I’ve made some good decisions in my life. I’ve made some wise choices in my life. I’ve made some decisions that made a lot of money. I’ve made some decisions that have created relationships that have lasted a lifetime. I’ve made some decisions that have brought me joy. I’ve made some decisions that have brought me moments of happiness. I’ve mad some good decisions, “Falling in love with Jesus was the best thing I’ve ever done!”
I’ve made some good and quality decisions:
• To graduate from high school was a good decision, but falling love with Jesus was the best thing I’ve ever done;
• To matriculate through Jarvis Christian College, earning my Bachelor of Arts & graduate from Perkins School of Theology, SMU with a Master of Divinity were quality decisions, but falling in love with Jesus was the best thing I’ve done;
• To marry my beautiful wife, the love of my life for 25 years, was a good and quality decision, but falling in love with Jesus was the best thing I’ve ever done;
• To be become a father of my children and help to raise my nieces and nephews were good decisions, but falling in love with Jesus was the best thing I’ve ever done;
We all must make decisions everyday, but there is no decision that a person can make that carries more significance than the decision to hook up with Jesus. Hooking up with Jesus means to begin a relationship with Jesus. Hooking up with Jesus means to begin to walk with Jesus and talk with Jesus. Hooking up with Jesus means to get to know Jesus intimately, to the point where his ways and thoughts are known. Hooking up with Jesus means to draw so close to Jesus that who he begins to manifest in the individual. There is not a greater decision that a person can make than to hook up with Jesus.
Paul says it clearly in 2 Corinthians 5, in this familiar verse, verse 17. Listen to it from various translations:
• King James Version, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”.
• New Living Translation: “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
• God’s WORD Translation: “Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.”
• The Voice: “Therefore, if anyone is united with the Anointed One, that person is a new creation. The old life is gone—and see—a new life has begun!”
The translations say it with slight differences, but the point is abundantly clear, being in a relationship with Jesus makes a difference. Now, there may be some of us who have heard about this Jesus, but for a variety of reasons have hesitated to hook up with Jesus. The reason could be that you’ve seen no consistency in the life of those who claim to be in love with Jesus: y’all are at the same clubs, doing the same dances, talking the same talk and living the same life. The reason could be that you’ve been disappointed in church and religion, lied to and beat upon. The reason could be that you feel sufficient all by yourself and therefore you don’t need a savior. The reason could be that you feel like your friends want understand and you don’t want to be rejected.
Whatever the reasons for not accepting Jesus or, if anyone has already accepted him, not growing closer to Jesus, I propose that hooking up with Jesus has some benefits that we just do not want to pass up. On one occasion my dad and I talked as I was looking for employment and I remember telling him about a few opportunities that were potentially becoming available. My dad listened carefully, then said, “many people accept a job solely upon the basis of how much they will be paid, but look for job that will you a good wage and has the best benefit package”. Hooking up with Jesus has the best benefits!
Paul opens this chapter with some striking words, “1We know that if our earthly house—a mere tent that can easily be taken down—is destroyed, we will then live in an eternal home in the heavens, a building crafted by divine—not human—hands”. This is the conclusion of the argument he has been presenting in 2 Corinthians 4: verse 12 he says, “Death is constantly at work in us”; verse 16 he says, “Our outer humanity is falling apart and decaying”. Also, in verses 13-14, “13We share the same spirit of faith as the one who wrote the Psalm, “I believe therefore I spoke.” We also believe and that belief leads us to acknowledge 14that the same God who resurrected the Lord Jesus will raise us with Jesus and will usher us all together into His presence”. Paul says, in essence, hooking up with Jesus gives us a benefit in death.
Here is the reality: every person dies and death is no respecter of persons. Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and, with the consumption of that fruit, the sentence of physical death has reigned over mankind. Here is the reality: you and I will, one day, die! BUT, knowing Jesus takes the fear out of death and gives an assurance. Here is the assurance: “if this tent is folded up—we have another home in heaven, not made by human hands” and it is eternal! What a benefit! My dad was stricken with lung and brain cancer and experienced tremendous pain. I shall never forget hearing him cry out, but not the pain, his words to us as he was enduring the pain and facing death; daddy would tell us, “God’s got this!” What would make my daddy, facing death, say God’s got this? He had met Jesus and he knew that The Bible says, Jesus conquered death, “O death where is your sting and grave where is your victory”. He knew that Jesus has all power in his hands including the keys of death and hell. What a benefit! To know that this world is not our home, but we are here for just a moment, and the Lord Jesus has taken care of our accommodations over there. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be also”. “I’ve got a new home over in glory and it’s mine, mine, all mine”.
Thank God that our ending is secured, but none of us wants to accept Jesus if we have to die to enjoy the benefits. Paul therefore shifts his attention from life after death to Christ’s impact upon living our life before death. I quoted earlier and will do it again now, God’s Word Translation says, “17Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.” Paul says, in essence, hooking up with Jesus gives us a benefit in life. Look closely at this text and observe the benefit that Jesus gives. Life here is not a reference to the acquisition of superficial material gains; Jesus is not in our life to make sure that we prosper and become rich. Life here is defined as the clarification of purpose. Paul says in verses 6-17 that knowing Jesus ignites within us passion; a passion to please God. When we hook up with Jesus, all of a sudden, sin becomes distasteful; treating people wrongly become deplorable; having bad character becomes unbearable. The presence of Jesus makes us want to please God. The old folks said, “I looked at my hands and they looked new; I looked my feet and they did too; I went to walk and I had a new walk; I went to talk and I had a new talk; places I used to go, I don’t go no more; things I used to do, I don’t do no more”. Knowing Jesus brings with him a passion to please God.
And since we are striving to please God, it ignites within us a passion to draw others into this relationship with Christ so that they too can please God. Let me be clear: this is not a ministry of judgment, but a ministry of reconciliation. We become the voice of the Lord Jesus. We become the image of the Lord Jesus. We become the example of the Lord Jesus. We tell the world, Jesus died for you! Let me stay there for a moment. Whatever the specific sinfulness in any of our lives, here is the good news: Jesus died for you! Jesus died so that you and I can know that God is not angry with you. Jesus died for it so that you don’t have to die from it. Jesus died so that you and I can know that God offers to us peace and forgiveness. Jesus died so that we may have a new perspective on life, a God-perspective. Jesus died so that we may experience the love of God and become consumed by that love so that his love becomes the driving force in our life and it compels us to tell everyone, be reconciled to God!
I looked up the word reconcile and in Merriam-Webster Online it is “to restore to friendship or harmony”. In the Greek, according to the Faith Life Study Bible, it means to end the hostility between God and people. What a benefit! We can walk with God as if we never sinned. What a benefit! God trusts us with God’s Spirit because the hostility has ended between God and people. What a benefit! My mind just jumped back and I heard those old folks getting happy saying, “I’m saved by his power divine; saved to new life sublime. Life now is sweet and my joy is complete because I’m saved, saved, saved”.
I’ve made some good decisions and I’ve made some wise choices, but I join with James Cleveland, who is sleeping somewhere in eternity, “I’ve had my share of life’s ups and downs and the downs they’ve been few. I would guess you can say, God blessed me but there’s never been a time in my life, he didn’t bring me through. If anyone should ever write, my life story. For whatever reason there might, You’d be there, between each line of pain and glory. Jesus is the best thing that ever happened; Jesus is the best thing that ever happened; Jesus is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
