The churches of Christ
Greet You (Romans
INTRODUCTION:
1. What
do the words "Jesus Christ" mean to you?
Today,
the words
"Jesus Christ" are most frequently used as
swear
words. People use them in order to vent their anger or frustration.
To some people, the words
"Jesus Christ" are an embarrassment. To mention His name at a party or
at work is a sure conversation-stopper. If you mention His name, people
will accuse you
of being a religious fanatic.
2. Why does bringing up
the word "Jesus" make so many people uncomfortable?
You know
if Jesus had been a bad man, or had been a mass murderer or a Don Juan,
we could understand the negative reaction that some people have towards
Him. However, Jesus was nothing of the kind. He was the most dynamic,
attractive, and genuinely good human beings who has ever lived.
3. Jesus has made the biggest impact upon the world
than anyone else.
One man said: "Jesus was
the greatest
religious genius that ever lived. His beauty is eternal, and his reign
shall
never end. Jesus is in every respect unique, and nothing can be
compared
with him. All history is incomprehensible without Jesus Christ."
Jesus has not only made the
biggest impact upon the world than anyone else; He can make the biggest
impact upon your life as well.
SEVERAL POINTS ON THE LIFE OF JESUS
I. WHO IS JESUS?
1.
The Jesus who meets us in the pages of the four Gospels is very
different from the picture
many of us have of Him. When we observe the Gospels, we notice that
Jesus
is nothing like the "gentle Jesus meek and mild" of the children's
stories.
(1)
Jesus is full of love and compassion and He demonstrates His love for
mankind time and time again. However, some people feel that Jesus was
the kind of person who was always gentle and meek and never stood up
against the things that were contrary to the Will of God.
(2) But when we look in
the Bible, we see a man who not only took time to nurture and love the
little children, but He also was a man who made a whip out of cords and
drove all of the corrupt money changers out of the temple courts. We
also see a man who stood up against the false teachings of the
religious leaders of His day.
(3) We see a man who
loved people
so much that He confronted their sin to help them have a better
relationship with God. He once told an adulterators
women to "go your way and from now on sin no more" (John 8). There is
no doubt that Jesus was gentle and meek, however, He was also very
direct and stood up for
the truth.
2. Likewise, Jesus is not
the miserable holy man who never laughs. He is not the fearsome judge
who watches to see if we are enjoying ourselves and then tells us to
stop. Nor is He the
lifeless figure in the stained-glass window. Jesus is radiantly alive
and
loves each and every one of us.
3. There is a great deal
we would like to know about Jesus that we are simply not told. We do
not even know what He looked like. He was a Palestinian Jew, and as
such the color of His skin would be olive, and His eyes brown.
Palestinian Jews had black hair and kept it carefully groomed. They
valued a full beard. He wore a sleeveless undergarment with a girdle,
the customary cloak and sandals, and carried a
staff on journeys. That is all we know about His appearance or can
guess with
confidence.
4. His mother tongue was
Aramaic, a dialect of Hebrew, which He would have spoken with a
northern accent common to
5.
Jesus is the Savior who rescues mankind from sin.
Loved
ones, at one time we all were drowning in our sins. We were dying of a
serious illness
called sin. But on one glories day, Jesus rescued us from our sins.
Many
great rescue
attempts have been completed successfully during the history of this
country,
yet they all pale in comparison to the greatest rescue of all - the
saving
of mankind by God. Mankind found itself lost in life, held hostage by
evil,
helpless and hopeless. Jesus risked Himself - even gave His life - to
rescue
mankind. His is the greatest of all acts.
6. If someone ever asks
you, "Who Is Jesus Christ," tell them that Jesus is the Son of the
living God who
came to rescue mankind from their sins. Paul tells us that Jesus "gave
himself
for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age…" (Gal. 1:4). Jesus
is
the Great Rescuer!
II. WHAT MAKES JESUS SO GREAT AND SET APART FROM OTHER RELIGIOUS LEADERS?
1. Jesus’ Teachings Sets Him Apart From Other Religious Leaders
No one in the history of the world has paralleled to
the quality, the power, and the authority of the teaching of Jesus.
(1)
Nobody has been able to show any evil contained within it.
(2) Nobody has been able
to show any good that is not contained with it.
(3) Nobody has been able
to surpass it.
In the Bible, people were
amazed with Jesus’ teaching.
"No one
ever spoke the way this man does..." said the soldiers who had been
sent to arrest Jesus (John
"When Jesus had finished
saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because He
taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law"
(Matt.
Back in the first
century, the
people were astonished and amazed with His teaching, and people are
still amazed today.
2. Jesus’ Lifestyle Sets Him Apart
From Other Religious Leaders
Jesus’
teaching, the highest ever given, was backed up by a flawless
character. In fact, Jesus’ lifestyle was so flawless, that His
disciples were convinced that He was without
sin and moral flaw. They wrote about His spectacular life style:
"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth. When they
hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He
made no
threats" (1 Peter
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as
we
are - yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus practiced what He preached.
(1) He not only taught people to love their enemies; He did it. During
His crucifixion, Jesus looked at His enemies and said, "Father, forgive
them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke
(2) He not only claimed
that the
highest thing a man could do for his friends was to lay down His life;
He
did it (John
3. Jesus’ Miracles Sets Him Apart
From Other
Religious Leaders
In the
Bible, we read that Jesus performed about 35 different miracles. He did
things like change water into wine, calm a storm, raise the dead, and
cure people of their
diseases.
Why did
Jesus heal people?
(1) He
healed people to confirm His Word (Mark
"Then the
disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with
them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it" (Mark
(2) Jesus healed out of
compassion.
On one
occasion a man with leprosy came to Jesus and got on His knees and
begged him "to make
him clean." "Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and
touched
the man. I am willing, He said. Be clean" (Mark
Jesus is still healing
people today. Whatever disease you may be struggling with; don't give
up; Jesus can
heal you.
"Have faith in God," Jesus
answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says
to this mountain,
‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but
believes
that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I
tell
you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it,
and
it will be yours" (Mark
4. Jesus’ Fulfillment Of Prophecy Sets Him Apart From Other Religious
Leaders
The Bible
records over three hundred prophecies that Jesus fulfilled!
5. Jesus’ Claims Sets Him Apart From
Other Religious Leaders
Jesus is
different from other religious leaders such as Buddha, Mohammed, and
Confucius, because Jesus claimed to be God and these other teachers did
not. Jesus claims were identifying Him as more than just a prophet or
teacher. He made claims to deity.
"I and
the Father are one" (John
"In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John
1:1).
"Theirs are the
patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who
is God over all, forever praised! Amen" (Romans 9:5).
"...while we wait for the
blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ..." (Titus 2:13).
Jesus is theos "God!" Since Jesus is God, we can
put all
of our trust and faith in Him.
III. JESUS LIVED A LIFE OF LOVE.
1.
Jesus' whole life and ministry were bathed in love, tireless, outgoing
unselfish love.
He loved His friends.
(a) He loved them even though at times they disappointed Him
(like the time they couldn't stay awake and keep watch while Jesus
prayed in the garden of Gethsemane - Mk. 14:37).
He loved them even though at times they denied even knowing Him (like
Peter).
(b) Despite His friend’s lack of perfection and devotion,
Jesus loved them with every fiber of His being. For John 13:1 says that
Jesus "loved them to the end."
(c) How much love and devotion do you extend to your friends?
Do you love them despite their shortcomings? Are you loyal to them? Do
you treasure them the way Jesus treasured His friends? His example
should inspire us to shower more love to our friends.
He
loved the sick.
(a) On one occasion, He touched a man with leprosy and made
Him clean (Mt. 8:3). How many of you purposely and knowingly reached
out and hugged
or touched a man or a women who has AIDS. By Him touching a man with
leprosy,
would be like us touching a person with AIDS. Jesus reached out to the
sick,
dying, and the diseased ridden people.
(b) How long has it been since you have visited, hugged, and
encouraged someone who is ill? What kind of sacrifices do you make to
reach out to those who are in need and afflicted with illnesses? My
friends Jesus' example should invigorate us to get out of our seats and
spread our love to those in need.
He
loved the
unlovable and taught His disciples to do the same.
"You
have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate
your enemy.’ "But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those
who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is
in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and
sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. "For if you love those
who love you, what reward have you? Do not
even the tax-gatherers do the same? "And if you greet your brothers
only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the
same? "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect" (Matt.
(1) The one sentence that
glows from this passage is the one that says, "For if you love those
who love you, what reward have you?" You
see it is easy to love those who love you back, but the Lord is telling
us that we are to love those who do not love us back. We are to love
even our enemies.
(2) If we are going to
follow the Word of God, we have a choice to make. Are we going to love
or hate our enemies?
(3) Even though Jesus
endured many blows from His enemies, He never stopped loving them. He
chose to love the unlovable and we must do the same.
2. The love Jesus taught,
the love He exhibited, was to be the supreme hallmark of His disciples.
"A new commandment I give
to you,
that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love
one
another.” By this all men will know that you are My
disciples, if you have love for one another" (John
3. Tragically, we as His
followers have fallen short of such love. Yet, it is never too late to
start christening ourselves with the characteristic of love. Jesus
actually did love with the highest love of all. He loved, not some of
the time; all of the time. Not some people; but all people. That is
what Jesus was and is like.
IV. JESUS LIVED A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE.
1. I
think that John
Jesus
said, "…for I always do what pleases him."
2. Jesus left the comfort
of heaven to come to earth to fulfill His Father's will.
Even
though Jesus was the Lord of Lords, the king of kings, the savior of
the world, He
still humbled Himself and became obedient to His Father. He came to
earth as a servant although He had every right to come as a sovereign.
3. Every day that He
walked this earth, He lived a life of obedience. He submitted to the
will of His father, and He gave His father the very best He had to
offer. Jesus died on
the cross not only to save mankind from their sins, but He died to
please His father. He loved His father so much that He was willing to
go to the cross
in order to glorify Him.
"My
food," said
Jesus, "is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work"
(John
4. We wonder how many of
you reading these words are giving your hearts and lives to the will
and purpose of God? How many of you are giving your total allegiance
and obedience to the true and living God? How many of you are taking up
your cross and following Jesus' example of servanthood and obedience?
5. Loved ones, today, we
should all make a covenant before our God and before our brothers and
sisters in Christ, that pledges to set our own wills aside and press on
to do the will of our Father. We need to start devoting our full
attention to fulfilling the desires of God and stop devoting our full
attention to fulfilling our own wants and needs.
Our
covenant should read: "Our food is to do the will of Him who sent us
and to finish His work!"
CONCLUSION:
1. What
makes Jesus so great and set apart from other religious leaders?
Jesus'
teaching, lifestyle, miracles, fulfillment of prophecy and His claims
make Him great and set apart from other religious leaders.
2. When
we sort through the Gospels, we marvel at the life that Jesus led. He was loving and He was obedient.
3. We would like to
encourage you to read through the Gospels and discover for yourself
what Jesus was like.
When you do, we promise that you will admire, appreciate, and love Him
more
and more.
4. As we said earlier,
Jesus is the great rescuer, and He can rescue you from your sins and
give you eternal life. He can also rescue you from other things as
well. He can rescue you from your burdens, your illnesses, your
depression, your anger, and sadness. Whatever you are struggling with,
He can help.
He is
reaching out to you with the words: "Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For
my
yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matt.
5. Friends, the great
rescuer is here for you. If you would like to come to Him, please visit
a congregation of the churches of Christ and allow them to assist you
in your obedience.