Are You Living Or Existing?

Are you living or existing?

 It seems like a lot of times in our lives

 We are simply existing instead really living life for all its worth.

 We get up, go to work or school, or we begin our daily routine,

 Whatever it may be and we simply go through the motions.

 One day seems to blend into the next

 If we would all be completely honest I think we it’s fair to say

 That there are times when everyone of us feels like our lives have lost their purpose.

 We feel empty inside,

 And the problem is that we’re not even really sure why.

Jesus Tells us that His Purpose is to give life in all its fullness (John 10:10).

So If this is the case

 Why are we not experiencing the fullness that He promised us?

 Why does it seem like we are just existing instead living for Jesus?

 That’s what I want to talk about today…

 How we can learn to live within Christ’s abundance…

 How we can learn to live like Jesus.

We are going to look at John 17:1

 In this chapter we see the prayer that Jesus prayed the night that He was betrayed and arrested.

 This is the prayer that was at the beginning of what was going to prove to be a very long night.

 And In this prayer Jesus prayed for himself, for his disciples, and for those who would become his disciples in the future. (That’s us)

 What I want us to look at are the opening words of Jesus’ prayer

 And I want to allow these words to challenge us

 Challenge us to live our lives to its fullest by daily living for Christ.

Text: John 17:1 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you.

Now when Jesus prayed this prayer

 He was about to come “face to face” with the cross.

 He was about to make what until now had only been promised through prophecy

 And now He was going to make it” a reality.”

 Jesus was not simply “going through the motions”

 And by doing this He was living His life to the fullest

 He was fulfilling his life’s mission.

As we look at this text we there are 3 qualities of Christ-likeness

 Three qualities that I feel can transform our lives

 Transform them from just “existing” into “really living.”

1) We Must Live with a Dependence on the Father

 Jesus is our example—he lived depending on His Father.

 As the Son of God he didn’t have to—

 He chose to

 He chose to do this out of submission

 And by doing this He show us how we are suppose to submit our lives to God.

 The first word of His prayer is, “Father.”

 I want to quickly look at how Jesus placed his dependence on his Father in heaven.

The author of Hebrews tells us:

Heb 5:7 While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could deliver him out of death. And God heard his prayers because of his reverence for God. Heb 5:8 So even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. (Hebrews 5:7-8)

 Early in his ministry we see a pattern of dependence

 And it’s is revealed through Jesus’ prayer time with his Father:

Mk 1:35 The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray. Mk 1:36 Later Simon and the others went out to find him. Mk 1:37 They said, “Everyone is asking for you.” Mk 1:38 But he replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too, because that is why I came.”

Notice that Jesus understood that prayer should come before preaching.

 And What is true for preaching

 Is also true for anything that we do for Christ.

 Prayer is the place where we acknowledge our dependence on our Heavenly Father.

Lk 5:15 Yet despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. Lk 5:16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

As more and more people sought Him out,

Jesus realized just how important it was for Him to draw His strength from His Father.

Throughout his life Jesus showed his dependence on the Father