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Thanks to the American Bible Society “The Gospel of John” for the video scenes.

I want to remind us of the perspective that Jesus, our Savior, had concerning His own death. Because I think it helps us appreciate it a little bit more. His death was 1) Purposeful, 2) Voluntary, 3) Joyful, and 4) Glorious.

Well, first of all, His death was purposeful. He recognized that He was going to die. John 12:27 says, “What shall I say, Father, do not let this hour come upon me. But that is why I came.”

The purpose of his death was also voluntary. It was a voluntary or volitional outpouring of His love, and it showed full and true submission to God, the Father. Romans 5:8, “for God demonstrates his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” In the garden, Jesus said three times to the Father, “not My will, but Your will be done.” In John 10:17-18 Jesus said, “The Father loves me because I’m willing to give up My life in order that I may receive it back again. No one takes My life away from Me. I give it up of My own free will. I have the right to give it up and I have the right to take it back.This is what my father has commanded me to do.”

His death was purposeful. His death was voluntary. His death was also joyful. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus was fully aware of the pain and the suffering that He would face at the cross, but He had his eyes on the joy, and that joy was purchasing our eternal destiny.

And then finally, Jesus considered death as the path to glory. In John 12:23 He said those words, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to receive great glory.” And this is an amazing verse to me because this is shortly before the passion week. This is shortly before He would go through all of that suffering, the betrayal, the arrest, the scourging, the piercing of his hands and feet, the crown of thorns on his head, and the gathering up the sins of the world that pierced His heart. He didn’t say the time has come for the Son of Man to be tortured and tormented and suffer for the sins of the world. No, He said, “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” He ignored the suffering and kept his eyes on the glory. And if we can grasp the truth of that verse, it would totally change our perspective of the sufferings in our life.

So this is His perspective of His own death. He was born to die.

Gene Cunningham - April 8, 2000

Simplicity in Christ #1

2018 AYC Ladies Classes

2Co 11:1-5, Simplicity in Christ can only belong to the believer. God's love is provoked when His people fail to abide in Christ. Satan pulls us away with hardship and difficulties. When there's no celebration in the soul there's a problem. Most of us have conflict within—cares confusion, doubts, but those things should stay outside of us. Zelos is Greek for "zeal" or "jealousy" (2Co 11:2). God loves us (Rom 5:8), and we now have a personal spiritual relationship with Him. He desires unconditional devotion to Him. Anything that vies for that attention is a threat. Paul had a zeal or passion from God for the Corinthians because their devotion was being compromised. "The Spirit longs for us to the point of jealousy" (Jam 4:5). God's love is provoked when His people love something in His place (Eze 8:30); this is spiritual adultery (Jam 4:1-4). We are not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30) by involvement in area of sin in the things we think, say, or do. Paul is feeling for the Corinthians what the Lord is feeling—jealousy and grief. Paul poses himself as a friend of the Bridegroom (2Co 11:2), namely Christ, having espoused the Corinthians as a "chaste virgin" to Him. Paul means he wants to ensure that the Corinthians keep complete devotion to Christ. When Christ died, He sanctified or purified His Church—His Bride (Eph 5:26). 


 


Paul dreaded and was haunted by what the enemy, Satan, can accomplish in Corinthian lives—"As the Serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness" (2Co 11:3). Part of being made in His image is being able to choose. The test was the tree. To Eve, Satan questioned what God might be holding back. Craftiness and simplicity are opposites. Craftiness is working every thing; simplicity is focusing on only one thing.






  1. Martha was troubled and distracted by many things (Luk 10:41-42).






  2. The rich young ruler lacked one thing—unconditional trust in Christ (Luk 18:22).






  3. Obedience to one law makes all other laws unnecessary (Mat 22:37; Rom 13:9-10).






  4. When you lay down your burdens and take up the yoke of Christ (Eph 4:20-21), you'll find in Him all the wisdom you need about God and man.






  5. You must let go of excess to find simplicity (Mat 10:39).






  6. When life's only priority is in place, all other things flow from the heavenly Father (Mat 6:33).






  7. Single-minded focus should be trust in the Father; the result is that we give thanks for everything (Phi 3:13).






We have a choice like Eve's; either we trust the will of the Father as good or we chose our own will as superior. 


Scripture References: Romans 8:3, Hebrews 4:12

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