Normal Christianity
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7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Happy Thanksgiving!
What are you thankful for today?
We followers of Jesus should be the most thankful people in the planet.
The Christian message is the only message that talks about:
Forgiveness of the Past
Abundant Life in the Present
Glorious Hope in the future
I entitled my message “Normal Christianity” still in the sermon series Recentered - living the Christ Centered Life.
As I was thinking about today’s message I realize the phrase “Christ-centered Christian”
A Christian whose life is centered in Christ is a redundancy..what do I mean?
A redundancy are words that repeat the same idea:
Common examples:
“free gift”
“12 midnight”
“added bonus”
“past history”
“plan ahead”
“unexpected surprise”
So “Christ-centered Christian” is a redundancy
Why? Because if you are a Christian, it should be a given that your life is centered on Christ.
A life centered on Christ is supposed to be the very definition of being a Christian!
It is the normal Christian life.
But truth be told, this is not always the case…(God is gracious)
This is why we entitled this sermon series: Recentered: Living the Christ-centered Life.
A Christ-centered life has been denormalized from Christianity.
We have to work at normalizing the Christian life.
Historically, believers were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts )
Christian is not just a title given to us by the world. It is not just carrying the name of Jesus.
A Life Centered in Jesus is described by an obsession with Him.
A Christian is someone who is:
“Bananas for Jesus” - Keith Green
Jesus gives meaning to our lives.
Three Facets of Meaning of Life according to Psychology: (world)
Coherence.
The Feeling that Life makes sense.
2. Significance.
That someone has worth and value.
3. Purpose.
That there should be goals that we can work towards fulfilling.
So what is the Christian answer to these three questions:
What makes sense in life?
Where can we draw significance?
What is our purpose?
Answers:
Losing all to gain Christ makes sense.
2. Our significance is our righteousness through faith in Christ.
3. Our purpose is to Know and Experience Christ.
Redeeming Life’s Meaning.
Losing all to Gain Christ Makes sense.
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
4 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
Paul had status, respect, prestige, education and on his way to being materially wealthy - He was part of the ruling class among the Jews.
Persecuting the church (talk) - There’s forgiveness of our past.
A lot of times, choosing God seems counterintuitive or to put it bluntly according to the world foolish.
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
“He is not a fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose” (Jim Elliott)
2. Our significance is our righteousness through faith in Christ.
9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
Our own righteousness is problematic, it does not exist — we do not have a righteousness of our own.
This is religion - pray against the religious spirit
Our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64) - polluted garments
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
We belong to God
We are children of God
Saints of the Living God - the word saint applies
Our behavior will follow.
This is the second aspect of being a Christian and the Christian message — living the abundant life.
3. Our purpose is to Know and Experience Christ.
10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
The Apostle was in a constant pursuit of Jesus.
We cannot know enough of the Lord. Importance of discipleship. — iTIM
There is so much of the Lord Jesus to know.
The power of His resurrection - the dunamis power to overcome resistance
The fellowship of His sufferings - not Jesus’ substitutionary work on the cross --- that cannot be shared..
Dying to self and suffering for righteousness.. Being conformed to His death.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Worship would come naturally.
The human heart was designed for worship, and if it does not worship God, it will worship something else. If we are not Christ-centered, we will be centered on something else.
Worship is measured by the amount of time, money, and emotional energy expended. Our gods can be identified by the level of passionate commitment they evoke in us, and, after a while, we begin to resemble them.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We talk about them, think about them, dream about them, and scheme to spend more time with them. —PRAYER
People who know us best usually know where our deepest passions lie because worship is hard to hide.
Being conformed to His death… taking the cross.
To know Jesus intimately that we begin to resemble Him
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
We become like the one we love.
We love the ones He loves
We do what He loves to do
11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
This is a very important verse, we can easily read it and not study its meaning.
What does it mean to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
First Resurrection word here.
Second resurrection word here.
He wants to see Jesus come in His lifetime.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Christianity is not just a way of life, it is living the life of Jesus.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus I thank YOU.
For forgiving me of my past.
I thank you for the offer of the abundant life in my present.
I look forward to the glorious hope in my future.
I surrender my entire life to you.
You are everything to me, I give up what the world offers, so I can gain you.
My significance is that you made me righteous through your finished work on the cross.
My purpose is to know and experience you and share your love with others.
Fill me with with Thanksgiving. I thank YOU!
In Your Name I pray, amen!