Jesus Creates Culture In His Return Over The Next Forty Days Before Ascension To Heaven
ANCHOR SCRIPTURE:
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
John 14:10-14 (NIV)
JESUS CULTURE – sharing the good news, discipleship, equipping, accountability, and multiplication of the kingdom. Blueprint to grow
What is Culture?
Simple definition of culture is “the knowledge people use to live their lives and the way in which they do so”
– Christians gain that knowledge through the Bible
– Christians live our lives according to the Bible
– Christians live in the way God directs through the Bible
NOTE: Miracle of resurrection fades holiday lunches.
Jesus spent 40 days shaping the world.
Jesus Culture Shapes Christianity.
Kingdom multiplication becomes our responsibility.
NOTE: Why did Jesus return to create culture?
– New Day, New Way!
– Jesus set the standard of God’s Word going forward in a new covenant (Testament).
– Jesus established new culture outside of the Temple Culture. We are Temple of the Holy Spirit.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
1 Corinthians 6:19 (NASB)
– Jesus had to disciple people how to act like Him in ALL ways.
He said to them, “Come and see.”
John 1:39 (Complete Jewish Bible)
– Jesus always knew He was being watched as the example of a new culture.
– Teacher – Say, Show, Do
– People don’t magically change – must become a new creation in Christ
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
– Need instruction from prior ways and in the new state of being a new creation.
– Why wander 40 years – why didn’t God lead His people into promise land? They only knew a slave mentality 430 years!
– They didn’t know what freedom was or how to embrace and thrive in it. Their understanding of freedom was for someone else to enjoy at the expense of their own captivity.
NOTE: 70% of lottery winners end up broke and a third declare bankruptcy, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education.
NOTE: If you hit the supernatural lottery and God downloaded the fullness of His glory in you without first preparing your “nets” to receive the abundance, you’d waste it like the disciples when fishing nets busted with abundant catch.
Simon responded and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they caught a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to tear; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, to the point that they were sinking. But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and likewise also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
Luke 5:5-7 (NASB)
NOTE: Jesus set the standard to provide a cultural structure for growth.
Left alone – Easy to fall into one ditch or another. Too much legalism and you neglect love. Too much emotionalism and you neglect God’s Word.
CULTURE CREATES BALANCE
– You are called.
– You have an anointing.
– You need God’s glory to activate that anointing.
– You need God’s character to contain and execute it.
– Character without anointing is just a good, moral person.
– Anointing without character is a person lacking spiritual depth.
NOTE: Barnabas is Example of a man of good character filled with the Holy Spirit –
For Barnabas was a good man [privately and publicly—his godly character benefited both himself and others] and he was full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith [in Jesus the Messiah, through whom believers have everlasting life]. And a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
Acts 11: 24 (Amplified Bible)
NOTE: Jesus CULTURE sets the example.
Jesus is the most exceptional leader of all time.
– Invested in developing His culture.
– His culture outlived His time on earth
– His culture multiplied 3,000% in months following His death & never stopped growing.
– Today 2.83 BILLION – one-third of global population is Christian.
Four Ways Jesus Culture Flourishes
Multiplying Jesus Culture
1. Authentic Engagement
Jesus knew people and He allowed others to know him. (No MASK)
He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs,
appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Acts 1:3 (ESV)
I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business.
Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father
I have made known to you.
John 15:15 (NIV)
Multiplying Jesus Culture
2. Invitation to Participate
Jesus invited both men and women (Counterculture) to participate in God’s reign and share that reign with others (OPEN PALMS), even when they didn’t have it all together (What today’s culture calls QUALIFIED), even when they inevitably would fail (Discipleship). No special lineage, schooling, gender, or social status was needed (CALLED). Women Lead the Way
In Mark 16 – The three women at the empty tomb were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome mother of James and John.
But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there, just as He told you.’” They went out and fled from the tomb, for they were seized with trembling and astonishment; and they said nothing [about it] to anyone, because they were afraid. Now Jesus, having risen [from death] early on the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. She went and reported it to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.
Mark 16: 9-11
Why didn’t the “fellas” believe Mary? OLD CULTURE:
– World’s Culture says she’s broken. Jesus Culture says she’s trustworthy of evangelizing the most significant news ever shared in history.
– World’s Culture said women weren’t equal to men. Jesus Culture says she’s equal and respected.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:28-29 (NASB)
– World’s Culture said she can’t prove it. Jesus Culture says live by faith, not by sight
(2 Corinthians 5:7)
Multiplying Jesus Culture
3. Empowerment
It’s one thing to “like” Jesus, but another to live like Jesus. Jesus Culture gives you the authority and power to do it.
Now He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all the demons, and the power to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.
Luke 9: 1-2 (NASB) – Pre-resurrection
NOTE: This same Holy Spirit power extends to us.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
John 20:21–23 (ESV)
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing 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. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:16–20 (ESV)
To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of things regarding the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Acts 1:3-5 (NASB)
Multiplying Jesus Culture
4. Correction
Jesus corrects corrupted beliefs, attitudes, and actions.
Correction brings Conviction which can lead to greater faith and works for Christ.
NOTE: Even after disciples refused to believe Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:11), Jesus Culture says to correct, convict and commission for kingdom service.
Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Mark 16:14–15 (ESV)
NOTE: Your depth into Jesus Culture is measured by making disciples, immersing them into the reality of the Trinity and teaching them to obey God’s Word
– ACTION ORIENTED INSTRUCTIONS
– Jesus Culture is NOT Passive
NOTE: Jesus created a framework of culture over those 40 days following His resurrection.
– Holy Spirit would be the fuel that ignited the engine for sharing the Gospel on the day of Pentecost by the Holy Spirit.
– That engine needed a calling – an anointing – God’s glory and Character modeled by Jesus.
NOTE: The culture Jesus created works, and it NEEDS YOU!!!
The Great Commission
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB)
