Tag: Jesus

Why Do We Need A Savior?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical9 Comments

Savior

If you have been in church for any amount of time, or been around Christians, you’ve probably heard Jesus referred to as the Savior. But why do we even need a Savior? Aren’t we good enough already? 

Why Do We Need A Savior?

The reason we need a Savior is because we are sinners. Sinners are those who rebel against God. They don’t desire God. They don’t want to please or obey Him. They want nothing more than to get rid of God.

Since we are sinners, we don’t have a relationship with God. We are actually enemies of God. The Bible tells us God will punish His enemies. 

Jesus is our Savior. He saves us from the punishment we deserve. The way He saves us is by taking our punishment for us.

A Helpful Example

A professor of mine in seminary sets Friday nights aside for Friday Family Fun Night. One Friday Family Fun Night, they had gone out to dinner and were going to rent a movie. On the way to video store his son started misbehaving in car. He was picking on his sister.

His parents told him if he didn’t quit, he wasn’t going to be able to watch the movie with the family. Instead he would have to sit in his room by himself. Like any little boy, he listened to his parents for awhile, but when they got to the movie store, he started acting out again.

When they got in the car, his dad told him he wasn’t going to be able to watch the movie with them and would have to spend the rest of the night in his room. He couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t going to be able to watch the movie. The movie he picked. The one he had waited weeks to see.

On the way home, he apologized, not just to his parents, but to his sister as well. It was obvious he was remorseful for what he did. He wasn’t just saying he was sorry so he could watch the movie.

His dad saw an opportunity to teach his son about what Jesus did. He told his son, “You misbehaved earlier. Someone has to be punished for that. But instead of you sitting in your room, I am going to take your punishment for you. I will sit in your room, so you can watch the movie with the family.” So the father willingly took his sons punishment that night so he could enjoy the movie.

That’s what Jesus does. He willingly took our punishment, so that we might enjoy eternal life. 

Conclusion

The answer to our question – Why do we need a Savior? – should be clear. We need a Savior because we deserve punishment. As God’s enemies, we want nothing more than to get rid of Him. Destroy Him. Reign in His place.

God, however, is the rightful ruler of this universe, not us. God punishes His enemies. Jesus, however, takes our punishment for us. He saves us from God’s wrath by dying the death we deserve on the cross. 

Question for Reflection

  1. Is Jesus your Savior?

How Do I Know If I Am Envious?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical4 Comments

Marriage Ring

Envy, jealousy, or covetousness can have devastating effects. It is what led Cain to kill Abel. It is what leads to conflict at work. It’s damaging affects should lead us to ask: How do I know if I am envious?

How do we know if we are envious?

We know we are envious when:

  • We can’t experience joy at the success of others.
  • We think of doing something that would hinder another’s success.
  • We think of doing harm to another.
  • We resent the praise they receive because we think we deserve it.

How can we kill the sin of envy?

Pray – Repent and ask God to remove our envious hearts.

Remind – Remind ourselves an envious spirit births from a desire for others to praise and accept us.

Gospel – Remind ourselves we are more accepted than we could ever imagine in Christ. Man’s acceptance pale’s in comparison to the acceptance we receive from God in Christ.

Summary

By praying, reminding, and preaching the gospel to ourselves, our envious hearts can be killed. We must act fast because envy moves to anger to verbal or physical harm quickly.

Question for Reflection

  1. Are you envious of another?

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Adapted from my sermon The Fate of Those Who Persist in Sin

Why Should We Follow Jesus? | Part 2

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical12 Comments

Why Should We Follow Jesus Part 2

In my last post in this series, I answered the first of three questions: Why should we follow Jesus? Today, we move on to the last two.

WHAT GETS IN THE WAY OF US FOLLOWING JESUS?

Even though Jesus’ authority points to Him as being God, we are not willing to follow Him. There are several things that get in the way. Things we are not willing to give up. Matthew highlights a few in his narrative.

  • Possessions
  • Family approval
  • Acceptance from friends
  • Our life

These all can keep us from following Jesus, surrendering all to Him, and worshipping Him.

WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO TO REMOVE THE HINDRANCE FROM FOLLOWING JESUS?

(1) We have to count the cost.

I believe people put more consideration into buying a house than to coming to Christ. You would never go to the realtors office, ask for a house, and buy the first one they present to you without checking it out.

Instead, you inspect the house yourself. Drive around the neighborhood. Check out the school district. Make sure the price is fair and the inspection checks out. You bring your friends and family over to get their opinion. You do all those things because buying a house is a 15 to 30 year investment. As well as you want to be sure it is going to serve your family well.

Jesus is relaying the same message to us. He is saying, “Don’t be too quick to follow me. Count the cost. Realize for what you are signing up. If you are truly my disciple, there is a hard road ahead of you.”

(2) We can’t trust in something other than Jesus.

In our narrative the disciples trusted in a boat. Some of you may trust in your bank account or intellectual abilities. Whatever it is, we fail to trust in Jesus because we are trusting in something else. As this story proves, however, a boat will only carry us so far. A bank account will only sustain us for so long. Our intellect can only help us as long as our mind remains intact. Inevitably, these things will fail us.

You see, it is foolishness to put our trust in anything but Jesus. He is the only one who can save us.

Like these men in our narrative, once we realize trusting in anything else will fail us, we must turn to the only one who can save, Jesus Christ. After turning to Him, we must worship Him because Jesus isn’t just a life boat to save us when we are drowning. He is the almighty God who deserves our daily worship.

(3) Jesus is God not just another man.

In our narrative, Jesus proves that He is God. Disciples follow Him at His request. He calms a storm. He heals two demon possessed men with just a word. The demons submit to Him and call Him the Son of God. These things point to His authority and the fact that He is God. God deserves our worship, so we must give that to Him.

We don’t, however, just worship Him when we come together on Sunday. We also worship Him by:

  • Recognizing His authority over our lives.
  • Putting Him first
  • Submitting to Him
  • Obeying Him

In other words, we worship Him with our whole lives.

(4) We can’t value anything above Him.

The people of the city valued their possessions over Jesus, allowing their loss to blind them. When we value something more than God, we are in violation of the first of the Ten Commandments. The first commandment tells us not to put any other gods before the One True God. When we do, we have made that thing into an idol – a god.

In order to rid ourselves of these idols, we have to realize they are not going to last. They are man made. They are temporary. Temporary things break down. They fail us. They disappoint us.

So then, we can’t hold our possessions in greater value than God. We have to be willing to give those up for God. We have to see them for what they are. We can’t allow them to blind us.

(5) Our heart has to be pierced by the gospel.

Only a heart that has been regenerated will submit to God and give Him the worship that is due Him. So we must believe in the gospel.

We must believe that we are sinners in need of a Savior. Jesus is that Savior. He is because He lived a perfect life, and died the death we deserved. He went to the cross to pay the price for our sins. He faced the wrath of God that we deserve. When we believe that, we are saved. Our heart is pierced by the gospel.

Our heart must be regenerated before we can follow Jesus, surrender all to Him, and truly worship Him. You can’t do these things without a changed heart. To try to do so is futile.

Conclusion

Once we come to Christ, count the cost, recognize Jesus is God, and realize we can’t trust in and value anything more than Him. Once we have done those things, we will be in a place where we will be able to follow Jesus, surrender all to Him, and worship Him.

Question for Reflection

  1. What do you allow to get in the way of you following Jesus?

Resource

This series is adapted from my recent sermon: Why Should We Follow Jesus?

Why Should We Follow Jesus? | Part 1

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical1 Comment

Follow Me Part 1

When I was growing up, my dad always told me, “Be a leader, not a follower.” If you think about it, for someone to follow you, they need a reason. My Dad’s advice then meant, I needed to be someone worth following. So when Jesus comes to us and asks us to follow Him. We need a reason to follow Him. The Bible provides us with those reasons.

With that in mind, over the next two posts, I will answer the following questions:

  • Why should we follow Jesus?
  • What gets in the way of following Jesus?
  • What do we need to do to remove the hindrance from follow Jesus?

Let’s start with the first question:

WHY SHOULD WE FOLLOW JESUS?

In Matthew 8, several scenes attest to the power and authority of Jesus.

Jesus Heals Many

In 8:1-15, Jesus heals a Leper, a Centurion’s servant, and Peter’s Mother-in-Law. All three healings take place immediately, and with just a word. As soon as Jesus spoke, the leprosy was gone and the man was clean, the Centurion’s servant was healed before he returned home, and Peter’s Mother-in-Law was able to serve them moments after Jesus healed her.

Not only did Jesus heal these three people, but many more. Matthew continues:

“That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick.” (Mt 8:16)

Jesus shows not only His power over sickness, but the spiritual world as well.

The Turbulent Sea

As we continue on in the narrative, Jesus commands His disciples to follow Him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Several men pile in a boat, but soon a great storm arises. Fearful for their lives, they wake Jesus, who is sleeping, and the men say,

“Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” (Mt 8:25)

Jesus does what only God can do, He calms the sea and rebukes the wind, so that a sea threatening to swallow the boat and the men into a watery grave turns into a sheet of glass, allowing the men safe passage to the other side.

Two Demon Possessed Men

Once they reached the other side, two demon-possessed men who had been tormenting the region come out to meet Him. The men, controlled by demons, say,

“What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” (Mt 8:29)

The Demons explicitly say what the other scenes had been pointing to – Jesus is the Son of God. Not only did they recognize Him as God, but they also recognized His authority and right to judge and punish them.

What does Matthew 8 reveal?

Matthew reveals Jesus’ authority over all things. Which leads to the idea:

If Jesus has full authority over all things, and His authority points to Him being God, we must Follow Him, Surrender all to Him, and Worship Him.

So the answer to our first question reveals we should follow Jesus because of who He is –  God.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you believe Jesus being God is a reason to follow Him?

Looking Forward

In the next post in this series, we will answer the questions: What gets in the way of us following Jesus? What do we need to do to remove the hindrance from follow Jesus?

Resource

This series is adapted from my recent sermon: Why Should We Follow Jesus?

Shai Linne’s New Single – Fal$e Teacher$

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Pastoral, Preaching3 Comments

Shai Linne’s latest album, Lyrical Theology, features the single Fal$e Teacher$. It is a controversial song, but it is truth. Truth the church needs to hear and act upon.

Know them by their fruits

In Matthew 7:15-19, Jesus tells us we will know false teachers by their fruits. These fruits include both what they speak and how they live.

What are these fruits?

Contextually, it seems Jesus is referring to all He has been presenting in the Sermon on the Mount up to that point. Some of His teaching is:

  • To recognize you are poor in spirit.
  • To deal with anger and lust.
  • To love your enemies.
  • To give to the needy without trumpeting your acts.
  • To absorb a person’s evil acts against you without retaliating.
  • To store up treasures in heaven.
  • To trust God to provide.
  • To not be judgmental
  • To be persistent in Prayer.

1 John 4:1-6 and 2 Peter 2 also provide good tests to determine who is and who is not a false teacher. Like Jesus, they too point their readers to a teacher’s fruit – what they teach and how they live.

Conclusion

False teachers may use the Bible in their messages, but their teaching is not biblical. Nor do they bear the fruit Scripture requires. Instead of preaching the true gospel, they hold forth a false gospel. One that deceives many with its promises of prosperity.

Shai Linne’s newest single doesn’t allow these prophets to fly under the radar. He points them out in love to stop them from deceiving more souls.

Give Fal$e Teacher$ a listen and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Question for Reflection

  1. Given Jesus’, John’s, and Peter’s teaching, have you, or are you, listening to a false prophet?

Colored Eggs, Scavenger Hunts, or the Resurrection

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical1 Comment

Resurrection Empty Tomb Jesus

What comes to mind when Easter is mentioned? For many it might be the thoughts of family gatherings, colored eggs, and scavenger hunts. Easter, however, is about more than our family, our fun, and ourselves. Easter is about the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

Why is the Resurrection Important?

(1) It proves all Jesus’ claims during His earthly ministry were true.

As the climax of the biblical story, it proves that Jesus is the Messiah, the Chosen One, the Son of God, the Savior of the World.

(2) It provides salvation for the believer.

Jesus’ resurrection brings all those, who believe by faith that He is their Savior, into a right relationship with God (Rom. 4:25). In Jesus’ resurrection we are vindicated and made sons of the Living God (Gal. 3:26). As well as, we are freed from the bondage of sin, which means we should not let sin reign in our bodies any longer. We must put all unrighteousness to death by the power of Jesus’ resurrection (Rom. 6:11-13).

(3) It provides eternal life for the believer.

Death no longer has dominion over the Christian. All those who believe in Jesus as their Savior, will be resurrected to a new and eternal life, and given a perfect body that is not subject to aging, weakness, or death (1 Cor. 15:50-57). Whereas, all who reject Jesus as their Savior will experience eternal punishment (Matt. 25:46; 2 Thess. 1:5-10).

The Proper Response to the Resurrection

In Matthew 28, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb of Jesus where they meet an angel. The angel shows them the empty tomb and tells them to go and tell the disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead. On their way to tell the disciples, they meet Jesus on the road and fall down and worship Him.

The two Mary’s provide us with the proper response to the resurrection.

  1. We are to go and tell others of Jesus’ resurrection and what that means for those who believe.
  2. We are to worship Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Conclusion

Jesus’ resurrection proves all that He said is true. It vindicates us from our sin. It mends our relationship with God. It frees us from the bondage of sin. It allows us to live in accordance with God’s commandments. As well as Jesus’ resurrection provides us with a new body that will never die, age, or experience decay for all of eternity.

As a result, our proper response is to tell others about Jesus’ resurrection, and to worship Him as Lord and Savior.

I pray that we will contemplate more fully the resurrection of Jesus this Easter Sunday.

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