Last week we started the Lent series at Christ City. Last week’s sermon was terribly convicting, opening our eyes to the truth that we may not really be of God. This one followed up with information for us, pinpointing how we could better know if we were. I really have enjoyed visiting Christ City and definitely felt called and compelled to come back this week.
Christ City – Jonathan McIntosh – 3/20/11 – Undone: Love for Christ
“If only we could be a bit more like Him, the world would be transformed…When I look at the Cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my s—t and everybody else’s. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was he who he said he was, or was he just a religious nut? And there it is, and that’s the question. And no one can talk you into it or out of it.” Bono, U2
“If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him. They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun of it.” Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)
“How can you live with the terrifying thought that the hurricane has become human, that the fire has become flesh, that Life itself came to life and walked in our midst? Christianity either means that, or it means nothing. It is either the more devastating disclosure of the deepest reality in the world, or it’s a sham, a nonsense, a bit of deceitful play-acting. Most of us, unable to cope with saying either of those things, condemn ourselves to live in the shallow world in between.” NT Wright
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested geniuneness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have no seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesies about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angles long to look.
1 Peter 1:6-12
What are the marks of an authentic Christian?
David Kresh – making his own religion?
Jonathan Edwards, True Christianity
Letter of 1 John
1. A love for Christ (not just respect)
2. Hatred for sin
3. Love for God’s word
4. Love for truth and the things of God
5. Love for others (you cannot hate your brother)
You must…
1. Believe He’s real
a. John 20:27-29, Doubting Thomas
b. Jesus seminar – Anne Rice, a well-known author, wrote about vampires, then became a Christian and wrote about Jesus
c. In the Bible, there are:
i. Unneeded details (It was written Jesus sat on a cushion in the boat. Why is this detail necessary? Authors now input details in their stories to make you feel like you’re there. How could they have predicted this writing style back then? Surely, it was more record-keeping than it was anything else.)
ii. Specific names (People were still alive when these stories came out. They could have easily said, ‘No, this didn’t happen,’ and it would have instantly been squashed.)
iii. Too counter-productive (It was a woman who first saw Jesus after the resurrection; why would they say that if it weren’t true? Women weren’t respected at all. Peter is a bumbling fool and he denies Christ three times; why would they include him?)
2. Believe He was who He said He was
a. The key is to understand prophecy
b. These things were written 700 years before Jesus
i. Isaiah 7:14 – Therefore the Lord himself will give ou a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
ii. Malachi 3:1 – Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is come, says the Lord of hosts.
iii. Micah 5:2 – But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from the ancient days.
3. Believe that He’s valuable
a. When we get the mess knocked out of us is when it’s revealed what we really know.
b. He’s invaluable.
c. They were in it to manipulate God.
d. What gives you the authentic power to cling to Christ?
Verse 10: Prophets and angels are concerned about your salvation.
I cannot make myself right…
Hell is being cosmically ignored by God. Yikes! Jesus endured that, so that GRACE could come to us.
If I believed He died for me, things really do change.
If I believe this, let it truly impact my heart.
If I believe it, it should impact our hearts.
Make Your home in my heart.
Is He at the center? If not, maybe you’re just playing a game. He is a constant, constantly affecting the way you live your life, because you are living it for Him.
