GRACE OF GOD SERIES PART 6 THE COST OF GRACE2007 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

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Date: 2007-12-23

Title: Grace Of God Series Part 6 The Cost Of Grace

Teacher: Jerry B Simmons

Series: 2007 Grace Of God Series

Teaching Transcript: Grace Of God Series Part 6 The Cost Of Grace

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2007.

That is, what is the most expensive gift that you have ever given or received? If you could think back through the many years of Christmases or birthdays or other occasions that you've experienced, what is the most expensive thing, the most costly thing that you have ever given or received?

Every year, Neiman Marcus comes out with their annual Christmas catalog. And probably the most expensive things that you have ever given or received are not in the fantasy section of this catalog because that section is devoted to, well, it's for those who really have more money than they know what to do with. And it's interesting. They have a whole section of

really for those who are rich beyond probably our wildest dreams, those who have money to spend and it's not really an expense to them, but it's just something that they can do elaborate for one another because they have the wealth to do so.

Now, these gifts, I want to share a couple of them with you. And be assured that they have a whole section on the front, making sure that you know these things are real. So if you really want to, after listening to some of the things I'll share, you know, I can give you my address and you can send them to me if you want. Or they're real. So you can actually purchase them.

The first thing on the list, kind of the low end of the cost, the first one starts out at $35,000. How's that for a Christmas gift? And what you get for $35,000 is a 100-foot-long dragon topiary. Basically what it is is 15 plants that they arrange and they shape into this huge dragon that is 100 feet in length.

Now, for some perspective, the entire length of the sanctuary is about 60 feet. So if you can imagine from one end of the sanctuary all the way to the end of the children's trailer, that's about 100 feet long and the length of this dragon that will fit nicely in my front yard. So if you want to do that, $35,000, not a lot to spend on your pasture. And so I'm just kidding.

The next one up jumps up a little bit. It's $73,000. And for $73,000, what you can get is this really cute looking, it's cute because it's for ladies, diamond phone. And it's this phone that is just completely covered in white and pink diamonds. A total of 7.2 carats of diamonds go into the phone. And you can get that for only $73,000 for your loved one or for your spouse or for your fiance, Gabe. And you can get that in...

She'll be yours forever. All right. Going up a little bit more for one hundred and ten thousand, you can get something quite spectacular, kind of unique. It is a five foot by four foot picture or really painting portrait that's made entirely of chocolate syrup.

And so you can get you and your spouse or you and someone else and and get this huge museum quality by some famous artist that I don't know. But it's five foot by four foot and entirely made of chocolate syrup of you and someone that you love only for one hundred ten thousand dollars. Now, going on from here, they jump up quite a bit. And so I wouldn't recommend that you purchase these for me. But for one million dollars.

you can get a 305 carat uncut diamond necklace. 305 carats, and it's uncut. It's preserved by some old natural way. They have this whole theory about if you don't cut it, it's more special and stuff. But 305 carats of this huge rock that hangs from a necklace, and whoever you buy it for will kind of stoop over for a little bit because it'll take a while to get used to you.

another thing you can get if you've got a little bit more money for one and a half million dollars, you can purchase a concert for one person and 499 of their friends, uh, personally for them for, by this famous orchestra hosted by Regis Philbin and, and videotaped and kept, you know, recorded for, for years and years to come. And you can do that for just one and a half million dollars. The last one is, is my favorite. And, uh,

That is...

It's great if you want to find Nemo, because for $1.4 million, you can purchase your very own submarine. Royce, can you throw that on the screen? There it is. The Gem Triton 1000. This submarine is for you. It'll be delivered to whatever cove or port that you desire. And you and a friend, because it seats two, can take a ride in this submarine. It dives up to 1,000 feet below the water.

It comes complete with leather seats, a gem-studded joystick to control it, and a two-day training program so that you won't kill yourself underwater. So if you want to go exploring, and Fiki could help you. He's back from training right now, and he's learning how to run nuclear submarines, so he could help you with that. But for $1.4 million, you could have your own personal submarine. Isn't that incredible?

Okay, now that would be awesome to have. And those are some expensive gifts, quite costly, probably out of all of our price ranges. But the gift that we're talking about this morning is much greater, much more expensive than these gifts that range high on the charts as far as money is concerned. There is a difference between expensive and costly gifts.

As we talk about gifts, you can understand that if you remember when Jesus was with his disciples at the temple and he's there across from from the treasury or where they put in their their their gifts to the temple and Jesus is with his disciples. He's watching people as they come and give. And he kind of nudges his disciples and says, hey, guys, check it out. Here's all these guys. And they're giving these large amounts just just.

tons of money. They're just, you know, giving submarines and uncut 305 carat diamonds and just these elaborate gifts that they're giving to the temple. And there comes this widow who deposits into the treasury two mites, two little coins worth hardly anything at all. And Jesus says to his disciples, this woman has given more than all the rest of these guys.

Because all of these guys have given out of their abundance. But this woman, she gave of her livelihood. This was all that she had. She gave of her sustenance. And so in God's perspective, it's worth more because it cost her more. These guys have extra to give and they had tons left over. But what she gave was more costly than what they gave.

And this morning, I want to challenge our hearts with that, that the gift that God has given to us was indeed very costly, the most costly gift ever given.

The costly gifts are the ones that, well, they cost you something. They're not just I had extra. And so I got this for you. But there was time or effort or there was I forget the word sacrifices that were made in order to give this gift. There was one year that my parents decided that.

We were going to have a Christmas that was entirely, at least in our immediate family, that the only gifts we would give to each other were gifts that we had made. They had to be homemade gifts. And so instead of going to the store and shopping and buying each other things...

We spent the month prior, we could spend like $20 on supplies, and then we had to construct or put together or make a gift for one another. And it was an interesting Christmas. We got to put time and effort and thought into making

What we made for one another. I remember for my mom, I made this big kind of engraved bunny rabbit. And it was, you know, I was just a kid. It was all boxy and square and not very good. And the lines were all crooked and wavy, not like, you know, like Harvey could do and nice and perfect and beautiful.

I made my sister. It was real, real difficult. I took a big book and I used an X-Acto knife and I cut out the same size square in each page and I made one of those hollow books, you know, so you could hide things in it. And so I made that for my sister. And for my dad, me and my sister both got those ceramic houses and we worked for that month prior to Christmas painting those houses. And we, you know, put our effort into it. We spent time making those things.

But the highlight of that year, the gift that really stood out that year was the gift that my dad made for my mom.

And my dad made for my mom this awesome picture engraved in wood, and he framed it and everything, and it was real intricate detail of a hand holding a rose. And when you saw it, it was just, it took you aback. It was absolutely beautiful. And it was so precious because, well, he spent much time, much effort, and a great amount of energy in producing this gift for my mom.

In the same way, the gift that you have been given, the gift that we have, which is the grace of God, which is Jesus Christ dying for us, which is what we celebrate at Christmas time. The fact that God sent his son because he loved us so much.

It wasn't just out of abundance. It wasn't just God had some extra and it was a luxurious gift. But this gift indeed was very costly to God. What did it cost him? There's three things we'll look at this morning. The cost for Jesus to give us his grace.

John chapter one, verse 17. We read that just a moment ago, says for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. We have grace now.

And it has come through Jesus Christ. Now, what is grace? We should discuss briefly before we get started in the points this morning. We've been looking at it the past several weeks. And so forgive me if you've not been here there. You're able to purchase the CDs. I'm sorry, not even purchase. You can get them for free from the sound booth. I encourage you to pick up some of the last couple of weeks messages looking at the grace of God. We've been looking at different aspects of the grace of God.

And we've seen over and over again that grace is undeserved, unearned favor. What is grace cost? From our perspective, grace is absolutely free. We've been looking at the past several weeks, the wonderful benefits of grace. The fact that by grace, we can have salvation. We have been redeemed from sin.

the destruction, the punishment, the judgment that is due to us as a result of our sin. We can be saved because of the grace of God. We've seen that the grace of God, as a result of the grace of God in our lives, we have forgiveness, that we can be completely, totally cleansed and wiped clean, that God will take our sin away.

And cast it as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered again. And that is sin that is in our past. That is the sin that we currently struggle with and deal with. And that's the sin that we will continue to be involved in or that will take place later on in our lives. Completely and wholly, God has dealt with our sin and he gives to us, offers us forgiveness by his grace and no charge to us. It's free.

We also have, by grace, hope. We have the hope of eternity. That we don't have to have the agony of wondering, well, the things that I struggle with in life, the hard times that I face, the difficulties that I've experienced, the trials that I've gone through, are those in vain? Are they for nothing? We have the confidence that God will work all things together for good. That we have the hope of eternity that no matter what we go through, how difficult or how painful,

That we will get to see the result. God's glory. We'll get to see his perspective and how he used that situation in our life to bring glory to his name. We have the hope of eternity where there'll be no more sorrow, no more tears, where there will be eternal life without the presence of sin, without pain.

We have the hope of eternity, which is so wonderful. God has so many things in store for us, and they're so far beyond our comprehension and language. We can't even really talk about them or know what they are. Paul talked about hearing.

He was in heaven. He had a vision. He was in heaven and he heard things that couldn't be related. Language wasn't enough to describe the things that he heard. How much more the things that he would see and the things that God has in store for you.

Words cannot describe them. Our language is too limited. Our minds are too constricted. We can't have any idea, really, the fullness, the greatness, the grandness of what God has in store for you. We have this hope of eternity by grace. It's not by our works. It's not because we're so good or because our good works outweigh our bad works. But it's because of the grace of God, because he did it all. He paid the price.

And he offers it to us free of charge. Grace came to us free. He offers it to us at no charge, no requirement, except that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But what does grace cost? There's a saying, you know, nothing's free. It's true. Everything costs something.

You receive a free lunch, it's free to you, but it costs somebody something. You receive a gift, it's free to you, but it costs somebody something. In the same way, salvation, grace, it's free to us. God offers it to us and says, simply believe and you will receive. But it costs something great for Jesus Christ.

There's three things I'd like to point out this morning about the cost of the grace that we have, of the grace that God extends to us.

The first one we find here in John chapter one, and that is that it costs Jesus his glory for you and I to have this grace. It costs Jesus his glory. Let's jump back. We're already in John chapter one. Jump to the beginning of the chapter. Look at verse one and the following verses with me. It says in John chapter one, verse one.

In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him, nothing was made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men. We'll stop there here in John chapter one, verses one through four. John begins his gospel with this.

A background of who Jesus is. He's talking about Jesus here when he uses the word word in the beginning was the word. That's a reference to Jesus Christ. We know that for many reasons, but one of which we saw in verse 14 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And so as he uses the word word, you can replace that with Jesus's name if it helps and

And understand that he was in or in the beginning was Jesus and Jesus was with God and Jesus was God. He was in the beginning with God. We learn in these four verses a few things that are very important to consider about the nature and person of Jesus Christ. First of all, in verse one, we learned that Jesus Christ is God. He is God. It says it right there.

The word was with God and was God. Jesus Christ is God. Not only that, but verse two tells us that he was in the beginning with God, meaning that he has always existed in the beginning. There was Jesus. He's not a created being. He's not something that God has created later after his existence. But Jesus has always existed with God.

Not only that, but in verse three, we learned that he is the creator. John tells us there in verse three that all things were made through him and without him, nothing was made that was made. He took part in creation and there was nothing that was created apart from Jesus Christ. In verse four, we learned that Jesus also is the author of life.

In him was life and the life was the light of men. And so we learn these four things about Jesus. He's God. He's always existed. He is the creator. He's the author of life. We get this grand picture of who Jesus is. He is God. He is the creator of the universe. And yet this God, this creator, this author of life who has always existed, entered into time and space.

By being born of a virgin. And that's why verse 14 says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. This is what Christmas is all about. It's the celebration of when Jesus, being God, being creator, became a man born of a virgin. You could think of it this way. Mary carried in her womb the one that the heavens could not contain.

Remember when Solomon had built the temple and in his prayer he says to the Lord, God, we understand, we know the heavens can't contain you. This universe is not enough to contain you. You're far greater. Yet would you fill this building, this temple that we've dedicated to you? The heavens cannot contain him, but he became flesh and dwelt among us. He entered into Mary's womb, was born of the Virgin Mary. At what cost?

The word became flesh. It cost him his glory. There was a emptying that took place. Notice that it doesn't say the word pretended to be flesh. Jesus didn't have, you know, a holograph of himself and it wasn't really him, you know, but he had just had this picture. It was some, you know, magic trick or magic show. It wasn't that he pretended to be flesh.

Instead, Jesus became flesh. It's not just that he appeared to be flesh. You know, the disciples say, well, we think he was. I mean, we're pretty sure. Maybe not. But he appeared to be flesh. No. The Bible is very clear. Jesus Christ, being God, became flesh. He became a man. And it cost him his glory. He went from glory to ghetto.

Philippians chapter two tells us it's true. I know I got chuckles, but Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, it wasn't the nicest place in the world. Remember, Nathaniel later on in Jesus's life as they come and announce, hey, we found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. And he's like, Nazareth, can anything good come out of Nazareth? It's the ghetto. It's not a place where kings are raised or or where where prominent people live.

There's nothing good there, Nathaniel says. Jesus, well, Philippians chapter 2. You don't have to turn there, but I would encourage you to spend some time in it later as you consider what Christmas means.

In talking about Jesus, Philippians chapter two, verses six and seven says, being in the form of God, he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men.

Paul tells us there in Philippians 2, Jesus, he is God. He is the creator. But he didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped or something to hold on to. He said, OK, I'm going to empty myself. He made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant. He came not as a king.

in the sense of royalty and prominence, but he came as a bondservant, as a slave, as just a regular human being. Although Jesus was God, he emptied himself. He became a man and he subjected himself to humanity for the rest of eternity. It's important to note, Jesus at no time ceased to be God.

He didn't put off his deity. He didn't stop being God, but he added to his nature humanity. It's a wonderful thing that, well, we'll spend the rest of eternity really figuring out what that means because it's far greater than we can really understand. But Jesus, being God, became flesh and dwelt among us. Think of it this way. Jesus loves you so much that

That he decided it would not be worth it to spend eternity without you. Eternity won't be the same without you, he says. So he gave himself. It was very costly because he made a decision that impacted himself for the rest of eternity. He gave of himself, became a man, added humanity to his nature. It's a decision that was not temporary, but that for the rest of eternity happened.

He has the effects of that decision within him. He became a man. He became flesh and dwelt among us. That sacrifice, that cost is greater than can be measured.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9, reminding the Corinthians of the grace of God, he says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you, through his poverty, might become rich. Jesus Christ was rich. He's God. He's creator. He's the author of life. He has all glory, all power, all honor.

And yet he emptied himself. Although he was rich, yet for your sakes, for my sake, he became poor. He emptied himself and came in the form of a bondservant. Why? That I, that you, through his poverty, because he emptied himself, you might become rich. You might receive the fullness of his grace. You might receive the fullness of what God has for you because he emptied himself.

Because he paid the price. Because Jesus Christ, being God, became flesh and dwelt among us. This is Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth. Grace comes through him. Everything that God has in store for you. The wildest extent of your dreams that he has in store for you for the rest of eternity.

Everything that God has planned for you, everything that God wants to do for you centers around this man, Jesus Christ. The time that he was born, he walked this earth and he died on the cross for us. And as a result, we have grace. We have the opportunity, the ability to receive salvation, to be forgiven, the hope of eternity. Grace is God's riches at Christ's expense.

God's riches at Christ's expense. He paid the price. It doesn't cost us anything except faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus said, believe in me and you'll have everlasting life. He who believes in me will never die. Grace. It's wonderful what God has given to us, but it costs Jesus his glory. As we understand more of what it costs Jesus to offer to us this grace, my prayer is that we would

then appreciate more what he has given to us. Sometimes there's those gifts that you receive and you don't really know maybe what it's for, how valuable it is, if it's costly or not. You don't know much about it. And so it's not incredibly valuable to you, not precious to you. But as we understand the cost of what God has done for us, my prayer is that we would then appreciate more.

receive wholeheartedly the grace that he offers to us because it was at such a great price. Not only did it cost him his glory, but it also cost his obedience. Turn with me now to Romans chapter five. In Romans chapter five, the apostle Paul is talking a lot about grace. We've seen it several times already in the previous weeks, looking at different aspects of the grace of God.

But we find ourselves here once again, as Paul talks about the grace of God, the impact that it has, but how we receive this grace, how this grace has come to us. How is it that we can be saved simply by believing in Jesus Christ, that there's no additional works that we have to do, that even though we fail and we stumble and we struggle in sin, that we can be saved and forgiven and have the hope of eternity? How is that possible?

Paul reminds us that it's through Jesus Christ. Look at verse 15 through 19 with me here in Romans chapter 5. He says,

For if by one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation. But the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification."

Verse 18.

Therefore, as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. Even so, through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. Verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So also by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. Here the Apostle Paul is talking about sin.

Two men, the one man being Adam, the other man being Jesus Christ. By one man, all of humanity has received judgment and condemnation because Adam there in the garden disobeyed God, violated the command that God had given to him not to eat of the tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And Adam deliberately, willfully chose Adam

To partake of that fruit, to eat it. And as a result, you and I, we fall under the condemnation of sin because we have a sinful nature and we deserve God's judgment because we are in constant rebellion to him. By this one act, Adam acting really on the rest of humanity's behalf, he subjected us all to the sinful nature of

By this one man's offense, many died, Paul says in Romans 5.15. But the free gift, he says, is not like the offense. The free gift, by one man's offense, many died. Judgment came to all. All of us are condemned. But the free gift...

This word free gift is the word charisma. It's the word charis in the Greek is the word for grace. The free gift or the product of grace is what Paul is saying. The thing that's free to you and I that is simply received by faith in Jesus Christ that costs us nothing, that we can't work for, that we can't earn, that we can't deserve. This free gift that God offers to us.

The grace of God, the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. Grace comes to us. This free gift comes to us through the person of Jesus Christ. And just as the offense of one impacted all the righteous act of one, the righteous act of Jesus Christ has allowed God's grace to abound to many or to all.

It was by one man's disobedience, verse 19 says, that many were made sinners. All of us are sinners. But in the same way, by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. We have the grace of God through Jesus Christ. But in order for that grace to come to us, it was required that Jesus would be obedient.

Adam was disobedient, but by Jesus's obedience, we have the fullness of grace. It's what makes grace available to you and I, because he lived a life of complete self-denial, complete obedience. Consider that for just a moment. There was not one occasion that he did not do something that God wanted him to do.

There's not one occasion where he did something that the father did not want him to do. He never disobeyed God. He always did what God asked. He always fulfilled God's will.

John chapter 6, verse 38, Jesus pronounces, I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Always, in every case, in every situation, without exception, Jesus did God's will. He was completely obedient, never disobeyed, never violated God's will, never unfulfilled or left unfulfilled what God had called him to do.

but was completely obedient in all areas and all ways for his entire life. He lived a life of self-denial. He had our flesh. He became flesh. He became a man. But he lived in self-denial and complete obedience. At the end of his life in John chapter 17,

Jesus is kind of checking in with the father, summarizing really the things that have taken place in his years of ministry as he's preparing now to be crucified. In John chapter 17, he's praying to God and he says, I've glorified you on earth. I finished the work which you have given me to do. Jesus there is he's preparing now to enter into the crucifixion, the judgments, the trials that he's going to go through.

And he says, I've done it. I've done everything that you've asked of me, God. There's not one thing I've left undone. He lived his life submitted to the will of the Father. Is that costly? Is it costly to live in self-denial? Is it costly to be obedient? I think it's never more clearly demonstrated the cost than in the Garden of Gethsemane.

It's recorded in several of the Gospels, but we often look to Luke chapter 22 at the Garden of Gethsemane because Luke, as the physician, records the extent of the agony, the really extreme, extreme nature of obedience and self-denial. In Luke chapter 22, Jesus is there in the Garden of Gethsemane and he's praying and

And his prayer is this, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. His prayer is this, God, this is not what I want to do. If I had it my way, I wouldn't go this route. If there's any other way, God, let it be that way. Don't make me go to the cross. Not my will, he ends, but your will be done. Expressing, Lord,

This is going to be difficult. It's going to be hard. There's going to be pain and suffering. There's going to be separation. This isn't what I want. But, Lord, your will be done, not my will. For the first time ever, there was a difference between the will of Jesus and the will of God. He was obedient. He died upon the cross. Why? Because there was no other way. There was no other way for you and I to receive the grace of God. The extent of this decision...

is illustrated by verse 44 of Luke chapter 22. It says, There was such intensity and fervor in his prayer that blood vessels actually broke. The blood mingled with his sweat as he was there laboring in prayer before the Lord. I can envision the Lord Jesus, he's there,

And you've probably had those times where everything in you wants to run, wants to get out of there, wants to get away. And this is what he's experiencing. He was in great agony over this decision. But in all things, he was obedient, completely fulfilled the will of the Father. Jesus obeyed even when it was most difficult. And as a result, we receive the grace of God.

Grace is God's riches at Christ's expense. It cost him complete, total obedience. He lived his entire life in self-denial and obedience that you and I might have grace. So it cost him his glory. It cost him obedience. And thirdly, turn with me to Hebrews chapter two. In Hebrews chapter two,

The author of Hebrews is talking about the person of Jesus Christ and how Jesus is far superior to anything else, to any other religious system, specifically the Jewish religious system, far superior to the angels, far superior to Moses, far superior to all else, to everything else, that he is the only way for salvation.

And as he's explaining this about Jesus Christ here in Hebrews chapter two, we find the third cost, which is suffering and death. In order for grace to come to you and I, Jesus Christ had to suffer and Jesus Christ had to die. It was necessary for him to suffer and die. Look at verse nine and ten of Hebrews two. But we see Jesus, who is made a little lower than the angels.

For the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for him for whom are all things and by whom are all things and bringing many sons to glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. First of all, the author of Hebrews here reminds us of the role that Jesus took in

It says that he was made a little lower than the angels. Let's go back for just a second. Remember that Jesus Christ is God. He is the creator. He's the king of kings and lord of lords. And yet he humbled himself. He was born of the Virgin Mary. Miraculously, supernaturally, God entered time and space. He became a man of

And at that point, he was made a little lower than the angels. He became part of creation. We see Jesus, who is made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. Grace was at his expense.

He had to suffer and die. Verse 10 goes on to tell us it was fitting for him. It was right for God.

Who created all things and all things are for him. It was right for God in bringing many sons, many children to glory, saving many people. It was right for God to make the captain of their salvation. That's our salvation. The captain of our salvation is Jesus Christ. It was right for God to make Jesus Christ perfect through sufferings. He had to suffer. It was right. It was fitting. It was necessary.

What kind of things did Jesus suffer? Well, we could look at some basic human things. Max Lucado, the author, has a book that he kind of goes into some of the details of maybe some of the things that Jesus might have experienced. You know, did he stub his toe? Did he experience the agony of the things that we face and the things that we experience? Did he face normal pain? Did he have, you know, wet diapers and those kinds of things?

We all suffer. We experience those kind of things. But when we talk about the sufferings of Jesus Christ, there's, of course, much more involved because throughout his life. Yes, he experienced life much the same way that you and I have. Hebrews goes on to talk about that. He was tempted in all points, just like us.

He experienced the things of life, the highs and lows, the emotional things, the difficult things, the rejoicing things. He experienced those celebrations just like us. But he also experienced suffering far greater than we can know. What are some of the sufferings that he experienced towards the end of his life? We know that he was rejected, rejected. He experienced the hatred of many, especially and specifically the Jewish leaders.

More than once, the Jewish leaders gathered together to figure out how can we kill this guy? How can we get rid of him? How can we put him to death? He suffered rejection and hatred, hostility of others. Maybe you've experienced some of that and you can relate to some extent. He suffered betrayal.

One of his own guys, one of the 12, Judas Iscariot, who walked with him and God had worked with him and they'd seen so many things and done so many things and he taught him so much and there was a friendship there. He was betrayed by this man, one close to him. He suffered beatings, several beatings by the Jewish guards, by the Roman soldiers, mockery. He suffered scourging.

The cat of nine tails across his back. I won't get into details, but they're pretty gruesome. Extreme suffering, great pain. He suffered humiliation. Crucifixion was not a glorious event, but it was intended to be completely humiliating with the person being crucified, stripped and hung up for all to see. He suffered crucifixion, the nails in the hands, the nail in the feet.

An agonizing, torturous death. There upon the cross, he suffered separation from God. You remember there on the cross, he cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The separation for the first time in eternity between Jesus and God, Jesus and the Father. He suffered greatly, but it was necessary. After his resurrection,

Before really the disciples were convinced that he had been resurrected, there was two disciples that were on the road to Emmaus from Jerusalem. Luke chapter 24 gives us the account and Jesus appears with them, but they don't know it's Jesus. And so he's talking with them and having this conversation with them. And it tells us that he goes into the Old Testament and explains all the way from the beginning to the end why it was necessary for these things to take place. In Luke chapter 24, verse 46 says,

Jesus says, Jesus himself says,

Based upon what the scriptures say, it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, for Jesus to suffer. It was necessary that the gospel might be reprieved, but might be preached that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name.

How does grace come to us? Salvation, forgiveness, the hope of eternity. How does it come to us? Through Jesus Christ. And it was necessary for him to suffer in order for that grace to be available to you and I. He had to suffer. Isaiah talks about his stripes and says, by his stripes we are healed. It was necessary for Jesus to suffer.

But not just suffer, it was necessary for him to die. Here in Hebrews 2.9, he says that he, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. Jesus Christ died for us. He tasted death for everyone. All of the punishment and judgment that was due you and I was poured out upon Jesus Christ. He died in our place for our sins.

Grace truly is God's riches at Christ's expense because it costs Jesus suffering and death. We could spend much time talking about these things, going more and more in depth into the cost of what it really cost Jesus, how much it was really worth to him for you and I to have relationship with God, for you and I to have the hope of heaven. In Romans 6, verse 23 says,

Paul tells us the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The wages of sin is death. That's what you and I deserve because of our sin, because of our sinful nature, because we're in constant rebellion to God. We deserve death. That's what we've earned by our action, by our disobedience. But the gift of God.

Is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And that word gift. Again it's the word charisma. It's the product of grace. It's the result of grace. The grace of God. We have the result of the grace of God. Which is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. This gift is the most expensive. The most costly gift ever given. And yet it's free to us. God says I want to give you life. And that more abundantly.

I want to give you eternity. I want to set you free from your guilt. I want to set you free from the bondage to sin and death. As we looked at last week, I want to use you in the ministry for my glory. I want to use you to impact people's lives and have eternal rewards as a result of your service. All of these things are by God's grace, his wonderfulness towards us. We receive the benefit free of charge by faith in Jesus Christ.

But it was very costly for Jesus. It cost him his glory, his obedience, his suffering, and death. What's this grace worth to you? I would encourage you this morning as you spend this day and the next couple days reflecting on these things, preparing for the celebration of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, the value that you place upon Jesus.

Jesus Christ, the value that you place upon your relationship with God made possible by the grace of God. Is it the appropriate value considering what it costs him to give it to you? Is it the appropriate value like that gift? You don't really know what it's for. You don't really know what it's worth. And so it just kind of sits there. Is that how you treat the grace of God?

Is that how you treat the salvation that God offers? Is that how you treat the opportunities he gives for you to have relationship with him, to serve him, to bring glory to his name? Or do you value it? Do you treasure it? Paul said, we looked at last week, that the grace of God towards me was not in vain. Meaning that he put it to use. He took advantage of the grace of God. God had given him this gift and

And he used it. He put it to good use. He received it. He embraced it. He lived in the grace of God. I don't know about you, but I plan to open every gift I receive this Christmas. Are you using? Have you opened the gift of God and received Jesus Christ as your Savior? And what have you been born again? And for those of you who have, what have you done with this gift now? Have you passed it on?

Have you shared it with others? Have you been involved in a relationship with God? Have you drawn close to the Lord? It costs Him so dearly. Don't disregard it. Don't neglect it. But receive and embrace the gift of God. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.