Experience It
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Introduction
Introduction
What is “it?” We all want “it” but we need to define the “it.” The “it” of the Christian life is Christ. We want to experience Christ. We want an intimate relationship with Him. But isn’t this already something believers in Christ posses from the moment we places faith in Christ? ABSOLUTELY YES!
Jesus says He loves us just like the Father loves Him. We have relationship with Him…an intimate relationship with Him…a closeness to Him…which can never be broken.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The “it” is our love relationship with Jesus and nothing can separate us from Him and His love for us.
But it is possible to live life without being mindful of “it.” With little awareness of our relationship with Christ and His love for us. It is possible to sacrifice the sense of closeness and the reality of our intimacy with Christ.
Sometimes we ask the question, “Why does God feel so far away from me?” Often the answer is simply that we have not been mindful of His love. We have either become too busy to consider it, arrived at circumstances that made us doubt it, or just allowed ourselves to forget the reality of it. Jesus commands us in verse 9 to never do this!
Jesus commands us in verse 9 to never do this! We are meant to “Remain in the love of Christ.” This does not mean that we need to hold onto Him and make sure our life warrants the continued love of God for us. It means we are to live our life in such a way that we are ever mindful of His never ending love of us.
“Remain in the love of Christ.” — This does not mean that we need to hold onto Him and make sure our life warrants the continued love of God for us. It means we are to live our life mindful of His never ending love of us.
“We are to receive the love of Jesus obediently. This is how we remain in [his] love. We are unable to fully appreciate and enjoy this love and the peace it brings if we are in a rebellious state.”
We are to receive the love of Jesus obediently. This is how we remain in [his] love. We are unable to fully appreciate and enjoy this love and the peace it brings if we are in a rebellious state.
We cannot live in, experience and appreciate the love of God as we are meant to do so if we are disobedient to the one who loves us.
Bryant, B. H., & Krause, M. S. (1998). John (). Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co.
God loves us…He took the initiative…So receive His love and obey His will for your life…this will keep you right in the center of the experience of His love.
When we keep our eyes on the love God has for us it changes us…it motivates us to love Him back…a love expressed by our obedience to Him. We must always remember that God initiated this relationship…we love Him because He first loves us.
Jesus was ever mindful of the Father’s love for Him and His response was complete obedience to the Father’s will for His life. This is the model of relationship between ourselves and Christ.
Jesus loves us…be ever mindful of this…and your love of Christ will keep you obedient to His will for your life.
Some ask, “There has to be more to the Christian life than what I am experiencing!” The answer to such a statement is yes! Be mindful of His love and follow His plan for your life!
Joy
Joy
Byproduct — a secondary result, unintended but inevitably produced in doing or producing something else
We could say that joy is a byproduct of living the Christian life but it is an intended result of doing so. Jesus intends that we would bring Him joy and in turn we would experience an indescribable kind of joy as well.
Joy — a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.
Jesus experienced a life of complete joy because He loved and obeyed the Father perfectly…Jesus wants that kind of joy for us.
Joy — “Closely related to gladness and happiness, although joy is more a state of being than an emotion; a result of choice. One of the fruits of the spirit (). Having joy is part of the experience of being a Christian.”
Closely related to gladness and happiness, although joy is more a state of being than an emotion; a result of choice. One of the fruits of the spirit (). Having joy is part of the experience of being a Christian.
Joy — A sense of happiness or pleasure derived from the consideration of a present good enjoyed or a future one that is assured to come.
Bishop William Burt when asked how he acquired the habit of good cheer is said to have stated that the remark of a child he once overheard taught him to grumble and complain as little as possible. "While I was studying at Wilbraham Academy I spent a few days with this child's father, a good man but a chronic growler. We were all sitting in the front room when the question of food arose. The little girl told cleverly what each member of the family liked best. Finally it came to the father's turn to be described 'What do I like, Nancy?' he asked laughingly. 'You?' said the little one slowly. `Well, you like mostly everything we haven't got."'
Have you considered what you have in Christ? The life you have in Him!
Heyink, B. (2016). Joy. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Jesus experienced joy from His finished work…obedience to the Father’s will for His life. He found joy in the work He was doing with the Father to bring salvation to mankind and establish His church.
Jesus wants us to experience joy by obeying the Father’s plan for our life and be a part of what He is doing on the earth as well…Be ambassadors for Christ, ministers of reconciliation…To make much of Him…Make Him known to a lost world.
Jesus is painting a picture and we have the privilege of holding the brush and following His direction. The finished product as well as the process along the way, brings us great joy…a sense of happiness and pleasure because we are God’s child and have the intense privilege of being a part of what He is doing in the world.
This brings Jesus joy in the process…isn’t it a wonderful thought that our life in Christ can bring Him joy as it brings us joy (a sense of happiness or pleasure).
How To Paint?
How To Paint?
To be a part of what God is doing in the world requires that we be fully committed to Him. You can never fully experience what you are meant to in this life if you are not fully considering the love God has for you and practicing complete obedience to His plan for your life.
To take the illustration a step further. As we hold the paintbrush and join with God’s work of creating His church…what is God saying to us? What are His instructions? How do we move the paintbrush perfectly across the canvass so as to be pleasing to Him?
The short answer is to love. Augustine once said, “Love, and do what thou wilt” This is a clear expression of what Jesus is teaching here. If we love, in the sense in which Jesus uses the term, we need no other rule.
Jesus illustrates what a life in the love of God, experiencing the joy of God looks like — It is a life in which we love one another and sacrificially live our life for Him.
Augustine’s saying, “Love, and do what thou wilt” is a clear expression of what Jesus is teaching here. If we love, in the sense in which Jesus uses the term, we need no other rule.
Christianity is not a philosophy of life which we put on like an old jacket to keep us warm on cold days. It is not a supplement meant to make us emotionally healthy people.
Love like Jesus did and does...Love selflessly, sacrificially and unconditionally.
Christianity is the process by which we die to our old, sinful self and are raised from that dead way of living to a new life of relationship, obedience and sacrificially living for the glory of God.
Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel according to John (p. 598). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Jesus calls us His friends. But as one commentator put it, “friendship depends on common aims and outlook and thus Jesus qualifies “You are my friends” by “if you do what I command.” Once again obedience is the test of discipleship. The friends of Jesus are those who habitually obey him.”
Jesus obeys the Father because He loves the Father. Jesus expects that His friends, His disciples, would love Him and obey Him likewise.
Jesus said the dying to our old life is a continuous process not a once and done event. We take up our cross daily, die to sin, self-centeredness and a life of selfishness in order to live a life of love…fully in the love of Him and expressing our love to Him and others.
friendship depends on common aims and outlook and thus Jesus qualifies “You are my friends” by “if you do what I command.” Once again obedience is the test of discipleship. The friends of Jesus are those who habitually obey him.”
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Jesus demonstrated such a life Himself and intends that we emulate Him. He laid His life down and died for us…He intends that we lay down our life and die to our old sin self so that we
Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel according to John (p. 599). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Jesus chose us for this — We are called to relationship with Him and to paint like Jesus…to love like He did and does. He showed us how to do it through the cross.
Jesus supplies the paint — As we hold the brush and hear the Father’s instructions for how to live in such a way to glorify Him…we are going to need paint…a person cannot paint with paint!
And we are going to need a variety of paints…a rainbow of colors so that our work can demonstrate the beauty and creativity of our God. So that the finished product of our life will be of such beauty that it can only be attributed to Him.
We will need a variety of brushes…water to clean off the brush when going from one color to the next…we will have some needs along the way!
Jesus makes it clear in verse 16 that the Father knows all of the things we have need of and is ready to supply them for us so that we might paint for His glory. He will supply everything we ask so that we might live our life for the glory of Him…So that our life might be the demonstrable masterpiece that it is.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
God wants our life to shine for Him…wants our life to be a testimony of what He can do with someone who abides in His love, lives in His joy and paints with Him.
Getting Started
Getting Started
Some of us are waiting on direction…what is God’s will for my life? I can’t paint unless I know which way to push the brush across the canvas! Jesus knew there would be those who would have such reservations and hesitations…So He gave us verse 17…love!
Love is what moves the brush across the canvas and gives expression to the heart given to Christ. Obedience happens when we love both God and others. Just “love and do what thou wilt!”
Some will say but I don’t have the paint yet! There are things I need in order to obey and follow what I believe to be God’s will for my life. You have exactly what you are meant to have right now. You have all the tools to love those in your life in just the way God intends you to love right now. Just start.
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
Love…Stop worrying about the hue of the color your painting with and just start moving the brush! God will give you you what you need to make the masterpiece complete…other colors are coming…other opportunities are soon upon your palette. Just start loving.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Are you experiencing “it?” Are you mindful of the love of Christ? Are you obeying Him from the heart of gratitude and love of God which results from the consideration of His initiative and choice to love you?
Are you walking in the joy of obedience? A joy which comes to the one cooperating with the work of God in the world around us?
Are you painting and trusting God for the paint? Have you begun to love as you are loved? Have you begun to love as Christ has shown us to love?
Will you commit to just start today?
Commit today to love as God shows us in …Commit today to begin praying for someone to know Christ in the month of May as we begin our “Who’s your one” initiative.
Just love…and then do whatever pleases you in the process!