Following in the Footsteps

How many in the room today can remember playing the game, Follow the Leader?

The rules of the game were quite simple.

The players would form a line and a leader was chosen to be at the front of the line. That leader would walk and do random actions that everyone in the following line would also do or mimic. Anything the leader did, the followers would also do.

The key in being a great follower was keeping your eye on the leader. If you took your eye off the leader, you risked missing an action or a step that the leader took.

This morning we are not going to play a game nor will I ask you to mimic the motions of anyone person in this room. However, I am going to encourage you to… follow the leader… the leader being Christ and the followers being… us!

As you know, we are going to be celebrating with folks who have decided to be baptized in water at the end of service. And as we have talked about this service in our announcements, I have made the statement, “If you desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus by being baptized, we encourage you to be a part of the baptism celebration.”

What I want to talk about this morning is what it means to follow in the footsteps of Christ. And our main text might surprise you but stay with me as I explain why this text was chosen for this day.

Luke 9 is where we are going this morning, and it is a verse we often look at when we talk about following Christ.

Jesus is talking to His disciples and He is disclosing to them what is to come. It is a very serious conversation… and in the middle of it, He basically says, “Where I go, you must follow.”

Luke 9:22-24 reads...

Luke 9:22–24 NIV

And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

Talk about dropping a bomb on the moment! Jesus just declared that He was about to suffer “many things” and also be “rejected by the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law.” Not only would He walk through this but He goes on to say that He will be killed and raised back to life!

That’s a lot to take in! But then He says, “Guys, it’s time to follow the leader. If you want… if you desire to be my disciple, you will follow me in such things.”

He specifically says a disciple will follow through the denial of self, and through the taking up of their cross daily.

Our life is saved by losing it for Christ. Our life is lost if it is saved for self.

In life, we are given two choices. We can choose to gain the whole world or gain in God’s glory. These are the choices Jesus lays out before His disciples in this passage as you read on. But take notice of something important: BOTH come with a cost. BOTH require a “payment” if you will.

Jesus warns that in gaining the world, you risk losing or forfeiting your soul. In the attempt of gaining all the world has to offer, a person can miss all that God is offering through His Son, Jesus.

On the other hand, Jesus says your soul is saved but you must be willing to lose your life for His sake. Self must be denied and the cross taken up.

If we desire to experience all that God is offering through Jesus… we MUST make the choice to follow Jesus! We MUST make the decision to follow in His footsteps every single day!

So does this mean we are to follow Christ is His work at Calvary? Does this mean we must endure the hardship and suffering that came with the cross?

This is a yes and no question… this is what I want to unpack today. The redemptive work on the cross is COMPLETE. Yet the redemptive plan for this world is still in motion. We follow in the footsteps of Christ by becoming a recipient of His redemptive work and part of His redemptive plan. And that decision is signified through what we are going to do today… when we are baptized in water, we are truly following in the footsteps of Christ.

Baptism in water is the baptism of repentance… it is the public profession of your turning from sin to salvation… and in salvation your desire to serve the kingdom of God. It is the declaration: I have decided to follow Jesus.

Baptism and the Redemptive WORK

So let’s go back to the yes and no question I asked a moment ago: Are we to follow Christ in His work at Calvary? Must we endure the hardship and suffering that came with the cross?

Our redemption came at a cost. a price had to be paid. Jesus paid that price IN FULL when He gave His life on the cross.

His work on the cross was complete. When He said the words, “It is finished” He meant it. The needed work was done. He took on our sin, He took on our suffering, He took on our brokenness and nailed it to the cross.

He died the death meant for us. His work is what we call substitutionary: He took our place.

What He did CRUSHED the power of sin once and for all.

So… If Jesus did it all, do we have to do it as well?

He took our place true enough… however, in order to follow Jesus, a “crucifixion” must also take place in our own life.

The old self, the old life of sin has to go - it has to be crucified WITH Christ. A person cannot follow two leaders. We will either be led of our self or led of the Spirit.

When speaking of his redemption and justification, Paul referred to the experience in Galatians 2:20

Galatians 2:20 NIV

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Although we do not face a physical cross like Christ did, our self is crucified with Christ the moment we choose to follow Him. That old self is crucified, buried, and done away with so that new life in Christ can be poured in.

Let’s look at what Romans 6:3-7 has to say on the matter.

Romans 6:3–7 NIV

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

So here we see the connection. Baptism signifies our joining with Christ in His death. The old self is buried and left in the tomb.

In other words, that old sin-filled self no longer has mastery over you!

Now, just as we are joined with Christ in His death, so are we also joined with Him in His resurrection!

A new you is raised up! A new you that has been washed by the blood, that has been set free from sin, that is filled with the Spirit of God comes to life!

As we follow in the footsteps of Christ through water baptism, we are publically declaring our choice to follow Christ in His death and resurrection. The old is gone and the new has come!

It is also a declaration that we will be about the things of God. It means we are redeemed and repurposed for the will and glory of the Father.

Baptism and the Redemptive PLAN

Our resurrection to new life was not given that we might squander it doing whatever pleases us. As I have heard said here recently… we are saved… to serve. Water Baptism is NOT a declaration that you have arrived… it is dedication that you are ready to serve.

Consider this… Jesus was baptized in water before He engaged in any earthly ministry. Why? He had no sin in His life… His “self” was blameless and pure. Yet it signified His willingness to be used of the Father. His will was in constant submission to the will of God. Jesus did as God commanded.

Immediately after His baptism, the Spirit of God descended upon Him and remained and God was heard saying, “This is my Son with whom I am well pleased.”

Then… Jesus went into service for the kingdom beginning with His experience in the wilderness.

Christ set before us an example… we are to follow. As we decide to follow Jesus through water baptism, we are communicating with the world that we now follow Jesus.

And in that following, we are now an active part of His redemptive plan. GOD WANTS TO USE YOU FOR HIS GLORY! God desires for you to lead others to make the same decision you made for Jesus!

As a believer, you are a part of the body of Christ… the body of Christ is the extension of Jesus’ ministry until He returns. Your salvation set you free from sin… and in that freedom we become a part of God’s redemptive plan for this world.

Just as Jesus served, we are to serve. Just as Christ gave, we are to give. We are to go the distance. We are to shine His light like a city on a hill.

Now crucified with Christ the old self is gone. With Christ living within the new you is repurposed and called to be about the plan of the Father.

Church, it is impossible to follow Jesus and not serve.

First, our number one priority is to serve the Lord. To worship Him, to know Him, and to become more like Him.

Second, we are to serve others. We are to reach out as Christ reached out. We are to invite and encourage the lost to find new hope and life in Christ.

The Choice

But none of this is possible without first making the choice. None of this is possible without first declaring “I have decided to follow Jesus.”

Are you willing to pay the price? Jesus was willing to pay the price for your redemption IN FULL without hesitation.

Are you willing to deny your self? Are you ready to die to sin? Are you willing for that old self to be crucified with Christ? Are you willing to leave that old self in the tomb once and for all?

Are you ready to come alive in Jesus? Are you ready to rise up with Him, to be resurrected to new life… a life this world cannot offer you? Are you ready to be set free and forgiven of all sin?

Are you ready to take up your cross daily? Are you ready to serve and… if necessary… to suffer for the cause of Christ?

Remember what Scripture said… we must be willing to lose our life in order to save it. We must be FULLY SURRENDERED to Christ in EVERYTHING.

If you are here today and you are ready to make that choice, I want you to raise your hand right where you are.

It’s time to make a shift… to stop trying to gain the world at the cost of your soul… it’s time to reach for His glory by following Jesus.

PRAYER - Salvation

Secondly, it’s time to celebrate with those who have made this decision and desire to be baptized in water.

This morning we praise God for the decision made by these guys… the decision to follow Christ… to serve Jesus and to be about His redemptive plan!

The worship team is coming to lead us while we get ready . Let’s get on our feet and thank God for our redemption… let’s thank God for using us in His plan… and let’s believe God for the redemption of our land!