Justin Smith was a man in suspended animation…his body had gone dormant…for all intents and purposes the man was dead…and miraculously he came back to life.
That man is like some of you. You too are in a state of suspended animation but not the physical you. Yes, you walk and breathe and eat and work but you are not totally alive. Your soul is dormant. Your spirit in a state of suspended animation…frozen in time. For all intents and purposes you are dead.
Here are some of the symptoms of a dormant soul…of being spiritually dead:
· it feels like something is missing
· you can’t ever get totally excited about the future or the present
· there are times you just feel empty or confused
· even when you’re in a crowd it feels like you are on the periphery…you feel out of place
· At times you slide into depression and sadness that you can’t explain
· Every now and then when you think about actually physically dying you get a little scared or even freaked out.
These are the signs of a soul in suspended animation…a person who is spiritually dead.
And there is only one remedy to being spiritually dead…belief in Jesus Christ.
Jesus himself said I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me…has crossed over from death to life. John 5:24
He predicted that …the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. John 5:25
Belief in Jesus awakens dead souls.
If you want to be alive, you’ve got to believe in Jesus.
So that would make the concept of belief pretty darn important, wouldn’t it? So…what does it mean?
Well, for the past 3 weeks that’s what we’ve been exploring.
The series is called Beyond Belief – the point being - belief in Jesus is not necessarily what you think it means.
The average person would probably tell you that belief is…accepting something as intellectually true or is just another way of implying somebody is religious. But…that is NOT what belief in Jesus means.
Here’s what we’ve learned so far:
· Week 1:
o To believe in Jesus is to receive him into your life.
§ Similar to the way you receive a guest into your home
§ It’s a form of openness and surrender of privacy
o To believe in Jesus is actually to believe into him.
§ Into = to step from one reality into another
§ A move into deep relationship from one of distance
§ Once again a surrender but this time of independence
o So you see belief is certainly not an intellectual thing but clearly and act of surrender.
And to reiterate: If you want to be alive, you’ve got to believe in Jesus.
· Week 2 – Tim took it further on what it means to believe
o To believe in Jesus is to be born again.
o To believe in Jesus is to make a 180 degree turn into following him.
When you believe in Jesus “…his life becomes interwoven with your life and your life becomes interwoven with his.” Tim Ayers
· Week 3 – instead of defining belief Craig told us a story of man who believed and the sudden impact it had with the people in his world…
o it led to the healing of his son
o and it led to the transformation of his entire community
Belief in Jesus is a powerful thing! It will completely alter your world!
This week I want to look deeper…within you…and see how belief in Jesus alters your inner world…I want to explore what would be the impact of belief on you and your soul. I want to address the question: “What exactly happens to you when you believe in Jesus?” And here’s the answer…
When you believe in Jesus, He will awaken your dead soul.
· The result of belief in Jesus is the revitalization of your inner being.
· The consequence of belief in Jesus is the revival of your spirit.
· The ramification of belief in Jesus is life.
If you want to be alive, you’ve got to believe in Jesus.
Let’s explore that further: John 5:16 page_____________
· Context – a controversial healing – Vs. 16 - So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them…
o persecute = harass and the tense is continuous
· What follows is Jesus response to the harassment: (I’m going to work backwards in this passage so jump to verse 24)
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. 28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. John 5:24-30
Through this discourse Jesus is saying…you guys have to understand somethings about me.
· First – God is my father. I am the Son of God.
o Refers to himself in Vs 25 as “the Son of God”
o Vs. 26 – again as “the Son”
§ this inferred his divinity!
o Vs. 26 - My “Father granted” me the authority to bring life to people
o Vs. 27 - And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
o (Vs. 30) I seek not to please myself but him who sent me - I am in this ultimately to please him
· Look, I don’t know who you think I am but…
o I am not a lunatic
o I am not evil
o I am the legit son of God
· Second – Here’s my mission or purpose (Vs. 24)…for people to “hear my word and believe”
· Third – You need to know that when people do choose to hear my words abd believe in …
o I will awaken their dormant souls ….I will give them life
§ people will “cross over from death to life” (Vs.24)
§ people will “rise to live” (Vs. 28)
o this word “life” is an interesting one (6 times in these few verse)
§ 3 Greek words for life:
· bios = breathing, physical life
· psuche = psychology = ego, personality, seat of feelings and emotions
· zóé = …or divine life…the life of God.
This is the life…the zóé … you receive when you believe…
· And when you believe the divine life of God enters into your soul and that part of you that has laid dormant finally awakens.
o this is the thing that people have been looking for all their lives…
§ they mistakenly think life is purely physical and sensual
§ they mistakenly think that life is purely psychological and emotional
§ this = frustration, a sense of emptiness, and questions
o What people really need is the kind of life that ONLY Jesus can offer – zóé – the life of God that indeed animates dormant souls.
Don’t miss this…
· you cannot manufacture zóé! You don’t get zóé through religion. you don’t get zóé through being spiritual. It has to be given to you. And it will when you believe into Jesus!
· and… this is why when a person who believes in Jesus and receives zóé …the divine life of God… they are guaranteed passage to the presence of God when they physically die.
o when the bios ends and the psuche is no more…the zóé lives on
o and if your bios ends and you have not received zóé …well, the result is hell. The place of people without the divine life of God.
28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
You have bios life…you have psuche life…you need zoe!
If you want to be alive, you’ve got to believe in Jesus.
Seriously… stop for a minute and let this sink in…do you get it?
That’s plenty right there to ponder but I want to point out one more answer to the question what exactly happens to you when you believe into Jesus?
Go back the beginning of the story…Vs. 1. (remember what launched this whole thing)
1So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.
You want to know why I do these things?
· I am no lunatic.
· I am not evil.
· I am the legit son of God…and…
· let me summarize Vs. 17-20…
o I know he is always at work
o I just look for what he is doing- I pay attention
o And when I see what he is doing…I join him in it.
o As a matter of fact he shows me what he is doing
o And you ain’t seen nothing yet because he is going to show me bigger things than this and I’ll join him in those things too…so there.
Which is all very interesting about the way Jesus and God, his father worked together but I thought we were talking about what happens when you believe in Jesus….well, we are.
Stay with me here: when you believe in Jesus (surrender) he gives you zóé …life… awakens your dormant soul … and he guarantees you safe passage into eternal life and…
· he also gives you a mysterious sixth sense
· you begin to see the world just the way Jesus did. You start to see what God is doing!
When you receive the zóé …the divine life…you have the remarkable ability to get a God’s eye view of the world.
· Suddenly you start to experience more and more coincidences…or rather what look like coincidences.
· It’s like a curtain is pulled back that has kept you from seeing
· You start to see what God is doing in the world!
When our spiritual eyes are opened, we start seeing God everywhere we look. We see the image of God in others. We see his fingerprints in creation. We see God-ordained opportunities all around us. Batterson, Draw the Circle
· THIS is what happens when you believe in Jesus…and surrender your life to him!
· Batterson says we become “first class noticers”
Interestingly Jesus actually promises this to those who believe:
I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works… John 14:12
Wait what? …anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works…!
· That’s crazy. But that is true.
It happened to me! Almost immediately from the moment I surrendered my life to Jesus when I was in college I started to see things! (not weird stuff) but coincidences…and life change…and I heard things differently…I became all ears…and it all culminated with a strange man sticking a finger in my chest and telling me what I was supposed to do with my career…
When I believed into Jesus I came alive! And so will you.
You believe and your soul will awaken…you will be guaranteed safe passage into eternity…and the world will start to crackle with possibilities and you will start to notice God everywhere.
Does that sound good? If you want to be alive you’ve got to believe in Jesus.