What does Jesus mean when He tells us to follow Him?
Matthew 16:24-27, "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." Denying ourselves means we put Jesus before our desires, before our lusts. It means following His calling instead of glorifying ourselves, and our obedience brings glory to the Father.
Interestingly enough, our obedience provides us with the most abundant life because it is in harmony with His creation. When we disobey God, we do not destroy His law; we break ourselves upon His creation. He has told us about living the abundant life, John 10:10, "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." And we know why, Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." So, an abundant life happens when we work together for good, when our thoughts align with God's Word, and the devil's lies are seen as lies. 2 Corinthians 10:5, "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" Paul encourages us to take our thoughts captive, which leads us to obedience.
Jesus chastised Peter for not following, Matthew 16:21-23, "From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
What was Jesus teaching them about following Him? What changes did they need to make?
What is He teaching us about following Him? What changes do we need to make?
Galatians 5:16, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." We must first love Jesus enough to follow Him by the Spirit. It means we love first, as He demonstrated throughout history. He walked with Adam and Eve, showing them His love and telling them they could eat from any tree in the garden before telling them not to eat of one tree. He showed the Israelites His love by freeing them from Egypt before giving them the Ten Commandments. He sent Jesus to die on the cross to show us His love for us before asking us to follow the Spirit. He always thinks about our long-term well-being because He can see the future and knows what will harm us.
Would we be following Jesus if we chose to walk in the Spirit?
What does He mean by walk in the Spirit? He means we no longer trust our flesh to guide us in this life. Instead, we trust in Jesus. We believe His way is best and will lead us to an abundant life in this world and the next.
When we take our eyes off Jesus, we lose our way, allowing the enemy to lead us away from Jesus. When we follow Jesus, we keep our eyes fixed on Him and He shows us the way, John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Jesus shows us the way because He is the only way to the Father and the eternal life God promises. He wants only the best for us, and that means we put to death those things that lead us away from Him and eternity.
When we decide to follow Jesus, we are justified. Then, we spend the rest of our lives being sanctified. And, one day, when Jesus returns, we will be glorified as we enter eternity.
2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." He is patient because He wants all of us to have every opportunity to learn the truth.
Romans 8:30, "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." We are glorified because our abundant lives bring glory to our creator.
If we follow Jesus by loving God and loving people, we do not need any other laws, Matthew 7:12, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."
This is why no one in heaven will walk with a swagger or a limp. But there will be plenty of smiles.
God has placed us in unique places throughout this world. This blog is about sharing His Word; please share it with those you believe would be blessed by hearing it. Bless you! If you want to receive the Quarterly Newsletter, email us at bill@reasoningwithgod.com. If you want to read past blogs, go to https://www.reasoningwithgod.com/blog.
Comments