Riverside Community Church
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May 18, 2025
More About Jesus
Saviour
Intro.
Elvis 1967 You don’t know me (a boy loves a girl and the girl thinks he is just a friend)
You give your hand to me and then you say hello
And I can hardly speak, my heart is beating so
And anyone could tell, you think you know me well
But you don't know me
…To you I'm just a friend, and that's all I've ever been
No, you don't know me
…
You give your hand to me and then you say good-bye.
I watch you walk away beside the lucky guy
To never, never know the one who truly loves you so
No, you don't know me
No, you really don’t know me. The girl didn’t know the depth of affection the boy had for her, he was a friend only, and that’s good for when friends are needed but, in the end, he moans -you really don’t know me.
Q Is Jesus just your friend or do you KNOW Him? Do you want to know Him, do you want to relationally experience Jesus in such a way that will wonderfully change you, fill your heart, give you peace and joy??
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-This relational experience of Knowing Jesus starts with knowing Jesus Christ as our Saviour, which we will speak of later.
-plus this relational experience of Knowing Jesus continues and develops as we grow in our personal knowledge of Jesus.
Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:18
… grow in the … knowledge (your experience and relationship) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
-if you want to grow as a Christian, if you want to mature and grow up then learn about Jesus, experience Jesus in your life and develop your relationship with Jesus.
Yep, more about Jesus would I know.
-a husband doesn’t say I love you once on the wedding day and never again -nay, nay, he has to keep developing affection, keep practicing and experiencing, evolving and growing his relationship with his wife.
Like Paul writes in Philippians 3:10 Amplified Bible
… that I may KNOW Christ [that is experientially know Christ, relationally know Christ, and know the remarkable wonders of His Person personally] …
-to know about Jesus is only the start, to experience Jesus deeply, to be relationally walking with Jesus daily, is our greatest goal and endeavour.
More about Jesus would I know and experience.
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Over the next 6 months we will be experiencing Jesus in a way that, I hope and pray, will cause us all to have a spiritual growth spurt and a discovery of a lifetime that will last for eternity.
-as we look into the scenes of the real Jesus, see the places He went, see the people He met and talked to, as we observe what Jesus did, and comprehend what He said and even feel what Jesus felt, full participation is required from you by entering the picture itself. No casual observance or superficial onlooking will work. Enter the scene, taste, hear, see, feel, engage all your senses and bare your heart and soul into experiencing Jesus.
Enter the scene, experience Jesus so:
… you would taste & see the goodness of Jesus.
So your hungry heart would be satisfied with manna from Jesus.
So you would know the very presence of Jesus with you as He said
That you would embrace His love for you,
That you would hear even the cadence of His voice, through His words
That you would hear Him call you in the night.
That you would feel the depth of his love and compassion towards you. That you would know His peace and catch a glimpse of His Glory.
That you would know the guidance of His plan, the comfort of His touch and see the High and Lofty One, our King of Heaven, our Jesus.
Are you ready to meet Jesus, are you ready to experience Him more deeply, this Jesus, this Jesus Christ the Lord.
- He is described in Hebrews 1:3 as:
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‘The Son (Jesus) is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being …
Meet Jesus🡪meet God. Experience Jesus🡪experience God.
Let’s start with meeting and experiencing Jesus the Saviour.
Luke 2
6 While (Mary and Joseph) were (in Bethlehem), the time came for the baby (Jesus) to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
The entrance of this Saviour into our world was pretty unspectacular, it was actually inglorious, it could be called humiliating, or even disgraceful maybe one could see it as shameful.
So, please enter the scene, yourself -be there in person - look at Jesus, lying there, still half-wet from birth, helpless, can’t speak, can’t even see.
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Look around-it’s a stable, a cave, dampish, unlit and smells of manure and animal urine. Pungent odors surround you in this dirt floor animal shelter-this is where Jesus was born, our Saviour’s hospital was a just a hole in the ground.
-and see Mary the teenager, give birth for the 1st time without another woman for guidance, see Mary get up after she gave birth and wrap the child and then fix the baby’s bed.
-Look around, enter the scene, be personally there,-see the soiled birth cloths lying beside a mattress of loose straw beneath the body of the helpless newborn.
-enter the scene and see the look in Mary’s eyes, see the look in Joseph’s eyes and now look into the eyes of Jesus, His eyes still glazed over unable to see you yet amazingly, He already knew you and that’s why He is lying in the manger with you looking at Him. He came to save you, He came to be your Saviour as the angels announced.
I can not explain why God choose to send His only Son, Jesus, to be born in such a manner but I can say that God thought it the best way for the Saviour to come.
The triune God thought it the best way, and that speaks volumes about the triune God and about Jesus, the Son.
The Saviour was born in the lowest of estates.
This is what the Saviour was -humble, self-sacrificing, He was intent on saving us through giving up everything including Himself.
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-now look into the baby’s eyes again, smell the acrid manure, and realize this -He didn’t come for comfort or ease -Jesus came to be your Saviour. That’s your Jesus, His eyes were fixed on you when He was born in blood in that stable 2000 years ago.
-But wait, the scene shifts from His birthplace to His deathplace covered in blood, now it’s His blood. Come and see this Jesus, hanging there, dying there, saving you there. He dies for you.
-feel His pain, nailed to a tree, bleeding, come and see for now He looks at you, You looked at Him in the manger, now He looks at you from the cross. He’s the same Saviour, manger to cross, and now again on the cross He seems so helpless as He seemed helpless in the manger.
-but look again at the cross, at Jesus there, He is not helpless, He is not powerless, He is destroying death and bringing life to you, He’s saving you from death and bringing you life, eternal life. Herein is Jesus, the Saviour, your Saviour
Paul writes Timothy (2 Timothy 1:10)
but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus (that’s His birth), who has destroyed death (that’s His cross) and has brought life ...
-dying to save you from death and dying to save you for life, eternal life.
John was there at the cross and writes (1 John 4:14)
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… we have seen (John was there and saw the cross with Christ Jesus on it -do you see Jesus there -dying for you?) and testify that the Father has sent his Son (Jesus) to be the Savior of the world.
He is my Saviour; my name is written in the nail print on His hands
-as I enter the scene, I believe with all my heart as I see Jesus hanging there, that He is my Saviour and a drop of His precious blood falls on me, at the cross. And gloriously and wonderfully I am saved. My Saviour has saved me.
Paul writes in Ephesians 1:7
In him (in Jesus) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, … that’s how we are saved.
Enter the scenes of His birth and death, see, hear, feel, experience Jesus in a new way, don’t know about Jesus in your head but know Jesus relationally, in your heart. He is your Saviour. Grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
