Sermon Central
-
Life In Abundance
Contributed by Stephen Funderburk on Feb 4, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: Jesus has come to give us an abundant life, but what does living abundantly really mean?
Intro: if you were to list the most memorized verses in the bible, John 3:16 probably would be one, Revelation 3:20 would be in the top ten, Romans 8:28 may make the list, and John 10:10 would probably be there. Why is John 10:10 so popular, it describes the desires of Satan to kill, steal and destroy your life, and to counter that, Jesus has come to give life in abundance. Looking up definitions of the word abundance you come across the word full, plenty, rich and over-flowing. Jesus comes to give us a life that is full, we experience all that we could ever need, and have an over-flowing life. I guess some people could take this to mean wealth and prosperity, or success in the endeavors of life. But I think this fullness, and abundance must be defined from the spiritual side of life, not the physical, or material side. I would like to give what it is to have life in abundance.
Life In Abundance
The Devil’s Work–he hates mankind so much that he takes pleasure in stealing from you. He likes it when someone has no joy or peace in their lives. He puts fear on people which has torment. His ultimate goal is to rob people spiritually, where they become spiritually bankrupt.
I. Life that isn’t Empty–one of the definitions of abundance is full, so the opposite condition is a life that is empty. Jesus has come to heal our emptiness, he has come to fill a void, (spiritual) that nothing in this world can satisfy. Once in a while we look at people who seem so full of life, that are rich, powerful, successful, popular, and we think: wow they must be so fulfilled in that life. We are amazed when we hear of a multi-millionaire who commits suicide or a famous movie star or athlete who over-doses on drugs. But this only reveals emptiness, that nothing in this life can truly satisfy the soul. You see Solomon wrote his book called Ecclesiastes where we see that everything in this world is vanity, a chasing after the wind. How does Jesus fill the emptiness, He fills it with real joy, love and peace, He fills us with the Holy Spirit. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts. Jesus comes to satisfy the deeper needs that this world cannot touch.
II. Life that isn’t Dreadful–2 Timothy 1:7-God has not given us the Spirit of fear. Another part of this abundance that Jesus gives is He removes the dread, the fear. Without Christ death is always in the mirror, time is always working against us. Jesus comes and conquers death, he comes out of the grave, now we have hope. Only someone that has His abundance can look death in the eye and laugh. Paul said, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. Every martyr since Stephen has had the same abundance, that shines in death. Abundance is peace in the midst of the storm.
ill) commercial–cream that defies aging. One commercial even says, fight back. In this world we fight anything that reminds us of our own mortality. But no matter how good of a fight you fight, the outward man perishes. That is where the abundance of Jesus comes in. Though the outward man perishes, the inward man is renewed day by day. You can say this, man physical self is on decline, by spiritual self is on the rise.
III. Life that isn’t Anxious–Matthew 6:33–another part of abundance is not worrying about tomorrow. Not worrying about how everything is going to work out in our lives. It is saying, God is in control of my life, whom shall I fear, of what shall I be afraid. We seek His kingdom, all the other things in life are given into His care. God will take care of you, cast your cares unto the Lord for He cares for you. In the last days men’s hearts will be failing them for fear, or concerns. Abundance is having higher goals than earthly treasures or things. Hebrews teaches us that there is a rest for the people of God, but some don’t enter into it because of unbelief. Faith is essentially giving God control of our lives, as He is already in control of tomorrow.
IV. Life that isn’t Guilty–Romans 8:1–condemnation is a terrible weight to carry around in life. The guilt of sin cannot be removed by therapy, counseling or any medication. The guilt that people carry can only be washed away by the blood.
People in this world are weighed down with guilt. They feel bad about things they have done, wrongs that they have committed, and no amount of community service, good deeds or any other charitable giving will take away the gnawing in their conscience. The longer sin is carried the heavier the burden becomes. Jesus gives us abundance, we are free from condemnation. We accept His work on the cross, we accept the grace of God in our lives. If you fully understand the cross, redemption, atonement, Jesus took our sins, He became the one that bore our pain. He became sin who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of Christ.
