Jesus Descended Into Hades
What happened once Jesus died on the cross? Some say he went straight to the Father. Some say he went into Hades as a conquering king to defeat the devil. But there’s a much more profound truth. Jesus passed into the grave to suffer your death. His faith eventually overcame death, hades, and the enemy as God prepared to rescue him from the pit.
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“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?”
The following is a summary of this week’s sermon. I want to encourage you to watch the sermon. I believe it to be one of the most important messages I have ever given. I believe it to be so because it gives you deep insight into the suffering of Christ on your behalf. The following article only covers one aspect I cover in the sermon. I pray the sermon is a blessing to you.
When Jesus died on the cross, he passed into Hades. God made him to be sin on the cross (1 Corinthians 5:21); therefore, he died the death of a person with that kind of nature. God made him like you on the cross, so in him, God could make you like Jesus in eternity. Why did God need to make Jesus like you?
Ephesians 4:9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
and
Hebrews 2:14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Jesus had to become human for a few reasons. Mankind has dominion over the earth, so a man had to restore what was lost. No man could, so God sent his son as a human. Jesus first lived perfectly, fulfilling the law for us. In perfectly fulfilling the law, he qualified to be a perfect substitutionary sacrifice for the penalty of breaking the law. As the perfect sacrifice, he also qualified to bear the full weight of sin, which is death.
Jesus bore the total penalty of the law, and endured the full effects of sin. The total effect includes dying and passing into Hades as a human. He passed into the depths of Hades as a human to suffer its power and to break that power on behalf of humanity.
But he initially didn’t pass into Hades victoriously. His initial experience was to suffer in that place, just like he suffered on the cross. That place has its own sufferings as we see in many prophetic Psalms.
In Acts 2, Peter sets the precedent that some of the Psalms of King David are the prophetic words of the Messiah. We gain insight into the Messiah’s experience on the cross and in the grave from that precedent.
Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. (Psalm 16:8-11 see below) 25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ 29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’ (Psalm 110:1) 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Peter quotes Psalm 16 and Psalm 110 and directly explains that David was prophesying of the Messiah in Hades. Why do I say in Hades? Because the language supports that he will not be left in that place? It doesn’t indicate that he will not go to Hades, it indicates that he will not be abandoned or left there.
Jesus provides a complete deliverance and salvation. One in which he faced and conquered everything that could separate you from God. You don’t ever have to be afraid of death or hell (hades) because Jesus went there and overcame. The faith of Jesus is stronger than death, and that faith is alive in you. You can actually live from a power that is stronger than death. (that’s another sermon)
Psalm 22 is another place we gain insight into the suffering of the Messiah. Psalm 22 is reflected in the very words of Jesus in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34.
Psalm 22 is called The Suffering, Praise, and Posterity of the Messiah. As you read it, recognize that Jesus endured the cross and even death in Hades for you to set you free from sin and death. Read this Psalm as a meditative exercise, connect with his suffering for you. Read it slowly and imagine him in the grave, breaking the power of death and hell for you.
Psalm 22:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? 2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. 5 They cried to You and were delivered;They trusted in You, and were not ashamed. 6 But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. 7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
Psalm 18 is another Psalm that is a prophetic cry of the Messiah from the grave. The profound aspect of Psalm 18 is it also gives us insight into the Messiah’s experience of being rescued and resurrected from the grave.
Psalm 18:4 The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears. 7 Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry. 8 Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet. 10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters And thick clouds of the skies. 12 From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire. 13 The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire. 14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them. 15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. 16 He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support. 19 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.
He suffered our death and experienced what we should have in Hades to give us the victory. He rendered demons powerless. He gained all authority. And he even preached the Gospel to those who died before him, giving them a chance to be saved through him.
Colossians 2:15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
Revelation 1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
This is a deep and profound aspect of the atonement. I pray you will watch the sermon and allow me to walk you through even more of what happened in the grave. I pray this insight helps you gain more of a sense of value and worth to God because you see the lengths to which Christ suffered to gain you as an eternal family member. May you know your worth to your Heavenly Father, and may you never again be afraid of death or hell.
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Jesus Died In Your Place
God didn’t unjustly punish Jesus instead of us, something much deeper happened. God performed the opposite transaction in Jesus that he does in us.
In him, we die to sin and are made alive, but when Jesus was made like us, he died as us. He was a man in all ways like we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15), but God changed that on the cross. He made Jesus a sinner by nature. Jesus never sinned, but God made him to be sin. If he didn’t, God would be unjust in punishing our sin in Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
God didn’t symbolically place our sin on Jesus like an Old Covenant lamb. He quite literally made Jesus to BE sin to the core.
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“God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ is the most important event in human history. Our eternal destinies depend on our response to Christ’s work on the cross, in the grave, and in his ascension. We see the value of humanity to God and the lengths to which he went to make a way of deliverance from sin and death.
My current series will cover these three days. This article focuses on the cross or the death of Jesus. So much was accomplished on the cross. It’s impossible to cover it in one sermon/article. In this article, I will focus on Jesus as our sin offering. God made him like us in death so we could be made like him in life. See “The Great Exchange” for more on the exchange that took place on the cross.
Our Sin Offering
God didn’t unjustly punish Jesus instead of us, something much deeper happened. God performed the opposite transaction in Jesus that he does in us.
In him, we die to sin and are made alive, but when Jesus was made like us, he died as us. He was a man in all ways like we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15), but God changed that on the cross. He made Jesus a sinner by nature. Jesus never sinned, but God made him to be sin. If he didn’t, God would be unjust in punishing our sin in Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
God didn’t symbolically place our sin on Jesus like an Old Covenant lamb. He quite literally made Jesus to BE sin to the core.
Romans 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
God condemned sin in the flesh of Jesus. The Old Covenant law demanded that sin be punished in the body of the sinner, so God had to make him like us to punish our sin fully.
1 John 2:2He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Why did God do it this way? Critics of Christianity will say something like this; God brutally sacrificed himself to himself so that he could accept humans.
That kind of thinking does not understand the authority of humankind. God gave dominion over this planet to humans. Humans brought in sin and death, so a human had to repair the breach. God is not like the Greek or Egyptian gods that sacrifice children to satisfy their anger. God is a loving father. He is a righteous judge as well, and his moral standard needed to be upheld. The Israelites asked for the law in the desert, and once it was in place, it could not just be erased. The fullness of the law had to be executed, including the full penalty for the transgression of the law.
Blood had to be shed for one reason, not a killing by a god in a fit of rage, but for the exchanging of dead human life for eternal spiritual life.
Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for your souls upon the altar; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.
The life of the flesh had to be killed so the life of the spirit could take its place. Blood had to be shed to atone for our souls under the Old Covenant, but for our spirits under an eternal covenant. The blood of goats and bulls could temporarily cleanse your soul, but the blood, or life, of Christ, can cleanse your spirit to make you the kind of vessel that God can inhabit, eternally.
One of the effects of his eternal atonement is that we become righteous in him. It’s not temporary righteousness, it’s now our nature. Righteousness and true holiness are our states of existence. We are no longer dead in our sins, in our spirits, our eternal identity, we are alive forever.
1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
When he became like us, he was punished and died as we should have. But when we become like him, we live and experience his life.
Romans 6:10 For that which He died, He died to sin once for all; but that which He lives, He lives to God. 11 So also you, consider yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus.
I will never get over the elegance of God’s plan. It was birthed in his love for us. God so loved and valued us that he crafted a plan to send his only son to die in the place of all humanity to set us free from sin and death.
While this is deeply profound, it was just the beginning. What happened in the grave was even more horrific than what Christ experienced on the cross. In my next sermon/blog I will cover what Jesus experienced in the grave once he died in our place.
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Spiritual Mindfulness
How do you become spiritually minded? Fill your mind with thoughts that are true about spiritual realities. For example, when you are feeling sad, you can begin to meditate on the idea that the joy of the Lord is your strength. Once that becomes a reality in your heart, your experience will change, and joy will replace sadness.
There is plenty of instruction in scripture on what and how to think. In any situation you face in life, there is a promise related to your spiritual existence. The external status may not change, but your inner man and the state of your life don't have to be swayed by those external circumstances.
It's not just positive thinking; it's about changing your thoughts and feelings to match what God says is possible, rather than embracing the physical circumstance. As you hold God's promise, specifically his Word concerning that promise, it can and will manifest into your life.
The Word of God is alive. The Word of God planted in a believing heart can and will produce joy, peace, healing, righteousness, transformation, and any other aspect of abundant life that Jesus died for you to have.
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“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
How do you become spiritually minded? Fill your mind with thoughts that are true about spiritual realities. For example, when you are feeling sad, you can begin to meditate on the idea that the joy of the Lord is your strength. Once that becomes a reality in your heart, your experience will change, and joy will replace sadness.
There is plenty of instruction in scripture on what and how to think. In any situation you face in life, there is a promise related to your spiritual existence. The external status may not change, but your inner man and the state of your life don't have to be swayed by those external circumstances.
It's not just positive thinking; it's about changing your thoughts and feelings to match what God says is possible, rather than embracing the physical circumstance. As you hold God's promise, specifically his Word concerning that promise, it can and will manifest into your life.
The Word of God is alive. The Word of God planted in a believing heart can and will produce joy, peace, healing, righteousness, transformation, and any other aspect of abundant life that Jesus died for you to have.
Intentional Spiritual Mindfulness
We can use Romans chapter 8 as an exercise in spiritual mindfulness. Just before Paul writes the masterful words in the chapter, Paul paints a beautiful picture of the relationship we are now in with God.
Romans 7:1 Do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? 2 For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. 3 So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law and is not an adulteress, even if she marries another man. 4 Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. 5 For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death. 6 But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
The Apostle Paul uses marriage to illustrate how we are no longer under the law and are now under grace because we died to the Law in Christ. Not only are we dead to the law, we now live in the new way of the spirit.
What does that mean? In this new way of living, our old sin nature was removed, and we were given a new nature through Christ. We now have a new heart, and God placed his spirit in us. He currently leads us by his Spirit in our inner man, rather than externally through rules and laws. God's spirit in us is transforming us into the image of Christ as it leads and guides us into truth.
The spirit of God is inside every believer, seeking to transform and lead us, but we must renew our minds and allow ourselves to be transformed and led. Becoming spiritually minded is the same thing as renewing our minds. We are to renew our minds, or change our thoughts, to align with what is now spiritually true of ourselves, now that we are living by this new way of the spirit.
Romans chapter 8 is a great place to gather good spiritual truth to change your thoughts and develop spiritual mindfulness. I will list a few passages from Romans 8 that contain spiritual truths.
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
This is a large selection at the very beginning of the chapter. You can read and think about these passages to shape your self-image. As you begin to believe about yourself the things listed in these verses, an incredible something happens. Your heart becomes receptive to these truths and allows them to change you. This is how the living Word of God changes you. Hold it in your heart and mind until you believe it to be true of you. The Word in your heart will then begin to change you.
9 You, however, are controlled not by the flesh but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
This is fantastic news. Did you know you are no longer controlled by your natural desires (the flesh)? You might say, "I wish that were true." You might be thinking about all the mistakes you've made and continue to make. If you struggle with an addiction or compulsive behavior, you might think your flesh controls you. But that's not true of your spirit.
In your spirit, you are in control. In your spirit, you only desire righteousness. In your spiritual identity, you only want what God wants for you. So how do you bridge the gap and begin to live from the desires of your spirit rather than the desires of your flesh? You must take the time to meditate on spiritual truth until that aspect of yourself is more real than the carnal self that still likes sin.
15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
You are God's child. When you take time to own the identity of a child of God, especially in the face of failure and temptation, your identity in him becomes a source of power for you. You are no longer someone who naturally desires sin because you are a child of God, and God's kids only want God's ways in their lives.
17 And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Not only are you a child of God, but you are also an heir of God. God has brought you into his family, and he has given you the same inheritance he gave Jesus. If you believed and experienced that, how would that change your prayer life? How would that change your choices? How would that affect how you handle money and all of your resources?
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. 27 And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
God's spirit is in you, searching your heart, helping you in areas you are weak. The spirit of God will also pray for you, through you, when you don't know how to pray. You can agree with God's prayers in you by speaking out of your spirit in a language that is unknown to you. When you don't know what to pray, praying with your spirit is a secret weapon that God gave you. Using that gift is another way to cultivate spiritual mindfulness.
I want to encourage you to work through Romans 8 on your own. You can even rephrase the passages that speak of your spiritual identity into the first person and speak those out loud. You do not speak that thing out to make them true; you speak them out because that's who you already are. And that's the point, to persuade your mind and heart that you are this spiritual being that Paul describes in chapter 8.
The payoff is life, for to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Do you want abundant life and peace that life's circumstances can not shake? Cultivate spiritual mindfulness and watch your life reflect spiritual truth.
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You Can Touch God and Draw on His Power
God’s power is at work in you to give you strength and abilities. You don’t have to convince God to give it to you, but you do have to appropriate it.
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“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us”
God's power is at work in you to give you strength and abilities. You don't have to convince Him to give it to you, but you have to appropriate it, like the woman who touched Jesus as he passed through the crowds and was healed.
Mind-renewal and faith are vital components for the appropriation of His power. It's always available, but like water in the ground, you have to tap the well to access the water. God's spirit in you is a never-ending wellspring of life within your inner being, ready and willing to strengthen you, provide for you, encourage, heal, and lead you.
You no longer have to seek God outwardly, He lives in you, and you can draw on His power at any moment. But you might have to take a step in faith and renew your mind as you reach for Him.
Ephesians 4:22 to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. BSB
One of the stumbling blocks for the religious mindset is that we are now righteous with God by faith and not works. We are saved by God's power (grace) working to change us when we trust (faith) in the finished work of Jesus on our behalf. Everything we ever need to receive from God comes the same way, by grace through faith. In other words, His power works in us as we trust in the work of Christ.
Scripture constantly encourages us to think in accordance with our spiritual identity in Christ. As we do so, we begin to outwardly manifest within our soul, bodies, and lives what is true of our spiritual state of existence.
Paul prayed through that process in his letter to the church in Ephesus.
Ephesians 3:16 I ask that out of the riches of His glory, He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth 19 of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us BSB
God's power is wrapped within His love for you. As you rest in His love for you and become confident in what Christ accomplished on your behalf, you will experience the fullness of His power in every area of life. God's spirit will flow like water into a garden and make everything whole that is sick, broken, or lacking.
It's interesting to note that the word "power' in verse 20 is the Greek word dynamis, which means; strength, power, ability. In Luke 8:45 it's sometimes translated as virtue. We also learn more about how this power, strength, and ability work from this verse.
Luke 8:45 "Who touched Me?" Jesus asked. But they all denied it. "Master," said Peter, "the people are crowding and pressing against You." 46 But Jesus declared, "Someone touched Me, for I know that power has gone out from Me."
If you're not familiar with this story, Jesus is walking through a large crowd, and a woman who believes that if she touches Jesus, she will be healed reaches out and touches him. And just as she believes, she is healed.
What's fascinating to me is that Jesus felt something different from her touch. She didn't just touch him with her hands, like everyone else, she touched him with her faith. You might even say she touched him with her heart since we believe with our hearts (Romans 10:9).
The Greek word for "touch" here is haptomai, which means; to fasten one's self to, to lay hold of, adhere to, cling to, appropriate. The facet of this definition that stands out to me is appropriate, which means "to take something for one's own use."
This woman determined in her heart that Jesus had something for her. Something that she could take for her own use. And what did Jesus say?
"Daughter," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you. Go in peace." (Luke 8:48)
Her trust in Jesus caused his power to flow out of him and into her, without him doing anything and even knowing she would do it. It's as if Jesus is an unlimited source of power that anyone at any time can touch and take what they need.
What do you need to experience from God? Jesus died for you to have an abundant life full of God's promises and blessings. God is not withholding from you. He loves you and wants the best for you. Renew your mind of your righteousness in him and reach out and touch him today.
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God's Ways Are Higher Than Ours But He Reveals Them To Us
People misquote passages like “God’s ways are higher than our ways,” as a justification to be confused about God’s will. The fact is, if you are a Christian, God’s Spirit lives in you and is teaching you God’s ways. He even gave us a book to renew our minds so we would know his ways and be able to teach others his ways. Join us today as we discuss how to know God’s ways.
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““For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
God’s Ways Are Higher Than Our Ways
Christians have a bad habit of quoting scripture out of context. How many times have you heard someone say “God’s ways are higher than our ways” when they are trying to make sense of a confusing situation?
Here’s the actual context of that statement
Isaiah 55:1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! 2 Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods. 3 Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, so that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant— My loving devotion promised to David. 4 Behold, I have made him a witness to the nations, a leader and commander of the peoples. 5 Surely you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, has bestowed glory on you.” 6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. BSB
What “way” of God is higher than ours? Mercy and forgiveness. This passage is actually a beautiful promise or provision in the Lord as a result of the work of the Messiah. He’s prophesying through Isaiah what life will be like under the New Covenant. He’s not giving a cliche explanation for random a confusing life event.
Eye Has Not Seen, Ear Has Not Heard
How about this one?
1 Corinthians2:9 Rather, as it is written: (Isaiah 64:4) “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Have you ever heard someone say this in an attempt to console someone? Or maybe you’ve seen this passage posted on social media as some sort of attempt at comfort for someone who is going through a rough time.
Keep reading…
10 But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit.
Paul cites an Old Testament truth but follows up with a New Covenant treatment of that idea. Because we have God’s spirit dwelling within us, we can know what God has prepared for us. He wants us to know His will for us so we can co-labor in faith with Him. God doesn’t want you to be confused about what He’s doing in your life. He wants you to be able to hear Him clearly, so He did something about it, through Christ He made a way to put His spirit in you so He could commune with you from within.
I go into much more detail about these ideas in this sermon, I hope you have time to watch it.
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Stop Judging Yourself For Not Doing Enough
Jesus calls his followers salt of the earth and light of the world. Salt brings flavor, or fulfillment, and light brings clarity, or revelation. We are quite simply part of God’s story, life is not about us, it’s about him. We, as his followers, are to help people find fulfillment and enlightenment in him. Our only strategy is walking in love and communicating the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. To be salt and light, we illuminate the Gospel so it can help people come out of the darkness and into his light.
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“You are the salt of the earth...
You are the light of the world...”
No matter how much good you do for the Kingdom of God, it will never be enough to repay Jesus for the price He paid for you. You can never be good enough, spiritual enough, or kind enough to represent God the way He deserved to be represented fully. So go ahead and let yourself off the hook for not measuring up, stop judging yourself for not doing enough. Here's the secret, no one does enough.
Maybe you feel like you should be further along in your transformational journey with Christ than you are now. You're right, you should be further along. But, if Jesus were to stand in front of you, He would probably say something about your little faith or maybe worse.
But… that's true for all of us. That's the beauty of the exchange of the cross. He measures up for us, He makes us complete. He fulfilled the Law for us. It's His power that works through us. And the more we allow His strength to work in us, the more we'll participate in His finished work.
Salt and Light
You might be thinking, Clint, you're usually nicer than this, why are you saying these mean things? Because I want you to realize that no matter how much good you do or how many mistakes you make, God doesn't change His mind about you.
God still sees you as the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It's an interesting thought. In John 8, right after He heals someone, Jesus calls himself the light of the world. But in Matthew 14 He calls YOU the light of the world. He calls you by the same title He gave Himself. He looks at you and sees Himself. He looks at you and sees someone capable of doing the same things He did, because He knows YOU have His same power.
Jesus calls his followers salt of the earth and light of the world. Salt brings flavor or fulfillment, and light brings clarity or revelation. We are quite simply part of God's story, life is not about us, it's about him. We, as His followers, are to help people find fulfillment and enlightenment in him. Our only strategy is walking in love and communicating the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. To be salt and light, we illuminate the Gospel so it can help people come out of the darkness and into his light.
Walking in that power is not the result of being a better person, it's the result of God's presence within. So, yes, of course, God desires that you live a life that brings honor and glory to His name, and doesn't minimize the work of Christ on your behalf, but your standing with God is not based on your deeds, they're based on Christ's.
Quit Disqualifying Yourself
So quit judging yourself and quit disqualifying yourself. Too many Christians place themselves on the sidelines because they don't think they're in a place to do the work of the ministry. Too many Christians miss daily opportunities to be a blessing to others, and spread the Gospel of the Kingdom because they are too focused on their own failures and believe God can't use them.
That's a lie. God can use you, God wants to use you, and God will use you if you would put yourself in the position to be used. You are the flavor of the Kingdom someone needs today. Repenting, humbling your insecurity, and stepping out in love toward people is the saltiness God wants to sprinkle into people's lives.
You can bring hope to people because God lives in you. So stop judging yourself and disqualifying yourself, and commit to a daily lifestyle of sprinkling the flavor of the Kingdom in small ways, everywhere you go. You can do it because Christ is in you!!
Watch this full series: Your Life Is Not Your Own
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Love Is A Lifestyle
Your life is not your own for you were bought with a price. When we hear these statements we can slip into a performance mindset. Yes, we do need to lay our lives down for the sake of the Gospel, but it's a natural process as we lead with love. Love is the greatest attraction to Jesus, it's our strategy. Love will win the world.
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“Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
If we as Christians get this right, we can make the most significant impact in the world for the Kingdom of God since the resurrection of Christ.
JOHN 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
This prayer of Jesus is fascinating to me. It covers the focus of the Christian life completely. It contains the will of God for every believer and it contains the strategy for the body of Christ to make an impact in the world, to the point that those in darkness come to the light of Christ. It’s the perfect circle.
Christ is in God and God is in Christ
You are in Christ and Christ is in you
Christ and his father are in you, and you are in the father with Christ
Christians are to be as united with each other as Christ is with the father
Christ shares his glory with all Christians
As we become mature in our love for one another, it will be a magnet that draws people to believe that God sent Jesus for them too
It’s a perfect strategy that is rooted in relationship, and motivated by love. The father and son’s relationship, our relationship with them as individuals, and our relationship with one another.
Encompassed in this circular relationship is encoded the commandments of Christ to love God and love one another. When you know/experience God’s love for you, the only mature response is to recognize that God loves everyone else as much as he loves you.
The fruit of this circle of love is action. Love is not just an emotion, it’s action. Fundamentally love is taking care of orphans and widows, feeding the hungry, and not forgetting those in prison. But it’s also patience with those who push your buttons. It’s a prayer for those who use you. It’s kindness for an angry, offensive person. It’s a soft word to turn away rage. It’s going the extra mile for someone trying to take advantage of you. It’s praying for the sick and believing with them to experience what Jesus paid for. This circular lifestyle of love is not motivated by obligation, it’s the fruit of your relationship with God and your love for others.
Imagine a mill that’s powered by water. As long as the water flows, the wheel keeps spinning, generating the power. The water is God’s love for us. The mill wheel is the body of Christ, collectively responding to the endless supply of God’s love that converts into energy toward the world. An energy that brings life, light, and love.
And the beautiful product is…the world believes that Jesus is for them too!! It’s time for the church to grow up and find common ground rather than pointing the theological finger at one another to delineate who is right and wrong. Love is focused on maturity and revealing God to the world. My prayer for you and myself is that we allow God to shape us into mature unifiers in his body.
I hope you watch this week’s sermon, as usual, I go into more detail on this topic.
Watch this full series: Your Life Is Not Your Own
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Becoming the Bride of Christ
God has not chosen a toxic spouse as his eternal bride. He assures this by providing a deep cleansing and renewal for us in Christ. Before he joins himself to us, he is meticulous in washing us pure with the lifeblood of Christ. He intricately sanctifies us to the state of holiness with Christ’s blood and his very own life essence, his spirit. In this process, he removes our broken and rebellious heart and gives us a new heart after his own heart, as David prayed. He then unites his spirit with ours to the point that you can’t distinguish between our spirit and his. He makes us partakers of his divine nature.
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“For your Maker is your husband, The Lord of hosts is His name”
When we read the Bible, we have to remember that when God speaks to us directly, he means what he says.
In Isaiah 53 we see the great price the Messiah pays as our guilt offering, to bear our sins and make intercession for our transgressions (Isa 53:10,12). As the result of the atoning work of the Messiah, God reframes his relationship with his people.
As a result of the complete work of Christ, God now views his relationship with his people as a marriage.
Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated. For you will forget the shame of your youth and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth. Isaiah 54:4-5
He is careful about his language in these passages as he describes the context of his new covenant, secured in the sacrifice of his son. He tells his people (ultimately those who have faith in Christ - Galatians 3:14,29) that he will rescue them from their widowhood and become their husband. He’s careful to identify himself as the commander of angel armies, the father of Abraham, and the creator of the earth. But he’s also deliberate in communicating his intentions toward the object of his affection.
You are that bride. Because of Christ, God decided to join himself to you as profoundly as a wife is joined to a husband. The Apostle Paul tells us that the spiritual union of marriage is a mystery, reflecting our union with God. God himself is careful to call you his bride.
As I ponder this passage, I think about all the marriages I have encountered as a minister. I have the honor of sharing life and doing ministry with incredibly loving and healthy couples, but I’ve also experienced the heartbreak of sitting with couples as they recount the pain they’ve caused each other, even to the point of divorce.
I think about the people who have chosen their spouse poorly. I think about the women who continue to attract abusers to them repeatedly. I think about the men who continue to attract unfaithful women and have their hearts wrecked over and over.
And then I think about God and the spouse he chose. Specifically you.
I think God is the most emotionally healthy being that exists. I think he would choose a good spouse, a spouse that compliments him, a spouse that is committed to providing for and loving deeply throughout eternity.
God has not chosen a toxic spouse as his eternal bride. He assures this by providing a deep cleansing and renewal for us in Christ. Before he joins himself to us, he is meticulous in washing us pure with the lifeblood of Christ. He intricately sanctifies us to the state of holiness with Christ’s blood and his very own life essence, his spirit. In this process, he removes our broken and rebellious heart and gives us a new heart after his own heart, as David prayed. He then unites his spirit with ours to the point that you can’t distinguish between our spirit and his. He makes us partakers of his divine nature.
It’s hard to imagine with our limited minds. We can only understand it with our hearts, explained by the spiritual language of love.
Why does he do this? Because we are of great value to him. We are worth something, we are worth everything to him. We are the joy that inspired Jesus to endure death. We are the world he loved that he gave his only son for. We are the treasure in the field he sold everything to have. If you don’t see yourself through his perspective of you, it’s time to repent and humble your self-opinion to match God’s value for you.
You can live a life of significant meaning from this awareness of your value. Because you mean so much to God, you can rest in his value for you and live for something greater than your own needs.
In this series, I am discussing the phrase from 1 Corinthians 6, your life is not your own for you were bought with a price. I am encouraging people in this series to choose to live for something greater than their own needs, namely the kingdom of God.
When you know your value to God and how intimately you are joined to him, it’s easy to let go of self-centeredness and live a life that is part of a bigger story. Your life is part of His story. Living for him leaves the realm of obligation and becomes driven by meaning and purpose when you realize that His story is more important than your story.
Your life was worth dying for to God, and your life is worth living for others. I recommend spending some time meditating on the kind of union you have with God. Allow it to heal your heart and inspire you to love others. Love is our greatest strategy to reach the world.
Never forget, you are valuable, and you are loved. When you look at others, allow yourself to be aware of how valuable that person is to God. In your mind, tell them you love them and align your inner man to be a conduit of God’s spirit in their life.
You are the spouse of God, whom he will care and provide for. Go forward without fear and lavish his love upon others.
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Your Life Is Not Your Own
Your life is not your own, for you were bought with a price. If you don’t know your freedom in Christ, this statement can be a source of shame for you. Christians have been made to feel like they owe God, and the way you repay him is to be as good as possible. The good news is, God loves you no matter what. Once you are secure in your freedom in Christ, you become free to live in a way that honors him in everything you do. Not out of obligation but out of gratitude. Our new series will discuss the value God places on our lives and how we can respond to his love for us by glorifying him in everything we do. Today we will discuss what it means to give God glory. We pray today’s message is a blessing to you and inspires you to follow God more deeply.
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“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.”
Do you ever feel stuck, as if every day is the same as the last?
When I speak to people that feel this way, the most common reason is that they have become too focused on their own lives. We rightfully want to provide for our families and plan for the future, but when that becomes the main focus of life, it can start to feel heavy and unfulfilling.
It’s a good thing to take care of your family and invest in your children’s futures. Proverbs 13:22 says, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.” But if you feel like you just wake up, go to work, come and crash in front of the tv every evening, you will begin to feel like your life doesn’t matter.
But your life does matter. It matters greatly! You are needed in the kingdom. The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few. Be careful to not allow your worldly responsibilities to overshadow your kingdom objectives. When you know that you are part of something bigger than yourself, it’s easier to find another gear and step into a productive life beyond your job.
This week I began a series in which I’m discussing how our lives are part of a bigger cause. That cause is glorifying God and participating in the increase of his kingdom.
In this week’s sermon, I ask you to consider a profound truth; You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.
If you don’t know your freedom in Christ, this statement might be a source of shame for you. Maybe you have been made to feel like you owe God, and that you repay him by being as good as possible. Yet you always fall short because you can’t be good enough or do enough.
The good news is, God loves you no matter what. Once you are secure in your freedom in Christ, you become free to live in a way that honors him in everything you do. Not out of obligation but out of gratitude.
I don’t have a specific theological point to make this week, I’m more so interested in challenging you to expand your thinking. What does it mean to you that you are not your own? In the video, I go into what it means to glorify God and how you can do that. Watch it to engage a bit deeper. But the broader point this week is to ponder your feelings about your life, and to ask yourself if you are living for yourself, or are you living for a greater cause?
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Discover Your Value to God from Isaiah 53
God went through a lot of pain and anguish to give you the ability to be his child. He so dramatically loves you that he essentially became you to set you free from the worst aspects of you. At least be willing to see what he saw in you that compelled him to become your sin and darkness.
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“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”
God went through a lot of pain and anguish to give you the ability to be his child. He so dramatically loves you that he essentially became you to set you free from the worst aspects of you.
At least be willing to see what he saw in you that compelled him to become your sin and darkness.
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