I was thinking about the last two talks I did at Ignite. Every time I sit down and right a talk I try and think hard about what the passage is saying. I have always been taught, "read the passage in its context." This means see where the passage fits in the flow of the whole book and even the whole Bible. But last night as I sat down, I realised that there was something missing from my last two talks. Something in the context was really crucial!
First let's recap what we looked at.
In week 1 we looked at how Luke's Gospel gives Christians certainty. We looked at 3 things about Jesus:
- He makes God Promises certain (Jesus fulfils God's Old Testament promises)
- His History is certain (Jesus is a real person in history, meeting real people in real places)
- He makes us certain about the Bibles teaching (Jesus life, death and resurrection are not just facts to know but life changing)
In the second week we looked at how Jesus flips the world upside down. We saw:
- Jesus has a flipped entrance (his entrance was humble)
- Jesus is a flipped rescuer and ruler (Jesus was not the rescuer and ruler people expected because he looked so weak)
- Jesus flips the world (Jesus exalts the humble and humbles those who exalt themselves)
At the time these talks didn't seem too bad (I hope you got something out of them). I don't think I said anything untrue. But what I realised is there is one big element that I missed that I really should have mentioned.
Last night it finally hit me. Someone had once described each of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) to me as being stories about Jesus' death with long introductions. All of the Gospels are really about Jesus' death. That is what they focus on. That is what they keep coming back to. All the stories point to that death and are a lead up to that death on the cross. Jesus death is so important.
Now in both of these talks I did mention Jesus death (For example in the second in the second talk I spoke about how it looks weak but is really the bizarre way God shows his strength). But what I failed to mention was probably the most important thing. It was the thing I probably should have spent the most time on and I didn't give it enough air play. Are you ready for it? Maybe the picture below will sum it up best:
What I failed to mention was what it was all about. Luke (like the other Gospels) is about how King Jesus (ruler of the universe), loved you so much that he came into this world and died for you! He died to save you. The problem was that we did not live with God as our King. Jesus saved us from an eternity without God as King, separated from God (Hell). He also saved us for an eternity of living life as it should be, with God as our King in perfect relationship. Luke's Gospel is all about God's love to us and forgiveness for us at the cross.
The Important thing I should have said
In talk 1 I got it right that Luke's Gospel gives you confidence. What I should have said was that the birth, life, death (especially his death) and the resurrection of Jesus gives you confidence that God loves you. I read something John Chapman said the other day that was awesome:
"Jesus death remains as a beacon of God's eternal love for
us"
What a great quote. Every time you feel down, every time you feel unloved, every time you feel guilty you can look back to the cross and be certain that God loves you. Jesus loved you enough to face hell on the cross so you wouldn't have to for eternity. The problem is that the cross can just seem so distant or unimportant to regular life. But the reality is that without the cross we would still be on the road to hell, living a life cut off from God. Life without knowing God is terrible, meaningless and hopeless.
I got it right in the second talk that Jesus humbled himself. What I should have said was that Jesus humbled himself to save us. We don't just become humble (serving Jesus) because we know we should. We do it because we know we are loved. We become humble when we see the humility Jesus showed to save us. God became human and died at the hand of humans, to save humans, to save you!
My Apology
I apologise. I do not get every talk right. I need God's forgiveness just as much (if not more) than you guys. But the more I know God's love, mercy and forgiveness the more I want to make him the boss of my life. The more I think about the cross, the more certain I am God loved me (it cost him so much)! The more I think about Jesus coming to earth and dying, the more I want to be humble. Jesus did all this for me when I deserved nothing but his anger. So I am saying sorry. I hope I will do a better job next time for you. I love you guys and I want what is best for you, when I don't deliver on what I should, well frankly that sucks! I don't want to just give you good talks, I want to give you great talks that show you how awesome, magnificent and fantastic Jesus is. But I am so thankful that Jesus delivered and continues to deliver even when I fail. What a saviour, what a great King!
Something to think about
Do you know what I would really appreciate? I would love it if you guys could pray for me and all the leaders and speakers at Ignite. Pray that we would be able to teach you guys well. Pray that we could show you how fantastic Jesus is.
Also please pray for each other. Pray that you and the other Igniters would read the Essential Jesus and that as you read it you would see how essential the death and love of Jesus is to your and their life. Pray your non-Christian friends would see this too! Maybe if you are feeling really bold you could get a copy of the Essential Jesus and give it to them. This love of Jesus is too good to contain and the more who have it and cherish it, the better!
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