"God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?" - 1 Corinthians 6:14-15
Jesus submitted to the will of the Father who chose not to remove the “cup”
from which Jesus was about to partake – the Cross at Calvary. Jesus died to the
world and was raised up by the Father – not on His own. Jesus did not lay in
the tomb counting the minutes until it was time to make His move and come out
of the tomb. His resurrection from the dead is a picture of our new birth. Once
we were all dead toward God but by faith, we too were resurrected. Transformed –
like Jesus – new creations.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things
have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of
God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us
the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the
world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to
us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God were pleading through us" – 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." – Galatians
2:20
We live out
our lives as Christians in a natural body. That body is subject to life in the
natural world even though we are born again supernaturally. It is that paradox that we struggle with
every day. The key is to live our lives
with a keen awareness of that very fact.
The New Testament reveals the ministry of Jesus, the mystery of our
inclusion in God’s plan of restoration, and a guide to how we should live our
new lives in Christ. New lives lived out
by the power of God – not our vain effort to be like Jesus by our own power. We
have been sanctified – set apart by faith in Jesus – and we are being
sanctified – made to be like Jesus through faith and the power of God.
"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to
the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren"
– Romans 8:29
"And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God." – Romans 12:2
"Yet
indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and
count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having
my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and
the power of His resurrection." – Philippians 3:8-10
Dr. Francis Schaeffer, a Christian apologist, wrote a book entitled, “How
Should We Then Live”. The question has to do with how Christians should live in
a world that does not know Christ and not pursue those things that are contrary to
God’s creative design. I quoted these
verses to encourage you to remember who you are – just as I am doing even as I
write these words, and remember that the new life we live – we live by faith having
been called to be witnesses not just by words but by the way we live and love.
Believe it – walk in it. Let your light shine and
give God the glory.
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His
Glory Alone
No comments:
Post a Comment