Purity 438 06/07/2021 Purity 438 Podcast
Good morning.
So as we soar into a new
work week, I encourage you to thank the Lord for what He has provided and keep
your eyes open for what He puts in your path because just like the bird in this
photo seems to have some heavenly company, I can assure you that God is with
you in your travels. We just have to open
our hearts and minds and reach out with our spirits to find His presence.
This morning’s meditation
verse is:
John 3:16
(NKJV)
16 For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Today’s verse is the go to verse for Christian evangelism. If you needed to break down God’s redemptive plan for man in a single verse, John 3:16 wouldn’t be a bad choice. Many Christians feel this way because John 3:16 is often put on signs and displayed at sporting events to get the message out.
The verse is so popular by its self that it may not be clear to those who hear it that these are the words of Jesus, Himself.
Jesus is telling
us that:
1. God
loves us
2. That
He is the Son of God and He was sent for a purpose
3. The purpose was to save those who believe in Him from perishing and by giving them eternal life.
These things may seem obvious to us as Christians, but they were counter cultural statements that weren’t obvious to the people Jesus told them to and isn’t obvious to those who don’t know God today.
God is loving? This idea may be considered debatable by both those who claim to believe in “a god” and to those who don’t. Other religions may see their version of god as powerful, mysterious, and vengeful but not necessarily loving. Atheists, Deists, and Agnostics would look at the suffering in the world and declare God doesn’t exist, doesn’t get involved in our affairs, or doesn’t seem to be very nice. So the idea of God loving the world wasn’t and still isn’t a concept that all people can accept.
God having a Son is also a point that is refuted. Entire religions and cults take exception to the idea that God would or could have a Son.
We live in a world of cause and effect and in a worldly economy in which we generally have to earn everything we get. Even when we receive gifts from others there is a perceived obligation to reciprocate by giving in return or at another occasion. There is no such thing as a free lunch after all so how can God accept me on just the merits of my believing and trusting His Son? Surely we have to do something else, probably a whole lot of things, continuously, in order to gain and keep God’s favor.
So as much as we might want to quote John 3:16 and “drop the mic”, while the multitudes bow down to give their faith to Jesus, we should be prepared to express what we know about the Lord by sharing more of His word and more of ourselves as we seek to gain brothers and sisters in Christ that we will spend eternity with.
We know what we have in Christ so we should seek to not just “win souls” as much as we should seek to give hope and if possible to form relationships that will build up ourselves as much as edify others.
Today we continue with Dr. Neil Anderson’s Victory
Over the Darkness, beginning Chapter 2.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase Dr. Anderson’s books for your own private study
and to support His work. If you need this title you can find it online at several
sites for less than $15.00:
Chapter
2
The Whole
Gospel
Imagine for a moment a typical college man. Let's call
him Bill. Bill is into the college social scene. He sees himself as a
skin-wrapped package of salivary glands, taste buds and sex drives. So how does
Bill occupy his time with this self-perception? By eating and by chasing girls.
He eats anything and everything in sight regardless of its nutritional value.
He chases just about anything in a skirt, but he has a special gleam in his eye
for luscious-looking Susie, the cheerleader.
Bill was chasing sweet little Susie
around the campus one day when the track coach noticed him. "Hey, this kid
can really run!" When the coach finally caught up with Bill he said,
"Why don't you come out for the track team?"
"Naw," Bill answered,
watching for Susie out of the corner of his eye. "I'm too busy."
But the coach wasn't about to take
"naw" for an answer. He finally convinced Bill at least to give track
a try.
So Bill started working out with the
track team and discovered that he really could run. He changed his
eating and sleeping habits and his skills improved further. He started winning
some races and posting some excellent times for his event.
Finally Bill was invited to the big
race at the state tournament. He arrived at the track early to stretch and warm
up. Then, only a few minutes before his event, guess who showed up: sweet
little Susie, looking more beautiful and desirable than ever. She pranced up to
Bill in a scanty outfit that accentuated her finer physical features. In her
hands was a sumptuous slice of apple pie with several scoops of ice cream piled
on the top of it.
"I've missed you, Bill," she
sang sweetly. "If you come with me now, you can have all this and me
too."
"No way, Susie," Bill
responded.
"Why not?" Susie pouted.
"Because I'm a runner."
What is different about Bill? What
happened to his drives and glands? He is still the same guy who could pack away
three burgers, two bags of fries and a quart of Pepsi without batting an eye.
He is still the same guy who was just itching to get close to beautiful Susie.
His understanding of himself has changed, though. He no longer sees himself
primarily as a bundle of physical urges, but as a disciplined runner. He came
to the tournament to run a race. That was his purpose, and Susie's suggestion
was at cross-purposes with why he was there and how he perceived himself.
Let's take the illustration one step
further. Let's say the runner is Eric Liddle, who was the subject of the movie Chariots
of Fire. He was committed to Christ, but he was also very fast and he
represented his native Scotland in the Olympics.
When the race schedule was posted for
his event, Liddle discovered his race was to be held on Sunday. Eric Liddle was
committed to God and he couldn't compromise what he believed. So he withdrew
from a race he might have won. Why didn't Eric Liddle run? Because he was first
and foremost a child of God and he believed that competing on Sunday would
compromise who he was. His belief about himself and his purpose in life
determined what he did.
Many Christians are not living free
and productive lives because they don't understand who they are and why they
are here. Who they are is rooted in their identity and position in Christ. If
they don't see themselves the way God sees them, to that degree they suffer from
a false identity and poor sense of worth. They don't fully understand the
gospel and the dramatic change that occurred in them the moment they trusted in
Christ.
The
Example of Christ
The redemptive plan of God began to unfold when Christ,
the last Adam, appeared. The first thing we notice about the life of Christ was
His complete dependence on God the Father. He said, "I can do nothing on
My own initiative" (John 5:30);
"I live because of the Father" (John 6:57);
"I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My
own initiative, but He sent Me" (John 8:42);
"The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father,
living in me, who is doing his work" (John 14:10, NIV).
The ultimate test came after a 40-day
fast. The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness and Satan tempted Him.
"If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread" (Matthew 4:3). Satan
wanted Jesus to use His divine attributes independently of the Father to save
Himself. Jesus replied: "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4).
Near the end of His earthly ministry,
Jesus prayed, "Now they know that everything you have given me comes from
you" (John
17:7, NIV). What Jesus modeled was a life totally dependent on God
the Father.
Jesus Came
to Give Us Life
Like the first Adam, Jesus was born both physically and
spiritually alive. This was made evident by the fact that Jesus was conceived
by the Spirit of God, and born of a virgin. Unlike the first Adam, Jesus was
tempted in every way, but He never sinned. He never lost His spiritual life
because of any sin He committed. He kept His spiritual life all the way to the
cross. There He bled and died, taking the sins of the world upon Himself. He
committed His spirit into the Father's hands as His physical life ended (see Luke 23:46). What
Adam and Eve lost in the Fall was spiritual life, and Jesus came to give us
life. Jesus said, "I came that they might have life, and might have it
abundantly" (John
10:10).
John declared, "In Him was life,
and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). Notice
that light does not produce life. Life produces light. Jesus said, "I am
the bread of life" (John 6:48) and
"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even
if he dies" (John
11:25). In other words, those who believe in Jesus will continue to live
spiritually even when they die physically. Jesus said, "I am the way, and
the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). The
ultimate value is not our physical life, which is temporal, but our spiritual
life, which is eternal.
Victory Over the Darkness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ.----------------------------more tomorrow------------------------
God bless
you all!
Join our “Victory
over the Darkness” or “The Bondage Breaker” series of Discipleship Classes via
the mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is
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Email me
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Encouragement for the Path of Christian
Discipleship
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