Note: This is going to be a two-part series. Our church is focusing on this theme as we are regathering and God placed this message on my heart this week. After I wrote it all out I realized it was a bit long, hence the need to do it in two parts. This series is more teaching than devotional but my prayer is that it will challenge each of us to examine our hearts and spur us to share with others about Jesus and focus more on discipleship.
Part 1:
I remember when social media first became popular about 15 years ago and most people would inform their family and friends of every move they made ….. going to the refrigerator, going to the store, watching a movie, and some would even tell us when they were going to the bathroom. It was as if social media became a place to publicly write a minute by minute diary of our everyday activities.
Thankfully our posts began shifting to ones about our family and friends as we would share photos of the best moments of our lives (and for some of us still do). It was like showing all your wallet pictures to the world! (You probably need to be my age to even know what wallet pictures are – LOL!) I know I am a sucker for all those sappy posts and I love sharing pictures of our family adventures too.
Why do we like sharing these moments so much? Because they are important to us and we love the people in our lives like crazy!!! They are part of who we are and we want everyone to know how awesome they are.
But if we are willing to share with the world all about our family and friends, why do we become mute when it comes to sharing the Gospel and making disciples?
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. Matthew 28:19-20
I believe two of the reasons we become mute are:
- We have failed to fully grasp who Jesus is and what He has done for us
- We do not believe we are equipped to do so
When I say we don’t believe who Jesus is or what He has done for us, I am not referring to the basics of salvation. As a believer, we all recognize Him as God’s Son born of a virgin that dwelt among man, lived a perfect life, went to Calvary as the ransom for our sins and was raised from the dead three days later. If you are a believer, you have that down. But do you fully comprehend what that means? For sake of time, I am going to summarize some of this and I encourage you to fact check me by studying Deuteronomy and Hebrews.
I believe once we really grab hold of the following, we will have a burning desire to tell everyone about the magnitude of our Redeemer’s work in our lives!
In the Old Testament, God instituted a covenant with His people. Sin was an issue (as it still is today) but God, in His perfect nature, cannot look on sin. From the very beginning of time, He had a plan for redemption. In order for redemption to happen, there had to be a sacrifice and a mediator. The sacrifice provided the blood that covered the sins and the mediator stood in our place in the presence of God. Part of this covenant was the tabernacle and a place within the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was where the ark of the covenant was placed and it was in this place that the high priest would enter as the mediator and present a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. The high priest was the only one who could enter into the Holy of Holies and have access to the presence of God. And sins were forgiven….until the next time! (Hebrews 9:1-10)
But as we continue reading in Hebrews 9, we see we have a HIGH PRIEST who became our Redeemer through His sacrifice on the cross. His life was perfect- He was our unblemished lamb. He entered the most Holy of Holies on our behalf, sacrificed Himself and cleansed us with His blood- once for all time! Never again to be repeated! He became our mediator and through Him we have direct access to the throne 24/7.
Hebrews 9:11-15 But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God? Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
So if this is what He did for us because of His great love for us, why are we not shouting to the rooftops about how great He is? Why do we struggle so much sharing the Gospel with others?
Stay tuned for the rest of the story! Part 2 will be posted on Monday, October 12.
Rooted in Christ 
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