Simplicity

Transcript S2E10

Simplicity

[00:00] 

Hello, I'm Tony Kostas, and welcome to Let Into Love.

There's a wonderful simplicity in a genuine relationship with God, and it's very much on my heart right now to encourage you to discover the reality of that, and not to make what I'm saying complicated at all. Because as soon you know, by human nature, as soon as I say ‘there's a wonderful simplicity in relationship with God’ … anything … you'll say, “So what does that mean?” It means what it says.

[00:44] 

You remember the time when ... when Jesus was speaking to a crowd of people, as He often did. And He took a child and put the child in … stood the child there in the midst … and He said to them, “Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you'll never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” And he didn't explain it anymore. 

I'm sure there'll be people saying, “What?” Like, “That seems a bit over the top. That's an exaggeration. But at least explain to us what you mean!”

Now, Jesus never exaggerated. I want to make that point because if Jesus ever exaggerated, then you could never rely on the absolute truth of what He said. And Jesus always spoke the truth. And even as He often began a statement, He began this statement. He said, “Truly, I tell you…” In other words: “… this is the truth. I'm not exaggerating. This is the truth. Unless you change and become like little children, you'll never enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Change from what? Change from living life your way. But more importantly – because He was speaking to people, some of them might have been amongst the religious leaders, because they often came to hear what He said. Not because they wanted to respond to Him, but because they wanted to find fault with what He said. But apart from that, people gathered to hear Him because they knew what He was talking about. There were people who were wanting to know God. They were wanting to know God's way. And they were people who grew up in a religious system.

[02:25] 

Now, that religious system … its origins were not false, because he's talking to Jews. Jews were the descendants of Abraham. Abraham, who was the friend of God. Abraham, who was the father of all who have faith.

And you know the history of Israel and the history of God's people. (If you don't, then sure, it's right there in the Old Testament if you'd like to read about it.

But Jesus is saying to them that to have a relationship with God and to live in God's kingdom is about childlike simplicity. I'm not talking about child-ish simplicity. I’m talking about child-like simplicity. The simplicity of a little child who believes what is said to them, sees things for what they are, and has an innocence and a trusting approach to things.

Remember, children are also very vulnerable in this world. They're vulnerable. Now to me, ‘as a little child’ has a nice kind of a warm feeling about it. And we often, most of us … many of us anyway … can look back on our childhood and think, “Oh, things were much simpler back there. And it's natural. Of course, we understand that the life of a child, ideally, should always be simple.

[03:49] 

But what Jesus was talking about was the fact that you don't complicate your life to become more spiritual.

The whole approach of Humanity to anything is the assumption that, for things to improve, things have to become more complex, or things have to become more challenging to understand. Or you have to learn skills. You know, like, even with an education system, of course, you begin illiterate … if you like. Then you go to, primary school (or elementary school), and you go up through your schooling. And then you go to university and you come out with a degree or a Master's or a PhD. And the whole concept is that, then, you are more and more equipped for life, and you're more and more ready to do well in your life.

[04:43] 

Jesus actually said there is a simplicity in relationship with Him that never ceases to be at the very core of everything that you are. 

And again, when I'm speaking about relationship with Him, I'm not speaking about a religious belief. I'm speaking about knowing Him as an end in itself.

Going back to Abraham. When you look at Abraham – and you look at this man who, at the age of 75 was called by God to leave the place he lived and his familiar surroundings and to respond to God – and basically just head in a certain direction. And God said, “… and I'll lead you as we go there”.

[05:30] 

And you know the story of Abraham (and I certainly referred to it in earlier podcasts). 

But Abraham became the Father of the Jewish race. He became the man that God called, step by step. And every time God spoke to him, Abraham had the opportunity to obey God. But to obey God, he had to believe God. And in believing God, he exercised faith. 

But his faith was very simple. His faith was ‘either God said it or he didn't say it. And if God said it and I choose to believe it, then I will show that I believe it by doing it.

So you can say he was the father of all who have faith. Yes. But I would also say, in the faith that he exercised, he wasn't only the father of those who had faith, he was the father of those who obey.

Because if you believe God and you don't obey him, then you haven't believed Him! You know, right up to that climactic event that I have already spoken about before – when God told him to sacrifice his son Isaac.

[06:39] 

If we live for God, life does not become more complex, it becomes simpler. Because for Abraham …  well let me say, if we live for God, life begins simply with you coming to him. And then it goes on and remains simple. But it actually goes further. It goes deeper. Its implications are greater. But it never loses its simplicity.

That's vital because, if you look at the life of Abraham, at every point where he had to respond to God,all he had to do was do as God said.

And you know, the signature statement … the defining statement about Abraham: is he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

But his belief was just like the belief of a little child.

God said it. I believe it. I will do it.

He didn't have to understand. In fact, that last big thing that God asked him to do was beyond comprehension. It was bizarre! 

There was no sense in it. There was no logic. There was no obvious rightness about it. In fact, it was awful, when God says to this man, “Take your son and sacrifice him”.

But to all intents and purposes, from the account in the Bible, Abraham responded to do that as much as he … as quickly, as readily, as simply as he'd responded to anything!

[08:22] 

Now, that can make you feel pretty insecure. Because if you're used to depending on a lot of religious knowledge or biblical knowledge or doctrinal knowledge to kind of reinforce and give substance to anything that might happen between you and God – it's going to sound like, “wow, that is really risky!” And I agree. Humanly, it is very risky.

Can a person be trusted to know that they've got a relationship with God? Can a person be trusted to know whether God has spoken to them? 

Yeah, it is very risky, but it's the risk that God has taken all along.

[09:04] 

If you approach God with an open, willing heart – and I can't overemphasize, it's got to be! Because you've chosen to make yourlife about Him – not about yourself! Then He will speak to you. And He will lead you. 

But I also want to say, there's no substitute for that. There just is no substitute.

The reason why men create religious systems. The reason why men create bodies of knowledge and traditions and procedures, and so many things that, that have filled the history of Judaism and Christianity … not to mention other religions – because I'm talking about the line that goes right back to Adam and Eve and Abraham and so on that we know as the Judeo Christian … It's called the Judeo-Christian tradition, and I think it's a pity. It should be just simply the Judeo-Christian way, that God has led His people.

[10:09]

As God has revealed Himself to people, He's always looked for what the Bible calls ‘truth on the inward parts’. He looks at what is going on inside you.

Do you remember when Jesus was speaking to that Samaritan woman and she was starting to feel pretty kind of uncomfortable with the things that he obviously knew about her? And then she sort of tried to throw in a little bit of a distraction and said, like, “Hey, you know, our people say that God should be worshiped on this mountain, and your people say he should be worshiped on that mountain. Which mountain should we worship God on?”

And Jesus said, “It's not this mountain or that mountain, but the true worshipers must worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeks such to worship him.”

[11:01]

What is spirit and truth? Spirit and truth is what exists within you. As Jesus said: if you know the light that is in you is light and not darkness.

Which is a funny way of saying it. But what he was saying is, if you are light on the inside because of your openness to God and because of your purity in the way you respond to God, then you also know the truth. And if, by the truth that you know in your heart, you respond and live before God, then you are worshiping God.

The worship of God is not anything to do with ceremonial or any religious observance or anything. True worship is when God is worshiped in spirit and in truth. When your heart is lifted up to God. When, from inside of you, God is adored and worshiped for who He is. You may be … you may be singing; you may be doing anything. But when God is your focus and you are living in that simple relationship with Him that you were made for, then God is being worshipped. God is being lifted up.

Why? Because you have made Him your God. And when you make God your God, He is everything to you.

[12:41]

And ultimately the people of God – the people in whom God will be glorified in this world, and the people in whom he'll be glorified for Eternity – those people will be the ones who are just like that now.

They are the ones who go beyond, and look beyond, everything else … and simply see God for who He is. 

Now, how does that happen?

You see Him for who He is when you seek Him for who He is. You will see Him simply because you want to know Him – because you want Him to be your God, and you want Him to have His way in your life.

[13:27]

And believe me, you can live a long, long time … and your relationship with God in this life won't become more complex. It will be at least as simple as it started off, and it might even get simpler. In fact, I would say it does get simpler, from my own experience, because the more I know Him, the more I live with Him, a lot of things that I thought mattered don't matter. But He matters more than ever and everything that matters to Him, and that simple day by day relationship of living with Him, walking in Him, discovering what it is that matters to Him, and … I was going to say making that matter to me, but actually, discovering that I find that what matters to Him does matter to me – I because that's all I want. That makes life simpler than ever. It's thrilling! 

You know, we might think God's kind of a bit of an old-fashioned God. 

Life back there … sure, it was simpler. Life is so complex. Complex. Now I tell you, God is never left behind. I mean, God understands stuff that Humanity discovers and develops in this world, whether it's good or bad. God knows that far more. 

You know, all Man does … Man doesn't create anything … Everything is God's creation. Man just simply discovers what God has created.

We think that we live in a high-tech age, but high-tech is based on things that are there that God created. I don't want to get complex about that because I'll be out of my depth very quickly! But you know what I mean. The whole point of this is that God is completely across everything that our lives could ever be about. He's completely across everything that this world is all about.

[15:16] 

God is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning and the end. And you can know Him. You can live with Him. You can walkwith Him.

And best of all – God's got a purpose for your life, and you can never really freely discover that purpose and live in it, unless you walk with Him in the utter simplicity of a life that's abandoned to God.

Otherwise you will be distracted by many things. Either you'll be distracted and maybe at times even overwhelmed by all the things around you in this life and in this world. Or you'll be distracted by trying to become more spiritual – closer to God through filling your mind with all sorts of things. 

You know, there's so many … so much … you can preoccupy yourself with. You can walk into a Christian bookshop and, bang, right in front of you…! You can go online … right in front of you! There's so many resources. So much that you can know. So much that you can learn about. So much that you can become knowledgeable in.

And here is God waiting, and saying, “What about me? Do you really want to know what matters? Do you really want to know my way? Do you really want to hear my voice?”

[16:34] 

Once when Paul was writing to one of his churches, he said he was concerned for them, that they might leave behind, or depart from, ‘the simplicity that is in Christ’.

There's a wonderful simplicity in relationship with God. It's simple. It's what you were made for. And it will fill your life, if you create that space in your life – constantly create the space in your life for God to fill.

Don't rush around trying to be something. Allow God to make you everything that He wants you to be.

When you are in Him, you become a new creation. So let God keep feeding that new creation in you. Let that new creation, that God has made you, grow and develop the way He wants you to.

Don't try to make anything happen but give God everything – His way in your life completely. Let Him have his way!

[17:42] 

Don't make things happen. Let them happen by your response to God. Many things you don't know … don't understand. Neither do I! But what you can know, is you can know Him. 

And when you know Him, He will lead you and make of you exactly what He wants you to be.