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Following Christ
from sermon series
“Learning from Isaiah”
by
Pastor Dave Strem
Used by
permission
Remember the story of
the prodigal son? If we were to flash forward a year
and see the relationship between the father and his son,
what would we see? What is the son doing a year later?
Is that son’s attitude any different than it was before
he left? Wouldn’t it be tragic if we see the son still
rebellious toward the father and still wishing that he
had his father’s money to spend on riotous and
self-indulgent living? Wouldn’t that be a tragic end to
the story? But is not that how many Christians live
their Christian lives? “Hey,” they might say, “I have a
ticket to heaven, I am forgiven and so I can do what I
want. I can live the way I want because I am taken care
of, my sin is forgiven. I am fixed.” Are you living
that way?
There is another ending
to that story. It is where the son realizes how much
his father loves him and that he wants to be in the
father’s presence, to walk with his father, not away
from him. Which kind of child are you? Jesus gave us
that illustration because we can relate to it on a
personal level and he wants us to personally be like the
son who says, “I want to be back with you. I do not
simply want your blessing, I want your presence in my
life. I want your guidance. I am willing to be your
son, not a man in rebellion to you.”
Living in light of the
cross means three things. First, we are to take sin
seriously. Sin does not go away when we become
Christians. We can still rebel against God’s plans for
our lives. We may accept His forgiveness and recognize
His person, but we still want control over our personal
lives. Sins can still be part of our character unless
we submit to the Father and say, “Lord, I do not want to
live that way. Strengthen me, guide me, help me.” Sin
is still serious. Beware of thinking that because God
forgives you can live the way you want. God does not
forgive you just because He loves you. That would be
like God saying, “It does not really matter, I accept
you anyway, you can do what you want.” Divine
forgiveness is not cheap. God forgives you because of
the cross of Christ. He sent Christ to the cross
because of His love for you. But His holiness demanded
that justice for sin be paid and He paid that price for
you on the cross. He forgives us because His Son took
the penalty. Sin is still a problem. He does not wink
at it or sweep it under the rug. He does not say,
“Well, never mind, it doesn’t really matter.” Do not
continue to pierce the heart of God with your
rebellion. God still hates sin.
Calvary is the spectacle of
that hatred.
We need to regain the
conviction of sin. Being under grace, receiving the
grace of God does not give you license to sin against
God. First Corinthians 6:19 is very clear, it says, “You are not your own, you are bought with a
price. Therefore, honor God with your body.” With your
body, with your life, with your essence, with your
strength, with all that you do, honor God. Rather than
being abandoned to your old nature and habits, God says,
“I have put in you a new nature. You have a choice.”
He strengthens our hearts and spirits with His spirit so
we are no longer slaves to our selfish nature. We can
learn to choose to listen and trust His urgings.
Secondly, His grace
should inspire our mercy toward others. His grace
should inspire our graciousness. Remember the older
brother of the prodigal son. He did not have that
characteristic, did he? It was not fair that the father
received the son back from such riotous living, he
thought. Jesus made it perfectly clear. In the Lord’s
prayer He said, “Forgive and it shall be forgiven you.
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who
trespass against us.” Forgive as you have been
forgiven. He says very plainly, “If you forgive men
when they sin against you, your heavenly father will
also forgive you. But if you do not forgive their sins,
your father will not forgive your sins.” Are you
holding any grudges? Are you waiting for your day of
revenge and retribution? And maybe you are not going to
do anything, but you are thinking, “I am waiting for God
to get him. It is only fair. I am not going to do
anything to him, but God get him.” Don’t let that
bitterness destroy your heart, because it will. God
says, forgive them. Let it go. Has not Christ done
enough for you and forgiven you enough that you can let
it go? God wants you to experience not simply being
forgiven but the joy and restoration that forgiveness
can bring in your own life. Micah 6:8 says clearly:
“No, O people, the Lord has already told you what is
good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right,
to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Let
His grace inspire your mercy, your graciousness, and
then walk humbly with Him.
That leads us to the
third point. We are to delight in walking with God. He
has good things planned for you, a wonderful adventure
ahead. There may be trials, persecutions, and hard
times but if you stay by God’s side, He will give you
rich and wonderful experiences and opportunities to
serve Him. A couple years ago I rode a horse into
church to teach a spiritual point. The point of doing
it was to show how two different beings could interact
together to accomplish great things. To go when God
says to go. To stop when God says to stop. To turn
when He says to turn, otherwise you are of no use and He
will put you out to pasture. Do what God says so He can
use you, so He can lead you on wonderful trails, so He
can trust you in desperate or difficult situations. Let
Him be the master. He knows where to go. He knows what
you need. He will care for you every step of the way.
Delight in walking His route.
Right now do you feel
like God’s asking you to do something too hard? “Oh, I
don’t see anybody else having to do that. Lord, why are
you making me do it? Why do you want me to do that?”
And we start whining at God. Jesus did not do any
whining on the cross. “Oh, they will not really
appreciate this anyway. They will just take advantage
of it—why do I have to do this, Father?” He stepped to
the cross in loving obedience to the Father, trusting
Him and you can trust Him as well. Do you take the
cross of Christ for granted? If you do, then you do not
see it clearly. The Cross is where the same Person who
inspired the angels in Isaiah 6 to shield their eyes and
cover their feet out of reverent humility, exchanged His
heavenly robe and glorious throne for a crown of thorns
and cross made of wood. This One who sat majestically
on a heavenly throne only He could sit on was nailed and
fasten to a wooden cross previously used to punish
thieves and murderers. Live in light of the cross.
Live as though it means everything to you. Live as
though it was central to all your actions and
attitudes. Value it as God the Father values it. To
Him it was the central event in the history of the
universe, because by this event He will redeem sinners
and remake the universe into a place of beauty free from
death and destruction. Follow Christ by living in the
light of the Cross! To top of
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