Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] I'm not going to speak at length tonight. You know, I could be long winded, but I won't.
[00:00:08] But we're going to look at John, chapter 19, verses 16 to 42. And I've entitled this message, how the Best Life Changes Everyone for the Better.
[00:00:18] Now consider the cross for a moment. It was an ancient tool of punishment, torture and death.
[00:00:25] The cross slowly and painfully ended the life of its victims. And in the process, they were shamefully abused, rejected, despised, humiliated before all the passersbys. And yet, in an astounding ironic reversal, and by the way, the Bible is full of reversals, the cross now becomes the greatest symbol of Christianity. Speaking of glory and victory.
[00:00:49] So what brought about this astonishing recognition?
[00:00:52] Well, it was simply the death of Jesus and what he accomplished on behalf of all, all of humanity. For all time.
[00:00:59] Jesus sacrificial death brought victory over sin, death and judgment. This amazing act of Jesus laying down his life transformed the cross into a symbol of hope and deliverance. So the cross, an instrument of death, becomes the means by which God gives life.
[00:01:19] Jesus provides us with some of the details in the conclusion of chapter 19.
[00:01:24] But the writer of Hebrews expands our perspective. He writes about Jesus for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The result of Jesus death on the cross was his exaltation in glory.
[00:01:42] Now, when we consider the great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf, what effect should that have upon us now?
[00:01:50] I think we could say undying gratitude, absolute delight in worship.
[00:01:55] Isn't that true? We have that.
[00:01:58] But one consequence should be the motivation to take up our own cross, which is a call to discipleship. And I want you to notice in Mark's Gospel he says, then Jesus called to the crowd along with his disciples and said, whoever wants to be my disciple, my follower, must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.
[00:02:25] You know, you ever ask yourself the question, what does that really mean, to take up our cross and begin to follow Jesus?
[00:02:32] Well, we know that when Jesus took his cross, the result was the greatest supernatural provision in the universe. It affected all of creation. It's affected the human family.
[00:02:43] Jesus explains that what we need to do is follow him in this arena in our lives and then proceed to describe what does it really mean to take up our cross. And he goes on in verse 35, for whoever wants to save their life will lose it.
[00:02:57] Whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. How many? That's a paradox. You know, I'm losing something, but actually, because I'm losing this, I'm gaining something. But. But the people who are trying to gain something in the process of trying to gain a certain thing are going to lose it. That's a paradox.
[00:03:15] Jesus willingly gives his life for us, and we must also be willing to give our lives to serve Jesus.
[00:03:23] We must surrender our personal will and agenda to follow his purpose for our lives. In the crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus, we discover a pattern. I think there are steps that we can begin to see that we need to follow and emulate, and it'll begin to produce something different inside of us.
[00:03:43] He's going to produce the Christ life within our hearts. As we lay down our lives for Jesus, we actually find, I call it the best life, which in turn enriches the people around us. So as we're going to embrace this life, we're going to become a better person and we're going to start blessing people around us. Okay, hang on to that thought, because I'm going to come back to that.
[00:04:05] So where do we begin with embracing the best life, as the Bible calls it?
[00:04:11] It's the crucified life.
[00:04:13] It's a paradox.
[00:04:15] Paul says it this, I've been crucified with Christ and I no longer live.
[00:04:21] Who doesn't live anymore? The old me, the sin me, the things that are driving. But the. But Jesus lives in me, the life I now live in the body. I live by the faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness or being in a right relationship with God could be attained through the law, the moral law, then Christ would have died for nothing. But because we couldn't keep the moral law, Christ came and died for us. So I'm going to take a look at three things briefly. First of all, to lay down our life, first of all, we have to be willing to suffer.
[00:04:56] Most of us say, I don't want to sign up for that class.
[00:04:59] Right?
[00:05:00] How many know anything worthwhile in life comes at a cost?
[00:05:03] Bargain prices generally don't acquire things of great value.
[00:05:07] Raising a family, for example, provides great joy, but it requires enormous investment of time and energy, along with enduring, stressful moments and challenging situations. How many parents say, yeah, that's true.
[00:05:21] It does happen despite the cost. However, most parents will tell you that serving and sacrificing for their family is worth it.
[00:05:29] But to have the joy of a great family, someone has to pay a Price in the same way to serve the family of God and advance God's kingdom, we must develop an outlook that's ready to pay a price.
[00:05:42] Peter instructs us to be like Jesus and having that same mindset that so we can effectively serve God and do his will. Peter says, therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude. Another version says the same mind.
[00:05:59] So we have to put on a certain attitude. We got to start thinking the right way. So what is the attitude he wants us to have? Not living for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. So here's our prayer. You know thy will be done, your kingdom come. That should be our prayer every day. Lord, I'm here to do your will.
[00:06:20] You know, Jesus was said in the book of Hebrews, I delight to do your will. O Lord, we should delight to do the Father's will. And you know, if we don't have that delight, we should pray and ask God for that delight. So we see Jesus willing to suffer. And let's look how he approached his suffering and learn with him how we can deal with the challenges that we're all going to face in this life. So chapter 19 of John, he says this. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus carrying his own cross. He went to the place called the skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him. And with two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Now, Merrill Tenney says this. The crucifixion is mentioned in the fewest possible words.
[00:07:08] John, who alone, of all the disciples witnessed it, said the least about it. How many think that's unusual? The one who saw the most said the least about the crucifixion. The paragraph merely states the act, the place, the fact that two others shared the same fate of Jesus, the reticence of the writer that he did not lay great value upon stressing the physical sufferings.
[00:07:35] I think that's important.
[00:07:37] That's not the focus.
[00:07:39] Beside, in a day when crucifixion was still a current method of execution, it would have been too familiar to need description and too horrible a thought to deserve elaboration. Everybody at the time he was writing knew about crucifixion. Da Carson, in his comments on the Gospel of John, points out an important omission in John's Gospel. Now you know anything about the Gospels? They're telling the story from different vantage points, but they have a different point they're trying to make. So John is leaving something out on purpose. He says it's important to ask why John omits the mention of Simon of Cyrene. He's the God that they conscripted to help carry Jesus cross when he fell.
[00:08:22] The brief answer is that it does not lend support to his central theme and would therefore be distracting. But John, even though he makes room for the suffering, greatly emphasizes the sovereign plan of the Father and the Son's obedience. And so he reports rightly that Jesus carried his own cross. That's the emphasis.
[00:08:43] We learn from this that Jesus example of cross bearing is that he's willing to give up his life.
[00:08:50] It was not taken from him. He gave his life.
[00:08:54] He knew what was about to happen. He could have avoided it, but he did not do that.
[00:09:00] This is an example for you and me to emulate that we have to be willing to give up our lives for other people, just like Jesus gave up his life for us. Let me move on the second.
[00:09:13] To lay down our life, we must be willing to die of our own earthly dreams. This is hard for most people, but let me bear with me and I think this will help you understand something.
[00:09:22] God's plan for each of us is greater than any human dream we could cherish.
[00:09:28] I want you to hang on to that. You know, I think when we're young we have dreams. Everybody has a dream. But sometimes we have to lay down our dream because God has a different plan and a different dream. And I'm going to argue tonight that his plan is greater than your plan. Okay? His will is always in our best interest as well as in the interest of others. It's not just about us. When God designed something for us to do, he's got other people in mind that you're going to be a blessing to. Often the only way to discover God's will is to lay aside our personal dreams.
[00:10:01] Only as we die to our own agenda do we allow God the opportunity to direct us into something far more life giving and meaningful. We need to understand, as Jesus demonstrated, that before resurrection comes death, before glory comes, and exaltation actually comes humiliation and suffering. So there's an order to this. You know, we could say it this way. The way up is actually the way down.
[00:10:29] We have to be willing to lay down our lives.
[00:10:32] We have to be faithful to fulfill God's purposes so that one day we'll stand before our Lord and Savior. It's fascinating that the God dream he places in our life will come to pass only when we lay our dream down. How's that? The God dream is always superior. It Makes us godly, better suited to benefit those around us. Selfish purpose may satisfy us, but only for a season. And that's true. In the end, they will prove hollow and come at a terrible expense to us and those about whom we care the most. So what am I basically saying? The best life is you lay yourself down, you give yourself up, you serve God, and in that process you discover yourself, the true you, the true spiritual person. You become what you're supposed to become, and people around you are being blessed. But the people who turn their back on God's plan do their own thing. Your life becomes smaller and smaller and you're not affecting impact in the lives of other people.
[00:11:34] For those who reject this better life, the crucified life, the cost is to forfeit a life that enriches not only yourself, but everybody that you're around.
[00:11:44] Not only does this become very evident later in life. See, when you're young, you don't see it. But later in life you begin to realize the choices we've made. And by the way, you're where you're at because of the choices you've made.
[00:11:56] And the only way to change course is to ask God to forgive us if we're on the wrong course and turn to him. And God will redeem those times in our life where we've been on the wrong path and begin to restore things. And then all of a sudden, you discover this exciting, abundant life called eternal life.
[00:12:15] So it also in the end, shapes our destiny.
[00:12:22] So how do we fulfill our purpose? Well, he says later, knowing that everything had now been finished and so that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. So what is Jesus really doing? He's living out God's preordained plan for his life.
[00:12:37] He's fulfilling everything the Father wanted him to do. Jesus lived a life of complete surrender to the will of God. Everything Jesus did and everything he said was completely in accordance to what his Father wanted him to do. He says here, then it says a jar of wine vinegar was there. So they soaked a sponge on it. And they put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus lips. And when he had received the drink, Jesus said, it is finished. And with that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Now what does that really mean to us? I'll say it to you this way. We need to run the race that God has set before us in such a way that when we have given our all, at the end, we can say to our Father in Heaven, it is finished. I've done exactly what you wanted me to do. Isn't that an amazing thought? You know, we're going to do prayer and fasting here in a few weeks.
[00:13:33] And I've chosen for our theme, you know, let us run the race with perseverance. But if you continue on that text, it says, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, we got to keep our eyes on Christ right to the end. We got to run that way. Finally, to lay down our life, we have to be willing to identify openly with Jesus despite the cost.
[00:13:54] You know, many people claim to be Christians but are ashamed of the gospel.
[00:13:59] The fear of being open about their faith. You know, people are afraid might lose prestige, power, position. Others fear ridicule, hostility, persecution, or even financial loss.
[00:14:09] Two of the religious leaders who up to this point had been secret followers of Jesus. I think there's a lot of North American secret followers of Jesus, okay? Now, they came out in the open at his crucifixion here. And now they're willing to risk everything and identify with Christ even though they don't see the value of it. And matter of fact, they probably are crushed because they thought Jesus was the Messiah.
[00:14:33] Look at later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now, Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders.
[00:14:42] With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away.
[00:14:46] He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus by night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about £75. Now, just I want you to think about this. You know, some people have this idea that people stole the body of Jesus. Let me tell you something. There's 75 pounds of material in his garments there. You're adding a lot of weight, you know. And by the way, they didn't take the garments. That's where all the resources and the riches were.
[00:15:18] Just a little aside. Taking Jesus body, the two of them wrapped it with the spices and strips of linen. This was in accordance with the Jewish burial customs. At that place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid because it was the Jewish day of preparation. And since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. And we all know that that was probably Joseph's, his own tomb. Now, it had been prophesied that the suffering servant From Isaiah chapter 53 would be buried among the rich.
[00:15:48] Now think of the incredible contrast. One who was numbered and died among transgressors, was subsequently buried with the rich.
[00:15:57] God had foretold this improbable event through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53, he was assigned to grave with the wicked and with the rich. In his death, though he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit found in his mouth.
[00:16:13] Colin Cruz explains God's provision for Christ and death. He said, according to Roman custom, the bodies of executed criminals were not buried. They were left to be devoured by vultures. It's a very cruel thing to do.
[00:16:27] The Mishnah, which is the Jewish writings, indicated that it was the Jewish custom to bury criminal bodies in common graves provided by the Sanhedrin. John tells us that Joseph had up until that time been a secret follower of Christ because he feared being ostracized by his peers. He was a member of the ruling Sanhedrin, and In John chapter 12 we read of it. Yet at the same time, many, even among the leaders, believed in him, which I would say would be Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. But because of the Pharisees, they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue. In other words, they'd be cast aside from society for they loved human praise more than the praise of God. Well, that's very powerful, isn't it? And you know, sometimes in our lives, we're more concerned about what people think than what God thinks.
[00:17:21] Can I just ask us all a question for a minute? Do you think the day we stand before Almighty God, it's going to really matter what people thought?
[00:17:29] Or at that moment you're going to be more concerned about what God thinks?
[00:17:33] And we're going to be there, every one of us.
[00:17:37] So we can probably safely say that both Nicodemus and Joseph, now were those numbered among those secret followers. But the current crisis caused them to reevaluate their priorities. How many people have said in their own lives, I'm in a crisis right now, it's causing me to reevaluate my priorities. That happens a lot. Isn't that true? And that's what happened with these guys. So what would they do about Jesus? Already convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, they both came forward when he died. They may not have fully understood the full ramifications of his death, but I'm confident that after the resurrection and the day of Pentecost, we probably find them among the early church. The irony of the location of the crucifixion and tomb was that there was a garden there. Now you Know, John plays on a lot of foreshadowing and imagery here. The origin of human sin occurred in a garden, the Garden of Eden. Now, John describes another garden where, as Paul describes Jesus, the last Adam was laid obedient in his death.
[00:18:39] The last Adam overcame sin and reversed its effect. So how can we experience the best out of life?
[00:18:45] By living the crucified life.
[00:18:48] It begins first with personally accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, publicly acknowledging that he died and rose again for us. So that means I'm making a public confession before people.
[00:18:59] If we believe in our hearts, then we have to confess with our mouths. And that's what Romans tells us. Paul writes in Romans, that's how we become believers.
[00:19:06] That's part of receiving this great salvation. It's an act of faith on our part. Next, we begin to follow him by carrying our cross.
[00:19:17] I tell you, that's the part I think everyone's having a problem with. What do you think?
[00:19:22] I think so. And it simply means that we're embracing Christ's attitude. We're prepared to suffer with him in serving others, accepting the Father's will and purpose for our lives, rather than pursuing any dream outside of his will.
[00:19:36] Well, let me close with this reading of two verses of scripture. I don't have them on the PowerPoint here, but in Luke in his Gospel, referring to this same concept. Listen to what he says here.
[00:19:48] What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet loser forfeit their very self?
[00:19:56] Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. So I would say this.
[00:20:09] Let us not be ashamed of Jesus ever, nor the Word of God, regardless of the cost. And as we live the best life, which is a life that denies ourselves and saying, hey, I'm not. It's not about me. I'm here to serve. I'm a servant.
[00:20:26] You know, as we live that best life, it's going to transform something inside of us. And as it does that, it begins to impact people around us.
[00:20:35] But you know what? It's a challenge, isn't it? I'm following Jesus. And as I was reading this, I was thinking, take up your cross. Luke says, daily.
[00:20:45] It's a daily thing.
[00:20:47] It's, you know, you could say in a great moment of emotional fervor and spiritual motivation, we could say, yes, I'm going to follow Jesus. Yes, I'll pick up the cross. And then another day comes and you go, I don't feel like doing that today, you know. No, it's a daily thing.
[00:21:04] We have to do this every day.
[00:21:06] And that's really part of maturing and growing and developing as a follower of Christ. I'm walking with him, and as I'm dying to my agenda and I'm embracing God's will. And how do I know it? I have to go to the word of God.
[00:21:19] So I spend time with him.
[00:21:21] And God begins to speak into our lives and corrects us where we're erring.
[00:21:26] And he does that because he loves us.
[00:21:29] So let's stand as we close tonight, so happy that you're here, so happy that so many joined via livestream.
[00:21:38] Maybe you're here tonight and you're saying, you know what?
[00:21:41] I'm really challenged. God's spirit is here. I can tell you that right now. God is here. He's in this place and he's challenging each one of our lives.
[00:21:51] And he's calling us out, you know, just like he did to those early disciples on the Sea of Galilee. What did he say to them? Come, follow me.
[00:22:00] Come follow me. And I believe that that call is the same today for all of us. He's calling us out. He says, come, follow me.
[00:22:07] And that following, I love it. It's a verb in my mind. It's not something that, you know. Yeah, I prayed that prayer, you know, when I was 10 years old.
[00:22:16] But, you know, am I following?
[00:22:19] And if we're really following, we should be growing and maturing. It's an ongoing thing. There should be growth and transformation happening, and even people should be recognizing the change in our lives.
[00:22:32] It should be occurring.
[00:22:35] How many say that's probably true? We should be different than where we were, you know, even a year ago.
[00:22:42] If we're not changing, we need to say, God, what's going on in my life?
[00:22:46] And God might be saying to you, are you following?
[00:22:49] Because if you're following Jesus, I'm going to guarantee you something. If you're obeying him, if you're living out his will, you're doing his agenda. Change is inevitable inside of you.
[00:22:59] And your attitudes will change. And you will embrace a life of willing to lay down your life and serve other people. And you're going to discover something. It is the best life.
[00:23:11] And as you get older, you're going to look back and without regret and say, boy, I am so glad I gave my life fully and unreservedly to God.
[00:23:20] Because I can see the incredible benefit, not just in my own personal life, but I can see it in my family, I can see it in many other people's lives.
[00:23:30] And I still remember one day in prayer and I'll close with a word of prayer. I just say I remember this. I was reading in the book of Romans, it says, by one man's obedience, speaking of Jesus, by one man's obedience, many became righteous, were able to get in a right relationship with God.
[00:23:47] And I felt right then the Holy Spirit was quickening that thought to my mind and said, you know, if you will live a life of obedience, I will make many people righteous.
[00:24:00] Isn't that beautiful? And so we need to accept Christ's challenge to us, a call to follow him, to walk in obedience, to do his will, to live out a God dream. And not just my own little agenda. God's dream for you is far superior than your own personal dream.
[00:24:21] So you need to lay your dream down, say, God, I'm going to embrace yours.
[00:24:26] So, Father, as we open our hearts tonight, you're speaking into our lives. You're calling us to yourself.
[00:24:32] And we're all in different places in this room. Some of us know you, some of us may not know you, but you're speaking to us, saying, come, follow me.
[00:24:40] I've got a better life in store for you than even what you can come up with.
[00:24:45] It's a superior life.
[00:24:47] Follow me. And it may mean that you're going to be laying down your own earthly dream, but Lord, I know that your dream for us is superior and I'm so grateful for that.
[00:24:58] You want to make us more like you. You want to change us and transform our lives.
[00:25:05] And it comes from inside.
[00:25:07] It's a work of grace. It's a work of your spirit. And I pray tonight, as we reflect on what has been said tonight, that we're going to hear the voice of the Spirit of God speaking to us, calling us. Follow me, follow me, follow me.
[00:25:22] And we thank you for that, Father, in Jesus name, amen.
[00:25:27] God bless you on this amazing Friday.
