Big House

There was this song I loved to belt out with my youth back in the day.  I remember being at the Jesus Northwest Festival with over 27000 youth as they called out and asked youth pastors to come to the stage and sing with the band...surreal!  The song was Big House by Audio Adrenaline.  I would have that same opportunity again years later at Canada's Wonderland as Matt Courtney and I were called to the stage to belt it out with Mark Stuart, the lead singer of the band

I don't know where you lay your head
Or where you call your home
I don't know where you eat your meals
Or where you talk on the phone
I don't know if you got a cook
A butler or a maid
I don't know if you got a yard
With a hammock in the shade

I don't know if you got some shelter
Say a place to hide
I don't know if you live with friends
In whom you can confide
I don't know if you got a family
Say a mom or dad
I don't know if you feel love at all
But I bet you wish you had

Come and go with me
To my Father's house
Come and go with me
To my Father's house

It's a big big house
With lots and lots a room
A big big table
With lots and lots of food
A big big yard
Where we can play football
A big big house
Its my Father's house

Why this song, well because it really fits my thoughts as we dive into John 14.

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And 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. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

This Life Is Not The Story, It’s Only A Chapter

Here is the real assurance here especially for Peter and all fragile saints who follow Jesus imperfectly, don’t let your mind race over this, don’t be overcome with turmoil in your heart.  You child of God have a place and you have a space.  You are part of God’s household of faith when you placed your trust in Him.

 “To as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the children of God” (John 1:12).

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Here is how the way has been prepared for us to be with Jesus

Sin has not been atoned for. Jesus is the Lamb of God about to be slain (John 1:29, 36). The wrath of God, the condemnation, the curse of God, is still unsatisfied, and Jesus is about to become a curse for us (Galatians 3:13) and bear our condemnation (Romans 8:3) and endure the bruising of the Father (Isaiah 53:10). Death is yet to be defeated and Jesus is about to give his life and take it back again from the jaws of death (John 10:18).  John Piper

This Present Life Is Most Fulfilled In Jesus

John 10:7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They 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.11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

It is pretty clear that life apart from Jesus is a journey towards unfufillment, and for the most part life will feel like you are getting ripped off.  In the words of the great philosopher Mick Jagger, “I can’t get no satisfaction;”  However, Jesus is proclaiming that there is a way to a most fulfilled life here and now and that He is at the very center of it.

Jesus came to deal with the things that keep us from enjoying life to the full.  He takes all our guilt and regret over misplaced pathways that we thought would lead us to fulfillment.

We need to realize that heaven is as much a person as it is a place.

How does Jesus give us life to the full?  He brings meaning, purpose and contentment in life, He is our peace in the storm.

The Scandel of Christianity

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

John 14:6 has been referred to as the “Scandel of Christianity”

One of the most politically incorrect statements to make in our culture is, ‘Jesus Christ is the only way to God.’   You will be called a bigot, insensitive, narrow-minded, arrogant and hateful to name a few if you hold to this truth in public. 

Jesus just doesn’t proclaim that He is a way.  There is a definite article there and it’s the word “the”  Jesus isn’t just telling He’s the way to the Father, God, He’s saying I’m the only way.  He basically is setting Himself up against any other way that you might have thought was the way to the God of Heaven. 

Jesus Christ Is The Way

And guess what, that’s not popular out there on the street.  It just isn’t tolerant of other views and that’s what we’ve been indoctrinated with in our culture…tolerance.  It’s so much easier to say, ‘well Jesus is my way, that’s what works for me.’

You might ask well, what about the rest of the testimony of Scripture.  Peter states  in Acts 4:12 that salvation is found in no one else.  1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. 

The expression “the way, and the truth, and the life” was a common expression that was used by the religious teachers in Jesus’ day to describe the Law.  They would refer to the Torah as the way, the truth and the life.  It contained everything one needed to know about life, about God and eternity.  So, Jesus intentionally used these words to put Himself in the place of the Law.  He is everything we need for life, for eternity and the way to the Father.

Jesus Christ is The Truth

Here are some really important FACTS to discover when it comes to Jesus’ stand and position in light of every other faith and religion.

Jesus claimed to be God. No religious figure in history has made such a claim. Not Mohammed, Buddha, or Confucius. Not even Abraham or Moses, who are accepted as prophets and great men by all three major world religions (Islam, Judaism, Christianity) ever claimed to be God. Many have claimed to know the way to God, or have tried to show the way to God, but none have claimed to be the one and only way to God.

Jesus never sinned. He never withdrew or modified any statement He ever made. He never apologized. He never needed to ask anyone to pray for Him. He never succumbed to any temptation. Jesus was and is God! As humanly impressive as many religious leaders have been, none of them are without sin.

Jesus came do die. The mission of Jesus was to die on the cross for humankind. This was His passion; his entire life was pointed toward the cross. No other religious leader ever sought to die a death of crucifixion for his or her followers. Jesus was the ultimate example of a selfless, sacrificial servant leader.

Jesus rose from the dead. After spending the better part of three days in a tomb, Jesus rose from the dead demonstrating that He was God (cf. Rom 1:4). Those who have attempted to disprove Christianity have done so by attempting to disprove the resurrection. But many of these people have instead become convinced that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead! There are countless testimonies of changed lives that have occurred by coming to grips with Christ’s resurrection. This is why the resurrection of Christ is one of the cardinal doctrines of Christianity. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, let’s eat, drink, and be merry (1 Cor 15).

Gary M. Burge, The Gospel of John. NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000), 392.

Jesus Christ Is The Life

Jesus is the lens through which we see God.

He is the lens through which we see the world.

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.  C.S. Lewis

He is my life.  I remember so well at 17 having made the decision to go to Bible College and then wondering what have I done??  I started reading the book of Matthew and arriving at 6:19-21

¹⁹ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

I knew in that moment that I wanted to invest my life in what matters for eternity and I knew that was people.  I realized that the only real treasure we that take are the lives we influence for His glory, His kingdom!

The Takeaway

The only three responses that we can have to His statements are as Josh McDowell wrote on:

He is a LIAR

He is a LUNATIC

OR  He is LORD  and must be worshipped as such!

The Power Of Resurrection Life

I want to talk about our identification with the resurrection of Christ.    Let`s remember that  He is not happy with just part of us, He wants all of us!  As it has been said, 'too many Christians live between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, believing in the cross, but not the power and glory of the resurrection.'  We will focus on our new resurrection life in Christ and the process that takes us there. Living in the reality of His resurrection life means freedom from the slavery of sin, death to my ‘self’ and becoming so aware of my life fully in Christ.

Resurrection Life Starts With A Complete Tear Down.  Philippians 3:1-8

Paul begins this chapter by driving the point home that your place in Christ has absolutely nothing to do with your religious ‘self effort’.  There was a lot of “follow Jesus + do this, do that and look more like us” attitude surrounding the church at Philippi. 

If you have any inkling or any thought that your spiritual status is locked into your personal performance and ability to live the Christian life, you are missing the point altogether.

As a pastor I can easily get caught up in all of this too. We can talk about all our education and degrees, our ministry experiences.  For me, the tear-down began in my office as a pastor in a previous ministry when I decided to place my degrees and ordination certificate in a box.  It was an important step for me to recognise where my confidence lies.

What do you boast in?

Where does your confidence lie? 

Perhaps you have claimed one or more of the following. I was raised in a Christian family.  I was baptized or confirmed in a church, or educated in a Christian school. Maybe even now you claim… I read my Bible and pray, I’ve gone on missions trips or I am a good human being.  Some of these are all blessings and privileges; however they do not make you a follower of Christ or put you in good standing with God.

It isn’t about us, it isn’t about our name, it isn’t about our status.  As we will see it is about the presence of Jesus in you, it’s all about His name, it’s all about His status. 

Resurrection Life Is Being Found In Christ v9

Paul makes it absolutely clear that the only way that I can be found in Christ is when I let go completely of everything else that I put confidence in for my standing with God.

 He is saying, “I don’t want anything to do with a righteousness that I can somehow manufacture or whip up the ability to do so in and of myself.  I want to in faith completely clothe myself in the righteousness that comes from Christ.  It is a complete transfer of trust.  You are making the move out of the house that you built to the house that God has built.

We are simply taking God at His Word by receiving His promise that Jesus gives eternal life to those who trust in Him. This is what it means to be “found in Him.”  It is a righteousness that is outside of myself.

This past Sunday Sharon and I went to our former church in Milton, Southside, where they were having a worship celebration before the building was going to be torn down.  The church had sold their existing property and are now embarking on a new location.  In many ways, I see the incredible opportunity they have to completely design their new space around their values. 

Here, at Crossings, we are going through a tear down of sorts with the repurposing of our store front and what the Roxy will become.  For some, it will feel like a loss of identity; however it is a great opportunity for us once again to start from the ground up.  The foundation of where we want to go is resting in knowing, loving and obeying Jesus.  This is where we find ourselves.

Resurrection Life is the Power of Knowing Jesus v10,11

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

That I may know Him: It was the cry of Paul`s heart, he was fixated on really knowing Jesus

To “know” (ginosko) Christ does not mean to have head knowledge about Him, but to “know Him” intimately and passionately.

I can say “oh yeah, I know that person, I’ve seen their pictures on Facebook and I could recognize them in a crowd…but do I really know them?  Well, no. Have I had a ‘one on one’ conversation with them?  Do I know what really makes them tick? 

So, there is a knowing that goes below the surface, a real relationship where I’ve actually shared a meal with them, I’ve laughed with them and maybe even cried as well alongside them.

Here is a quote from Charles Spurgeon, a famous preacher from the late 1800s

“They tell me he is a refiner, that he cleanses from spots; he has washed me in his precious blood, and to that extent I know him. They tell me that he clothes the naked; he hath covered me with a garment of righteousness, and to that extent I know him. They tell me that he is a breaker, and that he breaks chains, he has set my soul at liberty, and therefore I know him. They tell me that he is a king and that he reigns over sin; he hath subdued my enemies beneath his feet, and I know him in that character. They tell me he is a shepherd: I know him for I am his sheep. They say he is a door: I have entered in through him, and I know him as a door. They say he is food: my spirit feeds on him as on the bread of heaven, and, therefore, I know him as such.”

To know the power of His resurrection

His resurrection: Knowing Jesus means knowing this power, the new life that is given to us now, not when we die.

“He wants to know His power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead flowing and surging through his body.  He wants to experience that power that overcomes sin and produces the fruit of the Spirit in His life.  It is a life that leads me to great and selfless acts of love

And the fellowship of His sufferings

He wasn’t afraid to suffer for proclaiming His faith.  He knew that by proclaiming Jesus alone….There are no other rites of passage would get him in to trouble.  He knew it was part of his bond with Jesus.

Being conformed to His death

Paul knew that this meant death to our own selfish desires.  It is a daily denial of self.  It is saying God I want to put your agenda first and foremost. It is Romans 6

It is recognizing I have been called to a new lifestyle. 

Paul also expresses a desire to “…attain to the resurrection from the dead”.

Paul is concerned with achieving a distinctive resurrection life—a new life that stands out from the rest. This calls to mind Hebrews 11:35, which speaks of a “better resurrection” for those who suffer.  There are certainly rewards for those who follow Christ to death and Paul wasn’t shrinking back from what he knew would eventually await Him in martyrdom.

The Takeaway

It all comes back to joy!

For Paul, it was all about Jesus and experiencing the fullness of His presence resting on Him, to rejoice in that as he begun the chapter with when He spoke of himself as those who serve God by His Spirit.  Joy is a major theme in the book of Philippians.

In West Africa there is a fruit called the “taste berry.”   It is a small red berry called miracle fruit temporarily rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.

Praise could be considered the “taste berry” of the Christian life. When you spend your day in praise and gratitude even in the most sour and difficult circumstances in your life can taste sweet. While this might seem odd, it is absolutely true. If you praise God for who He is and what He has done for you, gratitude will well up within you.

This is absolutely part of ‘knowing Him’

Questions

How have you struggled with “confidence in the flesh”?  In what ways could my religious background be an impediment to my faith?

What are some things that could be more important in my life than my relationship with Jesus Christ?

What does righteousness by faith look like, practically?

How can we make praise and gratitude a daily part of our routine?