Profound Pinnacles of Faith

Three Divinely Protected and Profound Pinnacles of our Faith

(Easter Sunrise Service)

By Pastor Dan Kennedy

www.pastorkennedy.com

To observe the “pinnacles”, “mountain peaks”, or “primary points” so to speak, of a person’s life, or of certain parts of world history, or of theology, can sometimes be questionable. Many times it depends on what is the most striking and memorable event calculated by a consensus of many people. It might depend on a person’s cultural heritage, or which book one reads, or which historian or theologian authors the literature propounding the “pinnacle” of events in the history of their world. There might be differing pinnacles in the history of Faith, if we were all asked our opinion.

At Easter, anyone might naturally think of Christ’s Resurrection as the primary event of Christianity. I could agree; it is a primary event. But, I believe that the Resurrection is one of three unified events that should be considered together, when considering the three most profound events in the history of Christianity, Faith and our Relationship with God.

An interesting fact about these three pinnacles is that, just like three exceedingly tall, majestic mountains during a violent storm, all three of these Divine events were shrouded and cloaked by Divine Secrecy until they were revealed in dynamic displays, as when fog suddenly lifts, dissipating in orchestrated sequence, revealing sequentially each glorious presence, in individual and then unified brilliance. Even the angels must have thought, as the first Divine event was revealed – “Ah, this is amazing – we could never have imagined this!” Then, with greater intensity as the second event is unveiled, an even more awesome surprise, only to find, for a third time, the Spirit of God revealing the fullest scope of the Heavenly Father’s plan. Amazed, all in heaven and on earth, step back to revel in the glory and majesty of what God has planned and accomplished!

We can be again in awe today, as we look, viewing the panorama of this secret plan, designed before the foundation of the world by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, for the redemption of sinful mankind, out of every time period, culture, tribe and people group, from the beginning of the world, even to its tumultuous end.

To claim that there are three events that are the most outstanding events in the history of our Faith, could be questionable in the minds of some, but I would like you to consider the following events, outlined in this message, to hold such high places of esteem and honor. But, more than that, to personally experience the reality of their life-changing power!

Scripture Reading: Matthew 27:27 – 28:10

The Resurrection

28 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

The Uniqueness of these Three Pinnacles

Each “Pinnacle” has been Protected by God from being Prematurely Revealed, or from being Side-tracked, Skewed, or Blocked.

These Three Pinnacles of our Faith are Profound and Supernatural because they have been Divinely and Mysteriously Planned from before the Creation of the World, and Protected from being prematurely revealed throughout the Ages!

Each “Pinnacle” has been Revealed Exactly in the Fullness of God’s Time

These Three Pinnacles of our Faith are Profound and Supernatural because they have been securely kept by God for fulfillment and accomplishment at just the right time in the History of the World.

Each “Pinnacle” has and is Accomplishing its Necessary Part in God’s Salvation Plan

These Three Pinnacles of our Faith are Profound and Supernatural because of their ability to cleanse from sin, to give hope of eternal life and spiritual authority, and power for the transformation of a sinful human soul and spirit to be the redeemed and to be born again into the family of God, to become the Temple and future Bride of the Most Holy God!

Three Profound Pinnacles of Saving Faith

The First Pinnacle: Victory over Sin

Every day we read the news it tells us of those who died who had made a name for themselves in this world: those who were famous, rich, scientific, sports heroes, business moguls or inventive geniuses. These all had the same end. Those who will never be listed in the newspaper for being famous in this world, will also be facing the same end: the mother, the father, the child, the servant, the master, the business owner, the technician, the draftsman, the housewife, the student, the fisherman and the seamstress. They will never become young again and will never return to this life as they know it. There is no turning back. Eternity now is a certainty for each one who has died.

There are Four Things that No One Can Deny

1. I exist. We exist. Creation exists. The Universe exists.

2. Good exists, and evil exists.

3. Although I would like to always do good and be seen as a good person, there are times that I participate with evil.

4. We are a frail people. We all die.

These Undeniable Truths confound us and cause us to consider eternity!

I exist. We exist. Creation all around me exists. The universe exists. The absolute profoundness of who we are is staggering!

Good exists. Evil exists. We all want to be good and be seen as good, but sometimes everyone has said things, thought things and done things that have made us ashamed; that make us feel unclean. In participating in these unclean things our own conscience tells us that we have participated in evil and it is in this participation with evil that we grieve the loss of our souls. As much as we want to be good, evil is there. We know down deep that some day we must give an account for who we really are. We deserve, before a Holy God, to be condemned for the evil that we have depravedly desired in our hearts and have participated in.

The Scripture confirms to us that we will exist eternally. One of the basic concepts of physics tells me that everything continues to exist, in one form or another. Each person seems to comprehend that all the good I have done and all the bad things I have thought or done, will continue to exist. That I will exist forever.

The world tells me that if I do enough good, it will make up for the wrong I have done, but I cannot trust the “group think” of the world. If the wrong that I have done still goes on forever, my good will still not overcome or atone for my wrong. The Bible instead tells me that there are only two ways that my wrong and the guilt of my conscience can be atoned for.

a. I must bear my own punishment for the wrong I have done.

b. Someone, who has no punishment to bear for himself, takes my wrong upon himself and atones for my wrong.

We desperately need peace with God. It is only in seeking the atonement offered freely through Christ’s atoning Blood on the Cross that gives me hope for the cleansing of my guilty conscience, and thus have Peace with God.

We are frail people. We all die. We will one day give account of our life before God who created everything.

There must be a sacrifice for sin!

1.Sacrificial Redemption: The First, Initially Hidden, Pinnacle of God’s Salvation for Humankind

The Provision for the Satisfaction of God’s Wrath, because of sin, is through Jesus Christ the Messiah’s Suffering and Redemptive Death.

Galatians 4:4

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Redemption had a goal: “so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:5b). We will look at this more fully in the third point.

This Redemptive Mystery is Fulfilled by Christ, the Suffering Savior, in God’s Sovereign Plan

Romans 16

25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

1 Corinthians 2

6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

God chose to protect this Redemptive Plan, by assuring the Supreme Sacrifice of His Holy Son, providing Reconciliation for sinful mankind with God. No other Sacrifice would have accomplished the satisfaction of Holiness. Only a Holy Sacrifice, a Spotless Lamb would be worthy to pay for the terrible egregiousness of our sin, before God’s Throne. I cannot offer any sacrifice, or do enough good works to satisfy the penalty for my own sin. Another sinner could not take my place because he or she has his or her own sin, like me. Only the sinless Christ could represent the spotless sacrifice and claim for me judicial Justification – “free and clear from all sin, before God”.

Terms such as Redemption, Justification, Reconciliation, and Atonement for sin, etc., are fully applicable here.

The Revelation of God’s Suffering Savior (Daniel 7:13,14; Isaiah 53:1-12); the Sacrificial Redemption of the Jesus Christ, The Messiah, is the Redemptive Mystery revealed.

Supporting Evidences

The following are Supporting Evidences which are appropriate “arch-types”, as annually reoccurring historical events within the Jewish Old Testament Sacrificial System, preparing the world to visualize and receive The Messiah’s Redemptive Sacrifice:

a.The Feast of Passover

Exodus 12

5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.

7 “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. 10 And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. 11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

It is because of Jesus Christ’s shed blood applied to the sin in our life that we can be “passed over” from condemnation, judgment and eternal damnation from the wrath of God. Jesus Christ is the Passover Lamb!

b.The Spotless Passover Lamb

John 1

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Jesus is the spotless, “Passover Lamb”. Sacrificial Redemption by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ which He shed, through His death on the Cross, is the only acceptable atonement that provides for our eternal Cleansing from the Guilt of our Sin before a Holy God.

The Suffering Savior, so clearly seen in Isaiah 53, but it is still a mystery to those who are spiritually “veiled” by legalism to the Mosaic Law.

Isaiah 53:5,6,11b,12

But he was wounded for our transgressions;

he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have turned every one to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

***

…and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.

The Sacrificial Redemption of Jesus Christ opened the door for judicial reconciliation with God. Christ gave us profound Victory over Sin, but there was a universal enemy, which, although its final demise would not be until the very end, could be overcome through the spiritual conquest of Christ. That enemy is Death.

The Second Pinnacle: Victory over Death

2.The Supernatural Resurrection of Jesus Christ: The Second Protected Pinnacle of God’s Salvation

2 Timothy 1

8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel….

Supporting Evidences

a.The Feast of Firstfruits, celebrated the Sunday following Passover

Leviticus 23

10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, 11 and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.

b.The Firstfruit Offering (Sfirat Ha’omer) was symbolic of Christ in His Resurrection, the Firstfruits of those who “had fallen asleep”

1 Corinthians 15 - the Essence of the Gospel

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.....

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

Colossians 1

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Acts 26

22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Psalm 16

10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol [identified in the Old Testament as the place of the departed dead], or let your holy one see corruption.

Romans 1

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord….

Mystery

1 Corinthians 15

51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

The Third Pinnacle: Victory over Slavery Citizenship in the Kingdom of Darkness

3.The Adoptive Reclamation by Jesus Christ, of His Own (Jew or Gentile), into His Kingdom: The Third Mysterious Pinnacle of God’s Salvation

Reclamation: The process whereby a ravaged and destroyed landscape or person is restored to the Creator’s original plan, purpose and person.

Hebrews 2

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

The Opportunity for Spiritual Adoption and New Birth into the Kingdom of God - to become a “Living Stone” and Temple of the Living God.

Remember the story of “the Twice-Owned Boat”?

• A Boy made a Boat
• The Boy happily sailed his Boat;
• The Boy lost his Boat;
• The Boy found his Boat again in a store window (displayed by someone who had found the lost boat, declared it to be theirs, and put it up for sale in the store);
• The Boy bought back again the Boat he had originally made.

Twice Bought: Adoptive Reclamation

God made us. We could not have existed, ever, without His Creation! But, because of sin, we have been condemned by death and subject to the kingdom of darkness. God has now provided reconciliation for those who, by Grace through faith, are Born Again into His Family by His Holy Spirit. We have been adopted out of slavery in the kingdom of darkness, into God’s Family – to be forever in His Kingdom of Light!

Romans 8

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Supporting Evidences

The following are Supporting Evidences that are appropriate “arch-types”, as annually reoccurring historical events within the Jewish Old Testament Sacrificial System, preparing the world to visualize and receive The Messiah’s Reclamation of His Own, from Citizenship in Spiritual Darkness, into the Kingdom of Light:

a.The Conclusion of “the Feast of Harvest” – Shavuot, fifty days following the celebration of “Firstfruits”: Pentecost

Leviticus 23

15 “You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath [“resurrection Sunday”], from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath [“Pentecost Sunday”]. Then you shall present a grain offering of new grain to the Lord.

Fifty days following the celebration of the beginning of the grain harvest with the waving of the sheaf called the “first-fruits”, (they were given 50 days to complete the harvesting of the grain by hand) the joy of the completion of Harvest was celebrated with the waving of two baked loaves of leavened bread, with accompanying sacrifices!

“Its distinguishing feature was the offering of ‘two leavened loaves’ made from the new corn of the completed harvest, which, with two lambs [one for sin and one for peace with God], were waved before the Lord as a thank offering.”

Up until now the Israelites ate unleavened bread (signifying the “sin-less-ness” of the sacrifice) with their feasts, sacrifices and celebrations to the Lord. At Pentecost, they waved before the Lord, celebrating with a loaf in each of their hands, together with the blood of their sacrificial lambs for sin and peace, two leavened loaves of bread. They unknowingly celebrated that they, if redeemed, while still living in their physical “house of clay” (2 Cor. 4:7) (“unleavenness”, if you will), they themselves, would one day be the very living Temple of the Holy God (1 Cor. 6:19; Col. 1:27).

Annually, ritualistic Jews, confused as to why the Feast of Pentecost existed in the first place, celebrate Pentecost as a time to remember the giving of the Law of Moses (it took several hundred years after Christ’s resurrection and the Holy Spirit’s coming, for the Orthodox Jews to begin celebrating Pentecost this way) . But what a different explanation of Pentecost, can be given to the New Testament believer, because of the Celebration of the Holy Spirit’s Coming in Acts 2. At Pentecost – fifty days following the waving of the first-fruit (resurrection) sheaf, the redeemed, blood-bought soul is now symbolically and practically able to him or herself, become the very Temple of the Living God by the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit, through New Birth! (John 7:37-39)

b.We are the Living Temple of the Living God

Colossians 1

26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

1 Corinthians 6

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 3

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

2 Corinthians 6

16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,

and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Individually, those Born Again, are God’s Temple; Corporately, we are joined together into an interactive Holy Temple in the Lord – each part in the Body of Christ

Ephesians 2

18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Romans 12

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

Mystery

Ephesians 1

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making knownÒ to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 3

3 how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

Romans 9

25 As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’

and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ”

26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”

Ephesians 5

31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Conclusion

• Victory over Sin

Sacrificial Redemption: The First, Initially Hidden, Pinnacle of God’s Salvation for Humankind

• Victory over Death

The Supernatural Resurrection of Jesus Christ: The Second Protected Pinnacle of God’s Salvation

• Victory over the Slavery Citizenship in the Kingdom of Darkness

The Adoptive Reclamation by Jesus Christ, of His Own (Jew or Gentile), into His Kingdom: The Third Mysterious Pinnacle of God’s Salvation