Can God make a difference in my life CButcher USBC 271002 7pm

 

As you follow Jesus, will it be a one way deal? Is God really interested in you?

Will he make a difference in your life?

 

To understand, we need to understand “covenant”

Nearest we have today is marriage.

·        One person makes promises. If the other listens then walks away there is no marriage. To admire a woman, even hang on their every word, would not make me their husband. To be in covenant means making an exchange of pledges

·        It takes promises on both sides made trusting that the other will keep their pledge

·        The two become one = shared identity. What each has becomes the others

 

Abraham – God promised ‘I will be their God if they will be my people’ – signed in animal blood (like blood brothers). When someone attacked Gods people it was as if they had attacked God himself. All God’s resources were his

 

Jesus – If you put faith in me you will be forgiven, saved, have life. Signed in his blood

Marrying Jesus give your whole self to each other = Shared identity – all his resources become yours as you give your whole self to him

 

So what’s the deal?

·        follow Jesus teaching? try to be good people? be admirers?

·        NO! We must be disciples – apprentices – always watching, listening, learning & growing

 

So can we do this? No

Can we do this with God’s help? Yes

 

We have 3 opponents

–        the world (pressing us into it’s mould), ourselves (defective natures) and the devil (Mr Smooth Car Salesman trying to be sneaky & con us)

-         the result is we end up doing things we don’t want to do

 

Nicodemus asked about this – ‘how can I be right with God?’. Jesus said the only way to do it was to be born again (spiritually), with God’s spirit in us. [Like a new hard drive!  Get rid of the bugs]

 

But:

Why would God do this? Why offer this deal? This covenant that cost the death of Jesus?

He made us to love us & so we could love him - & this is the only way it can work

 

But for all of us it will mean growing into the people we were designed to be instead of the people the world wants to make us.

 

By allowing God to make us different we allow him to make us the people he wanted us to be since he created us!

 

And that means we will please God. Not by what we do but by what we allow him to do in us The difference God makes will be different for each one of us – what we each need

(invite people to share brief testimonies)