The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
00:00:00 Today's passage is taken from Galatians 3 19-29 reading from the NIV 2011 version. Why then was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. A mediator, however, implies more than one party, but God is one. Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not. For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But scripture has
00:00:43 locked up everything under the control of sin so that what was promised being given through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith. For all of you who were baptized
00:01:22 into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed and hes according to the promise. This is the word of God. Thank you. Thank you, Amanda. Testing testing 1 2 3 Good morning brothers and sisters in Christ and friends and family yeah and also to those who are watching us online you know um I don't know about you but it's such a privilege to be
00:02:10 found in um house of God um on a beautiful Sunday morning especially uh this special day of Mother's Day. Yeah. So, um everybody can hear me. Yeah. The mic is not working very well. Can you at the back outside? Good. On top at home. I can't see you. Yeah. But if you can't hear me, please uh contact someone in church. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Um it's an interesting topic on a mother's day. wasn't chos because of Mother's Day. But I hope that this message um will change your life. Yeah. Okay. Let us uh go to the Lord and uh
00:02:55 pray. Lord, we come before you this morning, Lord, filthy but holy and blameless because of Jesus. And so, Father, as we as you speak the message, you know, to us this morning, Lord, I ask that you prepare our hearts and our mind so that we are able to fully receive it and fully live out the truth, you know, and Lord, you know, as I stand before you, holy or blameless because of Jesus Christ, I ask that your infilling spirit descend on me right here, right Now, Father, so henceforth, every word that
00:03:42 is spoken from this filthy mouth is words from you made holy by you and that you will change life and make us more like Jesus each day. In Jesus name we ask. Amen. Thank you guys. Yeah. Okay. My computer for some reason just shut down. Maybe because I closed my eyes. Yeah. It's not not looking at it. Very smart. Yeah. Okay. Um, oh, no need to announce speaker for next week. Do I have to? Sorry, I forgot about that. Yeah. So, um, the screen is not working in case you don't know. Yeah. U, next week will be Dr. Peter on
00:04:25 slave to son, blessings or adoption. And the following week will be uh Ian Banton, our invited speaker, the enemy next door. And the following week will be William Yao. Yeah. our I suppose our youngest speaker tentative topic so I do not know you have to come to find out yeah right um this man is um Martin Luther um I'm sure he's a familiar face to most of you and he was a man pursued by the holiness of God yeah and it's not a good thing because he terrified him you know now this young man did everything the religion demanded of him
00:05:05 as all religion yeah us. Um he fasted until he was so skinny that his rib was pressing against his skin, you know, and he prayed until his knee was hurting a lot of the time. And you can you believe that he actually confessed one time. Yeah. For 6 hours straight. How many of you did that? 6 hours. None. Yeah. I believe even 10 minutes is quite torturing, you know. And yet when he finished, he was not sure he had done enough to secure a future in God's kingdom. And that's the thing about law that I'm going to talk about this
00:05:40 morning as well. It doesn't grade you on the bell curve. Yeah. So it demands perfection. And what is perfection? Like say 59% is it good enough or 49? No. 79? No. 89? No. 99.9. No. demands 100%. Yeah. And Luther knew based on that that he didn't meet the bar 100%. And so the go the God he loves feels like a jailer to him, you know, and the harder he worked to earn God's favor. The thicker the bar of his prison cells become until one day in the year 1510. Yeah. And he went to Rome and climbed the holy stairway to heaven, so
00:06:24 to speak. Yeah. Also known as the scalant. Yeah, Santa, sorry. It is a set of 28 white marble steps situated near the basilica of the St. John uh St. John Lutheran Church, you know, in Rome and they are believed to be the steps that Jesus walked on when he uh was um judged by Pontius Pilate. Anyone been there before? No. for s the Catholics believe that if you climb the scalcant on your knee uh praying sorry I have to see those uh praying at each step uh you could gain God's forgiveness for your sin you know
00:07:05 so Luther yeah he climbed you know on his knees reciting every step he reciting a prayer you know desperately yeah seeking for atonement of his sin and by the time he got up to the top of the steps you He realized that nothing has changed. The step didn't save him. And his obsession of doing his best for God did not give him any peace at all. And then one day he discovered in Romans chapter 1 17 which says that the righteous shall leave and like a thunderbolt of lightning you know splitting the darkness of the light the
00:07:43 night. Yeah. The truth struck his soul. You know righteousness is not something that he could earn. Neither can you. It is something that you must receive not by moral performance or by religious duty or by climbing any steps. Yeah. Or punishing your body but only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yeah. because he climbed the ultimate steps on the cross, you know, to do for you and me and do do for Luther what he could never do for himself. Back up. Back up. Pardon? And in that moment, the chain was broken.
00:08:21 Yeah. And the jailer disappeared. And Martin Luther for the first time in his life met the true father who had made him righteous all along. So my title of this uh sermon this morning is embracing the freedom in Christ. Yeah. And it's divided into two three points. Yeah. Now um I want you to see point one the futility of uh human religion by the end of the sermon. And number two I want you to see the amazing finality of the Lord Jesus Christ who he truly is. And third and not but third but not least enjoy yeah
00:09:07 the privilege of a son. Amen. Yeah. So picking up from brother Ammon um the amen is very soft. So it would be uh good that um you know the amens should be a bit louder so there is not a oneway traffic this morning. Yeah. Now picking up from brother Anna last Sunday. I would like to just do a quick recap because there's the overlapping vers of 19 to 22. Yeah. which serve as a contact to our text this morning in verse 23 onwards. Now so far in Galatian we learned that the law cannot save us at incant and the law is
00:09:40 not but the mirror which reflects our sinfulness to us and aside from convicting our sin the law also point us to the fact that sin condemn us to death and for example in the book of Exodus you 3,000 men was killed uh by the Levites you on the instruction of God because they were found worshiping the golden calf and having a OG party. Exodus 32:28. Now because the law convicts and condemns and therefore there is a need for atonement for sin, isn't it? Otherwise, very soon in the Israelite camps, there will be no one left, you
00:10:19 know. So to achieve this, God provided a sacrificial system, animal sacrificial system to deal with sin. But this was temporarily. Yeah. When Jesus came and died on the cross, he became the final perfect sacrifice, fulfilling the law once and for all and replace the need for an ongoing sacrifices. And so in verse 21, it says that is the law then contrary to the promises of God. Now Paul told us that it it does not in the next uh line you know but in the same breath he also says that uh the law imprisons everything under the control
00:11:03 of sin you know and this is confusing to say the least. Yeah. On one hand he says that the law is aligned with the promises of God but on the other hand he says that the law imprisons us. What is Paul talking about? Yeah. Now to unravel this entanglement, yeah, we need to understand the dichotomy of the two differing spiritual paradigms that I'm going to talk about this morning. That is human religion versus the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yeah. Now, the religious people and the gospel people are in two different camp. Yeah.
00:11:42 They both want to obey God's words. They want to do good. But the law of God has very differing impact, very different impact on these two groups of people. You follow me so far? Yeah. So, religion versus gospel of Jesus Christ. Yeah. Now, in religion, the moral law is a burden. Yeah. Because you have to do it like Mart Lutin Martin Luther sorry. And therefore, he enslave you and imprison you. But in the gospel, yeah, the soral law offers blessings and gift to believers. Yeah. Now I explain that.
00:12:22 Yeah. You see, most people in the world believe that there is a God. Do you? Any non-believer among us? Do you believe that there is a God? I'm sure you do. Yeah. Otherwise, you won't be here this morning. And you can relate to this God by being good. Do good. Yeah. And all the religions of this world if you put them all together there are probably hundreds of them you know are basically based on this principle but they are uh iterated yeah or there are many variations of it you know now I give you I group them into
00:12:53 three rough categories. Some religions are nationalistics. Yeah. So they are closely tied to nations to ethnicity to race or culture. For example Judaism. Yeah. What they say is that you can connect to God by being association of their kind you know and taking upon yourself the culture and the custom of the society. Now for example in Judaism they want you to be circumcised. Yeah. And you can only eat cautious food. So that's the end of your su and tu that Dr. Peter likes a lot. Yeah. And other religions are
00:13:29 spiritualistic. You know, for example, Buddhism and Taoism and some new age movement. And what they tell you is that you can reach God by working yourself through certain transformation of consciousness which leads to enlightenment. It is so complicated. I haven't figured out what it means until today. Now, there are also other religions which are legalistic. For example, Islam or the moralistic version of Christianity. I shall not name them. Yeah. And that is a code of conduct and if you do it then God will bless you.
00:14:06 Just like Martin Luther Essentially religion is um is based on the principle that if I obey and if I perform I am accepted and therefore at its core religion is transactional. Yeah. Our relationship humanly speaking are virtually almost exclusively all transactional. No. Now if I give God something then he owes me. Right? Now if you are thinking this way then you are reducing God to an idol. You know it reduces God to a cosmic vending machine that look like this. So where you insert a coin of moral effort. Yeah. and out comes
00:14:51 outpour God's blessings to you but I want to tell you that brothers and sisters and friends and family this is a delusion because we have no leverage before a holy god you know what can you and I made from dust you know have anything to offer to the creator of the galaxies excuse me back up now Psalms um Psalms 50 10 to 12 says that God owns everything and uh in Romans 11:35-36 it says that we owe him everything. Yeah. So there's no leverage at all. Now conversely the gospel is the complete opposite of it. Yeah. Because
00:15:39 religion says I obey therefore I am accepted. But the gospel of Jesus Christ says this, "No, I am fully accepted and therefore I obey." You get the drift? Yeah. No. Okay. Now, simply put, yeah, Christianity is not like religion at all. Yeah. The gospel is God through Jesus Christ give us a complete salvation which we receive only by sure grace and then you and I will be gladly and gratefully living for him serving him loving other people. No, not out of obligation but because Jesus has loved us you know it is the exact opposite of
00:16:25 religion. You have to do something for God so that he owes you and therefore he can bless you. You know in religion you are saved by being better than everybody else. Yeah. By rising above the masses, by living the good life, by taking the narrow path, by performing better than other people. And in other words, if you perform better than others, then you are saved. So like, you know, if you are chased by a lion, you know, you just have to run faster than the person next to you. Yeah. Because you will not be
00:16:59 killed. That's religion. Now in the gospel, you are only saved one if you admit that you are absolutely no better than anyone else. Look around you. You know, if you feel that you're better than the person next to you, then you are not embracing the gospel. Number two, when you admit that you're basically in many many ways, in all sorts of ways spiritually and morally bankrupt and then you can be saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. And in religion, yeah, the purpose of obeying the law is very different. Yeah. From
00:17:40 the gospel of Jesus Christ. The re the purpose of law is to assure in religion that you are right. You're made right with God. You know now you can use this obedience to the law to actually extort God. Yeah. And therefore you do all things to assure that you are a good person in the eyes of other people. And therefore God owes you. And because he owes you, he has to answer to all your prayers and blessed you and finally take you to heaven. And as a result when you come to the law what you are concerned about is
00:18:15 the details of the law you want to know exactly what you have to do you know because you have to push all the right buttons and you don't want to miss any of them because if you come back with a 99 over 100 you are doomed you're not going to heaven. So you're not going to appreciate Yeah. the true meaning, the true purpose of the law. Yeah. What are the true purpose of the law? Yeah. It is about God's hearts for justice. Isn't it? Yeah. The the Pharisees says that you cannot pick grain. Yeah. On the
00:18:49 Sabbath day, they rather see someone go hungry and die. You know, that is not the purpose of the law. God given the Sabbath rest, you know, for them to rejuvenate, for them to worship God, you know. Yeah. And what other things, you know, are the purpose of the law? For God's mercy and faithfulness, just to name a few. But they tell you that you can only walk certain feet. You know, above that, you cannot walk anymore on the Sabbath day. Is considered work. Yeah. So where's the purpose? To burden you. To
00:19:23 put you on shackles. Yeah. In fact, the like the Pharisees that if if you are a religious person, you are likely going to add to the moral law all sorts of the do and the don'ts you know restrictions and mindless ritual etc. which burden the people. So you can become the authority of the law. Yeah. To gain power to have control and prestige because these people has to come to you for guidance to interpret the law that you have just created. you know elevating your spiritual morality as your spiritual
00:20:00 authority but in the gospel in the gospel of Jesus Christ the law is there to take you and I out of our self-righteousness you know do you feel that someone who came late this morning beside you you look at him and say hey you know this guy is not very faithful self-righteousness yeah and centeredness you know yeah you have to serve me you know it is there the law for the gospel to show you the kind of life that you should be living if you are in Christ Jesus before the Lord who has done everything for you. So the function of
00:20:35 the law is a way of showing you how to love God, my brothers and sisters. And how to because you love God, you know how to love God, you know how to love others. Yeah. Amen. Do you love your wife? And your husbands, let me tell you, if you don't love God, you have no ability to love your husbands or wife. My marriage would have been long broken if not for the Lord. He has mercy. So is to tell you that you should not be absorbed in yourself. So when you look at the law as a believer in the gospel
00:21:11 of Jesus Christ, you want to see the broad meaning of the purpose of the law and you want to see the motivation of the heart. What is the motivation behind the law? And you are not as concerned about the details. You know how many feet should I walk on a Sunday? Maybe 10 feet. You know above that you should not or Sabbath day. Sorry. In religion, obeying the law makes you feel better than other people. Every time you completed a list of to-do holiness, you feel that you are one step above the rest, don't you?
00:21:44 Yeah. If you have done a good thing, you know, in religion, you feel that you are holier than other people because you are complying with the details. Now, in the gospel, when you look at the law, you are humbled by it. Yeah. Oh, I can never live up to the law. Can you? God gave Moses 613 law. Can you remember what you ate three Wednesdays day ago? No. Yes. No. And yet God loves you in spite of that. And therefore, I'm going to do my best. If you are in the gospel, I'm going to do my best to resemble God and to live a life of love
00:22:27 that he wants me to live. So obeying the law become a way in which that you can emulate Jesus. You reflect him. To love him is to reflect him. And to reflect him is to glorify him. And to glorify him is to magnify him. Yeah. So you obey the law out of gratitude and reciprocation to God's grace and love that he has given to you. He first love you before you can love him and love others. So that brings us uh to the first truth this morning. You know that religion uses the law to elevate our pride while the gospel humbers and
00:23:08 drives us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is a movie that I think many of you have seen. It's called The Sheretss of Fire. Yeah. Now, it is about two runners, true story, in the 1924 Olympics. Yeah. One is uh Harold Ibraham on your left and Eric Little on the right. Yeah. On your right. Now, both these men Yeah. chase the gold medal in that Olympic. But their motivation that they have reveals two entirely different approaches to life and to God. Yeah. Now Herod represents the futility of religion which I want you to see before
00:23:49 you leave this hall. Yeah. He was trying to earn worthiness through the performance. Yeah. Which Eric embodies while Eric Yeah. is the total opposite. Yeah. He embodies the freedom of Christ. Yeah. The freedom of receiving worthiness as a gift from the Lord. You know now Herods once said when he was asked you know about his race he say I got 10 seconds to justify my existence. What does that mean for Herod? The race was not just about speed and the matter know but it was about self validation. He puts his worth in
00:24:29 the medals and the the speed that is running you know how fast he can be. He wants to be above the rest because of pride. No. And therefore be because of that every strike was weighed down by the crushing demand of his unspoken belief. And what is that belief? That his worth is depended on his performance. He run like a mad man. Yeah. Trying to climb a ladder to the sky desperate to prove that he matters. Yeah. It's like you going to the ocean in PD, you know, trying to drink the ocean water to prove to other
00:25:05 people that you're not thirsty. That's religion. Using roots as a tool for selfexaltation. Yeah. If I completed the five task that I have to do this morning, I feel holier than you. No, hoping that our obedience will make us good enough for God. But Eric Eric run differently. Yeah. When he was asked why he ran, you know, he said, "God make me fast." And so when I run, I feel his pleasure. God also make Herod fast, you know. But he said that I he made me fast. So when I run, I feel his pleasure. Do you feel his pleasure?
00:25:50 Every morning when you wake up and you go to work, you know, you face dire situation. Eric did it too. But he feels God's pleasure. Yeah. And Eric was not running to earn God's approval. He was running because of God's approval. You see the difference? You don't run to impress God. He runs because of God's approval. He's already approved him. He knew that his identity was not tied to a Olympic medal. But it is tied to the cross. It is tied to the person of Jesus Christ. And everyone knew that uh Eric refused
00:26:30 to run on Sunday. You know, his observation of the rest day was not a bargaining chip to extort God, but it stems out of his heartfelt gratitude for what Jesus have done on the cross for him for you. I'm sure you do. And that's the gospel. And that the law no longer condemns Eric. So he is free to obey and joyfully obey God and his law. So you see the same law that drove Herod to self validation is driving Eric to rest in Christ Jesus's redemption. And therefore yeah I want you to take away this not Eric and
00:27:14 Herod. I want you to take away this this differences this truth you know that Herod was very even while he was resting and sleeping. Isn't it? Do you feel the same? But this earth shaking truth is that Eric was at rest even while he was running and training. Which one are you brothers and sisters in Christ? Where in your life are you still trying to earn the approval of Jesus? You know that he has already given to you freely the day when you went down on your knees and you confess your sin and you say that Lord I surrender my life to
00:28:01 you that you are my Lord and Savior change me and move me. He given it to you. And what ladder are you still climbing that Jesus is asking you to bro step off you know sister please step off the steps because Jesus already climbed the steps of the cross for you. And when will you be when will you stop trying to be good enough for every person you know that has influence in your life you know and start resting in the truth that Jesus has already given you the approval. Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is the gospel.
00:28:48 And what is the gospel? The gospel, my brothers and sisters in Christ, is the person of Jesus Christ. And until and unless you are fully invested that Jesus is sufficient for you, until and unless you have a personal relationship with him in the person of Jesus Christ and whatever that you're working so rigorously, you are working for your own salvation. Yeah. in the futility of the religion, not the gospel. And now I want to give you, you know, I want to make you in awe about the finality of Jesus Christ because in
00:29:32 verses 24 and 25, Paul says this. Yeah. The law is a entering guardian that guardians. Yeah. That guide. Sorry, can I have a drink? Yeah. Excuse me. Ah, father please protect my voice. Now in verses 24 and 25, Paul says that the Lord is an entering guardian. Yeah. That guides our conduct and lead us to the final authority. Yeah. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now once he's here, we are no longer under the law. But I want to ask you this question. You know many of you might be thinking yeah but
00:30:15 how can Jesus really pull off such a claim isn't he by saying that religion is over you know for centuries yeah but uh the moment that he arrived who does he think he is now what I'm what am I what I am about to say to you or to disclose to you is going to obliterate you and leaves you breathless gasping with air you know while it resurrects you with a new heart. Amen. I hope that you will happen. Yeah. Now, let me show you the magnitude of what Jesus is claiming. Yeah. Now, Jesus is not just another
00:30:56 rabbi, you know, that you read in the Bible who came to offer a new interpretation of the law that God has given to Moses. But Jesus is saying that I am the lawgiver. I am the one that the law is pointing to. Really? Yeah. Do you think that I'm reading too much into the text of uh Galatians? Absolutely not. Yeah. Let me read to you what Mark 27 and 28 say. And Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for men, not man for the Sabbath. And so the Son of Man is not even of the Sab Sabbath." You know, the young people will say, "Fo."
00:31:42 Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. He is the Lord of the He is the Lord of the law. Now, notice that Jesus did not dismiss the Sabbath or law. Yeah. Yeah. Now that I'm in gospel, you know, I don't have to follow the law anymore. Yeah. He says the Sabbath of the law was made for men and therefore it applies to all humanity. Yeah. And the law is made for all men. And yet, and yet, brother and sister, if you open your New Testament, you will find that Jesus came in over and over and over again to squash and
00:32:18 trembles all the rules and the regulation, for example, the legalism. Yeah. Around the Sabbath, most memorable, right? And he comes in and say that I'm blowing away all your religiosity all the legalistic way in which the teachers of the law have used the law has interpreted the law he's blowing away the whole the entire religion paradigm you saying that we are not going to do it yeah any of the rigid interpretation and so if you are with the Pharisee you say how dare he you know where does this Jesus get his
00:32:58 authority And my answer to you this morning is right here before your eyes. Mark chapter 2 verse 28. The son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath. I want you to see the magnitude of what Jesus have just said in verse 28. First of all, he didn't only say that I have the divine authority to change the Sabbath. He could have said that but he didn't. Yeah. He could have even said that I am lord over the Sabbath, you know, but he didn't say that. Instead, he said, "I am the Lord of Sabbath." Definitive. Yeah. Which means
00:33:38 that I am the Sabbath. Which means I am the one that the law is pointing to. Which means Jesus is not a subject of the law. Why? Because he wrote the law. He is the law. Do you see the magnitude of what this is saying? Yeah. I want you to know brothers and sisters, no one in history has ever spoken the way that Jesus has spoken. Yeah. Look at this. In Matthew chapter 5 43 to 44, Jesus repeatedly say that you have heard that it was said. You have heard that it was said. Yeah. Now you shall love your neighbor and hate your
00:34:18 enemies. But in verse 44, he said, "I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecutes you." Wow. Jesus is redefining the law. Yeah. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Who can say that if not for God Lord Almighty? And over and over again, yeah, if you comb the pages of the Bible, you know, Jesus showed that his self-consciousness, that is the understanding of who he is when he was doing his ministry on earth is absolutely off the chart. Yeah. And
00:35:05 unprecedented by any standard, you now the Bible teaches you and me that there is a God who is uncreated, right? Who is beginningless. Yeah. Because he's the alpha and omega. who is infinitely transcendent above all creations, who made this world and who keeps everything in the universe going in order. Yeah. With his finger. Have you seen the uh have you seen the solar system on internet? Yeah. It's so big. But the solar system is a dot in the entire universe. And God is holding everything together. How many degree you turn you
00:35:41 know this planet versus that planet you know and all the all the uh uh natural satellites one of them go out one degree cease to exist. God is controlling that and with the power of his finger and his words and all the molecules all the stars and all the galaxy you know are being held up by the power of this God. And guess what brothers and sisters you know Jesus say that is who I am not convinced? Yeah. In Luke chapter 10 where Jesus is talking about demon possession. Yeah. If you can open your Bible you can do that.
00:36:28 But I've already given you the words. You know that he says this. He say, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning." What do you realize what he's claiming? He is claiming, "Yes, I remember back then before the universe was created, I saw Lucifer gone rook. I was there. Yeah, I was around. I knew this fellow. There's another place in Matthew chapter 23 34 where Jesus said that I keep sending you prophet and sages wise men you know and scribes. What? Wait a minute. Yeah. He Jesus didn't say I am one of the great
00:37:18 prophets and sages that God has sent. You know, no he says I am the God who keeps sending you the prophets and the sages, the wise men. Yeah. and the scribes. Can you believe it? You better. Yeah. Because it's scripture. And do you realize that brothers and sisters and friends and family, if you comb the Bible, every prophet, every religious teacher and every sage and every wise man that has ever been sent by Jesus who has ever lived always says this, you know, they always say, "Taith the Lord."
00:37:54 So say the Lord. Yeah. And I challenge you to find a place in the Bible, word for word. Yeah. Where Jesus ever said the same. Take out your Bible or ask your chat GPT. You'll never find them. All Jesus ever said was this. Yeah. Over and over and over again in the Bible. Truly, truly I said unto you. You see the authority of his words. Yeah. And Jesus's self-consciousness is so off the chart, so off the top, over the top. Yeah. It is very clear that he is absolutely atomic, you know. He's so saturated. He's so holy, you know, and
00:38:40 he's so divine, you know. So even in his spontaneous offhand commands, yeah, if you have a Bible, open it. In the footnotes, in the sidebar of the Bible, everything that Jesus ever said, they all pointed to one fact that Jesus is the uncreated, beneic, beginningless, transcendent, eternal creator and the judge of the universe. And he is the one who wrote the law. And he came to fulfill the law because you and I cannot. And because of this, he's able to free you and I from the condemnation of the law. And
00:39:20 therefore, you can embrace the freedom in Jesus Christ. But the logical question is this. What are you going to do about these facts that I have just imparted to you? Do you know what that means? Now if you have come to this sanctuary this morning clutching the shackles of your religion you know if you think that every morning you wake up you have to go through the list you know of things that you have to do yeah and so that you'll be made right with God and I hope that this I pray that this next sentence that I'm going to say is
00:39:59 going to liberate you yeah to fully embrace the freedom of the gospel now Jesus did not come yeah to perform a reform Reform you all know reform right? No he did not come you know of the Christian religion he did not come to reform it he was here to end the religion you hear me he ends it yeah to absolutely put it to death and replace it with what? With himself the person of Jesus Christ. Because brother and sisters in Christ he is the law. Because brother and sister in Christ he is the father. Full stop period ends
00:40:44 there. And this leads us to the final truth of this morning that u you know Jesus is the end of the law because he wrote it. He fulfills it so that you and I can live freely from the law's condemnation. It doesn't mean that you don't have to obey it, but it just mean that you are no longer enslaved by it because the law was never meant to save us anyway, you know, but to lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come to interpret the law like any of the prophets, you know, but he fulfills
00:41:22 it and he ends his condemnation. Jesus Christ in other words puts an end to the performancebased religion. Christianity is not your career. It is not based on performance. Now I want you to take a moment to think about your relationship with Jesus as I put this reflection into your minds. So how have you truly understood the finality and the supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life? Yeah. And where in your life are you still trying to measure up to man-made law and let it steal? Yeah. Grudgingly,
00:42:09 let it steal the freedom in Christ from you. I want to give you some example, you know. Do you feel the need that you have to check off a list you and serve more? Yeah. more incrementally. Yeah. Pray longer. You know, each time you pray longer, you feel better and you you have to look holier than other people to be spiritually to be performancely and morally superior to other people. Does your labor for God, whatever ministry that you're serving in, and your love for others, stems from the fear of the Lord,
00:42:51 or does it flow joyfully and naturally from being loved and justified by the Lord Jesus Christ? And most importantly, how is your identity being shaped by the work, by your achievement, by your bank account, the cars that you drive, the houses that you live in, rather than being defined by the finality of the Lord Jesus Christ. He died on the cross for you and me. And so he blood cover us. I am sinful and filthy in the eyes of God. But this morning and I stand before the cross. I am perfect and holy. Why?
00:43:40 Because God doesn't see my face. He saw Jesus's face on me. And so it is true for you. So is your identity in Jesus or in the worldly things that you're working so hard for that drives you to diabetic that drives you to high blood pressure to drives you to depression etc etc etc and listen to the final words from Paul at the end of chapter three he says this you know he say for in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through what? Through what? Through faith. Remember this. Yeah. And if you are, if
00:44:29 you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring as according to the promise. Now, do you realize what Paul is saying about you brother and sisters in Christ? Do you? He is saying that in Jesus Christ, you are not just made righteous, you know, but you are made son. That includes daughter. Yeah. You have sunship. Do you know what sunship means? I can't go to your house and do what I like. But your son can. Isn't it? You have sunship. And you are not just forgiven brother and sister. You are a family to
00:45:09 Jesus. When you get to the new heaven and new earth one day, you know, you are family with him. And do you know what's the privilege of family? The God who sent his son to fulfill the law to die on the cross now calls you his heirs, my sons and my daughter. How amazing is this? Have you ever stopped to think about this and ponder upon this? Yeah. And let me crystallize this for you. So that you can lift it, you can embrace it. Yeah. And you can hold on to it, you know, for the rest of your life
00:45:46 on this earth until you get to heaven with Jesus. Because whatever truth that I tell you, if you cannot lift it, you cannot embrace it is just a nice story this morning by Brandon. Yeah. Now, when I was in primary school, brothers and sister, I was always the inverted comma so-called good student until the mathematics result comes out. Yeah. And mind you, I went to Chinese school. Yeah. And so I'm the paria of the of the of the Lord, you know, because the Chinese are good in counting. Yeah. And no matter how hard I try, you
00:46:20 know, my math results always let me down, you know. I'm always, you know, the uh run of the meal so to speak students and then one time just this time by the stroke of uh divine fortune, I was placed fifth in class instead of the 10, you know. So can you imagine the excitement? Yeah. my best result ever, you know. So, I was thrilled. Yeah. And I ran home, you know, so eagerly to show my father that I finally broke 10. Yeah. The golfers here, you understand what I mean. I broke 10, you know. But my joy and enthusiasm was
00:46:57 absolutely destroyed, you know, by these eight crushing words that I still remember until today. My late father, beloved father said to me, "What is so great about being number five?" Don't come and show me or talk to me until you're number one. And that day in primary school, what he said rewrote my understanding of my selfworth. And without realizing it, I absorb this bank worldview that will haunt me for years to come. And what is this bank philosophy? You know, I am only as valuable as my achievements. And so I grudgingly hustle
00:47:52 on. Yeah. In school, in my career, in life later, and even in my walk with the Lord, you won't believe it. And if I'm honest to you, Yeah. This 10year-old boy still whisper to me every once in a while today. Yeah. And if you know me well, you will see the fingerprints, you know, where I spent countless hours after hours after hours of overpreparing for my sermon, you know, working for the approval of Jesus and other people instead of working from the approval of Jesus. And I tell you, when I was in the
00:48:34 working world, I remember feeling this big or this small when my bosses threw my proposal out of the door. When my bosses didn't appreciate my work because I was working for their approval instead of resting in Jesus's approval. I tie my selfworth to the outcome of my performance in life rather than the finality of the Lord and Savior, my all in all, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you in a similar place? Think about it. God give you a talent and you should work hard for it, but you should be joyful. When you do
00:49:22 the work, you know that you feel the pleasure in every fabric, every molecule body. In closing, now I want to leave you with the only hope. Yeah. That is available to humanity. Only hope that is true. There are a lot of hopes in this world. Yeah. But they are not true. They bank. God's approval doesn't work like mathematics. So if you're not good at mathematics, it's okay. Only three out of 10 people are good in mathematics. The rest are not. That is the statistic. But God has a purpose for you and me.
00:50:01 When he make you good at mathematics, there is a purpose. When he make you not so good in mathematics, he make you good in other areas. Yeah. Amen. Yeah. So don't go as exasperate your children if they cannot do math. You know, for God's sake. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. I ask for your pardon. Yeah. For my language, you know, God approval doesn't work like mathematics. Yeah. You cannot calculate the gospel. You can only receive it. You know, God is not waiting for you to get 100 or number one before he can love
00:50:33 you. Absolutely not. Why? Because at the cross, Jesus took the reports of your life. Yeah. What did he take? He takes every failure. He takes every fifth place moment and he stamped it with these three words. What are the three words? These words paid in full that changes the gospel people's life. You know, do you know that your privilege use it, you know? Yeah. Don't behave like other religions, you know. Paid in full. So how are you brothers and sisters you know still running and striving and chasing relentlessly you
00:51:17 know grudgingly you know not out of faith but out of desperation to prove yourself you know chasing after your worthiness you know by the house that you live you know how many houses you have oh you got one I got five you know or be your career who are you manager I'm managing director or your study or your relationship and your services to God. Yeah. I hope that when they sing they feel the pleasure of God. Yeah. Not God taking away time, you know, or they have to fulfill the law. No. So you have you you can stop, you know,
00:52:09 trying to prove to yourself that you're good enough, trying to prove to your mother-in-law, father-in-law, trying to prove to your parents, trying to prove to your wife and your children, you know, or your your your brothers and sisters, you know, or even prove yourself to God because he doesn't need you to do that. He already approved you brothers and sisters, you know, because at creation God say it is finished. Yeah. And so he rested. But when Jesus went to the cross, he also said, "It is finished."
00:52:41 Why? So that you and I, brothers and sisters, who are the gospel people can rest and truly rest in Jesus. No matter what you're doing, whether you are sleeping or you're working or you're toiling, you can rest in Jesus truly and fully. And what does Jesus mean that it is finished? What did he finish? He finished the work beneath your work. That restless striving for identity, the restless striving for approval, the restless striving for some meaning in this miserable life. You know, because Jesus lived the perfect life. You know,
00:53:17 you could never ever live. And he died the death that you and I so deserve to die. And when you rest in his finished work, you can stop trying to prove yourself. When Eric runs, he's not running to prove himself. He feels the pleasure of God. When he train hard, you know, he has to carry another athlete up the stadium steps up, down, up, down, up, down, know 50 times. He doesn't feel that it is laborious because he feels the pleasure of God. You can finally live. Yeah. From Jesus's ex uh acceptance. Yeah. If you can't
00:54:02 remember, please take this now. You can finally live from his acceptance. Not from, not for sorry, his acceptance. You can finally do what you do best and feel his pleasure. Amen. And in Christ Jesus that you can finally rest even when you are working. Can you imagine that tomorrow morning you wake up, yippee, I'm going to work, you know. Yeah. Conversely, if you leave this hall, living in the religion, living in the law, you will feel restless, brothers and sister, even when you are sleeping. Do you have restless
00:54:39 night? And in that rest, you will find your true identity and worthiness. And what is that? The freedom of being fully known, fully accepted and fully loved by Jesus. You hear me? It's not half. It's fully fully known, fully accepted, fully loved. You don't have to do anything. Yeah. And when you obey the Lord, you obey not grudgingly. You obeying it happily. So God sent his son to fulfill the law so that you and I can receive righteousness by faith and live as free hes of his promise. I want you to
00:55:23 embrace the freedom in Jesus Christ. Yeah. When you walk out this morning, you know. Amen. Amen. This is where you respond. Yeah. Amen. Yeah. Thank you, brothers. You know, shall we pray? Yeah. Shall we praise? Praise the Lord. Aba father thank you for sending your son to fill the law so that we are free from the shackles of the law and thank you for Jesus who took the report card all our life you know every failure every fifth place mo m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m moment, you
00:55:53 know and stamped it paid in full that changes our life, you know. And so no longer we have to live for your acceptance, Lord, but we can live from your acceptance. So when your Holy Spirit moved us to obey the law and do the things that you want us to do, we do not do it to earn your love, but we do it out of gratitude for you. And since we are fully known, fully accepted and fully loved by Jesus Christ. So henceforth, yeah, may our labor and our effort to abide in you comes with only one sole motivation and
00:56:32 that is to honor you, Father, to glorify you and to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ. So we can truly feel your pleasures in every ounce of effort dispense as we rest in you. In Jesus name we ask. Amen. And now receive the benediction. May the God who sent his son to fulfill the law so that by faith you are made righteous fill you with the unshakable joy of your freedom. And may you walk as an air of this promise that Jesus has given to us. no longer bound or sheered by the condemnation of the law but alive
00:57:19 and free in Jesus Christ in his grace. So go now brother and sister love liberate and secure in his righteousness. Yeah. And may the peace of Christ, you know, guard your hearts and his spirit lead you in bold, unhindered faith to live out to truly embrace your freedom in Jesus Christ regardless of how your day turns out because your identity and your purpose in this life is rooted in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Amen. Yeah. So with a moment of silence meditation, the service is over. But if you feel that you have a list of
00:58:01 to-do that you have a check off, you know, constantly, I ask that you come forward to be prayed by our pastors and our elders. Yeah. and the leaders of the church.
