Jesus, The Rescuer
We are endeavoring to restore the original purpose of the church. This purpose is to image forth the power and love of Jesus. It is to glorify Him in every way. We are passionate about teaching what this looks like but in order to do that we must start by being honest about our past church beliefs. More and more we are hearing stories of what the church and religion has done to people. Religion has been the greatest violator of people’s hearts.
“Religion makes you feel like you can’t say anything about the church. Let me tell you something about Jesus. He talked sweetly to demon possessed men. You can see this in the story of the man Jesus intentionally went to see across the Sea of Galilee in Mark 5. Jesus talks sweetly to adulterous women and those who followed Him around, but He speaks strongly against the religious people. He did not come to start a religion but burn it to the ground. Jesus is concerned with one thing. Your heart and His connecting in unity.” Pastor Tim
Pastor Tim says it all the time, what we are unwilling to confront in our own lives will be magnified in our children. We are demanding different for our children and the next thousand generations. We refuse to continue to pass down something that does not reflect Jesus. Let’s visit Acts 9 to see how serious Jesus is in rescuing us from the religious system. Saul before he became Paul was the #1 most fervent person for Yahweh. He was born in the city of Tarsus, in a large Jewish colony in that region. He was raised in Jerusalem and tutored by the Jewish rabbi Gamaliel. Saul was considered one of the most brilliant Jewish Pharisees of his day. He was zealous for the things of Yahweh and defending what he thought was right. So, when followers of The Way came on the scene after Jesus’ resurrection the religious sector saw them as delusional. Saul went to the high priest to seek authorization to kill or imprison those he saw as following the false Messiah. He and all the religious men couldn’t even recognize the Messiah, Yahweh in the flesh as He stood before them and definitely was not going to stand for the followers to continue to spread The Truth. As Saul set out to accomplish his mission, he was met with a brilliant light that exploded around him and suddenly was thrown to the ground and heard, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” “I am Jesus, the Victorious, the one you are persecuting.” Wow, the grace and mercy of Jesus is truly incredible. He could have destroyed Saul but instead He sees who he really is. Just like He does with us. He sees who we are created to be not who religion tells us we are.
Saul was blind and instructed to go to Damascus and wait. In those three days, Jesus spoke to Ananias and tells him to go at once to the street called Abundance to find Saul and lay hands on him to restore his sight. In the footnotes of The Passion Translation of Acts 9, it says “the conversion of Saul the legalist into Paul the grace preacher has a significant lesson for us. We can be amazingly wrong while thinking we are doing right. The Holy Spirit awakens our hearts to feast on Christ, our righteousness. Religion has a deadening effect on our hearts. Like Saul, we have to fall off of our “high horse” and bite the dust before our blinded eyes can see.”
One of the hardest things to do is to be honest with what we have believed and what it has produced in our lives and the lives of our family. Some of us gave many, many years to the system of American Christianity and we’ve seen it produce destruction of marriages, children, ministries and even our personal lives have suffered. Our hearts have been violated. This is NOT what Jesus came to give us. He came so we can have life and life more abundant.
When Jesus rescues Saul, he doesn’t send him back to those he had great influence with. In our mind we think go tell them where they are wrong, but the Holy Spirit knows what must take place when He begins to talk to us about the truth of the Kingdom of Yahweh. We cannot mix the Kingdom with religion. It does not work. We must allow the Holy Spirit to call us out to the wilderness to pour out all the garbage religion poured in.
“My zeal and passion for the doctrines of Judaism distinguished me among my people, for I was far more advanced in my religious instruction than others my age. But then God called me by his grace and chose me from my birth to be his. He was pleased to unveil his Son in me so that I would proclaim him to the peoples of the world. After I had this encounter, I kept it a secret for some time, sharing it with no one. And I had no desire to run to Jerusalem and try to impress those who had become apostles before me. Instead, I withdrew into the Arabian Desert.” Galatians 1:14-15
Saul knew he had to allow Jesus to reveal who he was created to be from birth, a beloved son who would proclaim the true Messiah to the world. Is Jesus calling you to the wilderness to reveal your true identity in Jesus?
Regardless of the accomplishments you’ve achieved in American Christianity’s system, if you are feeling the drawing of the Holy Spirit just say, “yes and I do.” Our yes has more to do with our children and future generations than our own personal destiny. We are supposed to be different in the world. A light that displays the glory of Jesus.
“Yet all of the accomplishments that I once took credit for, I’ve now forsaken them and I regard it all as nothing compared to the delight of experiencing Jesus Christ as my Lord! To truly know him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now, so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embrace him as Lord in all of his greatness.
My passion is to be consumed with him and not cling to my own “righteousness” based in keeping the written Law. My only “righteousness” will be his, based on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—the very righteousness that comes from God. And I continually long to know the wonders of Jesus and to experience the overflowing power of his resurrection working in me.” Philippians 3
