God Wants You to be Holy

Introduction
I haven't always been a Methodist.  I grew up going to Baptist churches.  So when I started attending a Methodist church, I was curious what were the differences.  Someone told me a joke I have always enjoyed.  They said, "You know what’s the difference between Methodists and Baptists?  Methodist say hello when they see each other in the liquor store!" 

And it is true that Methodists are much more open about the fact that we may enjoy an acholic beverage (while Baptist who do might not want to admit it).  There may be other difference we notice--we like to light candles and recite the Apostles Creed and other responsive liturgical readings.  However, the real difference are much deeper than these surface level issues   It's theological.

Methodists have a distinct emphasis on God’s grace. Grace is the undeserved gift of God’s divine help.  All Christians believe God's grace is what saves us--rather than our good works--because we can't earn salvation; it's a free gift from God for those who believe.  However, Methodists really emphasize God's grace and we even spell out the three main ways we experience God's grace.  There is the prevenient grace of God that helps us before we even think about God.  Then there is the justifying grace of God that saves us when we realize who Christ is and we repent of sin and turn to follow Jesus.  And today I want to talk about the third grace--sanctifying grace--that works to actually heal us and make us holy.

In the UMH, we have 22 songs under the theme of Prevenient Grace and 20 songs about Justifying Grace.  However, we have 154 songs about Sanctifying Grace!  What does the number of hymns for each category tell you about how the Methodist church's emphasis on sanctification?  It is very important to us! 

Sanctification is the life-long process of God healing us of sin and perfecting us in love. True Healing comes as we surrender ourselves to God and let His grace transform us.  Healing comes as we obey and do those things God asks of us.  

A man who is seriously ill, physically, will never get better unless he goes to a good doctor and follows the doctor’s treatment plan.  However, it doesn’t matter if the doctor is the best doctor in the world; the sick man will not get better on his own if he doesn't follow the doctor's treatment plan.

Well Jesus is known as the "Great Physician".  He is the greatest spiritual healer of all.  And we need healing.  We can't heal our own sin-sickness.  Jesus can heal us, but unless we follow The Great Physicians treatment plan for us, we will not get better.

Romans 6:12-18
¹² Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. ¹³ Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. ¹⁴ Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.

¹⁵ Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! ¹⁶ Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. ¹⁷ Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. ¹⁸ Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

Key Verses
Let me point out a few key phrases from this reading that shows what God expects from Christians after Jesus saves them.  Romans 6:14 says, "Sin is no longer your master… You are free by God’s grace…"
Romans 6:15 says, "Since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does this mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!"  So we see, God expects Christians to put away sin because we've been set free by His grace.

Here are some other scriptures that show that God wants us to be holy.  1 Thessalonians 4:3, "It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality"  And Jude 1:24 says, "All glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling, and who will bring you into his glorious presence innocent of sin and with great joy."

There are even more challenging verses from God’s Word about what God expects with regard to holiness, such as Hebrews 12:14, which says, "…seek to live a clean and holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord."  And 1 John 3:9, "Those who have been born into God’s family do not sin, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they have been born of God."

God’s Prevenient Grace draw us to Him. His Justifying Grace forgives us and sets aside our sin.  However, God doesn’t want us to remain in sin, so His Sanctifying Grace heals our sins and leads us to become holy. 

Now all Christian denominations know this and preach about sanctification.  However, sanctification has always been the hallmark of the Methodist movement.  John Wesley and the early Methodist were specifically motivated to urge Christians everywhere to "Spread Scriptural holiness across the land" (in other words, to truly be reformed and to help reform people everywhere to live holy lives).

Perfection In Love
Methodists believe God’s sanctifying grace through the Holy Spirit can perfect us in love in this lifetime.  We will still be tempted.  (Even Jesus was tempted.)  We will still make mistakes. We will never have perfect knowledge in this life, but we can have perfect love.  John Wesley taught perfect love is when everything you do is motivated by sincere love.  Thus, in this state, even the mistakes you make flow from love.  That is what we are aiming for! 

Strive for perfect love!  Let God change you!  Don’t be lazy and don’t you dare sell out!  God wants more for you than mediocrity!  He wants you to be holy!  And you can be holy, because God’s Sanctifying Grace can heal you and make you Holy.  Eventually, Lord willing, everything you do may be motivated by love!  But you can’t sit back and make the excuse, “Oh, no body’s perfect…”  That won’t get you anywhere.  But God’s healing grace can take you all the way to perfection in love—if you will let Him! 

Personal and Social Holiness
True Methodist doctrine shouts holy sanctification loud and clear!  It motivates us to be changed and to help change the world. 

Some Christians live their lives as if they’re just waiting to die.  They say, “I’ve been saved. 
I know I’m going to heaven.  What more is there?” 
There’s a lot more!  We are not just waiting to die.  

We pray in the Lord’s prayer:  “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  These are not empty words.  They should be the yearning of every Christian’s heart.   I believe God answers prayers, don’t you?  So why would He not answer the Lord’s Prayer? 

It is not God’s will that you continue to be dominated by sin.  God wants you to actually be free!  Does that seem impossible?  Well Jesus reminds us in Mark 10:27:  “With men it is impossible, but not with God.  Nothing is impossible with God!”  And Jude 1:24 says, “All glory to God, who is able to keep you from stumbling…”

We cannot free ourselves or stop ourselves from sinning own our own.  But God—through the Holy Spirit—helps us & sanctifies us to grow more & more like Jesus.  We ought to pray for and hope for and cooperate with the Holy Spirit, trusting God will heal us.  If you aren’t aiming for perfection, what are you aiming for?  And if you aren’t aiming for perfection, what do you think you will get?  

This is not a burden, because we don’t do it by our own strength. It’s not a matter of will power.  It’s not us buckling down extra hard, gritting our teeth, and making ourselves better people.  Sanctification is a matter of cooperation.  God makes the changes in your life, but, you’ve got to cooperate. 

Jesus is a wonderful physician, but you’ve got to follow His treatment plan.  Are you?  Are you actively praying?  Are you reading your Bible?  Are you celebrating the sacraments regularly?  Are you serving God and others?  Are you supporting God’s mission financially with a cheerful heart?  Are you devoting yourself to the Lord above all else?

The Christian faith is not just a personal thing.  It is also social.  We are called to spread scriptural holiness across the land.  Christians have changed the world for the better over the last 2,000 years.  It’s not God’s will that our world continues to be broken or that Christians throw up their hands in resignation and say, “There’s nothing we can do about it.” 

True Christians have always worked to better the world.  Even Christians who were being brutally tortured and executes for their faith, have followed Christ’s example of sacrificial love and sought the salvation of their persecutors.  Surely Christians today can change our world in 21^st century America for the better, but it won’t happen unless you take seriously God’s call to be Holy People.  It cannot happen just because you, by you sheer will power, resolve to make the world holy.  It can only happen when you cooperate with what the Holy Spirit wants to do in you today. 

Have You Heard

Introduction

We’ve been following the story of the very first Christians for several weeks.  We are tremendously indebted to their faith and their faithfulness.  We might could understand if they’d just given up and thrown in the towel.  They were outnumbered and subjected to severe persecution.  They never knew from day to day what would happen next.  One day, they enjoyed the favor of the people.  The next, soldiers were coming to take away their property and arrest them or chase them out of town.  Through it all, they were dependent on the guidance of the Holy Spirit while praying that Jesus would come back soon.

I want to re-visit the story from the second chapter of Acts, verses 14-24.  This was the Apostle Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost.  All the believers were gathered in one place (there were so few of them, they could still all fit in one place).  The Holy Spirit fell upon them in a mighty rush of wind and it appeared as if flaming tongues of fire danced above each person’s head.  And all the Christians began talking in different languages—languages they had not previously known—about he wonderful things God had done through Jesus Christ.  And all the Jews from around the world who were gathered in Jerusalem for the celebration of Pentecost came running to see the commotion and they heard the Good News about Jesus in their own languages.  Some of the people who listened were amazed, but others thought the Christians were drunk.

Acts 2:14-24

¹⁴ Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this. ¹⁵ Some of you are saying these people are drunk. It isn’t true! It’s much too early for that. People don’t get drunk by nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶ No, what you see this morning was predicted centuries ago by the prophet Joel:

¹⁸‘In the last days, God said,

I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

¹⁹In those days I will pour out my Spirit

upon all my servants, men and women alike,

and they will prophesy.

And I will cause wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below—

blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

²⁰The sun will be turned into darkness,

and the moon will turn bloodred,

before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.

²¹And anyone who calls on the name of the Lord

will be saved.’

²²“People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus of Nazareth by doing wonderful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. ²³ But you followed God’s prearranged plan. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to the cross and murdered him. ²⁴ However, God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life again, for death could not keep him in its grip.

Reflect

These are the powerful words Peter preached to the people of Israel. The people who in their time, were supposed to be the true worshipers of the one true God. Yes, of all the people in the world, the Israelites were supposed to know God the best. Yet when God sent His one and only Son to redeem the world, they led the fight to have him murdered.

In our time, we Christians are supposed to be the true worshipers of the one true God—the ones who know Him and love Him the best.  Yet how many times do we nail him to the cross again and again by sinning and doing things we know we ought not.  Lying, stealing, cheating, bickering, gossiping, lusting, drunkenness, adultery, giving more priority to the things and people of this world than to the one true God who made them all.

Acts 2:22-24

²² “People of Israel [that’s you and me], listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus of Nazareth by doing wonderful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. ²³ But you followed God’s prearranged plan. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to the cross and murdered him. ²⁴ However, God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life again, for death could not keep him in its grip.”

Have You Heard?

Have you heard about my Lord?  Have you heard about my Jesus?  He wasn’t born as some high and mighty king.  No!  He was born as poor peasant to a family who couldn’t even find him a room to be born in.  He ended up being born in a stable with a bunch of farm animals.

Have you heard the story of my Lord?  Have you heard the story of my Jesus?  He grew up poor, working with his hands.  His family couldn’t afford to send him college.  But “he grew both in height and in wisdom, and he was loved by God and by all who knew him.” [i]

His name is Jesus!  When he turned thirty, he was baptized by his cousin John and the Spirit of God descended upon him like a dove.  And God spoke from heaven with a thundering voice of authority and said, ““You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” [ii]

His name is Jesus!  When He gathered together his disciples and followers, he didn’t choose people because of how much money they had.  He didn’t choose people because of their status.  He didn’t choose people because they were good enough or because they were well educated.  Instead he chose fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, outcasts, and ordinary people like you and me. 

Have you heard about Jesus my Lord? 

1.              He spoke to one man who was paralyzed and told him to get up and walk because he was healed, he said your sins are forgiven—and the man got up and walked! 

2.              Once he was sailing with his disciples across the Sea of Galilee when a fierce storm came up and huge waves began to crash against the boat, breaking over the bow until the boat was nearly full of water.  And though his disciples were frozen with fear, Jesus calmly commanded the wind and the water to “Quiet down!” and suddenly the wind stopped and the sea was calm. 

3.              One time, a wild eyed man, foaming at the mouth, possessed by a legion of demons came running out of a cemetery, falling before my Lord Jesus screaming, “Why are you bothering me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God’s sake, don’t torture me!”[iii]  And Jesus commanded the demons to come out of the poor retched man and he sent them into a heard of pigs and sent the pigs running down into the sea where they drowned. 

4.              He made the blind to see and the deaf to hear and the mute to speak and the lame to walk.

5.              He fed 4,000 people with 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. 

6.              He comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable. 

7.              He said You are not defiled by what you eat; you are defiled by what you say and do!” [iv]

8.              On top of the mountain, he was transfigured and his clothing became dazzling white, and he stood and talked with Moses and Elijah, even though they’d been dead for hundreds of years.  And even though Peter and James and John were so blown away by the whole experience that they wanted to build 3 shrines and stay on the mountaintop worshiping forever, Jesus wouldn’t allow it because he knew his place was back down in the valley suffering for the people.

9.              He stood in front of Lazarus’ tomb, and though the body’d already been dead and buried for so long it’d begun to smell, he commanded, “Lazarus, come out!”  And a dead man obeyed and came back to life so that they had to unwrap the grave clothes and let Lazarus go free.

10.          Speaking of his own body he said, “Destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it again in 3 days!”

Have you heard about my Lord?  Have you heard about My Jesus?  He looked at me, a young man lost in sin, a adolescent who came from a broken home, a young teenager who wanted to have sex and get drunk and act stupid all the time, a kid who hated his father, a youth who thought it was cool to vandalize and destroy property, a 16 year old reckless driver who should’ve gotten himself or someone else killed—he looked at me and he saved me from the path to destruction down which I was heading.  And he snatched me up from the fires of hell over which I was dangling.  And he set my feet upon the rock and gave me a new life of abundance.

Have you heard about Jesus my Lord?  He looks at you, the man who is cheating on his wife.  He looks you, the kid who is getting high on drugs.  He looks you, the girl who is having sex with her boyfriend because she doesn’t want him to leave her all alone.  He looks at you, the workaholic who is neglecting your family, wasting your life climbing the corporate ladder while your family is going down the tubes.  He looks at you, the teenager who is so disillusioned with the vanity of life that you would contemplate going on a shooting spree or even taking your own life.  He looks at us all, who are dying of spiritual thirst in this dry and weary land where there’s no hope, and he says, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”[v]

Have you heard what they did to my Lord?  They arrested him in the middle of the night.  And they falsely accused him.  And they paid some worthless people to lie about the things he had said and done.  And they put him through a fraudulent trial in the middle of the night.  And they convicted him before the sun came up.  And they tricked a mob into trading the life of the sinless, spotless Son of God for the life of the murderous Barabbas.  And they spat on him, and they mocked him, and they beat him within an inch of his life, and they put a crown of thorns on his head, and then they nailed his hands and feet to a cross and hung him there until he died.  And then they chunked him in a cave and rolled a big, fat stone in front of it and thought they had seen the last of the Son of God. 

Oh, but have you heard the good news about Jesus my Lord?  Acts 2:24, However, God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life again, for death could not keep him in its grip.  After three days, the stone was rolled away and Jesus got up and walked out of that tomb.  And he appeared to many of his followers, both men and women, and he proved to them that he was really alive.  And he’s proven it to me too, time and time again, that he is indeed alive even today. 

Acts 2:36, “So let it be clearly known by everyone in Israel [and by you and me too] that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified to be both Lord and Messiah!”

“Brothers and sisters, what should we do?”

“Each of us must turn from our sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Then we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This promise is to us and to our children, and everyone in every part of the world.

Brothers and sisters, I urge you, as strongly as I know how, save yourselves from this generation that has gone astray!” 

           

Prayer of Repentance

Oh God, we have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Have mercy on us, O God, because of your unfailing love.  Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of our sins.  Wash us clean from our guilt.  Purify us of our sin.  For we recognize our shameful deeds—they haunt us day and night.  Against you, and you alone, have we sinned; we have done what is evil in your sight.

You will be proved right in what You say, and Your judgment against us is just.  For we were born sinners—yes, from the moment we were conceived.  But You desire honesty from the heart, so You can teach us to be wise in our inmost being.  Purify us from our sins, and we will be clean; wash us, and we will be whiter than snow.  Oh, give us back our joy again; You have broken us—now let us rejoice.  Don’t keep looking at our sins.  Remove the stain of our guilt.  Create in us a clean heart, O God.  Renew a right spirit within us.  Do not banish us from Your presence, and don’t take Your Holy Spirit from us.  Restore to us again the joy of Your salvation, and make us willing to obey You.  Then we will teach Your ways to sinners, and they will return to You.  Forgive us for shedding the blood of your Son, O God who saves; then we will joyfully sing of Your forgiveness.  Unseal our lips, O Lord, that we may praise You.  You would not be pleased with anything we could try to do to earn your forgiveness, or we would do them.  Even if we spent our whole lives trying to earn Your acceptance, You would not accept us.  The only sacrifice You want from us is a broken spirit.  A broken and repentant heart, O God, You will not despise.  Look at us with favor and help us; reconstruct Your holy dwelling place within our hearts.  Then You will be pleased with the things we do and our whole way of living will be pleasant in Your sight.

In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ we pray.  Amen.

---

[i] Paraphrase Luke 2:52

[ii] Luke 3:22b

[iii] Paraphrase Mark 5:7

[iv] Paraphrase Matthew 15:11

[v] Paraphrase John 4:10

God the Son

The Trinity

God created the universe.  That sentence is only four words long.  The brevity is misleading.  Consider: it is over 93 billion light years from one side of the observable universe to the other.  In other words, it would take 93 billion years to travel from one side to the other if you could travel at the speed of light, which is 670,616,629 miles per hour.  God created the universe and everything in it.

Furthermore, God created time.  We often fantasize how amazing it would be to travel through time--to either go back in time or forward to the future.  We haven't figured out how to do it.  However, can you even imagine a reality where time does not exist, where there is no beginning or end?  God exist without beginning or end.  People sometimes ask me, “Who created God?”  The answer is a bit unsatisfying:  No one.  No one created God.  He is uncreated.  God has always existed and always will.  “Well, that just makes no sense.” I know.  It makes no sense to the human mind whatsoever because we are created, physical beings, bound by time and space.  God is not.

The nature of our infinite God is unfathomable to the human mind and indescribable by our feeble language.  The best we can do is describe God as the Trinity.  Trinity literally means a state of being three.  Throughout the Bible, we see the trinitarian nature of God.  For example, God visited Abraham in Genesis 18:1-2.  “The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.”  The Hebrew word translated as “Lord” is YHWH and it is the eternal name of God.  It roughly translates to something like, "I am who I am" or "I will be who I will be" (notice the timeless quality of His name?)  And there were three men who represented God to Abraham.

Another example is when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.  As he came up out of the water, the Spirit of God descends like a dove and the voice of God from heavens speaks and says, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”  So we see all three persons of the Trinity involved in Jesus baptism:  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

The Trinity boggles the human mind.  We don’t worship three Gods.  There is only One God.  However, God is three distinct persons—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Now people come sometimes come to me and say, “Pastor, I have a simple illustration that will clear all this up for everyone…”  I've heard many different illustrations offered.  Every example falls short and misrepresents God in some way.  I appreciate people wanting to help, but think about this:  the Apostles and all the saints, theologians, and smartest scholars who have ever lived for the last 2,000 years have tried to break the Trinity down into something simple that everyone can understand and they’ve all failed.  Do you think you are going to come to me with a something that explains it all?  Probably not.  It is the nature of an infinite God.  It is unexplainable by human lips. 

All we can do is explain what we know.  Here is what we know:

1. There is only one God.
2. The Father is God, the Son is God, and he Holy Spirit is God.
3. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are eternally distinct persons. (The Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Father, but both are God. Likewise, the Holy Spirit is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, but both are God. And... The Holy Spirit is not the Father and the Father is not the Holy Spirit, but both are God.)

Confused yet?  Good.  You are on the right track then.  The infinite nature of God is incomprehensible to the finite human mind.  That is why it was essential for Jesus to come down to earth in human form to show us the nature of God.  Today, I want to talk about God the Son, Jesus Christ.  

Luke 1:34-35

³⁴ Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”

³⁵ The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 

Did you notice the Trinity in this familiar passage from the Christmas story?  There is:  The Holy Spirit, The Most High (which is God the Father), and the baby (who is the God the Son)--three persons, one God.  Now, let's look at another passage from the Gospel of John.

John 1:14-18

¹⁴ So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

¹⁵ John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’”

¹⁶ From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

Jesus Christ was Fully Human

I have kept a brood of chickens for several years at my home (which we affectionately call "Mullis Farm").  We usually keep them inside a secure pen because there are lots of predators like hawks, owls, raccoons, possums, foxes, and coyotes that would love to feast on a nice chicken dinner.  So we keep them safely inside a chain linked pen.  Sometimes, on a pretty day, we let the chickens out to free range while we keep a watchful eye on them.  When night comes, we will usher them all back safely inside there pen.  But every now and then, one of the chickens will decide she doesn't want to go back in the pen.  If you want to see something funny, come watch a 46-year-old fat man trying to chase and catch a chicken so he can put her back into the pen, all the while hoping the other chickens won't come back outside to see what all the commotion is about.  Chickens aren't that smart. Maybe that's why we call them "bird brains".  And a wayward chicken just doesn't understand me when I plead with her, "You dumb chicken!  You've got to go back inside your pen.  You can't stay outside or some viscous predator will come tear you to shreds!"  And sometimes, I have wished I could become a chicken for just a few moments.  Then, maybe, I could go up to that chicken and say, "Buck Buck Buck, BUGGOCK!" (Which roughly translates to "You silly chicken!  It's not safe out here!  Follow me back into the pen where's it's safe so some wild animal doesn't rip you apart!"

That's what Jesus did for us. He became one of us so he could lead us to safety.  Humans have very limited understanding.  And our understanding is hindered even more by sin.  Trying to understand God and what He expects of us is like a chicken trying to understand me.  God knew the only way to show us who He really is and what we need to do was to become one of us.

And so, God “…became human and made his home among us.” (John 1:14).  Jesus was born.  He is also called Emmanuel, which means “God is with us”.  As a human, Jesus knows everything about us and what we experience.  In the New Testament, Hebrews 4:15 says, Jesus “…understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.  Colossians 1:15 says, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.”  

If you want to know what God is, look at Jesus.  He was perfect; he never sinned.  He never disobeyed the spirit of God's law.  He was obedient to God the Father, doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way all according to the Father's will.  Jesus is the only man who ever lived who never sinned.  And Jesus loved perfectly because God is love.  He even loved his enemies. Jesus cared for people everyone else ignored because everyone is important to and loved by God.  Jesus searched for people who were lost; nobody get's left behind by God.  Everyone gets a chance to follow Jesus and be saved.  Ultimately, Jesus showed the infinite depth of his love when he laid down his life for us.  Jesus died on the cross for us while we were still sinners (not because we deserved it, but because we needed it).

Jesus was perfect, but he was also fully human and endured all the same trials we do.  He got tired and thirsty and hungry.  He was tempted.  He was frustrated by ignorant people.  Jesus even grieved when he lost people he loved to death.  Since his earthly father, Joseph, disappears from the biblical record before Jesus is grown, most scholars believe Jesus father died prematurely.  If you've lost a father, Jesus knew what that was like.  We also know that he would have lost many aunts and uncles and friends to death and he would have grieved just as we do.

Ultimately, Jesus faced the one thing we all must face--death.  Jesus died.  God the Son's human experience was complete because he was fully human.

Jesus is Fully God

Somehow, mysteriously, Jesus is fully man and also fully God.  How can someone be 100% God and also 100% man?  I don’t know.  It is a mystery.  How do you explain the incomprehensible nature of an infinite God?  Here’s how:  Jesus was totally and completely human and also totally and completely God.

Colossians 1:15-16 says, “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.”

Jesus knows all about our pain and brokenness, because he was fully human.  However, because Jesus is also fully God, he has the power to save us.  If Jesus was only human, he would have died and stayed in the grave.  Because Jesus is also fully God, he was able to rise up out of the grave and live again.  And do you know what that means?  It means Jesus has the power to make you rise up out of the grave too!

Jesus has the power to give you new life. No matter how many times you've messed up, Jesus gives you the power to make a fresh start.  When you repent and turn to him, there is grace and power to start again.  And if you mess up tomorrow, there is power to start ove ragain the next day (and the next day and the next day).

Jesus has the power to give you eternal life.  Even if you die, you will live again.  For there is eternal life for everyone who trust in Jesus holy name.  This life and this world is not all there is.  There is eternal life, where there will be no more suffering or sickness or shame  or death.

Jesus has the power to set you free from sin.  You don’t have to sin anymore.  People will often do something wrong and then say, "The Devil made me do it."  However, Christ sets us free from sin so the Devil can't make us do anything anymore.  We have a choice every day to live for Christ or live for ourself (or someone else).  We don't always choose Jesus, but we have the power to.  Our job is to walk closely with Jesus everyday so we choose his way over our own.

Jesus has the power to live in you and through you.  Jesus' actions and words have changed everything and they can change your life.  Even ore amazing, when we follow him, he beings to work through us to make a difference in other people's lives as well.  Something you say or do can change the whole course of someone else's life.  It could even change their eternal destiny.  Now, it's not you, but Christ in you working these miracles.  Jesus has that power.

Invitation

Jesus has come down from the glory of heaven to our broken world.  He became one of us so he could warn us, "Come, follow me out of the darkness into the safety of the light.  It's dangerous out here in the darkness.  There are predators roaming all around and they will tear you apart if they get the chance.  Come inside where it's safe, before it's too late."  And because Jesus is one of us, we can understand him and trust him.  But because Jesus is also God, He has the power to save us.  Won't you let Jesus save you today?