When we sum up what the Bible teaches about life, we see that it teaches us that life is our physical existence along with relations, activities and experiences. The focus however is the eternal nature of life, not the temporal. Because I tend to get bent out of shape about thinks in life, I have on many occasions been forced to ask myself, “what in this situation has to do with what is really important?” This helps me to regain my focus on eternity that is affected by the now. Because we all can be short sighted, that is we tend to make decisions on the immediate without thought of the future, we all must ask the question “Am I living only for the now or am I living for the now that affects the later?
In this message God would have us to know that being a disciple calls for giving your life to what will last forever. Look at how Jesus points this out in Matthew 16:24-26
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?
(ESV)
When we are reading this text we notice verse 24 begins with "then". The use of the word “then” or “and” lets us know that the context of Jesus words is the incident with Peter in the previous verses. Reading the text in Mark's gospel also ads an interesting twist. Mark's account begins in 8:34 where he writes, “And He called to Him the crowd with His disciples…” by this Mark is suggesting that it has universal application. In other words, though He was dealing with Peter and his attempted rebuke of Jesus, this principle applies to all of us.
Understanding the previous two points we must now ask the question, how do we live our lives for what will last forever. In verse 24 Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." Here there are three basic characteristics of a disciple that answers our question.
- Self-denial “Let him deny himself”
- A Willingness to be shamed – “take up his cross” (Luke adds “daily” Lk 9:23)
- A life of following – “and follow me…” (Jesus is going through death to life)
A second question that we may ask at this point is why must life be lived for what will last forever and not just for the hear and now? First we must look to Jesus words recored in verse 25. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.Here He makes the point that we can’t save both our spiritual and physical lives at the same time. Here again we must note the meaning of the word “life”. It has as the dual meaning of life in the body and life in the eternal sense. In other words Jesus is saying here that you can’t try to save both in regards to saving your life when persecuted. To provide motivation for giving our lives away we can look to the word “find”. This word is interesting because it expresses the notion of
something great and unexpected.
A second way to answer our current question is, that there is no profit in living only for the now. V.26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?
Based upon these thought we can follow the example of Paul the Apostle and live our lives as drink offerings to God. This sounds weird, and you may even pass over the words that begin the following text. In 2 Timothy 4:6-8 we find, "6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing."(ESV)Genesis 35:14-15 is the first place a drink offering is mentioned. Here Jacob pours out a drink offering of wine and oil. To make a long explanation short, wine symbolizes the blood of Christ and oil is the biblical symbol for the Holy Spirit. Use these meanings to understand his words to Timothy and you will be able to live you life for what will last forever. Living this way enables us to engage our world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thanks for reading, and the sermon video is below!
Paul
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