Message topic: What do you expect from following Jesus?
Scripture text: John: 61-71
What do you hope to gain from following the teachings and the ways Jesus lived his life when He walked among us as a man?
To follow Jesus, you must surrender your all: and follow the instructions given to us through the prophet Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 36: 24-28. This is what it says: for I will take you from among the heathens, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stoney out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (Where on I can write my laws)
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Do you think this is a good offer to us, who is a nobody, who has no hope and can do nothing for yourself to escape the wrath of God which He promise to pour out on all who refuse to follow the examples of Christ the redeemer?
This is just the one of the first blessings we will receive when we begin to follow the examples which Christ has set for all who choses to follow him: Jesus promises love and peace: The love of God is greater far than tongue of pen can ever tell, it goes far beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell. O love of God so rich and free so measureless and strong, it shall forever more endure and goes beyond the heist star.
Christians does not follow Jesus for perks, Christians follow Jesue because He is the risen son of God: the truth of His resurrection compels us to trust in him as He is God and is worthy of our love, worship and obedience. Yet the beauty of the gospel is that in trusting Jesus, we find that He pours into us more than we could have expected or hoped for. Many believe it was wrong to think, what’s in it for me? When we thought about our faith, we notice how Jesus actually invites us to count the cost.
To follow Jesus, we must truly surrender all to him, we should ever love and trust him daily as he is always calling mankind everywhere to turn to him, we will find him waiting to present us to His father as one for whom he died.
What is it that you hope to gain from following the examples of the life of Jesus? Jesus was talking about the importance of fully understanding what it will cost you to follow him. in this mental exercise, you will measure the cost against what you stand to gain in following Jesus, let’s look at three specific reasons (among many) why Jesus is worth following?
No 1. Jesus has the words of life: in John 6. We find Jesus giving a hard teaching that caused many to turn away from him. he then turn to his disciples and asks them if they’re going to turn away as well. Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God. (John 6:68-69.) peter’s response is profound. It should also be ours.
Jesus is God. Peter saw in that powerful truth everything he needed to know in order to follow him to the end. If Jesus is God, then His words are more than words, His words are eternally insightful. As he said, his words are Spirit and truth, (John 6: 63)
This powerful encouragement shows us that every word of Jesus pierces the depths of our souls and binds our lives in truth. This cannot be found anywhere else. Others can offer words of wisdom and words of truth, but Jesus alone gives the words that can be trusted for an eternity.
Another thing that we gain when we follow Jesus is the gift of grace: Grace is a very specific thing. By definition, it’s receiving what we do not deserve because God gave his love first theologically, it refers to the undeserved mercy that God gives to us. (1 john 4: 19)
The third thing why we should follow Jesus is Jesue oath of purpose: there is probably no more frequent question asked by humanity than ‘why am I here? In the beginning, there was no need for this question because human enjoyed a clear vision of purpose. We had an unbroken relationship with God.
Our purpose was connected to the relationship we had with God and the assignment we had been given. We were to enjoy and honor our relationship with God and be good stewards of creation. It’s apparent that the world today suffers from an absent relationship with God and a total lack of clear assignment for our lives. People thrive when they have valuable relationships and a sense of duty.
Without those two, the result is confusion and hopelessness; Jesus came to set things straight, he makes it clear that He is the only way.
The gospel is clear that we have sinned, cannot fix ourselves, and need a savior, and Jesus is the only Savior of mankind. In the gospel Jesus died for our sins and came back to life so that we could be saved: in saving us, Jesus doesn’t just get us out of hell, but into a family, the church.
In saving us, Jesus doesn’t just change our eternity, but changes our very character while we’re still living on earth. The gospel leads us to the conclusion that we follow Jesus because He is our Savior and Lord, and He is our only hope for escaping the penalty of sin for eternity and for overcoming the power of sin in this life.
Following Him is more than just believing the truth about Him; it’s also submitting to Him because of who He is: He is God the all mighty. Who endures forever.