YOU BECOME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT

God is so much more wonderful than anyone you have ever known. 
God loves Mother Theresa but he does not bow to her goodness. She lived every day of her life in need of His mercy and forgiveness and so do we.

When you were born, your life was a gift from God. 

• We owe everything to Him. 
• He created us. 
• God is the only source of life. 
• All life comes from Him alone. 

But our experience of life is not so wonderful. We know we are moving through this world on a one way journey towards death. 

Big business makes billions of dollars from botox, hair dye and viagra. We know our vitality is fading with every passing year. The biggest selling drugs in some western countries are statins, which promise to make a very small reduction in your risk of dying of a heart attack. 

God’s original plan for us was ever increasing life, quite the opposite to what we know in this faded world. 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

• And God blessed them.
•  And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion ... over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:27-28 (ESV) 

Our Creator is the living God, the eternally creative life giver. 

• He made the first man and woman to rule over all living creatures, to multiply life without sickness, without aging, without death.

• God made this world full of life and peace and He plans to restore everything that has been ruined. 

We see little glimpses of this in the Bible.
Abraham was childless and already past retirement age when God promised to make him the father of many nations. 

• When he was about 100 years old and long since retired from married pleasure, God restored his virility. His wife Sarah, who was over 90, produced a son. After Sarah died, Abraham had another family with his concubine Keturah.

That is history but God also promised a wonderful future which we have not yet seen.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, 

and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. Isaiah 11:6 (ESV)  

Our thinking is so conditioned by the limitations of aging and death, that 21st century secular people see this as mere mythology. 

• Academic liberal theology trains preachers to see the Bible as a collection of fables. 

• But why should it not be true, actually, really, literally true? 

The heart and soul of Christian faith is the supernatural life, death and resurrection of the Son of God.

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

• But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 
• And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:12-14 (ESV) 

Take away this faith and Christian civilization becomes a decaying empty shell. We see this decay on the TV news every night. 

Faith is everything, so what is FAITH?

Faith is trusting, trusting in money, trusting in the economy, trusting in your job or your abilities or trusting in God.

• What you trust in determines what you think and how you live. 
• The things you trust in will fill your thoughts.
• You become what you think about most of the time. 

Jesus said:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

• But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 
• For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV) 

The things you treasure most will stir your emotions and fill your thoughts.

• What is the foundation of your life?

WHAT IS GOD SAYING TO YOU NOW?

What is a Christian? 

• If you read the story of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John you will not find the word CHRISTIAN. 

Jesus talked about entering the Kingdom of Heaven. 

This is such a radical thing, that no one can get in unless he or she is born again.

• This completely confused the Jewish leader, Nicodemus.

Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” John 3:4 (ESV) 

Jesus had to explain. 

• Jesus was on a mission. Part of that mission was to teach that Jews as well as Gentiles needed to be converted and to undergo a spiritual rebirth in order to enter the Kingdom of God. 

So many people in Christian churches still don’t understand this. 

• Some people teach a baby is born again in infant baptism. 

But Jesus said:

...."Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3 (NASB)

• A baby cannot repent or be converted. 

• Jesus always demanded personal belief, trust and commitment. 

• God will never send any small child to hell but there comes a time when every boy or girl reaches the age of accountability.

Infant baptism does not automatically guarantee faith. Joseph Stalin trained to become a priest, so he must have been baptised.  

• Jesus did not call people to be passive believers waiting to die and go to heaven.

For Jesus, faith was a powerful personal connection with His Heavenly Father. 

He wants you and me to have nothing less than this.

"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. John 15:9 (NASB)

Jesus lived His entire live on earth saturated with the love of His Father and filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

• He wants nothing less for you and me.

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 

• "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 

• "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" 

• But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39 (NASB)

Jesus never spoke of believing and passively expecting to go to heaven. 

• He called people to FOLLOW HIM, to learn from Him, to obey Him, to become like HIM, to live in friendship with God just has HE did.

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 

"I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." John 8:12 (NASB) 

• What does it mean to FOLLOW JESUS?

• God is calling you to TRUST Him like Jesus did, 

• to KNOW Him like Jesus did, 

God is calling you to be full of love for others as Jesus was.

• God is calling you to hear His voice as Jesus did,
• to do what He shows you to do, just like Jesus did. 

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. John 14:10 (NLT)

You and I are far from measuring up to this amazing example but we can grow up into Christ.
Like children who admire their father, we can decide to grow up and be like Him.

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.

• Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Ephesians 5:1-2 (NLT)

Dear God, show me how I can love others now! 

• Even as I write these words, I pray this prayer for myself and God brings to my mind a woman who was once a student in my English class. 
• She is a believer who needs help because God is prompting me to pray for her NOW.

Will you pray with me and ask God to show you what to do NOW?

He will answer. 

ONE MAN LEADERSHIP. IS IT GOD'S PLAN?

In the Old Testament, the God of Israel insisted that one man alone should never rule over His people. 

Every leader must have limited authority. 

• Moses was national leader and prophet but not a priest.

• Samuel was Prophet and High Priest but not King.

• David was King and Prophet but not a priest. 

Kings who performed priestly functions were violating God's order and they were punished by God. King Saul was a dramatic example. 

Likewise in the New Testament no one man was allowed to be the supreme ruler over God's people. 

The only exception was Jesus the Messiah Himself, the Son of God, who is the supreme Prophet, the High Priest of the New Covenant and the King of Israel. 

• However, even Jesus will not be fully revealed as Prophet, Priest AND King until the Second Coming.

The modern nations which were formed under the influence of the Bible, evolved a system of government which reflected this division of powers.

• In Britain the King or Queen is subject to the power of Parliament, which is elected by the people. The judges are independent and cannot be told what to do by either the elected government or the Queen.

• In the USA, the President, the Congress and the Judges have separate powers and no one man has unlimited authority. 

• This principle of the separation of powers has been copied by former British Colonies and by European countries like modern Germany.

It is based on the Bible.

In the New Testament, the first church was governed by a team of Apostles appointed by Jesus. 

This was a new idea and even more radical than the Old Testament division of authority between Prophets, Priests and Kings. 

• When Jesus first introduced the idea of team leadership, the apostles found it confusing.

Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. Luke 22:24 (NKJV)

Jesus turned this into a lesson on humility and most preachers explain it that way. 

• But there is something more to the story which is usually overlooked.

Jesus had told the disciples He was going away. They didn't fully understand but they knew He was leaving them. 

In the Old Testament, every supreme leader was supposed to have a successor.

• The High Priest or King would be followed by his son. 

• David was followed by Solomon. 

Also some major prophets trained up a successor. 

• Moses was followed by Joshua.

• Elijah was followed by Elisha.

It was natural for the disciples to assume that one of them would be appointed the supreme Apostle to rule over the others. 

But this was the farewell dinner before Jesus left them and none of them had been appointed to rule over all. This was totally confusing.

So they started discussing this puzzle amongst themselves. 

Who would be the supreme leader ?

We must not assume that each one was pushing himself forward.

But even when Jesus interrupted the conversation, He still didn't settle the question by nominating a successor as number one.

• He never did!

Just because Peter took over the role of chairman and the first evangelist, it does not mean he was the supreme number one. If we assume this, we are falling into the same trap of limited human thinking which confused the disciples at the Last Supper.

In Galatians, Paul speaks of his visit to the church leaders in Jerusalem. He describes a team leadership.

... and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Galatians 2:9 (NKJV) 

(CEPHAS is Peter and PILLARS means MAIN LEADERS)

Notice that Paul refers to the joint leadership of the Jewish church as THEY and to the leadership fo the Gentile church as WE (Paul and Barnabas). 

• Paul's thinking about leadership is collective. 

• Jesus is the ONLY one man ruler, the ONLY supreme chief Shepherd. 

Let’s grow out of the church tradition of one man rule, the dictatorial Senior Pastor, the Man of God who controls everything.

Some people claim this is God’s principle of leadership. 

It is not.

TRUSTING JESUS OR HIDING FROM GOD?

Even Atheists pray in battle zones. Have you ever wanted to meet God but didn’t know how? 

Did you feel that God might be hiding from you? 

We have an amazing talent for self deception

• It may be that you are hiding from God but He wants to find you, not to bust your cover and destroy you with shame but to meet with you and show you His love for you.

How do we know God wants to but our cover and restore us to friendship with Himself?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV) 

If you are not trusting in Jesus, you are hiding from God. 

• You can’t really hide from Him because He sees your every move and reads your every thought. 

You can’t hide from Him but you put barriers between God and yourself. 

• You may hide in atheism, persuading yourself there is no God, while all the time you define yourself with the name of the one you say you don’t believe in. 

A = NOT. THE-ism = GOD-ism. 

• You may hide in theology, studying, reading and discussing what God might be like, while all the time God is real and alive and wanting to talk to you directly.

• You may hide in religion, persuading yourself you are OK with God because you believe in Him and go through certain rituals, say prayers and practise some good deeds. 

• You may hide in fundamentalist legalism. You imagine you understand and believe every word of the Bible while you use Bible texts to criticise, judge and attack anyone who does not think and act exactly like yourself.

• There are good Christians who hide from God. They hide behind their good Christianity. God does not want Good Christians. He wants sons and daughters who love their heavenly Father.

• There are Pastors, Priests and church leaders who hide behind their leadership office. To be a true Christian leader, you must know and love Jesus. 
• Your love for Him is the main thing, otherwise you are hiding behind your ministry. You will suffer spiritual loss and the people you minister will also miss out.

• You can hide behind your spiritual gifts. You may be a great Christian musician, worship leader, preacher or spiritual writer. Don't forget who gave you the gift. Don't forget that knowing God is the main thing, and also loving others. Loving God and loving people.

All the while, you know Jesus said: 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV) 

Do you believe this? 

• The devil also believes this. 

The faith that connects you to God is not just believing certain texts are true. 

Believing means trusting in the LOVE of God who GAVE His only son for you.

• Believing means receiving the Love of God in your heart of hearts.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10 (NIV) 

FINDING A REASON TO LIVE

Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of yourselves; it too is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8 (TLB) 

• You were separated from God but God took the initiative to restore you to a relationship with your Heavenly Father.

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba (Daddy), Father.” Romans 8:15 (NLT)

The kind of FAITH that reconciles you to God is not just religious belief. 

It is trusting God as a child loves his mother and father. 

Of course there are children who have good reason not to trust their parents but God is never an unkind, unfair or abusive father.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV) 

The Lord Jesus was with the Heavenly Father in the endless eternity before the creation of the universe. Jesus, God the Son, no less divine than the Father, looked down the centuries and saw you in need of forgiveness and restoration. 

• He knew His Father was just. 

• He knew you would mess up your life. 

• He knew you deserved judgement but He wanted to save you.

 Before the first angel saw the face of God, before the first star shone in the sky, Jesus decided to be born as a baby just like us. He decided that He would submit to a cruel execution on the cross.

• Why? So He would be punished in your place. So you could be forgiven and be fully restored to God.

Jesus trusted His Father to raise Him up from death.You can trust the Father as Jesus did.You can trust Jesus who sacrificed Himself so amazingly for you.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT)

• We cannot earn God’s favour. 
• We all messed up our lives in different ways. 
• None of us can claim to be good like Jesus. 
• Our sin cut us off from the presence of God but God gave His only son to give us our lives back again. 

It is a free gift and you must accept God’s loving favour as a free gift or not at all. 

Jesus paid the full price to ransom us from death, from hell and eternal despair. We cannot add any co-payment. He has done it all.

But you must do something to receive His favour. 

Supposing you inherited a fortune from your rich father. He gave you a mansion and a huge bank balance. 

How can you enter into your inheritance?

• You must to see a lawyer and take possession of the title deeds. 

• You must move into the house.
• You honour the father who gave you everything.
• You learn to look after the mansion and use it to provide shelter and hospitality for your family and for those people that God wants you to care for.
• You invest your inherited money to be a blessing. You invest your life in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus taught the parable of the Talents. 

The master gave his servants wealth to invest and went away. Two servants invested wisely and doubled their money but a third servant buried his money and gave it back to the master when he returned. 

• He was like the passive believer who tried to use his faith as a ticket to heaven but did nothing with the gifts of God.

Jesus sternly warned people who passively use salvation as fire insurance.

So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.

• For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 

And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness....Matthew 25:28-30 (ESV) 

Jesus AND also Paul taught:

REPENT and believe ....

Dare to believe and invest your whole life for Jesus.

He died for you but also for millions of others.

WE CAN BE LIKE JESUS

What does it mean to be a Christian?

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9 (NIV) 

Many people say a little prayer confessing faith in Jesus and then they are told they are saved and on their way to heaven. Often it is true. 

A prostitute went to a church meeting and believed. She said a prayer receiving Jesus into her life and kept on going to church. 

• In following weeks she tried to be kind and helpful to people, even in her unholy workplace. She began to give generous offerings in church. 

Little by little she changed until the day came when she walked away from her life of prostitution. 

Her faith saved her.  

But evangelists can tell you that the majority of people who say a prayer of commitment in a meeting do not show evidence of a changed life a year later.

• Sadly it appears that conversion can either be a shallow ritual or it can be a deep redirection of a person’s whole life, beginning with a real conversion and transformation on the inside.

How did Jesus respond to faith? Sometimes He was excited.

Zacchaeus was a corrupt tax collector who became rich by ripping off his fellow Jews and sharing the spoils between the hated Romans and his own family.

When Jesus came to town, he climbed up a tree to see Jesus without being seen by the crowds. He know he was a hated man.

Jesus was always open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and He looked up and saw Zacchaeus hiding in the tree.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." Luke 19:5 (NIV)

Jesus saw what the Father was doing in this wretched man’s life. 

If we are living in the Holy Spirit, we will also have spiritual sixth sense to know what is happening secretly inside people’s hearts.

When Zacchaeus saw how Jesus loved and accepted him, his change of heart was dramatic and powerful.

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, 

• and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Luke 19:8 (NIV)

And how did Jesus respond to this?

Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Luke 19:9-10 (NIV) 

Jesus reached out in love. He always listened to the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of the Father showed Him when people’s faith was genuine.

• We can also operate in the power and love of the Holy Spirit. 
• Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit we can also receive revelation and wisdom in practical situations. 

If we are moving in the Holy Spirit, we can touch people and see lives changed like Jesus did. 

• I was on a boat on a lake in Germany when I saw a lonely old woman sitting by herself. I went and talked to her. She told me the tragic story of her life and I wanted to help her. My wife and I talked to her and we listened a lot for hours. 

We cried out silently to God to give us some words from heaven to touch her heart.

• Then God answered and my wife shared the message God gave her.

She told the lonely woman of the beauty of heaven waiting for her. She began to weep and her life was changed for ever.

You are a Christian if God has deeply touched your heart on the inside and you have allowed Him to turn your life around. 

But it does not end there. 

God is calling us to be led by the Holy Spirit as Jesus was, to love people like Jesus and to lead many to know their Heavenly Father.

DARE TO BE YOURSELF FOR GOD

David was a shepherd boy when Saul was the King of Israel. 

David loved God with all his heart but Saul was insecure about himself and about his faith in God.

• The Israelites wanted to have a king like the other nations. When they demanded a king, God was not happy but God gave them what they wanted. 

• The Israelites demanded a king because they were unsure of their faith in God and insecure about their God given identity.

• We often put preachers on a pedestal for the same reason.

• When God gave them Saul to be their king, Saul was anointed and his leadership was blessed in the beginning but in the end he too was insecure about his identity and so he became a tyrant.

• The same thing can happen when you put a preacher on a pedestal instead of putting your full trust in God and daring to become who God designed you to be.

Be careful what you desire and believe for. 

God might answer your urgent prayers but the thing you pray for might not be a blessing in the end. 

• Consider your motives. It can be dangerous to want to be like other people and to have what other people have.

God wants to give you His best but He does not want you to be like other people.

• He wants you to be YOU because He designed you to be you, just as He made David to be David.

When David decided to do battle with Goliath, King Saul offered to give David his own armour but it did not fit. David went to fight Goliath without armour, armed only with a sling and a few stones.

If God has called you to preach the gospel, don’t start competing with other people for the pulpit of your church. 

If God has called you, God will give you a pulpit. Jesus often preached in private homes, on hillsides or in fishing boats. 

Be like Jesus. Don’t play politics with church leaders to become one of them. 

• Go where God leads you and say what God gives you to say.
• When we read the Gospels, we see a lot of the teaching of Jesus was in the context of personal interaction with people along the way. 
• If we anxiously strive for promotion in church, we may miss a lot of these opportunities.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 (NLT) 

• The world is tired of preachers who copy other preachers. 

• The world is tired of Christians who play church to get promotion to a pulpit.

Be different. Be yourself. You are unique.

(Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Mark 16:15 (NIV)

How can you go into all the world for Jesus if you are busy in church trying to be promoted in ministry? 

What if you are not gifted to be a preacher?

You might be a good musician. 

God might want to use you to play at the front on Sundays, or He might want you to play somewhere else instead. 

There are so many elderly people in institutions who need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. 

They might not want to listen to Billy Graham but they will listen to beautiful Christian songs. 

There are so many older people just waiting to die without any hope. A few songs and a few words from you can restore the faith to many who have lost hope.

What if you are a gardener or a handyman. (I am not.) 

Deeds often speak louder than words. Simple kindness and practical help bring many to faith.

Has God given you a nice house or apartment? Do you like entertaining guests? 

You could invite a few Christian friends and not yet Christians to meet each other. Pray that God will reveal Jesus through your hospitality and your Christian friends.

Do you like cooking? 

My wife met a lonely older woman on a bus. The woman lived alone and was troubled by poor health. My wife made a pot of soup and took it to this lady’s home.

KNOWING THE HEART OF GOD

God loves you completely. He wants only the best for you. 

He created you to be a wonderful person just like himself. Because He loves you, he wants you to be happy and healthy.

• Most of all, he wants you to be just like his son, Jesus Christ.

For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to him

—and all along he knew who would

—should become like his Son, so that his Son would be the First, with many brothers. Romans 8:29 (TLB) 

We all need to be transformed dramatically to be like Jesus, all of us. 

If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:8-9 (NLT) 

The man who wrote these words was the disciple whom Jesus especially loved, the man who wrote the Gospel of John.

• A good leader knows he too is a brother or sister and not a superior holy being.

That doesn't mean a preacher must always be available for everyone who wants his attention. 

• Many people cry for the preacher’s attention like babies for their mother. 
• Because preachers and leaders are only human, they need time to rest, think and listen to God. 

Don’t expect a preacher to give you what only God can give, to give you his complete and undivided attention, to give you perfect wisdom and to love you as his own child.

Once someone rang up our pastor after 2 o’clock in the morning because he couldn't sleep. 
The pastor answered: “Now there are two of us who can’t sleep.” 

But God never sleeps and when you can’t sleep, he is there with you.

God sees the end from the beginning. 

Before your grandparents were born, he looked down the centuries to come and saw you choosing to love him and trust him with your life. 

• He saw you learning to know him and experience his deep affection, to know the intense devotion that he has for you. If you belong to Jesus, God is your FATHER, the perfect Father who adores his children. 

• A good mother adores her baby and the love of God is even stronger.

Sing for joy, O heavens; shout, O earth. Break forth with song, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion upon them in their sorrow. 

Yet they say, "My Lord deserted us; he has forgotten us."

• "Never! Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet even if that should be, I will not forget you. Isaiah 49:13-15 (TLB)

What is God like?

But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8 (NLT) 

Who can understand what this means? 

A child can understand best of all. A child knows what the love of a good mother or father feels like.

Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 18:3 (NLT) 

When it comes to understanding THE LOVE OF GOD, scholars and teachers often become confused.

• In one usually good commentary I found this strange contradiction.

For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:8 (NKJV) 

“How desperately the minister and church need such tenderness and affection for each other!” 

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. Philippians 1:9 (NLT) 

“ ...love in the Bible never focuses upon good feelings...The focus of love is knowledge.”  Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary.

God is not controlled by his emotions but he feels intensely. 

He wants you and me to know His heart and feel what he feels.

WHY DID JESUS DIE FOR YOU?

 Why did Jesus die for us?

• Because he loves us.

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (ESV) 

But why could he not love us without having to die?

In the beginning of God's creation there was only life and no death.

God is eternal. He created the first man and woman in His own image, immortal like Himself.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 (ESV) 

But human immortality was a gift of God and this gift was not completely unconditional. 

• God also gave men and women the gift of free choice, the ability to decide, for God or against God, for life or death.

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 

but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Gen 2:16-17

Adam’s obedience meant trust and friendship with God but his disobedience would mean that he turned away from God. 

• God is the only source of life. 
• Turning away from the eternal God means eternal death.

• If we reject the giver and source of life, we reject life itself. 
• But God’s gift of immortality remains in part. If we reject the only source of life, life after death is a lonely, dark existence without God.

If you look for life apart from God, in the end there is only disappointment and endless loneliness. Other sources of life are like mirages in the desert, illusions which never provide the promised water of life.

What is sin? Mistrust and turning away from God.

Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and suddenly everything was different. They experienced shame and were afraid of God. They still believed in God but they were afraid to come near to Him as friends.

• That reminds me of many manifestations of religion, including Christian religion.

• But it was not God’s original intention to create men and women living in shame, guilt and religious intimidation.

In the beginning Adam and Eve were naked and without shame. This freedom is the opposite of traditional religion.

God is not the hard, religious judge portrayed by much preaching but He remains holy and just.

• Sin must be punished. 

If you don’t like that idea, would you like to sit next to a Hitler or Stalin in heaven?

....the soul who sins shall die. Ezekiel 18:4 (ESV) 

• We all sin. If you are not sure about that, can you say that your life measures up to the standard of goodness that Jesus showed us in His life on earth?

But God loved us so much, that He did not want to let us suffer everlasting death. He wanted to bless us in spite of our mistrust and rejection of His love. He wanted to adopt us as His sons and daughters.

• God found a way to save us from everlasting darkness without letting evil go unpunished.

God gave His own eternal son. He sent Him to be born and to live a perfect human life, to show us what God is like, full of love and goodness.

• Then Jesus offered up His perfect human life and took OUR punishment upon Himself.

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (ESV) 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (ESV) 

When you believe in Jesus and put your life completely in His loving hands, God immediately begins to restore everything in your life which you have lost because of sin.

• Adam and Eve suffered no sickness or poverty.

• They were never depressed and could always think clearly.
• They could live in God’s presence in complete happiness as His children and friends.
• God wants to restore all of that to you.

Now you can chose to believe.

Will you now decide to receive His perfect love?

WHY IS THE WORLD A TERRIBLE MESS?

Everywhere we look, we see animals hunting and killing animals, animals and plants dying of disease and dehydration, plagues and famines killing men, women and children.

Did God create the world like this? NO.

Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind ... And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:24-25 (NLT)

The Bible gives us a little glimpse of the animal world as God planned it.

In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. Isaiah 11:6 (NLT) 

• God put Adam and Eve in charge of a world of animals at peace. There was no killing and no death, not even among animals.

• Adam and Eve were appointed to be the governors of a planet full of peace and life but when they chose to believe in evil, death entered the world, just as God had warned them.

...but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 2:17 (NIV) 

The devil appeared to Eve as a snake. Did Satan possess a natural created snake or did Satan make himself to appear as a snake? We don’t know.

God is not responsible for the suffering and death around us. 

• We have all followed the example of Adam and Eve by believing the lies of darkness and mistrusting God. 

• We have cursed the earth by our willful blindness. 

But God had an amazing plan to restore all things. 

"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. John 3:16 (NIV)

It was man who brought death into the world and messed up God’s creation but God was not taken by surprise. He saw it all coming because the future is an open book to His all seeing eye.

Even before Adam and Eve went astray, God planned that He Himself would come to earth as a man. 

• What a man destroyed, a man would restore, the perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the promised Messiah of Israel.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.

• For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (NIV)

How can you receive the restored eternal life that Jesus offers?

How did Adam and Eve lose eternal life?

• Eve believed the lies of the devil and lost her immortality and glory.

• You and I can believe the truth of Jesus and God will restore to you what Adam and Eve lost. 

But Eve did not just believe a lie; she acted on it.You must believe the truth of Jesus and act on it. 

• Ask Jesus to forgive your sins and commit your life to trusting and obeying Him. He is the one who created you and truly loves you.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. Romans 8:18-19 (NIV)

• When you decide to stop believing the lies of darkness and live by the truth of God, you become a son or daughter of the Most High God, the Heavenly Father. 

• Suffering does not disappear but one day you and I will live in God’s perfectly restored heavenly new creation.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, 

• in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. Romans 8:20-21 (NIV)

BLESSING IS SO POWERFUL

Human history did not begin with a political leader or the work of a great genius.

...God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; MALE and FEMALE he created THEM.

• And God blessed THEM...Genesis 1:27-28 (ESV) 

History began with a happy couple blessed by God. 

Human life is not all about the dominance of great men, great kings or great preachers. 

The essence of human life is friendship and partnership.

• Man and woman, husband and wife, brother and sister are called to be friends and partners with each other.

• Not only that. You and I are created to be friends and partners with God in ruling the world.

WHAT IS RULING THE WORLD? 

• BLESSING, FRUITFULNESS AND LOVING SERVICE, NOT DOMINATION OF OTHER PEOPLE.

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply... (physically and spiritually). Genesis 1:28 (NLT)

• Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Matthew 20:25 (NIV) 

Throughout human history, men have dominated women and stronger men have dominated weaker men. 

IS GOD AGAINST LEADERSHIP?

By no means.

• Jesus taught a completely different concept of leadership, an idea that goes right back to God’s original blessing before Adam and Eve believed the lies of the devil.

But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant... Matthew 20:26 (NLT)

Now we need to carefully consider what this means. 

• There are mothers and fathers who work like slaves for their children but in return, they demand total obedience to their own ideas. 
• The children can never discover the meaning of freedom. 

I once read the story of a middle aged man who killed himself and left a suicide note. 

He was a farmer’s son who faithfully served his father,

• but could not even buy a garden tool for the farm without his father’s permission. 

• He chose to end his life rather than continue to live as a slave.

Sadly there are government officials, business managers, teachers and even pastors who rule over people like this. 

• They work harder than those under them and in return, they demand complete control over everything and everybody.

What does the Bible say?

We must not rebel and start a fight against a bullying leader. The Bible tells us to respect authority. 

• But does that mean we must remain unquestioning slaves?

David served King Saul, even when Saul came under the control of dark spirits but there came a time when David had to claim his freedom.

• When Saul tried to kill David, the young man fled for his life. 

When a leader imprisons you with control, you have God’s permission to leave. 

• Some people leave too quickly but others stay too long.

The Apostle Paul told the Christians in Galatia not to submit to self appointed church leaders who wanted to control them with man made rules.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)

After Paul planted a church in Corinth, bossy preachers came in and took over.

• How did Paul tell the Christians to respond? DON’T SUBMIT TO THEM!

After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools!

• You put up with it when someone enslaves you, 
• takes everything you have, takes advantage of you, 
• takes control of everything, and slaps you in the face. 2 Corinthians 11:19-20 (NLT)  

Paul has one word to describe bossy and controlling church leaders: FOOLS.

Bossy leaders can only control your life if you allow them to.

You must resist bossy leadership but be careful how you react.

• Don’t start a fight ... 
• ...but also don't run from necessary confrontation.
• Don’t set up your own ministry with a vengeful or competitive attitude 
• ... but don't bury your gift if you are called to pioneer a new ministry.

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Romans 12:14 (NLT) 

Blessing is not weak. It has the power of God’s original creation.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) 

IS GOD HUMBLE?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NIV) 

Clearly Jesus lived a humble life on earth. 

He lived in glory as God the Son in heaven with the Father. 

• He never had a beginning. 

• He was uncreated and equal with the Father yet He chose to be born in a stable surrounded by farm animal. 

• He chose to work as a village carpenter and He chose to associate with people rejected by the elite of society.

Was Jesus humble because he was a man who needed to be humble in submission to God? 

• ...or was Jesus humble because humility is an essential aspect of the eternal nature of God?

There is some theology that emphasises the kingly honour and authority of God to such an extent, that it is difficult to see humility as an essential part of God’s heavenly character.

This theology emphasises the sovereignty and authority of God more than His love and compassion, yet John, the especially beloved apostle, tells us that “God IS love.”

• Some theology tells us that God seeks His own honour more than He loves men and women. 

It is clear in the Bible that God DOES seek to glorify His name, so how can this God seek His own glory and still be humble?

• The New Testament reveals that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

• The Son seeks to glorify the Father and the Holy Spirit.

By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. John 5:30 (NIV) "I am not possessed by a demon," said Jesus, 

• "BUT I HONOUR MY FATHER AND YOU DISHONOUR ME. 
• I AM NOT SEEKING GLORY FOR MYSELF; BUT THERE IS ONE WHO SEEKS IT, AND HE IS THE JUDGE." John 8:49-50 (NIV) 

Jesus the Son seeks to honour the Father and the Father honours the Son. 

Paul teaches the Roman Christians to humble themselves by honouring one another in love.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10 (NIV) 

Jesus demonstrates that God Himself is like that. The Son and the Father are devoted to one another in love, seeking to honour each other.

The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us and seeks to honour Jesus above himself, although the Holy Spirit is also God, in no way inferior to the Father or the Son.

• So as we reverently and thoughtfully read the New Testament, we see that God demonstrates perfect love and humility at the same time as seeking to glorify His name.

So much theology is contaminated with abstract Greek theology. 

Behind the rigid Reformed theory of Divine Sovereignty and Glory is Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, who was a disciple of Plotinus, who turned the philosophy of Plato into a mystical monotheistic religion.

• When Augustine became a Christian, he repented of his sins of the flesh but he never renounced his experience of being united with the mystical supreme deity through Platonic meditation.

I prefer the simple theology of Bill Johnson. His first principle is this: “JESUS IS PERFECT THEOLOGY.” 

Is humility an essential eternal characteristic of God?

• Firstly, humility is an attribute of LOVE.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NIV) 

• Secondly, GOD IS LOVE.

And the final proof is this:

John 14:6-9 (NIV) 6  Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

7  IF YOU REALLY KNEW ME, YOU WOULD KNOW MY FATHER AS WELL. FROM NOW ON, YOU DO KNOW HIM AND HAVE SEEN HIM." 

8  Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." 

9  Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? 

ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN ME HAS SEEN THE FATHER. HOW CAN YOU SAY, 'SHOW US THE FATHER'? 

If Jesus is humble, the Father is also humble. Their character is the same.

IN SEARCH OF THE REAL JESUS

Supposing you never heard of Jesus and you found a New Testament. 
Suppose you read the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John for the first time. 

• What would you think of Jesus?

• What kind of person do you think you discover?

He spent three years preaching in Israel. Everywhere he went, his words had a dramatic impact, winning love and trust from some and provoking murderous hatred from religious leaders.

He spoke words of wisdom which are admired by people of all faiths.

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 

• For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2 (NIV) 

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you... Matthew 7:12 (NIV)  

Jesus did not put great value on religious hierarchies, status or position. 

"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 

And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Mt 23:8-9 (NIV)

He Himself was the most powerful preacher in his generation but he never sought a position for himself.

Jesus saw that they were ready to take him by force and make him their king, 

so he went higher into the mountains alone. John 6:15 (TLB) 

Jesus taught and practised humility and modesty.

(Jesus) called a little child and had him stand among them.

• And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

• Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4 (NIV)

The life of Jesus also demonstrated humility.

• He was born in a stable surrounded by farm animals. 

• He worked as a village carpenter until he was 30.

• He preached in public places and on hillsides and he was never ordained by the religious authorities.

• He provoked persecution by religious leaders because he was openly friendly with social outcasts, corrupt tax collectors and women of bad reputation.

WHAT DID THIS HUMBLE PREACHER SAY ABOUT HIMSELF?

Now the story becomes really strange.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 

• for I am gentle and humble in heart, 
• and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28-29 (NIV) 

• Jesus is a humble man who says he is humble. This is strange.

• Jesus is also a humble man who claims to be able to give peace to everyone who trusts him. This is really a bold claim.

What else did Jesus say?

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 (NIV) 

• He claims to be divine. He claims that no one can come to God except through him.

How can a man be humble and say he is humble?How can a man be humble and say he is divine?

Then he goes further.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. John 5:21 (NIV) 

• He claims to be the Son of God who has unlimited power to give life to human beings. 

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, John 5:22 (NIV) 

• He says he is the divine judge of all mankind.

Later he said something which made the Jews want to kill him because he was claiming to be the eternal God.

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" John 8:58 (NIV)

• Either Jesus was a madman, a fraud or else he was who he said he was, GOD.

• He cannot be just a great teacher.