Living The Life

And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Theme for the year - Unhindered - not restrained or held back

God is looking for a church that is not restrained or held back - a church of power

Jesus is everything that we need when we need it. - reason for so many different names and descriptions of God in the Scriptures.

Examples - a mother hen, a father, the light, the bread

The one we’ve been looking at was the one that he gave to the disciples when he was leaving them to prepare the way for them to be where He was going.

John 14:6 NKJV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The main thought in looking at these descriptions of Christ is that if we are truly his people, his church - they should be able to describe what goes on when we meet together and when we are doing what we do in the world everyday.

Last week we looked at the Way - and how the church should be living in the way of Christ.

How the church should be loving the way

And how that love changes who we are and gives us the ability to love ourselves and those around us.

And then we said that through that love, we will be able to legislate or follow and exemplify the laws of heaven here on earth.

The degree of our love for Jesus will determine the degree of our life with Jesus.

And that brings us to our focus today - the life

Living The Life

If Jesus is the Life - then the church should be living the life.

phrase - living the life - to the fullest, with the greatest experiences, in the greatest way with the greatest memories.

It’s what the Bible says about our savior in

John 10:10 NKJV

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

So first,

Jesus is life.

That means outside of Jesus is death.

And we know that to be true, because we all had been living it.

But then why does the church seem to be so enamored with those things that were only death. - It’s the graveclothes that we spoke about two weeks ago.

It is amazing to me that our society as a whole does everything we can do to beat death. The doctor tells us that we have something and we’ll spend every cent we have to beat it.

We go to the gyms, some of us try to eat differently - why so that we hopefully we can live a little longer.

I know someone else like that.

Mark 5:25-29

Mark 5:25–29 NKJV

Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His garment. For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.

She had suffered at the hands of the physicians - they could do nothing

She had spend every cent she had - and still she was no better

But then she heard of Jesus - the life - And her body is healed of the affliction.

We try everything to stay alive, but we have all that we need and still we are unhappy. We want to go back to death.

I want you to know today, that you can search this whole world over and you will never find a better life than that which Jesus offers you.

Jesus is the author of life - He was there at Creation - he crafted you and made you and gave you the ability to live

Jesus is the keeper of life. -

John 6:39–40 NKJV

This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

and then down to

John 1 NKJV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said: “I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Make straight the way of the Lord,” ’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. And they asked him, saying, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.” And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.” Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone). The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

John 10:27–30 NKJV

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”

Jesus is very vocal about his ability to keep us in his hands. He is the one who watches over us

And Jesus is the beginning of life - There is a live that we were created for, that we have not had the ability to live.

He rose from the dead - giving us the ability to live that life

He baptizes us in the Holy spirit - giving us the power to live that life

And he ascended into heaven and sits at Father God’s right hand, ready to usher us into the life that he originally created us for - eternal Life

Secondly,

Jesus is THE life.

We are all looking for a life. I tell the kids in my class - Get a life. It’s a joke, and they all laugh.

But truly what we all struggle for in life is to have a life.

To be known for something

To make something out of our life

To enjoy something in life

And the answer is staring us all in the face every day - The Life is Jesus.

So why are we struggling so much? Why are we battling when the battle has already been won.

If you want life, stay plugged into The Life.

John 15:5–8 NKJV

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

John 5:5–8 NKJV

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”

Jesus’ Church should be full of LIFE

Can I tell you today, that because of what Jesus has done in you. Because of what jesus is doing in you and is yet to do in you

You should be the peppiest you that you can be.

I know we all have different personalities. There are some who are just normally more upbeat than others.

But every believer should have some beat to them.

There is a life that is flowing through us that is far greater than any life that any one of your co-workers is experiencing outside of Christ.

Your family members who don’t know Jesus need to see a heart beat in you.

It’s time to get free of the graveclothes and really live. Because as we said two weeks ago, there are people in those same graveclothes that God is bringing to us to be free.

I want to be a church that is marked for the life that we have in us

A church marked by the life that we have in our services, in our prayers, in our baby dedications and in our water baptism

I think we should do our communion services with life

I think we should sing with life and sing about life.

This is what should mark Jesus’ body. That same life that caused his physical body to walk out of that grave.

Is his spiritual body healthy enough and powerful enough to do the same?

When we gather together together, we should be speaking life over one another

We should be praying for the life of the Holy Spirit to over take us

We should be experiencing that life together and in turn thanking God for it.

The church should be leading people to THE Life.

We have this program for that and that program for this

We are trying to make people fall in love with us. We are trying to win their loyalty and their devotion. We are changing everything we do to make them want to be here.

Why not just introduce them to Jesus?

If they fall in love with Jesus. If they are set free from Jesus

If what we do here rolls the stone away from their grave - they will hear Jesus

If how we do it and the spirit that we do it in removes their grave clothes they will be able to follow Jesus - and they will want to be a part of what Christ is doing in our midst.

It’s not about polish - it’s about a savior

It’s not about quality - it’s about salvation

It’s not about status quo - it’s about status forgiven

Now serving Christ may cause us to polish up what we do - I’m fine with that as long as its to bring glory to him

Working for Christ, will probably mean that we want to do things a little better - that’s fine as long as he is the one being glorified.

But the church must be LIVING THE LIFE.

Pray - where are we today in living the Life?

When people look at you in all types of situations - do they see Jesus?

Is there a place in your living where this fulfilled life of Jesus Christ has broken down?

Is there a move of the Holy Spirit that you need today. There is something that has become stagnant, boring or dead?