Jesus Is The Answer

Well, if you have your Bibles, turn with me to John chapter 1 this morning. John chapter 1. How many of you are thankful for the Holy Spirit? He’s wonderful. John chapter 1, the Gospel of John — this is some of my favorite portion of Scripture. I have made it a goal to memorize John chapter 1. It is taking me forever to get there. There we go — still a few more. There we go. John chapter 1.

Can we just pray and welcome the Lord? Lord, we thank You for Your presence. Holy Father, speak to us, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen.

More than a story

John chapter 1. We are going to be talking about the incarnation of Jesus, and it’s something that we are going to be spending the next couple weeks on — this week, last week, next week. We’re going to be talking about the incarnation, which some of you are like, “Well, what does that even really mean?” For those of you that don’t know, the incarnation is when God became man. It is what we celebrate in this Christmas season.

Sometimes I think we dwindle the Christmas story down to just a story. In fact, we do that with a lot of the Bible. We dwindle it down to a bunch of stories that are almost isolated and really aren’t related or connected. And because it’s not connected, oftentimes the Bible doesn’t even make sense, because we treat it like individual stories. What we don’t recognize is it’s all one story, and it’s the story about God’s love for us and how He did everything to bring us back to Him, to make us have life with Him again.

And so the incarnation is when Jesus — God — came to earth. And it’s interesting, because you would think if God was to come to earth and He was to come and rescue us, He would come in all of His glory and He would conquer and rule and reign. But He came as a baby. He came humbly. He came lowly. And so when we think about the incarnation, and we’re thinking about the Christmas story — and we’re going to be reading through some of it, and we’re going to be talking about it, and at our Christmas Eve service we’re going to read through it — I want us to think that it’s more than a story. It’s His humility and His love. It is a shouting, a declaration of His love for us and His humility.

I think we shortchange what that really means. What does it mean that God is humble? I mentioned it last week: if Jesus was to walk into the room in all glory and fire, we would be blown away by His humility. It is the antithesis. It is the opposite of the ways of this world. It’s the opposite of Satan and the kingdom of darkness. Satan seeks to promote himself, to lift himself up. That was his sin. He became proud and arrogant, and he tried to make himself like God, and because he lifted himself up, God cast him down. But Jesus was the opposite. God is the opposite. He humbled Himself, and He says, “I want to be with you.” That’s His dream all along.

If you want the Bible to make sense, read it through the perspective that God’s heart and His desire is to be with me. That’s how we read the Bible. He wants to be with me. He wants me to know Him. He wants to reveal Himself to me.

A seed is coming

And so last week we looked at Genesis 3:15. And we think of the gospel sometimes as just in the New Testament, when Jesus came. But Jesus said all Scripture speaks of Me. So in Genesis chapter 3, we are introduced to the first promise. Adam and Eve had sinned. Sin had entered the world. Death entered the world, and we were all doomed to destruction. But in Genesis 3, verse 15, we see that there is this declaration that a seed is coming. Everybody say, “A seed.” A seed. That seed is a Seed with a capital S, which is Jesus Himself.

And there is this Man that is coming to save humanity, to bring redemption. And there is a Seed that is coming to destroy the serpent through bruising — through bruising. And this says so much: that a Man is coming who is fully God and fully man, who will advance His kingdom and conquer the penalty of sin through suffering, through death, and through resurrection. However, there is no way into resurrection outside of the incarnate life.

And so when we think of the incarnation, we have to think outside the bounds of the nativity, outside the bounds of, “Oh, there are wise men, and they came and they gave their gifts.” That is all true. That is all vital. But it’s just a part.

And the quicker we can come to this conclusion — that every answer is found in Jesus. Say that with me: “Every answer is found in Jesus.” What does that mean? When sin entered the world, problems entered the world, right? When sin entered the world, death came. When sin entered the world — think of all the things that are a result of sin. Every war, all sickness, all disease, every broken family, every broken relationship, all fear, all anxiety — everything that is dark is a result of sin. And this is the reality: God gave an answer to sin, and that answer was Jesus.

Now, how many of you know if Jesus is God’s answer for everything — how many of you know Jesus should be our answer for everything too? And you might be here and you’re like, “Well, how is He the answer for, like, what I’m going to do with my life?” Seek the Lord, and He will tell you what to do. “How is the Lord the answer for those relationships in my life that are broken or struggling?” Seek the Lord. He will reveal Himself to you, and He will shape you and shift you and bring healing. He really is the answer for everything.

And the quicker we come to the realization that Jesus actually is the answer, the quicker we come back to that first love, the quicker we come back to where He is our everything, where He is all that we want. The answer to every issue is found in the coming of the Lord Jesus. And so a Seed is coming. He is coming who will redefine what victory looks like. He comes to His own through bruising. Jesus came to this earth to die. He comes not to be exalted, not to puff Himself up. He came to suffer and to die on the cross. And He comes not just to bruise the head of the serpent, but to totally crush the head of the serpent. And so that was last week — Genesis chapter 3.

The Word became flesh

But I want us to come now today to John chapter 1. John chapter 1 — and we read a portion of this this morning. Verse 14, it says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Notice: “the Word became flesh.” Say that with me: “The Word became flesh.” One more time: “The Word became flesh.” The Word became flesh. We have to recognize the gravity of that statement. Flesh did not become the Word. Man did not become God. The Word became flesh; God became man. This is a vital progression.

And I want you to consider this. It says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” When we are talking about the incarnation, I want us to recognize, number one, that He has no beginning. He was before the foundations of the world. Before all of creation, Jesus was. He wasn’t born as a baby and then became God. No — He was God, and He became man, and He came down to this earth. He has no beginning.

And number two, He is the Word. He is the Word. The word “Word” is the Greek logos, which means divine expression. It is a divine expression. In other words, He is the perfect declaration and definition of who God is. If you want to know what God is like, look no further than the person of Jesus Christ. If you want to know what the Holy Spirit is like, look no further than the person of Jesus Christ. If you want to know God, you must know Jesus. You must know Him, because He is God. The Word became flesh.

And I also want us to consider this: when He became flesh, it was forever. Sometimes I think we get it confused — that God came to this earth, He took on human flesh as Jesus, but then when He went back into heaven, now He’s just some spirit or aura. But how many of you know that’s not true? He is in the flesh, in body form, seated at the right hand of God right now, interceding for you. This is significant, and you should be thankful for that. Not only was He the incarnate One; He is the incarnate One.

Can you think of the humility? He gave up His place in heaven, and He became man, and He will be man, and He will rule and reign forever and ever as the Son of Man. I think we lose that sometimes. But if He was not in His incarnate form — if He was not in the flesh in heaven right now — you would lose your salvation. You see, it is the priestly ministry of Jesus. We’ve been going through the book of Hebrews and talking about how Jesus is our perfect High Priest. It is the priestly ministry of Jesus — that He is interceding for us — that actually holds our salvation.

So I want you to picture this, okay? Picture God in heaven. What does that look like? I don’t even know, right? It’s probably awesome. At His right hand is Jesus on the throne, and there He is seated, and Scripture says He intercedes. He makes intercession for us. And intercession is prayer; it’s when you’re praying. But I want you to consider this. The reason that this is significant — the reason that He being our High Priest is a big deal — is because when God looks at Jesus, He looks at Jesus and He sees you.

And so the very presence of Jesus, the very embodiment of who He is, is intercession. It is prayer. So Jesus is interceding, and He doesn’t even have to say you by name. He is the lens and the scope that God looks through to see you. So when God sees you, He no longer sees the sin, the shame, the failures, the letdowns. If you’ve given your life to the Lord, Scripture says He who knew no sin became sin, that we would become the righteousness of God in Christ. Meaning that when God the Father looks at you, it is through the lens of Jesus, and He sees you as righteous. That’s a big deal. It is a big deal that Jesus is, to this day, in His incarnate form.

So the Father’s dealings with humanity in this world are all filtered through the Son’s presence, who is seated at the right hand. And I want you to consider this — this is a reality that is coming. Jesus is going to come again. Somebody say amen. Amen. In bodily form, in the flesh. He ascended into heaven in the flesh; He will descend on the earth in the flesh. And when He comes, He will rapture and bring up all those who are His, those who have given their life to Him. Scripture says this: He’s going to gather and take them.

And I want you to think: what will be left on this earth? Because the Father’s dealings with humanity are through the lens of Jesus, and when He sees us, He sees the Son and His righteousness. And if there is no one left on this earth that carries Him, that represents Him, with born-again spirits walking and praying and interceding — because how many of you know we’re supposed to pray for our nation, pray for this world — all of that gone? Think about the significance of Jesus in us and what we bring to this world. You see, the Father’s dealings with humanity flow through His dealings with the Son. And so Jesus is literally the representation of you in the throne room, whether He verbally mentions you by name or not.

What changed Paul

And then, by the Word becoming flesh — think about this — God became man, and He was walking the world, and the people who were with Him were literally gazing upon the image of the invisible God. Now isn’t that just amazing? And I sometimes think, “If I could have just walked with Jesus, I definitely would have seen Him better than everybody else,” right? “How could you be around Jesus and not just completely be in love with Him and want to follow Him and give your life to Him?” We think, “Well, if I was around in Bible times and I walked with Jesus, I wouldn’t deny Him. I wouldn’t let Him down. I wouldn’t betray Him, like 99% of the people did. I would be different. I would know Him better than Peter. I would know Him better than Paul.” But what about us? We think it would be different.

I was just thinking about this — I was having a conversation before service that reminded me of this — but I want you to think of Paul. Here was Paul before he met Jesus: he literally used Scripture to justify killing Christians. And then, on the road to Damascus, Jesus comes and reveals Himself to Paul. And after Paul had met Jesus, he used the same Scriptures to prove to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. What changed? An encounter with Jesus.

How many of you know Jesus changes everything? And what we actually need — we don’t just need more good works. We don’t just need more goodwill. If you think Christianity is just living with good values, you are missing it. Christianity is a person. It is a relationship with Jesus. And when we have an encounter with Him, He changes everything. He changes the way you think. He changes your values, your perspectives.

And sometimes people are like, “Well, I don’t want to be a weird Christian.” And how many of you know you can be not Christian and be weird, and you could be Christian and be weird? Don’t be weird, right? We don’t need to be weird. Where was I even going with that? What we need is an encounter with Jesus, and it’s a real relationship. It’s not about trying to just be better; it’s about being transformed. It’s not about proving, one day when you come face to face with Jesus in the throne room on that day of judgment — it’s not about what you did. It’s not about what you could do. It’s about what He did.

What the church needs is an encounter with the Lord. What you need is an encounter with the Lord, and it literally will change everything. It goes from where you will literally use Scripture to justify killing Christians, to the point where Jesus reveals Himself. Paul was on the road to Damascus. He was journeying to kill Christians, and Jesus reveals Himself and says — his name was Saul at the time — “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And it changed everything for Paul. He had a moment with Jesus, and from that moment, it was all he could talk about. It was all he could consider. Why? Because he had an encounter with Jesus.

Listen, friend, if you have not had an encounter with Jesus, open yourself up and say, “Lord, I want to know You. Would You make me know You? Would You reveal Yourself to me, that I might know You?” It will change the way that you read Scripture. This tells me two things. Number one, to see Scripture correctly is impossible unless you are looking for Jesus. And the only way to see Jesus correctly is through Scripture. You need both.

Son of David, Son of God

And so Jesus is the image of the invisible God, declared through the prophets and the apostles. And it says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Listen to Romans 1:3–4. It says, “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.”

Let me break this down. “Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” So what are we talking about here? This is an open-screen test. “Concerning His Son Jesus” — who are we talking about? We’re talking about Jesus — “who was born of the seed of David.” In other words, this is saying Jesus is a descendant of David. David was the king over Israel, and it was prophesied that the Messiah must be a descendant of the lineage of David. And so this is a statement of Jesus’ humanity. He is from the lineage of David.

Notice: “according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness.” And so here Paul is referring to both the humanity of Jesus and the divine nature of Jesus. It is both. How many of you know Jesus was not part-time God and part-time man? He is both. He is fully God and fully man. And we see first that He comes from David’s lineage. That’s why Scripture refers to Him as the Son of David.

How many of you know, when you look at the news — I don’t know about you, but when I’m reading the news and I look at what’s going on in this world, I have come to the point in my life, and maybe I’ve just become humble enough, where I recognize this is too big of an issue for any one person to fix. There’s too much darkness. There are too many bad agendas. There are too many ulterior motives, too many lies, too much fear. No single individual can fix this. The only answer is the gospel and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Somebody say amen.

And so what does this mean? It means that we believe as Christians that a greater King than David is coming. Jesus is born of the lineage of David, and the Jews expected that. They were looking for that. And so when the people in Scripture would cry out, “Hosanna, hosanna to the Son of David,” they are making the declaration that the Messiah must come from the lineage of David. And so when we speak of the incarnation, it comes through the Lord’s covenant with David. This is His humanity. Everybody say, “Humanity.”

But it says here He is declared to be the Son of God through the resurrection. How many of you know the resurrection from the dead says something? It declares that Jesus was perfect. And Scripture says there is no one perfect but God. The reason Jesus was resurrected — the reason we can trust that He is the Son of God — is because not only did He die, He was raised to life. And His resurrection, according to Romans 1, is telling us He is perfect, and only God is perfect. And so the resurrection declares that Jesus, the One who comes from David’s line, is perfect. He is the Lord. Everybody say, “God became man.” God became man.

Glory is cross-shaped

Now I want to look to John 17. Are you guys with me this morning? John 17, talking about the incarnation, starting at verse 1. It says, “Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: ‘Father, the hour has come.’” Let me ask you: What hour is Jesus referring to here? He’s referring to the cross. The hour had come for Jesus to die. It says, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You.”

Say this with me: “The incarnation is cross-shaped. Always.” Say, “The incarnation is cross-shaped, always.” Now say this: “Glory is cross-shaped, always.”

Jesus, in this scripture, is praying to the Father. He’s about to give His life. He’s about to die on the cross. And He’s introducing what He calls glorious: the hour has come for Jesus to lay His life down. How many of you would agree to be Christian means to be a follower of Jesus, right? That’s what the very word means. To be Christian doesn’t mean you just go to church. To be Christian doesn’t mean you say a prayer. To be Christian means, “No, I follow Him. I follow Jesus.”

And here Jesus is giving us this view of our Christian faith: that our view of our Christian faith should always be connected to Him. It should always be defined by who He is. And so if Jesus is connecting glory to the cross, I submit to you that laying down our life for another is glorious. If Jesus defines glory in His life by laying down His life, glory should only be defined, for us, when we lay our lives down and serve one another.

The Christian life is defined by laying down your life, by dying to yourself daily. Jesus died on a cross, but how many of you know we are called to be like Him, to die to ourselves daily? That means what? It means I don’t just do whatever I want. I don’t just behave however I want. I don’t just say whatever I want. No, I do what He says to do. I say what He says to say. I want to be like Him.

And so He says, “Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

How many of you know eternal life does not mean you just exist forever? There are people who are in hell right now, and they are going to exist forever. That is not eternal life; that’s separation from Him. Eternal life is this: to know Him. It is to know Jesus. It is to know Him, the Father, and the One He sent. We will all exist forever and ever — everybody that you have ever met. We are more than body. Scripture says we are body, soul, and spirit. And if you are found in Jesus, you will be with Him forever. But if you do not know Him — if you reject His Son, if you reject His grace, His love, and mercy — you’ll still exist forever, but it will be separate from Him.

Eternal life is to know the Lord. It is to recognize that the entirety of who you are — everything that you have been called to be, everything that you were created to be — is designed to be with Him, to commune with Him. That was the Lord’s intention all along when He created the heavens and the earth. Scripture says that He would walk in the cool of the day with Adam. He wants to be with us. Everything that we have been created to be is designed to commune with the Lord.

That’s why Scripture says in Romans 12:1, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” In other words, the only appropriate response to what Jesus has done for us is to give Him everything that we are. I’m going to go a step further than that — not further than the Scripture, further than what I just said: the only appropriate response to what Jesus has done for us is to give Him our bodies.

Your body is a big deal to the Lord. Scripture says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?” And too often we allow things in our lives and in our hearts that defile the temple of the Lord. Everything that we are, everything that we have been created to be, is to commune with Him, to be with Him. Sin separates. It separates us from Him. And so when we allow things in our hearts, when we allow things in our lives, it brings separation, and it destroys that relationship, that communion.

But according to this, it says, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Why? Because He has redeemed us and liberated us in grace, and the only appropriate response is to give Him all. And so that’s why when we worship, we say, “Lift your voice. Lift up a sacrifice of praise.” How many of you know that is a part of our bodily sacrifice? That is something that we give to the Lord. God cares about your body. He cares about what you do with your body. That’s why, when we consider things like sexual purity, it is important to the Lord. It is important to the Lord. Somebody say amen.

God cares about your body so much — think about this — He cares so much about your body that Scripture says He is going to raise you up with Him. Meaning everyone who has existed, who has died, who has decayed, who is nothing but dust — Scripture says in that day He will raise them up in body to be with Him. It will be a new body. It will be a perfect body. But it is being raised up. Your body is important to the Lord. What you allow to happen with your body is important to the Lord.

And my hope is this: that we would have the right end game in mind when we talk about going through life. What is the ultimate goal? The goal is this: to have Jesus Christ, His Son, formed in us. And my hope is that we have a proper perspective on what this means. Jesus is saying, “My glory is to give My life. I came to die.” And we want to follow Him. We want to know Him. And we want Jesus formed in us. Many of us have prayed that prayer, but it only comes one way: through the cross-filled life.

Verse 4: Jesus says, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” When Jesus prayed this, He hadn’t died on the cross yet, but He had already died in His heart. He had already settled in His heart, “I must obey the Father.” Didn’t Jesus pray that? He said, “Look, Father, if You could take this cup from Me — but not My will, but Yours be done.” He had completed the work. He was already committed in His heart to walk it out.

He says, “I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had before the world was.” There are people that would say, “Jesus was a prophet; He is not God.” This is saying otherwise: “Before the world was, I was.” We’re not going to fully go there. The Word became flesh. Everybody say that: “The Word became flesh.” That’s very humble. I said that’s humble.

Jesus Christ has come in the flesh

I’m going to close with this: 1 John chapter 4, starting at verse 2. It says, “By this” — everybody say, “By this” — “By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God.”

The reason John was writing this letter is there were heresies going around that Jesus did not actually come in the flesh — that He was like a ghost, that He was a phantom, that He was a symbolic representation. There were heresies that were being taught, and John is saying, “No, this is how you know that the Spirit of God is at work. This is how you know that this is real. By this: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.”

I said this a couple weeks ago — we were kind of talking about how there is actually meaning and definition to your name, right? You’ve been given a name. Many of us have been given a first name, a middle name, and we have our last name. Our last name defines where we came from, but our first and middle names really have meaning. And something that we do when we have baby dedications and we pray over them — we like to talk about the meaning of the name, because that meaning is like a prophetic declaration, saying, “Every time I speak your name, I am declaring this truth.” You guys with me?

So when we speak the name of Jesus — when we say “Jesus Christ” — I want you to consider what we’re actually saying. Because how many of you know His name means something? Your name means something. My name means something. Jesus Christ means something. Sometimes I think people get confused. They think Jesus was His first name and Christ is His last name. No. His name is Jesus, which was Yeshua, and that literally means that He is the Lord our salvation. The name Yeshua: the Lord our salvation. So every time we say “Jesus,” we are saying, “He is the Lord who saves me. He is Adonai. He is my salvation.”

So when you say “Jesus,” you are speaking the name Yeshua. You are saying, “He is the Lord” — everybody say, “He is the Lord” — “who is my salvation.” And so when we say that name, we are making the confession that that is who He is. That’s why there are times where I’m like, “Hey, when we’re worshiping, let’s begin to sing in the Spirit. And if you’ve not received your spiritual language, just begin to speak the name of Jesus.” Why? Because you are saying something. You aren’t just saying, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” like a toddler that’s just poking at your parent’s leg saying, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.” That’s not what this is. You are making a declaration: “He is the Lord. He is my salvation. He is my help.”

And so that name Jesus means He is the Lord, my salvation. But He is also the Christ, which is the Greek word Christos, which means He is the rightful King. He is the rightful King. And so if we put that together now: “You are the Lord who is my salvation, and the rightful King.” And He’s not just the King over Israel. He’s not just the King of the church. He’s the King of my life. And so when we say the name Jesus Christ, we are saying, “You are my salvation, and You are the Lord of my life.”

What does it mean for someone to be the Lord of your life? It means that you follow them. What they say goes. Even if you disagree, even if it doesn’t make sense, you trust them to make the call. “Jesus, You are the Lord.” And so in the name Jesus Christ there is this declaration of His salvation. There is this declaration of His lordship, which means He’s Master; He is decision maker.

But Christ also means the Anointed One. What is He anointed with? In biblical times, when they would anoint the king, there was a coronation, right? And when the prophets would anoint the kings, they would take oil, which was a representation of the Holy Spirit, and they would pour it on the top of their head, and it would flow from the top of their head all the way down until they were completely covered in oil. It sounds like a nightmare to me. I get nervous just thinking about the mess that that made. But this was significant in the spirit, right? There is this pouring out of the oil. It flowed from the top of the head to the feet, till they were fully saturated and covered. You could not be king without first being anointed.

And when John was baptizing people, he made this declaration. He said there is One who will anoint you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. In other words, there is only One who is worthy to anoint with the Holy Spirit, and His name is Jesus Christ. And so when we say “Jesus Christ” — He is our salvation, He is the Lord and the rightful King, and He is the Anointed One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. You see, this is all in that word.

And we look at verse 2. All of this is wrapped up in this: listen — Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. Your salvation, your true and rightful King, who anoints with the Holy Spirit, has come. That’s what we’re celebrating. This is a big deal. It’s more than a baby in a manger. No — God has come for you. He wants you. He is calling you.

He has come for you

And if you’re here today — number one, you’re not here by accident. I believe the Lord has brought you to this place. And you may think, “No, I’m just here because somebody brought me,” or “Somebody invited me,” or “I just found you on Google,” whatever. The Lord knew you would be here, and He knew you would hear this gospel message. And the Lord is saying, “I have come for you. I see you. I know you.” Scripture says before you were born, He knit you together in your mother’s womb.

So many people walk through these doors without hope, without purpose, and they think they were a mistake. But the Lord is saying, “You are not a mistake. I have come for you. I have known you before the foundations of the world. I’ve called you by name.” And I believe the Lord is saying prophetic things to our hearts right now.

In fact, let’s do this. Every eye closed, every head bowed. I believe the Lord is wanting to speak right now to you. And you may think, “Well, that’s just me.” But I believe the Lord is wanting to speak to you, and He’s saying, “I have come for you. I have called you. And I have a plan for your life.”

Can we do this right now? Let’s just stand together. Let’s stand. We’re going to close, and I’m going to pray over us. Can we just lift our hands to the Lord? This is just a posture of surrender. This is a posture of receiving. Just like any young child lifts their hands to receive from their parents, we lift our hands to the Lord. But the Lord only gives good gifts. He does not bring condemnation. No, He suffered and He died to destroy the works of the devil in your life — all the past hurt, all of the past trauma, the mistakes, the things that have been done against you that were wrong.

The Lord is saying, “I have come to bring healing to your heart. I’ve come to bring healing to your life. But you must choose Me. You must accept Me, so that I can do it, so that I can bring healing, so that I can be the King of your heart, the Lord of your life, the One who anoints you and pours out the oil of the Holy Spirit on you.” He says, “I’m the lifter of your head.” You may be tired. You may be weary. You may be walking in shame. But the Lord is saying, “I am lifting you up. You don’t have to be at a low level anymore. You don’t have to walk in condemnation anymore. I am the light of the world, and I come to bring light to your life and healing to your heart.” And so, Lord, we just receive from You today.

If you are here today and you are in a place where you’re saying, “I want to give my life to the Lord; I want to follow Jesus,” could you just, with every head bowed and every eye closed, look at me real quick? And we’re all going to just pray a prayer together. Amen. Amen.

Let’s do this. Let’s pray this out loud. Scripture says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, and He will cleanse us of our sins. So I want us to pray this in a voice loud enough for the person next to you to hear. But let’s say this together. Say:

Father God, I thank You for loving me. I thank You that You sent Your Son Jesus to come into this world as a baby, born of a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live a perfect life, to die on a cross, to be raised from the dead, so that I too can be forgiven and raised to life with You. Jesus, I receive what You’ve done, and I give my life to You. And I confess that You are the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, my salvation, the Lord of my life, the true and rightful King of my heart. And from this day forward, I choose to follow You. I repent of every sin that I have done apart from You, and I confess them to You, and I receive Your forgiveness. It’s not by what I deserve. It’s not what I’ve earned. It’s who You are and what You’ve done. And so now I am born again, a follower of Jesus. Lead me by Your Spirit. Fill me with Your Spirit. You are the Anointed One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. Fill me now, in Jesus’ name, from this day forward. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Can we thank the Lord this morning? Thank You, Lord. The Lord is good. He is good. He is wonderful. And our hope is that when you come into this room, you sense His presence every time — that you know that He’s here, that you know that He’s speaking, that He is real, and He wants nothing more than to be with you. So can we yield to that? Can we allow for that in our life?

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.