JANUARY 10-16: THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST
Pastor Matt and Jon Gerstel will be in Zambia (Africa) January 13 thru 20, training Seventh Day Baptist leaders in that country. Throughout the week we will look at various Scripture passages that speak to the work that Pastor Matt and Jon will be doing in Zambia.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:14-15
The Good News of Jesus Christ---salvation through faith by the grace of God---is not set-aside for the day we stand before the Lord to give an account. Eternal life is something we experience the moment we ask Christ to be our Lord and then submit to His Lordship.
ReplyDeleteThis truth is a large part of what Pastor Matt and Jon will be sharing with the SDB leaders in Zambia as they work with them on "Spiritual Maturity," and is the basis for this week's blog posts.
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7
ReplyDeleteAs is foreshadowed in God's prophesy to the nation of Israel in Ezekiel 36:22-27 (specifically, verse 26, which reads, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh"), believers are transformed when they are "cleansed from all [their] impurities and from all [their] idols" (v 25) by the blood of Jesus Christ.
DeleteBecause of our transformed hearts, we are able to recognize "the incomparable riches of His grace" (His love, His presence, and His providence) instead of mistakenly believing that we are abandoned to a life of chance. With that recognition comes a peace and joy that cannot be experienced apart from eternal life.
After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed:
ReplyDelete“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those you have given Him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." John 17:1-5
In this passage, Jesus asserts that to have eternal life, one must "know . . . the only true God, and Jesus Christ."
DeleteThe Greek word translated "know" is ginṓskō, which means "to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of" ("Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible," Thomas Nelson Publishers), a pursuit that requires intimacy to the point of friendship.
While contemplating what it means to know Jesus in this way, to be His friend, two Scripture passages were laid on my heart:
"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you" John 15:15-16
"If you love me, keep my commands" John 14:15
If we wish to have eternal life we must, with a sincere heart filled with love for the Lord, ask Him to lead us in obedience to Him, yielding our own will to His.
Jesus answered [the crowd], “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” John 6:26-27
ReplyDeleteTaking hold of eternal life means moving beyond the shallow doctrine that first drew us to Jesus, and embracing His efforts to grow our faith as He stands beside us and strengthens us through life's trials and tribulations. We read about the importance of this in the book of James:
Delete"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" James 1:2-6
The peace of eternal life comes from a solid faith -- a belief in God's character and His promises -- that cannot be built without testing.
From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.
ReplyDelete“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:66-69
Jesus' teachings are not always "easy," but they are, as Simon Peter states, "the words of eternal life." Take for example . . .
DeleteWhen we have been hurt by someone -- especially someone we love -- we do not want to follow in Jesus' teaching to "turn to him the other [cheek] also" (Matthew 5:39) and to forgive our brother "seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:22, NASB). However, walking away from Jesus' teaching leads to further heartache and despair (death), while submitting to His teaching brings us closer to the Lord and allows His character to shine through us (eternal life).
When we have the opportunity to put money in the bank (even if we don't need it), we are tempted to go after what our culture tells us is important and do not want to submit to Jesus' teaching that, "You cannot serve both God and Money" (Luke 16:13). When we turn away from that teaching, we are grabbing hold of something that can never satisfy (death); but when we follow Jesus' teaching and seek after the Lord instead of money, we allow His Spirit to grow within us (eternal life).
If we want to experience eternal life, we need to follow Jesus' teachings, even when they are "hard."