Welcome back again to the third-part of our series on how Jesus has conquered your sin. So far we’ve seen some powerful truths regarding how sin is far deeper than actions that we commit, but it is an identity. Likewise, righteousness is also an identity. We also began to examine how Jesus changed our identity from sin to righteousness, and has cleansed us and given us a good and clean conscience.
Today, we are going to delve deeper into the cleansing of our conscience by Jesus Christ, and what a good conscience truly means.
Welcome back to the fourth part of our study on obtaining spiritual victory. Over the last few weeks, we’ve explored the intricacies of the spiritual battleground as explained in the scriptures.
Last week we saw how God has given us His armor, for our protection and safety, and we also saw how much piece of that armor points to an aspect of Jesus and His complete sacrifice for us.
Today we will be taking a look at the weapon given to us in our spiritual struggle. A supernatural sword, to be used against a spiritual foe; and it might be different than you think.
Does the subtitle of today’s study surprise you? Do I have your full attention? Don’t worry, this isn’t some kind of click-bait that is propagated all over the internet today. Instead, this is a spiritual reality and truth that we seem to have forgotten in modern Christianity, and it has the effect of weakening us in all areas of life.
What I’m going to share with you today, is a truth that you can keep and take with you through the rest of your life. This truth is what is sorely lacking in Christianity today, and it is what is holding many of us back from experiencing spiritual victory.
Perspectives are important. The way that we look at things and the angle in which we see them shapes our view, our thoughts, and our feelings. The most important perspective that anyone could ever have, is their perspective of God, and His gospel. The way that we see things can influence the position that we take or the steps that we make.
We touched on this a little bit about a month ago as part of another subject, but this topic is crucial enough that it warrants its own study. Our perspectives specifically of God, His Gospel, and our position in Christ Jesus can literally make or break us.
So today we are going to explore our perspectives regarding Jesus and His gospel, because the scriptures are not silent on this subject; in-fact, proper perspectives are quite important – let’s find out why.
What is your view of God? Some people see Him as a mere observer or a bystander; someone who is watching your life go by, but not taking part in it. In this view God is seen as more of a score-keeper, someone who is just watching your life, seeing the decisions that you make and keeping a record of your performance in order to judge you.
With this view of God, it is very difficult (or even impossible) to have any kind of real relationship with Him. You can never really have any closeness with someone who has real power to affect change and offer assistance, but refuses to act, and instead just uses your pain to judge you. Would you even want to have a relationship with someone like that?
The real question is, is this idea of God truly accurate? Is this the picture of God that we see in the scriptures?
We will explore this today; and the answer may surprise you.
Alright! Welcome again to part 5 of our series of studies about seeing pictures of Jesus in the Beatitudes.
We have been taking our time and moving slowly through the Beatitudes, and we are taking this approach purposefully, because not only does it allow us to focus on one specific picture of Jesus at a time, and therefore dig deeper into it; but this slower pace is also beneficial because so often the beatitudes are seen as a list of rules to try and live for and towards, rather than as the pictures of Jesus and aspects of our new identity in Him today.
So today, we continue where we last paused in part 4, as we see more pictures of Jesus, and our new identity in Him.
The Beatitudes are one of the most famously well-known parts of the Sermon on the Mount.
This is where Jesus pronounces particular blessings according to certain things, and over the years entire sermons and studies have been conducted based on just these Beatitudes – many of which try to use this list given by Jesus as a “goal post” or “spiritual checklist” of sorts that people must work towards or strive for to obtain extra blessings or favor from God, or to try to be better Christians.
Today, I would like to share with you a different perspective – one not based on mere human behaviors in order to “be better”, but one based on seeing the finished work of Jesus, and truly receiving what He has accomplished.
You see, when Jesus taught, He wasn’t merely upholding the Law, with its rules and regulations (He had to do that because He was under the Law Himself when He walked on the earth) – but more importantly, He was preparing everyone for what He was about to do; the change that was coming. And within the Sermon on the Mount, are some of the most striking pictures of Jesus for us to see, and I am excited to share with you today in this study.