Easter 2016
Not My Will But Thine Be Done
Scriptures: Matt. 26:39; John 10:10; 17-18; 14:6; 19:30; Luke 19:10; 23:35-43; 2 Peter 2:4; 3:9
Introduction
The title of my message this morning is “Not My Will But Thine Be Done!” On the night that He was arrested, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. In His conversation (prayer) with His Father, Jesus said, “….My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39b) In His prayer, Jesus confessed that He did not want to go through the suffering that He knew was coming and He asked God if it was possible to let it pass from Him. But He concluded by confirming that it was not His will, but whatever God’s will was He would follow. I want us to understand that Jesus did not joyfully go to the cross He went in obedience to His Father! He experienced all of the pain and suffering that anyone would experience being crucified! That being said, are we willing to put our will to the side and do whatever God’s will is for us?
Jesus obeyed the will of His Father. Consider what was recorded in John 19:30. After Jesus had been on the cross for six hours, John 19:30 records the following: “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” Jesus voluntarily laid down his life within six hours of being on the cross. Under normal circumstances a person could last for days on the cross and this is why the soldiers would break the legs of those being crucified to hasten their death. I mention this because Jesus said in John 10:17-18, “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.” Jesus voluntarily laid down His life for each of us in obedience to His Father’s will! For six hours He hung on the cross. There were people who loved Him present in support of Him. There were other people who mocked Him during this same time period. After about six hours, Jesus said “It is finished!” and He hung His head and gave up His spirit. He did not die as if He had no choice, He voluntarily gave up His spirit because He had obeyed His Father and His work was finished. But what was actually finished?
I. It Is Finished
In John 10:10 Jesus said “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Jesus came and died so that we might be able to live, not just victoriously here on earth, but in heaven, forever being in His and God’s presence. This is what was finished. The door was open and our invitation to enter was given to us. Jesus destroyed the power of death over any Christian because true death is the eternal separation from God, not the physical death that we experience here on earth. We actually begin to live when we leave this earth and that pathway was completed when Jesus took His last breath on the cross. The Bible makes it clear that death is a transition from this life to the next. However, what that “next” life will be resides with the decisions that we make on this side of the dirt, as my good friend Jack would say. That next life will be based on our willingness to yield our will in favor of God’s will. Jesus Christ is that way and that He is the only way to forever be in the presence of God and our decision to accept this is the first step to submission. I am so glad that Jesus said, “Not My will, but Your will be done!
As Christians we believe that because Jesus was obedient to the Father even to death that He is “the” Messiah as foretold in the Old Testament. We believe that He is the Son of God. We believe that through His death and resurrection we are all offered the opportunity to be reconciled to God and receive salvation and eternal life. This is what we believe. We do not believe this simply because this is what we were taught, but also because we have experienced Jesus. Jesus is more than just a figure we have read about in the Bible and other books. He is more than just a righteous man who walked the earth one day. Jesus is our Savior and most importantly, He is alive and well! This is what we believe. But what does some of the other major religions believe and/or teach about Jesus Christ?
I have researched several major world religions throughout the years and you would be surprised at some of the overlaps between them. I want to share with you some of the thoughts and beliefs that other major religions of the world have about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As you listen to what I will share, listen for the theme that they share.
II. Jesus Christ – World Religions View Of Him!
Islam. I was In Springfield watching the news this week of the terrorist bombing in Brussels. Immediately people began to cry out against all Muslims. Some think all Muslims are terrorists and should be watched. Do you know that they are also children of God? Do you know that God wants them saved? Do you know that His desire is that no one goes to hell and end up in the lake of fire for all eternity? Christianity is not the only religion that believes in Jesus Christ, but we are the only one that believes that He is the way to eternal life. Islam teaches that Jesus (commonly translated as Isa in Islam texts) is one of God’s highest-ranked and most-beloved prophets and that He was born of a virgin. Islam considers Jesus to be neither the incarnation nor the Son of God as it teaches a notion of monotheism and forbid the association of partners with God which would be idolatry. They do not believe that He was truly killed during the crucifixion. They believe that He will return during the end times, but as a man who denounces the idea of a Trinity. I am sharing this so that you understand that it’s not that they do not believe that Jesus existed, they just do not believe in Him the way we do. Now, since they do not believe He is the way, even though they are serving God the Father (Allah-Arabic word for God), Jesus is not the way for them and therefore according to what we believe, they will not make it into heaven. Please understand that this is not a judgment about an individual person or group of people, but a statement of fact based on what we believe as Christians. Jesus is either the only way or He is not. Jesus said in John 14:6 “…..I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” This is what He said about Himself. So if we believe that He is the Son of God and that He helped with creation and that He died for the sins of the world, why are we concerned about stating the fact that He is the only way? We can’t pick and choose which parts of His teachings are correct and acceptable. He said no one comes to the Father except through Him. Those who practice Islam worship God the Father but reject His Son and therein lies the problem.
Judaism. Judaism rejects the idea of Jesus being God, or a person of the Trinity, or a mediator to God. Judaism also holds that Jesus is not the Messiah, arguing that He had not fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh (from the Torah, Prophets, and other Writings) nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah. According to Jewish traditions, there were no more prophets after Malachi. According to Conservative Judaism, Jews who actually believe that Jesus is the Messiah have “crossed the line out of the Jewish community.” Reform Judaism, the modern progressive movement, states “For us in the Jewish community, anyone who claims that Jesus is their Savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate (someone who denounced their beliefs.)” Although Judaism existed prior to Christ’s birth, death and resurrection, they have had over two-thousand years (as a group) to consider and respond to Him. Ancient Jewish writings, while they outright deny His resurrection, do acknowledge two important facts. The first is that the earliest disciples of Jesus claimed that He had risen from the grave and the second was that initially Jesus tomb was found empty. They too believe in and worship God the Father, but they reject His Son!
Islamic Ahmadiyya. The Islamic Ahmadiyya Movements teaches that Jesus survived the crucifixion and later travelled to India to preach as a prophet. Jesus is not seen as the Son of God who was resurrected from the dead.
Baha’i. The Baha’i religion (19th century Persian) describes Jesus as a manifestation of God and acknowledges Jesus was sent by God (they place Jesus alongside of other messengers from other major religions including Abraham, Muhammad, the Buddha, etc.)
Hinduism. Hinduism is very diverse but many hold a belief “about” Jesus. Many Hindus respects the teachings of Jesus and some have committed themselves to this teaching. Mahatma Gandhi, for example, admired the teaching of Jesus greatly and saw Him as a symbol of superior ethics even though he was not interested in Jesus as a true historical character.
Buddhism. Buddhism incorporates a variety of religious traditions, beliefs and practices and provides no singular unified view about Jesus. Most Buddhists acknowledge and respect the fact that Jesus lived a self-sacrificial life and had compassion on those who were in spiritual need. Many Buddhist refer to Jesus as an “enlightened man.”
New Age Movement. The New Age Movement believers maintain that Jesus was a wise moral teacher, not the Son of God who died for the sins of the world.
Here is what I want you to see. Christianity in addition to these seven other major religions represents more than 80% of those who are practicing some type of religion. This means that 80% of all major religions acknowledge Jesus Christ in some form. What is different is that Christianity is the only one that believes that Jesus is the Son of God; that He died on the cross and was resurrected by the Father on the third day! The proof of Jesus is out there. Many believe that He existed and yet reject His being the Son of God and their way to eternal life. One person stated that “given that Jesus is a common feature of the major religions of the world, it might be important for us to learn more about the man whom everyone feels the need to describe.” Well said!
Jesus came that we might have life and that that life would be in His presence and the presence of the Father forever. For those that choose not to accept His gift, there is hell. I am not going to spend a lot of time talking about hell, but I just want you to know one simple fact: God never wanted man to go there!
III. Hell
Before I close I want to share something with you pertaining to hell. When you read the Bible you will find that hell did not exist until God needed a place for those who no longer wanted to be in His presence to live. Remember, the angels in heaven have always had free will and when Satan and a third of the other angels decided that they no longer wanted to live in God’s presence and under His rule, God created another “temporary” home for them, hell. (The lake of fire will be their permanent home.) Hell was created long before man and it was not created for man.
Consider what is recorded in 2 Peter 2:4. It says, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.” Peter was talking about God’s wrath towards false prophets/teachers leading people astray and their ultimate end based on how God responded to His angels when they rebelled. But this is what I really want you to see, turn over to 2 Peter 3:9. It says, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” Do you see it? Peter says that God does not want anyone to perish but for all to come to repentance. This was proven when Jesus was on the cross. Remember what was recorded in Luke 23:35-43? Let me read it to you. “And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.’ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!’ Now there was also an inscription above Him, ‘THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.’ One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, ‘Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!’ And He said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." As Jesus hung on the cross people stood by watching and waiting. Two thieves were crucified with Him. One mocked Jesus while the other repented and asked Jesus to remember Him. Our Savior, our Hope told this man that He would be with Him in paradise. This thief, who apparently had done nothing worthy of salvation his whole life would spend an eternity with Christ. Do you understand the meaning of this? Jesus came to save those who were lost! Hell was not created for man and God never intended man to go there, however, many have made that choice because they refuse to acknowledge the Son of God choosing their own will instead. Hell was not in God’s original plans for man. God’s plan for man was for man to forever be in His presence!
This means that the thief on the cross who had not done anything but repented at the time of his death was saved. This means that everyone we would send to hell because they were murderers, homosexuals, child molesters, adulterers, rapists, robbers, drug dealers and users, ministers preaching a false gospel, everyone who is not living for Christ has the opportunity to be saved through Jesus Christ! All they have to do is repent from their hearts. Regardless of how bad they are, (all have sinned and come short of the glory of God – Romans 3:23) if they repent from their hearts and accept Jesus Christ, they will be saved. It does not matter what religions they have practiced for their whole lives or if they were an atheist, we all have the opportunity. Hell was not created for man, but originally for those who did not want to live in God’s presence any longer. Man does retain the right to choose to go there!
Conclusion
I am so thankful this morning that Jesus said “not My will but thine be done. Because Jesus said that I am saved. Because Jesus said that, He chose not to call down 12 legions of angels (72,000) to save Him from the cross. Because Jesus said not My will but thine be done, He chose to allow Himself to be mocked and crucified. Because He said that, He died and was raised on the third day. Because He said, not My will but thine be done, we have a Savior and do not have to burn in the lake of fire for all eternity! Because He said that, we will have a wonderful family reunion in heaven with all of our loved ones who have gone on before us and will forever be in the Lord’s presence.
“Not my will but thine be done!” Are you willing to say that? May God bless and keep you and may you always remember the price that Jesus paid because He said, not My will but thine be done.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
