Treasure has power over hearts. Do not believe that you are too spiritual and mature for things to capture your heart. If our hearts and affections are to be heavenward, then we must invest there. Paul encouraged the Colossians“ Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”( Col. 3:1- NIV) And he encouraged the Philippians,“ As I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”( Phil. 3:18- NIV). We will be totally ineffective and become spiritually dead if our hearts and minds are set on earthly material things. Take Jesus’ advice and get rid of everything that is a distraction and make Jesus your everything.
Authority to Forgive Sins? The claims of Jesus make Him only one of three things; a lunatic, a liar or Lord. Many thought Jesus was a lunatic because His claims were so‘ out of this world.’ We could too, if we were alive when Jesus lived on earth. When the friends of a paralytic ripped through a roof to get him to Jesus, Scripture records,.. Luke 5:20“ When He [ Jesus ] saw their faith, He said to him,‘ Man, your sins are forgiven you.’ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying,‘ Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’”( Luke 5:20). How could Jesus tell someone He did not know that they were forgiven?
If someone wronged you and then came to you humbly you could, by choice, forgive them and tell them that he or she were forgiven. However, imagine approaching someone on the street, that you had never met before and saying“ I forgive you.” You would either be drunk or mad. You cannot forgive someone for offending your neighbour. That is your neighbour’ s responsibility. This was how the scribes and Pharisees reasoned:
“ How can Jesus forgive someone for sinning against God? Only God can do that.”
As we consider the humanity of Jesus, we must never forget His divinity. Jesus was not only man, but was indeed God manifest in flesh. Men of greater status, age and experience would bow before Him and address Him as‘ Lord’. Why? Because Jesus was not mad, He was God!
Desire is not enough! The gospel of Mark records a fascinating story of a rich young ruler who came to Jesus seeking eternal life, but who the Master allowed to sadly leave without it( Luke 18:18).
Why is this story so fascinating? Because the Christianity shaped by Western culture portrays a different Jesus from the One we see in this story. Here Jesus did what we fail to do today, i. e. to lay out the cost of a disciple’ s commitment. We try to sneak people into the kingdom and therefore deceive them into thinking that there is no cost to their commitment, that they can go on to do their own thing once they have recited“ the sinner’ s prayer,” which is not endorsed by Scripture. We have reduced entry into the Kingdom of Heaven to nothing more than taking an oath or reciting a creed as if joining some society or club.
A. W. Tozer puts it this way,-“ Believing for salvation has these days been reduced to a once done act that requires no further attention. The young believer becomes aware of an act performed rather than of a living Saviour to be followed and adored.”- The Root of the Righteous – Pg 11. Hearts are no more pierced by the sharp double edged sword of the gospel, nor experience godly sorrow, or true repentance, no more do they bear fruits worthy of repentance. This leads us to conclude that many today have a form of godliness but are not truly saved. The shocking truth is that Jesus did not hurry after this young man or plead with him. He does seek and find a lost sheep, but He will not plead with anyone who remains unrepentant. We cannot lay hold of eternal life on our terms.
Who is my family?“...‘ Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And He [ Jesus ] stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said,‘ Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother’”( Matt. 12:48-50). The moment we were saved we experienced an inexplicable miracle! We became a new creation,‘ born again’ with a new nature, a new family in which our father is God and we obtain a new citizenship into a spiritual kingdom in which the King is Jesus Christ.
Jesus told Nicodemus,“ Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”( John 3:3).
For birth to take place there needs to be an egg and a sperm. The egg is like the soul and the sperm or seed is the Word of God. Like natural babies, spiritual babies are born into a family, the family of God. Jesus demonstrated that His heavenly relations through His Father took priority over all earthly relations. The disciples thereafter followed His example making their natural families secondary to their heavenly family.
If you have experienced the miracle of being born again, then you have been born into a spiritual family with spiritual relations. This is no excuse for neglecting your earthly family responsibilities. However, when there is a conflict between your earthly family’ s wishes and your heavenly Father’ s will, your heavenly Father and heavenly family will have to take priority.“... I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,...”( Eph. 3:14).
Jesus is building a family not an organisation. Are you a part of it? p
April- June 2016 SHARE | MAGAZINE | 23