Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] You're listening to a live recording from Westside Church in Bend, Oregon. Thanks for joining us.
[00:00:06] My name is Josh Cordell. I'm the youth and family pastor here at Westside.
[00:00:12] I also oversee men's ministry here at Westside. And so I'm just going to warn you, there's going to be lots of shameless plugs. We are kicking off Advent today. And Advent is a time where we take all of December and we focus on Christ. We focus on Jesus Christ. And today we're talking about Christ in creation, Christ as the creator.
[00:00:36] And I like this way. So our young adults pastor is Brandt Himes. Dr. Brandt Himes. If you don't know Dr. Brandt Himes, I actually asked him about my tennis elbow. He said he wasn't that kind of doctor. So he's a doctor of theology and he said that he looks at the scripture through this lens. Creation, fall, redemption. And what's cool about that lens is that we can look at the whole of scripture that way. But also there's individual moments that we can look at as creation, fall and redemption. Individual stories. In fact, our story, creation, fall, redemption. So we're gonna dive in in a moment and we're gonna look at Jesus the Christ as creator. I personally, I love a good story. I love a good book. It's usually an audio book. Cause I like to listen to my books.
[00:01:29] Good movie. I even love a good standup comedian who gives you a set where everything is like building towards. They tell that last joke and you're like, oh, this whole thing was all a thing. I get it now. And I love when there's this continuity in a message. So here's what's amazing about the Word of God, about the Bible, the continuity we find in it. It is 66 books written by over 40 authors and collected written over a span of 1500 years. And in that time there's this continual message that points us towards Jesus Christ.
[00:02:15] And so we're going to jump into the scriptures. I'm going to pray and then we're going to jump right into John chapter one. Heavenly Father, you are so good. I just pray that you would open up your word to us today that we would understand how much you love us, how good you are and what you have in store for us. We pray all of these things in Jesus name. Amen. So in John chapter one we see the Gospel of John's very poetic.
[00:02:47] We read John chapter one starting in 1:1. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. And without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life. And the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. We see Also in chapter one, in verse 14, we see that the Word became flesh, that the Word became flesh. So Jesus the Christ is the word of God made flesh. And all creation comes through Christ. So there's this very helpful thing that I found is when we think of Jesus Christ, we can almost think of that as, like, John Smith, like Jesus is his first name, Christ is his last name. I think that a lot of kids start out kind of thinking that way. And so it's helpful to say Jesus the Christ, when we're explaining this. And the Christ, Christ means anointed one. It means the chosen. It means the Messiah. So Jesus the chosen one, Jesus, the anointed is the word of God. He is present in creation. So as we look at the season of Advent, we're gonna talk about the story of Jesus being born a baby, right? And having a life where he then was baptized. He then went and served and performed miracles and then died on the cross and then was resurrected again. Jesus did that. And there's like a timeline on that. But the Christ is eternal. The Christ is the creator. In Isaiah. So we said the Bible's 1500 years about Isaiah was written around 700 years before the birth of Jesus. And in Isaiah, chapter nine, we see for to us a child is born. To us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[00:05:08] For unto us a child is born, Jesus. A son is given the Christ. It's really amazing. Isaiah understood that 700 years before the birth of Jesus, he understood that the Son of God was being given to us. And how cool is it that one of his names is the everlasting Father? Jesus said, I and the Father are one. If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.
[00:05:37] So the story of Jesus the Christ goes back before time.
[00:05:45] We get to start it in Genesis. So we're going to jump into Genesis, and today we're looking at Christ the Creator. So we're going to look at. In Genesis, chapter 1, verses 26 and 27, we see in 26, then God said, let us make human beings in our image, in our image plural, the Godhead, the Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Let us make God in our image, in verse 27. So Genesis 1:27 is a verse that. If you hear me talk, I probably am going to bring it up. It comes up all the time. To me, it is the verse that God said, let us create man in our image. And then he created male and female in his image. And what's so beautiful about that is we are created in the image of God. We are in Latin. It's the imago dei. We bring this up all the time. In fact, if I'm with a group of kids and I say we're going to do some trivia, one of the kids will just go, imago dei. Because he has a feeling that, like, that's going to be my first question. And he gets out ahead of everything.
[00:06:55] So imago dei, the image of God, that's who we are. We are created in the image of God. If you look around at the people around you, they are created in the image of God. And what I love about this is this is before we've done anything, before we've done good or bad, before we've chosen to follow Christ, before we've rejected Christ. Wherever we're at, we start off as being created in the image of God. That makes us so significant. That makes everyone around you so significant. And it's such a powerful thing.
[00:07:34] I'm weird. I'm just going to throw this out there. I have a favorite number. A lot of people have a favorite number, but I bring mine up a lot. It's 127 is my favorite number. Genesis 127 is part of that long story of why I have a favorite number. But I think that someone at ODOT actually has the same favorite number that I do. Because. Did you know this? If you either ODOT or someone who. Maybe it was when God designed Oregon. I don't know how this works, but when you leave Bend, if you're headed for Salem and you go the way of, like, you're gonna go through Sisters. When you're headed to Tumelo, you'll see a sign and it'll say Salem127. Okay. Not 125 or 128. 127. If you were to leave Ben and go east towards Idaho, you'll see a sign that says over the Santiam. You got your option. You could go left Eugene, or you could go straight to Salem. You'll see a sign that says Portland127.
[00:08:33] If you're leaving Hermiston and you're headed for Portland, you'll see a sign that says Portland127.
[00:08:41] Every time you see that, here's what I want you to do. I want you to be reminded that you are created in the image of God, that you are the imago dei. And the person sitting next to you who wants to change the radio is also the imago DEI created in the image of God.
[00:08:59] So we bring that up all the time. In fact, I'm going too deep in this. But one of my life goals is that January 27th would become a holiday, and it would become Imago Dei, and instead of spelled D E I, it'd be spelled D A Y, Imago day. And so as Lindsay gave you permission today to say merry Christmas, I'm giving you permission on January 27th to say happy Imago day. Okay? So we're working towards that.
[00:09:29] In Genesis, we see that God creates mankind. He creates the world. Creation, fall, redemption. In chapter three, we get into that fall and redemption part. So in Genesis, chapter three, verse 15, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
[00:10:03] This is called in Latin. What's with all the Latin? I'm acting like I know Latin. I don't know Latin.
[00:10:09] This is the proto Gospel, or the proto evangelium. This is the first sign of the gospel message in the Scriptures. I'm going to read a quote from one of my favorite scholars that I know. This is from Pastor Evan Erwicker. This is how he describes Genesis 3:15.
[00:10:31] This is the first whisper of the gospel, the first announcement of redemption. In the moment of humanity's greatest failure, God already has a plan. The serpent representing evil will not have the last word. An offspring of the woman. Jesus will come to crush this evil, even though he will suffer in the process.
[00:10:57] What does this mean? From the beginning, God knew our brokenness, and he made a promise. Someone is coming to set things right.
[00:11:08] The story of redemption unfolds from this moment.
[00:11:13] That's good news, you guys.
[00:11:15] The gospel literally means good news.
[00:11:19] This is good news.
[00:11:22] Jesus, the Christ is the creator of all things, and he has victory over sin and death.
[00:11:34] That is good news. And guess what?
[00:11:38] If we've surrendered to Jesus, we have victory over sin and death.
[00:11:45] If in Genesis chapter three, God already knew this plan, it wasn't a plan B. It wasn't a backup plan. God already knew the plan for Christ and what he was going to do for us. If he knew that back then, isn't it safe to say that he knows what you're going through? Right now that he's not surprised by a diagnosis, by a failed relationship, by any surprise to us.
[00:12:22] It's not a surprise to him.
[00:12:25] And he has victory over that thing.
[00:12:29] And what does a victorious life look like?
[00:12:36] I quote a lot of people.
[00:12:38] I quote a lot of young people. I'm going to quote a few young people right now to tell you what a victorious life looks like in Christ. This past Sunday, second plug of the day.
[00:12:51] Every Sunday night we have high school church and it's a service for high schoolers. And this past Sunday at high school church, we had an open mic time where high schoolers shared what they were thankful for.
[00:13:06] And a high schooler came up and he said, and I asked him if I could tell this story. And he said, please do.
[00:13:13] He said, I'm thankful for basketball.
[00:13:18] I love basketball. I'm thankful that I have a healthy body that can play basketball.
[00:13:25] And a couple days ago I got cut from the high school team.
[00:13:32] But I'm thankful that God has a plan.
[00:13:38] And I'm reminded of Pastor Ben last week talking about First Thessalonians, where it says, in all circumstances, give thanks, not for all circumstances.
[00:13:51] It's not like you wake up in the morning, stub your toe and you're like, yes, thank you. Such a good stub toe.
[00:13:58] You don't think you don't have to be thankful for all things, but to be thankful in all things is to live in the victory of Christ, to understand that we are redeemed and therefore all the circumstances we can experience and be thankful within those circumstances.
[00:14:20] Not easy to do, but possible through Christ.
[00:14:26] I was talking to a young person and I asked them to share their story with me because I knew that they loved Jesus. And I was watching them and I. And I just. And I just knew this. And they said, my family are atheists.
[00:14:45] And then they told me their story about how they came to Christ.
[00:14:49] And so I took this moment to say, I've been watching you.
[00:14:55] I know you love Jesus.
[00:14:58] I know that God has a plan and is going to use you. And I want to tell you something. I believe that God is going to use you to reveal himself to your family.
[00:15:11] When I said that, I was pretty proud of myself. And I thought that I was gonna give this kid an epiphany, a something like, oh, okay, wow.
[00:15:25] And I said, God is going to use you to bring your family to himself. And they said, I know.
[00:15:39] That's victory, right? That's living in victory.
[00:15:43] That's experiencing the love of God and walking in it, living in victory.
[00:15:52] I'm wearing my Mountain View shoes today as a shout out to the Cougars for making it to the state football championship, which they unfortunately lost, but they made it to the state football championship.
[00:16:06] One of the boys from our several boys from our high school church play for Mountain View. One of them hurt his back this summer after a hard summer of doing all the things. There's football parents in this room. I know you know how much work goes in before a football season. He was doing all the things, the camps, the seven on seven, the wanting to play college football, and he hurt his back before the season started.
[00:16:35] Senior year, high predictions, high hopes, lots of goals.
[00:16:44] He stayed with his team. He went to every practice. He went to the games.
[00:16:50] He got a iPad. It used to be a clipboard. You don't get clipboards anymore. He got an iPad. He was on the sideline with an iPad. And he ended up getting cleared to play in the state championship game his senior year. And he played and he had a great game.
[00:17:07] And we texted right after the game and he thanked God in that text.
[00:17:15] That's victory, right? Lose the game.
[00:17:21] Understand, though, that that's not. It's not. It's not a win or lose situation of if we have victory in Christ.
[00:17:29] So what do we do with this victory? What do we. What do we do with this?
[00:17:34] In Galatians 5.
[00:17:41] Let's see. In Galatians.
[00:17:44] Actually 4. Let's go with 4 instead of 5. That makes more sense. Galatians 4 4. But when the right time came, God sent his son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, abba, Father, now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.
[00:18:27] We have the opportunity to be adopted into the family of God because of the work that Jesus the Christ, the eternal God, the creator of the universe, did on the cross for us. That is good news.
[00:18:43] I'm one of five kids.
[00:18:46] Two of us are adopted.
[00:18:49] My two siblings who are adopted are both from Korea. And my parents used to make a joke through my whole childhood that there was five of us. Two of us were adopted, but they had forgotten which two were adopted. And so I've always had a special. So I might be one of them. I'm not positive.
[00:19:09] I've always Had a special place in my heart of understanding that adoption is special because it requires that parent making the choice saying, I want you.
[00:19:23] And that is incredible. And we have that opportunity.
[00:19:30] A few years ago, I was driving to Idaho, and I was driving late at night. I was talking on the phone to my daughter. And first, a little disclaimer to make the story comfortable for you. No one was hurt, everyone was fine. So just know that. So I'm driving, and all of a sudden I see on the side of the road an upside down car with its tires still spinning. And so I tell my daughter, I've got to go. I turn around, I call 911. I come running up, there's people still in the car. They're all seat belted, they're upside down. I'm on the phone with the 911 dispatcher. I'm explaining what's happening. I'm trying all the doors. They're saying, get me out. I'm saying, I'm trying. And I'm trying the doors. And the car's munched a little bit, it's upside down. So none of the doors are opening easily. So I'm having this conversation with the dispatcher and I have all of a sudden what feels like it's going to be the most heroic moment of my life, because I realize something has to be done. And so I put that phone on my shoulder. The dispatcher is saying something, and I say, hang on a second, I'm about to rip this door off.
[00:20:45] So I get down and I try to rip this door off. And it does not rip off.
[00:20:52] And to add insult to injury, the dispatcher says, excuse me, ma'am, I need you to answer the question.
[00:21:03] And we've been talking for like five minutes.
[00:21:07] So all of a sudden, this epic moment is not quite the same feeling as it was just a second ago. Thankfully, I'm able to find a door and I do get it loose and open it. Everyone gets out. Everyone's okay. It was amen. It was great. God put me in the right spot. God gave me just enough strength that I needed so that it wouldn't go to my head.
[00:21:31] But it all worked out.
[00:21:34] I was able to do what I was capable of doing, but I could only do what I was capable of doing.
[00:21:43] When we think about giving our lives for someone, and this is an important part of the gospel for us to really understand, when we think about giving our lives for someone else, a good person would do that, a great person would do that, but only the infinite God would be able to die on the cross and take on all the sins of the world.
[00:22:13] A great person could not do that.
[00:22:16] And so why is it important that we understand that the Christ is also the creator? Because that Jesus, who died on the cross, wasn't just a good man. He was God in the flesh.
[00:22:30] And he was able to take on the infinity of sin, all of sin, upon himself. And because of that, there's nothing that we can do that would separate us from the love of God.
