RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS, 04.06.2018

 Radioprogram, Relationship with Jesus, 04.06.2018

Announcer 01: Dear Listeners… 

Galatians 2:20, in essence, says: “I was hopelessly bound to sin and was under its power. However, when I was crucified with Christ, I was able to live free from sin.” 

In fact, the true expectation of us Christians is heaven: new life, life with Jesus Christ, life with the Father. Our expectation is the encounter with God, the One Who created us. 

Encounter with the One in Whose image we were created… the One Who created us – spirit, soul and body. Because God created us, He is also able to keep us in peace, health, freedom and right relationship with our loved ones. And He is the only One Who can make our lives harmonious in His world. 

Unfortunately, majority of people easily submit themselves to the authority of the devil, the enemy of God. 

So dear Christians, it is essential for us to stay under the authority of our Creator, in order to escape the snares the devil has laid for us.  

The devil, who envies Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has made up his mind to steal man from Him, the very man who is created to be with Jesus, to rejoice in Him and to live for Him. Proverbs 8 says, 

“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth… When He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in His inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men.” 

These are the words of Wisdom – our Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, mankind used the free will granted to them to their own demise. Even in the Garden of Eden, people accepted the offer of the devil and disobeyed, destroying the bond of peace between God the Creator and mankind that is themselves and all their descendants. 

But praise the Lord, as it is written in Ephesians 1, verses 5 and 7, “He has predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will… In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” 

Romans 6, verses 6 and 7 says, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.” 

I hope you are attentive to these Scriptures. Receive them deep into your hearts, because they are so real, and they can set you free. The truth is truly inspiring.

When we come to the Cross, we do not simply receive freedom from sin. We receive empowerment to obey Him. First Corinthians 1 verse 18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 

Now we can do the things we were unable to do in our strength: we can walk in the ways of God. We can imitate God. We can follow Jesus. 

It is impossible to follow Jesus without the following: We shall deny our own self, which means forsaking our ways. We shall submit to His sovereignty and take up our cross, which means to live with the power of the Cross, because that’s how we are able to separate ourselves from sin and the system of this world. Then we can live assured that His empowerment works in and through us. 

However, I feel compelled to follow these statements with a warning. Jesus warned that after His departure, another gospel would appear. It would be widely preached and accepted by people; it would offer salvation without obeying the authority of Christ. The disciples made it clearer by writing that this would happen when the coming of Christ would be near; and this is happening in our days. This widespread heresy would make the word “Lord” meaningless, and will turn the position Jesus holds in people’s lives into a mere title. People would call Him Lord, but would not deny themselves, take up their cross or follow Him. 

Here’s what Jesus says in Matthew 7 verse 21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Jesus was speaking about those who call Him Lord, not Mohammad, Joseph Smith, Buddha, Krishna, Confucius or any false prophet of our time. No, these people profess Jesus Christ as their Lord, and do it with much zeal. 

The people to whom Jesus addressed His rebuke, were not just spectators in the Church. They were directly involved in the work of their Churches or were supporting it. They were also known for their faith in the Gospel. They preached the Gospel message and helped people by making difference in their lives. 

Jesus spoke about those who believed the teachings of the Gospel, called Him Lord, were emotionally engaged, spread His message and were in Christian ministry. We would easily call them Christians. So what was their difference from the true believers? 

Jesus tells us the difference in Matthew 7 verse 23, “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” 

The key phrase in this verse is “practice lawlessness”. This means actions that directly violate both divine and inner moral principles. Simply put, a lawbreaker does not submit to the authority of the Word of God. 

Such people do not stumble from time to time; instead, they always ignore and neglect the Word of God; they do not obey it.  If they were truly saved by grace, they would not only hate the only thought of sinning, but would also make a decision to forsake their recurring sins. They would crucify their flesh with its passions and desires, and would seek to have godly character and bear fruit. 

It is interesting to note that one day Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you”. These people never had true relationship with Jesus. Even though they called Him Lord, it was just a title for them, because they did not do what He said. The proof of having true relationship with Jesus is when a person keeps His Word.  

It is written in First John 2, verses 3 and 4, “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Today a person who calls Jesus Lord, believes in His teachings, is emotionally engaged and actively serves in the Church, would be considered a child of God by many. However, from the words of Jesus, we clearly see that doing good works is not a decisive factor in identifying a believer. 

Allow me to say this: undoubtedly, you will find these traits in any true believer’s life. In fact, a person cannot be a true believer if he does not have these. However, only having these traits does not mean that the person is truly a child of God. The decisive factor in this matter is the following: have they truly denied themselves, have they taken their own cross and are they following Jesus? Do they love Christ, do they have the Spirit of God, and are they obedient to the commandments of God? 

Can we find the traits described in the Sermon of the Mount in the life of a person who professes his faith in Jesus Christ? It is not without a purpose that this Sermon ends with the following proverb, in Matthew 7, verses 24 to 27: 

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Jesus told this proverb after He warned about the people who would not be allowed to Heaven. 

If we study the two types of people in this proverb, the difference between them is subtle. Both of them listen to His words, but the first group does them, while the second doesn’t. Both houses are built of the same materials or the same teachings. Both of them look alike during worship and in ministry. The essential difference between them is the foundation. 

One house was built on the authority of Jesus Christ. The other was still fastened to human estimation of good and evil, the same philosophical tree to which Adam and Eve did turn. 

The thought that the same folly repeats itself from the Garden of Eden until our days, shall sober us up. This folly has changed its forms, but its root is the same. Again, this can be summed up with the following question, “Do we think we know better, or do we believe that God knows what the best is?” 

The golden rule for understanding the spiritual life is not the mind, but obedience. Jesus says in Mark 8, verses 34 and 35, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

Please take heed that if we only WANT to save our life, we will lose everything. Jesus did not just say, “Whoever DESIRES to lose his life for me, will save it.” Simply DESIRING is not enough. In order to make a covenant with the most majestic Person in the universe, you shall completely give yourself to Him, which naturally means to follow His leading completely. 

It is interesting that the Bible likens relationship with God to the relationship in marriage. In Ephesians 5, verses 31 and 32, Paul writes, “‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

Although Paul used this passage to admonish married couples, he also clearly said that in fact it described our relationship with Jesus. So it is no accident that James writes in his epistle: “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” 

The adulterer is a person who has a covenant with someone, but who violates it, seeking other relationships. This person is not committed to the conditions of their covenant. 

The covenant we make to follow Jesus has the following conditions. We must deny our self and separate ourselves from the sinful system and works of the world around us. We must be fully committed and submit ourselves to Jesus. We cannot offer Him anything less than this. This means that we take into account His will and desires more than our own. By giving our lives to Him, we receive His life instead. This covenant is like a healthy marriage between a man and a woman. 

Our foundation is the authority of Jesus Christ. All the spheres of our life shall be built around it. If so, they will last, but otherwise, they will ultimately be destroyed. 

Can you answer a question? What is the primary goal of your life? Or to put it another way, what desire in your heart is the strongest? Can you be honest? 

Paul the Apostle says in Philippians 3, verse 14: “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” He knew his main goal, and his obedience to his Creator was a settled matter for him. Even though he faced confrontation, obstacles and fierce opposition, he still made progress.  

What was his life build upon? Having many friends? Being famous? Having a certain standard of life? Being the best in his professional field? Or maybe having health and success?  

You can say, “But I want all these”. Many of us want these things, but what desire outweighs all the others?  

What is your ultimate destination? If it is being morally pure, keeping the norms of ethics, having a good character, health or comfortable life, you will end up like the rich young ruler, who came to Jesus, with the purpose to secure his eternal life. You will have all these traits, but will lack the most important thing. 

If it is being a famous preacher, singer or leader, having a certain number of followers on Twitter or Facebook, or even becoming famous in the Christendom, you will end up like King Uzziah in Second Chronicles 26, who died in isolation, although he had been a renowned person in his own country. 

You can have a more noble goal – being a great benefactor. Maybe you want to graciously support the poor. Today this is attractive to so many. However, can you remember Moses, whom we see almost in the beginning of the Bible? Hebrews 11 verse 26 says that he “esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.”  

What was his reward? When I ask this question, many answer that it was the Land of Promise. However, if it is so, another question follows. Could the land flowing with milk and honey offer something that fruitful Egypt lacked? Then what was the reward of Moses? 

The expectation of Moses was the fulfilment of the great promise given to mankind – salvation, life with Jesus Christ and restoration of what was stolen by the devil.