Our surrender to the lordship of Christ is essential to our salvation. As the text says, we either fall on Christ and are broken, or He falls on us in judgment. He calls us to a life of self-denial that leads us into a life the flesh would never want to live.
…our eternal destiny depends on who we love. We cannot be devoted to Christ while giving place to the devil. What does real devotion to Christ look like?
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. (Luke 23:34) Most people find forgiveness to be a hard thing. Peter asked Jesus how often he should forgive his brother. He wondered if 7 times would be good enough. I get the feeling that he felt he was being generous by offering to forgive someone that often. But Jesus didn’t view it that way. He told Peter to forgive seventy times seven, which is 490 times! (See Matthew 18:21-35)
“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) This verse is part of the Sermon on the Mount, and you can read it in context here Anyone can love people who love them back. But…
People have had a problem with Jesus’ teachings since the very beginning of Christianity. His teachings are radical and unreasonable, they say. They are impossible to live by. Surely Jesus wouldn’t expect us to live like that? They push the Sermon on the Mount into a future dispensation so that they can ignore it. But Jesus himself said, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” (John 14:15) Our goal with this billboard message is to encourage people to consider the teachings and example of Christ and to follow Him in obedience. In the book of Matthew Jesus calls us to love Him and obey Him and keep His commandments. He expects us to love…