Being aware doesn’t come naturally for us does it?

We work really hard to make sure our kids are aware of the dangers around them, only to turn around as parents and be unaware of the dangers surrounding us. In car accidents it is not unusual to hear someone admit, “I never saw them..” They were there but the driver wasn’t aware of them. Had they been aware the accident could have been avoided.

People in Scripture are often unaware of Jesus.

Mary Magdalene thought she was seeing a gardener. The disciples where not aware of Jesus’ power to rebuke the storm. And we today… are we aware of Jesus?

It was prophesied in Isaiah 53 that we would look past the messiah…

and we do look past Him daily. BUT powerful things happen when we look to Jesus!

It was prophesied that Jesus would be someone we look past.
Awareness doesn’t come easy for mankind.
Intelligence and Tradition won’t reveal God.
Awareness of God does not come naturally… it comes supernaturally.
Faith comes from looking to Jesus.
Seeing Jesus changes everything

we look past Jesus

Who is this 3 – We looked past

Sermon Notes by Chris Fluitt

Who is this 3 – We looked past

**Bumper Video –
“You know the name, but do you know the man?
You know his story, but have you really captured his heart…? His purpose?
Is He clearly seen by you?
You know.. but look again… stare for a while and ask… “Who is this?””
Welcome to Redemption Church! We are a community of people brought together by Jesus. We believe He is the answer to everything. He is the answer to violence, racism, anger, depression, addiction, divorce, hypocrisy, poverty, greed, all our finances, stress, confusion… Whatever your question… we believe Jesus is the answer!
Redemption Church, We believe Jesus is the answer for Plano Texas… for Irving Texas… for Maykop Russia… for the World.
My name is Chris Fluitt. I’m the Lead Pastor of Redemption Church and I’m excited to preach to you today about Jesus.
Who is this?
We are in the 3^rd week of our “Who is this?” series.
Who is this Resurrection Life?
In week 1 we talked about the story of Mary Magdalene being the first to arrive to an empty Grave on Easter morning. She sees Jesus – the Resurrection & Life. She sees Him face to face but mistakes Him for a gardener.
Who is this Miracle Worker?
Last week we told the story of Jesus on a boat with His disciples. A terrible storm came, but Jesus rebuked it and it immediately calmed. The disciples who had been scared of drowning in the storm are now terrified of Jesus… and the people that knew Jesus so well are left asking “Who is this? Even the winds and waves obey Him…”
Jesus did miracles that made everyone re-evaluate Him.
Today I want to ask “Who is this we looked past?”
Jesus is God in human form. He is God in a bod.
Jesus did crazy miracles… He spoke with an unmistakable authority… He spoke Truth this world had never heard before… How can someone look past that? They did & we still do..

we look past Jesus

We are often guilty of thinking we fully know Jesus… Thinking we have him completely figured out. We look past Him…
We lack awareness.
After many car accidents you will hear a driver say… “I never saw them.” They were there but the driver was not aware of their presence. Had they seen them… had they been aware… they could have avoided the accident.
Raising kids, you spend a great deal of time making them aware of danger. Look both ways before you cross the street… This is a No Touch… Kids could you not play around the wood chipper?…
But then we as adults aren’t aware of the dangers surrounding us… Don’t smoke it will kill you… Be careful with that credit card… Husbands & wives could we not play around with our relationship…
Are you aware of the dangers around you? Are you aware?
Today we are going to take a test. It is important that you are aware so we have this awareness test for you. Please pay close attention… we need your undivided attention.
Awareness Test…

We lack awareness.
Did you see the moonwalking Bear? Where you aware? It’s hard to believe that we could miss something so out of the ordinary as a moonwalking Bear… but we do.
Jesus is the most remarkable person to ever walk the globe, yet, are we aware?
We are exposed to the beauty of this Earth… but are we aware of the creator?
We have stories of His healing & salvation… but are you aware that He is able to meet our need?
We know Jesus was there for the thief on the cross… but do we realize He is here for us right now?

Awareness doesn’t come easy for mankind…
Adam & Eve hid from God because they weren’t aware that He loved them.
Awareness doesn’t come easy for mankind…
Although Israel had seen miracles in Egypt and crossed the Red Sea, they thought at every moment that they were going to die. They weren’t aware that God would never leave them.
Awareness doesn’t come easy for mankind…
And today, although we have knowledge that Jesus was raised from the dead and will return one day… We walk around unaware that He could come back today.

It was prophesied that we would look past Jesus… That we would be unaware of Him and that Messiah would have to be revealed to us. (Isaiah 53)
Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?(NIV)
Isaiah 53:2 The servant grew up before God–a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look.(MSG)
Isaiah 53:3 He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum.(MSG)
This prophecy about the savior of the world starts off with a question… Who is going to believe…? To whom will the arm of the Lord, the Christ, be revealed?
We aren’t made aware by our own intelligence. You might be struggling with faith today because of this. We can understand that and we will gladly sit down with you for a logical conversation… but we have to tell you… intelligence and logic can only take you so far.
We aren’t made aware by our traditions? You might have been raised in Church and heard sermons on every topic in Scripture… but we have to tell you… Traditions can only take you so far.
Awareness of God doesn’t come naturally… it comes supernaturally.
As Isaiah 53:1 says “to whom has the arm of the Lord been REVEALED?”
Our scripture memory verse for this month is found in Matthew 16 when Jesus and Peter have a discussion on the question “Who is this.” Peter answers the question of “Who is this Jesus.”
Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”(NIV)
Matthew 16:17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.(NIV)
Man can’t reveal this. Intelligence, logic, or a religious tradition can’t reveal this. The Father in Heaven reveals this. It is a supernatural revelation.
Isaiah 53 says that Jesus is someone we would look right past… We wouldn’t naturally give Him a second look. We need a supernatural revelation. Awareness of God doesn’t come naturally… it comes supernaturally.
——————-
In Acts 9 there was a Pharisee named Saul. A Pharisee was a Religious leader. They had a lot of knowledge. They had religious practice & ritual. They could quote scripture. But you can do all of these things and still look past God.
Saul the Pharisee is on His way to a town called Damascus. He had letters of authority that would allow him to arrest anyone who was a believer in Jesus Christ. He had the authority of the government of Rome behind him and Saul thought he had the authority of God behind him because his religion told him so.
Saul, through his intelligence & tradition, thought he was aware of God… but awareness of God doesn’t come naturally… it comes supernaturally.

But suddenly… Acts 9:3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.(NIV)
Acts 9:4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”(NIV)
Acts 9:5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.(NIV)
Saul has a Who is this moment.
Saul lacks awareness. He thinks he is serving God, but finds out he is persecuting God and His people – the Christians. Imagine his surprise after he asks “who are you?” and the voice comes back “I am Jesus..”
Saul was trying to serve God but was looking past Jesus. If you look past Jesus you can’t serve God.
There is a real danger here. Just because you are at Church today doesn’t mean you are aware of Jesus. Even though you sang a few songs and listened to a sermon, you could leave this place looking right past Jesus.
Are you trying to serve God but looking right past Jesus? There is a moonwalking bear in the room – are you aware?
Saul thought he had Jesus all figured out. He thought Jesus was a criminal blasphemer and all his followers needed to be wiped away. He needed to look again and think again.
Who is this we looked past?
We need Jesus to make us aware. We need the Lord to reveal himself to us.
Saul in Acts 9 fell to the ground blind. He physically couldn’t see. God was using this physical blindness to make Saul aware of his Spiritual blindness.
Crawling around on dessert sand, blind, and hearing a voice… Are you aware yet Saul?

Saul, now aware of the voice of Jesus, receives a vision instructing him where to go. In the vision he would go to a man named Ananias, and that Ananias would lay his hands on Saul and then Saul would receive sight again.
Acts 9:17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord–Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here–has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”(NIV)
Acts 9:18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,(NIV)

Saul was changed forever after this. He became known as the Apostle Paul. He went everywhere preaching about Jesus… the one he had looked past and the one who gave him back his sight.
MUSICIAN
Are you looking past Jesus?
I know you are at church today or taking the time to receive this sermon online. But could it be that you are like Saul? Could it be you think you have Jesus all figured out? Could it be you are trying to figure Him out logically but there is a Spiritual revelation waiting for you today?
When was the last time you asked God to reveal Himself? “God take off the blinders, unveil my eyes, let me see You.”
Perfected Faith comes from looking to Jesus…
Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..
When we see Him… When we look right at Him things happen. Our faith is perfected..
There are many people in the Bible that when they saw Him… they changed…
Moses saw Him and glowed with His Glory.
The Demoniac saw Him and ran worshipping.
The centurion at a Crucified Christ and said “Surely this was the Son of God”
Saul the Christian killer saw Jesus and became Paul the Apostle.

Don’t look past Him! Be aware of Him.