HS - Revolutionaries - Week 1

This week, we are beginning a series on Revolutionaries or Change Agents. We will look at the lives of different people in scripture, history, and in modern times that made a significant difference in the lives of those they came into contact.

• What do you think of when you hear the word revolution or revolutionary?

rev·o·lu·tion·ar·y  [rev-uh-loo-shuh-ner-ee]  - of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a revolution, or a sudden, complete, or marked change

Sometimes we can find ourselves in a spiritual rut or wondering why Jesus is so important. What’s the big deal? How does his life really affect my own? Jesus is the first revolutionary we are going to discuss, because His life made the greatest difference for all of us. We can get so caught up in our own stuff that we forget that He is the only reason we exist and His love for us is all that we need. Hopefully, after tonight, you will have a better understanding of why Jesus matters. As we study those he taught and the impact of his ministry, I hope you’ll get an idea of what our role is in His ministry. So, let’s dive in.

From the beginning…The world was a broken place. Ever since Adam and Eve took a bite of the apple, the world has been in a state of disorder. That moment in history was the beginning of sin, brokenness, and chaos and we are still experiencing the ramifications it today through poverty, broken relationships, bullying, wars, etc. These tragedies are a result of life apart from God. Adam and Eve hid from God in their shame and rightly so. The first sin was disobedience to the word of God. Because of their sin, death enters the world. Every human is now subject to God’s wrath and deserving of death. We have inherited Adam’s sinful nature. Every bone in our body is bent toward evil. Paul says this in Romans “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (7:18) and in Romans 3, quoting the Psalms, “no one is righteous.” This is terribly depressing, but from that moment God had a plan that would change everything.

Paul finishes up Romans 7 with “Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We have inherited a sinful nature. We cannot do anything good on our own, “but God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Through Christ’s saving death and resurrection, we are given new life.  (John 3:16) Christ took the punishment we deserved so that we would not have to. We have to understand the weight of this. It’s not just some story we tell so you will be nice to people and not hurt them. We only live, because he gives us life. We don’t have to fear death, because he conquered death for our sake out of His love. This great love is open to all who will receive Him. 

2 Corinthians 5:19-2019 God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We are reconciled to God through Christ and called to bring this message of hope to others. The question to consider then is this:

• What will you do with Jesus?

C.S. Lewis said about Jesus in his book Mere Christianity "Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse." If we believe he is the Son of God then when we see the brokenness and pain in the world, our hearts should be filled with love and compassion for them. Every one of you knows someone in your life who is without God. You might be intimidated to share your faith. You might feel like you have too many questions or doubts of your own to be helpful. Those questions and doubts are part of seeking God. They help us grow stronger in our faith. If you are in a place of questioning and want to talk with or pray with a leader, just let us know. We have plenty of questions and doubts of our own, it’s part of the faith journey and God uses us in our weakness.

Over the next few weeks, I hope you will be encouraged by stories of people who took the message that Christ first gave to his apostles who passed it onto others until today with Christianity serving as the largest religion in the world. These aren't people you hear about on TV, or even in your history books, just those faithful to the call.