UNDERSTANDING GOD IN A SIN BROKEN WORLD!
WE DISOBEY GOD, YET WE WANT HIM TO OBEY US (Heb.4:1,Num.14:34)
Our ever Good God works with Covenants(agreements)...and any agreement (undertaking) is usually between two or more persons.
FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION, GOD'S DEALINGS WITH HIS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN IN COVENANTS... PLAY YOUR PART,I WILL CERTAINLY PLAY MY PART....WE MAY WANT TO READ DEUTERONOMY 28:1-68!
But pitiably for the more than 90% of us that claim Christianity as our way of life, WE ACTUALLY WANT GOD TO DO THE KEEPING PART FOR US.... WHILE WE DWELL ON THE BREAKING PART! THAT'S WHERE WE ONLY ACCEPT HIM AS OUR SAVIOUR,BUT NOT AS OUR LORD.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.(John 14:15)
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21)
…I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.(John 14:31)
NOW,WE HAVE THE BIG QUESTION BEFORE US!
[YOU AND I]
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOVE AND OBEDIENCE? DO I EARN GOD'S LOVE THROUGH MY OBEDIENCE?
πͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺ
And it's a question we must address right away!
Obedience is an essential quality of a disciple of Christ Jesus.
Christ Jesus gives us the true pattern. In verse 31, HE says that HE does what the Father commanded *so that* the WORLD MAY KNOW THAT I LOVE THE FATHER.
Christ Jesus’ obedience was intended to be a demonstration of His Love for the Father. Is that the ultimate motivation for Christ Jesus? And, does that mean that we obey so that the world will believe that we Love Christ Jesus? Is that the motivation for our obedience?
The answer is a No,No and No again!
Christ Jesus obeyed the Father because He Loves HIM. The fact that His obedience demonstrated to the world that HE LOVES the FATHER is a side-benefit.
Christ Jesus loves the Father because it is HIS NATURE;
God is love (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, as one, all are LOVE).
Each member of the Trinity(please no theology here) CANNOT NOT LOVE. IT IS THEIR NATURE.
Obedience of Christ Jesus to the Father is a natural effect of being God and being a Spirit-filled Man without sin. I know this can get confusing, and so, let's concentrate on Christ Jesus as a Man rather than Christ Jesus as the Son of God.
Christ Jesus was the perfect Man without sin.
When John baptized Him(Christ Jesus)
in the Jordan River, the Spirit descended as a dove as a sign of the coming/filling of the Holy Spirit in Him, the man. Christ Jesus never stopped being fully God while at the same time was fully Man. We believe that the Scriptures teach that Christ Jesus operated as a Man without sin, in perfect fellowship with the Father and filled with the Holy Spirit. What’s the point?
Christ Jesus lived in obedience to the Father because He Loves the Father, not to prove his Love or earn the Father’s Love or approval. His obedience did, however, demonstrate His Love for the Father.
WHAT IS IN THIS FOR US?
The issue for us is to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. If we do that, obedience will never be a problem.
So, is obedience required of a Christian? Can’t I just believe the Gospel and I’m good? No.
The answer can only be a *yes* if we understand the full ramifications of the Gospel that not only are our sins forgiven and we are guaranteed a PLACE in HEAVEN, but we have also DECLARED that CHRIST JESUS IS OUR LORD,(NOT ONLY SAVIOUR).
Which means that we are HIS SLAVES. SLAVES OBEY (OR THEY ARE IN REAL TROUBLE).
Another ramification of the Gospel is that God LOVED us so much that HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON, and when He regenerates us, our hearts are made new, and we are now able to love HIM.
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
(Deuteronomy 30:6)
Having a circumcised heart is an Old Testament metaphor for being regenerated or born again. One reason to be born again is so we can love God. It comes with the territory.
Loving God and obeying God are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. So, we can confidently say that if we have confessed Christ Jesus as our Lord and WE are NOT LIVING in ESSENTIAL OBEDIENCE to HIM, WE are MISERABLE. We are miserable because we are behaving contrary to our new nature.
We may not have the full capability to ESSENTIALLY obey Christ Jesus (I say “essentially” because I know none of us can live in perfect obedience to Christ Jesus now, but our lives can be characterized by *ESSENTIAL* obedience to HIM.)
This means that we aren't really disciples of Christ Jesus at all, if we can't ESSENTIALLY use our newly formed nature and the POWER IN HIS NAME to strive to obey Him. Only one explanation stands...and that's we have truly not been born again at all;
Till now you have not given your blood in your fight against sin: (Heb 12: 4)
26. For if we do evil on purpose after we have had the knowledge of what is true, there is no more offering for sins,
27. But only a great fear of being judged, and of the fire of wrath which will be the destruction of the haters of God. (Heb 10: 26-27)
The absence of Christ Jesus as our Lord in our lives , is what makes OBEDIENCE to Christ Jesus a burden to us, because,by then,we are still living in darkness and under the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who works in the sons of disobedience.
If we know we are sons of God and are having difficulty with our obedience, there is a solution.
AND THIS IS IT
Submit yourself to God
Repent and confess our sin of disobedience
Repent also of the underlying heart condition that contaminates our love for Christ Jesus.
(Do we love the world more than you love Christ Jesus? Do we fear Man more than we fear God? Just a couple of possibilities)
Resist the devil
The devil is a tempter and a deceiver. Speak to him and tell him you belong to Christ Jesus and he has no right to harass you. Tell him to leave.
This won’t get rid of your own flesh, but it will rid you of any demonic temptations that you may be dealing with. Your repentance deals with your flesh.
We, believers, do live in a war zone, a spiritual war zone. We are battling with the world, the flesh, and the devil. None of these have the ability to defeat a child of God who walks in the Spirit. If you find you are not being obedient to Christ Jesus, ask yourself, am I Loving HIM? Do I need to repent of a cold heart? Have I left my FIRST LOVE FOR CHRIST JESUS?
Deal with it! God will extend all grace to us as we fall before him. He loves us as only God can love even when our love for HIM grows cold and needs the fire of spiritual romance with God to be stoked. Purpose to set your heart on HIM, set aside the time and place to make YOURSELF AVAILABLE to GOD and HE will meet YOU there.
REMEMBER THIS, AS I SPEAK TO YOU, I SPEAK MORE TO MYSELF... PERHAPS, I EVEN NEED THE MESSAGE MORE THAN YOU OUT THERE READING THIS.
MAY THE HOLY SPIRIT INTERCEDE FOR US IN CHRIST JESUS' NAME AMEN !
UNDERSTANDING GOD IN A SIN BROKEN WORLD!
π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯
WE DISOBEY GOD, YET WE WANT HIM TO OBEY US (Heb.4:1,Num.14:34)
π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯
Our ever Good God works with Covenants(agreements)...and any agreement (undertaking) is usually between two or more persons.
FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION, GOD'S DEALINGS WITH HIS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN IN COVENANTS... PLAY YOUR PART,I WILL CERTAINLY PLAY MY PART....WE MAY WANT TO READ DEUTERONOMY 28:1-68!
But pitiably for the more than 90% of us that claim Christianity as our way of life, WE ACTUALLY WANT GOD TO DO THE KEEPING PART FOR US.... WHILE WE DWELL ON THE BREAKING PART! THAT'S WHERE WE ONLY ACCEPT HIM AS OUR SAVIOUR,BUT NOT AS OUR LORD.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.(John 14:15)
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21)
…I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.(John 14:31)
πNOW,WE HAVE THE BIG QUESTION BEFORE US!
[YOU AND I]
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOVE AND OBEDIENCE? DO I EARN GOD'S LOVE THROUGH MY OBEDIENCE?
πͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺπͺ
And it's a question we must address right away!
Obedience is an essential quality of a disciple of Christ Jesus.
Christ Jesus gives us the true pattern. In verse 31, HE says that HE does what the Father commanded *so that* the WORLD MAY KNOW THAT I LOVE THE FATHER.
Christ Jesus’ obedience was intended to be a demonstration of His Love for the Father. Is that the ultimate motivation for Christ Jesus? And, does that mean that we obey so that the world will believe that we Love Christ Jesus? Is that the motivation for our obedience?
The answer is a No,No and No again!
Christ Jesus obeyed the Father because He Loves HIM. The fact that His obedience demonstrated to the world that HE LOVES the FATHER is a side-benefit.
Christ Jesus loves the Father because it is HIS NATURE;
God is love (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, as one, all are LOVE).
Each member of the Trinity(please no theology here) CANNOT NOT LOVE. IT IS THEIR NATURE.
Obedience of Christ Jesus to the Father is a natural effect of being God and being a Spirit-filled Man without sin. I know this can get confusing, and so, let's concentrate on Christ Jesus as a Man rather than Christ Jesus as the Son of God.
Christ Jesus was the perfect Man without sin.
When John baptized Him(Christ Jesus)
in the Jordan River, the Spirit descended as a dove as a sign of the coming/filling of the Holy Spirit in Him, the man. Christ Jesus never stopped being fully God while at the same time was fully Man. We believe that the Scriptures teach that Christ Jesus operated as a Man without sin, in perfect fellowship with the Father and filled with the Holy Spirit. What’s the point?
Christ Jesus lived in obedience to the Father because He Loves the Father, not to prove his Love or earn the Father’s Love or approval. His obedience did, however, demonstrate His Love for the Father.
WHAT IS IN THIS FOR US?
π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯π₯
The issue for us is to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. If we do that, obedience will never be a problem.
So, is obedience required of a Christian? Can’t I just believe the Gospel and I’m good? No.
The answer can only be a *yes* if we understand the full ramifications of the Gospel that not only are our sins forgiven and we are guaranteed a PLACE in HEAVEN, but we have also DECLARED that CHRIST JESUS IS OUR LORD,(NOT ONLY SAVIOUR).
Which means that we are HIS SLAVES. SLAVES OBEY (OR THEY ARE IN REAL TROUBLE).
Another ramification of the Gospel is that God LOVED us so much that HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON, and when He regenerates us, our hearts are made new, and we are now able to love HIM.
And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
(Deuteronomy 30:6)
Having a circumcised heart is an Old Testament metaphor for being regenerated or born again. One reason to be born again is so we can love God. It comes with the territory.
Loving God and obeying God are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. So, we can confidently say that if we have confessed Christ Jesus as our Lord and WE are NOT LIVING in ESSENTIAL OBEDIENCE to HIM, WE are MISERABLE. We are miserable because we are behaving contrary to our new nature.
We may not have the full capability to ESSENTIALLY obey Christ Jesus (I say “essentially” because I know none of us can live in perfect obedience to Christ Jesus now, but our lives can be characterized by *ESSENTIAL* obedience to HIM.)
This means that we aren't really disciples of Christ Jesus at all, if we can't ESSENTIALLY use our newly formed nature and the POWER IN HIS NAME to strive to obey Him. Only one explanation stands...and that's we have truly not been born again at all;
Till now you have not given your blood in your fight against sin: (Heb 12: 4)
26. For if we do evil on purpose after we have had the knowledge of what is true, there is no more offering for sins,
27. But only a great fear of being judged, and of the fire of wrath which will be the destruction of the haters of God. (Heb 10: 26-27)
The absence of Christ Jesus as our Lord in our lives , is what makes OBEDIENCE to Christ Jesus a burden to us, because,by then,we are still living in darkness and under the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who works in the sons of disobedience.
If we know we are sons of God and are having difficulty with our obedience, there is a solution.
πAND THIS IS ITπ
Submit yourself to God
Repent and confess our sin of disobedience
Repent also of the underlying heart condition that contaminates our love for Christ Jesus.
(Do we love the world more than you love Christ Jesus? Do we fear Man more than we fear God? Just a couple of possibilities)
Resist the devil
The devil is a tempter and a deceiver. Speak to him and tell him you belong to Christ Jesus and he has no right to harass you. Tell him to leave.
This won’t get rid of your own flesh, but it will rid you of any demonic temptations that you may be dealing with. Your repentance deals with your flesh.
We, believers, do live in a war zone, a spiritual war zone. We are battling with the world, the flesh, and the devil. None of these have the ability to defeat a child of God who walks in the Spirit. If you find you are not being obedient to Christ Jesus, ask yourself, am I Loving HIM? Do I need to repent of a cold heart? Have I left my FIRST LOVE FOR CHRIST JESUS?
Deal with it! God will extend all grace to us as we fall before him. He loves us as only God can love even when our love for HIM grows cold and needs the fire of spiritual romance with God to be stoked. Purpose to set your heart on HIM, set aside the time and place to make YOURSELF AVAILABLE to GOD and HE will meet YOU there.
REMEMBER THIS, AS I SPEAK TO YOU, I SPEAK MORE TO MYSELF... PERHAPS, I EVEN NEED THE MESSAGE MORE THAN YOU OUT THERE READING THIS.
MAY THE HOLY SPIRIT INTERCEDE FOR US IN CHRIST JESUS' NAME AMEN ππ!