John
12:20-26 – “Now among those who went
up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came
to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish
to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip
went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has
come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains
alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life
loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for
eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me;
and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves
me, the Father will honor him.”
The “theme” for the next few weeks
from our study through the “Purple Book,” is “Discipleship & Leadership.”
The Biblical principles of both are
found in what we call “Paradoxes of Scripture.”
A true “Disciple of Christ or Leader in His Church will understand the
value of these Paradoxes.
What
are Paradoxes?
·
Polarizing
thoughts that produce a profound principle.
Examples:
·
Exaltation
through Humility
·
Strength
through Weakness
·
Gaining
through Losing
I believe we can discover wonderful
principles of discipleship and leadership by examining some of these paradoxes.
I. Living through Dying
This is a paradox that runs
throughout the entire New Testament.
·
Whoever
loses their life shall find it.
·
When
we die to self we live for God.
· Must be crucified with Christ in
order to experience new life from God.
In our text, Jesus was using this
paradox to foretell of His coming death.
In doing that, He was letting the disciples know that they would be
required to “follow in His steps.”
One of the most difficult demands of
God upon the all His followers is that they deny themselves (die to self) and
live for God.
Many of us are ego-driven and to
consider such a demand would be more difficult than submitting to open heart
surgery!
Yet, the more we submit to this
demand from Christ (the death of self), the more we enjoy His presence in our
lives! There can only be one boss.
There is only one Master of all of us
and it is NOT to be us! Jesus Christ has
rightful ownership to all of us for two reasons – He created us and He died in
our place that we might live with Him for eternity!
II. Finding through Losing
Matthew
10:39
– “Whoever finds
his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
One pursuit we all have in common is
to discover the “reason for our existence.”
Most of us travel down many dead-end roads before we finally find our
way (if ever).
Let me tell you now if you will
receive it. The main reason for our
existence is NOT to:
· Find the perfect job
· Find the perfect spouse
· Grow the ideal family
· Accumulate a lot of money or possessions
The greatest pursuit in life is to
know God and have a growing relationship with Him. Jesus said, “Seek first…!”
Paul expounds on this paradox in Phil. 3:7-8 –“But whatever gain I
had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything
as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them
as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
Jesus said in Mark 8:38 – “We can gain the whole world
and lose our own soul!”
Jesus will be “Lord of all” with or
without us, but we will be NOTHING without Him in our lives!
III. Receiving through Giving
Luke
6:38
– “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken
together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the
measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Again, this is NOT a
lesson easily learned. Unfortunately
most Christians never learn its reality.
Jesus said in Acts 20:35 – “It is more blessed to give
than to receive.”
I believe this is
one of those eternal principles that can be experienced through
experiment! Try it! (expound)
Some of the world’s
most unhappy are those who “take and withhold.”
Some of the world’s happiest people are those who “give and give!”
Many churches today
are closing for lack of funds. Tithing
has decreased in this country 20% in the last 5 years (Barna 7-15). That is a first!
God, Himself, is the
greatest example of the truth of this paradox!
(John 3:16)
IV. Strength
through Weakness
2
Corinthians 12:7-10
– “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing
greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a
messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming
conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it
should leave me. 9 But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient
for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will
boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ
may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content
with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
This is one of those paradoxes that
are usually learned the hard way. We
find ourselves in a place where we only have one way to look, and that is to
God!
This is also a paradox we learn
several times through life. I am
re-learning this right now in my life.
Maybe you are in the same classroom
with me?
When we go through times when we seem
so exhausted, so unequipped, so not ready, let it be known:
· God is never exhausted!
· God is never unequipped!
· God is always ready “to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we
could ever ask or think!”
There are more precious
paradoxes in the Bible:
·
Exaltation
through Humility – James 4:10
·
Freedom
through Servitude – Rom. 6:18
·
The
First shall be Last – Matt. 20:16
In order for any of us to be true
disciples of Jesus Christ, we must learn, embrace and experience these
remarkable truths in these paradoxes.
· The sooner we learn them, the better.
· The sooner we learn them, the more fulfilled our lives will be.
· The sooner we learn them, the more we become like Christ!
