Worthy of Worship
Transcript
All right, how are we doing this morning? Cool. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors. We'll be in Matthew chapter 10 to get started this morning. Matthew chapter 10, if your Bible looks like this, it'll be page 476 where we'll start picking up.
We are starting a new series today, and we spent the last six weeks or so talking about the need for, the call for Christians to use their normal everyday lives to see other people come to know Christ. That we would leverage what we have, our time, our energy, our money, our homes to see people come to know Jesus. And so today we're starting a new series. We've just called it Glory. Basically, we're just looking at how big and beautiful and wonderful and glorious Christ is. And in some ways, I feel like it makes sense because we just spent so much time talking about how we should use the normal daily lives that we've been given to see people come to know Jesus.
And now we're just looking at why, why we'd want to do that. And we're just looking at how big he is and massive and how much joy there is to be found in him. And so we're going to do this for four weeks, and then we'll spend the rest of the summer studying through the Psalms and learning how to personally worship God from them. Today, as we get started, we're going to talk about the fact that Jesus is worthy of worship. That Jesus Christ is worthy of worship. The word used for worship in the Old Testament really just means to bow down.
And that's what we're looking at, why you should bow your life down to Jesus. Why you should consider him in all things. You should submit yourself to him. Why you should go to Jesus and allow him to be in charge of you, of your time and your money and your effort and your energy. We're looking at how glorious he is. I've got a definition for the word glorious.
It's striking beauty or splendor that evokes feelings of delighted admiration. It's so beautiful that it makes you feel something. That's what Jesus is. He's so glorious, so good that we should be in awe of him. We should be enraptured by him. He's so beautiful that it does something to us.
You see, Jesus says that he is worthy of worship. And that's what we're looking at in Matthew chapter 10 as we begin our time today. I want us to see this. I want us to kind of take seriously Jesus' words here and think about them for a minute. We're going to pick up in verse 37. Verse 37.
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Just look at those words for a second. I want that to stare you in the face. That's why we don't usually put verses up on the screen. We usually just look at them in the Bible.
But I want this to seep in a little bit. Jesus actually said these words. And they're hard to get around. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38.
And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. So at this time, Jesus had not gone to the cross. He was headed to it. But he's using this as a cross as a Roman instrument of torture. It was a... He said if you're not willing to be executed.
If you're not willing to lay down all your hopes and your dreams. If you're not willing to lay down your plans. If you're not willing to pick up a cross. If you're not willing to bear the burden of nothing goes well for you. And you head into destruction and persecution and death. You don't deserve me.
You're not worthy of me. 39. Whoever finds his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. That's a little cryptic. What he's saying is if you spend your life focusing on your life.
Trying to make it good. Trying to live the good life. If you go out of your way to try to find your life and to find yourself. And to have the good experiences and the joy. He says you lose it. It's a waste.
But if you are willing to give up everything for Jesus. Then you'll actually find it. Then you'll actually get the good life. Okay. Maybe. Maybe you've been around the church long enough.
That it's easy for you to hear that. Maybe you've heard it enough that you're like right. Hmm. Jesus. He says things like that. So I just want to take these sentences.
And we're just going to put them on other people. So that we can think about them a little better. Alright. Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. Who's allowed to say that to you? I'll argue your father and mother can't even say that.
Like if your dad came to you and said let me explain something to you. If you love your mom more than me. You do not deserve me. I am the greatest father. Let me just. I need you to tell me right now.
You love me more. Like if I. If my wife started doing that with my son. She's like if you love your dad more than me. Then I don't even need to.
Like you do not deserve me for a mother. I'd have to have a talk with her. Be like this is. This is a bit intense. Plus he's two. Let's tone it down.
Who gets to say that? If you're dating someone. You're in high school. And you say yeah. I gotta go do this with my parents or whatever. I'm going on vacation with my parents.
And they say let me explain something to you. If you love your mother and father more than me. You don't deserve me. Okay. I'm still going on vacation. But we're probably not going to keep dating when I get back.
You gotta tone the crazy down like a hundred notches. Okay. Maybe. Maybe a spouse. Maybe you can have this conversation with a spouse. Maybe by the time you get married.
You're like look. Your parents can't get in the middle of all of our arguments. You've got to at some point. Like leave and cleave. There's some. There's some room for that.
In the Bible. Like at some point your mom can't just be here all the time. Maybe a spouse can say that. Go to the next one. It's if you love. Anyone who loves son or daughter more than me.
Is not worthy of me. Americans. We having a hard time with that. Parents. Have a hard time with that. Son or daughter more than me.
There's a widow. She's got a couple of kids. She starts dating somebody. You're her friend. She sits down with you and says. Yeah.
The other day he. He said if I loved my children more than him. I didn't deserve him. You know what you say. Sounds like a catch. That guy must be so valuable.
Oh my goodness. He must be so radiant and glorious. Do you know what you say. This cat's a psycho. Back up. Get away.
This is crazy. This is headed in the bad place. No one should say that to you. He says if you're not willing to lay down your life. If you're not willing to pick up your cross. If you're not willing to die.
If you're not willing to say no. To all of your hopes and dreams. All of your goals. If you're not willing to pick up. An instrument for execution. And follow me.
You do not deserve me. People come by your house. You got a friend. And they start saying. Yeah. There's this guy.
Carl. And he's a prophet. And he performs miracles. And he says we have to hate our families. And follow him. You're like bro.
That's a cult. This is. No bueno. Get away from Carl. This is not going to work out well for you. You're going to be like locked in a cellar somewhere.
Where Jesus without batting an eye. Without tripping over his words. Without hesitating for a second. Will look you in the face. And say exactly what he just said. If you love your family more than me.
You've missed it. If you're not willing to lay down everything for me. You don't deserve me. If you aren't willing to die. And if you are going to spend your life. Trying to have a good life.
You won't have a life at all. But if you'll get rid of everything. For me. You'll find the good life. Who can sit across the table from you. And say hey.
I'm the good life. And your joy. And your fullness. And your completion. And your happiness. Will only ever be filled.
And found. In me. It's like okay. Check please. Jesus means it. So.
He has to be. A narcissist. He. He. He. Supremely.
Values. Himself. And on. On anybody else. We put this on. We've gotten used to this on Jesus.
But on anybody else. We put this on. It's not a good look. But see. Jesus goes. Beyond this.
And begins to make the claim. That he is. God. God. I'm going to. I'm going to cite a few.
They're not going to be on the screen. In John chapter 5. It says this. This is why the Jews were seeking. All the more to kill him. Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath.
Which is one of their regulations. But he was even calling God. His own father. Making himself equal. With God. John chapter 8.
It says. The Jews said to him. He's having this kind of discussion with him. About Abraham. And he. He's.
Talking about Abraham. They said. You're not even 50 years old. And you've seen Abraham. And Jesus says to them. Truly.
Truly. I say to you. Before Abraham was. I am. Now. That may be a little cryptic to us.
It was not to the Jewish people. That were listening to him. He's quoting. God. At the burning bush. That tells Moses.
That he. I am. That I am. He's. I am. Is a.
A reference to. Eternal being. And being God. And so Jesus says. Let me tell you. Before Abraham existed.
I am. And you're like. Well. That's kind of cryptic. Wasn't to them. The next verse says.
So they picked up. Stones. To throw at him. They knew what he had just said. He had just claimed to be God. So they were going to.
Kill him. Because that's blasphemy. And then. In 1033. Of John. It says.
It's not for good work. That we're going to stone you. They were going to try to kill him again. Jesus almost dies a lot. In the book of John. But because you.
Being a man. Make yourself God. The climax. Of the book of John. Is after Jesus dies on the cross. Rises from the grave.
He gets back around Thomas. Who said. Unless I get to see the nails. And the nail scars. Unless I see him with my eyes. Get to touch him.
I'm not going to believe. That he rose from the grave. And Thomas gets to. And then he falls down. And says. My Lord.
And my God. And worships Jesus. Now. If you've been reading the Bible. Up to the point. And John.
You immediately know. Don't do that. You don't worship anybody. But God. Every time in the Old Testament. Someone falls down.
At the feet of an angel. These big. Powerful. Angelic beings. Go. Get up.
Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. You saw. Right.
Like. I did not appreciate that. You are not allowed to worship me. This is a terrible thing. There's one angel. Who thinks that's a good idea.
It did not go well for him. I. You know what Jesus says. Thomas says. You're my Lord. And my God.
And Jesus says. Well done Thomas. You're blessed. And more blessed is everybody. Who's able to say the same thing. Without having to see the scars.
Who's able to have the same faith. In me. As God. So Jesus claims to be God. Throughout his life. He claims that.
Singular allegiance. Is owed him. And he's. Murdered for it. But because we do believe.
He is God. He did not stay dead. He rose from the grave. Proving his claims. And ascended into heaven. So.
Jesus says. I'm God. The God. And the God of the Bible. The God of the Old Testament. Has said the same thing.
Throughout the Old Testament. They would worship. No one but him. That's the first thing he says. When he takes him out of Egypt. He says.
You'll have no gods. Other than me. I'm the only God. In Deuteronomy. Throughout. He just keeps saying.
You're not going to bow down. And worship anything else. You're not going to serve them. I'm the only God. Deuteronomy 6. 13.
It's the Lord your God. You shall fear. And him you shall serve. And by his name you shall swear. Deuteronomy 13. 4.
You shall walk after the Lord your God. And fear him. And keep his commandments. And obey his voice. And you shall serve him. And hold fast to him.
Throughout the Old Testament. The prophets. The Psalms are going to say. Repeatedly. God is the only God. And he is worthy.
Deserving of. Your singular. Allegiance. And worship. That if every breath you have. Is spent in obedience to him.
It's worth it. Jesus shows up. Says I'm the same God. And I deserve the same allegiance. Okay. So this.
This gets. This argument gets thrown at God. It gets thrown at Jesus some. God more. I've got a quote from a. Humanistic and atheistic blog.
That I just thought the guy said it well. I don't know if this guy's famous. Or really smart. I didn't read a whole lot of his other stuff. He just said this well. He says if your God.
Demands. To be worshipped. Your God. Is narcissistic. Meaning he's. He cares only about himself.
He's focused in on himself. Narcissism is a character flaw. Which means. A narcissistic being. Isn't perfect. Ergo.
Oh you know it's good. If they use ergo. Ergo. It's a fancy word for therefore. Or. Or.
So then. Your perfect God. Does not. Exist. If your God. Is in fact.
Perfect. It would have no need. Or desire. For worship. Praise. Or any form of adulation.
Making your piety. Pointless. I think the logic holds. What he says is. If you have a God. That's needy.
If you have a God. That's narcissistic. If you have a God. That comes to you. And says. I need you to sing about me.
I need y'all to get together. Every Sunday. I need you to wake up early. I need you to put on slacks. I need people to practice songs. And I need you to sing.
That I'm pretty. If you have a God. That does that. It's not perfect. It's not complete. It's not whole.
Therefore. Isn't. Worthy. Or. If you have a perfect. Complete.
Whole. Worthy. God. Has no need. For your praise. No need.
For your adoration. Wouldn't ask for it. Wouldn't talk about it. Wouldn't care. Would be fine. Without you.
Either way. Worshiping. Is stupid. I'm taking some liberties there. But I think that's how he's.
He's ending it there. It's pointless. I. I kind of agree. I agree. If I think about the way.
He's thinking about this. I understand what he is saying. And I think he said it well. I think he's missed something. I think he's missed something. That the storyline of the Bible.
Makes clear. I want to kind of break this out. Into four. Basic. Truths. That he's.
That he's missed here. But this is. This is a thing that people say. I remember my. My. Grandmother's a missionary to Nigeria.
I remember being at the beach. One. One year. And my cousin was talking with her. And he was just saying the same thing. He was saying.
What kind of a God. Makes people. And then says. Sing to me. Or I'm going to hurt you. Worship me.
Or it's going to be bad. What kind of God does that? And he was just saying. It seems so small. And it seems so. Petty.
But here's what I think they're missing. One is. We were created by God. That's what the Bible tells us. And that we were designed to worship. You are going to worship.
Something. It's the first kind of thing I think that's missed here. You're going to worship something. You're going to bow down to something. You're going to spend your time. Your energy.
Your money. Your effort on something. Worship for you is not an option. What you worship is. The object of your worship is an option. But whether or not you will have some object to worship.
Is not an option for you. You will have something that you hold as chief and supreme. And most valuable. True worship is joyful. That's the second idea that I think is missed here. True worship is joyful.
It's self-forgetfulness. That when we really, truly sing about something. And truly, truly get engulfed in something. And enraptured in something. And point something else to it. It's joyful.
It gets us outside of ourselves. Thirdly. The best and highest worship. Will be of the best and highest object. Or the greatest worship. Will have the greatest object.
So if I told you that I was going to worship myself. I saw myself as supreme. I'm kind of limited there. I'm trapped. I'm trapped in myself. I can only get so big.
It can only be so great. I kind of have just really imprisoned myself. I could travel the world. My world would never get any bigger. Because I'm supreme. But if you said trees were supreme.
You could go in your backyard. And get more outside of yourself than I can. You could be more free. And more set free. See. The greater the object.
The greater the worship. The greater the joy found. I used to work at Sears. If I told you I was going to devote my life to Sears. You'd be like. Bro.
It's not even that great of a retail store. Like aren't they going out of business? I'd be like. Kinda. But that's why they need me.
But maybe if I said I'm going to devote myself to hard work. The scope is bigger. And then I'm a little more free. I can move around a little more. I have a little. I'm called out of myself a little more.
Maybe if I said I'm going to devote myself to helping others. I'm going to devote myself to family. You see we all pick something. And say this is most worth. Most worth my time and energy and effort. This is where I'll find the most life.
Gain the most joy. Be the biggest version of myself. Fourth point. You become like what you worship. Jesus says that you know. A student's not above his teacher.
You're going to whatever you hold up as supreme. You're going to become more like. So if you worship money. You'll become cold. Calculating. You worship love.
You're going to slowly become more like. You can see this when. Like someone gets super into. Like listening to Dr. Dre. Or Eminem.
Or. Any musician. They get really into skateboarding. Or fidget spinners. Become more like. The Bible says this in Jeremiah.
That they went after worthlessness. And became worthless. So I agree with the point this guy's making. And it's true. Unless. God is actually.
The greatest. Most supreme. Most glorious. Thing. That exists. Being.
That exists. Jesus is a narcissist. Unless. Unless. He is bigger. And more beautiful.
And more glorious. And more holy. And more worthy. Than any other. Thing in existence. That you could devote your time to.
Then. If that's true. If Jesus is supreme. When he tells you. You should love me above everything else. And you should worship me.
With all of your allegiance. And all of your time. And all of your life. Then. He's actually pursuing. Your joy.
And your greatest. Good. But only. If he's bigger. And more beautiful. And more glorious.
Than anything else. So. This is about to feel like a science class. And a poorly done one. Because I'm not great at science. But I want us to see some things.
Because. You only have. Limited options. On what you're going to worship. You got some limited options. You can only go out.
Into. Creation. You can only go out. And find something. That already exists. For you to worship.
Genesis. The first book in the Bible. Begins with. In the beginning. God. And then tells us.
That he created. Everything. So we're just going to take a minute. With the understanding. That God created all of this. And just look at.
The things that exist. We're going to look at. What. What's out there. For you to be. Mesmerized with.
For you to devote yourself to. We're going to do this in two ways. We're going to go small. Then we're going to go big. And then that. Hopefully that'll cover everything in between.
All right. Your body. Is made up of. Cells. One hundred. Trillion of them.
I don't even know. What that number really means. It's just very big. One hundred. Trillion cells. This is a.
This is a cell. It looks like something. From the magic school bus. That's a cell. Inside your cell. I'm going to move this out of the way.
I'm going to back up a little bit. So people can see a little better. Forgive me if I get in your way. I pace. That's a cell. Inside the middle there.
Is a nucleus. There's a bunch of little different parts in there. There's. Inside the nucleus is DNA. DNA. DNA.
Is the best information storage system. That exists. They are currently. Scientists are currently trying to figure out. How to save our own data into DNA. And retrieve it.
Okay. So the new Macs that came out. Like the expensive ones. They have like a terabyte of data. Remember when you had like a floppy disk. And it had like.
A megabyte. Terabytes way bigger. Did that help? Have a terabyte of data. DNA. DNA.
If you could put a drop of pure DNA. On the tip of your finger. It would have 700 terabytes. Of data storage capability. Because there's DNA. In every single one of your microscopic.
Invisible cells. That it holds. Dawkins says. About the equivalent of 8,000 books. But if you could.
So they said. They're trying to figure out. How to use DNA. Because they could save. All the things. We would ever need to save.
In a couple of teaspoons. Tablespoons. Worth of DNA. If we can figure out. How to do it. But.
But that was put inside. That little yellow thing. In the middle there. And then. Inside of there. Inside the cell.
Which you have a hundred trillion of them. That are constantly doing things. They all read. This. There's the entire DNA. For your whole body.
But the cell reads. This tiny little spot. They just go break. This one little part apart. And then that's what tells your cell. To be a liver cell.
Or an eye cell. Or a fingernail. Cell. Just that little bit of DNA. But all the DNA is in there.
And inside of your. Of your cell. There are organelles. Ribosomes. Mitochondria. Storage vacuoles.
Lysosomes. Lystra. Derby. Those last two are just places. Mentioned in the Bible. But the other stuff's in there.
Endoplasmic reticula. And a bunch of other things. That are constantly working. Doing jobs. Making more cells. This is a picture of actual cells.
We can see these with microscopes. They're creating things. All the time. Making more cells. They're made up of smaller things. The little particles inside of them.
Are made up of smaller things. There are. Each one of those. Has to be designed in such a way. As to be the correct thing. The correct lysosome.
Storage vacuole. To make the correct component. That's going to go inside the cell. Inside. The smaller. Things that make those up.
Are made up of. Molecules. That are made up of atoms. Atoms are the things that are on periodic table. On the periodic table of the elements. This is a picture of an atom.
It's been. It's been. Kind of enhanced. Digitally. Trying to make it look 3D. That's the nucleus of an atom.
There are protons and neutrons in there. And then electrons. Swirl around it. And scientists will say. We can't see those. You just kind of have to pretend.
We proved. We humans. Proved. That those existed. In like the end of the 1800s. We actually saw the first one in 1983.
We were able to look at it. They just used math. To figure out that these were real. And when I hear stuff like that. I think. There's a lot about math.
I don't know. Because I'm doing good. To make sure I got the right amount of change back. And they're using it. To figure out things. That we can't see.
Exist. They've now found out. That atoms are made up of. So that. We knew they were made up of. Protons.
Neutrons. Electrons. They can't be directly observed. But we're able to use math. To figure out what they do. They now have come out.
And said. We thought for a long time. That those were the smallest things. There were. So. Each cell.
Has about. You have 100 trillion cells. Each cell. Has about 100 trillion atoms. If you use a calculator. To multiply those Numbers together.
Your calculator. Doesn't even really give you an answer. It gives you a number. And then an E. And then it says plus. And it gives you this other stuff.
And it's like. Dude. I'm not putting all those zeros. You do it. It's an insane amount. So.
Inside those atoms. They now have decided. That they thought. That was the smallest thing. They now decided. No.
They've used more math. And figured out. There are smaller things. Than protons. Neutrons. Electrons.
And they've called these. Quarks. And leptons. And all of those. Are in a category. Called fermions.
And it sounds like. L. Ron Hubbard. Came up with this. Eventually. A logical.
A logical assumption. Is that they're going to figure out. That quarks. Have smaller parts. And maybe they'll call those. Bloggatrons.
Or nuptics. Here's the thing. Your body. Is exceedingly. Complex. It's made up of atoms.
And atoms. Have insane amounts. Of power in them. Energy in them. That we don't fully understand. We were able to figure out.
Early on. That they existed. By using math. And then they figured out. That if you took. Two hydrogen atoms.
This is a picture. Of a hydrogen atom. The internet. Nope. The internet was geeked out. The internet.
The internet was. Was really excited. That we were able to get. A picture of a hydrogen atom. Hydrogen is really small. They worked really hard.
And science. A whole lot. And they came up with that. See that. That's hydrogen. You guys.
Are you just blown away. It's. It's microscopic. We were excited. Because we could see it. Because they used to only figure out.
That it existed by math. But then they figured out. That if they took. Two hydrogen atoms. Smushed them together. They would turn into helium.
But helium. Weighs less. Than those two hydrogen atoms. Combined. So it would be like.
If you and I. If I weighed 100 pounds. You weigh 100 pounds. And we get on a scale. And the scale says. One fifty.
There's fifty pounds. That aren't. Accounted for. What they figured out. Was if they smush. Hydrogen together.
It'll push this other stuff out. And you know what that does. It just blows up. That's it. It creates energy. From smushing together.
Things we can't even see. Does the. The hydrogen bomb. That's just taking atoms. That they mathed. And then.
Coming up with a system. To smush them. And it does that. That. That's two miles wide. You can feel the heat.
Thirty miles away. Okay. Can you go to like. A black one. Just a regular. Let's talk for just a second.
Everything's made up of atoms. And. And what we're told is. That the God of the universe. Designed this. And he made atoms.
That fit together into molecules. That make up like lipids. And proteins. And stuff. And then. Make biscuits.
And taste amazing. Like. It's science. That makes bacon delicious. And I just got myself really hungry. Because if you put bacon on that biscuit.
I haven't even thought about this. Let's get some cheese. All right. You used to. Be a lot smaller than you are. You used to be like this big.
At one point. You were about this big. You ate atoms. Your body broke that stuff down. Stuck it in different places. And then your body.
Made more of your body. Created more cells. Replicated your DNA. Genesis 1. 27. Says that God made man.
In his own image. In the image of God. He created him male and female. Job 10. 11. Says you clothed me with skin.
And flesh. And you knit me together. With bones. And sinews. Psalm 139. 13.
Says you formed. My inward parts. You knitted me together. In my mother's womb. That God. Pieced all of that together.
To the smallest. Thing that we've been able to work. Really hard to find out existed. God made it. Designed it. With a purpose.
Okay. Let's go big for a second. This is the earth. It is a globe. YouTube might tell you that it's not. That's a picture.
It's either a picture of our earth. It is a globe. Or it is a vast conspiracy. That NASA is trying to trick us. By putting this on their website. But that's a picture of the earth.
This is the sun. It's a giant ball of fire. It actually is a bunch of nuclear reactions going on. On the earth. We are currently rotating. 6,000.
No. 100. Sorry. 1,000 miles per hour. We're spinning 1,000 miles per hour right now. Can you feel it?
1,000 Miles per hour. We are then traveling in orbit. 18.5 miles per second. Or 66,600 miles per hour. While spinning. And the reason we're doing that.
Is because the sun is bigger than us. And it tells us to. It's a gravity. It tells mass how to move. And we just. We're slingshotting.
Out around this thing. That's bigger than us. This is a picture of the earth. And the other planets. That's Venus. Mars.
Mercury. Pluto. We're bigger than those. I don't know if Pluto is still a planet. But look.
He's there. Alright. Next one. This is all the planets in our solar system. Uranus. Neptune.
Saturn. Jupiter. They're a lot bigger than us. Earth's down here. He's cute. Alright.
This is if you add in the sun. That's why the sun gets to tell us what to do. It works much like a playground. Okay. This is our galaxy. There it is.
That's the Milky Way. That's a guess. Because we can't get outside of it to see what it looks like. But it probably looks like that. This one shows us where our solar system is. So there's a lot of other solar systems going on.
Do you have the one that shows the other stars in our. Okay. So the sun's over here. That's Sirius. That's Pollux. That's Arcturus.
You can go bigger. And the sun will disappear. Those are in our galaxy. Other suns. Floating out there. Doing their thing.
This is a galaxy that we can see. From our galaxy. It's bigger than ours. Alright. This is one of the coolest stories I found when I was looking into some of this stuff. A guy named Bob Williams.
Did the Hubble Deep Field Experiment in 1990. He was listening to Hootie and the Blowfish at the time. He had some control over where the telescope pointed. He pointed it at a black spot on the sky. It looked like this. He said I want to point the telescope here.
And they were like. That's dumb. We're losing money. Hubble telescope's not been doing great. And you want to point it at nothing. For a hundred hours.
Yes. He just said I want to point it there. I want to just receive light. And we'll see what happens. That's about one thirtieth the size of a full moon. It's the size.
They just picked a spot that was completely black. And said let's point it there. They did it for a hundred hours. And just took in as much light as they could. Took pictures. It took 45 seconds to get in all the light.
And then. This is what came out of it. Once they developed the film. They colored it in a little bit. So they decided.
Oh okay. They thought they might have. About 2 billion. Other galaxies. Until they did that. And then they said.
Oh no. 50 billion. And most recently. They started saying. That there might be about 2 trillion. Other galaxies.
So you remember the big galaxy. And it said. We are here. That was our solar system. We're not even the biggest planet. In our solar system.
We don't even have the biggest sun. In our galaxy. 2 trillion galaxies. Filled with innumerable suns. Innumerable solar systems. Innumerable planets.
Habakkuk 3.6 says. He stood. And measured. The earth. He looked. And shook the nations.
Then the eternal mountains were scattered. The everlasting hills sank low. His word. The everlasting ways. Isaiah 40. Verse 12 says.
Who has measured. The waters. In the hollow of his hand. Or marked off the heavens. With a span. Enclosed the dust of the earth.
In a measure. And weighed the mountains. And scales. And hills. In a balance. In Job 38.
God shows up. To talk to Job. He says. Where were you? When I laid the foundation of the earth. Tell me.
If you have understanding. Who determined its measurements. Surely you know. Or who stretched the line upon it. On what were its bases sunk. Or who laid its cornerstone.
When the morning stars sang together. And all the sons of God shouted for joy. Psalm 147. 4 says. He determines the number of the stars. And he gives to them.
All their names. Anything you're going to devote your life to. Is going to fit somewhere in between. Those two trillion galaxies. And those hundred trillion atoms. In the hundred trillion cells.
Every bit of beauty. Every bit of. Things that are worthy. And valuable. It's going to fit somewhere inside of that. It says that God marked that off.
With the span of his hand. And so here's the question I have. How hateful. Would God be. How wicked. And despicable.
Would he be. To create all of that. And let us piddle around. With things that are so small. In comparison to him. It says he measured out.
The sea in his hands. If he said. Spend your life. Digging to the depths of the ocean. Which we hadn't even gotten to yet. How small is that.
And how. How horrible would it be. For him to not tell us about the hand. That measured it. For him to look at us. And say.
Spend your life. Chasing after love. Or beauty. When all love and beauty. Emits from him. Comes from him.
That is. It was thought up by him. If he said. Spend your life. Chasing after relationships. When the ultimate.
Truest. Most fulfilling. Joy filled. Glorious relationship. We could ever have. Is with him.
You see. He is a complete narcissist. Unless he is the greatest. Then what else. Would you have him point us to. What else would you have this God.
Say. Worship. Adore. Enjoy. Appreciate. You see.
What he does. Is he takes us to things. And he says. Look at the ocean. Look at the stars. Look at the sky.
And enjoy them. And be enraptured by them. And then realize. They point to me. They're just a hint. Of my glory.
And my bigness. And my goodness. And my grace. Spending all of our time. Chasing after reason. Or intelligent.
And never. Getting to enjoy. The depth of the mind. That created it. In the first place. You see.
Then. Colossians. Tells us. In 115. Talking of Jesus. He.
Is the image. Of the invisible God. The firstborn. Of all creations. Colossians 2. 9.
Says. For in him. The whole fullness. Of deity. Dwells. Bodily.
And Hebrews 1. 3. Says this. And this is what was on the. The little bumper videos. We came in.
He. That's Jesus. Is the radiance. Of the glory. Of God. So glory.
Is. Is beauty. That makes you feel something. It's. It's. It's what emanates from God.
And it says that. Radiance. Is the light and heat. That shines off of something. So what.
What Hebrews. The author of Hebrews. Tells us. Is that Jesus. Is the beauty. Of the beauty of God.
He's the radiance. Of the glory. He's the light and heat. That shines off of all of God's. Massive. Infathomable.
Unapproachable. Eternal. Goodness. He's the exact. Imprint. Of his nature.
That's God's nature. Is. Perfectly. Shown to us. In Christ. Who is God.
He upholds the universe. By the word. Of his power. That Jesus Christ. Rules over. All that exists.
And after making. Purifications for sins. That's. The cross. He sat down. At the right hand.
Of the majesty. On high. In Psalm 8. The psalmist says. When I look at your heavens. The work of your fingers.
The moon. And the stars. Which you have set in place. What is man. That you're mindful of him. Or the son of man.
That you care for him. Psalm says. I see all of this. And why do you care about us. We're in a small galaxy. Stuck off to the corner.
In a small solar system. On a small planet. Given a very limited amount of time. In history. And in God's created order. But God loved us enough.
Was mindful of us enough. That he joined us. In humanity. And went to the cross. That he exactly imprinted. His nature on Jesus.
Who became a human. The most baffling event. Most beautiful miracle. In history. Is that God. The eternal holy God.
Became a human. And humbled himself. To die on a cross. To redeem some people. So that.
He could pursue. Their greatest. And highest. Joy. Which is himself. Jesus Christ died.
So that we could have. Him. Because you will not find. A greater. Or higher. Or more worthy.
Or more valuable. Joy. In the world. In creation. In existence. That Jesus Christ.
The God of the universe. Humbled himself. A friend of mine. Got to go to a. Some sort of a tailgate thing. And it was catered by Chick-fil-A.
And he got to eat at this meal. With a bunch of fancy people. He's not fancy. But he got to go. I don't remember. Somebody knows.
Is fancy. And invited him. He said afterwards. Somebody came along. This was an older guy. Came along.
And started cleaning up everything. And throwing everything away. And he looked over. And realized. That the person who was. Picking up his trash.
And throwing it away. Was S. True at Kathy. Which is. The CEO of Chick-fil-A. He said.
He immediately thought. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Like. Why would the CEO. Clean up after me. Like.
This isn't okay. I'm just here as a guest. I can't have this guy. Clean up. Like. He was like.
He was. It just felt so bad. It bothered him so much. And. And what we met with. That's the exact imprint.
Of God's nature. The humility. And mercy. And love of God. Is that the God of the universe. Who created all things.
From the most. Minuscule. To the most. Miraculously. Immeasurable. Will become a.
Person. In order to suffer. And die. On a cross. That we could be forgiven. Of sins.
And brought back. Into a relationship. With him. And have. A chance. To pursue.
What will most. Give us joy. And satisfaction. Pastor John Piper. Says this. God's love for us.
Is not mainly. His making. Much of us. But his giving us. The ability. To enjoy.
Making much of him. Forever. God's love for us. Keeps God. At the center. God's love for us.
Exalts his value. And our satisfaction. In it. If God's love. Made us central. And focus on our value.
It would distract us. From what is most. Precious. Namely himself. Love. Labors.
And suffers. To enthrall us. With what is infinitely. And eternally. Satisfying. God.
That God. Went to the cross. So that. He could labor. To enthrall us. With what is most.
Satisfying. Most. Joy-filled. God. And that's why Jesus. With complete certainty.
Honesty. Love. And helpfulness. Can look at us. And say. Whoever loves father or mother.
More than me. Is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son. Or daughter. More than me. Is not worthy of me.
And whoever. Ever does not take his cross. And follow me. Is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life. Will lose it.
Whoever loses his life. For my sake. Will find it. The band's going to come back up. If we love. Anything.
More than Jesus. We're missing out. If our lives are devoted. To anything. More than Christ. We've sold ourselves short.
If you live your entire life. Giving every penny. Every drop of sweat. Every waking moment. To Christ. And his kingdom.
And his glory. It'll all be worth it. Because everything else. Pales in comparison. To his beauty. His magnificence.
His holiness. His worthiness. Band's going to sing. We're going to take communion. Communion is for. Those who have placed their faith in Christ.
So we would ask you. That if you are not. A Christian. Just to remain seated. During this time. Or stand and sing.
With the band as they lead. But for those of us. Who have placed our faith in Christ. I want us to take a minute. To as best we can. Hold in our minds.
What makes. God. So supremely glorious. That he would suffer. And die on a cross. To redeem us.
That he would breathe his last breath. Be wrapped. And shrouded. Laid in a tomb. That he would conquer death. On our behalf.
That when we take communion. We're reminding ourselves. Of the body. And the blood. Of Christ. That was broken.
And that was. Blood that was shed. So that we could have life. So that we could be redeemed. So that we could be forgiven.
That this. Radiant. Glorious God. Would suffer. So that he could.
Enthrall us. With what is most supremely. Joy filled. Life giving. And valuable. Himself.
Let's pray. And then you'll be free. To take communion. And we'll stand and sing. God we thank you for your grace. Your love.
God. I pray Lord. That we would be. Overwhelmed. By how matchless. You are.
That you are. Supremely. Glorious. And worthy. Of all of our devotion. We praise you.
In Jesus name. Amen.