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In the classic sports fantasy film Field of Dreams, the character Ray Kinsella encounters his late father as an athletic younger man. Upon seeing him for the first time, Ray comments to his wife, Annie, “I only saw him years later when he was worn down by life. Look at him . . . What do I say to him?” The scene raises a question: What would it be like to see someone we loved and knew had died, vital and strong again?

Mary Magdalene had that experience when she first met Jesus after He rose from the dead. Mary was weeping beside the empty tomb when she turned “and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus” (John 20:14). Why didn’t she recognize Him? Perhaps because of the tears in her eyes or because it “was still dark” (v. 1). More likely, it was because when she last saw Him, He’d been bloodied and beaten and tortured to death. She never expected to see Him alive again; He was so alive that it took time for the magnificent truth to sink in.

Yet there Jesus stood, “raised imperishable” (1 Corinthians 15:42)! And the moment He called her by name, Mary recognized Him, not only as her faithful Friend and “Teacher” (John 20:16), but also as the risen Lord of life. God always has ways of astounding us with His wonders. His conquering death for us is the greatest surprise of all.

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Today on BOLD STEPS, Pastor Mark Jobe helps us recognize just how much our parental relationships … impact our relationship with God. Today hisre going to help us understand that how we view our earthly father and mother can greatly influence how we see not only ourselves, but how we view and respond to God.

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Galatians 6 advises us on how to live wisely as Christians. Paul says we should help others who mess up and share each other’s problems. He also reminds us that we’re responsible for our own actions. Paul finishes by defending his teaching and focusing on Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

Beloved pastor Andrew Murray (1828-1917) shared how in his native South Africa, various diseases affect the orange trees there. To the unpracticed eye all may seem fine, but an expert arborist can spot the rot that heralds the tree’s slow death. The only way to save the diseased tree is to remove the stem and branches from the root and graft them onto a new one. Then the tree can thrive, producing fruit.

Murray connected this illustration to the apostle Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. From prison in Rome, Paul wrote a letter that wonderfully summarizes the gospel of Jesus Christ. His pastoral heart shines through when he prayed that the believers would be strengthened with power through Christ’s Spirit in their inner being so that He would dwell in their hearts by faith (Ephesians 3:16-17). Paul longed that they’d be “rooted and established in love” and would grasp the full measure of God’s abundant love (vv. 17-18).

As believers in Jesus, our roots sink deeply into the rich soil of God’s love, where the nutrients fortify us and help us grow. And as we’re grafted onto Jesus, His Spirit helps us to produce fruit. We may have to weather storms that bend us one way or another, but we can withstand them when we’re rooted in the Source of life and love.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: 1 John 5:13

God wants salvation to be explained simply, because it is His desire that anyone can understand and obtain it.

1 John 5:13 says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”

Salvation is a relationship with God that pardons us from our sins. By salvation, we have peace with God and power over sin. We are given His presence through the Holy Spirit, and through the process of sanctification, we will be made perfect in God’s sight.

In order to understand how salvation saves us and makes us perfect, we must understand our human nature.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Human beings, God’s crowning creation, are composed of body, soul, and spirit.

Our bodies are made of the dust of the ground. But we are not our bodies; we just live in our bodies.

We also have souls, which are our personalities, sense of humor, intelligence, likes and dislikes, idiosyncrasies — the things that make us unique.

The human spirit is inextricably united with its soul, completely inseparable, but they are not the same thing. The human spirit is the organ of spiritual knowledge; it is evidence that God put Himself into man.

Adrian Rogers says, “Salvation is not primarily getting man out of Earth into Heaven; it is getting God out of Heaven and back into man.”

It is important that believers dwell in the Holy Spirit, because He speaks to our human spirits, which speak to our souls, which speak to our bodies. Our bodies move out into the world and allow us to be physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

When we are saved, we immediately receive justification in our Spirit; we are progressively sanctified in our souls, and ultimately glorified in our bodies.

Anyone can be saved; and when we are, we are given the assurance of our salvation through Jesus Christ. Faith is not a feeling; it is depending on God’s facts.

Apply it to your life

Do you have the assurance of salvation? Remember: salvation is simple: whosoever may come.