Pastor's Point - August 2024
Dear Church Family,
As you read this article, we will have completed our series of messages in the book of John that we began at the beginning of the New Year. The goal of this series was to see Jesus displayed in each of the chapters of the book of John. By God’s grace I pray that this task was accomplished. Seeing Jesus and keeping our eyes on Him is going to be necessary as we look to finish 2024 with a right focus.
There are many benefits to focusing on Jesus in our lives. With Jesus in our sight, we can find the strength, courage, and focus that we need to face the challenges that this life brings. And the challenges are many and they are varied. Many people face family crisis, financial strain, political unrest, safety concerns, and spiritual battles. These are a few things that make it so important to stay focused on our Savior.
To focus on Jesus as our Savior in this life means that we live our lives in full surrender to Him. In John 19:30 it states… “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (emphasis added). The thought of Jesus giving up His spirit was a powerful reminder that even Jesus our Savior lived His life marked by a purposeful surrender.
This is Jesus voluntarily, by His own will, chose to surrender His life. Jesus came in full surrender to the will of God the Father to do for us what we could not do on our own.
I love a quote that I found by George McDonald where he talks about Jesus willingly giving up His Spirit. “The last act of our Lord in bowing His head and giving up His spirit was only a summing up of what He had been doing His whole life. He had been offering this sacrifice, the sacrifice of himself, all the years, and in thus sacrificing he had lived the divine life.”
Throughout all His life Jesus was marked by a full surrender to His heavenly father. Every day was another day to embrace full surrender. And on His last day on earth, we see Jesus choosing full surrender as His last act in his earthly ministry.
What a great reality to focus on from the life of our savior Jesus Christ. Full surrender should be our aim in our lives as well. We should choose to live crucified lives just as He did. The Bible is full of scriptures which encourage us to live surrendered lives. Here are just three that can be helpful to us as we consider living lives in daily surrender.
Galatians 2:20 states… “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
I Peter 2:24 states… “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
Dying to self is a daily pursuit. It can be a struggle at times to be surrendered in EVERY area of our lives. But it only makes sense for us to strive to live that way. When we trust Christ as our Savior, we also know Him as our Lord. I love this quote by R.C. Sproul. He states…
“If God is the Creator of the entire universe, then it must follow that He is the Lord of the whole universe. No part of the world is outside of His lordship. That means that no part of my life must be outside of His lordship.”
This understanding has practical implications on how we live our lives. All areas of our lives. John Stott states… “When Jesus is truly our Lord, He directs our lives and we gladly obey Him. Indeed, we bring every part of our lives under His lordship - our home and family, our sexuality and marriage, our job or unemployment, our money and possessions, our ambitions, and recreations.”
I am so thankful that we see in Jesus a perfect model of surrender in life. He has accomplished for us what we never could. But, in His accomplishment we look to His example and strive for daily surrender as we are bathed in the grace and mercy that He provides us. Let’s keep seeing the Savior throughout the rest of 2024!
I love you and I love being your pastor!