Jesus said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” John 8:23-24
Thought for the Day: The Truth about the Cross of Christ and Anthropology
In Matthew 15:16-20, Jesus gives a damning critique of the human condition: “Are you so dull?” Jesus asked his disciples. “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’”
According to Jesus we tilt to the dark side. In Star Wars terms, our instinct is to become a Darth Vader or in Harry Potter terms to become a Lord Voldermort. Jesus’ teaching on sin is original in the history of religion. It sets up the need for a savior who is both God and man. It also sets up the fact that there is only one fix for the problem of human sin, and that is the crucifixion of Jesus. There is no other solution. To understand truly that we need a savior, and that Jesus is the one who saves, we must have a correct anthropology. We must understand that without him, without his intervention on our behalf, without his death on the cross, we are trapped in our own human self-centeredness. We also must realize that we are all in the same boat. None of us is better than anyone else. As innocent a child I thought I was and the victim of my neighbor’s influence, I was identical to them in my bent to sin.
The Old Testament explains it this way: We all like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6a). No one is left out. The New Testament puts it another way for Christian disciples: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). Whether the Old or New Testament, whether pre-Christian or Christian, God’s people are seen lumped together when compared to God.
Having a correct understanding of the human condition means having a correct anthropology of what it means to be human. C. S. Lewis wrote that the moment we become a self there is a possibility of putting yourself first—wanting to be the center—wanting to be God, in fact. That was the sin of Satan: and that was the sin he taught the human race. Because we want to put ourselves first, and ultimately to put ourselves in the place of God, we need to apologize to the God who created us. Having this correct understanding of our condition helps us see that we must repent of what we’ve done wrong. The only thing we have to offer a holy God is our apology.
Furthermore, Jesus teaches that sin inheres to our flesh and blood even in those who have come into a life-changing relationship with Jesus. And that is where the rub is. You have become a Christian and yet you can’t seem to get it right. We want to lead good and holy lives, but we can’t seem to do it. We know there is so much more about being a follower of Jesus. What is a follower to do? The answer is to take advantage of the other free gift of grace we get at our conversion—and that is the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.
When does it happen? At the moment of conversion the Spirit comes to live in us, giving us the ability to move from living at a lower percentage of being created in the image of God to a higher one. We begin to live a new lifestyle with a new passion for the truth of Jesus in all areas of our lives. Each Christian receives the Spirit into her life to enable her to live obediently into the truth.
So, we have answered the how and when questions. Now that we’ve had the appetizer, let’s move on to the main course: What it looks like to be a passionate, Spirit-filled disciple of Jesus. What it looks like to live as a high-percentage image of God, image of Jesus, individual.
Truly devoted followers of Jesus will be passionate about many things in life. However, because of the cross they will not seek to fulfill their own passions but to live into the divine truth they receive from him. We waste our lives when we do not display the glory of divine truth in all areas of our lives. Jesus warned the church in Laodicea (Revelation 3:16) that because they were lukewarm, because they were not passionate about serving him, that he would spit them out. Instead, Jesus told us to love God with all our passion, with all of our being. It is easy to see who does and who does not live passionately for Jesus because of the truth God gives to us to live in and by and for Jesus through the power of the Spirit.
The apostle Paul spells this kind of life out clearly in his letter to the Christians in Philippi about what life in and with Jesus now means to him:
Whatever gain I had [before my conversion], I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained (2:7-16).
Paul had two primary goals in his life: knowing Jesus and making him known. He knew the truth of God in Jesus and wanted others to know this truth as well. There was never anything lukewarm about Paul from the way Scripture describes him. He lived passionately for his Savior and for those who did not know him, risking his life, his health, his wealth, and everything else that had become rubbish to him after his conversion (living for Jesus) and relocation (living in Jesus).
I have two negative concerns I want to put forth. First, I do not want this devotional to become a list of things to do so that you can simply check them off and feel good about yourself, or worse, feel guilty because you attempt the list and cannot complete it. Following Jesus passionately does not entail list-keeping or doing things as if Jesus came to give us a “to do” list. Before ascending to the right hand of God, Jesus said to his followers, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Following Jesus entails observing his commands, teaching them to others so that they become followers who teach new followers, and always knowing that Jesus is with you and for you in this endeavor. Being a follower of Jesus is about living a life for and with Jesus.
Second, I do not want to present living passionately for Jesus as something easy and without cost. Jesus does not present it that way, and the evidence from the New Testament and church history does not present following Jesus as something without cost. Most of his early followers were martyred because they followed him. Jesus even said:
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:27-33).
Discipleship is difficult because of all we have to renounce. But this is also why it is so rewarding. So, as we move forward, I will attempt to layout Christian truth for followers of Jesus to comprehend, and in this comprehension to become more passionate about the God who reveals his glory in his one and only Son, the divine-man, Jesus, who is the Savior of the world and the incarnation of divine truth. Ultimately, my prayer is that this truth from God to Jesus will lead you deeper into the life of discipleship, that your passion in life will be rooted in Jesus, and that you will heed his call to you to be a disciple-maker yourself.
Self-examination, repentance, prayer, and worship:
Fridays and Saturdays are days to focus on self-denial and fasting. One aspect of self-denial and fasting is watching. Watching is keeping watch over one’s behavior. It is a practice of looking at how you are living, how you are treating others, how you are thinking, how you are using your time, how you are using your money, etc. It is not that we somehow curry favor with God, but we do have such a love for God that we want to watch how we live for him as disciples of Jesus. Use today and tomorrow to practice the discipline of watching.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father: We have sinned against you, through our own fault, in thought, and word, and deed, and in what we have left undone. For the sake of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us all our offenses; and grant that we may serve you in newness of life, to the glory of your name. Amen.
Spend further time in prayer and worship before studying the Gospel of John below.
Study: John 10:22-42, I and the Father Are One
22At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30I and the Father are one."
31The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" 33The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God." 34Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? 35If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." 39Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
40He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41And many came to him. And they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." 42And many believed in him there.
Reflection Questions:
1) When Jesus says that his sheep know his voice and he knows them and no one will be able to take them away from him, what do you think Jesus is talking about? Does this bring you comfort or concern?
2) The Jews accused Jesus of blasphemy, of claiming to be divine. Did Jesus say anything to deny this or does what he said confirm their accusation?
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