Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:05] Village Church. My name is Ryan Chaney and I'm the youth pastor here. I would love to meet you after the service if I haven't met you yet.
[00:00:13] Our lead pastor Michael Fueling asked me a while ago if I would be willing to preach and I was like, wow, that's, that's such an honor, such a great opportunity. I really appreciate you asking me.
[00:00:25] So naturally I said no.
[00:00:28] I was like, I don't think I'm ready for that. So ask me again in four to six months. So sure enough, he did. Four to six months later he asked me again and I was like, eh, I don't know if I'm ready. Ask me again in three months.
[00:00:42] So he asked me again three months later, a third time, and I couldn't come up with any more good reasons to say no. So I agreed.
[00:00:50] Here's the thing, there's definitely some anxiety and stress doing something new, especially when it's public speaking.
[00:00:57] And if you had asked me 12 years ago when I first started attending this church and I was not in full time ministry at the time, if I would be preaching here today, I would not have been able to foresee that.
[00:01:08] Not that it was outside the realm of possibility, just that it wasn't on my radar at the time, but God works in pretty cool ways. But no, that wasn't why I was hesitant. My hesitancies were twofold.
[00:01:20] First I said, michael, I don't know if you understand.
[00:01:24] I am used to working with and teaching teenagers. Do you know what they are like?
[00:01:29] They say things like that was fire or you're acting sus. No cap or 6, 7 or which by the way, nobody knows what it means.
[00:01:41] Or Lunch today was so chopped. Which parents, by the way, chopped has nothing to do with how the food was literally cut or in response to a request. If I ask them to do something or volunteer for something, they'll be like, yeah, yeah, bet I just have to do a vibe check.
[00:01:57] If you didn't understand any of what I just said, welcome to my world.
[00:02:01] And also say a prayer of gratitude to Jesus.
[00:02:05] And if you did understand any of that, we are going to pray for you.
[00:02:09] Because that means you're either a student yourself or you have people in your life that age.
[00:02:16] By the way, if there's any four students here, I love all of you dearly. Truly I do. I love you guys.
[00:02:23] But no. 2, I was nervous not because of my own fears, but because you all are an intimidating bunch. I don't know if you know that, but you're an intimidating group.
[00:02:33] But Michael assured me that you are in fact a great group to preach to.
[00:02:37] And in all seriousness, I am genuinely honored to be given this opportunity. I have a very high regard for the preaching and teaching that has happened in this church over many years and continues to happen every week.
[00:02:50] So thank you for giving me this opportunity and being gracious. On an unrelated note, if you do have any issues with the sermon today, my email by way ofreminder is mfuelingcob.org so I want to share a story with you guys. This is a true story. When I was a kid, my family used to take semi regular trips to Ohiopyle State park, which is in southwestern Pennsylvania.
[00:03:16] It's Appalachia. It's beautiful. There's mountains, there's rock formations, there's trails for biking and hiking. Typically, we would go there and do a lot of biking as a family. And there's a river, the Yakaganee river, that flows through the state park. It actually flows through Pennsylvania's deepest gorge.
[00:03:35] So there are whitewater rapids for rafting. Not the most difficult rapids you've ever been on, but it can be challenging depending on the time of year.
[00:03:44] So I was around age 8 or 9 and the one time we were there, we had gone for a bike ride. It was very hot, so we wanted to cool off. And so there's actually a recreational area where there's access to the river for swimming. And it's a part of the river that's not particularly fast moving, so they section off part of it with a rope. So it's basically a pool area. But if you got close enough to the rope or you went beyond the rope, the river started moving a little bit more swiftly.
[00:04:13] I was a pretty strong swimmer. Even at the young age of 8 or 9, I felt very confident in the water.
[00:04:20] Well, I remember getting a little too close to the boundary of the pool area and I started to feel the current moving me just a little bit. And I was a little far removed from most of the other people there. It was a busy day.
[00:04:32] I was also a little bit far away from my parents. They were keeping an eye on me, but they weren't right next to me.
[00:04:37] And I remember feeling this feeling of being pulled by the current a little bit more strongly moment by moment. And before I even realized it, I was fighting against the stream. And if you've been in the ocean or a river and you're fighting against the stream, it becomes scary pretty quickly.
[00:04:53] I suddenly heard my parents call out to anyone who would listen Grab him.
[00:04:59] And just before I started being pulled under and being pulled beyond the rope and into a very swiftly moving part of the river and towards rapids downstream, a complete stranger grabbed me, carried me, and set me on one of the rocks that was next to the riverbank.
[00:05:18] Now, I was old enough to remember, to realize that something had just happened, but not really old enough to understand the gravity of the situation. My parents understood the weight of it, and they were rightly flustered, to say the least, and more grateful to this man, the stranger, than they could even verbalize.
[00:05:37] It was in the hours and days and weeks that followed that I realized, I think that man saved my life because he was the last person in that area that had a chance of getting to me in time. And if he hadn't, it would have been a very different and probably a very panicked rescue situation further downstream and possibly a very different outcome.
[00:05:59] In the years since, I've thought about that day every now and then, and the idea of rescue and being removed from danger and placed in safety, and the idea of salvation has taken on a whole new meaning. That day was the day of my physical salvation. But it wasn't just about what I was saved from, danger, harm, potentially death. It was about what I was saved for, a whole life that I've had the chance to lead since then.
[00:06:27] When you think of the word salvation, what do you think of?
[00:06:31] What does it mean to you? Maybe it's not as literal or obvious as someone saving your life, but if you're a Christian and you say, I'm saved or I've been saved, what do you mean by that?
[00:06:43] What if.
[00:06:44] What if salvation is not just what you were saved from, but what you were saved for?
[00:06:51] Today we're introduced to a man, Zechariah, who had been looking for salvation.
[00:06:55] He had been looking for deliverance, for rescue for the nation of Israel. He had an idea in his head about what salvation would look like. But when God shows up into his story and announces part of this plan of salvation, it was not what he was expecting. Open up your bibles to Luke 1, and we're in a series on the songs of Christmas.
[00:07:17] Today we're talking about a song of salvation.
[00:07:20] Last week we were also in Luke 1 and looked at the Song of Mary, which for much of church history has been known as the Magnificat. As we talked about last week, it is well known for most people.
[00:07:33] Some people, they've memorized every word.
[00:07:36] If the song of Mary is like the song oh, come all ye Faithful, or Joy to the world where people hear it every Christmas season many times, and probably many people know every word of every verse.
[00:07:48] Then the Song of Zechariah is at. At the end of Luke 1 is like it came upon a midnight clear.
[00:07:56] Now, if you know that song, it's a good song, a song people may be familiar with, but mostly people in the church.
[00:08:02] No doubt some of you in here know that song well, and you might know every word.
[00:08:07] But many people that have even grown up in the church don't know the words very well, and they most certainly don't know every word.
[00:08:15] All of the songs of Christmas in Luke 1 and 2 are poems, prophecies, or songs that come as responses to God's supernatural intervention in people's lives and responses to God revealing more of his plan of redemption. The Song of Zechariah is a poem or a song that we might read each Christmas. If you're that family that reads Luke 1 and Luke 2 every Christmas morning, then you've probably read this multiple times. But we probably haven't stopped and pondered its significance or why it's even in Luke's Gospel account or how rich and deep it is. So I want to set the stage with some context.
[00:08:53] Before we look at the song at the end of Luke 1, I want to look at Luke 1, verse 5, as we are introduced to Zechariah and Elizabeth. It says, in the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah, and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth, and they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
[00:09:19] I love that the text again goes out of its way to mention that they are righteous. Just as we talked about with Mary last week, God noticed her and he notices Zechariah and Elizabeth. So Zechariah is a priest, his wife Elizabeth, she is related to Mary, as we talked about last week, maybe a cousin of sorts, but they're related.
[00:09:38] In verse 7 it says, but they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years.
[00:09:47] This should bring to mind Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament, who were also childless and they were also older.
[00:09:54] I'm going to summarize the next part of the narrative, but this is really important context. So I want to point out five extraordinary, out of the ordinary, miraculous things that happened to Zechariah in the text.
[00:10:07] So first, Zechariah was chosen by lot to enter the temple and burn Incense.
[00:10:13] So there were actually thousands of priests in Zechariah's day. Estimates are 18,000 to 20,000 priests that did the duties of the temple. Because there were so many, they used a lottery system to determine who actually got to go into the holy place. So they cast lots. A priest could only be chosen once in his entire lifetime. So for many priests, their name was never drawn at all.
[00:10:39] So this was likely the greatest honor of Zechariah's entire career. So that's the first out of the ordinary thing that happens to him. Secondly, he has an encounter with the angel Gabriel.
[00:10:48] Gabriel's been very busy in Luke chapter one.
[00:10:52] So Gabriel appears to Zechariah while he's offering incense at the altar. Now, this is a significant moment for us. We parachute into the text. We don't always understand all the nuances, but just as Michael mentioned last week, there have been 400 years of prophetic silence for the nation of Israel. And this message actually comes before the message Gabriel gave to Mary.
[00:11:15] So this is the first thing in the New Testament that broke the prophetic silence. And it's an angel that actually stands in God's presence, which we'll see in a minute.
[00:11:25] Number three, extraordinary thing that happens to Zachariah. His prayer for a child was finally answered despite his wife being barren.
[00:11:34] Verse 13 says, but the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. And your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son. You shall call his name John.
[00:11:45] Pop quiz Village Church. Who is John?
[00:11:49] Ah, very good. You guys are paying attention. All right, Zechariah is offering incense here.
[00:11:55] Offering incense was symbolic for offering up prayers to God from the people of Israel. So while he's in the temple, in the holy place, offering up prayers on behalf of Israel, God answers both the nation's prayers and Zachariah's prayer for a child all at the same time.
[00:12:13] Number four, Zachariah's son John would be an integral part of God's plan of salvation. The angel tells Zechariah all the things that John would do. He would be set apart.
[00:12:24] He would be the new Elijah. This is actually a reference to Malachi 4, 5, 6, which says, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. John was sent to be a forerunner to preach a message of repentance to prepare people for the Messiah, Jesus.
[00:12:49] And then number five, the last extraordinary, miraculous thing that happens to Zechariah as he was made mute.
[00:12:56] Verse 18 says, and Zacharias said to the angel, how shall I know this?
[00:13:02] For I'm an old man and my wife is advanced in years. And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God.
[00:13:10] I mean, pause for a second. If that's not a mic drop moment, I don't know what is. I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. And I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place because you do not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.
[00:13:33] Basically, Zachariah was saying, I need a sign. I need confirmation. I need proof that what God is saying is going to happen is actually going to happen.
[00:13:42] And this showed his unbelief.
[00:13:44] So the sign he got was not what he wanted, but it was a sign.
[00:13:49] But it was a result of his unbelief. And it was also a sign that God would fulfill his promise. Can you imagine being able to talk your whole life?
[00:13:57] Then in a moment, your ability to speak is taken away.
[00:14:01] For nine months, no less.
[00:14:04] How frustrating, how angering that must have been.
[00:14:08] But when you're not able to speak, what does that force you to do?
[00:14:13] Forces you to listen.
[00:14:15] And those nine months not being able to speak created a posture of listening for Zachariah.
[00:14:23] And it led to a complete shift in his trust in God and in his understanding of Scripture and God's plan of salvation. Because look at what happens in Luke 1:57. So we're going to jump ahead in the text and the narrative, because the part in the middle we actually covered last week. That's the part where angel shows up to Mary. Mary then goes and visits her relative Elizabeth, who's already pregnant at that point.
[00:14:45] And that's where Mary's song comes from. So we're jumping ahead to verse 57. We come back to the narrative of Zechariah and John and Elizabeth. It says, now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
[00:15:03] Now, on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah, after his father, but his mother answered, no, he shall be called John.
[00:15:12] And they said to her, none of your relatives is called by this name. This was not the year 2025 where we like to Come up with creative, original names for our kids that come out of nowhere. Right. If you were in this culture, you were a firstborn son, you took the name of your father, or you took another family name.
[00:15:29] And it says they made signs to his father inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, his name is John.
[00:15:38] And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke. Blessing God and fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea. And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts saying, what then will this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him.
[00:15:59] So after Zechariah is no longer mute, his speech is restored, he immediately starts praising God, and he's actually doing it. He's addressing the people around him. So this is a ceremony where John is being circumcised, he's being given his name. So it's a big deal. So the community, the extended family, people in the town are there for this ceremony. And he's addressing all of the people and praising God, just as Mary did when she received the news.
[00:16:28] Now, for Zechariah, it took him about nine months to get to the same point Mary was at right away, but he still got there.
[00:16:35] So let's look at Zechariah's prophecy. A song of salvation.
[00:16:39] This song is a song of salvation because it lays out exactly what salvation is and what it looks like, both for Israel and for us.
[00:16:48] Sometimes I think we can reduce salvation to be something that has a very, very narrow meaning, or we water it down, or we don't understand all that it encompasses. As a young kid, I remember thinking of salvation as, I'm saved, my sins are forgiven, I'm going to go to heaven. When I die, I'm good to go. That was pretty much it. That was my understanding. Now, don't get me wrong, those are all very, very important parts of salvation, but that's not all that salvation is.
[00:17:16] I want us to think of salvation as this large, multifaceted diamond that every time you look at it from a different angle, you see more of its beauty and its nuance. Every time light hits it from a different angle, you see more of its characteristics and features. It gets more striking the longer you look at it.
[00:17:37] So while we go through Zachariah's prophecy and song, I want to answer just one question. As we go through the text, what does biblical salvation look like?
[00:17:47] Or put another way, biblically what does it mean that I am saved? If you're saved, what does it mean that you are saved?
[00:17:54] I'm going to share a list of answers, 9 answers to this question. But as we go through, listen, we're not perfect at all of these all the time. So I want you to ask the Holy Spirit while we go through these, is there one of these nine that you have neglected or one that he wants you to be grateful for? Uniquely this season?
[00:18:15] So verse 67 in Luke 1, it says, and his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.
[00:18:27] So what does biblical salvation look like? Biblical salvation looks like God initiating by coming to us.
[00:18:35] It looks like God showing up that word visited. He has visited his people. There's a uniqueness to our faith.
[00:18:44] He doesn't ask us to get to him.
[00:18:46] Other faith systems, they have things that you must do to earn your way to God or to be right with God. But not the God of the Bible, not Yahweh. He comes to us.
[00:18:57] He comes into his broken world and to broken sinners, to redeem us, to buy us back.
[00:19:03] That word redeemed in verse 68, what does that word mean, redeemed? Well, the Greek word here is lutrosis. It has this meaning of buying back. But it's not just buying back. It's actually paying for something that is already yours, but it's been stolen or taken away.
[00:19:23] So we call that a ransom. When you own something, someone steals it, and they ask you to pay for it to get it back. That's a ransom.
[00:19:30] So the meaning in the Greek is release by paying a ransom, deliverance from bondage, buying someone's freedom, and had this context of setting slaves or prisoners free through a costly payment.
[00:19:42] So cultural backdrop, it was about freeing slaves, paying ransom for prisoners of war, and being delivered from exile.
[00:19:50] It always involves three things. Biblically, it involves a price, it involves a transfer of ownership, and involves a new identity.
[00:19:58] There's a pastor who had this to say.
[00:20:00] We were created by our true father, but we were taken captive by a false father, sin and Satan. Jesus paid the ransom with his own blood, opened the prison, and now calls us to come home to the Father who made us so redeemed has this connotation of being ransomed and also delivered. Delivered is pulling someone out of danger to snatch from an enemy. That moment as a kid when I was pulled out of a river in a dangerous situation was Really a moment of physical redemption.
[00:20:31] But my spiritual redemption and your spiritual redemption, if you've trusted in Christ, came when I was bought back by my heavenly father from being under the domain of sin and Satan. Now, up to this point, Israel's greatest redemption has been from slavery in Egypt. So that's nationally, right? But now an even greater redemption was coming, not just nationally, but personally.
[00:20:57] Verse 69 he goes on to say, and he's raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old Biblical Salvation Village Church looks like the culmination of a plan millennia in the making.
[00:21:14] How long has it been since God made His promise to David? If you're familiar with the Davidic covenant in 1st Samuel, that was around the year 1010 BC.
[00:21:23] So to the point where Zechariah is now speaking in our text today, it's been just over a thousand years.
[00:21:29] How long has it been since God last spoke to Israel through a prophet? Well, it's been 400 years of prophetic silence and 700 years of enemy occupation.
[00:21:39] So let's not be too hard on Zechariah for initially questioning the words of God through Gabriel and wanting a sign. I think if we were in histories, we probably would do the same thing.
[00:21:50] But salvation wasn't just the culmination of a plan millennia in the making for Israel.
[00:21:56] It's also the culmination of a plan millennia in the making for your own salvation.
[00:22:02] Listen to what Ephesians 1:4 says, even as he chose us in him. Listen to this. Before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him.
[00:22:13] You are part of God's plan of redemption from before the foundation of the world.
[00:22:18] I mean, how cool is that?
[00:22:20] Verse 71 he goes on to say that we should be safe from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
[00:22:26] Biblical salvation looks like protection for Zechariah and for Israel. Salvation and protection from enemies mostly meant salvation and protection from Rome and from nations that were opposed to Yahweh. But who are our enemies?
[00:22:42] Those who hate us?
[00:22:45] Demonic forces?
[00:22:46] Those who wish to lead you away from the truth, our own sin.
[00:22:50] Jesus salvation protects us because we have His Holy Spirit, verse 72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers. Biblical salvation looks like mercy not getting what we deserve, not suffering the punishment that we deserve because of our rebellion against our good Father.
[00:23:08] We live in a time where our sin is downplayed or it's outright ignored, or it's called something else. So the idea of punishment for sin and needing mercy, it's not exactly in vogue right now. It's not super popular. John MacArthur had this to say about today.
[00:23:25] Sin is called sickness, so people think it requires therapy, not repentance.
[00:23:31] I'll say it again. Today, sin is called sickness, so people think it requires therapy, not repentance.
[00:23:40] But when we understand how much we violated God's word, we realize a holy God making a way for us to be in close proximity to him is actually a huge act of mercy.
[00:23:51] He goes on and says to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham.
[00:23:56] Biblical salvation looks like God keeping His promises.
[00:24:00] In Genesis 12, God says to Abraham, I will make of you a great nation, and and all the nations of the world will be blessed through you.
[00:24:09] He goes on to say, to grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear.
[00:24:15] Biblical salvation looks like living without fear.
[00:24:20] When your salvation is secure, you don't have to live in fear about the future for this life or for the one to come first. John 4:18 says, There is no fear and love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear has to do with punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected. In love, there's a freedom that comes from knowing your soul is secure and knowing that you belong to God. And it's hard to put into words unless you have the Holy Spirit in you and you have a personal relationship with Jesus. But there is no fear for those in Christ of the cultural moment. There's no fear of living in a broken and sinful world.
[00:24:58] There's no fear of Satan or his demons. There's no fear of what might happen after you die, because you know the One who's created your soul and he's sovereign and he's redeemed you, and you and him are good.
[00:25:11] Verse 75, he says in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
[00:25:15] Biblical salvation looks like being made holy and righteous, not because of our own good works or our own goodness, but because of Jesus goodness and his work.
[00:25:26] We've been declared righteous. It doesn't mean we're innocent. It doesn't mean we never sinned in the first place. It means when God looks at us, he sees the work of Jesus and His work covers us.
[00:25:38] Now there's an interesting shift that happens here. Verses 68 to 75 were all one sentence in this song.
[00:25:45] But now in verse 76, we start a new sentence.
[00:25:49] And Zachariah, instead of addressing all the People that were there for the ceremony, family and friends.
[00:25:55] He actually turns to address his eight day old son.
[00:25:59] He's speaking the truth that was relayed to him by the angel Gabriel. Yes, but he's also speaking truth over his son as a new doting father. Any men in the room? If you've held your child for the first time or the first few times, you understand exactly what's happening here. This is a very, you can almost feel the personal, intimate nature of, of this conversation that Zachariah is having with John, what he's saying.
[00:26:26] So he's committing his son to the Lord. He's commissioning his son for a specific task.
[00:26:31] So verse 76 he says, and you child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.
[00:26:41] John would prepare the way of the Lord.
[00:26:44] How would he do that? Well, look at verse 77. To give knowledge of salvation to his people and the forgiveness of their sins. So what would John do? John's message would be very different from the other false messiahs at the time that came before him. Matthew 3:2, John's message was repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Luke 3:3 says, and he, John, went into all the region around the Jordan proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
[00:27:15] John would proclaim salvation and give knowledge of what salvation actually was.
[00:27:20] You see, for the Jewish people, they had an understanding of salvation as being about land and about their status as the chosen people of God, free from oppression. That's what it meant to them. It was largely about their national collective identity. But Zechariah is saying salvation is not just about the national collective identity. Salvation is about what God does for us personally as individuals.
[00:27:44] He forgives your sins, he forgives my sins if we repent. So biblical salvation looks like forgiveness of sins.
[00:27:54] Israel's biggest need, you see, was not to be freed from Rome.
[00:27:59] Our biggest need is not to be freed from oppressive systems or to revolutionize our government or to push a certain political agenda.
[00:28:08] Our biggest need is to have our souls be made right with the One who made us.
[00:28:13] And that means we need forgiveness.
[00:28:16] Verse 78, he says, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
[00:28:26] This is actually a reference to Psalm 107.
[00:28:30] The Psalmist says that the light will come to people sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.
[00:28:37] John would proclaim the light and proclaim that the light had come into the darkness, but his role was not to be the light. A lot of people got that confused between John and Jesus. John 1, 8, 9 says he John was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
[00:28:59] Biblical Salvation Village Church looks like light.
[00:29:03] John came to point people to the true light. But what does light do?
[00:29:08] Well, light does multiple things. Light reveals what is real and true.
[00:29:13] Jesus as the true light reveals spiritual truth to us. He shows us what is true and right.
[00:29:19] Light exposes Jesus as the true light exposes our sin and brings freedom so there's no more hiding.
[00:29:27] Light conquers darkness.
[00:29:30] Jesus as the true light brings victory over sin and death, so we're not slaves to sin anymore.
[00:29:37] Light brings clarity.
[00:29:39] Jesus as the true light brings clarity about our purpose and why we're here.
[00:29:44] Light brings hope.
[00:29:46] Jesus as the true light brings hope that there's something better than just the here and now.
[00:29:52] And light is where good things grow.
[00:29:55] Jesus as the true light, helps us grow into who God created us to be.
[00:30:00] And then he closes his song in verse 79 and says to guide our feet into the way of peace.
[00:30:06] Biblical salvation looks like peace.
[00:30:10] Now, this peace is not just about the absence of war or conflict. It's much more holistic and richer and deeper than that. The biblical understanding of peace or shalom is much deeper. When I was an undergrad, I had a Bible professor who was talking to us about this idea of peace, biblical shalom. And so he gave us this analogy. And I've used this in youth groups. So, Forge, students, if you're here, please do not give the answer away. You can still vote, but don't give the answer away if you remember.
[00:30:41] So he showed us the pictures that are on the screen right now of two boats, a sailboat and a speedboat.
[00:30:48] And he said, I want you guys to answer this question. Which of these pictures better represents peace to you?
[00:30:54] So we're looking at the screen, we're like, okay, there's a sailboat, still water, sunset looks beautiful. Looks very calm, quiet. There's a speedboat.
[00:31:04] Looks like you can almost hear the sound in the picture of how loud the engine is and how fast it's going. So he had us vote. So I'm going to have you guys vote. If you look at this picture, you look at the picture on the left, which of you would say the picture on the left better represents the idea of peace to me? Show of hands.
[00:31:21] Okay, which of you, if you look at the picture on the right, the speedboat, you'd say that's a better representation of peace to me.
[00:31:29] All the people that like water skiing and all that stuff are raising their hands now. Some of you are like, I really want to say the left because that's what my mind thinks, but. But I feel like he's setting us up for something.
[00:31:40] And I feel like I should say the one on the right, but I don't know why. I don't know why I'm saying that one. So he explained to us that biblically, the idea of Shalom peace is more like the picture on the right. He said, the reason is think about why those two vessels were made. They're both boats.
[00:31:58] They're both made for a specific purpose. What is their design? They're designed to move you across water, to get you from one place to another to move around, to experience new adventures. It's like that sailboat.
[00:32:11] It's just sitting there. It's not doing what it was designed to do. The sail isn't even up. There's no wind. It's not moving.
[00:32:18] We have this idea that quiet and calm is our definition of peace. But he said, actually the one on the right is a better picture of peace because that boat is doing exactly what the person that created it and designed it to do.
[00:32:33] It's flying at crazy speeds. And your wind, wind is all in your hair. Things are flying everywhere. Like, you can picture this. But he said, that's doing exactly what it was supposed to do.
[00:32:45] Biblical peace is about being exactly who we are designed to be, to be complete, mature and whole. See, trusting in Jesus and living the way he designed us to live is the only way we will be complete, mature, and whole. If you don't know Jesus personally, you will not know peace.
[00:33:05] He's the only way we experience the peace that passes all understanding. As Paul talks about in Philippians 4. 7. I have two. So what's for you guys?
[00:33:13] So what? Number one is for those in the room that have trusted in Christ, who are followers of Jesus. If you have been saved, live like it might seem kind of simple, but earlier I asked you to ask the Holy Spirit if there was one particular aspect of biblical salvation that you've neglected or that God wants you to be grateful for. This season.
[00:33:37] Talking to all of you followers of Jesus now, we, you, me, have been rescued and delivered, but so often we don't live like it.
[00:33:47] Even if you confess Jesus as Lord and King, it's possible not to live like it. At times we don't live out of our new identity. We live out of shame.
[00:33:57] We live out of guilt. We live out of obligation.
[00:34:01] Can you imagine if when I was a kid and I was pulled out of that river by this stranger, this man, I come up to him hours later and I'm like, listen, I've been feeling pretty guilty. Like, I feel like I really want to ask you to see if there's anything I can do to earn what you did for me, to earn the salvation that you offered me. He'd look at me and be like, earn it. Like, there's nothing you can do. I already did it. I already rescued you. Like, what else do you want me to do? If you want to say thanks or do something like, live a life of gratitude, live a life of freedom, live out of the deliverance that you have and look to help others the way I helped you, right? If you're a Christian and you've been saved, it's not just what you've been saved from, it's also what you've been saved for.
[00:34:49] You're part of the mission of God's kingdom. So live like it. You might be wondering, well, how do I live like it? It's a great question. I'm glad you asked.
[00:34:57] Go and tell people the good news of Jesus.
[00:35:00] Go and tell them what he's done for you in your life.
[00:35:04] Live out of freedom. Live out of gratitude. Live out of joy and peace and hope, and live like Jesus. It's easier said than done. But you don't know how Jesus lived unless you get in his word and you see how he lived. Salvation in Jesus is about forgiveness. It is about being granted eternal life with Jesus. But it's also about the other things we talked about. Our ransom, God buying us back. It's about God fulfilling promises. It's about protection, mercy, living without fear, being made holy and righteous, letting light in. And it's about walking in the way of peace.
[00:35:38] And for that, we need the Holy Spirit every moment of every day to live in this newfound freedom of our rescue and deliverance. Now, Zechariah was a priest. He was described as righteous and blameless. He knew the scriptures, and he still had unbelief in his heart. He was still unsure that he could trust God's word and his promise given through Gabriel.
[00:36:00] So I think for some of us, we need to pray the same prayer that the Father in the Gospels prayed whenever he was interacting with Jesus and trying to get help for his child. And the Father says, I believe, help my unbelief or some of us need to pray as King David in Psalm 51. Restore to me the joy of my salvation.
[00:36:22] So what? Number two, if you're here and you have not been saved, you're not a follower of Jesus.
[00:36:28] Consider the purpose of Jesus this Christmas. John the Baptist was sent for a very specific purpose. And he knew exactly what what his role was. He also knew exactly what Jesus came to do. John 1:29 says, the next day he, John, saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
[00:36:50] Jesus came for a very specific reason. He came to show us what it means to be truly human and to make us right with God. He came to renew and restore. He came to bring heaven down to earth. He came to live a perfect life so that he could be a perfect, sinless substitute for us. He came to die and he came to rise again so that he could conquer sin and death.
[00:37:15] All of the traditions of Advent and Christmas, they're all great.
[00:37:19] But don't miss the invitation that God is extending to you this Christmas season.
[00:37:24] He is our only hope of salvation and rescue and deliverance. He is the way, the truth and the life.
[00:37:31] No one comes to the Father except through Him.
[00:37:34] But you must be willing to repent, to confess him as Lord and King, and choose to follow Him. Let's pray.
[00:37:42] Heavenly Father, thank you for your word.
[00:37:45] Thank you for Zechariah's song, and thank you for coming to save us.
[00:37:48] You created this plan of salvation before the foundation of the world and Lord Jesus, without you, we would be lost.
[00:37:56] For those who have trusted in Christ, help us to live as faithful followers of the King, and for those who haven't trusted in Christ, or they're not quite there yet, help them to see you for who you are, as the Lord and Savior, and as the only one who is worthy of our allegiance. I pray all this in Jesus name. Amen.
