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In this very piece, the Holy Spirit will be sharing with us something very important and it has been titled: Crisis without Christ. The first thing I want us to do is understand what crisis mean? Crisis means a time of intense difficulty and danger. So, when a person gets involved or gets into a time of intense; not just difficulty, for it to qualify as crisis, it has become intense. So, crisis is a time or a period where a person or a group of people have gotten to a time of intense, desperate difficulty and danger. Another word that could suffice to explain crisis is confusion. When there is crisis in a place often times it is characterized by confusion. So, you see people are just confused, they don’t know what direction to follow; people are clueless. That’s another characteristic of crisis.
Listen to Podcast: Crisis Without Christ
Another thing that happens during crisis sometimes is suffering. Sometimes you see that people experience suffering, you see people also experience dangerous moments. There is instability during crisis, things are not just stable, things are not going the way they should. So, instability is also a characteristics of crisis. There is another thing that often times happen during crisis is disagreement. Where people don’t understand, they can’t understand what to do, they can’t agree on a point, they can’t agree on a direction, they can’t agree on a destination. So, there is a disagreement; this person is saying this, another is saying that. That is also a characteristic of crisis.
So, we are looking today; Crisis Without Christ. What does that mean to us? We will start our observation from john chapter 15 verse 5. And I would love to read it from two translations; the Amplified and the Passion Translation. John 15 verse 5, Jesus was speaking here, and He said; “I am the sprouting vine and you are my branches, as you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you. But when you live separated from me, you are powerless.” (Passion Translation.) Who is making this emphatic statement? The Christ. He said as the Christ I am the vine, you that have believed in me are the branches. But it is not enough for you to believe in me. He said there is something vital about being a branch. He said you must live in union. It’s not just that you are a branch, it’s that you are living in union with me as your source.
What is Jesus saying here? He is saying when you live in union with me, you must regard me as your source. Your source is no other but me. So, you must live in union; the prerequisite is that you live in union with me as your source. You acknowledge me as your source, you regard me as your source. He said if that precondition or prerequisite is established and determined, He said fruitfulness will stream from within you. He said this will be the result. Then He said but when you live separated, isolated, alone from me your source; you are powerless. I want to read it in the Amplified. “I am the vine, you are the branches, the one who remains in Me and I in him, bears much fruits. For other wise, apart from me, i.e. cut off from vital union with me can do nothing.”
That’s an emphatic statement. And this is the beginning of our understanding of that topic; Crisis Without Christ. When a man becomes powerless; when a man is nothing, that man has entered crisis, a man that is powerless is a man in crisis. A man that is nothing is a man in crisis. And that’s why we started by looking at the definition of crisis. When you enter that intense, difficult and dangerous moment, where there is suffering and confusion instability. Why? Because the person is powerless, the person is nothing. And Jesus said; without me, anyone separated from me the Christ is powerless. Why did Jesus make this bold statement? Why did Jesus give this submission in John 15 verse 5? Jesus said the words that I speak to you are Spirit and they are life.
In this word, John 15:5; carries the spiritual understanding and life that is able to set any man free. The Bible says where the Spirit of God is there is liberty. Meaning in this John 15:5, in there lies the liberty of any one that is willing to sit down and understand what Jesus is saying here. Why should Jesus make this bold statement? That without me you can do nothing. You can’t accomplish anything. And we will ask ourselves; how comes there are people in the world buying cars and building houses? How can Jesus make this submission when people we know that are without Christ that are actually doing some things, getting Ph.D.’s and bagging master’s degree? How comes Jesus made this statement. What kind of crisis was Jesus talking about, that people will enter into because they are separated from Him?
So, we will first look at who is Christ? There are seven statements in the Bible that describes and explains who Christ is. Who is Christ that any man separated from Him is powerless, is nothing? Who is He that He will make this bold statement and put men and mankind into a frenzy and we are wondering how can He make this statement and people are still living without Him? Let us find out.
#1. John 6:35. Jesus introducing Himself. “And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” I am sure we have read it before; we have heard it before. Who is Christ? He is the bread of life. What does that mean? Jesus was saying here, introducing Himself; He said I am the bread of life. What is bread? Bread is a staple food for sustenance. He said I am the sustainer of life. He said when you are joined with me, I end your food crisis. He said I Christ, am the bread of life; I am your need for daily sustenance. No wonder in Matthew 4 verse 4, He said to the devil, man must not live by bread alone. But by every word, by the bread of life.
The bread of life is the sustenance. If you will not be powerless, if you will not be nothing in this world, in this life, you need Christ as the bread of life. You need Him to sustain you, and what did Jesus made bold to say in John 6 verse 35? I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger. No more food crisis. Such a life will not be hanging on the balance. Such a life will not be subject to the elements of this world. There is bread and there is bread. When Jesus said I am the bread of life, it’s not talking about this fleeting life, He is talking about eternal life. I am the bread of eternal life, I am the bread of everlasting life; if you partake of me, you will no longer hunger for everlasting life, you will no longer hunger for eternal life, that life is the life of God.
Eternal life describes the life of God. Eternal life is the very life of God, because the life of God is eternal in nature, everlasting in nature. So, Jesus said I am the bread of that life. When you partake of me you have connected to the life of God. So, no longer food crisis. That’s why He was saying to the devil, man must not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, because that word is eternal, it does not die. Bread of this world will decay, it will spoil, the maximum life span or shelf life of bread anybody can make is one month, but this bread does not have shelf life, it does not expire. In Isaiah 55 God was saying so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth it will not return back to me void until has accomplished that which I have sent it.
He said whosoever comes to me shall never hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst. In John 6 when Jesus met the woman by the well, He said give me to drink and the woman was hesitating, saying I am a Samaritan, you are a Jew, we don’t have dealings together, why should I give you a drink? And Jesus said to her, if you know the one that is asking your for a drink, you realize that I am not the one that needs the drink, you will be the one that needs the drink, because you are in crisis. If you will understand that you are in a desperate need, you are in an intense difficult moment, you have been with five men and non is your husband, you are in crisis.
How can a woman be with five men and the one she is even with is not her husband? That’s crisis! And Jesus was saying you are the one that needs me to give you a drink. You need that life, the life that never runs dry, the life that is never exhausted. You need it, Jesus said I am the bread of life, I will settle your food crisis. I will settle your sustenance. That’s the bread of life. So, if you are sustained by Christ you will neither hunger nor thirst. That’s the life.
#2. John 8 verse 12. Jesus introduced Himself again, it says; “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Christ is the light of the world, so, what does Christ do with the crisis? Christ ends the darkness crisis. Why did Jesus come? Why did Jesus make that statement in John 15 verse 5? He said if you are in union with me; fruitfulness will spring from within you because I am the light of the world. And He said he who follows me, you will see that what Jesus is saying in John 15, He was repeating every time He was introducing Himself.
If anyone follows me in close union with me, what did He say will happen? He shall not walk in darkness. Does it mean that night will not happen? The sun will set night will come, the moon will rule the night but there won’t be night because Jesus is coming to deal and end the darkness crisis. Apart from Christ every human being is ignorant. Ignorance prevails without Christ. In the world there is a crisis of darkness. God said my people, they perish, they are destroyed because they are ignorant. And that’s why Christ came to end the crisis of darkness. So, if there is a crisis of darkness in your life, are you joined in vital union with Christ? Because Christ said, he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, there is something you will have; the light of life.
The knowledge of eternal life, the knowledge that sets you above. The Bible says that 200 of the men of Issachar the understood the times and the seasons and what they ought to do per time and their brethren were at their command. They were solving a darkness problem and it put them in command. Jesus said I am the light of the world. If you follow me the light of the world, you will not walk in darkness, you will also have; you will not just follow me and become a perpetual follower without a destination, your destination is that you will have the light of life and you will lead other men. No wonder Jesus said to Peter, I have seen you, you have been into a generational business of fishing, he and his brother and Jesus came as the light of the world. He said fantastic, you are horning your skills but your destiny is not to catch fishes, He said follow me, and I will make you.
You will have something that transcends these fishes, you will have and become fishers of men. Did that prophecy materialize in the life of Peter or not? That’s Christ. You can’t follow Him and become a mediocre, you can’t follow Him and become ignorant. You follow Christ you know and have the light of life that will put you in command. That light is what set men in dominion. And Christ said I will end darkness crisis. In Isaiah the Bible says darkness will cover the earth and gross darkness the people, that’s the crisis of the world. That’s why without Christ the world is in crisis. Darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people, but what did the Bible say? It says but the light of the Lord; Christ is risen over you and gentiles will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising, why? Because you have the light of light.
That’s who Christ is; He is the light of the world. So, if your life is not functioning in accordance, in an alignment with this reality, you should check. John 15 verse 5, the vital union that you have with Christ.
#3. John 10:7. Jesus introducing Himself again; “Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” What is Jesus saying here? Another translation says He is the gate. He said I am the door, I am the gate, I will end access crisis. If you continue reading that Scripture up to verse 10, you will realize that Jesus was talking about the fact that as the gate if the sheep will go in and out as He grants them access, they will find pasture. Meaning I am going to grant you access to kingdom resources, to grace; you will have the opportunity to grace on grace. Access; you will go in and out and you will find pasture. Jesus said no longer is access denied, I am the door. What is the significance of a door? A door provides access, Christ is the access to kingdom resources, He is the access to grace.
Jesus the Bible says in John chapter 1, full of grace and truth. He is the access to grace; grace is the endowment and embodiment that God releases without you measuring up or qualifying for it He bestows upon you. Did the sheep do anything to deserve pasture? Pasture is grace. What have you done to deserve grace? What has your father or fore fathers done to deserve grace? It is the free gift of God. Jesus said I am the access to grace you will go in and out and you will find pasture. Without grace there would be crisis. Because men are supposed to now live on what they deserve. The cause that God placed on man in the garden, if that is still what is evident till today, do you think half of mankind will be alive today? God put a stringent limitation. Without Christ there is limitation, Christ is the one that creates unlimited access. You can go in and out freely because you are in Christ.
#4. John 10:11. “Jesus said I am the good shepherd.” Christ is the good Shepard. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. He ends leadership crisis. Before Christ, man was led as slave, man had been in bondage of the law, man had been led like animals, using bits, using laws, to control us, then Jesus said I am the good shepherd, I will lead you well. Jesus came to end the leadership crisis, instead of us moving from one dispensation of one prophet to another, from one law to another, Jesus came and put an end to the law and gave us a leadership in grace. Jesus came to end the leadership crisis. So that the influence upon our lives is by the Spirit of God. We are influenced by the same Spirit that quickened Him and raised Him from the dead.
So, He came to provide us with sacrificial and servant leadership. He said a good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Jesus came to end the leadership crisis. He said before Jesus, we were like sheep without shepherd. Everybody trying to do their own, trying to find their own pasture, finding their own way. But with Christ we are under the best leadership crisis. We are under the best leadership. That’s why the Bible says as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Because they are led by the Spirit of Christ.
An end has come to all those leaderships that leads to bondage, this leadership leads to life. That is Christ, Christ is the bread of life, He is the light of the world, He is the door, the gate, He is a good shepherd.
#5. Christ is the resurrection and the life. John 11:25. When He was speaking to Martha; “Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in me, though he may die, He shall live.” Jesus came to put an end to the crisis of uncertainty. Do you know how miserable men would have been without Christ? Because you are uncertain; you don’t know where you are going, you don’t know who you will reign with. You don’t know what will happen hereafter, but Jesus came to settle the crisis of uncertainty, that your future is secured in me. Your future is certain in me. If you are in vital union with me, where I am you will be also. You will be seated with me at the right hand of my Father far above principalities and power and rulers of darkness, you will reign with me.
Jesus came to settle the crisis of uncertainty. Do you know how much crisis uncertainty brings? To even wake up in the morning you are not sure, should I invest my time or let me just sit down and do nothing. Because I don’t know whether what I will do next is going to be profitable or not. Our future, our destiny is guaranteed in Christ. Jesus said whosoever believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. The future is secured in me, I am the resurrection and the life. He said I have come to put an end to the uncertainty of the future.
#6. John 14:5. “Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father-no one has access to the Father except through Me.” Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. What does this mean? Jesus came to bring an end to religious crisis. Before Christ every man had been trying to find God. In John chapter 6 when Jesus was talking to the woman by the well, she said we don’t even know how to worship God acceptably, should we go to Jerusalem to worship or should we worship on this mountain or that mountain?
Jesus replied and said a time is coming where all those things will not matter, with Christ all these things do not matter, what matters is that you access God through Christ. What matters is that you are in vital union with Christ. What matters is that you acknowledge and regard Jesus Christ as your source. And He said I have come to put an end to religious crisis. Whether it’s on this mountain, whether it should be pigeon or turtle dove, all those things don’t matter. He said what I have come to offer you is the kingdom. I am the way to the kingdom, I am the truth about this kingdom and I am the life of the kingdom. No one has access to the king of the kingdom except through me. I show you the way, I tell you the truth. That’s why every message of Christ was about the kingdom. What was He doing? Sharing the truth about the kingdom.
He will sit down with the people and say the kingdom of heaven is like; and you wonder as a believer, is there no other message that Christ could preach, it’s the truth about the kingdom, He is the life about the kingdom. What He has come to offer us is the kingdom and nothing else. He didn’t come to offer us religion, He didn’t come to offer us 21 ways to see God or dream about God, what He came to offer us is the kingdom. That’s why He said in John 14 verse 6, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one; and when Jesus says no one, He means no one comes to the father. No one is acceptable to the Father, no one has the privilege to approach the Father except through me. Jesus came to end the religious crisis. And you look at the world today and ask; how comes there is still religious crisis? Because men have refused to listen and harken to the wisdom in John 15:5, when Jesus said I am the sprouting vine and you are my branches, as you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you.
But when you live separated from me you are powerless. And that’s why there is no power in religion. There is crisis in religion, in religion men are nothing in the kingdom men are strong and powerful. Why? Because they know their God through Christ. The crisis that prevails in the world is because men are living separated from Christ. And there are still many believers that still lip-service Christ and not living in vital union with Him. No wonder they are powerless; no wonder they are nothing. No wonder there is still food crisis, there is still uncertainty crisis. When Jesus was talking about access, He said whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will do it. I am the door. How comes men are still in crisis even though they profess Christ? Because men have separated and refuse to regard Christ as their source.
The wisdom in John 15:5 was repeated to us in Philippians 4 verse 13, I will read it in the amplified; I can do all things; Apostle Paul said I can do all things, not somethings. I am powerful, I am not part of the category of people in crisis, I am in Christ. I can do all things which He has called me to do, through Him who strengthens and empowers me to fulfil His purpose. I love this place. It said I am self-sufficient, I have the life of life, I have partaken of the bread of life, I have access to the door, I know the way, the truth and the life. I know the resurrection and the life, I know the good shepherd, I am self-sufficient in Christ sufficiency. I am ready for anything, equal to anything, through Him who infuses me through inner strength and confident peace. I am self-sufficient in Christ sufficiency.
The anointed one and His anointing is enough for me, I am satisfied with the bread of life. I am confident in the good shepherd, I am delighted to know the way, the truth and the life. I am contented to have access through the door which is Christ. So, I remain in vital union with Him. You know what brings discontentment to us? Many of us feel Christ is slow, we have seen Him faster elsewhere, we want to move with the trend, we want to follow the pattern, we want to do it the way others are doing it, we want to have it the way others are having it. Imagine if that was the mindset of the disciples of Jesus, following the trend, we want to behave and like the disciples of Gamaliel, we want to be like the disciples of John, we want to be like the sons of the prophets, they would have missed out of what Christ will give to them. They would have ended up in crisis.
With Christ you can’t have it the way of the world, with Christ you can’t follow the fashion and the trend and all the fashionable things that are going on. You must be contented in Him. The secret of being in vital union with Christ is that you are contented with Him. It might not look as if you are fashionable, you are interesting as a person, it might not look as if the spot light is on you yet, it didn’t happen for the disciples too. But when Christ was fully formed in them, they became the news of town. They said these are the men that turned the world upside down. They became the men that reported to kings and governors. They became the talk of the town because they were contented with Christ.
Can we get to that point where we are contented with Christ? Where we no longer want to partake of the crisis of the world and say Christ is enough for me? I am contented with Christ, wherever He leads me I go, whatever He gives me I have, whatever He shows me I am satisfied with.
Article Source: [Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
