January 11, 2012–Danny Sadler

Have you ever been to a funeral? What kinds of things did you think about while you were there? Do you remember how final it felt? Death is a big deal! Unless your name is Lazarus, or Jesus, death is a kind-of one time thing. Death scares some people.  You might say they’re scared to death of death. You may be one of them. But it needn’t be that way.  Look at what Jesus says:

9 “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

–Jesus, (John 10:9-10, NIV, ‘84)

• Jesus gives us life.

Jesus gives us life.  But even if all we get is this temporary life we are currently living, at least we have something.  But is that all there is?  If you’re on death row, it’s one thing to be granted a temporary reprieve, but it’s entirely another to be completely exonerated and freed from prison. It is a great thing that Jesus provides for us: life. Even temporarily, most of us would take the deal. People from all over the world with terminal illnesses fight hard to add just a few months to their life.  Many people–even those in our churches–seem to have a death grip on life.   Perhaps they do it because of their love of life. Maybe it’s because of their fear of death. Either way, life is life. But Jesus wants more for us.

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

–Jesus, (John 3:16-17, NIV, ‘84)

• Jesus gives us eternal life.

• We are not condemned if we believe in Jesus.

So, what does it mean to believe in Jesus? Is just believing in the existence and truth of the story enough?  Often, I run into people that say they believe in Jesus.  They say that Jesus is God’s Son, or some other description that varies truth to mythical.  The problem is that too many of these people can’t tell me anything at all about Jesus, what He did or stood for (other than teaching us to be “good”–whatever that means).  Before everyone starts throwing opinions around, let’s look at what else Jesus said:

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

–Jesus, (Matthew 7:21-23, NIV, ‘84)

Did you see what Jesus said?  That’s scary.

• Understanding and acknowledging Jesus as Lord is not enough.

• Believing in Jesus is not enough.

• Knowing who Jesus is is not enough.

Jesus clearly tells us that we must believe. But here we get an indication that the belief Jesus talks about can not be superficial. The belief that Jesus is talking about goes far deeper than just knowing about Jesus. It involves believing the things He taught. It involves doing the things He told us to do. Let’s look at what the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write concerning some of the things we must do:

3 Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. . . . .
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. . . . .
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

–Romans 6:3-11, NIV, ‘84

• To be a true follower of Christ, we must die.

• To be a true follower of Christ, we must live.

• Our new life is not our own.

• We must die to self will and our sinful nature and live for God.

Following Christ is not as easy as it is sometimes portrayed. It involves a life-long, moment-by-moment commitment to denying self and living for Christ. Have you made this commitment?

You can become a true follower of Jesus Christ by simply praying to Jesus and surrendering your sinful ways to Him.  We can’t really do that in our own weak-willed power, so you may want to ask Jesus to help you even as you try to become obedient to Him.  Acknowledge Jesus as both your Lord and Savior.  If you have made a decision to follow Christ, it’s important that you share your new commitment to Christ with someone–or even better, a bunch of someones.  Start with your minister.  If you don’t have one, find a local church near you and go seek out a minister.  You will want to make arrangements with the minister to be baptized.  If you have already been baptized, but are making this commitment to Christ for the first time, you will want to be baptized again.

Finally, if you have found this post helpful, it would be blessing to both you and me if you shared that with us by posting a comment below.  God bless y’all real good!