The Passions of Christ - #1 Doing the Father’s Will
Pastor Glenn Newton 2/27/05
Text: MT 26:36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
MT 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
MT 26:40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."
MT 26:42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:38-40
This morning we are going to start a series called, “The Passions of Christ”. We only have five weeks until Easter and I want to remind you this Easter season of the things that Jesus Christ our Lord was, and still is Passionate about.
Let me ask you some questions this morning, just to get your mind running in the same direction…… If Jesus Christ was Passionate about something while He was with us during His time on earth, do you think it would be good for us to investigate those things? Do you think those things that He was so passionate about 2000 years ago, do you think His passion for those things have changed, like maybe there not important anymore? NO
As we get ready to discuss the Passion of Christ for the next couple of weeks, maybe it would be good to define this word Passion as we get started… Passion - intense or violent emotion, a great liking or enthusiasm, the martyrdom of an early Christian….
To be Passionate - easily moved to strong emotion, showing or inspired by strong emotion
What was interesting as I looked up that word, the Word Passion Capitalized was defined as “the Last Days of Jesus Christ on the way to the Cross.”
Our Secular Webster Dictionary connects the Word Passion to the life of Jesus Christ and what He did for us…. Does that say anything to you?
One question that we will not be able to get away from as we go through these next five weeks together is this…… What are you passionate about? What stirs your emotions? What is it that so stirs you, that it moves you to action?
There’s a lot of things in our lives that we can become passionate about… isn’t there?
Have you ever watched a great movie where that actor’s are so intense, so passionate about their character that you forget that it’s just a movie? Because of their great passion, and emotion, they move us to emotion often times, just watching…..
Have you listened to the interviews of our fighting men and women who are leaving for Iraq, or coming home from Iraq? They have great passion for the mission at hand, they talk about doing their job and fighting for freedom…. They talk about how it’s an honor to serve their country…. We all could be more passionate about our freedoms, and the sacrifices of those who are keeping those freedoms available to us… amen?
In sports you will see great passion for the game, great passion in the effort to win. One of the great things about High School sports is that the players are playing the game just for the love of the game….. There’s no money involved, no million dollar contract…. Just playing for your team, your school….Sports is where I first learned about Passion, if you have ever seen me coach my girls in softball or basketball you’ve seen just a little of what I was like when I played football, baseball or whatever it was…
I was like a crazy man,
My prayer now is that I will be more Passionate about Jesus Christ, my Lord than I ever thought about being as a High School football player. This morning let’s look at Jesus and His passion to do His Father’s will.
MT 26:39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:38-40
If it was important to Jesus to do the Father’s will, don’t you think it should be important to us to do the Father’s will also? Do you know what the Father’s will is for your life? Did you know that your Heavenly Father has a specific, and unique plan for your life? As Christians, we need to be carrying out that plan with great passion in our lives.. Amen?
Let’s look at how Jesus demonstrated for us how to carry out the Father’s Will in His life, and then we can apply these same things to our life, as we carry out the Father’s Will out in our life…
1. Total Surrender to the Father’s Will.
In Matt. 26:39 we find Jesus in the Garden, what’s He doing? He’s praying… Why is He praying? Because His time to carry out the Father’s will has come, but the burden of what lies ahead is heavy….. The Cross, the pain, the beatings, all the sins of the world will be placed on him.. As He dies on the cross for us.
So what was Jesus praying in the Garden, why was He there? “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
Total Surrender to the Father’s will…. Even though Jesus understood what laid ahead of Him…. He said, “yet not as I will, but as you will.”
This morning have you totally surrendered to your Heavenly Father, and His will for your life? The Bible teaches us very clearly that the Father’s will is for all of us to be saved… so if you are here this morning and your wondering what God’s Will is for your life… The Father’s Will is that you put your faith in His Son Jesus, that you would be willing to surrender your will, and ask Him for forgiveness of your sins…. And as you do this….You will be saved… You will move from darkness to light, you will be born again and will have eternal life…. That’s what God wants to do for everyone of us.. Amen?
If you are a Christian this morning, if you have already asked Jesus into your heart, total surrender to the Father’s Will doesn’t stop right after your are saved, total surrender to His Will has to become a lifestyle if you are going to continue to grow in grace and learn what it is God wants for your life.
Are you totally Surrendered to the Father’s Will in your life? Are there things in your life that He has asked you to do that you are refusing to do? Friends, that’s not surrender, that’s disobedience.
Are you so passionate about Jesus Christ in your life that your willing to do whatever it is that he asks of you? Your passion will grow with your obedience to Him… did you know that? It’s through your obedience to the Father that you will find yourself drawing closer and closer to Him….. And that’s where our passion springs from… our personal relationship with Him…. That brings us to the Second point to remember…
What did Jesus do that we can do to follow Him in His Passion for the Father?
2. Jesus had a Intimate Relationship which helped Him to Know the Father’s Will.
“38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”
Have you discovered in your marriage that intimacy with your spouse brings about more passion? It’s true… maybe you should try this….. The more time you spend together, talking, getting to know each other, discussing your dreams, your plans, your fears, the more time you spend sharing and caring for one another…. It makes passion grow… your relationship and the closeness you have has a direct impact on your passion for one another.
Jesus was intimately connected to the Father… they are one in mind and in spirit. Jesus prayed that we would become one with the Father just as He is through the Spirit… isn’t that awesome, that God would want us in that kind of relationship with Him? You know He could just force us to serve Him.. But he doesn’t… God wants a loving relationship that becomes more and more intimate the longer we know Him.
In a perfect world, it would make sense that the longer you have been a Christian, them more passionate you would be about Him… right?
Some of the most passionate Christians I know are people who have been Christians along time, and it’s clear to everyone who spends anytime with them… that they have a deep, fresh, up to date, passionate love affair with God… they haven’t lost a step.. There sold out, there focused, and totally surrendered. That’s what I want for my life… how about you?
I’ve met the other side of that coin though…. Folks who have been Christians for quite a long time, they have been in the church for years…. Participating, involved, all the things that a pastor loves… committed, paying tithes, teaching, coming on work days… all that stuff…. But yet it is obvious to everyone but them that something is missing in their spiritual life….. There’s no real passion, there’s no up to date testimony, their experience with God is shallow, and stale, their attitudes, their actions don’t paint a picture of an intimate relationship with the Father…. Instead it seems they just have a stale old religion, ritual, and there just going through the motions.
I know what I want don’t you? If you don’t want your relationship to turn into just a Religion… then you need to do the things necessary to nurture and keep your intimate relationship growing and personal….. Daily prayer… talk to Him, share with him, not the same prayer everyday… if your going to do that you might as well put it on a tape recorder and just hit play every morning…. Make it personal prayer… Daily Bible study… Letting God’s Word into your heart and mind will keep you close to His Mind, His Will for you….. How are you doing…. Is your relationship personal? Is it growing? Or is it stale… and moving towards a stuffy old Religion? Today you can make sure your on the right track…. Don’t settle for anything less than what God wants for you….
The third thing that we can see from Jesus as He passionately carried out the Father’s Will was that…
3. He was Laser focused on what His Mission was.
This morning we enjoy the benefits of light don’t we? Thankfully the lights are working… the light rays that we have in here this morning could shine on us for 24 hours a day for the rest of our lives and not be harmful to us.
Do you realize that when you focus light many times over, we call it a laser, they can take a light beam, focused into a laser and it can cut through steel. To look up this morning and look at the lights…. How can that be possible? Focus is the key.
Jesus was laser focused on what His mission was all about.. It was about doing His Father’s will first and foremost, all of his other works, plans all unfolded from what He knew the Father wanted Him to accomplish.
Are you focused on What the Father wants from you this morning? What are you focused on… is it more important in the big scheme of things than serving God?
I know one thing… God can work miracles through a people who are locked in and focused on what He cares about. What does He care about? Loving one another, Serving one another, reaching out to the lost… it’s really that easy… if we would determine in our hearts to be passionate about the things that God is passionate about, to be focused on the things that God wants us to be focused on….. God only knows what kind of miracles He could accomplish through us… How many lives could be changed? How many souls could be won? How many marriages could be saved? How many people who have lost hope, could Hope again?
God is at work this morning… He’s here and He’s been talking to you about your passion, or lack of it, He’s been talking to you about How He wants to draw so much closer to you, but your not letting Him in… you haven’t had time for Him….. He’s here this morning… and maybe today’s the day you can give yourself to Him, 100%.. Totally surrender yourself to Him… He won’t let you down… He loves you more than you will ever know…
There’s a lot of things in this old world we can get passionate about… but there’s only one thing that is going to last forever… and that’s our souls… we need to get passionate about our spiritual lives, about the souls of others that are lost… Where are you at… you can come today… Pray… talk to God… tell Him what’s on your heart… He’s ready to listen… He’s ready to forgive….
