Living Out of Our Redeemed Life
Members Message
Living Out of Our Redeemed Life
Bruce Billington
Introduction
John 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Now this statement is all about life. The purpose of this amazing verse is to get us into the same way of life that Jesus had and obviously, still has.
This is the WAY of discipleship. One of the primary reasons why Jesus came to earth was to demonstrate to us how God lives His life and to empower us to live the same way.
If we embark on this journey and seek to make it our own way of life, not only will we develop a far more vibrant, personal, enjoyable, and fruitful life-giving relationship with Jesus than most of us thought could ever be possible – but we will also come into a place of freedom, release and power like we have never known before.
A Way Not A Law
This way of life is not about rules and regulations – it is a love story that is all about passion. As a result, we bring ourselves up into the disciplines of prayer and worship; holy and righteous living; sacrifice and self-denial and relating to people in a non-demanding or selfless way. We do these things out of a loving relationship with Him so we can participate in His purpose and plan for this world, which consumes our lives.
The Simplicity of Jesus
It is easy to read the Gospels and consider the things that Jesus said in quite a simple manner and think “oh yes – great teaching, or wisdom or whatever.” But, if we decide to truly embrace them and apply them to our lives, in the way Jesus intended, we soon find out that they are dynamite.
They “explode” when we are confronted with something unpleasant or wrong – and we now have a choice – we must decide whether to accept the tremendous spiritual upheaval that will be produced in our circumstances if we make the choice to obey His words, or we drop back to our flesh – our unredeemed nature.
You see, we are no longer sitting in our armchair reading our Bibles. We are out in the real world and things become very different.
As we enter these situations, the Holy Spirit urges us to apply these Scriptures to our circumstances. This is counter to our thoughts or desires.
Now at this point, we have a choice. We know the truth, back to John 14:6 – but there is no life in it unless we embrace it as the Way of the Lord, making it the way we live our lives.
As I said at the start of this message – the NT Scriptures are not a set of rules and regulations—they bring us a picture of the life we are called to live when the Holy Spirit is having His way unhindered within us.
Matthew 15:18-20 – “18 But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20 These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
Here is the way to find out what we need to be sorting out in our lives.
Hebrews 4:12 – “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:13 – “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”
The Word of God will completely expose all that is inside of us, but all this has a purpose in our lives. We cannot walk in the Way of the Lord, in our own strength. The required purity that Jesus requires us to have, is something far too deep for anyone to arrive at in our own strength or flesh.
In my consultancy business I have encountered many workaholics, and they always make excuses for what I call their selfishness. While these attitudes can lead to impressive accomplishments, the true cost of them is rarely justified. The ability to work hard and long is admirable. But we are meant to be a human being, not a human doing.
A philosopher by the name of Seneca stated – “We are not animals. Is it really so pleasant to die in harness?”
Christian writer, Aleksander Solzhenitsyn said, “Work is what horses die of. Everybody should know that.”
So, let’s come back to Jesus.
Matthew 5:3 – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The doorway to the Kingdom is “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
Jesus is not just a teacher. If He is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate us by setting a standard before us, that we cannot attain. What is the point of presenting us with such a Way of life, if we cannot possibly come close to reaching it?
The Hope of the Gospel.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces a sense of despair in our fallen or flesh nature and this is exactly what Jesus meant for it to do. For as long as we have some self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to continue, until we expose our own ignorance by stumbling over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possessions. It is a poverty in spirit that brings us to a place of having such a sense of absolute futility in our flesh or fallen nature. At that point Jesus says, “Blessed are you” (5:11), because now we can begin to work together, and we will be on the pathway of the Kingdom of God where all things are possible in Christ.
When we are born again by the Spirit of God, we learn that Jesus Christ did not come only to teach – He came to make us what He teaches. This is not intellectually or through our own strength – but through embracing the Way of the Lord, not just the truth of it. Allowing ourselves to live out of our redeemed nature.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus can put within us the same nature that ruled His own life and all the standards God gives us are based on that nature – that redeemed nature – not our own one; not our flesh nature – our brand-new, spiritual being that comes to us when we humble ourselves, forsake our own ways and embrace the Way of the Lord.
God bless you.
Bruce Billington