The FULL Revelation of Jesus

I’ve spent a long time wondering why some people so easily change once they get saved and others remain bound in sin and fight against what God would do in their lives.  The idea for me s a pastor is to bring someone to a relationship with Jesus that pushes the desire to be like the world out of their thought processes, but I realize that there’s only so much I can do.  I can preach the word of God; I can be a living example of Christian living, and I can exhort them to do the things that will help them to escape the bondages of sin – Pray, read their Bibles and come to church. It’s them that must embrace God’s will, though.  I can’t change them; they have to want to change.  Some people want God’s blessing in their lives, but they don’t want to allow God to rule in their lives.

So I’ve figured it out.  I’ve thought about it and I understand why some are willing to change and be a party of God’s will and others aren’t.  What makes change possible in our lives is our revelation of Jesus and who He is.  That word revelation means that something is now visible that was once hidden.  Before we’re saved we don’t have a full understanding of who Jesus is.

Sometimes it’s really obvious when you hear non-believers talk about Jesus that they don’t understand His authority, His love, His sacrifice on the cross, or His willingness to do God’s will.  That’s what I want to post about today:  The full revelation of Jesus and its ability to change us. 

Matthew 17:1-2 (NKJV)
^17:1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; ² and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

There are four things I want to touch on. 

A Revelation of His Glory

In our text Jesus has taken some of His disciples to this mountain.  While on the mountain Jesus reveals His glory for the first time on this earth.  His glory is a light that shines from within Him.

 Revelation 21:23 (NKJV)
^21:23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.

This is the first time that we SEE Jesus as fully God and full man.  As His glory is revealed to us, we have a revelation of the fact that Jesus is God.  Revelation 21:23 says, “The Glory of God illuminated it.”  So, the glory is a sign of Jesus being God, but they didn’t see it all the time.  It had to be revealed to them and it has to be revealed to us. 

This takes place just after Jesus takes the disciples to Caesarea and asks whom people say that He is.  Then He asks the disciples whom do you say that I am, and Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.”  Look what Jesus says to him:

Matthew 16:17 (NKJV)
^16:17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

Revelation comes from God, but if you’re not looking for it you won’t see it.

Jesus is God, that’s the first revelation that we need to have.  Because He is God and the creator, “All things that were made were made through Him,” (John 1:3), He has authority over our lives, right?  When you create something you have the authority to determine what becomes of it and how it is used.  The creator is the ultimate authority so we are bound by His commands. 

When we understand that Jesus is God we will begin to live by His commands.  His will becomes our will.  That’s the first step to change:  Knowing who is in command of your life.  If you have a revelation of Jesus’ glory you will turn your will over to Him.

 John 15:14 (NKJV)
^15:14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.

So that is the first revelation that you need.

A Revelation of His Love

John 15:12-13 (NKJV)
^15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.

This is the greatest sign of someone’s love for you; that they’re willing to lay down their life for you.  Parents understand this – Who wouldn’t sacrifice their own life for their children?  Because we love them we’re be willing to do that.  That’s what Jesus did for us.  His life wasn’t taken from Him, He freely gave it.  It was a sacrifice for you and I.  He did it to release us from the bondage of sin, but we have to allow ourselves to be released.  Think about this for a moment:

You’re in prison.  You’ve been there for a long time and it’s finally time for you to be released.  The warden comes to you and says, “Okay, you’re free to go.”  The problem is that you’re comfortable there.  You like jail food.  You have your prison buddies.  You like the lifestyle there.  So you look at the warden and say, “warden, I ain’t a going.  I’m staying right here and you can’t make me leave.”  So, even though the opportunity is there for you to be released, you don’t accept the freedom that’s offered.  The warden has done what he can do – now it’s up to you. 

Jesus, because He loved us gave us the opportunity to be free.  He didn’t have to do that; He chose to – out of love.  So, He came and He allowed Himself to be executed, to free you. 

This is the second step to change recognizing that out of His love, He releases you from the bondage of sin.  If you have a revelation of Jesus’ love then accept His sacrifice and be released from the bondage of sin.

Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)
^12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

This is the second revelation that we need.

A Revelation of the Cross

Luke 22:33-34 (NKJV)
^22:33 But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death." ³⁴ Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."

Crucifixion is the most agonizing form of execution ever devised by man.  It causes great suffering.  Basically, your lungs fill up with blood and liquid and you slowly suffocate.  It can take hours:  So long that the Roman’s would break people’s legs so that they couldn’t push up and take a breath.

It starts with being whipped with a cat-of-nine-tails, nine strands of whips linked together in one whip, with metal and bone fragments woven in to rip your flesh.  Nails are driven into your wrists and heels into the mass of nerves for hands and feet and you’re hung up to bleed and suffocate naked in the sun.

The cross is the payment of the price of our sin.  Jesus suffered this and a crown of thorns for you freedom.  This is the price that He paid for you. 

We sometimes don’t understand the real suffering of the cross.  It has to be revealed to us, because we’ve never experienced anything that even approaches that kind of suffering.  Jesus suffered that willingly, as I said His life wasn’t taken from Him, it was freely given, out of love.

I recently saw the video presentation called Bamboo in Winter.  There is a powerful scene there where people are being baptized and the communists come to arrest the pastor.  The people kneel down in front of him and take a beating so that he can escape.  The pastor doesn’t want to go but someone says to him, “They’re suffering all of this for you, do you want that suffering to be for nothing?”

Those people are like Jesus, they’re suffering willingly.  Are we allowing Jesus’ suffering to be for nothing?  It like saying you suffered for me, so that I could be free, but I refuse to accept the gift of freedom.  When we do that we are saying, “You suffered for nothing.”

This is the third step to change recognizing what he suffered to free us:  Knowing that he paid a huge price for us on the cross, and turning from our sin so that He wouldn’t have suffered for nothing. 

Luke 6:1-3 (NKJV)
^6:1 Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. ² And some of the Pharisees said to them, "Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?" ³ But Jesus answering them said, "Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him:

The third revelation we need is a revelation of the cross.

A Revelation of His Submission

Matthew 26:39 (NKJV)
^26:39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."

This is Jesus on the night before His crucifixion.  He knows what He’s about to face.  He knows that there will be great suffering.  He knows that He’ll die, and knowing that He’s thinking, “If I don’t have to do this and they can still be forgiven then change what will happen.”  Isn’t that a prayer we’ve all prayed?  “God deliver me from these circumstances.”  That’s what Jesus is praying, here, “Deliver me from this,” but Jesus does something that we don’t like to do, He says, “Not my will but yours be done.”  He submits to God’s will.

God has a plan for you, too.  Maybe that plan won’t be as enjoyable as you would like.  Maybe there will be some personal suffering.  Maybe you’ll just have to give up something you like to do, like your favorite sin.  Jesus submitted Himself to God’s will to take on the suffering of the cross.

He’s probably not asking you to go to the cross.  Although, He could if He wanted – Lots of people have been martyred for their belief in Him.)  Are you willing to follow His example and put God’s will first?  Are you willing to submit to God’s calling on your life?  That word, submit means to allow Him to rule YOUR life; to be under His authority. 

The fourth step to change is to submit your will to His; to accept His authority for your life.

Luke 7:8 (NKJV)
^7:8 For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

This centurion is a picture of Jesus.  He submits himself to the authority of his commander.  He also has authority over others, who must be submitted to his authority.  Jesus does the same thing.  He is submitted to the authority of His Father, and obeys.  We should be submitted to His authority and do what He says. 

In closing, if we have a full revelation of Jesus, a revelation of His Glory, a revelation of His love, a revelation of the cross and a revelation of His submission, if we desire to be like Him, which is what a disciple desires, then we must be willing to change; to put aside our sin, suffer with Him and submit to His will.  Are you contending to be like Him?

The problem is that we often become Christians for what Jesus can do for us, to solve our problems or to give us blessing.  We act as if Jesus is there to serve us.  Jesus has served us, and he continues to bless us.  He provides or us.  He delivers us from our circumstances and problems, but if you have had a revelation of whom He is, and what he feels for you, and what he has suffered for you, and how He has submitted Himself to God in order to release you from sin.  If you’ve had that revelation of Jesus – the FULL revelation then you must decide to change.  It’s making a decision to have all that God has for you.  That’s a decision a Christian makes.  If you’re unwilling to make that decision then I would say that you haven’t made a decision to be a Christian.  Some people want to blame their pastor for their own inability to serve God, but their pastor can’t cause them serve God or not to serve God.  They can only be an example of someone who is serving God.  They can’t give you a revelation of Jesus, either.  God has to do that.  You have to have a desire to find that revelation.  

Do you Believe?

Recently, we have seen, in the Middle East that a number of Christians have been, martyred. Men have knelt before their persecutors and without resistance allowed their throats to be cut.  Why would they do that? They were given a choice between renouncing their faith and converting to Islam, or dying.

They had to BELIEVE that Jesus was who He said He was!  They had to believe that the cross, that bloodstained cross really is the instrument of their redemption.  That’s the only way they could lay down their lives for what, to many has become just a symbol; a piece of jewelry.

Today, in this post I want to put that question to you.  Do YOU believe?  Is the cross just a symbol or is it the power of God? 

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV)
^2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴ And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

The Eloquence of the Cross

This is a question that all Christians should ask themselves:  Do I believe? – Do I really believe?

I know some salesmen.  They’re really good salesmen; they could sell ice cubes to Eskimos.  They know the right words to say to influence you to agree.  I also know the key to being a good salesman.  You have to believe in your product.  You have to believe that what you’re selling is the very best of that type of that product.  Do you want somebody to buy your product?  Then make sure it’s a product that you would want to buy.  The very best way though, is to demonstrate how good it is. 

As Christians we want to tell people about Jesus, and we think we have to be salesmen:  That we need to speak eloquently about Him:  That our words need to be persuasive, but I want you to know that the cross speaks for itself.  Look at what Paul said, “I did not come with excellence of speech…”  Paul did have that eloquence in his words.  He didn’t have his “salesman patter” down. He said, “[I came] in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”

So, I was thinking about this.  What is a demonstration of the Spirit and of power?  Isn’t one of the ways we demonstrate through how our lives are led.   It’s in how we live.  It’s in making our lives a reflection of Jesus’ life.  It’s in other people seeing how redemption works in us.  That’s the eloquence of the cross.

How is redemption seen in your life?  I’ve been giving this a lot of thought lately.  I know what God has done in me.  I’ve shared my testimony.  I went from a horrible messed up life to what I have now.  I’m a different person than I was.  It was a dramatic change, but not everyone can relate to that.  Some people, their testimony is, “Before I got saved, I was a decent, honest person, now I’m a decent, honest person who knows Jesus Christ.”  So, how can you demonstrate the Spirit and power?  You can do that by showing the same redemptive power that you have received to other people:  through forgiveness, through selflessness and through unmerited kindness.  You’re kind to people who don’t deserve your kindness.  All of those things Jesus did on the cross.  He forgave sin – all of us have sinned, even the decent, honest ones.  He GAVE his life – His life wasn’t taken from Him – selflessly for us sinners, and enemies of God. 

Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
^5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He did that, even though we put Him on the cross.  Even though we didn’t deserve His kindness.  Even though we rejected Him and put Him on the cross.  He went there for us, for our redemption.  That was His purpose on the earth. That was the purpose of the cross – REDEMPTION!

1 Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)
^1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Paul said that Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  That was his whole reason for being here – redemption.  Paul brings that redemption down to a personal level, by saying, “of whom I’m chief,” He’s saying, He died for sinners; sinners like me!”  Paul says, "Jesus died for me!"

1 Timothy 1:16 (NKJV)
^1:16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long-suffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

I obtained mercy – As a pattern for those who come after me.  That’s the pattern we should follow, “showing all long-suffering.”   Like Jesus did for Paul.  When we act like Jesus in all long-suffering and forgiveness others can see power of redemption.  That’s the eloquence of the cross.

The Value of Human Life

Recently, a number of videos have been released about Planned Parenthood.  These videos show Planned Parenthood selling the bodies of the children whom they have aborted.  As I watched the videos I was struck by the callousness of the women in the videos, haggling over the price of these innocent human beings’ bodies.  One woman is carelessly eating her lunch as she discusses the best way to remove the body, kill the baby and preserve the organs intact.  Another woman while negotiating the price of each body, looking for the maximum financial benefit says, “I want to drive a Lamborghini.”  It sickened me that they were talking about human beings' bodies as if they only had a financial value.  Look at what was paid for us.  Look at the ransom that had to be paid for our sin; my sin, your sin.  It had to be purchased; a price had to be paid.   Do you know the price that was negotiated for each aborted baby’s body?  $100 USD.  That was the negotiated price, but do you know what price was paid for each of us?  The blood of Jesus – God – spilled on the cross. 

Jesus suffered the most gruesome death ever devised by man when He suffered and died that day.  The thing that’s so powerful about that is that it was personal – He died for us all – individually, like Paul said.  Jesus didn’t die for an ideal, He died for you and I, personally.  If you were the only person who ever lived; if you were alone on this earth, He would have come and died just for you!  What’s the value of a human being?  To the ghouls at Planned Parenthood its $100 USD but to Christians it is the life that was given for us. 

Our lives have value, our God was willing to sacrifice for us, but what does that mean for us?  When we look at other people; homeless people, people from other nations, people of other races, when we look at them what are they worth to us?  Do we see a value in them?  Do we feel compassion for them?  That same blood was spilled for them.

What about those who’ve mistreated us?  Those who have hurt us?  They’ve gossiped or slandered us.  They’ve cheated us in business.  They’ve persecuted us.  Can we be compassionate to them?  Can we forgive them like Jesus did?  That’s really the whole question of this post.  Can WE show the long-suffering and redemptive power of Christ?  We are called to be like Christ, even when it’s hard.

Matthew 5:44-45 (NKJV)
^5:44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

That's what Jesus meant when He said, "Take up your cross and follow me."

Do You Really Believe?

That brings me back to my original question, “Do you really believe?”  The cross isn’t just a necklace or a pair of earrings.  The cross isn’t just to mark the location of a church.  These days the cross is cleaned up.  It’s a hip fashion accessory.  It’s just another symbol in today’s society.

And the message of the cross has been watered down:  Not too much sacrifice, the prosperity doctrine, anything goes grace, but that’s not what the cross is.  The cross is rough – It tore into His flesh.  The cross is bloody – He spilled His blood there and the cross is the price of Redemption.  It’s the work that He did to buy us back into a relationship with God.  He paid that price so we don’t have to. 

He left us with the work of the cross; to present it to others, so that they can be redeemed.  But we can’t or won’t do that unless we truly believe it.  It’s the message of God’s love for us.  It’s the message of God’s grace and long-suffering.  It’s the message of mercy.

We can bring that message to others if we truly believe what God did for us.  If we truly believe that the sin has been taken, then we can face death without fear.

That’s how the Christians in the Middle East can face martyrdom for Jesus.  That’s how a group of church leaders in North Carolina can forgive the murderer of nine of their church members.  That’s how a young woman can face her classmate as he held a gun to her head and asked, “Do you believe in Jesus?” knowing what was coming, look him calmly in the face and say “Yes.”   They believe; they REALLY believe.

I hope none of us will ever have to make choices like these.  I pray that none of us ever has to face anything like that, but I believe that society is polarized and soon we’re going to have to make a choice.  It’s prophecy.  It will come to a choice.  I think in America that time is close, and it will come to Taiwan, too.  Now more than ever we have to be sure of what we believe. 

Do you REALLY believe the message of the cross?  Can you model redemption in your life?  So that others will desire it?  Can you reflect the mercy of Christ and demonstrate the selflessness of Christ?  Can you find hope and strength in what Jesus did on the cross:  The hope of a better world with Him; the hope of Eternal life; the strength to accept persecution?  Do you believe in the cross – The bloodstained cross?