rjones
Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2007
- Messages
- 314
God sent Jesus into the world on a mission - to seek and save that which had been lost to God. But before we can understand Jesus' mission, we first have to see the world the way God sees it.
HOW GOD SEES THE WORLD
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Heb. 4:13).
God loves the world. This means that He loves every single person. But He also sees the problems people face. He sees every tear that is cried in the dark. He sees the family problems, the work problems, the financial problems, the things we hope nobody will ever find out about. He knows the grief people feel - the loneliness, the guilt, the despair.
But how could God reach out past the walls that we put up around our lives? God created people with the ability to make their own choices in life-free will. But people have used this ability to reject God - sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes out of rebellion. Mankind has chosen a path that does not include God. As a world, we've shut God out. And this is the condition of so many lives today.
But the good news is: "...God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16).
God sent Jesus into the world to break through the walls we build against God. Jesus became the door through the wall. Jesus became our link back to God.
LIVING IN THE WORLD
Even though God loves the world - that is, the people in the world - God hates what the world does to people. God hates sin because He sees the destruction it causes to people's lives. Now that we have aligned ourselves with God, the Bible tells us to love the world in the same way God does - the people, but not the system.
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1Jn. 2:15-17).
The biggest change that can happen in your life is when you begin to love God more than anything this world has to offer. We are special people. The Bible calls us "aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Peter 2:11) and says that "our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). Jesus Himself said about you: "They are not of the world, even as I am not of it" (Jn. 17:16).
DEAD AND BURIED
The Bible talks many times about how our life is now "in Christ". This means our life is now no longer centered in what this world has to offer - money, popularity, the good life - but is centered in the life of Jesus.
When you believed in Jesus, something very special happened in your life. The Bible says you "died". As far as God is concerned, when Jesus died on the Cross, your old life died with Him. When Jesus was buried, your old life was buried with Him. When Jesus was raised back to life, you too were raised back to life in Him. This is because you have aligned your life with the life of Jesus. Jesus' life is now your life. You are now "in Christ".
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20).
What a difference this makes to your life! All the old struggle is gone. You are a dead person to this world! The simple secret to living in the world is to live in the life of Jesus! Listen to the words of Jesus:
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing...As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love" (Jn. 15:5,9).
Jesus said: "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me...This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples" (Jn. 15:4,8).
YOUR MISSION
Jesus said: "...As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (Jn. 20:21).
Jesus has given us the same mission that the Father gave Him: to introduce people back to God. When God sent Jesus into the world, His priority was reconciliation - bringing people back into relationship with Himself.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18-20).
This is now our mission: to bring others into relationship with God.
GOD IS AT WORK
Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."...Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does (Jn. 5:17,19).
God never stops working to bring people closer to Himself. God was at work in your life, drawing you to Himself, long before you ever made a decision to give your life to God. In the same way, God is also at work in the lives of your family, your friends, your workmates, the people you meet during the day. You may not see this work of God, but the Holy Spirit is there, working invisibly on the hearts of people.
God is not asking you to go and bring others back to God all by yourself. He gives you His Spirit to help you in this mission. Even Jesus - God's own Son - said He couldn't do anything by Himself. But He saw the work God was already doing in people's hearts and He then joined God in His work. As you reach out to your friends and family, ask God to help you to understand the work He is already doing - and then co-operate with God.
SHOWING GOD'S LOVE
The old saying goes: "Actions speak louder than words." Jesus didn't just come to tell us that God loved us. He showed us. In the same way, we don't just tell people about God. We show the reality of God's love through our life - by having genuine concern for people, being ready to help, to listen, to express love in practical ways. Remember: Just as the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus is sending you. How did Jesus show the love and concern of God? He gave His life for others. This is how you too are to show God's love to others. You are God's ambassador on your street. Your friends, family and neighbors cannot see God, but they can see you.
TOUCHING THE HEART
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God...For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2Cor. 4:4,6).
The Bible tells us that many people are "blinded" to God's love by the things this world has to offer. The work of God's Spirit is to take away this blindness so that we can see the love God wants to give. But God doesn't aim for a person's mind to try to convince them - He aims at the heart. When you talk with your friends about Jesus, you can cooperate with God's Spirit by doing the same thing - speak to a person's heart, not just their mind. Don't try to convince your friends and family about God, and don't argue. Be natural. Be yourself, and allow God's life to work out practically for them to see. When you talk with your friends, there will opportunities to talk about "heart-issues". You can then share about your experience of God's love and the gift of His presence. Even if it takes a while, God's Spirit is working in their lives to break down the barriers.
Jesus said: "Freely you have received, freely give" (Mt. 10:8). You don't have to wait until you "know it all" before you begin telling others about Jesus. God just asks you to give to others what you yourself have received from God - nothing more, nothing less.
HOW GOD SEES THE WORLD
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Heb. 4:13).
God loves the world. This means that He loves every single person. But He also sees the problems people face. He sees every tear that is cried in the dark. He sees the family problems, the work problems, the financial problems, the things we hope nobody will ever find out about. He knows the grief people feel - the loneliness, the guilt, the despair.
But how could God reach out past the walls that we put up around our lives? God created people with the ability to make their own choices in life-free will. But people have used this ability to reject God - sometimes out of ignorance, sometimes out of rebellion. Mankind has chosen a path that does not include God. As a world, we've shut God out. And this is the condition of so many lives today.
But the good news is: "...God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16).
God sent Jesus into the world to break through the walls we build against God. Jesus became the door through the wall. Jesus became our link back to God.
LIVING IN THE WORLD
Even though God loves the world - that is, the people in the world - God hates what the world does to people. God hates sin because He sees the destruction it causes to people's lives. Now that we have aligned ourselves with God, the Bible tells us to love the world in the same way God does - the people, but not the system.
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1Jn. 2:15-17).
The biggest change that can happen in your life is when you begin to love God more than anything this world has to offer. We are special people. The Bible calls us "aliens and strangers in the world" (1 Peter 2:11) and says that "our citizenship is in heaven" (Phil. 3:20). Jesus Himself said about you: "They are not of the world, even as I am not of it" (Jn. 17:16).
DEAD AND BURIED
The Bible talks many times about how our life is now "in Christ". This means our life is now no longer centered in what this world has to offer - money, popularity, the good life - but is centered in the life of Jesus.
When you believed in Jesus, something very special happened in your life. The Bible says you "died". As far as God is concerned, when Jesus died on the Cross, your old life died with Him. When Jesus was buried, your old life was buried with Him. When Jesus was raised back to life, you too were raised back to life in Him. This is because you have aligned your life with the life of Jesus. Jesus' life is now your life. You are now "in Christ".
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20).
What a difference this makes to your life! All the old struggle is gone. You are a dead person to this world! The simple secret to living in the world is to live in the life of Jesus! Listen to the words of Jesus:
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing...As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love" (Jn. 15:5,9).
Jesus said: "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me...This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples" (Jn. 15:4,8).
YOUR MISSION
Jesus said: "...As the Father has sent me, I am sending you" (Jn. 20:21).
Jesus has given us the same mission that the Father gave Him: to introduce people back to God. When God sent Jesus into the world, His priority was reconciliation - bringing people back into relationship with Himself.
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18-20).
This is now our mission: to bring others into relationship with God.
GOD IS AT WORK
Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."...Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does (Jn. 5:17,19).
God never stops working to bring people closer to Himself. God was at work in your life, drawing you to Himself, long before you ever made a decision to give your life to God. In the same way, God is also at work in the lives of your family, your friends, your workmates, the people you meet during the day. You may not see this work of God, but the Holy Spirit is there, working invisibly on the hearts of people.
God is not asking you to go and bring others back to God all by yourself. He gives you His Spirit to help you in this mission. Even Jesus - God's own Son - said He couldn't do anything by Himself. But He saw the work God was already doing in people's hearts and He then joined God in His work. As you reach out to your friends and family, ask God to help you to understand the work He is already doing - and then co-operate with God.
SHOWING GOD'S LOVE
The old saying goes: "Actions speak louder than words." Jesus didn't just come to tell us that God loved us. He showed us. In the same way, we don't just tell people about God. We show the reality of God's love through our life - by having genuine concern for people, being ready to help, to listen, to express love in practical ways. Remember: Just as the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus is sending you. How did Jesus show the love and concern of God? He gave His life for others. This is how you too are to show God's love to others. You are God's ambassador on your street. Your friends, family and neighbors cannot see God, but they can see you.
TOUCHING THE HEART
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God...For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2Cor. 4:4,6).
The Bible tells us that many people are "blinded" to God's love by the things this world has to offer. The work of God's Spirit is to take away this blindness so that we can see the love God wants to give. But God doesn't aim for a person's mind to try to convince them - He aims at the heart. When you talk with your friends about Jesus, you can cooperate with God's Spirit by doing the same thing - speak to a person's heart, not just their mind. Don't try to convince your friends and family about God, and don't argue. Be natural. Be yourself, and allow God's life to work out practically for them to see. When you talk with your friends, there will opportunities to talk about "heart-issues". You can then share about your experience of God's love and the gift of His presence. Even if it takes a while, God's Spirit is working in their lives to break down the barriers.
Jesus said: "Freely you have received, freely give" (Mt. 10:8). You don't have to wait until you "know it all" before you begin telling others about Jesus. God just asks you to give to others what you yourself have received from God - nothing more, nothing less.
