Another young life taken by death.
Brothers and sisters, God wants to stir you awake from a complacent life of "I'm in the lifeboat so row me to heaven" mentality" to "row this dinghy back to the drowning masses- my Daddy wants me to help him rescue his family".
We are called to zoe life. What is zoe? Yes,it's a great book by J.D. Salinger about two kids named Franny and Zooey. Yup, it's also a cute comic strip about a ragamuffin family. It's also a pretty good girl's name if you're looking for something unique, fun and surprisingly deep for a baby name. Especially when you know what it means.
Zoe means over and above; more than necessary, vehement and intense emotion and belief. It is not limited to biological constraints, but it is overflowing, spilling over, uncontainable. Zoe is the actual translation that Jesus used for "life" when He said in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, but I come that you may have life, and abundant (zoe) life!".
There are three definitions used in the bible for "life":
Bios:
earthly; the length of our days, health and comfort
(Mark 12:44) the widow's mite was her bios life.
(Luke 15:12) the seed that fell among thorns was distracted by the bios life. The only good seed in this parable was just 25% of the total seed mentioned; it is however the only seed that bears fruit.
(1 John 2:16) For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from desires pass away.
Psyche:
intellectual grandeur, life's will, purpose, meaning; the heart or soul of personhood in the earthly sense. The psyche is not necessarily saved, it is eternal however.
(Mark 8:36) What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
(Luke 17:33) Those who seek to save their life (psyche) will lose it. Whoever loses his (psyche) life for my sake will preserve it.
(John 12:25) He who hates his (psyche) life in this world will keep it for eternal (zoe) life eternally. This understanding of the proper translations illuminate clearly what Jesus is saying about being a disciple.
(Acts 2:31) Jesus' soul (psyche) was not left in Hades nor did His flesh see corruption.
(Romans 12:12) Transform your psyche life daily
Zoe:
refers to Jesus; it is only used in connection with God in the bible, as the essence of life, to be, as in "I Am"; the best description of the essence used in description of God.
Separate from eternal psyche, inseparable from God,
Available only through Jesus "I am the way, the truth, and the zoe" (John 14:6)
(1 Timothy 4:8) "For physical training (bios) has some value, but godliness has value for all things, We don't have to wait for the eternal zoe life; it is available now.
(John 5:29) the dead are either raised to zoe life or to condemnation
(Colossians 3:3) your zoe life is hidden with Messiah in God
With this revelation on what Jesus means when He is talking about abundant life, we should feel empowered to embrace this zoe promise for both the present life and the life to come. We need to share this message of hope and life to a lost world of millions of drowning souls. Don't row yourself in a big dinghy all alone; go fill up the boat with as many people as you can muster. Don't you see all the disillusioned masses? Scoop them help them find their way into this beautiful truth. Usher them with the glorious torch of Jesus' light to heaven with you, a prince with spoils for The King. As you step out to live zoe life, you'll start to understand how high, wide, deep and infinite God's love is for you. And you will spill over in joy and love for others.
We are adopted as His Children, we have an inheritance that the Holy Spirit is just a small deposit of. Wow! Think about that. The Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, God Himself as our counselor, comforter and friend, is merely a deposit of what is to come! ( Corinthians 5:5) As Jesus increases in us, we decrease, empowering us to a new boldness to share God's love story with the drowning world. (2 Corinthians 5:15- "And Jesus died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but or him who died for them and was raised again.") And our present sufferings are nothing when compared with the uncontainable glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18)! We die a little more each day to ourselves and our limited view on what "life" is all about; in exchange, Jesus lives more in us every day and He blasts through our smallness of understanding as He lives and works in us and manifests life-giving, joy-filled, supernaturally awesome Kingdom of God power. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work (1 John 3:8). Jesus actually descended to hell to take the keys from Satan and render him totally and completely defeated at the cross, a one-time sin atonement to reestablish God's order with mankind and bridge the gap made in Eden when sin entered the world. For as with one man (Adam) sin entered the world, through one man (Jesus), sin has been defeated. This is the greatest love story ever told. This is our God, not a mean task-master who keeps a record of every wrong, but a loving Father who likes nicknames such as "Daddy" and "Abba" instead of the highly formal titles religion gives him. He erases the sin slate when we confess our sin and come running into His arms. God Himself compares Himself to a mother hen trying to gather her chicks under her wings. He does not want any person to perish under the devil's webs of deception. He wants every person to come running like the prodigal son saying, "Daddy, won't you take me back, even as a servant in your house?" It is with this awareness of our own brokenness and desperation for Him that God comes running to us, laying aside His own dignity, humbling Himself to run to us with His robes hiked up and His feet catching air, to meet us where we are and to throw a royal robe on our backs and a signet ring of His Kingdom Authority on our finger. No sin is too big a chasm for God, for Jesus took on every sin and every curse so that we could have this relationship with His Father who is now Our Father, too!
And Hollywood is overdosing on death. And humanity is drowning in deception from the enemy of our souls. They're climbing into Satan's murderous lap and letting him stroke their hair with cultural opiates, the whole time he's white-knuckling a sharp axe in his other hand, waiting to strike the death blow. Satan knows nothing but hate, and lies, and pride, and accusation. He will never stop yelling at you how rotten and dirty you are. He stands before God accusing God's children, and at the same time he taunts mankind with lies about how unreliable and phony God is. Lies, lies, lies. Doubt and fear, insecurity and rejection. Filth and death. Why would anyone want to stay under the smog of the slime of Satan? He is the enemy of our souls and he hates God's creation. But we can run under God's mighty outstretched wing and know that God is bigger, God is stronger, and God will never, ever let us down. God loves us (Romans 8:38-39), He fights for us (Hebrews 13:6), He forgives our sin when we confess (1 John 1:9), He does not withhold any good thing from us (Psalm 84:11), He hears your prayers (Psalm 34:15), and He is always with us (Joshua 1:9).
Now get in that dinghy boat, and share the Good News!
"I have come that you may have (Zoe) Life, and have it to the Full!" -Jesus (John 10:10)
Research and sermon credits to Mrs. K. Williams from Hope Center. Your sermon invited the spirit of revelation to give wisdom. Thank you!
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