What Is Jesus Up To Now?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=50 BGCOLOR="#333366" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>What Is Jesus Up To Now?</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=165 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="132" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 35 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id241.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Why His Name Is Jesus"><U><B><IMG SRC="007151d0.gif" border=0 width="21" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="21"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="35" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="20" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="27"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> Previous/Next Sermon</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.stanbaker.org"><U><B>Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biblical and Theological Studies"><U><B>Biblical and Theological Studies</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Ministry"><U><B>Church Ministry</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id15.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sermon Notes"><U>Sermon Notes</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U><B>Links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Personal"><U><B>Personal</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:stan@stanbaker.org"><U>stan@stanbaker.org</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=430 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>December 30, 2001am, “What is Jesus up to Now?” Berean Bible Church</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>     </I>There is a balance between drawing close and obeying fully. We may view God as so high and holy that we maintain our distance. Or we may view him as so friendly and on our level that we fail to obey. Our relationship with God suffers if we go to either extreme. God is against us when we say, “I’m close to God, and he doesn’t care how I live.” On the other hand, we miss out by our choice when we say, “God is so high and holy and awesome, he wouldn’t want to know me.” There are 2 facts about what Jesus is doing now that help us to balance respect with relationship.</div> <bR> <div> <B>I. He is our High Priest; therefore we must draw close.</B></div> <div> A. Jesus is our High Priest. Hebrews 4:14-16 (7:23-25)</div> <div> 1. Priesthood (vs. 14; also 7:25). A priest is an intercessor, a go-between, a representative of us before God (there are salvation aspects also).</div> <div> 2. Jesus as a human identified with humanity in every way (vs. 15).</div> <div> B. Draw close to God through Jesus.</div> <div> 1. Maintain a firm grasp of the truth (vs. 14b). John 4:24, “worship in spirit and truth.”</div> <div> 2. Go to him in time of need (vs. 16b).</div> <bR> <div> <B>II. He is the King; therefore we must obey him.</B></div> <div> A. Jesus is and will be the King. Luke 1:26-33. That he is called “Son”means that he shares in the qualities or essence of God. He will be King on David’s throne forever (2 Sam 7), eventually on the earth. One day, Jesus will rule the earth like no other king has ever ruled.</div> <div> B. Obey him as King.</div> <div> 1. Submit to Christ, even when you don’t understand. Unanswered questions are a part of life.</div> <div> 2. Dedicate all you are and have to him. Let him have control of every aspect of your life – your mind, body, finances, family, possessions, entertainment, time, talents.</div> <div> 3. Share his message – one day, every knee will bow . . . Now is better than then. People need to hear and have a chance to bow.</div> <div>      Why obey? He created us. He gave his life for us (Colossians 1:13-14: “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”).</div> <bR> <div>      Because Jesus is our High Priest, we must draw close to God through him. Because Jesus is and will be the King, we must obey him. Be counter cultural. Don’t put Jesus away with your other holiday decorations. Be a radical worshiper of Jesus, all the time, not just a during this season of worship.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> copyright, 2001, Stanley Baker</div> <div> www.stanbaker.org</div> </td> </tr></table></body>