This
morning’s New testament reading and gospel reading fit together very well.
The
gospel reading is about life and death and hopefully as we will see this
morning – how in God’s kingdom – death leads to life, and life comes out of
death.
And
the New Testament reading is essentially about how we receive that life – the
life of God’s kingdom.
So,
starting in verse 31 of Mark’s gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples that he is
going to suffer and be rejected by the chief priests and the scribes and then
killed.
But,
and it’s a very big but – after three days he would rise again. He would be
resurrected. He would come back to life.
Death
would not be the end for Jesus – and his death would lead to life – eternal
life - not just for him, but for everyone throughout history who put their
faith in him.
For
everyone from Adam and Eve to the very last person to be born – who would believe in him.
His
death would lead to life for Abraham and all his descendants – as outlined in
our reading from Romans.
Who
are Abraham’s descendants? Well we’re told in verse 16 – they are all those who
share the faith of Abraham.
Abraham’s
descendants are simply those who have a living faith in God – those who know
and believe in the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob – the God of Israel.
And
this includes all those in Old Testament times and throughout the history of
the church - including those of us alive today – everyone with a living faith
in God.
Sometimes
Christians wonder how people in Old Testament times were saved before Jesus was
even born. Well the answer is by believing in, and by knowing the one true God.
The
book of Job is the oldest book in the bible written well before Genesis and in
chapter 19, Job says; “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he
will stand on the earth.
Although
Job lived many hundreds of years before Jesus had been born or any of the Old Testament
had been written – he believed in Jesus – and even his second coming.
Salvation
and receiving eternal life depend simply on believing in Jesus, on believing in
the one true God.
This
is why in our gospel reading, Jesus asks his disciples “who do people say that I
am?” Because who we believe Jesus is, determines whether we are saved or not.
As
we’re told in Acts 16 verse 31; "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will
be saved.”
Or
Romans 10:9; “if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and
believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
And
this is what Paul is trying to show us in today’s reading from Romans. As he
says in verse 22, Abraham’s faith was reckoned to him as righteousness.
In
other words, God considered Abraham as put right with him – simply because he
had faith in him - he believed in him.
And
as Paul says in verses 23 to 25 – we too are considered righteous by God if we
will simply believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
Being
religious and going to church and taking communion – although they are worthy
things to do - won’t save us.
Striving
to do good works and giving a bit of money to charity won’t save us.
Of
course its important how we live – as this will determine the progress we make
as Christians and also our fruitfulness – but we can never earn or deserve our
salvation.
This
is why Paul says in verse 15 that the law brings wrath. Trying to earn our
right standing with God through our own effort and goodness just brings wrath
and judgement – because however hard we try we will always fall short – we will
always sin.
Indeed,
this is what sin is – its falling short as in an arrow falling short of a
target.
No
– as Paul says in verse 16 our salvation depends on faith and the promise of it
rests on grace.
Grace
can be summarised as God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. In other words every
blessing we receive from God comes at Christ’s expense. He is the one who has
paid the price for it.
As
Paul puts in verse 25 – ‘Jesus was handed over to death for our trespasses and
raised for our justification.’
He
lived the perfect life that we can never live – for us. He never sinned or fell short. He measured
up on our behalf.
And
then Jesus died on the cross for you and for me – because he loves us. He bore
our sins in his body on the cross.
He
took all our falling short – the bad things we’ve done and the good things we
haven’t done – and was punished in our place.
He
drank the cup of God’s wrath himself - for us - and drained it fully – so God
would no longer have any reason to be angry with us. So that we could go free.
And
then after 3 days he rose again. He burst forth from his tomb – alive and overcame
death.
And
as we place our faith in him – we receive the benefits of his death and resurrection.
Our sin is completely and forever paid for – and we are forgiven.
And
God sees us as righteous – made right with him.
But
how can we receive the forgiveness and the righteousness and the life that
Jesus offers. How can we find a living faith like Abraham and Job and Peter and
Paul?
Well Jesus tells us in our gospel reading. If we truly want to be his followers and to know him, we need to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. We need to lose our lives for his sake.
In
other words, we need to make our relationship with God the priority in our
lives and seek to put him and his purpose for our lives first.
The
cross Jesus is talking about is really self-denial. Jesus demonstrated this in
the Garden of Gethsemane – when he said “Father, if you are willing, take this
cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Jesus
submitted his will to his Father’s purposes – always, so that God was able to
work through him perfectly.
And
by laying down our lives in this way, by submitting our wills and offering
ourselves to God’s service as living sacrifices, we discover God’s life – the
life of his kingdom.
We
find that the more of ourselves we offer to God – the more of our time, the
more of our energy and the more of our service – the more of his life and his
kingdom will be expressed through us.
God
sometimes communicates with me through little mental pictures in my mind’s eye –
and one picture he showed me many years ago has stayed with me.
He
showed me two circles joined together. One circle was him and one was me – or
indeed any Christian.
And
he showed me that although he stayed still and didn’t move – I did.
When
I was focused on my relationship with him I moved closer to him but sometimes I
got distracted by life and pulled away from him.
He
showed me that the more I co-operated with him and lived for him – in other
words the closer my circle lined up with his circle - the more I would
experience his presence and power and love in my life and the more fruitful I
would be.
As
the bible puts it – ‘Come close to God and he will come close to you.’
So,
we see this this kingdom principle of death leading to life again. God’s
kingdom life can only come where people put God and his purposes first.
Where
selfish ambition and other priorities rule – God’s purposes are frustrated and
suffocated.
Those
Christians who are most fruitful in life are those who wholeheartedly commit
themselves to God’s service.
Perhaps
you’ve been sitting here this morning thinking that you would like a living
faith and that you would like to know God better.
Well
if that’s you – the way to find this living faith and to come to know God is by
offering yourself to him – by saying Lord up to now I’ve gone my own way in
life but from now on I want to live my life with you and for you.
I
want you to be my Lord and my God. Please forgive me for all that is past and
come by your spirit to live in my heart and in my life.
Really,
it’s a very simple prayer – but the efficacy of the prayer depends upon the
sincerity of the person praying it.
God
longs to come and live in our hearts and lives but he always respects our free
will and he won’t force himself upon us.
He
comes gently and quietly to whomsoever will welcome him wholeheartedly.
I
watched a little bit of Songs of Praise a couple of weeks ago – something I
rarely do and there was a Christian guy talking about how he’d come to faith in
Jesus.
He’d
been a drug addict in his teens and early twenties and his life was a complete
mess. Fortunately, he found a Christian retreat where the people told him about
Jesus.
But
he said he only really found Jesus for himself when he came to the end of
himself. Where he reached the point where he was prepared to let go of trying
to control his own life and destiny and letting God take control.
And
I think this is essentially what repentance means. Repentance must come before
we can truly find faith in God.
And
repentance is saying OK lord up to now I’ve gone my own way in life but is
hasn’t made me happy. From now on I want you to be the Lord of my life – and to
guide my destiny.
I
want to know you and I want you to be my God and to lead me through life.
And
through doing this our faith becomes real and alive. We come to know Jesus and
we start a relationship with God that will last into eternity.
And
the more we co-operate with God the more we experience his love and joy and
peace in our lives. And the more he can work through us to help bring the life
we have found to others.
Some
of you may think ooh that sounds a bit scary – allowing God to direct my life –
but the opposite is true.
You
see God loves us and always wants the best for us. And he knows us better than
we understand ourselves. He knows all about our lives and our problems and our
families and he knows how to sort out the mess.
He
wants to work through us to bring healing and reconciliation and blessing.
He
knows exactly what we’re good at and how best we can serve him and what will
fulfil us.
And
having God on our side working for our good and protecting us in this big scary
world is incredibly comforting.
Of
course we have free will and we can say no God – I’m staying firmly in control
of my own life and destiny – but then one day we’ll find that we’ve missed the
whole point of life.
We
may have gained lots of worldly riches but we will forfeit our lives – our very
beings – and furthermore we will face the prospect of judgement and eternal
separation from the God who made us.
I
want to close my talk with a time of quiet prayer and reflection where we can
think about how closely we are following Christ – and whether we are taking up
our crosses each day and seeking to put him first in our lives.
And
perhaps there are one or two of you here who like the man I mentioned on Songs
of Praise have reached the end of yourselves and you would like God to take
over.
If
that’s you – ask God to forgive you for all that is past – and invite him into
your life to be your Lord and God.
So,
let’s bow our heads and in a time of quiet share what is on our hearts with our
loving Creator.
