Guest Speaker Dr John Harris // The Picture Of Jesus In Your Mind Changes Everything

Christian for having me back.

It's good to be here and to see you all again.

I want to dive right into this idea that I want to share with you today.

And part of it comes from my own observation of what used to be confusing to me early on in my Christian life.

And then some things that I've seen just recently.

When I was growing up, I saw this huge spectrum of Christian lives demonstrated.

I saw the ones who said that they were a Christian, but then there was like not really any evidence at all that they were a Christian.

And I wondered like, why would you say you are?

Like, what are you basing that off of?

And then there are others who you did see some stuff, right?

You saw more clearly like some of their faults, but there's some of their strengths and some of their giftings, and you saw evidence of God in their lives and evidence of them trying to live for Jesus, but then you saw other stuff where it's like, mmm.

And then all the way to the other end of that spectrum where Christian men and Christian women who who were believers, where you, if you just had a brief moment of a conversation with them, you knew that they know.

Even if you pass by them, it might be someone that you don't even know like their name, and you just pass by them in the grocery store, and sometimes in the even in a bookstore, just walk by and you go, Oh, oh, something, something is there.

You can just pick up on it.

Now, how is it that there's this wide range of living expressions of Christianity when we have the same book, the same Jesus?

I wondered about that.

And then there are other times where you can be in a gathering like this, and and some people are reading the words that are on the screen during worship, reading the worship lyrics, and you can see it might be like, okay, you know, jam a little bit.

Like this is okay.

All right.

I like this music over here, right?

It might be new.

And others, you connect a little bit, maybe with this song, within not that song, and oh, this is my favorite song.

And it's like, there's there's this up and down, if you're honest in terms of there's this up and down, like I'm I'm I'm in, and I'm out, I'm in, I'm out, I'm connected, I'm not connected.

But then there are other people who just like the you know, tears and snot face on the ground, they just have this whole encounter, like they're just in heaven right now.

Like, how is but we're all looking at the same words, the same song, the same worship team, and all that.

Like there's a there's a there's a difference in people's experiences.

And even on another level, I recently was sharing a video of a pastor in Nigeria.

If you don't know it, in northern Nigeria, there are radicals who have been killing Christians, thousands of them, for several years.

And so there's a pastor who is um he's adding this open-air funeral, bodies are in coffins right in front of him.

And he's preaching about Jesus, and he's preaching about how we are never gonna back down, we're never gonna serve another God, we're never gonna because Jesus is this and Jesus is that, and he just boom, I'm just like this bold faith.

I mean, he he he is an actual target for the for the terrorists who have been you know terrorizing Christians.

But it but he's not backing down, he doesn't even care.

He's even done videos about what will happen after he after he's gone.

He's talked to his church, like it could happen, but I want you to know number one, I'm not backing down.

Number two, don't you back down either.

Right?

So there's this picture of Jesus, right?

And then on the other hand, you know, uh uh sometimes it could be we uh on Sundays in some places in America, like folks just don't want to show up because it was raining today.

Are we worshiping the same Jesus?

Probably not, but we got the same book, we have the same God, we have the same Jesus.

What what is the difference?

The difference is is how we are viewing this Jesus and how we're viewing this God.

See, sometimes people are viewing Jesus like this Jesus from Nazareth, the carpenter, the one born in Bethlehem.

Okay?

And I I want you to think about something though.

I want you to think about your favorite high school photo in the yearbook.

Maybe maybe middle school.

Should we do elementary?

Think about your yearbook picture.

I want each of you to just have one in your mind.

Just your yearbook picture, put one up in your head.

Now imagine how you would feel if we took that same picture and put it on the screen.

Yeah, see some of y'all's anxiety anxiety just increased right there.

You see somebody popping a blood measure blood pressure medication right now, just oh Jesus, put it back down, right?

But here's the thing whatever you look like in that was before the age of AI, right?

So what we see is the truth.

That was real.

That was really you.

That was really you.

That hair.

That was really you.

Those clothes.

Those glasses, those braces, those pimples, that picture captured the truth.

But wouldn't you agree that today you're different?

That today there is more to who you are than what was just captured in that photo?

Now, which version would you want people to know if they were to get to know you?

The high school photo?

Or who you are today?

See, the thing about it is that that photo, it it captured one moment of your story.

It's not the fullness of who you are.

You want folks to know who I am or who you are, right?

And I thought about for a moment, I thought, you know, let me just let me get one of my one of my yearbook photos to put on the slide and make this point.

And then the Holy Spirit was like, nope, don't do that.

Don't do that.

Because they'll be stuck on that the rest of the minute, you won't even get them back.

You won't get them back.

Just use their photo for themselves, right?

Right?

So there's, but even though it's real, even though it's true, it's not the full picture of who you are today.

When we read the scriptures about Jesus coming down from heaven, being born in Bethlehem, this baby in a manger, when we read about him being a carpenter from Nazareth and walking from city to city, or perhaps he rode a camel at some point, or a donkey, I don't know, but he he went around and we see him being baptized in the Jordan.

We have all these different images and movies and pictures to help us visualize who he is.

And this picture here is from a popular series called The Chosen.

And one of the things people like about the chosen series is says it makes him seem more human, more relatable.

And a lot of people are relating to the humanity of Jesus.

And so they have accomplished that goal of making him seem more human.

But here's the problem: the narrative stories of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John about the birth, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ are snapshots.

It's like a yearbook photo.

That's not a full picture of who Jesus is today.

And the same way you don't want us responding to you based on your yearbook photo.

It was a snapshot in time.

It was real, it was true.

We gotta be careful about the images we have in our minds visualizing who Jesus is, who we're worshiping, who we're talking to, who it is that is that says he's always with us.

The picture we have in our mind is different from some Christians to others.

So there's some who might struggle with their prayer or struggle with whatever else uh uh pertains to living the Christian life, and they might have in their mind this picture here.

This this Jesus, who in human flesh, many consider a good teacher, rabbi, right?

Uh even a good prophet.

And then when there are other uh religions in the world, like Islam, like uh Confucianism and Buddhism, and all these other things, if you have this picture of Jesus in your mind, like a lot of people do, they think he's on the same level.

We'll just pick one of one religion.

You know, they're all the same, you know, Jesus and Buddha and Confucius and Muhammad, like they're all the same.

No, they're not the same.

See, many of us have this picture in our mind.

He seems so relatable.

Look at him, look at his hair.

He's just like me.

Guess what?

No, he ain't.

He's not just human, he is God.

He's God.

So the big takeaway I want you to have today, when you leave here, if you get this next point I'm gonna make, if you get this next point before you leave here, you will have got the point of the whole message that Jesus is not like this anymore.

Let's go to the next picture.

He's like this.

He's like that.

Oh, you can clap.

You can clap.

Don't golf clap, Jesus.

You can clap.

Some of y'all like, oh, yeah, no, no.

This is this is what we're celebrating.

Right?

When we here's the thing.

When we worship, some of us have this picture in our head and go to the other picture.

And some of us have this picture in our head.

Go to the other one.

Yeah, we have that one.

You see how your worship might be expressed a little different?

You see how your prayers might be prayed a little different?

I'm just saying to you, stop praying to this guy.

And realize that what you see, this is true.

But it was a picture, it was a snapshot of 33 years of a person who has been eternally in existence as a king.

So when we're worshiping, we're not worshiping this picture.

When we're praying, we're not praying to this image.

Go to the next one.

When we're worshiping, this is who we're worshiping.

When we're praying, this is who we're praying.

When we're reading our word, this is who the Bible is pointing us to.

That's all I came to say today.

That really is it.

I'm going to elaborate for those who might need further details, but essentially, I'm done.

Even as we read the scriptures, we're trying to imagine him in his humanity.

There's nothing wrong with imagining him in his humanity because he came to be a visible image of an invisible God.

But as we're looking at this yearbook picture, as we're looking at this snapshot, this small amount of time, you got to remember that Christ is God.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit were eternally in existence.

They are from everlasting to everlasting.

So if you imagine this, this music stand right here from here, if Jesus is born on earth here, and then he ascended right here.

If you imagine this being his earthly life and his earthly ministry from Bethlehem to Calvary, and then you imagine from here back that way to eternity in that direction, he would he look like this.

Eternally glorious and powerful and majestic and with crowns of uh of royalty and angels singing about holy, holy, this, that, that's him.

He looked like all the way that way.

As far as eternity goes that way, he was like this.

And then the angels were saying, Hey, listen, we want to tell you something that the king is about to come to Bethlehem, so all of us are in the sky announcing his birth, because this is the big deal.

So then he comes right here, and he he he he lives, and and at 12 years old, you know, his parents lose him.

They can't find Jesus.

Later on, they find him in the synagogue, but they lost him for a few days.

It's like Joseph and Mary, you have one job.

Can you can you keep your eye on the Son of God for us, please?

You got one job.

Like there's a lot of riding on this guy and his personal safety.

Like if you can try not to lose him again, we would all appreciate it.

They lose him at 12, and he's teaching in the synagogue at 12.

And then, next thing you know, we see it at 30.

He comes out of obscurity into his public ministry.

He's baptized at the Jordan River by John the Baptist.

He calls his 12 disciples, and then for the next three years, he's teaching about the kingdom of God, this invisible realm that is, though it is invisible, it is superior to the natural one.

He's preaching about the redemption plan of God, that although when God created humanity, humanity sinned and fell, created this big gap in the relationship between God and man, but Jesus has now come.

The Father has sent him to come to be the bridge for us to die on the cross, to shed his blood, so that those who put their faith in his blood for the cleansing of their sins can be saved.

He's preaching that message and he's talking about the kingdom of God, and he's teaching people about who the father is.

If you've seen me, you've seen the father.

I and my father are one.

The only thing I do, uh I do the things that my father has shown me.

Uh, don't call me good.

Only one is good, and that's the father.

In my father's house are many mansions.

If it wasn't so, I wouldn't have told you.

I'm going to prepare a place for you so that where I am, there you may be also.

He's teaching about his father, the revelation of who his father is, the nature of who his father is.

This he is the culmination of the Old Testament prophecies that all spoke to him about who he was and what he would do when he got here.

And he kind of prepared his disciples, said, Listen, right here, guys, I'm about to go to the cross, but I want you to know that when I die, I'm gonna come back three days later.

I'm gonna come back.

Be on the lookout.

I'm coming back.

He dies on the cross.

All his disciples are scared, they didn't connect the dots, they were all gathered in the house together, all by themselves, wondering what they're gonna do.

I guess the whole movement is gone, and then Jesus pops up and says, Look, I told y'all I was coming back.

He is raised from the dead, and then there's one moment where 500 people see him.

He had been kind of ministering and encouraging people for for several weeks, and then on the last day, he had 500 people are listening to him talk and preach, and he says, Go and make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and teach them to do all the things that I've told you to do, and I'm with you always, even until the end of the earth.

And then he he a cloud lifts them up into the sky, and these 500 people are sitting there watching him elevate into the sky like this.

And the angels pop out of nowhere and say, Hey, why do you stand here gazing at him as he goes into the sky?

What you mean?

Why?

Have you seen this before?

This is new to us.

The same Jesus that you just saw go up into the sky, the same Jesus, he's gonna come back the same way that you saw him leave.

So, like, go do what he told you to do.

Then that's it.

And after this, after the ascension, we call it, after this, he goes back to what he was here.

Eternally King, glory, majesty, power, thrones, crowns, angels, boom.

When you pray, you don't pray to just who's here.

He's not this anymore.

That was just a snapshot.

He's back to this now.

So let me show you just a few verses that point this out to us.

If we look at John chapter 17, when Jesus was praying what many people call the high priestly prayer, where he's kind of like standing in the gap between God and us, and he's praying on our behalf.

John 17 · chapter mention

In John 17, uh Jesus, Jesus says this, and begin to verse 5 I brought glory to you here on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.

So Jesus is right, right?

John chapter 17 is about right here.

John 17 · chapter mention

Right here.

He's praying this prayer.

He's like, I'm about to come back to you now.

Okay?

So the the glory I had here, the glory that I took off to step into human form.

Now, get ready, Dad.

I'm coming back to step right back into the full glory I had with you before the world began.

Not just before I came to earth, but before we created the earth together.

I'm stepping back into my eternal glory, power, majesty, dominion, knowledge, all of that stuff.

So now get ready.

I'm coming back to step into the glory I had with you before the world began.

In Hebrews chapter 1, it says this the sun radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven.

This Jesus.

Not the Jesus you see on Chosen anymore.

What he did was real.

What he did had everlasting consequences.

What he did was true, but he doesn't look like that anymore.

He's no longer Jesus from Nazareth.

He is the glorified Christ who reigns from all eternity.

Eternity that way, and eternity that way.

He just came and paused and took a few pictures for the yearbook.

But that's not what it looks like now.

Now, why is this why is this even important?

Why is this even important?

Because we need to understand that Jesus' role in his human experience was part of a bigger plan from someone who was from the beginning, from everlasting to everlasting.

And that this was just a snapshot.

Alright?

So, so let's go to the second picture again with him in power.

Does this look like somebody who has some personal needs?

Does this look like somebody who has some deficiencies?

No.

Does this look like somebody who is in pain?

No.

He left that to become this.

Go to the next one.

For us.

So that after this life, go back to the first one, we can enjoy that.

Now this is a big deal.

Right?

So, so so Colossians, when Paul is writing to the to the Colossian church, he says it this way He says, Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

He existed before anything was created, and he is supreme over all creation.

For through him, God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see and the things we can't see, such as thrones and kingdoms, and rulers and authorities in the unseen world.

Everything was created through him and for him.

He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.

The Son, Jesus, holds it all together.

In verse 18, Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body.

He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead, so he is first in everything.

He's this not, he's not the fragile Jesus in the manger anymore.

He he's not the exhausted Jesus who is sleeping in the bottom of the ship.

He's not the beaten Jesus before Pilate and dying on the cross suffering.

He's not that anymore.

He is the resurrected Jesus in splendor and power and glory and majesty and might and dominion.

Now, why does that matter?

Because put the second one up there.

This is who you're praying to.

When you feel discouraged and you're wondering, does Jesus care about you?

It's this one.

Does this look like someone who gets really disappointed when you sin?

Does this look like someone who's ready to give up on you when you mess up?

Does this look like somebody who can run out of mercy?

Or does this look like someone who has more grace than you will ever need?

Does this look like somebody who is eternally forgiving and powerful?

Does this look like somebody who will leave you?

Does this look like somebody who gets disappointed in you and rejects you when he went to the cross for your sins?

This is why it matters.

This is why there are some who see Jesus from like the chosen as a carpenter, like, uh, he's he's an option.

I'm still exploring what's the difference between him and Muhammad.

What's the difference between him and Muhammad?

This is the difference.

What's the difference between him and Confucius and him and Buddha?

Don't don't all roads lead to heaven?

No, because as a matter of fact, he said they don't.

That's why it's a big deal.

So I think there are two there are two big shifts that I want to highlight today that that happen uh with us when we make this shift in our paradigm.

One shift happens internally in how we live from him, and another shift happens externally in how we live for him.

So I mentioned a couple times that as we are thinking about who we're worshiping, like this this changes our awe of who Jesus is and our awe of his eternal majesty and power and glory.

Like this is the person who is with us in those moments where we're sad and feel lonely, isolated, or discouraged.

This is the person.

And when we see him like this, and he can be there not just for me, but he can be him to you as well.

Everyone in this room and all the saints all over the world, he is this for them.

And so in places where persecution is happening and there are Christians who are holding the line and they're not recanting their faith and they're declaring Jesus until the end, they have this in mind.

That's the worst thing that can happen.

And when I see him, he's not having the dusty the dust from the roads of Galilee between his toes.

He ain't wearing sandals no more.

And when I see him, I'll be able to tell him face to face, you are worthy of it all.

You are worthy of it all.

And then we're singing like all the saints and angels, they gather around the throne and they cast their crowns before the Lamb and sing, You are worthy of it all, for from you are all things, and to you are all things.

You deserve the glory.

He ain't from Nazareth no more, he is eternal king of glory.

This is important because this is what changes how we worship.

This is what changes about the level of faith we have when we pray.

Am I praying to somebody who lived 2,000 years ago?

No, I'm praying to somebody who has already been in existence forever that way and forever that way, and who promised to be with me even in this moment, even when I can't see it, you're working.

You remember singing that before?

Exactly.

It's this Jesus, it's this Jesus.

And it changes how we experience him on the inside of us.

And this is why Paul said it's no longer I that live, but it's Christ that lives on the inside of me.

It changes how we handle the tough days, the persecution, the struggles of human human experience.

And Paul says to the Philippians that it is um that all the things I've gone through, I can endure all things through Christ who continues to give me the strength.

He didn't just say, I can do all things.

Some tribes say, I can do all.

It's not about your ability to do what you want and have Jesus co-signing.

Paul's talking about through my ups and my downs, what I've been with and without, I have learned.

My conclusion is that I can endure everything because this guy is constantly providing me with strength.

It's a different perspective.

So it changes internally our awareness of what he's doing, and it changes externally.

We can become more bold when we know we're living for him.

More bold and having those hard, uncomfortable conversations with why you need Jesus and why Jesus is the only way.

And why I'm not going to capitulate and say, well, any way you get there is fine.

No, he said he is the way, the truth, and the life.

And I believe, and if you want to see him, you better follow Jesus.

If you want to be connected with God, you better follow Jesus.

Not the universe, not the stars, not the trees, but you better follow Jesus.

And we can be bold about that when this is our picture of who we're talking about.

And reorient our lives and our identity with a love-based identity that we are with someone who's with us who has an eternal supply of love that is constantly pouring out in our lives, constantly pouring out to us.

We cannot exhaust his love.

God is never too frustrated with you to show up for you.

He's never mad at you where he's gonna leave you.

He is eternal in all his attributes, in his mercy, and his grace, and his forgiveness.

And so when you just sit down to pray, you might need to pull up an image like this to remind yourself.

So you remember who you're talking to.

I want the worship team to come on up.

I want to prepare our hearts to just think about the words of this next song just a little different.

Just a little different.

And we sing, You are worthy of it all.

See what happens, what happens to the church when we think about the kingdom of God?

Right?

What happens when you as an individual shift the way you experience prayer and worship and reading and studying the Bible?

And what happens if you do it and I do it and we are all doing it?

Then people will see a collective group and a community that is so captivated by the love of God.

Listen, that we ain't arguing over politics.

We see a group so captivated by the peace of God that even war doesn't shake our faith.

We see a group so captivated by the love of God that in the midst of the world's darkness and chaos and confusion, regardless of political affiliation, regardless of human suffering, we are a group of people that are sharing the news about a Jesus Christ who came and lived and died for us and has been raised again and sits on the eternal throne of glory, and you can be his brother and you can be his sister.

That's our message.

That's our message.

How can we let the world distract us from this?

We can't.

Let's all stand.

Let's all stand.

Let's take a few moments as the worship team leads us in this declaration at this new kind of idea.