Christianity- What's it Like?

From John 14,
“Peace I leave with you- Not as the world gives..!”

The greatest peace we can have from anything in this world pales in comparison, and can be shattered in an instant by any number of ways. Jesus’ peace surrounds us, supports us, and nothing in the world can touch it! If we know Jesus, then,
We know the Way- the Road itself! He’s the gate, the door, and the road. It’s one thing to be on a road we’ve got a map for, and He’s given us a map. It’s another thing to know the way, and we do. But we are on a Road that knows us, and communicates with us! It would take a real effort to get lost in that situation!

We know the Truth- we don’t just know facts about stuff, but we know the Truth, personally, and He knows us!
We know the Life- It’s been said that if we’re going to die, then we really don’t have life, though we may technically be alive on borrowed life for a time. Real life is from God, and does not end. He that does not have the Son does not have life, but death is living in him. He that has the Son has life!

Jesus said, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father. Now, how did they see the Father, looking at a man with the same sweat, dirt, and distractions that they all dealt with? “No form or comeliness,” but the same sweat, dirt, humanity...
They saw love. They saw a Man Who lived a life out of a heart of love for others, of putting others first, when He Himself was God Incarnate.
They saw goodness! They saw holiness- not as a distant life separated from everything, but a life lived right out in the middle of things, but separated to God!
And the words He spoke were the Father’s words, and He did what the Father was doing!

Then, and today, He calls us to believe Him for Who He is, and Who He comes from, and, promises that we will do works greater than those He did, and that He will meet us in prayer, and that He would send us His Spirit to be a Strengthener (Comforter) just like Himself! How is the Holy Ghost just like Jesus? First of all, in that He is God, the Third Person of the same Godhead. And since He is like Jesus, we’re not surprised to see that the world does not “get” Him in any way. While there may be counterfeits, only a person who is born of the Spirit can begin to understand or receive the Spirit. Like with Jesus, “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world did not receive Him, but, like Jesus said farther along in John, “The wind blows where it wants to, and you, ..don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jesus, and the Spirit are the same, and the Spirit passes that on to us!

And here’s the kicker: The mission of God! Jesus comes down from the highest glory, through the world’s most painful and shameful death, right down to the pit of Hell; rises, and ascends, and prays for us to receive the Promise of the Father- the fullness of the Spirit! Now we can fulfill His mission! How does this happen? In v. 21, it is by the Spirit that Jesus reveals Himself to us, in v. 23 we see that by the Spirit He lives right with us, and vs. 25 & 26, the Spirit keeps us reminded of what we have heard Jesus tell us. To wrap it all up, in v. 27 we see that we have that peace that only comes from Jesus!

Now, maybe, the Church can’t say that we have what the world needs, but that is only because we are what the world needs: The living presence of Jesus Christ, His own living Body, here on this Earth. As the Father sent Him, so He sends us: humble, broken, and loving. We have what every sinner needs: the full gospel of Jesus Christ- full and living salvation by the power of His blood in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It’s not a matter, Christian, of “What can I do?” but rather, “What can God not do?” God is on a mission: It’s His mission, and He’s calling us to come alongside Him to see Him do it- as His witnesses! It’s no longer, “We’re on a mission from God,” but we’re on a mission with God!