Victorious Christian Living 4: Faith. Faith: It’s the starting point for everything. All of the promises of God for us are accessed by faith. Faith is the currency of Heaven. John 3:16 The point is “whoever believes in Him”. The life and teaching of Jesus was all so that you and I would “believe.” It all begins here. Jesus came and taught and modelled faith. His mission was to live without sin; to die to take away all of our sin, to rise from the dead and ascend into Heaven, leaving behind a group of people who “believe.” John 5:24 Jesus said that whoever “believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life” and that they “shall not come into judgment.” NLT: “They will never be condemned for their sins.” Why? Because for all who “believe”, Christ has shed His blood and died. He was “condemned” and took away all of our sin. Jesus went on to say that those who believe in Him have already “passed from death to life.” Naturally, we think that we will live and then die. But without Christ, even though we may be breathing and functioning, we are already dead! (Ephesians 2:5) So our faith in Christ reverses this process: instead of going from life to death we go “from death to life”! Forever! When we “believe” our faith opens the door to all of the power and the blessings of God: Matthew 9:27-29 Faith brings healing. Matthew 21:22 Faith brings answered prayer. Ephesians 2:8-9 We are saved by faith. Acts 4:4, 32 Faith was how the early Church grew. Hebrews 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” For His chosen 12; just ordinary, grass roots people, the stronger their relationship with Him became, the more their faith grew. We can see the gradual transformation right up to the Last Supper. They all gathered at the Passover meal as Jesus put all other covenants aside and gave us the one covenant that guarantees our salvation and our victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. As He broke the bread and drank the cup with them all, at the end of a life completely without sin, Jesus was undoing all of the sin and the failure of mankind since Adam & Eve. Now it all comes down to this: faith in Christ. But now the faith of His disciples was going to face its biggest test: the Garden of Gethsemane. Man’s relationship with God and our representation of Him in the earth and with all creation was lost in a garden: the Garden of Eden, through rebellion and disobedience. Now all of that and much more would be won for us in another garden; Gethsemane, through the submission and obedience of “the Son of Man.” At the Last Supper He took the cup: “This is My blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28) and they “all” drank it. In the Garden of Gethsemane He drank another cup, but this one He drank alone, “in agony” to open the way for us all to have our sins and our past wiped away; to receive salvation. It was the cup of the sin and failure of all people. The disciples all grew in their faith as they spent time with Jesus. Nobody had ever done the things that He did. No religious leader, or any kind of leader, consistently demonstrated such mercy and grace to every kind of person. They were captivated by it and loved being with Him: until Gethsemane. They went from the warmth and the fellowship of the Last Supper to the horror of Gethsemane. There, everything changed. Suddenly it was all about soldiers and torches and weapons. They came for Jesus. Peter drew his sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the High Priest, but Jesus healed Him. John 18:4-9 Jesus showed them all that He had absolute mastery of the situation and His concern, as always, was for His disciples. They had just cut a “new covenant” together. He said to the mob, “If you seek Me, let these go their way.” He released His disciples. He knew what would happen; that He would be tortured and crucified, but on the third day He would rise again. He would gather them again and show them just how He had won the victory for them, as well as for us all. Then He told them to stay together, to wait and to pray until He poured out the Holy Spirit. Then they would spread out all over the world, bringing the Good News of this covenant and of this Saviour to all people. Forgiveness of sin, salvation and a life of faith. Victorious Christian living. It wasn’t without trials and tests, but as they continued faithfully, praying and trusting, “believing”, their faith changed the world forever. As Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:36)
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