This morning we will be looking at various texts. It's really a message that God has been laying on my heart for a few weeks, and it really began last week. And just really wrestling with the whole aspect of what does it mean for the joy set before him. Easter morning, Resurrection Sunday. The grave could not hold the body of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Having been raised from the dead, the work of God incarnate being accomplished. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, writes in chapter 4, verse 25, he says, Jesus, who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. Knowing that we needed to be justified, that we needed to be declared righteous, that we needed to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect, as Jesus said in Matthew, on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5.48. Something that we could not do, something that we in ourselves had no power to accomplish, Jesus did by coming as the God-man incarnate, fully God, fully man, to live what we could not in order that He could go to the cross and take our sin upon Himself and in turn give us His perfect righteousness. Jesus was delivered up on the cross. to serve the sentence of death. Then he was raised up and resurrected from the dead to provide justification before God. A justification that we could not attain in and of ourselves. Listen to what Charles Hodge wrote. He says, it was necessary that the high priest under the Old Economy, under the Old Testament is what he's speaking of, should not only slay the victim at the altar, that is the animal like the lamb, but that carried the blood into the most holy place and to sprinkle it upon the mercy seat. So it was necessary not only that our great high priest, Jesus Christ, should suffer in the outer court, but that he should pass into heaven to present his righteousness before God, our justification. Both, therefore, as the evidence of the acceptance of his sanctification on our behalf and as a necessary step to secure the application of the merits of his sacrifice, the resurrection of Christ was absolutely essential, even for our justification. As Bob read, if Christ was not raised, then we are still in our sin. And we have all people to be pitied the most. In Romans, in chapter three, we read these words again of the Apostle Paul in speaking of justification. And beginning in verse 21, he writes, And so the law and the prophets pointed to the righteousness of Christ that was going to come, pointed to the righteousness that was necessary, and only one could do it, and that was Jesus Christ. And so, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, for there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation, that is, that He satisfied the wrath of God that our sin deserved. He did that in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed. For the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness at the present time so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. God is just. He must remain just. He has to be just. And so, His justice requires perfection on our part. And because we are not perfect because of our sin, then His justice requires us to pay the penalty of sin. And that penalty is eternal damnation in hell. And if you do not know Jesus Christ, there is a day when you will suffer that consequence of sin. But Jesus took it. That's why he is the justifier. He came and did what we could not. In order that he could go to the cross and pay the penalty of our sin. Which we could never do. And he took the wrath of God upon himself. In order that his righteousness might be imputed to us. And that we would be declared righteous, justified, and now being sanctified and one day glorified. All through Christ. all through his death and his resurrection. So Jesus bore the cross, despising the shame, as Hebrews chapter 12, 2 says. Despising the shame. For to die on a Roman cross was to sink to the lowest depths. of shame that anybody could say. When they designed the crucifixion, that's what they were designing. That which would bring the greatest shame possible. It was a punishment reserved only for those who were deemed most unfit to live. It was really a subhuman punishment. In fact, so shameful Was the crucifixion? That Rome would not let their own citizens be tortured and killed by crucifixion. Because they had an ancient statute. That the dignity of the Roman name would be degraded if any of their citizens would be brought in association with anything as vile as the cross. The Roman name. would lose its value. And so Jesus, in his incarnation, fully God, fully man, the whole of Jesus' life was to come and to do the will of the Father. Jesus told his disciples in John 4 verse 34, when they came and saw him after he had ministered to the woman at the well. And they had gone to get food and wondering why he didn't want to eat. And Jesus' response to them was, my food is to do the will of the Father. And we find this true in the Gospel of Luke. When we come to the Garden of Gethsemane, which we looked at on Thursday evening. But in Luke, in chapter 22, they had celebrated the Last Supper. This is before his arrest. And they come to the garden of Gethsemane, verse 39, and picking it up in verse 41, he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and he knelt down and he began to pray, saying, Father, if you are willing to remove this cup from me, yet not my will but yours be done. It's the understanding what this cup is. This cup is not the cup that we drink on a communion Sunday. That's the cup of redemption. This is the cup of wrath. that Scripture speaks of, the wrath of God being poured out. And there is a day that the wrath of God, this cup will be poured out on all the earth, on all those who have not trusted in Jesus Christ. They will undergo this wrath of eternal damnation in hell. And so Jesus says, Father, if you are willing to remove this cup, this cup of wrath from me, yet not my will, but yours be done. If there's any other way to, Lord, to redeem the people. So agonizing was the thoughts of what was to come. It wasn't the cross that Jesus agonized over. This is what he agonized over was for the first time to suffer being forsaken by his father and receiving the wrath that we deserved. He took. And so, therefore, God sends an angel from heaven appeared to Christ, strengthening him. Why? Because he's going to go through it. And where were his disciples in his time of need? They were asleep. And even after his arrest, they deserted him. And so in agony, while he was praying very fervently, his sweat became like drops of blood falling down upon the ground. the aspiration of his blood into his sweat glands. And I mean, at that moment, Jesus was close to death, even there in just the agony. But he came to do the will of the Father. And so Jesus committed himself to his Father's hands. So this shame that he despised, that he disregarded, Was not worthy to be compared to his obedience to the father. Not even close. His obedience to the father was far greater and he would undergo whatever. For the sake of the glory of his father. And so he would take the cross. He would plunge himself into the depths of darkness. into the horror of the wrath of God, paying the ultimate penalty of God's holy wrath, and go through the doors of death in order that he might come out on the other side in the resurrection and be seated at the right hand of God the Father. For the joy set before him. He did this. For the joy set before him. In John chapter 15 and verse 11, Jesus said these things to his disciples. He said, these things I have spoken to you. so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. We want to understand what is the joy that is set before Christ. And Christ telling his disciples on this last night that he's spoken these things to them so that his joy would be in them and that their joy would be made full. If you come with me over to John chapter 16, In John chapter 16 and beginning in verse 20, we read these words of Jesus. Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. He's talking about his death. You're gonna weep and lament at my death and my departure, but the world's gonna rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore, Jesus says, you too have grief now, but I will see you again and your heart, look at this, will rejoice and no one, catch that, no one, Will take it the joy away from you. He's talking about after his resurrection that the joy when they see him again, no matter what the world does to the disciples, they can never rob them. Of their joy. You see that? How many times do we let our joy be robbed? In a day. In a week. Jesus continues in verse 23 in that day, you will not question me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the father for anything in my name, he will give it to you. And let me tell you right now, one of the things you can ask of the father in Jesus name that he will give to you is joy. That's his promise. His joy in the midst of whatever circumstance you find yourself in. Until now you have asked for nothing. Why? Because Jesus has been there. You've asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive so that your joy may be made full. This is the joy that he has given to them. His joy that he's given to them that their joy would become full. Somehow they're connected. If you turn over to John chapter 17 in Jesus' prayer, this is the prayer that he was praying to before he was arrested. And he's praying for his disciples and he said, verse 13, He's praying that they would have his joy made full in them. And that this message would continue to go forth. That's really what He continues to do. And in verse 20, that they would bring this same message to you and I today. And that the same message is the same. That His joy would be made full in us. So this joy that is set before Him is not something for Himself alone. But it's something That He shares, He desires to share with those whom He died as a sacrifice. but not just that he died, but that he lives, and that he is our high priest. That's what he says here in Hebrews chapter 12, that Jesus, for the joy set before him, he was able to endure the cross, despising the shame, and what? He has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God to continue to be our high priest today. Do you know that? Do you believe that? Do you take advantage of that? It's a part of what He came to do in His death and His resurrection. It's not just to set us free from sin, but it is to encourage us and for us to be filled up with joy and even all the fullness of Him day to day. Day to day. Ours and His joy are connected. Because in what He has accomplished in setting us free from the bondage of sin and death, justifying us, in Hebrews 7 verse 25, we see that He is able also to save forever. Look at that, mark that if you mark your Bible, to save forever. He's talking about the sanctification process, that the moment that you trust in Jesus Christ, you can never lose it. He's going to save you forever. No matter what may happen in this lifetime, no matter what sin yet you may commit in this lifetime, He will save you forever. Why? Because He, what? We're able to draw near to God through him since he always lives to do what? To intercede on our behalf. He is our high priest praying for us. He knows exactly what you're going through. We'll see that in a moment. He has given us access to the throne of grace. And guess what? He's not drained when you come to him time after time after time after time. Even when it's time after time after time after time for the same thing. He's not drained by it. Do you believe that? Because sometimes I get that tendency in my own heart to think, ah, not again. Oh, God, what do you think? What are you going to think of me? What's he going to think? He wants me to come. What's he going to think? He finds joy in me coming to him time after time, after time, after time, bringing these things before him. That's why he came. Look at what he says in Ephesians chapter five. Had the opportunity to teach through Ephesians with Jay Burmeister to our youth. And we were in this passage recently on wives and husbands. So it's not a message, so husbands don't worry. But picking it up in verse 25, it says, Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her. How did Christ love the church? He gave himself up for it. He gave himself up for her. Who's the church? Those who have trusted in Jesus Christ, us. He gave himself up for us. So that what? He might sanctify her. That's a continual process that he's doing right now. Continuing to sanctify us. Having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word that he continues to cleanse us. He continues to cleanse our conscience as we confess our sins before him. Through his word, as we spend time in his word, he continues to renew our minds and change us sanctifying us, that he might present to himself the church, you and I, in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless." Do you understand? That's a part of his mission. That's a part of his desire, is that there's this joy that he has in the church becoming more and more like him. You understand that God works all things together for good. We come to that oftentimes, right? God works all things together for good, Romans 8, right? For those who love him, they're called according to his purpose. And what is God's purpose? That those whom he predestined would become conformed into the image of his son, who's the firstborn, who he himself is in that glorified body. And one day we will have that glorified body. But yet he's in a process of transforming us into his likeness. That's what Jesus is talking about. That's what Paul is speaking about when he says this concerning Christ. And then notice he says, husbands, love your wives as your own body. All right, you don't need to go out and figure out how to love yourself. You already do. You're here today. You already love yourself. You take care of yourself. You meet the needs that you have. Notice what he says. No one ever hated his own flesh, but he nourishes it and cherishes it. Man, I am very good at that. I am very good at nourishing and cherishing me. And when I go through pain, when I have something that happens to me, like I did yesterday, and being scraped on my arm and hurt, and most of the people that are around knew that it hurt, because I let them know that that really hurt. And I didn't go play in the dirt then with that wound that was now bleeding. What did I do? I nourished it. I nourished myself. I cherished myself. I took it, I cleaned it up, I put a band-aid on it, tried to make it as comfortable as possible. Right? We do that. Look what it says. Just as Christ does the church. What? Do you see what He, when you have a bad day, when you have sin maybe in your life, when things aren't going the way that you hoped that they would go, He's there nourishing you and cherishing you. Do you believe that? He cherishes you. God, you don't know what I've done. Yes, He does. He knows exactly what you've done. And He nourishes and cherishes you. Why? Why? Because you're a member of His body. You're a member of His body. I mean, here's the truth. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. But notice what he says in verse 32. This mystery is great, what happens at a wedding. But let me tell you, I'm speaking with reference to Christ and the church. And I think we miss out a lot. We know that we are united with Christ, but do we really understand what that means? What does that really mean? that I've been united with Christ. Well, bear with me. Please turn to 1 Corinthians 6. We're going to look at some verses. These are things that, as I'm wrestling with all of this, that God just began bringing verses to mind, began just flooding me with things to look at. And in 1 Corinthians 6, verse 13, it says, Body is not for immorality. but it's for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. And so we are united with Christ. Verse 15, do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Right, he's the head. We are members of his body. Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be. Why would I go make myself members of a prostitute, becoming one flesh with a prostitute, when I am in one spirit with Christ? Do you understand that when you trust Christ, He's in you? Right? In this life which I now live by faith in the Son of God. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered himself up for me. That wherever I go, I take him with me. Do you understand that? Wherever you go, you take him with you. When you go to your private sin or whatever, you take him with you. Granted, he never sins. But you are his body. That's what he was warning there, 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Verse 12, for even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. We are many members, each of us. We can look around, we see all these different people, all of us individually members of Christ, but yet we are one body in Christ. You are united in Him as His body. Verse 27 of that same chapter. Now you are Christ's body and individually members of it. That's who you are. Jump over to Ephesians chapter one. Verse 18. Here is Paul's prayer for the Ephesians and for us. I pray, verse 18, that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. It's unmeasurable, the riches of his glory of the inheritance that we are partakers of. It's unfathomable, we cannot know it. It's beyond. And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe? These are in accordance with the working of His strength and of His might, that all the power to live out who it is to be the body of Christ He gives us. Because He brought it about in Christ, verse 20, when He raised Him from the dead and He, what? Seated Him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church. He's our head, that is his body for the fullness of him who fills all in all. He wants to fill his body with all of him and all of his joy. Us. That's what He's saying. Do we fully understand what the scriptures mean when it says that we are Christ's body? Do you understand that? And if you understand it, do you take it seriously? Do you think about it before decisions that you make that you're His body? that He's with you wherever, that you're in union with Him. People, this was the plan of the Father before time began. All right, bear with me, I believe it all makes sense as we come to an understanding of what he's doing. We want to understand what is the joy set before him, what is it? And it's the fulfillment of what we're talking about here, of us becoming the body, of us being united with Christ and experiencing his joy to the fullness. And this was a plan that the father had. In 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 8. Paul said he was willing to suffer because in the gospel is the power of God for salvation. He understood that. And what is it? This power of the gospel? The power of God? It's He who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus, notice, from all eternity, before time began, before He ever created, this was His promise, this was His plan, His purpose, that we would be united in Christ Jesus. It's amazing. But now, it's been revealed, Paul says, by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Through his death and through his resurrection, he brought life, he brought justification, he brought immortality. that we share in that. The joy set before Jesus, I think, is here in the fulfillment of the Father's plan. That was part of the joy, that He gets to go and fulfill the plan that the Father had before time began. Turn with me to John chapter 17. I want you to look at Jesus' prayer. This is to help you understand who we are. In John chapter 17, Jesus is praying, and Jesus spoke these things, verse one, and he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and he said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. Right, the whole desire of his heart is to glorify the Son, or to glorify the Father. And now, God, would you glorify your Son so that the Son may continue to glorify you, fulfilling his plan. Even as you gave him authority over all flesh, That to all whom you have given him, he may give eternal life. That's that 2nd Timothy 1.8. This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Right, that we would know him, not just know about him, personally, intimately know him. And Jesus whom he sent. Lord, I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you have given me to do. Right? The moment he prayed, Lord, your will be done. It was going to be done. And he accomplished it. And he glorified him. With that. Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory, what? Which I had before. With you, before the world was. He already had this glory. It wasn't to increase His glory. He already had all the glory. There was no increasing of His glory. He already had it. But to return back to it after accomplishing what the Father had done. The restoration of the glory of the Son, He already had. But a part of His joy is to fulfill the Father's will. And so I put before you not only is this joy of bringing glory to his father and fulfilling his will. A part of this joy is seeing the fulfillment of it completely. Jump back to John, chapter six. Here we see in Jesus words. Verse 37. Jesus says, all that the Father gives me will come to me. And the one that comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. For I've come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given me, I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day. He doesn't lose a thing, doesn't lose you. For this is the will of my Father, verse 40, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I myself will raise him up on the last day. And that means no matter what happens in your life, the remainder of this time, when you trust Christ, no matter what happens, you are His. Nothing can snatch you from His hands, nothing. He's going to raise you up just as He was raised. We are gonna be raised with brand new bodies like His. And nothing can stop that from happening at His appointed time. You see, the resurrection has much more to do than just Him paying for my sins. It's life, eternal life. It's joy in Him. Jesus has taken the role of the high priest who has made this once and for all time final atoning sacrifice to completely cover the sins of all of us, all of our sins, present, past, future, and that he sees this all the way through to the end. Since he, right, saves forever since he always lives to make intercession for them. He always lives to make intercession for them. He's going to see it to the end because he's our high priest who is there. And so you see that in Hebrews. It's just awesome as you begin to look at it in Hebrews. Sometimes you don't realize how often is it listed that he is seated at the right hand of God as our high priest. Look at this in Hebrews 1 verse 3. And He is the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of God's nature, and He upholds all things by His word, of His power. When He made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. When He made purification for our sins and He was resurrected, He sat down at the right hand as our high priest. Come over to Hebrews then in chapter 8, verse 1. Now the main point in what has been said is this, we have such a high priest who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the majesty and the heavens, a minister. In the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. You see that? He's ministering on your behalf before the Father. Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews 10 verse 12. But he, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. He's still waiting because he hasn't returned. For by one offering he has perfected for all times those who are being sanctified. Notice it doesn't say just saved, it says sanctified. We are being sanctified. He's continuing doing that, interceding for us. So the joy set before him, I believe, is seeing also all whom he has sanctified himself for, seeing them come in fullness of Christ. not just justified, not just adopted as children of God, not just becoming a part of His body, but that we become one with Him in all things. And one day we will be like Him, Scripture says, in His humanity, not His deity. We will have glorified bodies. So do you see that the joy that was set before Him Is that which brought him through his arrest. That's what brought him through his mistreatment. That's what brought him through his crucifixion. That's what brought him through his death. That's what brought him through his burial. And now his resurrection and his ascension. Because he wants to share in that joy. with us to come to Christ, His atoning work, for the forgiveness of sins, but also to continually commune with Him on a daily basis, despite your sinfulness. See, sometimes it's in the midst of our sinfulness that we're afraid to come to Him. No, He says, come to me, come to me. Wants us to share in His joy. This is Christ's longing, His joy. He doesn't just want you to come once for the forgiveness of sins. People, He wants you. That's what He ends up praying in John 17 and verse 24. You don't need to turn there, but as He continues to pray for us, In that high priestly prayer, we see these words of his prayers praying specifically for you and I. He says, Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me, that they be with me where I am. Where is he? He's seated at the right hand of the Father. He wants you to be with him there in order for what? That we might behold his glory. That the Father has given him. and that you've loved him before the foundation of the world. People, he wants you. He wants you today. He wants you tonight. He wants you tomorrow. He wants you every day. He wants you to commune with him and to know that joy that no matter what you find or face, he's there. And so the last passage that Bob read in Hebrews chapter four, Here's a mighty truth that we can begin to end with here. When he says, therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, then let us hold fast our confession of trusting and believing in him. Don't waver, don't lose heart. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet he's been without sin. That's who he is. We still live in a sinful, dark world, don't we? It's fallen. And our sin will set us back, doesn't it? Sets me back. It shames us. It puts us on a guilt trip. But he who never committed sin, do you understand this? He will never kick you to the curb. Never. Do you understand that? No matter what sin you need to confess, he will never kick you to the curb. Because you're his. He wants to cleanse you. Because he nourishes you and he cherishes you. When life doesn't go as planned, when heartache and grief overwhelm you, when friendships go sour, when a family member dismisses you, betrays us, when life seems to be slipping away, when we can't figure out our emotions, when we are misunderstood, When you're laughed at, when you're rejected, when you're yelled at, abandoned, attacked, reviled. When the sinfulness of this world closes in on us, when we think, what's the use? When we think, why continue? I'm a failure. I'm worthless. I'm stupid. I'm lost. I don't know where to turn. We have a high priest who can sympathize with all of that and beyond. Because he was tempted in all those things and yet without sin. Who wants us to come to him. He didn't need rescued from those things. Therefore he rescues us. Do I take advantage of that? Verse 16 of chapter four, therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive what? Mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. This is Jesus, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despised its shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, the throne of grace that we have access to every moment of every day. That's what Easter is about. To him be the glory.