Introduction

What we’re doing every week is we’re looking at basic vocabulary words of faith and spirituality. You can’t get around in any field, including the area of faith and spirituality, unless you understand basic vocabulary. Every week, we’ve been taking a word out of the Apostles’ Creed, that earliest summary of Christian faith, and going to the book of John to get a definition.

If you go through the Apostles’ Creed, you know we eventually get to the place where Jesus Christ is called our Lord: “Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.” Now, the word “Lord” is used all the time. People always talk about the Lord: “I prayed to the Lord,” “I know the Lord,” “He is the Lord.” And it seems like a word that everybody knows. It’s commonly used.

Right here, Jesus is called Lord in this passage. And yet, you know, in 1 Corinthians 12:8, Paul says—Saint Paul says—“None can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” None can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Now, that can’t mean that without the Holy Spirit you can’t pass air through your vocal cords and actually enunciate the words “Jesus is Lord.” What it must mean is that though everybody thinks they know what it means to call Him Lord, the meaning of Lord—to understand it, to base your life on it, to really grasp what it means to call Him Lord—is obviously a very profound thing.

And actually, we’re going to learn by looking at this passage: What does it mean to really say He’s Lord? What does it mean? It’s very profound. What does the word mean?

By the way, it’s not at all a bad idea at Christmas time. You might say, “What kind of Christmas passage is this? We’re singing ’Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,’ we’re singing ’O Little Town of Bethlehem.’ This isn’t a Christmas passage.” But, you know, look—the idea at Christmas that God sent His Son, a little baby in a manger, cooing, goo-goo, you know, a little baby squiggling around—it’s so sweet. God’s vulnerability, God’s accessibility. But the idea that a kind of vague, grandfatherly God sent His Son to be a little baby that way—that will warm your heart, but it will never change your heart unless you see who actually came.

The idea is astounding and life-transforming: to think that the Lord of heaven and earth, the great, the magnificent, a God of terrifying power, terrifying holiness, overwhelming magnificence, became a little baby. That will transform your heart. You see, if you don’t see the terrifying side of Jesus, Christmas will warm your heart, but it won’t transform your heart.

So, what does this passage tell us it means when we say He’s Lord?

1. He’s Sovereign Lord

Look at verse 19: “When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water.” They saw Him approaching the boat, walking on the water. Now, one thing you have to realize is He’s not simply walking on water; He’s walking through a storm.

The ancients understood that the sea in general, but the stormy sea in particular, was a symbol of the fact that life and the world were filled with uncontrollable powers—powers beyond our control and comprehension. You see, you walk along on the land, and once every so many centuries, an earthquake will open up under your feet. But on land, that happens very occasionally. At sea, that happens constantly. Whenever a storm comes up, suddenly the waves can rise quickly, and the currents can come up, and all of a sudden, you’re sunk. The waves mean that the sea represents a far more uncontrollable kind of existence.

Sea travel is a much more fragile, much more difficult, and dangerous thing than land travel. But not only that—on land, when you’re walking and something’s coming at you to bite you, you can see it. You know it’s coming. But darkness is upon the face of the deep. In the ocean, when something’s coming up to chomp you, you don’t feel it until the very last minute.

So, what the ancients understood—and this is true of almost all ancient cultures, and of course, we can relate to this very quickly—the sea in general, and the stormy sea in particular, represents the fact that life is filled with terrifying, incomprehensible forces that can suddenly sweep you up, sweep you away, or sink you. They can suddenly bite you.

What you have here is Jesus Christ not just walking on the water, but walking through the storm. Notice, He’s not slogging through the water; He’s strolling. He’s walking along, showing His absolute power over all the forces of destruction, death, and devastation that the stormy sea represents. It’s very important to see.

In fact, if you put this together with the other story we know—there’s another time in which Jesus was in a storm, and He just snaps His fingers, virtually. He gets up and says, “Peace, be still,” which is essentially saying, “Be quiet and stay quiet.” He’s not Charlton Heston; He’s not like Moses parting the Red Sea. He’s not saying, “Stand back!” He’s not rolling up His sleeves, stretching out His rod, or saying, “Behold!” No, He says, “Shut up,” and the storm stops.

In this case, He’s strolling. He shows absolute power over all the forces of devastation and darkness. That’s what He shows.

Now, do you understand this? Before we move on, what He’s saying is that Jesus Christ as Lord means He has absolute power. It means He is completely sovereign over everything. It means there’s nothing that He can’t handle. It means there’s nothing out of control.

Let me apply this practically to a couple of kinds of people. If you’re here today, for example, and you feel like, “Well, I’m not sure why I’m here,” there are a lot of reasons a person can show up at church and not be all that interested in Christ, or at least not be all that interested in making Him the very center and Lord of their life. If you’re not, here’s probably why: You think that life is a walk instead of a sea voyage, and you think your heart is a garden plot rather than an incomprehensible deep.

But here’s what happens: Maybe so far you’re happy, and maybe so far things are going along pretty well in your life. Things are pretty good. You see other people whose lives have kind of fallen apart, and what you’re assuming is either they’re incompetent, they’re not savvy, or there’s something wrong with them—maybe a lack of wisdom, guts, or discipline.

No, the Bible says, and almost all ancient cultures understood this: What basically happens is you may think things are pretty successful, and all of a sudden, up will come a storm, and all of your achievements, all of your success, your money—everything is just swept away by forces beyond your control and comprehension.

Or, you may think you know your own heart, or you may think you know your spouse’s heart, or your friends’ hearts. But there are deep, dark, slimy things down there—things that will suddenly come up and chomp you. There’s darkness on the face of the deep, and you’re not in control of your life. If you think you’re going to be able to just go across the lake, if you think you’re going to be able to get through life without Him in the center of the boat, here’s the warning: You’ve got a rude awakening coming.

On the other hand, there are some people here, surely, right now, who would say, “My life is filled with a storm. I know exactly what you’re talking about. I really feel out of control. I don’t know which way to go.” You know, we have a term for this: We call it “I’m at sea.” When we say “I’m at sea,” what we mean is “I’m out of control” or “I’m confused,” or both.

But this is a text that basically says it doesn’t matter how deep the deeps, how high the waves, or how strong the wind—Jesus Christ is a match for it. In fact, how ridiculous to even say He’s a match for it. In the middle of your life, Jesus Christ gets you through anything. He’s sovereign. He’s got that kind of power.

But, oh, we don’t stop there. If we do, well, He’s almost a magician at this point. If we stop there, here is Jesus Christ—look at this power, walking on the water, walking through the storm, absolute sovereign over all devastation, death, and destruction. And so, of course, you want Him in your boat.

But wait a minute—that’s not all. To call Him Lord means He’s sovereign. Secondly, He’s not just sovereign Lord, but He’s the ultimate Lord.

2. He’s the Ultimate Lord

Now, take a look here. Move on down into verse 20, and it says, “But he said to them, ’It is I.’” Now, what He says there is far more amazing than what He’s just done. You think it’s amazing to see Him just strolling along through the storm, over the storm—you know, He’s Lord of the storm, He’s enthroned over the flood. That’s amazing. No, what He says is more amazing than what He does.

It says, “It is I,” and, you know, let’s pity the poor translators. There’s an awful lot of weird things that Jesus says that, if you just translated them word for word, would make the poor reader scratch his or her head. But you see, what He actually says literally is, “I am.”

Now, you see, the reason the translator can’t say that—He says “ego eimi,” He says “I am”—the reason the translator can’t put that down is you’d be reading that and say, “Now, what kind of nonsense is that? Jesus Christ comes and says, ’I am.’ Well, of course He is. I mean, there He is. Why would He say such a thing?”

Jesus Christ, when He says “I am,” is giving the divine name as His name. This is what God said to Moses in the burning bush, Exodus 3:14, when He was trying to open up to Moses the deepest secret of His identity. When God was giving us the deepest name that looks into His deity and His godness, He said to Moses, “I am.”

Why would He say “I am”? It’s so profound, the more you reflect on it. When God says “I am,” first of all, He means “I was” has no meaning to Me because I have no beginning. “I will be” has no meaning to Me because I will never change. You can never say God will be something—“will be” means “I’m going to change; I’m going to be other than I am now.” But you see, when God says “I am,” He’s not only saying “I have no beginning,” but He’s also saying “I’m perfect; I will not change.”

But really, when He says “I am,” He means “I am just because I am.” You can’t say that. I can’t say that. No one can say that. When He says “I am just because I am,” He means “I am not because of anything. I am My own cause. I am My own condition. I don’t exist because—I’m the cause for all existence.” See, I don’t just exist because of something, but rather everything exists because of Me.

Therefore, when God says “I am,” He’s making an enormous claim, an incredible claim. But when Jesus Christ says “I am,” do you realize what He’s doing?

Listen, over the years, there have been many people, many figures, who have claimed deity or divinity. That’s not so weird. We have them today; we’ve always had them. They’ve said, “I am God” in some way. But look how they define God, and then you’ll see something about how they are making their claim.

Some people would say, “Well, God is that little spark, the sacred in all of us.” Some other people would say, “Well, God is the life force in all things.” Some other people would say, “God is just the power of good in the world, which is always opposed to the power of evil.” Therefore, you see, if you have those beliefs in God, those definitions of God, then when someone says, “I am God” or “I am deity” or “I’m divine,” it’s not so weird.

But Jesus Christ has given here the most indigestible claim in the history of the world—indigestible, unpalatable. It is the claim using the definition of God that is the most difficult for human beings to get a hold of. Because, you see, when He uses the “I am,” the divine “I am,” what He’s saying, first of all, is “I’m the personal God. I’m not just a vague aura.” And He’s saying, “I’m the transcendent God. I created the world. I existed before the world. I’m not just the life force in all things.” And He’s also saying, “I’m the absolute, omnipotent God. I’m not just a kind of force of good opposed to the force of evil, but I’m the one who created everything. I’m the one who’s sustaining everything. I’m the one holding everything together. I am. I, flesh and blood human being, am also that.”

So, Jesus Christ is demanding that we not just see Him—get this—as a power. This is the reason why this supplements the first point so importantly. Why can He walk around like this in the storm? Why? Why is He not rolling up His sleeves to calm the storm? Why isn’t He slogging through the storm? Why does He act like this? Here’s the reason why: He’s not just a source of great power. He’s not just the greatest source of power. He is the source of all power. All power in the world is only on loan from Him.

See, He is not just simply saying, “I am sovereign.” He’s saying, “I am the ultimate. I’m God Himself. All power is on loan from Me. I don’t just have being and power; I am being and power. I don’t just have existence; I am existence. Everything that has being, everything that has power, everything that has existence is dependent on Me at this very second.”

So, it’s a claim of not just “I’m powerful; let Me into your life and I’ll help you,” but “I am the ultimate Lord. Bring Me into your life as your preeminent authority.”

Now, before we move on, let’s be practical about this one. Jesus’ claim here—to say “Jesus is Lord”—is not just to say He’s got power and He comes into my life to help me, but rather He’s got ultimate authority, and when He comes into my life, He has to be the center of my life. He is the preeminent thing. It doesn’t matter what else I want to do. It doesn’t matter what other things I love. Loving Him, obeying Him, following Him has absolute, unconditional authority in my life.

Jesus Christ’s claim here, therefore, pushes us into extremes. Jesus Christ’s claim here means that intellectually and personally, if you’re trying to look at Him, it creates an all-or-nothing situation. First of all, it creates an all-or-nothing situation intellectually, and then secondly, personally.

I’ll do this briefly, but it’s very important to see. First of all, what do I mean it’s an all-or-nothing situation intellectually? Well, just this: You cannot, with any intellectual integrity, accept anything He says without also accepting what He says about Himself. If you reject the idea that He is God and that He is absolute Lord and authority over your life, then you cannot accept anything else He says with any intellectual integrity. Do you see?

Now, why am I pushing that? Because, by default, the average person in this culture does not want to say everything Jesus said and everything Jesus did is trash. Everybody loves the things He says. His teaching is unparalleled. Look at the Sermon on the Mount. His deeds of love and mercy are unparalleled. People just can’t get enough of the stories of what Jesus does and the teaching of Jesus. But what the average person in New York says is, “Oh, I like a lot about Jesus. I like His teaching, but I can’t accept the idea that He’s God.”

Now, here’s what I’m trying to show you: That has no intellectual integrity. Because everything He does and everything He says is interlaced with this unbelievably self-centered teaching. I have no problem calling it self-centered. Jesus Christ claims to be the judge of heaven and earth. I’m not going to show you all these places, but believe me, Jesus Christ claims to be the creator of heaven and earth. Jesus Christ says every sin that anyone does to anyone is against Him. Jesus Christ said, “I’m older than Satan. I saw Satan fall from heaven.” And these claims are all interlaced.

Look, He doesn’t just walk on water; He claims the divine name. You never have anything He does or anything He teaches all by itself. It’s always interlaced with these enormous claims about Himself. Therefore, you cannot say, “I like this that He says, I like this thing, but I can’t believe that He’s God.” You have no intellectual justification for rejecting what He says about Himself and accepting anything else He says.

In fact, I could press this, but I’ll just take 30 seconds. It’s not just that His self-centered claims run parallel to all His other teaching, but rather His self-centered claims are the very basis for everything else He says and does. When Jesus Christ says, “Here’s forgiveness,” oh, we love that. But it’s based on the idea that He’s the authority that can do that. You can’t forgive someone unless the sin is against you. Where are you going to ever get an absolutely clean slate? You sin against mommy and daddy and sister and brother and boss and friend and lover and spouse and children. You sin against all these people. Where are you going to go to get a clean slate unless there’s one person who, in every sin, you’ve sinned against?

You see, if Jesus Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, if He’s the creator, if He’s the one to whom you owe everything, then every sin against every person is a sin against their creator, and every sin against your own heart is a sin against your creator. The only place you can ever possibly go to get a clean slate, the only place you’ll ever be able to go in one spot and get complete freedom from guilt, is if He is who He said He is.

Now, you read all these wonderful things that Jesus says: “I forgive you,” “There’s forgiveness in God,” “Come to Me.” We love that. But don’t you see? All that wonderful offer is based on who He says He is.

Let me give you another quick one. Look at His death on the cross. How does it make you feel? Do you know? See, the point is, if He’s not—if He’s just a nice guy, if He’s even a great guy, if He’s a wonderful teacher—that’s not just a tragedy; that’s disgusting. How dare God abandon Him? How dare God do that to Him? Or, if you say, “Well, God didn’t do that to Him. He did this as an example of sacrificial love,” oh, then He’s a masochist. It’s a suicide. Don’t you see?

But if He’s God, if He is, as the hymn says, “The royal guest you entertain is not of common birth, but second in the great I AM, the Lord of heaven and earth,” if that’s who He is, then this is a voluntary sacrificial death, and it’s something completely else.

Don’t you see that if He’s not who He says He is, the cross is an embarrassment, and the cross is meaningless? If He isn’t who He says He is, all of His teaching is meaningless, all of His offers are meaningless. It’s all or nothing intellectually. You cannot intellectually justify rejecting the idea that He is the absolute sovereign of the universe and accept anything else He says.

But you know what that means? Then secondly, personally, it means He can’t be on the periphery of your life. He can’t be something or someone you go to occasionally. He’s either the center of your life, or He shouldn’t be there at all. He’s either an idiot, or He’s a lunatic, or He should be the center of your life.

Now, you know, many people have said that, but nobody said it nearly as graphically as Flannery O’Connor. If you’ve ever read her short story A Good Man Is Hard to Find, have you read that short story? The central character of the story is a killer, a misfit, they call him, and he’s shooting people, blowing people away. Then he explains why, and this is what he says:

“Jesus has thrown everything off balance. If He did what He said, then there’s nothing to do but throw away everything and follow Him. And if He didn’t, then there’s nothing to do but enjoy the few minutes you have left by killing someone or burning down his house or doing some meanness. But there’s hardly no pleasure in that.”

Now, did you hear this? You take it up with Flannery O’Connor, not with me. She says, “Why is he a killer?” He sat down and said, “Jesus has thrown everything off balance.” Now, what that means is there’s no moderation. There’s no walking the fence. Balance, he says? Forget balance. Jesus has thrown everything off balance. Jesus says balance is over. If He is who He says He is, then there’s nothing to do but throw away everything and follow Him. If He didn’t, then who’s to say what’s right and wrong? Who’s to say what’s goodness? Who’s to say what’s justice?

That’s Flannery O’Connor. What she’s simply saying is this: There’s no half-ways with Him because of the enormity of His claims. So, He’s not just sovereign Lord. He’s not just a powerful one who comes into your life to help you. He is ultimate Lord, which means He’s the final authority, and He comes into your life to have preeminence.

3. He’s the Holy Lord

Well, you say, “You know, I suppose you could end the sermon right here, and some of you would just as soon.” But that’s not the way it works in practicality. This is what really goes on in your life. I know this: Storms come up. Things that you didn’t think would ever happen to you begin to happen, and you start to feel helpless. You start to realize that your life and your heart are not something that you’re competent to navigate. You start to recognize—you start to fear—and you start to realize, “I’m stuck in this storm.”

Then, the natural thing to do is to say, “Well, maybe I need God.” So, you look to God, or you look to Jesus, or you start to study your Bible, or you start to come to church. You start doing something. And then, when you start to see who He is, do you say, “Great, now I’m going to become a Christian”? Now there’s a problem.

Look, the third thing we see is He is not simply a powerful Lord, and not simply the supreme divine authority, but there’s something else: He’s the Holy Lord.

Look carefully, and you’ll see what happens. It says in verse 19, “They rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water, and”—implication—“then they were terrified.” They weren’t that scared before Jesus showed up. Now, it doesn’t mean that they didn’t realize they were in danger. I mean, you know, Mark chapter 6 and Matthew chapter 14 tell the same story, and there was danger. But don’t forget, the disciples had a number of people—fishermen—who were on the Sea of Galilee all the time, and the Sea of Galilee is notorious for its storms. So, there were people in that boat who had seen this before, and even though they realized they were in danger, they realized it was real danger. It’s not until Jesus shows up that they’re terrified.

Why? Why, when they saw Him coming, didn’t they say, “Great, now we’re going to make it! Here He comes!” No, why were they terrified?

Well, think about it. They were terrified because they realized they were in the presence of something wholly other. You see, when Moses met God in the burning bush, God said, “I am,” and Moses hit the deck because the holiness of God was revealed to him. And now, just as the holiness was revealed to Moses in the fury of the fire, so the holiness of Jesus is revealed to the disciples in the fury of the water.

Now, what is holiness? I already gave you the idea, actually. Holiness means the aspect of Jesus in which we see that He is wholly other. He’s above and beyond us. See, when you come near the holy, you don’t just notice that, “Gee, He’s bigger than me.” The contrast—His greatness is so great that you actually feel almost like you don’t exist. And you see His purity. You don’t just say, “Well, He’s better than me. He’s more good than me.” Oh no, His purity is so much greater that you feel like you’re lost. You feel like you’re ruined.

Now, Rudolf Otto, many years ago—actually, at the turn of the last century—wrote a book called The Idea of the Holy. Rudolf Otto, I don’t think, was a Christian, but anyway, he didn’t write as a Christian. He wrote as an anthropologist and a sociologist. What he did was he went and studied human beings and all the religions, and he came up with an amazing fact. He came up with what he considered the deep ambivalence of people to the holy, to God, to the presence of the supernatural. He found that when men and women got into a place where they started to experience the presence of the supernatural, they felt, on the one hand, attracted, and on the other hand, repelled. He called it “numinous awe,” deep ambivalence.

Why is that? Well, the Bible says it’s very simple. There’s one layer of our soul, and when God created us, we needed His glory. We needed His greatness. We feel insignificant unless we’re in a relationship with that greatness and glory. But on the other hand, we have laid down a second layer to our soul because we want to be our own lords and masters, right? We want to be in control.

What that means is when you come close to God—and we are deeply committed, this is what sin is—we’re deeply committed to the idea that though God may be there, we don’t absolutely need Him every second. Though God may be better than we are, we’re not utterly lost sinners that need to live by grace alone. And even though God may be more powerful, we’re not people that absolutely need to depend on Him every second.

When we get close to God, we begin to realize the way we’ve been living is wrong, and therefore, we’re traumatized by the holy. We’re traumatized. And what’s ironic is there’s a greater storm in the heart of the disciples than there is out on the sea. They feel more in peril before Jesus than they did before the storm.

Why? Well, storms—listen, what makes storms? If you watch the Weather Channel, you would know. Storms happen when opposites collide: cold, dry air, warm, moist air, high, low. And Rudolf Otto understood this, and the Bible does too. We desperately need the glory of God, yet we want to desperately control our own lives. And what happens in the world is when storms come along that begin to show us that we really need God, when we start to get near God, we start to get near Jesus—just start reading about who He is, just reading about it—a storm happens inside. We get traumatized, and we say, “Either…”

Let me give you several forms of it. Some of you listening to this sermon are offended. You say, “Well, I believe I need God, but this idea of sin and being lost and being condemned—that’s old and primitive.” See, as soon as you start getting close to the real God, the depiction of the real God, you’re offended.

Some of you might read the Bible and start reading about Jesus, and you see how perfectly loving He is, totally humble, and absolutely courageous. You read Him, and you know what? You start to sink. Why? You’re sinking. Why? Because you say, “Oh, I’ve got to be like Jesus,” but you never live up to it.

When you start to get near the real God, there’s a storm inside worse than the storm outside. And that storm inside is a storm of guilt, despair, feeling like, “I’m never going to make it,” feeling like, “I’ll never be good enough,” or maybe just a terror at even the claim that you’re a lost sinner, or anger at it, or being offended. But a storm happens on the inside.

How do you get through it? Here’s the answer: Jesus is not just sovereign Lord, and He’s not just ultimate Lord, and He’s not just a holy Lord. The fourth thing we learn here is He’s something else besides Lord. If He was only a Lord and nothing else, we’re all dead. We’re all sunk.

Jesus comes and says, “Look and see what He actually says: ’It is I. I am. Don’t be afraid.’” Now, what He actually says in the Greek there are four words. When He comes in, this is all He says: “I am. No fear.”

Now, that should immediately shock us because in the Old Testament, whenever God shows up and says, “I am,” He doesn’t say, “No fear.” In the Old Testament, He shows up in the burning bush and says, “I am. Get your shoes off.” “I am. I’m coming down on Mount Sinai. Don’t anybody touch that mountain because I’m holy, and you’re sinful, and you will be destroyed.”

And here’s Jesus Christ. Now, look carefully. He doesn’t just say, “I am. No fear,” which is exactly the opposite of what God says in the Old Testament. But the implication is, “I am, therefore…” Didn’t you read it in there yourself? “Therefore, don’t be afraid.”

Now, this is amazing. Jesus Christ is saying, “My holiness, instead of being a threat to you—which is what you feel—is not. My holiness—it is possible for the white heat of My utter purity to be an assurance rather than a searing pain and a horrible threat.”

How could that be? Here’s the answer: Does Jesus Christ walk through every storm? Oh, absolutely not. You say, “Well, I don’t remember any storm that He didn’t.” There is one.

Several times, Jesus Christ likens Himself to a figure in the Old Testament. Jesus knew the Scripture like nobody’s business. I mean, you cut Jesus, He bled Scripture. At every moment, He had Scripture on His mind. And two or three times, He says—He says a couple of times—He says to people, several times, “They repented at the preaching of Jonah, but a greater than Jonah is here. For as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days, so will the Son of Man be in the belly of the earth for three days and three nights.”

You know what He’s saying? When Jesus Christ was on the cross, almost for sure He was thinking of that great psalm that Jonah cried out in the belly of the fish. Why was Jonah in the fish? A storm of God’s wrath for his disobedience had come to him, and he was thrown into the water. And when he was down in there, in the belly of the fish, this is what he said: “I am cast out of Thy sight. All Thy waves and Thy billows have gone over me.”

When Jesus Christ was on the cross, He was certainly thinking about this. And what He was saying when He said, “A greater than Jonah is here,” is this: It says there’s one storm in which I do sink. There’s one storm in which the waves and the billows go over Me. I won’t walk over them because, you see, I’m going under. The only storm that can really kill you is the storm of justice, the storm of punishment for sin, the storm of eternal justice. I’m going under those waves. I’m going under those billows. I’m going to be really cast out. And it’s because I sank in the only storm that can really kill you that you’re going to be able to walk through with Me every other storm that ever strikes you.

In other words, Jesus Christ is not only a Lord; He’s a Savior. He’s a substitute. Every other founder comes and says, “Do this, and you will live.” But Jesus Christ came and actually lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died.

And here’s what’s so interesting. Here’s how you know you understand the gospel. Here’s how you know that you’re not just a religious person, you’re not just a good person, but you really understand what Jesus Christ says it means to make Him your Savior and Lord: The holiness of God is your comfort now.

Now, this—well, this takes another sermon right here, so how dare I even bring this up at the end? But here it is. Jonathan Edwards says in one of his great books, he says, “One of the ways you can tell the difference between a Christian and a Pharisee, a Christian and just a religious striving person: Everybody likes the power of God because the power of God is the benefit. I want the power of God. I need—I’m weak. The mercy of God—everybody wants. I make mistakes. I need forgiveness. See? The wisdom of God—I need. Oh, I’m so confused. I need Your wisdom. The holiness of God—I don’t need that.” Because the holiness of God comes in and immediately makes me feel unwise, stupid, wrong, guilty, condemned.

Unless—Edwards says—the way you know you understand the gospel is the holiness of God is a comfort. Why? Do you understand Jesus is not just your example you’re supposed to live up to, but your substitute who died for you? He went under the other storm for you. Do you understand that when Jesus Christ died, He paid for your sins so that when He becomes your Savior, that means all your sins are paid for?

What does that mean? Well, look in 1 John 1:8. The gospel writer John says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.” Look what he says. He doesn’t just say, “He’s faithful and merciful to forgive us our sins.” He says, “For God to fail to forgive you if you’re a believer in Jesus is not unmerciful only”—you guessed it would be—“it’s unholy. It’s unjust.”

God is so holy that now He has to receive us. Why? Because if Jesus Christ, by going under the water, paid for your sin, then you can never pay. That would be getting two payments, which means the holiness of God—not just the mercy of God—is for you.

“It is I,” He says. “I am. Therefore, you have nothing to fear.” Not, “I’m merciful, I’m okay.” In other words, He doesn’t come and say, “You know what? I overlook these things. You make mistakes. We all make mistakes. To err is human. Whoops! But I forgive you.” Is that what He says? No. What He comes and says is, “I am the Holy One, and because I’m the Holy One, you’re saved. I died on the cross to completely satisfy justice.”

And the way you know that you have finally understood that is that when He shows up with His holiness, you let Him get in the boat. You don’t say, “Depart from me.” You begin to find His holiness to be actually a comfort.

Do you get that? Are you that sure of His love? Do you understand that He sunk in the great storm so that we can walk through every other storm? And we will walk through every other storm.

What you do is—what if you’re in a storm right now? You look at it, and you say, “How do I know He’s with me?” My goodness. See, what you say is, “If He refused to abandon me in the only storm that can really kill me, if He went under for me, all those real waves, all those real billows, then He’s not going to abandon me now.”

And if you think He will abandon you because you haven’t been living very well, or you haven’t worked well, or you’re going to clean up your life, and you’re going to read the Bible, and now maybe for sure He’ll listen to me—you don’t get the gospel yet. And I’m here to say, please relax in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

If you’re not sure you’re a Christian, or if you’d like to know how to become a Christian, here it is:

1. Realize that you are no more able to satisfy the standards of goodness and the righteousness of the Ten Commandments than they were able to row to the other side of the lake. Realize that by asking Jesus into your boat, into your life, is really a way of saying what? Not, “Well, now help me to live a better life.” Look carefully at what happened when He got in the boat. What does it say happened? Does it say the wind died? No. Does it say they kept rowing? No. It says, “Then they were willing to take Him into the boat,” and you know what the word is there? The miracle’s not over. It says, “And instantly they were at the shore.” That’s what it says.

To become a Christian means not that Jesus gets in the boat and helps you to live a better life, but it means immediately you’re accepted. Don’t be afraid of that. Don’t be afraid of letting Him in. He’ll take you to a shore that you can’t imagine.

If you’re a Christian and you say, “I’m in a lot of trouble right now,” remember this:

His love in time past forbids me to think
He’ll leave me at last in troubles to sink.
By prayer let me wrestle, then He will perform.
With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm.

Let’s pray.

Father, we ask that You would help us to see that Your Son is sovereign Lord, ultimate Lord, and a holy Lord. But all that does not crush us because He’s more than a Lord—He’s a Savior. We pray that You would show us how to really make Him central to our lives, but help us to also see why that will not crush us, why that will not sink us under the weight of great burdens. Help us to see that ultimately, to recognize His claims is to finally relax, to finally realize that we’re safe. And we pray that You would help us to take these transforming realities into our lives. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.