Back to the Garden: Thank You Joni Mitchell

Editor’s Note: I realize that this is a lengthy post. This is an excerpt of a book that I am currently writing. I hope you enjoy it. I would welcome your comments. Thank you - Chris


In the late 1960s Singer Joni Mitchell wrote a song that became an anthem for the counterculture of that time. The song “Woodstock” spoke of the freedom for which people of that generation were searching. It spoke of the rebellion of that generation, my generation, from the morals and beliefs of our parents. This is the generation of “Make Love not War”, the Summer of Love, Charles Manson, Anti-War Rallies and Riots, and of course the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, itself. “Woodstock” is a song that spoke to an entire generation but there was an interesting lyric in the last chorus of the song:

"We are stardust, billion year old carbon
Caught in the Devil’s bargain
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the Garden”

This, of course is a reference to the loss of the Garden of Eden through Adam’s failure and fall to sin and death. That loss was a devastating event in human history. But is it lost forever? Can it ever be regained? I believe that there is a way for us to regain the Garden

.Where is the Garden of Eden today? It’s non-existent; it’s no longer there. If it survived until the time of Noah, it was buried under the debris and silt of the judgment of God and we will never see it physically, as a part of this world again.

I read an article about the Mount Saint Helens eruption of 1988. When that mountain erupted, nearby, Spirit Lake was buried under over 150 feet of ash. The river once again was dammed by the debris and silt, of the explosion, and formed a new lake. All of the topography, the Spirit Lake Lodge and everything else are buried in the sand 150 feet below the bottom of the “new” Spirit Lake. It will never be seen again unless someone attempts to excavate the bottom of the lake. Can you imagine the depth of something buried beneath the silt of a world-wide flood? Even if we could locate the place where the Garden stood, we would never be able to reach it. The Bible describes where it was located.

Genesis 2:10-14
10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there.13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush.14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

We see the river named the Euphrates and we think it is a reference to the Euphrates River that flows through Iraq. But if the entire world was covered by water the topography of the earth must have been changed by that. It seems absurd to think that the Euphrates would have survived. New rivers would have been created by the changes in the land after the flood. So this river may resemble the Euphrates but not be the Euphrates River of the Garden of Eden. It would be difficult to pinpoint the location of the Garden with the evidence given in the Bible. We can’t just go stand on the land that once was within the perimeter of the Garden of Eden. If I were to speculate it seems likely to me to think that the Garden may have resided in the land that God gave to His people. The land that later became Israel.

Because of the sin of Adam and the subsequent corruption of the purposes of God for mankind, the Garden was forever changed. It was no longer a place where God’s love and provision for mankind was seen. Because of the curse on Adam for his sin, man would forever have to toil for what God had freely provided in the Garden. Through Adam’s sin we lost the nurturance and provision of God in the Garden and eventually, the Garden, no longer serving a purpose, was destroyed and lost altogether. In the last chapter I wrote about all that God had given us in the Garden.

There were seven things that were provided to mankind by God that made the Garden of Eden what it was, a paradise for humanity. We have seen how these things demonstrated to us God’s character and love for us. I want to briefly review them in this chapter so that we can fix our minds once again on all that God did for us.

The first thing He gave us was dominion over the earth. We were given to rule over all of the earth. Every animal, every plant, in fact, all of the world was given to our control. We were to go forth, multiply and subdue the earth. This was the plan of God for the creation that was made in His image. Remember, we were the only creation formed by His hands and the only creation to have His Spirit breathed into us. We are different from every animal that resides on this earth and God gave their care into our hands.

The second thing we had been given is His provision for our every need. God created us and God knew what we needed in order to have a meaningful, productive and enjoyable life, so He met our every need. He provided for our physical needs: The need for a place to live and for food to eat. The garden was created for us and He told us to eat of every tree of the garden except one: That they had been provided for our comfort and to meet our need for nutrition.

The third thing we had been given was meaning and purpose for our lives. God gave Adam a job, a purpose within the Garden to keep it and to tend it. It was up to him to insure that the needs of the Garden were met. It was given to him to subdue the entire earth; to expand the garden, if you will, to make all of the earth a place of God’s provision for those who would come later.

The fourth thing He provided was companionship. He gave us each other. Eve was created as a helpmate to Adam. He couldn’t go forth and multiply without her. She was the instrument of procreation that God gave to Adam. In the first chapter of Genesis as God looks over His creation the only thing that he saw that wasn’t good was that man was alone, so He created Eve to meet that need for companionship for Adam.

The fifth thing He gave us was standards by which to live. This was done to give Adam and Eve the opportunity to demonstrate their love for God through their obedience to His command not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is in the creation of standards that free will is introduced. Free will is the opportunity to show your love and respect for the creator through obedience to His standards or to reject that same creator through disobedience. Sadly, Adam and Eve rebelled from God’s standards through the free exercise of their will. Adam’s great sin was that he knew of the standard of obedience and chose to disobey and thereby reject God.

The sixth provision of God in the Garden was fellowship with Him. God created man in order to have fellowship with Him. That word fellowship means to have a relationship with God; to be of one mind with Him; to have mutual love and respect. In this way God was meeting the need that is in all of us for a relationship with Him. This is man’s greatest spiritual need.

There was a personal interaction between God and Adam. God brought the animals to Adam to see what he would name them. Through their interaction, there was relationship. I can picture the delight on God’s part as Adam carefully examined each animal and named it.

We took our daughters Elizabeth and Emily to McDonald’s when they were very young, probably not much more than a year old. This is that wonderful time of discovery in children and we were delighted often by things they would say, or the way they would react to things that were new to them, as almost everything was. As we gave Elizabeth the little toy that was part of her Happy Meal ®, which was a Beanie-Baby® Giraffe, she gasped and said, “A Moomas!” Of course her mother and I had never heard of a Moomas, so I asked her, “What sound does a Moomas make?’ “Moomas!” she replied as if I should have known that. We were delighted and this has become one of our favorite stories as the girls have grown and I still to smile every time I tell it.

What made that moment such a delight was her excitement at discovery and the kindling of her imagination and I believe God must have been delighted at Adam’s naming of the animals for the same reason. It speaks of the relationship between them.

The seventh provision was eternal life. Adam and Eve were created to be eternal beings. They were able to eat of every tree in the Garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, including the tree of Life. That tree was the reason they were banished from the Garden after they had sinned.

Genesis 3:22
22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

God created them and gave to them to subdue the world. He intended for them to populate the earth and remain alive at the same time. God never mentioned death until He gave the command not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It wasn’t until they sinned that death came into the world. It was God’s intention that they would live forever.

Romans 5:12
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

So the Garden was created for us. It is a demonstration of God’s love and personal care for us. We can see the personality of God in this. In all ways He has acted as a loving and responsible father, providing for all the needs of His children. What responsible father who loves his children today is not willing to sacrifice to make sure that his children’s needs are met. What loving father would not look to meet the needs of his children, even before his own needs are met?

When you travel on an airliner they give instructions for what to do in the case of loss of cabin pressure. One of the instructions is that you put your own oxygen mask on before you put it on your child. Do you know why they tell you that? Because the nature of a parent is to make sure the child’s needs are met before their own. The airlines want to make sure that you put yours on first, so that you won’t faint as you put it on your child’s face. It is to protect the parent. If you put yours on first and the child faints you will still be able to put the child’s mask on. But if you faint the child will not be able to put yours on. This is necessary because we naturally seek to meet the needs of our children. God naturally seeks to meet our needs as well.

Matthew 7:9-11


9 “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?10 “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

So God had given us all that we needed to be healthy and happy in the Garden. He met every physical, emotional and spiritual need. But there is a risk in that as any parent knows, and that risk is found in the possibility that the children will turn away from the values and moral principles they have been taught and turn instead to the values of their own flesh. There is a risk that they will turn away from all that we desire for them and turn to that from which we have tried to protect them.

How many parents have been hurt and disappointed as their children strayed away from the things they held dear and turned instead to drugs, illicit and immoral relationships, or crime? How many parents have cried out as their children overdosed, were savaged and abused in a relationship, or lived out their lives in prison? Imagine how God felt when Adam chose to place his desire for his relationship with Eve over his desire for a relationship with God. How did God feel when Adam chose suffering and death over the love and provision of God? He probably felt like any parent who has experienced the same thing with their children.

The Garden of Eden was a manifestation of all that God desired for His children. But because they desired a loss of innocence, (Eve was tempted because she wanted to be like God knowing good and evil); they lost it all, forever. All that God had done is lost to us, through sin. Now that we have reviewed what God had done by giving us the Garden we are prepared to answer the question before us: Is the garden lost forever or is there a provision by which we can once more enter in?

Lessons on God’s Desire for Mankind

God has shown us who He is through the creation of the Garden of Eden. He is a loving and thoughtful father. Even in the moment of judgment for the sin and rebellion of mankind, His thoughts were for reconciliation. He didn’t think to Himself, “That’s it; I’m done with these people.” His thought isn’t toward destruction but reconciliation. His thought is to bring the seed that would bruise the head of the serpent.

Genesis 3:15
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
In this scripture God is planning how He will deliver mankind back into a relationship with Him. This is the nature of God. In the book of Isaiah, God, when speaking through the prophet about the sin of men says, Come let us reason together.”

Isaiah 1:18
18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

This is an attitude of reconciliation. If God had desired to destroy mankind He would have killed every human being in the flood. But instead He left a remnant to continue His creation. In His judgment on the serpent He left the door open to reconciliation with mankind through the seed of the woman, who would redeem mankind and reconcile us with God. This is God’s way. He’s always left the door open for repentance and reconciliation.

This principle can be seen in a personal ways as well. In the early church there was a woman in Thyatira, a part of the church, who was leading the church away from the worship of God and into false religion. The worship of false gods in pagan societies often included sexual immorality within their services. The church leaders had allowed this to continue, and did not judge the teachings, the doctrine or the immorality. God judged the sin but before He acted on that judgment He gave her an opportunity to repent of her sin and blasphemy.

Revelation 2:20-21
20 “Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.21 “And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Time was given to see if Jezebel would repent, she didn’t and then the judgment of God came on her. God desires reconciliation. Even the rapture and the tribulation to follow is God giving time in a last ditch effort to see men repent. God doesn’t want to lose any of mankind to sin and hell.

2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

God is a gracious God. He doesn’t think like we do. How many of us would have had no thought for destroying mankind? Bill Cosby used to tell a story of his father’s discipline. As his father would intervene on his and his brother’s rowdy behavior he would speak these words, “I brought you in this world; I’ll take you out. And it don’t make no difference to me. I’ll just make another one, look just like you.” This is how people think, we want justice. We’re not always concerned with mercy. God requires justice, but His justice is always tempered with mercy. He didn’t have to preserve a remnant. He didn’t have to send a redeemer. But He did. He doesn’t have to create another Garden of Eden for us. But He will. God will create for us another kind of Garden of Eden and He will call it the New Jerusalem.

Revelation 22:1-3
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

This Garden will have a river of the water of life, it will contain the Tree of Life and there shall be no more curse. This is like the Garden of Eden of Adam’s day. There is no need for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because we have already eaten from it. God will dwell with His people once more as He reigns from the Throne of God. That word Jerusalem translates as the Vision of Peace. We will dwell at peace with God. Our faith makes us a friend of God. Abraham believed God, he was a man of faith and the Bible tells us he is a friend of God.

James 2:23
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.

Our flesh or the carnal nature of man, the sin nature, puts us in enmity with God. In other words as we are in our flesh or involved in sin we make ourselves enemies of God.

Romans 8:7
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

We are at war with God. The New Jerusalem is the promise of peace with God. It is the same peace with which mankind resided with God in the Garden of Eden.



Lessons from the Commands of God

In order to understand how to “get ourselves back to the Garden,” we have to understand how we can once again achieve what we lost to sin: What was stolen through the deceptions and temptations of Satan and the rebellion of Adam.

God had given Adam a standard by which he should live. It came in the form of a command, “Of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good an Evil you shall not eat of it: (Genesis 2:17).” This command was intended to preserve their innocence. The entire third chapter of the Book of Genesis is devoted to the loss of the Garden. It begins with the temptation of Eve. It speaks of Adam’s sin and the resultant shame. Finally, it explains the judgment of God and the expulsion from the Garden.

The first six verses of the chapter are the details of what transpired, as first Eve then Adam, fell into sin. We see that Eve was deceived by the serpent that in eating the fruit she could be like God. Then Adam has chosen Eve over God by eating of the fruit as well. But what was the loss that was incurred in the sin. What was the natural result of eating the fruit?

Every sin carries with it, natural consequences. These are the results of that particular sin. For example, the natural consequence of smoking tobacco is Lung Cancer. The natural consequences of an action will many times tell you if that action is sin. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. So if an action will lead to those consequences, that action is more than likely sin.

Another example is that continually placing yourself in unnecessary danger is a sin, because the likely outcome of that action is death. During the temptation of Jesus the Devil told Him to jump off the roof of the temple, but what was Jesus’ reply? It is written, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” (Luke 4:12) By this we know that eating the fruit was sin, and of course, God told them that the result of eating the fruit would be death. But for an interesting insight into what was lost through the eating the fruit look at the last verse before the sin.

Genesis 2:25
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

They were naked and unashamed. They were innocent. When my twin daughters were little, they were routinely bathed together, because it was easier for their mother. She would put them both in the tub, with their little rubber ducks, and they would play and giggle and have a wonderful time. They were innocent; there was no shame in their nakedness. The same was true of Adam and Eve. But look at the verse immediately following the eating of the fruit.

Genesis 3:7
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

Before they had knowledge of good and evil, there was no shame in their nakedness. They didn’t know any better. They were innocent and what was lost in that sin was innocence. As our daughters have gotten older they no longer bathe together. If it is even mentioned that they might have to change clothes in the same room they both say, “Eww.” Innocence is lost, forever. The same is true of Adam and Eve they have lost their innocence. Innocence is a legal term meaning, according to the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary: Blamelessness, freedom from legal guilt. In their innocence they were free from guilt and the shame that attends guilt. It isn’t until they understood what was right and wrong that guilt was imputed to them.

When a person commits a crime they have to be judged as to whether or not that are fit to stand trial. Fitness in this case means whether or not they understand their actions and the consequences of those actions. If they cannot understand the elements of the trial then they are judged as not fit to stand trial. They are innocent by reason of insanity and they will be committed to a mental institution. They cannot receive the death penalty for crimes committed in mental illness. They didn’t understand the wrongness of their behavior. This is Adam and Eve before they ate the fruit, they are not mentally ill but they have no understanding of right and wrong. When they ate the fruit understanding dawned and innocence was lost.

There is another legal term used in the Bible. That word is to justify. The word justify is defined as to pronounce free from guilt or shame. In this case justification simply means that we are once more made innocent. This is important because we are justified by Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. In other words we are made like we were before the sin.

Romans 3:23-26
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

We are made innocent, justified, through the blood Jesus shed on the cross for us. There is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. We had lost innocence through sin but Jesus shed His blood to purchase innocence for us. As sinners we think that God’s commands are to limit us. But His commands are designed to protect us.

Through my own experience I have recognized the truth of this. I had allowed myself to come to the very brink of destruction and suicide. But in coming to salvation and patterning my life after the commands of the Bible I’ve been changed.

My life had a veneer of success. Outwardly, I seemed to have it all together. I had all the trappings of success, a nice place to live, a hot car and a high-paying job. My neighbors would point me out to their teenaged sons as an example of what hard work and diligence could achieve. But what those parents couldn’t know was that on the inside. I was lonely and miserable; I had no satisfaction in my life at all. I had destroyed relationships. I’d used women. I’d lied and cheated to achieve my position in the company. I destroyed other people’s careers, all to get what I wanted. I was lonely, miserable, drunk and contemplating suicide when I came to salvation.

I began to read and study the Bible and it changed my life because it changed my perspective about how to live my life. I remember one phone conversation, with my father, where he told me, “Be careful. Don’t allow that to control your life. Keep some distance and perspective.” His fear was that I was taking it all too seriously and that I had joined some kind of cult. My reply was, “I am discovering that if I will live my life like the Bible says that I’m going to be happy.” I had recognized that most of the ugliness of my life stemmed from me trying to get what I wanted.

It is a truth that if you avoid sin you will avoid much of the ugliness in life. I can’t tell you that there will be no hurts and heartache in your life. You can’t avoid the things that will overflow into your life through the sin of other people. But you will not be contributing as much yourself.

We will never completely overcome sin in our lifetimes, only Jesus was sinless. But certainly, we can eliminate a great deal of it, by carefully living out the commands of God. We can’t avoid sin altogether because we’re human, but by studying and applying the Word of God to our lives we can stay aware of the sin that is there and we can overcome a great deal of sin, this way. Through self examination and looking closely at our decisions and actions we can be aware of the disobedience and rebellion, and recognize the need for repentance. Change is a process that takes place over our lifetimes. The key to change is self examination and repentance.

Repentance is crucial to regaining the Garden. It’s laying aside the rebellion and disobedience that caused us to lose the Garden in the first place. It’s reasoning together with God, and receiving the justification that comes from the sacrifice of Christ. In repenting and being justified we regain that lost innocence and we step into the Garden once again.

But there is something which precedes repentance. In order to repent, you must have the faith that Jesus came to suffer and die so as to redeem us and bring us into a right relationship with God. In other words, we have to believe. If you don’t believe that Jesus is who He said He was you won’t repent. Why? Because you won’t see any benefit to yourself.

For example, in our recent presidential election, the primaries resulted in two men campaigning for the office of the President of the United States. Within the Republican Party there was concern that Senator McCain was not the right candidate. He spoke as if he was a great conservative, but his actions, in many ways, demonstrated a lack of conservative thought in a number of the issues facing our country. Because of that, many conservative voters, who were looking for a strong conservative voice, felt that he wasn’t who he said he was and when it came time, many of them chose not to vote for him.

If we recognize that we need to reconcile with God but don’t believe that Jesus came to the earth for that purpose, or that he isn’t able to provide that substitution for us we won’t see a benefit to repenting. You don’t ask the Easter Bunny to forgive your sin, because you don’t believe that he has the capacity to do that. So faith in Jesus is necessary in order for us to repent. Faith is a necessary component to justification and returning to innocence

Abraham was justified by faith. God considered him righteous by his faith.

James 2:23
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.

Abraham believed God, he had faith in God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. God took his faith and put it in his account as righteousness. In other words, God saw his faith, and determined that that faith was righteousness and placed it in his account for the day of reckoning. When He goes to consider Abraham’s fitness for Heaven, He will look at Abraham’s account and see righteousness and Abraham will be judged on that. Because of that faith he was called a friend of God. He was no longer at war with God. Salvation comes through faith like Abraham had. If we have faith in Jesus Christ we also will be saved.

Mark 16:16
16 “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

What is believing? Of course, believing is being convinced of something. But when you have beliefs you must act accordingly. One of the reasons that the United States Government overthrew the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, was because President Bush was convinced that there were weapons of mass destruction. He was certain that because of that, the entire world was in danger, and he acted on that belief.

If you believe the Gospel, then you must act accordingly. If you believe that what is written in the New Testament is the word of God, then you must act on the commands as if they are the will of God.

Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Jesus is telling us that it is not enough just to be convinced of Him, but that we must act out on that belief. He is saying that we must live the will of God. Jesus is speaking to the believers in His day and hour, because those are the ones who prophesy in His name. They are the ones who have cast out demons and have done wonders in His name. He told us that those things are the signs that follow them that believe. But if they don’t live out the will of God then they’re to depart from Him. It is those who do the will of God, who will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Faith, therefore, leads to repentance, and repentance requires change. I often meet people who say, “I believe in Jesus. I believe in God,” but it is evident from their lifestyle that they aren’t living the will of God. They have continued to live in sin. There is no change present in their lives. They haven’t repented, because there is no change. So they aren’t justified. Justification requires both belief and repentance. Abraham acted on his belief in God by leaving Haran for the place that God would show him. Since God was calling him out of that place, following the call of God is living the will of God. He acted on the God’s command to leave Haran. He started a new life on that day. In a sense he was reborn, because he was a different man than he had been before God called him.

John 3:3
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

And this is the reason that it is necessary for the church to preach on sin. It’s necessary to provide an opportunity for people to examine their lives and the decisions that they’ve made, and bring their lives into conformance with the will of God. The church must provide direction, to assist people, in living out the will of God for their lives. It isn’t enough just to believe. When you come to a place of real repentance you are ending the old life and starting the new. It is like the moment that you are born. You have a clean slate, a fresh start, a new life. You are once more made innocent and have gotten back to the garden. To see how you have regained the Garden, you need only to look at the promises of Jesus.

Lessons on Getting Back to the Garden

The Christian life is a reinstatement into the Garden of Eden. If you believe that Jesus is God who became man for the expressed purpose of dying on the cross to reconcile you with God: If you have repented of your sin and restored innocence to your life, through His justification of your sin: If you are living the calling and will of God for your life then you have regained the Garden. I know that life in our times doesn’t seem all that idyllic: That the place in which we are living doesn’t seem like a paradise. The world has been corrupted by sin, and sin remains in the world. But the principles that were true in the Garden are a component of the Christian life. Those same principles are in effect in our walk with God.

The first principle visible in the Christian life is dominion. In the tenth chapter of Luke, we see that Jesus has appointed seventy disciples to go and preach the Gospel. They are to go into the cities and villages and preach the word of God. He has also given them instruction for their behavior

Luke 10:3-9
"Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.4 “Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.5 “But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’6 “And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.7 “And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.8 “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.9 “And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

Jesus tells them something that is very important here. He tells them to heal the sick. Is this because He sent only doctors to preach the Gospel? It is because, they as believers, are able to heal the sick. Later in the chapter He tells them something else.

Luke 10:20
20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

Do not rejoice because spirits will do what you command, but rejoice because you have received salvation. Why is this important in the return to the Garden? Because it establishes that in receiving Salvation we have been given authority over the spiritual world. What is authority in the spiritual world? It’s dominion. We have been given dominion over the spiritual world. Jesus even states I give you authority…

Luke 9:1
Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

One definition of authority, according to Mirriam-Webster Dictionary is power to influence through command. That means that we are able to command healing because of the authority that is given to us. This is dominion over sickness. Another definition is the person-in-charge. If you have authority you are in charge. The centurion in whose servant is sick tells Jesus, “I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me, if I say to this man go he will go…” (Matthew 8:9) He is the man-in-charge, he has authority.

The definition of dominion is supreme authority. So Jesus through salvation has established dominion and authority back into our lives. Just as we had dominion in the garden we have dominion now.

The second principle at work, in the Christian life, that was found in the Garden is that God provides for our needs. God has promised us that he considers us to be valuable and that He will provide for our needs.

Matthew 6:31-33
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’32 “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

God still understands our needs and if we seek the Kingdom of God all of these things will be given to us. He is making the promise that he will meet our needs, but there is one other thing required.

Mark 11:24
24 “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

When we believe that God can and will meet our needs, those needs will be met. That’s faith; it’s trusting in God for His provision. Adam and Eve had to trust God for their provision and we must trust Him as well.

You might think I don’t have great faith. People are like that. When things aren’t going right we have a tendency to worry. We try to make things happen for ourselves. But it only takes a little faith to see God produce on His promises.

Matthew 17:20
20 So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

A mustard seed is a small seed. You can buy them as a spice in your local grocery store. They are maybe a 1/16th of an inch in diameter. So this verse is telling us that we only need a small particle of faith to see God provide for our needs.

Several years ago, I was laid off of my job. I’m not young and the prospect for a new job seemed like a faint hope. Nevertheless, we attended Bible Conference and wanted to support what God was doing through the fellowship of which we are a part. As always on Thursday night of the conference, young people are launched out to begin international works. People are being ordained to enter the mission field. My wife and I have always been excited about the possibilities of reaching the world, so we have a tendency to give as much as we can to support these new international ministries. Now, I had been laid off of my job. I didn’t see the possibility of a new job in the near future. We had little savings and so the future looked bleak. I confess that I had been worrying about what would happen to my family.

But as it came time for offering I wrote what I thought was a big check, considering our circumstances. As I finished writing the check, my wife leaned over and said, “God gave me a number,” meaning that God had told her what amount to give. In that instant, God spoke to me as well. I knew what number He had given her. I also knew what I had written. So I tore up the check I had written and wrote another for the amount that God had given both of us. I remember praying as the offering basket came around, “God I don’t know what we’re going to do in the future. But …here I go.” This isn’t a prayer of great faith. I wasn’t saying, “Thank you God I know you’ll provide for our future.” It was a weak prayer whispered on shaky breath. The basket came by and I dropped in the check.

And God met every need for us that summer, because three weeks later I received an unexpected check, for exactly ten times the amount of the check I’d written and dropped in the basket. God knew our needs and met them because of the mustard seed-sized faith that I had demonstrated.

The third principle at work in the Christian life is the restoration of fellowship with God. We are reconciled with God.

Romans 5:10
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

That word reconciled means that we have come back together. There was a separation that had taken place but that we have joined back together. We often hear of this taking place in marriage relationships. A marriage is an intimate relationship between two people. The Bible tells us that we cleave to one another. In other words, that we are joined together in such a way that to separate us would damage one or both of us. Welding produces this kind of adherence. When you weld two pieces of metal together the welding process, actually, makes them one piece of metal. If you then go to separate them, the process used to do that causes damage to the metal. The same is true of marriage. Divorces are ugly, damaging processes that usually end up with one or both parties bitter and angry.

When a couple separates, they sometimes, often through the intervention of a counselor, can solve their marital problems and reunite them. This is called reconciliation. They have come back together. It speaks of a change that has taken place. They had been in conflict with each other but they have now reconciled.

The same is true of our relationship with God. We were separated, in the loss of the Garden. When God, as a result of their sin, cast Adam and Eve out of the garden He separated Himself from all of mankind. After sin, there was conflict between the righteous, holy God and carnal, sinful man. The Bible tells us that when we are living in our carnal nature, we are in enmity with God.

Romans 8:7
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

In simpler terms, we are enemies of God. We have seen that sin is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. These are the things that define carnality. Mirriam-Webster dictionary defines carnality as of or relating to the body. The things that we do to satisfy our senses are the manifestation of our carnality; our physical appetites, our emotional appetites. When these things are the most important things in our lives we’re enemies with God.

In the loss of the garden we were physically separated from the presence of God and because of the sin we became enemies with God. Our relationship with God was in need of reconciliation. And that is why Jesus came to earth.

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

While we were enemies, Jesus came and died for us and in the process of His death reconciled us with God. The relationship is once again restored. The separation has been removed and we have direct access to God. This was graphically demonstrated for us during the crucifixion.

In the book of Exodus God gives a command to Moses to build the tabernacle of meeting. In that blueprint he called for a room to be built that would house the Mercy Seat. This is a part of the Ark of the Covenant from where God would meet with His people.

Exodus 25:21-22
21 “You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you.22 “And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.

And He instructed that a veil be made that would keep the people from entering that place of God’s presence. This room was called the Holy of Holies, and when God gave instruction for the construction of His Temple He also included this room and the attendant veil of separation. So this separation with mankind was maintained throughout all the years between the removal from the Garden and the crucifixion of Christ. But in the moment of His death that veil was torn in two.

Matthew 27:50-51
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

The veil was torn in two from top to bottom as if a pair of hands had grabbed it and ripped it. Once again, there was direct access to the presence of God. Through His death we were reconciled with God and fellowship with Him is possible.

The fourth principle of the Garden is that our lives have meaning and purpose. God provided this for Adam as He gave him the job of tending the Garden. In our Christian lives we also are given a task, which gives meaning and purpose to our lives. That task is to preach the Gospel.

Mark 16:15
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

It always amazes me that God has given us an opportunity to be a part of His plan for the salvation of mankind. After all we caused all the problems with God’s original plan for us. We have shown ourselves to be completely untrustworthy; and yet we are “Plan A” to reach our generation. God is allowing us to draw others to Him.

I spent a number of years, in my career, as an executive level manager. Over the years I gained a lot of insight into the management of people. I understand what motivates employees. I realize the vulnerability of employees to errors and misunderstanding. I always looked for an employee who had a track record of success before placing them into any mission-critical position. This is vital to the successful outcome of any endeavor. But look at what God has done. He is using the creatures who couldn’t handle one simple command in the Garden of Eden to be the lead in His plan for the salvation of their generation. In fact, they are the only plan for the salvation of their generation. “There is no Plan B.” He has restored us to a purpose. That purpose gives our lives meaning.

Finally, there is the principle of eternal life. Adam and Eve were created to be eternal beings. In the creation there was no death. But because of the sin that took place in the Garden, death came into the world and we have suffered from the affliction of death since that time.

Most of us have experienced death. Through the loss of a parent or a friend or neighbor we have experienced the sting of death. No one is happy about the loss of a loved one and no one looks forward to experiencing death themselves.

In Beaumont, California, in 1997 a ten-year-old boy was kidnapped, sexually abused and murdered. His kidnap and death carried international headlines, as the case remained unsolved until August 2005, when an Idaho convict confessed to his murder. The entire nation grieved for the loss of this child and his funeral was broadcast nation-wide. The death of one child carried with it the grief of an entire nation.

All of this is part of the curse of sin. “From dust you came and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:19) But as we enter into salvation we are promised eternal life once again. Whoever has faith in Him, and acts on that belief and faith, by repenting and entering into a relationship with Him will have everlasting life.

John 3:16
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

If all of the conditions of salvation are met then all of the principles of the Garden of Eden will be at work once more in our lives. If we will believe that Jesus Christ is God who became man for the expressed purpose putting Himself in our place and receiving the punishment of sin that was meant for us. If we put that faith into action, by admitting that we are sinners, and ask forgiveness in real sorrow. If we accept that forgiveness, repent and change, by laying aside sin and living within the commands and the will of God. Then we are restored to the Garden of Eden.

An Open Letter to the Church

Church attendance is down in many Christian churches. There are a number of reasons for this, but I blieve the main reason lies in the hearts of individual believers.  People are simply putting other things before their commitment to serve God.   I think it is important to address this, because I believe that church attendance is key to maintaining our salvation.


So I want to offer the following Bible study as a way to encourage you to attend church. Your attendance shouldn’t be to please me, but because you have identified yourself with Jesus.

Hebrews 10:23-25
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

I want to take this passage of scripture and break it down so we can get at what the scripture is speaking to us.

Hebrews 10:23
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Let us hold fast to our confession of hope. As Christians we have hope in Jesus. Jesus has promised us eternal life. He has promised us heaven. The wonderful thing about this is that heaven is promised to us, not because of what we have done but because of what Jesus has done. In Buddhism, there is the idea of Karma: That your karma affects what happens to you after you die. Karma says that how we live in this lifetime will affect where we go as we wait to be reincarnated. Karma tells us which level of hell we are assigned to and the life we will have when we are reincarnated. It is all based on how we live. But you and I know that we have all done things that are wrong. We have all damaged other people and we have all violated guidelines for righteousness. So if it is up to us we can never achieve heaven. The Buddha cannot change our Karma; he can be no help to us as we go through our lives. It is dependent on us. There is no hope in that. The bible tells us that we all fall short. It tells us that there are none righteous. That includes me and it includes you. So in that belief system we will be doomed to repeat life over and over with no hope of entering heaven. But in Jesus we can have hope because he has died for us. In a way he has changed our karma. Heaven isn’t dependent on us, it’s dependent only on what Jesus has done and us confessing faith in him and repenting.

If we’re Christians we believe that Jesus paid a price for our sin. We need to hold fast to that confession of faith, because it is the basis by which we will be judged. That phrase “hold fast’” means to grab a hold of it and not let go. How do we do that. We can hold fast by doing things that will increase our faith in Jesus. Or doing things that build faith.

1. Prayer. Prayer strengthens our relationship with Jesus. Think of it like this: If you have a friendship with someone but you never speak to that person or spend time with them what happens to the relationship. It will begin to break down, because there is nothing to strengthen that relationship.

2. Read your Bible. As you read the Bible you see the faithfulness of God demonstrated over and over. You can see the prophecies that have been fulfilled. When Jesus was born that was the fulfillment of more than 300 prophecies. As you see his faithfulness and the truth of prophecy you can realize that you can believe God. God never changes he is just as faithful today as he was in Biblical times.

3. Go to church. The Bible in Romans 10:17 tells us that, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Hearing the word of God strengthens faith.

These things will help us to hold fast to that confession of Faith.

Let’s now examine verse 24 of our text:

Hebrews 10:24
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

This verse speaks of being an example. We are to consider each other in an attempt to stir up love and good works. Let’s face a fact here, people are watching our lives. What do other people see when they watch your life? Is what your doing stirring up love and good works? Is your life an encouragement to others to do the will of God?

This is the real issue. We are not alone in our salvation. There are other people involved in our destiny and the will of God for our lives. We look at other Christians to understand how to live and to act as a Christian and other people look at our lives. Someone else fulfilling his or her destiny in Jesus may be dependent on our example. All of us are examples to someone else. We are definitely an example to other people in the church, but beyond that friends and families gain their understanding of Christianity from watching us. Does your example demonstrate the importance of living out the will of God? Can someone who isn’t saved look at your life and see how important Jesus and your salvation are to you? Do they see you talking about Jesus, maybe even confronting them about Jesus, but don’t see you placing any importance on being in church? Because believe me they are forming their opinion about Jesus from watching how you live.

In the last verse of our text we read this:

Hebrews 10:25
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

This verse simply tells us that we should attend church. Through our attendance we are exhorting (encouraging) one another. We build our faith and we help to build someone else’s by church attendance. This is vital if we want to have the faith to endure until the end. I’ve been preaching a number of sermons, recently, on faithfulness. Faithfulness is a sign of our faith. But if we’re not there to hear them how can we be stirred up to love, good works and faith.

Finally, we must understand the purpose of the church. The purpose of the church is to reach the lost for Jesus. In a number of cases that means friends, families and coworkers. Our goal is to reach them as well as neighbors. We are placed in this place to reach people in Taoyuan City. That’s what this church is placed in this city to do. But we lose momentum when people don’t faithfully attend church.

When we don’t attend church:

1. We send a message to our friends and families that church isn’t really important to us. We are telling them that church is just a place where people gather, like a social club, but that there is no power to change lives there.

2. The Bible establishes that God has chosen the foolishness of the message preached to save those that believe (1 Corinthians 1:21). If we don’t attend church we miss God’s chosen method of salvation and change.

3. When we don’t attend and someone we have invited does, then the only connection that they have to the church is missing. They have come because of the relationship they have with you. They are likely to not come back because you have let them down.

Assembling ourselves together builds bonds between us: Bonds that will help us to weather the attacks of the enemy. It is important to us to come together as a fellowship of believers:

1. To build up each other’s faith.

2. To strengthen our own faith.

3. To develop relationships that will help us to reach our own personal destiny in the will of God.

4. To hear the word of God preached, God’s method of change and salvation for us.

An excellent question to ask yourself is this, “Is my salvation important to me, or are there other things that I have placed before my relationship with Jesus?”

The rich young ruler asked Jesus what must I do to inherit eternal life? The question is what thing shall I do to go to heaven. Jesus answers him in an interesting way. He begins to list off commandments: Specifically, the commandments that deal with our relationships with other people. And the ruler tells him, “Cool, I’ve done these things since my youth.” Then Jesus tightens up a little bit, he says, “There’s one thing you need to do still, sell everything you own, give it to the poor, take up your cross and follow me.” Jesus isn’t saying that you have to be poor to be saved. But what he’s doing is focusing on the issue in this man’s life; his possessions. He’s saying if you value something more than your relationship with Jesus, you can’t inherit eternal life. He says that in another way in the Luke 14:

Luke 14:26-27
26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.27 “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

That word hate doesn’t mean what we take it to mean in our generation. It only means to love less. So what Jesus is saying is that we can’t be his disciple if there is something we put before Jesus. Jesus wants to be first in our lives. If we are going to call him Lord, we need to treat him like he’s our Lord.

This letter is intended to encourage you and exhort you to be an active part of the church. It is not intended to condemn anyone. I want to see you get the most from your relationship with God and I’m concerned that some of you are putting other things before your relationships with Jesus. I understand about work commitments and I understand about family commitments. But I really want you to focus on what is keeping you from church.

Bethesda: The House of Grace

Many of us can look at our lives, the things we came out of, and see what it is that Jesus has done for us. We can look at our lives before Jesus and see what we had made of them. We can look back and see what the sin that we had allowed to enter our lives had done to us. If you’re a Christian today, you sit in church changed and set free, by His grace and mercy. Today I want to share with you a moment of grace and mercy from the Bible.


John 5:1-13
1After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”  7The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”  8Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath. 10The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”  11He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’”  12Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

The House of Grace

The word Bethesda in Hebrew means House of Grace. It is probably named that because of the grace, or mercy, shown to the ill and lame who were healed in the pool. Bethesda had five porches. Five is the number of grace; in the same way that six is the number for man and seven is the number of completion, or perfection.

So here at the pool of healing we see Jesus with a man who is afflicted: A man who has suffered his affliction for many years. This is the place where he meets Jesus; the place where he has that one encounter with Jesus that makes him whole; that sets him free of his afflictions. He has suffered this affliction for thirty-eight years and in one moment of time his affliction is swept away. In one encounter with Jesus his suffering ends. It takes place right here, at the pool of Bethesda. It’s interesting that this meeting took place here at the pool. It didn’t happen on the streets of Jerusalem. This man didn’t meet with Jesus, on his own, some place. He met with him here at the “House of Grace.”

There is a House of Grace in our lives, as well. There is a place where we can meet with Jesus and the pain and suffering or our affliction can be taken away in a moment, just like the man at the pool. Our affliction may be a physical affliction that requires physical healing, but it is also a spiritual affliction. We can have an encounter with Jesus that frees us, in one moment, of the affliction of sin. The House of Grace in our times is the local church. The local church is the place where you can have an encounter with Jesus that will set you free. At the altar of repentance you can meet Jesus and be transformed. Through His death on the cross He has made it possible for our sin, our affliction, to be taken away. By His stripes we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

He is the Angel of the Lord that stirs the water and brings healing. We meet with Him at a place like this where He transforms us, in a moment of time, and heals us of our transgressions and afflictions.

Entering Into the Pool

In order for this man to be released of his affliction he had to enter the pool. The Bible says in verses three and four of our text

John 5:3-4
3In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.

After the water was stirred up, the first one who entered into the pool was healed. You have to submerge into the House of Mercy to be healed. But how many people do you meet that tell you they’re Christians; they tell you their believers, but they have no home church? How many people have you met that have a long list of churches that they’ve attended but not a church to which they’re committed? The problem is that they’ve spent their lives on the fringes. They’ve never been willing to put themselves into God’s method of transformation for their lives, which is to lock into a church. They’ve never allowed themselves to be immersed into God’s will for their lives. They’ve been around the church but aren’t willing to ground themselves in God’s word. Because of their unwillingness to step into that they continue in their affliction.

I used to know a man, who asked me about my church. He wasn’t interested in the church’s doctrine. He asked me about how many people attended. He asked about fellowship opportunities. He told me that he played softball at his church. But he shared with me that he didn’t think they would ask him that year. He said he hadn’t attended church lately. Actually, he didn’t attend at all, he just played softball with them. He had the aura of church attendance, but in fact, didn’t attend church at all. There was no change in his life. He continued to live the way he lived before: His wife was ready to leave him his life was a mess. He was still caught up in his affliction because he was on the fringes. He never immersed himself into the pool of healing.

What do we see in our text? On the porches there was a multitude of people. There were a lot of people on the fringes. They see the power of God manifested in the lives of those who enter the pool. They see the miracles, they see the transformation, and they want those things to take place in their lives but they never make it into the pool. They aren’t aggressively seeking the miracle, they’re hanging around the pool, they’re close to the pool, but…

It makes me think of the woman with the issue of blood.

Luke 5:25-29
25Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. 27When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. 28For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.”  29Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.

This woman aggressively sought healing. The Bible says she, “suffered many things from many physicians.” She was looking for a cure, when she heard about Jesus. She knows that if she can reach Him she can be healed. So she’s willing to risk arrest.

She had an issue of blood, so she was unclean. She was required to walk the streets and call out, “Unclean.” She could touch no one. But here she is, she pushed her way through a throng of people to reach Jesus. She had to press past maybe hundreds of bodies to get next to him. She wanted to touch him; she wanted to enter in; she wanted to be made well.

She could have stayed on the fringes. She could have waited for Jesus to notice her. But she risked it all, she went to Him to be healed and set free. The question is, “Are you willing to allow God to stir up the waters of life in you? Are you willing to step in and immerse yourself in the will of God/

The man in our text tells Jesus, “I have no one to place me in the water and when I come down someone gets there before me.” But he wasn’t aggressive about reaching the water. He could have set his cot right at the water’s edge, so when it got stirred up he could roll off the cot and into the water. If you really want it you’ll be at the edge of the water ready to dive in at the first sight of movement not back up in the fringes or on the porches. "Oh look the water’s moving, quick, someone carry me to the pool. Oh, it stopped, oh well maybe next time.”

In order to be healed of the affliction you must immerse yourself. You must enter into the will of God for your life. It’s not going to happen until you take the step, like the woman with the issue of blood, and aggressively seek God’s miracle for your own life. You must enter into the pool with a desire to be healed and transformed, and then God can work with you, and change you.

Continuing in Sin

Finally, let’s take a look at Jesus’ final comments to this man at Bethesda.

John 5:14
14Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

Jesus is admonishing that if he continues in sin a worse thing can happen to him. You know, you can attend church and lose your salvation. After this kind of encounter you can’t continue in sin, because something worse can come upon you. Understand tis, just because his grace is upon you, you can’t continue to sin and rely on that grace. That’s not how grace is intended. Grace is intended to give us a fresh start, a new beginning. We abuse grace by accepting grace and continuing to sin.

Romans 6:1-2
1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

What’s interesting here is that as this man sat on the fringes, Jesus came to him. In this moment we see a snapshot of His grace as He reaches into this man’s life and gives him the healing he desires. We can see the same snapshot of grace as Jesus reached into our lives and brought healing and transformation to us. He desires that all of us have an opportunity to be cleansed and healed. He wants to use us as instruments of His grace to reach out to others.

But there is a warning here to us that we can fall from his grace, by continuing to sin. How valuable is your salvation to you? How valuable is the free gift that was given to you in the moments of Jesus’ death and resurrection? Are you willing to put to death the “Old Man of Sin”? Or do you esteem so lightly the grace that was given through His suffering that you would put Him on the cross once again? Is there sin you are unwilling to give up?

I know a man who was saved about 25 years ago. Throughout his life God changed him and showed him much grace and mercy. But he continues to smoke. In fact, the day I met him and he found out that I was a Christian he told me, “I know God is going to deliver me from smoking, but he’s going to do it in His own time.” Well, the fact is, that God’s time is now. But God couldn’t deliver him from smoking until he took the first step and put it down. The problem was he wasn’t willing to put off the old man of sin. Then he was diagnosed with lung cancer. I told him, “Look man, God is trying to get a hold of you right now. This is what God is doing to get you to lay that stuff down.” His reply was interesting,, “I already have cancer, now, so why quit.” I was sad to attend his funeral.

In our text Jesus is warning us that if we continue in sin, “a worse thing can come upon us.” We need to take our salvation seriously. He paid for that gift of grace with his life. He willingly gave his life and it cheapens his death by continuing in sin and letting that grace abound.

It is like when somebody gives you something of great value and you don’t take care of it because you paid nothing for it. Are you that way with your salvation? Do you care so little about it that you don’t guard it and ensure that you never lose it? That you don’t work to keep it healthy?

Pastor Glen Cluck once said, “If you live your l;ife like you could lose your salvation, you probably won’t.” In other words if you are aware that your salvation could be lost and live with that awareness, then you will do what it takes to preserve it.

Here is a fundamental truth for life: We need to enter into the House of Grace and submerge ourselves in it. We need to dive into the will of God, so that we can receive the promise of mercy and spiritual healing. Total immersion in the will of God is what does it.

Identifying with Jesus: The Shepherd

I recently read a history book about one of America’s Generals. This man fought in America’s Civil War that resulted in the end of slavery in America. After the Civil War he fought Indians in the United States Cavalry. These are mounted horse soldiers. His career culminated in a battle called the battle of the Little Bighorn, (a river in the northwestern United States.) against an overwhelming army of Sioux Indian Braves. 225 soldiers willing to fight to the death for General George Armstrong Custer followed him into this battle. The Battle is known as Custer’s Last Stand. Why were these men willing to follow Custer into a battle that would result in the death of every single man?


They followed because they identified with the courage and ideals of their leader. They bought into his vision. Many of his men loved him and they dressed like him, they affected his mannerisms. Their identity with him led them to follow him and obey his commands.

Identity is a powerful force. When we identify with the vision of the leader, we’ll follow without reservation. This happens in military organizations all over the world. It happens in Fire Departments, Police Departments, and just about any aspect of life that you can imagine.

It should happen in the church of Jesus Christ, as well. We should buy into His vision and willingly follow our leader and shepherd: Jesus Christ. I want to continue with my series, “Identifying with Christ.” I believe that the keys to life change and deliverance lie in identifying with Jesus.

John 10:14-16
.14 “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.15 “As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.16 “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

Jesus Knows his Followers And We Know Him

Sheep calling contests are common in the Palestine. Several flocks of sheep are placed in an enclosure and mixed together. Then shepherds whistle a distinctive tune; some call or shout in a peculiar manner. Some shepherds use a pipe with a particular pitch. Each shepherd’s signal is understood by his own sheep and they respond immediately. They make their way through the crowded enclosure to where their shepherd is waiting. The shepherd who collects a given number of sheep in the shortest time is the winner.

Why do the sheep respond to their own shepherd’s peculiar signal? They respond because they know and trust their shepherd. They know he brings them to food and water, that he protects them from wolves and lions. He has even rescued from death and injury. So, they recognize his call and respond. This is the way we should be with our shepherd: The one who has rescued us from the danger of sin and saved us from spiritual death. Jesus is our shepherd and as His flock we should know and trust Him.

A good shepherd knows his sheep. He knows which are stubborn and which are compliant. He knows which ones tend to wander. He has to know and understand each one in order to keep them safe and within the fold.

The same is true of Jesus. He knows His followers. He knows what’s going on in our minds and hearts. He understands our attitudes and behavior. He’s a good shepherd; He knows His sheep. The Bible tells us He knows us intimately.

Matthew 10:29-30
29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

God knows how many hairs are on our heads. He knows what makes us tick. He sees what’s in our hearts. Have you ever known someone so well that you could understand how he or she would react to something? You could guess what decision they would make. That comes from knowing someone really well. You understand their personality. You know how they think, how they will feel about something. That is being able to see their heart. You can see the good things in their personality and their character and you see the bad. You see their heart.

The Bible tells us that God looks at men differently than we look at men. God doesn’t look at the outward he sees the character of the man. We make judgments about people by what they look like don’t we? That girl is beautiful and has a nice smile; she must be a nice person. That guy’s big and good-looking; he’s probably a good leader.

That’s how we think, but it isn’t how God thinks. He knows us well. He sees our hearts. The amazing thing is that even though He sees what’s deep inside. He sees the things that we even try to hide from ourselves and He still cares for us. He cares enough that He gave His life for us. That’s the ay a shepherd acts, he gives his life for his sheep.

John 10:11-13
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.12 “But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.13 “The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.

This scripture tells us something about Jesus’ character. He’s like a shepherd that gives his life for his sheep. It speaks of His faithfulness. He faces danger and death for His sheep. This is what Christ has done for us. He has given his life. It wasn’t taken from Him…He gave it.

It’s interesting to watch shepherds as they work in the Israel. We don’t really see shepherds much in Taiwan. But in Israel the shepherds lead the sheep, they walk before them in front of them and the sheep follow them. They crowd around the shepherd and stay close.

We should be like those sheep wanting to be closer, not following because we have to, but because we wnant to be near Him. That’s why the sheep press in on the shepherd like that…they want the comfort that comes from being near him. They don’t just go to the shepherd when there’s trouble. They go to him and follow him all the time.

But people are different, aren’t they? Most of us only come to Jesus when there’s trouble in our lives. When things are going well we don’t see the need. Have you noticed that? When things are going well in people’s lives, they become hit and miss about church attendance. When we have the things we need or want, we give those things precedence over the one who provides them for us. I can’t begin to tell you how many women I have known that prayed for a husband then as soon as they found a boyfriend they gave up all their ministry and disappeared from church. When we get what we want, suddenly we’re not crowding around the shepherd anymore. Things are safe, there’s no apparent danger.

The shepherd understands the needs of the sheep. He provides for those needs. He leads them to food and water. He protects them from danger. He looks out for their well-being. Someone who understands your strengths and weaknesses is in a better position to meet your needs and to protect you…from yourself. In order for jesus to be qualified to be the shepherd He must understand us; and he does.

Hebrews 4:13-15
13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

No creature is naked to Him. He sees all of us. He sees beyond the image we project to the world. He knows our hearts and He can sympathize. That word sympathize means He can enter into the feelings of another. In other words He knows what it’s like to be us. There’s compassion in that. He wants to see our needs met.

In Matthew Chapter 8, a leper comes to Jesus and he says, “If you will, I can be cleansed.” In the New King James Version, Jesus replies. “I will…be cleansed.” But look at his response to that statement as it is presented in the Weust Expanded New Testament. (A type of Amplified version of the Bible.) “I desire it from all of my heart.” That’s how Jesus feels about meeting our needs. He desires it from all of His heart. He knows and understands our needs and desires to see them fulfilled.

We Follow Willingly

The sheep in our illustration follow the shepherd closely. They gather around him. They walk close to him. They respond to his voice. That’s a picture of how it should be for us to follow Jesus. The problem is that we miss this idea. We think we can be independent of the shepherd and still see him meet our needs. There are few of us who give ourselves completely into the care of the shepherd. I know two women that are about the same age, both unmarried.

One of them is looking for a husband. She’s desperate. She sees herself getting older and there’s no man in the near future for her. But that’s what she prays for. God bring me a man. She had been saved about 8 years and there weren’t any men for her yet. So she became angry with God and left the church.

The other woman has told me she’s waiting for God. She gets lonely sometimes but she isn’t desperate for a husband. She says she’ll get married when God brings a man for her and says, “This is Him.” Her whole philosophy is to wait for God and God’s guidance.

The second one is the one who has given herself completely into Jesus’ care. She follows closely by the shepherd, listening for His voice, looking to see where He will guide her. And do you know what? Time after time I have seen God move in her life, meeting her needs. That’s how a shepherd works in the lives of his sheep. But do you know what the key is? It’s the surrender of her own will to follow the will of the shepherd.

Look at your own relationship with Christ. Are you pressing in to be close to Him? Or are you lingering out on the fringes? Are you looking for the shepherd to guide you, or are you making your own decisions? Are you surrendering your own will to follow the will of the shepherd?

Surrender is the key to many of the locked doors in your life. It’s the key to real change in your life. It’s the key to deliverance. It’s the key to God’s provision. Without willingly surrendering yourself into his care those doors will remain closed.

I want you to think about that statement for a moment. When you turn your will over to His will and you begin to follow closely. You will see that His ways are not like our ways. As you endeavor to live His way and to think like He would think, His thoughts will become your thoughts and you will act accordingly.

Now what does that mean? You will find yourself looking at the world, not from your carnal, selfish way of thinking, but from His way of thinking. You will then respond with actions based on His way of thinking. Christians often talk about being “Born Again” but being born again comes from taking different actions than you took in your old way of thinking.

This is where deliverance springs from, you’re dependent on Jesus for direction and protection. Too many times we turn to sin for comfort. We mistake lust for the love that we’re searching for. We mistake the feeling of drugs and alcohol for the joy and happiness that we’re seeking. By following Jesus for direction and protection we can experience real love and know true joy and happiness.

If we follow Christ He will bring us to places of provision. That’s what a shepherd does. He provides food and water for the sheep. He is the provider. If we follow Jesus He will see that our needs are met. The sheep that follow the shepherd have surrendered their lives to the shepherd. We also need to surrender to our shepherd and follow willingly, wherever he leads us.

What does it mean to Follow Him

John 10:3-5
3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.4 “And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.5 “Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The sheep in this scripture are listening for the voice of the shepherd. They listen for that one voice. They don’t answer to just any call. They listen and respond only to His call.

There are so many people who go to this church and that church. They go looking around, shopping around for a church that will satisfy their needs. They aren’t listening for the call of the shepherd in the place where they are, they’re answering every call.  This is a dangerous behavior. There is no surrender there. It’s still a carnal, selfish way of thinking. “I’ll find out what’s the best thing going!”

John Chapter 6 tells of a story of people that are not surrendered. They’re still looking to have their own needs met. They’re looking for Jesus to be they want Him to be, instead of surrendering their lives and following Him.

Jesus has just fed 5,000 men and their families on a young boy’s lunch. The people begin to follow Him because of that miracle. They are looking to keep their bellies full. They’re looking to have carnal needs met. But Jesus begins to tell them that He’s the Bread of Life; that following Him will give them Eternal Life and they reject that. They aren’t looking for spiritual food. They are looking for a messiah that will meet their physical needs and so they turn away from Him.

Jesus turns to the 12 disciples and asks them, “Do you want to leave, too?” Peter answers for them all and says, “To whom would we go? You have the words of Eternal Life.” Peter has surrendered his will to Jesus. He is following Jesus closely. He’s not bouncing from man to man, looking for a Messiah that fits his picture of a messiah. He’s following his shepherd.

You can see the change in Peter as you read through the New Testament. He changes from Simon, the brash, prideful, compulsive fisherman to Peter, the leader of the first century church. How did he change? He surrendered to the will of the shepherd.

There is one last point I want to make; that is that Peter shows evidence that he follows Jesus by asking the question, “To whom would we go?” We show evidence of our surrender through the following of his commands.

John 14:21
21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

He who loves me follows my commands. The sheep are guided by the command of the shepherd and they follow and have affection for the shepherd.

My daughter has a cat. When she leaves to go somewhere that cat sits by the door and waits for her to come home. When she does he sits in her arms and rubs his face against her. He doesn’t do that with the rest of us only her. There is affection that he has for her. He follows her everywhere. Where you find Emily you’ll find the cat. That cat will hear Emily’s voice and run in that direction, not the rest of us. This is what Jesus says about the sheep. The sheep follow him, they know his voice, and they follow only him

If you love Jesus you will follow His commands…willingly…even the ones you don’t want to follow. If you identify with Jesus as your shepherd, you can see real change in your life. You can experience deliverance and you can know real joy.

Identifying with Christ: Putting Off the Old Man

On August 6, 2008 ten members of a notorious motorcycle gang were arrested in a pre-dawn raid. They were charged with attempted murder and weapons charges. These charges were brought after a fight with members of the “Hell’s Angels” motorcycle club in a bar in Newport Beach, California. The man called, “The Chief” stated on his Myspace page, “We’re not your normal motorcycle club, some people say we’re too good for the bad guys and too bad for the good guys.”

Deputy District Attorney, Erik Patterson said, “They are a violent street gang, because they carry on a pattern of criminal gang activity.”

This doesn’t seem particularly unusual, does it? It seems to happen with great regularity. But, this motorcycle club is a ministry for an international church. These men claim to be born again Christians. The problem is that while they may have prayed and received Jesus, they have never changed. They continue to look and act like outlaw motorcyclists.

This is a case of mistaken identity. We have a tendency to look and act like those with whom we identify. What changes us is when we begin to identify with Christ; when he becomes the role model for us.

Ephesians 4:17-24
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.20 But you have not so learned Christ,21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

With Whom Do You Identify

In December of 2007 a young boy was found living in a wolf’s lair in Kaluga, Russia. He was what is called a “feral child.” That’s a child who has lived in the wild. He wasn’t raised by loving parents; he didn’t speak Russian; he didn’t understand how to act like a human being. He was raised by wolves and all of his responses were as a wolf would respond.

In other words, he identified with wolves. He lived and acted like a wolf, he responded to contact with people with grunts, growls and snarls. Because of that identification with wolves, he was for all practical purposes a wolf.

In our illustration about the motorcycle club we see men who identify with the lifestyle and culture of outlaw motorcyclist, so they act like outlaw motorcyclists, even though they proclaim to be Christians. The same is true of this feral child, he identifies with the “culture” of the wolf pack so he acts like a wolf. But the Bible tells us that there should be a change that takes place in us, as we become Christians. We should no longer remain in sin. We should no longer walk as the world walks.

Romans 6:1-2
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

We are called to change. We are called to be different. But how many of us like change? How many think it’s easy to change? Change never comes easy it’s always difficult.

In the United States for years there has been a push to switch to the metric system. America remains on the “English” system of measurement: Miles, not kilometers; Fahrenheit, not Celsius. Why? Because people find it too difficult to change and learn a new system.

Change within the church is just as difficult. People still identify with who they were prior to salvation. I’ve met many young men who came out of a background of gang membership, but they remain caught up in the fashion, the language and the music of the gangs. In other words they are still caught up with the identity they had before Jesus.

But look at what the scripture says, “you have not so learned Christ.” A Christian group that is arrested for attempted murder and other crimes has not learned to identify with Jesus. Identification is the key to transformation. Learning Christ is to identify with Christ. The scripture goes on to say:

Ephesians 4:21-22
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus:22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,

If you have been taught by Him then put off the “old man.” In other words stop being who you were and become like Him.

But many people have justifications for remaining the same. I can more easily reach people like me, if I’m like them. The Pastor of this motorcycle club makes that argument. He said, “Bikers can relate to me. I don’t push myself on them. I build friendships and they come to Jesus.” But where does it stop: In the Barroom…In the knife fight…in the courtroom?

This is a good time for us to examine ourselves. With whom do you identify? We all had an identity before we got saved. What’s your identity now? Do you still identify yourself as before or do you identify yourself as a follower of Jesus now? The way you know the answer to that question is by how other people identify you. If someone was to describe you to someone else what would they say about you? He’s a hippy… he’s an intellectual…he’s a biker…he’s the wolf boy. Or would they say, “He’s a Christian?

With Whom Do Others Identify You?

Before I got saved I had a lot of problems. I acted in certain ways that were wrong. I actually recognized that what I was doing was wrong, and dangerous for me. That it was causing damage to me, but you know I couldn’t stop.

I couldn’t stop because I began to buy into the idea that “This is who I am.” I began to identify with my behavior. I figured I would always be that way. But things changed for me because I allowed myself to “learn Christ.” It was His power through my identification with Him that caused the changes in me.

Identification with others is something we all long for. It’s a apart of being accepted. But the problem with identification is that it can be a tool that Satan can use to keep you from the change that Jesus requires.

Ephesians 4:22-24
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

So there is the change that’s required. It’s more than saying, “I’m a Christian now,” and attending church occasionally. The call is for change, we need to, “put on the new man.” Look at this:

Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.22 “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

“I never knew you, depart from me you who practice lawlessness.” Think about this for a moment, to whom is Jesus speaking?

Mark 16:17
17 “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

So, those who say things like, “have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name,” are Christians. So, why does Jesus say, “Depart from Me you who practice lawlessness?” He says that because there’s no change. They’re still sinners. God recognizes them by their fruit.

What fruit are you producing today? Your fruit is what shows in your life. Are you still at odds with everyone? Are you still angry and hurtful? Are you looking to forgive or are you looking for revenge? That’s the fruit that shows in your life.

Most of us aren’t botanists. We don’t know what a pear tree looks like or the difference between a pear tree and apple tree. But we can recognize a pear and we know what it looks like compared to an apple. So if we come upon the tree with fruit then we will recognize what kind of tree it is.

If someone comes up to me on the street, they may not know I’m a Christian. If some just walks up and sees me they may just think I’m an “old guy.” But if they saw the church, and the changes that have taken place in my life: In other words, if they saw the fruit in my life, they would be able to recognize it.

Where does the fruit come from? It comes as we learn Christ…as we identify with Him…as wee try to be like Him. This should be the goal of every follower of Jesus that we would be like Him. And you may ask what He was like when He was on the earth.

Acts 10:37-38
37 “that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached:38 “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

He went about doing good. Are you doing good, or are you still causing problems for everyone else? Who are you identifying with?

The Pharisees told Jesus they were sons of Abraham. They identified themselves with Abraham. But Jesus told them if you identify with Abraham they you would do the works of Abraham. Then he tells them He identifies them with Satan because they act like Satan.

John 8:44
44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

If Jesus were here to day with whom would He identify you? That would depend on how you live.

Put Off the Old Man

Each of us carries our old selves into our new lives. There was a radical group in America in the 1970’s that robbed a bank and killed a woman, then tried to blow up two LA Police Cars. One of the people in that group went underground. She moved to Minnesota, married a doctor, changed her life and hid from the Police for 25 years, until she was arrested. She was a completely different person but the problem was that she took her crimes with her. Eventually, someone recognized her and tipped off the FBI and she got arrested. She couldn’t escape who she was.

Wherever she went she took her old self with her. But we have an opportunity, as far as God is concerned, to be new people. We have an opportunity to lay aside the sin that was in our lives when we got saved and become new creatures. That’s why it’s called being born again.

2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

If you identify with Christ; if you are “in Christ,” then you are a new creation. You become a new person. But the problem is that you can take the old person into the new life and make the new creation just like the old one.

I got saved as I began to recognize the problems I had in my life. I needed a second chance, and when I got it I decided hat I would do whatever it took to make a new life. I did what was necessary in order to change. Why would you cry out for a second chance at life and then make the new life just like the old life.

Sometimes we want to continue certain parts of the old life. So we dress the same, talk the same, and hang out with the same people. But the danger in that is that eventually we can wind up the same.

Some people have difficulty escaping the old life. They constantly flit back and forth between salvation and sin. When I got saved I knew I had to make some wrong things right. I had to confront the things I’d done to people and make it right with them. Some people see those things as too difficult and their past chases them and they can’t outrun it.

That’s why we need to make a commitment to be like Jesus. We need to commit to doing whatever is necessary to be like Him. Do you realize the more you hear of the word of God the stronger your faith becomes. The more you immerse yourself in the Bible the more you understand what it means to be like Christ. The more you associate yourselves with the people of God the more you will identify with what it means to be a Christian.. These things will help you to identify with Christ and put off the old man.

Three Portraits of Promise

The Bible is full of promises: The promise of everlasting life: The promise of the Kingdom of Heaven: The promise of Salvation, and many others. But there is one promise that holds great fascination for us as Christians. This is the one that we really want to believe: The promise of asking and receiving.

God has promised that what we ask for we will receive. So why does it sometimes seem that we ask and God doesn’t hear our prayer? There is no response, at all! Have you ever experienced that?

You pray something like, “God please save my friend. Bring him to You; to a place of salvation so that he can put away his sin and begin to serve you.” But year after year he continues to be an unrepentant sinner. Or, you pray for a financial breakthrough and yet you still continue to struggle financially. Or, you ask God to restore something that has been lost and it seems like that thing is gone forever.

Where is the promise? Where is the answer to prayer? “What’s up God, I have faith, I’m praying, I’m living for Jesus, but I’m not seeing the things I’m praying for.” We all feel like that sometimes and it leads to a type of spiritual confusion. Jesus gives us a view of how God looks at prayer and I want to share that with you today.

Matthew 7:7-8
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

So there it is! That’s the promise: Ask and it will be given to you.

John 14:13-14
13 “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.14 “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Whatever you ask will be given to you; whatever you ask in My name I will do it. These are pretty powerful promises. Jesus says that if we ask anything in His name he will give it to us. But then, why doesn’t it always seem like that? We read this an we’re encouraged to ask, “God give me the desires of my heart.” But sometimes it seems like God isn’t even listening, much less answering that prayer and we think, “Maybe God is angry at me, that’s why he isn’t hearing me.” But it isn’t like that. Or we think God is unkind, He’s aloof, and He’s not interested in my needs. But that isn’t true. Jesus uses three parables to instruct us in the way God views our prayer and His desire toward us. Let’s look at those parables.

In the first parable, Jesus paints a picture for us of a God who seems uninterested in our needs.

The Parable of the Persistent Friend

Luke 11:5-8
5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves;6 ‘for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;7 “and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’?8 “I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

In this parable, God is portrayed as the friend. He is the one we come to with our need, “Friend, give me three loaves.” But we’re confused by His reaction. There is urgency to our need; we see that because we are asking at midnight. It must be an emergency. Have you ever gone to neighbor at midnight and asked to borrow a cup of sugar? No, you would only go and wake up the neighbor at that time if there was an urgent need. So this man comes to his friend in urgent need. The friend seeing that need tells him, “I can’t do it now.”

What is this parable saying? Is it saying that God is unconcerned about our needs? Is it saying that God doesn’t want to be bothered with our petty little problems? We read this parable and we see God as a God that says, “Don’t bug Me.” This is what confuses us, how can God on the one hand say, “Ask and you shall receive,” and on the other hand say, “Don’t bug Me!” The answer is found in the very next verse.

Luke 11:8
8 “I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

That word persistence means to request with urgency. So this parable is saying that the friend didn’t respond to the simple request, but did respond to the urgency of the need. What it is saying is that the man continued to knock; he became troublesome. “You don’t understand this is urgent. I must have something for this traveler.” Because of that urgency the friend got up and gave him all that he needed.

God is like that. He isn’t a spiritual gumball machine; where you put in a quarter and turn the prayer crank and God spits out a gumball blessing. But God will repond to the urgency of the need. Everyday I pray for people to come into the church. I pray that God will bring those who need salvation, those who will respond to the call of God, those with a desire to hear and live out the word and will of God; and the church has grown, God brings people almost every service. The church is growing.

1 Corinthians 3:6-7
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

God brings the increase…God answers prayer.

The Parable of the Unjust Judge

Luke 18:1-5
Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.3 “Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’4 “And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,5 ‘yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”

In this parable we see the Judge, and this widow comes to him and asks him to avenge her of her adversary. Some enemy is tormenting her. That woman is a picture of us. An adversary torments us; someone who seeks to destroy us; to destroy what God is doing in us. That adversary’s name is Satan. Satan literally means adversary or enemy.

So this woman brings her complaint to the judge and he refuses her.

“Will you avenge me of my enemy, today?” “No!” “Fine.”
“Will you avenge me of my enemy, today?” “No!” “Fine.”
“Will you avenge me of my enemy, today?” “No!” “Fine.”

Finally he says, “I will avenge this woman, just to get her off my back.”

What is interesting about this parable is that Jesus assumes that we’re praying. Because God’s people are a praying people, Jesus assumes that we pray. His intent with this parable is not that we pray, but that we remain steadfast in our prayer; that we contend in prayer for relief.

Luke 18:6-8
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.7 “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?8 “I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

This is an unjust judge and even he responds to this widow. How will God, who is a righteous judge, respond when we cry out and contend for relief. God doesn’t want us to be tormented. Look what Jesus says to Peter, when Satan comes against him.

Luke 22:31-32
31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.32 “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

Jesus prayed for him that his faith not fail. Now look at the last verse of the text and look at the interesting question it asks, “When the Son of Man returns will He really find faith on the earth?” Faith is the key: Faith in the sense that we can trust God; but also faith in the sense of being faithful. He is looking for us to steadfast, reliable, loyal…

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

…that we continue even in the evidence that isn’t seen. Will He find faith in you?

These are the keys to seeing prayer answered: Praying with a sense of urgency; in urgent, persistent need and praying in faith; remaining until you see the promise answered; faithful, steadfast contending in prayer. That’s when you’ll see God pour out his blessing.

The Parable of the Good Father

Finally, the third thing I want to show you is that God desires to bless us. He wants to meet our needs, “Ask and you shall receive: Whatever you ask, in my name, I will do it.” This is what leads us into confusion. That God has said I want to bless you but we don’t immediately see a response to the prayer. But God does want to bless.

Luke 11:9-13
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.10 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.11 “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?12 “Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

There is a picture of God here. It is in the picture of the father who wants to give good things to his children when they ask. What this is saying is that human fathers are sinful, just like everyone else. They can have evil lurking inside. Let’s face facts we are all sinners. We have all fallen short of the Glory of God. But even in that state we want to meet the needs of our children. We still want to give good things to our children. How much more, God, who is righteous?

God has adopted us.

Romans 8:15
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

God, who has made us co-heirs with his son, how much does He desire to meet our needs?

That word “abba” expresses warm affection, a sense of intimacy. It is like the word “Daddy.” That’s the relationship that’s portrayed, a sense of confidence in the love of the father. That confidence is there because we know that he is there for us. My children never have to question whether or not I love them. They can see it in the things I do for them; going to work, sheltering them, providing for their needs. God does all this and much, mush more. He even sent his only begotten son to suffer and die for us, to redeem us from our sin and win us back to a relationship with Him.

God is our Heavenly Father, that name alone denotes the relationship. Sometimes our earthly fathers will let us down, even walk away from us, but our Heavenly Father desires to pour blessing into our lives.

Sometimes, though, we don’t see the blessing until we look back, from the place of blessing. Even though, it may not be what we had in mind when we prayed, maybe it didn’t fit the picture of what we wanted; we can look back and see that God had the best thing in mind for us. The blessing is there. God is a God who desires to bless like a father who loves his children. God is like that.