Sermon - Things We Need... Jesus! - Littleby Baptist Church - September 27, 2020

We are starting what I have been calling Things We Need… List Two. This is the first of what I expect to be sixteen sermons.

The first of the Things We Need is one that I question how I missed in the first list. My only thought is that is that it was written for follow believers.  

John 3:16

“¹⁶ For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

The first of the Things We Need from List Two is Jesus! Jesus Needs to be front and center of our lives. 

In December of 2018 we started a sermon series that I originally expected to run for three or four months at most, but as we got into it there was no way to really cut it down and it lasted almost thirteen months. We spent thirteen months studying Jesus’ birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and His teachings. We could have easily spent more time looking at the most influential person to every walk this earth. We Need Jesus.  

We tend to think of Jesus in human terms. He was a little baby born to Mary and placed in a manger. He taught, performed miracles, died on a cross, and rose from the dead on the third day. He appeared to His followers and taught them some more and then ascended into Heaven. These events all happened a little over 2,000 years ago, but that is not how things started.

John 1:1-5

“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of men. ⁵ That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.”

When you see the word ‘Word’ in verse one it is referring to Jesus. Jesus was there in the beginning, He was with God, and is God. These verses go on to tell us that everything that has ever existed was created through Him. That means the heavens, the world we live in, the birds in the air, the fish in the ocean, and the animals on the land were all created through Him. Each one of us was created by Jesus. Everything we can touch and feel, the food we eat, and the air we breathe were all created through our Lord Jesus. There is absolutely nothing in this world that He did not create. We literally would not exist without the Things We Need… Jesus!

Jesus is the giver of life, He is the ‘light of men’ meaning anything that is good in us came from Him such as Love for God and Others, wisdom, holiness, joy, peace, and more. It is His light that shines in this fallen world we live in. It is His light that helps us to see the truth before us, the truth of His love, the truth in His amazing sacrifice. We would be blind without the Thing We Need… Jesus!

Jesus is so much more than the little child we celebrate for Christmas and even more than the man who died and rose again that we remember at Easter. Jesus is the Creator of all things, He is the one who gave us life, and He is the light that shines on our path.

John 1:14

“¹⁴ The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

For Jesus it was not enough to create us and watch from afar. His deepest desire is to spend the rest of eternity with us. Knowing that we are sinful beings. Knowing that there is no way that we could live a perfect life and earn a place in Glory with God, He choose to become flesh and dwell with us. He made the choice to come to earth to pave the way for you and me to spend an eternity with Him.

Ephesians 2:1-5

“2 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins ² in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. ³ We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace!”

These verses written by Paul to the Ephesian church to explain how much Jesus loved them and by extension us. He knew that each one of us would walk in the ways of the world. He knew that we would want to pursue those fleshly desires and ultimately deserve the wrath of God. On our own we would deserve to spend an eternity in agony without Jesus.

But God loves us so much that He has shown mercy to us. Out of His unending love our God has given us the gift of grace. We deserve the wrath but have been given eternal life through our Lord and Savior Jesus. The Things We Need… Jesus paved the way to forgiveness.

Luke 4:42-44

“⁴² When it was day, he went out and made his way to a deserted place. But the crowds were searching for him. They came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he said to them, “It is necessary for me to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴ And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”

Jesus did not leave anything to chance. He came down to earth and before He could give us the gift of mercy and before He could be that ultimate sacrifice, He proclaimed the Good News. Jesus knew it was necessary for Him to start spreading the Good News. He needed to let people know that the Old Testament Law was not the path to eternity in Glory. He needed to let them know that all these extra rules that have been added to the Law were not necessary at all. When Jesus came down to earth, one of the things He knew He needed to do was to spread the Good News that God Loves us and is giving us an amazing gift of grace.

Matthew 4:17

“¹⁷ From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.””

We needed Jesus to tell us the Good News, but we also needed to hear that repentance was necessary. It is not enough to hear the Good News taught; it must be followed with repentance. We need to repent for how we followed the world and embraced those fleshly desires.

Romans 3:23

“²³For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

Every single person to ever walk this earth, other than Jesus, is a sinner. Every person you know, no matter how good they seem, has sinned. We all fall short of the glory of God. We do not measure up. We cannot adhere to the Law that was given to Moses. We cannot sacrifice enough, give enough, or be good enough to earn our way into heaven. That is why Jesus came down to earth to preach the gospel and call us to repent of our sins. Without the Things We Need… Jesus we would have never known how far we have fallen.

Jesus knew that more was still needed.

Mark 10:45

“⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. He gave his life to pay the debt we owed. He paid our ransom.   

2 Corinthians 5:21

“²¹ He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

The only sinless person to ever step foot on this earth took on our sin. He loved us so much that He was willing to take on every bit of our sin and then climbed on that cross to pay the ultimate price for us.  

In climbing on the cross and giving of His life for us, Jesus erased our sin. If we repent of our sin and follow Jesus, our sin no longer exists. We are wiped clean, redeemed, and restored to our rightful place as a child of God. The Things We Need… Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice for us!

Then He was buried.

Mark 16:1-6

“16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they could go and anoint him. ² Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise. ³ They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” ⁴ Looking up, they noticed that the stone—which was very large—had been rolled away. ⁵ When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; they were alarmed. ⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him.”

With His death Jesus paid for our sins. With His resurrection He gave us new life.

2 Corinthians 5:17

“¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!”

If we are in Christ, meaning if we are a follower of Christ, if He is our Lord and Savior; then our old self has passed away. Our sinful self is no more, and we have become a new creation in Jesus.

John 11:25-26

“²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. ²⁶ Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?””

If we believe that Jesus Christ is God. If we believe that we are sinners in need of a Savior. If we believe that Jesus paid for our sins. Then we need to repent of our sins, ask Jesus to forgive us, and choose to follow Him. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life and if we believe in Him our old sinful self dies and we are given a new life. The Things We Need… Jesus gave us an Awesome Gift! He Gave Us Life!

In these verses, Jesus asks Martha if she believed that He is the resurrection and the life, and that all who believe in Him will never die. That is a question that we all come to at some point in our lives. Do we believe that Jesus is who He says He is? Do we believe that His death wiped away our sins? Do we believe that His resurrection gives all who have repented of their sins and are following Him new life? Everyone will have to come to terms with ‘Who’ Jesus is at some point, either on this side of eternity or the other.

If you are a follower of Jesus, I pray that God continues to work in your life. I pray that you recognize Jesus is the most important of all the Things We Need!

If you have yet to recognize that Jesus is Lord and that you need a savior, I want to ask you a couple of questions.

Do you believe that Jesus died for you?
Do you believe that if you repent of your sins that Jesus and only Jesus can forgive you of them?
Do you believe that if you follow Him you will be given an everlasting life?
Are you ready to take the first step in an amazing lifelong journey as a child of God?

If you said yes to these questions, I encourage you to pray a simple prayer similar to what is written here.

Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner.
I believe that you died on the cross and rose from the dead.
I believe you did this to pay for my sin and to give me new life.
Jesus, I ask you to come into my life.
I repent of my sins and ask that you forgive me.
I give my life to you from this day forward.
I will trust in you.
Thank you for your amazing gift of Grace.
In Your Name, Amen.

If you have said this prayer, I want to be the first to welcome you to the family of God! You are now my brother or sister in Christ, and I am excited for you!

This initial prayer is only the beginning. The first step of many. I encourage you to find a Bible teaching church and read the Bible as much as you can (start in the New Testament). You can come to Littleby Baptist, email (pastorRWH@Gmail.com), talk to a Pastor, Deacon, Sunday School Teacher, or a Christian you know, and they will help you learn more and grow in the faith. May the Lord Bless you on your new journey!

God Bless,

Robert