4: Living Like He's Returning

Dad Jokes - in just a few minutes we’re about to get super serious. But before we do, I thought we would have a little fun with some dad jokes.

Why are Skeletons so calm? Because nothing gets under their skin.

When is chicken soup NOT good for you? When you’re a chicken.

You might say I have a ‘dad bod’, but I like to think of it as a ‘father figure’.

Last week I did something I might need to rethink when I get home. I swapped our bed out for a trampoline, and my wife hit the roof.

I have a confession. I used to be addicted to the Hokey Pokey, but then I turned myself around. And, evidently, that’s what it’s all about.

Have you ever purchased something that you were SURE was going to be worth the PRICE you paid, only to find out that you got gipped? I learned a long time ago that you get what you pay for when it comes to technology. When Tonya and I were first married I would upgrade my laptop every year or two because they just weren’t made very well.

I finally made the leap over to APPLE products, but it wasn’t easy because they cost so much more. I had to ask the question, “Is it Worth the Price?” Over time, I have come to appreciate that the quality of the device was worth the price.

There was a GREAT PRICE paid for you and me, and today we are going to consider whether our lives demonstrate that we appreciate the PRICE paid for us.

I think we can best determine that by asking This Question:

BIG QUESTION: Are we LIVING like He’s RETURNING?

1 Peter 1:8–9 (NIV)

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Again, think about WHO is writing and who he’s writing TO. Peter knew Jesus. Peter spent several years with Him, seeing all He did and hearing all He said. But Peter’s audience…like you and me…have not seen Him. Yet, Peter knew that his recipients LOVED JESUS.

How can you tell when someone really loves another person? They think about the other person, talk about the other person, look forward to spending time with the other person. This is what Peter knew about these people - they were willing to face various kinds of trials for the One they had never seen, and they looked forward Jesus’ return, because…they love Him.

And those believing and loving Jesus - they are…WE are - currently receiving - the salvation of our souls.

Our minds ARE being transformed

Our lives ARE - right now - being restored;

Our thoughts, actions, and words are being made clean, all of which results in inexpressible and glorious joy that find only in our unseen Savior…Who will one day be seen.

Do you LOVE Jesus? What evidence from your life would demonstrate that? If He returned today, do you think He would say that you really do love Him?

PRAY

Alright. Let’s dive in and consider whether our lives are WORTH THE PRICE.

1 Peter 1:10–11 (NIV)

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.

As a teenager, one of the things that blew me away was what the prophets wrote hundreds of years before the time of Jesus yet predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. We looked at some from Isaiah 53 from 700 years before Jesus died & rose. Look at this from Psalm 22 written 1000 years before Jesus died & rose!

Psalm 22:1 (NIV)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

Psalm 22:6–8a (NIV)

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him.”

Psalm 22:16–18 (NIV)

Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

These prophecies that weren’t fully fulfilled until Jesus stepped onto the planet and went to the cross. That’s why Peter continues with this:

1 Peter 1:12 (NIV)

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Those who preached the gospel (i.e. good news of Jesus) in the 1st century often quoted from the past prophets to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. And those prophets weren’t applauded by people nor living in mansions. Instead, the prophets were often frowned upon by their own people - often persecuted for communicating God’s message to their ungodly culture.

They must have had moments when they wondered, “Is this really worth it? These people aren’t listening and I’m tired of being mistreated.”

But their message was not always meant just for THAT B.C. generation, but for THIS A.D. generation. When they spoke of the coming Messiah THEY didn’t always understand what it meant either.

But generations later, those who brought this good news of Jesus were empowered by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. And this gospel message - that the Creator would step out of heaven and step into skin to live in purity, to sacrifice Himself and suffer indignity, raise from the dead, & ascend into heaven - is something that angels long to look into. The angels of God are amazed by the story that played out before them.

Think about it, if you were an angel - knowing the holiness of God, knowing the power of God, and knowing the love of God…wouldn’t you struggle as you saw:

The One you worshiped in heaven would be whipped on earth?

Your Creator and mankind’s Creator...being crucified by His creation?

And yet, to realize that this incredible sacrifice of Jesus would reconcile sinful mankind with their sinless Creator. Incredible! That’s what the angels think!

David Helm puts the weightiness of all this in perspective of how the 1st century audience of the people Peter was writing to might have responded.

• Prophets labored their entire lives to present the true gospel...TO US.

• Preachers have traveled around the globe to ensure that it has gained a hearing…BEFORE US.

• Angels would like nothing better than to gaze into what God has done...FOR US.

“Surprise!” says Peter. “This is how much God cares for you.”

I can almost hear the shouts of joy rolling across the rugged topography of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. This is amazing love. Ancient prophets, itinerant preachers, and exalted angels have for ages stood in service to this salvation that has come...TO US! The fullness of your salvation has been the joyful business of God’s servants over the centuries.

[David R. Helm, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude: Sharing Christ’s Sufferings, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), 53.]

In light of this great grace, Simon Peter challenges believers to walk in the purity that Jesus died to provide.

1 Peter 1:13 (NIV)

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming.

In other words, we should be living like He’s returning. And here’s the kicker - for those who are, we don’t sit and shake in fear over the return of Jesus. NO! We set our hope on the GRACE to be brought to us when Jesus comes back!

Again, let’s be reminded of who is writing - the apostle Peter - one of the men who WATCHED as Jesus ascended into the clouds and saw two angels who looked like men tell them these words:

Acts 1:11b (NIV)

This same Jesus, Who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

And you know what!? Peter and the others actually started living like Jesus was returning.

BIG QUESTION: Are we LIVING like He’s RETURNING?

The first followers of Jesus didn’t know WHEN, but they knew He WOULD. And that’s why Peter writes this:

1 Peter 1:13–16 (NIV)

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” [Lev 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7]

This word for “conform” is referring to being shaped or molded into a preset pattern. [Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 506.]

In case you haven’t noticed, our culture is attempting to mold us into people who explore & dabble with evil rather than expose & deny evil. But there is another influence at work…a powerful influence WITHIN us - the evil desires you had before you turned from them and turned to Jesus. We are no longer to walk in those things: lust, pride, gossip, anger, filthy talk, etc.

Instead, we are to commanded to be holy in all we do!

Sadly, there are many who claim the Name of Jesus who dilute this command and refuse to live pure. Those who do so JUSTIFY their sin rather than JETTISON their sin and kick it to the curb.

Consequently, these disobedient ‘Christians’ often refer to those who want to “be holy” as being ‘legalistic’. Sadly, it seems to me that many of us might be considered “cultural Christians” but not “Biblical Christians”. That is, we might be “Christians” by our culture’s standards, but we are NOT acting like Christians by Biblical standards.

I wonder what the apostle Peter might say to us if he could see how we embrace sin rather than push it away. He might say, “What part of ‘be holy in all you do’ don’t you get?”

If Jesus were returning at the end of this week, how would you live the rest of this week?

I’m just guessing, but I think that there might just be a major overhaul in what we watch, what we say, what we think, and what we do. Ya think?

We should be living like Jesus is returning and that means there should be some major, CLEAR differences between Christians and our culture.

The author of Hebrews also talks about how followers of Jesus should be living like Jesus is returning.

Hebrews 10:24–25 (NIV)

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

We are to spur one another to love and good works - other translations use “stir up (ESV) or motivate (NLT)”. Followers of Jesus are to model and motivate one another to love and serve.

QUESTION - How are YOU doing that? How are YOU modeling and motivating others to LOVE and SERVE? If you don’t know HOW to do that, hang out with believers who do - watch what they do and say…and then copy that!

Model and motivate one another to love and serve - This is what we MUST DO.

And here’s what we MUST NOT DO: we must not stop gathering together, as some are in the habit of doing - that good word was 2000 years PRE-COVID! This was a danger for the ancient audience who was facing persecution. But what about us? Is the reason we neglect gathering with other believers because of PERSECUTION? NOPE! Most of us face very little persecution.

Yet, this passage hits some of us between the eyes, because some of us ARE getting into a habit of neglecting to gather together.

As you get older and have more freedoms, I hope you will stay plugged into a Jesus loving, people valuing, Bible teaching church!

Sadly, there is a HUGE dropoff when students graduate from high school, and often around the time students get a vehicle and get tied up in year-round sports.

Americans stop gathering with the Church for a few reasons:

We get lazy and rather stay home and relax. Funny how we don’t do that with work, school, & sports. How about we quit making excuses and start prioritizing meeting with our Church family? It has been said, “Sunday mornings are Saturday night decisions.” If you stay up too late on Saturday nights, don’t act surprised when you don’t feel like getting up early on Sunday.

We get hurt and it’s easier to RUN away than do the hard, but important work of trying to reconcile relationships. But that’s not how a FAMILY should act. When family members mistreat each other, they don’t leave the family and go join another family. Sometimes families fight, but families should make things right!

We get distracted and rather do something else with our time. The beach is calling, the fish are biting, the ballgames are rolling, and then there’s the late night video games, movies, and more!

It doesn't’ take long to think that …that Church isn’t VITAL, it’s VOLUNTARY; That Church isn’t a family gathering, it’s a weekend event…that isn’t nearly as exciting as the other weekend events (like movies, boats, fishing, and camping).

If you don’t spend consistent time WITH your local church…something is WRONG.

You show me people who rarely gather with Christian brothers and sisters who talk about spiritual things, and I’ll show you people who will drift off course and become influenced by our godless culture.

Further, when we go through difficult times it sure is different when we go through it alone. It’s during tough times that we learn the truth - we NEED each other!

Redwoods and Interlocking Roots

The average redwood tree is 275 feet tall, nearly 38 feet in diameter and weighs 2.7 million pounds. That’s about as tall as a 26 story building and wider than a New York City street, and weighing more than 100 elephants. One tree!

What’s strange is that they have a relatively shallow root system, often only 5 or 6 feet deep that spread out over 100 feet in all directions.

They thrive in thick groves because their enormous weight is supported when the roots of the trees intertwine and even fuse with the other trees around it. This allows them to survive high winds. But...redwoods do not survive alone…ever.

So too, followers of Jesus need each other. Christians very rarely survive and NEVER thrive, ALONE.

Turn to Someone and say, “Sista & brotha...We need each otha!”

[Heb 10:24-25] So…instead of neglecting one another, we should be encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching. What “day” is that?

That’s the day that Jesus returns “to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him,” as the author wrote back in Heb 9:27-28.

Hebrews 9:27–28 (NIV)

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

People who actually believe Jesus will return should ACT like Jesus is returning. So, here’s the BIG QUESTION for us today?

BIG QUESTION: Are we LIVING like He’s RETURNING?

What would our world be like if everyone who called Jesus “Lord” started living like He was returning?

Would we LOVE more graciously than we do now? Wouldn’t we be more likely to love the unlovable, even forgiving our enemies? And how about how we love one another?

Would we SERVE more purposefully than we do now? Wouldn’t we take the time out of our schedules to serve others? I don’t know about you, but I WANT Jesus to find me serving Him by serving others when He returns, rather than just serving myself.

And would we OBEY more passionately than we do now? Obeying Jesus is much easier if we actually believe He sees all we do! If we really believed that Jesus was returning THIS WEEK, I would think that our daily decisions - like what we look at with our eyes, what comes out of our mouths, what our hands touch, and where our feet walk - would be much more focused on obedience and purity.

Ultimately - HOPE GROWS when we’re LIVING like He’s Returning!

BUT...there’s ONE MORE QUESTION that must be asked, but what about those who claim to follow Jesus who AREN’T living like He’s returning?

Buckle your seat belts, because this one’s gonna get bumpy!

Hebrews 10:26–27

For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.

Many Christians might counter - wait a second, “Isn’t Jesus’ death enough to pay for our sins?” Surely God won’t hold us accountable for what has been forgiven…will He? NOPE…unless we continue spit in His face by continuing to live in it. We can’t keep living for the sin that Jesus died to pay for!

QUESTION: Where did we come up with the idea that we can pray a prayer, be forgiven, and then live like Jesus ISN’T returning - where we live in sin and still think we’re forgiven? That concept didn’t come from Jesus.

Luke 12:35–38

Be ready for service and have your lamps lit. You are to be like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once. Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will get ready, have them recline at the table, then come and serve them. If he comes in the middle of the night, or even near dawn, and finds them alert, blessed are those servants.

And then Jesus fires this warning shot.

Luke 12:43–46

Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, that servant’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unfaithful.

Put another way, the one who claims to be a servant who isn’t living like the Master is returning is going to be treated like an enemy when He returns. And that comes from the mouth of…JESUS!

If you say, “Well that’s not MY VERSION of Jesus”…then I need to remind you, this isn’t ‘build-a-bear Jesus’ - this is the Jesus of Scripture, not the Jesus of culture.

1 Peter 1:17–19 (NIV)

Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect.

If we live like Jesus is returning, then we should live the rest of our days as foreigners…in reverent fear. That is...

We recognize that this is not our home; we are foreigners whose inheritance and home is with Jesus.

We live in reverent fear - aware of God’s Presence and coming judgement.

But there’s another HUGE reason why we should live in purity and that is...

We live in purity because of…the price paid for us - which was much more expensive than any amount of money. For whatever reason, God considered us valuable enough that Jesus - who NEVER sinned - spilled His precious blood and gave up His life so that He could give us eternal life. He redeemed us - BOUGHT US - like slaves who were purchased in order to set them free!

This language about “a lamb without defect” would have reminded Hebrew people of the Passover lambs that had to be sacrificed without blemish or defect. The blood of these innocent, sacrificial substitutes would then be applied...

...to the doorposts so God’s angel of death would PASS OVER them while killing the 1st born of all the Egyptians who had enslaved the Hebrew people. So, the blood of the unblemished lambs mean they would 1) be kept them from God’s wrath & 2) be released from bondage to the Egyptians who had enslaved the them.

Over the years & generations, the death of thousands of sacrificial substitutes, innocent and unblemished, pointed to Jesus as the ONE all those innocent lambs represented.

And it was His death that redeemed you - that BOUGHT you and me!

you were redeemed...with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect.

So, here’s the question we need to ask today,

BIG QUESTION: Are we LIVING like He’s RETURNING?

Asked another way - ARE YOU WORTH THE PRICE?

I know none of us are deserving - that’s not what I’m asking. The question that has been echoing in my mind is this…Am I living like I appreciate the price that has been paid for me? What about YOU?

If we appreciate the price then it should be a PRIVILEGE rather than a PROBLEM to obey the ONE who died to redeem us.

And we have been purified by our faith in God - trusting WHO He is and WHAT He HAS done, and what He WILL do. We trust that our sin debt has been paid in full! And we should LIVE like it - appreciating the incredible sacrifice made on our behalf.

BREAKING MY FALL

A story is told from the early 1900s about a building engineer on a three-story scaffold at a construction site who tripped and fell toward the ground in what likely would have killed him. But right below the scaffold, a laborer looked up just as the man fell, realized he was standing exactly where the engineer would land, braced himself rather than run, and absorbed the full impact of the other man’s fall. The impact slightly injured the engineer but severely hurt the laborer. The brutal collision fractured almost every bone in his body, and after he recovered from those injuries, he was severely disabled.

Years later, a reporter asked the former construction laborer how the engineer had treated him since the accident. The handicapped man told the reporter:

“He gave me half of all he owns, including a share of his business. He is constantly concerned about my needs and never lets me want for anything. Almost every day he gives me some token of thanks or remembrance.”

Let us NEVER FORGET the Substitute Sacrifice - Jesus - who caught the full impact of our sinful weight and saved our eternal lives? (Isa. 53:5; cf. 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 1:3–4; 1 Peter 2:24).

For those who claim to follow Jesus - may we go live like we believe & appreciate that Jesus’ death was WORTH THE COST, as we look forward to His return.

For those who don’t follow Jesus - maybe the reason you FEEL guilty at times is because…YOU ARE GUILTY. And you can’t do anything to alleviate the guilt you sense when the lights go down, the events of the day have ceased, and when you are by yourself. Don’t you see - YOU weren’t meant to carry that weight! Turn from your sin and turn to Jesus!

Do you have questions or need some help? Talk with one of your leaders…TONIGHT!!!!

PRAY

________________

Hebrews 10:35-39

So don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you need endurance, so that after you have done God’s will, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith; and if he draws back, I have no pleasure in him. But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved.

Death of Dakota

4 years ago I met this humble sophomore, who was playing football with my son, Joshua - just outside of the locker room. I soon found out he was a Christian, who had followed Jesus in baptism and wanted to live different. According to Joshua - he did. No foul language, a genuine young man who care about others.

He transferred to a Christian school in our area and I didn’t get the chance to talk with him again.

This time - a year ago, just before HS graduation, Dakota - now a senior athlete - was walking from his girlfriend’s house to his car and he suddenly dropped on the ground. She saw him, ran to him, and called 911. This 18 year old died unexpectantly - with a heart condition that he never knew about.

That school was thrown for a loop. Listen to the outcome from one of my dear friends, Willy Gamalero - the athletic director of that school.

VIDEO - Death of Dakota (8 min)

Dakota didn’t throw away his confidence in Jesus and what Jesus had Jesus done for him. He didn’t know he was about to breathe his last, but he sure lived like he believed Jesus was returning. So, Dakota lived by faith - trusting Jesus instead of drawing back and walking away from Jesus. And obviously, God used Dakota’s life and death to bring others to trust Jesus as well.

Here’s the question we’re going to ask tonight…that I want to personalize to YOU...

BIG QUESTION: Am I LIVING like He’s RETURNING?

Discussion Questions

How does obeying/disobeying Jesus demonstrate that we believe He WILL return - or not?

Read 1 Peter 1:13–16. What HOPE are we to set our minds on/be thinking about?

Give examples of what these adjectives look like in real life - alert, sober, obedient, not conformed, holy.

Name some ways that Christians believing Jesus will return should be different than our culture.

Read 2 Thessalonians 1:6–10. Discuss what the return of Jesus will be like for those who follow Jesus & those who don’t.