Passions of Christ
Text: 1 Corinthians 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also [am] of Christ.
Paul admonishes us to follow him as he followed Christ. This morning that is what we want to preach on: following Christ. But rather than looking at a copy which was Paul, we shall go back to the original which is Christ.
We will look at one statement of Christ’s and cull from it, "things that drove Christ." Or said another way, "Passions of Christ."
So in following Christ this morning, I want not to look at the fruit of who He was and what He did, but the root from which those fruits sprung. I want to look at the things that motivated Jesus, and challenge us that we have these same motivations at work in our heart and lives.
Here is out text:
John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
From this simple text of scripture I want to share 5 things that drove Christ. 5 things that highly motivated Him. 5 things that were roots of all He said and did.
5 things that drove Jesus from John 9:4 :
Primacy
Responsibility
Activity
Urgency
Intimacy
When we speak of things that drove Jesus we are speaking of the things that erupted from the center of His being and directed the course of His life. To be driven according to the dictionary means to force someone or something to go somewhere or do something:
Jesus had passions that He followed, Jesus had some things that highly motivated Him. We could call them the roots of all He said and did. Since we are to be His followers, it would be wise for us to see that we have these same roots in ourselves.
1. Primacy
Primacy simply means the state of being the most important thing.
Jesus said I must work the works of Him that sent Me...
I must work... in other words I am under a Divine compulsion, I have to do this, it is of the upmost importance, it is my "raison d’etre," it is that for which I have come. It is the guiding principle of my life. It is cetral to Who I am and what I have to do.
In life there are things:
you can do
there are things: you would like to do
there are things: you hope to do
there are things: you desire to do
Then there are things you must do.
The old joke is that the only two things you have to do in life are pay taxes and die.
Jesus said: John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me...
Jesus understood God’s plan for His life to be a must, not an option.
He was driven by a passion and desire to do first of all what God wanted for Him to do in life.
That first of all attitude is why I chose the word primacy.
Is God’s plan for you one of primacy? It should be especially if you want to be a follower of Jesus.
I must... other things beckon but they must take a back burner.
I must... other things have their place, but this thing takes first place.
2. Responsibility
Responsibility can be defined as something that it is your job or duty.
Jesus said: I must.
In our first point we covered this phrase as it relates to the importance we place on our God given task in life, it must be our first priority. Now we amplify that and say that not only is our God given task to be our first priority in life, it is also to be understood as a divine responsibility laid upon us. It is one that requires individual accountability.
"I" must.
There is a unique and special purpose for all of us. What are the, "I must’s," of your life? Jesus fulfilled His personal and unique responsiblity in life. He fulfilled His, "I must." Have you? What are your, "I must’s?"
Jesus was driven by a strong sense of personal responsibility to fulfill God’s task for His life, and He made that task one to which He gave the greatest primacy, it is echoed in this statement:
John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Him that sent Me speaks of his solemn obligations and responsibilities before God.
3. Activity
John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Jesus said that there were things He had to do. He called them working the works. Jesus has not called us to simply speak things, but to also do things. The Christian life is one that is not exemplified simply by belief but also by activity. Jesus didn’t simply preach the gospel, He healed the sick, cast out devils, and fed people.
We need to be driven by a sense of responsiblity that we ought to work the works of Him that sent us. We need to see God cast out devils, heal the sick, and bring about true repentance in the hearts and lives of people with whom we come in contact with.
4. Urgency
Jesus was driven by a sense of urgency:
John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
If Jesus had a sense of urgency, ought we not also to have one?
Urgency is that strong prompting that makes us do something now!
Urgency is that strong prompting that heightens our sense of responsiblity and the need for action.
Urgency is close cousin to the word motivation.
Jesus had a sense of urgency about all He did, and yet it has been two thousand years since He uttered that phrase: the night cometh, when no man can work.
What gives?
If you understand the phrase "the night cometh, when no man can work," to be referring to the end of time I think you are in error. I believe the text may refer to that future point of time, but more correctly I believe it refers to the fact that there is a time in everyone’s life when it is a time for judgment and the opportunity for mercy is over. We call that death.
Jesus had to be speaking of the fact that there were people all around Him that He only had a short window of opportunity to reach and touch. For each and every individual there is a night coming when no more can be added to your life.
You cannot buy life insurance for a dead person, even so there is time when the window of opportunity for salvation is eternally closed.
The bible says: Hebrews 9:27 ... it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Judgment follows death, there is no time for any decisions about God after death.
This sense of urgency was brought home to me recently by two very serious events:
a. My sister was diagnosed with incurable metastatic lung cancer which has spread to the lymph nodes. She has been given one year to live. She is going to die soon, apart from a miracle of God. We are all going to die soon.
There is a secular song with the following line in it: "If you believe in forever, than life is just a one night stand." Used in that song it takes on the sense "hey, we are going to be around for a long time." I want to use it stir your sense of urgency, "life is just a one night stand." We don’t have much time. The time is short 1 Corinthians 7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time [is] short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
Psalms 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. Psalms 103:16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
It is no wonder then that the psalmist prayed: Psalms 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
b. Yesterday, in Walmart I saw a young boy apprehended for stealing a fishing lure. Once he walked out the door, the opportunity to change his mind had passed. His age didn’t matter. His reasons didn’t matter. His mother couldn’t change the facts. While in the store he had the opportunity to change his mind, once out he couldn’t undo what he had done. So it is after death. You cannot change the facts of your life or your guilt or innocence before the court.
Jesus had strong sense of urgency. When you lose your sense of urgency you stop witnessing.
When you lose your sense of urgency you stop praying. Peter linked urgency and prayer: 1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
Intimacy
John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
The only way Jesus could know what the Father’s works were for Him, was by being intimate with the Father:
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
The only way Jesus could have a passion and priority to do what the Father wanted, was by having a passionate love for the Father.
If you love Me you will keep My commandments. Jesus was intimate with the Father and was driven by a passion to work His works.
Intimacy gave Him insight into what the Father wanted:
John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Intimacy gave Him the burning desire to do what the Father wanted:
John 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Close: Prayer for those who are wanting to be sure they are fulfilling the "I must’s of life."
