Jesus and You

Teaching Notes: Sunday 14/01/2024

Catch Up: Watch || Listen

#2024theyearofmore … More of Jesus!

More faith | More freedom | More formation

- Faith - not once off breakthrough moments, but consistent trust, confidence

- Freedom - not liberty do whatever, but use freedom to serve (Gal 5:13)

- Formation - becoming more like Jesus – through the valley moments

Which best describes your life:

• Me (God doesn’t feature in your plan)

• Me and Jesus (God fits into your plan)|

• Jesus and Me (You fit into God’s plan)

What would it look like to have more of Jesus?

AW Tozer: we are spirits with bodies, not bodies with spirits.

God is Spirit. Genesis, Eden, pre-fall – there was unity between God’s Spirit and humankind’s spirits. Sin caused a separation – leaving a vacuum that we try to fill with all kinds of things. Jesus’ work on the cross is the way through which our spirits can be in unity with God’s Spirit – this happens by the Spirit of Christ (the Holy Spirit) moving into our lives through faith. This is what the Jesus and (then) Me life is about. This is what you are created for!

So, how do we get there?

Paul presents a clear picture of this in Galatians 2:20 –the context of this letter is a correction of a false teaching that people needed faith AND tradition to be saved. He makes it clear that the only means of salvation is through Jesus’ work on the cross, and the only means to receive it is by faith.

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Jesus and You: Past

Note the tense – Paul is stating a fact, not pointing to a feeling/experience

There are three truths here:

1/ Son of God Loved and gave himself for you – this is personal

2/ Christ was crucified, and by association, you have been crucified too. Just like when the Springboks won the World Cup last year, so did all who identified as their supporters.

3/ I no longer live - The old position you were in is gone Jesus did not just die for your sins, but you died with him.

Your past often shows up, but the truth is that in Jesus, God doesn't hold it against you, and it does not define you.

Faith is that you believe this in your heart!

BUT…This is only half the story - if you stop here, you will be a "Me & Jesus" Christian and not a "Jesus & Me" Christian

Jesus and You: Present

The life that I now live. Christ lives in me.

Jesus doesn’t just deal with the PENALTY of sin on the cross, but through the Holy Spirit, he now lives in you – the reason – to empower you to live a new life. You and I need a complete overhaul, not just forgiveness from sin. Christ in you is the way that Jesus sets you free from the POWER of sin. He is closing down the factory of sin in your life – destroying the power that sin has over you and opening the door for you to step into greater freedom in your new identity, one that is dead to sin and alive to a new life empowered by Christ.

Once you have decided to follow Jesus, you will often feel a tension between following after the flesh or following after the Spirit. The enemy loves to make you feel condemnation simply because you have this wrestle! Remember, your sin is already forgiven, and with the Spirit living in you, you are empowered to say “No” to the flesh and follow the Spirit.

This process involves spiritual formation (you might call it sanctification). It’s growing to be more Christ-like in our attitudes and actions, becoming spiritually mature. It is a transformation and shaping work of the Holy Spirit that starts when you get saved and continues until Jesus returns.

There is no shortcut to formation, it can’t be bypassed, and you have the choice to co-operate or not – God will not force the process upon you. Moving forward in this journey will take you into God's preferred future for you, but He will let you stay on whichever level you settle for.

The best thing to do is to make room for Jesus in your life. This is the very thing that brings success in God and is the very first thing to go because we are so good at getting busy.

Don't just read the Bible, but do it to find Jesus when you do!

Don't just serve on the Dream Team, but do it to encounter Jesus when you do!

Don't just come to church, but do it to experience Jesus when you do!

Jesus and You: Future

Where is this all going? It is so much more about saying a prayer and going to heaven one day. It is about the newness of life. It’s about becoming more like Jesus in the present, partnering with Him to bring the Kingdom of heaven here as we look forward with great expectation to the promise to come.

An invitation to so much more!

How will you make room for Jesus in your life this year? Leave a comment below!

“Where real repentance is, there is obedience; for repentance is not only sorrow for past failures and sins, it is a determination to begin now to do the will of God as He reveals it to us.” A.W. Tozer, Man: The Dwelling Place of God