Fix Your Eyes on Jesus, Pt. 2
In our previous teaching, we saw how God gave different imageries to the children of Israel in resolving their problems, to point them and us to Jesus, the moral lesson being Jesus is the solution and answer to all our problems and questions.
In Jesus lies the solution for all we need:
Acts 17:26-28
'And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
As we have seen, whenever the children of Israel complained out of need for something, God answered them in form of an imagery of Christ, and His Word. This was to show them and us that all we need is in Jesus, and He is the solution to everything:
Colossians 1:16-17
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
Since Jesus is the Creator of all things, by fixing our eyes on Him, we are fixing our eyes on the Source of all things. It does not make sense that we take our eyes off the Creator, and focus them on the creation, seeking for help or solutions to our problems. Since Jesus is the Word, and He is the Creator, consider this:
Hebrews 11:3
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
By fixing our eyes and minds on God's Word, we are fixing our eyes on Jesus, and the Source of all things, the Creator. All the answers we need are nowhere outside your and my Bible; they lie within God's Word. Jesus demonstrated this when He was being tempted by the devil, by quoting the Scriptures thrice, and this was enough to keep the devil, the serpent of old, at bay (Matt. 4:1-11). Since He was fully God and fully Man, He could have come up with new Scriptures then and there; yet He used what was already written. You do not need a new solution from God for your problems, whether the ones you have or the ones you will have 20 years to come; God provided for it all in His Word, and through His Son gave us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through His knowledge (2 Peter 1:3-4).
God made Jesus our Everything, as we have seen in Colossians 1:16-17. It is however upon you and I to accept Him to be our Everything. Whenever you need healing, provision, victory, joy, deliverance etc., look up to Jesus and let Him be your only Source. Run to Him first, before you run to anyone else. Let Him be your Everything. Just as Jesus is the Saviour of the world but not everyone has made Him their Saviour, that we have to make a deliberate and conscious decision to let Him be our Saviour, Jesus is our everything, but we have to keep making conscious and deliberate decisions to let Him be our everything, in every situation. It is by His stripes we were healed (1 Pet. 2:24); it is by Him that we were blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, and given all things that pertain to life and godliness (Eph. 1:3, 2 Pet. 1:3-4); it is in Him that we rejoice and enjoy peace (Phil. 4:4, Jn. 17:27); it is in Him that we are complete, and get an identity (Col. 2:10, 1 Cor. 6:17, 2 Cor. 5:17, 1 Jn. 4:17); it is in Him that we have eternal life (Jn. 3:16); it is through Him that we have peace with God, righteousness and a position before God (Rom. 5:1, 2 Cor. 5:18-21, Rev. 1:5-6). I could go on and on, but basically it is in and through Jesus that we live, move and have our being.
Though we are in Him, as I have pointed out, we have to keep our eyes on Him and the finished works of the cross, what we are entitled to by virtue of being in Him. Jesus had the potential to remove our fiery serpents from us, or remove us from earth, but He did not do so; He knew that by having Him, we are safe enough. Where is your focus? Where is your mind? By keeping your mind on God's Word, you keep your eyes on Jesus. Always remember this: if something does not point your focus to Jesus, it is a distraction. It may be a good thing, or a bad thing. Later on, God told the children of Israel that when they got to the promised land and had eaten and were full, they should be careful lest they forgot Him and His commandments (Deut. 8:1-18). Even good things can be a distraction to you, when you allow them, getting your eyes off Jesus/the Word. Jesus warned of the same, when He talked about persecutions or tribulation coming because of the Word, and hinder the growth of the Word, and cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choking the Word:
Matthew 13:21-23
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises BECAUSE OF THE WORD, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
We have to constantly beware of distractions, whether good or bad, and be determined by God's grace to keep our eyes on Jesus. By fixing our eyes on Jesus, through keeping our focus on the Word of God, we are transformed into Jesus' image (body and soul), from glory to glory:
2 Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
That is the sole purpose of every believer, that we bear and reflect the image of Christ, which can only happen with our eyes on Him. Many believers really want to reflect Jesus, and think that by asking Him to make them like Him it will happen, without them having to lift a finger. Jesus made us exactly like Him, on the inside; our spirits are exactly like Him. For our souls and bodies now to reflect the image of Jesus, we have to keep our eyes on Him, and our minds on His Word. The devil knows this, which is why he will keep bringing distractions your way, so that he may hinder you from your ultimate purpose, which is reflecting the image of Jesus:
Romans 8:29
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The devil knows that as a man thinks, so is he (Prov. 23:7). He knows that as long as you are thinking and meditating on the Word, you will be like the Word, like Jesus. So he keeps throwing things your way, distractions, to steal your focus and get your mind to think on these things (persecutions, lack, sickness, troubles etc.) When you start thinking on these things, you allow them to shape you. You are not sick; you were healed, by the stripes of Jesus (1 Pet. 2:24). The devil knows this, but knows that as long as he can get your mind from thinking along the Scriptures, having your identity in the Word and finished works of the cross, then you will be sick. So he throws sickness at you, and when you feel the symptoms, you start thinking you are sick, and start believing God to heal you. You are not sick; you are someone Jesus healed a long time ago, that the devil is trying to make sick. It doesn't matter how you are feeling, in the spiritual realm you are as whole as Jesus is, as just as Jesus is, so are you in this world. When you stand on the Word and proclaim divine health, seeing yourself as Jesus sees you, healed 2,000 years ago, and resist the devil firmly, the sickness will leave. It calls for us to cling to the spiritual realities and make them more real to us than the physical realities. You are not a poor person that is trying to be blessed, but a blessed person who the devil is trying to make poor (Eph. 1:3). You are not a a disadvantaged and downcast person who is trying to obtain favour from God; you are accepted, with God's favour surrounding you as a shield (Ps. 5:12), and the devil is trying to make you think you do not have favour. You are not a sinner trying to be righteous and holy; you are righteous and holy, and the devil is trying to make a sinner, knowing that as long as you see and think of yourself as a sinner, you will keep sinning and get drawn away from your identity and relationship with Jesus, as as a man thinks, so is he (Prov. 4:23, Col. 1:20-22, 2 Cor. 5:21).
Your identity is in Jesus, as a believer, and you should keep your eyes on Him, and stand firm in faith, guarding yourself against Satan's deceptions. Whatever you hear, whether from him or the world, you should weigh it against the Scriptures, against your identity in Christ, and if it does not align, kick it out. Let your identity be in what God says about you, what His Word says about you. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Your identity should be in what God's Word says, not what the doctor says, what your parents, teachers, the world, even your church say, etc.
God says His people perish for lack of knowledge (Hos. 4:6). Do you know who you are, in Christ? There are 264 times the Bible talks about our identity in Christ, who we are in Christ, as a result of what Jesus did by dying, resurrecting and ascending to heaven. How many do you know? Is your identity in what you do, what you have, who you know, or is it in Christ? If it is in any other thing, know that you are living outside God's purpose for you, as you were predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, and bear His identity. As He is, so are we in this world (1 Jn. 4:17). Know your identity in Christ, and keep renewing your mind to it, fighting off conformity to the patterns of the world, avoiding distractions from the devil to remove you from your focus, in Christ.
What is your distraction? Purpose to keep your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, for He is our everything.
Hebrews 12:1-4
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
Colossians 3:1-4
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Blessings.
-- Sam Gitonga.
(31/01/15 Kesha Service Sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry.)
Brother Sam is the Youth Leader, at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.
In Jesus lies the solution for all we need:
Acts 17:26-28
'And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
As we have seen, whenever the children of Israel complained out of need for something, God answered them in form of an imagery of Christ, and His Word. This was to show them and us that all we need is in Jesus, and He is the solution to everything:
Colossians 1:16-17
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
Since Jesus is the Creator of all things, by fixing our eyes on Him, we are fixing our eyes on the Source of all things. It does not make sense that we take our eyes off the Creator, and focus them on the creation, seeking for help or solutions to our problems. Since Jesus is the Word, and He is the Creator, consider this:
Hebrews 11:3
By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
By fixing our eyes and minds on God's Word, we are fixing our eyes on Jesus, and the Source of all things, the Creator. All the answers we need are nowhere outside your and my Bible; they lie within God's Word. Jesus demonstrated this when He was being tempted by the devil, by quoting the Scriptures thrice, and this was enough to keep the devil, the serpent of old, at bay (Matt. 4:1-11). Since He was fully God and fully Man, He could have come up with new Scriptures then and there; yet He used what was already written. You do not need a new solution from God for your problems, whether the ones you have or the ones you will have 20 years to come; God provided for it all in His Word, and through His Son gave us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through His knowledge (2 Peter 1:3-4).
God made Jesus our Everything, as we have seen in Colossians 1:16-17. It is however upon you and I to accept Him to be our Everything. Whenever you need healing, provision, victory, joy, deliverance etc., look up to Jesus and let Him be your only Source. Run to Him first, before you run to anyone else. Let Him be your Everything. Just as Jesus is the Saviour of the world but not everyone has made Him their Saviour, that we have to make a deliberate and conscious decision to let Him be our Saviour, Jesus is our everything, but we have to keep making conscious and deliberate decisions to let Him be our everything, in every situation. It is by His stripes we were healed (1 Pet. 2:24); it is by Him that we were blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, and given all things that pertain to life and godliness (Eph. 1:3, 2 Pet. 1:3-4); it is in Him that we rejoice and enjoy peace (Phil. 4:4, Jn. 17:27); it is in Him that we are complete, and get an identity (Col. 2:10, 1 Cor. 6:17, 2 Cor. 5:17, 1 Jn. 4:17); it is in Him that we have eternal life (Jn. 3:16); it is through Him that we have peace with God, righteousness and a position before God (Rom. 5:1, 2 Cor. 5:18-21, Rev. 1:5-6). I could go on and on, but basically it is in and through Jesus that we live, move and have our being.
Though we are in Him, as I have pointed out, we have to keep our eyes on Him and the finished works of the cross, what we are entitled to by virtue of being in Him. Jesus had the potential to remove our fiery serpents from us, or remove us from earth, but He did not do so; He knew that by having Him, we are safe enough. Where is your focus? Where is your mind? By keeping your mind on God's Word, you keep your eyes on Jesus. Always remember this: if something does not point your focus to Jesus, it is a distraction. It may be a good thing, or a bad thing. Later on, God told the children of Israel that when they got to the promised land and had eaten and were full, they should be careful lest they forgot Him and His commandments (Deut. 8:1-18). Even good things can be a distraction to you, when you allow them, getting your eyes off Jesus/the Word. Jesus warned of the same, when He talked about persecutions or tribulation coming because of the Word, and hinder the growth of the Word, and cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choking the Word:
Matthew 13:21-23
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises BECAUSE OF THE WORD, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
We have to constantly beware of distractions, whether good or bad, and be determined by God's grace to keep our eyes on Jesus. By fixing our eyes on Jesus, through keeping our focus on the Word of God, we are transformed into Jesus' image (body and soul), from glory to glory:
2 Corinthians 3:18
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
That is the sole purpose of every believer, that we bear and reflect the image of Christ, which can only happen with our eyes on Him. Many believers really want to reflect Jesus, and think that by asking Him to make them like Him it will happen, without them having to lift a finger. Jesus made us exactly like Him, on the inside; our spirits are exactly like Him. For our souls and bodies now to reflect the image of Jesus, we have to keep our eyes on Him, and our minds on His Word. The devil knows this, which is why he will keep bringing distractions your way, so that he may hinder you from your ultimate purpose, which is reflecting the image of Jesus:
Romans 8:29
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The devil knows that as a man thinks, so is he (Prov. 23:7). He knows that as long as you are thinking and meditating on the Word, you will be like the Word, like Jesus. So he keeps throwing things your way, distractions, to steal your focus and get your mind to think on these things (persecutions, lack, sickness, troubles etc.) When you start thinking on these things, you allow them to shape you. You are not sick; you were healed, by the stripes of Jesus (1 Pet. 2:24). The devil knows this, but knows that as long as he can get your mind from thinking along the Scriptures, having your identity in the Word and finished works of the cross, then you will be sick. So he throws sickness at you, and when you feel the symptoms, you start thinking you are sick, and start believing God to heal you. You are not sick; you are someone Jesus healed a long time ago, that the devil is trying to make sick. It doesn't matter how you are feeling, in the spiritual realm you are as whole as Jesus is, as just as Jesus is, so are you in this world. When you stand on the Word and proclaim divine health, seeing yourself as Jesus sees you, healed 2,000 years ago, and resist the devil firmly, the sickness will leave. It calls for us to cling to the spiritual realities and make them more real to us than the physical realities. You are not a poor person that is trying to be blessed, but a blessed person who the devil is trying to make poor (Eph. 1:3). You are not a a disadvantaged and downcast person who is trying to obtain favour from God; you are accepted, with God's favour surrounding you as a shield (Ps. 5:12), and the devil is trying to make you think you do not have favour. You are not a sinner trying to be righteous and holy; you are righteous and holy, and the devil is trying to make a sinner, knowing that as long as you see and think of yourself as a sinner, you will keep sinning and get drawn away from your identity and relationship with Jesus, as as a man thinks, so is he (Prov. 4:23, Col. 1:20-22, 2 Cor. 5:21).
Your identity is in Jesus, as a believer, and you should keep your eyes on Him, and stand firm in faith, guarding yourself against Satan's deceptions. Whatever you hear, whether from him or the world, you should weigh it against the Scriptures, against your identity in Christ, and if it does not align, kick it out. Let your identity be in what God says about you, what His Word says about you. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). Your identity should be in what God's Word says, not what the doctor says, what your parents, teachers, the world, even your church say, etc.
God says His people perish for lack of knowledge (Hos. 4:6). Do you know who you are, in Christ? There are 264 times the Bible talks about our identity in Christ, who we are in Christ, as a result of what Jesus did by dying, resurrecting and ascending to heaven. How many do you know? Is your identity in what you do, what you have, who you know, or is it in Christ? If it is in any other thing, know that you are living outside God's purpose for you, as you were predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, and bear His identity. As He is, so are we in this world (1 Jn. 4:17). Know your identity in Christ, and keep renewing your mind to it, fighting off conformity to the patterns of the world, avoiding distractions from the devil to remove you from your focus, in Christ.
What is your distraction? Purpose to keep your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, for He is our everything.
Hebrews 12:1-4
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.
Colossians 3:1-4
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Blessings.
-- Sam Gitonga.
(31/01/15 Kesha Service Sermon, Teaching Transformation Ministry.)
Brother Sam is the Youth Leader, at Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.
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Blessings.