Living In God’s world God’s way

The Good Life

TLK 1

Bottom line: The good life starts with surrendering to live in God’s world God’s way

Introduction

In awe of what God did through our Easter weekend services… If you missed it, we celebrated that through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection we can experience life because it is finished… we have been made right in the sight of God and now have a new life… But this is where we often get stuck

Jesus gave his life so that I could have new life… but what is this new life?

What type of life did Jesus sacrifice himself to give us

John 10:10→ same audience as John 9→ the pharisees who rejected a blind man healed by Jesus… he confronts the “shepherds” of that day and says

Thief→ steal, kill, destroy

Good Shepherd→ life abundantly→ the good life

This is what we are going to talk about for the next two months… What is the good life? How do we live in different areas of our life?

This is a desire we all have… we all want the good life… God desires you to have the good life… that might sound odd but it is true… where the disconnect happens though is the definition of the good life

We might say→ money, house, spouse, social status, stuff etc…

What does God say about the good life? This is where we need to start

Truth

John 10:10→ abundant→ more, beyond, extraordinary… that which is beyond necessity

The Good Shepherd desires you to live the true good life

The thief desires you to live the counterfeit good life

He wants to steal truth, kill relationships, and destroy people by leading them away from God’s truth to a false reality… it has been his 3 step plan since Genesis 3

He wants us to believe that the good life comes through satisfying the soul through self-indulgence

Jesus explains that the soul is not satisfied through self indulgence but through what only he can offer→ safety and security through salvation→ it is finished

He also knows that safety and security is what is necessary for the soul… as Jesus has said, the good life is beyond the necessity… Our souls long to flourish. To be in the fullness of the way which it was created to be… to live in the overflow of joy, experiencing the beauty of a life of depth, weight, meaning and purpose…. Our souls don't want to just survive, we desire to thrive… to experience the real good life

Jesus desires the same… He did not leave his throne in heaven, endure 33 years on earth, suffer Roman crucifixion, and rise from the dead just so you can survive life! He tells us exactly what this good life is founded on…

John 10:3-4→ the good life comes from hearing and following the Good Shepherds voice… Submitting to God… Living in God’s world God’s way

Recognizing the reality that we are not the creators but rather the created… surrendering to God as the Creator of all things.

The good life starts with surrendering to live in God’s world God’s way… the Bible calls this wisdom→ living out the knowledge and truth of God

This is so important that God gives us an entire book dedicated to cultivating wisdom for the good life Jesus has purchased for us… Proverbs

Proverbs 1:1-7→ Solomon gives us the purpose of these writings, contrasting the difference between the wise and the fool

V.7→ summary of the point of the entire book

Fear→reverence and respect for God resulting in a surrender of control and submitting to God→ this caused us to flourish as His prized creation

We are submitting and surrendering to live differently→ this is defined by the choices we make in our lives… God’s word tells us that the decisions we make is a major factor of the quality of life we have and the outcomes we experience

With every decision we face, there are two paths to take

God’s Path vs the thief’s path

Remember the thief comes to bring a counterfeit reality to steal, kill, and destroy us.

How do we tell the difference between real wisdom and counterfeit wisdom

Counterfeit vs True

1) Trust

Yourself→ You know what’s best for you, it feels right to me, listen to your heart… Proverbs 28:26… replacing God with your own judgement

God→ Jeremiah 17:7→ seek God through his word and prayer, choose obedience over comfort and convenience

2) Truth

Define it→ if it feels right it is true for you, I interpret that differently, I can follow Jesus and not live in agreement with His word… Romans 1:25→ redefining what God has already set as truth

Live in truth→ John 8:31-32→ allowing God’s Word to hold ultimate reality and truth and orienting our lives around that

3) Purpose/pursuit

Your happiness→ I feel good, God wants me happy, this isn't hurting anyone… 1 Timothy 5:6→ we believe our happiness will satisfy our souls more than obedience will

Your holiness→ 1 Peter 1:15-16→ choosing disciple over comfort, seeing that God’s way is best

4) Foundation

Your works→ this seems good to me, at least it is not as bad as, i feel like a good person… Isaiah 64:6→ we think we can build our lives on our own works

Christ’s work→ John 10:28-28→ understand our need for grace, confess/repent→ not behave

5) Control

Stay in control→ i can do this on my own, i cant let this fail, what if’s… James 4:14→ we think we can actually control our days and have authority

Surrender control→ James 4:15→ trust God with outcomes, obey even when things seem uncertain

It can be boiled down to this foundational statement that you build your life on

You can determine what is best for your life→ Counterfeit

God determines what is best for your life→ True

There is no good counterfeit to the good life the Good Shepherd desires for you!

The good life starts with surrendering to live in God’s world God’s way… choosing to live in godly wisdom making wise choices

Application

Three steps to making wise choices

Surrender to Jesus

Know his voice→ get into the Word until the Word gets into you

Listen to his voice→ act on the knowledge and truth of His word

Bonus→ Find someone who is doing this already and have them walk alongside you

Here is the question: Are the decisions I am making right now allowing me to live in God’s world God’s way? → Challenge and expound