It Really IS All About Jesus

Message Scripture:

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (KJV)

Introduction:

Greetings Everyone! It’s time to get into the second of three messages in our quick, final teaching series on Pastor B’s Blog of 2015. It’s the perfect time to be in a series like this because it reminds us of what we should already know…that Christmas is about Jesus. In reality, all of life is all about Jesus, and we need to be sure that every day of our lives Jesus should be the center of our lives. Amen!?! So, that’s what we’re going to talk about today. Jesus being the center of our lives, and making sure that we aren’t just putting Him first on Christmas or Easter…but every day.

As always let’s believe for ears to hear and hearts that will be receptive and respond to what the Lord is about to speak to us through this message this day. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

It Really IS All About Jesus:

Last night I wrote on Facebook that some times I get tired of seeing “Jesus is the Reason for the season” because it’s in some way become a Christian slogan or catch phrase about Christmas. The other one is “Keep Christ in Christmas”. I understand the idea of both these, but the truth is all of life is about Jesus Christ. We should also keep Christ as the core of every day of our lives, Amen!?!

Paul understood that. He wrote that he was “determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”. Paul was always talking about how even with all of the knowledge he had when it came to the law, the traditions, and everything that he would have to know as the Pharisee of Pharisees that all of the knowledge he had paled in comparison to knowing Jesus.

You see. We all know it. We all say it. We see it on our timelines often, but I don’t think we really embrace it like Paul did. What I’m getting at is that we always talk about how there’s a difference in knowing about Jesus, and KNOWING Jesus. It’s true. There really is a difference between knowing about Jesus, and actually knowing Him…but how many of us really pursue that knowledge as passionately as Paul did? How many of us pursue that knowledge of Jesus as passionately as we pursue a spouse or cheer for our favorite sports teams? How many of us can admit today that our love and passion for Jesus has grown cold?

How is it that we get to know Jesus? By spending time with Him. We get to know His presence when we worship Him. We get to know what He’s like by reading the Gospel’s. We get to know what He’s passionate about by reading His Word. We get to know His Voice by reading His Word. Everything we need to know about Jesus is going to come by experiencing His presence, and by reading His Word. If you are trying to get to know Jesus by any other means…you won’t. You can know of Jesus and never actually know Him personally. How many of you know that you can know about someone, but not really know them? I think we all can think of someone that we know about, but we don’t really know. Hopefully when we think about that Jesus isn’t one of those people we know about, but don’t really know. Remember how Jesus said His sheep know His voice!?! That’s intimacy, friends. Jesus knows us so well He knows the very number of hairs upon our heads…do you know that we can know Jesus as intimately as He knows us!?! It doesn’t come by spending an hour a week with Him on Sunday in a church that may or may not welcome Him. It comes by spending time in His presence, time in His Word, and spending more than one hour a week with Him.

I can be honest enough with you to admit that there was a time that I knew about the love of God, but I didn’t really know His love. There was a time when I knew about God being my Father, but there was a time when I really knew (and know today) that God is my Father. There was a time when I knew about God, but I didn’t really know Him. That all changed a little over 5 years ago when He revealed Himself to me. I haven’t been the same since because everything I knew about God traveled from my brain to my heart.

You see you can’t know God by intellect. You can read the Bible cover to cover, and be one of the most respected theologians in the world. You can know all about God, about the characters in the Bible, and more. Did you know that you can know all that stuff about God, but still not really KNOW Him!?! That’s exactly what Paul was talking about.

Listen. When I say Paul was the Pharisee of the Pharisees I mean he would be the equivalent of being one of if not the greatest theologians alive today. Paul knew the Word of God inside and out. He knew all 623 of the laws. He knew all of the traditions. He knew all of the history and genealogies and everything that was available to him to know…he knew it. In short, there isn’t anything Paul didn’t know about Jewish tradition, law, and the Word of God (that was available to them at that time).

However…he says all of that is nothing compared to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and in case you were wondering where that is it’s in Philippians 3:8 (KJV). He links everything he’s been through, everything he knows, and he says that all of that is dung compared to the excellency of Jesus Christ.

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,”- Philippians 3:8 (KJV)

Have you come to the place where you are determined to know nothing more than Christ? Do you know about Jesus or do you know Jesus? Have you counted all things for lost for Jesus? If your relationship with Jesus isn’t all you’d like it to be…perhaps you haven’t made knowing Jesus the priority it should be.

Let’s Pray:

Lord God, we love You and want to know You more and more – we long that we may become increasingly intimate with You our Lord and Saviour. We ask, Father God, that You would help us to be like Paul determining to know nothing more than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We ask that You would give us an unquenchable thirst for You with every passing day and may we settle for nothing less than the very closest relationship with You as we press on to the high calling of being conformed more and more into the image of Jesus. Draw us, Lord God, nearer to You precious Lord and keep us moment by moment wrapped in Your grace and love, in Jesus’ name. Amen

Final Word From Pastor B:

Friends, I cannot put into words how much different my life is today because Jesus became more than just someone I knew about, and became someone who I know today. It was the beginning of everything that’s happening in my life today. I know God. I know His voice. I know His presence, and I even know a little about what is in His heart. I know Him as my Father, I know Him as my Lord, I know Him as my Savior, but most of all I know Him as my God.

How many of you, like me, have come to the place where there’s no greater knowledge than knowing the God that loves you so much that He sent His Son to die in our place so that we could be with Him for all of eternity!?!

Thank you for joining me for today’s message. We’re officially beginning the 12 Days of Christmas Countdown. As we countdown to Christmas morning let’s all make the unspoken decision to know Jesus deeper, better, and more intimately than ever before. Amen!?!

Have a blessed day in the Lord & God bless!

Blessings & Grace;
Pastor B