What’s In A Name?Yahweh Our Righteousness

Session Three

HELLOMY NAME IS

Yahweh

FRESH & CLEAN

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• What comes to mind when you look at this picture of clean clothes hanging on the line?

• If you were standing next to this clothesline, how would you feel? What would you smell?

• Is it important to you that you dress your children in clean, fresh clothes?

• According to the verse from Isaiah, what is the connection between righteousness and clean clothes?

“I greatly rejoice in the Lord, I exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness.” Isaiah 61:10a

WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS?

• We often talk about “good” people, but seldom do we say they are righteous.

• The words righteous and righteousness seem to be reserved for the pulpit and the Sunday school class.

• Occasionally, someone gets labeled self-righteous.

• Sometimes an individual might respond to a situation in righteous indignation.

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But what is righteousness? Where does it come from? How do we attain it?

YAHWEH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS• As we shall see today, righteousness comes not

from ourselves but from someone else.

• Left to our own efforts, we could never measure up to God’s perfect standard.

• But God gave us someone Who did in fact measure up as we will see.

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GOD PROMISES RIGHTEOUSNESS

5“The days are coming”—this is the LORD’s declaration— “when I will raise up a Righteous Branch of David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land. 6In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. This is what He will be named: Yahweh Our Righteousness.

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Jeremiah 23:5-6 • Jeremiah was addressing his prophecy to King Zedekiah whose name ironically meant “Yahweh is my righteousness.”

• However, Zedekiah was far from righteous – he did evil in the sight of the Lord. (2 Kings 24:19)

• So, Jeremiah was using a play on words to draw a sharp contrast between Zedekiah and the coming Messiah.

NONE RIGHTEOUS• We cannot promise anyone that we will be righteous

enough: our children, our spouse, our coworkers, or church family.

• Time has proven that as hard as we try there is no one who is righteous.

• God saw this and promised One who was, is, and always will be. His promise came true in the person of Jesus as Paul talks about in Romans 3.

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R o m a n s 3 : 2 1 - 2 6

21But now, apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been revealed—attested by the Law and the Prophets 22—that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction. 23For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

JESUS REVEALS RIGHTEOUSNESS

PERFECTION REQUIRED

• Can you think of any recent movies that featured expert archers? How many of them could hit the bull’s-eye 100 percent of the time?

• The Greek word translated “sin” means to miss the mark. It is an archery term used to declare whether or not the archer hit the bull’s-eye.

• Paul explains in verse 23 that all of us miss the bull’s-eye of God’s perfect standard – we all fall woefully short.

• But dedication, practice, training, and the best equipment can’t improve our chances. It isn’t just difficult for us to hit the target, it’s impossible.

• We need someone to take the shot in our place.

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Jesus is the only person who meets God’s standard of righteousness 100 percent of the time.

1Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God concerning them is for their salvation! 2I can testify about them that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3Because they disregarded the righteousness from God and attempted to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to God’s righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

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R o m a n s 1 0 : 1 - 4 , 9 - 1 09If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

WE RECEIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS FROM

CHRIST ALONER o m a n s 1 0 : 1 - 4 , 9 - 1 0

• What might it take for a person to realize they do not have what it takes to be accepted by God apart from Christ?

• It’s never easy to hear there’s something we can’t accomplish on our own. As humans, we want to do it all without help.

• But unless we recognize our hopelessness apart from Christ, the gospel will never be real to us and we will strive after a righteousness that is unattainable.

• Today, all of us, can rest in Jesus’ righteousness – it was prophesied that He would come, God fulfilled that promise by sending Him and now righteousness is offered freely to all who believe in Him.

• Indeed, Yahweh is Our Righteousness! Salvation is possible through Him alone.

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YAHWEH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

What’s In A Name?Yahweh Our Righteousness

Session Three

HELLOMY NAME IS

Yahweh