Ignite Recap for 1/10/09

The Jesus Journey

Most people who take great journeys do so for their own benefit: They want to be the first to scale a mountain or cross an ocean.  They want to be famous and receive the benefits of their fame.  But, the greatest journey of all time was taken by Someone who had a more eternal purpose.  Jesus took the ultimate journey for one reason and one reason alone: you.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2:5-11

Journey Leg #1: From Heaven to Earth (vs. 5-7)

Picture Heaven in your mind. It’s perfect in every way. And Jesus is there, of course, being perfect, being worshiped constantly, free from all worries and care of being human.  And now, He’s given that up. He made a conscious choice to serve instead of being served by coming in the form of a lowly human peasant.

Journey Leg #2: From the Earth to the Cross (vs.

Jesus could have taken on the form of a king or emperor.  Or, like I would’ve done (good thing I’m not God…), as some sort of superhero (of course, the image in my mind is some random Japanimation hero with all kinds of crazy superpowers).  But He didn’t. Instead, in the greatest of all paradoxes, Jesus won by losing.  He stepped away from Heaven, “became obedient to death”, and allowed Himself to be at the mercy of something He had complete power over. Jesus endured one of the most painful and agonizing execution processes, so that we wouldn’t have to.

Journey Leg #3: From the Grave to the Sky (vs. 9-11)

Jesus’ humiliation and death wasn’t the end of the journey. Our Scripture text tells us that God exalted Jesus to the highest place, giving Him the Name above all Names.

God is in the midst of writing an incredible story of our lives. And of course, we won’t pay $10 to watch a movie where the lead character never has to face any difficulties or tough moments, or even a hard fight. Great stories happen through great drama.  And so it is with our story. God isn’t writing an owner’s manual of our life–He’s writing a sweeping epic novel! And that story finds its ultimate turning point when we decide to make Jesus the Savior of our Life.  Have you made that decision?