4-26-2020 I AM the Life

Self Portraits of Christ  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  24:06
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Text: John 14.6 Title: “I AM the Life” Topic: Christ the source of Life Series: “Self-portraits of Christ” Occasion: Sun AM, 4-26-2020, Duncanville FWB Church Introduction: As we continue our series on the self-portraits of Christ (i.e. the “I Am” statements that don’t tell us what other thought of Christ but reveal how Jesus saw himself in relation to his father, this world, and his church) we want to consider the third title that is found in the trilogy of titles given in John 14.6. Reading of Text: John 14.6 “I am… the Life.” This is an astonishing statement. Any other person would have to say “I am a life,” or “I have life.” In other words, “I exist,” or “I live.” But Christ says, “I am the Life.” The definite article there makes our Lord’s statement resonate with sublime truth. What is the truth about himself that Jesus is proclaiming? I. Jesus is the Source of All Life. What Jesus is saying is that he is the source of all life. Contrary to what the evolutionists think, life in our cosmos is not the result of a happy accident the right mixture of gases, pressures, and electricity to form basic amino acids. All life in our cosmos is derived from the provision and providence of the Triune God. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, our very being – all comes to us by Divine providence. We are mere creatures of our Creator, reflections of his goodness and love. You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. Rev. 4.11 And John in the opening verses of his Gospel clearly identified Jesus Christ as the creator who is the source of all life. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind ….The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1.1-4,14 II. Jesus is the Source of All Abundant Life Most of us would readily admit that we want to experience God’s blessings in our life. Jesus said that he is the source of all abundant or blessed living. He said. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10.10 The ESV and other translations say “that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Simply put if you want the best that life has to offer, that life is found in Jesus. He is the source of life that is blessed with abundance and fullness. III. Jesus is the Source of All Purposeful Life. Christ is the Source of life with a purpose. He rescues life from becoming mundane and meaningless. He redeems it from being simply existence. The life he gives has to be spelled with a capital L - it is The Life. He gives purpose and significance to Life. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 2 Tim. 1.9-10 Apart from Christ, there is no life. Without him life may be described with the words of Shakespeare’s MacBeth: Life’s but a walking shadow A poor player That struts and frets His hour upon the stage And then is heard no more It is the tale told by an idiot, Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Our meaning and purpose in life are found alone in Christ. In Him our lives are more than just cosmic accidents. In Christ we become sons of God, and co-heirs with Christ of his kingdom. IV. Christ is the Source of Excellence in Life In 1982 Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman conducted a study of the 43 of America’s leading companies. The result of their study was the book In Search of Excellence: Lessons Learned from Americas Most Successful Companies. The 43 companies in the study were all characterized by 8 core principles that emerged as the distinctions of excellent companies. The book was updated and republished in 2004 as a vindication of the principles they had discovered in their study. The book has forever changed the way businesses are managed, as companies have sought not to be good at everything but to be the best at one thing. This is the philosophy that made Starbucks a synonym for coffee! If business makes major investments to pursue excellence, how much more vital is it for us to pursue excellence in our life. As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it….. So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Eph. 4.1-7,17-32 Christ is the source of excellent life. Because of him we no longer live according to the patterns of this sinful world, but he helps us to be the best that we can be. In him we become creative, productive, responsible, compassionate, responding adequately to change or crisis. It is in Christ that our potential is more fully actualized. V. Christ is the Source of Eternal Life. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; John 11.25 Our hope for eternal life rests squarely on the reality of Christ’s resurrection. We derive our life from the one who conquered death by rising from the dead to new life. Our hope of eternal life is grounded in the living Christ who today sits enthroned in glory at the right hand of the Father. We are energized by him to live, grow, and go on to life eternal. Conclusion: Christ the way, lead me for without you there is no going Christ the truth, teach me, for without you there is no knowing Christ the life, live through me, for without you there is no growing.
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