Walking As Jesus Walked — Sandeep Poonen

It's a tremendous privilege for us to be able to come through another year and God has been really good to us. So I wanted to share a few thoughts as we end this year to remind us of how the Lord has been good to us and something that I have been blessed by to meditate on.

Walking in the Same Manner as Jesus

So if you have your Bibles with you, you can turn with me to 1 John chapter 2. This is a verse that we memorized. If you are able to, family, as an announcement, if you're able to, please turn your videos on so that I can see you.

But again, if you're not prepared, that's absolutely fine as well. So I'd like to share today from 1 John chapter 2 verse 6. This is a verse that we memorized and I want to share with you how the Lord has been good to me from this passage.

I'm going to share my screen and this is the verse and the picture that we had related to that. The one who says he abides in him, ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked. 1 John chapter 2 verse 6.

This is a very special verse for us. We have been taught the importance of this verse about the life of Jesus and how it is so important for us to walk in the same manner as he walked. Now I wanted to ask you, including the children, a question.

Can you spot Jesus in this picture? If you look at this picture, can you spot Jesus in this picture? What does he look like? Maybe that's what you're asking yourself. Maybe he's everywhere in the picture.

I don't know if there's a right answer or wrong answer. He created the heavens and the earth, so I'm sure he's everywhere in this picture in some way. But I wanted to use that picture as a springboard from which to share the way in which the Lord blessed me to consider Jesus.

Because it says the one who says he abides in him, ought himself to walk in the same manner as Jesus walked. And so how did Jesus walk is what I was thinking about this. And as I looked at this picture, I was thinking about spotting Jesus in this picture and saying, Lord Jesus, I want to be like you.

And what was the most special point that I'd like to make is where I see Jesus first. And I wanted to share that with you, most of all. And I don't know if we tend to naturally see Jesus in this part of who he is.

Jesus as the Helpless One

And I have really appreciated the reminder and the teaching that Jesus is this person in the picture, the helpless one. And I want to turn to John, chapter five, verse 19, a passage that is very special for many reasons, so we can turn there for a second.

John, chapter five, verse 19, Jesus answered and was saying to him, John, chapter five, verse 19, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself unless it is something he sees the father doing for whatever the father does.

These things the son also does in like manner. And it says in verse 20, for the father loves the son. And shows him all the things that he himself is doing, and the father will show him greater things.

So that you will all marvel. So there was a sense in which Jesus was saying. I've only seen so much, and so that's what I'm showing to you, but the father is going to show me. Greater things, and as he shows me greater things, I'm going to be faithful to show it to you as well, so it's a tremendous picture for us, for me, at least to see Jesus as the helpless one, and that's he comes very close to me in that sense, and the father was very close to Jesus at all times.

You know, we are in this season in which the Christian world celebrates Christmas as the birth of Jesus, and the Christian world loves to adore the baby Jesus and because he seems so helpless. And the Christian world also loves to venerate the mother, Mary, because she took care of the helpless Jesus.

But that's not what I mean when I think about the helpless Jesus. This wasn't Jesus as a baby. Of course he was helpless. He needed to be fed. He couldn't do anything on his own. And Joseph and Mary were tremendously needed to help Jesus.

Mary definitely should be honored, not because of what she did to help Jesus, but because of her holiness and her piety. But the helpless one being Jesus is not Jesus as a baby. It is Jesus throughout his life.

And we do not know anything about Jesus, the helpless one, as a baby, but we do know Jesus about the helpless one throughout his life. I don't know, children, if you know what was the first words that Jesus spoke here on earth.

Do you know what are the first words that is recorded of what Jesus said here on earth? It's in Luke chapter two. We don't know what he said. It was definitely not his first words. Like all of our babies, he probably babbled.

And the only thing that he didn't do that us humans do is he didn't sin. But in every other way, he was like us. And so he probably had to learn the language just like all of us do. He had babbled and all of those things.

Jesus Reaching for the Father's Hand

But the first recorded words of Jesus was as a 12 year old. And he says that in Luke chapter two, verse forty nine. And Jesus says to his parents, why is it because, you know, Jesus was lost in this three days later, they find him in the temple.

And Jesus says this to his parents, almost a little confused. Almost a little surprised. Hey, daddy and mommy, why is it that you were looking for me? Didn't you know that you would find me in my father's house?

Because that's who I keep going to all the time. You know me now for 12 years. As long as you know me, don't didn't you know that I'm always reaching for the father's hand? And that was Jesus's DNA. That was Jesus's habit to be the helpless one, constantly reaching for the hand of his father, that when his parents couldn't find him.

Jesus was why he was telling his parents, why are you surprised? Didn't you know that you should look in the most obvious place where you find me reaching for my father's hand? And that in those days was, you know, for in Jerusalem, OK, you'll find me in the temple.

And today that's not his house. But back then, that's where Jesus was saying, you'll find me where my father is. You'll find me in the house of my father. Those are the first recorded words of Jesus. Then I showed you that verse in John chapter five, verse 19 and 20, where Jesus says, I can do nothing on my own initiative.

What the father is showing me, I'm going to show it to you. And guess what? The father is going to show me more things in the future and I'm going to show that to you. And he's going to show me more things because the father loves me and I'm sure of his love for me.

He's going to show me more and more things. What was the last recorded words of Jesus? That was in Luke. Chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. Right before he died on the cross, Luke chapter 23, the very last words of Jesus, Jesus says this and Jesus crying out with a loud voice.

He didn't have to cry out with a loud voice. He had barely a few breaths left in him. He died because he just couldn't breathe anymore. But he took the last. Maybe he could have breathed for five more breaths, but he used up all of those five breaths to cry with a loud voice because he wanted everybody to hear what he was going to say.

Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit. He didn't need to shout for his father to hear in heaven. But those are the last recorded words and then said, having said this, he breathed his last. Father, I'm holding on to your hand.

I'm ending my life, holding on to your hand. I've been the helpless one all my life. And now I'm ending my life saying I'm the helpless one. And that was a tremendous encouragement to me and to all of us as we're going through maybe various challenges, various different things that are going on in our lives to see our example.

And Jesus says, follow me and I will do this. I'll do that and walk in the same manner as Jesus walked. And Jesus, how did you walk here on earth? To see Jesus as being the helpless one. Walking through this life from start to finish, didn't you know I would be in my father's house, didn't you know I'd be with my father, I can do nothing of my own initiative except what I see my father doing.

I'm tightly connected to him at the end of his life. Jesus is a father into your hands. I'm committing my spirit. That's been my whole lifestyle to be reaching out for your hand and holding your hand.

Sin as Independence from God

And I saw sin in a new way when I look at it this way, because as we've been taught, sin was not going and committing murder or adultery. Sin was wanting to live independent of God. That was the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And so the sin for Jesus would have been shaking off the outstretched hand of his father and saying, no, I can get this. I can do this on my own. I don't need your help, dad. As I do these last few steps, I've got this.

As you know, we often try to do and our children do with your children. No, I got this. I don't need your help. And to see I saw sin being redefined that way. He didn't try to make it up by himself. Not because he couldn't do it, but because it would have been a sin to be independently holy.

And to see that sin is really redefined that way, not so much doing this bad thing or doing that bad thing here and there, but more fundamentally shaking off the hand of the father and thinking that the holy life is us being able to achieve some level of spirituality.

And it's so easy for our track record and our definition of holiness to go to that level. And so for us to become proud or to have some kind of self-satisfaction, we were the memory verse that we were memorizing just this week was another pointer to that in Jude chapter one, verse twenty four, where Jude is talking about being able to not stumble anymore and to be able to stand in the presence of his glory, blameless without with great joy.

What a tremendous opportunity we as Christians have to walk without stumbling and to be able to stand in the presence of his glory with great joy. That's Jude one twenty four. But in the beginning of that sentence is now to him who is able to make me not stumble and to keep me from stumbling and to make me stand in his presence and his glory with great joy.

That few little words in the very beginning is so easy for us to just set aside as we look at our track record, as we look at our holiness and we look at our good successes or our failures and either become proud or be discouraged.

So I think these are the ways in which we have to really remind ourselves that holiness fundamentally is being the helpless one. And then we take our joy and our satisfaction and our confidence, not that things are getting really hard, not that things are getting from bad to worse, no, that we these opportunities that seem so difficult for us to bear increases our ability to be the helpless ones and that we can draw courage that there is a hand reaching out to help us.

Holiness as Dependence on the Heavenly Father

John chapter 17, that's the other verse I put in the context of this was John chapter 17, verse 11. This is what we read also in the prayer that Jesus prayed when he said when he taught his disciples to pray, he said, our father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name.

And in there, we've been taught a lot about that. We've meditated on that, about God being our heavenly father and his name being hallowed. And we see that same thing in John chapter 17, verse 11, as Jesus is leaving this earth, he's leaving something behind.

He's the obviously he sent the Holy Spirit. But here's another thing that he says in John chapter 17, verse 11, he says, I'm no longer in the world yet. They themselves are in the world and I'm coming to you.

I'm leaving. I'm coming to you. But they're going to remain in the world. And then he says, holy father, keep them in your name, keep them in your name, which is that name. It's that name that and he says the name which you gave to me when I was living on this earth, the name that you gave me was holy father.

And that's the same name that I'm now hoping that you keep them in that name, holy father. Keep them, Lord, connected to holy father, where holiness is not a checklist of things that I did right or didn't do, but rather holiness is a dependence, a continuous dependence on God, the outstretched one.

I was more and more the helpless one today. That is the greatest day where I was the helpless one. They're living as Jesus lived. And obviously the holy father, where God is our heavenly father, where the almighty creator of the heavenly earth, where everything is under his thumb, where he holds all of the earth.

He's my father and God is totally in control, but the one who's totally in control is my fully accessible close father. And so that holiness is drawing and reaching up to him, asking for help. So, dear brothers and sisters, I hope that we will see Jesus as the helpless one.

Christ's Present Ministry of Intercession

And the other thing that I see Jesus as. Is in this part of it, too, which is this part of it where he's helping us now, we know the Holy Spirit. Is our helper, he's been given to live in us and to give us the strength and the power to give us grace, as we've talked a lot about and meditated on and wonderful word in the new covenant, the most blessed word in the new covenant.

Grace is given to us by the Holy Spirit living inside of us. But what is Jesus doing right now? Jesus, it says after he finished the full sacrifice in Hebrews, he went and sat down at the right hand of the father.

So is his work over? Is he just relaxing, doing nothing? No, Hebrews chapter seven, verse 25 is a tremendous verse that tells me exactly what he's doing right now. He still has a full time job. Hebrews chapter seven, verse 25, that we may know as we memorize this, he is able to save Hebrews 7, 25.

He is able to save forever. Those who draw near to God, who reach out with a helpless hand to God, like Jesus did through Christ, since he lives to make intercession for him, he's the one who's helping us up by interceding for us.

And there are many ways in which he helps us. But I was blessed to be reminded. And I want to encourage you all to consider Jesus the interceder in this context, in the context of that verse, 1 John 2, verse 6, which says, Jesus says, walk as I walked.

And as he's in heaven, Jesus says, intercede for me, intercede for others the way I'm interceding for you. And it's a wonderful ministry that the Lord has been encouraging me with to say, become an interceder, as we were not an accuser, but an interceder.

Intercession, Forgiveness, and Loving Enemies

And dear brothers and sisters, we have been given various different callings. And we may think that the way to help is by physically extending my hand and giving somebody else an email or a word of scripture or sending them food or doing different things where we have to physically give them something.

But the Lord encouraged me that Jesus is up in heaven and he has a tremendous way in which he can save us by interceding for us. And that's a wonderful ministry that we all can have, whether we are separated by thousands of miles, whether we are a mother who has got a full time job is to take care of our children so we can't travel around or visit other people like maybe some other people can.

And we can say, Lord, I can't reach out and grab somebody else by the hand or because of COVID, I can't travel. I can't get to where I encourage those people. The wonderful encouragement is we can walk as Jesus walked, who is an interceder, and we can intercede for those.

And as we heard recently, Jesus says, be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. And that passage is talking about being merciful. And it's in the context of in Matthew chapter five about loving your enemies and blessing those who persecute you.

How do I love my enemies? How do I bless those who persecute me? I could intercede. And the Lord was showing me that there's a greater gift to interceding than forgiving. It's so easy for me to say I've forgiven somebody.

I don't hold a grudge against them. I don't wish them harm. There's a difference between not wishing them harm and wishing them eternal good. And longing for their eternal good. That's where interceding starts with forgiveness ends, and the Lord definitely wants us to forgive everybody.

But God says, you know, Jesus says, you know what my ministry is, my ministry is that of interceding. And the Lord is saying, love your enemy. So forgive, but seek that the Lord may give me a heart to say, Lord, I want to have a heart like yours that longs for your spiritual best, longs for the other's spiritual best.

That doesn't mean I have to spend a lot of time with them. That doesn't mean I may spend any time with them because they may hurt me. Maybe they do things. But Lord, I want to protect my heart from having unforgiveness.

But Lord, I want to have a heart like you that intercedes. And I also find that there's a greater richness of interceding, even more than sacrificing. I can sacrifice for many people where they could still be.

A heart that stops short of wanting to intercede for them, not wanting them to perish, but that all may come to a knowledge of God. I can forgive them. I can sacrifice for them, but I can still stop short of interceding for them.

That's a wonderful ministry. The Lord is saying he abides in me, must walk as he walked. And I see Jesus saying I was the helpless one and I'm the interceder. And Jesus is rooting for my eternal spiritual success.

I'm absolutely convinced of that. Nothing God does is outside of that. He's only interested in my eternal spiritual success. And that's a good guidance for me to say, Lord, you don't tolerate any sin.

You rule and judge with total righteousness. But your response to that, as you see the sin in me, is to intercede. And I can do that from a distance. I don't have to be close by. I may be limited in my ability or my giftings to be able to do this or that to encourage other people.

But I can definitely intercede. And from there, I see the Lord can purify my heart and help me run the furthest distance from unforgiveness or pride through sacrificing for my enemies or giving them something good, but still having a heart that doesn't want them to be as close to Christ as I am.

God's Patience and the Call to Repentance

I want to end with this verse in 2 Peter chapter 3. As we end this year, 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 8 and 9, this is what it says, 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 8 and 9. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.

The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. You know, in the context of this verse, if you read a few verses earlier in 2 Peter chapter, in that chapter and verses, he's talking about the last days.

And in verse 3, he says that many mockers will come saying, what are you talking about? God's going to come back. Everything's been going on. The earth has been going on around for so many years. He's not coming back.

It's been continuing since the beginning of creation. Verse 4. But in verse 5, Peter uses an interesting expression. He says, for when they talk about this, it escapes their notice. It escapes that God created everything and it escapes their notice that God's going to judge this earth, that he's going to take sin very seriously.

And what happened in the Garden of Eden is going to finally come to him having to destroy this whole earth and start over with a new heaven and a new earth. It escapes their notice. And that's what the world doesn't see.

The world is blinded to it. That's what Peter is saying. It escapes their notice. Nothing escapes our notice. It escapes their notice that the world is going to burn up. And everything about this earth is going to be destroyed in the heavens, and God's going to have to start all over again with a new heaven and a new earth.

And the world doesn't see that it escapes their notice. The reason I say that is because then in verse 8 and 9, Peter says, but don't let this one thing escape your notice. So now he's saying, I want to tell you, brothers and sisters, beloved children of God, forget about what the world is escaping their notice.

But us Christians, you know what will escape our notice? It's this. That a thousand years and one day, a day with the Lord is a thousand years. And a thousand years is like one day. And here's my encouragement, dear brothers and sisters.

How long how long has it been since you've been pouting? How long has it been since you've been having holding on to some bitterness or some complaint because of the way your spouse is acting or your relatives are acting or your co-workers are acting or your company is acting?

How long has it been? Has it been all of 2021? Has it been several years where there's a small complaint towards anybody for what they've done towards us? Has it been one year? Has it been five years?

Has it been 50 years? With the Lord, a thousand years, it's as if it's one day. God says, I don't count it and look at it as you've been having this bad attitude for a thousand years for me, as far as I'm concerned, like you just had a bad day.

This is divine patience. He doesn't keep a track record of 50 years, 60 years. You've been holding on to bitterness as he looks at us today, as he looks at now is the time of salvation. Now is the appointed time.

He says, looks like you had a bad day. I'm patient with you. I'm just waiting for you to repent, not wishing for any depression. I'm not going to hold all these 50 years against you, even if we've been unfaithful to the Lord for a thousand years.

God says, it's like you've been unfaithful to me for a day. I'm just waiting for you not to repent. And the flip side of it is true too. One day, have you been faithful to the Lord today? Just today? The Lord says, it's as if you've been faithful to me for a thousand years.

Justification and the New Beginning of Repentance

This really blesses me because this is the justification of Jesus Christ that we receive through Jesus Christ. When we receive God saying, I accept you totally in the beloved, who's Jesus Christ. He says, I look at you as if you've always obeyed.

I look at you as if you've never sinned. And so I saw the thousand years and a one day in a new way. Dear brothers and sisters, please let us not beat ourselves up for the years, for the hours, for the days, for the months in which we have held onto bad attitudes, this and that.

It's like one day before the Lord, if we will repent, that is the critical word. Now is the appointed time. He's able to save forever. Those who come to him, if we will come today. So we need to throw away our counting machines of, oh, I've been holding onto this for this number of amount of time and really see the value of one day with the Lord is like a thousand years and to allow the Lord's, the beauty of justification of God saying, I look at you just like I look at Jesus today.

All those years of bitterness, if you will release it, surrender completely today. It can be gone. I can also speak from my own personal experience. There was a time where I was really struggling with having, I don't know what the word is.

I don't know if it's unforgiving of bitter thoughts or something towards somebody who had done things that I felt were wrong to me and was even affecting me physically. I remember when I surrendered that and I actively did that.

It was immediate. The physical change that happened in my life. And I saw the power of being of the power of receiving forgiveness and extending forgiveness so thoroughly, so simple. And that's not my testimony alone, but it can so easily come in and we can also hold on to our past in so many different ways for so long.

I pray that the Lord will remind us a thousand years of all your failures. It's like one day. And I'll tell you why I believe this to be true, because that's how I act towards my children. I know that for a fact, and I'm not some great saint of a dad or mom.

It says in Ephesians chapter three, that every family on earth receives its name from the father in heaven. And those of us who are wanting to be loving parents, I know how I would act if my child was being rebellious and rebellious and rebellious and rebellious for years and came to me one day and said, dad, I'm done.

I'm done being rebellious. I know what I will say. So, hey, you had a bad day. It's like you had a bad day. It's a brand new day today. Let's forget about all the past. And that's how we as evil fathers and mothers are when we see genuine repentance.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, God is a billion times, trillion times better than that or loving than that. Thousand years is like one day. None of us have been failing God for a thousand years, but God says it's like one day.

And so, may we cling to God, living this life as Jesus lived as the helpless one, as the interceder, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to the hand of the father today, let that become our definition of holiness in the days to come.

May God help us. Thank you for listening to me.