Living Life Ready For His Return

Recap

Jesus has been walking the disciples through all of the signs and wonders that will take place before his return as well as upon his return. He ended chapter 24 with the parable of the two kinds of servants. One was found working diligently because he was found faithful and wise, and the Master rewarded him. The other servant was wicked and because the master was delayed in his return, not only did he not care about the job he was given, he abused other servants.

The real question coming out of that parable will we be found ready when Jesus returns.

In light of the coming 4th of July celebration on Thursday, I wanted to challenge everyone, including myself, in three areas.

Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence penned this famous line, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

As Americans we can tend to “pride” ourselves on having such rights but forget that they are endowed by the Creator God! We can live our lives feeling like we possess these rights by our heritage and forget that the heritage that brings these rights doesn’t come from our family members who were born in America, but by our creator God who formed us from the dust of the ground and breathed life into our nostrils.

It was His design, intent and purpose that formed us and at the same time, he gave us the freedom of choice.

This quote has been on my mind as we’ve been leading up to this 4th of July Week. And I can’t get away from those three words. Life, Liberty and Happiness. We aren’t given the right to happiness, but to it’s pursuit. I think we have our own ideas what that means when it comes to the American way of thinking, but as a born again believer in Jesus Christ, I think it takes on a whole other meaning. Even some of the original author’s intent in the Declaration of Independence has been lost on todays Americans.

Lets look at those three words and see what God’s intent is for us.

Life

Almost seems like a given, doesn’t it. We have the right to life. Endowed by our creator. From a world minded i feel like that right has changed from the right to live instead of the right to LIFE, because certainly, not every human being enjoys that right these days. But this new idea of the right to live means the right to live how ever we want to live. For the world I think they believe that, but it can also be in the lives of believers.

Because everything for the believer should stem from the very word of God, lets look at what that word means, “life”.

The word Life is first found in the

Genesis 2:7 ESV

7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

The NT word for Life is Zoe. It’s found first in the book of Matthew.

Matthew 7:14 ESV

14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

The life Jesus calls us to is not easy. It’s harder than going along with the world and it’s agenda.

John 6:35 ESV

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

This life Jesus offers fully satisfies.

John 10:10 ESV

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

This life that Jesus offers is one of abundance or fullness.

Biblical Usage: One of absolute fulness of life which belongs to God.

The most amazing thing in my mind, when it comes to our relationship with Jesus, is that He knows us and I mean every part of us, and He still chooses to truly love us. This is what I believe it means when it speaks of having life abundantly or fully. That word there really speaks of being “beyond measure”.

1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV

9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

We are created for relationships and we are called to live lives centered on our relationship with Ourselves, with God and with others. To live life to the full for a believer is to truly know who he or she is in Christ and to seek to fully know others in relationship and invite them into relationship with Jesus Christ.

This is a far stretch from the 2024 version of what Americans think and feel that word to mean in the D of I.

Liberty

The word liberty only shows up in scripture a few times but finds its roots in the word freedom.

Noah Webster’s 1828 definition of the word Liberty is interesting.

Freedom from restraint, in a general sense, and applicable to the body, or to the will or mind. The body is at liberty when not confined; the will or mind is at liberty when not checked or controlled. A man enjoys liberty when no physical force operates to restrain his actions or volitions.

Not confined, not checked or controlled.

It is on July 4th that we celebrate our freedom, right?

John 8:31–36 ESV

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

eleutheróō, el-yoo-ther-o'-o; from G1658; to liberate, i.e. (figuratively) to exempt (from moral, ceremonial or mortal liability):—deliver, make free.

As Americans we celebrate our freedom differently today than we did in 1776. I believe at large measure we see our freedom as a freedom to choose to live however we want to live, not in the original intent of our founding fathers. In 1776 they were declaring freedom from an oppressive government, (we wanted to be liberated, delivered, made free) where as Jesus declares freedom for those who believe from the oppression of sin in our lives. Oppression from the sin that enslaves us. Jesus came to set us free from the law of sin and death so as believers we shouldn’t accept the gift of salvation from our sins and continue to live as the world lives. We are called to live as those that are free.

2 Peter 2:19 ESV

19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

1 Peter 2:16 (ESV)

16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as (bondservants )servants of God.

We are warned against taking the liberty we have in Jesus as an excuse for sin. Instead we use our liberty in Jesus to show the kind of love and respect that Jesus calls for.

Galatians 5:1 ESV

1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:13 ESV

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

The Pursuit of Happiness

This is such a misnomer. I believe this is the heart beat of our nation right now. We are fully committed to pursuing that which will make us happy! Obviously it says the pursuit and does not guarantee the obtaining of happiness. The problem with this idea is that the word happy finds its root in the word happenstance. Chance!

I just happen to be happy right now because everything fell into place for me to feel this way at this moment and at this moment, nothing is going wrong.

When you search the scriptures for the word happy, you don’t find that word. You find words like Glad, Rejoice, Blessed, joyful. All of which point at our delighting in the Lord. As the world around us pushes people to seek their own happiness the Lord calls us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Seek to abide in Jesus where true love and life exist. Seek the things above.

Colossians 3:1–3 ESV

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

If all we do is seek the things that will make us happy then we will find ourselves in an endless pursuit of chance, rolling the dice continually attempting to see the right combination of numbers roll over to give us what we want. It’s an endless pursuit of the flesh, one that is never satisfied as we hunger and thirst for Jesus but try and satisfy that craving with other things, i.e. our happiness. This speaks more of the wide road that leads to destruction rather than the narrow gate that leads to righteousness.

The Key to Joy or being Glad is Delighting in the Lord

Having the focus of delighting in the Lord and allowing Him to establish your desires is the key to joyful living! There is no better way to live! Even in these uncertain times we live in we can rest in the fact that He is in control. Psalm 37 is such a comfort to us as God’s people living in perilous times.

Psalm 37:1–13 ESV

1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! 2 For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. 6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! 8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. 9 For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. 10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. 11 But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. 12 The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, 13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming.

A life lived delighting in the Lord, hungering and thirsting for Him and finding that satisfied only in Him is not only what God wants for us, but it’s how he designed us to work. Any other way is futile. Any other way will end in a life never satisfied. As Americans we really don’t want to just sit back and wait for the Lord to do somehting to right the wrongs in our world, but He came to right the wrong in US first and He wants to work in US and through US in order to right the wrongs in eternity!

Romans 8:18–25 ESV

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

In this week, this 4th of July week, may we as Christian Americans live lives that long to live for Jesus, long to be with Jesus, and Long to take as many of our fellow human beings with us as we live the Life that God has given us free from the shackles of our sin, and pursue Jesus with all our hearts as we delight in Him!