The Life He Wants Us Living

0:01 This is cool. For those who don't know, my name is Francis, and I brought some people from my congregation here to join you guys here at Bethel. John and I have become really good friends these last few months. I love your pastor, and everyone I tell about John, I go, man, this guy loves Jesus. He just loves Jesus. And I think you guys as his church see that here's a man who just loves Christ. And some of you guys are going, well, doesn't every pastor? Well, it's just, it can get confusing. And praise God you have a pastor who loves the person of Jesus and just wants his name lifted up, and that's what we want tonight. Man, I had the honor today of speaking at Folsom Prison. I was just out in the yard all day with a couple thousand prisoners and then just going door to door in solitary confinement and talking to these guys about the good news of Easter.

1:11 I mean, I don't know. There's just something so beautiful about telling people they can be forgiven of everything. Like everything. Like 100%. I mean, this is something the Lord has been teaching me as of last week. I was sharing with John, and then it was like, gosh, we're going to share this on Good Friday, because it's what the cross is all about. See, I've been a pastor for, gosh, almost 30 years now. I know I don't even look 30, but I feel like God revealed some things to me just last week through his word. And it's crazy. I mean, because the truth is, for some, with God, right? He's so powerful, yet he's so loving, and he's so merciful, yet he's so holy, and his wrath is intense, but his grace is intense, and everything is like at this measure that we can't even comprehend.

2:14 but it seems like all of us, depending on how we're raised, depending on what we've gone through in life, there's like different parts of God that are more easy for us to understand than others, right? You know, some people can totally understand his justice and right from wrong and his commands, you know, but they don't quite understand his, you know, his mercy, and others understand his mercy and his grace, but they don't understand his justice and his holiness. And for me, I've been one of those guys where, for some reason, I totally understand, I can't say totally understand, I don't totally understand anything about God, but it's been so much easier for me to read those passages about God's holiness and his power and his righteousness, his justice. That I get. like I so get the holiness of God when I when I read passages like Isaiah 6 and how those those angels are covering themselves up and screaming out holy holy holy like this one on the throne is so intense so amazing I get that when the Bible talks about how God in first Timothy 6 it says he dwells in unapproachable light. I get that. In fact, one of my friends was sharing Jesus with some people just out here in San Francisco, and one of the guys just kind of casually says, oh, I've seen God. And my friend goes, no, you haven't. And the guy goes, how can you say I haven't seen God? You don't know me. I saw God. And he goes, the God of the Bible? He goes, yeah, the God of the Bible? He said, no, you didn't. The guy's like, you can't tell me what I've seen, and how do you know I have not seen the God of the Bible? And my friend says, because if you saw the God of the Bible, your face would have melted off your skull, okay? Like, he dwells in unapproachable light. It's like, you don't tell me, oh, I was walking on the sun today.

4:22 like you don't do that okay and so i understand the creator of the sun imagine if he says he dwells in unapproachable like the god who created the sun you don't just walk into his presence okay you don't stare an atomic bomb you know as it as it explodes you don't come into the presence of God. Like that part of God. I just go, gosh, Lord, thank you for opening my eyes to your majesty. Because the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So I understand I don't just walk into his presence. I understand in the Old Testament when they walked into the Holy of Holies, everything it took for the high priest to actually walk into the presence of God, go through the veil and get to the Ark of the Covenant. Man, you do one thing wrong and you die.

5:17 And I just imagine the intensity of walking behind the veil and go, did we do the sacrifices right? Did we do this right? Did we do that right? Because I'm about to enter into his presence. In Habakkuk, he says, your eyes are too pure to look upon evil.

5:37 That's the God we pray to. That's the God we come before when we close our eyes and we sing to him and we speak to him. Like it's a rush to think I get to speak to him. But then you also go, if that God is for me, who can be against me, right? It's because he's our God. We want him to be this all-powerful, amazing being because then you realize when he calls you his child how much protection comes with that. And when he says he doesn't let one sparrow fall to the ground without his notice, and how he has every hair on your head numbered, you know? I don't understand that part. But those things I get. But last week, here's what the Lord was teaching me.

6:33 I was reading through the book of 2 Samuel and looking at the story of David. Most of you guys know the story of King David. But just, you know how every time you read through the Bible, different things strike you? You're like, well, I never noticed that. I never really thought about this. You know, the story of David, I've read, gosh, dozens of times. But I never noticed two things. One, just how evil his sin was. I mean, do you ever think about David's sin? Like, I mean, he's the king. And as the king, he uses his power when he sees a woman and says, I want her. Go get that girl for me. Can you imagine if any leader today did that? Use their power. How disgusting of a person that would be to say, get her for me.

7:28 I'm the king. Do it. Bring her to me. and then to sleep with this woman, finds out she's pregnant, but the way that he tries to cover it up, she gets her husband, who's at war, mind you, doing what he's supposed to do as a soldier. He's out of war. Gets her husband, Uriah, who, mind you, is one of David's good friends.

7:55 And he calls him in and says, hey, how's the battle going? Hey, why don't you take a break tonight? and then just go home, go be with your wife. He figured maybe I can get him to be with his wife and then that'll cover up the whole pregnancy, everything else. But this man had so much integrity. Uriah goes, man, I'm not going to my house, not while all my friends are at battle. They're at war. I'm not going to relax. I'm just going to sleep at your doorstep. He goes, man, if I'm David at that point, I'm feeling about this big. You know how some people, when they show so much intent, you know, there's people in our lives that walk so closely to God that they just make you feel guilty just being with them, right? They don't even have to say anything. You just go, man, I'm dirt. You know, like, that's the way David must have felt, right? With Uriah?

8:46 You just slept with this guy's wife, and now he won't even go home because his friends are in battle. And then you get an idea. I know, I'll cover this up. I'll send him back into battle and I'll have all the guys withdraw from him so that he dies in battle. He kills him. He gets confronted with that. And I just, I never really thought about, here's the second thing. I go, but then you keep reading and it seems like, yeah, he gets punished for the sin, but then he moves on.

9:22 That's what struck me. I go, wait, it seems like life as usual again. Like that was just one episode in his life, and he moved on. And I thought, how do you move on from that? Okay, now he marries this woman. Wouldn't you think that every time you see her face, it would remind you of you killing her husband? And you just moved on and got your harp out and wrote some more songs. Like, I go, how did he do that? Like it seems like he continues on in life, and I just, I thought about my life. I thought, God, I don't move on very well.

10:05 Like I don't think I could have just gone on in life. That wouldn't have been one episode. I felt like that would have just stuck with me my whole life because I started thinking about things that I did 25 years ago that I still feel a little bit of guilt for. I still feel dirty over some of these things. I'm going, God, that was 25 years ago.

10:34 Some of this stuff was over 30 years ago that I still remember. And I still feel, I mean, if you ask me on a test, are you forgiven of that? I would say yes, by the blood of Jesus I am. I would get that correct on a test because I know that in my mind, but there's still part of me that feels like there's still a stain. Man, and I was talking with one of my buddies and we just started confessing sins from the past and everything and just, you know, there's something healing about that. But as we started to pray with each other, I go, man, Al, I have this. Here's what I picture. You know, these dry erase boards. you know, where you write stuff on it, and then you erase it? I said, this is what I feel like.

11:31 It's like it's a race, but you can always still see a little bit. You know those old dry erase boards where you can see things from 10 years ago if you look close enough, right? I said, man, I understand what Scripture says, but this is just what I feel like. I picture a dry erase board that's been erased, but I still feel like there's still something there. Okay, I know it in my head, but I'm just telling you what I feel in my heart.

12:02 And this has been like, man, the last 25 years of my life, I feel like I've been pursuing God. I've been on a good track and everything else. And it's crazy that even that 25-year track record doesn't erase what happened back here. I just want to save some of you who think, well, you know what, maybe I'll make up for it, even though you know you can't, and you know the scriptures, you know the theology, like somehow subconsciously you keep thinking, I'll feel it less and less as long as I live a godly life longer and longer. And I'm realizing that doesn't do it.

12:42 And so I just went to the scriptures, and I just started reading Psalm 51 over and over and over. I'm going, okay, this is the psalm that David wrote after the sin. Because I want to know how he moved on. Right? Some of you guys know what I'm talking about. Okay? And I want to know, how do you just move on after something that huge where you know how wrong it was, how evil you felt, how many people you hurt, how do you get past that and still have joy and make that one isolated episode in your life, one season in your life, and move on from that. And in Psalm 51, he says, Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love. According to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions.

13:42 wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. He says, have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love and according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

14:06 See, there's a secret right there. David didn't look in the mirror. David looked at God. He says, you, God, have mercy on me according to your steadfast love. What's he talking about? Not his failure, but God's steadfast love. But that next phrase, according to your abundant mercy.

14:31 Abundant mercy. He goes, God, you're not a God who just has a little bit of mercy. you're a God with abundant mercy and it hit me you know I can apply the greatness of God to his holiness to his wrath to his justice and I go I get it I get his holiness it's like there's no words to describe how far beyond us he is but when it came to his mercy it was harder for me to see his mercy as abundant. See, David says, if you wash me, if you wash me, I'll be whiter than snow. I'll be whiter than snow. This is not whiter than snow. See, God, God, you have to think about who he is. Remember, burn your face off. God, unapproachable light. God. Now, if that God decides to wash me, how clean do you think I'll be? See, I wasn't taking his mercy the same way I was taking his holiness. And when I applied that, I go, man, God does not just show a little bit of mercy. David appealed to his abundant mercy. And David says, look, when you wash someone, you make them clean.

15:52 You make them whiter than snow. And I was looking at God's word and going, okay, what part of 1 John 1, 9 do I not understand? That if I confess my sin, he is faithful and just to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. But here's the verse that nailed it for me. And you guys, I really believe like God changed me last week. Like healed me in a way where I can't imagine having any stain in me anymore. He really did answer my prayer. And he really did open up the word of God for me. And it was this verse specifically, more than any other. It was 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. And that's what we celebrate tonight.

16:46 for our sake he made him jesus to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of god okay he says for our sake this is what god did he made jesus who knew no sin was there any sin in Jesus. Do you dare say there was any sin? No. He knew no sin, and he made him become sin on that cross. So on that cross, he took on all of our sin on that cross. He became sin. The innocent one. See, someone has to pay. God is a fair God, and if someone commits a crime, there needs to be payment. That's why I know it's very popular in San Francisco to go, oh, whatever you believe is fine. And I just go, man, but how does that forgive you? How does that cleanse you?

17:53 How does that release you from all the things you've done in life? You can't make up for it. There has to be payment. Either that or God's not fair. So God says, I have to punish someone. So he takes his one and only son who knew no sin and says, I'm going to have him take on that sin. I'm going to have him go to the garden, as John described, going, is there any other way? Is there any other way, Dad? Take this cup from me. Is there any other way? And for God to look at his son, and it says it was the will of God to crush him from a take on that sin. If there's a bunch of other ways, what kind of father would let that happen also? Oh, there's already 50 other ways to heaven, but let me just add one more by making my son go through this. Does that make sense to you?

18:46 The cross is all or nothing. He made him who knew no sin become sin on our behalf. Yes, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Okay, that's the phrase that hit me. The righteousness of God. So what did I become when I accepted what Jesus did on that cross for me? I became the righteousness of God. I'm not just a cleaner version of Francis. I'm not a wiped off version of Francis. The Bible says I became the righteousness of God.

19:32 Could there be any stain in God? In his righteousness? Don't you love that verse? He made him become sin on our behalf so we could become the righteousness of God. I'm going, God, that's me. Which makes sense because Habakkuk says, in Habakkuk he says, thine eyes are too pure to look upon evil. Like God's eyes can't look upon evil. So I can't walk into his presence with a little bit of sin. I have to become the righteousness of God. that's why God did what he did on the cross was he wanted us in his presence he wanted to bring us into his presence but we can't come into his presence with any sin you don't walk in front of a holy God with even an ounce of sin you need to become the righteousness of God because his eyes are too pure to look upon evil.

20:34 So he has his son take on our sin and we take on his righteousness. And that's why we celebrate today and go, wow, it's a good Friday. That exchange took place on the cross. And when I understood that, I was like, God, I'm free. I am the righteousness of God through you. And that's why David in Psalm 51 He says, deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

21:41 He goes, God, if you do this, take these, because you can make these broken bones rejoice. He goes, you can heal me. He goes, then I can go out with so much joy. You'll restore the joy of my salvation. He goes, and then I'll turn sinners from their way. they'll look at me and go man look at the joy in that person he understands his forgiveness see David that's exactly what he did he was cleaned by God a hundred percent whiter than snow and spends the rest of his life out there telling people about the joy of his salvation and turning people back to the God who could forgive them and I just as I feel like the Lord released me for a new season, I started thinking, what if he released all of us in that way? Like, is that what holds the church back? Is that some of us are still holding on to some shame?

22:46 So, because I just picture like a bunch of little kids just laughing, skipping joy, you know, like that's the way he wants his children. I believe that's the reward he gets for the cross. I was telling one of my friends this week, I go, man, if I died for my kids, man, I hope my reward would be like somehow the joy on their faces. Not them spending the rest of their lives feeling guilty like they have to do something also. It's like, no, I did that for you so that you wouldn't have to. That was the point of the cross. He wants his children tonight to rejoice in him, to understand what he suffered for us. But his greatest reward, the greatest worship is if we really believe his word and go, I'm the righteousness of God. Are you kidding me? I'm whiter than snow. Are you kidding me? I can go into the presence of a holy God with no fear anymore because I've become the righteousness of God. This is insane. Like that's the type of life he wants us living out there. And I just believe if we could release that tonight, the guilt, the shame of the past, I just believe we could see the church just rising up with so much life again, not fighting about little stupid things.

24:08 You know? I just wonder how much of that is because we're weighed down and still not believing our complete forgiveness. So we don't have the joy. We're not rejoicing in the Lord. And how many of these gifts in this room that God's given us would just be manifested and used in such great ways. You know, I was telling John, it's such a lame picture, but the picture I had in my mind as I thought about our cleansing is, I don't know if you saw the movie Frozen, but I thought of Elsa. I know, it's really dumb. You know that scene where she's just like, let it go. You know, she's just, I'm done. I'm done. I won't hold it back anymore. You know, like I go, man, I just want to see the church that way. you know what I mean where it's like I'm done I'm done with my shame and God I'm just gonna let it go I'm gonna let my rejoicing go I'm gonna celebrate because I don't have an ounce of guilt anymore there's no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus there is zero zero zero we're wiped clean we are not that dry erase board we are whiter than snow because of what Jesus did and I hope that you've trusted in him for that