God Is - Part 3
by Kevin Allen
February 4, 2024 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Joshua 2, Joshua 2:17-18, Genesis 12:1-3, Jeremiah 34:18, Genesis 15, Genesis 15:1, Hebrews 6:13-14, Exodus 12:13, John 1:1, John 1:14, 1 Peter 2:24, Matthew 26:26-28, Romans 6:23, Revelation 19

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kevin-allen--god-is-part-3
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Stuff. We are in the middle of our God Is series, and I'm excited to preach today — and maybe a little bit — I don't know. I ever really get nervous. I'm not a person who's ever been nervous, public speaking. But I feel about this message: it's either going to be pretty good, or it could be real bad. Maybe some of you who have preached before have ever felt like that. Like, I feel like I've looked at it, I'm like, "You know, this has potential. But the messenger could mess it up, and it just flops." So I hope that's not the case today.

But I want to talk about one aspect of our God, because what we've been doing is saying that God is, and then naming things that we glean from the Scriptures that He is. He's a Redeemer. He's a Creator. He's a Father. He's a Comforter. He's a Guide. But today we come to the one word that I feel like is one of the most serious, and most surprising, and unique ways that we can express and see what God is: He is a God who sacrifices. He's a sacrifice. He sacrifices Himself. He's a God who sacrifices Himself to save His world, to save His people, to save sinners like you and me. Amen. I'm so thankful that He's a God who sacrifices.

And here's what I want to do in this message. There's this story that's in the Scriptures, and I'd say a good portion of you have read the story before, maybe even heard it preached. But there may be a few in the room that it's not familiar to you, so I'm going to try to describe it the best I can, in a short way, for the sake of time. But what I want to talk about is that there was a story when Israel had left Egypt, and they had went through the wilderness, and wandered around. And now He's bringing them up to the edge of the Promised Land for the second time, and they're going to go in. And He's going — they're going to take over and destroy the city of Jericho. And they send spies into the city to investigate, and see what it's like. And when they're in the city, investigating and taking inventory of what they're going to have to face when they show up, it gets a little tense. And you can read about it in Joshua chapter 2, if you want to, yourself. But the spies that were there, they ended up finding safe haven in a prostitute's house named Rahab. And when word gets out in the city that the men who were there to spy out went to Rahab's house — should they go there to — the city officials go to try to find them. And she does her best to protect them. She watches over them, because she has knowledge that God is with them, right? And you can read the story. It's very interesting, how that they're afraid, and the city's afraid of what's going on. But she begins to talk to them, and she basically says, "Look, you've seen that I've done my best to take care of you, and I know that — " Her words are, "We know God is with you. Now, if you could, when you come in — " I there's no doubt — this is interesting, that she's saying this them — "I have no doubt you're going to be victorious. But in the middle of what you're going to do, would it be possible, because of the kindness I showed you, that you could show kindness to me, and my family?"

And this is what the Word of God says, in Joshua chapter 2 — that's what led up to this verse: "So the men said to her, 'We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all of your father's household into your own home.'"

I want to talk about Him being a sacrifice, but want talk about a scarlet thread — a scarlet cord that runs through the Bible. There's a lot of pictures are there in the Scriptures. And I've never personally studied out, in great length, the scarlet cord. I've heard it taught before, on occasion, but I've never done it myself. And over the past couple of weeks, as I was preparing to talk about God being our Sacrifice, I kept coming back to this, and felt like God was leading me to talk about this.

Now, we have briefly discussed this at the beginning of this series — and maybe you didn't realize we were talking about the scarlet cord, when I took you, at the very beginning — I was talking about in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve messed up, and how, when their eyes were open, they realized that they were naked, and they were ashamed, in that moment, and they hid themselves from the Lord. And God shows up, and and ask Adam, "Where are you?" And we know that was not a question about geographical location, but it was God asking Adam, "What have you done? Where are you now, because of the disobedience in your life?"

And now you may be saying, "All right, well, Pastor Kevin, where's that scarlet cord?" Well, that scarlet cord came into play when God gave them coverings. They tried to make a covering themselves. It said they made for themselves aprons. They s fig leaves together, and made an apron for them. But I need you to know that man's version of being covered is never God's version. It's never God's version. And in that moment, they were trying to do their best to take care of the problem that they had created. I think there's something inside of all of us, that we try to take care of issues when we have them in our life. I feel like that's almost a default setting inside of humanity: we make a mistake, and more often than not, we try to cover up the mistake. We try to hide the mistake. We don't want to talk about the mistake. And many of you maybe are like this: when something bad happens, you're like, "I just don't want to talk about it" — as if, you don't talk about it, it didn't happen. You like, "Listen, I know I did wrong, but I don't want to talk about it." That's what was going on there in the garden: is they were trying their best to hide. The mistake was there, but God was letting them know that your ability to try to hide it doesn't take care of the problem.

But thankfully, He's a God of sacrifice. Thankfully, He's a God who doesn't leave us to oursel, and leave us alone. He's a God who's willing to get down in the mess of life, to get down where you and I live, to get right down in the middle of a mistake that we made, and says, "Look, I'm not going to leave you by yourself. I know you're trying to do your best, but let me help you out here." And He made for them a covering. Now, the reason I say that scarlet thread was there is because He made for them coverings of animal skins — which means something had to die. And then, the first time in the recorded history that we have there, something died because of the action of someone else. Adam and Eve made a mistake, and because they made a mistake, an animal had to die, so that they could be covered from what the mistake had revealed. So we see this thread that is there, and that's the beginning of it. And we see that mankind doesn't stop there — that' be that would be awesome if it would — but man has this ability to continue to make mistakes, and make mistakes, and make mistakes. But God's there for us.

We pick up again, seeing what goes on with this scarlet thread, with the life of a man named Abraham. God does not let the dream that He had of having community and fellowship and a relationship with mankind to be stopped, because man couldn't be faithful. And He wants to teach humanity about His nature, about — how much He loves — about His sacrificial love He has for man. And He chooses a man named Abram, and He forms a covenant with him.

And this covenant is an interesting thing. You've probably been around here for a few months, have heard me talk about a covenant from time to time, but maybe you didn't fully understand, because that's not a word that we often use in our everyday language. We use word probably — the closest word that we could come up with covenant — but it falls short. As we would use the word contract, agreement — those words would be close, in our world today, in our language, to being similar in fashion and nature with the word covenant. A lot of people in biblical times entered into covenants. They would enter into covenants about differing things. It could be trade rights, or water rights, or how land was to be divided up.

But when you may be thinking about, "What does God get out of the deal, by entering into a covenant with Abraham?" Because He knows humanity. He knows the mistakes we made. He knows that we don't have the ability to keep up our end of the bargain, and how ungrateful we are. What does God get? And the answer to that question may surprise you. This is what He gets: He gets someone to bless. That's what God gets. He gets someone to bless, because that's at the heart of what He is. He loves His children, and He loves to bless His kids.

When you read about the covenant, this is what it keeps saying, in Genesis 12, verse number one: "Now the Lord had said to Abram, get out of your country, and from the family, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation. I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Five times in three verses, He uses the word blessing. Because God not only desires to have a relationship with you, but He knows, through that relationship with you and I, we will be the beneficiaries of it. We will be blessed by having a relationship with God.

And the Old Testament writers are fascinated by all the aspects of what God — and who He is. But over 280 times, they refer to Him as the God of the covenant. Right — the God of the covenant. The Hebrews would talk about making a covenant. And it was an interesting thing when covenants were made, because more often than not, they would end up making what was referred to as a blood covenant. They would take an animal, and they would sacrifice that animal. More often not, when it come to covenants, they would take an animal, and would actually split that animal in half. And they would lay part of it on one side, and part of it on the other. And if they were entering into a covenant relationship with someone, one would stand on one side of the animals, one would stand on the other side, and they would walk towards the middle, where the animals were separated, and they would shake hands and make an agreement in the middle of that sacrifice, to say, "This — may this happen to me, if I don't keep this covenant contract with you." It is very visual. Ual is very vivid. And it was very specific, to the point that, I mean, what I say: "This is more than just my word. There's a visual representation of the expectation. If I can't keep my end of the bargain, may this be done to me." A covenant was serious business. It was serious, to enter into a covenant relationship with someone.

Now, Jeremiah 34:18 says this: "Because you have broken the terms of our covenant, I will cut you apart, just as you cut apart the calf when you walk between its halves to solemnize your vows." You can see how the Word of God is is same, this is serious business. This is more than just, "Oh, I'm going to give it my best." No. This is, "I'm giving it my absolute, to the best of everything that I have. May that be done to me, if I don't keep my end of the bargain." Now, we don't usually think about things in matters like that. You know, probably some of the most serious contracts that we get into around here or probably involved buying a house, or maybe a significant job, or something like that. We don't think about it's fact, when I was a kid growing up, we used to have something that was close to this. We would say, "I cross my heart, and I hope to die," right? And then we would up it a little bit, and we'd say, "Stick a needle in my ey." I mean, when you're six or seven, that's serious business right there. Who came up with that, anyway?

When someone violated a covenant, it's not voided, because sanctions come into play, and things get very unpleasant for the violator. But here's in this in, in the Word of God, we see where this scarlet thread is continuing to be wo into the Scriptures. And throughout the time, and throughout humanity, where God's constantly reaching for mankind. And what He's trying to do — remember, I'm talking about Him being a sacrifice.

One of the most beautiful pictures that I know of, talking about a covenant relationship, is in Genesis chapter 15. Here we see Abram. We see he's having a conversation with God. And God's talking to Abram, and He's telling him a lot of things, like, "Go outside, and I want you to look up to the sky. And I want you to see the stars that are there. And all the stars that you see — that's how many descendants you're going to have." And Abram's struggling with this, because he doesn't have a child. And he understands that, in order to have descendants, you have to have an heir. And he's having this conversation with God, and God's saying to him, "No, I'm going to do something through you." And He says this, in verse number one, chapter 15: "After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham and his, saying, 'Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.'"

Here we see again, where God is coming back and saying, "I'm a blessing in your life. I'm going to do something great with you. Maybe you don't see how it's going to happen right now, ABR. But it's not about you being able to see it. It's about you being able to trust that I'm a God who keeps His word. I'm a God who's able to keep every little thing I tell you I'm going to do. Abram, I'm going to do it with you." He's a God of the promise. He's a God of a covenant. So He says to Abram, "I'm going to make a covenant with you. I'm going to enter into this contract, because I always keep My word."

And then He tells Abram — I want you to — gives him five types of animals he has to go pick out. And Abram goes, and picks those five types of animals. And He tells them to sacrifice this. And I was thinking about this, as I was putting this together this week: you know, only only animal I've ever really had any dealings with, when it come to sacrificing, is — I've been deer hunting before, and I've had to do a little field dressing. I'll going be honest with you: when I'm look at all that he has to do in that moment, I'm thinking, that's a lot of work. He's got to go get a goat, and a lamb — and, I mean, you know, the dove is not a big deal, because he didn't have to split — that was kind of hard to get, you know, get a lot out of it. You know — wing over here, and beak over there. What Am I saying is, sometimes we have a responsibility and obligation to do our part with God. And more often than not, God usually says, "This is what I want you to do, and if you'll do this, then I'm going to — do that."

So He's talking to Abram in this moment. He says, "I want you to go get this sacrifice." And there's this beautiful picture, where Abram — he gets the sacrifice, and he divides it all up, and he splits it in half, just like God asked him. And then he's sitting there waiting. Because often times when, when we are talking with God, it requires waiting. Have anybody else noticed that, besides me? And more often than not, the waiting is usually much, much, much, much, much, much longer than what we would like it to be.

And we see Abram — he's there, and he's got the animals out there. And it's been such a long time that buzzards are starting to show up. This is in the Bible — you can read, in chapter 15, the buzzards are there. And he's having to get up, and he's having to — get out of here — he's trying to shoe the buzzards off, because God's going to do something. Having to defend — there's a whole another message in there. Sometimes God's going to ask you to do something, you got to get up and defend it from the enemy. So he's having to push that stuff away, because you're trying to get what God said He's going to use in my life.

And then it says, as a day draws on, and God's beginning to do a work there, that He ends up putting Abraham to sleep. I don't know about you, but I like a good nap. I'm thinking, after he's been there shooting off the buzzards all day, he's probably pretty tired — especially when you think about all that prep he had to do. So He puts him to sleep there. And what we see is, this beautiful thing happens, because God comes down, and there's a fiery lamp and some stuff that's going on. But what I think is so powerful and outstanding is: God does not tell Abram that "I want you to stand at one end, and I'm going to stand at the other these sacrifices, and we're going to walk together through the middle of them, and I'll meet you in the middle, and we will agree that this is going to happen, this is going to take place." He doesn't do that. Because He already knows that man can't keep his word. So the covenant God was making was much, much different this time. God took Abram, and put him in his sleep, and set him to the side, and He makes him a passive recipient of a unilateral covenant that God's making with man. And He comes down through those fiery lamps, and He does this because, as the writer Hebrews says this, in chapter 6, verse 13: "For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself, saying, 'Surely I will bless thee, and multiply — and I will multiply thee.'"

God was saying, "Abraham, I know that, if you have the best of intentions, you can't keep your end of the bargain. So I'm not even going to let you enter into it that way. I'm going to put you over to the side, and I'm going to walk Myself between the sacrifices. And I'm going to prove to you that I'm a God who can keep His word."

Ladies and gentlemen, the scarlet cord was there. But it wasn't pointing just to that moment. It was pointing to something that was going to take place further down the road. There was something greater that was coming. There was always something greater, with every one of the covenants in the Bible, that each one was progressively building on the next one. And man was always falling down, and man was always failing, and God was always keeping His end of the bargain. But each and every time, it was pointing to something greater that was to come. In Genesis 15, that's a beautiful picture, as God is walking between the sacrifices, and saying, "Abram, you just stay over there, and be quiet. I will prove to you that I'm a God who can keep His word. I'm a covenant-keeping, faith ful God."

Later on, God's people are trapped in slavery in Egypt — which, by the way, God had told Abram in Genesis 15 that they were going to be enslaved for 400 years. But He also told him, "I'm going to bring them back." I don't know about you, but it's easy to read things in the Bible sometimes, and just skim through, and not really think about the magnitude of what was going on. We have only been a country for 248 years — well, in July it'll be 248 years. We celebrate 240 years, or something. Now think about that: almost twice what we are, as a country, they were enslaved. Now, you think sometimes, when you got to wait a couple of months for God to show up, it's a big deal. How about 400 years? But He's a God who keeps His word. He's a covenant-keeping God.

The Exodus is the main picture of redemption in all the Old Testament. God was given instructions through Moses, and told him — there is — it all kind of comes to the final point, when God's going to lead His people out. Because He had hardened Pharaoh's heart, to prove that He was God, and Pharaoh wasn't. He tells them that He wants them to have a Passover meal together. He tells them that wants them to sit down. He wants them to pick a lamb. He tells the head of the house — he tells the father, the husband — he says, "I want you to be very picky when you are getting your lamb. Not any lamb will do. It's got to be the best lamb. And when you pick out that lamb, you don't just immediately bring it in and kill it, but you set it to a side, and you look at it for a little bit of time. You make sure that it's right, because there's a lot riding on this decision. Make sure it doesn't have a gimpy leg, or one ear that's messed up, or got some kind of funky color in its wool. Like, it needs to be perfect — the best you can get — because this is going to be a sacrificial lamb."

We see this scarlet thread again, showing up, pointing towards something greater to come. Then they were to take the blood from that lamb, after they killed, and they were to put it on the doorpost of their house. They were to eat the evening meal. They would to eat it fully dressed, and ready to go. They were eat it with haste. He was preparing them for what they were fixing to do.

Exodus 12:13 says: "Now, the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be able to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt." The shed blood of a spotless lamb will be a sign of deliverance from slavery and death. Again, we see the scarlet thread. We see the scarlet cord, as it's showing itself through Scriptures that are there.

We see it again on the high and holy days, as we're seeing God laying out His plan in Leviticus, as He's brought His people out, He's delivered them. We see them on On yam kapor the, the Day of Atonement. Now, this idea, and this word, atonement, is another word we don't often hear in our everyday language. But if you study it out, and what it talks about in the Scriptures — it talks — that very word is an English-language word that came around the 16th century. Originally, it actually came from the "at-one-meant." In other words, we are meant to be at one. It was a restoration of fellowship. It was a restoration of oneness. It is this sanctification of demands of justice, so that oneness can be restored.

And here's the deal: I want to be real clear about this need for atonement, because I understand atonement, and you understand atonement, this way: if you violate me some way, I understand the justification that I feel like needs to take place. If I somehow violate you, and take something from you, immediately you feel that wrong inside of you, don't you? How many of you have been wronged in your life? Not — a trick question. Yeah, almost every hand should go up. Yeah. And how many of you, when you were wronged, you felt that wrong inside, deep? So we understand the need for atonement. We understand that feeling that is there: that something has happened, and there needs to be justification for what has happened. It's there. We may gloss over it. We may not put enough time thinking through the process. But atonement is important — important in understanding the scarlet cord. That sin entered into humanity in the garden, and from the very beginning, God was showing and establishing: something has to take the place, and cover over the wrong that is there. And blood has always been that — that covers over the wrong.

So we see, through His covenants, and we see through His workings, and we see through His relationship that He's constantly having to reestablish with mankind — there's always a scarlet thread that's present there, pointing toward something greater that's to come. We understand this: every time we sin, every time we do something wrong to someone, every time we ignore, every time we cheat, every time we manipulate, every time we deceive, exploit, gossip, demean, oppress, marginalized, judge — every time we relate wrongly with other people, we create within ourselves — we violate the very God who created us. It goes against His nature. It goes against His character. It goes against who He actually is. When we do those things, there's a wrong that is there. Again, I understand when you wrong me. But how do we process when we wrong God? And then, how do you pay that? Whose account has that much margin in it? Mine doesn't. And if you're honest, neither does yours. So what do we do with this? What do I do with this knowledge? How do I process, when I know that I have violated the very God who puts air in my lungs and a beat in my heart? What do I do, when I know I have done wrong? How do I settle that account?

The Hebrew culture was a very visual culture. God was very visual in what He did. That Day of Atonement, there would be two sacrificial goats that would be brought in. They would cast lots, to see which one was going to be which. Because one goat would lose its life, and that blood would be applied to the ark, the covenant. The other goat was there, and the high priest would put his hands on top of that goat's head, and he would begin to confess all the sins of the nation. He be going to be able to confess all the wrongs. And they did this in the presence of everybody. And what it was — it was a visual representation for you to see that because of actions I had taken, something was going to lose its life. Because of mistakes I had made, because of decisions that I had made that were not right, something was going to lose its life. Because atonement had to be taken care of. There was a wrong that was there, and it had to be covered. So once a year, they seen this take place. They seen one would lose its life. The other would have pronounced over the top of it the sins that were there. And anybody know what that goat was referred to as? What was it again? Scapat. The scapegoat. King James language: a scapegoat. They would take that goat, and they would put it in the hands of — King James language again — a fit man. Get time you should YouTube Brother JH. Osborne's message on "A Fit Man." Powerful message. That man would lead it out into the wilderness, and would let it go. That was a way of signifying that your sins had been pushed away. But again, this was pointing towards something greater that was to come. Everybody understood that next year, "I got to go back and do this again." Next year after that, "I got to come back, and I got to do this again." It was a relationship. And God was showing that there's a scarlet thread that was there, but it's always pointing towards something that's greater still to come.

Yes. My ask ask you a very personal question? Who is your scapegoat? When you confess your wrongs — when you admit you did something that you shouldn't have done — do you just pretend like it never happened? What is your scapegoat? Who is your scapegoat? Who would you love — who would love you so much, that they would voluntarily take your place? They would voluntarily take your wrong. They would vol unily take your sin, and they would put it on themselves. Who is your scapegoat? Who is it that takes the penalty that you incurred, and said, "I will pay that"?

So this scarlet thread leads us to what's the most wonderful, and deepest, and holy thing about our God. Hallu. John 1:1 says: "In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God." Verse 14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory — the glory is the only begotten of the Father — full of grace and truth."

God is always working. He's always doing. He's always pushing forward towards something greater that was to come. The glory of God: Moses, and his wonderful, amazing relationship that he had with God — as he is having the conversation with Him, ask God one day, "want You to show me Thaty glory. Show me Your glory." And God looks at Moses, and says, "I cannot do that for you. No man shall see My glory and live. I can't show you the glory that you're looking for. But I'll put you in the Cliff of the rock, and I'll put My hand over you, and I'll walk past you. And once I've passed by you, I will uncover you, and you can see My hinder parts."

Now, what does that mean? How does a God who's everywhere, at all times, and always — how does He have a back? Furthermore, how does He have a right or a left? That plays into some other questions that need to be answered. What was He showing? Most every theologian agrees that what He did is, He couldn't show him what he asked for, so He puts His hand, and He covers him, as He passes by this glory. And when He raises His hands, he sees all that had happened up to that point. That's why Moses was able to write the book of Genesis, and Exodus, and Leviticus. He was able to write about the history. He said, "I can't show you what you're looking for yet, because part of what you're asking for is not yet right. Part of what you're asking for is not yet, Moses. It's not time there yet. But I'll show you how I flooded the earth, to take care of some things. I'll show you what I did in the garden, with Adam and Eve. I'll show you how I've been faithful, time and time again, even though man has not been able to hold up his name the. I'll show you those things, Moses. But I can't show you the glory yet, because it's not there yet."

Cu the Word of God says, the glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. And on Mount Transfiguration, as He's there with those boys showing up — Moses is there. And in my opinion — this is my opinion — I think Moses is there, because He was saying, "You asked Me a long time ago to show you My glory. What you asked for — He wasn't yet here. But there it is, right now. You want to see My glory? I was preparing for something that was not yet there. But every covenant, and every relationship, and every decision, and every time I had to step in and rescue you — it was coming up for you to have this moment, right here, to see that I love you so much, I'm going to provide a way that will permanently cover over every problem, and transgression, and sin, and issue you will ever face. If you want to see My glory, it's right there."

Because He's a covenant-keeping God. When John wrote that language in John 1, in the Greek, the word logos — where we get a lot of things, especially where we get a drive our word "logo" from — God is saying, "I want My character, My heart, My will, My face, My symbol, to be wrapped up in one single expression — and it's Jesus." Yes. Oh, the words and the names of God are many, and they are precious. And I studied them out from time to time, and it makes me have such an appreciation for all the aspects of God. But I don't have to memorize all those names. All I have to say is "Jesus," and the sum total of everything that He is is wrapped up in that one name. That's why you can't be haphazard with that name. You can't just be casual with that name. You got to be careful when you say that name, because that name represents every aspect and attribute of our loving God.

It was all sewn through a scarlet cord. It was going throughout the entirety of Scriptures, to get to that moment. Something greater was coming. scarlet thread was woven all throughout Jesus's life. It was leading to one solitary place. Peter talked about it, in 1 Peter 2:24: "Who Himself bore our sin in His own body on a tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes we are healed." We see this scarlet thread. We see this scarlet cord. It's coming together in one place.

When it was time for Him to die, Jesus went to Jerusalem, and He had His Last Supper with His disciples. He was there. He began to talk about things that they understood, referring to the Passover meal. Every good Jew understood it. They had been told by their father, and their father's father, and their father's father, and father — as many years as it took back to get to the original group who left. They kept it. They understood the significance and the importance: that the blood covered over, and the Death Angel passed, because He's a merciful God. But there was something more special. There was something bigger that was coming. And Jesus is beginning to reveal Himself to His disciples. They didn't get it at first. And we love to give them a hard time. We like, "Why didn't you see? Why didn't you understand?" But ask yourself: where would you be, had you been there then? Because it's real easy to be judgmental, standing on this side of the event.

They are there, in His Last Supper. says this, in Matthew 26, verse 26: "And as they were eating, Jesus took the bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat. This is My body.' Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. For this is the blood of My new covenant, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins.'"

These were people who understood covenant relationships. And all of a sudden, He says, "This is My blood, for a new covenant." Boys — I know you understood. I know you've been taught, since you're old enough to listen, about all the things I had done throughout all the time of man, from the garden to where we are now. How there was this scarlet thread of hope, that I wouldn't leave you alone. I wouldn't leave you by yourself. And I've been trying, these last three and a half years, to get you to fully understand. And no, it's not about the miracles. The miracles are a part of it. The miracles got your attention. The miracles validated the position that I'm in. But it's not about the miracles. It's about the blood. It's not about the miracles. It's about the blood. This blood — this cup — there's a new thing going on. There's a new covenant that I'm fixing to enter in. And this is the one that I've been to throughout. Because this new covenant comes — there's no covenant coming after, because there doesn't have to be another covenant. What I'm about to do was set in motion in the garden. What I'm about to do was Me fulfilling, when I looked at that serpent and said, "He'll crush you. He'll crush you." It was a scarlet thread, from that moment forward, saying, "Something better is coming. I'm putting it together. Something better is coming."

They all knew exactly what He was saying: that He was a covenant-keeping God. God had made His covenant throughout history. But this cup — this new covenant, this new blood — was about to be poured out. Jesus knew what He was saying. He did a covenant walk, on His way to Calvary. And the tragic, sad, sorry, glorious, beautiful story of this scarlet cord — the scarlet thread — finally finds its resting place in a cross, as He willingly lays there, and lets them nail His hands and feet. The first words He utters at Calvary is forgiveness, setting a tone for what He's doing in this new covenant: "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing." But what they're doing is necessary, because this is establishing a new covenant relationship with them — the final one. This is what I've been pointing to, the entire time. On the cross, the price that needed to be paid, the death that needed to be died, the sin that needed to be cleansed, the atonement that was needed to be made — was accomplished, finally and fully, by Jesus.

And so, as a church, at the end day, we don't have to program, plan, and platform the product that's going to help the word — because we have a Savior. Yes. And of all the things that He is, He is our Sacrifice. That's what it showed, from the beginning to the end. If you want to understand the Word of God, understand this: it's the most beautiful love story that's ever been written. And He's still writing it today. What He did at Calvary was all that has ever needed to be done, from that moment to now, to cover over every sin, and every mistake, and every failure, and everything that you may find yourself entangled with. He took the place that you and I deserve. You and I deserve the death. You and I — He did. He was the only spotless, perfect One that ever lived. He became our sacrifice.

To Lord, we don't point to successes, or knowledge, or power, or pleasure, or miracles. We point to a cross. We point to an empty tomb.

As I bring this to a close — and I want to bring this to a real, real clear decision, as clear as I know how to make it — I don't know every story in the room. I don't know where you are. I don't know what your feelings are, when it comes to Him. I don't know if He's truly Lord of your life, or if He's something you pay lip service to, or you treat Him the same way you treat a bottle of Advil. I don't know. But I need to ask: who will atone for your sin? Because we've all sinned. Yes, the Word tells us we've all sinned. We've all sinned, and come short. I can say, "It's my life. It's my will. It's my choice." I can make arguments, and try to come up to the conclusion of, "You know, I just have a hard time buying into all that, Pastor Kevin. If He's a God that loves so much, then why is there so much going — why is He let all the hurt? Why does He let all the pain? Why is all this suffering goes on?"

I'm going to tell you right now, like, if you really stop and ask the — answer the question yourself — if you'll think about what you're saying, you'll have your answer. The problem is not God. The problem is humanity. Always has been. It's the consequences that come about when He gives you the freedom to choose. Yes. But as I've said many times before, the only way we ever really love is when we choose to love. Yes. If love is forced, if love is demanded, that's not real love. But God, in His infinite wisdom and knowledge, He understood that, "If I'm going to have something that I can share My love with, I want that love to be returned back to Me, in the same fashion in which I give it. I freely give. I want it freely given back. But in order to do that, I have to give them the ability to choose to love Me, but also have the choice to not love Me." Now, what's wrong in our world is, so many choose to love themsel, or to love something else besides Him.

"Well, Pastor Kevin, I think your argument is flawed, because if He wanted to, He could just prevent — He could prevent that." There's a lot of things God — could prevent. But at the same time, when He does, He takes away your choice. That's good — He takes away your choice. So if you will stop and think, the answer to the problem is not God. The answer to the problem is us. Yes. But God, and His mercy, says: "Even when you mess up, I still love you. Even when you fail, I still love you. Even when you deny Me, I still love you. Even when you reject Me, I still love you. Even when you turn your back on Me — even when you say I don't exist — I still love you." Praise God. Thank You, Jesus. "I'll still die for you, whether you receive it or not. I'll still do it."

So you can be lord of your life. You can be master of your faith, captain of your ship. But the Bible's real clear — Romans 623: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." The inevitable outcomes of sin are guilt, and shame, and separation from God. And you can get to the point that you can see your conscience, and no longer feel things — ultimately, eternal separation from Him. "How could a loving God send someone to hell?" No — God doesn't send anybody to hell. People choose hell. You cannot earn your way into heaven, but you can misbehave your way into hell, by the choices you make.

Now, what He did at Calvary made a way for you and I to receive the gift of salvation, for the price He paid. So the question here today is simply this — maybe you think I'm flawed and trying to make it as simple, but I feel like this is the simplest way I can boil this down today, asking you one question: why would you not choose Him? Salvation didn't cost you a thing. It didn't cost you a thing. He paid all that needed to be paid.

God, I don't want to offend anybody today. I know there will be some folks who have questions to pursue, and parts of this you need to learn about, maybe don't fully understand. But maybe there's something inside of you — look, I think there's a little defiance in all of us. I think there's something inside of all of us that, at times, struggle with the fact that, "I don't want to bend my knee. Why do I have to bow? Why do I have to cower? Why do I have to declare that that has to be Lord of my life?" Some of you may be even offended by the claim that you need to be saved from anything, let alone sin. But here is the message of the scarlet Court, as clear as I know how to make it: He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to eternal life. Amen.

So I'm going to end this today by simply saying: if you can't say He's Lord of your life, I wouldn't leave here today without being able to say He's Lord of my life. His Word, from beginning to end — from Genesis to Revelations. Genesis — Sister Kennedy — He made covering for him. Scarlet thread. In Revelations 19, He comes back, and His vesture's dipped in blood, His name written on His thigh: "The Word of God." Beginning to end, it's there. Beginning to end, the most beautiful love story that has ever been written — and is still being written today — is your salvation.

So, if you're comfortable, will you bow your heads, close your eyes, and let us pray together? CU I believe there's some decisions that need to be made today. Holy God, thank You. Thank You for making a way. Thank You for being a God who doesn't give up. Thank You for being faithful. Lord, I pray we would feel that tug in our heart. If there's those that don't know You today, as Lord and Savior — Lord, I pray, God, You would pull them towards You, that they could feel that tug, knowing You desire to do something inside of them, special, today. If there's some here that have maybe drifted away, grown a little bit cold in their walk with You — [I, bring] them back into a right relationship. For there's nothing that can separate us from Your love — nor height, nor depth, nor any other. Your love is there. Yes. Help us today, God, in Jesus' name.

This altar is open. I would invite you to come down. What a great day to be filled with the Holy Ghost. What a great day to be baptized in the wonderful name of Jesus. What a great day to repent of your sins. What a great day. Will you come? Will you come? Will you come receive what He has for you today? It's prayer time, church.