Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
1Cor 1:27b
God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
This is an important choice a called disciple of God has to make. Unlike
an institution where one simply graduates once they have the basic facts to
cope with, here you never graduate. Its a lifetime commitment.
So what do you need to be a disciple of Christ, I hope youre asking;
-you need to be born again first
John 3:5-6
5 Jesus answered, Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the
kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
Thats all; be born again, be born anew in Christ and how? Receive him into
your life as your savior and Lord. Allow for the baptism of the Holy Spirit to
make you anew in Christ and put to death your old ways
According to the book of
2 Cor 5:17, NIV
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the
new has come
This decision to follow is a lifelong decision. Are you an actual follower
of Christ or are you simply a churchgoer?
The Cross and its significance
The cross serves as the center of Christ. If you think about it, its
actually what the church preaches; The death and resurrection of Christ.
Without the cross and its significance there really is no Christian faith.
What really is this cross of Christ? Its the atoning sacrifice that Christ
made on the cross of Calvary to atone for the sin of humankind. This is seen
in John 3:16 the popular verse;
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life
What he accomplished for us on the cross of Calvary qualifies him to
be our Master and Lord. He deserves our commitment; that we follow him
with all our heart and might. He deserves our complete loyalty; He is worthy
of our allegiance as His disciples.
The early church testified only to the cross even Paul preached only
Christ and his crucifixion seen in 1 Cor 1:22-24
1 Cor 1:22-24
22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but
we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God.
This has been the message of the church passed on from generation to
generation. Without the death and resurrection of Christ, there would be no
forgiveness of sin. 1 Cor 15:12-14, 17-19 explains this perfectly
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can
13
If there is no
resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14
And if
Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your
faith.
17
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still
in your sins.
18
Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.
19
If
only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be
pitied.
This tells us that without the cross we would still be sinners
That is the significance of the cross; His death and resurrection bore the
redemption of our sins
The words of Christ
Lets look at the verbs in Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all if anyone would come after me, he must
DENY HIMSELF and TAKE UP HIS CROSS DAILY and FOLLOW ME
DENY SELF
What does this mean?
Deny is the same word used regarding peters denials of Jesus. It
means to disown or renounce. When told to deny yourself, Jesus wasnt
saying you should deprive yourself of pleasure rather He was saying that you
should renounce living for your own selfish interest and rather embrace living
for Christ.
You are called to a lifetime of Christian dedication and to serve as an
example to people around you. It is a call to discipleship. It means
abandoning your worldly habits and following Christ without looking back as
seen in Luke 9; 61-62
Luke 9; 61-62
61 Still another said, I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say
goodbye to my family.
62 Jesus replied, No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is
fit for service in the kingdom of God.
When you choose to follow Him, you are deciding to not look back.
Most of us are tempted to begin to ask if we can compromise. There
should be a way we could meet half-way. I should be able to live for Jesus part
of the time, but live for myself too?...Jesus answers this in verse 24;
Luke 9:24
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life for me will save it.
If you want to save your life to live to fufill your own interests, you will lose it.
But if you want to lose your life for the sake of Christ you will save it both now
and for eternity.
Col 2:6
6 So then, just as you received (choose) Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to
live (walk) in him
Once you choose Him, you choose to walk with Him
Some of us see self-denial as going without. We believe to deny self
means to have a daily habit of denying ourselves of our appetite and desires.
Thinking that the more we deny ourselves of our own needs the holier we will
be. -> A holier than thou attitude
The problem with this interpretation is that it promotes religiosity
rather than living for Christ. You become insecure and start to ask yourself
Have I denied myself of enough? I should deny myself some more just to
be on the safe side
Jesus died so you may be free of sin. You died with Christ
Galatians 2:20 says this plainly
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives
in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me.
Did you know that? You actually died with Christ on that cross
And Paul repeats it;
To the Christians in Colossae You died in Christ Col 2:20
To the believers in Rome We died with Christ Rom 6:8
An athlete doesnt work out for a few days and decides hes ready to
compete. It takes weeks, months and even years to get into shape and even
then He doesnt sit back after and decide not to work out anymore. He would
lose his muscles. So would we. The minute you decide to stop bearing that
cross you gradually lose your spiritual strength.
This main verse of today is repeated in 3 different books and only once was it
said to perform this act daily
Matt 16:24 take up his cross and follow me
Mark 8:34 take up his cross and follow me
Luke 9:23 take up his cross daily and follow me
Why daily? We are to value the finished work of Christ DAILY. You should thank
Christ for the cross everyday. He died so you can live. It is not something you
should take for granted. Everyday you are making a choice; will I walk after
the flesh or after the spirit?
We need to put selfish desires to death daily to follow Jesus.
FOLLOW ME
This is a call. It refers to a continuous process of walking behind Jesus, going
where He goes and doing what He does. It means not doing YOUR OWN thing
but completely submitting yourself to Jesus commands and doing HIS thing.
Obedience to this call should always be connected to the personal
relationship we enjoy with Jesus. To those the disobedient people who did
things in His name He says in Matt 7: 23
Matt 7:23
Then I will tell plainly I never knew you, Away from me, you evildoers!
But to the obedient He promises in John14:21, 23
John14:21, 23
21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.
He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and
show myself to him."
23 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father
will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
There should always be a link between our obedience to follow and our
personal love for Jesus
The implications of Jesus words for the disciple
These two words come with 2 implications
First of which is, commitment to Christs person;