Selfless Sacrifice: Soldiers, Faith, and Christ’s Redemption

Well, who needs to get saved? Is it you? That was her response. Who needs to get saved? Is it you? She didn't go, woe is me. She didn't go, oh my gosh, my life is over. She goes, I recognize that God is going to do something, and he will be glorified in my suffering. He will be glorified in my hardship. It's not going to be in vain because that's that's what soldiers do. I don't know if I would respond that same way. I hope I do if that ever happens to me, but that's that's the faith that this centurion has. [00:57:01] (32 seconds)  #FaithLikeTheCenturion

See, all these people that Jesus healed, including this servant, still had to die eventually. Okay? Jesus did miracles to point to the fact that he was the Messiah. Okay? But but the reality of it is what he really came to provide was eternal healing and eternal wholeness. Because one day, that servant, even though he gets healed, he's going to pass away, and that's the truth for all of us. But we may think that we'll live forever in this world, because our brains sometimes trick us with that, but that just isn't a reality. Every single one of us is going to face death, unless the rapture happens first. [01:02:25] (37 seconds)  #EternalWholeness

But that's that's that's our reality. That's why Jesus came. In John fifteen thirteen, it says, greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. And that's exactly what he did. He he paid the price on the cross so that we could be made whole, both in this life and the next. He died on the cross, a brutal death, But then he rose from the grave three days later showing that he has power over death. And he says, anyone who believes in him, though he may die, he shall live. And then he says, do you believe this? He asked the question. [01:03:02] (38 seconds)  #HePaidThePrice

So the centurion trusts that Jesus can just speak this into existence. It says in verse nine, for I also am a man under authority having soldiers under me, and I say to this one, go, and he goes. And I say to another, come, and he comes. And to my servant, do this, and he does it. So so the centurion recognizes that Jesus is God in the flesh. Okay? He recognizes that he has all authority of heaven and earth. He he recognizes authority. That that when a when a commanding officer says, go, they go. They don't say no. They say, go. And he says, Jesus, you have all authority on heaven and earth. You can speak this healing into existence. [00:53:59] (41 seconds)  #AuthorityToHeal

But the centurion also is also showing us something about something about authority. Jesus is our authority, and we're called to be his good soldiers. That's what second Timothy chapter two verse three says. Three to four, it says, you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one entangled in war fare engaged in warfare entangles himself in the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. Do you think of yourself as a soldier? I don't always think of myself as a soldier, but the reality is we can't forget that we're soldiers. Because we're in a spiritual battle, and it's going on around us and in us all the time. [00:54:40] (42 seconds)  #SoldierOfChrist

See, Jesus never even interacted with the paralytic man. He never even encountered him. Imagine the guy paralyzed. He doesn't even know what's happening. Just one moment, he's sitting in his bed, and then he's healed in an instant. He doesn't even know what's going on. It it shows us that we don't need to see Jesus to be healed. We just need to trust that he sees us. He sees us. He sees exactly what we're going through. He he knows our problems. He knows our pains. He knows our agonies. He knows our successes. He knows our failures. He he he knows it all, and he cares so much so that he knows every single hair that drops from our head. That's attention to detail. He cares about all of it. [01:01:35] (44 seconds)  #HeSeesYou

So Jesus wants to make us whole. He wants to heal us in this life, our our brains, our hearts, even sometimes he'll heal our bodies. Not every time, but sometimes he does. K? But the greatest healing is the spiritual healing and wholeness that that he offers and that he provides. But we have to want it. He asked this this lame man by the Pool Of Bethesda in John five verse six. He's laying on his mat for thirty eight years. Do you wanna be made well? We can get comfortable on our mats. We can be comfortable in the sin that so easily ensnares us. We could be comfortable in our in our pain. He says, do you want to be made well? We have to want it. And then if we want it, we gotta seek it. And we gotta seek him daily. And watch as he heals our hearts, as he makes us whole. [01:03:40] (46 seconds)  #ChooseWholeness

Instead of hanging out the bar all the time with the buddies, like, how about we have dinner with the family? K? Have family dinners. Sometimes it's it's engaging in that relationship that you know God doesn't want you to be in, and you have that check-in your heart because you know that he's got something something better for you, someone better for you. We can be distracted by all kinds of things. Our phones are one of the biggest distractions there are, and they cause us so much anxiety and so much depression, and yet we just feed our souls to them all day, every day. It's it's insane how much they can distract us and take us out of the battle. But here's the reality of soldiers as well. Soldiers are not alone. Right? There's an army. And we got our brothers and sisters. We also have we also have the Lord and his angels that that fight this battle for us. [00:58:09] (53 seconds)  #RealConnectionsOverScreens