JESUS: Knowledge or Relationship?                                      8-20-06

Mark 3:13-19 (14)

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For the past year in our Sunday morning times together we have been taking an in-depth look at the Life and Teachings of Jesus.  We have looked at:

His pre-existence before coming to earth.

His arrival.

His mission.

His prayer life.

His miracles.

His claims.

His emotions.

His temptation.

His promises.

His commands.

His timeless principles.

His questions.

His answers to other people’s questions.

His stories.

His hard sayings.

And if you missed some of those, you can go to our church web site and either read them or listen to them, or even download them to your Ipod or MP3 player and listen to them later.

Even religious activity is not enough.  Listen to Jesus’ words in Matt. 7:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  (21-23)

What?  You can work for Jesus and not enter the kingdom of heaven?  You can prophesy in His name and drive out demons and perform miracles and still not enter the kingdom of heaven?  That’s what Jesus is saying here.  And the key to what He says here is found in the last four words: “I never knew you.”

“There was no personal relationship between us.  You were religious.  You did religious things.  But there was no relationship.

And so today we come to our final message in this series: Jesus: knowledge or Relationship?  And it’s important that you understand that it’s not either/or.  We can and need to have both. But there are so many today that have much information, and that’s as far as it goes.  So let’s look at three questions:

What does it mean to have a personal relationship with Jesus?

How can I have a personal relationship with Jesus?

What will be the results of having this relationship?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS?

In John 10, (turn) Jesus talked in metaphorical language about the relationship between Himself and His followers.  The imagery was very familiar to His original hearers when He talked about a shepherd and his sheep, but they did not understand what the application was. 

Today we live in a very urban society.  It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a shepherd leading his flock down Sullivan Road.  We think of dirty, smelly sheep, and a dirty, smelly shepherd.  We may have a wool jacket or a wool blanket, and even eat a leg of lamb once in a while.  But the whole cultural aspect of what Jesus is talking about here is lost on most of us. 

In Jesus’ day in Israel, the herding of sheep was not a big commercial enterprise.  It was a man, or even a woman, leading and living with and coming to intimately know a flock of sheep as they grazed the open pasture land.  Sometimes at night several shepherds would come together for the night for protection. 

Once when I visited Israel, our guide told us the local version of the creation of the world.  It seems like after God created the world, he commissioned two angels to spread rocks over the whole earth.  Their sacks or rocks were huge, and when one of them came to Israel, his sack was still about half full, and it broke, dumping ¼ of the world’s rocks in Israel, and he just left them all there.

With all the rocks there are in that country, the shepherds would build enclosures for their sheep out of rocks, and they would be a little safer from predators. 

I think that was probably the setting on a hillside outside of Bethlehem the night Jesus was born and the angels appeared to the shepherds.

But let’s read here in John 10, Jesus’ words comparing Himself to a Shepherd and us to His sheep.  John 10:1-6, 14-15, 27.

Jesus knows His sheep and His sheep know Him.  They hear His voice and they follow Him.  That all speaks of a relationship.  As a matter of fact, this word “know” was used as a Jewish metaphor for sexual intimacy between a man and woman – “Adam knew his wife and she became pregnant – a knowing of intimate relationship.

When the sheep were in the sheep pen for the night, they were all mixed together.  How could one shepherd tell his sheep from any other shepherd’s sheep?  Because they knew his voice, he could call out to his sheep and they would follow him, but another shepherd’s sheep would not.

I read of one man’s experience in Israel when he watched three shepherds walking down a hill on a dirt path, with their sheep all intermingled together.  Then they came to bottom of the hill, there were three possible paths to take, and each shepherd took a different one.  And as they called their sheep, the flock divided and the sheep followed the one whose voice they recognized.

Jesus said: that’s the way it’s to be between Him and us.  He knows us and we know Him.  We recognized His voice and we follow Him.

Another place that helps to know what it means to have a relationship with Him is in Mark 3 (turn).  Jesus is just beginning His earthly ministry.  He is now about 30 years old.  He will only be here on earth for 3 more years, so it’s important that He train men He can leave behind to carry on the work He is about to begin.  It’s time to select some disciples.

In Jesus’ day, that word was most often used of those who were attached to a rabbi and studied under him.  The disciple left his home and moved in with the rabbi.  He served the rabbi and treated him as an absolute authority.  He was to learn not only what the rabbi knew, but to become like him in character.

So let’s read here in Mark 3 (v. 13-19).

These men were first to be with Him. Their first call was not to do, but to be – be in relationship with Jesus.

HOW CAN I HAVE A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS?

Let’s talk about both starting and continuing, because both are important.  When Jesus called His first disciples He simply said to them “Follow Me.”  And then they had a decision to make.  Would they follow Him (without a contract, without any guarantees, without even a job description), or would they continue to live life they way they were presently living it? 

Jesus is still calling to people to follow Him.  And we have a decision to make, just as His first disciples did: will we commit ourselves to be with Him, that He might send us out and use us for the growth of His kingdom?  Or will we continue to live the way we have always lived, and hope for the best?

We’ve talked about the word “repent” before.  It means to turn around, to have a change of heart and mind, to stop going the way I am now going and to reverse direction.  In the sense Jesus used the word, it means to leave behind the life I have been living, with all my selfishness and sin, and to turn to follow after Him and begin a relationship with Him.  It starts with repentance – turning to Him, and turning from the path I have been walking on.

But that’s just the beginning.  A relationship with Jesus is an ongoing thing.  It is not just a prayer we pray and then we are off on our own again.  Having a relationship with Jesus is hearing His voice and following Him, day after week after month after year – for a lifetime! 

Any relationship needs nourishment, and so does your relationship with Jesus.  It will flourish best when you spend time with Him every day.  You talk to Him in prayer; you listen to Him as you read your Bible. He wants to have conversations with you, speaking to you either through the Bible, or by His Spirit speaking to your spirit, deep inside of you.  And then listening to you as you respond to Him in prayer.

My question to you today is this: have you begun your relationship with Jesus?  Have you repented of your sin and turned to Him with a commitment to follow after Him?  And if you have, are you continuing to follow Him and to nurture your relationship with Him?

WHAT WILL BE THE RESULTS OF HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS?

Having a relationship with Jesus is a lifestyle that we live, not just for a moment, not just on Sunday, not just when others are watching us; it’s a lifestyle that is 24/7, all day, every day.

It affects our thought life; it affects our attitudes; it affects the things we say; it affects our behavior; it affects our marriage; it affects our family life; it affects how we spend our money; it affects what we watch on TV and videos and movies; it affects what websites we visit; it affects how we do our work; it affects how we relate to others; it affects our sexual behavior; it affects our driving; it affects how we view other people and how we view the world around us. Are you beginning to get the picture?

There is a lifestyle difference between those who follow Jesus and those who do not.  And if your lifestyle is not different from the world around you, you are not a follower of Jesus.  One of the findings of pollster George Barna is that there are many in our nation who claim to be Christians, but their lifestyle is essentially no different from those who do not claim to be Christians.  Something is wrong there.

Not everyone who claims to be a Christian really is one.  Not everyone who thinks they are a Christian really is one.  I do not stand here this morning to judge who is and who is not.  But would you let the Word of God be your judge?  Hear what God says in 1 John 2:1-6.  We read it last Sunday, but it fits again right here:

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

So it’s not talking about our being sinless.  We are not to sin, but if we do, we can come to Jesus and have our sin taken away.  God makes provision for our failures.  Let’s go on.

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:

Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Strong words here.  The evidence of what is in our heart is seen in how we live – in obedience or in disobedience to God’s commands.  

It’s not what we say, but our lifestyle that tells us and others whether or not we are in relationship with Jesus.

And there are rewards in this earthly life for following Jesus and living in obedience to God.  Listen to some of them:

Luke 11:27-28:  As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”   

Who was this woman in the crowd blessing?  She was blessing the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus.  And look how Jesus replied: He deflects the blessing to those who hear and obey the Word of God.  More blessed than Mary are those who live in obedience to God.

Deut. 11:25-28 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

John 15:9-10 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands & remain in his love.

Psa. 119:165 Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.

1 John 3:21-22 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

There are blessings in this life if we follow Jesus and live in obedience to God’s commands.  But we also have the blessing of…

Eternity in heaven.

This life is not all there is.  We have a wonderful hope, one day leaving this life and going home.  A couple of weeks ago Rick Jones was involved in a terrible crash.  Another vehicle ran a red light and hit him broadside. And as the crash was happening, Rick was thinking: “Lord, is now when I get to come home and see you?”  And he seemed a bit disappointed that now wasn’t the time.

Rick is ready for heaven.  We get ready for heaven through our personal relationship with Jesus.  Those who know about Him but do not know Him will not be in heaven.  That is not just my opinion - Jesus said that; other inspired writers of the Bible say that. 

That’s why we are spending this time today talking about the necessity of knowing Jesus and not just knowing about Him.  Do you know Jesus?  Do you have the kind of relationship with Him that we have been talking about today?  If not, are you ready to begin your relationship with Him this morning?

PRAY