// December 9th, 2007 // No Comments » // Uncategorized
What has Jesus redeemed you from?
On his record The House Show, Derek Webb talks a lot about what it means to really believe the Gospel, and how that has to show up in the way we live. He talks about how our tendency is to hide our sin instead of bringing it out in the open and boasting in the One who took it away. We have to live as Saints comfortably exposed by the Cross. Here’s how he puts it:
“There is a risk that we run as those who are called into community together… If you divorce the people of God or local community from the Gospel then it CEASES to be the Gospel! There is no other context for your faith as a Christian then to be in community with other people. I’ve heard people say over the years, ‘Its just me and Jesus, and that’s all I need!’ Well that’s not the Gospel in Scripture. If you claim to love Jesus then you and I will be compelled to love what He loved. And He not only loved but He came and gave Himself up for the Church. Not only are we called to love but we are called to preach the Gospel to each other. Now I know that seems like a backwards idea, especially if we grew up in church. You’re saying, ‘The Gospel? We already know that!’ But we just think it’s the words we speak to non-believers in hopes that they might come down the aisles of our church and put their faith in Jesus Christ. Now it certainly is that. But moreover, it has a primary place in the life of believers. We gotta hear it everyday.
“There’s this great story from Martin Luther: He preached to a church week after week about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and a man came and asked, ‘Why do you keep preaching week after week the Gospel?’ implying that he thought they were ready to move on. But Luther said, ‘Well because week after week you forget it.’ Because week after week you look like a people who don’t believe the Gospel, and until you walk in looking like a people who are truly liberated by the truth of the Gospel, I will continue to preach it to you.’ And until his dying day he did.
“BUT if we stop hearing this, we will conform to the culture and we will put up righteousness as an idol, and that kind of flattery, at its very best, will only encourage behavior modification: modifying your behavior to act the way you should, to hide the things you do that are wrong, and to try to amplify the things you do that are right. BUT, see here is the truth: all the behavior modification in the world will never change our hearts, and it will never change our communities. Jesus, however, can change our hearts, and He will change our communities! That’s why boldness is called for.
“We should have no fear about being honest with each other about who we really are. Not just offering up the sins we feel safe confessing but being completely bold, completely forthcoming about who we really are, and saying, ‘I’m going to stop hiding from you. And I’m going to tell you who I really am because I believe the Gospel is true.’ Your never going to be filled with joy unless you truly know yourself for who you are. And until you are a real sinner with a real Savior; you will only be a hypothetical sinner with a hypothetical savior.
“If you confess: ‘Yeah man, I know I’m sinful. Scripture tells me!’ but you can’t honestly put your finger on a real sin you’ve done all day, it’s because your view of sin has just become this cultural hiding game and you aren’t experiencing real joy. Because if all I can express is a knowledge…but not really know I am sinful, then I’m not truly encouraged that I am saved.
“SAVED FROM WHAT? If I don’t believe I’m truly sinful then what’s the big deal? What is the good news? It’s just news. But if you know yourself as exposed by the cross, you will experience true joy. You will be comfortably exposed in your sin and boasting in your GREAT Savior.
“Charles Spurgeon once said, ‘If your sins are small, your savior will be small also. But if your sins are great, then your Savior must be great.’ And guys, I gotta say, our Savior is GREAT. So what does that tell us about our sin….”
Questions:
- What is the worst thing about you? What is your deepest secret? Your greatest sin?
- Have you shared this freely and openly in Christian community, with brothers, sisters, pastors or elders who care about you?
- Are you walking in the light, or are there parts of your life that are stuck in the darkness?
- Have you come to the place where you can be comfortably exposed by the Cross? If so, how has your relationship with Christ changed as a result?
- What has Jesus redeemed you from? Where would the trajectory of your live have taken you had it not been for the grace of God and His redemptive power?
- Because of the Cross of Jesus, we cannot settle for the simple behavior modification, self-help, self-righteous, holier-than-thou spirituality that characterizes so much of Christianity. Are you wearing a “righteous mask,” are you constantly checking the knots on the “suit of fig leaves” that you’ve sewn for yourself?
- What do you need redemption from right now?
- God constantly is reminding us in Scripture that His power shines forth strongest in our weakness. How is Christ using your weakness, transparency, and humility to attract others (friends, family, peers, acquaintances) to himself?
