As we continue to move on down the path of “Your Unique Journey to the Cross,” I want to share with you just a little of the theological and Scriptural foundation for what I’m trying to communicate to you. So let’s call this first half of the sermon:
I. POSITION verses CONDITION
I could call this Actual Reality vs Experiential Awareness. Because the truth is this is Actual Reality, it has already occurred, it’s all past tense according to the Bible. You see, we were all born “in Adam”as Romans 5:12 states, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Then, 1 Corinthians 15:22 states “As in Adam all die, so as in Christ all will be made alive.” God takes us out of Adam and places us into Christ. One way of stating that is as Paul puts it in Colossians 1:13, “for He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”
So in Christ, we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17), we have a new present and a new future, but also we have a new past. Ephesians 1:4 says, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love.” When God chose us we were in Him. So just as you were in Adam - when he died you died, in Christ you also died to sin, you were buried with Him, raised with Him, ascended with Him, and you were seated with Him! Also in Christ you have received the gift of righteousness according to Romans 5:17 and Philippians 3:7-9. But even though we’ve received the gift of rightness and been made perfect in Christ according to Hebrews 10:14b, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” We’ve been made whole, complete, perfect, and righteous in our spirit. However, our soul has not been renewed totally and completely so that we choose to walk after the flesh, we carmel coat that onion.
Therein is the need for Our Journey to the Cross. To peel off layer by layer, that onion, that flesh, the Self trying to live the Christian life. As this is done, what is “Actual Reality” will become an “Experiential Awareness.” We will experience it in our present lives, it will become our condition, not just our position. But what do many of us who are in Christ experience? I would suggest that many Christians are struggling. They’re struggling to live a life that they cannot live. You’re struggling to find the abundant life you’re looking for, that you already have – instead of understanding you were crucified with Christ, that you’re new creations, that you’re identified with Christ, that you’re one with Christ and that when it comes to the end time judgment you’re going to see that you’re one with Christ, in Christ and that Christ is all that you need to be. But instead of seeing that – you’re trying to become something that you already are. You’re struggling to obtain victory over sin and temptation, when in fact, in Christ you already have it. Why is it like this? Because you’re living according to your expectations rather than according to fact. According to the Word of God we are more than conquerors, God leads us in triumphal procession in Christ. However, that’s not the average experience of most Christians. But the Christian who knows actual reality, who knows his life in Christ, his resources in Christ, his position in Christ – struggling should never be your experience.
Each one of us is on a unique journey towards brokenness, humility, loss or the cross. We have different places where we’re resting or fixated or stuck in our experience. But you see, God’s intent is to bring each one of us into fullness of life; each one of us into an experiential awareness of Christ as our life. Now, some of us have only been aware of our salvation and maybe our assurance of salvation. That is, you know you’re going to heaven, you’re assured of forgiveness. But you don’t see that God wants to transform who you are. You don’t see that who you are is terribly important; that it will change what you do. And if you’re trying to change what you do by trying to change who you are, you’ll never get there. But if you’ll accept by faith who you are and enter into this brokenness that I’m talking about, in your own unique journey, wherever you may be in that process – you can experience an abundant life, the life of the Lord Jesus for your life. You can exchange your life for His at the cross and your position will become your condition!
II. REASONS verses RESPONSE
Now you may ask, why is it that a believer has to go through a process of suffering in order to be broken? I think one reason is, many of us can’t even be interested in knowing life in Christ if life is going well after the flesh; if we ‘re functioning well in our self-sufficiency. How else can God get our attention if we think that the resources of this world, the things we’ve created and what we’ve made out of ourselves is sufficient for getting us where we want to be and meeting our needs? If we think that these things are going to meet our needs, how else can we know that they’re not meeting our needs, that we’re not fulfilled unless those things are removed? So, there’s a reason why believers have to go through suffering and go through loss. At least most of us – for me it’s because I’m so stubborn, so protecting of my pride, so intent on making something out of myself so that God couldn’t get my attention until I saw my ways don’t work. So God often times can only get our attention by showing us inconsistencies between what we’re practicing and what we say we believe by revealing the total inadequacy and insufficiency of man’s ways
There’s another reason why loss occurs in our lives, that brokenness occurs in our life and it’s seen in this statement: “Stress plus time will reveal your functional source of life.” There’s a guy by the name of Harley whom a Bible teacher had met in a Sunday School class. He realized that what the teacher was sharing was not real for him. He wasn’t experiencing Christ as his life. The reason he realized it was he was an unhappy camper when Lee met him. Harley’s married to a lady we’ll call “sweetie pie.” At the time the teacher met him he was still devastated that his wife had MS. He couldn’t understand why this would happen to someone such as he and his wife. They’d done their best to live the Christian life, they were in church every week, and had given liberally of their resources. Why would God allow her to get MS? You see, MS put a tremendous crimp in their lifestyle because Harley was self-employed and he’d work all day and come home to do his own book work. He’d also have to do a lot around the house and he was pushing her in the wheelchair everywhere they went. Get the chair out, put her in it, get her out at church to sit on a pew, roll chair out, go back and get it etc.
So you can see Harley was bitter, angry, and frustrated with God and with life. He heard the teacher say that many times God will reveal our functional source of life through stress. He began to realize that he, even with God’s help couldn’t live the Christian life. So Harley got on his knees and gave up all rights to “sweetie pie’s” health, as well as his own happiness. He gave up all rights to everything he was hanging on to in order to get his needs met. He announced that he was a failure as a Christian and at living the Christian life with or without God’s help. He gave up on his Self, his own self-sufficiency. He accepted his death with Christ by faith and he invited the Lord Jesus to live His life in him and through him and for him. Today when you meet Harley he never complains about “sweetie pie’s” condition. They recently reaffirmed their wedding vows after twenty-five years, and they’re in love as much as any body.
Now am I saying that God allowed her to get MS to change Harley? No, I’m not saying that. I don’t know that, but I do know this – God allows adversity to come into the Christian’s life and we must not waste our sorrows. The truth is stress plus time will reveal your functional source of life. Most of us can function very well as Christians when our circumstances are doing pretty good. But you see, it’s when our circumstances go south, that’s when we discover whether or not Christ is functioning in and through us or whether we’re trying to duplicate His life in our own strength.
This matter of Brokenness is sometimes more subtle and difficult than first meets the eye. You see, there are a lot of people who have no self-awareness. They have no understanding that they’re a real pain to other people; or that they’re a problem to society; or that their problem in their marriage is they’re self-centered and they’re power hungry or greedy. There are people who are just so into themselves that they’re blind to their own flesh patterns. There are people well into their latter years, who’ve suffered severe loss of children or possessions and yet it still hasn’t broken them. They’re still proud. And they’re still not living under authority as God ordained it. So what I’m saying to you is – not everybody who goes through loss is going to be willing to be broken, not all are responsive. Many people aren’t willing to humble themselves and come under the mighty hand of God. We have this facade that’s well entrenched many times. There’s this mask that we wear and if the Spirit of God doesn’t penetrate it or if people aren’t willing to respond to God when He allows the circumstances to come into play where it can be penetrated – well, there’s no hope. There’s no other way to change people in an effective and powerful way. You see, many times it’s our intellect that gets in the way – our mind. We have reasoned ourselves into a position of not being under authority. We’ve reasoned ourselves into positions of defying God by saying, “Well, other people don’t deserve my subjection, my respect, or my honor. These are very dangerous positions!
We have to go through a process of brokenness and I hope you understand a little more about the reason why. "So beloved, don’t be surprised at the firey ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.” Do you notice here that the Bible almost promises that we’re going to go through a painful trial? Don’t be surprised when it happens. Every Christian should expect suffering. It comes upon you for your testing. There’s a process of sharing the sufferings of Christ. During this we must rejoice. Why? Because at this revelation of His glory in us, we will be overjoyed, rejoice with exultation. The Bible says that the greatest glory God has is His first born Son. When His Son is revealed in us we will rejoice to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.
