JESUS IS OUR LIFE
I was talking with someone a couple of weeks ago and the indirect question was asked, "is Jesus your life or just part of your life"? I thought that was worth pondering. I was talking with another person just recently who was mentioning a video they had watched about how the gospel is presented in America today.
It went after the name it and claim it gospel and the comfortable Christianity approach. It went after giving people the impression that they don't need to be sold out for Jesus and that God's purpose is to make us happy.
This idea of Christianity is not what is seen in other countries; it's not what we see in the bible. The idea that a Christian can have a degree of Christ in his life but still live as he pleases is not only wrong; it's dangerous.
Let's see if we can discover why and how Jesus is our life.
1) Jesus is the author of life.
After Peter healed the crippled beggar in Acts 3, he used it as an opportunity to preach. He tells the crowd in vs. 15, "You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this."
Peter uses an unusual phrase to describe Jesus here, author of life. When we see the word author we think of a writer. What does a writer do? Takes a blank sheet of paper and puts words on them. He starts with nothing and brings something from it; his words gives life to the page. That's what Jesus has done-taken nothing and given it life.
Being the author of life means life originated with Jesus. He was there from the beginning. He created alongside his Father.
John 1:1-4, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men."
We know John was talking about Jesus because vs. 14 says the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Jesus was there, with the Father in the beginning, taking the blank sheet and spoke things into existence; he took the blank canvas and began to paint. He breathed life into all living things.
It's interesting that Jesus is spoken of as the author and the Word. When a writer writes the words he chooses are reflections of himself. Jesus has done that with us. He has put his very self into us.
Jesus is the author of physical life and spiritual life. The word author is used only two other times in the bible and they're both in Hebrews and they both pertain to Jesus. In Heb. 2:10 Jesus is called the author of our salvation.
Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." His life is our light. Jesus said in John 8:12 that he is the light of the world. When we are born again, that light comes to live inside of us. Jesus has given us new life and with that new life-darkness is replaced with light.
In Heb. 12:2 Jesus is called the author and perfecter of our faith. When a writer writes something, he will go over it again and do a rewrite. He'll look for mistakes and things he wants to change. He edits and polishes-all for the purpose of making the rewrite better than the original. That's what Jesus is doing for us.
Through sin we were rendered imperfect. But then we came to Christ and received new life. Now, Jesus is doing a rewrite on us. He fixes mistakes and edits out what doesn't belong and puts in what does. But, we have to let him use his eraser on us. An eraser is abrasive. So too, the process of removing what doesn't belong in us can be abrasive. But it's necessary if the old "words" are going to be replaced with new and better ones.
In the three verses where we find the word author they all have the same Greek meaning. Two of the words, originator and founder are no surprise, but there were two other words that were quite interesting: leader and ruler. It makes sense though, since as an author, you're in control over what you decide to put down on paper.
Jesus is not only the originator of life but he is also the leader and ruler. I suppose that's why the word authority has the word author in it. So, we allow the author of life to have authority over our lives and do whatever editing he needs to do so the final draft can be a masterpiece.
Jesus is the author of our physical life and our spiritual life resulting in eternal life. He told Martha in John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."
Jesus was killed. Remember Peter said, 'you killed the author if life'. But Peter then said, 'but God raised him from the dead'. And now Jesus is in heaven. This will happen to us too. Physically, we die. However, because Jesus' life is in us, we will resurrect and go to be with him for eternity. We are spiritual beings living in a physical body until the author of life calls us home to be with him forever.
2) Christ, who is your life.
Col. 3:1-4, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."
In chapter two Paul talked about their conversion; how they were buried with Christ in baptism and raised with him through faith (vs. 12). Now, as he starts chapt. three, he describes what we need to do as a result of that.
We need to set our minds and hearts on things above. Why? Because when we were born-again we became citizens of heaven. Now our focus needs to be on what pertains to that. When we gave our life to Christ we came out of the water as a new creation; a Holy Spirit creation. Therefore, we need to show that a change has taken place.
Paul says we need to set our heart on things above. This means our hearts are not going to be automatically set on spiritual things; we need to set them there ourselves. And if we're not inclined to do that or we're having a hard time with it we need to pray about that. It's not an option, it's a command.
It's also proof that a regeneration has taken place. As a Christian our hearts and minds begin to seek after new things; suddenly we want what God wants; we set our hearts on things that pleases him.
"For you died". What do you mean? I didn't die after I was baptized. Well, in one way you did. The old you is dead. The old you that had only one nature-the flesh. That nature could not please God. But now there's a new you with a new life. The new you has a new spirit; a new nature. A nature that can please God and a nature that desires to please God.
Rom. 8:8-10, "Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness."
Whatever "good" things we did before Christ did not please God. Why? Because we hadn't given God what mattered most-ourselves. We were once controlled by our old nature. That doesn't mean we sinned 24/7 but our lives were led by what pleased ourselves; even if we were doing something for someone else.
It was more about, 'how will this make me feel good' rather than, 'how is this going to please God'. But that old M.O. was replaced with a new M.O.-operating in accordance with the Holy Spirit. We were once dead in our sin but now we are alive unto righteousness.
Paul said in Col. 3 that our life is now hidden with Christ. What's that about? Since we have been raised with Christ in a spiritual sense, our eternal soul is hidden with Christ; it's connected to him and is dependent on his sacrifice for our souls. As Christ is seated in the heavenly realms at the right hand of the Father, so are we!
Eph 2:4-6, "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus."
'God raised us up'-past tense. That's pretty wild to think about since we're obviously living on earth and yet at the same time spiritually with Christ. But the reality is that since heaven is outside the realm of time-every moment-past, present and future is right now.
When I see that our eternal soul is hidden with Christ, that gives me a picture of security; like it's tucked away in a secret place where nothing can get to it. John 10:28, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."
With our lives hidden with Christ no one has the ability to change that; not even Satan. Satan will work to get us to leave Jesus' hand but we can't allow that to happen. And it won't, as long as Jesus is our life.
"Christ, who is your life". That statement gets our attention. This describes a practical way of operating as a new creation. In my New Year's sermon, Burn the Ships, I talked about our need to take drastic measures so we don't go back to our old ways once we come to Christ.
In my final point I went to Col. 3:5-10. In this passage we're called to put to death whatever belongs to the sinful nature. We need to kill those sins and desires. Then the following passage describes what we are supposed to do instead.
But we can't be successful at killing the earthly nature and clothing ourselves with the virtues listed in vs. 12 and following unless we understand who and what Jesus is to us. Savior? Yes, but more than that-he is our life.
JFB commentary: "the design of the Gospel is not merely to give rules, but mainly to supply motives to holiness". The gospel is not just about how to receive the free gift of salvation and what we need to do as a result of the commitment we're making to Jesus, it's also meant to give us a motive for doing so.
Within the concept of salvation we understand the great sacrifice the Father made in sending his Son and the sacrifice Jesus made to redeem us from eternal damnation. The more we understand about grace the more we'll be motivated to live for Jesus. The more we understand God's great love for us the more apt we will be to love him back. The more we see the benefit of doing things God's way, the more we'll make Jesus our life.
3) The life I live.
Paul said in Gal. 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Does this mean that Paul did nothing but talk about Jesus or do ministry work 24/7? No. In fact, in Acts 18:3 we learn that Paul was a tentmaker.
Paul said in 1st Cor. 9:22 that he became all things to all men so some could be saved. That tells me that in order to win people to Christ, Paul took an interest in different things and talked about a variety of subjects to be able to relate to people.
Paul was human, just like us. He had other work and interests. But, nothing he did was as important to him as what he did for Jesus. And, his purpose in doing other things was to see how they may be used to bring people to Jesus. In Paul becoming all things to all men there was an end-game to doing that-so he could win some.
That's how we should be. We have jobs, hobbies and interests but are we focused on how these things can be used for the purposes of Christ? Do we look for who we might be able to build a relationship with at work so we can eventually share the gospel with them? What about the clubs we join or the social media we use? We may play a sport but are we thinking about how we can introduce our teammates to Jesus?
Being crucified with Christ and living our life by faith means we are doing all things with the mind and heart of Christ attached to it. We work and do many things outside of spiritual activities but in reality, we look to make all our activities into spiritual opportunities in one way or another. Why? Because Jesus gave himself for me, not just to redeem me but to use me for his purposes with the gifts he has given me and the platform he has given me to use those gifts.
If Jesus is a part of your life then you'll engage with him at church or bible study and when you pray or read the bible. But if he is your life then not only will you be engaged at the times I just mentioned, but every aspect of your life will somehow be connected to Jesus. In all that you do you'll be focused on being a good representative of him around all the people you come in contact with. You'll be focused on bringing him the glory in all your activities.
This goes with what Paul said in 1st Thess. 5:16-17, "Be joyful always; pray continually."
Does that mean we should have no other emotions? No. Does Paul mean we should do nothing but pray all day every day? No. It's about the mindset we're in. It's about the status of our spirit. If Jesus is our life we will be focused on praying anytime, anywhere. When a friend tells us some bad news our thoughts turn to prayer.
Being joyful always means although we'll display different emotions, the point comes when our thoughts turn to the Lord and our joy is found in being glad that we have him to turn to.
I just talked with a friend this week who's daughter suffered a serious medical situation. I asked how he was doing. He said the day they found out he was upset and not doing so well. But the next day he was doing much better. He was at peace and had given it over to the Lord. That's being joyful always; that's an indicator that Jesus is his life, not just part of his life.
I'm not saying if it takes you a week to go from angry to joyful then you failed the test. But when Christ is your life then you will get to the spiritual side of things much sooner than you would if Jesus is just part of your life. When Jesus is just a part of your life you miss out; you hold yourself back from experiencing a level of spiritual closeness found only when Jesus is your life.
John Piper said, "If you don't see the greatness of God, then all the things that money can buy become very enticing. If you can't see the sun, you will be impressed with a street light. If you've never felt thunder and lightning, you'll be impressed with fireworks. And, if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God, you'll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures."
When Jesus is our life we have understood what our lives are really about-loving and serving Jesus. It's not about us-it's about him. And that's a good thing. We think that if we make our lives all about Jesus we'll be deprived but it's the opposite. We can't be fulfilled until we make Jesus our life. Will that involve sacrifices? Yes. Will that mean I won't get my way when I want something? Maybe. But the reality is you'll never miss out on what's most important in life when Jesus is your life.
