Living By Jesus
February 1, 2015
MF Blume
John 6:53-58 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye
have no life in you. (54) Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
(55) For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. (56)
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I
in him. (57) As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the
Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. (58) This is
that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat
manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Jesus referred to living by Him as He lived by the Father.
How did Jesus LIVE BY THE FATHER.
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge:
and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will
of the Father which hath sent me.
John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the
Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself:
but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
He wouldn’t do anything without the Father’s direction.
So this is how we are supposed to live by Jesus.
And we are given a hint of what he meant when he said this while speaking of the flesh and the blood like bread and wine.
- It’s like FOOD that we require to live.
Matthew 26:26-29 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and
blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take,
eat; this is my body. (27) And he took the cup, and gave
thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
(28) For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for
many for the remission of sins. (29) But I say unto you, I
will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day
when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
It’s not just bread, but broken bread.
- Not just wine or blood but shed blood.
- It points to the cross.
- We read this:
Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
And that causes this…
Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into
death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Walk in newness of life.
- It explains this newness of life is resurrection from the dead.
Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness
of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
LIFE LIFE LIFE.
LIVING BY JESUS!
And when you come to God you must BRING SOMETHING WITH YOU.
We come to Him in times of need.
- We are in a struggle.
- We’re in need of healing.
- We need strengthening.
- We need empowerment.
- Or we need faith.
And we come to God and bring something with us that will move Him to bless us or help us.
What would you bring?
- Would you bring Him all your good deeds?
Luke 18:11-14 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. (12) I fast
twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
(13) And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so
much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner. (14) I tell you, this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that
exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted.
What would you bring?
Would you come to God like someone who did a whole lot of holy deeds?
- Would you impress God with all your fancy Christianese language?
- Would you impress Him to move on your behalf with all your church attendance?
We have to bring something to God and here is what it is.
Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that
are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God.
COME AS SOMEONE GOD RAISED FROM THE DEAD!
- This does not boast of YOUR good works, but glorifies in WHAT GOD
HAS DONE IN PUTTING YOU INTO JESUS’ DEATH AND RAISING YOU FROM IT!
- To WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE, and live as one resurrected is to
HANDLE LIFE IN A DIFFERENT WAY than how we would live without this
having been true.
Does your Christianity cause you to walk in a different way, knowing
that, because you are alive from The dead, you FACE PROBLEMS
DIFFERENTLY?
- Unless we actually walk like people alive from the dead, we are
not living by Jesus and living by our own wits and natural means.
- If we live taking no more risks than we would without being Christians, we are not living by faith and living by Jesus..
- We are not walking in newness of life.
When people see us do things and believe for things that we would never
do before because natural life cannot ever hope to succeed in such
living, then they see a NEWNESS OF LIFE in us.
- When we walk into problems knowing that because God raised ups
from the dead that we’re special to Him and He will empower us if
we need power, and will bless us if we need a miracle, or heal us if we
need healing, then we are LIVING BY JESUS.
- We’re not living by our own good deeds.
- We’re living our lives BY JESUS, just as if eating the
bread and drinking the wine gives us vitamins and energy to do
strenuous tasks, by our reliance on our deaths and resurrections with
Jesus TO MOVE GOD TO HELP US!
- Don’t come to God trying to impress Him by how much you go to church or how holy you live.
- COME WITH WHAT HE DID TO YOU!
- Acknowledge that anything worthy to show Him to move Him to bless
is WHAT HE DID BY HIMSELF without our help in raising us from the dead,
setting us free from sin and making us holy people.
When we rely upon God’s blessings because of God uniting us with
Christ’s death and resurrection, then we don’t bring
anything to Him that our hands have done.
- We give ourselves to Him as risen from the dead, and our hands for HIM TO USE AND DO HOLY THINGS WITH.
If our experience in Jesus does not move us to step out in faith and do
things we’d otherwise never do, then we are not living by Jesus.
- If you take no more risks than someone who cannot believe in a supernatural intervention, then you’re not living by Jesus.
- Take these truths of Christ risen with you and APPLY THEM TO CIRCUMSTANCES YOU FACE IN LIFE.
- We’re supposed to use the truth of the cross in everyday life.
Popeye got beat up until finally he ate spinach.
- Why not always eat it?
- Christians do this all the time.
- Get beat up and finally pray and seek God.
- Learn who they are in Christ.
The high priest went into the holiest to make atonement, and no man could be in there when he did.
- This means not only was no one able to die and go to heaven until
Jesus made atonement, but none of us could contribute to saving
ourselves by running in alongside him with our good works and helping
him out.
THE BLESSINGS OF GOD ARE BASED UPON JESUS’ HOLINESS, NOT OUR OWN.
1 Corinthians 1:29-31 That no flesh should glory in his
presence. (30) But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
redemption: (31) That, according as it is written, He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
We go into the holiest of Heaven, too, and we bring NOTHING except what Jesus did!
- Leave all your holy language and holy acts and good deeds and fancy prayers out.
- GO IN WITH HIS WORK IN YOUR LIFE ALONE!
And if you have a problem with your flesh, give Him your flesh so He can take it and quicken your mortal body.