Saturday, August 10,
2013, 9:00 p.m. – I had a long, full and good day! Praise Jesus! I spent
time in the word, in housecleaning, in grocery shopping, and then with some of
my children and grandchildren. I ate dinner with my kids and grandkids at Fuel
Pizza, and then I came home. I did some more house chores, talked with a friend
on the phone, texted a couple of people, played a couple of Words With Friends
(like Scrabble), checked Facebook and email, and then the song “Come and See” began playing quietly in
my mind. So, I closed my IPad, got out paper, pen and Bible and was ready to
hear from the Lord again.
Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 1 John 1 (ESV).
That You May Have
Fellowship
That
which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word
of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and
proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made
manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so
that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the
Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that
our joy may be complete.
The apostles knew Jesus Christ in the flesh when he walked
the face of this earth. They personally heard him preach the gospel message,
they saw him with their own eyes, and they touched his flesh, so they could
bear witness to the fact that God the Son (who always existed) came in the
flesh, walked the face of this earth, bore testimony to God’s saving grace,
died and rose again, and then ascended to the Father.
Jesus Christ is the word of life. He is life and he is the
giver and revealer of life. He created all things, through him all things
exist, and he sustains (holds together) all things. He is the word, i.e. he is
the exact word (revelation) of God Almighty. Not only do we have the written
word of God (the Bible), but for those of us who have accepted God’s invitation
to salvation, we have the word (Jesus, by the Spirit) living and dwelling
within us, speaking daily his words to us. Awesome! So, even though we did not
see Jesus in the flesh, we know him experientially via his Spirit within us,
i.e. we have a personal relationship with him, too.
Since we, who by faith have accepted God’s invitation to his
salvation, have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, and
because we now have eternal life with God secured for us in heaven, it should
be our goal, joy and desire to proclaim Jesus Christ and his gospel of
salvation to others so that they can know him (have fellowship with him), too.
Suppose you were dying of cancer, and you didn’t have long
to live, and suddenly someone came out with a cure, and you accepted the remedy,
and your cancer was cured, never to return? And, then you learned that others
had the same cancer? Wouldn’t you want to tell them of the cure so they could
be saved, too? And, yet how many who claim to know Christ hold on to the “cure”
and never tell anyone? Why? We should be passionate about sharing Christ with
as many as possible before he returns, so they can have the “cure” too.
How many of us, if unmarried, upon getting engaged to get
married keep it a secret? How many of us, if we win in a big contest keep it a
secret? How many of us, if we get a gift we had always wanted fail to tell
anyone? When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, it is a lot like getting engaged
(by OT standards of engagement). We also are winners in the biggest contest of
all – the battle for our lives – because Jesus paid the price. And, we have
been given the best gift of all – freedom from sin, freedom from eternal
damnation, and freedom to walk in Christ’s righteousness. Yet, how many of us
tell others about Jesus and our salvation with the same enthusiasm and
consistency as we do tell of the things of this life?
In this day and age of communication via the internet and
social media, people are telling the world about most everything that is going
on in their lives, so why are believers in Jesus Christ not saturating the
internet and social media sites with the gospel of Jesus Christ? We have the “cure”
for the cancer of sin. We are engaged to the best man ever! We are in a
personal relationship with the God of the universe who loves us and who gave
his life for us. Why are we not telling people? And, if we are telling them,
are we telling them the truth?
Walk in the Light (No
Darkness)
This
is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light,
and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while
we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the
blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word
is not in us.
The message that the apostles proclaimed was not a
feel-good, happy-happy message. It did not tell people to just invite Jesus into
their hearts and they would be guaranteed heaven no matter what. They did not
tell them that all they had to do was to “believe” and that nothing else was
required of them, and that they could kind of just “accept” the teachings of
scripture a little at a time. The message was not given in piece-meal, i.e. a
little bit at a time so as not to overwhelm people. They were not concerned
about offending people with the truth of the gospel. They didn’t entertain
them. They didn’t use tricks and gimmicks to try to draw in large crowds of
people. They didn’t read the best-selling books on how to market the church
just like big business so they could grow their businesses. No, they just told
people the truth – the plain truth without the use of manipulation, trickery,
deception, half-truths (lies), and without dressing up the gospel to make it
more acceptable.
The plain truth of the gospel is that God is light (truth;
holiness; righteousness, etc.). In him is no darkness (lies, half-truths,
deceptions, manipulations, tricks, evil, sin, etc.). So, if we say we have
fellowship with God, i.e. if we say we are in a living, spiritual union with
God via faith in Jesus Christ, and yet we continue to walk (by lifestyle) in
the darkness (sin, wickedness, lies, deceptions, adultery, idolatry, etc.),
then we are liars, and we do not live by the truth. Ouch! Try preaching that
message from most pulpits today! I don’t think that would fit in with the
marketing schemes of today for how to build big churches. It is not fun! It is
not comfortable! Yet, that is the truth of the gospel!
Jesus said that if we would come after him, we must deny
(disallow) ourselves (our self-lives), take up our cross daily (die daily to
sin and self) and follow (obey) him (See Lu. 9:23-25). Paul said that the way
we come to know Christ is by putting off (forsaking) our former lives of living
for sinful pleasure and self, by being transformed in heart and mind (of the
Spirit of God), and by putting on our new lives in Jesus, “created to be like
Christ in true righteousness and holiness” (See Eph. 4:17-24; cf. Ro. 6; 1 Jn.;
Gal 2:20, et al). Faith in Jesus Christ is not some prayer we pray at an altar,
it is not an emotional feel-good decision, it is not intellectual assent to
what Christ did for us in dying for our sins, but it is a radical change of
mind, heart and behavior, via our cooperation with the Spirit’s work of
regeneration (new birth) and sanctification (spiritual growth) in our lives.
So, we can’t continue in lifestyles of sin and living for
self and be in true union with Jesus Christ. We must walk (live out our lives
daily) in his light (truth, love, righteousness and holiness). Our lives are no
longer our own. We were bought with a price. Jesus is not content with the
leftovers or with a few crumbs. He wants it all! In other words, coming to
Christ means complete surrender of our lives to him for him to now work his
will and his ways in our lives. Yet, this is rarely taught anymore here in
America, nor is it exemplified to us by our leaders in most cases, and so we,
in America, end up with a skewed notion of what it means to be in fellowship
(union) with our Lord Jesus. And, salvation ends up being reduced more to a
religion that we practice occasionally, rather than it being taught as a
relationship and thus as a lifestyle of submission and obedience to Christ
Jesus our Lord.
So, if we want to be in true spiritual union (fellowship)
with God/Jesus, we must confess, forsake, and turn from our lives of living for
sin and self, we must allow the Spirit of God to transform us in heart, mind
and in behavior, we must submit to our Lord and to his will for our lives, and
we must now live our lives in his love, truth, righteousness and holiness,
forsaking all others. This does not mean we will live in perfection or that we
will be absolutely sinless, as chapter two makes clear, but it does mean that
we should now make it the goal of our lives to live holy lives pleasing to God
by yielding to his work of grace within us in transforming us and in conforming
us to the likeness of Christ.
So, by the grace of God, via faith in Jesus Christ, and in
the power and working of the Spirit of God within you, walk in his light and
not in the flesh and you will have fellowship (union) with God. And, then
proclaim Jesus Christ and his gospel to others so they can know him (have
fellowship with him), too. We have the most wonderful Savior and Lord, friend,
and fiancé (husband) there could ever be! We have the cure for the cancer of
sin! And, we have been given the most precious gift ever – the gift of eternal
life with God! So, don’t keep it to yourselves. Share it with others so they
can come to know Christ, too.
Come and See / An
Original Work / May 20, 2013
Based off John 1:35-51
John, the Baptist,
called of God to
Make straight the way
for the Lord,
Told his disciples
about Jesus,
So two of them
followed Him.
One of them who
followed Jesus
Told his brother,
Simon Peter,
Who then he brought to
the Savior,
Who had told them,
“Come and see.”
Jesus Christ, our
Lord, Messiah,
On his way to Galilee
found a man, Philip,
So he told him, “I
want you to follow Me.”
Philip then found his
friend,
And he told him, “We
have found the one
The prophets spoke of
– He is Jesus!”
Philip then said,
“Come and see.”
Jesus saw the man,
Nathanael,
While he sat beneath a
fig tree,
Even before Philip
called him,
So Nathanael did
believe.
Nonetheless the Lord
said,
“You believe because
of what I told you.
You will see much
greater things than these
If you will Come and
see.”
Jesus’ calling to each
one of us.
He tells us to believe
in Him
As our Lord and
Messiah,
And to follow where He
leads.
He says we must turn
from our sins,
Die to sin and self
each day,
And put on our new
lives in Jesus;
Bow before Him; humbly
pray.
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