Kingdom Ready

Why did Jesus die?  Although a skeptic might argue Jesus was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when he angered the wrong people, those of us who believe in Jesus’ resurrection cannot let ourselves off the hook so easily.  If God’s resurrection proves that Jesus was His anointed one—the Messiah—then, of course, God could have intervened to prevent Jesus’ torturous and bloody demise, but He didn’t.  Peter put it this way in the first public statement about Jesus’ death, “This man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men” (Acts 2:23).  Thus, Jesus’ crucifixion was God’s plan all along.  Why?  God must have had some purpose—an immensely important one—to allow His Son to suffer so greatly at the hands of his enemies.  One’s answer to this question is their theory of “atonement.”

Last week I talked about feeling others pain. I submit that unless you are filled we the Spirit of Christ we will not be able to manifest the kind of Love and Compassion it takes to feel others pain and suffering. At least not in the way Christ would have felt or had compassion for others, for example when he looked at the multitude and was moved with compassion for they were like sheep without a Shepard. Where do you think that ability for us would come from?

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one
another John 13:34 & 35(NASB)

The words of Jesus are very explicit in John chapter 13 so we must ask ourselves some big questions.
1) How did Jesus Love?
2) Did Jesus show his Love to his followers?
3) Did he restrict his Love simply to his follows?
4) When we see the Cross do we see LOVE?

Question one How did Jesus Love?

I have been on a 36 year quest to find the right the path which would give me a greater spiritual awareness and closeness to my Creator. I have found it to be a rocky road at times. On this journey I have finally come to know God in a greater way than I ever thought possible. I have also found that the hard things in life can be good for us, because they help us, by Faith, turn to our Creator and seek his help and guidance. GOD LIKES THAT, yes he likes when we depend on him. It was always that way we just didn’t know it. After all he did create us, wouldn’t you think he has all the answers. WHY NOT ASK? Please read the following Article, in it you may find something that can help you, as it did for me.

This is what Easter is suppose to be about. When you strip away all the commercialism and pagan customs, it is about remembering why we can escape the death penalty we all deserve as sinful humans.  It was this one human man, the 2nd Adam, the Messiah of Almighty Yahweh that died an undeserved death in our place and became the FIRSTFRUITS of those who are asleep!

Acts 17:30-31

Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.

Scott Stephens reflecting on Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man and the Jesus’ trial:

It is in control of his life, and it couldn’t care less. And that’s the obscenity of the entire ordeal. There is no slick dialogue or high courtroom drama in The Wrong Man – just the brutal enactment of an insane system that is convinced of its own rectitude.

And of course the parallel:

The Gospel narratives depict Jesus as being paraded, like some freak at a carnival, before Pilate and then Herod, both of whom taunt and goad Jesus to accept their supposed power over him and thus to join in their insanity. They want Jesus to be part of their world, to quiver before them, or at least to rage against them. But instead, Jesus remains silent.

Here’s part THREE of the four part booklet – The Two Adams, by Homer D. Baxter.  This is the first half of Part II – with the last half of it (or the final quarter) to come next week.  A fitting topic (The SECOND Adam) to present here this weekend where we celebrate the Resurrection of our Messiah!

I thought this 10 minute video was inspiring in light of American Christianity’s tendency (in some sectors) to imply that joining the people of God means blue skies and prosperity all the time. John Piper shares the glory of suffering for Christ with a packed audience of college students. Thanks to Russ Brown for sending this over.

Saw this advertisement for the job search site, Monster.com

This ad made me think about our lives for the LORD. Are we living up to our potential? He created us to glorify Him. His son died to offer forgiveness for our sins against Him. He sent His spirit to those who turned to Him to empower them to live the life that we’d been planned to live from the beginning….

And then we hear ourselves say “I just can’t do it.” “I can’t be like Jesus, he was perfect.” “It’s impossible to live without sin” “It’s hard” and so on… certainly there is truth to each of these statements – but why are we keeping out expectations so low? I cannot stress the following verse enough:

Last weekend we held an evangelism conference at Living Hope Community Church in upstate NY. During the conference we focused on what the biblical gospel is and how to speak the gospel of the kingdom and the cross to a world in desperate need. The weekend included teachings, an interactive video workshop, role playing, and an evening out at the park. We wanted to provide an opportunity for those who wanted to try out what they had learned while at the same time not forcing anyone who wasn’t ready to do evangelism. Fortunately a good number of people did speak to people at the park and we had a wonderful time discussing these encounters as well as some related questions regarding evangelism in general Saturday night. The teachings from the conference are now available for free download.