Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

This is week #3 of our series called Game Time. This series is all about upgrading our perspective. It’s about a higher way of thinking. It’s about a new way of living.

Too many people who claim the name of Christ don’t live in the victory of Christ. That is sad. That is stupid. That is sinful. Jesus Christ won the victory for you on the cross and through His resurrection. He won your victory for all eternity, but He doesn’t expect you to wait until eternity. He’s calling you to live in His victory now.

We kicked off the series by talking about preparing to win. If you want to win today, you’ve got to forget about the losses of yesterday. If you don’t have a short memory, you’re never going to walk in victory. If you never forget about your past failures, then the guilt you experience will never let you go. You’ll never win today if you don’t forget about the losses of yesterday.

Then last week, we talked about what happens when you do step between the lines. When you get on the field, you’ve got to play to win. You persevere. You keep going. You prepare to win. And then you play to win.

But through it all, you expect to win. That’s what we’re talking about today.

Some of you will recognize this shirt. Some of you might even own this shirt.

Now, why would Amelia, or any team for that matter, want a shirt like this? Why is it important for a team to expect to win?

Because people either live up or live down to their expectations. Teams that expect to win often win. Teams that don’t expect to win rarely win. They live up or down to their expectations.

As the people of God, expectations can really make or break us. What we expect goes a long way to determine the trajectory of our lives.

That’s an overarching theme of these verses from Philippians 3. This series is centered on Philippians 3:12-14.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14, NIV)

Focus in on the last verse. “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

When you understand who Jesus is and what Jesus has done, you will live expectantly. You will expect nothing less than victory.

Paul had a very clear understanding of who Jesus is and what Jesus does. And that caused him to expect victory. It caused him to keep pushing. To live on offense. To expect to win because he knew that, through Jesus, victory was already guaranteed.

The people who just muddle through, who don’t live with high expectations, who settle for middle-of-the-road Christianity and a mediocre life, those people do not have a clear picture of who Jesus is.

So today, let’s look at Jesus. The real Jesus. Not some fabricated, religious caricature, but the real Jesus as revealed in the Scriptures. If you want to know who Jesus is, you don’t have to go any further than the pages of your Bible.

Here’s what the prophet Isaiah said about Jesus. “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5, NIV)

You have never carried a hurt that Jesus didn’t carry first. He has already carried all your pain. He has borne all your suffering. And He has felt all your sin. It happened when He was on the cross.

He was pierced. He was crushed because of our sin. But in a paradox that only God could dream up, His punishment is our peace. His wounds are our healing.

In Romans 1, the Bible says, “[Jesus] was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 1:4b, NIV 1984)

“For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.” (Romans 6:9, NIV)

Death simply could not hold Him. Death is the one force that is unstoppable in our world. You can’t stop it. And once death has you in its grip, that’s it. It’s over.

Unless you’re Jesus. Jesus defeated the undefeatable force when He rose from the grave.

In Ephesians 1, the Bible says, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead… (Ephesians 1:17-20a, NIV)

The same power…the exact same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead now resides in you and in me. You don’t live your life with a limited supply of God’s power. The power of God in your life is without limit. The very same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and well in you!

In Revelation 21, Jesus said, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.” (Revelation 21:6-7, NIV)

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, which are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. He is the Beginning and the End. He is before all and through all and in all. And He gives His people complete victory. Complete, total, absolute victory.

That’s who Jesus is. He died. Then He defeated death. And the same power that raised Him from the dead now lives in us. He is before all and through all and in all. And He has promised us victory.

And if that’s who Jesus is, how can we not live expectantly? If that is the God that we worship and the God that we love, how can we not expect Him to do great things?

Recently, we got a basketball hoop for our son, Ryan. It’s one of the adjustable ones so I can bring it down to his level. One day we were out shooting basketball and Ryan said, “Dunk it, Daddy.” So I did. Of course I had the rim set at about 8 feet, but that didn’t matter to Ryan. He just wanted to see his dad dunk a basketball.

Later I raised the hoop to 10 feet so I could shoot. Ryan came out again, and I was so afraid that he was going to say it again. “Dunk it, Daddy.”

This might come as a complete shock to you, but I can’t dunk on a 10 foot rim. I know, you look at this physique and you think, “That boy can flat slam it.” I can’t.

Thankfully, Ryan didn’t ask me to dunk it again and I didn’t have to disappoint him by saying, “Son, it’s just too high. I can only dunk if we lower the rim.”

Far too often, that’s how we approach our Heavenly Father. We want to say, “Dunk it, Daddy!” but we think it’s just too high. It’s too difficult. It’s too much.

It’s just too much to expect. I can’t expect God to do great things. But if I lower the rim of my expectations, then maybe He’ll deliver. I lower my expectation rim from great to mediocre. Then He can dunk it.

The Bible says differently. In Job 37, the Bible says, “God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.” (Job 37:5, NIV)

God does great things. Things beyond our understanding. Dunk it, Daddy! He can do it. And you don’t have to lower anything for it to happen. That’s your God.

Do you believe that? I mean, do you REALLY believe that? If you do, then why would you believe that you are the exception?

“God does great things. Things beyond our understanding. Except for me. He’s not going to do anything great in my life. He’s not going to do anything great in me or for me or through me.”

I’m sorry…did I miss something here? I didn’t see your name in this verse anywhere. I didn’t see where it said, “God does great things beyond our understanding, except in Bob’s case. Bob is the exception.”

“God does amazing things, except for Megan. He’s going to skip right over her.”

You are not the exception. God does great things. Amazing things. Things beyond our ability to comprehend. And your life is not the one exception to the rule.

Now, this obviously doesn’t mean that there won’t be tough times. The health-and-wealth gospel that you’ll hear from a lot of TV preachers…which is really a false gospel…says that, “If you trust God, He’ll make you rich. He’ll make you famous. He’ll give you a great body and a stud husband or a hot wife. You’ll have perfect, obedient children who are straight-A students and all-star athletes. You’ll land the job of your dreams. You’ll retire a multi-millionaire. And after you’re dead, school children will write songs about you.”

That’s not what I’m talking about. We live in a fallen, sin-stained world where things can go bad. Really, really bad. Life is really hard, and sometimes there is simply no good explanation.

I’m not preaching a health-and-wealth message. I’m preaching a Bible message. And the Bible says that, yes, bad things are going to happen. Your faith will be tested. Your life will be rattled. It’s going to be tough.

But whatever you’re facing down in your life, your God is bigger. Your God is victorious. And He has promised you ultimate victory in eternity. So why would we not expect Him to do great things now?

In Psalm 5, David said, “In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” (Psalm 5:3, NIV)

Do you get out of bed in the morning expecting God to do something amazing that day? Do you get up expecting to see a move of God that day?

When you come to church, do you come expecting that God is going to do something incredible? Do you walk in here with anticipation, expecting to see a powerful move of God?

Sports Camp is this week. We’re kicking it off tonight as we meet all the kids and their families. Are you expecting God to blow our minds this week? Are you expecting Him to exceed our every expectation this week?

This is an incredible week at ACC. We also have people going to Tennessee on a mission trip this week. Are you expecting God to use them in HUGE ways? Are you expecting supernatural things to happen through this trip?

Some people would think of this as just blind optimism. It’s not. It’s not optimism. It’s faith.

I have a confession to make, and it’s not something that I’m proud of. But I’m finally ready to admit it. I’m a natural born pessimist. I am. And I hate it. Everything in me wants to be an optimist. I love being around optimistic people. It’s contagious. It’s what I want to be. But at my core, I’m a pessimist.

But as I grow in my relationship with Jesus, I’m finding that faith trumps pessimism. I’ve seen God do so many things that I didn’t expect. Things that I couldn’t believe. And as pessimistic as I might be, I have no reason to believe that God is going to stop now. Nothing in the Bible says He’s going to stop. Nothing in my personal experience says He’s going to stop. So I’m learning to check my pessimism at the door and come to God expectantly.

I’m learning to expect God to do great things. I’m learning to expect God to answer my prayers. I’m learning to expect God to move in a powerful, unmistakable way in me and through me. I’m not perfect, but I’m learning. I’m a recovering pessimist.

And if someone like me can get this, then you can get this. And I’m especially talking to all you pessimists out there. You know who you are.

Here’s the point of all this. When you see our God for who He really is, you should absolutely expect to see his power on full display in your life. And if you don’t want to take my word for it, then listen to what Jesus said.

In John 14, He said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12, NIV)

Jesus did some pretty crazy, incredible things. Healings. Miracles. Walking on water. Changing water into wine. Raising the dead. Those qualify as some pretty amazing things.

But then, Jesus had the audacity to suggest that we could see even greater things in our lives. In fact, He stated it as a promise. If we believe in Him, we will not only do what he has done…we will do even greater things because He has now reunited with the Father.

Jesus said that we would see greater evidence of God’s power in our lives than we saw in His life. I don’t know about you, but I’m uncomfortable with that statement. But Jesus said it. In fact, He promised it. And if Jesus promised it, we had better believe it. We had better own it.

A lot of people will try to explain away verses like this. “Well, He didn’t actually mean that we would see greater things than He did. It’s just a metaphor. It’s symbolism. It really needs an allegorical interpretation instead of a literal interpretation.”

People like this make me crazy. The only reason someone would try to explain this verse away is if their faith isn’t big enough to receive it. Their faith won’t let them believe it, so they go fishing for an alternate interpretation.

I’ve got a better idea. If Jesus said it, let’s just believe it. How’s that sound to you? If Jesus said it, how about we just believe it?

Jesus said that if we fully believe, fully trust, fully rely on Him, we would see an even greater move of God in our lives that we see in His life. And the reason is that Jesus reunited with the Father. And then when you consider that we have the Holy Spirit living in us, that means that we are powered with the full force of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all working in tandem to empower us.

How in the world can you live a defeated life if you believe that? How in the world can you give up if you believe that? How in the world can you allow your circumstances to dominate and defeat you if you believe that?

In 1 John 5, the Bible says, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5, ESV)

First of all, notice who John is talking about. Everyone who has been born of God. Everyone who has given their life to Christ. Everyone who is a believer. In other words, this is true for every Christian who has ever lived or will ever live. And if you’ve given your life to Christ, this is true for you.

Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. If you are one of God’s people, then you have been given victory. You are an overcomer. Nothing in the entire world can take you down. Unemployment can’t take you down. Broken relationships can’t take you down. Disease can’t take you down. Uncertainty can’t take you down. A wayward child can’t take you down. Suffering can’t take you down. Even death can’t take you down. If you are a Christ-follower, then you are an overcomer. You have victory.

And John tells us that that victory is our faith. When I was a kid, I remember singing an old hymn called Faith Is The Victory. Honestly, it made no sense to me at the time. It’s definitely written in King James style English. But I went back and looked at the lyrics again this week, and the second verse really hit me.

“His banner over us is love,

Our sword the Word of God. (God’s love and God’s Word are our weapons in this fight.)

We tread the road the saints above

With shouts of triumph trod. (We aren’t the first ones to walk this road. We’re not the first ones to struggle and face hard times.)

By faith, they like a whirlwind's breath,

Swept on o'er every field.

The faith by which they conquered death

Is still our shining shield. (The faith that worked for the people we read about in the Bible still works. That same faith still works today. The faith that gave them victory will give us victory.)

Our victory comes through our faith. But it’s not blind faith. It’s not some ambivalent, “Oh, I just believe everything will work out” kind of faith. That’s optimism. That’s not faith.

Our faith is very specific. Go back and look at what the Bible says again in 1 John. “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4-5, ESV)

Our faith is our victory if it is faith in Jesus, the Son of God. Don’t buy into idea that, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you believe something.” Or, “Just be sincere in whatever you believe.”

That is a recipe for disaster. Faith isn’t whimsical. It isn’t wish-washy. And it isn’t whatever. Real faith is focused with laser-precision on Jesus.

The reason you are an overcomer is because Jesus is an overcomer. The reason you can live in victory is because Jesus is victorious. The reason your faith will give you victory is because it is solely focused on Jesus. If you take Jesus out of the equation, you are left with nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Jesus is the source of our victory. Jesus promised that we would see even greater things in our lives than we saw in His life. It’s absolutely, completely centered on Jesus. And that’s why we expect nothing less than total victory.

What are you believing Jesus for? What are you waiting in faith for Him to do? How are you expecting Him to come through?

Go back and look at this verse from Psalm 5 one more time. “In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” (Psalm 5:3, NIV)

Today, we’re going to close out with prayers of expectation. If you are expecting God to come through…if you are waiting for His power to be revealed…we’re going to pray over you today.

We’re going to pray prayers of healing. We’re going to pray prayers of reconciliation. We’re going to pray prayers for peace and direction.

If you are expectantly waiting on God, would you stand up? If you’ve been praying a prayer that has yet to be answered, will you stand up? If you believe in God’s power and you’re waiting for it to be fully revealed in your life, would you stand?

Are you waiting on God to heal you? Or to heal someone that you love? Are you praying for Him to heal your marriage? Praying for Him to work in the life of one of your kids? Stand up.

Are you waiting on His direction? You don’t know what to do? You don’t know where to go? Stand up.

For everyone who is standing, listen to this Word from God in Psalm 27. “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psalm 27:13-14, NKJV)

When David wrote this, he felt like he was under attack from all sides. His enemies were plotting against him. Things were looking pretty dark.

But David didn’t buy it. He expected to win. He expected victory. He said, “I would have lost heart if I didn’t expect to see the goodness of God. I’m waiting on Him, but I fully expect Him to come though.”

For those of you standing right now, know this. Your God is great. And your God is good. He is great, meaning He is bigger and more powerful than anything you’re facing down. And He is good, meaning that He loves you completely and He acts on your behalf.

If you believe it, then you will expect it. If you believe it, then you will pray for it. Let’s pray expectantly today.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: 1 John 5, expectations, faith, Game Time, John 14, Philippians 3, Psalm 5