(Basics) 40. Jesus Obeyed the Father — Zac Poonen

Jesus’ Total Obedience to the Father

Today we once again want to look at the life of Jesus, particularly in relation to the holiness of His life and look at another aspect of His holiness, His total obedience to the will of the Father, whatever the cost.

The more we look at the life of Jesus, the more we will understand how we are supposed to live on this earth and our life will be perfectly peaceful and orderly. Have you ever thought about the order that there is in the physical universe?

The Order and Testimony of the Heavens

The stars and the planets, they move about the heavens in such perfect order that we can set our time accurately to the millionth of a second by them. And they have been moving around for thousands of years and they have never lost time.

Split-second timing. You can predict where a particular star or a planet will be one year or two years from now on a particular date at a particular time. You can predict where it will be because it never slows down.

It never goes too fast. It moves in its orbit. It moves according to the speed which God has appointed for it. And that's why when you look at the heavens, there is such perfect order. No planet crashes into another.

Everything moves about in perfect order. And what is the secret? The secret is they obey the will of God exactly. And in those heavenly bodies, we have a message. You know, the Bible says that though they do not speak, their voice goes around over the whole earth.

What is the voice that comes to us from these heavenly bodies? It is basically this. We have a creator. That's what the stars and planets are saying. We have a creator. And we obey that creator perfectly.

And we never have a problem. Everything goes smoothly for us day by day because we obey our creator totally. Have you heard that message? Do you believe it's true? Why is there so much chaos, confusion, perhaps in your life?

Jesus as the Pattern of Perfect Obedience

Certainly in the world. It's because of disobedience. The one man who walked on this earth, who lived in perfect rest at all times, in peace and in joy, whose life was in perfect order at all times, was never disturbed by what other people did or tried to do.

Evil that people did, he didn't bother about whether he had a following or no following, was Jesus Christ. And the secret of his life was the secret of the planets. He obeyed the will of his father in heaven exactly, completely, totally.

Wherever there is obedience to God, there is perfection and beauty. And wherever there is disobedience to God, there is chaos and ugliness. Do you think it's a burden for the stars and the planets to move in the orbits God has appointed for them?

Some are so far away from the sun that they are frozen throughout the earth. And some planets are so close to the sun that they are burning hot throughout the earth. None of them complain. They believe they are in the place which God has appointed for them.

Absolutely right. Jesus' whole life was like that. He never had any desire to go to places that his father never wanted him to go. His whole life was a demonstration of this truth, that in this life and in the next life, godliness alone is most profitable.

The Fear of the Lord and the Profitable Godly Life

Of all the things there are, godliness is most profitable. No one can be more happy or more peaceful or more content than a godly man. The Bible says, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. When you fear God, it's like having a fountain of life within you.

The Bible says, exhorts us in Proverbs 23, 17, live in the fear of the Lord the whole day long. Jesus lived in that fear. In fact, there is a verse in Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 7. Sometimes we think that because Jesus was the son of God, some things automatically happened for him.

But here we read the expression, although he was a son, Hebrews 5, 8, although he was a son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered. Why did he have to learn? We also read in the previous verse, Hebrews 5, 7, that he was heard, not because he was a son of God, but because of his piety, because he feared his father.

It was the fear of his heavenly father that made his prayers to be heard. There is an example there for us. You know, in every area, Jesus was seeking to be an example for us. The holier our life is, the more our prayers will be heard.

Why does it say in the Bible, in James chapter 5, verse 17 onwards, that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much? It's not anybody's prayer. It's the prayer of a righteous man. The more godly a man is, the more his prayers are heard.

Why was Jesus' prayers heard? Because he feared. Because of his godly fear. Do you think that your prayers are heard no matter how you live? It's not true. Psalm 66, verse 18 says, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

A godly life is the most profitable life that any man can ever live. You may face problems, but you'll overcome them. Every single one of them. If you have a thousand problems, you'll overcome all one thousand.

Not one will be left unsolved. You can overcome every single one of them. If you are godly. Because God listens to the prayer of those who fear him. Let me tell you another result of being godly. The Bible says in Hebrews 1 .9, that Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness.

That means he was perpetually fresh with gladness and joy. Not because he was God's son. But because he loved righteousness and hated sin. That's what that verse says. He was anointed with the oil of gladness above his companions.

Which means he had more joy and gladness in his life than all other believers. Not because he was the son of God. But because he loved righteousness and hated sin. There we can say for ourselves too. The more we love righteousness, and the more we hate sin, the more the oil of gladness is going to overflow from our life.

God can commit himself only to a man who is upright morally. This is the secret of all spiritual authority. And if you want to have authority in your life over Satan, over your circumstances, over your problems, seek after godliness.

Keep your conscience absolutely clear. Whatever your conscience convicts you about. Never mind what other Christians do. You follow your conscience. Keep it absolutely clear. You will find spiritual authority coming in your life.

Genuine Holiness and Religious Opposition

Now religious people in Jesus' time, did not appreciate the holiness of Jesus. You know, one godly man can make a tremendous difference even in a city. There is a verse in Jeremiah chapter 5 and verse 1 which says, that if there was one godly man in Jerusalem, at that time, the city would not have been captured by the Babylonians.

Isn't it a sad thing? Jerusalem could have been saved by one godly man. But there wasn't. Even one. Sodom could have been saved if there were ten godly people there. But there weren't ten. There may have been a thousand compromisers in Sodom and in Jerusalem.

They couldn't help. What is God looking for? Numbers? No. He's never looked for numbers. One thousand compromisers cannot save a city. One godly man can. And one would have thought that Jesus living in Nazareth would have been such a tremendous blessing to the synagogue there.

But when he went to speak in that synagogue, his very first message, they interrupted him halfway. And we read in Luke chapter 4, they took him to the hill on which their city was built and wanted to throw him down a cliff.

What does this teach us? That even religious people do not appreciate genuine holiness. Even religious Christians do not appreciate a man who comes with a message of holiness and godliness and victory over sin and obedience to God's commandments.

Why did they hate Jesus so much? Because he pointed out their sin fearlessly. He pointed out their love of money. He pointed out their love of honor. He pointed out how they were seeking their own. He pointed out how they were interested just in their rituals and their traditions and keeping petty little rules.

But they were not living in purity and in compassion towards the needy. And therefore, Jesus faced the hostility of people, rejection, misunderstanding, opposition, hatred, criticism, rejection, ridicule, persecution, excommunication by all the Jewish religious leaders, being warned about, being called bad names, and finally they killed him.

The Light of Christ Exposes Darkness

Because he preached holiness. So you see, the result of living a holy life is not that you are going to get a medal, you probably be crucified. See, they would not have crucified him if he had just lived a holy life and not bothered them.

But his holiness was such that it was like a light that exposed the darkness in them. And they were determined to silence him. Jesus said it like this in John 3, verse 19 and 20. The Living Bible reads like this.

Their sentence is based on this fact. That the light from heaven came into this world. But they loved the darkness more than the light. For their deeds were evil. They hated the heavenly light because they wanted to sin in the darkness.

They stayed away from that light for fear their sins would be exposed. My dear friends, the Christian religious world of today is just the same. If you walk in real holiness, you won't get a medal. You'll be hated, rejected, misunderstood, persecuted, and probably crucified.

Counting the Cost of Following Jesus

So before you start following the Lord, do what Jesus said. Sit down. Count the cost. It's worth it. Let's go forth to Jesus. Outside the camp. Bearing His reproach.