Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

This morning we finish up with our series on Matthew 16:24.  If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Jesus wants us to follow him.

It is possible to deny self, to take up a cross and not follow Jesus.

We can say, “I am not going to live life my way but (fill in the blank)’s way.”  That blank could be filled in by Muhammad, Buddha, Joseph Smith, Charles Russell or any name.  Jesus wants you to put his name in the blank and follow him.

The core of our Christian faith is a relationship.

God loves us.  We love God.

Jesus teaches.  We obey.

The core of the relationship is faith.

Do you trust Jesus?  If you trust Jesus, you will follow him.  The Bible tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please God…”  The relationship that we have with God is one of trust.  We are to trust Jesus and follow him.

The condition of our relationship with God is broken.

We were created by God for his purposes.  He told us what he wanted us to do and we disobeyed. We are in rebellion against God.  How many people do you know who say they love God, but don’t even know what he wants them to do?  How many people do you know who say they love God and are doing what they think is right?  They have never consulted God about that, they run their own lives living by their own rules and are justifying their own behavior.

God is speaking and no one is listening.  The relationship is broken.  The break is all one sided.  We are the ones who are sinning against our creator.  God has done nothing wrong, the problem is all on our end.  All we like sheep have gone astray.  We have turned everyone to his own way.

The consequences of this brokenness are real.

There are consequences in any broken relationship.  You know.  You have had them.  People have gone through divorce or broken up with a boy friend or girl friend.  Business partners have split because of major differences of opinion.  Good friends have stopped speaking to one another because of some problem.  In each situation there were consequences.  In some, people felt immense pain or anger that hurt their quality of life.  In other situations there is real grief that a small incident had gotten so out of hand and now someone you really care for is not a part of your life. 

So there are consequences with God.  He made us for a purpose, to do his work his way.  But when we rebel, when we sin, when we live life our own way, we become like a useless tool.  The screwdriver you used as a pry bar is no longer of any use as a screwdriver. 

But it is more than that.  Our relationship with God is so broken that God, in his justice, cannot overlook our sin.  When the Bible speaks about the wrath of God, the justice of God, of hell and of condemnation, these are all consequences we face for our rebellion against God.

The conditions for reconciliation require two steps: One party has to take the first step. The other party has to take the second step.

What do you do when you have a broken relationship?  Someone has to take the first step if there is ever to be reconciliation.  God has taken that first step.

His justice forces him to punish sin, his love seeks to reconcile our relationship. 

He does love us.  He loves us enough that he sent his only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins.  The punishment we deserved for all the wrong we have done was taken by Jesus on that cross.  Christ died the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. 

God said, “I love you and I am taking the first step. I am willing to forgive you through Jesus.”

There is one condition.  We need to trust Jesus.  When Jesus calls us to follow him, we do so based on trust.  When God tells us that Jesus died for us, we have to trust God that our sins are forgiven through Jesus.

The results of reconciliation with God are fantastic.

The burdens caused by sin leaves our lives. 

Jesus, who has forgiven our sins, will lead us out of sin into the life God always intended that we should live.

When we follow Jesus the burden caused by sin leaves our lives.  The song writer capture it well when he wrote, “Would you be free from your burden of sin?  There’s power in the blood.”  The forgiveness we receive from Jesus sets us free from the penalty of our sin and Jesus works to set us free from the power of sin in our lives.

People today talk about the quality of life.  What destroys the quality of life are things like greed, anger, jealousy, gluttony, drunkenness, envy, adultery, gossip, lies, malice and the like.  These are the things that Jesus came to set us free from.

The resurrection power of Jesus moves us to love.

Just as Jesus rose from the dead, so those who trust Jesus walk in a new life. This life is all that comes from trusting Jesus and following him.

We learn to love.  People will give testimonies as to how God has brought love into their families, love for people that were hard to love, a greater concern for others.  This is part of the resurrection life.

We were placed on this earth to serve God.  When we follow Jesus, he leads us into meaningful service to an Almighty God.  He calls us to do work that is eternal in nature.  We work with people.  We are called to love one another, to love our neighbor and our enemies.  Why?  So we can bring them to the God who loves them and wants a relationship with them through Jesus Christ.

That new life begins by trusting Jesus.  He died, was buried and rose again for you.  He calls you to deny self, take up your cross and follow him.  He calls you to trust him. 

So we come back to where we started.  We serve a risen Savior.  He calls us to follow Him.  Will you?