The Priorities of Jesus

We all must keep in mind that an eternity awaits each of us after our physical death. If we carefully read the Gospels we will see that Christ points out our main concern is how to live our life now so we might inherit Eternal Life upon physical death. Christ Himself shows us what our daily agenda should be in John 12:20-28a.

I. To Save The Lost  20 – 23

“Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ 22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. 23 But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.’”

No one who truly knows Christ can say that they have nothing to do. As of the date of this article there are over seven billion people on earth. The vast majority of them are not regenerated, they will face eternal damnation. To win the lost to Christ we need to be as Christlike as we know how to be, pray for them, and in some way, as led by the Holy Spirit, tell them about Christ.

In this passage, Greeks, non-Jews, wanted to see Jesus. Jesus publicly notes that His mission on earth, to provide redemption for all mankind{1}, is about to be completed. As one surrenders their life to Christ they become crucified in Him and consequentially resurrected with Him. They become a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17). They are spiritually transferred out of the realm of the world that might classify people by race or color of skin and are placed into the Kingdom of God’s Son where there “… is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28, KJV).

II. To Slay The Flesh – 24 

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”

As just stated, when one surrenders to Christ they become crucified with Him. My last words before I prayed “The Sinner’s Prayer” were, “it can’t kill me.” But I soon found out that when we do enter into Christ we die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31) and He lives. While this might not sound too appealing to some at first we need to keep in mind that if we die and Christ lives through us, His Life is a very spiritually productive one. Christ’s statement about producing much grain means producing the works of Christ, developing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, winning people to Him and more.

III. To Share Real Life – 25

“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Some do not surrender to Christ for they know that they will lose friends, or family members, or their job, or position of power, or anything else dear to them. That will be all gone when they are raised from the dead, leaving such people with “everlasting shame and contempt” (Daniel 12:2).

However, one that is truly saved will make Christ the highest priority of their lives, no matter what the cost is to them. To some of the unsaved it will seem like such a person does not care about themselves and is a bit fanatical (Mark 3:21). Nonetheless, we will find true inner satisfaction as we do Christ’s bidding every day and throughout each day.

IV. To Have Us Serve The True Lord – 26

“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”

The Greek word for “serve”{2} in this verse does not mean slave, but is the same word that is sometimes translated “deacon.” Essentially in means to minister. We minister unto Christ by worshiping Him. We also minister unto Him by obeying Him. We will be doing the works of Christ. Lest some begin to assume that means a life of “fluffy,” “sweet,” talk all the time, they might want to carefully and prayerfully read the Gospels which record Christ was took a stand against sin and in various ways as led by the Holy Spirit made sinners see their need to truly repent and live for God.

V. To Surrender The Soul – 27 

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.”

Our soul, being the “seat” of our affections, must be trained to be tuned with the “heartbeat” of God. The soul of Christ was troubled at this point for at least two reasons: His flesh would have to undergo the physical horrors of the cross while His soul would despise even the thought of sin, for, while on the cross, He became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Yet, as stated above, He had a mission–to redeem the lost. Due punishment and death while on the cross was the way the Father ordained for redemption of sinful man. While Christ hated sin, He loved us more, and became sin for us so that we might love Him most and hate sin.

It is always good to ask ourselves are we liking or loving the things that Christ would be liking or loving. We will never be our best for God if we cling to the trivial and worldly.

VI. To Show God’s Glory - 28a

“Father, glorify Your name.”

If we call ourselves “Christian” then it behooves us to be godly as Christ was. We need to embrace the written Word and the spoken Word to our hearts. If we are truly Christian no one will have to guess if we are Christian, godly, and all that gives glory to God including, if we are married, whether we are married or not.

“Follow … holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”–Hebrews 12:14 (KJV)

Notes:

{1} As in all my articles, unless otherwise noted and without apology, used in the rightful traditional sense for the entire human race regardless of gender.

{2} From an electronic version of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance by James Strong, and so throughout this article where the ancient languages are mentioned.

This article is a form of a message (sermon) outline. God willing, you will find links to the actual message (sermon) sometime hopefully by January 22, 2013 at http://www.sapphirestreams.com/life/audioM.html#M228 .

Holy Scripture, unless otherwise noted, is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The NKJV text was copied from http://www.biblegateway.com.

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