Faith:  Realizing the impact of Jesus’ death

Introduction:  Living out what cannot be explained

Proverbs 30:18-19-Three things are too wonderful for me;  four I do not understand:19 the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin.

-All four of these analogies have something in common; that you cannot explain the path of their journey without being the one traveling or the two in the relationship,-seeing an eagle overheard just show up is a fascinating thing,  yet knowing it’s path is impossible, as the same as a serpent on a rock, there is no trail to follow, and the ship on the high seas, by the time you see it it’s trail has evaporated…

-Finally the man with a virgin, whether that is how they met and how they fell in love, it generally cannot be explained- that the man probably couldn’t give you a diagram of his emotions and how they exist together…”it just works for us”

-Our faith is a lot like that, in that there is no trail for you to follow, there maybe “fruit” that we imitate-but the nuance of our walk with Jesus, most times cannot be explained, because many times if you look back on how you got through something you can’t explain it!-(That is because God wants a one on one intimate relationship with you and I, that we are like John the Baptist pointing people to Jesus–that we cannot always explain life to people, especially with Jesus, it’s a relationship and experience that looks nothing alike, yet we can exalt Jesus from where we are standing now=testimony

Ex:  One of the things you and I have to fight in a society that is always looking towards progress/progression-is that progress is usually “destination focused”, meaning we never really appreciate where we are, so we can’t appreciate stages and phases of life God gives us-(we just can’t wait to progress, but as you get older you look back-wishing you took the time to appreciate the phase, you were in a hurry to leave)

-the critic will say, “you’re just content with low expectations”, when in reality I am learning to be content in God-because progression maybe another term for never settling but possibly never content! (always having to tweak and make things “progress” b/c you maybe discontent in your soul-not experiencing God for contentment but resting on people, destinations, progression in careers, materialism, etc.)-capitalism thrives in the “bigger barns” mentality

James 3:14-15-But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

-When this mentality of progress is used in relationships, we disrespect the journey-the part of life that may not be able to be explained, but it certainly can be enjoyed and appreciated-(we can be so driven to accrue certain things or get to certain place in life–that we can’t appreciate what we have, so when you’re older what are you left with?)

-PH preached about making Jesus a means to an end, instead of making Jesus everything-it was God’s design that the man in the marriage is to lay down his life (die to self) for his bride, and in doing so, he isn’t doing it so the wife can bypass him and “use him” for selfishly benefit-(he is doing it to express his love, and in return the bride is to respect him-that is the continuum of the marriage journey=But that is just a mirror to the Church’s response to Christ)

In your relationship with Jesus, are you appreciating the journey, honoring what He has done-not to get us somewhere, but for us to enjoy Him now in relationship, and revel in the mystery of only what you and Him share, that’s faith!-(Because without real faith in what Jesus was doing, we will live like the Pharisees–trying to honor religious days that are about Jesus, yet be persecuting Him with our unbelief, blind to the essence of gospel…)

Are we standing on ceremony?

John 19:14-16-14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

-The irony behind the Pharisees the entire earthly ministry of Jesus, was that they were convinced of being right-selfishly ambitious, so much so they missed the possibility of experiencing who God sent them, b/c God was never their focus!

-In their faithless religion they miss the essence of why they did what they did-that the Passover was to be a celebration of the day the death Angel spared every house, where blood was on the door post, which God instituted through Moses-(the irony is that Jesus would claim to be a better Moses in that He is the Passover Lamb-and His blood would give pardon to everyone who believed in who He was!)

Hebrews 11:28-By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

-So the these religious Jews, chosen by God  to observe the Law and it’s celebrations, miss the point of it’s fulfillment because of unbelief-that Passover was to be observed for the sake of experiencing God and the joy of deliverance, salvation!

-Our challenge as Christians who profess belief in the death of Jesus-is it possible we are missing an experience, a walk, and journey with the Person of Jesus while we religiously observe Sunday, because our ambition is not God, but ourselves?

The mentality:  “How is God going to bless me, period”?  Instead of thinking, “how is God making me better for Him?”

Ex:  In your present stress, is the death of Jesus significant or relevant in anyway-Is what Jesus walked through on earth just an historical account, without seeing everything He did back then, was to fulfill what God ordered, to meet us where we are now=that’s faith!

Hebrews 11:1-Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

(vs.15)-Moses by faith in his relationship with God, instilled the Passover-the religious Jews in their unbelief kept the Passover, yet missed the Person, Jesus!, and in selfish ambition from jealousy, crucified who made it matter!-(I’m trying to get you to see that Jesus must validate what we do as Christians-because it honors His death, as my King! I’m striving to replace my selfish ambition with a holy one)

But that won’t change unless you examine yourself and ask, I am “right” in how I handle my life and situations?-Is Jesus really King, or have we settled for what is earthly (Caesar) to dictate why we do what we do, while observing ceremonies, but not living by faith?

The honor of “cross-bearing”

John 19:16-19-So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.  So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”.

–So in being given over to be crucified, (by God) as PH preached last week-Jesus is now bearing his own cross, thus signifying His obedience in what the Father called Him to do, in dying for the sins of the world-(so the persecution, the betrayal, and death threats-were all part of bearing His cross, in faithfully doing what the Father ordered for Jesus’ call)

Luke 9:23-“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

-This passage will answer so many questions we have regarding why we are here and what is my purpose-but the only way you find that out, is to deny yourself and do what you’re called and follow Jesus-(because God begins to answer and heal so many things, when we stop defining ourselves by what happened-which is the exact opposite of denying yourself, that’s being self-consumed, such a mentality keeps us from ever realizing our purpose!)-Ex:

–The shift in mentality has to come from not thinking, that I know how my life is supposed to turn out-so this thing happening that I did not foresee has me stuck and I cannot escape it, which keeps me self-consumed=the devils goal!

-Because Jesus was so free that the things He went through He knew He wasn’t following His plan-which brings purpose as to why He had to be betrayed, why He had to be beaten-(but if He were selfishly following His own plan than those things are never seen as helpful but traumatic!-So when you here someone say, “deny yourself”, when you’re still traumatized is terrifying, but that is all the more reason to throw yourself into Jesus, for freedom sake, b/c you can trust Him!)

John 8:31-32-So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,  32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

-Notice that Jesus says that freedom comes from abiding in His Word-because when you abide in it we are being led by or living it out, and when you live for Jesus you cannot live for yourself, “no man can serve two Masters”,

(unlike the Pharisees who didn’t want Him as King, they stayed bound, where as living for Jesus we’ll be set free..)

(What is this freedom)–now the things I go through don’t define me=trauma, they push me further into purpose, with the renewing my mind-that I don’t live at the mercy of people’s idea of who I am because of what I did or what happened, I live according to what the Word says I am, following Jesus, not reliving pain!=In His death, by His stripes we are healed!

-you know you are still traumatized when don’t believe what you went through is useful/won’t work for good(Romans 8:28)- it is either you won’t abide in my Word or need to keep abiding in it=discipline/disciple) I’ll set you free because what you went through is useful for my purpose!-So like Jesus, I am bearing my cross for what I went through because it’s purposeful-not just for me, but for others and most importantly God’s glory=we’re all ministers

Conclusion:  The freedom of dying

John 19:28-30-After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”  29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

(How you know you are walking in freedom?) I can be for you what I needed someone to be for me, (though I didn’t get it from people)=healed/healing from trauma-b/c God wanted me to get it from Him! So I can want for you, what I didn’t get and not be jealous because God has freed me in that area-(this is why we don’t counsel people and help others and give them what we wanted-because we’re still traumatized, when you get free you’ll start discipling people, and pouring yourself out, like Jesus and His disciples)  1 Corinthians 15:31-32-I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day! 32 What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

think about how helpful that would be starting with your friends and family, and others-but we must deny ourselves and take up our cross; freedom won’t come following our way, we have to die to it, that we impact lives through Jesus death!