If you have a pew Bible you'll be able to find that on page 1008. Page 1008. Mark chapter 10 beginning in verse 32. If you would please stand with me. God speaks now directly to us in His word.

Beginning in verse 32 of chapter 10. They were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them, and they were amazed, and those who followed were fearful. And again he took the twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him, saying, behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will hand him over to the Gentiles. They will mock him and spit on him and scourge him and kill him and three days later he will rise again. James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.

And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you they said to him grant that we may sit one on your right and one on your left in your glory but Jesus said to them you do not know what you are asking are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized, they said to him, we are able. And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you shall drink and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on my right or on my left, this is not mine to give. But it is for those for whom it has been prepared." Hearing this, the 10 began to feel indignant with James and John. Calling them to himself, Jesus said to them, You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.

But it is not this way among you. But whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many." May God bless the reading of his word. Amen. You may be seated.

There is a song called The Greatest by Kenny Rogers. It's a song about a little boy who loves baseball and he has his bat and his baseball. And the whole song is about that little boy stepping up to the imaginary plate in his imaginary game. And with the game on the line, bottom of the ninth, two outs, up steps the batter. And the little boy throws the ball up and swings the bat with all his might, but he misses the ball.

Strike one. And the song goes on like this. The little boy is undeterred. He says, I am the greatest there has ever been. And he grits his teeth and he tries it again.

And the ball goes up and the ball comes down and he swings his bat all the way around the world so still you can hear a sound the baseball falls to the ground but what does the little boy do he says I am the greatest The game is on the line and he gives his all one last time. Somebody's talking, I don't know who it is, but. And the ball goes up like the moon so bright, swings his bat with all his might, and the world so still as still as can be and the baseball falls, that strike three. Now it's supper time and his mama calls and little boy starts home with his bat and ball. He says, I am the greatest.

That is a fact. But even I didn't know I could pitch like that he says I am the greatest that is understood but even I didn't know that I could pitch that good Now what on earth does that have to do with Mark 10? Everything. That whole song, you're thinking at Kenny Rogers song, you're thinking that greatness is one thing. The boy hitting the homer.

But come to find out that greatness was completely the opposite of what you thought it was when you started the song You had greatness backwards. So did the little boy. I didn't realize I was that good of a pitcher. I Was great And that's exactly what's going on with Jesus and his disciples. The disciples have greatness seriously backwards.

Seriously backwards. Jesus is the great one. He's standing there in their midst. And he's telling them, I am going to be exalted according to Daniel 7. I am the great one.

You think this way is great, it's not. But follow me and I'll show you true greatness. The disciples have greatness backwards. They've been on the road, they've been discussing who is the greatest among them, and that was in Mark chapter 9. And Jesus told them then, if anyone wants to be first, he shall be servant and last of all.

And here they are again in Mark chapter 10, just a chapter later. They're discussing greatness again. And now Jesus is being really, really clear, more explicit. You've got greatness wrong. In my kingdom, the poor are what?

Rich. And in my kingdom, those who are desperate for a savior get the savior. While the self-sufficient and the self-righteous, they're out. While the poor are in. Bartimaeus gets in while the rich young ruler doesn't make it.

Those who think themselves mighty are weak in my kingdom. It's the humble who inherit the kingdom of Christ, Jesus' teaching. It's the poor in spirit who get the kingdom of heaven. True greatness is found not in earthly power or earthly might, but in humble service to the least of these. Mark chapter 10, verses 32 through 45, are Jesus redefining what true greatness in his kingdom is and it can be summed up in one word humility Humility And Jesus does this in three ways, two of which we've already talked about.

First, in his prediction of his death. Christ predicted his death in the first three verses, 32, 33, and 34. He's been going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will not be stopped from accomplishing his mission. Despite all the suffering that he knows is coming, he will not be moved.

He remains steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work that His Father has given him for him to do, and that work is for the Son of Man to humbly serve. This is greatness. Well, Jesus is also the Son of Man. He is the one who will be brought low so that he would be lifted high. Jesus is the Son of Man who fulfills Daniel's prophecy in Daniel chapter 7 that as a result of this humiliation, Jesus Christ the Son of Man and the Son of God will be exalted.

Jesus is God. Jesus is the exalted one above all things. You can't get any greater than the Son of Man. This is greatness. Jesus will be handed over to Gentiles.

Jesus will be handed over to the Gentiles. He's going to be both the goat of sacrifice and the scapegoat, taking the sins of his people upon himself, taking those sins as far away from his people as the east is from the west, outside the camp. How did he do this? Well being found in appearance of man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And what happened as a result of Christ's humble submission to the Father?

True greatness happened. Paul says, for this reason, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name because of his humility because of the work he did in humility his name is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth beloved this is true greatness and Yet the disciples they don't get it. We see the disciples pride in verses 35 through 40 We first see that the we first saw the disciples demand, the disciples, namely James and John, they demand, hey, I know what you're saying, I'm not going to listen to that, they demand that Jesus do for them What they ask. What are they asking Jesus to do? Make us great.

Make us great in your kingdom. Put us on your left and your right in your glory. Make us great. And we see the disciples' ignorance. Right after that Jesus asks them, Are you able to follow me?

Are you able to follow in my sufferings? Are you able to drink the cup and be baptized with me? And in their ignorance, what do we see the disciples say? Yeah! We're able to do that.

Well, Jesus is going to drink the full cup of God's wrath for the sins of His people. He's going to the cross to do that. He's to be plunged underneath the almighty, righteous indignation of God in his baptism. He's going to suffer on a level that has no comparison. And Jesus says, are you able to endure that with me?

And James and John, representative of the rest of the disciples, say, yeah, but do they? Well we see here that they do not. We talked last week of the disciples' future. Christ tells them, well, you will indeed share in my sufferings. But not now.

You see, they asked to be on Christ's right and left. And they very well might have had been on Christ right and left if they would have stayed true. Did they stay true? In the Garden of Gethsemane that night that Jesus was betrayed, They did not stay true. They betrayed Jesus.

They left Jesus. They fled Jesus. The sons of thunder are gone like the wind. And Jesus is left all by himself. And indeed, Jesus later on, just a chapter later on in Mark's Gospel, takes up a different kind of throne.

He's lifted up on that throne called the cross. And this day we call that the glory of God. The cross being glorious. And yet on his left and on his right do we find James and John? No, James and John are nowhere to be seen.

Two criminals stand on his left and on his right in his glory. God is great. This is greatness, what we are seeing here on display. Jesus who is God is great. The disciples aren't getting it.

But I wonder, are you getting it? Are you getting it? The disciples don't. Are you? Do you understand yet who Jesus is?

Do you understand yet what Jesus, the exalted one, has come to do? This is all that Mark's Gospel is about, is it not? Mark chapter 1, beginning in verse 1, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Let me read it again. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God mark is about who Jesus is and what Jesus has come to do are you understanding this Do you understand what being truly rich and what being truly great in God's economy looks like?

True greatness is humility. True greatness is humble service to the least of these in God's kingdom. True greatness is following Jesus in His suffering that you might participate in His glory. That's what Jesus now proclaims in the last portion of our passage this morning. Lest you still be confused, lest you still find greatness to be in the same category as the disciples found it to be.

We see here in part three, Christ's proclamation of true greatness. In His coming, not to be served, but to serve, and giving his life as a ransom for many. I want us to turn our attention just one more time to verses 41 through 45. So look there in your Bibles with me. We're going to read these four verses once more, beginning in verse 41.

Hearing this, what did they hear? They heard James and John's desire to be on their left and right, to be on Christ's left and right. Hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. In calling them to himself, Jesus said to them, you know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all for even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve to give his life as a ransom for many.

There are three clear and simple things that Jesus does in this passage and those three things will form the structure of the rest of this sermon in our time together this morning. First, in verses 41 and 42, Jesus calls the disciples to himself. Then in verses 42 through 44, Christ teaches his disciples. He calls them to himself, teaches his disciples and then finally in verse 45 Jesus proclaims true greatness is manifest in Christ serving His disciples through sacrifice. So Jesus calls, Jesus teaches, and then Jesus serves.

So first notice the calling of Christ. Christ calls His disciples in verse 41. We're told there in verse 41 that the other disciples are very upset with James and John. Most likely because the sons of thunder are voicing the very things that they themselves would have wanted to voice. As one brother says, the disciples would rather bear a grudge than a cross.

Now the word that Mark uses there is indignation. In verse 41, hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant, indignation, irritation. Again, the disciples, they are upset because these two brothers have beaten them to the punch. They aren't upset about what James and John said so much as they are upset that those positions that James and John have wanted to lay claim to, they would be far better suited for themselves. We can surmise as much because immediately, what does Jesus do?

He calls all of the disciples to Himself and begins to teach them about humility. All the disciples, you all come together, let me teach you about what true humility, what true greatness looks like. Here's what kingdom greatness is all about, serving the least of these. These disciples are indignant. It's like one of my daughters coming up to me with what might seem like righteous indignation at the time.

You've been here. At first it seems like righteous indignation. Righteous, hey this is wrong, we need to fix it. Daddy, my sister took that toy and she is trying to flush it down the toilet. This is wrong.

This is the travesty of justice. So I go and take it away and remove it and give it to this sister, this daughter, and then this moment later, that same girl who just tattled on the other has got the same toy and it's about to go down the same toilet. It wasn't righteous indignation at all. It was instead, I want that toy, and I want to do what she's doing with it, I want what she has. That's what's going on here with the disciples.

These disciples want what James and John have asked for. These disciples have greatness completely mixed up. I want to ask you again, do you have greatness mixed up beloved? Are you listening to the world or are you listening to Jesus? What happens in your heart when your friend gets that promotion at work?

That was my promotion. I should have been recognized for all my hard work. You get indignant. That mother on social media, she gets all the accolades. What?

I can change five diapers in the time that mother can change one. I should be getting the accolades. You get indignant. Your sibling, your brother or sister, children, they get some kind of recognition. She draws a picture, he does a somersault on the ground and your father smiles.

Father says, wow, that was amazing. What's your reaction? You become indignant. You get unhappy. Not because your sibling did something wrong, but because you want that attention.

You want the applause. If that's you, you're not borrowing the definition of greatness from Jesus. You're just like everyone else in the world. You're listening to the world. You've got greatness wrong.

And here's the wonderful thing this morning. Jesus this morning isn't content for you to have greatness wrong. That's how much He loves His people. That's how much He loves you children. He isn't content to let you flounder.

He wants you to thrive in His Kingdom. And so this morning, He calls you to Himself. He teaches you what true greatness is. This morning, Jesus wants you to rid yourself of your silly definitions of greatness and glory. And He calls you out of those things into His marvelous light.

And that's what He does with these disciples this morning. Jesus calls His disciples. I think you should very much think in this passage when you hear the ten and dignite, and then it says in the text, Jesus called the disciples to himself. I think you should be thinking about the garden on some level. You should think of Genesis chapter 3 in this passage.

Adam and Eve, they've eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And what happens? They're ashamed. They're naked and ashamed. And they hear God coming in the garden.

So What do they do? They hide. In their sin they hide. And what does God do to them? God calls out to them.

God calls them to Himself. It's exactly what God does in Genesis chapter 3. That's a picture of the Gospel. God chasing down sinners. God coming down to sinful man.

God pursuing sinful man. God calling out to sinful man. When if all was true fairness, God would be calling down fire and brimstone on their heads. If all was fair, God would be crushing them. But instead in the garden, He calls them to Himself.

And here now in our passage is Jesus, God, come down to sinful man, surrounded by sinful men who are consumed with evil and envious and shameful false notions of greatness and Jesus calls them to himself. Beloved saints, dear friends, do you find yourself this morning in sin? Do you find yourself believing lies? Do you find yourself full of pride and envy and lust like these disciples, desiring evil things. Well have you not heard the good news already proclaimed to you in the first part of the service?

In this baptism and in song and in Scripture, Jesus Christ calls out to you to lay such things down and run to Him. Jesus Christ drank the full cup of God's wrath for your sins, Christian. He was baptized under the judgment and condemnation of God so that any who would hear the call, His call, to repent and believe in Him. For those that would hear the call to come to Jesus with empty hands, only thing in your hands is sin. The call, for those that would hear His call, they will not receive a cup of cursing.

And they will not receive a baptism of judgment. Rather, instead, through faith, they will receive a cup of blessing and a baptism of belonging from the hands of God. That's His call to you this morning. You know, God called me to Himself 26 years ago. I was a sinner.

I was a bad mamajamma. But He quickened me by the Spirit. And you might not have known that I was a sinner. You might not have known that I was a great iniquitor at nine years old. But in His great kindness to me.

Though it hadn't all come out yet. I was so much like these disciples. I made these disciples look good. I had greatness backwards. I wanted self-exaltation.

I wanted to indulge in sin. But 26 years ago, He gave me eyes to see my need for a Savior. 26 years ago, I realized that I was a sinner. I desperately needed a Savior. And all those times that my mother and my father faithfully proclaimed and faithfully lived out those gospel truths, suddenly they were alive to me.

These were alive to me. And I believed. Because God, the Spirit of Christ, effectually called me out of darkness into his marvelous light. And that was a miracle. It is a miracle every time a man or woman is converted.

It is a miracle every time when a man or woman hears the call of God and is effectively called, comes to Christ. It is a miracle that God calls them to Himself and then teaches them through His Word. And they listen, and they read, and they trust and obey what Christ calls them to do. So here is now in our passage Jesus like a tender shepherd And he calls these men to himself. How tender Jesus is to those that are his.

He calls these self-centered men to himself and he teaches them. And that's what we see next, Christ teaching in verse 42. Calling them to himself, Jesus says to them, you know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great men exercise authority over them but it's not this way among you whoever wishes to become great among you shall be servant shall be your servant And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all." Jesus is teaching about true greatness. And he points to two examples. Do you see the two examples that he points to?

In contrast to one another, what's the first example that Jesus uses to teach? Where does he point to first? Well, he points to the Gentiles. You want to know what true greatness is? Here's what it's not.

He points to the Gentiles. Well, who did he just say in verse 33 that he'd be handed over to? The Gentiles. The Son of Man will be handed over to the Gentiles. The unclean, the pagan.

The land of the Gentiles is where the scapegoat would be released. The Gentiles here represent godlessness. They represent the exact opposite of righteousness and truth. And Jesus says, y'all are thinking like Gentiles. Y'all are acting no different than those than those pagans over there without hope and without God in the world the Gentile rulers the pagan rulers they take their authority and they abuse it.

They misuse it. They use their authority on their subjects. They lord it over them. They take their power and might. They take their authority and they wield it like a club over those that are under them.

They say I've got power and I'm going to use it. Stinks for you that don't have power. That's the way Gentiles, that's the way godless pagans approach exercising their authority. But it can't be that way among you, Jesus says. It's true of the pagans, But it can't be true for you disciples if you're gonna be in my kingdom It can't be true for you saints of Crossroad You can't look at authority like that Jesus says I won't put up with that in my kingdom if you're to inherit my kingdom you got to get low You got to throw out all your worldly definitions You got to stop borrowing from the world.

Stop borrowing from pagans. Your idea of greatness, disciples, right now in your current mindset, it's borrowed from the wicked kingdoms of the world. Do you know where those wicked kingdoms will end up? On the ash heap of history. Those kingdoms are not going to last.

They're not going to endure. Why? Because those kingdoms aren't truly great. Using your authority on others instead of for the good of others is a pagan use of authority. It's pagan behavior.

And it's the opposite of true greatness. I want to point something out here. This selfish and self-exalting approach to using authority, to wielding power and ruling over others. This selfish approach to the use of power and authority, it's actually what Satan does, is it not? It's how Satan wields his authority over those who yield to His authority.

Satan is a merciless slave master. He kills, he destroys with His power. Satan and all the wicked who follow in Satan's Example, they use their power and rule on others to serve themselves, but not Christ. You think about the contrast there. Satan and all the wicked that follow his example, they use their authority on others to serve themselves.

But not Christ. Far from using his authority on others to serve himself, In this passage we are told he uses his power, his dominion, and his authority for the good of others at great cost to himself. You see that? That's verse 45. Jesus uses his authority for the good of others at great cost to himself.

Satan and all the wicked that follow him use their authority on others for themselves. At great cost to those under them. Jesus is redefining greatness in His kingdom. He became the least. He became a servant for the salvation of many.

That's verse 45. He points first to the Gentiles, here's what not to do, here's how to act like a pagan and not make it in my kingdom. Here's how you use your authority. Here's how you abuse your authority, and you make little ones stumble, and you get a millstone hung around your neck and you get to the depths of the sea. Separated from me forever.

This is how you abuse your authority and get cast into the sea. When you lord it over people and you make little ones stumble. Jesus points to the Gentiles and says, that's not great. And then who does He point to? What's the second example?

Jesus points to Himself and says, but I am. Here is true greatness. He points to the Gentiles, that's what not to do, but here's what it looks like to be great in my kingdom. Jesus says, I am true greatness. True greatness is the Son of Man giving himself up for the sake of others.

True greatness is humble sacrifice and service. And that's verse 45. For even the Son of Man, even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. I just noticed how that phrase starts, right? Even God Himself, even the King of Kings serves, right?

If there's anyone greater, it would be the king of kings. There is none greater than God Himself. Even the king of kings came to serve. He serves in the greatest way possible. How?

How does he serve? By laying his life down. By giving his life as a ransom for many. Husbands, how do you view your authority? If you are to follow Christ, the next time you consider how you wield your God-given authority over your wife, it's God-given, you must know the way you wield your authority must be for her ultimate good, even if it comes at a great cost to yourself.

Greatness men is not walking into your home and asking to be served. Greatness men is coming into your home and saying taking a deep breath and knowing the chaos that's about to ensue glorious chaos children running to you dogpiling on you and you've just spent eight plus hours you're exhausted glory greatness is taking a deep breath and thinking about Christ who came not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. To open that door and to come in and say, let me serve. That's great. It's glorious.

Do you ever look at your wife and think, she should serve me. Serve me! And you might be a meathead right now and say well the Bible says she should serve me. Yeah, it does and it says That the disciples should have served Christ in obedience and you should serve Christ in obedience But the Son of Man your Savior and your supreme example Did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life for the sake of those entrusted to Him. So don't be a meathead.

His leadership, His authority, His greatness is manifest in His sacrifice. You lead. You serve like Christ has served you in giving Himself for you, Mr. Husband, Mr. Father.

And when you lead this way, when you lead with the example of Christ at the front of your heart and mind who came not to be served but to serve, when you have to make decisions that are unpopular and you have to move and lead and direct your family with this at the forefront. When you approach authority in the way that, not like the pagans, but in the way that Christ has taught you, God gets the glory, your wife sees the gospel, and your children and your children's children and their children, Lord willing, will forever for eternity see that as great. Mothers, how do you view your authority? If you were to follow Christ, the next time you exercise your authority over your children, and you should exercise your authority over your children, it must be for their ultimate eternal good, even if it comes at a cost to yourself. This is greatness.

You know, eternity will bear out the greatness of the humble and sacrificial work of your hands, ladies. Eternity will bear it out. There will be mountains of dirty diapers and knee after knee after knee of bandaged boo-boos are going to declare for eternity the greatness and glory of Christ and you will share in that glory. That's meaningful to me. Older siblings, How do you view your authority?

Your siblings need your looking after, especially if you're an older sibling. How do you view your authority that your parents have to delegate that they delegate their authority to you often when you're watching your younger brothers and sisters. How do you view that authority? Do you look at the King of Kings, the greatest one? The one who is unmatched in significance?

The one who is unmatched in power, wisdom, and might. And do you read these words? Even He did not come to be served. Do you read those words? Do you think of Jesus Christ the Great One?

And then you look at your siblings who you have authority over and you say, I will use my authority as a club on top of you or do you use your authority for their good? Children, what do you think about all this talk of authority? What do you think about when I say things like, parents you need to use your authority right, And you should. Does that get you all antsy? Are you hearing that Jesus Christ submitted to God the Father's will and gave himself up as a sacrifice for sin?

How he gave his life as a ransom for many? Are you thinking about what that means for you, children? I think you should. Children, are you thinking about what this means for you? This means everything.

Do you think that obeying your parents, that submitting to your parents, and not even listening to your older siblings is no fun? That it's weak? That it's not pleasurable? I was there. I was there.

Well it's sad that you would think that obeying your parents is weak, or no fun, or not pleasurable. It's really sad that you would think that. Do you want to know why? Yeah? Yeah?

I hope you say yeah. No one's saying yeah. Thank you. Well, that's sad you would think that, because the greatest fun and the greatest pleasures in life are to be had in following and knowing and trusting in Jesus Christ. And what did He do?

He submitted Himself to the point of death on a cross. There is none greater than Jesus Christ. And what did He do? He submitted. He made the word fun.

He made the word delight. He made the word pleasure. At His right hand are pleasures forevermore, children. And what is this one doing? He's submitting himself to the point of death on the cross.

Children, I invite you to obey Jesus, to follow Jesus. In submitting to your parents, In submitting to your parents, you are submitting to God. And that is very great. The King of Kings, the greatest who ever lived, the son of man who is highly exalted over everyone and everything He submit he humbled himself he submitted himself to the father By coming not to be served as every other king desires to be. This king is different.

What did he do? By giving his life as a ransom for many, as a ransom for their sins. Christian, this morning you are to think about verse 45 and you should be full of awe. Jesus came and gave Himself as a ransom for your sins. And I want to conclude with thinking about that last phrase.

He gave His life as a ransom for many. I have two final truths, and we're almost finished here. Two final truths to briefly ponder, briefly ponder as we consider the example of Christ, the work of Christ, as we consider the true greatness of Christ in paying our ransom. And I don't have them up here, but number one, you can write this down. We're considering that phrase, a ransom for many.

He paid your ransom. Number one, Jesus did this in service. Now I want you to hear this. The ransom came from Jesus alone. Jesus came to serve.

What did the service look like? A ransoming. So here's what that means. Jesus came to serve. You do not get to see, you do not get to say to Jesus, I'll meet you halfway.

I'll pay some of the ransom. No, Jesus came to serve. Jesus paid all of your ransom. Don't be acting like you're some kind of functional, workspace, righteousness guy. Where you say, well, I still have sins I have to atone for.

There's no way that Jesus could forgive me. I've got too much sin. The Bible says Jesus calls people to Himself. He teaches them. He's ransomed them.

Paid their fine in total. You don't get to come to Jesus and say, well let me help you earn my salvation. Let me bring some of my accolades so that between the two of us I can be right with God Beloved Jesus came and gave his life as a ransom he paid the full Payment there is not one sin left for you to atone for if you belong to Christ. Jesus saved sinners from beginning to the end. It's all the work of God.

He came to serve. You bring only your sin to the table, and Christ brings his perfect life, death, and resurrection to atone for your sin to that table. You are not great, He is. You bring your sin to the table, He brings His blood and His perfect life and his resurrection to the table and you get this table in exchange. The Savior is great.

The Savior is great. Number two, Jesus gave his life as a ransom. What does it mean? Well, the ransom is a payment. A ransom is a payment.

It means the price of release. There is a hostage or a captive or there is a slave. That's what this imagery is, that's what this word is supposed to image in your mind. There's a captive, and a price must be paid for that captive to be released. This word carries the same connotations as the word redemption, to purchase, to buy back a slave at great cost.

A cost must be paid, a fine must be paid for freedom to be purchased. Well beloved, you and I were all those things that I just said. We were slaves and captives. We were in bondage to our sin, captive to Satan. We were lawbreakers, treasonous criminals, having spurned the Almighty God.

That was you. That was me. And God so loved you Christian, that He sent His Son and gave His Son for you. And the cost of your pardon, the cost of buying you back from your slavery to sin and Satan was tremendously high. There has never been a higher cost.

There has also never been a higher evil forgiven than your iniquity, than the iniquity that was paid for on your behalf, when Jesus the Son of Man hung on the cross and He cried out that wonderful phrase, that terrible phrase to Telestai, it is finished. Terrible in the sense that your sin was so evil, was so great that it took God to atone for it. And awesome, because that was a true statement. It is finished. Your sin has been totally paid for.

Two thousand years ago, Christian, your sin was conquered. Your salvation two thousand years ago secured. Lest you be mistaken, when Jesus Christ died on the cross and it was raised up, totally triumphant over all his enemies. Jesus didn't pay the ransom to make salvation possible. I think a lot of us think that.

He paid the ransom. Now it's possible for people to be saved. That's not true. When you pay a ransom, those that you paid for are ransomed. He didn't go to the cross to make salvation possible.

He went to the cross to secure your salvation. So this morning if you're wrestling with assurance and you're wrestling with am I saved? Here is what you must do. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face.

Trust Him. And know, here in His Word, He says, I have paid your fine in full. Stop looking at yourself and saying, I'm too bad. I'm too fickle. There is more strength and might and faithfulness in Christ Jesus and His redeeming work than there is sin and fickleness in you.

Jesus cried out, it is finished. Notice he did not pull a princess bride and say it is mostly finished. He did not say it might be finished. Jesus said It is finished. The ransom has been paid.

What was the ransom? The blood of Christ, the life of Christ freely given was the ransom. Who was the ransom paid to? Who got paid? Some people might think, well Satan must have gotten paid.

No! Satan was too busy dealing with a crushed head at Calvary to receive any kind of payment. He walking around with the most gigantic headache, he's on his way to hell fire. Satan was conquered. No, God the Father.

God the Father received the ransom. It was the judgment of God that we were underneath. And Jesus propitiated the judgment of God, the wrath of God, do your sin. The Son paid the fine to the Father so that the Father in His righteousness could pour out the wrath that you deserve on your sin on the Son. And the Son was treated as you should have been, and you were treated as if you are the son.

You are given the righteousness of Christ. You are declared to be beloved by God. When you are saved, when you are redeemed, when God made this ransoming work effective in your life when he applied the redeeming work of Jesus to you in the day you were converted. Truly, what I said at the beginning of the service, I say to you now, God the Father looks at you, Christian, and says, behold, my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased, for I am well pleased in my son, and I see his rogues of righteousness around you. I see his blood covering you.

You're mine. I see your name in my book, written there by the blood of Jesus. This is glorious. This is glorious what Christ has come to do. The ransom was paid to the Father.

1 John 3 8 Christ came to destroy the works of the devil not pay the devil. Hebrews 2 14 Christ died he gave his life as a ransom to render Satan powerless. Ephesians 5 2 Christ offered himself to God so ultimately It was not Satan who received the ransom. Christ offered himself according to Hebrews 9, 14, without blemish to God the Father. And God the Father accepted the ransom that Christ supplied with his substitutionary sacrifice.

And God the spirit has applied and is applying still that ransoming work to each and every one of his people every day So this is all a Result all that we're talking here all of the hope that you have this morning, you're gonna come to this table in just a moment, you should think about the ransoming, redeeming work of Christ. He has made this table possible for you. He has secured this table for you at the cost of his life. I think that we should end with going back to where we started. At the beginning of the sermon I mentioned to you that I think that you should think about the garden in this narrative.

You should think about the garden. I think all this again is a picture of the garden. So it's a fulfillment of what was promised back in Genesis 3. Think about what we just have gone through. God calls out to mankind.

They're naked and ashamed in the garden. Why? Why are they naked and ashamed? It's real easy. They wanted to be great.

They wanted to be great. They wanted to be like God. I'll be like God. I'll be like Him in His greatness and His glory. They wanted to be great.

They thought they would be great. They thought they would be like God. And God calls these sinners, He calls Adam and Eve, these rebels to Himself. What does He do? He teaches them.

He disciplines them. And then at the end of that narrative in Genesis 3, He serves them. He covers them. He covers their nakedness. He covers their shame with His own sacrifice.

The first time ever in the narrative in Genesis where we ever are told that there's been some kind of sacrifice, bloodshed. Adam and Eve sinned. God calls them out. God covers their shame with the garments of animals, skins. Blood must be shed for shame to be covered.

These people, Adam and Eve, sought to be great, and in their sin they became low. And what did the Great One do? The great one served them. He covered them in sacrifice. He dealt personally with their shame and their guilt.

And then he promised that a Savior would come, finally and forever, to conquer their condemnation. And beloved, that Savior came. That Savior came and He's been clothing sinners made saints in His righteousness every day since then in His sovereign mercy. Mmm. That's greatness.

So I wonder are you hiding? Are you hiding this morning? Are you naked and ashamed and you know it? Have you tried to cover up your guilt with your own silly little fig leaves? Well, you need to hear his call this morning to repent and believe the gospel.

That Jesus Christ came not to be served, but to serve by giving his life as a ransom for many. He gave His life as a ransom for your sins, friend. Oh, that you would believe, turn and believe, and be saved. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you for this, your Word.

Please, please work it into the lives of us, your people. In Jesus' name, amen.