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The Fullness of Christ – part 3

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Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. – 1 John 2:15

Earlier this week, I skipped onto the David Bowie site. For those who don’t know, though I doubt there are many, Bowie was a music icon who died more than a year ago. I grew up with Bowie and was a big fan for much of my young adult life, who knows, perhaps he was even an idol. I thought it strange that, after just 12 months, so few are talking about him. What does his website look like now?

If you log onto his website, you will see as I did, that his final single release is called ‘No Plan.’ I watched the video and I was intrigued, because in it Bowie describes how, for the first time in his life, he has no need of a plan. He knows he is going to die, therefore, who needs a plan? I’m sure vast epistles have been preached on this subject, but I did spend some time wondering about how I spend so much of my time planning my life in this world, with so little attention devoted to the next. Alas, even the care of my teeth, which are not in great shape I have to report, take careful planning. Should I even bother? Does God shake his head in disbelief at the fact that humans plan every aspect of their lives down to the minutiae, without so much as a cursory consideration as to what might happen when we die? I don’t think so, as he really does know what we are like.

Soon we shall come to Easter, a time of year I personally love, and I have been drawn back to the wonderful work of Isaiah. Nothing speaks more of God’s relationship to his creation through his Son, than that book. Sometimes a little theology is helpful in our understanding of a Heavenly Father. More on that in the coming weeks for those of you who might occasionally glance this way.

Other than that?

Well, last Sunday we met with 2 groups of people, both believers, both very different and both at interesting stages. In the morning, we met with a few believers who perhaps should have been more mature given the length of time in the faith, yet somewhere along the line their faith had grown cold. Why is that so common – is Jesus really that dull?

The answer is that, for whatever reason, Jesus had been replaced in their lives. As is so often the case, Jesus gets replaced by all sorts of things in our lives. Liturgy, doctrine, apathy, the world, all that is shiny, the list can be extensive.  Merely though, that we choose to follow other things than him. He becomes routine.

“I’ll follow you wherever you may go.”

“Do you realise that foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head?”

There’s no mistaking it; you’re not going to have an easy life if you follow the Son of Man. Each of us needs to have that squared away, comprehending who he is and deciding, “yes I want to follow him no matter what.” In the process of following him, there will certainly be a way of life that is like his. Surely that makes sense. John testifies, “anyone who claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”

We grow cold, when we say to ourselves, “I want to follow Jesus but I don’t intend to walk as he walked. I have another way to follow him.” As Paul prophesied would be the case, such events in Christendom are very popular. Most believers (and many non-believers who perhaps think they are believers) think like this.  It’s easy, so it goes, to follow Jesus when he’s going East and you’re going West. Can that truly be the case, that we can follow him without submission? Of course not, but it seems to me, much more practical than that as well.

We go where he goes, live like he lives, think like he does, speak like he does, pray as he does, love like he does. I cannot find any other way to follow Jesus.

As we do, like the Apostles before us, our lives become “testified with great power” and “great grace was upon them all.” There is evident a quality of life that seems to converge with the testimony of Jesus.  As a direct result, other lives became like his, believers walked it out as he walked it out, and understood what made the Father pleased, how relationships should work. As only he can.

It is very important – crucial in fact, that Jesus does not get replaced by some form of religion, or pomp, or formula, or idea or any externals. Else, we shall live impoverished, fabricated lives that are a show to others as to how pious we are, when deep down, the true riches of relationship with the Son of Man are missing. Eventually, tedious routine. It is about walking simply with the Master, and then linking arms with anybody who wants to walk that way too.

As we behold Him, we are transformed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another. We come to him, to each other, eyes-wide-open, all my heart, soul and mind and live it for him. His teaching, His way of life.

Nothing else needed.

The Fullness of Christ – part 2

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T’oma said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going; so how can we know the way?”  Yeshua said, “I AM the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me. Because you have known me, you will also know my Father; from now on, you do know him — in fact, you have seen him.” – John 14: 5-7 (Complete Jewish Bible)

We’ve heard this so many times before. Do we believe it though? Like Thomas and Philip, who had been with Jesus for so long, do we not scratch our heads and wonder, ‘do I know God?’ One minute we didn’t, but apparently now we know God. How is it possible? It’s encouraging at least, that the work of ‘knowing God’ seems to be His responsibility.

This week on the streets, we met Fred. Slightly addled, extremely nervous, Fred surprisingly knew a lot about church, God, the Bible and other things. His thinking though wasn’t clear, instead it was very confused. We’ve met many other people, some devotees of church and God for years, and in all seriousness very devout, who still don’t ‘know God.’ What is wrong with us all?

God, it would seem, wants us to understand that the truth about Jesus is greater than our current introspection.

“Now you know me.”

We do? If Jesus says we know him, then the only question must surely be, do we believe him? It is the beginning of real faith, of having our lives filled with the Fullness of Christ, to have faith that what he says is true, is real. If we are to experience what he said, we have to believe it. Christ dwells in our hearts, only by faith.

Our wiring though, after centuries of being told by all and sundry that such things might not be true, demands a certain proof before we will believe. He came to re-wire us. Forget what you’ve heard or even experienced, what I say to you is truth. Our faith must be child-like. If we struggle to see it, then we must ask him. “Help me to see how I know you. I don’t think I do, but I’m obviously wrong, because you say I do.”

There are many other Scriptures that call for the exact same kind of response. “Reckon yourselves dead to sin.” What is our usual response? “I’m not dead to sin, why only this morning…” As long as we keep arguing with God, then not only will we be wrong, but we are never going to experience walking in the Fullness of Christ; instead, we walk in unbelief. We hear the words, but like the Hebrews before us, we simply will not believe them.

You are dead to sin. Why? Because God has said so. As believers, and especially as believers who want to tell others about Jesus, our ability to live out The Way, The Truth and The Life every day, depends on whether we are hiding in Him alone for our fulfilment. No matter how we feel, or even what we think, our rest, our life, our hope must be in him alone.

“Am I saved?”

“Is Jesus saved?”

I have been thinking about this a lot. After years of listening to people, many of whom seemed so desperate to find some meaning in their lives in the church, what has gone so terribly wrong? The conclusion must surely be, we simply do not believe what God has told us about His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no formula to living the “victorious Christian life” or finding the “perfect church”. The perfect Christian corporate life is a bunch of people who are totally sold out to the idea that Jesus is the answer to every question in life. Our willingness to love The Truth, to put our faith entirely in Him, is the beginning of our ability to walk in the Gospel and to “taste the powers of the coming age.”

This is the Gospel we must announce to the world, that Jesus is the fulfilment of God’s every requirement of us, he is the Yes and the Amen to every promise and every hope of God. We must just settle that in our hearts. When we are frustrated, or tempted, when ‘stuff’ is happening to us, whether good or bad, we must never waiver: Jesus is the answer, the answer has been given, the Word has become flesh, God’s every dream and every hope for mankind is fulfilled in us, as we believe in the One he has sent.

“Do we know God? – Yes”

“How do we know that we know Him? – Because he has already said so.”

The Simplicity of the Message this Christmas

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“You don’t realise that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed”. He did not say this on his own; as High Priest at that time, he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world. – John 11:50-52

There are some gems in Scriptures, especially the Gospels. If we would take the time to saturate ourselves with what God is saying, and listen to his Spirit we would find them. So much in just a few sentences. An indication that grace would be open to the whole world, and as ever, Jesus at the centre of it all. This passage tells us that God has a family, that he has chosen them and intends to save them, and that his Son is the means of this salvation.

Such salvation will not be easy, or effortless even for God, but he will do what is necessary to make sure his family is intact. His family are global, they include us and the great news is he invites those who already belong to go out and find the others. At the moment, the others are lost.

Spreading the Gospel is the easiest and yet most challenging command. Sharing communion, giving, even praying are easier than talking to people about our faith. Nothing has changed since Jesus’ time. Yet, the rewards are out of this world! As we look back on this year coming into Christmas, these are some of our stories. It hasn’t been perfect, and there have been many disappointments and unknowns, but it has been so very worth it and it is good to recap.

Earlier in the year, we prayed for Steve on the beach, Steve the burly surf coach who was flooded with the peace of Christ, Nikki his girlfriend who was touched by the change in him from one simple prayer. It didn’t last long for Steve sadly, but Nikki hasn’t forgotten and we don’t believe the Lord has forgotten her.

We were able to share the Gospel with literally hundreds on the streets of our Sydney village, such as Alana and Mitchell, a young couple who we spent an hour talking to about the love of God and our sin, and how Jesus is the answer to both. We saw real engagement, tears, confession, sadness and yet hope, only the hope that Jesus brings. Nobody else can bring that change, and we are under no illusion as to who it is. We think of the German couple, one whose father was dying back in Germany, without hope. We were able to share that there is a hope, Jesus, and we prayed, saw more tears and more healing.

We prayed for 3 people who were very sick, yet so willing to be prayed for. It was late on a Sunday evening, outside the largest ‘church’ on the street and we had been out for most of the afternoon with little to show. Then my wife saw them, and we spent the next hour praying, sharing, laughing and crying. We walked off the street so uplifted.

Many of these we never saw again, but we know in our hearts that the Lord has not finished with them. They belong to the family of our Father, and we are just part of that. We will see some of them one day.

In the longer term, one of our gathering Ben, has been working with a married couple, let’s call them Peter and Jane. When I met them their marriage was in tatters, there was depression, prescription drugs, anger and hard heartedness. Ben has been seeing them, praying with them and sharing with them almost weekly. Most of the work was done with Peter the husband, and gradually there was change. One night, his wife Jane, who was especially hard hearted towards the Gospel, turned to their children in the car and said, “I think we need more of God in our lives, let’s start going to church.” Peter nearly crashed the car.

Since then, there has been dramatic transformation. A wife whose heart is softening all the time through tears and confession, a husband who has learned to love his wife no matter what, and both turning towards a God who wants them as his children. Last week, for the first time in 15 years, Peter left his medication for mental illness on the shelf, and chose to rely on God for healing. It is working.

We could go on. Alcatraz, the local government housing block, where God is using a tiny group of us to push back the dark and introduce the light through simple prayer and Discovery Bible Study. Small chinks of light shine through, such as the story where Frannie told us with a beaming smile that she managed to walk past the pokie machines and not spend her food money on gambling that week. A tiny victory, a child coming towards the Father.

All around the world, God’s children, being introduced to their loving Father, some for the very first time. In most cases, he uses his other children to introduce him, you, me. Such simple work, unpaid except for the unbelievable sensation and sense that we are returning the love back to the Father. What else do you want?

God is being pushed out of this country slowly, soon the churches will be told to close their doors or change their message through political correctness gone mad. Then what? Who will go out searching for the rest of God’s children, to introduce them to his Son such that “to all who believed in him (Jesus), he gave the right to be called the children of God.”

Happy Christmas to you all, it is an incredible story, one that will be retold throughout eternity. But, there is no better time than now to tell it to those around us.

What will we do with Him today?

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Many of the people who were with Mary, believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. – John 11:45-6

Have you ever thought how you might have responded if you were there? Would you believe if you saw someone raise the dead?

This week I was inter State, and unusually, stayed at the home of someone who I work with. Well into the evening we sat around a table and their wife recounted the story of her bike accident. A car came out of a side street and hit her side on, knocking her across one car, onto the roof of another. She has been in pain ever since, and rarely sleeps. She has tried every ‘healing’ imaginable, and most recently her Physio said to her it was unlikely she would ever improve.

I felt compelled to ask if I could lay hands on her and pray for her, there was a real sense that the Lord wanted to heal her. To my surprise, she declined. People rarely decline prayer, even if they don’t believe, and her response was upsetting. What if that was the only opportunity for the rest of her life, that she had to be introduced to Jesus? A life gone for all eternity.

It got me thinking about each of us, you, me the people we pass in our lives, believer, church-goer, non-believer, agnostic. Each of us have an opportunity to do something with Jesus this day, and only this day. Many of us assume life will go on, that we have tomorrow, next week, or next year to do something, but we only have today. What will we do with him today?

We allow our lives to drift, each of us; days turn into weeks, then months and good intentions don’t ever become action. Jesus is still neglected, yes even by those who believe, me, you. As I watched this family close up, I could see the vacuous existence that I have learned to recognise in so many middle-class families. They have security, success and are by the worlds standards happy, yet there is as CS Lewis tells us, a God-shaped void in their hearts. Something is missing.

A few days later, and I am still deeply saddened at what they had turned down, so convicted are they of their agnosticism and belief in the physical. To decline Jesus, how can that be?

This week our business hit a record month, and it was a monumental milestone. For those of you who know of our personal circumstance over the past decade, the restoration by God has been miraculous and as a family we pinch ourselves. Yet, within that same time, Jesus has become such a reality in our lives, that such accomplishment pales into comparison compared to the sheer joy of knowing him. To know with intimacy, this majestic divine personality is staggering. He is the unseen force in our family and our marriage, through knowing him we know the very God of the universe, and not only that he is prepared to come to our level and work within our limiting dimensions.

He gives us the love, the courage and the boldness to live him out in everyday life. We feel such confidence in him as a person, such that not only do we know him, we can also share him. Because of what he has done for us, our motivation is to take that to others; this giver of life is available to all who know that something is missing, a God who loves, who heals, who cleanses us, frees us, sets our feet on a rock.

Our efforts might be measly by comparison, but strangely such measly efforts are actually pleasing to him. They are pleasing because, in sharing the love of God with others, we are mirroring what Jesus did while on earth. Talking and sharing, usually with simple people, about the love of God. When we do such things, we find fulfilment, satisfaction in a way few ever find.

The woman who rejected the offer of prayer, saddens us. Why do people search everywhere except where they will find the answer? We don’t know, but we do know that the same thing happened to Jesus and yet he still pursued the same work. It happened to Paul, the Apostles and it will continue with us as well; people will reject the message. We must never stop though.

Somewhere along the way, we will uncover the pearl, the person who has never heard but wants to know.

The question for all of us, believer or non-believer is then, what shall we do with him today? There may never be another.

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