Primary Mission!

January 29, 2024 Monday Message:

Mark 8:33 NLT, Jesus reprimanding Peter: “Get away from me, Satan! You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Mankind has been hearing the “Jesus story” for over 2,000 years, which is to say that we’re accustomed to hearing about incidents that fit God’s vast eternal plan. But the disciples were living “inside” the story, and many things Jesus spoke made sense to heaven but seemed illogical or counter-productive to the human disciples.

Jesus explained that he must suffer many terrible things, be rejected by the priests and be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. Frankly, that kind of talk seemed like blasphemy. I mean, if Jesus is the Son of God, why would he allow himself to be killed? It didn’t add up, so Peter took Jesus aside, hoping to get him back on track.

But it was Peter who needed correction. It seems he and the others had lost sight of the primary goal, the mission statement. Jesus was to rescue mankind by taking the sins of the world to the place of the dead, and he had to die to do that. Not to worry – He’ll be back in three days! And everything happened just the way Jesus said!

So as we worship Jesus and pray for good things to happen, we need to put aside our personal assessment of the situation and consider God’s vast eternal plan. We don’t want to find ourselves helping Satan with his work!

What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Pastor Norton Lawellin

Jesus in the City Fellowship