His Righteousness Alone
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His Righteousness Alone
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 46
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43
It is amazing sometimes about how the human mind works. It is like a super computer that is capable of crossing the lines of its programming and can think and believe in just about anything it chooses to believe. Once it is set in one direction it can be very difficult to think of believe anything else. It would require a paradigm shift to do that which would totally rock its world upside down. For many though, they will refuse to see the other side of things no matter who or what is trying to deliver a different paradigm for them. The Religious leaders of Jesus’ time show us a perfect example of just that.
The books of Prophets are interesting because they are continually revealing things even long after prophecy is fulfilled. The Pharisees had the scriptures, including the prophets and they knew what the prophets said. They new these scriptures through and through or so they thought that they did. They were expecting a messiah to come and shepherd them to their freedom. They were worried more about their Roman oppression and were blind to the more harmful sinful oppression. They had the scripture of Jeremiah which we read this morning. They knew that this was prophesying about the Messiah to come. They understood this a promise from God. However, it seems that what they failed to understand was who the shepherds were that Jeremiah was talking about. They more than likely interpreted this as talking about the kings on the throne. Of course, Jeremiah would not be talking about the teachers of the law, for they must be exempt from such a thing. After all, they were the keeper of the scriptures and were the ones who knew the scriptures the best and of course kept the law of Moses. Yet when the Messiah finally came, they did not recognize him and thought of him as a heretic and nuisance. Therefore, they had the Messiah killed because he was a threat to their current way of life. Why would they do something like that? It is because they underestimated the righteousness of God while overestimating their own righteousness.
Luke 23 gives us the description of the events of Jesus’ crucifixion. The religious rulers were throwing insults at him as well as the Roman soldiers. They even hung a sign above him that said, “This is the King of the Jews.” Here is the king, the shepherd that was prophesied by Jeremiah, and they are mocking him and killing him. They knew the scriptures so why would they do this to their messiah? It is because they trusted in their own righteousness alone. Yet the righteous one hanging on the cross prayed for them to be forgiven for they knew not of what they were doing. Even one of the criminals next to Jesus also mocked him and insulted him. Yet the other criminal understood that he and the other were unrighteous men and deserved the punishment that they were receiving. He said, “Do you not fear God.” Don’t you understand that you are dying here today for justified reasoning. Don’t you understand that you are going to be punished even more in Hell? This man understanding his fate asks Jesus to remember him and he acknowledges Jesus in his deity. Because this man recognized the lack of his own righteousness, he was set free and forgiven, for he was now covered by the righteousness of God.
In our passage from Colossians, we learn about our reward for our patience. “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. It is in Christ alone that our hope is found. For “the Son is the Image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together. Jesus is the image of God. Jesus was there before all of creation. Jesus was there when all time began. Jesus is the one who holds all things together for he is the one who holds us in righteousness so that we may enter the kingdom of God.
There are any people in the world who express hatred towards Christians, the bible, towards Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. There was a time that I was one of them. I venture to say there was probably a time that we were all one of these. There are even those who understand that they need redemption but refuse to find it is Jesus Christ. The believe that if they are just a good person then they may redeem themselves. They are relying on their own righteousness for their redemption. There are those who believe that the Bible is a bunch of made-up stories. If they can convince themselves of this then they feel that they do not need to worry about sin and they will not have to feel any guilt for the things that they do. However, this is a false sense of security because the truth does not change. Righteousness can still only be found in Jesus Christ. There was a time in my life that I said I didn’t believe in God but I believed in science. I was one of those follow the science type of people. However, I was following a misinterpretation of science that was not based upon facts but was based upon a belief system that would manipulate science to try to explain away God. However, the arguments never hold up any weight. For if we follow the science, we cannot explain how everything, all matter and energy, came to be from nothing. According to the laws of science this is impossible. If we follow the science all complexity that is held together cannot come together all on its own by accident. For things move more to disorder rather than order. Someone had to put everything into order and we see in Colossians that it is Jesus Christ who holds all things together in order. Following the science is just another way in which people are trying to live by their own righteousness instead of trusting in Christ alone. For if they were really following the science then they would see that science points to a creator.
All of us will be held responsible for the things that we do on earth whether good or evil. However, through the righteousness of Jesus Christ we will not be condemned for these things. It is my prayer for you all that you will trust in Christ alone for your righteousness and that you will set self-righteousness aside. Trust in Jesus and you will be saved. Trust in Jesus and the world will be saved.