Date:   3/05/06

Text:   Luke 2:40, 52

Title:   Born to Grow

Theme: God has given us Jesus Christ as the model for our spiritual growth.

 

Introduction:

  During this past 7 months, 17 new babies were born to our church family. I understand several more are coming. Birth is a traumatic experience for both the mother and the baby. After birth, the baby cries and sees the new and unfamiliar world. The baby will then continue to grow into a toddler, teenager and adult. Babies are born to grow.

  This is how the Bible describes our spiritual journey. Jesus said that we have to be born again in order to see the heavenly kingdom(John 3:3). Paul wrote that when the Holy Spirit comes into us, we call God our Abba, Father(Romans 8:15). Peter taught that we are to drink spiritual milk (1Peter 2:2). “See, Abba Father, Milk” are metaphors of birth and growth. Like our physical body, spiritually we are born to grow.

  Whether it is physical or spiritual, growth is not automatic. We have to eat, to take care of it for growth to take place. This year our learning theme is ‘Stewardship'. For us believers, we are given this new spiritual life, we've been born again. Now, what are we doing about this life? What are we doing to ensure that this new life will grow into maturity?

  Beginning today, I will be preaching a series of sermons on this topic of Christian Growth. I have found the book by Sinclair Ferguson very helpful in providing the overall outline and insights for this series. There are many books and workshops telling us how to grow spiritually. Many of them are excellent resources, but it is also very important for us to understand what the Bible teaches us about growing spiritually. For the next 10 sermons, I'd like to ask you to put aside all that you have read and learned from books and workshops on Christian growth. Instead, focus on the Bible and discover what it teaches about spiritual growth.

I.   God desires us to grow in family likeness.

  When we see a new born baby, what are some of our first words? She really looks like the mother. He is a carbon copy of the father. Or this baby looks like both mom and dad. I don't think we have ever heard the comment that: he doesn't look like any of the parents. On Sunday, a church member said to me, “When I saw you standing on the pulpit Friday evening, I just realized how Sean looks like you.”

  Jesus said, (Matthew 5:48) “ You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Physically, we are like our parents. This holds true in our spiritual life. We are to grow and become like the Father in heaven.

  Besides growing to be like parents, children also grow to be like their siblings, right? Our children, I am sure yours too, are often told that “you are so much like your older brother or sister”. Paul writes in Roman 8:28,29, “ 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Vs.29 tells us that Jesus Christ is the firstborn, the elder brother of God's children. God wants us to be like our elder brother, Jesus.

  Vs.28 explained that God works in all of our life situations, the ups and downs, good and bad, for our good. Meaning, molding us into Christ's likeness. The rest of the scripture instructs and show us how we can shape our lives to be like Christ. We are to make a conscious effort, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to become more like Christ. We have the responsibility to develop the fruit of the Holy Spirit in life. We will learn to have self control over our temper, be gentle, kind and humble.

  So, what is the objective or final product of spiritual growth: to become like our heaven father, to be like Jesus Christ.

II.  God desires us to grow like Jesus grew.

  There are many times when I feel the phrase, “to be like Christ” can become a cliché, a slogan void of any significance. You see, to be ‘like Christ' includes growing like Jesus did. This may come as a surprise to us. We usually think of Jesus in terms of his quality, but grow? Yes the scripture did tell us how he grew. Luke 2:40, “And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor (Grace) of God was upon him.” 52, “ 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature (height and size)and in favor with God and man.” He grew in strength, size, wisdom and God's favor. When we say, ‘to be like Christ', it means that we learn to grow just as Jesus did.

•  Jesus grew physically.

  First, Jesus grew physically. He grew in size and strength. He grew because he was a true man. From his teachings, we know his background. He grew up in a village, therefore, familiar with the outdoor life. He talked about the birds, foxes, flowers, grass and predicted the weather by looking at the color of the sky. He was familiar with the farmer's work, wages and habits. City boys know little about such things.

  Mk 6:3, “ 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?” He was a carpenter. He talked about the yoke he made. It was good and light. Isn't it true that many of the high quality clothes are often light in weight? Real good leather are durable and light. The yoke Jesus made was easy and light. As he grew physically, not only did he become stronger, but also a good carpenter.

  To many of us, we don't have much problem with physical growth. Our society is constantly bombarding us with how to be healthy and strong. Looking at all the advertisements; they are about health and beauty. We also learn to grow in our professions, in what we do. We don't become stagnant, but constantly sharpen our professional skills.

•  Jesus grew spiritually.

  Not only did Jesus grow physically, in Luke 2:40, 52 we also learned that, “…..filled with wisdom. And the favor (Grace) of God was upon him.” This is the spiritual aspect of his growth. Moreover, Luke 2:51, tells us that he was obedient to his parents. “ 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.” Paul further commented in Phil 2:8, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Obedience was a hallmark of Jesus' life. He was obedient to God and to his parents. He grew spiritually.

  Yes, we are growing physically; but how about our spiritual life? To grow spiritually means that as I read God's word, I will have greater understanding of who he is. Previously, or when I was a spiritual baby, I wanted God to center around me, serving me by giving me this and that; he is my personal vending machine. When I didn't get what I want, I'll be screaming, complaining and whining. Now as I grow, I am to have him as my center; I'm to worship and serve him as my Lord. As I grow, I'll learn to be more obedient to him and others that he has brought into my life. To grow spiritually also means that compared to last year, two years ago, I am becoming more gentle, patient, kind and humble at church, at work and with my family members. We'll be examining some of them in greater detail next week.

III.   God desires us to grow in this broken world.

  We have briefly looked at Jesus growing physically and spiritually. Now, we'll take a look at another aspect of his growth. We want to pay special attention to the context of his growth. What is the meaning of ‘Grow'? The word ‘Grow' means to break through, pushing aside obstacles. Its like a seedling pushing through the ground or a boat breaking the waves. To grow means to move ahead in a difficult environment. Isn't this what Jesus' life was all about?

  He was born into a hostile world. The kings and the rulers did not welcome him. He was born in a manger because there was no room in the inn. Because of his birth, many infants were killed in Jerusalem . Right after birth, his family escaped to Egypt for fear of king Herod. At the beginning of his earthly ministry, he was led into the wilderness and tempted by Satan. There was no food and he was surrounded by wild animals. He did not have a comfortable home instead he told his disciples that the birds had nests and foxed had holes, but he did not have a place for pillows. He was constantly harassed by the religious and political leaders. They were cynical and critical of everything he taught. At the end, he was killed on the cross. His crime? He claimed to be the son of God. This was surely not a very friendly world.

  In the book of Acts 3:15, he was called the ‘Author of life'. Hebrews 12:12, “ 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,” Meaning, Jesus is the leader, the chief captain. He was the first to break through those difficulties. He grew in a difficult environment, in a broken and fallen world.

  From time to time we ask, “what happened to so and so? Haven't seen him at church for several months.” “He is experiencing some trials and difficulties in life, questioning if God still cares for him.” So often we expect that once we become a Christian, all our problems will be solved. Our personal life, our career and family will all fall into the right place and everything will work out ok. Don't we sometimes hear pastors say, “Do you want to have a peaceful and harmonious family with your spouse and children listening to you, you want to have a successful career? Do you want to rid your sickness? If you do, you need to come to Jesus.” Who doesn't want to come to Christ if there is a guarantee that I'll be healthy and successful in life? And then when we realized that even as Christians, we can still lose our jobs, be treated unfairly, that our family members may not cooperate with us as we wished. We find ourselves totally unprepared for the baby within. How can God allow this to happen at this time in my life? That even as Christians we can still get sick, real sick and have to suffer those terrible chemo and/or radiation treatments. Many of us would begin to have second thoughts about our faith and complain to God and Christian friends. Some even stop coming to church.

  Einstein raised a question: Is the universe a friendly place? How we answer this question will affect how we look at the hardships in life. The scripture tells us that when God first created the heavens and the earth, everything was good. The universe, the world we live in was a good and friendly place. However, because of sin, it became a rather unfriendly and hostile place. It is in such a world that Jesus grew up. Likewise, we also need to remember that we grow spiritually in the midst of hostility and difficulty. We are to push through those obstacles and become more like Jesus Christ.

Conclusion:   

  I keep thinking of the 17 new babies among us. I did some math on this. There are 32 parents busy taking care of them. If we include the grandparents, then there are a total of about 100 adults taking care of the 17 babies. Or a ratio of 4-6 adults per child. We want to make sure the baby grows in a healthy manner. If the baby is not gaining weight, we'll worry and know something is not right. .

  Isn't this also true in our spiritual life? If you are a Christian, then you are born again. You have a new life in Christ. After this birth, we begin to grow. We are born to grow; to be like Christ. If we are not growing, then something is wrong.

  So in this church, our Sunday sermons, ss lessons, Friday Fellowship or small group Bible studies are all here to help you grow spiritually. However, we cannot make you come to worship and SS on Sundays. We cannot make you come to the fellowship or small groups. You see, we can help you to grow spiritually only to the extent that you wish to be helped. Its like the saying, we can bring the horse to the water, but can't make it drink. Each person, you and I, also has the responsibility to grow and develop our spiritual life.

  As we embark on this journey of spiritual growth, may this be our desire and prayer:

  To Know God more clearly, To Love Him more dearly and to Follow Him more nearly.

    




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