"Something Lost, Something Found, Something to Live For"

Something Lost, Something Found, 

Something to Live For

(The New Covenant Life)

June 26, 2021

Larry R Evans

Introduction

Max Lucado tells the true story of a honeymoon that got off to a wrong start.

 The newlyweds arrived at the hotel in the wee hours with high hopes. They’d reserved a large room with romantic amenities. That’s not what they found. Seems the room was pretty skimpy. The tiny room had no view, no flowers, a cramped bathroom, and worst of all—no bed. Just a foldout sofa with a lumpy mattress and sagging springs. It was not what they’d hoped for; consequently, neither was the night. The next morning the sore-necked groom stormed down to the manager’s desk and ventilated his anger. After listening patiently for a few minutes, the clerk asked, “Did you open the door in your room?” The groom admitted he hadn’t. 

He returned to the suite and opened the door he had thought was a closet. There, complete with fruit baskets and chocolates was a spacious bedroom! 1 Sigh. Can’t you just see them standing in the doorway of the room they’d overlooked? Oh, it would have been so nice . . . A comfortable bed instead of a clumpy sofa. A curtain-framed window rather than a blank wall. A fresh breeze in place of stuffy air. An elaborate restroom, not a tight toilet. But they missed it. How sad. Cramped, cranky, and uncomfortable while comfort was a door away. They missed it because they thought the door was a closet. -- Max Lucado, When God Whispers Your Name p.186 Kindle.

The experience of these newlyweds is unfortunately the experience of many Christians.  Too often they spend their time in the “entrance” and never really see what God has for them. Distractions come from many directions. 

This quarter we reviewed God’s promises and our agreements called covenants. The first week’s title was “What Happened?” We were reminded in that lesson that God made us and gave us a purpose for living. The rediscovery of that purpose is what salvation is all about! The purpose was always built around our relationship with Him. Something about God was put inside us at creation.

We must remember that the heart of religion is not an opinion about God or some doctrine as important as it may be. True religion is first a personal relationship with Him. So let’s review this week’s study from that perspective.

A New Kind of Honesty

As we sometimes say, “Sin did a number on us” and because of that Jeremiah could say this (taken from the Message)

"The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,

a puzzle that no one can figure out.

But I, GOD, search the heart

and examine the mind.

I get to the heart of the human.

I get to the root of things.

I treat them as they really are,

not as they pretend to be.  (Jer. 17:9)

To live the “new covenant life” we need to be honest with ourselves. Apart from the Holy Spirit’s influence, we want our own way more than God’s. We need to begin there – don’t stay there, but we need to recognize this characteristic in ourselves because later on when we talk about prayer this becomes critical. It may sound negative but it is a beginning point to admit that “all of us” have sinned and fallen short of the glory of the One who created us! (Rom. 3:23).

A New Kind of Beginning

Once again, how we begin a new life is important. We’ve been honest with God and with ourselves so we’re headed in the right direction, but there is more.  It was Jesus who said, 

A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. (John 10:10)

The Apostle Paul was an Israelite and raised as a Pharisee. The Pharisees were a sect that had arisen in response to the growing secularization in Israel. What Paul was to learn is that the way to fight God’s battle is to fight with God.  He was to learn that God is not primarily wanting his time or his money but his will.

"Christ’s life showed me how and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not 'mine,' but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

This kind of life, this new beginning, is like being born again. It is a new start, new priorities, and a new assurance.  With this comes a new joy. When Paul was writing to friends about what he had found in his new religious experience, he expressed it this way,  

"We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy!" (1 Jn 1:3,4)

A New Way of Walking

If one thing can be said about Paul, it is that he was very conscientious.  One clear example of this is found in Romans 7.

"I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.

But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time." (Romans 7:14-20)

And Paul continues,

"It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?" (Romans 7:21-24)

But Paul has had a new experience. We must not stop reading there.

"The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different."

Paul now understands that THE SOLUTION IS LIFE ON GOD'S TERMS

"With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death." (Rom. 7:25 – 8:2)

In chapter 8, Paul speaks in the language of the exodus. He is set free from the bondage of slavery. The new life is the life of the indwelling Jesus. His ‘exodus’ has given him a new life.

A Life of Commitment

It has been said that sin does to a life what shears do to a flower. A cut at the stem separates a flower from the source of life.  Initially, the flower is attractive, still colorful, and strong. In time, however, the leaves wilt, and the petals begin to drop. No matter what is done, whether the stem is put in the soil, watered, or even fertilized, life is only possible if the flower is reconnected to the source of life.

How does this translate into the life I want to live?  Consider John 11:25,26.  Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha had died. Distraught with Jesus’ absence at the very time they needed Him, we break into Martha’s conversation with Jesus.

Martha said, "Master, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you."

Jesus said, "Your brother will be raised up."

Martha replied, "I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time."

"You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?"

We don’t have to wait until the Second Coming to have a new life. Reconnection with the Source of life is vital.  Prayer is a vital part of a Christian’s life but not just any kind of prayer. The disciples who spent day and night with Jesus made a discovery.  There was a connection between what Jesus was able to do and the way he prayed. So one day, they asked Jesus to teach them to pray.  It was then that Jesus shared with His disciples what we refer to as the Lord’s Prayer. There are many things we can learn from that prayer, but I’ll mention just two.  

The first is the words, “Our Father.” The first time in the Bible that God is linked with the concept of the word “father” is found in Exodus 4:22. God’s people had been in cruel bondage. In many ways, the Egyptian bondage becomes in the Bible a symbol of sin’s grip on the soul.  In this passage we find Moses telling Pharaoh what God told him to say.  This is what told the oppressor, Pharoah. 

Israel is my son, my firstborn! I told you, "Free my son so that he can serve me."

When the disciples heard Jesus begin His prayer, “Our Father”, they knew they were being invited to pray with Jesus the One who had set their people free.  Secondly, as they heard Jesus pray they heard him pray for specific every day needs and He did it with confidence and out of a sense of gratitude!  One note of caution.  If in our prayers we don’t “experience” some kind of “feeling” then you really don’t need “faith.” Your relationship with God will be as changeable as the blowing wind.

I am reminded of the golfer who accepted the invitation to go golfing at a course he had never played. He teed up his ball, positioned himself carefully, and swung and missed the ball entirely. This happened two more times. He turned to his friends and said, “This is a really tough course!”  So often we say the same about our Christian experience. We must keep some basic principles in mind or else our commitment to Christ will either not make sense or will get tired of trying.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, 

Only give up a thing when you want some other condition so much that the thing has no longer any attraction for you, OR when it seems to interfere with that which is more greatly desired.

Trying to change behavior for any reason other than that of honestly believing that Christ would want us to make changes will lead to dead formalism. When Jesus is at the center and not just a rule, then what we change is for Him and with Him, we will remain connected to the source of life.  The change will make sense and life will take on a new purpose. We must keep these two principles in mind as we pray: “Our Father” and “be specific with the desire to please Him.” 

A Group for Strugglers

One of my favorite Bible texts illustrating the intended purpose of the Church is found in Ecclesiastes 4:12.

By yourself you're unprotected.

With a friend you can face the worst.

Can you round up a third?

A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped.

This concept is not an isolated one.  Note what the Old Testament scholar, Jacques Doukhan from Andrews University, has observed.

“It is interesting to note that in the Bible, God’s covenant and salvation always concern the community. And when it seems to involve the individual, Abraham or Jacob, for instance, it is always in relation to the whole people, the future people of Israel for the latter, and all the nations for the former. . . .

We exist, we are saved, within the community and not apart from it., for salvation is not an individual, private affair. It has a cosmic character.” Jacques B. Doukhan in Ecclesiastes: All Is Vanity, p.56)

 The Greek word for church means the “called out ones” but not to be alone. We, the church, are a group of strugglers drawn to one another. We find hope and encouragement from one another, but it doesn’t end there. We are also called to share.

A New Way of Sharing

I appreciate what Keith Miller said in his book, The Taste of New Wine. “Everyone today seems to be inwardly yearning for someone who really cares enough just to listen to him, without trying to change him.” (p. 94) Having found a new spiritual experience and a new purpose for living, Miller also wanted to share with others what he had found.  He explains how he went about it.

"So I began to merely listen to people with the idea in mind of making friends for Christ. Soon I found that I could identify with almost every problem or sin I heard—if not with the deed, certainly with the emotion behind it. . . . I found my life filled with a new and deeper kind friendship than I had ever known before. But the point is that this kind of sharing begins not by spouting your answer, but by finding out who this person is and his problem, in need . . . as he sees it” (p.95)

Miller sums up Christianity like this, “Christianity is not a status at which one arrives; it is a life in which one matures. So show him the first steps one begins to take in this life with God.” (p.100). 

A Life after the Honeymoon

We began with an illustration about a honeymoon that started badly for one newlywed couple. I suppose some could conclude from this one experience that either all honeymoons or all marriages or both should be thrown out.  Miller doesn’t suggest that at all.

"I do not agree with those who have ‘given up’ on the Institutional Church, as difficult as the situation sometimes seems to be to ministers and laymen. I think there is a way. The new wine will not burst the old wineskins if the handlers of the old wineskins will receive the new wine and pour it quickly in new skins themselves." (p.111)

Our theology and our eschatology must not cloud the reality of everyday living—a life that takes Christ with us in everyday activities because . . . after all, we have been redeemed and Jesus lives inside.