Life Light Love Series Part 8

Being out of the loop or uninvited, but better off for it.

out of the loop, but better for it

Still feels bad/missing out/alone/shorted

Think about a time you were left out of something, but were better off for it. Jot it down here:

Familiarity breeds contempt.

breeds .

We are made

Colossians 2:8 ESV

8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Kings

Priest

We are made

Priest

We are made

Assurance was being threatened by this false belief - and they were prone to leave (obviously some had) because of this same feeling we tend to get.

Sons

We are made

Heirs

John is emphatic that this happens through Jesus, exclusively.

We are given position without reservation.

We are given without

We are madeKings

Kings

We are made Priest

Priest

We are made Sons

Sons

We are made Heirs

Heirs

Position comes with privileges.

Position comes with privilege.

Position comes with .

John 14:26 ESV

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 16:13 ESV

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

John 16:13–15 ESV

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

John 16:14 ESV

14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

We all have a tendency to look over at something else that seems to be offering something we think we need or want. To avoid this trap that sets us up for failure we can apply John’s words not just spiritually, and we should, but also in our daily lives.

1 John 1:1–3 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

Lean in before you lean over.

relationships; careers; spiritual direction, etc...

How can you make leaning in to where you are and what you have currently a more consistent practice?

So John wants to emphasize that they are all on the same page - and this is a good page because the writer is a guy who actually saw Jesus after the crucifixion after he saw Jesus before the crucifixion - that would have made an impact!

etc...

John didn’t appeal to what he believed, he appealed to what He saw, touched, and observed up close.

1 John 1:1–3 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

John isn’t shaking his head and pointing his finger at the detractors or the people that he knows so well in this letter and these groups of Christians gathering around in Asia

He has his hands, palm up, off to his sides saying, “Guys, it doesn’t make any sense to me either. When people die they stay dead. We thought He was just going to stay dead. But then he just walked into the room, and everything changed!

So whatever version that is attempting to bring you beyond Jesus or stop you short of Jesus; don’t buy it. Listen to me, listen to the account I wrote you earlier, and listen to God’s spirit that is inside of you verifying what you already know.

If it stops short or goes beyond Jesus it just isn’t true.

It might have shades of truth, and sound kind of true, but it’s just not true. I saw Him after I never expected to see Him again.

odds are you can agree with this if you’re not a Christian or a religious person…Jesus is incredibly attractive…most of us wish more people acted like Jesus…most of us wish we were more like Jesus…or at least the people we spend the most time with were more like Jesus -

Jesus didn’t bring a new set of morality - Jesus brought a completely different approach to life - LOVE

And every religion on the planet attempts to do through control, manipulation, guilt, and fear what Jesus does on a continual basis as we listen and lean into Him.

Why? Because Jesus wasn’t just a good teacher or a good guy - he was at least that, but he was so much more than that -

Mark 5:7 ESV

7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”

Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

John 5:18 ESV

18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

John is saying, “You believe that Jesus is fully God and fully man?” “Good, you’re in good company.” “Now keep believing that because it is as true as the earth, sky, plants, animals and people you look at every single day.”

There is not a more life forming reality than the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It literally reshaped history and how we currently frame the world - we ALL have to admit this.

Jesus is the connector, and revealer of God. He lets us know what God is like.

The best way to grasp life is to grasp it in light of Jesus

The word confess means to acknowledge - being aware of how Jesus would inform this

Life of faith - viewing life from God’s perspective.

You may be closer to being a follower of Jesus than you think

Put yourself in John’s position as an eye-witness to Jesus after the resurrection. How would you appeal to these people differently? Similarly?