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Strategicresourcetraining   -   May 21, 2024

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Living Out of Our Redeemed Life

by Bruce Billington

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. 

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 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 as 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.

But, in the context of our topic – the choice of living out of our flesh – i.e., Fallen nature – or out of our redeemed nature, or our new self.

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 insights.” We may read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and then the rest of His message as per Matthew chapters 5-7 and think these are nice examples of how to live. 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 – the Greek word “dunamis.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They “explode” when the circumstances of our lives cause them to do so. Suddenly 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 choose to obey His words or drop back to our flesh i.e. our unredeemed nature.

Suddenly we are no longer sitting in our armchair reading our Bibles; we are out in the real world and things become very different.

We are in the supermarket, and someone pushes past us with their trolley in a rude or inconsiderate manner, or we both arrive at a parking space at the same time and the question is now before us – who gives way? And the Scriptures can quickly go out the window as we fall back into the ways of the flesh.

Goodbye “blessed are the meek” or “consider one another as more important than yourself” and on it goes. Now I know the latter is Paul, not Jesus – but these Scriptures are all meant to be converted to actions when we are out there in the real word. These are instructions on how to live in the Way of the Lord.

As we enter these situations, the Holy Spirit urges us to apply these Scriptures to our circumstances, and this is counter to our thoughts or desires. Suddenly we consider the teachings of Jesus or Paul or the other New Testament authors, to be way out of proportion when compared to this situation we are in. Surely, they can’t be meant to apply to this. And now we are in astonishing discomfort.

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 New Testament 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 – “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

Seriously – our fallen nature or flesh, resents what Jesus or the NT reveals.

Now we must decide – either Jesus Christ is the supreme authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to. This means we are forced to front up in real-time activity in our everyday lives. The question becomes “Am I prepared to trust the penetration of His Word into my heart, or would I prefer to trust my so-called wisdom or way of life?”
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.”If we let it, the Word of God will completely expose all that is inside of us, but don’t be discouraged – all this has a purpose in our lives. When we allow God’s word to do its work, we find that the Holy Spirit is right in His diagnosis of us. We learn that if we continue to live like this, we will find ourselves constantly doing the things we don’t want to do and not doing the things we know we should as Paul shares in Romans 7.

I must hand all of my life over to the Lord and purge from myself the terrible possibilities that lie within my heart. 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 any of us to arrive at in our own strength or flesh.

When the Holy Spirit comes into us, He brings into the centre of our personal life the very Spirit that was exhibited in the life of Jesus Christ, namely, His Spirit, which is absolute unblemished purity. And now, we can respond beautifully in every situation. And this is surely the only real blessed way of life.

If you look out at the people in the world and think about what they go after or consider to be successful – plenty of money and material possessions; positions of authority or power; a famous sports person; getting a knighthood or having your own jet – the words “so what” should come to mind.

Whenever we see someone often flashing their rank or position, or someone whose name is often bandied about in public, don’t be envious. Such things often come at the expense of what counts in life. In fact, you know what – all it may finally amount to is just a few nice words on a gravestone somewhere – and is that worth it?

A politician might justify the neglect of their family for their office, or an actor or singer may believe their “genius” excuses antisocial or selfish behaviour. It is often the same with a church pastor or leader. But it is all in vain if you bring this back to the Way of the Lord. Because underneath it all, we know that the politician is just in love with fame, and the actor enjoys being condescending and feeling superior.

Bob Dylan had the antidote to this when he sang, “Where do you go to my lovely, when you are alone in your bed?” 

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? In that case, we would all be happier if we never knew it. What good is there in telling us to be what we can never be—like to be “pure in heart”; (Matthew 5:8), or to go an extra mile, as in doing more than our duty; or to be completely devoted to God every minute of the day in both thought and deed?

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 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 teaching was not given to us, to make us feel bad, guilty or condemned. It was given to empower us and set us alight; to bring us into the life Jesus always intended for us.

This is the first principle in the Kingdom of God. 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 – that we finally admit, “Lord, I cannot even begin to do it.” At that point Jesus says, “Blessed are you” (5:11), because now you and Him can begin to work together and you will be on the pathway of the Kingdom of God where all things are possible in Christ.

This is the doorway to the kingdom, and sadly, it can take us so long to believe that we are actually poor! The knowledge of our poverty is what brings us to the proper place where Jesus Christ accomplishes His work.

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 does not take place intellectually or through our own strength – but through embracing the Way of the Lord, not just the truth of it and 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 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.

Now we are on the journey God always intended for us.
May God bless you.
Bruce Billington.