Last week, the Wynnton Youth joined a few hundred area students for Souled Out O.N.E. The concert featured Jonathan and Lisa Moore Band (Cry for Revival!!!), No Compromises (Now Sway Widdit), and evangelist David Guinn (Heaven Yes!), as well as some local worship pastors and ministers. I have to admit that the highlight of the event for me was the first sharing time by Nick Cash and solo worship led by Jay Lesley (He was the guy behind the horseshoe mustache). Nick is a dear friend, and a beloved of Father, and on this night shared his response to the simple and deep question, Who is Jesus to Me? His honest and clear response ushered the Spirit into that place. It was beautiful. Jay came up next and led us in Mighty to Save. It was right. Alright, enough of me, Nick has graciously allowed me to post this on wearefocus.us, I hope you are blessed as you read this. G&P2U! -John
Hi, my name is Nick, and I work with the Teen Advisors & Velocity programs, and I want to tell you Who Jesus is to me.
He is my INVENTOR. He thought me up. He came up with the original idea for me.
And He knows everything – He knew what my life would cost Him. He knew that by making me, He would bring great sorrow and grief to other people and to even His own heart.
He knew I would betray Him. He knew I would respond to my fellow man with selfishness and apathy.
He knew there would be pain & sorrow & death if went created my life.
And even though He KNEW all of this – He knew it would cost Him His own Son to make me, He still wanted and delighted to create me!
He is the INVENTOR and ARCHITECT of my very existence! I exist because He thought me up, and despite the pain & difficulty He knew my life would cause both Him and others – in His infinite wisdom – He still decided it would be a good idea to carry out His plans.
And like a MASTER CRAFTSMAN, He wove me together – all of the intricate and detailed fabric of my body:
- bones & skin & joints & muscle tissue & ligaments
- tiny bones in my inner ear that would vibrate together in perfect synchronization to transmit audio waves to my brain
- the meticulous inter-workings of the lens & cornea & retina in my eyes so that my brain could decipher and make sense of light & shapes & colors & depth & motion
- a perfectly engineered nervous system that could carry hot cold, pain, pressure, softness – every type of sensation to my brain
- lungs to breathe in His breathe of life
- a heart to pump oxygen
- nutrients throughout my body to keep it healthy & energized.
Like a SKILLED CARPENTER, He did ALL of that with His own hands inside my mother’s womb!
And not only did He weave together the intricate make-up of my physical body, but He also created my ETERNAL SOUL, which He would draw to His own heart – a little bit more – and little bit more – lovingly –
gracefully – with every passing moment of my life.
Jesus is my JUDGE. He sits in judgment over me. And as my Judge, He has delivered His verdict. And it is indelibly written – with His own blood as the ink. His judgment is immutable and can never be erased by anything!
He has judged me WORTHY TO BE LOVED. His verdict is pardon for sin and enduring, abundant life in His glorious & loving Presence, forever!
Furthermore, His judgment upon me is SONSHIP – ADOPTION!
Jesus is the DEFINER of my identity as a greatly beloved creation of God – as an adopted child in God’s household and family – chosen by God to receive His grace & favor.
He doesn’t just “have to love me” because I’m His natural or biological son. I was His enemy! My sin hung Him on the cross! But He CHOSE me. He adopted me. He doesn’t HAVE to love me – He chooses to love me.
Like the prodigal son, I would’ve been fortunate just to be a slave working on my heavenly Father’s property. But He welcomed me right into His very household – even into His own family!
He made me His child and as a child has promised me a share in the same inheritance as His only begotten Son: eternal life, in the wonder-filled house of Almighty God, forever!
Jesus is my Redemption.
He is my Security against Fear.
He is my Source of Joy & Peace.
He is my Deliverer from the bondage of Lust – in high school, He liberated me from the addiction of Pornography.
He is my Freedom from Anger.
Jesus is my EVERYTHING.
Jesus is not merely my “top priority” – He is the page on which all of my priorities are written. He is not just the most important part of my life – He IS my very life itself!
In Jesus, all things – including me – all things live & move & have their being in Him. Christ is my LIFE. Jesus is my EVERYTHING!
And because of all these things, I have trusted Jesus as my Lord.
He lights my path.
He directs my steps.
He moves my spirit.
He protects my heart.
He renews my mind.
He forgives my failures.
He matures my soul.
Jesus is my Lord. And because He is my Lord, He is my REWARD.
He is my PRIZE.
He is my goal.
HE is my inheritance.
He is the destiny of my life and my reward for eternity.
Jesus is my King! And even though I fail Him every day – even though I am unloyal to Him, unfaithful to His Lordship – even though I betray Him with my thoughts & words & actions & intentions – His kind love towards me is new every morning.
And because of all of this, I will adore Him!
I will ADORE Him! I will lavish upon Him praise! I will extol Him! I will exalt His Name! I will point to Him and say “Look at how beautiful He is!”
I will ADORE You, Jesus. I will spend the moments of my life – how ever many You give to me – drawing attention to Your beauty. Your graciousness. Your kind love. Your relentless loyalty to me.
Right now, all across this room, I want us to ADORE Jesus together.
During this time, I want to ask you to focus on His nature – on His character.
Not what He does, but Who He is.
Not His actions, but His being.
His personhood.
See, the truth is, if all Jesus had ever done for us was save us – if the one and only thing He ever did was give us physical life, then rescue us from our sin – if He never gave us help or encouragement or blessings or provision – if He never gave us comfort or His words, or prayer, or fellow believers, teachers, mentors. If all He did was just create us, save us, and then ignore us for the rest of our lives, He would still be worth 1000 eternities with of adoration and praise and service!
What He does is amazing. What He does for us should fill us to overflowing with gratitude and thankfulness.
But Who He is… Who He is – apart from any THING He does FOR us or gives TO us – it is Who He is that makes Him worthy of ADORATION.
Who is Jesus to you? What about Him fills you with ADORATION?
Softly, all over the room, I’d like for us to begin to ADORE Jesus together. Out loud. With our voices. Let’s lift up an audible chorus of ADORATION to Jesus right now. Who is Jesus to you? Why do you adore Him? Let’s take a couple minutes, and together, out loud, begin to tell Him what it is that we adore about Him, and after a couple minutes of adoring Jesus together, I’ll pray aloud for all of us. But right now, let’s all begin to speak prayers of adoration – out loud – to Jesus.
Hebrews 10:19-39
19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[a] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[b] 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
35So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37For in just a very little while,
“He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38But my righteous one[c] will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him.”[d] 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Verses 19-25 The apostle having closed the first part of the epistle, the doctrine is applied to practical purposes. As believers had an open way to the presence of God, it became them to use this privilege. The way and means by which Christians enjoy such privileges, is by the blood of Jesus, by the merit of that blood which he offered up as an atoning sacrifice. The agreement of infinite holiness with pardoning mercy, was not clearly understood till the human nature of Christ, the Son of God, was wounded and bruised for our sins. Our way to heaven is by a crucified Saviour; his death is to us the way of life, and to those who believe this, he will be precious. They must draw near to God; it would be contempt of Christ, still to keep at a distance. Their bodies were to be washed with pure water, alluding to the cleansings directed under the law: thus the use of water in baptism, was to remind Christians that their conduct should be pure and holy. While they derived comfort and grace from their reconciled Father to their own souls, they would adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things. Believers are to consider how they can be of service to each other, especially stirring up each other to the more vigorous and abundant exercise of love, and the practice of good works. The communion of saints is a great help and privilege, and a means of stedfastness and perseverance. We should observe the coming of times of trial, and be thereby quickened to greater diligence. There is a trying day coming on all men, the day of our death.
Verses 26-31 The exhortations against apostacy and to perseverance, are urged by many strong reasons. The sin here mentioned is a total and final falling away, when men, with a full and fixed will and resolution, despise and reject Christ, the only Saviour; despise and resist the Spirit, the only Sanctifier; and despise and renounce the gospel, the only way of salvation, and the words of eternal life. Of this destruction God gives some notorious sinners, while on earth, a fearful foreboding in their consciences, with despair of being able to endure or to escape it. But what punishment can be sorer than to die without mercy? We answer, to die by mercy, by the mercy and grace which they have despised. How dreadful is the case, when not only the justice of God, but his abused grace and mercy call for vengeance! All this does not in the least mean that any souls who sorrow for sin will be shut out from mercy, or that any will be refused the benefit of Christ’s sacrifice, who are willing to accept these blessings. Him that cometh unto Christ, he will in no wise cast out.
Verses 32-39 Many and various afflictions united against the early Christians, and they had a great conflict. The Christian spirit is not a selfish spirit; it puts us upon pitying others, visiting them, helping them, and pleading for them. All things here are but shadows. The happiness of the saints in heaven will last for ever; enemies can never take it away as earthly goods. This will make rich amends for all we may lose and suffer here. The greatest part of the saints’ happiness, as yet, is in promise. It is a trial of the patience of Christians, to be content to live after their work is done, and to stay for their reward till God’s time to give it is come. He will soon come to them at death, to end all their sufferings, and to give them a crown of life. The Christian’s present conflict may be sharp, but will be soon over. God never is pleased with the formal profession and outward duties and services of such as do not persevere; but he beholds them with great displeasure. And those who have been kept faithful in great trails for the time past, have reason to hope for the same grace to help them still to live by faith, till they receive the end of their faith and patience, even the salvation of their souls. Living by faith, and dying in faith, our souls are safe for ever.
Verses 32-39 Many and various afflictions united against the early Christians, and they had a great conflict. The Christian spirit is not a selfish spirit; it puts us upon pitying others, visiting them, helping them, and pleading for them. All things here are but shadows. The happiness of the saints in heaven will last for ever; enemies can never take it away as earthly goods. This will make rich amends for all we may lose and suffer here. The greatest part of the saints’ happiness, as yet, is in promise. It is a trial of the patience of Christians, to be content to live after their work is done, and to stay for their reward till God’s time to give it is come. He will soon come to them at death, to end all their sufferings, and to give them a crown of life. The Christian’s present conflict may be sharp, but will be soon over. God never is pleased with the formal profession and outward duties and services of such as do not persevere; but he beholds them with great displeasure. And those who have been kept faithful in great trails for the time past, have reason to hope for the same grace to help them still to live by faith, till they receive the end of their faith and patience, even the salvation of their souls. Living by faith, and dying in faith, our souls are safe for ever.