Peter - understand God's promise with human mindset
“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.””
What hinders the work of God more is what lies within us: our human thinking, our desires, the old mindset
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. (Glory/power vs judgment)””
Matthew 16:24-28 NIV
Do not win the world but lose your soul
- Chasing after everything the world can offer: achievement, money, love (gaining the treasure of the world)
- Lose soul = not reconcile with God
- When do we become stumbling block?
- When our human concerns outweighs Godly concern
- There is force in human concerns: distracted to the point of forgetting that human has a soul
- Why not human needs? What's wrong?
- There is something bigger (eternity)
- When we want to gratify a little bit of our desires, what did we lose in return?
- There is life beyond grave
- Calculate your gain/loss ==> decide (so that you are not distracted)
- False illusion - I can control my destiny? I'm n control?
- Only Jesus
- He paid the sin on our behalf
- And he asks us to commit to the grace given us
- Is this world your resting place?
Deny self to follow Christ
- Self denial - paradox (v25)
- Problem = have yet to die (without dying there is no resurrection; without emptying, you cannot receive new filling)
- Sometimes we hold onto our old self (old methods of dealing with inconveniences etc)
- We need to empty the old to fill in the new
- It is not to stress us but bless us
- Destiny changed - new identity, new Father, new power, new destination
- Are you still lord of your life? Then your destiny hasn't changed
- When we die -> live with Christ
- 1st step of believing in CHrist = die to self
- Carry cross = total commitment to CHrist = new set of priorities
- Not easy
- Not one time self denial, but ongoing
- Everyday distraction comes and stops us from following God
- Follow Christ (submit to God)
- Carry cross: some time suffering comes (humbling)
- Not by own resilience (my own strength, holiness)
- The power of Hs rests on us the moment we are willing
- Doesn't mean you lose out, but you have God on your side
- Cross is not merely about suffering, but glory and power
- Self denial - doesn't mean washing away self-esteem, allow the world to laugh at us. Because dignity of COG is with us!
Follow God closely
You will also point people to where CHrist is
FOllow God: ppl see God
Not follow me (our greatness) but to follow God