Life: What Foundations are You Building On?

Jesus Is the Son of God; and Only Savior of the World.

This sermon was prepared and preached by Pastor Mike Rose at First Federated Church in Des Moines, Iowa, on
Sunday, October 28, 2007.
Copyright © 2007, First Federated Church

What are the philosophical underpinnings your life is built on? Can I be honest? We’ve become such a
“non-thinking” culture that a question such as this is not easily understood.

However, understood or not, all of us are building our lives on some foundation we believe is solid and
will stand the test of time

But let me challenge you with this thought – Just because we believe our Life Foundation will stand the
test of time does not mean it actually will

Jesus made reference to this in His parable about the wise and foolish builder Matthew 7

The Foolish man built his house on the sand, believing it would stand – But when the storms came the
house was destroyed because it’s foundation was washed away

The Wise man built his house on the rock and when the storms came, it stood because it’s foundation
was solid

In my present series; LIFE: What Foundations Are You Building On? I’m presenting 10 Absolute Truths
that are solid, they have stood the test of time and will continue to do so, because they are God’s truths to
us.

Absolute #1 The Bible is God’s Word; able to lead us into all necessary truth – We explored the
evidences that The Bible is more than a book, It is God’s very Word – We were challenged with specific
steps on how to treat it as such

Absolute #2 God Is; and we are wise to pursue Him –God’s existence is not something we believe in
our minds only (propositional), but is dynamic, effecting the way we live our lives every day

Absolute #3 Man Is Depraved; be warned, be an evangelist – We naturally want to believe that man is
“basically good”, but building our lives on this deception will bring us many hurts – God sees us for what
we are, “deceptive and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

Understanding this helps us recognize that change needs to occur from the deepest part of our being and
only God through His Son and Spirit can bring that change to reality

That brings me to Absolute # 4, Jesus Is The Son of God; and only Savior of the World.

Acts 4:12 (NASB) 12“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that
has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

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 Let’s pray, then we’ll unpack this Absolute

It is my belief that while mankind likes to think of himself as “basically good” he knows in his heart it
isn’t so - Take eBay for example

Last week I shared their stated belief that “man is basically good” – yet for those who trade on eBay, you
know they have many strategies in place to keep traders honest

Why is that? – Because despite their stated belief’s, experience has shown the propensity of man to
defraud Therefore, no matter what we want to believe or what we say, we know that man is flawed

It is my opinion that most rational people agree on this. What we don’t agree on is how to deal with the
problem

Now I could spend a lot of time highlighting the myriads of Religions created by man to deal with the
problem, But I didn’t come here to educate you on the belief’s of false religions

I’m here to highlight the One, Singular answer for man’s depravity, the Only Path that God has given for
man to be Saved from the guilt and penalty of his sin

His name is Jesus; He is God’s Son, - Take note of the testimony God gives in His Word about Jesus

I. Jesus was God’s Plan For Salvation before the World was Created.

1 Peter 1:18-20 (NLT) 18For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you
inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom He paid was not mere gold or silver. 19He paid for you
with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20God chose Him (Jesus) for this
purpose long before the world began, but now in these final days, He was sent to the earth for all to see.
And He did this for you.

Remember in my message God Is: I taught you that He is Omniscient and Omnipotent? We see this truth
born out in this passage

Before time began, before there was a world, before the creation of man, God knew that man would sin
and his sin would need to be dealt with

Seeing this through His Omniscience, He devised a plan to deal with the sin of man through His Son, and
in His Omnipotence He ensured that His plan would come to pass

So understand–Jesus was God’s plan for man’s Salvation before there was a need for such a plan.

II. Jesus was God’s Plan for Salvation announced at The Fall of Man

A major frustration with humanity is how easily and often we change our minds about important things.

Many times I’ve sat in my office contemplating something I think is going to happen and decide to deal
with it in a certain way, only to get to the issue and discover a new plan is needed

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God never does that! When man fell into sin, as God knew he would, the plan He had created in eternity
past to deal with the fall was put into action when the fall occurred

In Genesis 3, after the fall, we find God pulling back the curtain just a bit to give Adam & Eve a glimpse
into His plan for dealing with their sin

Genesis 3:15 (NKJV) “15And I will put enmity (hatred) between you and the woman, and between your
seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Unpacking The Revelation

A. A “Seed” (child) will come from through the women – Never in Hebrew language is the word
“SEED” used in conjunction with a women, except in this one case - It is always used in relationship
to the man

Men, not Women carry the “SEED” of life – But in this case God said that a child would come and He
would be the “SEED” of the women – It was a veiled prophecy of the Virgin Birth.

B. This Child would become a man who would suffer a bruising blow from Satan, but would
ultimately give a death blow to Satan and Sin.

Through the Cross, Satan bruised Jesus – A bruise is something that hurts and looks rather ugly, but
eventually it heals and everything is like new

Satan bruised Jesus in the beating, mocking, crucifixion, even through the necessity of having to take
man’s sin upon Himself – And then Jesus gave up His life to death

But three days later Jesus Rose from the Dead! – He conquered death, sin, and Satan - In this Jesus dealt
the death blow to the power of Sin and Satan

God began to reveal His plan for Salvation, through Jesus, at the Fall

III. Jesus Was God’s Plan for Salvation Foretold through the O/T Prophets

Some 3-4 thousand years later – God inspired a man named Isaiah to record a more clearer prophecy
about His Son whom He had selected to be the only remedy for Man’s condition

Isaiah 7:14 (NKJV) “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold the virgin shall conceive
and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

Here we see an affirmation of the prophecy given to Eve, God told Eve that the One who would crush
Satan would be the “Seed” of the Women, and Isaiah wrote of Him – Conceived in and born of A Virgin

Notice what else Isaiah wrote of this One born of a Virgin.

Isaiah 53:4-6 (NKJV) “4Surely He has borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him
stricken, Smitten by God and afflicted, (thought of as being punished by God for His own sins) 5But He
was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace

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was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned,
everyone, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.”

And so we see God’s plan for salvation, created before the world began, unfolding - In Genesis it was a
faint light; Through Isaiah the picture gets clearer - As we move forward about 300 years in time, the
picture gets even clearer

IV. Jesus Was God’s Plan for Salvation Delivered Through The Virgin Mary

In The Gospel of Matthew things begin to get very specific. Matthew 1:18 (NKJV) “Now the birth of
Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together,
she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.”

Here we discover who the women of Genesis and the Virgin of Isaiah is; Mary, the fiancé of Joseph

Who is Joseph? Matthew 1:20-21, tells us; “Joseph, son of David (King David was his distant Ancestor)
do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit,
21
And she will bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their
sins.”

At this point the focus is getting very sharp

The Woman/Virgin = Mary

The child = Jesus
His mission = to save people from sin

So we see God’s plan for the salvation of man being delivered to the world through The Virgin Mary

V. Jesus Performed God’s Plan of Salvation on The Cross

Give this some thought – Having a plan is a good, but unless the plan is put into play then its nothing
more than a plan – God’s plan to use His Son to be the Savior of the world was not just a plan – It became
reality

All 4 of the Gospels record Jesus’ crucifixion and subsequent resurrection – But there are a couple of
passages outside of the Gospels that help us see what took place on the cross to fulfill God’s plan

1 Peter 3:18 (NLT) 18Christ also suffered when He died for our sins once for all time. He never sinned,
but He died for sinners that He might bring us safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but He
was raised to life in the Spirit.

Notice, Peter proclaims that Jesus died for OUR SINS. Jesus’ death had nothing to with Himself, it was
all for us

1 Peter 2:24 (NLT) 24He (Jesus) personally carried away our sins in His own body on the cross so we can
be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by His wounds!

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 Jesus didn’t simply die for sins – He died with our sin upon Him – Dying in our place, with
our sin upon Him was God’s plan for the Salvation from before the creation of man or the
world

VI. Jesus Remains God’s Plan for Salvation Today

As we’ve seen in The Bible – God’s ONLY plan for Redemption is by and through His Son Jesus, The
Christ

That plan has not changed as time progressed, it remains the same.

Romans 10:9, 10 & 13. “9For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is by believing in your heart that you are
made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 13For “Anyone who
calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Since the fall, man with heavy influence from Satan, man has sought to devise alternatives to God’s plan

¾ Satan’s oldest trick is to bypass God and His Son and point man to Idols
¾ Another is to point to God, bypassing Jesus, and telling man God expects Good Works for salvation
¾ Still another is to link Jesus with other things like the Church to convince man that Christ + Church
brings salvation
¾ Another is to slip in a false Jesus for men to look to. The following are some false Jesus’
o Jesus whose father is a former man and his wife who became gods – His brother is Lucifer
o Jesus whose mother was herself born without sin
o Jesus who is really only an Angel rather than Son of God
o Jesus who is only a good prophet – Not The Son of God

Conclusion

Today I come proclaiming to you Absolute Truth about A Savior. He is The One and Only Savior for All
Mankind

His name is Jesus:

• He lived in Eternity past with God the Father

• He was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary
• He lived a sinless life
• He died a substitutionary Death
• He Rose Again from the Dead
• He sits at the right hand of God’s throne in Heaven
• He daily makes intercession for you and I.

He is God’s Only Son. He is God’s Only Savior for Man

It is my recommend that you accept this absolute truth and that you build your life upon it.

The First Federated Church copyright, above, is for the sermon itself, not for any items quoted in the sermon, unless
otherwise stated. All quoted items are done so in good faith, and the source is attributed when it is known.

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