Jesus: Important and Expensive

Question asked: What does it mean to be a Christian?

Jesus is the promise you have been looking for

God said He would come, He did come, He suffered and was rejected and was killed and came back to life.

All of that was God’s plan to pay for your sin

Look at the facts with me

It happened

It is true, we will learn about it and carry it forever

It matters

It matters

You NEED to be saved

Understanding the Savior means understanding your need to be saved. If you look at Him truthfully, if you care about your soul, if you want to know for certain that you are wrapped up in His arms— Look with me.

Look at the cross and see your sins. Look at the empty tomb and see your freedom. Look at the bible and see God orchestrating your rescue.

It’s gleaming

Contrast shows us beauty best. We see our need and our Rescuer so that declares to us a new lifestyle.

Answer: To follow Jesus by giving up anything and everything that is required.

He is best, which means his way is best. Why would you want to turn to something different? How could anything seem more significant?

The sacrifice is real

When we aren’t honest with what we see on the cross, in the tomb, in the Bible— we endanger ourself

God’s call to deny ourself is a good thing

Many misunderstand “self-denial” and see it as empty and chores.

Jesus says that we need to rid ourselves of the suicidal-self

Self of: self-worship, self-loathing, self-pity, self-priority. The self-that will lead you to hell. It is not a hurtful thing to give that up!

It is gaining everything by putting the gun down.

Jesus is coming back

Do not think that anything you will have anything of value to bargain with God after you die (the whole world)

But the Joy is real too

God’s call to deny ourself is a good thing

Many misunderstand “self-denial” and see it as empty and chores.

Jesus says that we need to rid ourselves of the suicidal-self

Important

Self of: self-worship, self-loathing, self-pity, self-priority. The self-that will lead you to hell. It is not a hurtful thing to give that up!

It is gaining everything by putting the gun down.

The approval of God is so much better. The gaining of Him is so much better. The truth and beauty and relationship with God is so much better than what you are giving up

So, be wise

Make the right decision to follow Christ even though it is expensive— costing you everything.

There will be hard times and painful experiences

But there will be a joy in belonging to Jesus now.

(Consider this fully: are you willing to pay the price of making Jesus your King?

Through many trails and tribulations we will enter the Kingdom. You will suffer in this life as a Christian, but you will find peace and rest and true-lasting joy too.)

These broken, evil minds do not hate the world and love God. They love the things of this world and hate God— Jesus says that these things need to be switched.

Things that stand opposed to God: Hate. Things that are not worthy of God: hate. Things you possess that you think are bigger or better than God: Hate. Things that you hear and feel that draw you to look at yourself worthy of praise over God: hate.

I love my mom and my dad and my family- Good. You should. And you should love Jesus 100,000 times more. He is your greatest love.

Consider the black/white nature of the cross: for or against, Satan or God, Follower or not.

Consider this fully: are you willing to pay the price of making Jesus your King?

If you are not willing to pay the price than you are worthless.

Through many trails and tribulations we will enter the Kingdom. You will suffer in this life as a Christian, but you will find peace and rest and true-lasting joy too.

Follow me defined as “denying himself taking up his cross, and following me”

God and the Gospel

He planned the Gospel story

The words of satan and the mind of man are the same: they don’t think that God’s plan is necessary

He promised the Gospel Story

He performed and executed the Gospel Story

The Gospel story HAD to happen this way

He HAD to suffer, be rejected, be killed, and raise again

It was NECESSARY

It MUST happen

How then do WE get it?

How do we get through the rejection, the suffering, the killing and into this new resurrected life?

“believe”, “repent and believe”

This belief is the birth process of the New self. Not a suicidal self, but a Sacrificial-self. A self-denying self.

This New self is the one that says “I don’t need things to be happy. I don’t want to be selfish. I don’t want to cheat, or steal, or look at that, or do that.” This new self looks right in the eye of the old self and says “YOU are dead! YOU have been beaten with the blood of Jesus! YOU have no claim over me! YOU get behind me.”

This New-self can yell out in any situation in life: “My highest priority is Jesus! My joy is in Jesus! Even if that means that I will have to die or give up every comfort I know, I will gladly do it for my King! And I will live with Him forever. Because He saved me.”

Everyday. We have this conversation with ourselves everyday.

Every temptation: Get behind me. Jesus is King

Every time our heart wanders to desire possessions: There is nothing of value here. Jesus is King.

Every time the songs tickle our ears about how wonderful we are: Jesus is King. Praise God. Forever.

----------------

The words of satan and the mind of man are the same: they don’t think that God’s plan is necessary

These broken, evil minds do not hate the world and love God. They love the things of this world and hate God— Jesus says that these things need to be switched.

Things that stand opposed to God: Hate. Things that are not worthy of God: hate. Things you possess that you think are bigger or better than God: Hate. Things that you hear and feel that draw you to look at yourself worthy of praise over God: hate.

I love my mom and my dad and my family- Good. You should. And you should love Jesus 100,000 times more. He is your greatest love.

Consider the black/white nature of the cross: for or against, Satan or God, Follower or not.

If you are not willing to pay the price than you are worthless.

Follow me defined as “denying himself taking up his cross, and following me”

-----

What does it mean to be a Christian?

Important

1. Jesus is important

Get behind ME

Follow ME

Deny himself, take up his cross and follow ME

Lose his life because of ME

Whoever is ashamed of ME and MY words… I will be ashamed of him

Jesus is really important: He is how you get to the Father

No one comes to the Father except through ME

He says “follow ME”

Follow Me

What does that mean?

Follow Me: Denying himself, taking up His Cross and following me

F

This is to explain that this is not shallow, it will be a new life that you will live

Compare the two endings

One that fights against sin, fights for God, is willing to die in that fight

Why do we need to deny ourselves, take up our cross, live such a hard life? Why does Christianity have to be so hard?

Adulterous and Sinful VS Father and holy Angels

(why is it necessary to suffer, be rejected, killed, and rise again?)

2. Christianity is HARD because we are SINFUL

We actually are on the same playing field as the Devil— deserve Hell

Adulterous- choosing to worship something else

Jesus calls Peter “Satan” because Peter not thinking about God He is thinking about Man

So humans without God = Just as bad as Satan

(Humans/Satan don’t think that God’s plan is necessary)

Suicidal Self

So Jesus is important and the only way to where we MUST go.

But, we are used to living for ourselves and our wants and our desires. We have a self (a little us) inside that just wants what we want.

That self needs to die

SIN inside is a suicidal SELF

Because it is actually trying to kill us. It is trying to reject God and go to Hell. It is a suicidal self.

3. Sin: KILL it or it will KILL you

The End Sin Wants

Imagine for a second you got everything you wanted on earth.

Not just money— everything. The WHOLE WORLD is yours.

And then you die

In front of Jesus you will stand there and say “please don’t send me away, I will give you anything you want, all of the earth.”

Jesus will say, “You aren’t in my family. You never loved me. You only cared about your stuff. Now, you are trying to buy your way into heaven with the money that got you sent to hell?”

“You cared about what people were thinking, not about what God said was right.”

“You were ashamed of me when you were alive on earth, and I am ashamed of you now.”

Then He will turn away and you will go into darkness

Do you see that you can’t exchange ANYTHING for your life? You need to kill that sin or it will kill you, but you can’t kill sin by yourself!

There is only one, expensive, important way to kill sin. That is being a Christian: Following Jesus

4. Killing Sin = Following Jesus

5 Steps

This is the Gospel: the Good News. We need to believe it for the first time to become a Christian and then we need it everyday to grow, to become more like Jesus, and to learn to follow Him.

If you never have done this before then I want to welcome you to meet the One who made you and wants to save you from Hell and give you joy.

If you are already a Christian then I want you to walk through these steps everyday like it was how you walk from one place to the next. These are the steps that will keep your life moving and your heart pumping.

Look at JESUS

God said He would come, He did come, He suffered and was rejected and was killed and came back to life.

All of that was God’s plan to pay for your sin

Look at the FACTS

It happened

It is true, we will learn about it and carry it forever

It matters

You NEED to be saved

Understanding the Savior means understanding your need to be saved. If you look at Him truthfully, if you care about your soul, if you want to know for certain that you are wrapped up in His arms— Look with me.

Look at the cross and see your sins. Look at the empty tomb and see your freedom. Look at the bible and see God orchestrating your rescue.

It’s gleaming

Contrast shows us beauty best. We see our need and our Rescuer so that declares to us a new lifestyle.

He is best, which means his way is best. Why would you want to turn to something different? How could anything seem more significant?

Look at the SACRIFICE

When we aren’t honest with what we see on the cross, in the tomb, in the Bible— we endanger ourselves

Jesus is coming back

Do not think that anything you will have anything of value to bargain with God after you die (the whole world)

Look at the JOY

God’s call to deny ourself is a good thing

Many misunderstand “self-denial” and see it as empty and chores.

Jesus says that we need to rid ourselves of the suicidal-self

Self of: self-worship, self-loathing, self-pity, self-priority. The self-that will lead you to hell. It is not a hurtful thing to give that up!

It is gaining everything by putting the gun down.

The approval of God is so much better. The gaining of Him is so much better. The truth and beauty and relationship with God is so much better than what you are giving up

Look at what MAKES SENSE

Make the right decision to follow Christ even though it is expensive— costing you everything.

There will be hard times and painful experiences

But there will be a joy in belonging to Jesus now.

(Consider this fully: are you willing to pay the price of making Jesus your King?

Through many trails and tribulations we will enter the Kingdom. You will suffer in this life as a Christian, but you will find peace and rest and true-lasting joy too.)