A farmer would call his pigs to feed by tapping a stick against the fence of the pig sty. When they heard the “tapping” they ran to the trough to feed. One day they got loose and wandered into the woods nearby. A woodpecker landed on a tree and began pecking away. When the pigs heard the “tapping,” they ran that direction expecting something to eat. But there was nothing. They scared the woodpecker, who after landing on another tree, began pecking again. When the pigs heard the “tapping,” they ran that direction expecting something, only finding nothing and scaring the bird again. This went on ‘til the pigs died of exhaustion and starvation.
Today, many messages promise to fill the hunger of the soul, only to leave people unsatisfied. Many are dying because the God shaped hole in their heart isn’t filled with the only thing that can satisfy - a personal love relationship with their creator, the God of the universe. But the message of Christianity presents the answer people are looking for. That’s why Paul said he’d committed his life to telling others about Jesus. He sums up the Christian difference in verse 27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” What sets the message of Christianity apart from others proclaimed in our world today?
1. A Person - “Christ”
The God of Christianity can be known on a “first name basis.” He is a personal Savior, and His name is Jesus Christ. Three thoughts:
A. He is an eternal person.
Jesus has always existed as the eternal God of the universe.
“For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him. And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.]” - Colossians 1:16-17 (Amplified)
“That Jesus is Himself God is the heart of the gospel, because apart from His deity He could not save a single soul. No heresy so corrupts the gospel and robs it of its power as the teaching that Jesus is not God. Apart from His deity, there is no gospel and no salvation.” - John MacArthur
B. He is a historical person.
E.F. Harrison, the founder of Fuller Theological Seminary, once wrote: “Some religions, both ancient and modern, require no historical basis, for they depend upon ideas rather than events.
Christianity is not one of these.” Jesus was a person of history. And God took on flesh in the person of Christ for two reasons:
1) Christ came to bring the ultimate revelation of God to us.
“In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. And the Word (Christ) became flesh, and lived among us; and we [actually] saw His glory, glory as belongs to the [One and] only begotten Son of the Father, [the Son who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, who is] full of grace and truth (absolutely free of deception).” - John 1:1; 14 (Amplified)
“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” - John 14:9b (NIV)
He’s the “one and only,” the unique person of the universe, God/Man.
2) Christ came to provide a personal relationship with God for us.
A holy God can’t have anything to us, because we’re all guilty, since all it takes is one sin to qualify as a sinner. So, no one’s good enough to relate to God. Even the best we can offer is tainted by sin. But because God wants a relationship with us, He came in Christ to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves: pay the penalty for our sins in our place.
The difference between religion and Christianity is that religion says that man, through his efforts, must reach up to God. But Christianity says that God, through His efforts, has reached down to man.
“He who lives eternally came to die, so we who were dying eternally might come to live.”
C. He is a real person.
History says Jesus lived, died, and had His body laid in a tomb.
“(The) abundant historical references leave us with little reasonable doubt that Jesus lived and died. The more
interesting question . . . is whether Jesus died and lived.” - Simon Gathercole, Westminster Seminary
Many have offered explanations for the empty tomb. But none is more satisfying than the one given by His followers - He rose from the dead.
“The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity. If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion. If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth.” - Henry Morris
Jesus lived, died, was raised, ascended to heaven, and by His Spirit now offers us the gift of eternal life - a shared life with Him - the God of the universe.
2. A Presence - “Christ in you”
Christianity is “Christ-in-you-ity”
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” - Romans 8:16 (ESV)
Now, He resides within me, but does He preside over me? As I daily surrender my life to Him, acknowledging His presence in me, by the power of the person present within my life can be transformed.
A young man came to his pastor with a problem, saying he couldn’t control his tongue. Sometimes he’d find himself cussing a blue streak. The pastor was surprised, because he’d never heard the young man use bad language. The young man said that he would never use such language around a pastor! The pastor said there were two things he noticed about his problem. First, he was wrong about not being able to control his tongue. Second, whether or not he controlled his tongue depended on whose presence he was in. The pastor said he was flattered, but someone far more important than him with this young man, a professing Christian, everyday - Jesus. He told him to start each day and end each day thanking Jesus He was with him, and some back in a week. When he did, he said he’d not only cleaned up his language, but several other things in his life had changed that he wasn’t even aware of!
The change that occurs in my is a change Jesus brings about by His power. As I yield to His presence through the Holy Spirit, I find that while on my own, even easy things are difficult, by the power of the One present within me - even the difficult things become easy.
Adrian Rogers told a story of how Bible scholar and preacher, A.J. Gordon went to the World’s Fair. He saw a man pumping water with an old fashioned hand pump. The man was really working hard at pumping water. But as he got closer, he saw that it wasn’t a real man, but a dummy with its hand strapped to the handle of a pump powered by electricity. The man was not pumping the water; the water was pumping the man.
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” - John 7:37b-38 (NIV)
Christ’s presence by His Spirit makes a difference in us as we daily surrender ourselves to Him as we . . .
Admit our need for Jesus;
Believe in the presence of Jesus;
Consider what the Scriptures teach about Jesus; and
Depend on the power of Jesus.
3. A Potential - “Christ in you, the hope of glory”
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” - Genesis 1:26a (NASB)
“Image” refers to how man was made; “Likeness” refers to why man was made. Man was made to walk in intimate love relationship with God in order to live in a way that brings glory to His creator. But love isn’t love unless it is freely given, so God gave man a choice. He could live God’s way or his own way. Man chose his own way, the way of sin, which prevented man from fulfilling God’s purpose for him.
“All have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God.” - Romans 3:23 (Amplified)
But Jesus came to reverse all that. He paid the penalty for our sin so we could be made spiritually alive by the presence of His Spirit. And through the relationship we can have with God, we can be led to live a life that brings Him glory and brings us fulfillment! But we must be willing to fit our lives into His will for us.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” - Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
Conclusion: A pastor of a wealthy church was used to receiving large honorariums for doing weddings. Once, however, he only received a pair of nice gloves. He put them in his drawer are home and forgot them. Until on a cold day, he thought to wear them. When he did, he discovered a 100 dollar bill rolled up in each of the fingers of the pair of gloves that he had failed to discover until he decided to fit his hands in them.
God has a plan and purpose for your life. That’s why Jesus gave Himself for you and why Jesus gives Himself to you. Don’t go any longer without discovering what He has in mind for you. Choose today to fit your life into His will for you today.
