Oh, okay. Yeah, we were there. Okay. Go back a little bit. God's gift to humanity, our life. Talking about the preeminence of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. were by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and by Him all things consist. We live because of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ was not crucified before the foundation of the world, we would not exist. If Jesus Christ had not said, let there be light, we would not exist. According to the scriptures, Christ is the pattern for which all things were created. Now, of course, you look at an earthworm and you think, how does that relate back to a human being? You know, we are the crown of God's creation on this earth. And, you know, here's a slug. Oh, nice, pretty slug. If it were not for Jesus Christ, nothing would exist. Like it says, by him were all things created and for him. So he is the reason we even exist. Again, if the lamb was not slain before the foundation of the world, God could not permit anything to exist because right off the bat, Adam sinned, the whole universe became contaminated. And so we couldn't exist. Because the lamb was slain before the foundation of the world, it made a bubble where God could let us exist. And because the Lord Jesus Christ was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world, good and evil could exist side by side, coexist, shall we say, and then eventually those that were chosen in him before the foundation of the world could actually be blessed and be in his presence throughout eternity. Those who did not, who were not chosen in him, would be condemned to eternal torment. Am I any different than somebody who's going to be in eternal torment? No. From a real perspective, no. I'm a sinner, just like all of those people. However, my sins were paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ when he shed his blood on the cross. He endured hell for me. So I don't have to endure any of hell. So because the Lord Jesus Christ did what he did, I can exist. All of us can exist. All the lost people out there, the sheep, I mean, the goats, the sheep, we're saved sheep. There are some lost sheep out there. They, will eventually come to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the good shepherd, and he knows every one of us. Because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did, we will have our heavenly trust fund eventually. Because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did, he endured the presence of the lost. And because he endured the presence of the lost, eventually, one day, they will have to pay for all the sins that they have not paid for. And they'll be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. All this because of the Lord Jesus Christ. We, every human being ever existing, owes their life to the Lord Jesus Christ. we who are born again, we owe him our new life in Christ. We owe him for our life, we owe him for our eternal life. So the Lord Jesus Christ is the reason we even exist. What is the purpose of man to glorify God and enjoy him forever? How do we do that? First off, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Once you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, then you start learning what a wonderful God we have. And we need to now live a life that's pleasing to him and telling others about the wonderful things he has given us. God blesses us according to what his plan and purpose is. There's a lot of lost people out there that are blessed in order to provide for us. I mean, where I work, there's a lot of Christians there. There's a lot of people that are friendly and professional, but they don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. They are there because I need a job. And that's pretty much reality. So All of us are being taken care of by the Lord Jesus Christ and his providential care. All this because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. We have everything we do because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our lives, our provisions, everything because of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then, okay, the person of Christ, Oh yeah, we've made it all the way down to Isaiah 44.6. Wow, we're screaming through, aren't we? Isaiah 44.6 says, Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first, I am the last, and beside me there is no God. Okay, now, it says, and his, Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. Well, you know, the New Testament says Jesus is our Redeemer. Well, his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. Well then, that means the Lord Jesus is the Lord of hosts. Yes. In fact, when Joshua, I think it's Joshua chapter five, when he says, are you for us or against us? And he says, neither. I'm the captain of the hosts of the Lord. Oh, so he got down and he he bowed down to a pre pre incarnate existence appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ was there to tell him what to do to defeat Jericho. Jericho had massive walls. And there was no way these wandering Israelites could defeat those huge walls. But God had a plan. They marched around it once a day, quietly. And on the seventh day, they marched around it seven times. And at the end, they blew the trumpets and everybody shouted and the walls fell down. And the people just went in, I mean, here's the defenders on the wall, probably poking fun at them. Oh, they're going again. Oh, they're going around again. So, ha, ha, ha, stupid morons. What do you think you're doing? And they followed the plan of the captain of the Lord of Hosts. That was the Lord Jesus Christ. They followed his battle plan and it worked. And they had total victory over Jericho. So, the Lord Jesus Christ, his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first, I am the last, and beside me there is no God. There was no one or nothing in existence before God, and there will not be anything in existence after God. I am the first, I am the last. Oh, that sounds like something in The book of Revelation where the Lord Jesus Christ says, I am the first, I am the last. I'm the alpha, I'm the omega. I'm the first, I'm the end. I am it. And yeah, it sounds pretty much like that. And beside me, there is no God. There's only one God made up of God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit. I don't understand this, but that's what the scriptures teach. Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. Hmm. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Redeemer, and there is no God other than God, this triune God, the Trinity. So the Lord Jesus Christ is preeminent. Beside him, there is no other. We have God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. God the Son became one of us. God the Son took our sins upon his own body on the tree. The Lord Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all of our sins. All of our sins, not, well, only the sins you confess, those are the only sins that are forgiven. Nope, they're all forgiven. He paid the penalty for all our sins. Well, there are sins I haven't committed yet. Yes, he paid for those as well. I have a guilt-free conscience. Well, theoretically, because I still, oh man, I really hated that I did that. My conscience still bothers me because my human weakness is I still remember those things. From God's perspective, they don't exist. He sees me. in the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't see any sins in the Lord Jesus Christ. The lost world, they're in the flesh, and he sees all of their sins. In Christ, I have no sins. He sees no sins. Wish I could live that way too. But all that we have, we have through Jesus Christ. He is the person we need. He is a person that matters. He's the only person that matters. The only person that throughout eternity that matters. Because of him, all things consist. Because of him, he made all things by him and for him. So the Lord Jesus Christ is the important one. In Micah, 5-2, it says, but thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth unto me, that is to be the ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been of old from everlasting. So this little baby in Bethlehem, although he's a baby in Bethlehem, it says his his goings forth have been from old, from everlasting. What? This little baby, how can, according to the scriptures, he was from everlasting. He's been existing throughout eternity past. So, and he'll be existing throughout eternity future. But we see this little baby here. That baby is super special. When he grew up to be a man, he says, before Abraham was, I am. I am continually existing. Before Abraham existed, I was and am continually existing. And the Jews, whoa, wait a minute, you're saying you are God. Yes, that's exactly what he stated. And they picked up rocks that were gonna stone him, but he just kind of wandered through the midst of them. Everybody kind of, what happened, what happened? But here, this little baby is from old, from everlasting. That's the person of Jesus Christ. That is the person that gave us life. That is the person who matters. That is the person who everyone in Christmas, they all talk about the baby, That baby came to die on the cross. That baby had a purpose and it didn't have anything to do with anything. It was, he came for the purpose of dying on the cross and taking away the sins of all his people. This is the person that matters throughout eternity. In John, chapter one, in the beginning was the word. And the word is in capitals, capital letters, so that indicates it's the name of a person, and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the word was with God. The Lord Jesus was with God. And the word was God. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The Lord Jesus Christ gave us life, and in him was life, and the life was the light of men. You can't have life without life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the source of all life. He said, let the earth bring forth plants. Let the earth bring forth all these creatures. And he created man and God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the life. They're trying to come up with, trying to prove that evolution is true, and through millions and millions of years, little chemicals happened and zapped and so forth, and poof, there's an amino acid, and this amino acid created, caused other, you can't have an amino acid without an amino acid. That's a basic law of science, of biology. Amino acids are There's like four or five chemicals and they bind together, that becomes an amino acid. And you put enough amino acids together and you wind up with a protein. And this protein is the building block of all of our bodies. All creatures have these amino acids and these amino acids and proteins allow them to exist. Even that one-celled little critter, which has a little rotor in it, it's an electric motor in a one-celled critter that will spin one way or the other, and it moves around. Even that has proteins, and it has amino acids. But how do you get this amino acid? You have to start with an amino acid to create a new amino acid, and on and on and on. Where do you get that first amino acid? That comes from life. That comes from God. If you have an amino acid, you can make a bunch more, but without that first one, nope, not gonna happen. So scientists have been trying and trying to make an amino acid to happen, and it don't. Life is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Life comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't have life without the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't do it. You have to have life for there to be life. Our bodies are made up of thousands of different proteins and so forth. Every cell has its own proteins and so forth and does various things. And they're all based on the DNA and the pattern that is made. And the programming that goes into one of those little DNAs, the DNA and it, can cause a human being to shape up. It's amazing the programming that goes on in that little DNA. It's amazing. And it's beyond our comprehension. But that little DNA, when the sperm and the egg come together, then the DNA starts. They come together and the DNA starts and it starts multiplying, dividing, and so forth, and then it forms the little sack that the baby's in, and then there's a little baby there, and it grows and grows and grows and grows and grows. This is some awesome programming. Wow, it just boggles my mind when I try and think about, how would you write a program to do this? And even trying to come up with a little bitty thing like that one-celled critter, the programming would be too awesome. But all this because you have life from God. Jesus Christ is our life. He gives us life. Plants, you can't have life. They don't exist without life. It all goes back to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the important one. John, oh, it's the next page, sorry. Okay, okay, here's part two, the person of Christ part two. In John 8, 57 and 58, then said the Jews unto him, thou art not yet 50 years old, and thou hast seen Abraham, Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, or truly, truly, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. He is continually existing. And while he's on this earth, he is still existing. He existed, eternity passed before this point in time. And here he is. and starts out as a baby and here he is, not even 50 years old and you've seen, excuse me, seen Abraham? Yes, he saw Abraham because he was existing before he became a baby. And he had to take on the frailties of humanity. I mean, here's a little baby and it needs to be taught everything. A little baby starts wiggling around baby knows how to attach to mama and get some groceries. And of course the natural processes, what they take in comes out. So changing diapers. But you know, this little baby was amazing because this little baby also had the divinity in him. He was God in the flesh and he grew up to be a man. He had seen Abraham before he became a baby. He had seen Abraham. He had seen the creation because he created it. He had seen all these things because he is God. And here he is saying, before Abraham was, I am. Whoa, the Jews didn't like that because he was telling the truth He was telling them something that they could not comprehend of God being in the form of a human being. He had to, because only a human could die for other humans, could take the penalty for other humans. If he came back as an angel, he could die for angels. Oh, wait a minute. The only angels there are the fallen angels. And God says, nope, there's no hope for them. So, but he came as a human. So he had, because he came as a human, he could die for, if he were just a man, a human. So I'm going to heaven, the rest of y'all, too bad. But because he was God, he can die for all the sins of his people. Did God die for all the sins of all people? No. He died, he knew for whom he died. When he was on that cross, was it George Sled was singing, when he was on the cross, I was on his mind. Yes, every one of us, our sins were on him and he knew us and he died willingly for us, each and every one of us. because he is God and he took our sins upon his own body on the tree, because he was a human being, because he lived the life of a human, because life is in Jesus Christ. We have life because of Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ, because he took on our life, he has given us eternal life. all this because of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the most and only important person throughout eternity. He is the reason we can go to heaven because he became one of us, took on our life, lived our life, and took our sins upon his own body on the tree. He is the one that matters. everything we get because of what he has done. We need to praise and thank God for all these things that we get. I took a breath. Thank you, God, for allowing me to work, my body to work. I mean, we expect it to happen, but you know, there's so many things are going on when I take a breath My heart's got to keep beating. My brain is talking to my heart saying to beat, beat, beat, beat, beat. All these things, they're going on simultaneously because God has given me life. And one day I'll get old and wretched and so forth. I might even look more wretched than Brother Chuck back there. But one day I'll go to be with the Lord. and I will, at the correct time, receive a glorified body, receive my heavenly trust fund, all these things will be mine because of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. God, in the person of Jesus Christ, has given us life. Jesus Christ matters. Okay, 1 Corinthians 8, 4 through 6, As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, ye know that an idol is nothing in the world, and there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, there's things out there they call gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be gods many, and Lord's many, but to us, there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus, by whom are all things, and we in Him." God the Father is the one that's the will, the one that caused it all. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the one that does the speaking. He's the one that communicates with us. He is the one that became us and gave us eternal life. So this is what we have. And we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him. We exist by Jesus Christ. Yeah, okay, here's meats, and they're offered to idols. And so that people, oh, they're offered to idols. Of course, I don't know if it's 1 Corinthians or 2 Corinthians where Paul says, meats for the belly and the belly for meats. He likes steaks. So if it's offered to an idol, he has no problem. It still tastes like a good juicy steak. Oh, but that was offered to an idol. Oh, well, for your sake, I won't eat it, but I'm sure miss that steak. That's in Romans 14, 15, talking about the weaker brother. For Paul, hey, I like a nice juicy steak. I don't care who it's offered to, what idol it's offered to. It's good stuff because they offer the best to the idol. But again, Throughout the world, they think about there are all kinds of gods, you know, a god of this, a god of that, a god of here, here, there, a god everywhere, a god, god, Old MacDonald had a farm. You know, that's the whole world's concept of gods. But then what does it say in Corinthians? Anybody gets worshiping an idol, you know all it is is there's worshiping a demon. Says, but we have, we have God. We have Jesus Christ, who became a human being, who took our sins upon his own body on the tree and redeemed us by his blood. We have Jesus. He is the ultimate power. He is the God. All these others, they're nothing. They're idols. They're demons that people worship. Yes, even some other false gods that are named all over the place. They're worshiping demons because they're not worshiping the true God. They are not worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. They are not worshiping God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit. It doesn't matter. They're not worshiping the God. So they're worshiping an idol, something, a demon, something that is not God. They're worshiping something else. They're worshiping a demon. And if you give your worship to a demon, is God going to be pleased? No. What's it say? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Believe on Buddha, Confucius, all these other things. That doesn't help you. You can worship them sincerely with all your might and all your faith and every ounce of your being. But if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, you're just worshiping a demon, and you're gonna pay for that. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one. He gives us life. He is the one we need to focus on, not all these other things. Yes, I have a fancy new car, and that car is so beautiful. Yeah, but it's gonna get dinged. Somebody's gonna run into it. A rock will fall, fly up and ding your windshield. Oh, all these terrible things. And your beautiful, wonderful car will be messed up. And it'll rust eventually and it'll have, what? I'll hit a deer, yeah. But anyway, so, but everybody has You know, this is my car. This is a wonderful thing. I take care of it. I wash my car even on Sundays. It's the most important thing in my life. I don't have any other time to wash it, so I wash it on Sundays. So I know somebody like that, but he claims he's a great Christian, and yet he washes his car on Sunday? He doesn't go to church because he doesn't have any time to wash his car except on Sundays. Here's a God that created all things, including this metal that got shaped into the shape of a car, and you're gonna worship your car instead of the one true God? That doesn't compute. So, you know, and then again, because he's worshiping this car and not the one true God, Paul says he's worshiping a demon. It's a wonderful car, but worshiping that, you're worshiping a demon. Was it the love of money is the root of all evil? Why? Because you're loving a thing, not someone. You should love the Lord your God with everything you have and your neighbor as yourself. On these two laws hang all the law and the prophets. But The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who gave us life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one that matters. Anything else, forget it, it's useless. Hebrews 13.8, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's unchanging. Yes, he was pre-incarnate and they saw him. Abraham saw him. Other people saw him. Joshua saw him. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ. So they saw him and then he came as a human being. They saw the character of God. They saw what God was like in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He that has seen me has seen the Father. Jesus and the Father are the same character. If you saw how Jesus Christ lived, you saw how the Father exists. And because they saw him, they could say they had seen what the Father is like. Because it's not a matter of an outward form. God, the Father is invisible. How do you see an outward form of that? But Jesus Christ gave us something to see, we saw the character of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that matters. And he, while he walked among us, was the same as before he became a baby, and he died He was crucified, he died, he was buried, he rose again. Guess what? That's the same Jesus Christ as the one that walked among us, as the one that existed in a pre-incarnate form. He's the same. Why? His character did not change. He is the same character he has always been. So yeah, Jesus Christ, he came as a human being. but he was still the same person he always has been. Jesus Christ gave us life and he dwelt among us and we could see him and know who God is, who Jesus Christ is. We could see it. Revelation 1.8, yep, okay. I am Alpha and Omega. Oh, that's beginning and ending. Okay. The beginning and the ending. Oh, it says it again. Saith the Lord, which is and was and which is to come the Almighty. Jesus Christ says, I'm the Almighty God. In the Old Testament, they talked about Almighty God. But Jesus Christ says, I am the Almighty God. He is the same as in the Old Testament. Anybody talking to God was talking to Jesus Christ in his pre-incarnate form. God the Father sent him to show up and to deal with human beings in his pre-incarnate form. He's the same now, even though he's ascended into heaven and he's coming back, he is the same. He is our light. He is life itself. in verse 11, chapter 1, verse 11, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Hmm, he keeps repeating that, hmm. I wonder if there's some truth to that. What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches that are in Asia, unto Ephesus and Smyrna and unto Pergamos and to Thyatira and to Sardis and unto Philadelphia and unto Laodicea. I am the first, I'm Alpha and omega, I'm the first and the last. This is Jesus Christ. He is the one that matters. He gives us life. And verse 17, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last. I am the beginning and the ending. I am the one that always is. And he says, don't fear because he has given us life and given us life eternal. Jesus Christ gave us life and he's the one that matters. So he says, fear not because I am the first and the last. So Jesus Christ matter. And then the last verse for tonight, Angel of the Church of Smyrna write, these things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. Yes, Jesus Christ came to this earth. Yes, he took my sins upon his own body on the tree. He was crucified and he died. He was separated body and soul, which is what death is, a separation of body and spirit. So Jesus Christ separated from his body. But then three days later, he gained his glorified body and rose again. So he was dead and is alive. So we know that because he rose from the dead, we too will rise from the dead. All this because He has given us life. He has given us life eternal. This we have in Jesus Christ. This is why He matters. So everything in our lives, we should be considering Is this going to help the Lord Jesus Christ? Is this going to get the message out about the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I being a good example before others for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ? What is my life showing to others? Am I being an ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ, a good ambassador for the Lord Jesus Christ? So there's a lot of responsibility on each and every one of us. We should be living a life that's pleasing to God so others can see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven. This is what we are supposed to be doing because the Lord Jesus Christ has given us life and given us life eternal. We should show our gratitude by exalting him, praising him, telling others what he has done for us. What has he done for me? Even your breath is something he does for you. I mean, you get out on the highway, you can be gone that quick. You know, life really isn't all that easy. You can't live through it, let me tell you. You're gonna die sooner or later. But you know what? God keeps us and preserves us for his purposes. We need to say thank you God that I'm still alive. Thank you and help me to tell others what a wonderful God you are. This is what we should be doing because he has given us life and given us life eternal. We have all of this in Jesus Christ. He is the one that matters. And with that, let's close the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who has done so much for us, the one who willingly gave up his life so that we could have eternal life. Heavenly Father, While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I can't imagine why the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy God would die for my sins, take my sins upon his own body and condemn him to death and the torments of hell for me so that I can have eternal life through him. I can't understand this, but all I can do is thank you for it. The lost world does not understand this unless you show it to them. Help me to tell others about what you have done for me. Heavenly Father, Be with us as we go from here. Bring us back at the next appointed time. And I pray that all that we say and do will bring honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask these things in his name. Amen. Ray, your phone is still up here. Ray, yo, Ray. I'm afraid to say anything now.