Hebrews 13:8- Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever.
Our text today comes from Hebrews chapter 13 which is a fascinating chapter filled with good things to preach about. Our particular verse today, is a verse that has come to mean a great deal to me over the last few years. It is a simple verse packed with meaning. The whole key is understanding who Jesus really is.
Today's message is going to be pretty much autobiographical. It took me a really long time to come to an accurate knowledge of who Jesus is, and as a result, come to find extraordinary comfort from the knowledge that Jesus is never going to change.
I became a Christian at a very young age. There isn't a time when I can't remember my family attending church. I accepted Christ one day after Sunday school class.
I was immersed in Biblical teaching and all things Christian from my childhood. My folks were heavily involved in church and attended every service and function.
I attended Sunday school, children's church, mid week service, vacation Bible school, and every other service you can name. Besides this, I attended a Christian school for almost all of my school years.
As I grew older, my parents became very conservative in their religious beliefs and attended a very strict fundamentalist church. I attended the school operated by this church.
All of this time, I was presented with the teachings of Jesus. I was taught the orthodox doctrines of the faith. We believed that Jesus was God and man born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus died for our sins and rose bodily from the grave. We believed in the rapture and the Second Coming. But, the Jesus I was presented with was a Jesus that brought only fear and not comfort. The Jesus we were presented with at church and school was a Jesus just waiting to punish you for the slightest infraction. We learned about a Jesus of severe judgment and not about a Jesus who loved us and the whole world.
I remember as a kid we were always told to be on the alert because the rapture was coming. We were warned to behave because if Jesus came and we were doing something wrong we would be left behind to face the horrors of the tribulation period.
One day my parents had gone over to the neighbors house, and I didn't know they would be gone. I came home and couldn't find them anywhere. I was so afraid the rapture had come, and I had been left behind.
We were taught that if we didn't tithe all of our money that Jesus would cause something to happen to us, and He would get the money out of us one way or the other.
I think the worse thing for me was what the church taught about sickness. I was born with a problem in my immune system. As a young man I was often sick with respiratory problems. Of course the church people said that I must have some sin in my life. Being sick was Jesus' way of punishing me for my sin or my lack of faith.
At about the age of 16, all of the fear and legalistic religion and meanness had taken there toll. I was seriously depressed. I'd just about come to the point of giving up on God and everything else.
Thankfully, the Lord worked in my life in such a way that I began to see the real Jesus and what a difference He makes.
First of all, Jesus sent me a wonderful friend, Toby to help me through the hard times of depression and show me that true love and goodness really did exist in the world.
At this time, I also for the first time in my life came into contact with Christians who presented a Jesus who loved people, who wanted the best for us, and who wanted to help us. They presented a Jesus who wasn't looking to bring misery into my life. Instead, He wanted to bring me peace. I came to know a Jesus who wanted to be my friend.
I also began to really study the Bible and find out for myself all of the things Jesus did and said. It was a different picture than I'd seen before.
It took a long time, but finally I began to see who Jesus was, and my entire spiritual life changed. I began to realize that I could have a real relationship with Jesus.
My prayer life changed. I could talk to the Lord and really share with Him all of my burdens. I could cast my cares on Him and find rest in Him.
My behavior changed. I wanted to serve the Lord out of love and not fear. When I realized the depths of the love of Jesus, it made me want to love and help others and the world that God had made.
Leaving legalistic Christianity and its distorted view of Jesus was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I hope that you know who the real Jesus is. I hope you know the Jesus who had compassion for the sick and hurting, who cared about the poor and those the religious people rejected. I hope you know the Jesus who wants to be your friend. and who wants to help you and give you peace.
What helped me the most was to really read the Bible. Read the words of Jesus, and His truth will come shining through. Also, the writings of Lloyd Oglivie, Tony Campolo, Joseph Girzone, and Brennan Manning helped me in my spiritual walk,
To really know Jesus, become a person of prayer, contemplation, and meditation. You can really only know someone if you spend time with them. The more you learn about Jesus the greater He becomes. May the Lord bless you. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment