Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 9:22-27
9:22. saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."
9:23. Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
9:24. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
9:25. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
9:26. "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.
9:27. "But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."
The requirements of our following to Jesus are as follows:
AD 2. We must willingly lose our life because of Jesus.
Luke 9:24
9:24. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his lifefor My sake will save it.
There are two terms as follows
So, the right following to Jesus is signified with the cross or the way of the cross to New Jerusalem.
God just gives one way to His followers, and the obedienceis absolutely needed, not cleverness, riches, nor others. We must obey like Jesus did to the point of death of the cross, so He was glorified until He entered the Kingdom of Heaven forever.
There are four steps of the obedience of Jesus that we must follow and they are as follows:
God blesses us.
Luke 9:22-27
9:22. saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."
9:23. Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
9:24. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
9:25. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
9:26. "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.
9:27. "But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."
The requirements of our following to Jesus are as follows:
- We must deny ourselves and take up our cross.
Denying ourselves means saying 'No' to everything that is not well pleasing before God. - We must willingly lose our life.
AD 2. We must willingly lose our life because of Jesus.
Luke 9:24
9:24. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his lifefor My sake will save it.
There are two terms as follows
- "saving his life". It means one fulfills the lust of the flesh, so he is against God.
Consequently, he loses his life and perishes. - "losing his life for My sake". It means one wants to crucify the lust of the flesh because of God and he willingly suffers with Him.
The result is he saves his life.
So, the right following to Jesus is signified with the cross or the way of the cross to New Jerusalem.
God just gives one way to His followers, and the obedienceis absolutely needed, not cleverness, riches, nor others. We must obey like Jesus did to the point of death of the cross, so He was glorified until He entered the Kingdom of Heaven forever.
There are four steps of the obedience of Jesus that we must follow and they are as follows:
- In the Jordan.
Matthew 3:14-17
3:14. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"
3:15. But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
3:16. When He had been baptized, Jesus came upimmediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
3:17. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Jesus is an innocent man, so He does not need to enter water baptism. Why is Jesus baptized?- To fulfill God's will.
- Giving the pattern of true water baptism. As Jesus is baptized, so we are.
Romans 6:4
6:4. Therefore we were buriedwith Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Jesus comes up from the water means coming up from the tomb of water. It means the whole body enters into water.
The true water baptism is one who has died to sin or repented must be buried in the water with Jesus and come out or rise from water with Him to receive new life, namely having good conscience or obedient heart.
The result of water baptism is having good conscience. It is the strong base to receive physical and spiritual blessings.
Spiritual blessing is Holy Spirit that is poured out for us.
Holy Spirit gives serenity and peace, so everything becomes easy and light.
The good conscience is also the strong base to lift us up until we enter the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. - On the mountain.
Luke 9:31, 35
9:31. who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
9:35. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!"
Jesus goes to Jerusalem to suffer and be crucified.
The worship prayer is the process of tearing of the flesh so we become obedient even we have to suffer in flesh.
Hebrews 5:8-10
5:8. though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
5:9. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
5:10. called by God as High Priest "according to the order of Melchizedek,"
Although Jesus is a Son of God, He learns obedience even He must sacrifice His self-interest.
The result is He is appointed as the High Priest who sits at the right hand of the throne of God the Father.
If we obey until sacrificing our self-interest, we will be appointed to as priests and kings who are used in the building of the perfect body of Christ.
A priest is the holy man, one who has ministry and the gifts of Holy Spirit (tunic of many colors) to be used in the building of the perfect body of Christ.
If we become the body, Jesus will become the Head over us. The relationship between the head and body is the one of mercy. We experience Jesus' mercy as the High Priest.
Psalms 17:7-8
17:7. Show Your marvelous lovingkindnessby Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You From those who rise up against them.
17:8. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
The marvelous lovingkindness of God is able to take care of and protect us like His own apple of eye in the middle of world's trouble, impossibility, wickedness and uncleanness.
We are taken care of physically and spiritually, so we live in righteousness and holiness until the marvelous lovingkindness protects us from the antichrist who reigns the world for three and half years. - In Gethsemane.
Mark 14:36-37
14:36. And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."
14:37. Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour?
Jesus becomes obedient until He sacrifices His self-will.
Jesus should not die on the cross, but He is willingly crucified to obey and sacrifice His self-will.
We must obey God too; even we have to sacrifice our self-will.
The result is having the power to take away all impossibilities. - On the cross.
Philippians 2:8
2:8. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Jesus becomes obedient to the point of death on the cross. He surrenders His whole life.
We must be obedient too until the flesh does not sound anymore. It is like Abraham who willingly sacrifices Isaac or a widow in Zarephath who sacrifices her own life and son.
1 Peter 5:5-6
5:5. Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
5:6. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
The younger people must be obedient until the flesh does not sound anymore; obeying God, parents, teacher, et cetera.
It is the same as stretching out our hand to God and He will stretch our His mighty hand that is never defeated.
The result is God will lift us up in due time. Failure is changed into success and beauty in due time.
The term 'in due time' means we just obey and wait, but God works further.
We are lifted up when we fall into sin, so we can live in righteousness and holiness. We are purified until lifted up with God in due time.
God blesses us.