Becoming Fisher Folk # 2:
Why Do We Need Fisher Folk?
Before we can be effective Fisher Folk, we must be convinced of the need for Fisher Folk. Your community desperately needs a vital, witnessing church. There is nothing more necessary anywhere than followers of Jesus through whom our Lord can release His life and proclaim His kingdom. Are you convinced of this?
Why does the world need Fisher Folk?
In the first three chapters of the book of Genesis, we read that God created two marvelous, highly gifted creatures — man and woman, human beings. God created us to know Him, to worship Him and to have intimate fellowship with Him as we enjoy His creation and exercise wise, servant-dominion over it.
So that we could know Him, God created us in His image. Since God is Spirit, this means that He gave us a spiritual component. This enabled communion, relationship between God and people. We see in Genesis 2:16,17 that Adam, in his pre-sin innocence, was able to hear the voice of God. No doubt there was continual communication between God and man. In 3:8 we read that the Lord walked in the garden in the cool of the day. This was probably a common occurrence signifying unmarred fellowship between God and man. Though I cannot imagine what that was like, surely it was precious.
To summarize God’s purpose in creating humanity:
1. We were created to know God, behold His glory, worship and enjoy Him. A primary reason for God’s creation of humanity, indeed, God’s ultimate purpose in creating the universe is to display His glory so that we might behold His glory, give Him glory and enjoy Him forever.
2. We were created to serve as stewards, caretakers of God’s creation, exercising wise servant-dominion over nature, developing the full potential of God’s creation.
3. We were created to show our love for God through obedience to Him.
Regarding this obedience, we read in Genesis 2:16,17, The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’
Notice the phrase, You may eat freely. The garden was designed to nourish Adam and he was invited to access its fruit freely. He was also free to cultivate the garden, to work, to employ his strength, knowledge and imagination as God’s steward. However, this freedom was exercised within the boundary of obedience to God. There was this one prohibition: From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.
We are not given a reason for God’s prohibition of that tree and we may assume that there was nothing inherently good or evil about it. It was simply a test of obedience, as we have said. Man’s obedience or disobedience to God’s command would result in the experience of good or evil. In resisting temptation and choosing to obey God, man would experience God’s manifold expressions of goodness on a personal level. In choosing to disobey God and rebel against His command, man would experience evil on a personal level.
Created in the image of God, created to be stewards over creation, created to know, enjoy and obey God, created to experience God’s love and love Him in return — the man and woman knew only the beauty of perfect design, planted in a garden reflecting God’s goodness and creative genius. Created to live in union with God, man and woman were like branches on a tree, drawing life and wisdom from their Creator. But if that union were ever broken by sin it would be as if the branches had been severed from the tree — you will surely die. Cut off from their Creator and Source of life, death would inevitably become a reality in their life.
God gave humanity free moral will whereby we could choose to enjoy friendship with Him or reject Him, enjoy His love and blessing or refuse Him, obey or disobey His wise counsel. We could choose to gain wisdom and knowledge in union with God or seek counterfeit wisdom and knowledge apart from God.
We could choose to be a creature made in the wondrous image of our Creator, living in loving relation to our Creator. Or we could be a creature divorced from our Creator. This was an act of love on God's part. True love never forces itself on its beloved, never demands love in return. True love merely gives itself and invites response.
Later, Satan tempted Eve to eat from the tree and she succumbed, thinking that the tree was desirable to make one wise (3:6). She was tragically mistaken. She already had access to perfect wisdom which is gained through obedient, intimate relationship with God, the Fountain of all wisdom and truth. Knowledge gained apart from God results in terrible destruction.
Adam joined Eve in believing the lie that we can be our own Source of life and law, our own source of truth and wisdom, can be our own God. In disobeying God’s command to refrain from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man and woman sinned and in sinning, separated themselves from the Lord of life. To this day God lovingly continues to give us this choice and humanity proudly continues to believe the lie, choosing to go its own way.
All Have Sinned
The problem of sin cannot be relegated to the category of ancient history or abstract theology. It is a personal problem — we have all sinned. The Bible says very simply, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23, see also 3:10-12)).
Upon reaching the age of accountability, and that differs for each of us depending on our rate of maturity, we make choices which violate God’s revealed will. We chose to go our own way irregardless of what we understand to be God’s way.
People ask, “If there is a God, why is there so much trouble in this world?” Because God created people with the freedom to know, love and obey Him, or reject and disobey Him. When people reject God and spurn His commands, there are consequences. Those consequences come under the general category of death and decay.
Sin Separates People From God
God created human beings to live in relationship with Him, drawing life from Him, life flowing from His Spirit into our spirit. If God were a vine, we would be branches. If God were a spring of water, each of us would be like a stream flowing from the well-spring. God is our Source. The life we live issues forth from His life.
Sin is that self-centered, God-rejecting thought, word or deed which separates us from God, as the Lord said through Isaiah the prophet, But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God (Isaiah 59:2).
To be separated from the Creator and Source of all life is to participate in death. When Adam and Eve sinned, they created the reality of death. Death entered their relationship with God and with each other. Death infected their emotional and physical being and all of creation groaned under the impact of death and decay.
There is no simpler revelation of truth in the Bible than this, The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). If a branch is severed from the vine, it dies. If a stream is separated from its well-spring, it dries up. The death and tragedy which mar this world are the result of humanity's choice to live apart from God.
The Reality of Judgement
In Ezekiel 18:32 the Lord says, For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord God. Therefore, repent and live. God wants us to live and live in His blessing. Therefore He calls us to turn to Him, the Lord of life.
Yet God cannot suspend the moral laws of the universe. Those laws are woven into the very structure of creation and if anyone chooses to turn from God and live in violation of His just order, then that person will suffer the consequences.
In Revelation 20:11-15 we read of a terrifying judgement at the end of history. Though the love of God is measureless, He is also holy and just. In a moral universe, governed by a loving, holy and just God, there must be an accounting for the sin that violates His being and His world.
If we choose to separate ourselves from God through sin, then we will live apart from Him. If we die in that state of separation, we will be separated from God eternally by that sin which we chose. A holy God cannot ignore our sin and does hold us accountable.
God is grieved by our sin and the death that results. But a righteous God cannot simply declare sinners to be righteous. How can a righteous God declare unrighteous sinners to be righteous? How can the Just One declare the unjust to be just?
Actually, God has done this through the most unexpected, amazing transaction:
The Just for the Unjust
Jesus, the eternal, uncreated Second Person of the Trinity, co-Creator of the universe with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, consented to be born in human form so that He, the Just One, could take upon Himself the crimes and the judgment of the unjust, For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God (I Peter 3:18).
Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24, also 3:21-26).
The Reality of Redemption
The most amazing truth in all of history is this, that God dealt with our sin by offering Himself as a holy Sacrifice for sinners.What unimaginable Good News! The sinless Savior took upon Himself the sum of our rebellion, bore the judgment that should have fallen on us, paid our debt and redeemed us from sin's penalty, which is everlasting death apart from God.
In Romans 5:8 we read, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born in human form and died for us on a Roman cross. On that cross, He took our sin upon Himself, as if it were His, and redeemed us (ransomed, purchased us) from slavery to sin and death.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7).
Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (I Peter 1:18,19).
Amazingly, Isaiah prophesied this 700 years before Jesus was born!
Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isa. 53:4-6).
Jesus, acting as the holy, divine Substitute, bore our sins, our judgement and our death in Himself on the cross.The Lord did this for us because we could not pray enough prayers, give enough gifts, bring enough offerings or do enough religious works to bridge the canyon of separation between ourselves and a holy, just God. An eternally and perfectly holy God requires a perfectly holy sacrifice for sin that will be effective eternally. But we are imperfect and finite.
Old Testament saints brought sacrifices for sin to the altar but those imperfect gifts served only to cover sin, not remove or atone for in. They pointed ahead to the one, perfect and eternal sacrifice offered by Jesus. As our perfect High Priest, Christ offered Himself as the perfectly holy sacrifice for sin:
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebr. 9:11,12).
Jesus redeemed us from our sin, not with silver or gold, but with His own precious blood. This marvelous sacrifice, the atonement for our sin, is a historical fact. It happened. And it is eternally sufficient. Therefore in heaven they sing this song of praise to the Lord, Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation (Rev. 5:9).
Restored Relationship
Now, because the sin barrier between God and humanity has been removed, God is able to offer forgiveness, eternal life and restored relationship with Himself to all who will turn from their sin and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord: For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God (I Peter 3:18)
God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them … He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:19a,21).
Jesus, through the offering of His perfectly just, perfectly holy, life, has obtained for sinners a perfect and eternally sufficient salvation.
Repent
Who is eligible to receive God's gift of salvation? All who are willing to renounce their sin, to turn from it. This is called repentance.
After Peter preached his powerful sermon on the Day of Pentecost, the people were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’ Peter replied, Repent (Acts 2:37,38).
When King David was faced with the reality of his sin, he knew God did not want any religious ritual from him. He said, The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51:17) Repentance is a sincere sorrow for our sin and a commitment to turn from it as we turn to the Lord.
Receive by Faith
As we turn from our sin, we turn to the Lord and call upon Him in faith. A man asked Paul and Silas, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:30,31).
What is saving faith?
Saving faith is not simply believing there is a God. Demons also believe, and shudder (James 2:19). Faith is believing that God has acted in history in Jesus Christ who died for me, atoned for my sin with His blood. Faith believes that God raised His Son from the dead as visible proof of His acceptance of the holy Sacrifice.
Saving faith is the gift of God to those whose heart is awakened, pierced by the preaching of the sacrifice of Jesus and who then open their heart to the truth. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8).
Confess My Faith
We then confess our faith: Because if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation … for whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Rom. 10:9,10,13).
Faith says, “Jesus, I believe you are who you say you are — the holy Sacrifice who gave your life as the holy Substitute for me, bearing my sins and my judgment, dying my death. I believe you rose from the dead. I turn from my sin, I turn to you and I surrender my life to your Lordship.”
When anyone confesses sincere faith in Christ, God washes away their sin, raises them from spiritual death and brings them into new, eternal relationship with Himself. God does this to demonstrate His kindness and His grace.
The Lord was not obligated to do this — He chose to out of love, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Who Qualifies?
Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).
What marvelous Good News! God is able to justify every repentant sinner and still be just, able to express His love through forgiveness without compromising His justice or His righteousness.
What a marvelous gift: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
But do not be misled. Those who do not call upon the Lord in repentance and faith will perish. Jesus said that whoever believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God … He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:18, 36).
There will be a day of judgment and those who have rejected the only sufficient sacrifice for sin will bear their sin before the judgment seat of God. Choosing to live in separation from God, they will live eternally separated from the perfect goodness of God.
What Is the Result of Saving Faith?
1. We are made alive in Christ
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved (Eph. 2:1-5) (also Colossians 2:13,14).
2. We are born anew, we become new creations:
A leading rabbi went to Jesus in the night with questions about salvation. Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (or, born from above) he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3).
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Corinthians 5:17)
For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God (I Peter 1:23).
3. We are redeemed / ransomed from enslavement to our sin and a life of futility:
Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (I Peter 1:18,19). The word redeemed, lytroo, means to buy back, rescue or ransom someone who was captive, such as a slave or prisoner.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7). This word redemption, apolutrosis, means to pay a price to purchase someone, resulting in their being set free.
4. We are reconciled to God and adopted into God’s family
Referring to Jesus, the Apostle Paul says, For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His body of flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach (Colossians 1:19-23).
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13).
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God (Gal. 4:4-7).
5. We are forgiven of every sin, washed clean of all defilement:
The Lord promised through Ezekiel, Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols (Ezkl. 36:25).
And so it is, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9).
Therefore the writer to the Hebrews exhorts us, Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebr. 10:22).
6. We are declared to be just, righteous before God:
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21).
How could sinners stand before a just God and be declared just? Because the Just One bore our injustice in His own being, made a full, perfect and eternal sacrifice for our injustice. Now all who place their faith in Christ are declared to be just.
7. We are delivered out of the power of this world system (the kingdom of darkness) and into the kingdom of God (the kingdom of His beloved Son):
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13,14).
Who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father (Gal. 1:4). The word age does not refer to calendar time (that word is chronos). This word is aion, which refers to this present world system and the values that define this era. Jesus has delivered us from this.
8. We are given the gift of eternal life with God:
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Eternal life is not measured in units of time. It is sharing the life of God.
Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die (John 11:25,26). Though our bodies will wear out eventually, our souls are immortal. The redeemed soul will live with God forever and in the resurrection, we will be given bodies perfectly fit for eternity.
Share My Faith
What marvelous Good News! But how will anyone know that this grace is available? The Apostle Paul asks the same question in Romans 10:14, How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
How will anyone know about this wonderful offer of forgiveness and new life in Jesus, unless someone tells them? In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses. He was speaking not only to those immediately present. He was speaking to all of His followers in every generation.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).
Go and share the Good News — the stakes are high: And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned’ (Mark 16:15,16).
The stakes are high. Those who believe the message will be forgiven of sin, reconciled to God — saved. Those who disbelieve, who choose to continue to live and die separated from God, will be condemned to live forever in a conscious state of separation. That is hell.
To all of us who have experienced God’s kingdom of grace breaking into our lives, who have surrendered to Christ’s Lordship, Jesus says: “You are my witnesses — Fisher Folk.”
We are exhorted, But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence (I Peter 3:15).
Have you ever noticed the paradox of giving? The more you give out of your own soul, the greater the gift grows within you. You never really know what you have until you begin to give it away. We come to appreciate the magnitude of God’s grace and mercy as we become messengers of His grace and mercy — Fisher Folk.
How desperately the world needs a generation of Fisher Folk.