Personal Questions…
This is Your Life?
John 10:10
March 11, 2001
Intro:
A. An associate pastor tells the story of Mac…
Mac was a hard-driving, though businessman in his 70’s.
He had been a church member for many years.
But one Wednesday night as he heard the associate share his testimony, he realized that he had never personally trusted Jesus Christ as his Savior.
Though he had been involved in a lot of religious activity, he never really had a clear idea of what it meant to be a Christian.
After spending a few days pondering and asking the associate questions, Mac made up his mind.
At the Sunday night service of their church, he decided to come forward to make a public profession of his faith in Christ.
The associate was down front serving as a counselor, and was deeply moved by the sight of this tough old businessman coming forward to receive Christ in childlike faith.
They were both in tears as they stood before the pastor.
"This is tremendous!" the pastor exclaimed.
He told the associate, "This man is one of the most brilliant businessmen in our city! He’s wealthy, he’s talented, and we need to put him to work! I want you to see that Mac is totally involved in what you are doing. We want to take full advantage of what he can do."
The associate said he will never forget Mac, his eyes full of tears, speaking with a sincere, trembling voice: "Pastor, I don’t need a job. I need the Lord."
B. The Christian world has become so frantic in its busyness that it reminds me of the well-known definition of a fanatic: "A person who redoubles his efforts after he has lost sight of his goals."
1. Over and over we have witnessed the spectacle of people coming forward in a service to recommit their lives.
2. And some may not go forward, but they rededicate and recommit, and nothing ever changes in their lives.
3. In essence, they come to say, "God, I’m really serious this time. This time I’ll do it if it kills me!"
C. So what is the problem?
1. Why is it that so many people walk down an aisle and then they work and work at being a good Christian, but nothing every seems to change?
2. Why is it that so many people don’t experience victory in their Christian life?
D. Last week I spoke about living up to our high position as Christian…
1. We looked at what the Bible says really happens at the point of salvation.
2. We found that the Bible says that sixty seconds after salvation, our sins our forgiven.
3. We found that when we truly understand God’s great gift in sending His only Son to die for our sins, we will forgive ourselves and we will forgive others.
4. We also found that sixty seconds after salvation we have been given eternal life, therefore we don’t have to live the rest of our lives worrying about whether or not we have been good enough to get into heaven because our belief is what saves us and not being a good person.
5. We also found that sixty seconds after salvation we have become children of God and can therefore have a direct relationship with God and don’t need any human or dead saint mediator to go to God on our behalf.
6. We learned that sixty seconds after salvation we want the world to know what God has done for us and we therefore can’t help but tell people the good news about Jesus instead of talking about the bad news and gossip that others like to talk about.
7. Then we learned that at salvation our bodies become the temples of the HS and we therefore have God with us all the time and don’t have to visit Him in some church building.
8. And finally we discovered that at the point of salvation we become saints.
9. We simply need to take advantage of all the blessings that God gives us and live up to our high position.
10. And that brings us to where we are this morning.
11. I believe that one of the main reasons folks don’t experience victory after working so hard at their Christian lives is because they don’t understand one of the major advantages of being a saint.
12. The work hard, they fail; they redouble their efforts and they fail again.
13. And they just don’t understand what the problem is.
14. So I suggest that we need to look seriously at one verse this morning: John 10:10 (read).
15. Now first of all let me ask…
I. What is the significance of Christ’s resurrection?
1 Peter 1:3, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
A. If you ask people what is the significance of Christ’s death on the cross, they usually don’t have any trouble with that question.
1. Most Christians can tell you that Christ’s death on the cross means that their sins are forgiven.
2. Most Christians know that Christ died for the bad things they have done.
3. Most Christians know that their sins were nailed to the cross and were crucified with Jesus.
4. Most Christians can tell you the significance of Christ’s death.
B. But when you ask someone what is the significance of Christ’s resurrection, well that is a little more difficult.
1. What does Jesus’ resurrection from the dead mean to us?
2. His death means that we can be forgiven our sins, but what does His resurrection mean?
3. His death and burial are significant parts of the gospel, but the resurrection is the part that so many people miss!
4. Yes, His resurrection means that we have the hope of eternal life someday, but what does it mean to us now, today, in Greencastle, in 2001?
5. What is the significance of Christ’s resurrection for us today?
C. Well, what is the most obvious implication of the word resurrection?
1. The most obvious implication of the word resurrection is LIFE!
2. Now, who needs life?
3. DEAD PEOPLE!
4. Dead people need life!
5. We Christians have a terrible knack of overlooking the obvious.
6. The verse I just read from 1 Peter 1:3 says that through the resurrection of Jesus, we have been given NEW BIRTH into a LIVING hope!
7. THAT, my friends, is the significance of the resurrection!
8. Through Jesus’ resurrection, we have been given NEW BIRTH into a LIVING hope!
D. Now why is that significant to us?
1. Because we were DEAD!
2. Why would Jesus need to bring new life?
3. Because we were DEAD!
4. That’s the significance of Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus gave us LIFE!
5. We were dead and Jesus brought us back to life! So…
II. When did man die?
Genesis 2:16-17, And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
A. Now wait a minute.
1. You know the story.
2. As we continue to read the account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we know that the devil came along and tricked Eve and Adam into doing just exactly what God told them not to do.
3. Satan tricked Even and then Adam into eating of the very tree that God told them not to eat of.
4. Genesis 3:4, "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
5. Did Adam and Eve die?
6. Who was right? God, or Satan?
7. Did they die or not?
8. I thought God just pronounced a curse on the three of them and kicked ‘em all out of the Garden of Eden.
9. Who was right?
10. Did Adam and Eve die as God said they would, or, did they not die as Satan said?
11. The Bible tells us that Adam left the Garden of Eden and lived to the age of 930.
12. Did Adam and Eve die as God said they would, or, did they not die as Satan said?
B. Now let me show you something else…
1. Genesis 1:27, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
a. God created Adam and Eve in His own image.
b. Now what is it that is different from man and other animals?
c. We have a couple of Golden Retrievers.
d. Now as long as they are healthy, well-fed, have things to play with, and we scratch them on their bellies once-in-a-while—they are perfectly content.
e. I don’t ever see either one of them with a thoughtful look on their face wondering why they are here.
f. I don’t ever see either one of our dogs wondering if there is a God that created them.
g. I don’t ever see them push their food aside and get a look of depression on their faces and wondering if their is surely more to life.
h. That all sounds ridiculous because that is what is different between us and all other animals—we have a human spirit.
i. We have physical bodies like other animals, but we have a human spirit that causes us to ask:
1) Who am I? Why am I here?
2) What is the meaning of life? What’s missing in my life?
j. So do you see that being created in God’s image is not a physical image?
k. Being created in God’s image is a display of a certain kind of life—God’s life!
l. And that life for Adam and Eve was determined by their free choice of whether or not to continue in their dependent relationship with God.
m. And of course they choose not to stay in their dependent relationship with God and they DIED!
n. They chose to end their dependent relationship with God and they "surely died" just as God said!
2. Genesis 5:3 confirms it for us—where as Genesis 1:27 says that Adam and Eve were created in God’s image, Genesis 5:1-3, This is the written account of Adam’s line. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them "man." 3 When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.
a. Since Adam was dead (he did not have the life of God in him any longer), he could not reproduce a child in the image of God.
b. He reproduced a child in his own image.
c. Two spiritually dead parents could not pass on what they no longer possessed themselves: spiritual life.
Transition: So now can you figure out the next question?
III. Why was Christ born of virgin?
Matthew 1:23, "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" --which means, "God with us."
A. Why was Christ born of a virgin?
1. It was the only way He could be born spiritually alive.
2. If He had been born humanly by two fallen parents, He would have inherited their state of spiritual death and their sinful human nature.
3. He had to be born spiritually alive because only then would He have a life to lay down on our behalf.
B. You see in order for Christ to be both human and Divine, He had to be conceived by the HS in a human.
1. John 3:6, Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
2. God created Adam and Eve in His own image, but they died.
3. So Adam and Eve reproduced a child in their own image.
4. Therefore Christ had to be born of the HS and Mary.
Transition: And now I think we are beginning to see the answer to our final question…
IV. Why did Christ come?
John 10:10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
A. The first part of that verse… The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
1. We saw that already, didn’t we?
2. Genesis 3:4, "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
3. But we now know that God was right and they really did die.
4. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
5. So now we know who the thief is, don’t we?
B. The second part of our verse says, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
1. And now I think we can begin to see why so many people aren’t experiencing victory in their lives!
2. Now I think we are beginning to see why so many Christians keep recommitting themselves, but don’t ever seem to change!
3. Its because they don’t have LIFE!
4. Its because they don’t realize that they have been given LIFE-Jesus’ LIFE!
5. We can have LIFE and have it TO THE FULL!
6. Do you see that the reason that so many people work so hard and never seem to change is because they are not letting Jesus LIVE through them?!! (repeat)
Conclusion:
A. The Christian world has become so frantic in its busyness that it reminds me of the well-known definition of a fanatic: "A person who redoubles his efforts after he has lost sight of his goals."
1. Over and over we have witnessed the spectacle of people coming forward in a service to recommit their lives.
2. They rededicate and recommit, but nothing ever changes in their lives.
3. In essence, they come to say, "God, I’m really serious this time. This time I’ll do it if it kills me!"
4. To them I would say, "Don’t worry, it will!"
5. I know because I know what its done to me.
6. Do you see that we must simply come to grips with the fact that it isn’t hard to live the Christian life?
7. The truth is that the Christian life is not hard—its impossible!
8. Its impossible because only Christ can live it! (repeat 6, 7, & 8)
9. And that’s why our only hope is to learn that Jesus Christ did not come just to get men out of hell and into heaven; He came to get Himself out of heaven and into men!
10. HE CAME THAT WE MIGHT HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL!
B. [Suzi Moore sent me a poem this week that shows us what it will look like when Christ LIVES in us, its called, I SAW JESUS. ~~Author Unknown~~]
I saw Jesus last week.
He was wearing blue jeans and an old shirt.
He was up at the church building;
He was alone and working hard.
For just a minute he looked a little like one of our members.
But it was Jesus,I could tell by his smile.
I saw Jesus last Sunday.
He was teaching a Bible class.
He didn’t talk real loud or use long words,
But you could tell he believed what he said.
For just a minute, he looked like my Sunday School teacher.
But it was Jesus,I could tell by his loving voice.
I saw Jesus yesterday.
He was at the hospital visiting a friend who was sick.
They prayed together quietly.
For just a minute he looked like Brother Jones.
But it was Jesus,I could tell by the tears in his eyes.
I saw Jesus this morning.
He was in my kitchen making my breakfast and fixing me a special lunch.
For just a minute he looked like my mom.
But it was Jesus,I could feel the love from his heart.
I see Jesus everywhere,
Taking food to the sick,
Welcoming others to his home,
Being friendly to a newcomer and for just a minuteI think he’s someone I know.
But it’s always Jesus,I can tell by the way he serves. May someone see Jesus in you today.
C. Too often invitation times are for people to come forward and receive forgiveness of sins—and just stop there.
1. Too often the message that is shared is: "Jesus died for your sins. Come receive forgiveness."
2. And what the people are hearing is: "You trust in Jesus so you can go to heaven when you die. Now in the mean time, shape yourself up!"
3. And they try and they fail.
4. But the truth is that once we have been saved from our sins, we also receive life—REAL life; JESUS’ life!
5. And only HE can shape us up!
D. Have you been asking God for help?
1. Are you still failing?
2. Have you redoubled your efforts only to continue failing?
3. Friends, dead people don’t need any help, they need life!
4. Jesus is not some historical figure of a day a long time ago—Jesus is alive!
5. And He wants to live in you!
E. I know there are a lot of people who really need to come forward today!
1. Perhaps even the whole church.
2. Perhaps you are 70 like Mac and you don’t have life.
3. Perhaps you’re young and you’ve been working so hard, but what you really need is life.
4. Perhaps you just need to come and pray about your life.
5. Perhaps you know you aren’t saved.
6. Perhaps you need to receive Christ’s life.
7. Whatever commitment you need to make, I want to encourage you to make it as we stand and sing "Sanctuary."
