redemption be achieved. The preacher highlights the separation between God and man caused by sin and emphasizes that it is only through faith in Jesus and his blood that this separation can be bridged. He also addresses the tendency of moralists to judge others while practicing the same sins themselves, reminding them that they too are in need of redemption.

Why don't you grab your Bibles this morning and turn, if you would, to 2nd, or excuse me, chapter 2 of the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter 2, as you very well know, that that is the theme verse of our series. And this morning we are in the 8th part of a series entitled, The Life and Times of Jesus Christ. And so this morning we come to a very exciting, as I think they all have been, I don't know about you, but are you enjoying this series? You know, it's so unlike us. We've never done this before. And so it's exciting. And just the topics, I think, are just absolutely gripping to our hearts and to our minds as Christians. But this morning we're looking at Christ and His redemption. And again, we remind you of Colossians chapter 2, verse 9, the theme verse that we've selected for this entire 16-week series, where the scripture there says, For in Christ all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form. So we look to Christ and His redemption. Now it's possible this morning that you are a totally committed Christian. It's possible this morning that you think you're a Christian. And it's certainly possible this morning that you're not a Christian at all. Or maybe you're doubting that relationship with God in a great way. Well, we have a lot of things to cover this morning, and it's my heart's desire that we're faithful to them all. I want to bring this topic of redemption to you in a way that might be palatable for even, say, an atheist this morning. The Christian, when we hear the word redemption, it's so exciting to hear, yes, redemption. I know what that means. As a believer, I know the definition of the word. And it's a word for some of us that's been maybe in our vocabulary or in our understanding for a long time. Some of you in here are old enough to remember, like I do, growing up in San Diego and then in Orange County, I used to get so excited when it was time for my mom to go to the grocery store and spend as much money as possible. Because when we would go, she would either get blue chip stamps or the green, what's the, it's the green, green stamps, green stamps. Why? Both of those stamps were empowered by having built within them the ability to redeem something from those associated stores. You couldn't go down to a blue chip store and say, well, here's 50 bucks, I'd like to buy that. You had to have the stamps, the redemption stamps. And it's exciting. It was great. I remember being a little kid and I got one of my most favorite Tonka trucks. Do they even make Tonka's anymore? Are they big like they used to be and are they made out of, wait, okay, are they made out of metal? No, see, it's just, what are we raising our kids on anyway? This is terrible. We used to get metal Tonka trucks. And I remember the best one I ever got was from the blue chip redemption store in Huntington Beach. It was so awesome. I remember going down there that day. And then also I remember getting my first football from that redemption store. How is that possible? Because somebody paid a certain sum of money that purchased so many stamps or sheets of stamps. I would go home with my little sponge, get it wet, rub on the back and put it into the page of the book. And as you went through the various pages and added up the pages, you earned certain or you, I guess, were allotted, I should say, not earned certain redemptive toys that were there or things that were there, items. Somebody had to pay the price and I got to go free and go get those goods and be blessed by it. Well, the word redemption in the Bible sense certainly means that in a wonderful way, to be redeemed. It means that someone pays a price and someone goes free. And the one that goes free is the one that does not have the power or the ability of him or herself to set herself free or to obtain that blessing. You can't do it. The whole word redemption has that built into it. Someone pays the price. Now, is there anybody in here that could raise their hand with me and say, someone has sinned against you. They hurt you. They lied about you. They ripped you off. Raise your hand. Okay. The rest of you are lying or you're still sleeping. All of us have been ripped off in some way, shape or form, haven't we? I mean, it's true. Come on. Some of us, it's sad. You can say, well, you know, I've been ripped off mostly by professing Christians. You know, so have I. Me too. The world has done me okay in that respect. People who call themselves Christians have gotten the best of me. Well, does that mean I throw Jesus away? Does that mean I throw the concept of the church away? No. Jesus is holy and righteous. The church is good. It's like a friend of mine said, who's a pastor. He's been a pastor for years. He says, I love ministry. It's people that drive me nuts. Isn't that true? Oh, I just love the church. Some people come to church and they maybe have baggage because it's painful baggage. They were hurt and they were damaged. And so they come to a new church and their whole concept and thought and idea is I'm not going to get to know anybody. They're almost like the three monkeys. You know, I'm going to hear no evil. I mean, hear no evil. It's early and I've only had two cups of coffee. See no evil. I'm not going to speak in evil and I don't want any evils. By the way, if I could have a fourth monkey in there, I don't want any evil spoken to me. And of course none of us do. But for those of you who are visiting and someone's drug you here, drug you either by dragging you or drug you to get here. You're thinking, you know what? Yeah, that's exactly what I feel about the church. In fact, the church is full of a bunch of hypocrites. We all have to agree. Amen. We have to agree because whatever the law states or what the standard is, the criteria is established and whatever deviates from the law, whoever deviates from 55 miles an hour literally qualifies to be labeled for life honestly as a lawbreaker. Did you know that? Once you break the speed limit of 55, you don't back up and undo it. It's done. Now that's true in our material natural universe that you and I live in. It's even more true in the universe of God. When someone sins, we have sinned and you may go to a Tony Robbins course or you may log on to somebody who might counsel you or talk to Dr. Laura and somehow feel better because you've gone to this course and somehow you've paid your penance. But listen, are you ready? Don't leave the building just yet. But you're still in that sin. But I call Dr. Laura. I don't care. But I've called Pastor Jack. I don't care. The Bible doesn't qualify that. I've gone to my priest or I've gone to my cardinal or I've gone to the Pope. Did you know the Bible says it doesn't count? Hebrews chapters 9, Hebrews chapters 10 says that you can't go to the Pope. You can't go to Pastor Jack. You can't go to the priest and have your sin be forgiven you. This is what the Bible says. And all of a sudden that comes against our, listen, our concept and our logic of religion. Don't tell me this, Jack. I want to be able to go to somebody and they help me. But listen to me. You can go to a doctor and be terminally ill and that doctor can say to you, you know what? You're okay. You're all right. Isn't that what you want to hear? Come on. Let's be honest. That's exactly what you want to hear. That's exactly what I want to hear. I want an authority. I want somebody who's in the know to tell me I'm okay. But what is the truth? The truth is, and we have a hard time as humans, and I'm speaking for myself. Don't you dare think for a moment that I'm speaking to you. I'm speaking to myself. Every one of us as humans, we have a hard time dealing with the concept of redemption. The only way that we will embrace it is if we ourselves are the redeemer. Let me explain. Not too long ago, someone came up to me who has a shallow, at best, grip on Christianity. I know her feelings were true. I know that her heart was extremely sincere. But she wanted her friend so saved that in her prayer, which was not unlike the prayer of Moses or unlike the prayer of Paul, she said, God, take my salvation from me and give it to her. Now, that's a very noble, loving thing to pray, but people, listen, is it theologically accurate? Will God do that? The answer to that is absolutely no. And I told her, no. No, you can't do that. Why? Because now you would have to say to Jesus, scoot over. There's two of us up here now, because I have become the redeemer now of my friend. You see this. Christ alone redeems. We would love to play the role of the redeemer. The Mormon church, for example, if they don't evangelize you into their cult, what they will do is get your name in subsequent generations or in time to come to pass from now and be baptized for you becoming the savior of your soul. See, you can die and go to this waiting place because they don't believe in what Jesus said about hell, and you can be baptized, they say, and save that person. You can bring them out of that place and present them into a state of salvation. That means now, according to Mormonism, there are thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands of deliverers, of messiahs, of saviors, of what? Redeemers. Did you get me? Did you hear this? This is Mormon doctrine. It's false, though we love our Mormon friends. We love them dearly, and I have a lot of them. It's false doctrine. It is humbling for the human to say, I am coming to Jesus Christ, not Calvary Chapel, not the Baptist church, not the Catholic church, not the Methodist church. None of those entities died for your sins. Jesus alone died for our sins. And we come to him and we say, Lord Jesus, receive me as your child that has been wayward, and I come to you and I receive you, Lord, as my savior. And I'm asking you to write my name in your book of life. When you come to Christ, you are saved on the grounds or on the basis of a certain item that a lot of people wear around their neck. You know what I'm talking about? The cross. On the basis of the cross, we experience redemption. We experience salvation. Now, man may go about this world trying to generate or to accomplish some form of redemption for his own soul. It will not work. It doesn't work that way. So in our note-taking this morning, as we look to this study, Christ and redemption, I'm going to ask you to consider a few things. And the first thing is that man has a need for redemption. Every man. Boy, get a load of this. If any of you study psychology or sociology, or for that matter, if any of you have traveled to some great extent, did you know there is not one culture in the world that you can go to that is exempt from man's attempt to redeem himself? Did you know that? Even in the high and holy days of socialism in the Soviet Union, there was a form of redemption. Well, what do you mean? We didn't believe in God. Well, there was still a form of redemption, and that form of redemption is to either impress... Now, I'm really excited about this message, and you have to bear with me for a moment. I may get very Pentecostal today. But the object of your devotion, and every human has an object or objects of their devotion, they will bow to that object. If it's socialism and atheism, they will bow to that system to either worship and impress, and somehow, listen, earn the favor of a Mao Zedong, or earn the favor of a Stalin or a Lenin. That's both of them together at the same time. A Stenin. You will worship. We have found sociologists and missionaries, and explorers, and people who have found in the deepest, darkest regions of man's existence today, in the jungles, in South America, or in the remote regions of Africa, where people have not been reached. When they are reached, there are gods that are worshipped in those cultures. In some cultures. In fact, Japan, it is believed by most of the world today that Japan worships materialism. Gee, we can't relate to that, can we? In any way, shape, or form. But that's what Japan's being labeled. People will bow to a god. People will do anything and everything to make atonement. One of man's greatest problems is his inability to look at himself honestly and to say, you know what? I need to be redeemed. I need atonement. Paul talks about this word, a very huge word. It's the word propitiation. That someone would come and pay the price for me. Now, it's possible that you're sitting here this morning, and you're saying, I don't need anybody to pay the price for me. I'm a self-made man. I do my own thing. I've come from nowhere, and I've made it to the top. Well, that's great. And we're very happy for you, honestly. But the fact of the matter is, all along the way, there has been, visible or invisible to you, there has been stapled onto your existence all kinds of riffraff and debris and garbage that you've picked up along the way. And it's a fact. Oh, I don't believe you. Well, you will know this to be true as we go through this study this morning. But I want you to write out the study, because I hope it comes to a wonderful conclusion for you. This act of redemption, this need for redemption, and the power of redemption. So what we see is that there is this very, very important internal thing. Now, I want to show you something here. Man became, according to Scripture, a fallen creature. Man became a fallen creature. And I want you to underline, as you take your notes, that he became one. Why? Because the Bible says that man was not always a fallen creature. The Bible says that God created man in his own image. Though he was a created being, meaning less than God, he was not fallen. The Bible says that we enjoyed this fellowship with God. Somewhere, they understand, in the area of the cradle of the civilization of man's birth, somewhere around the areas of today where the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers are, somewhere around the region of Israel, Iran, Iraq, was this area of Eden. And wonderfully, I don't want to get off on that. We did that a couple weeks ago. But wonderfully, there's a lot of scientific evidence pointing to how that is true. How not only was that area the beginning place of humankind, but we know this mathematically and engineering and linguistically and many other ways. But in this place where man was established, where man began, the Bible talks about a perfect place, a utopia governed by God. And man, in his disobedience, rebelled against God. And he fell. The Bible says, the Scripture says, God told them, the day that you eat of this fruit, you will surely die. Now, you know that they ate of that fruit. We don't know what fruit it is. Was it an apple? The way my computer's been acting lately, I'm certain it was an apple. We don't know what kind of fruit it was. We just know that God said, don't eat this fruit. Now, you know what? God puts within us and has engineered with every one of us this able to decide, this volition. We have this power God's given us. If you like it or not, you got it. And the Bible says that Adam, that Eve, they sinned against God. Well, built in internally to every human being is this passion for eternity. We want to live longer. We've talked about this. We want to, even as a young child and as we grow older and even older, you interview old people, you talk to maybe grandpa or grandma, and there's this internal thing about them that they want to dwell on the past, why there was this youth. And even in their heart, did you know that for grandma and grandpa today, did you know that in their thinking, they think much younger than what they feel? Did you know that? Some of you in here are like 22, 25, and you're going, no, man, I don't have a clue of what you're talking about. You will later. I promise you I'm 41 and I feel 21 and I'm trying to do things that I did when I was 21 and I'm tearing my body apart, trying to do it. God created man. It's a fact. And let me be so bold to say it's a scientific fact. You can look at the evidence. It's everywhere. God created us. But the thing is, man became a fallen creature. Man is fallen. There's no doubt about it. Everything there is within us to desire the forever, to desire a good life, to listen, fight against, ward off, listen, ignore death. We don't want to talk about that. When I do a funeral, I always announce in the funeral how tragic this interruption has been that's brought us together. Isn't it funny how that is so true that death is a bizarre and strange interruption to life? When you go to a funeral, doesn't it seem dislocated and strange? It is strange. Death was not to happen to us originally. But the Bible says because of sin, death entered the world. By the way, in Romans 2, God says that the moralist needs redemption. Can you jot that down? The moralist. Do you know anybody who's good? How about this? This is the funniest part. Do you know anybody who thinks they're good? That to me cracks me up. Because they think they're good. I'm good. Aren't you a little arrogant about that? No, I'm just being honest with myself. Well, now you're prideful. No, I'm rightly evaluating my situation. It's just unbelievable. By the way, don't ever underestimate man's ability to justify himself. And it all starts out with little kids. Did you punch your sister? Nope. Why is she crying? I don't know. Why is your nose all red? Beats me. Where does this come from? From the fallen nature. It's fallen within us. We have to tell children or instruct children to tell the truth. They naturally lie. They naturally steal. Now honey, I want you to go in that store and I want you to steal some candy from that. No, you don't tell them that. You have to say, now don't steal anything. We didn't pay for that. Put that away. Isn't that funny? It's so strange. But that's us. And for us to say that's not us is to be deceived. God knows that we have a great need to be redeemed. Guess what? You and I know it too. We just won't face up to it. We need to be redeemed. Man's way of trying to redeem himself. In Romans chapter 2 regarding the moralist, he says, therefore, you are inexcusable for whoever you are who judge others. See, the moralist always judges other people. For in whatever you judge another person, have you condemned yourself? The answer to that is yes. For you judge, for you who judge practice the same things, but we know that the judgment of God is according to truth. And do you think this, oh man, you who judge those practicing such things that you go and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? Paul says, no way, you moralist. You think you're so good, but yet you turn and say, well, look at that guy. Look at that neighbor of mine, the slimy bum. And yet God says, excuse me, but without my son's blood covering you in the act of redemption, you're a slimy bum. And you need me. I love you with all of my life. And I've loved you with all of my son on the cross, but you're a slimy bum. And I want you in heaven with me. And this is how slimy bums get there. It's through my son. Now some of us say, you know what? I can live with that because I know me now after coming to Jesus and I am a slimy bum. I can't do anything without the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. I can't do anything if I don't take the Bible and attempt to embed it into my arts. You want to know why? If I don't do that, I want the bigger slice of the pie. I want the best view. I want the most money. But when Jesus begins to govern and rule, it begins to change my mind. But the moralist looks at people and begins to judge them. The other thing that we can realize is that there's the moralist certainly and it's throughout society. There's the person who is the religionist. The religionist is a person, according to Romans chapter 2 verse 223, it says there that you who make your boast in the law, that you're obedient to God and you follow the law. He says, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? Well, that's a sarcasm in Greek. Paul's being sarcastic. He's saying, of course you do. You say, well, I don't know if I agree with that, Jack, because I've been really, really a good law keeper. You may think in your own judgment and I may think in my own judgment that I've been a good law keeper, but guess what? We're not perfect. To all of mankind, the Bible says in Romans 3, 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We need to be redeemed, people. And we know it down deep inside, if we'll just be honest. In Galatians 2, 16, it says by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God. So if we look at this, man's need for redemption, yes, but also consider this. There is a moment by moment pilgrimage to the place that, for example, the Jews hold most holy at this time. It's known as the Western Wall. And here you see an Orthodox rabbi to the right and an Israeli military soldier to the left. What brings these two people from seemingly diametrically opposed philosophical or even civil duties or activities or beliefs, what brings them to that wall? Do you know what brings them to that wall? Their desire to be redeemed. They're seeking redemption. They're asking God to forgive them of their sins. And you see the cracks in those great stones from the second temple period? Jesus, by the way, you see those stones? Jesus saw those stones. He touched those stones. Many of you have touched them and been there. They write down their prayer and they stuff it in the crack. They're trying to get it through the crack of those stones to the closest possible point where the Ark of the Covenant once stood on the Temple Mount that God might hear their prayer. Why? To make atonement for their sin. And that is religion. It's unacceptable to God, religion is. It's the relationship that's all important. The theater of redemption automatically assumes two things. Jot them down. In the area or theater of redemption, it automatically assumes two things. Number one, that there's a benefactor, the one who gives. In our understanding, it would be the one who's wealthy. He's the benefactor. He's the one that's going to orchestrate. What do you hold in your hand? In Colossians 2.9, it is a book that is part of the what? Anyone? New Testament. The word testament implies someone, are you ready? Someone lived and died and empowered the testament. It's called the New Testament. It means somebody lived, created it, empowered it by death, and hallelujah, rose again from the dead to ensure its performance. Jesus Christ, the New Testament. There is the benefactor, the one who gives, that's Christ, and the beneficiary, that's us, the one who receives. The one who receives. Two very important things. You cannot have redemption unless you have a redeemer and someone who's to be redeemed. Now listen, those of you who could in your own heart at the very least admit that you're a sinner, I'll admit it right now, I'm huge. I would link arms with Paul, the apostle, and say with Paul, I am the chief of sinners. It doesn't hurt my feelings, but Jack, doesn't it damage your self-esteem? No, not at all. You know, I don't know why. To be redeemed, you must first qualify. How do you qualify? Be a sinner. And here's the cool thing. I've been accused of being very excited about the things of God. It's true. I'm guilty. You want to know why? I have been forgiven a huge amount of sin. I don't know about you, but I was the chief. My point is that I'm trying to make, that you're getting, is that if you look at Christ and what he's done to redeem us, then you too can say, no, no, no, no, Jack, I disagree with both you and Paul. I'm the chief of sinners. And that's a Christian. I see my depravity, but I rejoice in the work of God because he set me free through the work of redemption. He knew I needed to be redeemed. You see, you can run around this globe or this city all you want and try to buy things and put labels and tags and band-aids on whatever you think is important in life to make you meaningful, and it won't work. It won't work. Now if you're redeemed, you might happen to have some blessings. That's pretty cool because you can constantly daily say, God, thank you for this house. You know what I'm saying? God, thank you for my job. Lord, thank you for this food or thank you for this, you name it. A couple of weeks ago, a family, I don't know them personally, but it was such a sweet invitation. They called and they said, you know what? We know that you're a water ski freak and we'd like to take you water skiing. Well, you know what? They must, gee, to do that, they must have a boat. That's kind of cool that they would be so kind enough to share that blessing like that. I couldn't go because I goofed up my foot surfing, trying to do things that's in my heart, but my body won't do. God blesses, but the thing is with what God has blessed you with, is it dedicated to him? You see, if you've been redeemed, you don't say, well, I guess I've got to give God 10%. Excuse me? Nowhere is 10% mentioned in the New Testament. It's kind of mentioned in the Old Testament. Technically, it's 23 and a third percent. Well, I've done my 10%. Well, you're still a loser because God says to do 23 and a third percent according to the Old Testament. You know what it is for the New Testament? About a hundred percent. Well, Lord, you can have my wife's car, but this one's mine. You can have my wife's income, but mine's mine. What's mine is mine and what's hers is yours. It doesn't work that way. See, the moment you realize, man, I've been forgiven so much. Lord, whatever you want to do, it's yours. Now, some of you are thinking, you know, you're an idiot for saying such things. I don't believe you. You know what? You ought to taste and see just how good the Lord is in regards to what I'm talking about. Some of you might say, well, concerning, I can't even believe you brought up tithing. Well, don't worry. You won't hear it again for a while. But the thing is this. I can't afford to give God anything in my life. I'm just stretched. You know why you're stretched? Because you haven't given God anything to Him. Give your life to Him and you won't be so stretched. I don't understand it. Don't ask me to explain it. Are you pooped out in your Christianity? Then stop trying, will you? Let the Holy Spirit do it. Are you saying, I've got to be a good boy, I've got to be a good boy, I've got to be good, I've got to be good, I've got to be good? You'll never be good enough. Let the Holy Spirit do it. Get up in the morning and say, Lord, I'm a wretch. Holy Spirit, will you help me, please? He says, I love to help people just like you. And we're all just like one another. And I guess that affects your attitude. Very important. Let's look at this second area. Man's need for redemption. Man became a fallen creature. But listen, God is a loving Creator. It's true. He's a loving Creator. God is a loving Creator. We don't need to dwell on this much because we know that it's true. God loves His creation. Well, then why is it so messed up? It's so messed up because we have rejected God. Mankind's rejected Him, but He loves us. What do you think this incredible book has been written and told and is telling still the story of redemption? You know, the first few pages of your Bible, the first few pages is dedicated to creation. Did you know that? There you go. Can you see that? Look at this. This is dedicated to creation. See this? This is dedicated to redemption. What does that tell you? That we need to be redeemed. That we're a fallen creature, but not rejected. We're a fallen creature that God has established a path of acceptance. From this end to this end, He's saying, it's my son. He's eternal. I'm going to send him to you. You'll identify him. He'll be born in Bethlehem. He's going to be your Redeemer. And some people get upset about that. The other night we were in the mall and we were late. I mean, we actually were going to go see a movie and the silly thing sold out. And so we're all sitting around and it was fun because we're at the Mills Mall and just four of us were sitting there and then somebody comes by from the church. Hi. Oh, hi. Hey. And sit down. And then more people. We had about eight or nine people by then and about 20 minutes. It was so fun. And people who, I don't know if they were Christians or not that were gathered around us, but we were talking and we were laughing and we were saying, praise the Lord. Oh, that's awesome. Oh, man. And we're just totally cracking up because Tom Muster, if you know Tom Muster, he was there. So how can you be serious? So Tom, we're having a great time. And for a moment, I looked around and there were people that were walking by and they're actually looking at us like we were on drugs. And it was amazing to me. But you know what we were doing? And I have to believe, according to Malachi 3, 16, I think, that the Lord looked down from heaven and he heard that he was being spoken of one to another. And he wrote in his book of remembrance those things that were told of him. He's going, listen to that. We were loving on Jesus. He loves to be in the conversation. Why? He loves us. Yeah, we're falling, but he loves us. That's why he sent Christ. Christ and his redemption. First of all, we must recognize that man has a need of redemption. Can you this morning recognize that need and say that you have a need to be redeemed? Very quickly, both had become separated. God and man is separated by sin. God and man is separated by sin. God's holy. He can't allow it in his presence. Thus Christ comes. The next thing that we see this morning, the act of redemption. The act of redemption. In Romans chapter 3, verse 23, we've read it earlier. All have sinned to come ashore to the glory of God. Yes, that's true, but verse 24 says, but now being justified freely. Did you guys hear what I said about the word freely? Freely, free, freely, freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God sent forth as a propitiation, that is a payment by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness. It had to be initiated by God. Hey, just lighten up everyone. You're not going to save yourself. You can't save yourself. Salvation has been initiated by God. You can't save yourself. It's like those poor, pitiful, stupid people who when the Titanic is sinking, the, I think they're called stewards or porters, whatever they're called. They work on the, they serve on the, on the cruise ship. They start going around and pilfering the rich people's cabins, putting jewelry, gold, money in their pockets, and then jumping off the ship, going straight to the bottom faster than anybody because they were weighted down with possessions. Oh, I'm going to save myself. They load up money to spend thinking that they were going to survive. No, God initiates our redemption. He's got to initiate it and it had to be acceptable to God. Acceptable to God. No man, no man could die for us. No man could die for us. Go ahead and pick the greatest woman or man that you've ever known in your life. In fact, maybe in your observation and what a wonderful person they must be truly. They're all, they're, they're all but sinless in your life. They're, they're amazing witness. They're fantastic. Did you know they couldn't die for you? Did you know the Bible teaches that not even a good man can die for you? It had to be God. It had to be God that died for us. It had to be the Lord. The third thing is, is that it had to be completed by God. My friend, this is an awesome thing. Can you admit this morning and many of us, maybe all of us have already admitted this to the Lord. Lord be my redeemer. Lord save me. Well, Lord, he initiates that. Nobody can come to Jesus Christ without asking to say, Lord, you know, I want you. You know how that happens. God calls you. It's got to be acceptable to God. That means Jesus paid the price completely. Remember, do you remember back in Genesis chapter 22 when Abraham was about ready to sacrifice Isaac and Abraham prophetically makes the utterance? He says, my son, God will provide himself the lamb. That lamb is Jesus Christ. It was acceptable to him and it was completed by God. It was completed by him. Did you know that God is not up in heaven ringing his hands right now saying, oh man, what, what else can we do to get them here? It's been done. So rest, will you? Those of you who have said Jesus be the Lord and savior of my life. You have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb initiated by God, acceptable to God, completed by God. And thirdly, the power in redemption is this. It must free us from our past. Have any of us sinned? Yeah. Have any of us had a rotten past? What about a good past? What about a past anyway? The Bible says in second Corinthians chapter five, beginning at verse 17, that we're new creations in Christ. I promise what first I say that as a communication type of ploy, but what can I promise you? But nothing I can say to you, God promises you that he'll free you from your past. You see this temple. This is a model of the temple in Jerusalem. I'm standing, so to speak, if we were in real time and real center, I'm standing on the Mount of Olives. I'm before or in front of you and that temple is the Kidron Valley. On the Mount of Olives where I stand, the sun rises to my back. It goes through the Eastern gate. You see that golden gate that's there right now? You can see if I had time, I would have shown you another photograph of the golden gate that you see in Jerusalem today. When that gate's opened, eyewitnesses have recorded, for example, Josephus being one of them, Origen being another, and Eusebius the other. You can look through those golden doors, through the archway, through the temple. When the doors were open, you could see the veil of the temple. There was a process of approach that you had to go to to get into that place. Listen, concerning our salvation, the power of it, is it powerful because you are a good boy and a good girl? Now those of you who are not Christians, you're not getting anything what I'm saying here. You're thinking that I'm slamming being a good boy or a good girl, but those of you who are Christians, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Those walls, those steps, those 15 rungs upward to the platform, people would come to that place, but behind that veil, a priest would go once a year, only once, on one day, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, where God in His Shekinah glory dwelt, and he couldn't go in there without blood. If that high priest, though he was ordained by God, went into that temple without blood of an innocent animal that was outspot, without blemish, perfect, you know what would happen to that high priest? In fact, they tied a rope around his foot in case he screwed up. He would become like bacon, and they would pull him out smoldering if that priest had sin in his life entering the presence of God. Did you know, and this is the temple that stood during the time of Jesus Christ. This is what he saw. In 70 A.D., General Titus tore it down. Listen to this. Did you know that Jesus, and I don't have my pointer with me, but I could point to areas where Jesus walked around. It's certainly inside the gates, right up to the porches. Do you see that area in the center that looks like it's kind of gray, looks like a baseball field? That's where Jesus stood, by the way, and took a pitcher of water and poured it out on the steps, and He says, I am the living water. Did Jesus ever go behind those doors into the Holy of Holies? Come on, everyone. This is important to your basic Christianity. You want to know how powerful His redemption is in your life? Jesus never went behind those doors, never. High priests did on earth, but why didn't Jesus? Hey, wait a minute. If Jesus didn't go behind those doors, then maybe we're not saved at all. Maybe the whole redemption thing is a joke. No, He wouldn't go behind those doors. Guess what? He wouldn't go behind those doors if somebody opened it up and invited Him in. Did you know that? Because the book of Hebrews chapter 9, chapters 10 tells us that all of this was a model of what's in heaven. That Jesus, with His own blood, entered into the temple, into the Holy of Holies in heaven, not made with human hands. Isn't that exciting? Why? Because He satisfied and appeased God's demand for righteousness and holiness. That's how you and I are redeemed. In addition, this redemption must convince us of our future. For the Christian, we are convinced. But what about you who are not a Christian this morning? Are you certain that you've been redeemed? Are you confident of the fact? Do you know that for sure? That's an amazing, awesome reality. God did it completely. He convinced us. I want to give you this verse and we'll be all done. You can close your Bible and rest. In Hosea chapter 13, verse 14, the Scripture says there, I will ransom you, and I will ransom them from the power of the grave, and I will redeem them from death. Listen what the prophet says, God speaking. Oh death, I will be your plague, and you, grave, I will be your destruction. Pity will be hidden from my eyes. That's what God says about the grave and death. Death, I'm going to be your plague. Grave, I'm going to be your destruction. Hey death, yo grave, I'm going to kick you in the casket. And on the day that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead, as there is an empty tomb in Jerusalem this morning, your redemption is secure. You're going to heaven. Because I'll be good enough? Never. I'll try hard no way. Because you said, you know what? Lord Jesus, save me. Amen? Father, we thank you for the truth and the reality of your word. We ask you Lord in Jesus name, that Lord you might save a soul this morning that is wayward from you. While we're praying my friend, I ask you, if you want to give your life to Jesus Christ, not to Calvary Chapel or any person, place or thing, but Christ alone. If you want to save God, I want you to come into my heart and save me from my sins and write my name in your book of life and change my life. I don't care how young you are this morning. I don't care how old you are. I don't care how poor you are or how wealthy you are. You need Jesus. You are lost. And your money and your poverty and your position and your place of nothingness has no sway with God whatsoever. He has pity and mercy and grace and forgiveness upon one only. And that is the one person who comes and says, Jesus, be the savior of my life and come into my life and make me whole. If that's your prayer this morning, you pray that where you're at in your heart or you say, yes, Lord, that's what I want in my life. And you dedicate yourself to him now. All the broken, cracked pots and plates and people that we are, he takes. And he'll begin today to make a brand new person in you until the day he comes again. In Jesus' name, amen.