Wednesday, 31 December 2014
makarios blessing: Higher 'Resolution'.
makarios blessing: Higher 'Resolution'.: 3 keys to successful new years resolutions and they are found in seeing life in 'higher resolution'.
Higher 'Resolution'.
Here in the west we have an enduring tradition. Every new years eve people will gather together and celebrate and 'see in' the new year. 'Cometh the hour' we will sing a traditional song 'Auld Lang Syne'. We will then engage in that most well known of traditions, the new years resolution.
What better time to make a promise to change than when seeing out the old and ushering the new yet with it comes that other famous tradition, the broken resolution. You all know what I mean. That promise to lose weight or stop smoking will be lying face down in the dust before January is half way through for the majority of us. Today I want to talk to you about 'Higher resolution.' I want to talk to you about resolutions that are far greater, more profound and life changing and yet stand far greater chance of success. I want to look at why resolutions fail and why they can succeed. I am going to share with you 3 key things that reach down into the very foundation of who you are as a person. These 3 things, if you will tap into them, will see you achieve far more than losing a few pounds in weight or breaking that bad habit. Then we will look at tapping into the power to make all these things possible.
KEY ONE - Know your identity
Who are you? I mean beyond the name on your passport. Where does your identity come from? If you don't even know who you really are then how will you really succeed? Let me say this. When everything else goes wrong and you lose it all there is one thing you will hold onto even if all else slips away. It is your life. Most of us would agree than a human life is the most valuable thing on the planet right. It's more valuable than money or success or fame. Yet that is not what this world communicates and it is not how we think from day to day. What we need is a revolution in how we view our lives.
I believe every human being has a God given identity. A human life is the most valuable thing on the planet. God himself puts the most profound and awesome identity into the very heart of humanity when he said 'let us create humans in our image'. In other words we have the capacity to reflect who God is. We can reflect his goodness, kindness, integrity and moral character. We were made for him, to belong to him, to be in relationship with him. We are 'image bearers'.
O.K. Time for an honest question. How many of us see ourselves that way? If I were to ask you what your identity is how many of you would reference that from God himself? Generally we don't but this is the very reason Jesus came to earth. Jesus came to bring human beings who are far from God back to him. Not through endless religious routines but through faith in Jesus we can become what Jesus described as 'born again.' Jesus promises us a new identity, a new name. When we are honest enough with God to admit we are living for ourselves and not for him and we make that choice to commit our lives to follow Jesus something miraculous happens within us. Something changes. That original identity we have shipped far from is restored. We take on a new identity. As the bible describes we become a 'new creation'. Our identity is in Christ. We are Christians and as such there is something God has placed in our hearts that desires to reflect who God is. Jesus is the perfect example of that. He reflects who God is. That is the foundation stone to change and transformation. It is knowing who you are and who you belong to. It is knowing the person you have been born again to be. It is knowing your new identity.
KEY TWO - Know your purpose.
Your identity is a case of looking back to who you were born {or born again to be}. Your purpose takes that principle into the present and helps us define where you are going now. Most people walk through life with at best a hazy definition of purpose for their lives or they buy into a purpose which doesn't match up to the awesome people God created them to be. If you will understand your incredible identity in Christ then you can discover a profound purpose. There are few things greater that knowing you have been put on this earth for a greater purpose than your own interest. There are few things greater than serving the purpose of something far greater than yourself. This is something far, far greater than going on that diet or saving money for that holiday you wanted. This is about seeing yourself as part of a great plan which has been unfolding for thousands of years and you are a part of that. This is about bringing people to the God who made them and the God who gives life true purpose and meaning. This is about both being an agent for change and being changed and transformed yourself.
Our purpose in this earth is intimately connected to our identity. It is to reflect Jesus more and more, to lead others back to him and encourage others to reflect him more and more too. This was the purpose for which we were created. When our new years resolutions are shaped by this principle we get God's attention. This leads me to the third and final key.
KEY THREE - Know your destiny.
I want to ask one more vital question. Where are you going? Where is this all going to end up? Does life end with us being lowered into a hole in the ground or is there something beyond that? It strikes me as so contradictory that we would embrace the idea that human life is the most valuable thing on the planet yet we all end so suddenly and pointlessly. I want to state that thins life is NOT the end therefore our focus should not be primarily on this life but on the next one. Our 3 keys could be summarised like this.
1 - IDENTITY : The past / Who created you and whose identity do you carry
2 - PURPOSE : The present / Why are we here and whose purpose do we serve
3 - DESTINY : The future / Where are we going and who will we spend eternity with.
Your identity will shape your purpose and your purpose will reveal your destination.
Everyone wants to go to heaven when they die but how many find their identity in the one who came from heaven?
Once you are assured of where you are going to spend eternity your purpose becomes clear. You life for God and his purpose and not for this life and it's temporary benefits. Everything falls into it's appropriate context. With these three things in place we can now look at resolutions that not only can be kept but are divinely empowered. Resolutions that capture that attention of the one who creates us for his own purpose and cause him to support and empower us to see them come to pass.
THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS - Know your source of power.
Instead of making new years resolutions based on what we want here is a better idea. Start with the person God created you to be. Start with identity. If you are born again start with your identity in Christ. You are a child of the most high God. You carry his name. You are a son and heir of the promises of God. You are accepted and loved. You have been baptised into the death and life of Jesus Christ. You are no longer under condemnation. You have new life.
Flowing out of that is your purpose. God has called you to bring others to that place of identity. To bring others to faith in Jesus Christ, to that place of transformation. God has called us to influence others to reflect Christ more and more and has called us to reflect him more and more. As you begin to think about that you should begin to see that all you have, your assets, your finances, your time, gifting and talents are all given to serve this divine purpose for which you have been created. You will now begin to see what God wants you to do more clearly.
Now consider where you will end up. God's people are called to be with him for eternity. We will be in fellowship with God, we will reflect him, enjoy him, worship him and celebrate him forever. These three things being established in your heart will lead to the question, not what I want to resolve to do in the next year but what does God resolve that I do next year. The same God who gives us a new identity in Christ, who has a purpose for us and ushers us into a wonderful destiny helps us choose the right resolution that serves his purpose.
This is vital. Ask God what he wants you to do in this coming year. There is a fantastic promise connected with the purpose of God for your life. When you respond and RESOLVE to walk in and obey the word of God you WILL receive the power to see it happen. No more failed resolutions. God has not ordained you to failure but to success. No longer will you be falling flat on your face by mid January but will be powering on from glory to glory by next December.
Human logic says pick a nice easy resolution so that you have more chance of succeeding. God's logic is to find your identity, purpose and destiny in him then come to him to know what to do next. God will give you something far greater than you could give yourself and give you the power to bring it to pass. As I look back in 2014 I see a year of miraculous leading, provision and enabling. I have seen God establish me in a new church, give me the financial means to life beyond my natural means. He has led me to specific contacts to help me fulfil a purpose I could not fulfil myself and given me the power to life the life I could not otherwise live.
So I encourage you in this time of new years resolution to choose a higher resolution. Set your sights on the things above and not earthly temporary things. Choose a God focused resolution and you will see things you've never seen. You will experience things you've never experienced and God will take you places you've never been. All this will begin to happen when you realise there is something {someone} bigger and more important than you. When we grasp that in terms of our identity, purpose and destiny we will know what resolutions to make and we will be given the power to keep them.
...and it all starts when we see life in a higher resolution. When we see life the way God sees it.
What better time to make a promise to change than when seeing out the old and ushering the new yet with it comes that other famous tradition, the broken resolution. You all know what I mean. That promise to lose weight or stop smoking will be lying face down in the dust before January is half way through for the majority of us. Today I want to talk to you about 'Higher resolution.' I want to talk to you about resolutions that are far greater, more profound and life changing and yet stand far greater chance of success. I want to look at why resolutions fail and why they can succeed. I am going to share with you 3 key things that reach down into the very foundation of who you are as a person. These 3 things, if you will tap into them, will see you achieve far more than losing a few pounds in weight or breaking that bad habit. Then we will look at tapping into the power to make all these things possible.
KEY ONE - Know your identity
Who are you? I mean beyond the name on your passport. Where does your identity come from? If you don't even know who you really are then how will you really succeed? Let me say this. When everything else goes wrong and you lose it all there is one thing you will hold onto even if all else slips away. It is your life. Most of us would agree than a human life is the most valuable thing on the planet right. It's more valuable than money or success or fame. Yet that is not what this world communicates and it is not how we think from day to day. What we need is a revolution in how we view our lives.
I believe every human being has a God given identity. A human life is the most valuable thing on the planet. God himself puts the most profound and awesome identity into the very heart of humanity when he said 'let us create humans in our image'. In other words we have the capacity to reflect who God is. We can reflect his goodness, kindness, integrity and moral character. We were made for him, to belong to him, to be in relationship with him. We are 'image bearers'.
O.K. Time for an honest question. How many of us see ourselves that way? If I were to ask you what your identity is how many of you would reference that from God himself? Generally we don't but this is the very reason Jesus came to earth. Jesus came to bring human beings who are far from God back to him. Not through endless religious routines but through faith in Jesus we can become what Jesus described as 'born again.' Jesus promises us a new identity, a new name. When we are honest enough with God to admit we are living for ourselves and not for him and we make that choice to commit our lives to follow Jesus something miraculous happens within us. Something changes. That original identity we have shipped far from is restored. We take on a new identity. As the bible describes we become a 'new creation'. Our identity is in Christ. We are Christians and as such there is something God has placed in our hearts that desires to reflect who God is. Jesus is the perfect example of that. He reflects who God is. That is the foundation stone to change and transformation. It is knowing who you are and who you belong to. It is knowing the person you have been born again to be. It is knowing your new identity.
KEY TWO - Know your purpose.
Your identity is a case of looking back to who you were born {or born again to be}. Your purpose takes that principle into the present and helps us define where you are going now. Most people walk through life with at best a hazy definition of purpose for their lives or they buy into a purpose which doesn't match up to the awesome people God created them to be. If you will understand your incredible identity in Christ then you can discover a profound purpose. There are few things greater that knowing you have been put on this earth for a greater purpose than your own interest. There are few things greater than serving the purpose of something far greater than yourself. This is something far, far greater than going on that diet or saving money for that holiday you wanted. This is about seeing yourself as part of a great plan which has been unfolding for thousands of years and you are a part of that. This is about bringing people to the God who made them and the God who gives life true purpose and meaning. This is about both being an agent for change and being changed and transformed yourself.
Our purpose in this earth is intimately connected to our identity. It is to reflect Jesus more and more, to lead others back to him and encourage others to reflect him more and more too. This was the purpose for which we were created. When our new years resolutions are shaped by this principle we get God's attention. This leads me to the third and final key.
KEY THREE - Know your destiny.
I want to ask one more vital question. Where are you going? Where is this all going to end up? Does life end with us being lowered into a hole in the ground or is there something beyond that? It strikes me as so contradictory that we would embrace the idea that human life is the most valuable thing on the planet yet we all end so suddenly and pointlessly. I want to state that thins life is NOT the end therefore our focus should not be primarily on this life but on the next one. Our 3 keys could be summarised like this.
1 - IDENTITY : The past / Who created you and whose identity do you carry
2 - PURPOSE : The present / Why are we here and whose purpose do we serve
3 - DESTINY : The future / Where are we going and who will we spend eternity with.
Your identity will shape your purpose and your purpose will reveal your destination.
Everyone wants to go to heaven when they die but how many find their identity in the one who came from heaven?
Once you are assured of where you are going to spend eternity your purpose becomes clear. You life for God and his purpose and not for this life and it's temporary benefits. Everything falls into it's appropriate context. With these three things in place we can now look at resolutions that not only can be kept but are divinely empowered. Resolutions that capture that attention of the one who creates us for his own purpose and cause him to support and empower us to see them come to pass.
THE KEY TO SUCCESSFUL NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS - Know your source of power.
Instead of making new years resolutions based on what we want here is a better idea. Start with the person God created you to be. Start with identity. If you are born again start with your identity in Christ. You are a child of the most high God. You carry his name. You are a son and heir of the promises of God. You are accepted and loved. You have been baptised into the death and life of Jesus Christ. You are no longer under condemnation. You have new life.
Flowing out of that is your purpose. God has called you to bring others to that place of identity. To bring others to faith in Jesus Christ, to that place of transformation. God has called us to influence others to reflect Christ more and more and has called us to reflect him more and more. As you begin to think about that you should begin to see that all you have, your assets, your finances, your time, gifting and talents are all given to serve this divine purpose for which you have been created. You will now begin to see what God wants you to do more clearly.
Now consider where you will end up. God's people are called to be with him for eternity. We will be in fellowship with God, we will reflect him, enjoy him, worship him and celebrate him forever. These three things being established in your heart will lead to the question, not what I want to resolve to do in the next year but what does God resolve that I do next year. The same God who gives us a new identity in Christ, who has a purpose for us and ushers us into a wonderful destiny helps us choose the right resolution that serves his purpose.
This is vital. Ask God what he wants you to do in this coming year. There is a fantastic promise connected with the purpose of God for your life. When you respond and RESOLVE to walk in and obey the word of God you WILL receive the power to see it happen. No more failed resolutions. God has not ordained you to failure but to success. No longer will you be falling flat on your face by mid January but will be powering on from glory to glory by next December.
Human logic says pick a nice easy resolution so that you have more chance of succeeding. God's logic is to find your identity, purpose and destiny in him then come to him to know what to do next. God will give you something far greater than you could give yourself and give you the power to bring it to pass. As I look back in 2014 I see a year of miraculous leading, provision and enabling. I have seen God establish me in a new church, give me the financial means to life beyond my natural means. He has led me to specific contacts to help me fulfil a purpose I could not fulfil myself and given me the power to life the life I could not otherwise live.
So I encourage you in this time of new years resolution to choose a higher resolution. Set your sights on the things above and not earthly temporary things. Choose a God focused resolution and you will see things you've never seen. You will experience things you've never experienced and God will take you places you've never been. All this will begin to happen when you realise there is something {someone} bigger and more important than you. When we grasp that in terms of our identity, purpose and destiny we will know what resolutions to make and we will be given the power to keep them.
...and it all starts when we see life in a higher resolution. When we see life the way God sees it.
Sunday, 2 November 2014
The Real Thing.
I remember vividly the time I was sitting listening to a gruff voiced man from South London as he began to address the assembled audience of which I was a part. "Love is fake man! What you hear about love is fake. The music you listen to sings of love but means sex. Boyfriend says to girlfriend I love you but he is with someone the next week. Love is fake man!"
I sat there thinking "Yeah that's right." What he was saying resonated with me. I saw through all of this shallowness. He continued speaking. "But tonight I want to tell you about real love." By this time he had my attention. In all truth I didn't love anyone. I didn't know how to. I knew how to hate. I knew how to be sarcastic but I didn't love anyone.
The message he gave that night marked a turnaround in my life. I was confronted with something I had never heard before. I was confronted with something that wasn't soppy or soft but something truly virtuous and courageous. The speaker told the story of a man arrested for treason in the English civil war hundreds of years ago. The criminal was tied to a tree and then the military commander lined up his archers in preparation for the execution which was to happen on the hour. In desperation the condemned man's fiance appeared and threw herself at the commander's feet begging for mercy. He threw her to one side threatening similar treatment if she didn't make herself scarce. Seeing the futility of her pleas she mounted her horse and rode away leaving the commander and his men to their task.
There was a tradition in those times that a condemned man would be executed on the sound of the bell of a great church tower that stood some distance away. The sound of this bell could be heard for miles around and yet there was one tiny sliver of hope for those condemned to die. Should the bell not toll on the hour it was taken as a sign of divine intervention. A sign from the heavens that this man's life should be spared. The soldiers waited...and waited...and waited and no bell was heard. Eventually the commander ordered the man released and he ran as fast as he could before they could change their minds. The commander was curious however. He was sure he heard something but was certain he heard no sound of a bell. Puzzled by this he got on his horse and rode to the church and to the tower where he was confronted by a sight that was to stay with him the rest of his life. Tied to the hammer inside the huge bell was this woman who had pleaded for the life of her fiance. In desperation she had raced to the tower, climbed to the top and tied herself to the huge hammer inside the bell in a frantic attempt to muffle the sound. The commander looked up to see her crushed lifeless body. The ultimate sacrifice to save the life of another.
The preacher looked out at his audience. "How many of you love someone enough to die for them?" Well he'd got me on two counts. Not only did I not love anyone but despite my somewhat arrogant belief that I could do anything if I tried hard enough I had to admit I would never ever die for anyone. No way. I was scared of dying. You get one life and that's it. I figured I could do anything but I knew I couldn't do that. I certainly didn't love anyone enough to do that.
That night changed how I saw things. I no longer saw love as fake. I no longer viewed love as soft or superficial. I began to see my own estimation of myself was far higher than it should be. Perhaps the most profound words he spoke that night were these.
"That story describes exactly what Jesus did for all of us. We are guilty of treason against God's authority over our lives. God's response was to send the one he loved, Jesus, to die in our place. To die so that we could be pardoned."
I couldn't tell you how many times I ridiculed religious people before then. I considered them deluded, soft in the head, weird and made them the butt of so many jokes yet here was something I was compelled to take seriously. Only the most foolish of people would ridicule this. I was well and truly put in my place and it was all down to an encounter with real authentic love.
To be perfectly honest up to that point I had lived my life all out for whatever I liked and I liked doing wrong. I just had to cause mischief. I gravitated to all the wrong people and I enjoyed pretty much every wrong thing I did. I had done almost as much as anyone to earn God's judgement. If anyone had the right to judge it was God and if anyone was asking to be judged it was me yet God's response was the complete opposite. He took everything I ever done wrong and placed it on his son Jesus. Jesus took upon himself the punishment he never deserved to set free someone who had well and truly earned judgement. That's real love. That's authentic love. That's the message of the gospel. The message that God loved every one of us so much he gave up his one and only son so that whoever would put their faith in him would never perish but have everlasting life.
As I look back over the last 20 years I am thankful for that night, that message, that preacher. I am thankful that although I am not yet the person I want to be I am not the person I used to me. I am thankful for the chance to see things differently. Most of all I am thankful to the one who taught me what real authentic love is not only by what he said but what he did.
In a world where love is often so transitory, fickle, superficial and unreliable {even where it exists at all} I am thankful for one who showed me what real love looks like. The love Jesus has for us is, after all these years, still the most inspiring and life transforming thing I have ever experienced and possibly the greatest thing of all is that it has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not we deserve it. Jesus love for every person on this planet is based purely on who he is. His love is truly unconditional. After all, for a good person some of us might even dare to die {whether we'd actually go through with it is another thing} but God commends his love to us in that while we were sinners, ignoring him, breaking his laws and living independently of him, Christ died for us. That's real authentic love.
Shalom...Steve
I sat there thinking "Yeah that's right." What he was saying resonated with me. I saw through all of this shallowness. He continued speaking. "But tonight I want to tell you about real love." By this time he had my attention. In all truth I didn't love anyone. I didn't know how to. I knew how to hate. I knew how to be sarcastic but I didn't love anyone.
The message he gave that night marked a turnaround in my life. I was confronted with something I had never heard before. I was confronted with something that wasn't soppy or soft but something truly virtuous and courageous. The speaker told the story of a man arrested for treason in the English civil war hundreds of years ago. The criminal was tied to a tree and then the military commander lined up his archers in preparation for the execution which was to happen on the hour. In desperation the condemned man's fiance appeared and threw herself at the commander's feet begging for mercy. He threw her to one side threatening similar treatment if she didn't make herself scarce. Seeing the futility of her pleas she mounted her horse and rode away leaving the commander and his men to their task.
There was a tradition in those times that a condemned man would be executed on the sound of the bell of a great church tower that stood some distance away. The sound of this bell could be heard for miles around and yet there was one tiny sliver of hope for those condemned to die. Should the bell not toll on the hour it was taken as a sign of divine intervention. A sign from the heavens that this man's life should be spared. The soldiers waited...and waited...and waited and no bell was heard. Eventually the commander ordered the man released and he ran as fast as he could before they could change their minds. The commander was curious however. He was sure he heard something but was certain he heard no sound of a bell. Puzzled by this he got on his horse and rode to the church and to the tower where he was confronted by a sight that was to stay with him the rest of his life. Tied to the hammer inside the huge bell was this woman who had pleaded for the life of her fiance. In desperation she had raced to the tower, climbed to the top and tied herself to the huge hammer inside the bell in a frantic attempt to muffle the sound. The commander looked up to see her crushed lifeless body. The ultimate sacrifice to save the life of another.
The preacher looked out at his audience. "How many of you love someone enough to die for them?" Well he'd got me on two counts. Not only did I not love anyone but despite my somewhat arrogant belief that I could do anything if I tried hard enough I had to admit I would never ever die for anyone. No way. I was scared of dying. You get one life and that's it. I figured I could do anything but I knew I couldn't do that. I certainly didn't love anyone enough to do that.
That night changed how I saw things. I no longer saw love as fake. I no longer viewed love as soft or superficial. I began to see my own estimation of myself was far higher than it should be. Perhaps the most profound words he spoke that night were these.
"That story describes exactly what Jesus did for all of us. We are guilty of treason against God's authority over our lives. God's response was to send the one he loved, Jesus, to die in our place. To die so that we could be pardoned."
I couldn't tell you how many times I ridiculed religious people before then. I considered them deluded, soft in the head, weird and made them the butt of so many jokes yet here was something I was compelled to take seriously. Only the most foolish of people would ridicule this. I was well and truly put in my place and it was all down to an encounter with real authentic love.
To be perfectly honest up to that point I had lived my life all out for whatever I liked and I liked doing wrong. I just had to cause mischief. I gravitated to all the wrong people and I enjoyed pretty much every wrong thing I did. I had done almost as much as anyone to earn God's judgement. If anyone had the right to judge it was God and if anyone was asking to be judged it was me yet God's response was the complete opposite. He took everything I ever done wrong and placed it on his son Jesus. Jesus took upon himself the punishment he never deserved to set free someone who had well and truly earned judgement. That's real love. That's authentic love. That's the message of the gospel. The message that God loved every one of us so much he gave up his one and only son so that whoever would put their faith in him would never perish but have everlasting life.
As I look back over the last 20 years I am thankful for that night, that message, that preacher. I am thankful that although I am not yet the person I want to be I am not the person I used to me. I am thankful for the chance to see things differently. Most of all I am thankful to the one who taught me what real authentic love is not only by what he said but what he did.
In a world where love is often so transitory, fickle, superficial and unreliable {even where it exists at all} I am thankful for one who showed me what real love looks like. The love Jesus has for us is, after all these years, still the most inspiring and life transforming thing I have ever experienced and possibly the greatest thing of all is that it has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not we deserve it. Jesus love for every person on this planet is based purely on who he is. His love is truly unconditional. After all, for a good person some of us might even dare to die {whether we'd actually go through with it is another thing} but God commends his love to us in that while we were sinners, ignoring him, breaking his laws and living independently of him, Christ died for us. That's real authentic love.
Shalom...Steve
Sunday, 12 October 2014
Why Do You Seek The Living Among The Dead?
I want to share something that I believe is going to speak profoundly to someone reading here today.
"Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen."
I believe that God is speaking to someone about this very thing. You are seeking the living among the dead but God wants you to know that Jesus has risen.
I was once struck by a profound comment. It went like this. "Before the ascension there must be a resurrection. Before a resurrection there must be a Calvary. Before there can be a Calvary there must first be a Gethsemane." What did he mean by that? Simply this. Christ went through a process and it is a process we are called to go through also. Let me go a bit deeper here. Everyone wants to go to heaven right? {at least most of us do}. The ascension is the word we use for Jesus being taken up to heaven. However this only happened after his resurrection. In other words if we want to follow Jesus into heaven we must first receive resurrection life {It's what we sometimes call being born again}. It goes further than that though. Before Jesus could be raised from the dead he had to die. Jesus has to face death in order to go through death. There was no short cut here. There was no equivalent of an Xbox cheat or fast track solution. If we want to experience this new life there has to be a death first but it goes even further back than that. Before Jesus went to the cross he agonised over what awaited him. Jesus was agonising in prayer in a place called Gethsemane. Here is the process.
Gethsemane - Coming to the place of choice to willingly and specifically submit to the will of God
Calvary - For Jesus literally being crucified. For us the act of dying to what we want and embracing and living out God's will for our lives.
Resurrection - Living and experiencing the power of the new life God gives us.
Ascension - Being taken up into heaven to be with God forever.
Now this is what I see happening in many churches. Many will emphasis one thing but exclude another. Many will emphasis that Jesus died for our sins but stay right there but how can a dead man save you? The scripture tells us Jesus rose again for our justification. The scripture also tells us about resurrection life. Jesus rising from the dead testified that he was without sin and this new life and power gives us hope of a new dominion in our lives over sin and all the power of the enemy. Praise God for churches that preach the cross but please don't leave us there. Preach resurrection life! Amen!
Then others will preach on victory and dominion and power and all you can do in Jesus yet they don't mention the cross. Seriously there are churches and ministries that have preaching without the cross. How can you have resurrection life without a crucifixion first?
Still others will preach the cross and offer an easy way of having your sins forgiven because..."Jesus paid for it all and there is nothing you can do" This is one of the most dangerous errors I have seen precisely because it is so true. The danger is that it is preached as mutually exclusive to a Gethsemane message. There is no repentance. No active submission of the will to God. No coming to a conviction of "Not my will but yours be done". "Simply say this prayer and you can make heaven your home" is one of the most common things heard in western churches today yet they are losing as many people out the back door as are coming into the front door. Why is that? Simply because you've marketed the gospel in such a way as to make it an easy sell. {and lets face it the crucified life doesn't market well to the carnal nature}
Time and again the scriptures emphasis repentance and faith not just faith alone. Baptism was always the outward mark of the new covenant and everyone in that day knew what they were buying into. They understood that baptism was an invitation to attend their own burial. The reason we see so little of the new life in believers is because they never made a decision to die to the old one.
Here is where I want to share something in particular with some of the Christians reading here today. The words from the scripture that came to me were these. "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" In Luke's gospel he describes a group of people coming to the tomb of Jesus expecting to prepare the body as was the custom of the time. They were in for a big surprise. Two angelic beings stood there and questioned them. "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" and right there it struck me! This is exactly what many Christians are doing today. You are focusing on Jesus dying for you and you are stuck there. You have not engaged with the resurrected Jesus. I want to say this to some of you reading this today. These are some of the signs of those stuck at the tomb so to speak.
- You keep emphasising the only difference between you and unbelievers is that you've been forgiven. {That tells me you are still at the cross}
- When you speak about spiritual things and especially your testimony it generally ends with Jesus died for you and you have been forgiven. While this is fantastic why on earth do you stop there? What has the living resurrected Jesus done in your life since? What has changed the last 5,10 or 15 years since your sins have been forgiven?
- Your presentation of the gospel always focuses on Jesus dying for us but little or nothing is said of the resurrection. In virtually every gospel presentation in scripture the resurrection is mentioned after the crucifixion. You might think telling people Jesus died for them is good news but if you stop there it is nothing of the sort. The good news is that Jesus defeated death and therefore proved he has power over sin, sickness and all the power of the enemy and is able to save to the uttermost those who believe. After all a dead man can't save anybody!
- What is it you can do now that you couldn't do before your conversion? If you have trouble answering that one maybe you need to revisit the process listed above {or visit it for the first time if you never have before}
- You avoid talk of the after life because it detracts from this world. Again look at the process. Submission-death to self-new life-glory.
Paul the apostle said if our hope is in this life only than we are the most pathetic of people!
The scripture commands us to set our sights on the things from above and not on this life.
The early believers greeted each other with the word 'Maranatha' which means 'the Lord is coming.' They knew and reminded each other every time they met that we were not staying here. Jesus is coming to take us home. In the book of Hebrews we have the example of what faith is and in summary it tells us that they sought 'another city whose builder and maker is God'. Praise God this world is not all there is!
So let me leave you with these questions. Are you still seeking the living among the dead? Do you speak of Christ crucified as if he is still dead? Are you experiencing the new life he promised? Our God is not a God of the dead but of the living. Do you 'say your prayers'? {A term I hate as it depicts a religious duty to be done rather than a living relationship} or do you connect with the living God? Do you believe God for victory over sinful habits or do you casually tolerate them by using grace as a get out of jail free card. Are you experiencing the resurrection life Jesus promised?
So where are you on that scale? Have you missed out submitting your will to his {Gethsemane}. Do you actively live that out {Calvary}? Is your mind and heart no longer primarily focused on the attractions and trinkets of this world but rather are you focused and living for what is ahead? This is the way to experience resurrection life. Jesus said I have come that they may have life and life in all it's fullness.
Perhaps you are still seeking the living among the dead. I have good news for you. Jesus is alive. He wants you to experience life in all it's fullness. Resurrection life. My friend, my advice to you is to go back to Gethsemane regularly. Go back and wrestle with God. Go to that place of making a decision to willingly submit to God and say not my will but yours be done and then live out that decision {your own Calvary} As Paul the apostle said "I die daily". It is there you will experience more and more of the power of resurrection life and there are few that experienced it more than Paul the apostle.
If you feel stuck today, If you feel you are in a spiritual rut, If you feel like you made a decision and are glad your sins are forgiven but you've gone no further then I encourage you to submit your will to God's will, live that out and put your focus on the next world rather than this and you can experience more and more of the life that Jesus promised for those who believe.
Are you still at the tomb today? Then why are you seeking the living among the dead? Jesus says follow me. Follow me through Gethsemane. Follow me through Calvary. But don't stay at the tomb. Jesus said I have life for you and that life is more abundant. I encourage you to go on from the tomb and experience the life that Jesus has for all of us. Amen.
"Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen."
I believe that God is speaking to someone about this very thing. You are seeking the living among the dead but God wants you to know that Jesus has risen.
I was once struck by a profound comment. It went like this. "Before the ascension there must be a resurrection. Before a resurrection there must be a Calvary. Before there can be a Calvary there must first be a Gethsemane." What did he mean by that? Simply this. Christ went through a process and it is a process we are called to go through also. Let me go a bit deeper here. Everyone wants to go to heaven right? {at least most of us do}. The ascension is the word we use for Jesus being taken up to heaven. However this only happened after his resurrection. In other words if we want to follow Jesus into heaven we must first receive resurrection life {It's what we sometimes call being born again}. It goes further than that though. Before Jesus could be raised from the dead he had to die. Jesus has to face death in order to go through death. There was no short cut here. There was no equivalent of an Xbox cheat or fast track solution. If we want to experience this new life there has to be a death first but it goes even further back than that. Before Jesus went to the cross he agonised over what awaited him. Jesus was agonising in prayer in a place called Gethsemane. Here is the process.
Gethsemane - Coming to the place of choice to willingly and specifically submit to the will of God
Calvary - For Jesus literally being crucified. For us the act of dying to what we want and embracing and living out God's will for our lives.
Resurrection - Living and experiencing the power of the new life God gives us.
Ascension - Being taken up into heaven to be with God forever.
Now this is what I see happening in many churches. Many will emphasis one thing but exclude another. Many will emphasis that Jesus died for our sins but stay right there but how can a dead man save you? The scripture tells us Jesus rose again for our justification. The scripture also tells us about resurrection life. Jesus rising from the dead testified that he was without sin and this new life and power gives us hope of a new dominion in our lives over sin and all the power of the enemy. Praise God for churches that preach the cross but please don't leave us there. Preach resurrection life! Amen!
Then others will preach on victory and dominion and power and all you can do in Jesus yet they don't mention the cross. Seriously there are churches and ministries that have preaching without the cross. How can you have resurrection life without a crucifixion first?
Still others will preach the cross and offer an easy way of having your sins forgiven because..."Jesus paid for it all and there is nothing you can do" This is one of the most dangerous errors I have seen precisely because it is so true. The danger is that it is preached as mutually exclusive to a Gethsemane message. There is no repentance. No active submission of the will to God. No coming to a conviction of "Not my will but yours be done". "Simply say this prayer and you can make heaven your home" is one of the most common things heard in western churches today yet they are losing as many people out the back door as are coming into the front door. Why is that? Simply because you've marketed the gospel in such a way as to make it an easy sell. {and lets face it the crucified life doesn't market well to the carnal nature}
Time and again the scriptures emphasis repentance and faith not just faith alone. Baptism was always the outward mark of the new covenant and everyone in that day knew what they were buying into. They understood that baptism was an invitation to attend their own burial. The reason we see so little of the new life in believers is because they never made a decision to die to the old one.
Here is where I want to share something in particular with some of the Christians reading here today. The words from the scripture that came to me were these. "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" In Luke's gospel he describes a group of people coming to the tomb of Jesus expecting to prepare the body as was the custom of the time. They were in for a big surprise. Two angelic beings stood there and questioned them. "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" and right there it struck me! This is exactly what many Christians are doing today. You are focusing on Jesus dying for you and you are stuck there. You have not engaged with the resurrected Jesus. I want to say this to some of you reading this today. These are some of the signs of those stuck at the tomb so to speak.
- You keep emphasising the only difference between you and unbelievers is that you've been forgiven. {That tells me you are still at the cross}
- When you speak about spiritual things and especially your testimony it generally ends with Jesus died for you and you have been forgiven. While this is fantastic why on earth do you stop there? What has the living resurrected Jesus done in your life since? What has changed the last 5,10 or 15 years since your sins have been forgiven?
- Your presentation of the gospel always focuses on Jesus dying for us but little or nothing is said of the resurrection. In virtually every gospel presentation in scripture the resurrection is mentioned after the crucifixion. You might think telling people Jesus died for them is good news but if you stop there it is nothing of the sort. The good news is that Jesus defeated death and therefore proved he has power over sin, sickness and all the power of the enemy and is able to save to the uttermost those who believe. After all a dead man can't save anybody!
- What is it you can do now that you couldn't do before your conversion? If you have trouble answering that one maybe you need to revisit the process listed above {or visit it for the first time if you never have before}
- You avoid talk of the after life because it detracts from this world. Again look at the process. Submission-death to self-new life-glory.
Paul the apostle said if our hope is in this life only than we are the most pathetic of people!
The scripture commands us to set our sights on the things from above and not on this life.
The early believers greeted each other with the word 'Maranatha' which means 'the Lord is coming.' They knew and reminded each other every time they met that we were not staying here. Jesus is coming to take us home. In the book of Hebrews we have the example of what faith is and in summary it tells us that they sought 'another city whose builder and maker is God'. Praise God this world is not all there is!
So let me leave you with these questions. Are you still seeking the living among the dead? Do you speak of Christ crucified as if he is still dead? Are you experiencing the new life he promised? Our God is not a God of the dead but of the living. Do you 'say your prayers'? {A term I hate as it depicts a religious duty to be done rather than a living relationship} or do you connect with the living God? Do you believe God for victory over sinful habits or do you casually tolerate them by using grace as a get out of jail free card. Are you experiencing the resurrection life Jesus promised?
So where are you on that scale? Have you missed out submitting your will to his {Gethsemane}. Do you actively live that out {Calvary}? Is your mind and heart no longer primarily focused on the attractions and trinkets of this world but rather are you focused and living for what is ahead? This is the way to experience resurrection life. Jesus said I have come that they may have life and life in all it's fullness.
Perhaps you are still seeking the living among the dead. I have good news for you. Jesus is alive. He wants you to experience life in all it's fullness. Resurrection life. My friend, my advice to you is to go back to Gethsemane regularly. Go back and wrestle with God. Go to that place of making a decision to willingly submit to God and say not my will but yours be done and then live out that decision {your own Calvary} As Paul the apostle said "I die daily". It is there you will experience more and more of the power of resurrection life and there are few that experienced it more than Paul the apostle.
If you feel stuck today, If you feel you are in a spiritual rut, If you feel like you made a decision and are glad your sins are forgiven but you've gone no further then I encourage you to submit your will to God's will, live that out and put your focus on the next world rather than this and you can experience more and more of the life that Jesus promised for those who believe.
Are you still at the tomb today? Then why are you seeking the living among the dead? Jesus says follow me. Follow me through Gethsemane. Follow me through Calvary. But don't stay at the tomb. Jesus said I have life for you and that life is more abundant. I encourage you to go on from the tomb and experience the life that Jesus has for all of us. Amen.
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