Welcome to Waymaker Church! We are so excited to have you join us today! We exist to Encounter, Live for, and Advance the Kingdom of God!

This morning, we are beginning a new series of messages that I have entitled “Life in Jesus”. Today we continue in our pursuit of spiritual maturity in Christ. The basis of this series came from a word the Lord spoke to me recently. He said this, “everything you need is in Me”.

Paul said to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 3:11 “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

At the end of 2022 I was seeking the Lord for His direction and desire for His people and the church. With the New Year approaching I sought to see if He had any special emphasis for His people. After some time, His response to me was very simple, I want you to mature the house.

Leaders in the body of Christ are tasked with equipping the saints for the work of the ministry. To edify and build up the body of Christ until we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. There is a oneness that God desires in the body of Christ, and it comes through our personal acquaintance with the Gospel.

Our aim is to develop maturity that moves us from childish immature understanding of the Gospel that is easily led astray by various doctrines of belief, to fullness in Christ. I believe that the Lord desires for His people to be established in Him. Having a secure footing and grasp of kingdom lifestyle and how to live it out.

The instruction to bring maturity sent me into a time of reflection and seeking through prayer. As you would expect, I asked the Lord the question what does it mean to be mature in Christ? What are the characteristics of the Christian life that denote and define maturity?

From that time the Lord directed me to teach foundational elements of the Christian life through the lens of the kingdom paradigm. Understanding the person, place, power, and culture of the kingdom of God and our response to the authority of His rule and reign.

We began the pursuit of maturity in 2023 by clarifying that maturity begins with instruction, but maturity itself is not an automatic. It is the result of a personal decision and pursuit of Christ through the word.

We worked to lay the foundations of the faith by gaining understanding of salvation, justification, and sanctification. Learning the types and shadows that Jesus represented in terms of becoming the sacrificial lamb of God, and the atonement for sin.

We looked at how without faith it is impossible to please God, and how faith works by love. I also shared that the perfecting of our faith is a process that takes time. We worked to illuminate kingdom paradigm and illustrate kingdom truth through our study of the Parables of Jesus. Which ultimately led us to the reality that He is a king who will return.

In studying the reality of His second coming we were challenged to live ready, and to arise and shine. To do this effectively we would need both wisdom and supernatural provision from the storehouse of God.

In 2024, through our study of the book of James we gain practical knowledge of the application of faith in real life. How to count it all Joy, be doers of the word, taming the tongue, and to with patience, persevere in all things.

We are to live worthy of the gospel by developing a servant’s heart, having a spirit of perseverance, whereby, we press on because He is a God like no other. We live by faith, washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus, dead to sin and alive to righteousness.

From suffering to glory we choose to become living sacrifices to God. Living out the Gospel through genuine expression of the nature of Christ in our lives by walking in love and bearing others burdens.

For the past year and a half this has been the trajectory of our pursuit, and today we will continue in it. Our goal is to become Christlike in every area of our lives. Why is this worthy of so much attention?

Everything has an end purpose that reflects is created order. For example, a spoon is to convey food to the mouth. That is the purpose for which it was created. Maturity is not about becoming flawless; it is a means of realizing our created end.

The purpose of human beings is bound up with our creation in God’s image. We are made to live in relationship with God and share his rule over creation. We are created to reflect the glory of God in his world and enjoy him forever. The image of God is not just our origin, it is our destiny.

The word of the Lord “Everything you need is in me” gives light to the purpose of man and the process of maturity itself. In our pursuit to become Christlike the word reminds us.

Verse 4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

In Jesus is life, and this life brings illumination to the souls of man. The word life here is the word (Zoe). It means eternal life or the Godkind of life. The rich, abundant divine nature of God; His fullness of love, joy, power, and ability.

It has the inherent capacity for producing (and maintaining) living beings; especially understood as a life characterized by healthiness, happiness, exuberance, energy, vitality, and the like.

The concept of life here is multi-faceted. Life in Jesus yields the potential of salvation. His life, death, and resurrection paved the way for mankind to be delivered from the power of sin and the devil, but it also speaks of salvation in a broader sense, referring to God’s restoration of the whole of created order to its intended purpose.

The life of God in Jesus illuminates the soul. It brings revelation not only of sin, but also the fullness of God found in living a kingdom life. The Zoe life of God found in Jesus will affect every dimension of your being both in the present and in eternity.

Over the next few weeks, we will dig deeper into the Zoe life of God to discover the richness of life in Jesus. You won’t want to miss it! I challenge you to Invite some friends! I believe it will change their life!

Christ perfectly reflects God. So, to become Christlike in image is what causes us to reflect God. Christ however is more than a model. He is the vessel by which God gives life. John 1:1-5 is an anchor verse for this series and gives context to Jesus as the vessel God chose.