One of the biggest hinderances that gets in the way of followers of Jesus actually living like Jesus lived is the belief that "Jesus is God." And this belief is of course true. But if we allow this belief to sneak its way into the life and ministry of Jesus, we'll be deceived into thinking that Jesus could only heal the sick, love His enemies, raise the dead, and live a life completely free from the bondage of sin because "He's God." With this belief, we can receive the forgiveness of our sins, but still remain living under the power of it. If we stop here, we're left reading a book about a powerful God without being empowered ourselves.
But...if we believe that the life Jesus lived was actually not as God, but as a man empowered by the Holy Spirit, it changes everything. With this belief, Jesus' life is no longer only an impressive story to share with people, but a model of what a humans life can look like if yielded to the Holy Spirit. And the exciting news is this: this belief is true. Philippians 2 says that Jesus, although He existed in the form of God, emptied Himself and came in the form of a man. James 1 says that God cannot be tempted by evil, yet Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4. We believe God is all-knowing, yet Luke 2 says that Jesus grew in wisdom. The Gospels tell us that Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him afterwards, then He began His ministry. The point is this: Jesus lived his life as a man to show men that we can live life like Jesus.
1 John 2:6 says "whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked." And I think we would all agree that this means we should do our best to live like Jesus. But if we're not careful, we can fall into limiting the Christian life to simply abstaining from sin as best as we possibly can and serving in church once a week. But Jesus' life looked like more. Jesus' life looked like healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and casting out demons...which we're actually commanded to do (Matt. 10:8). Jesus' life wasn't just about resisting the wrong, it was also about releasing the right. And "the right" is the kingdom of God, and releasing the kingdom of God looks like releasing the things Jesus released into the world by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The supernatural is not just for the "gifted ones" or the missionaries in Africa, the supernatural is for the believer (Mark 16:17-18). If you are a believer, you can heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons. So lets raise the Christian bar a bit and start pursuing putting some hospitals out of business. Let us be people who refuse to settle for anything less than our lives looking like the New Testament.
We'll never get in trouble by Jesus for believing too much...for having too high of an expectation of what His Spirit can do through a human life. So be free, take risks, and simply believe. We can do this. We can live like Jesus.
But...if we believe that the life Jesus lived was actually not as God, but as a man empowered by the Holy Spirit, it changes everything. With this belief, Jesus' life is no longer only an impressive story to share with people, but a model of what a humans life can look like if yielded to the Holy Spirit. And the exciting news is this: this belief is true. Philippians 2 says that Jesus, although He existed in the form of God, emptied Himself and came in the form of a man. James 1 says that God cannot be tempted by evil, yet Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4. We believe God is all-knowing, yet Luke 2 says that Jesus grew in wisdom. The Gospels tell us that Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him afterwards, then He began His ministry. The point is this: Jesus lived his life as a man to show men that we can live life like Jesus.
1 John 2:6 says "whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked." And I think we would all agree that this means we should do our best to live like Jesus. But if we're not careful, we can fall into limiting the Christian life to simply abstaining from sin as best as we possibly can and serving in church once a week. But Jesus' life looked like more. Jesus' life looked like healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and casting out demons...which we're actually commanded to do (Matt. 10:8). Jesus' life wasn't just about resisting the wrong, it was also about releasing the right. And "the right" is the kingdom of God, and releasing the kingdom of God looks like releasing the things Jesus released into the world by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The supernatural is not just for the "gifted ones" or the missionaries in Africa, the supernatural is for the believer (Mark 16:17-18). If you are a believer, you can heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons. So lets raise the Christian bar a bit and start pursuing putting some hospitals out of business. Let us be people who refuse to settle for anything less than our lives looking like the New Testament.
We'll never get in trouble by Jesus for believing too much...for having too high of an expectation of what His Spirit can do through a human life. So be free, take risks, and simply believe. We can do this. We can live like Jesus.