Change your life in two simple steps.
01.15.2023 Commissioned- Following the Commands of Jesus 1. Recalibrating by Pastor Brad Whipple
Did you know Jesus issued commands?
Sometimes we think only Moses did that giving 10 commands on stone tablets to the people of Israel. Do not, do not, do not.
You may be surprised that Jesus gave not 10 but 40 plus commands. Unlike Moses that were an obligation of relationship the ones Jesus issued are very different and motivated by something completely different.
Let’s take a look again and go back to the Upper Room with Jesus as they celebrate the Passover feast.
“If you love me, obey my commandments.” John 14:14
“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” John 14:21
“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” John 15:10
Obviously, the prime motivator is love.
It is a rather amazing thing that is almost impossible to grasp. When you open your life to Jesus, the God that John would say later is the very embodiment of love would come into our lives. This love for Him become the prime motivator to honor the commands of Jesus.
Did you notice it doesn’t stop there?
As we keep his commands, he reveals himself to us.
Meaning that as we love him and honor his commands this obedience causes us to understand him in a greater way. It’s like your kids that don’t like what you tell them to do and think they have a better way but soon discover you have a really good reason why you told them to do it like you did.
But we must know that the commands are issued out of love for us. They are not to merely control us.
Rather bluntly, according to Jesus, we can say “Yes, I love God” but if we fail to follow his commands, we reveal we really do not love him.
40 days later as Jesus is getting ready to ascend into heaven, He makes it clear what the mission is for his guys and us.
Obviously, my role and yours as well as a spiritual parent is to,
“Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This is one of the last things he says to his guys. So, we ascribe a lot of importance to it.
But what was the first thing we see Jesus commanding?
Let’s go back to the opening of Matthew’s Gospel where after we hear about the birth of Jesus and the ministry of Jesus’ cousin the wild John the Baptist but then Matthew writes,
From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”. Matt 4:17
From then on…
John the Baptist had already told the people to repent at least 3 times in Matthew 3 but now his role is fading, and Jesus is stepping forward.
What grabs the attention of this apostle as he records his Gospel is that Jesus begins by calling people to repentance.
Seems like Jesus should have chosen a different campaign theme.
At least that is probably what his handlers might have suggested. To make that your theme right out of the box would sure catch attention.
Jesus calls people to prepare for the coming of the king by making sure they were in right standing with him.
When we repent of our sin, we are readying ourselves for our King so we will not be ashamed at his coming.
Whether at the return of Jesus or our death we want to be sure we carry no sin with us to be incredibly embarrassed and ashamed of.
What is repentance exactly? Sounds crazy scary. Draws up images of some wild looking character holding up a sign that says, “Repent for the end of the world is near”. (Huge eye roll.)
Jesus started with a bang.
The Apostle Paul would make this a centerpiece of his preaching. Even in Athens he says,
“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31
What is repentance?
Seeing our sins as ruining our lives, feeling deeply remorseful for them and not only asking God to forgive but making a choice to turn and go the other direction.
Simply, looking and turning.
Repentance releases God’s power to enable us to say no to ungodliness and follow Him into the abundant life he has for us. “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying,
“So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.” Acts 11:18
Repentance must be sincere and not merely sorrow it must be a decision to turn away.
“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10
Repentance is tied to not merely sorrow or even a decision. It must be with faith in Jesus as THE ONE that can save us from sin.
Again, this is such an important part of following Jesus that Paul again refers to it.
“I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” Acts 20:21
The Bible doesn’t mess around.
Repentance means to truly experience sorrow for our sins, recognizing they will harm us, but it must also involve putting faith not in ourselves to change but in faith turning to Jesus to save us.
Think it ends there?
Nope.
The Apostle Paul would testify that he preached that people.
“Should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.” Acts 26:20
What happens if we repent? We align ourselves with God’s plan to bless our lives. We recalibrate and get on track to the destination God has for us.
Why do we struggle to repent?
- Pride keeps us from admitting we are wrong.
- Afraid someone will say, “I told you so”.
- Self-deception thinking our life is fine and we can stop at any time. We think ourselves good enough to merit God’s heaven.
- Wrong idea that if we do then God will make our lives miserable.
Instead, it is the opposite.
We step into a new life of freedom and joy. Our eyes become open, and we wonder why we thought certain practices and sins were that important to us.
John would write in his short letter to the church in the city of Ephesus,
“If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” 1 John 1:8-9