God Is Greater

God Is Greater.

I don't know what you are struggling with at the moment maybe it is a temptation that leads you to a sin that is a constant in your life. Maybe you're going through something at the moment and you are tempted to do something that you wouldn’t usually do.

I want you to know, whatever it is whatever the temptation, God is greater. Whatever it is that you think you might want to do whatever situation you might be slipping into that takes you away from God you need to know that God is greater than that and so are you because you're his child. Turn from your temptation because God is greater.

Heb 2:14-18.

“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.”

Whatever sin it is that you cannot seem to get rid of, God is greater. Choose Him instead of your sin.

You know what it is like when you are trying to clean. Everywhere seems to clean up nice but then you come up against a particularly stubborn stain. Regular soap and water just won't do. You need something that is better than the stain that will cut through the grease, things on the market you can get to spray on it makes it easier to wipe away the stain. This is the blood of Jesus as far as the stain of our sin is concerned. The only thing that will remove the stain of sin is the blood of Jesus and that's why he came to earth because he is greater than our sin.

Which do you prefer? Those things listed as sins of the flesh, or those things that are the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:19ff

Paul writes;

“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Compare those things to this;

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

God is greater than your sin He can remove the guilt and punishment.

God is greater than your temptation, through Him you can overcome it.

God is greater than your pain, whatever troubles you.

Some people fall out of love with God. An illness comes upon them, a chronic disease strikes them down and they ask why. People go through a traumatic experience and if they've been serving God, they ask, “What have I done to deserve this?” Others who have not accepted God go through difficult periods in their life and ask if there is a God why would he let this happen. And it prevents them from giving themselves fully to Him because they cannot trust Him to look after them.

Whatever your pain or anguish is God is greater than your pain. Do not be mis-sold the gospel. Sadly, God did not send His Son to make everything go right in our lives, He sent Jesus to save us from our sin so we could live eternally.

When we think of eternal life, we think of something that’s going to be a long time. What a boring thing to offer people. Anything that takes a long time is boring like... something that lasts a long time and is boring – what do you mean this message? I’d better move on.

Eternal life is not about time it is about quality.

You don't know me terribly well and you don't know about a lot of the things that I went through in the past, but I became a Christian a long time ago. After I became a Christian, I studied at the British Bible School which was a residential school at that time for two years. I then trained for a while with an evangelist Bob Eckman after going back into secular work I continued to train alongside Ken Mullan at Loughborough eventually organising activities and studies with the youth.

During that time a tragedy, a traumatic tragedy, entered into my and my family’s lives. The conclusion I came to in the couple of years that followed as a tried to figure things out was, if I pushed God out of my life the pain would still be there. But by pushing God out along with still having the pain there would also be no hope, no good news, nowhere to turn.

If I still lived in a loving relationship with God, the pain would still be there, but I would have something that would help. This life and all the pain that goes with it would not be all that I was living for. Though I didn't know all the answers I knew that life was worse with pain and without God than it was with God and the peace, hope and purpose He provides and yet, still with the pain.

To go through life without God because you have some trauma or some terrible thing that's real and is active in your life will leave you without hope and without peace. That pain is still there with or without God. But God is greater than our pain.

Heb 10:32-39; listen to these words if you are already a Christian and are suffering pain, this is about our brothers and sisters long ago.

“Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever. So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.”

I don’t know what your temptation is, I don’t know what your sin is, I don’t know what your struggle or pain is. But I know that God is greater. Never give up on Him.

For those of you reading who have not yet accepted Jesus as Lord of your life. I don’t know what your temptation, sin or pain is, that has made you withhold from committing your life to Him, but I know God loves you. I know this because the Bible tells me. If you will believe in Him, confess your faith in Him, turn from your sin to Him. Die to yourself by being immersed in water he will never let you go.

Romans 8:31-39

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honour at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God is greater than whatever is preventing you from accepting His gift of eternal life. God is greater than whatever might make you walk away from Him after becoming His child. Whatever or whenever you are having to make a choice, choose God, because He is greater.