What Child is This? - Who is He?, Part 2

Who is Jesus. I mean to you.

Who is Jesus to you before you answer, let me at this. Who is Jesus to you and what difference does it really make in your life if you like most of us the answer that question can get foggy in everyday life. So today were to learn how to clear away the fog and get a fresh understanding of who Jesus is and how he can help you every minute of every day.

That's today for Giorgio's for this Wednesday.

Addition of living on the Living on the Edges of international discipleship ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Chip Ingram today.

Chip continues his series, what child is this like asking a rather intriguing question baby in the manger really was God come from heaven with that reality affects my life.

It's possible when she finishes his teaching.

You may want to share this message with someone you know with us quick and easy way for you to do that now with today's message from Colossians chapter 1 is our teacher dripping from Jesus. So what's your role here, the creator and the sustainer you're the physical revelation of the invisible God would say well that's with regard to the physical creation. Let me tell you about this other creation. But this is something really special. This is a creation of what I did is called a spiritual body. It's why I came in is called the church so they tell you who I am, not just with the physical world. The I made it but I made something else on the head of the body, the church on the firstborn from the dead first resurrected in order that I might have supremacy first place in everything stored head here means both source and authorities that on the source of the church and on the authority I'm the CEO on the Lord on the master I died for these people when they trusted me. My spirit, the Holy Spirit is coming to their life and now the expression of my body isn't me walking around. It's them, God the son God the Holy Spirit taking up residence in regular human beings and on the head of that group of people we not talking about a building is not talk about a local church. He sung that every single person in whom the Spirit of God dwells that you're born again you're a follower of Christ was on the head and then he says he uses this word again. I'm first in rank on the first corner. He wasn't the only person right in the Old Testament you had people that rose from the dead Lazarus in the New Testament. You had people rise from the dead when he says on the first born in the resurrection. He's the first who is resurrected and will never die in the first with a resurrected body in first Corinthians 15, Paul teaches in the same line because he rose you will rise with him but he's the first to rise in a way that will be just like you will rise with him for those who believe in. So what's the truth here. The truth is, Jesus is Lord over the church and the responses we must obey him, which underline fully we must obey him fully. He's not content at all to be sort of on the Pantheon or the salad bar of multiple God choices which is how things work. Are you not like a little Baha'i here and little Christianity here maybe little Buddhism over here know I'm just can collectively take what I sorta believe in what I like about different things and other parts of the Bible, the really good parts. What Jesus had a really good and you know I'm gonna selectively obey what I think is best for me and see when you really do the math on that and this is how people live. This is how you want Christians live I'll do that. I'm not to do that, you know that command that that's a pretty old-fashioned man I did on disk. I just don't think I'm going to do that one model it's pretty costly could be pretty painful. There might be a lot of risk so I'm good. Obey this and this and I'm not can do that.

I'm not can do that unit becomes God, the person who decides what's right and what's true and what you gonna do is the person becomes God and the idol that we worship is ourselves. So we basically say you don't think about it this way in resort to slide into it. But you know, I know better than you about relationships. I know better than you about the future. I know better than you about sexual purity. I know better than you about ethics in business so but these things sound pretty good and I course I want great relationships, and so I want have a great relationship with you is called selective or partial obedience and statistically it's killing us. I mean it's killing us. It's killing us because when non-Christians meet Christians who selectively obey what they realizes you not only part of that you say this but really you live in that it's killing us because when we don't obey God. Here's you know who loses we do. It's is good and acceptable and perfect will that their doors a hard process, you find a great athlete. I will tell you a great musician a great artist, a great business person.

If you asked them what to take all clear focus strategy discipline.

It's hard, you pay a price you invest and will that's how God made like to work and it's really not a whole lot different than I'm in a new relationship. Just like a marriage to a person and you learn to communicate and you learned that the other person first and learn to work through issues and you don't give up. And what happens difficulty up, down, difficulty ups down but pretty soon you have this deep rich relationship and the same thing is exactly what happens in our relationship with God. But what so many of us do is wheat we get to the point all that's a hard one, and so right now about 50% of all evangelical believers in United States between the ages of 18 to 30 currently live with their boyfriend or girlfriend and say I agree with all of Christianity that I just don't think this not sex before marriage could really be is 1/21 century. Can you break or we have about 30% of her teenagers who probably have never heard a whole lot different. I mean it's no worse sin than any other sins but about 1/3 of our teens, our churches think that same-sex unions are okay. As long as people of one another. See at some point in time, someone quote calls the shots whose Lord and God and Jesus said that's me on the head on the firstborn on the Lord and here's a thing I love you. Trust is hard, but it's only hard if you don't believe that God is the creator and the sustainer and he's worthy and he really has your best in my I've never yet met anyone who's made really hard faith decisions to do what they know is right not sorted out of some formula. If I do this got to do this, but out of relationship to not break God's heart and usually there's a front end cost and some pain and some difficulty and then there's this amazing reward because God loves us. Jesus said this to his disciples. Those of you that have my commands and keeps them those of the ones that love me. John 1421. But that wasn't the end he says then I will come with my father and I love the old version of this and we will make our abode with you. In other words, the presence of the sun in the presence of the father by the person of the Holy Spirit working to take up residence in you and were going to flood you with the reality of our love and our kindness in our power enter holiness and working to transform you from the inside out. See that's that's why the baby came in the manger fully man and fully God. I member early, my Christian life because I I've I've been a master at selective obedience actually and rationalization. It's a gift I have and the and so II you and I, I kinda was living this way and a member reading through the Old Testament and is maybe my second time through, and it's a pretty thick section so it took me a while and I've never read the Bible. Growing up in the resist king named Saul and you know he's, you know, handsome and big and strong and God made in the Kings, the people asked for written. So while he has is like couple victories and then God gives in this really tough assignment and he supposed to eliminate coming everything the animals and and that he feels little peer pressure in and so he rationalizes and instead of killing all the animals he decides it will make him a sacrifice and he, selectively decides what part of God's command is going to obey and I'll never forget Samuel the prophet comes in.

It senses Saul and what what what are you doing mean this is God. He said do this what all I am dating. I bade him how they didn't and then then there's this line I have underlined my Bible. I think in some funny color and Samuel says if you obeyed and what is this bleeding of the sheep that I hear and then he turns around as well. You not I wanted to say that she can make a lot of sacrifices to God and you do a lot of good things.

I'm sure you can appreciate it. And Samuel says you do not get it with God. With God. Obedience is always better than sacrifice.

He doesn't want your stuff he doesn't want your time, he doesn't want your money.

He doesn't want you religious activity. He wants you to obey. Remembering that thinking you not think my selective obedience days need to come to an end and maybe I need to give God my girlfriend life my basketball life. My eco-life and my future and just trust that someone who came and took on human flesh and made everything and sustains everything could probably figure out to give me the best woman the best future and in my perverted little mind, the best basketball you could but believe how good God is and what Paul's trying to help these Colossians here being bombarded like we are in our day. He said I want you to understand Jesus is the physical revelation of the invisible God, I want you to understand this, Jesus is the creator and the sustainer of everything and I want you to understand he's Lord he's Lord rightfully over all the church and so you can know and you can trust him and you got obey him, and then the fourth question is what are your goals. Sounds like a silly question to ask God but I asked Frank and we got talking for a while.

I didn't telling you know you know it was it was just a very warm conversation and I didn't bring up his girlfriend or any of that kind of stuff. He just he just turned to me and and in I found that her name and sound like any relationship and how they became friends for a long time and we were just friends and he said you know we didn't date your anything and all of a sudden one day you like while you know she's really neat. We we love each other. We complement one another on on on and and I did.

It is very interesting goes blessed. So what's in your future. He goes I think I think I should marry Mary. It's interesting he realize what he really wanted he wanted a permanent reconciliation.

He wanted to come together in a permanent relationship that they could both really trust and know the other persons can be there for. And if you asked Jesus you know why why did you become fully man and fully God and what was the goal. What with the game plan.

What were you trying to accomplish and he would say it was the father was pleased to have all his fullness literally means all the fullness of deity dwells when him and why to underline that word reconcile what reconcile bring together all things to himself will like what we need by all things things on earth, and things in heaven. That's the why the word reconcile literally is you know what it's like you had a fight with your boyfriend or girlfriend and you get reconciled. I I've had a handful of occasions people who divorced and they get reconciled and had the chance to remarry them or people that are separated in the or you know you can be reconciled with your boss you can be reconciled with the friend you can be reconciled with a mate. But here's what reconciliation is. You go from adversaries to friends, heart-to-heart connection, you become friends. Things are right now and in a fallen, evil world purpose and goal of Jesus coming to the earth was to make right or to reconcile everything on earth or in heaven, but you notice it doesn't say or under the earth. Some things are irreconcilable. There's 1/3 of the angels that followed Satan and there's people that have come to this earth and been given offer an opportunity and say I want nothing to do with God to which God in his dignity says you can have your own life, all your time on this earth and forever and ever and ever. I will not force myself. This is a love relationship and noticing he describes exactly how I did it, having made peace through his blood shed on the cross.

When Christ died this little baby girl up and he hung upon a cross and we hung upon across your sin, my sin, the sins of all people at all time were placed on him and he became our sacrificial substitute, and God the father looked down from heaven and for the first time ever looked away because your sin and my sin was placed on the substitute of Christ, and he became sin a sin offering on our behalf and peace occurred between us and God and what we could never do for herself. Christ accomplish.

He covered or atoned for our sin, so that all people have been made savable doesn't mean all people are saved or all people will be reconciled because God doesn't force himself, but all people have been made savable. The offer is your sins. The good news of the early church was not due ABCD and Ian that God will love you and forgive you it was God has already forgives you by the death of his son proved it by the resurrection.

Do you want the free gift of eternal life, as many as received him, John would write a Jesus as many as received him to them. He gives the right or the authority to become children of God, even to those who believe on his name to an amazing offer. That's why it's called good news. The truth is, Jesus is the sovereign King of time and eternity say he's gonna reconcile all things to himself and there is a coming day when this earth will come to a close and the reigning king will come, and not just the temporal heaven, but there will be a new heaven and a new earth in the new heaven will come down on this very physical new earth, and he will reign as king forever and ever. And here's your response, you will reign with him.

Those who trusted Christ by faith whose spirit comes in and indwells you and as you follow him and he changes your life. This God has a plan and the plan is bigger than just now you will reign with him forever and what that does is it changes the lens by which you look at everything.

See we were Americans. We want everything now instant gratification. We want great relationships. Now we want the business to go now. We want our kids to be great. Now we want everything now now now now now godliness.

Patients endurance life change character happens by people who understand I live in time but I made for eternity. I'm going to prioritize and make decisions and trust and do what mounts for eternity not just now changes your perspective. See everyone today is I can't wait.

I can't wait. I can't wait or it's fear. Fear. Fear this might happen that might happen as though like okay this little 70 or 80 years you get like okay what some really bad things happen, but you're really right with God and you live forever and ever and ever and what you do now, even if it doesn't all work out the way you would like it to. For the present. Actually set you up for something that's better and better longer and longer and forever when I was in Singapore I learned something and later in China that they think differently than we do. They think about time completely differently than we do for Chinese. It's like I were to do this in 100 years.

We feel like this. This is gonna work out at me to actually think and plan that way.

I was in a set of high-rises, beautiful high-rises, and you know all these new buildings and it looked just spiffy in this brand-new harbor and and another guy was with turned to because you understand this is all reclaimed land civil what you mean by that goes well for 30 years. What will from China who taken granite just boatload boatload about looking barges. We brought granite the first 20 years and we brought tons and tons and tons and tons of sand and we let it settle for another 10 years and then we build all this and all the plans are going to look over here.

We went over with the top of this high-rise look, look out over here. He said you see all that area were to reclaim all see this barges out there to get there doing the same thing. So the city government has 30 year plans are up and he looked at me like 30 years is nothing, nothing, nothing, you would hear someone else. 70 years is nothing. The vapor nothing, you will reign with him and how you will reign will be determined by how you walk now.

If he's the image of the invisible God, if he's the creator and sustainer of the universe 50s, the creator and head, and Lord of the church in order that he might be supreme or first-place and everything in every galaxy and every relationship among humans and angels in visible and invisible is the only question I have, doesn't it make sense that the baby and that manger that was fully man and fully God, who lived to be Jesus and died and rose from the dead and sits at the right hand of the father and holds all things by the word of his power wouldn't make sense for him to have exactly the same place in your heart and your life and priorities that he has with everything else doesn't anyone I love what I really love about Jesus in the Bible this I mean I could explain everything I said to an eight-year-old who could completely get it to see the common people heard Jesus gladly and so he is the king. The question is, is he your King.

He is the Lord.

The question is, is he your Lord he sustains the universe. The question is does he sustain your life and you know what it starts with us that in the step is, no matter what it means no matter what the cost. Since you are who you say you are before go on today wanted to stop and I wanted to ask you is he your King is he the Lord of your life. You know, Jesus came and he wants to love you and to help you, but he has a condition. This is the will of God. He says I urge you, therefore, my brothers, in view of God's great mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him. This is your spiritual service of worship. The good and perfect and acceptable will of God begins when you surrender all that you are and all that you have to him you know where your hat you know where your lined up or where you're not can I invite you right now at this minute to give him the place in your heart and life in future that he holds in the universe, bow your head if you can close your eyes. If you're not driving and in this moment say Lord I want you to be my king. I will follow you.

I'm getting get into your word. I'm going to seek you with all my heart and you will see God do a miraculous work in you and then through you chip will be right back.

But if you're just joining us, you're listening to living on the judge with Chip Ingram in today's message.

Who is he is from chip series. What child is this for most of us the Christmas story is familiar so there's a chance we forgotten the mystery and all Jesus leaving heaven to come to earth in this three-part series, you become aware of the significance of Christmas in a whole new light fixture basks three simple questions why did he come. Who is he and what does he want the answers may actually lead you to make a few changes in the way you celebrate, so why not pick up a set of CDs or download the free MP3s and use them as a way to prepare you and those you love. For a fresh, exciting Christmas season to order just give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 or visit us online at http://livingontheedge.org as we close today's message you heard me offer the Lordship of Christ means Romans 12 does that sound familiar to a lot of our rural regular listeners coming true spirituality. Any when people surrender to God meet. That is the channel through which is highest and best blessings flow is how God brings about change and I want you know about a million people listen to my voice heard that message and we just know, statistically hundreds of not thousands upon thousands took a step from nominal Christianity, a step from casual Christianity step from. I know it's right to do it. I'm sort of doing it to.

I'm all in, and here's what I can tell you I have thousands upon thousands of emails churchwide campaigns that we've done all over the world that tell us when people go all in marriages change addictions get broken communities change. I mean, people get new parents, employers get new employees. Employees get a new boss who says I am all in and they may not put a Bible on their desk but they start living with compassion and integrity, and here's what I want you to know major things began to occur because the message of Romans 12 one went forth, and it only goes out because people like you pray fervently for Living on the Edge and people like you have given generously. Thank you so much for your partnership. God is at work and let me ask you if you are not a part of that team. Would you consider this December, joining the Living on the Edge family. Would you give a gift today would you pray for us today that we might help more and more people go all in. So God could go forth if you'd like to partner with Living on the Edge, we'd love to have you join us, whether it's prayer or sending a gift you can begin making a difference in the lives of other people today. Now during the month of December.

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What child is this courtship and the entire team.

This is the say thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge