Sermon, Sunday October 11 2020 – Abiding in the Vine part 1

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John 15

Abiding in Jesus

Immediately after Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples, he led them out of the room and on a walk up towards the mount of Olives. Little did they know that this was the most significant night in all of human history.

Jesus was walking to his arrest and was preparing himself to be crucified. But even in this incredibly stressful time, Jesus was teaching his disciples. He used the backdrop of the grapevines to teach them about the importance of bearing fruit by abiding in the vine.

Jesus opens the dialogue with the powerful statement, “I am the true vine…” (John 15:1)

Jesus is the vine the Father is the vinedresser, and the true followers of Jesus are the branches. But branches are not simply for show, they have a role to play and that role is to produce fruit. The true followers of Jesus will produce fruit.

In John 15 we have some incredible promises and terrifying warnings in the words of Jesus.

We love the promise of answered prayer in verse 7 and verse 16, but these promises must be read in the context of the teaching of Jesus. In verse 8 we read that the purpose of producing fruit is to bring glory to God the Father. If we pray that the Lord would allow us to bear fruit, he will surely answer that prayer.

Are we praying that God would bless us with lasting fruit, for His glory?

The challenge facing the church today is, what are we praying for? Are we praying for peace, prosperity, and comfort? Are we praying for a return to “normal”? All the while, God invites us to pray for fruit, fruit that will last.

DR. G.  Campbell Morgan writes, “any prayer which does not react upon my life and make it a more fruit-bearing life, is not a prayer at all”

The terrible warning of this passage is found in verse 6. These branches that are thrown into the fire were at one time attached to the vine. They were possibly attached to the vine because there was promise of peace, comfort, personal blessing, and cultural acceptance.  

However, these branches never had a desire to produce fruit, because they were never abiding in the vine.

In January 2020, I would suggest that the majority of church attendees had no desire to bear any fruit. As we read the words of Jesus in John 15, we see that the key to producing fruit is abiding in Jesus. When we learn how to abide in Jesus, we will know unshakable peace.

One of the fruit that comes from abiding is peace, we know this from Galatians 5:22-23.

If you listen to Christians today there is a lot of fear being expressed. Fear of the pandemic, the financial state of the world, the political state of our nation. Sadly, this is fear being expressed by people who claim to be abiding in the vine. Oh, they will say they are just being realistic, but they are walking in fear.

Fear is not a fruit of the Spirit. Fear is not a result of abiding in the vine. Walking in fear is evidence that you are not abiding in the vine.

One of the evidences of abiding in the vine is getting our sustenance from the word of God (see Psalm 91:1-2, Habakkuk 3:17-19, Psalm 23:4, 1 John 4:18)

The reward for not looking to the world for sustenance and trusting Jesus is life and peace.

Jesus is the true vine and we who know Jesus as Lord of our lives are the branches. In John 15:16 Jesus makes a dramatic statement, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

We must never make the mistake of thinking that we had any part in our own salvation – we are saved by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8).

The branch is weak and useless if it is not connected to the vine. It is only good for being thrown into the fire. The branch is only as good as it is abiding in the vine.  

As Christians we are only going to be producing fruit if we are abiding in Jesus. Getting our daily sustenance and feeding on the vine, getting our life from Jesus.

Abiding in Christ is a cultivated discipline that takes time and effort.  Abiding comes from spending time feeding on God’s word, reading the Bible, praying and staying connected with other Christians.

There is a significant difference between simply being a part of the church by coming to the church when it is convenient and abiding in the vine, getting your life from Jesus through the word and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Where are you today?

Are you abiding or, are you walking in fear?

Are you simply attached to the vine, but you know that you are not really abiding in Christ?

Now more than ever we need to know the lifestyle of abiding in Christ.

Do You Know Your Net Worth? Sermon, Sunday March 8, 2020

Ephesians 1:7-14

Do you know your net worth?

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are infinitely more valuable than Jeff Bezos who is currently the wealthiest man on the planet.

Ephesians 1:11 says, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”

Romans 8:17 says that as adopted children, we are co-heirs with Christ. The inheritance that Jesus is one day going to receive is infinite and we are co-heirs. There is real net-worth in being a child of God.

This is a reality that we see in Ephesians 1:7-14. It all begins with Jesus, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

The word redemption is a word that means to set free by paying a price. In the Roman empire, slaves were often bought and sold like pieces of furniture. It was possible under Roman law for someone to purchase a slave and then set him free. This is exactly what Jesus has done for us. We were once slaves to sin, and Jesus paid the price for our freedom (see Galatians 1:3-4).

But more than simply being freed slaves, we have been adopted by God, with full rights of inheritance as His children.

The word forgive means “to carry away”, as we see in the picture of the scapegoat in Leviticus 16.

Christ died to carry away our sins so they might never again be seen. When John the Baptist saw Jesus in John 1:29 he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

No written accusation stands against us because our sins have been taken away!

Verse 7 and 8 continue that all this is, “according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight”

God’s grace has been defined as “God’s favor toward the unworthy or the undeserving.”

In His grace, God is willing to forgive us and bless us abundantly, even though we don’t deserve to be dealt with so generously.

More than that, this grace is lavished on us. God pours out His amazing grace with abundance, more than we ever need or could ask for. Our Heavenly Father is generous, He gives freely and abundantly.

But it gets better. Not only are we redeemed, forgiven and blessed with abundant grace, we are also given wisdom and insight.

It is one thing to set someone free, but what if they have never been free before?

When we are set free from Satan’s grasp, we have no idea how to walk in the light. This is where God blesses us with wisdom and insight by the Holy Spirit, to be able to walk as His child.

Paul continues this long sentence in Ephesians 1:9-10, “making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

All of history is controlled and purposed by God, and as His children God lets us in to the secrets of His plan of redemption for the world. We get to see first-hand that God’s plan centers around a redeemer – Jesus (see Ephesians 1:10). Jesus is the redeemer that the whole earth is waiting for (see Romans 8:22-23).

In Ephesians 1:11 and 14, we read about an inheritance, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” (see also 1 Peter 1:3-4).

Then we come to the final verses in this section and in verse 13 we have the complete plan of salvation, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,”

  1. The first step is hearing the Gospel, the news about what Jesus has done on the cross and the power of his resurrection.
  2. Then there is the belief component, this is where the mystery of predestination and faith collide as we read in Romans 10:9-10.
  3. And the third component of salvation is that those who believe are sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit, who was promised by Jesus and by the Old Testament prophets. The Holy Spirit is not an optional extra for living the Christian life. If you don’t have the presence of the Holy Spirit, you do not have the seal of ownership of God on your life. When you are saved God puts His mark on you; the Holy Spirit is God’s seal of ownership and the fulfillment of His promise.

But the Holy Spirit is way more than a seal of God’s ownership, in verse 14 we see, “who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

We know that the Holy Spirit is our counsellor, the revealer of truth and so much more, but he is also a guarantee, a down payment of what is to come. God doesn’t only promise us an amazing future, He has brought the future into the present, so that we might have a foretaste of what is to come.

Here is the bottom line, we need all the Trinity for our salvation.

  • The adoption by the Father
  • The redemption by the Son
  • The seal of the Holy Spirit

Do you know your net worth?

Something is only as valuable as the price someone is willing to pay for it.

Jesus paid the price for our redemption. The creator of the universe redeemed us by His own precious blood. He sacrificed everything, gave up his position in heaven to ultimately suffer and die on a cruel Roman cross. The price that Jesus paid for your salvation was infinite (See Romans 5:8), therefore God places an infinite value on your life.

Do you know what you have been saved from?

Do you really know how much God values your life?

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

Do You Know Who You Are? February 23, 2020

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Ephesians 1:1-2

Do you know who you are?

The contemporary business culture loves to analyze and categorize people based on surveys and questionnaires. There is a huge industry that has evolved simply around the concept of profiling and the analysis of personalities. However, you can go through all the programs and personality profiles you like, you can be placed in fifteen different categories, but ultimately your identity, your real self can only be found in Christ Jesus and who he created you to be.

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the churches in Ephesus around A.D. 62, and the primary focus of the letter is our identity, who we are in Christ.

This book is only six chapters that will take about 20 minutes to read aloud. But it is one of the most influential and practical books in the Bible.

Unfortunately, we live in an age, particularly in the western church where we have a very superficial, cultural Christianity. This book will make us think and challenge us by what the Apostle Paul calls, “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:8)

This book is extremely practical, for example, through these six chapters we learn:

  • Why we worship.
  • What we should pray for.
  • We learn about the incredible gift of God’s grace.
  • We learn about our identity in Christ.
  • We learn why the church is really important.
  • We learn how we can be unified as a church.
  • The letter to the Ephesian church teaches us about marriage, parenting and our careers.
  • And finally, as we come to the last chapter, we learn about the war we are engaged in and how we are to fight.

The Apostle Paul was the former persecutor of the church who had a dramatic conversion experience as he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was radically changed; he received a new identity because he knew what Jesus has done for him.

The letter begins in verse 1, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”

Paul knew he was an apostle, someone who was sent and commissioned by Jesus.

Notice he says, “by the will of God”, not of his own choosing, and along with that came the responsibility to proclaim the Gospel and to suffer for the Gospel.

The recipients of this letter are the church in Ephesus. Ephesians 1:1b, “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:”

It is quite likely this letter was meant for the entire region; hence it is general and does not call out specific people or false teachers as his other letters do. We read about Paul’s ministry in Ephesus in Acts 19. Paul came to the region of Ephesus in Asia Minor (Modern Turkey) and stayed in Ephesus for about three years during his third missionary journey, the longest he stayed in any city while on his missionary journeys. Ephesus was a large city, possibly the 4th or 5th largest city in the world at that time.

But his ministry was not without difficulties. Because of his teaching, there was fierce opposition from idol manufacturers who made a living out of making silver idols for the people to buy.

Here is something to note as we remember Paul writing this letter while in chains. Just because there is opposition it does not mean that you are outside the will of God. The plan of God for your life and mine does not include freedom from opposition. In fact, opposition is very often the opportunity to give glory to God in the midst of the challenge.

Ephesus was also the headquarters of the cult that worshipped the Roman goddess Diana and the Gospel threatened the trade of idols. Paul confronted this warfare head-on and in Acts 19, we read of the account of the seven sons of Sceva who were beaten and stripped by a demon possessed man. These sons of Sceva brought glory to Jesus through their humiliation and many burned their magic books and turned to Christ (see Acts 19:20).

The result of Paul’s preaching was a city-wide disturbance. Are we creating a holy disturbance in our city?

Paul writes this letter to believers who needed to be reminded of the warfare they were engaged in. We too need to be reminded that this world is not our home and we will encounter things and see things that deeply trouble us and offend us, if we aren’t aware of our true identity.

You see, in our western educated mindset, we compartmentalize our Christian Spiritual experience and then our American life experience. But as followers of Jesus we are not of this world.  If we are people who have truly given our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, then we have a new identity and that is what this entire book of 155 verses is all about.

Paul has a term that is used in the first verse that explains it all, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus”

While the believers in Ephesus lived in Ephesus, they were spiritually IN CHRIST.

That term in Christ has intrigued me for years and I don’t think we will ever fully understand the incredible blessing that it brings to us.

Paul uses the term “IN CHRIST” about 164 times in all his letters, and 36 times alone in this letter to the Ephesians.

To be IN CHRIST, is the heart of Christianity.

As we look through Ephesians, we will see:

  • IN CHRIST, we have access to every spiritual blessing.
  • IN CHRIST, his riches are our riches.
  • IN CHRIST, his resources are our resources.
  • IN CHRIST, his righteousness becomes our righteousness.
  • IN CHRIST, his power is our power.
  • IN CHRIST, his position is our position.
  • IN CHRIST, where he is, we are.

Even though you may encounter opposition on every side, we are secure in him. We have our identity in Jesus Christ.

Our identity has nothing to do with our performance, popularity or our productivity, we have everything, because we are “IN CHRIST”.

Christianity, being a follower of Jesus is not religion. It’s not about becoming a nice person who follows a set of rules, becoming a Christian is about becoming a new person.

Steve Timmis wrote in Total Church, “It is not that I belong to God and then make a decision to join a church. My being in Christ means being with others who are in Christ. This is my identity… If the church is the body of Christ, then we should not live as disembodied Christians.”

Sermon, Sunday January 12, 2019 – Are you a Disciple?

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Are you a Disciple?

Matthew 4:18-22

What comes to mind when you hear the word Christian? The culture we live in has a very wide spectrum of descriptions of the term “Christian”.

The first followers of Jesus didn’t call themselves Christians. It was a derogatory term used by people outside of the faith. In Acts 11:26, we see that the first Christians were known as “disciples”.

The word Christian is used 3 times in the whole Bible, whereas the word disciple is used 281 times. Disciple is a far more accurate description of what it means to follow Jesus. In fact, the concept of a disciple exposes the fact that many who claim to be Christians today are not actually disciples of Jesus.

A brief look at Hebrew history shows us that all young boys at the age of five went to school to learn the Torah, the first five books of our Bible. By the age of ten, all young boys knew the Torah and the best students went on to study the remainder of the Old Testament, while the rest returned home to work in their families’ businesses.

At the age of seventeen, the brightest of these students, who wanted to pursue a life of religious studies, would find a rabbi that they admired and then they would go and sit at his feet.

The rabbi would then scrutinize the student to see if he was worthy of being his disciple.

The rabbis could choose the smartest, most talented boys to be their disciples, because they were choosing whom they believed could become just like them—to not just know what they knew, but to do what they did. The goal of a disciple was to be like the rabbi.

I. JESUS DOESN’T CHOOSE THE BEST, HE CHOOSES THE WILLING.

In Matthew chapter four, Jesus, this new rabbi, chooses Peter and Andrew, who are fishermen. The fact that they are fishermen shows that they were not among the group that at the age of ten were selected to be a future rabbi. These guys did not make the cut, they weren’t the best of the best.

When Jesus chose his team to build His movement, he chose the B-team! So, naturally when Jesus called them, they jumped at the opportunity. Jesus chose the B-team because his work in the world wouldn’t come from their abilities for him, but from what he would do through them.

People with a lot of talent and ability would only get in the way because they would never learn to lean on his power.

JD Greer said, “Jesus taught that His power in the weakest vessel was infinitely greater than the greatest talent without Him.

God wants to use you in your family, school and workplace. Stop making excuses that you are not able. He doesn’t need your ability; He requires only your availability.

II. HE CHOSE US, NOT WE HIM.

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”.  Matthew 4:19

This was very unusual for a rabbi to come and ask men to follow him, they didn’t even come to sit at his feet. He came seeking them when they weren’t even looking for Him.

But his selection gave them a great deal of confidence. If they were struggling, they could say, “Ah, but my rabbi believed in me! he chose me.” If and when you find yourself struggling with your calling as a Christian, remember that Jesus chose you (see John 15:16).

III. OUR PRIMARY CALLING IS TO BE WITH HIM.

“Follow me,” he told them …

He didn’t tell them where they were going or what assignment he had for them. And this is critical for us to understand, his primary call is not to do something; it is to become like Him. And to become like him, you must know him. To know him, you have to know his Word.

In order to be a follower of Jesus you need to meditate and feed on God’s word so that it dominates all your thinking and all your behavior. Spending time reading and praying God’s word is the what Jesus calls us to and it is essential to us knowing him.

IV. TO FOLLOW HIM, WE HAVE TO LEAVE ALL.

 “Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him” Matthew 4:22

Matthew mentioned that the fishermen left their boat and their father.

The boat represents our career, our livelihood, the way we take care of ourselves.

The father represents the most significant relationship in our lives.

To follow Jesus, he must take precedence over both. Most people will not lose their family as a result of following Jesus, but for people in other parts of the world, it is a real concern.

For some, God may tell you to change careers. Maybe God will tell you transfer your job to be part of a church plant. Or leave your job and carry the gospel overseas. For many of you, it probably won’t be that dramatic. But you’ll have moments where you decide which holds greater sway over your life.

V. HE COMMANDS US TO SPIRITUALLY REPRODUCE.

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”.  Matthew 4:19

Following Jesus means you subject everything in your life to his lordship. You forsake all that he has forbidden and pursue all that he has prescribed. Just like he was a fisher of men, His followers would become fishers of men. This is an essential part of being a disciple. It’s not something that only a few of us do; it’s something that each of us does. There is no such thing as a non-reproducing Christian.

How do you prove you are a disciple? By bearing fruit. And if you are not bearing fruit, you have reason to question whether you are a disciple at all (see John 15:8).

Jesus summarized his ministry, Luke 19, by saying, “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” If we are His disciples, that’s how we’ll summarize our lives, too.

You are God’s method. Disciple making is simply teaching someone to follow Jesus as you follow Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus has promised to help you. So, identify your one. Ask God to help you identify one person you can, with the help of the Holy Spirit, bring to faith in Christ this year.

Who’s your One?

Sermon November 05, 2017 – International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church

November 05, 2017

In his book, “The Global War on Christians”, John Allen calls the worldwide persecution of Christians, “the most dramatic religion story of the early twenty-first century, yet one that most people in the West have little idea is even happening.”

Christian persecution is any hostility, experienced from the world, because of one’s identification with Jesus Christ. In Matthew 5:10-12, Jesus said that persecution is a blessing! For those who have not undergone persecution, it is difficult to understand why persecution is a blessing. But it is a known fact that the church grows quicker in nations where it is persecuted.

John 15:18-25 is a passage that does not preach well in our western “Prosperity Gospel” mindset, where our culture, upbringing and education all teach us that we have rights.  It is expected that Christians are respected members of society and by living out our Christian values and principles people will give us honor. But this is so far from the reality of what Jesus taught.

We have the mindset that persecution is something that happens somewhere else, in third world countries, where people are less educated perhaps. We also tend to think that persecution of Christians was something that only happened in history.

However, persecution is right on our doorstep, Jesus taught that this world is not our home (see John 15:19), and Jesus continues in verse 20 to say that a servant is no greater than his master, this is the normal Christian life. We have recently completed the series on the normal Christian life, noting that the foundation for the normal Christian life is applying the cross of Jesus Christ to our lives, daily dying to ourselves, being willing to lay aside our preferences, our rights and our desires for the sake of the Gospel.

It is almost predictable that when I teach in any setting on dying to our rights, people get angry. It just proves how conditioned we are to expect that this Christian life is a life of leisure and prosperity and peace. Jesus taught the opposite and he was persecuted more than any other man in history. In 1 John 3:13 we read, “Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.”  This is the normal Christian life.

For millions of Christians around the world, persecution is their daily reality. From intimidation to isolation, beatings, imprisonment and even death, they live with the ongoing threat of persecution, and yet they choose to faithfully follow Jesus.

Faithfully being a follower of Jesus is the cause of persecution. Remember we saw that the life of the Christian is not found in simply becoming a better person, but rather we are “in Christ”. Being in Christ is the reason for and the target of persecution in our world.

In Romans 8:17, the apostle Paul tells us, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” So, when we share in Jesus’ sufferings we become heirs who will also share in his glory. Suffering is part of it the process that leads to us sharing in the glory of our resurrected Lord.

Persecution isn’t something we think about often, but it is incredibly real for believers all over the globe. The Pew Research Center estimates that 75% of the world’s population lives in regions with severe religious restrictions—with many of those being Christians. And according to the United States Department of State, Christians face persecution from their neighbors or government in as many as 60 different countries, simply because they claim Jesus as Lord.

Todd Johnson of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary documents that one hundred thousand Christians, eleven per hour, have been killed on average every year of the past decade. And it is estimated that more Christians died for their faith in the last century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined. Unfortunately, many Christians today, operate under the assumption that persecution is a part of the Church’s past.

Jesus told His followers to expect persecution, John 15:20 reads,“…If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” So this is expected but what is our response to be? How are we to respond as we sit here in comfort and ease without the threat of violence for our belief in Jesus.

It’s easy to hear about Christian persecution and feel afraid, but God did not give us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7).

It’s also natural to want to put an end to the suffering of persecuted Christians. But the persecuted Church isn’t asking for an end to their hardships, for them, persecution is normal. In fact, many of our Christian brothers and sisters who are being persecuted are praying for you and I, that we would remain strong in the face of an increasingly godless society. Instead, they pray for the strength to withstand persecution. These hardships produce believers with genuine faith, who truly understand the cost involved in being “In Christ”, and they ask for our prayers for strength to withstand.

Christian persecution is overwhelming, and we can all too easily become desensitized by the statistics.

But I want to challenge you to spend some time today praying on your own or as a family for the persecuted church. Let us pray with them rather than for them, that the word of God will move swiftly across the whole earth.

 “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”

Tertullian

The Normal Christian Life – Part 1 – 10/1/17

The Webster dictionary defines a Christian as “one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ

What a terrible definition! How does the Bible define Christianity, after all, isn’t the Bible our authority as Christians?

You may have heard it said, that Christianity is not a religion, but it is a relationship. That is somewhat true, but also falls far short of what the Bible defines Christianity. A true relationship with my Creator only begins when I completely submit to Him and lay aside my own desires, wills, passions and preferences. Dying to my will and self is the beginning of what it means to be a Christian.

Galatians 2:20 reads; “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Beginning with the first phrase; “I have been crucified with Christ”.

Even though our sins that we have committed in the past have been forgiven (1 John 1:7), what about our sinful nature? That old nature that desires to do what is contrary to the will of God. We have peace with God, but we don’t have peace in ourselves because we wrestle with sin and temptation. This is where the cross of Jesus Christ provides an answer for us. Obviously, Paul was not on the cross with Jesus, and neither were you and I, but here is the profound miracle. When Jesus died on the cross, it was once for all. The death of Jesus on the cross included all who put their faith and trust in him. This is where those two beautiful words apply, “IN CHRIST” (see Romans 6:6-7, 11).

Do you want to be free from sin? You must realize your old self crucified with Christ, this is powerful, and it is absolutely crucial to being a Christian. The blood deals with what we have done, but the cross deals with what we are, the cross strikes at the root of our capacity to sin.

But do we apply the cross to our lives?

Satan will point to our struggle with sin and bring to mind our weakness in areas in our lives, but that is when we can point to the cross, and quote Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ…”. You see it is a declaration of faith, the essence of Christianity is faith.

So, if we are in Christ, does that make us perfect? Absolutely not, but we will be deeply troubled by sin in our lives. We will not have peace in our lives, because we know that we have fallen short of the Glory of God.

If you are not troubled by sin in your life or have no desire for holiness, I would seriously examine your heart to see if you truly are in Christ – if you have truly given your life wholly to Him and are saved

Galatians 2:20; “ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

So how do we live this life, this crucified life? We live by faith in the Son of God. Daily asking the Holy Spirit to lead us and direct us. Our life goals are radically different, our aspirations change, instead of trying to build our own kingdom, we live to make the name of Jesus known.

The trouble with many people is that they think that when they become a Christian, God wants to take them and make them a better version of themselves. But we have it all wrong, there is nothing good, nothing worthwhile, nothing redemptive in my old self. God is not out to reform our life, he sent his son so that we can be born again.

This is where Christianity is completely different to any other religion. I cannot save myself, I cannot gradually get better until I am saved, I have to die, and then be reborn of the Spirit of God (John 3:3).

Coming to the final phrase of Galatians 2:20; “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Jesus loves you more than you will ever know, the cross is deeply personal for you and for me. When Jesus went to the cross, it was because he loved you so much, his love compelled him to give his life for you (see Ephesians 1:4).

1 Peter 2:9 tells us that we have been chosen by God, you are royalty, you are God’s special possession!

Have you ever heard of a royal prince cowering in the corner and begging for scraps from the King’s table?

But that is what we do, we don’t realize the value that God has placed on us, we are his special possession. He loves you far more than you will ever know.

When Jesus ascended into heaven he sent his indwelling Spirit. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, lives inside every true believer in Jesus Christ. The very same God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

I know that we don’t come close to understanding the reality of the presence of God in our lives.

But what is the purpose of the Gospel? Why did God send his son? Why did God choose you and me and then fill us with his presence?  We have a natural tendency to see things from our perspective and say that God saved us so that we wouldn’t go to hell. Yes, that is true, but there is more, there is a greater and more glorious purpose for our salvation. God saved us so that we might bring Glory and praise to His name for eternity. This is what we were created to do. As we live by the Spirit and our lives become a living testimony of His presence we bring glory to His name.

Are you a Christian? If you don’t want to love and follow Christ, you are not a Christian. You may believe in Jesus, but is Jesus Lord of your life? Stop what you are doing right now, get on your knees, and make sure that you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.