Take Courage! You Must Testify In Rome
Acts 22:30-23:35 Lesson 26
Key verse 23:11 NIU UBF 1/25/09
“The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’”
In today’s passage Paul is brought before the Sanhedrin at the summons of the Roman commander. Though Paul appears to be on trial, he emerges as the spiritual victor. Under great duress, Paul testifies powerfully to the work of God and to the Risen Christ. On the other hand, the Sanhedrin members reveal their lawlessness, hypocrisy and powerlessness before the Almighty God. During this difficult time, the Risen Christ appears to Paul to strengthen him by giving him hope and direction. This was the true source of Paul’s spiritual victory. Through this passage, may we learn the secret to Paul’s courageous witness and victorious life of faith.
First, Paul Fulfilled His Duty To God In All Good Conscience (22:30-23:5).
In our previous study, we learned that Paul brought offerings, a “world mission journey team” and news of his third journey to the elders of the Jerusalem Church. Paul hoped that they could see God working powerfully among the Gentiles and somehow the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians could be re-united. At first they all rejoiced at his ministry. But Paul’s presence soon stirred up the Jews who did not accept the Gospel. There was rioting and false accusations flying everywhere. The Jews finally persuaded the Romans to arrest Paul. The Roman commander, in charge of Paul, wanted to find out why Paul was being accused. So he ordered the chief priests and the Sanhedrin to assemble and brought Paul to stand before them. It was like a grand jury formed to get information. Was Paul scared? No way! Paul could see that God was using this chaos as an opportunity to witness for God was using even his enemies to create a platform for Paul to address the entire Sanhedrin, or Jewish ruling council.
Paul was bold and fearless. Look at verse 1. “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, ‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.’” Paul was bold and fearless. He took the initiative and spoke first. His words are indeed meaningful. He said, “I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” Paul was saying that, even though he was a sinner, in need of salvation, he was right with God in that he had completed the mission God gave him, and that his conscience bore witness to this fact.
Let’s think a little bit about what it means that his conscience was clear before God. When God made man, he gave him a conscience. Our conscience is nestled deep within our psyches. God works through our conscience. Our conscience helps us discern and choose what is good. As long as one does what is right before God, his conscience is at peace and he is happy. But when one does evil, his conscience is burdened with guilt. (Ro 2:15). Our consciences affect us even when we are apart from Christ. For example, some young people engage in debauchery and promiscuity hoping to have a little fun to quell their restless hearts. After sinning they think they can forget about it afterward. But soon, terrible guilt settles upon them. In my case, I suppressed my guilty conscience. I claimed that “I was O.K” But my guilty conscience caused me to suffer in other ways. I felt fruitless and useless and meaningless. The root of all this was my guilty conscience. No one can live a happy life in this condition. People try in many ways to drown the voice of their conscience. Some loose themselves in a hedonistic lifestyle, or in their work. If we suppress our consciences too long we are danger of becoming mentally ill, or even commit suicide. Some harden their hearts and become like Judas. A person becomes very dangerous when they no longer hear the voice of their conscience, for they can do just about anything.
But Paul confessed, “‘My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” How is this possible? Paul had confessed, many times in his Christian life, that he was a terrible sinner (1Ti 1:15). How then could Paul say he had fulfilled his duty to God in all good conscience? It was only by the grace of Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb of God who shed his blood on the cross for sinners. God made Jesus the sacrifice of atonement for our sins (Ro 3:25). Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ...cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God!” There is power in the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus cleanses our consciences from acts that lead to death. The blood of Jesus enables us to stand before the holy God with a good conscience. The blood of Jesus enables us to serve the living God. This is what we all really want to do. Is it not? This makes us happy. Paul claimed the blood of Jesus as his righteousness. From the moment Paul’s conscience was cleansed, Paul served God wholeheartedly. He discovered his priestly duty to God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (Ro 15:16). For this, Paul had made three long and dangerous mission journeys. He shared in the remaining sufferings of Christ. In this way, he had fulfilled his duty to God. Now, Paul could stand before God with a good conscience. He also had no problem to stand before the corrupted religious leaders.
Paul was a good shepherd at all times. He deeply understood the agony of the Jewish religious leaders, for he was once one of them. They wore fancy gowns and had positions of honor. They made a tremendous effort to obtain legalistic righteousness. But without Christ, they could only condemn others while living as hypocrites. They did not know God. They did not really know themselves. Their hypocrisy made them miserable. They had no joy of serving God. They had no satisfaction of finishing their mission before God. To them, religious duty was a heavy burden. But they dared not put it down for the sake of their pride and position and their job security.
Paul’s opening statement had shocking effects. The High Priest, Ananias, ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth (2). Ananias seems to be like some kind of thug. Actually, he was a tool of the devil who wanted to suppress the truth of God. He was supposed to be in charge of this proceeding. But after hearing Paul’s claim that he served God faithfully, with a good conscience, Ananias lost his composure, and became like a brute beast.
How did Paul respond? Look at verse 3. “Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!’” The time for formalities and niceties were over for these guys. Paul was so sincere before these people. He brought an offering. He brought a world mission team. He tried his best to befriend them and do what was right before God. But still these men rejected Paul. Actually they were rejecting Jesus. That is pure evil and stubbornness. How evil they were! How maddening they must have been to Paul. Paul was sure that Ananias would be judged by God. According to the historian Josephus, when the Roman army invaded Jerusalem, Ananias was killed by his own people. In this part we learn that one man who has fulfilled his duty to God, in all good conscience, is more powerful than the religious establishment. We can be people of good conscience when we accept the blood of Christ and give our lives to fulfill God’s holy mission he has called us to, in our lives.
Second, Paul’s Hope In The Resurrection Of The Dead (6-10).
Paul turned their attention away from him and towards Jesus and the Gospel. Look at verse 6. “Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, ‘My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.’” Paul knew the Sanhedrin well. It was made up of two major parties: Sadducees and Pharisees. They seemed united in their attack on Paul, but they disagreed strongly on their religious beliefs. The Sadducees believed in the five books of Moses. Based on their understanding of these books they said that there was no resurrection and that there are neither angels nor spirits. But the Pharisees acknowledged them all. When Paul identified himself clearly as a Pharisee and declared his hope in the resurrection of the dead it caused a dispute to break out that threw the Sanhedrin into chaos. Some Pharisees began to side with Paul, saying, “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” The dispute was so violent that the commander had Paul removed by force. In this way the trial ended.
At first glance, it may seem that Paul was playing politics with the Sanhedrin. However, Paul meant what he said. He stripped away all pretext and revealed the core matter of this trial. There was no legal charge against Paul. He was on trial because of his hope in the resurrection of the dead. There was no reason for him to be on trial. In fact, he was on trial only because enemies of the gospel had conspired against him.
Paul was eager to make the hope of resurrection the topic of discussion. Nowadays people don’t like to think too much about the resurrection. Today a friend said that he wanted to travel and see as much as he could, and do as much as he could before he passed on to the “next”. That is as close as some people get to thinking about the resurrection. Thank God for Easter, where we will focus deeply on the resurrection. What did Paul believe about the resurrection? Well he believed what all Christians must believe. Paul believed that Christ rose from the dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures. He believed that Christ’s resurrection was the first fruits, and that all who believed in him would also be raised from the dead. Paul believed that he himself would be raised from the dead and transformed into the glorious image of Christ. Paul believed that Christ’s resurrection proved God’s power to destroy all unrighteousness and restore the kingdom of God. Paul looked forward to a new heaven and a new earth and eternal life in the glorious kingdom of God. Because he had this hope, Paul freely committed his life to God’s mission. Because he had this hope, Paul was willing to suffer to preach the gospel. Because he had this hope, Paul was bold and courageous even in the face of death.
Peter also had this hope. He said in 1 Peter 1:3,4, “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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you....” Those who believe the resurrection of Christ can see the kingdom of God. They have a living hope in the kingdom of God. Before having resurrection hope, most people cling to their lives in this world as though it were everything. They become very stingy with their time and money. They do everything to ensure a better life in the world for them and their family before they die. But the resurrection of Christ gives us a living hope beyond this world. We have eternal life in the kingdom of God. This translates practically in our lives. It means we can be generous with our time and money. We can love others from our hearts without worrying about ourselves. We can serve God with no reservation. It was because Paul had hope in the resurrection that he could boldly enter Jerusalem, be ready to be bound and be ready to die for the name of Jesus. If there was no resurrection, Paul’s attitude would have been different. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:32b, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’” Even Paul would have been a hedonist if there were no resurrection of the dead and that is what most people are choosing to do today.
We Christians serve Christ sacrificially because of our hope in the resurrection. However, sometimes we expect tangible blessings from God. Surely, God blesses our lives on earth abundantly. God is blessing Tim and Andrew with the means to get a degree and a mission during their student lives. God is blessing Jay and Carrie with a new apartment and a new baby. Kathleen has been blessed with a new job position and hope and vision for the future. There are many benefits in this life as we serve Jesus. But there is guarantee that we will be blessed physically in this world. This cannot be our ultimate hope. Our ultimate hope, and absolute guarantee from God is the resurrection from the dead and eternal life in the kingdom of God. This hope makes us courageous and strong. With this hope, both Peter and Paul gave their lives to pioneer Rome. With this hope, we can give our lives to establish a 120 1:1 discipleship ministry at NIU and to establish America as Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation.
Third, “Take Courage! You Must Testify In Rome” (11).
Paul’s strategy turned the tables. Now the Sanhedrin members were on trial before the gospel. God gave Paul spiritual wisdom to win the victory. But still he must have been under great stress. God needed to come and encourage him. Look at verse 11. “The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, ‘Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.’” According to the Risen Christ, Paul needed to take courage. Why? Paul must have been drained spiritually and emotionally. Paul had risked his life to serve God in Jerusalem without seeing the desired result. Jewish and Gentile Christians were not any closer together. The unconverted Jews did not repent; they became more anti-Christian. Paul was a prisoner in a Roman barracks, not knowing what would happen next. The stubborn and vicious religious leaders would never give up. The power of their hatred was deadly. Already, their pressure was being felt around Jerusalem. Moreover, Satan was always looking for the chance to accuse Paul. He may have felt a sense of loss and failure. This is the very moment that God’s servant can fall into fear and sorrow. This happened to Abraham after he rescued Lot, (for those of us who have studied Genesis.)
When Paul was vulnerable, the Risen Christ visited him to impart new spiritual courage in his heart. At the right time, the Risen Christ stood near Paul. Paul was not alone. The Risen Christ, the King of kings, his Savior and Lord was with him. The Lord spoke to him, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” At the words of Christ, “Take courage!” the swelling tides of darkness that threatened Paul’s heart were completely repelled, and dissipated like a mist. Bright heavenly sunshine came into Paul’s heart. The word of Christ assured him of God’s love and made him strong, strong enough to face the challenge ahead.
Then the Risen Christ said, “As you have testified about me in Jerusalem....” As we know, Paul had been burdened with the problem of his own people, the Jews. He knew his trip to Jerusalem would be dangerous. Yet he made it for the sake of helping his people see the work of God. Although his purpose was great, his action in Jerusalem did not seem to be much. But the Risen Christ accepted it. The Risen Christ said that Paul testified about him in Jerusalem. It was as though the Risen Christ said, “You did it! Your mission is was accomplished. Now leave the rest up to me.” Paul would continue to pray for his own people, the Jews. But he could have peace in his heart, knowing that he did everything he could for them and that it was accepted by the Risen Christ. Sometimes we feel that what we have done to pioneer is too little. Jay and Carrie may think that the year they spent in Ecuador as missionaries was too little a time to effect change. But God accepted it all. “As you have testified about me at NIU and in Ecuador..”
The Risen Christ concluded, “...so you must also testify in Rome.” When Paul started for Jerusalem, he had really wanted to go to Rome (19:21). In Romans 1:13a he said, “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now)....” Though Paul was eager to go to Rome, he was always prevented from doing so. Now the Risen Christ gave him clear direction and a promise that he would testify in Rome. It was the desire of Paul’s heart. It was time for Paul to pray for Rome, go to Rome, and testify about Jesus in Rome. Paul’s passion to preach the gospel in Rome ignited once more. New vision gave him new strength. He was fully restored in spirit to serve God’s purpose. Here we learn that gospel workers need the encouragement and direction of the Risen Christ. When we are weak or vulnerable, we must depend absolutely on the Risen Christ. When we need clear direction, we must pray until we hear the Risen Christ, “Take courage! As you have testified about me thus far to many Bible students from various backgrounds,, so you must also testify at NIU and to the people of DeKalb, even one day to the DEAR area, Dekalb, Elgin, Aurora, Rockford.”
Fourth, God Sends Paul To Caesarea Under Roman Protection (12-35).
The next day, forty very zealous Jews formed a conspiracy and made a plot to kill Paul. People get this way when the Gospel disrupts their status quo. Paul was revealing their lack of faith and convicting them of their sins. To them he represented the growing Christian church. He represented Jesus before them. And they did not like it. Spiritually speaking, they were the incarnation of Satan.
However, God uncovered their plot through Paul’s nephew. The Roman commander was made aware of it. When we think of early great works of God, we often think of the work of the apostles. But the church could have died if it hadn’t been for the unsung heroes, the men and women though some small committed act stood up for Jesus. Paul’s nephew was one such hero, for he saved Paul’s life by telling officials of the plot. Here, I want to make a special plug for the children among us. It is easy to overlook children, assuming that they aren’t old enough to do much for the Lord. But look at this passage, a young boy played an important part in protecting Paul’s life. God can use anyone, of any age, who is willing to yield to him. Jesus made it clear that children are important in Matthew 18:2-6. Let’s give children the importance that God gives them and pray for our children to grow as servants of God.
What happened next? The commander arranged for Paul to leave for Caesarea with an escort of 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen. In all, 470 well-trained Roman soldiers ensured Paul’s safe passage to Caesarea. In Caesarea Paul was handed over to Governor Felix. The letter from the Roman commander explained that there was no charge against Paul, but his case was too controversial to be settled in Jerusalem. Paul was kept under guard in Herod’s palace to await the arrival of his accusers and a trial by Roman officials. Here we learn that God protects his servants he really protects them, even with ten soldiers for every one enemy that is against him. And that the Sovereign God leads his servants where he wants them to be, despite of the hardships. Though our of faith may lead us into some precarious situations, or lives are in the hollow of God’s hand until he accomplishes his purpose in our lives.
Today we learn how to be Jesus’ witnesses. We must have a clear conscience through Jesus’ blood. We must have resurrection faith. We must depend on Jesus for courage, direction and protection.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
David and Goliath
David And Goliath
1 Samuel 17:1-58 Lesson 10
Key verse 17:45b
“…but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel.”
Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7 & 8a: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award top me on that day.” In these verses Paul is saying, as a victor of life in Jesus, that life is a continuous battle, and that there is a victor and a looser. Today’s passage is about David and Goliath. David was the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse, and he was a shepherd boy. He fought a duel, against Goliath, a giant of a man, and won the victory over the champion. There are many stories of faith in the Bible that inspire us to overcome our fears and to be filled with faith to meet our daily challenges. But in the Bible, this story of young David is most beautiful and powerful because it teaches us that indeed “faith is the victory we know that overcomes the world.” Like David, we also must fight many good fights during our lives of faith. I am certain that if we learn to see Goliath through his eyes – we would conquer all our fears at once; and what is more – put our fears to death and walk victoriously in the faith which saves us. May God bless you.
Part l: A Boastful Man, Goliath (1-16)
There was a war between the Philistines and the Israelites. The Philistines were a godless people at war with the people of Israel. In those days, warfare was a kind of face to face confrontation. In a battle or a war, the spirit of an army was the most important factor in the victory, and the spirit of an army largely depended on its leader. Symbolically, the Philistines were the cohorts of Satan and the enemies of God’s people, bent on destroying them. From the Philistines then, we also learn how Satan fights against God’s people and what strategy he uses in conquering them.
Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camps at Ephes Dammin between Socoh and Azekah. Saul and his Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Isrealites another, with the valley between them. Nobody wanted to attack the other, because the army that did would have to face an upward battle to rach the other army and so they stood where they were. A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. Yao Ming, the Chinese Basketball star is 7’6” and weighs about 300lbs. Leonid Stadnick of Ukraine is 8’5” and weighs over 440lbs. Still growing he refuses to get measured. Due to his weight he broke a leg and has constant knee pain. Maybe Goliath had constant knee pain. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing 125 pounds. It was like wearing Tim on your back. On his legs he wore bronze greaves and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear was a like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed 15 pounds. It was like having a two by four with a large turkey at the end of it. It could have pierced a car door. Goliath was a champion who was strong, well disciplined and well equipped with arms. He became a great champion by defeating innumerable opponents through much fighting and bloodshed. There was no soldier as fierce as Goliath. He had never been defeated as a champion. Still today, his name, “Goliath” carries with it connotations of fear and terror.
He began to use psychological tactics against God’s people. Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become our subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” (8b,9) Goliath challenged the ranks of Israel to fight a duel so as to decide which side should be subject to the other. The peoples’ whose champion lost, would be subject to the victor’s people. Challenge and response – this was the way the people fought in ancient times.
But what was the response of Israel? They did not dare to respond to the challenge. On hearing Goliath’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. The definition of dismayed is, “To disable with alarm…to depress the spirits of or courage of.” (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 1945) They were caught by fear. This terrifying challenge did not stop after one incident. For forty days Goliath came forward every morning and evening, took his stand and shouted, saying, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” (10) Day after day, the hearts of the Israelites were more and more filled with fear and terror. Finally, they lost their spirit. They were paralyzed by fear. They were no more the armies of the living God. Practically, they were the slaves of fear.
Goliath’s strategy in warfare was to plant fear in the hearts of his opponents by intimidating them with his loud, angry cries, which welled up from his “champion spirit.” In doing this, he won the victory over the Israelites without fighting. The Israelites lost the war before the fight because of their fear. In reality, the enemy of the Israelites was not Goliath, the champion. Their real enemy was the fear in their hearts. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said in 1933, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” He was speaking about the difficult economic situation of the 1930’s but the principle remains the same…if a person wants to have a victorious life, he must make up his mind to overcome his fear of his Goliath’s. Otherwise his life will be continuous waves of defeat, trembling in fear.
There are many kinds of Goliath’s in the world that make us fearful. Living in this age of high technology we still have many fears, fears of cancer, pollution of nature, population explosion, global warming, economic collapse, terrorism, may be our Goliath’s. Perhaps the fear of future insecurities is most terrifying for some. Fear is the gift of Satan to people until they do nothing with their lives except pursue worldly security to calm their fears, and turn away from God. People are also intimidated by the Goliath of change. Many people realize their desperate need to change their ways or their lives. But the Goliath of change makes them fearful that if they changed they would lose everything, even the fun out of their lives. Many young people are afraid of being kicked out of their peer group in which they enjoy their sinful pleasures. Some are fearful of missing opportunities in life if they follow Jesus. They are fearful to give up the little they have in order to receive all the benefits that are in Christ Jesus. In fear people doubt one another. In fear, they reject each other. They are even afraid of the word of God, the Bible. Because of the Goliaths of this world, people tremble in fear day and night. One after another, they ignore Jesus and leave the work of God. What can people do in their fears except to give into their emotional feelings. In fear, they are driven to do ungodly things. In fear, they lose the spiritual battle of life and become useless to God and to God’s work. As long as we harbor any kind of fear we can ever live a victorious life of faith. Indeed, fear is our enemy.
What is the root of fear? It is unbelief, which comes from a cut relationship with God. Let’s remember Genesis. Cain rejected God’s counsel, thinking that he would be free is he lived in his own way. But this was not so. He was overcome by fear. At the moment he ran away from God, he confessed, “My punishment is more than I can bear…whoever finds me will kill me.” (Gen 4:13-14) There are many descendants of Cain in this world. With no apparent reason they tremble in fear day and night.
Why are people so fearful with no apparent reason? Fear does not come from without, but from within. Paul explains in Romans 8:15, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received a Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” It is a spirit within a man that makes him a slave to fear. When a man’s intimate relationship with God is broken, the Spirit of God leaves him. (Gen 6:3) Simultaneously, evil spirits occupy his heart and make him fearful, until finally he dies because of fear. One who is possessed by evil spirits is miserable all the time because of fear, no matter who he may be.
Let’s think of an example from the New Testament. Paul’s spiritual son, the gentle and quiet Timothy, was in Paul’s eyes the right person to serve God’s flock around the world. Indeed, Timothy had many godly qualities. He was honest, faithful and sincere. But Timothy had a problem believing that he was the right one to serve God’s purpose. From time to time, he was harassed by the Goliath of leadership. This Goliath made him fearful such that he could not progress spiritually. Every time he decided to do something for the glory of God or the good of others or the church, suddenly Goliath appeared and intimidated him to give up. Goliath said to him, “No one respects you as a leader. You have no leadership qualities.” Timothy struggled a lot with this Goliath. But he overcame his fears through God’s word in 2 Timothy 1:17, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” Satan gives us the spirit of fear when we have to do something, by faith, to the glory of God. But we must listen to God who gives us a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline that overcomes all fears. Indeed, God helps us in fearful times of struggles. We must therefore ask God’s help to conquer these fears. We must ask God to help us to overcome our fears in our hearts, fears that are both hidden and apparent.
Part ll: A Man Of God, Young David. (17-51)
Let’s learn how to win victory over Goliath from young David. David was the youngest among the eight sons of Jesse. He was also a shepherd boy and stayed home when his brothers were drafted by Saul. One day, David was sent to the front lines by his father to deliver food to his brothers and 10 cheeses to the commander. When he arrived, the armies were drawn up in battle positions. David greeted his brothers, and as they stood there talking, Goliath came out to shout his usual defiant insults. Saul and all the Israelites were once again dismayed and terrified.
First, David had a spirit of victory. Even though David was young, he loved God and he was full of holy anger. He said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (26) To David, who had faith in God Almighty, Goliath looked as if he were nothing. He saw Goliath as if he was a mosquito, noisy and irritating. On the other hand, he saw the armies of the living God as all powerful. David saw Goliath not as a living adversary but as a defeated foe. David was indeed full of a spirit of victory that conquers all God’s enemies. When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him say this, he could not understand this boy David and got mad. He said, “I know how conceited you and how wicked your heart is.” (28b) Maybe Eliab thought he should have been anointed by Samuel, instead of David.
Second, David had faith that takes initiative. When he was sent to Saul, David said to him, “Let no one loose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” (32) David was determined to fight this Goliath, and he took the initiative to start the fight. David’s first reaction was not to cower or let someone else fight the battle. His first reaction was to fight against this enemy of God. David had initiative – a fighting spirit to challenge all God’s enemies and subdue them. His words is verse 32, “I’ll do it,” tell us that he was always ready to serve God’s purpose in his life. He was always ready to be the first to do what is necessary to glorify God. He could take such initiative because of his faith in God. How comforting this young man must have been to Saul. There are times when God calls us to take the initiative in things and not wait for others. When we do we are well on the way to have victorious spirit, like David.
Third, David had faith in God’s deliverance. Saul saw him and said, “You are only a boy.” (33) He meant, “Your spirit is good, but you are too young to fight him.” At this point, David, in order to convince him, gave him an overview of his life as a shepherd. Read verses 34-37a, “But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and liked it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord has delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” In these verses, we learn two things from David. First, he talked about how courageous he had been. He mentioned dangerous wild animals who had attacked his flock and how he had fought them, risking his life. But he did not claim the glory for himself. He confessed that it was God who delivered him from danger. He knew that it was a dangerous and fearful thing to fight Goliath, but he was sure that the Lord, who had delivered him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear would deliver him from the hand of the Philistine. (37) This was faith in God’s deliverance. By faith in God, he overcame his fear and he could boldly respond to the challenge of Goliath, stand firmly and fight.
If we are going to have faith in God’s deliverance, we need to experience God’s deliverance. That is only possible when, in difficult situations you step out in faith and obey what God wants you to do. Then, when God delivers you, you have a spiritual experience. You can draw upon this experience again and again to meet future challenges by faith. Don’t let student life go by without experiencing God’s deliverance as you live as a shepherd of God’s flock. Don’t let your young married life or your financial difficulties stop you from gaining spiritual experiences of God’s deliverance when you obey God in the midst of it all.
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord will be with you.” (37b) In a helpless situation, King Saul could not but depend on David who had faith in God Almighty. What did David do in order to prepare to fight Goliath? At first, he tried on Saul’s armor, but he took it off because he was not used to it. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. Meanwhile, the Philistine looked David over and saw that he was a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. Jokingly he said to David, “Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks.” He was overconfident about his skill. He never expected anything unusual to happen.
Fourth, David had faith that honors God’s name. Look at verses 45-46, “David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.’” This is David’s confession of faith. He said, “…I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel…” David should fear this giant. But he could overcome his fear when he faced him with the faith that he was fighting him in the name of the Lord Almighty. He had faith that he was God’s ambassador with all the power and authority of God to conquer the enemy in the name of the Lord and for his honor. Indeed, this kind of faith overcomes fears and conquers enemies.
Fifth, David had faith that the battle is the Lord’s. Read verse 47 again. David had faith in God to fight this Goliath. And his faith came from a conviction that this battle, and all battles for that matter, are the Lord’s battles and therefore, they must surely glorify God. As a loyal soldier in the Lord’s army, he had a duty to fight Goliath in order to honor and glorify the Almighty God. There was no choice to fight. It was his duty. With this faith then, he overcame all his fear and the victory was assured.
What was the result? As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly with total concentration toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag, he took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown into the ground. David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he had killed him he cut off his head with the sword. David triumphed over the Philistine. The secret of his victory lay in his faith in God Almighty. He was only a young man, but he had no fear in his heart, and God granted him victory.
What was the outcome? Look at verses 50-58. Let’s read verses 51b-53. “ When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath [g] and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.” David’s courageous faith encouraged everyone around him. It made all the difference. For 40 days things were at a standstill. And all at once the army was emboldened. Here we see the power of one. It takes the faith of one person possessing the spirit of victory in their hearts to enliven the hearts of all God’s people.
Through this passage we see that unbelief is the cause of fear and defeat, and that faith is the secret of victory. When we depend on our strength and skill, we loose our battles. But when we depend on God, to overcome our fear and fight, surely victory will be ours, even though we may be young. May God give us a victorious spirit and a victorious life when we determine to have faith in God in the face of our many “Goliaths” and stand and fight by faith.
1 Samuel 17:1-58 Lesson 10
Key verse 17:45b
“…but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel.”
Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7 & 8a: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award top me on that day.” In these verses Paul is saying, as a victor of life in Jesus, that life is a continuous battle, and that there is a victor and a looser. Today’s passage is about David and Goliath. David was the youngest of the eight sons of Jesse, and he was a shepherd boy. He fought a duel, against Goliath, a giant of a man, and won the victory over the champion. There are many stories of faith in the Bible that inspire us to overcome our fears and to be filled with faith to meet our daily challenges. But in the Bible, this story of young David is most beautiful and powerful because it teaches us that indeed “faith is the victory we know that overcomes the world.” Like David, we also must fight many good fights during our lives of faith. I am certain that if we learn to see Goliath through his eyes – we would conquer all our fears at once; and what is more – put our fears to death and walk victoriously in the faith which saves us. May God bless you.
Part l: A Boastful Man, Goliath (1-16)
There was a war between the Philistines and the Israelites. The Philistines were a godless people at war with the people of Israel. In those days, warfare was a kind of face to face confrontation. In a battle or a war, the spirit of an army was the most important factor in the victory, and the spirit of an army largely depended on its leader. Symbolically, the Philistines were the cohorts of Satan and the enemies of God’s people, bent on destroying them. From the Philistines then, we also learn how Satan fights against God’s people and what strategy he uses in conquering them.
Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camps at Ephes Dammin between Socoh and Azekah. Saul and his Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Isrealites another, with the valley between them. Nobody wanted to attack the other, because the army that did would have to face an upward battle to rach the other army and so they stood where they were. A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. Yao Ming, the Chinese Basketball star is 7’6” and weighs about 300lbs. Leonid Stadnick of Ukraine is 8’5” and weighs over 440lbs. Still growing he refuses to get measured. Due to his weight he broke a leg and has constant knee pain. Maybe Goliath had constant knee pain. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing 125 pounds. It was like wearing Tim on your back. On his legs he wore bronze greaves and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear was a like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed 15 pounds. It was like having a two by four with a large turkey at the end of it. It could have pierced a car door. Goliath was a champion who was strong, well disciplined and well equipped with arms. He became a great champion by defeating innumerable opponents through much fighting and bloodshed. There was no soldier as fierce as Goliath. He had never been defeated as a champion. Still today, his name, “Goliath” carries with it connotations of fear and terror.
He began to use psychological tactics against God’s people. Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become our subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” (8b,9) Goliath challenged the ranks of Israel to fight a duel so as to decide which side should be subject to the other. The peoples’ whose champion lost, would be subject to the victor’s people. Challenge and response – this was the way the people fought in ancient times.
But what was the response of Israel? They did not dare to respond to the challenge. On hearing Goliath’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. The definition of dismayed is, “To disable with alarm…to depress the spirits of or courage of.” (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 1945) They were caught by fear. This terrifying challenge did not stop after one incident. For forty days Goliath came forward every morning and evening, took his stand and shouted, saying, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” (10) Day after day, the hearts of the Israelites were more and more filled with fear and terror. Finally, they lost their spirit. They were paralyzed by fear. They were no more the armies of the living God. Practically, they were the slaves of fear.
Goliath’s strategy in warfare was to plant fear in the hearts of his opponents by intimidating them with his loud, angry cries, which welled up from his “champion spirit.” In doing this, he won the victory over the Israelites without fighting. The Israelites lost the war before the fight because of their fear. In reality, the enemy of the Israelites was not Goliath, the champion. Their real enemy was the fear in their hearts. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said in 1933, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” He was speaking about the difficult economic situation of the 1930’s but the principle remains the same…if a person wants to have a victorious life, he must make up his mind to overcome his fear of his Goliath’s. Otherwise his life will be continuous waves of defeat, trembling in fear.
There are many kinds of Goliath’s in the world that make us fearful. Living in this age of high technology we still have many fears, fears of cancer, pollution of nature, population explosion, global warming, economic collapse, terrorism, may be our Goliath’s. Perhaps the fear of future insecurities is most terrifying for some. Fear is the gift of Satan to people until they do nothing with their lives except pursue worldly security to calm their fears, and turn away from God. People are also intimidated by the Goliath of change. Many people realize their desperate need to change their ways or their lives. But the Goliath of change makes them fearful that if they changed they would lose everything, even the fun out of their lives. Many young people are afraid of being kicked out of their peer group in which they enjoy their sinful pleasures. Some are fearful of missing opportunities in life if they follow Jesus. They are fearful to give up the little they have in order to receive all the benefits that are in Christ Jesus. In fear people doubt one another. In fear, they reject each other. They are even afraid of the word of God, the Bible. Because of the Goliaths of this world, people tremble in fear day and night. One after another, they ignore Jesus and leave the work of God. What can people do in their fears except to give into their emotional feelings. In fear, they are driven to do ungodly things. In fear, they lose the spiritual battle of life and become useless to God and to God’s work. As long as we harbor any kind of fear we can ever live a victorious life of faith. Indeed, fear is our enemy.
What is the root of fear? It is unbelief, which comes from a cut relationship with God. Let’s remember Genesis. Cain rejected God’s counsel, thinking that he would be free is he lived in his own way. But this was not so. He was overcome by fear. At the moment he ran away from God, he confessed, “My punishment is more than I can bear…whoever finds me will kill me.” (Gen 4:13-14) There are many descendants of Cain in this world. With no apparent reason they tremble in fear day and night.
Why are people so fearful with no apparent reason? Fear does not come from without, but from within. Paul explains in Romans 8:15, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received a Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” It is a spirit within a man that makes him a slave to fear. When a man’s intimate relationship with God is broken, the Spirit of God leaves him. (Gen 6:3) Simultaneously, evil spirits occupy his heart and make him fearful, until finally he dies because of fear. One who is possessed by evil spirits is miserable all the time because of fear, no matter who he may be.
Let’s think of an example from the New Testament. Paul’s spiritual son, the gentle and quiet Timothy, was in Paul’s eyes the right person to serve God’s flock around the world. Indeed, Timothy had many godly qualities. He was honest, faithful and sincere. But Timothy had a problem believing that he was the right one to serve God’s purpose. From time to time, he was harassed by the Goliath of leadership. This Goliath made him fearful such that he could not progress spiritually. Every time he decided to do something for the glory of God or the good of others or the church, suddenly Goliath appeared and intimidated him to give up. Goliath said to him, “No one respects you as a leader. You have no leadership qualities.” Timothy struggled a lot with this Goliath. But he overcame his fears through God’s word in 2 Timothy 1:17, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” Satan gives us the spirit of fear when we have to do something, by faith, to the glory of God. But we must listen to God who gives us a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline that overcomes all fears. Indeed, God helps us in fearful times of struggles. We must therefore ask God’s help to conquer these fears. We must ask God to help us to overcome our fears in our hearts, fears that are both hidden and apparent.
Part ll: A Man Of God, Young David. (17-51)
Let’s learn how to win victory over Goliath from young David. David was the youngest among the eight sons of Jesse. He was also a shepherd boy and stayed home when his brothers were drafted by Saul. One day, David was sent to the front lines by his father to deliver food to his brothers and 10 cheeses to the commander. When he arrived, the armies were drawn up in battle positions. David greeted his brothers, and as they stood there talking, Goliath came out to shout his usual defiant insults. Saul and all the Israelites were once again dismayed and terrified.
First, David had a spirit of victory. Even though David was young, he loved God and he was full of holy anger. He said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (26) To David, who had faith in God Almighty, Goliath looked as if he were nothing. He saw Goliath as if he was a mosquito, noisy and irritating. On the other hand, he saw the armies of the living God as all powerful. David saw Goliath not as a living adversary but as a defeated foe. David was indeed full of a spirit of victory that conquers all God’s enemies. When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him say this, he could not understand this boy David and got mad. He said, “I know how conceited you and how wicked your heart is.” (28b) Maybe Eliab thought he should have been anointed by Samuel, instead of David.
Second, David had faith that takes initiative. When he was sent to Saul, David said to him, “Let no one loose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” (32) David was determined to fight this Goliath, and he took the initiative to start the fight. David’s first reaction was not to cower or let someone else fight the battle. His first reaction was to fight against this enemy of God. David had initiative – a fighting spirit to challenge all God’s enemies and subdue them. His words is verse 32, “I’ll do it,” tell us that he was always ready to serve God’s purpose in his life. He was always ready to be the first to do what is necessary to glorify God. He could take such initiative because of his faith in God. How comforting this young man must have been to Saul. There are times when God calls us to take the initiative in things and not wait for others. When we do we are well on the way to have victorious spirit, like David.
Third, David had faith in God’s deliverance. Saul saw him and said, “You are only a boy.” (33) He meant, “Your spirit is good, but you are too young to fight him.” At this point, David, in order to convince him, gave him an overview of his life as a shepherd. Read verses 34-37a, “But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and liked it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord has delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” In these verses, we learn two things from David. First, he talked about how courageous he had been. He mentioned dangerous wild animals who had attacked his flock and how he had fought them, risking his life. But he did not claim the glory for himself. He confessed that it was God who delivered him from danger. He knew that it was a dangerous and fearful thing to fight Goliath, but he was sure that the Lord, who had delivered him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear would deliver him from the hand of the Philistine. (37) This was faith in God’s deliverance. By faith in God, he overcame his fear and he could boldly respond to the challenge of Goliath, stand firmly and fight.
If we are going to have faith in God’s deliverance, we need to experience God’s deliverance. That is only possible when, in difficult situations you step out in faith and obey what God wants you to do. Then, when God delivers you, you have a spiritual experience. You can draw upon this experience again and again to meet future challenges by faith. Don’t let student life go by without experiencing God’s deliverance as you live as a shepherd of God’s flock. Don’t let your young married life or your financial difficulties stop you from gaining spiritual experiences of God’s deliverance when you obey God in the midst of it all.
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord will be with you.” (37b) In a helpless situation, King Saul could not but depend on David who had faith in God Almighty. What did David do in order to prepare to fight Goliath? At first, he tried on Saul’s armor, but he took it off because he was not used to it. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. Meanwhile, the Philistine looked David over and saw that he was a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. Jokingly he said to David, “Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks.” He was overconfident about his skill. He never expected anything unusual to happen.
Fourth, David had faith that honors God’s name. Look at verses 45-46, “David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.’” This is David’s confession of faith. He said, “…I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel…” David should fear this giant. But he could overcome his fear when he faced him with the faith that he was fighting him in the name of the Lord Almighty. He had faith that he was God’s ambassador with all the power and authority of God to conquer the enemy in the name of the Lord and for his honor. Indeed, this kind of faith overcomes fears and conquers enemies.
Fifth, David had faith that the battle is the Lord’s. Read verse 47 again. David had faith in God to fight this Goliath. And his faith came from a conviction that this battle, and all battles for that matter, are the Lord’s battles and therefore, they must surely glorify God. As a loyal soldier in the Lord’s army, he had a duty to fight Goliath in order to honor and glorify the Almighty God. There was no choice to fight. It was his duty. With this faith then, he overcame all his fear and the victory was assured.
What was the result? As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly with total concentration toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag, he took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown into the ground. David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he had killed him he cut off his head with the sword. David triumphed over the Philistine. The secret of his victory lay in his faith in God Almighty. He was only a young man, but he had no fear in his heart, and God granted him victory.
What was the outcome? Look at verses 50-58. Let’s read verses 51b-53. “ When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath [g] and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.” David’s courageous faith encouraged everyone around him. It made all the difference. For 40 days things were at a standstill. And all at once the army was emboldened. Here we see the power of one. It takes the faith of one person possessing the spirit of victory in their hearts to enliven the hearts of all God’s people.
Through this passage we see that unbelief is the cause of fear and defeat, and that faith is the secret of victory. When we depend on our strength and skill, we loose our battles. But when we depend on God, to overcome our fear and fight, surely victory will be ours, even though we may be young. May God give us a victorious spirit and a victorious life when we determine to have faith in God in the face of our many “Goliaths” and stand and fight by faith.
A New Creation in Christ!
A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST JESUS
(Sunday, the Fourth of January, 2009)
2 Corinthians 5:1-21 By Jay Irwin
Key Verse 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Happy New Year!!! We wanted to start out 2009 by pondering what it means to be a new creation. Of course, around the New Year season lots of people are looking for ways to make a new start and turn over a new leaf in life. They want to start fresh, and not continue on in whatever they may have been entangled in or tied up with in the previous year. But, this is what we want also, isn’t it? Well, if indeed it is what you want, then it would help us to search out these scriptures today carefully in order to receive from God, His way of making things new for each of us this year. Even more than our desire to start things off newly, there is God’s desire to reconcile us to himself and make us into new creations. Let’s see how God can make us each into a new creation in Christ Jesus. Before we begin, let’s pray.
Part I, Our Eternal Hope in the heavenly kingdom
Verses 1-5 say, “1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” When the passage talks about “our earthly tent” its symbolic of where we are now living, our physical body. Yet, when it says, and “a building from God”, this refers to where we will be living in the future, in our resurrection body. Throughout our life on earth, we live in physical bodies made of the dust of the ground. These bodies are merely physical, weak, and temporary; we will not be here forever. Deep down we wish that our souls were clothed with our heavenly dwelling, our resurrection body, that which is spiritual, strong, and eternal. What we are eagerly hoping for is to be in heaven with Christ. And indeed, we who have been given the deposit of the Holy Spirit will be with Christ in eternal glory in the kingdom of God. That is the place that we are looking forward to earnestly.
In verse 6-10, we are assured of this heavenly hope because of our faith and the deposit of the Holy Spirit. We are confident of our hope in the heavenly kingdom because we know that our final destination is with Christ in heaven. We don’t have to guess or wonder where we will go after we die because our faith in Jesus’ promise gives us great confidence: “3…if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” While we wait, this heavenly hope moves our hearts to please God and be used by him to do his good work. We have this goal to please God in all we do because of God’s great love for us revealed through this real and living hope.
Part 2, A New Creation in Christ
Now let’s search the second part of this chapter to find out what it means to be a new creation in Christ. Verse 17 says, “17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” When a person becomes a new creation, there is a radical and complete change that takes place in his or her life. There is clear evidence of the newness that God has brought about inside of that person. This change however is a work of God, not of man’s efforts or decisions. But before we think about what it means to be a new creation, let’s first think about the first part of the verse that says, “…if anyone is in Christ,…” Then, we’ll think about “…a new creation.”
To be in Christ means to have been brought out from sin and the world. Before anyone is in Christ, he or she is God’s enemy. We are not in Christ automatically when we are born or by going to church all our lives, instead we are born in sin and we are of this dark world as objects of God’s wrath. The Bible says that our sins separated us from God and because of our sin our relationship with God was broken. Simply put, we were dead in our sins and cut off from God. This is the condition of anyone who is not in Christ.
Where do you find yourself today? Would you say that you are in Christ? This question is a very important question that each of us must answer before starting the New Year. May we not wait any longer, but come to Christ, and be found in him. Accept his love and forgiveness, and as the passage says in verse 20, “…Be reconciled to God!” No one can become a new creation unless they are first reconciled to God through Christ. Let Jesus mend your broken relationship with God and bring you back into close fellowship with Him. If it is not already, we ought to make it our number 1 goal, to allow Christ to reconcile our relationship to God. This requires simple child-like faith. To be in Christ means to believe in Jesus’ grace of sin forgiveness. We trust that Jesus forgives our sins because he died on the cross, shedding his blood to cleanse us and to wash us white as snow. Jesus is our city of refuge, in him we can come and hide from the avenger. Jesus is also our ark, in him we can be safe from judgment and preserved from all harm. When we are in Christ, then we can be made into a new creation through the powerful work of God.
Now that we’ve learned how we can become a new creation, let’s think about what it actually means to be a new creation? As we mentioned, it means radical and complete change. This radical change can be seen by a changed hope, a changed mission, and a changed identity.
First, a changed hope. Look at verse 4, “4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” Before we were made anew in Christ, we lived with lowly earthly hopes. Most people only hope for things like a pay raise at work, a new video game, or even for the weekend (TGIF). Some people are very hopeful on Friday’s, but despair on Sunday nights because they have to go back to work or school the next day. There are also more noble hopes like the hope of marriage, of getting a new house, or the hope of being successful and accepted by family, friends, and coworkers. All these hopes are not necessarily sinful, but often times such earthly hopes disappoint us, and do not last. During these troubling economic times, many are despairing and have no hope. Since so many have earthly hopes in political leaders or money, they will be disappointed if these things don’t deliver what they promise.
Yet, as we saw in verses 1-8, the hope of a new creation is a heavenly hope. When a person has been reconciled to God, forgiven of their sins, they are a new creation; there is a fundamental change from hoping for earthly things to hoping for heavenly things. Paul’s hope and the hope he was trying to remind the Corinthians of was the heavenly hope to someday be with God and to be clothed with their glorious resurrection bodies. Our heavenly hope is eternal in nature and will not disappoint. The changed hope runs deep in our hearts and gives us full assurance of what we are longing for and expecting from God, that is, to someday be with Jesus in glory in heaven. The gospel fills our hearts with these heavenly hopes that endure through bad times and good times and help us to carry on without despairing.
Second, a changed mission. Look at verses 11-15. Verse 15 says, “15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” The direction that we were going in our lives before being a new creation was self seeking. We lived for ourselves and not for Christ. We did not know the love of God for ourselves or for the world, so we just lived to please ourselves and follow the desires of the sinful nature. Some people before being saved passionately devote themselves to noble causes like the cure for cancer or fighting world poverty and starvation. I’m sure most of you have heard of Bono, the famous U2 lead singer, is living for the “do the red thing” cause, to find a cure for AIDS in Africa. He is donating and speaking and traveling and dedicating himself fully to this mission. Yet, even such noble causes can still be entirely motivated from the old self. Not even the nicest guy or girl in the world can make himself into a new creation. Serving noble causes make people look like their life direction is on target. But this is not always true. We must be recreated from the inside out, and our mission comes from heaven. We first must be directed by the Spirit of God to live for Christ and for him alone, otherwise, we might get to the end of our lives and find out that we served a mission that’s end was the glory of men rather than the glory of God.
Look at verse 15 again. It says, “… that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” The changed mission is the new life direction to live for Christ who died for us and was raised from the dead. When we have been created anew by God, then we have the desire to live fully for Christ and His gospel. Living for Christ means persuading men to turn from their sins to God’s grace and mercy. It means being crazy for Jesus and allowing God to make his appeal to the world through our lives. It is to preach the gospel in all we do, sharing our testimony with others and leading them to the Savior. What mission and life direction do you have for this coming year? Is it to live for you or to live for Christ? May our answer be a bold and firm “for Christ” There is an old saying that goes something like this, “Only one life to life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” May what we do for Christ be the new direction of our life as a new creation in Christ, until we reach our heavenly home.
Third, a changed identity. Verses 16-17 says, “16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Once again, before we were in Christ, our outlook was worldly, which meant that whatever we saw we saw through the lens of worldly ways of thinking. The world’s point of view is that people are valuable based on their family background, the intelligence, their looks, their bank account, or their career. Do you look at yourself and others from a worldly point of view or a Christ-like point of view? Do you make judgment calls based on how talented or attractive you are? What do you pay attention to when you see yourself or others? In Christ, we have a new identity, so we should not see ourselves or others with a worldly outlook, but instead also see them as a new creation in Christ.
When Jesus called Simon, he changed his name to “Peter”, which means rock. This was to give him a new identity, to be a strong man of God, rather than one who was unstable. Later, he went and preached the gospel fearlessly to the Jews and many were saved through their ministry. Also, Jesus changed John the apostle’s name from a son of thunder(one who always judged and condemned others) to “the apostle whom Jesus loved.” Later, John wrote such beautiful and poetic words by saying, “10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Our Lord also fundamentally gave the apostle Paul a new identity as well. Paul was once named Saul, he was an ultra-religious, self-righteous, Pharisee who murdered Christians. But when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, he met Jesus personally, and God gave him a new identity as a servant of Christ Jesus to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
In the same way, our identity is to live as ministers of the gospel of reconciliation called by God to lead men back to God and unite all people under Christ. Yet, the ministry of reconciliation is not easy to serve. It means that we have to learn to say sorry first. Usually, we wait around for others to apologize to us, but when we have a broken relationship we should follow the example of our Lord Jesus who took the first step to forgive us even while we were still sinners and enemies of God. Recently, a leader in UBF demonstrated the essence of this hard process of reconciliation by simply saying, “sorry” to Carrie and I for some problems we had had in the UBF ministry. We realized that this leader showed real Christ-like character when he apologized to us. Through this we could see that God is changing the UBF ministry more and more into a Christ-centered ministry of reconciliation, one that works to serve the gospel which has the power to mend any broken relationship.
Personally, this passage really spoke to my heart as I wrote this message because I could see how much I had digressed as a Christian over the past year. The year of 2008 was a very hard year for me spiritually. Even though years ago, God had done a great work in my heart, making me into a new creation in Christ, I found that I had gone back to all my old ways. In my life testimony I would always share how God saved me from my sins of lust and addiction to pornography and video games. However, last year I got entangled again with these sin problems. My relationship with God and my wife and others was broken, and there was no peace in my heart. I suffered greatly, but I did not go to God and cry out to him or call on his name. This hurt even more. In addition, I had broken relationships with many people in UBF for just leaving without saying much of anything despite all the love and grace that had been invested and poured out into my life. I was living for myself not for Christ, and played video games and committed shameful immoral sins. God convicted me though as my marriage started to have problems. I realized my need to return to God, repenting of my sins, and devoting myself once again to the words of God and deep Bible study. God allowed me to have 1:1 with Pastor Kevin where I could repent and be reconciled to God. After our first Bible study I felt like a new creation, like the breath of God had been breathed into me newly and I was alive again. This showed me that I need to be a new creation everyday through giving my heart to Christ and serving the ministry he’s called me to, namely preaching the gospel to people.
But from this passage, I could give thanks to God because I realized that God has the power to make all things new and to renew my heart and inner man for this new year. The same God that made me into a new creation in Christ years ago, can still today forgive my sins and reconcile me to himself once again. I accept his grace and love and pray to give my whole heart to his ministry of reconciliation. To me this means going to the NIU campus and inviting students to Bible study in the new semester. It means helping my family members to be reconciled to God through Christ as well. It also means me learning to say sorry first in my relationship with Carrie when I’m wrong and we argue.
In conclusion, let us each pray that to start off the new year, we would be reconciled to God through Christ, and that in this way we would be made into new creations. I pray that we can have a new identity in Christ. We are not just a teacher, a paperboy, a forensic expert, an administrative assistant, or a Geek (squad agent), but rather we are new creations in Christ Jesus. Let us give our hearts fully to God’s ministry of reconciliation by preaching the gospel and making efforts to restore broken relationships. Let’s remember our Lord Jesus who gave up his life make us a new creation, living with heavenly hopes, a clear mission and direction in life to live for Christ not ourselves, and a changed identity as ambassadors of Christ preaching the gospel to the world.
One Word: A new creation in Christ
(Sunday, the Fourth of January, 2009)
2 Corinthians 5:1-21 By Jay Irwin
Key Verse 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Happy New Year!!! We wanted to start out 2009 by pondering what it means to be a new creation. Of course, around the New Year season lots of people are looking for ways to make a new start and turn over a new leaf in life. They want to start fresh, and not continue on in whatever they may have been entangled in or tied up with in the previous year. But, this is what we want also, isn’t it? Well, if indeed it is what you want, then it would help us to search out these scriptures today carefully in order to receive from God, His way of making things new for each of us this year. Even more than our desire to start things off newly, there is God’s desire to reconcile us to himself and make us into new creations. Let’s see how God can make us each into a new creation in Christ Jesus. Before we begin, let’s pray.
Part I, Our Eternal Hope in the heavenly kingdom
Verses 1-5 say, “1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” When the passage talks about “our earthly tent” its symbolic of where we are now living, our physical body. Yet, when it says, and “a building from God”, this refers to where we will be living in the future, in our resurrection body. Throughout our life on earth, we live in physical bodies made of the dust of the ground. These bodies are merely physical, weak, and temporary; we will not be here forever. Deep down we wish that our souls were clothed with our heavenly dwelling, our resurrection body, that which is spiritual, strong, and eternal. What we are eagerly hoping for is to be in heaven with Christ. And indeed, we who have been given the deposit of the Holy Spirit will be with Christ in eternal glory in the kingdom of God. That is the place that we are looking forward to earnestly.
In verse 6-10, we are assured of this heavenly hope because of our faith and the deposit of the Holy Spirit. We are confident of our hope in the heavenly kingdom because we know that our final destination is with Christ in heaven. We don’t have to guess or wonder where we will go after we die because our faith in Jesus’ promise gives us great confidence: “3…if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” While we wait, this heavenly hope moves our hearts to please God and be used by him to do his good work. We have this goal to please God in all we do because of God’s great love for us revealed through this real and living hope.
Part 2, A New Creation in Christ
Now let’s search the second part of this chapter to find out what it means to be a new creation in Christ. Verse 17 says, “17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” When a person becomes a new creation, there is a radical and complete change that takes place in his or her life. There is clear evidence of the newness that God has brought about inside of that person. This change however is a work of God, not of man’s efforts or decisions. But before we think about what it means to be a new creation, let’s first think about the first part of the verse that says, “…if anyone is in Christ,…” Then, we’ll think about “…a new creation.”
To be in Christ means to have been brought out from sin and the world. Before anyone is in Christ, he or she is God’s enemy. We are not in Christ automatically when we are born or by going to church all our lives, instead we are born in sin and we are of this dark world as objects of God’s wrath. The Bible says that our sins separated us from God and because of our sin our relationship with God was broken. Simply put, we were dead in our sins and cut off from God. This is the condition of anyone who is not in Christ.
Where do you find yourself today? Would you say that you are in Christ? This question is a very important question that each of us must answer before starting the New Year. May we not wait any longer, but come to Christ, and be found in him. Accept his love and forgiveness, and as the passage says in verse 20, “…Be reconciled to God!” No one can become a new creation unless they are first reconciled to God through Christ. Let Jesus mend your broken relationship with God and bring you back into close fellowship with Him. If it is not already, we ought to make it our number 1 goal, to allow Christ to reconcile our relationship to God. This requires simple child-like faith. To be in Christ means to believe in Jesus’ grace of sin forgiveness. We trust that Jesus forgives our sins because he died on the cross, shedding his blood to cleanse us and to wash us white as snow. Jesus is our city of refuge, in him we can come and hide from the avenger. Jesus is also our ark, in him we can be safe from judgment and preserved from all harm. When we are in Christ, then we can be made into a new creation through the powerful work of God.
Now that we’ve learned how we can become a new creation, let’s think about what it actually means to be a new creation? As we mentioned, it means radical and complete change. This radical change can be seen by a changed hope, a changed mission, and a changed identity.
First, a changed hope. Look at verse 4, “4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” Before we were made anew in Christ, we lived with lowly earthly hopes. Most people only hope for things like a pay raise at work, a new video game, or even for the weekend (TGIF). Some people are very hopeful on Friday’s, but despair on Sunday nights because they have to go back to work or school the next day. There are also more noble hopes like the hope of marriage, of getting a new house, or the hope of being successful and accepted by family, friends, and coworkers. All these hopes are not necessarily sinful, but often times such earthly hopes disappoint us, and do not last. During these troubling economic times, many are despairing and have no hope. Since so many have earthly hopes in political leaders or money, they will be disappointed if these things don’t deliver what they promise.
Yet, as we saw in verses 1-8, the hope of a new creation is a heavenly hope. When a person has been reconciled to God, forgiven of their sins, they are a new creation; there is a fundamental change from hoping for earthly things to hoping for heavenly things. Paul’s hope and the hope he was trying to remind the Corinthians of was the heavenly hope to someday be with God and to be clothed with their glorious resurrection bodies. Our heavenly hope is eternal in nature and will not disappoint. The changed hope runs deep in our hearts and gives us full assurance of what we are longing for and expecting from God, that is, to someday be with Jesus in glory in heaven. The gospel fills our hearts with these heavenly hopes that endure through bad times and good times and help us to carry on without despairing.
Second, a changed mission. Look at verses 11-15. Verse 15 says, “15And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” The direction that we were going in our lives before being a new creation was self seeking. We lived for ourselves and not for Christ. We did not know the love of God for ourselves or for the world, so we just lived to please ourselves and follow the desires of the sinful nature. Some people before being saved passionately devote themselves to noble causes like the cure for cancer or fighting world poverty and starvation. I’m sure most of you have heard of Bono, the famous U2 lead singer, is living for the “do the red thing” cause, to find a cure for AIDS in Africa. He is donating and speaking and traveling and dedicating himself fully to this mission. Yet, even such noble causes can still be entirely motivated from the old self. Not even the nicest guy or girl in the world can make himself into a new creation. Serving noble causes make people look like their life direction is on target. But this is not always true. We must be recreated from the inside out, and our mission comes from heaven. We first must be directed by the Spirit of God to live for Christ and for him alone, otherwise, we might get to the end of our lives and find out that we served a mission that’s end was the glory of men rather than the glory of God.
Look at verse 15 again. It says, “… that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” The changed mission is the new life direction to live for Christ who died for us and was raised from the dead. When we have been created anew by God, then we have the desire to live fully for Christ and His gospel. Living for Christ means persuading men to turn from their sins to God’s grace and mercy. It means being crazy for Jesus and allowing God to make his appeal to the world through our lives. It is to preach the gospel in all we do, sharing our testimony with others and leading them to the Savior. What mission and life direction do you have for this coming year? Is it to live for you or to live for Christ? May our answer be a bold and firm “for Christ” There is an old saying that goes something like this, “Only one life to life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” May what we do for Christ be the new direction of our life as a new creation in Christ, until we reach our heavenly home.
Third, a changed identity. Verses 16-17 says, “16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Once again, before we were in Christ, our outlook was worldly, which meant that whatever we saw we saw through the lens of worldly ways of thinking. The world’s point of view is that people are valuable based on their family background, the intelligence, their looks, their bank account, or their career. Do you look at yourself and others from a worldly point of view or a Christ-like point of view? Do you make judgment calls based on how talented or attractive you are? What do you pay attention to when you see yourself or others? In Christ, we have a new identity, so we should not see ourselves or others with a worldly outlook, but instead also see them as a new creation in Christ.
When Jesus called Simon, he changed his name to “Peter”, which means rock. This was to give him a new identity, to be a strong man of God, rather than one who was unstable. Later, he went and preached the gospel fearlessly to the Jews and many were saved through their ministry. Also, Jesus changed John the apostle’s name from a son of thunder(one who always judged and condemned others) to “the apostle whom Jesus loved.” Later, John wrote such beautiful and poetic words by saying, “10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Our Lord also fundamentally gave the apostle Paul a new identity as well. Paul was once named Saul, he was an ultra-religious, self-righteous, Pharisee who murdered Christians. But when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, he met Jesus personally, and God gave him a new identity as a servant of Christ Jesus to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
In the same way, our identity is to live as ministers of the gospel of reconciliation called by God to lead men back to God and unite all people under Christ. Yet, the ministry of reconciliation is not easy to serve. It means that we have to learn to say sorry first. Usually, we wait around for others to apologize to us, but when we have a broken relationship we should follow the example of our Lord Jesus who took the first step to forgive us even while we were still sinners and enemies of God. Recently, a leader in UBF demonstrated the essence of this hard process of reconciliation by simply saying, “sorry” to Carrie and I for some problems we had had in the UBF ministry. We realized that this leader showed real Christ-like character when he apologized to us. Through this we could see that God is changing the UBF ministry more and more into a Christ-centered ministry of reconciliation, one that works to serve the gospel which has the power to mend any broken relationship.
Personally, this passage really spoke to my heart as I wrote this message because I could see how much I had digressed as a Christian over the past year. The year of 2008 was a very hard year for me spiritually. Even though years ago, God had done a great work in my heart, making me into a new creation in Christ, I found that I had gone back to all my old ways. In my life testimony I would always share how God saved me from my sins of lust and addiction to pornography and video games. However, last year I got entangled again with these sin problems. My relationship with God and my wife and others was broken, and there was no peace in my heart. I suffered greatly, but I did not go to God and cry out to him or call on his name. This hurt even more. In addition, I had broken relationships with many people in UBF for just leaving without saying much of anything despite all the love and grace that had been invested and poured out into my life. I was living for myself not for Christ, and played video games and committed shameful immoral sins. God convicted me though as my marriage started to have problems. I realized my need to return to God, repenting of my sins, and devoting myself once again to the words of God and deep Bible study. God allowed me to have 1:1 with Pastor Kevin where I could repent and be reconciled to God. After our first Bible study I felt like a new creation, like the breath of God had been breathed into me newly and I was alive again. This showed me that I need to be a new creation everyday through giving my heart to Christ and serving the ministry he’s called me to, namely preaching the gospel to people.
But from this passage, I could give thanks to God because I realized that God has the power to make all things new and to renew my heart and inner man for this new year. The same God that made me into a new creation in Christ years ago, can still today forgive my sins and reconcile me to himself once again. I accept his grace and love and pray to give my whole heart to his ministry of reconciliation. To me this means going to the NIU campus and inviting students to Bible study in the new semester. It means helping my family members to be reconciled to God through Christ as well. It also means me learning to say sorry first in my relationship with Carrie when I’m wrong and we argue.
In conclusion, let us each pray that to start off the new year, we would be reconciled to God through Christ, and that in this way we would be made into new creations. I pray that we can have a new identity in Christ. We are not just a teacher, a paperboy, a forensic expert, an administrative assistant, or a Geek (squad agent), but rather we are new creations in Christ Jesus. Let us give our hearts fully to God’s ministry of reconciliation by preaching the gospel and making efforts to restore broken relationships. Let’s remember our Lord Jesus who gave up his life make us a new creation, living with heavenly hopes, a clear mission and direction in life to live for Christ not ourselves, and a changed identity as ambassadors of Christ preaching the gospel to the world.
One Word: A new creation in Christ
Sunday, January 11, 2009
New Years Message
LOVE THE LORD OUR GOD
Deuteronomy 6:1-13 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF
Key Verse: 6:5 1/11/09
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
I thank God for the opportunity to reflect on God’s work in the previous year and find some clear direction for the new year. This is not just your average New Year’s resolutions. Most, almost all people, do not carry through with their yearly resolutions. These are spiritual resolutions, they are prayers and vows to the Almighty God and we can keep them because, God, the Creator and the Sustainer of the whole universe, sustains and upholds us and leads us according to our key verses. This Sunday we will hear about the wonderful grace of Jesus in peoples’ lives in 2008 and the hope and vision they have for themselves, in Christ, for 2009. We can pray for each other according to these key verses. We will also learn our ministry key verse, and the direction or our ministry in the coming year. As you probably guessed the NIU UBF ministry key verse is Deuteronomy 6:5, ““Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Let’s learn what that means for us in the coming year. May God help us to love him with all our heart and with all our souls and with all our strength in 2009.
What is God asking of his people? Let’s read verse 5 together, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." First, this verse is an imperative command. The word “Love” in this verse comes from the Greek word “agape.” This means the love of God. “Love the Lord…” It is not an option. Nor is it a nice suggestion. It is not a hobby that we do if we have time or if is convenient. How can someone command someone else to love you? It is like saying, “Hey. You...You have to love me.” That is not going to fly with a lot of people. But God can make such demands on us. Why? Because we were made by God in his image. We are the creatures and God is the Creator. It is our duty to love our Creator God with all our heart. As children must love their parents and obey them, we must love the Creator God. God’s “love language” is obedience. God is moved by obedience and he acknowledges those who obey him as those who love him. Jesus said in John 14:23, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Second, don’t wait for the right feeling. How can we love God whom we do not see? It is easy to love Uma, our mini Pomeranian. It is easy to love our family members and friends, (most of the time). We can see them. We have recognizable feelings of love. But God is invisible. How can we love him when we don’t have feelings of love for him in our hearts? This love is not primarily a feeling, but a decision to put God first in our thoughts, words and deeds. It begins by not waiting for a feeling but deciding to love God from our hearts.
To what degree or what intensity does God want us to love him? Look at verse 5 again, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." What God wants is not a partial outpouring our love to Jesus. Expressing our love to Jesus should be a wholehearted expression. It involves giving our all and our “everything” to him, without holding back, in loving devotion.
Where does this love for God emanate from? It comes from our heart and our soul. The heart is the center of our emotion and the seat of our love. It is the source of our passion. We must maintain our hearts as a place that generates a pure love God. So Proverbs 4:30 warns, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” God gave us one heart. He could have given us many hearts like he did to earthworms. If we had more than one heart, then we could surmise that it would be alright to give one heart to him and one heart to someone or something else. But we have only one heart to give and we must give it undividedly, with passion. If we love the world, or harbor sin in our hearts, or yield to the devil’s temptation, our hearts become as cold as ice and we cannot love God from our hearts.
Loving God with all our soul is kind of abstract. But think of it this way. Our soul is our life. And so we must love God with all our life. Our souls are made in the image of God. Our soul is the very essence of who we are. Our soul is the part of us which communes with God. Our souls long to dwell with Jesus in his kingdom forever. When we love God with all of our souls it means that you love God with all of your life and yearn to be with God and dwell in his presence, taking the necessary means to do so.
How is this love expressed? We must love our God with all our strength. Here, strength includes our spiritual and physical strength. It is not easy to love God with all of our strength. This goes beyond the “touchy/feely” things of the heart and the soul. It starts dealing with the practical. It deals with the concrete. It is where the tire hits the road. However we are called to express our love to God, it must be done with all of our strength. If you are musician practice music and singing to the point of memorizing. If you are a student, study until you feel you can not study any longer. If you are called to prepare the word of God, do it with your whole heart knowing that souls depend on it, even yours. If you have to support yourself, then work with your whole heart. When we love the Lord with all of our strength there is no room for a “that’s good enough” attitude or a “I’ll wing it” attitude. It involves self denial and faithfully offering up your very best to Jesus…very practically.
How can we love God like this? (1Jn4:10,19; 3:1; Eph3:17b-19) It is all because of the grace of Jesus. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19) 1 John 4:10 reads, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[a] our sins.” Because of our sins, we were destined stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (Heb 11:27) On our own we would surely have to taste eternal condemnation. But God loves us so much that he sent his One and Only Son, Jesus Christ in order to save us from our sins. Jesus gave his all…born in a manger, living a sacrificial life as a shepherd throughout his whole lifetime, suffering and dying on the cross, to bring us the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Jesus did it because he loved his Father in heaven with all his heart and soul and strength. He did it because he loved us with all his heart, soul and strength. And so, we must love him with all our also. Deuteronomy 6:5 may sound burdensome to some. We may feel convicted of falling far short and we do. The Bible says that by our own effort, we will all fall short of God’s standard. So how should we respond to this fact? We should never give up trying to love God. We can only repent and ask God’s mercy. Then he cleanses us by the blood of Jesus and helps us grow by his grace. However, God still wants us to accept his standard, accept his grace and to grow in the image of his Son, Jesus. This is in fact, the way to complete happiness. (Deut 6:10-12) Wherever we are, whatever we do, when we love God completely, we are offering spiritual worship to God. Our expression of love to him has absolute meaning and gives us real satisfaction.
In setting our resolutions for 2009, it is important to involve expressing our love to God. We must do it with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Love God with a heart felt passion. Love God with all of your life and come near to God to love him and be loved by him. And find ways to practically show love for God in the way he has called you. When you show love to God, do it with all of your heart. When we strive for excellence in our expression of our love for Jesus, Jesus is pleased.
NIU Ministry Prayer topics: 1) Acts and Jonah messages 2) 30 1:1 Bible studies 3) 20 regular Sunday attendants 4) two 1 Samuel Bible Schools 5) 12 disciples of Jesus in 2009 6) Double our ministry by 2010. 7) Participate in world mission. 8) Tim and Andrew to grow as shepherds 9) Jay and Carrie to grow as housechurch. 10) Be a club on campus. 11) All students to get A’s for God’s glory 12) A new Bible house 13) Web site development. 14) “each one to teach one”
Deuteronomy 6:1-13 Shp Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF
Key Verse: 6:5 1/11/09
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
I thank God for the opportunity to reflect on God’s work in the previous year and find some clear direction for the new year. This is not just your average New Year’s resolutions. Most, almost all people, do not carry through with their yearly resolutions. These are spiritual resolutions, they are prayers and vows to the Almighty God and we can keep them because, God, the Creator and the Sustainer of the whole universe, sustains and upholds us and leads us according to our key verses. This Sunday we will hear about the wonderful grace of Jesus in peoples’ lives in 2008 and the hope and vision they have for themselves, in Christ, for 2009. We can pray for each other according to these key verses. We will also learn our ministry key verse, and the direction or our ministry in the coming year. As you probably guessed the NIU UBF ministry key verse is Deuteronomy 6:5, ““Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Let’s learn what that means for us in the coming year. May God help us to love him with all our heart and with all our souls and with all our strength in 2009.
What is God asking of his people? Let’s read verse 5 together, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." First, this verse is an imperative command. The word “Love” in this verse comes from the Greek word “agape.” This means the love of God. “Love the Lord…” It is not an option. Nor is it a nice suggestion. It is not a hobby that we do if we have time or if is convenient. How can someone command someone else to love you? It is like saying, “Hey. You...You have to love me.” That is not going to fly with a lot of people. But God can make such demands on us. Why? Because we were made by God in his image. We are the creatures and God is the Creator. It is our duty to love our Creator God with all our heart. As children must love their parents and obey them, we must love the Creator God. God’s “love language” is obedience. God is moved by obedience and he acknowledges those who obey him as those who love him. Jesus said in John 14:23, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Second, don’t wait for the right feeling. How can we love God whom we do not see? It is easy to love Uma, our mini Pomeranian. It is easy to love our family members and friends, (most of the time). We can see them. We have recognizable feelings of love. But God is invisible. How can we love him when we don’t have feelings of love for him in our hearts? This love is not primarily a feeling, but a decision to put God first in our thoughts, words and deeds. It begins by not waiting for a feeling but deciding to love God from our hearts.
To what degree or what intensity does God want us to love him? Look at verse 5 again, "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." What God wants is not a partial outpouring our love to Jesus. Expressing our love to Jesus should be a wholehearted expression. It involves giving our all and our “everything” to him, without holding back, in loving devotion.
Where does this love for God emanate from? It comes from our heart and our soul. The heart is the center of our emotion and the seat of our love. It is the source of our passion. We must maintain our hearts as a place that generates a pure love God. So Proverbs 4:30 warns, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” God gave us one heart. He could have given us many hearts like he did to earthworms. If we had more than one heart, then we could surmise that it would be alright to give one heart to him and one heart to someone or something else. But we have only one heart to give and we must give it undividedly, with passion. If we love the world, or harbor sin in our hearts, or yield to the devil’s temptation, our hearts become as cold as ice and we cannot love God from our hearts.
Loving God with all our soul is kind of abstract. But think of it this way. Our soul is our life. And so we must love God with all our life. Our souls are made in the image of God. Our soul is the very essence of who we are. Our soul is the part of us which communes with God. Our souls long to dwell with Jesus in his kingdom forever. When we love God with all of our souls it means that you love God with all of your life and yearn to be with God and dwell in his presence, taking the necessary means to do so.
How is this love expressed? We must love our God with all our strength. Here, strength includes our spiritual and physical strength. It is not easy to love God with all of our strength. This goes beyond the “touchy/feely” things of the heart and the soul. It starts dealing with the practical. It deals with the concrete. It is where the tire hits the road. However we are called to express our love to God, it must be done with all of our strength. If you are musician practice music and singing to the point of memorizing. If you are a student, study until you feel you can not study any longer. If you are called to prepare the word of God, do it with your whole heart knowing that souls depend on it, even yours. If you have to support yourself, then work with your whole heart. When we love the Lord with all of our strength there is no room for a “that’s good enough” attitude or a “I’ll wing it” attitude. It involves self denial and faithfully offering up your very best to Jesus…very practically.
How can we love God like this? (1Jn4:10,19; 3:1; Eph3:17b-19) It is all because of the grace of Jesus. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19) 1 John 4:10 reads, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[a] our sins.” Because of our sins, we were destined stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (Heb 11:27) On our own we would surely have to taste eternal condemnation. But God loves us so much that he sent his One and Only Son, Jesus Christ in order to save us from our sins. Jesus gave his all…born in a manger, living a sacrificial life as a shepherd throughout his whole lifetime, suffering and dying on the cross, to bring us the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Jesus did it because he loved his Father in heaven with all his heart and soul and strength. He did it because he loved us with all his heart, soul and strength. And so, we must love him with all our also. Deuteronomy 6:5 may sound burdensome to some. We may feel convicted of falling far short and we do. The Bible says that by our own effort, we will all fall short of God’s standard. So how should we respond to this fact? We should never give up trying to love God. We can only repent and ask God’s mercy. Then he cleanses us by the blood of Jesus and helps us grow by his grace. However, God still wants us to accept his standard, accept his grace and to grow in the image of his Son, Jesus. This is in fact, the way to complete happiness. (Deut 6:10-12) Wherever we are, whatever we do, when we love God completely, we are offering spiritual worship to God. Our expression of love to him has absolute meaning and gives us real satisfaction.
In setting our resolutions for 2009, it is important to involve expressing our love to God. We must do it with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Love God with a heart felt passion. Love God with all of your life and come near to God to love him and be loved by him. And find ways to practically show love for God in the way he has called you. When you show love to God, do it with all of your heart. When we strive for excellence in our expression of our love for Jesus, Jesus is pleased.
NIU Ministry Prayer topics: 1) Acts and Jonah messages 2) 30 1:1 Bible studies 3) 20 regular Sunday attendants 4) two 1 Samuel Bible Schools 5) 12 disciples of Jesus in 2009 6) Double our ministry by 2010. 7) Participate in world mission. 8) Tim and Andrew to grow as shepherds 9) Jay and Carrie to grow as housechurch. 10) Be a club on campus. 11) All students to get A’s for God’s glory 12) A new Bible house 13) Web site development. 14) “each one to teach one”
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