Why would you choose a life that you lose everything, earn nothing, and are guaranteed suffering? Why would anyone choose that? The answer is Jesus. When you encounter the resurrected Jesus everything in life changes. Matthew Menzel from Westside Church in Vancouver reminds us of the incredible power of the resurrection and how it changes our priorities and how we live.
Listen to “An Encounter with Resurrected Jesus Changes Everything” on Spreaker.
Show Links:
- Westside Church in Vancouver, B.C.
- Thanks to our sponsor George Fox University
Transcription:
Matthew Menzel: Why would any sane person choose a life where you’d lose everything, earn nothing, and choose guaranteed suffering? The answer was only because of an encounter with resurrection power. It’s only because of an encounter with the resurrected Jesus. The only answer there could be. And it’s the only answer there is.
Narrator: Revive your faith with Purposely Equipped. In this special five-episode podcast, Experience Resurrection, we’re looking at what the resurrection really means to our Christian faith, and why, what Jesus did on the cross, is so important to our lives today. Special thanks to. our friends at George Fox University, ranked among the top Christian colleges in America by Forbes. Be known at George Fox University, personally, academically, and spiritually.
Today’s special guest is Matthew Menzel from Westside Church in Vancouver, BC. Find out more about Westside Church at wcchurch.ca
Matthew Menzel: During the Easter season, Christians all over the world celebrate the darkness of death on good Friday, giving way to the light of life on Easter Sunday. After absorbing the weight of our sin on the cross, Jesus secured our life with God in his resurrection. As Lesslie Newbigin has said it, Easter is not the reversal of a defeat that took place on the cross, but the manifestation of the victory that was won there.
But recently I got around to rewatching the movie, Interstellar, and I realized something, first of all, I mean, that’s a great film. If you haven’t seen it earth on its last legs, but a team at NASA has discovered a wormhole out by Saturn that they think is a portal to another galaxy with multiple potential new worlds. And I will, I won’t spoil the whole thing in case you haven’t seen it, but eventually one of the characters goes over the horizon of a black hole and discovers a 3d apparatus, built by, and for, human beings with access to higher dimensions. And as I’m watching that, I started thinking that for a lot of us, interstellar has a way more believable plot line than Easter.
Wormholes black holes, higher dimensions. We’ve got actual working theories for those things, but a man coming back to life puts us squarely in the realm of elves, dwarves, and tooth fairies. So, so let me be really upfront in this time that I have zero desire to convince you of anything. And the 1980s, Frank Morrison set out to research evidence for Jesus’ resurrection and prove historically that there was no way this thing happened. But he ended up so moved by the historical evidence he uncovered, that he gave his life to Jesus in his book, who moved the stone, changed focus entirely. In other words, there’s strong, viable historical evidence for Jesus’ resurrection that you can and should look into. But what I want to talk to you about right now is different. I want to look with you at the way resurrection destroys lives. I want you to understand the disastrous results that holding to a belief in Jesus’ resurrection would bring to your life. And I want to do that by looking at a few sentences written for us by a guy named Paul. Now, Paul wrote about two thirds of the New Testament and from a human perspective, Paul’s life was terrible. In fact, let’s look at Philippians 3:7-11, and I want to give you three reasons you should reject Jesus this Easter. And I’m not trying to be shocking with that. I’m absolutely serious. If you’re working hard to build a comfortable life for yourself, Easter is a good time for tradition and mythology, but anything more than that will ruin what you’ve got going. Let, let me show you what I mean. In Philippians 3:7, Paul writes whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything is lost because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. Just before this Paul detailed his credentials and everything, they gave him standing in the world there.
And there was a lot to say. He was born into the right family. He was highly educated. He’d risen to the highest office. He held a massive amount of respect and on top of it, all, Paul was ambitious. He wasn’t just getting by. He was getting after it. Paul was a leader among those who hated and attacked anyone claiming to follow the resurrected Jesus.
But then we come to this text, and we see Paul’s world flipped on its head. He had everything, but then he writes, but everything, I gained everything in my asset column, I counted as loss. He labels all his success and accomplishments as rubbish. I mean, the word doesn’t really translate. It means animal excrement. He literally calls everything he had and was and did and accomplished and achieved and produced before he knew Jesus, a steaming pile of crap. Paul had it all and he threw it all away. And right here in Paul’s life is the first reason to reject Jesus this Easter, because life with the resurrected Jesus means you’ll lose everything.
Paul was building something in this life, and then Jesus came along and everything he was building was destroyed. Everything he’d been working on, lost its meaning. Everything that used to be important suddenly didn’t matter. It’s what resurrection power does. But there’s another reason to keep Easter in the realm of tradition and mythology this year. So, Paul says, for Jesus’ sake, I’ve lost everything and count it all as total insignificant garbage. Verse nine, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
Now it’s not controversial to say that one of the things that drives you and me in life is a sense of accomplishment. Productivity, independence, standing on our own two feet, making our own way in the world, that’s a major value set for us. It’s a source of pride and dignity and identity. It’s why, what Paul says in verse nine, should fire up a massive warning flare.
Look, the one thing that I’d want to say for a guy who threw everything away for Jesus, is that at least at the end of the day, he’d earned something. At the end of the day, that all his sacrifices meant he’d built up some credit somewhere in some heavenly bank. I mean, sure, he threw away the old resume, but that’s fine as long as he was putting together a brand-new way, better one. But apparently not. Apparently, none of that can be said for Paul. I mean, according to his own testimony, giving everything up had nothing to do with productivity, accomplishment, or adding any weight to the positive side of the judgment scales of his own life.
Instead, he tells us that life with the resurrected Jesus meant nothing he’d done, or whatever do, could give him any righteousness of his own instead of productivity, accomplishment, and standing on his own two feet. This witness to Jesus’ resurrection became entirely dependent, vulnerable, and totally reliant on somebody else.
To be clear, those are not values that we tend to chase. But Paul says there at the very center of what it means to know the resurrected Jesus. So here’s a second reason to reject Jesus this Easter, base and the witness of Paul, not only will you lose everything, you’ll also earn absolutely nothing. Your personal resume will become worthless and everything you were building before you encountered resurrection power will become meaningless. Well, look, there’s no way around this. If you’re someone who wants to finish your life, standing on your own two feet, taking stock of all your own accomplishments, resurrection power is not for you. The Bible is clear. It will ruin what you’ve got going. You will lose everything, and you will earn nothing.
But let me give you one more reason to reject Jesus, this Easter. It’s in verse 10, where Paul gives us the why behind absolutely everything he did. Here’s his new, personal mission statement after encountering resurrection life. He writes that I may know Jesus and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Now Paul, I mean, just sounds like a crazy person. I mean, if it weren’t enough to lose everything and earn nothing, now he’s expressing the desire to actually experience suffering. He said he wants to share in the sufferings of Jesus, the sufferings detailed for us on good Friday, that Jesus was whipped and mocked and tortured and crucified to pay the debt of our sin. And Paul got what he wanted. I mean, Paul suffered multiple times in his life. He was whipped, imprisoned, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked without food and water, without enough clothing and shelter. Paul tells us he lived with a massive burden for all the churches. At the end of his life, he records being abandoned by his friends.
He says he was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to test him and keep him humble. And when his, when his life finally did come to an end, best we can tell, he was beheaded by the Roman emperor, Nero. I mean, anyone paying attention to what Paul wrote here, and at the same time, trying to keep up a certain standard of comfort and predictability in this life should run from Jesus and any sort of belief in his resurrection.
According to Paul, life with the resurrected Jesus means you’ll lose everything, you’ll earn nothing, and you’ll guarantee suffering. Again, I’m not trying to be dramatic when I say there are three reasons in this text to reject Jesus, this Easter. Three reasons to keep it all in the realm of tradition and mythology, three reasons to do nothing with any of this. Because if Jesus was who he said he was, if he was really raised from the dead, and if you decided to bow to him as Lord God and king, it would cost your life. It would cost you your independence. It would mean suffering. And if this, like message, this whole thing seems odd to you, maybe it’s because we forgotten that Jesus wasn’t a politician. Jesus did not come and launch a marketing campaign for himself. Jesus never tried to sell anybody anything. In fact, Jesus was way better at turning people away than he was at collecting disciples. Jesus was the one who said that to find life in him would mean losing our lives. Jesus said that entering his kingdom would mean becoming dependent on him, like a little kid, like a branch in a vine. Jesus said following him would mean picking up our own crosses, our own means of execution, every single day. And so, it’s fair to ask the question, what kind of a life is that? Which one of us wants to live life that way? Why would any sane person choose a life where you lose everything, earn nothing and guarantee suffering?
I mean, there’s only one answer and the answer is an encounter with resurrection power. See resurrection changes everything. And we see that change for the first time in Jesus’ 12 disciples. And Jesus disciples, that rag tag group of guys, they were a confident group as long as they were roaming the countryside with Jesus.
I mean, they knew they were on the ground floor of something big. They expected him to become king any day now. Their biggest concern was who would sit where in the throne room. I mean, Jesus kept talking about going to Jerusalem to die, but they couldn’t hear any of that. But then the religious leaders in Jerusalem got Rome working for them. Jesus was arrested, killed, and the disciples ran. I mean, every one of them, the leader of the pack, Peter denied having anything to do with Jesus on three separate occasions. I mean, it was over. They were scattered, hiding, confused. And then an encounter with resurrection power. Rumors start circulating that a few women had seen Jesus alive. And then there was this moment of encounter. The disciples face to face with Jesus after he’d been crucified, dead and buried. In that moment, everything changed. The disciples were done hiding. In fact, Jesus from then had to hold them back. He told them to wait for the holy spirit. He told them to wait to be filled up with resurrection power themselves.
And then they were. And our world has never been the same ever since they were filled on Pentecost. And by the way, that was Paul’s pattern too. Like we’ve seen, Paul had built an impressive life working to destroy every rumor of resurrection. To him, resurrection wasn’t tradition, mythology, or even just a stupid idea. No, this was pure evil and needed to be eradicated. And then, another encounter with resurrection power. Paul was heading out to arrest and attack Jesus’ people in Damascus, when all of a sudden the resurrected Jesus showed up on the road. The man who was crucified, dead and buried was alive, glorified, and face to face with Paul.
Paul was knocked off his animal, struck blind, and never the same again. By the way neither was the ancient Greco Roman world, or any other period of human history ever since. So back to our question then, why would any sane person choose a life where you’d lose everything, earn nothing, and choose guaranteed suffering? The answer? It’s only because of an encounter with resurrection power. It’s only because of an encounter with the resurrected Jesus. It’s the only answer there is. It’s the only answer there could be. And it’s why, what Paul writes in Philippians three actually makes perfect sense. I mean, we’ve already looked at what he gave up, but now look at what Paul was chasing.
He writes, whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Jesus. I count everything as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus. He says for Jesus’ sake, I count everything I’ve lost as complete and utter garbage. Why? That I may gain Jesus, be found in Jesus, live by faith in Jesus, that I may know Jesus.
That I may become like Jesus, that I might know the power of his resurrection, and experience it myself. Do you see what’s happening here? Just like the disciples, when Paul encountered resurrection power for himself, everything changed. He lost his taste for everything else. After an encounter with resurrection power, losing everything, earning nothing and experienced suffering
wasn’t a sacrifice. No, Paul and Jesus disciples saw themselves as the ones who were gaining everything. Jesus did not just say, if you come to me, you’ll lose your life. He said, if you lose your life for my sake, you’ll find it. Jesus did not just say to enter the kingdom, you have to become entirely dependent. He said, anyone who asks me for a drink will never thirst again. He said, out of your heart will flow rivers of living water. He said, I’ll feed you the way a vine feeds of branch. And church, friends, listeners, Jesus did not just say anyone who follows me has to pick up their cross every day. He said, I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me though, he dies yet shall he live. In everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. And then Jesus asked a question. In John 11, after talking with Martha about resurrection power, he asked her, do you believe this? So, let me ask you, do you believe this? Not do you believe in the idea of resurrection or the viability of resurrection…
jesus is not asking for your intellect or your moral goodness or your keeping of some tradition. He isn’t just asking whether or not you prayed some prayer once upon a time. No. What he wants for you, what he has for you is encounter. The normal Christian life is a daily encounter with resurrection power.
This whole thing is a question of encounter. Have you had an encounter with resurrection power that changed everything for you? Do you want one? Interstellar is a great film, but you can watch it a hundred times without ever going through the wormhole yourself. But Easter is different. Easter isn’t just a story to take in. It’s a reality to be experienced. But whether or not you experience the reality of Easter. Resurrection power isn’t actually really up to you. Now, now please hear me on this. God is not waiting for you to make a move. He’s waiting for you to ask him to make one. Until Jesus reveals himself to you as the resurrection life, like he did for his disciples and for Paul, all you can live for is the stuff they threw away. But if you want more, if you want more, if you want encounter, if you want to be changed, then open your mouth and tell the living Lord God and king Jesus that you want an encounter with his resurrection power. And if he graciously fills your heart with the reality of Jesus’ resurrection life, you will never ever be the same. You’ll lose everything. You earn nothing. You’ll guarantee suffering, and you will have never been more satisfied.
Narrator: Again, we want to thank George Fox University for sponsoring this episode of Experience Resurrection. To learn more about how you can be known at George Fox University, visit georgefox.edu. Thank you for downloading Experience Resurrection, and don’t forget to share it with a friend. Let’s keep building our faith together.
Purposely Equipped as part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcasts, to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts and faith resources at onpurposely.com.
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