"Sir, we would like to see Jesus" ... Jesus Replied (4)

John 12

23 ... “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

In our last blog we considered Jesus power in weakness and wisdom in folly. Here we apply that to ourselves and the church.

Reigning in Glory - but veiled

If in His own death Jesus defeated the unholy trinity of sin, evil and death, what now? Now that He is risen and clothed with immortality? What now that He reigns in power and glory?  There is no stopping King Jesus now. Nothing can stand in His way. 

But not only that, in his death he demonstrated the perfect Justice of God, he took all the punishment for sin, he drank every last drop from the bowl of God’s fury.

Perhaps, most important to us personally, as individuals, in His death he demonstrated His love for us. As my old Pastor from years ago once said, “Some say it with chocolates, some say it with flowers, but Jesus said it with nails in His hands!” 

But we must not forget, it was not just for us as individuals that he died and rose again, but it was for His precious Church.

Ephesians 5

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

As we press on into 2017, we, both as individuals, but also together as the Church, have many, many great challenges. But as we fix our eyes on Jesus, crucified, and behold His limitless glory, we will constantly see His jaw-dropping, breath-taking, confounding love for us. Love that overcomes fear and doubt. Love that wins our trust and stirs our affection. We can be absolutely certain of His love for His Church - and that includes New Life! We will see His matchless power in weakness, but know, now He reigns in glory! We will see His justice as we look on at this wicked world. We will see His wisdom - wisdom that He promises to give to us … 

James 1

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

The more we focus on Him, the more confident we will be.

With all the work that needs to be done - it would be easy to lose our focus. The moment we take our eyes from Him, we begin to rely on our self, on other people, on money and on all manner of splintered staffs. Then we will lose energy, motivation, fire, passion, and joy. Our love for Him and one another will grow cold and our love for every other unworthy contender will increase - dishonouring the one who is worthy. 

Brothers and sisters, we must fix our eyes on Christ Crucified. Wise people know that in life, we must choose our battles carefully. There are some battles that should take priority over others. We cannot win all battles, we don't even have to fight them all - that is foolish. So let's choose battles carefully. In choosing our battles, let us be clear, the battle to keep our eyes fixed on Christ Crucified, of all battles, is the one we must never give up on - and we can be sure, in that battle, we have the might of heaven to help us.

1 Corinthians 2

2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.