THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO PORTRAY JESUS

 

Ek het eendag met 'n persoon vir wie ek groot respek gehad het oor 'n sekere saak gepraat,

eintlik het ek hom tereg gewys. Ek het vir hom gesê dat Jesus sou nie gedoen het wat hy sê

dat ons mag doen nie. Toe gee hy my hierdie antwoord.

"Ek is nie Jesus nie."

Dit is natuurlik waar maar ek moet nie Jesus wees nie. Nee, ek moet dat Jesus, Homself deur

my aan die mense toon.

Lees net hier hoe mooi verduidelik hierdie man dit.

 

 

My friend, Lance, has played a lot of parts on stage. He's got a lot of acting ability, and

naturally he was interested when he heard that his church was going to do an outreach drama.

They rented a public auditorium and they developed this powerful original presentation of the

Life of Christ. And then Lance was stunned by the casting choice they made. They wanted to cast

him as Jesus. Well, Lance had been in enough productions to know that you have to try to get into

the person you're playing. You have to stay in that character all day long, if possible. And Lance

said he really tried. And then he told me, "I discovered I couldn't play Jesus." Well, neither can you.

 

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "There's Only One Way to

Portray Jesus."

 

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from the pen of the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20.

And here's what he says: "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me

and gave Himself for me."

 

Lance, by the way, did end up playing Christ in that drama, and he said the drama had an incredibly powerful impact on their community. But he explained to me, "I couldn't get into the person of Jesus.

So, I decided that He would have to get into me. I can't be Jesus," he said. "No human being can. Only Jesus can be Jesus. So I concluded I'd have to let Jesus be Jesus through me." I told Lance, "This is the ultimate secret of the Christian life, man. It's that 2:20 principle from Galatians 2:20 - It is not I but Christ."

 

Those four words sum it all up. It's not me living the Christian life, it's Him doing it through me. I cannot live this Jesus life. Only one person ever did. Only one person can today. This is a matter of you surrendering and letting Jesus be Jesus through you. That's why He said, "I am the vine. You are the branch." You're not like this herniated little branch over there on the ground saying, "Oh, I gotta produce fruit, gotta produce fruit, gotta produce fruit!" All the life comes from the vine. It looks like it's coming from the branch, but it's only coming through the branch. We're just Jesus branches.

 

This is the liberating secret of the Christian experience. Jesus through me - not me doing it for Jesus. If you're like most believers, you're working very hard to be like Christ, you're frustrated and

you're tired. You've dedicated, you've rededicated, you've re-rededicated, you're having devotions,

you're praying, you're witnessing, you're going to the right meetings, you're serving, and those are

all good things to do, but you're saying, "Why is this so hard?"

 

Well, you were never meant to play Jesus. What He's asking you to do is give up all that striving and to

let Him take over, to trade that in for abiding in Christ instead of striving for Christ. Maybe you're all worn out from trying to live the Christian life. You've been trying to play Jesus and you're tired.

 

Well, there's good news! You were never meant to. You can resign from trying and say, "Jesus,

I want a total take-over by you. I've been trying to produce your characteristics in my life and I've

failed. Let Jesus play himself through your personality. Make this a daily surrender - an hourly

surrender of your life. "Jesus, you live your life through me." The results will be more powerful than anything you have ever experienced. You will have discovered that there is only one way to portray

Jesus - let Him do it!

 

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Judas 1:24-25
Aan Hom nou wat magtig is om julle vir struikeling

te bewaar en julle sonder gebrek voor sy heerlikheid te stel met gejuig,

25.
aan die alleenwyse God, ons Verlosser, kom toe heerlikheid en

majesteit, krag en mag, nou tot in alle ewigheid! Amen.

 

Groete

Sakkie