Redeemer Fellowship Johnson County

Life in the Spirit is not simply a subjective reality. In this passage Jesus teaches us that one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to help us know the love of the Father and the Son, as revealed in the scriptures, so that we will obey the commandments of God - the clear, objective, and life changing calls to follow God. Obedience is a beautiful and essential aspect of what it means walk by the Spirit. This passage is an invitation to live under the authority of the Father, as we receive the love of the Son, through the Holy Spirit's help.

In John 15:1-17, Jesus explains what his followers must do after he leaves them. His message is simple: abide in the life I give you and the love I have for you. His love propels us to love others, and walking in obedience to him produces joy.

Jesus' disciples have been promised suffering and persecution in their near future. They're also mourning the impending execution of Jesus on the cross. Jesus says to his mourning and fearful disciples that what they most need is the Holy Spirit.

What does it mean to be a spiritual people and how to do we relate to a God we can't see and touch? That is the focus of this series through Jesus' teaching in chapters 14 through 16 of the Gospel of John. In this instruction to his disciples, Jesus talks about the Spirit dwelling in believers, believers abiding in Jesus, and what it means to live under the Father's authority. "Life in the Spirit" begins with understanding that we have been invited to share in the Triune relationship that God has with himself.

In a surprisingly simple way, a passage about meat sacrificed to idols has a great deal to teach us about how we use our money. As Paul addresses various needs in the church at Corinth, he draws us into the most basic reality in the universe: the earth is the Lords and everything in it. As Paul applies this truth to help the Corinthians understand matters of food, he offers us a profound insight into matters of money. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Jesus talks about money more than almost anything else. In the context of the Sermon on the Mount, this passage sits between teaching on hypocrisy and anxiety and the message is simple: only God satisfies. What we treasure shows us what we serve. How we see reveals the desires of our hearts. Servanthood is the way we’ve oriented our lives around what we think will ultimately keep us safe or make us significant. Jesus challenges us to serve God, not treasure; to leverage everything in our lives so that we look to him as our safety and our satisfaction.⠀

What would it look like to cultivate longing for the New Heavens and New Earth? Or to say it another way, how do you live now while we look forward to and long for the final fulfillment of God’s promises and plan? That is the question that gets answered in this closing section to book of Revelation. By summarizing many of the major themes, not only from the book of Revelation but the entire Bible, we get a vision for how to wait and cry out “Come Lord Jesus.”

Jesus is coming to make all things new. When Jesus returns he will remake creation, he will make new his church and he will restore both our bodies and our loved ones. Most significantly, Jesus is coming to make new our relationship with him. The greatest good of heaven is that we will see Jesus face-to-face.

In commenting on the book of Revelation, Eugene Peterson writes "the visual power of the book effects a kind of purging of the Christian imagination, refurbishing it with alternative visions of how the world is and will be." With that in mind, Revelation 20 reminds Christians again about the way the world is now and the way it will be. The vivid images of the binding of Satan, the reigning of the saints with God, the final judgement of God's enemies, and the throne of God would have encouraged and galvanized early Christians with the promise and reminder of God's ultimate rule and reign. In our crowded, cluttered, present-day affections and longings we need these truths to renew and reorient our hearts and minds around the person and work of Jesus.