The Certianity of the Cross

As the days begin to get longer and we near Easter I have been studying the Resurrection of Jesus. I am amazed at Paul's understanding of this subject as he writes to the Corinthian church in I Corinthians 15. After reading this passage several times I was left asking myself, "do we truly understand the Resurrection?" This past week in our worship services we looked at the first 11 verses and how they help us to understand the certainty of the Resurrection. In particular we looked at The Testimony of Scripture (vv.3-4), The Testimony of Eyewitnesses, and The Testimony of a Change Life. Of the three, the last one is the clearest picture that most Christians will have around others in the certainty of the resurrection. Which brings me to these questions: How can others see Christ in you? Do you have the light of Christ in you? The best witness you can be before your family, friends and co-workers is to exhibit a Christ filled life. How are you fairing?

The Lordship of Christ

The greatest decision that anyone can ever make in life is that concerning their Salvation. Yet through out history we have seen countless individuals gently brush this aside and think nothing else of it. Sad to say, they have just swept away life ever lasting. But those individuals are not the focus of this message today.

In preparing for this coming Sunday’s service I was amazed at the number of people who claim to be born again yet have no fruit in their lives. These so called believers are claiming to have accepted Christ in their lives but nothing is seen by their actions and words that would ever allude to them being a Christian. Jesus says, “every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit…You will know them by their fruits,” Matthew 7:17-18; 20. So if every good tree bears good fruit and every bad bears bad fruit, then how can we have people who claim to be a “Christian” who are bearing very little to no fruit?

The answer is simple. Satan and his wonderfully dim-witted plan that make people believe that they are saved when in reality they are still lost. His plan is simple, crafty and very deceptive. His scheme will have you to believe that you can accept Christ Jesus as Savior without accepting Him as Lord. It is this heresy that is being taught all around the world and by many churches and well know ministers, of whom I am not here to bash. This type of ministry is not new, it has been around for years and is know by the name: Easy-Believism.

It is sad to think that we have allowed the Gospel of our Savior and Lord to be reduced to something that fits our life rather than we conform to the Gospel that Jesus preached. You cannot take Jesus Christ as your Savior and then someday later repent of sin and take Him in as Lord. Either you take it all or you have nothing at all.

Romans 10:9 and 10 is a wonderful testimony to this, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” The message there is very clear; not only do you have to believe in Him as Savior but you must confess Him as Lord of you life. When you “Believe in the Lord Jesus (emphasis mine), you will be saved,” Acts 16:31.

What does it mean to have Christ Jesus as Lord of your life? To answer this we must understand a few terms of the scriptures. The first is a Greek word from where we have our English word Lord and that word is kurios. This Greek word was used in the New Testament times to describe Christ Jesus, the Son of God. Kurios is someone who has authority, absolute power, and an unquestionable right of command. So for Him to be our Lord we must surrender to His authority; His command; His power over our lives. Because we live in a dog eat dog world, one that teaches us to be the best and that nothing else matters, “you are the most important”, very few are willing to turn over their lives in this manner. Not to mention to confess Him as Lord over our life means that we will have to submit to his authority through our obedience to Him.

This thought brings me to my next Greek term: doulos. Doulos is the Greek word that is used in the New Testament and it means slave. In New Testament times slavery was something that was readily accepted. Where ever there was a Lord (kurios) there was always a slave (doulos). As John MacAuthur so eloquently said it, “one term necessarily and axiomatically implies the other.” You will never have one without the other. So to see Christ Jesus as Lord of our life we must see our self as His slave. This is a revolting concept for us because of the history of slavery that we have in America; nevertheless, it is a Biblical truth.

It is from these simple Biblical truths that we have found our churches teaching a misguided Gospel: Easy-Believism. They claim that you do not have to submit to anyone as a slave, just believe and your sins are forgiven, but I disagree. This line of thought has reduced the Gospel of Jesus to a personal relationship without the authority that Jesus is to have over our life. This casual Christianity is nothing more than faith in moderation. It has allowed so many to feel religious without having to place God on the throne of their heart.

Sure these individuals are nice human beings, a great family person, very religious, an exemplary citizen, a reliable employee, a wonderful husband, wife, mother, father and/or child; but their Salvation swings in the balance; so close, yet so far away. One day they will realize that Salvation without Lordship was not enough.

Where is God?

I am currently preparing for a mission trip to Cairo, Egypt. Myself along with the help of 6 other men have the oppertunity to teach people there what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The local church and pastor there in Cairo, have titled the week, "The Life of a Jesus Follower". In this week we will be studying three topics: 1. Your relationship to God, 2. Your relationship to others (Christian and Non-Christian people), and 3. Your relationship to God's mission in the world.

On Sunday March 9th, I have the awesome oppertunity to preach to them and have been led to use a passage of Scripture in Exodus 3. Here Moses is pasturing the flock of his father-in-law and an angel of the Lord appears to him in a buring bush. Moses wanting to see why the bush was buring and not being consumed came closer where God speaks to him. As you read through the rest of chapter 3 and into 4 you find God revealing to Moses His will. As I sometimes do, I was caught up in the calling and commissioning of Moses failing to see one of the biggest lessons in the first few verses.

It is here where we see God presenting Himself to Moses through a burning bush and I like many others have by-passed this portion of scripture going right to what God shared with Moses. When we do this we fail to see that God longed to have a love relationship with Moses just like he longs to have one with you. He may not always come to you through a buring bush, but God God does come. He comes in many forms: a not so friendly sales clerk at Walmart, someone who is having car trouble on the side of the road, someone who has a flat tire in the Publix parking lot, the lonly soul wondering around in a park or at the mall, the student who is being picked on day after day, the janitor at work, school or sports games, the co-worker who just received notice that the company is downsizing, your own child or spouse who has had a bad day at school or work. God longs for you to approach Him in all of these situations.

God presents Himself to us in many ways. He has come seeking out a relationship with you; He desires for you to be about His businees in this world. And like Moses he will call out to you, but it is up to YOU to answer back. God has given us the freedom to choose whom we will serve, "for you can not serve two master," Matthew 6:24. For it is when you do this that you will love one and despise the other. The question remains, "Do you love God enough to serve Him?"

As I said earlier God desires a love relationship with you. God took the initiative to come to Moses and initiate a love relationship with him. He has the same desire and passion for you, to be in a love realtionship with Himself that is real and personal. There are other examples of a love relationship in scripture: Exodus 33:7-34:10 or Numbers 12:-8. (information and study gathered from Henery Balckaby, "Experiencing God")

A love relationship with God is both real and personal. It is the most important relationship that you will ever enter into in your life. God wants you to love Him with your entire self. He loved you enough to send His Son Jesus for the remission of your sins. God demonstrated His love for you through the death and ressurection of His only Son Jesus at Calvary. Are you ready to love Him back? If not then you are openly admitting to loving the world more. The love of the world will not last, read Revelation chapters 19-22.

May the Lord bless you and keep you in all the days that are ahead.

Response to Comment in Showers of Blessings

Elijah had a relationship with God. He walked with God, talked with God and lived a life of prayer. And when Elijah spoke he spoke with the Authority that God had given him. I believe that Elijah was God’s Chosen vessel. John 15:16 says, "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” I believe that under the direction of God Elijah chose his steps very carefully only stepping in the direction that God lead him to. If you will read through the previous two chapters in I Kings you will see that Elijah acted just as God had commanded.

It is my belief that you allow scripture to interpret scripture; therefore, knowing that he was a man of prayer, one who walked and talked with God and one who did according to the Word of the Lord (I Kings 17), I believe that it was under the direction of God that he said what he said in verse 40 ordering the death of those men. Elijah was in the company of those that did not believe the same as he did, especially prior this incident. And for him to stand up and order the death of the prophets of Baal with not one once of retaliation tells me it was only of God. There is not a government around that will stand aside while you slew 450 of its prophets and then to command its King (leader, President, Prime Minister, etc.) to follow your orders.

If your will read all the way through this chapter you will find a very important piece of information in the last verse, “Then the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel,” (I Kings 18:46 NASB). Did you catch it? GOD’S hands were on Elijah. God was in complete control all along.

Showers of Blessings

What a tremendous week we have had with the rain that has quenched the parched earth. Some areas received more than others; but nevertheless, we are thankful for every drop of rain we received. While I was sitting in my office this week I thought about the drought that God brought to Israel in I Kings 17. To help you to recall the story, Elijah, very publicly and under the direction of God said, "As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." And for the next three years it did not rain. Crops would die on the vine and the livestock were dropping in the fields, all because of no rain. We can relate to this because of the agricultural industry in Oconee but what we have a hard time relating to is the reason behind this drought. If you read through chapter 17 and 18 you will find that these people have fallen far from God (the Israelities are worshiping other gods). Elijah tells them that they need to either follow the gods of this world or they need to follow God, the creator and sustainer of the entire world (18:21). These people suffered because they had chosen to follow their own gods and not the Lord God.
If you would take a moment to look at America you would see how relevant this passage of scripture is to us today. We too have chosen to follow the gods of this world; MONEY, GREED, PRIDE, SELFISHNESS, ALCOHOL, SEX, and the list goes on and on. And because of this, like the Israelites, we have began to suffer. Until we, the people, turn our hearts back to God we are going to continue to suffer and experience a drought. The drought that we are experiencing today is only a portion of the true spiritual drought that American's have been experiencing for many, many years.
Rain can come and we can see the lakes and streams filled to their capacity, vegetation thriving and flurishing, and states getting along, not fighting and fussing over water issues. But before we see this blessing from God we must turn out hearts back to God and MUST REPENT!!! Ask God today what it is that you personally can do to help bring back the rain.

Bible Gateway

Bible Gateway is a great online resource. At www.biblegateway.com, you can look up specific scriptures, search for scriptures, and view passages in up to 50 different versions/translations.