Jesus Guys: Who is Jesus? (week one)

Welcome to Jesus Guys, a ten week series on following Jesus. This is a discipleship lifestyle. Here are the seven scriptures for reading this week.

1. Matthew 16:24 Follow Jesus

2. Matthew 1:22-23 Birth

3. Romans 1:3-5 Lineage

4. John 3:16 Son of God

5. Matthew 11:28-29 Teacher

6. John 1:16-17 Grace

7. 1 Peter 2:24 Forgives

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Transcript

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I am Tim Dutellus, and welcome to Jesus Guys, brought to you by menofbravery.com. And this is week one in a 10-part episode series, Jesus Guys, a discipleship lifestyle, as we explore the teachings of Jesus and the guys that followed him. And so in week one, I'm going to help answer the question, who is Jesus? And we are going to explore through scripture kind of what this all means to be a disciple. So first, uh Jesus, who is he? Obviously, we've been told he's the Son of God, the Messiah, and he came as the Prince of Peace, as the Savior to the world. He went to the cross to really take on the debt of our sin and exemplify forgiveness at the ultimate level. And Jesus is God incarnated, man God, as they would say. Jesus walked the earth as he was God and fulfilled the purpose of atonement, of redemption, of restoring mankind to a relationship with God because sin separated us. We needed a savior, a mediator, a go-between. Jesus became that for us. Now he was born through a virgin birth, which is extremely supernatural in that story in itself to be explored another time. But it really exemplified a sinless man coming unto us, coming in person. During the Christmas season, we sing Emmanuel, God is with us. It's a beautiful description and picture of who is Jesus. Jesus is God physically on earth, and exemplifying for us some teachings and behaviors and values that we should live out as we model his choices, decisions, and behaviors. We will never be perfect. Thank God for the cross and for forgiveness. But there is an example in the life of Jesus that we should follow as Jesus, guys. But I want to read this scripture to us today. It's a very simple verse. It's found in Matthew, the Gospel, Matthew chapter 16, verse 24. And there's going to be links to the scripture in the show notes along with some other readings for this week. But this scripture really kind of sums it up on technically what our job is if we want to be Jesus, guys. And then Jesus said to his disciples, whoever, so that's a very open invitation, isn't it? Whoever. Whoever wants to be. So this want word is big to me because there has to be a level of desire or intrigue or interest in following Jesus. So just the fact that you're listening today to this episode of the podcast, you have desire. So you have a want. Whoever wants to be my disciple, now, this disciple, this word is a follower, a technically I would call it a mentee. You're being mentored by Jesus. You're you're learning his ways of living and you're you're close in proximity, which is a big word we'll talk about more in weeks to come. To be my disciple, what are we supposed to do? It says we must deny themselves. So this must word is non-negotiable. So there are some non-negotiables, right? Don't lie, cheat, steal. All of a sudden, this must deny themselves. Why do we have to deny ourselves? Because we have self-driven motives, selfish agendas, selfish wants. When we deny ourselves, then we get to refocus our motives on the why Jesus did what he did and how we could be more selfless and live a life of service unto others. So we must deny, it says we must deny, they must deny themselves. And then it says, and take up their cross. And there's been some great biblical scholars that have broken down this word, the their cross, as some of the burden, some of the sins, some of the challenges and the obstacles. And even though it's difficult to say, wow, I've got a quote unquote sacrifice, not a word we want to use a lot, or experience suffering, not a word we want to lose a lot. But the cross, if you look at the cross and what Jesus showed us in his journey of going to the cross, it represents those words of sacrifice and suffering. And I would even use the word dedication. What are we dedicated to? Another word I like to use is obsession. What are you obsessed with? And Jesus even prayed, we'll talk about the prayers of Jesus in a future week. But one of the prayers he actually prayed was, Father, take this cup from me. And so out of desperation, we do call out to God, take this burden, take this suffering, take this obstacle away. But then what we hear is that voice of God, the still small voice, to be steadfast and be dedicated. So take up their cross and follow me. So after we deny, after we take up the cross, after we have some level of desire and want, then we get to become a disciple. I had a mentor years ago and I asked him, When you're mentoring someone, what are you looking for in that person? And he said something to me I'll never forget. And it's something that I really struggle with myself some days. I like to consider myself curious and willing to grow. But he said, I look for somebody who has a desire to learn. And so when we look at Jesus as his disciple, as a follower, we're Jesus guys saying, I want to follow Jesus. We have to make him the most important person that we follow. And that we have a high level of desire to learn from Jesus. So how I want to really close out week one of Jesus Guys, and I really want to make it clear as really a foundational statement or thesis is that there are a lot of great gurus. There's authors, there's speakers, there's influencers, whatever you want to call them, fill in the blank, that we can look up to and we can even learn from and read something that they wrote or listen to something that they said or watch a video and whatever that that may be. Even you listening to me today, don't let it be greater than the value of listening to Jesus. That Jesus would be the most important voice, influence, and authority in our lives. So who is Jesus? He is the greatest authority in our lives. That is what week one is all about. Is for us to us to understand who is Jesus. He is my greatest authority. He is my CEO. So his teachings, his disciplines, his routines, his belief systems are what I want to role model. I want to lean into that, learn, watch, see, and the gospels in the Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, give us wonderful word pictures, wonderful descriptions, wonderful stories of history of what happened in the life of Jesus. And over the weeks to come, we are going to unpack these stories, some of the parables, some of the prayers, and some of the most important moments in history, such as the cross and the resurrection, and the times that Jesus was tempted. So today, my simple ask of you is what is your level of desire to follow Jesus? Well, this is Tim D Tellis. Thanks for being on this journey with me for a discipleship lifestyle called Jesus Guys. And we'll be in touch very soon. Thanks for listening.