A Sermon for the Senses

Last night, I got to teach on one of my favorite topics to teach on: the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Super cool. The fact that He took the death that I deserved really rocked me this week. I hope that it never becomes commonplace.

Last night was a first for me: preaching on Halloween. While everyone else was out trick-or-treating, we worshiped - it was great. People all over the US put on masks and costumes, turning them into things that they really were not. My daughter was Little Red Riding Hood, another little girl in the church was a Bumble Bee. We normally don't allow bees in the church, but we made an exception for Bella because she was such a cute stinger-less bee. Jesus' death had a similar effect on us compared to the costumes people wore: By dying for us, Jesus put on our sin and became something He was not so that we could put on His righteousness and become something we could never be. That truth is straight out of Scripture:

2 Corinthians 5:21 - For ​He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become ​​the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus knew that we were born separated from Him and the last thing He wanted was for us to die the same way, so, He gave everything up to fix that problem. Unfortunately, we get caught up in a bunch of other unimportant stuff and forget how incredible that sacrifice is. Jesus knew that, which is why He gave the church a simple, hands-on way to remember His sacrifice - communion. You see it, hear about it, touch it, taste it, and smell it - it's a sermon for the senses. I didn't have to do a lot of talking last night because I let the bread and the juice do the talking.

Is Jesus' sacrifice something you think about daily or do you easily forget about it? He got punished like He was the one sinned so that we could be rewarded as if we had never sinned! Wow! What a deal! Jesus certainly got the short end of the stick on that one huh? He's not whining about it though, He's sitting at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3) patiently awaiting our arrival when He raptures us. Because He died for us, the party can begin soon!

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