Be Amazed
Notes
Transcript
John 20:1-10
John 20:1-10
When was the last occasion on which you experienced amazement? Truly, can you recall the most recent instance when something simply astonished you? When was the last time you were astounded by God? Do you attend church merely for entertainment or amazement, or do we come forth to worship and observe God's amazement through our praise of Him? Every second of every day, I look for His amazement. One area I have learned that now amazes me is the birds.
They now say the reason the birds chirp or sing in the morning is that it opens the bud so they can eat. Before they can eat, they must praise our Lord, and He opens the bud to feed them. Now, when I hear them singing praise, I am amazed by Him and start praising. I wonder if that was what was happening to Peter and John as they ran to the tomb. What could be racing through their minds, running up there?
John shares three attributes a believer needs to be amazed by the Lord. The first attribute is open eyes. The second attribute is an open heart. The last attribute is a (willpower) commitment.
Eyes Open:
Eyes Open:
Too many of us walk around with spiritual blinders on. Maybe we have allowed the world to put a cone on our neck that keeps us from seeing. Last week, our brother Rouel talked to us about the blind man Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52. For him to see, he needed Christ to restore His sight. To see the amazement of our Lord, we need our sight restored. We need our eyes open to Him. One of the ways we start to have our eyes open is by understanding that He is in total control.
He is my provider. I will sing in the morning, so my food will be sufficient for the day. Why? Because He already knows what I need and has already provided. When I am in the shower in the morning, I think about how the dirt is being washed away; this is what He has done for me by His blood on that Cross. My prayers are about thanking Him. When was the last time you thanked Him for your breath? I want you to do an exercise with me. Breathe in slowly; now exhale slowly. It makes the sound Yahweh. He is our every breath! After our eyes are open, the next step is for our hearts to be open.
Hearts Open:
Hearts Open:
I find great inspiration in the narrative of the “Road to Emmaus” and the account of Jesus walking alongside two disciples. Their hearts were ignited with passion, yet they remained closed until Christ opened their understanding (Luke 24:25, 32). Our hearts are often filled with the deceitfulness of worldly illusions. Many believe that success requires certain material possessions or attributes—this is a falsehood. The true path to success is found solely in Christ, as stated in Matthew 6:33. We often chase after transient pursuits that perish (1 John 2:17 ). Jesus came to deliver us from the confines of this world and offer true freedom. Our hearts are His; the Cross was His purchase price for you and me.
And He said to them, “O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
And they said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was opening the Scriptures to us?”
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
And the world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.
Think about this. He did not put us in sin; we did. We sold ourselves into slavery. We could not set ourselves free from this slavery; only He could come and buy us back with His precious blood. So let us not fall back into this slavery that He has bought us from. Open our hearts to Him, not to this world, and be amazed at what He will and is doing in and through you. This will help with your last attribute, commitment.
(Willpower) Commitment:
(Willpower) Commitment:
Walking with Christ is not for the faint-hearted. It is easier to live a life in sin and of this world than to walk faithfully with the Lord. Jesus even told His disciples and us that we would have troubles in this life because of Him (John 15:18-21). Any relationship is hard. It takes a commitment for both parties to benefit from it. The difference in our relationship with the Lord is that we receive the greatest benefits of this relationship.
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.
Just as we saw this morning with the Baptisms, it is a sign of obedience (commitment) to the Lord that they are no longer the old but have been bought and are new in Christ. We serve an all-powerful God who showed one of His greatest powers during His persecution, exousia.
I enjoy how Mark Batterson puts how the Lord displayed this power.
Jesus walked on water and walked through walls. He healed the sick and raised the dead. His dunamis was off the charts. But His greatest victory was won with exousia. As Jesus hung on the cross, He said, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53).
“Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
A legion was the largest unit in the Roman military, consisting of six thousand soldiers. So Jesus had seventy-two thousand angels at His beck and call. Listen, one angel could have done the trick. Jesus could have exercised His dunamis, killing the soldiers who were killing Him. But instead of exercising His willpower.
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah let the Romans flog Him, mock Him, and spit on Him The Ancient of Days let them rip off His robe and put on a crown of thorns on His head. The Omnipotent One let the nail Him to a cross.
What kept Him there? Not seven-inch nails, that’s for sure! It was exousia that kept Him on the cross. The same kind of exousia it takes to carry our crosses.
What is exousia? It is willpower (commitment). He did this for you and me, can we not be committed to Him and have the Willpower to follow Him and Him alone?
