Many of us want Christianity on our own terms. We want to stay alive – we want the benefits of the cross, but not the requirements of it. But where the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses us, it also demands something in return – our very lives.

I fear much for professing Christians. I see no sign or very little fighting in them, much less victory. Rarely do they strike one stroke on the side of Christ. They are at peace with His enemies. They have no quarrel with sin. It would appear that for some, following Jesus has little cost at all. This is not Christianity – at least not the way of Jesus.

Jesus demands obedience. Our obedience. Through Jesus’ death on the cross all who enter the coming Kingdom will have their sins forgiven, will have the law written on their hearts, and will know God personally. The blessings of this new covenant are crucial in enabling us to obey Jesus’ commandments. Which makes Jesus’ death extremely important in bringing about the impossible obedience that he demands.

This obedience that he demands is the fruit of his redeeming work and the display of his personal glory. That is why he came – to create a people who glorify his gracious reign by bearing the fruit of his Kingdom.

In Matthew 28:19-20:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

In this final command, we see that the demands Jesus gave only to his disciples are also meant for the world, because he demands all people everywhere to become his disciples. He lays claim to all people, and “all nations”. He demands obedience from all. If we understand this – that Jesus calls all of us to be disciples, then we see all the commands he gives his disciples in a new light. He’s talking to US. You. Me. He requires this from US. Because of His work on the cross, all of these commands and impossible obedience is made possible.
Jesus commands many things. He says we must be born again. That we must repent. That we must come to Him, believe in Him, love Him, listen to him, abide in Him, Love Him with all our hearts, soul, mind and strength, fear Him, Rejoice in Him, Worship Him in spirit and truth, pray always, love our neighbours, love our enemies, etc. But there is one in particular which I’m going to focus my attention on:

Matthew 16:24-25

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his live will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

The demand to follow Jesus means that everyone should join Him in what he came to do. He tells us repeatedly what that was.

“The Son of man came… to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45)

“The Son of man came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10)

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10)

Jesus came to gather a people – specifically, to gather a people in allegiance to himself for the glory of His father – by dying to save them from their sins – for which the punishment is death – and to give them eternal life and a love like his. Following Jesus means continuing the work he came to do – gathering a people in allegiance to Him for the glory of the Father. Continuing the work he came to do includes the suffering he came to do. Following Jesus, anytime, any place, no matter what the cost, means that we will share in His suffering.

Jesus didn’t die to make this life easy for us or prosperous. He died to remove every obstacle to our everlasting joy in making much of Him. And He calls us to follow Him in His suffering because this life of joyful suffering for Jesus’ sake (Matt 5:12) shows us that he is more valuable than all the earthly things that the world lives for (Matt 13:44, 6:19-20).

God isn’t glorified most when we’re having our ‘best life now’ and all we can attribute to God is our shiny new car, big house, and good clothes – all this does is draws attention to the objects, and the glory goes to them, and people all of a sudden think… I’ll take Jesus if he’ll give me these things. I’ll take Jesus if the pay off is right. That’s idolatry. That’s putting the gifts above the giver. It’s choosing Jesus for prosperity. God is most gloried in when we are suffering, facing lives hardest circumstances/demonic attack/persecution, believing that Jesus is enough. It is he who satisfies, and He who deserves all the glory. The greatness of God is seen supremely in the suffering of His son on the cross. Today, the summon is will you join the son in displaying the supreme satisfaction of the glory of grace by joining Him on the Calvary road of suffering, because there is no other way the world is going to see the supreme glory of Christ.

Jesus knew that his own pain would also fall on those who followed him. “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). So the focus of his demand was that we follow him in suffering. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24). Jesus put an emphasis on self-denial and cross bearing.

If you follow Jesus only because he makes life good and easy now, it will look to the world as though you really love what they love, and Jesus just happens to provide it for you. But if you follow Jesus into suffering which is part of this costly mission because he is your supreme treasure, your saviour… then it will be apparent to the world that your heart is set on a different fortune than theirs. It is a costly mission, but a joyful one.

Jesus is utterly up front about what this sort of life will cost. In fact, he urges you to count the cost. “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?…Or what King, going out to encounter another King in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand men to meet hiim who comes against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:28, 31)

The call to follow Jesus is clear and honest.

“In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)

“If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20)

“Some of you they will put to death” (Luke 21:16)

Not only will they put the followers of Jesus to death but they will do it in the name of their religion. “The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God” (John 16:2)

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matt 5:11-12)

“Blessed are you when men hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!” (Luke 6:22)

Jesus doesn’t promise ’security’ in this life: instead he says, “You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and bsome of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake” (Luke 21:16). We are warned in Luke 6:26 that we are probably not being his faithful followers if “all people speak well of you”. It is expected then, that by following Jesus fully, we should expect suffering, and persecution and to be disliked by some – even fellow believers.

And the joy that sustains us through the midst of persecution is not based on what this world can offer, but on what God will be for us as our Father, and what Jesus will be for us as our King, in the age to come.

This mission is costly, and it is worth it. This obedience, in following the commands of Jesus, although costly is free and joyful, it is a life of “all in – no matter the cost”. Even when the cost is extreme, the joy is triumphant, because the cause of Jesus cannot and will not fail. We have got to lay our lives down for the purposes of God. This isn’t ‘our best lives now’, or an invitation for continuous good times. This is a war for the souls of men. We are in a battle where God’s Kingdom does not come by force, but by the truth and love and sacrifice and the power of God. Jesus’ followers do not kill or beat people up to extend the Kingdom. They die.

“My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting”. (John 18:36)

There is a sermon that I came accross on youtube by a guy called Carter Conlon. He’s american. *sigh*. He delivered it to his church the first Sunday after Septermber 11th. He tells the story of when people were running for their lives from a crumbling tower, there were police officers and firemen, and others running towards the building yelling, ‘Run for your lives, Run for your lives!’ And in some cases I believe they knew they were running to their deaths, but for the sake of others they ran in anyway.

And I’m listening to this story thinking, ‘God, don’t let my sense of duty be less for your Kingdom, for your mission’.

I want to be among those who are not running away from the conflict but running into the conflict, screaming, ‘Run for your lives’, even if it costs me mine. Why? Because that is the sort of world changing, God glorifying obedience Jesus demands of us.