As A Man
Last week we learned quite a bit about the Kingdom of God; First that we must receive the Kingdom of God as a gift of the Grace of God. It is not automatic. The gift is always there for us but it is up to us to decide whether or not to receive the gift.
We also learned how to receive the gift. With excitement, with joy, with almost overwhelming anticipation of what the gift will hold for us IF we decide to accept it. And we learned from Jesus that we must receive the gift “As A Child.” We reflected on the enthusiasm and excitement of children when they receive gifts on birthdays and at Christmas. In the same way, Jesus tells us, we must be willing to accept God’s Gracious Gift of the Kingdom of God.
We also learned that the Kingdom of God is where? Jesus tells us in Luke 17: 20-21 “The Kingdom of God is within you!” So, the Kingdom of God is available to us, each and every one of us if we are willing to accept God’s gift. And if and when we make that decision, to accept, then, we can begin living the words of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
But to receive God’s gift involves a whole lot more that just excitement and anticipation. It involves a totally surrendered life of faith in God.
We talked about how a child is not required by a parent to perform certain tasks, or act in certain ways to be loved by the parent. We talked about how our children and grandchildren can cause us great concern, sometimes cause us to become angry with the, sometimes saddened by them and often they bring us great joy. But through all these times, we still love them. In the same way, our Father in Heaven loves each one of us.
We talked about
We talked about the faith of children; how a child does not worry about things they have no control over. How children have faith in their parents because they know they are loved and the one who loves them provides for them.
We used the analogy of a child crossing a street, how they do not naturally know to look for traffic, and how to guide them safely on their journey, all they have to do is reach out and grasp their father’s hand. We discussed that as a child gets a little older he may be able to provide for himself, as we see tragically how some homeless children do, but that a child who has a parent recognizes the consistency of provision of the parent. The child recognizes trusts and believes the parent will provide all his needs.
We said if we have faith like a child, then God can pour living water through us because our faith is in Him. Not in the world, not in us, not in anyone else, but only in God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
We talked about simply having knowledge of the Word, being able to quote scripture and verse is good, but without understanding and believing the Word, the knowledge is useless.
We discussed about how God just wants to simplify our relationship with Him, and how He asks us only to be obedient to His Word.
We talked too, about our sinful nature. Our sin is something we don’t like to talk about. We don’t want to think of ourselves as sinners. If point my finger at you I call you sinners, each and every one of you, you probably begin to feel some anger, some resentment at those words. But if I include myself in that accusation, perhaps we all begin to realize the truth of who we are. When I point my finger at you, suddenly I realize there are three more fingers pointing back at me.
We talked about how familiar we are with our sinful nature, but that we all have within us the desire to be in the Devine nature. We learned and I pray are beginning to understand, that as we gain in knowledge and belief in the Word, we begin to make the Divine nature more familiar and as we do, God reveals to us more of our sin and our desire to be Holy increases.
We begin to realize, and believe the truth that our Holy God, the Father can never come near us because of our sin. But praise God the Father for His Son, Jesus Christ, because through His death of the Cross, and ONLY through Him can we enter the Holy of Holy’s.
But to accomplish this, we must be totally surrendered in our faith to God as a child.
But here’s the problem. I’m an adult. Through the years, I’ve gained knowledge of the world…. How things work… I’ve got responsibilities. I’ve go obligations. My daily life looks a lot different than it did when I was a child. There are times when I wish I was a child again, but then again, maybe not. Not without the knowledge and experience and hopefully wisdom I have gained as I navigated through this life. But in looking back, it sure seems life was simpler than. And when it comes to my relationship with God, isn’t that what He wants. God simply asks me to be obedient to His Word. Why do I make it so complicated?
And perhaps there is the key. I make it complicated.
Let’s look at today’s scripture: Read: 1Cor 13:11
Paul here is taking to the people of Corinth. They were having some problems and acting like children. Worried more about who had the best spiritual gifts. They were spiritual babies, and, like babies, they were striving for the temporary and neglecting the permanent. They wanted passing spiritual gifts instead of lasting Christian character.
They were, in Paul’s opinion, acting like children.
Certainly at least most of us have left behind us childish talk; except of course during a Super Bowl event or some such thing. And in those kinds of situations, the ladies have nothing on the men when it comes to acting silly!
But, for the most part, we are past the childish talk… or are we. What do we call gossip, or talking poorly about someone? Is that not childish?
But this scripture also speaks of thinking like a child and reasoning like a child. But when I became a man, (ladies, insert the word adult here) I put childish ways behind me.
As an adult, we invoke what we consider to be mature thinking and reasoning.
So, here we are as adults talking about surrender; about counting on God to provide for all our needs. It sounds nice. It sounds easy. But “worldly” thinking says no way, that’s not realistic…. Remember our realization of reality!
Jesus knows the ways of satan. Jesus knows how satan wants us to believe we have to help Jesus… he, satan, wants us to believe we need to maintain control of our lives.
Jesus never promises the way of discipleship is easy. He was never shy about telling His disciples, or us, the cost involved.
Listen to these words of Christ:
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 and anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14: 26, 27)
This is some tough stuff! I don’t want to hate my father and mother, my wife, or in my own case, my SO, my children, or my brother. And after all, doesn’t Jesus somewhere else say “Honor Thy Mother and Thy Father.” I mean that’s one of the “BIG TEN.”
Of course Jesus doesn’t literally mean to hate your loved ones, but what He demands is that you put your love for Him above and before ALL other loves and desires!
Jesus needs you to understand what it will cost you to enter into this journey. You need to commit your heart totally, completely to Him.
If you call yourself a believer, a disciple of Christ, you must be prepared and be committed to the long haul. A lifelong journey of repentance and seeking God the Father through your faith in Jesus Christ until you are face to face with God. Listen to the advice of Jesus as He continues laying out our faith journey requires:
(Luke 14 continues)
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
Jesus is warning us here that we need to be aware of what it takes to become His disciple and not to enter into this journey without being ready to commit all we have to the journey.
So, what is your desire? Do you realize yourself as being upright and moral, possibly sterling as far as men are concerned? Then you have realized yourself. Your true ideal must be to realize Christ.
Are you truly happy with the way your life is? Or do you desire more? Do you ever see Christ in others in a way that you desire to have? I did… (Mike, Doug and Bobby)
You desire more, otherwise you wouldn’t come back week after week to hear the Words God offers you. Do you think there is more to being a Christian than what you know in your life? Then lift your eyes to Jesus.
Two of the early Disciples, James and John had the desire to follow Jesus, it was the consuming passion of their lives to come after Jesus. Jesus asked them if they were able to “drink of His cup” and be baptized with His Baptism.. that is, His work on the cross. James and John responded “We are able.”
They were devout and humble, but they knew nothing of themselves, for if they knew (in a worldly way, in the culture then, and yes, probably even more so today, what they were saying, the may have had to reconsider the cost.
It is the same way with us. We say “Yes Lord, I will follow you all the way.” But do we know and understand the conditions? Do we think it is just a matter of belief?
You must consider this: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.”
Jesus doesn’t mean giving up something to benefit another part of us…. It doesn’t mean denying our self of drink, or of swearing or of judging others. But “to deny himself” means our rights to ourselves totally to God; denying everything except Jesus Christ. You can no longer have your own life.
Is Jesus Christ worth it? Consider the costs. Jesus warns in Luke 14:33
“In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
For most of us, our civilized life has turned into an elaborate way to living without God. We have been living in the abundance of the things we possess. The reality is the things we possess are the things that must belong to God.
We all must honestly ask ourselves, what do I possess that I have not given to God? Mostly, my independence of God. Am I willing to give up the rights the world has given me, the right of myself, all that I have earned, and let God do what He has planned? Do I have any other interests in my life more important than Jesus Christ? Do I BELIEVE GOD?
You must decide to be a disciple. You must decide to lay down your life for Him. You must go into it knowing there will be a cost. The question is “Will I give up my life for Him?” It is more than just giving up your sin, it is relinquishing the whole way of looking at all things if you truly desire the Holy Spirit to dwell within you. You must let go of all before you can lay hold of Him.
It has nothing to do with being approved by men or walking in the light of judgment of men. That is easy. If fact, most Christians do this quire well. But it is to go to God and ask Him to reveal to you the places you are not like Him; The places that keep us from a closer relationship with Him.
All the places we could conceivably be judged by men are unimportant and will be our crowning glory as we come to know the real places God desires to show us and asks us to surrender.
It is personal in our individual relationship with God. We must decide we are no longer our own and each day we wake up and give our lives to Him… We give back to Him the very best we can offer every moment and the sacrifice will be an eternal possession and is the treasure in heaven we seek to lay hold of. Not only that, but in our obedience comes a knowledge of God that draws from within us an indescribable desire for only Him.
Do you think “There must be more to being a Christian that I see?” Lift your eves to Jesus. Do you see Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? Then come to Him and ask Him to give you the Holy Spirit. Then He will lead you as you obey to be like Him. But there must be a desire in you to be what He wants you to be.
Instead of saying “I want to stop sinning, I want to stop doing this or that,” say I want in me all that Christ said He would do, all that He died for, so I can be like Him.”
Though we come week after week, do we really desire what He offers? Just as Jesus explained over and over to His disciples that they must come deliberately knowing the costs. Even to decide to be a disciple takes time.
We might be saying “I don’t understand,” … but it is in our refusal to go to Jesus and ask Him to show us … because we are afraid. Afraid of what we might see, afraid of what we must surrender.
I pray that the desire in your heart to lay your entire life down before and to the Lord will overwhelm every other desire of your hearts. Do not fix your eyes on anything but Jesus and He will be faithful to show you the truth, the way and the light.
There is a lot to consider; Things that as a child we didn’t have to think about. But now I am a man.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
I’ve thought and reasoned like a man. I’ve considered the costs. All the costs and I’ve made my decision. And now, praise God, now I can receive the Kingdom of God with the peace, confidence, trust, excitement, joy as a child, because I trust God as a man.
