Finding Your Best Christian Life
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What is the abundant life?
What is the abundant life?
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
So… what is the “abundant life? And how do we get it?
(“by following Christ” or “by putting God first” “Making God #1 in your life”)
Can I tell you this — God does not need to be #1 in our lives.
Now, hear me out!!!
Don’t quit on me… don’t pack it up… Don’t turn off Facebookand go somewhere else… Don’t start thinking - “Oh God! I’m gonna have to find another church, cause Pastor Tony has lost his mind!”
Just bear with me here…
God does not have to be #1 in your life.
You do understand that God does not NEED our love, right?
God being in our lives does not benefit Him… God is not like the Greek and Roman gods…
God… Jehovah… The Creator of the Universe… does not NEED our love to exist. It does not benefit Him at all… It benefits us!
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Just before saying this, Christ says, “Do not worry about anything...”
You see… It benefits us, because God loves us.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
and (in case that isn’t enough)
8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
That should say “God proves His love for us in this, While we still hated Him, Christ died for us.”
You see… God’s desire is that we will choose to reciprocate His love in the same way that He has shown it to us.
You do understand…?
God gave us everything!
He gave us the world… He gave us a part of Himself (the breath of life)… He gave us Partnership in His creative work… and ultimately… He gave us Himself in Christ…
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Since the beginning of time, God has been asking: Are we willing to do the same?!?
Look at Mt. 19:16-29.
A “Rich Young Ruler” comes to Jesus and asks Him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What must I do to gain the abundant life?”
Jesus answers, telling him to obey the ten commandments. Look at the man’s response:
20 The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?”
He had made God #1 in his life, he had followed ALL the rules, but he knew that he still lacked something. Look at Jesus’s answer:
21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
Do you see what Jesus told him?
“Go sell everything… give it away… [and then what?]… Come and follow me.”
God does not need to be #1 in your life. He needs to be EVERYTHING in your life.
The apostle Paul understood this.
Acts 9 tells us about his conversion. (tell the story)
- - “After getting permission to arrest the Christians in Damascus....”
Paul’s journey… from Zealot to Christian… from Christian to Missionary… from Missionary to Prisoner… and eventually to death because of his faith, reveals one thing — His love for God.
God wasn’t just #1 in Paul’s life, God was his life!
That’s why in Philippians 1 he says:
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
This conviction is what eventually led him to proclaim:
20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
But what was it that caused Paul to understand this? It wasn’t his conversion experience on the road to Damascus alone.... No, Paul had witnessed something that spoke to him...
Paul witnessed Stephen’s death. (Acts 7-8:1, we meet Stephen)
Stephen was one of the ones chosen by the twelve to lead the people, so that they could focus on the scriptures… Paul witnessed his ministry…
Paul witnessed Stephen being arrested for his faith… He witnessed Stephen’s testimony before the Sandhedrin… he witnessed Stephen recount their own history to them and… he witnessed Stephen accuse them of murdering Christ…
Paul witnessed (and felt) the Sanhedrin’s anger… He witnessed Stephen being stoned to death… and heard Stephen’s final words of love for God and for them… “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
Acts 8:1, tells us:
1 And Saul approved of their killing him. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.
But it still affected him… WHY?
Because in Stephen, Paul saw something different… he saw someone for whom the world was nothing and God was EVERYTHING… and that affected him.
God does not need to be #1 in our lives. God needs to be EVERYTHING in our lives.
And that is what God commands of us.
Look at Exo 20:3-6.
3 you shall have no other gods before me.
4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,
6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
The 1st and 2nd commandment make it clear, God is supposed to be the only thing in our lives.
Look at verse 5.
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,
Why does he say that here?
Why does He say that He will punish our children to the 3rd and 4th generation for our inequities? That’s our children and our children’s children!
Seems harsh! It seems unfair! But look at what God is actually saying....
“You shall not bow down to them...” When we place anything equal to, or above God, we are denying Him!
That is the problem with idolatry. It causes us to deny God…
Let me show you something...
(1st place platform ill.)
When we do this… When we place all these other things as #1 in our lives, even alongside God, we are really denying God His place!
And… That is what brings punishment to the 3rd and 4th generations of our children…
But… Check this out…
6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
When we make God EVERYTHING in our lives, He blesses our families for a thousand generations!
16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
God must become EVERYTHING to our lives.
I want you to see something here....
— Abraham feared death… so much so that he fled to Egypt, and lied about Sarah being his wife…
— Noah was a drunkard… the first thing he did after leaving the ark was get drunk…
— Moses was a murderer, fleeing from justice…
— Jacob was a conman…
— David was an adulterer and murderer…
Yet these men are the Patriarchs of our faith… They are seen as some of the greatest men in the Bible…
What made them special? What made them men who are praised so highly?
Men… listen close! You need to hear this…
We have been talking about Kingdom Men… If you want to be men who are honorable… who are trusted… who are valued… who are recognized by Christ…
If your desire is to be that Warrior King, who loves his wife so well that she desires to be honorable and submissive … who desires to lift up and support her man… then you need to hear this…
Women… Listen close!
If you desire to have a Kingdom Man… If you desire to be honored and loved like the Bible says… If you want to be the submitted, honorable, Proverbs 31 woman, who is an equal partner to her husband… then you need to hear this…
Parents… Listen close!
If you desire to be those Kingdom Parents… who raise children who honor them… who are respectable… who feel loved… and give love… then you need to hear this!
Children… Yeah, i didn’t leave you out!
If you want parents who respect, love, and honor you… if you want the respect and admiration of your friends, teachers, and future employers… then you need to hear this!
Each of these men made God the “end all that is all” of their life… They understood that…
God doesn’t have to be #1in your life. He has to BE your life!
Look at David… He is called “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14)
Why?
(tell the story - David and Bathsheba)
God sends the Prophet Nathan to David to confront him about his sin…
Look at what Nathan tells him:
11 Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun.
12 For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.”
Look at David’s response:
13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan said to David, “Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die.
Nathan goes on to tell David, God has forgiven your sins, but your son will still die.
(now, that seems harsh, but understand… there are consequences to our actions, even when forgiveness is extended…)
But, what I want you to see isn’t that… it’s David’s reaction.
He goes into mourning, wearing sack clothe, and refusing to eat...
18 On the seventh day the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead; for they said, “While the child was still alive, we spoke to him, and he did not listen to us; how then can we tell him the child is dead? He may do himself some harm.”
Now David notices them whispering, and asks, “Is the boy dead?”
“Yes”
Look at His response:
20 Then David rose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes. He went into the house of the Lord, and worshiped; he then went to his own house; and when he asked, they set food before him and he ate.
David could have been made at God… he could have whined and complained, but he didn’t…
When confronted with his sin, David immediately repented, AND accepted God’s punishment.
What is our reaction?
When God becomes our “EVERYTHING”, our reactions become like that of David.
Can I tell you — There is peace found there!
33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Why?
Because When God is EVERYTHING in our lives, we find trust and comfort in Him…
“As God is exalted to the right place in our lives, a thousand problems are solved all at once.” — A.W. Tozer
We cannot expect things to go right in our lives… we cannot expect to have the “peace that surpasses all understanding”… if God is not put in His rightful place in our lives.
“If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will, in the end, make no difference what you have chosen instead.” — William Law
God should not be #1 in our lives. God should BE ALL of our life!
Now… I’m pretty sure that none of us in here… that no professing Christian would say that God is not #1 in their life… BUT… ask yourself…
What does my life say?
8 ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’ ”
and
4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
What does Christ say about you when He looks at your life?
God must be EVERYTHING to our life!
“[Making God EVERYTHING in our lives] is realizing it’s all about Him. Everything in your life is to be directed to Him.” — Fritz Chery (biblereasons.com)
Everything in your life has to be about God…
Your every breath is to go back to Him…
Your every thought is to be for Him…
Your every work is to be about Him…
Everything you are is about Him…
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
Everything we do… all that we are… is supposed to be about God!
God MUST be our EVERYTHING!
When Christ was asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” He answered:
37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
It must ALL be about Him.
Do you want your best Christian life now?
Then it can no longer be about you… It can no longer be about your job… it can no longer be about your family… it can no longer be about your desires… it can no longer be about your felt needs…
It must be about God!
16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.
and...
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
We are NOTHING without God...
God MUST become EVERYTHING to us!
That is what Communion is all about.
It is at the Communion table that we proclaim that Christ is our everything!
It is at the communion table that we stand with those who came before us and proclaim that
20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
So today, as we gather for communion, let us proclaim together:
Lord, you are our EVERYTHING! You are all that we need! We confess our short comings… we confess our failures… we ask forgiveness…
Lord, give us the strength to place you above all else, regardless of the trials that may cause us within this world…
Father, we confess that you are EVERYTHING to us… without you we are NOTHING… Fill us once again with Your Holy Spirit… that we may live lives worthy of Your Name…
Amen!