The Most Important Thing

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." Rom 8:29 NIV

The purpose of the incarnation, the cross, the resurrection, and the outpouring was not to get you to heaven. God's intention was to invade earth, not just once, but millions of times over. Paul wrote it in Romans 8:29--the firstborn among many brothers. On the cross, Jesus was finishing something for sure, but more importantly, or at least more urgently for now, He was beginning something. He was the first; we are the many. God wants to invade your world through you just like He invaded the Roman empire through Jesus. He was the first; we are the many.

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I recently had the opportunity say some “last words” to a group of people I was saying goodbye to. What do you say last? I hadn't planned what to say, but I think in the moment, what I said was satisfying. I actually think I said the most important thing I could say to them.

My passion in life is to help believers in Jesus discover who they are. I've been struck with the depth of the change that took place in guys like Peter, John, and Paul in the New Testament, and how dramatic was their expectation of what our experience should be. These guys experienced something truly supernatural, and if you read what they wrote, you must conclude either that they were crazy, that they were being metaphorical, or that they expected us to experience something at least as overwhelming as they did.

They wrote about things like sharing in the divine nature, being new creations, being the righteousness of God, being crucified with Jesus and living now by His life in them. To them, faith in Jesus was radical. To them, faith in Jesus changed them at their core. They literally experienced a new birth, became different beings. Seeing this, I have begun to understand faith as something fundamentally different from the "Christianity" I grew up believing in.

Christianity has to be completely re-defined for most of us in order for us to step into the stream of faith begun with John, Peter, Paul and the others. We have to realize at some point that we really don't get it on a very basic level. This, by the way, is my secret plot to take over the world. I want to infiltrate every denomination, every group, every theological camp, every limb, vein, and capillary of the Body of Christ with this Idea: Jesus didn't die to get you to where He is; He died to get Himself to where you are.

The purpose of the incarnation, the cross, the resurrection, and the outpouring was not to get you to heaven. God's intention was to invade earth, not just once, but millions of times over. Paul wrote it in Romans 8:29--the firstborn among many brothers. On the cross, Jesus was finishing something for sure, but more importantly, or at least more urgently for now, He was beginning something. He was the first; we are the many. God wants to invade your world in the person of (fill in your name here) just as He invaded Jerusalem through Jesus. He was the first; we are the many.

That is the most important thing I can tell you. Forget everything and start with that. Get up tomorrow and say to yourself, "Jesus was first...I'm next." No, you don't have to die for the sins of the world; your death wouldn't pay for even one of your own sins. However, to follow Him as your rabbi means simply to do what He did in His life.

You can't follow Him in death; to presume that is heresy. However, He Himself said you would follow Him in life. He said in John 14:12 that you would do the same things He did and more. Get up tomorrow and say it to yourself. Forget everything you think you know about "living for Jesus." Start with this single thought. "He was first, I'm next."

Then, you'll be so messed up you won't be able to get through the day without finding out more about what He made you to be. Then we're on our way.