Inspired Sunday Christian sermons based upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ
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Inspired Christian Sermons
Sunday Sermon #2
THIS IS ETERNAL LIFE
By
Jim Lee
Jim Lee is a retired Pastor with the Worldwide Church of God in South St. Louis, Missouri. He is currently an Elder in the Desoto Worldwide Church of God. Click the Affiliated Church Directory link below for information about this church.
1. THE PERFECT RELATIONSHIP: THE FATHER AND THE SON
Just prior to his passion, our Lord left us with a most intimate
example of the love he shared with his Father. It is sometimes
called the "Royal Prayer." Through it you and I are privileged to
"listen in" on the most selfless, loving prayer in all Scripture.
Let's notice a few of the first sentences:
"These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and
said, 'Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also
may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh,
that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee
on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was"' [Jn. 17:1-5].
Jesus had glorified the Father throughout his life by fulfilling
his Father's purpose for him. That is to live a perfect life in
order to set the perfect example for all people.He would glorify
it again by being the perfect sacrifice for all sin; once
sacrificed for all time.
2. OUR FALLEN STATE MAKES SUCH A RELATIONSHIP IMPOSSIBLE FOR US
As an aside, it is important to realize that there is a difference
between a perfect life and a sinless life. What I mean by that is
this: Paul speaks of the sin of Adam being passed on to all his
descendants [Rom. 5]. Therefore, even if one could, hypothetically
live a sinless life, he or she would still be subject to death
because they carry the sin of Adam. We all sinned, being in his
loins, to use the biblical phrase. Adam, alone, had the opportunity
to choose to follow God or not. The rest of us come to God in a
fallen state. God must put in us the desire and the ability to do
his will. For this reason, even babies who die before the age of
accountability also have Jesus as their Savior.
Jesus had no original sin. His Father was God, not Adam. Jesus,
himself, is called the Second Adam. That is he is the progenitor of
a new line of human beings. Actually, to be more correct, Jesus was
the means by which God became the Progenitor of these new men and
women.
3. BUT DON'T LOSE HEART - GOD WANTS A RELATIONSHIP WITH US TOO!
We were all born in a fallen state. Jesus was not. BUT IT WAS NEVER
GOD'S INTENTION TO CREATE SINLESS OR EVEN PERFECT HUMAN BEINGS.
Obviously he could have made us so if he had so desired.
No, there is no contest going on down here to discover who can be
the most perfect human being: 1) who can RUN from sin the fastest;
2) THROW the demons the farthest; 3) LIFT the heaviest cross; 4)
SHED the most tears of compassion; 5) SWIM through the most
sorrows.None of these activities are wrong in themselves. They just are not
complete. There is still something far more wonderful God wants to
accomplish.
In the final analysis, OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS DON'T AMOUNT TO MUCH. To
God they are a bunch of soiled rags [Is. 64:6] by comparison to
what God really desires. Jesus said, "except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you
shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" [Mt. 5:20].
Jesus told us to remind ourselves that even if we did all God
commanded to consider ourselves unprofitable servants [Lk.17:10].
We have somehow not completed God's plan for us. Jesus did. He,
indeed, was perfect. But not us.
No, our God has a GREATER GOAL AND PURPOSE IN MIND FOR US. HE DOES
NOT WANT TO BE OUR CREATOR ONLY. HE WANTS TO BE OUR FATHER AS
WELL!! Let's notice Romans 8:12-17: "Therefore, brethren, we are
debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live
after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do
mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, 'Abba, Father'.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and
joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we
may be also glorified together".
4. HOW THIS RELATIONSHIP IS POSSIBLE
You see, it is not human righteousness, no matter how "perfect",
that God is interested in. HE IS INTERESTED IN DIVINE
RIGHTEOUSNESS!!
Human righteousness is achieved by work - hard, dedicated work.
That is because righteousness does not come natural to us. It goes
against our nature. Human righteousness fulfills its duty by
obeying law. We continue to be faithful and obedient by "fighting
the good fight".
Godly or Divine righteousness is not achieved by work but by gift
[or grace]. No work can produce it. That is because it is the
product of a new nature. God's nature! You see, God doesn't begin
each day determined not to sin! To sin never crosses his mind.
Wouldn't that be a wonderful way to live?
It is the indwelling Holy Spirit that convicts us of sin and causes
us to desire to be free of all sin. It is he that reveals to us the
BEAUTY OF GOD'S PERFECTION AND THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF OUR DUPLICATING
THAT ON OUR OWN!
Yet, he places in us the DESIRE to be like God and gives us the
freedom to choose to follow God or not. We don't have that
opportunity simply by being alive.
5. THE MAIN OBSTACLE TO THIS RELATIONSHIP
Adam and Eve wanted to be like God from the perspective of God's
power.
The Holy Spirit instills in Christians the desire to be like God
from the perspective of his character.
Humans do not really want to be like God naturally. They may want
to be near God; even to love him. But never to be like him.
To be like God is to be like Christ. And being like Jesus is to
give up everything - yes everything - to serve God through service
to his children. Jesus had no life of his own. He was totally and
unequivocally SELFLESS.
The whole purpose for his being human was to be a sacrifice. As
John said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world!"
No human is that way naturally; no human wants to be that way. We
all are willing to make some sacrifices, but we don't want our life
to simply BE a sacrifice. We want a life also!
5. HOW THIS OBSTACLE IS OVERCOME
Yet, to know the Father and the Son requires that we be like them.
As Paul said, "Let this mind be in you that was in Jesus Christ"
[Eph. 2:5].
It is this mind that moves us in the direction that God originally
desired for all of us. And that mind must come from him alone!
You see, unless we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior; unless we
allow him to forgive our sins and live his life in us, we are
without hope. We can only have human righteousness which is
meaningless. Our nature remains the same. Good folks will remain
good folks and bad folks will either grow out of it or remain bad
folks. But those in Christ are a new creation!! While not perfect
yet, we look forward to the time when we will be. It is our burning
desire and we will never be satisfied until we are in that state of
perfect unity with the Father and Son in perfect love.
Adam was made human to learn that life was not simply knowing right
from wrong nor even doing the right and avoiding the wrong. But
real life was being of the same nature as his Creator! For that is
the only way in which we can have a perfect relationship with him.
Jesus said that no one can come to him unless God draws them [Jn.
6:44]. When God calls us he opens our minds to a small glimpse of
his perfection. The closer to that perfection we come, the more
aware of our own imperfection we become. The patriarch Job viewed
it and dropped on his face and said, "I abhor myself and repent in
dust and ashes". The apostle Paul was led to say, "Oh wretched man
that I am..."
Perhaps it was most beautifully stated by church father Augustine
in "My Confession". He said, "Despite every thing, man, though but
a small part of your creation, wants to praise you. You, yourself,
encourage him to delight in your praise, for you made him for
yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."
6. GOD'S WONDERFUL REST AWAITS US ALL
To rest in God is to be in his presence. And to do that we must be
like him to fully enjoy him.
Based upon this, we come to a simple conclusion. A conclusion that
changes our life forever. God, infinitely perfect and blessed in
himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him
share in his own blessed life. He draws close to us and invites us
to draw close to him. To make this possible, he sent his Son as
Savior and Redeemer.
What a wonderful plan God has for us. To be like him; to share in
his glory. Before being called, we thought real life was living in
the lap of luxury. God showed us a different vision. True life -
eternal life - is to live in the lap of our heavenly Father
forever, with our elder brother, Jesus, by his side! Praise God for
such a vision of his wonderful plan for us all! AMEN.
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