3 - (30hrfamine)

How many of you have ever seen the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?  Who feels like they’re like Peter?  Raise your hand.  Now who feels like Susan?  Like Lucy?  Now…who feels like Edward?

I have a secret.  Every single one of us…is Edward.

We have all betrayed God.  We have all sinned and for short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  We are not simply bad people that God has made good.  We are not just dead people that God has made alive.  We were, or perhaps some of us are, enemies of God.  In choosing to live a life of sin we are actively setting ourselves against God.

In truth, we are Edward…or, we were, until Jesus died on the cross for us, just like Aslan died on the Stone Table so that Edward would be saved from that horrible death.

So, if we say that we have believed in Jesus as our savior and are living out that change, does that mean that everything is now perfect?  Does that mean that we are never going to sin again?  No.

Think of Jenny.  Would you say that she had a good perspective on life?  Yeah…probably not.  But do we do the very same thing?  You know it.  Even though we have been forgiven and born again, we still have to struggle against our flesh, against the world, against the Enemy.  We’re fighting a war.  Now, know this, Satan had been defeated, but he’s going to try to take as many people with him as possible.  So how do we fight back?  Ephesians 6:10-18 says…

”10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

We fight by wearing this armor of God.  We keep a Godly, and not a Jenny, perspective on life, by wearing that armor all the time.  Now, if any of you is familiar with armor, answer me this, how does armor stay on you?  Do you hold it on?  Do you glue it on?  Do you staple it on?  L

Two ways…

1 – The best armor is armor made for us.  Made to be our shape, to fit us best.  Now, if you wear someone else’s armor, its not going to fit, and it will not work as well.  The armor of God is even more.  It will not work at all if you do not truly believe in Jesus.  In the same way, you can’t get by on the faith of your parents, or your siblings, or your friends, or a pastor you saw on youtube that you thought was clever and funny.  You have to own your own walk with the Lord, putting on the armor of the Lord that He gives to you.

2 – Armor is also held on by straps and buckles, so that you don’t have to look like a complete fool running out onto the battlefield holding your in place.  You wouldn’t last very long in a real fight.  We have been created with the ability to develop habits.  And as a Christian, that is how we wear the armor of God, habitually.  Can anyone explain this to me?  What do I mean?

If your habits do not include reading the bible, praying and spending quality time with fellow Christians then the Armor of God will not hold to you.  It will not serve as it was intended.  And you may be nothing more than a liar, claiming to be a sheep, when, in point of fact, you are a goat.

But you might also be a sheep lost in the dark, crying out in fear and bitterness and shame, so that some might say, “listen!  It is a goat!”  And Jesus jumps into the darkness and hauls you out with a cry of great joy…

“NO!  IT IS A SHEEP!”

We are all like Jenny, in that we are all going to feel, think and say things sometimes that are selfish, stupid and ignorant.  But that doesn’t have to define us.  We need to look at the world and at other people not as we think we should, but as God does.  And the more you try to look at the world and at people like God does, the less and less you’ll be Jenny…the less and less you’ll be Edward.

So……who are you?

Where is your Christ?

When people look at you, do they see the Armor of God, shining with the light of Jesus?

Or do they see you?

Who are you?  Who is the you that the world sees?