I DON'T GET IT
Last week I shared why Jesus needed to die. Toward the end of the sermon I mentioned how unfortunately, most people will not experience salvation. I highlighted what Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
In one sense this doesn't make sense. One of the reasons why Jesus needed to die was to show the extreme love he and the Father had for us. It makes sense to think such an extreme display of love would cause everyone to respond positively to it. But, as Jesus' statement explains, most people are not going to do that. But why? Why are most people not going to get it?
1) I'm not interested.
Have you ever been pursued by someone you weren't interested in? You have an admirer who goes out of their way to show their love for you. The problem is you're not interested in them. No matter how much they do to show you they're wild about you it doesn't change your feelings toward them.
In a similar way, that's how many people respond to Jesus. They're not interested; they're not "attracted" to Jesus. Why? There may be plenty of reasons why I'm not interested in a person who's interested in me but we're talking about Jesus-the perfect one who loves me perfectly. Why would someone not be attracted to Jesus?
One reason is their attractions lie elsewhere. Everyone is interested in something or someone and we are going to pursue what we're interested in. But that's the problem; it's all about us. Phil 2:21, "For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ."
In context, Paul was highlighting Timothy; who took a genuine interest in the Philippians' welfare. Timothy did what Paul mentioned earlier in vs. 4, "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." If I'm interested Jesus then I will be interested in what Jesus is interested in. Therefore, I will not only think about what I need but what others need too. But if I'm just focused on myself I will just look for things that please me; what will make me happy.
But why don't I feel that Jesus is one of those things that will make me happy? What is it about Jesus that isn't attractive to me? For one, he is truthful. Some people are turned off by the truth-they're only interested in the truth that suits them; the truth they want to hear.
2nd Tim. 4:3-4, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
To suit my own interests, to do what makes me happy, I will turn away from Jesus because he tells me what I need to hear and I don't like that so much. I want to be told that I'm okay as I am without having to follow Jesus. I'm all about going to heaven but I don't want to turn my life over to the control of Jesus. I want to hear that I'm saved and going to heaven while being able to live my life as I please.
I don't want to hear about sacrifice. I don't want to hear about looking out for the interest of others. I want to be told I'm fine just the way I am. And unfortunately, there are plenty of people that will tell you that. There will be no talk of change, just acceptance. God loves you as you are and therefore you can stay as you are. But that's the wrong understanding of God's love.
Yes, God loves us as we are but he doesn't want us to stay as we are. So because Jesus loves you enough to tell you that there are some things in your life that need to change, he loses his attractiveness. You had me at the word love but you lost me at the word change. We keep Jesus at arm's length because we're resistant to change.
But if we could see that the change he wants for us is truly in our best interest we wouldn't resist it-we would embrace it. It's not easy to change and live for Jesus-it does involve sacrifice but it's a sacrifice that pays the best dividends. Everyone makes sacrifices for the things they're pursuing.
An athlete sacrifices time and effort and goes without certain things in order to try to be the best. An investor sacrifices their money in hopes of gaining more. We all know that things worth having aren't going to happen without sacrifice. But we make those sacrifices because they're worth it to us.
So why don't people feel Jesus is worth it? One reason people don't want to invest in Jesus is because the dividends paid are spiritual ones and that doesn't sound as lucrative as money or gold. The things money can't buy are not attractive enough to most people. Sure, people will say they want things like love and joy but they think they can be obtained through the worldly things they're chasing after instead of being found in Christ.
Another reason is because many of the dividends are paid in the next life. Therefore, they don't want to have to wait to receive what's coming to them; they want it now. Ironically, though, those who sacrifice some of their income for retirement are having to wait to receive it but when it comes to talking about heavenly treasures for some reason it's not worth the wait.
It really comes down to what we hold most valuable. Are material things most valuable? Is doing what I consider "fun" most important? What about the riches of true love and wisdom? What about the commodities of peace and joy? When it comes to Jesus some people just aren't interested.
2) I'm prideful.
The Jews in John 8 had some problems-one of which was pride.
John 8:31-37, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word."
First of all, their pride was steeped in denial-'we've never been slaves of anyone'. That's not true. The Jews had been slaves to the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians. "Well, maybe they just meant they themselves". Perhaps, although they use the word never which would imply at all. But even if they meant just they themselves they are still mistaken for they were not free but under Roman authority.
Pride and denial go hand-in-hand. People are like that today. They bristle at the idea that they're a sinner in need of a Savior. They want to believe they're fine; they're already good with God. But that's leaning on their own understanding and having a relationship with God on their own terms, not his.
"So if the Son sets you free, then you will be free indeed." Many people have a problem with Jesus being the only way. They don't want to hear verses like John 14:6, "Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
People want to believe there are many ways; many paths to God. It doesn't matter what you believe or what religion you follow as long as you believe in God. And some would go so far as to say it doesn't matter what your idea of God is; God can be anything. As long as you believe in some form of higher power you're fine.
But the reality is I'm not fine if I hold to these kinds of beliefs. Jesus was the only acceptable sacrifice for my sin. And this truth is spoken in multiple places in scripture. Jesus made it clear in John 8 and again in chpt. 14. It was reiterated by Peter in Acts 4:12, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Paul supported this fact in 1st Tim. 2:5-6, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time." We have all these scriptures that point to the fact that there is only one way to be right with God and that is through Jesus. But in my pride I don't want to accept that.
The Jews in John 8 wanted to believe their ancestry gave them security. "We're descendents of Abraham". They thought just being a Jew was all that was needed to put them in God's favor. But Jesus dispelled that understanding by making it clear that it wasn't true because they were sinners like everyone else so, like everyone else, they needed to be set free.
People today might do something similar. They might point to being baptized as a baby or having said the sinner's prayer as the means that secured them. But in the first case, that was a decision made for you by someone else; not to mention there's no biblical support for infant baptism.
In the second case, there isn't any biblical support for the sinner's prayer either but aside from that, a one-time decision does not mean that I've made a commitment to follow Christ. These things give someone a false sense of security. The Jews had a false sense of security. When Jesus revealed the truth to them they rejected it.
People today do the same thing. I did it myself at one time. I was one of those sinner's prayer converts. I thought because I did that I was saved, even though my actions didn't convey any real commitment to following Jesus. But you wouldn't have been able to convince me I wasn't saved.
In fact, I can remember being challenged about that and I was very upset that someone dared to suggest I wasn't a real Christian. But the problem was they were right. But for a while my pride would not allow myself to look within and compare my actions with what the bible said constituted a true Christian. Thankfully, when I was challenged later on I took it to heart and it changed me.
But we see that these Jews developed a hatred toward Jesus. "You're ready to kill me". That's severe. They didn't like what Jesus was telling them so they hated him for it. That's the level of hatred some people have toward Jesus today. They would rather kill his word and influence so they can hold onto their comfortable delusions.
And Jesus revealed why they felt this way: 'you have no room for my word'. Their heart had no room for his truth. Their hearts were filled up with their own version of truth and they would not allow Jesus to change that. It's no different today.
This passage starts out by saying they believed in Jesus. But, when push came to shove it was clear they only believed in Jesus up to a point. When Jesus started pushing buttons and talking about their need to realize some things about themselves everything changed.
Pride resists looking at oneself; pride resists change. There are a lot of people who believe in Jesus. But that belief doesn't provide security. James talked about two kinds of faith-saving faith and dead faith. Dead faith believes intellectually but it doesn't produce action; it doesn't incite change. Saving faith believes to the point of taking action; it reacts to the belief.
Jesus said some sobering words in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." He goes on to reveal that many people will be surprised on judgment day. We can believe in Jesus, we can even call him our Lord, but unless there is action to back up our words that's all they really are-words.
The opposite of pride is humility. Through humility I'll be able to accept the truth about myself, Jesus and salvation.
3) It's foolishness.
1st Cor. 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." The message of the cross is that the salvation of mankind is achieved only through the crucifixion of Jesus. To many, that message is absurd.
One of the main reasons Muslims say our bible is wrong is because it has God (in the form of Jesus) first coming to earth and second dying on the cross. In their eyes that's ludicrous-God would never do something so demeaning and disgraceful.
They consider it completely undignified and preposterous that God would become a human let alone allow himself to suffer in such a painfully degrading way as crucifixion. Not to mention the idea that God dies. It's beyond their willingness to entertain-therefore-it's foolishness to even introduce it as truth.
Actually, that's one of the things that makes the bible more trustworthy. You don't think God already knew that doing it this way would sound like complete foolishness? If the bible was the product of man they wouldn't have written things like this-unless they were completely insane.
But it's not insanity-it's truth. As I highlighted last week with the two reasons why Jesus had to die. It makes sense when it gets explained. I also said that if we take these reasons to heart (the severity of our sin and the extremity of God's love) it would change our lives.
Paul said the gospel is the power of God. He said in Rom. 1:16 that he was not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God. It's power brings salvation to those who are interested; those who are humble. And its power continues to change the lives of those who are saved.
In the next chapter of 1st Cor. Paul said this: 1st Cor. 2:14, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." Paul indicates that the reason I don't get it, the reason I think it's foolishness, is because I'm not looking at it through a spiritual lens, only a worldly one.
One might rebut with, "how can I see things through the Spirit when I don't have the Spirit until I'm born again". The answer lies in the difference between the influence of the Spirit and the indwelling of the Spirit. No one has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit until they are born again but everyone has the opportunity to be influenced by the Holy Spirit; otherwise no one would be saved.
The reason I remain in the viewpoint of this being foolishness is because I have chosen to reject the truth. I could respond to it favorably, I could see it as wise, but since it counters a preconceived belief I have, I decide that this 'new' truth is foolish.
One of the things people don't get is that salvation is free. Paul said in Romans 6:23 that although the wages of sin is death, the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. What is a gift? It’s not something earned but something freely given. God offers the free gift of eternal life through Christ.
Oftentimes, and rightly so, when something is advertised as ‘free’ we conclude that it must not be worth much. We conclude that if someone is giving it away it must be so invaluable that the owner couldn't get any money for it. But that’s not the case with the gift of eternal life. It’s not free because it’s cheap. Quite the opposite. It’s free because we could never be able to pay its price.
Out of his great love for us, Jesus paid the price for the gift that we could never afford to purchase ourselves. Death is a steep price to pay for something. Knowing this should allow us to understand the value of the gift. It’s free to us; but it cost Jesus everything.
You'll see veterans display items with the saying, "Freedom isn't Free". This means the freedom we enjoy as a nation was paid for by the sacrifices of those who died in battle. Likewise, our freedom in Christ isn't free; it was paid for by the blood sacrifice of Jesus. Therefore, it's priceless.
The message of the cross is not foolish; It's precious and it's powerful. Some people don't get that. Hopefully you do.
