The God Who Cares Enough to Rescue Us – The Sacrifice for ALL

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Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, December 12th. Are you in a desperate situation and maybe don’t even realize it? Every person faces a hopeless and helpless condition until we turn to the God who cares enough to rescue us.

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What is the highest, most lofty, most noble idea found in the entire Word of God? There is one that is above and beyond all the rest. And only a God who cares could possibly have thought such a thought. And I want you to look, if you will, in Hebrews chapter 1 again. This was our text in the last message. Hebrews chapter 1, and I want us to read these first three verses together. And so he begins by saying, God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world. And he is the radiance, that is Christ, is the radiance of his, that is God’s glory, and the exact representation of his nature, and upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. It is that last phrase I want us to look at. When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of his majesty on high. Now, when we talk about God caring enough for us to rescue us, what we have to ask, first of all, is to rescue us from what? And so let me say that the rescue operation that we’re talking about, the purpose of that rescue operation was in order to deliver us from eternal death. Where did eternal death begin? Eternal death began in the Garden of Eden. When God created Adam and Eve in a perfect garden, He created two perfect people. When they chose to sin against God, here’s what happened. Not only did their natures become sinful, but because they were the first parents, every single person born after them, up to this very second, and will also until the last person is ever born, will be born with a sinful nature bent away from God and not toward God. When Adam and Eve fell, the fountainhead of the whole human race sinned against God. When they sinned against God, the Bible says that they assumed the penalty which God had warned them about. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. That’s the law of God. You cannot change the law of God. And so when they sinned against God, upon them rests the penalty of death. What kind of death? It is eternal death. It is physical death, it is spiritual death, it is eternal death. Resting upon every single solitary person is the condemnation of death. Now, in this first point, I want to make very clear to all of those people who have never trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior and who think that somehow, in some way, one of these days they’re going to be good enough so that God will say, well, good, come on into heaven, everything is fine. Let me tell you why that won’t work. First of all, the Scripture does not teach that. And secondly, here’s the reason. listen carefully a person isn’t condemned by God because of the things they did a person is condemned by God because of what they are It is our nature. We choose to sin against God. It is our nature. We come along, a two-year-old child, when you say, don’t do that, they do it anyway. Why? Because something inside of them has this desire to do what they’re not supposed to do. Man rebels against God because he has the nature of rebellion within him. And so as we look at the Scripture, we come over and over and over again to find this to be true. Now, when you look, for example, in Romans chapter 3… God settles once and for all how good man is. And he’s writing about that in this third chapter. And let’s begin, if you will, in verse 10. Because he says, Why? Verse 10, there is none righteous, not even one. There’s not a single person who has enough righteousness on their own part to be acceptable in the eyes of God. Verse 11, there is none who understands. There’s not a single person who understands the ways of God unless the Spirit of God reveals that to them. Verse 11, there is none who seeks after God. He says there’s not a single person who on their own initiative ever goes after God. Every single person who has ever responded to the grace of God has done just that. They have responded to the initiative of the Holy Spirit who convicted them of their sin and made them aware of their need for God. Then he says in verse 12, there is none who does good. There is not even one. Somebody says, yes, there are many people who do good. No, what he’s saying is there is none who does good, enough good in any way to be made acceptable in the eyes of God. And what he’s saying in this passage is God never looks at anybody and says, I’m going to save him because of. I’m going to save her because I see this. Not anywhere in the scripture does it even imply that. So that the person who thinks they’re going to be good enough to be saved has missed the whole point. It is not what you do. It is what you are. And the Bible says the soul that sinneth it shall die. And the scripture says that all of us have sinned against God. The Bible says there’s none good, none seeks after him. No one who fears God unless God makes himself known to man. Man is absolutely hopeless. So God, if you’ll think about it for a moment, had a dilemma in the Garden of Eden. And here was the dilemma. Now, of course, God is never in any dilemma, but humanly speaking, here’s what God faced. Of course, this was all settled beforehand, but listen. When He said to Adam and Eve, in the day that you eat of this tree, you shall surely die. Sin is going to bring death. That was the law of God. It was a law that could not be altered and could not be changed because if God had changed that because Adam and Eve had sinned, you and I would never be fully persuaded that we could ever fully trust Him to do exactly what He said. And not only that, by his very nature and character and attributes, he couldn’t change what he had already determined to do. So here’s the dilemma. God created man to love Him and for man to love Him in return and to worship Him and to glorify Him. And so the justice of God said, you must die because of your sin. That penalty and that judgment and condemnation would not have just been implied upon Adam, but every single person who would ever live would come under the same condemnation because every single one of us have sinned against God. Every single one of us has sinned against God. and the penalty of death rests upon us so God cares enough in this whole situation as he faced this particular dilemma to do something about it and what he does about it is what I want us to notice here in this particular passage and that is that God having seen the desperation the helplessness of man made a choice to do something about man’s helpless condition Now, the interesting thing here in this passage is, and what he’s saying in this message, is that God’s rescue operation was directed toward all of humanity because all humanity needed to be rescued from their helpless condition. The Bible says, “…in times past you and I all were dead in trespasses and sin. The way that you and I relate to God is through our spirit, not our body, but through our spirit. If the spirit of a man is dead and he cannot relate to God, there’s not anything in him.” that will cause him to be able to do anything to be made acceptable to God, except to respond to the revelation, to the offer of God, which God offers him through the convicting and the unveiling of truth through the Holy Spirit. Man is absolutely, totally helpless to do anything for himself. Now the second thing I want you to notice is this. That in God’s rescue plan, he planned this before the foundation of the world. That is, God did not respond to Adam and Eve wringing his hands, coming to the garden, saying, what in the world am I going to do now? Because God had already foresaw what was going to happen. What I want to do is take you through some passages of Scripture which certainly ought to motivate you to love God, to adore Him, worship Him, praise Him, share Him, and certainly not to go out and sin. Because that you know you are saved. You see, the more you and I understand the ways of God, how He operates, how He operates in the heavens, how He operates here and among men, the more we’re going to love Him, worship Him, and adore Him. God chose you before the foundation of the world. So let’s begin with these scriptures. Let’s start with Ephesians chapter 1. Now, I want you to turn to all of these and read them with me, if you will, because they’re all very important. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4. Listen to what Paul says. We’ll begin with verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Now, watch this. Verse 4. Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be what? Blessed. holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us to adoption. Look at that. Here’s what he did. He chose to save you before the foundation of the world. Not only that, he says in love, he predestined you to adoption, which means that he in love drew a circle around you and chose to make you a part of the family of God. Now, if He did that before the foundation of the world, what does that have to do with your good works? It doesn’t have anything to do with it because, first of all, you weren’t even born. It was a decision that God made based on the purpose of God and the love of God. God does foreknow everyone who is going to receive Him as their personal Savior. He foreknows it, but He doesn’t make it happen. So let’s clear this up right now. There’s not a single verse in all the Bible that says God has chosen to send this man to hell and this man to heaven. There’s not a single verse in the Scripture that even implies that. When somebody tells you that they believe that God has chosen some to be saved, He’s chosen some to be lost, How in the world could he have done that when he said, it is not my will that anyone should perish. Whosoever should call upon the name of the Lord should be saved, for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ didn’t come to die for some, he came to die for all. And he says in 1 John that the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ is for everyone. So he came for everyone. But what I want you to see is, according to the Scriptures, he says in this passage that God’s choosing of you was before the foundation of the world. You didn’t have anything to do with it. And that God’s predestining you to become a part of the family of God is something he did. And he did that before the foundation of the world. How in the world could you not take credit for something that God did before you and I were ever born? God says that he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Then I want you to turn to 2 Timothy and look, if you will, in chapter 1, beginning in verse 8, I believe. 2 Timothy chapter 1. He says it a little different way here. Beginning in verse 8. 2 Timothy chapter 1. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me, his prisoner, Paul is saying, for the gospel according to the power of God, that look at this, the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our what? not according to our works, but according to what? His own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ to abolish death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Now, what is he saying? He’s saying here that God who saved us and called us with a holy column, we saw a few moments ago, he called us in love to be holy and blameless before him. And he says here that he has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose. When did he purpose it? He purposed it before the foundation of the world. That’s when he did the choosing. That’s when he did the electing. And that’s when he did the predestinating. Then I want you to turn, if you will, to Acts chapter 2. You’ll recall that Peter, in this tremendous sermon at Pentecost, he nailed this down in his very first message. Chapter 2 of Acts, and look, if you will, in verse 22. Acts chapter 2 verse 22. He said, Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst just as you yourselves know. Now what is it he said you know? You know this man, Christ, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. Did you get that? Look at that. He says that God the Father delivered up Jesus, by his own predetermined plan and foreknowledge, he says, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for him to be held in its power. Now, here’s what he’s saying. Now, watch this carefully. He says, here’s what’s happening. He said to those who were listening to him there at Pentecost, he said, now, here’s what happened. God beforehand In eternity past, predetermined, predestined, and rigged up. Listen, God rigged the crucifixion. Now, you put Him to death with your hands, but you didn’t do that. God planned. He planned the crucifixion. You crucified Him with human hands, but God is the one who ultimately did it. Now you see, you can only understand that when you realize that when did God do the choosing? God did the choosing before the foundation of the world. When did He plan to redeem man? Before the foundation of the world. When did He have all of His plan in motion? Before the foundation of the world. God and God alone gets any and all the credit for man’s redemption. And the only thing man can do is praise Him and glorify Him for all eternity for what God has done for man. Not by works of righteousness which we’ve done. Not according to our works. He says, but it’s by grace, God’s unmerited favor. Why did God choose you? How did He foreknow you before the foundation of the world? Is this not a God who cares that He chose you before the foundation of the world? That He elected you before the foundation of the world? That He adopted you into the family before the foundation of the world in His mind? You cannot surprise a God who’s omniscient. And so in the mind of God, there are no disappointments for the simple reason he already knows everything. If he knows everything, he’s not disappointed. He’s not going to expect something that’s not going to happen. And you see, when you say, oh, I have disappointed God once again. No, you didn’t disappoint him. Because before the foundation of the world, even before you were born and he chose to save you, he already knew that you and I were going to tell him, God, I promise I won’t do it again. He knew you were going to do it again. So, God, I know you’re disappointed in me, Lord. No, he’s not disappointed. God, I know I’ve surprised you again. No, you didn’t surprise God. Can’t disappoint him, can’t surprise him, knows everything. And here’s the wonder of the grace of God, that knowing everything about you and me in eternity past, and what did he do? He chose to save us anyway. That is a thought that is totally beyond my comprehension. He chose to save me knowing that I’d tell him, God, I promise I won’t do it again, do it again anyway. He says that He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. And Peter says here in this particular passage that God the Father crucified His only begotten Son. That’s part of the plan. That is the plan. Now I want you to turn to two chapters in the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 13 first of all. Revelation 13 and if you’ll hold that and then also Revelation 17 verse 8 in both chapters. Look in Revelation 13. Revelation 13 is about the Antichrist in the great tribulation period, which will come after all of us who are present believers have been raptured out when Jesus Christ comes and takes away his church and leaves all the unbelievers here. And in that period of tribulation time, he says, these are the things that are going to happen. Most of the book of the Revelation is taken up with those period of time of about seven years. So he says now in verse 6, speaking of the Antichrist, Now look at verse 8. And all who dwell on the earth will worship Him, that is, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. Now, written in this book when? From the foundation of the world. How many of you were living at the foundation of the world? How many of you have your name written in the Lamb’s book of life? We weren’t even born when a name was in the book. Look, if you will, in chapter… 17, verse 8. Again, in the same tribulation period, he says in verse 8, “…the beast that you saw was and is not is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder,” that is, who are you talking about? “…that person whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.” So that in all of these passages, what he’s saying is that God’s choice of you and me was from the foundation of the world. And therefore, you and I could never take any credit for what God has done in our life. We can’t take any credit for his deliverance. All we can do is look in the Scriptures and say, God, you mean you chose me before I was ever born? You knew before I was ever born that I was going to be saved. You knew I was going to be part of your family. You knew I was going to be a recipient of your blessings. Amen. My friend, we should fall on our face before God in humble adoration and praise and glory before Him that He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.

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Thank you for listening to The God Who Cares Enough to Rescue Us. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.