Day 16

Welcome Back!

I am currently on the journey to listen to only Christian Music for 30 days, and to see what kinds of effects that if can have on my life. If you have any questions about what inspired me to do this, or if you want to know what I am expecting to get out of this, then I suggest you go back and read my very first blog post from this journey. And if you want to know if there has been any effect on me at all, then I suggest you read this post, and any other post that I have made. Now, let’s get into the blog!

Today’s blog is going to be something different. It is not about music at all, and instead, it is going to be about the sermon that I heard at church this morning. Now, I will mention one of the songs that was played during the worship section of the service, but the vast majority of the post is going to be about the sermon and how it both convicted, and inspired me in my walk with Jesus.

For those of you who don’t know, I go to Calvary Church and have been for a few years now. What is special about our church is that we are a church that is very much a church that is big into preaching through the Bible verse by verse. There is a term for that, but I can’t think of it right now.. Anyways, the book of the Bible that we are working through right now is the Book of John. We just started this series a few weeks ago, so we are still in the first chapter. Today’s passage was John 1:29-34, and it talks about when John the Baptist first declared that Jesus was the savior that the people have been waiting for. He didn’t use those words though. What he said was “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.” The wording of that statement was very intentional. As our pastor put it, the term “Lamb of God” is something that might not mean a lot to people on the outside, but it is of great significance to the Jews. It’s kind of like how the end credit scenes to Marvel movies don’t make any sense on their own, but if you are in the know, then you eagerly look forward to them at the end of each movie, because you know that they are going to give you a taste of what is to come. And that is basically what was happening here. In the Jewish faith, the “Lamb of God” was the one who was going to come and provide a sacrifice for all the world so that they can finally come near to God. This was something that was foretold in the book of Isaiah, as well as numerous other books. So when JTB (John the Baptist) used that term, he knew that the people would take that seriously.

Now, that is all the stuff that happened in the first 15 minutes of the sermon, but the part that really convicted, and inspired me the most was the stuff that came after it. In the text, John (The author) describes how JTB baptizes people with water, but then how Jesus would come and baptize people with the Holy Spirit. I will admit, at first glance, that doesn’t sound like it would be too convicting or inspiring, but stick with me and I will try to help you see. After reading this passage, Josh (our lead pastor) talked about what baptisms are, and why they are important. So for those of you who don’t know, I am going to try and explain it to you as best I can. Basically, a baptism is an outward show, of an inward faith, and we are called to get baptized when we come into the faith so that we may be “born again”. Some of you may be asking what the big deal is about being “born again” and what that exactly means, so I am going to try my best to explain that too. Being born again means that you have died to your sin, and instead of living for the world (or any impulse that comes your way), you are now living to glorify God. And because you have this relationship with God, and you no longer have the desire to live in the ways of the world, then you have basically been “born again” into the new person that you have become. Getting baptized is supposed to be a lifechanging event, because it is supposed to mark when you become a Christian, and when you started living your life in such a way that brings glory to God. With that cleared up, we can now dive into the reason why the difference in how you are baptized is important.

Before Jesus came into the picture, people would only be able to be baptized with water, but that water really didn’t do anything. It was basically just there for show. People still had to offer sin sacrifices, and the people still had to basically earn their way into heaven by living perfect and holy lives. However, that was not something that was possible, so God knew that he had to come up with a way to offer atonement for the people’s sin, while still making a way for people to draw near to him without having to live perfect lives. That is where Jesus comes into the picture. Jesus was created to be the Perfect Lamb that could be sacrificed so that EVERYONE in the world could be made new. Without Jesus’ death and resurrection, then we would have to live perfect lives in order to get into heaven. Thankfully, Jesus did die and rise again on the third day, so we can draw near to God, because every thing that we have ever done wrong has been washed white as snow. Here enters the biggest stumbling point for many people though. Many wonder, that if because Jesus died for all our sins, does that mean we can go on sinning and still be with Jesus in heaven when our lives end? The answer to that is obviously no, and the reason why not is what convicted me and inspired me today. The reason why we can’t go on sinning and living how we want to, and still make it into heaven, is because of the Holy Spirit. If we have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, then that means the Holy Spirit has come down on us, and that it is the Holy Spirit that makes the act of baptism such a life changing event.

In his message Pastor Josh talked about how when we accept Jesus into our lives, we are also accepting the Holy Spirit into our lives, and the Holy Spirit is not a passive thing that just sits around in our hearts and watches us live our lives. Instead, the Holy Spirit is something that consumes us, and takes over our lives. When you get baptized in the Holy Spirit, then you become immersed in a deep and pervasive Spirit that changes your whole life. You no longer want to do those things that were bringing death and destruction in your life. Instead, everything that you do, you do because you feel it will bring God glory, and that is all that you want! I am going to be fully honest with you right now, and tell you that is not where I am at in my faith.. yet. But it is where I want to be. I’m sure that you have met some people in your life who live their lives with the Holy Spirit guiding them, and you can see it in them the second you meet them. Those people are different from the rest of us. You can just see it in them in every interaction that they have. And that is how I want to be someday! I want to get to a point where I am so intertwined with the Holy Spirit that people look at my life and say “Wow, God is doing something big with his life!” Towards the end of the message, Josh described the Holy Spirit in one of three ways. He said that the Holy Spirit is our GPS, because it guides us along the road of life. It is the thing that lets you know that you are heading the right way, and it is also the thing that makes you feel guilty and convicted when you know that you are going the wrong way. But it is always there to help you get back on track. He also talked about how the Holy Spirit is our muscle, because it is what gives us the strength to fight those battles with our giants that we wouldn’t be able to fight alone. And finally, he talked about how the Holy Spirit is our reminder, because it always reminds us of who we are living for, and why we are doing what we are doing. Hearing those words made me feel very convicted, because I know that I am not on the right track, but it also left me feeling very uplifted because it meant that I did have the Holy Spirit inside me! If I was feeling the way that I have been feeling, then it means that the Holy Spirit is trying to perform a course correction in my life, and I need to follow it to get back on track! So that is going to be my focus for this week! I want to live my life in accordance to what the Holy Spirit is leading me to do, because I know that is what is going to help me grow closer to Jesus in my faith.

I hope that this has helped you in some way, and I want to apologize for not talking about any songs during this post. I was going to at the end here, but then I realized that we are already in the midst of an extremely long post, so I don’t think that I should make it unreadable by making you devote a few hours of your day to read it all. If you want a song suggestion, then I suggest you listen to “Holy Spirit” by Jesus Culture because that was the song that they played after the sermon was over. Thank you for reading, and I hope that God uses this post to help draw you near to him. Have a wonderful day.