Living Savior Podcast

Today we see what that fruitful life is supposed to look like. When God makes our connection to him visible, it shows itself in love. Love is often described as an emotion towards or desire for someone or something. Sadly, this temporary and often discriminate love is all that many experience. But God’s love far surpasses what the world sees and seeks. It is sacrificial and unending. It gives and is indiscriminate. How fitting! The God who loves all and has connected us to him, this God of love calls us to love each other. A life of love is that fruitful life.

Today we see what truly makes us fortified. Whether we securing our assets, looking after loved one, or pursuing better health, everyone is after so, if not ever, sort of protection. And although everyone is after that in life, there are no guarantees. You are only as protected as what you can provide. How different is life inside the gate of our Good Shepherd! Nothing can harm his sheep, for he laid down his life for them (John 10). No one can take them from his hand. We have that fortified life now and forever.

This week we see what it means to truly have fulfillment. Normally finding fulfillment means arriving. It means reaching some goal or achieving some success. Not so in the economy of the resurrected Savior, as we see in all of our lessons today. It was God’s power that made the lame walk (Acts 18). It’s God’s forgiveness that makes us humble to confess (1 John). Only the risen Savior could bring peace and prove it by his physical presence (Luke 24). And all of this fulfilled what God had promised all along. Thus, our success is wrapped up in his success. Every promise kept and eternal peace granted so that we would have that fulfilled life.

This week we see the same old fears that every human has without the eternal truth of Easter. What we empirically experience in life is more than evidence. It’s all that we know. But that leads to a reality like that of Thomas, namely, one without peace. Yet out of pure grace and power Jesus made his resurrection credible. For Thomas and the rest of his disciples, Jesus tied this eternal truth to what they could see and touch with their senses. When we doubt our doubts, faith in the resurrection is not only plausible, it accomplishes the impossible. And that faith in the resurrected Savior provides forgiveness and peace—the basis for a truly fearless life and for grace without end.

Today is just the beginning of the comfort God has for you. Join us for the whole series which continues through the next six weeks — “THAT LIFE.” As in, “It’s that _____ life.” Maybe it’s that job life, that mom or dad life, that vacation life, that teen life, etc. Whatever fills that blank for you and brings fulfillment in life, there’s a reason for feeling like you’ve arrived. We are hardwired to yearn for joy and to seek peace that transcends the greatest we have seen. That life is found in the empty tomb of Easter. Jesus died to pay for sin and rose from the grave to make us right with God. That life brings you every good and perfect gift in eternity. It gives you that life right now. Join us for this entire Easter season about that life.

What does strength really looks like? Normally, we understand strength as something you assert, something you impose. The same is often (and unfortunately) seen in the church. Each of us has strengths that can be seen, but the danger is that they benefit only the strong. Note how clear Jesus’ strength is on this special day. He demonstrates humility not only in how he is perceived but in what he was preparing to do—to become weak and humbled to the point of death on a cross. And all this not so that he would be strong, but so those who are actually weak despite the perception of our façades would actually and eternally receive the strength of his enduring and forgiving love. And in so doing, we would rethink worldly strength and communicate this humility and perceived weakness to the world.

This week we see what true connection is like. Normally, what you know and who you know determines how you can have influence over others. In almost every way in the world, influence is everything. Therefore, your connections are everything. Not so in the kingdom of God. Jesus glorified his Father’s name not through influence of power but in sacrifice. Therefore, his connection to his Father is not about what he gains but about what he gives, as is ours. It turns the concept of worldly connection upside down.

This week we see what truly gives us status, not just in our eyes, but in God's eyes. Usually, so much depends on what people think about us. And what people think about us determines where we stand with them and many others. And yet, study after study has proven how unhealthy it is to determine our status upon what other people think. The solution? Care less about what others think. Does that work. Maybe for a little. But in God view, he sees you as his child, saved through the sacrifice of his Son. Your status couldn't be more precious or permanent regardless of what anyone might say. It's all by his grace through faith, which turns the worldly concept of status upside down.

This week we take a look at the common thread through all religions—faith. Faith is trusting/believing is something that we don’t see. And although there are a whole host of things that we struggle to believe, arguably the hardest thing to believe is that the faith of our religion isn’t about us at all. Religion is personal. Obedience matters. The truth of the matter is that we can never do enough. The bar is set too high on purpose. That is why God reaches us in love and makes our obedience more than it ever would otherwise. In this way, the worldly concept of me-centered faith is turned upside down.

This week we see how the worldly concept of life and identity must be turned upside down. We must completely lose ourselves, even in the face of suffering. That’s not a welcome thought naturally, especially not in our Western culture. We put a lot of emphasis on “Finding yourself” and “Being yourself.” Individualism is praised and pursued. Yet, the Christian knows that whatever you set aside for the sake of your relationship with God . . . whatever you face as a consequence of the gospel . . . whatever you lose for the sake of your trust in the Lord, that is really where you find life. In other words, life isn’t found in all that you are and all that you do. True life is found when you lose yourself to remain in Jesus which may bring crosses now, but will ultimately bring the crown of eternal life.