Dale Partridge - Nothing Happens Outside of God's Control - Dale Partridge

00:00:00.000 You can't divide faith in God from faith in Christ.

00:00:05.600 It's a Trinitarian gospel that we have here.

00:00:08.760 We have a Trinitarian God and a Trinitarian gospel.

00:00:12.020 And so this is just accentuating

00:00:14.160 a different portion of the gospel

00:00:17.820 is that we have God the Father,

00:00:19.240 we have God the Son, God the Holy Spirit,

00:00:21.180 all playing unique roles in the Trinitarian gospel

00:00:23.780 and the redemption of God's people.

00:00:26.420 But we need to also believe in God,

00:00:28.420 the raiser of Jesus Christ, our Lord from the dead. So Paul continues in verse 25 by bringing

00:00:34.200 further identification to Jesus. He says, he who was delivered over for our transgressions and

00:00:39.440 raised for our justification. Now, this passage, one, it's a very famous passage of scripture,

00:00:45.660 but it echoes Luke's recording of Peter's sermon in Acts 2.23 that says, quote,

00:00:53.060 quote, this Jesus delivered up

00:00:55.440 according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God,

00:00:58.700 you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

00:01:02.620 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death

00:01:05.900 because it was not possible for him to be held by it,

00:01:08.700 end quote.

00:01:09.680 Acts 4, 27 through 28 says,

00:01:13.540 quote, for truly in this city,

00:01:15.440 there were gathered together against your holy servant,

00:01:18.000 Jesus, whom you anointed,

00:01:20.100 both Herod and Pontius Pilate, 0.98

00:01:21.520 but along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel to do whatever your hand and your plan 0.76

00:01:26.580 had predestined to take place." End quote. So here we see this profound reality 0.57

00:01:31.320 that Christ was delivered over for our transgressions by the predetermined plan of God.

00:01:39.300 And like the book of Job, this teaches us that God has sovereign control over our lives,

00:01:45.040 over all things, including the wicked actions of men.

00:01:50.020 And he is not the cause of those wicked actions,

00:01:54.860 but permits them to occur in a way

00:01:56.540 that works all things together for the good of his people.

00:02:00.860 Now, this means that Herod, Pontius Pilate, 0.81

00:02:03.260 the Gentiles and all the people of Israel

00:02:05.380 had gathered together against Jesus,

00:02:07.260 but they did so according to God's predestined plan

00:02:10.700 for the gospel.

00:02:12.500 And so this should remind you

00:02:13.960 that nothing happens outside of God's control.

00:02:17.400 And this should give us hope and rest and peace.

00:02:20.100 And even in the darkest moments of our life,

00:02:23.060 God is working out his purposes

00:02:24.420 for the good of his people to the glory of his name.

00:02:26.400 And we know this because when our life is getting difficult,

00:02:31.640 we know that God will use absolutely every bit of it.

00:02:36.260 There's no evil thing that can happen to you

00:02:38.900 that God has not approved or permitted to occur

00:02:42.740 because he is sovereign over the entire world.

00:02:46.300 But God turns our trials into triumphs.

00:02:49.600 He turns our suffering really into strength

00:02:53.560 that actually happens through sanctification.

00:02:57.080 Now, these are difficult things to deal with.

00:03:00.560 I remember a story from John MacArthur

00:03:01.780 that his wife had gotten a terrible car accident

00:03:05.500 and broke her neck.

00:03:08.600 And he ran in to the hospital

00:03:11.400 and his son said, there's been an accident.

00:03:15.240 And John MacArthur said to his son,

00:03:17.780 son, there is no accidents, keep praying.

00:03:20.860 And can we take our theology of a sovereign God

00:03:26.680 into those very difficult moments?

00:03:29.840 Just yesterday, there was a shooting

00:03:31.420 at a school in Nashville

00:03:32.500 at a Presbyterian school, Christian school.

00:03:38.560 I believe the pastor of the Presbyterian church

00:03:41.040 that it was connected to, his daughter was killed there.

00:03:45.400 And these are the moments

00:03:46.900 that we have to take very seriously.

00:03:49.760 We have to be anchored now

00:03:51.580 into the promises and truths of God

00:03:54.160 because when those things come,

00:03:56.780 when those moments of death and tragedy come,

00:04:00.200 we will be anchored down into the promises of God.

00:04:03.620 It doesn't mean that we don't have absolute tragic mourning.

00:04:07.920 It doesn't mean that we don't weep.

00:04:09.440 It doesn't mean that we don't even have questions,

00:04:13.340 but it does mean that we will be anchored down to Christ

00:04:16.480 even in the most treacherous storms.

00:04:19.980 And that's why it's important

00:04:21.100 because if God can use the murder of his son

00:04:24.700 for the greatest good of all humanity,

00:04:27.300 then God can use all the tragedies in our life

00:04:30.740 for the good of our own sanctification

00:04:34.840 and also for the church.

00:04:36.940 It's a difficult concept to grasp

00:04:38.940 and there are many theological implications around it,

00:04:41.380 but it's something to be thinking about.

00:04:43.780 Now, it's difficult for Gentiles to understand

00:04:47.980 the theological significance of this verse

00:04:51.340 because we often miss how Christ is fulfilling

00:04:54.180 the old covenant sacrificial system

00:04:56.600 that's being seen here in the text.

00:05:00.880 Christ was handed over by God in the same way

00:05:04.080 that Isaac was handed over by Abraham, 0.96

00:05:06.980 but unlike the son of Abraham,

00:05:08.760 the son of God was actually slaughtered.

00:05:11.480 His slaughter was that of the perfect spotless lamb

00:05:15.960 whose blood was sprinkled on the altar 0.90

00:05:18.420 to atone for the sins of his people.

00:05:20.000 And so there's lots of old covenant imagery

00:05:23.500 that's very important.

00:05:24.480 Hebrews 9, 12 says of Jesus,

00:05:27.480 quote, he entered once for all into the holy places,

00:05:30.800 not by means of the blood of goats and calves,

00:05:33.820 but by means of his own blood,

00:05:36.440 thus securing an eternal redemption, end quote.

00:05:40.100 First Peter 1, 18 through 19 says,

00:05:43.100 quote, knowing that you were ransomed

00:05:44.500 from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers,

00:05:47.240 not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

00:05:50.900 but with the precious blood of Christ,

00:05:53.740 like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

00:05:58.680 But Christ, the best part about this

00:06:00.660 is that Christ did not stay dead.

00:06:03.060 He did not, he bled for us and he died for us,

00:06:05.220 but he did not stay dead.

00:06:06.700 The text says, quote,

00:06:07.900 he was raised by God for our justification.

00:06:11.840 Paul wants us to see how our justification hinges

00:06:15.400 upon the resurrection of Jesus.

00:06:18.040 Now, because the wages of sin is death,

00:06:21.060 if Christ stayed dead,

00:06:22.720 it would have been evidence

00:06:23.980 that Christ had sin of his own to pay for.

00:06:27.700 Essentially that he was dying at the expense of his own sin.

00:06:30.480 Christ died for our sins.

00:06:32.220 He did not die for his sins.

00:06:33.980 And because the wages of sin is death

00:06:35.860 and Christ had no sin, Christ could not stay dead

00:06:39.300 and therefore had to be resurrected.

00:06:41.440 And he was essentially vindicated or exonerated,

00:06:45.120 validating that he was a sinless and perfect sacrifice,

00:06:47.980 the spotless lamb without sin,

00:06:50.860 and that his death essentially was unjust.

00:06:53.420 And so Christ died again for the sins of his people,

00:06:56.280 not for his own sins.

00:06:57.460 This is also what made it possible

00:06:59.440 for the resurrection to occur.

00:07:01.460 It's also connected to the reality

00:07:04.300 that Jesus was born not of Joseph,

00:07:08.200 but born of the Virgin Mary by the spirit of God.

00:07:11.980 He was not born of the seed of Adam,

00:07:15.320 that that original sin had came down through man

00:07:19.060 and everybody's born with sin and that's why everybody dies.

00:07:23.240 But Christ was not born of man,

00:07:24.700 but born of the spirit of God,

00:07:26.320 making him sinless from birth, 0.73

00:07:28.640 which allows him to live perfectly as the second Adam 0.95

00:07:32.560 who had no sin, unlike the first Adam

00:07:35.860 and was able to keep the law perfectly 0.51

00:07:37.700 and die without sin and validating his sinlessness

00:07:41.880 through the resurrection.

00:07:42.740 So there's lots of theological content

00:07:44.460 that's connected there.

00:07:46.140 But more than that, through his resurrection and ascension,

00:07:48.360 he now makes intercession for us, for our transgressions.

00:07:53.260 Isaiah 53, 12 says, quote,

00:07:55.400 therefore I will divide him a portion with the many 0.99

00:07:58.480 and he shall divide the spoil with the strong

00:08:00.460 because he poured out his soul to death

00:08:02.740 and was numbered with the transgressors.

00:08:05.240 Yet he bore the sin of many

00:08:07.900 and makes intercession for the transgressors."

00:08:11.180 End quote.

00:08:11.920 Romans 8, 34 says,

00:08:14.240 "'Who is to condemn?

00:08:15.300 Christ Jesus is the one who died.

00:08:16.880 More than that, who was raised?

00:08:19.400 Who is at the right hand of God?

00:08:21.980 Who indeed is interceding for us?'

00:08:24.000 End quote.

00:08:24.840 Hebrews 7, 25 says,

00:08:27.160 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost

00:08:30.800 those who draw near to God through him

00:08:32.880 since he always lives to make intercession for them."

00:08:36.920 End quote.

00:08:37.900 So ultimately the resurrection of Christ presents Jesus

00:08:42.620 as our high priest who ascended to heaven

00:08:45.840 and sits at the right hand of God the Father,

00:08:47.520 where he's eternally alive, making intercession

00:08:51.600 for the sins of his people through his own blood.

00:08:54.600 And so this is an amazing image and visual

00:08:59.060 that we need to understand. 1.00

00:09:00.700 It's difficult, again, as Gentiles, 1.00

00:09:02.560 not having a Hebrew structure 1.00

00:09:04.360 or maybe a rich comprehension of the sacrificial system

00:09:07.320 that was laid out in the old covenant.

00:09:09.040 Charles Hodge sums up this verse really well

00:09:12.360 when he says, quote,

00:09:13.880 "'Christ was delivered for our offenses

00:09:16.300 and raised again for our justification. 0.59

00:09:18.840 The immediate design of the death of Christ

00:09:21.280 was to make satisfaction for our sins,

00:09:23.880 And the immediate design of his resurrection

00:09:26.040 was to secure our justification.

00:09:28.280 He was treated as a lawbreaker

00:09:29.880 that we might be treated as righteous."

00:09:33.180 So this is good news.

00:09:34.120 This is the gospel.

00:09:35.100 This is some of the mechanics of the gospel.

Dale Partridge - April 05, 2023

Nothing Happens Outside of God's Control - Dale Partridge

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