Today we will talk in detail about what a Christian's life should be. The activities involved and how we can bible study and live the word. But, before we do let's touch up on the definition of salvation.
When a Christian believes and is baptized he is through the act saying the old man died on the cross with Christ, he is buried with Christ (when he goes into the water) and a new man has risen (when he rises back out of the water). This seems like something simple but, its actually really amazing. You see when Jesus Christ died on that cross he died pure of his own sin but, carrying our sin. Our old man hung up there with him. This meant that the debt that we owed God was paid on that cross and what rose with Christ was the new man. This new man is righteous. Righteous means to be made right with God. Think about it. Before we do anything in our christian life we are already righteous simply by accepting the work that Christ has done. That means anything we do from this point onwards is not to gain a relationship with God but, because we have him already. Its is not to get a father but, because we have one!
After this the bible tells us that the spirit that gave life to Christ is also going to give life to our dead bodies. So as we grow daily in becoming the new man and in losing the old man the holy spirit gives us life. Can you imagine? First we have unearned righteousness simply because he loved us and he did the work and now he continues to provide the grace to keep going. So don't worry, Live for him because you love him, trust in his grace and ask him to teach you how to live, walk in the light and should you fail ask him for forgiveness and start walking again. The war is already won! Battles don't change the ending.
So now that we have talked about the motive with which we should fight the battle let's talk about a parable told by Jesus. The bible tells us a story of ten women waiting for a groom to come. These women did not know at what time the groom would arrive but, they were expected to wait at the gate with their lamps on. Now the lamps back then were oil lamps. They would only light until the oil in them had ended. Five of the women had extra oil, the other five did not. The story tells us that as the night progressed the fire in their lamps began to end. And the five careless women asked the other five for some of their oil. However, at the refusal of the five who were prepared they had to go out to look for oil. At this point the groom comes and he takes in the five who were present. Later in the night the five who had left came back and knocked on the groom’s gate. But, when he answered the door, he tells them that he does not know them and leaves them out. This is a terrifying story isn't it?
Its actually not. The reason is because it tells us how to maintain our fires lit. Think of the fire like our christian lives. If we keep the fire stoked then it will keep burning until the very end and when the groom comes back we will be waiting at the gate. However if we do not keep it stoked eventually it will die out. What keeps it stoked you ask? Oil of course. Prayer, reading scripture, living everyday in Gods presence so that he keeps renewing us and growing the fire. That's why scripture and prayer are very important. Because they feed us. And what we feed grows. And it doesn't need to be that yearly reading plan, or the three hour bible study. Those are great, but, all God asks is for us to love the word and make an effort to read it, think about it and to ask him to teach it to us. Whether its a verse a day or 10 chapters a day isn't what makes the difference. It's that we are allowing God to teach us the word and submitting ourselves to its transformative powers through prayer and daily living. It is literally impossible to list down all the things that God likes and dislikes. But, ultimately the secret to christian living is submission to God in every way so that we are made more like Christ. If we do that, the change we hope to see, freedom from sexual sin, forgiveness for those we hate, patience, love, kindness...are all results. Fruits if you will.
Everyday, we should make time for the God who loves us. We should ask him our questions and allow him and no one else to answer them. We should read his word. We should analyze what it says and think about how he means it. We should form a loving relationship with scripture. We should allow it to be our measuring standard. It should have the freedom to correct us and the power to encourage us. Then we should change the things it leads us to change and we should ask God for help when we struggle with doing so. We should not justify our wayward days or use the scripture for our defense. We should read it free of our preconceptions. So that the word of God can change us. When we do this we get to see the beauty, that is scripture working in our lives.
So what are we saying over all? Through the work of Christ we have been made part of His amazing family. Part of the body of Christ where He is the head. A body may have different functions but, never does it stray from the thought process of the mind. If it does there is a malfunction. We are to live in such a way that honors the body we are a part of and submits to the mind that controls the body. To be living witnesses to the amazing God we serve. To walk in the same way Christ walked. And to do so until He comes back again or we go to him. What a blessing it is. Through His work we have been made right with God and through His provision we shall continue to be made right with Him! All we have to do is submit, and keep on submitting every single day.
Simply put Christianity isn’t a religion or a list of chores to do everyday, it isn’t a task or an obligation. It is simply a loving relationship with God. Just you and God. It is literally the most intimate and most closest relationship you could ever form. God is often called the “Lover of your soul” and He is that. Or think of it like marriage; You were once married to darkness, it was an abusive relationship. It cost you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. On the day of salvation you have been set free, divorced from darkness, and now been remarried. Your new marriage is none like you have ever seen before. You are loved sacrificially, you are cared and taken care of beautifully, you are protected and taught well. You live as if you have married the prince of Heaven (Cause you have!) The Prince’s bride deserves all things royal and all things royal is what you get! See, Christianity isn’t an outlined and boxed in list of ceremonies and activities, it is your union with God. If what Christ did on the cross is God’s proposal to you, Christianity is your answer to His proposal. And so now you don’t sin not because it’s against the law of God but because you love God. And God’s love language is obedience, it is by obeying Him that we show our love to Him!
Remember marriages have ups and downs, they have times of quietness and miscommunication, but there are also times of surreal memories and times of love. Christianity is also like that. And like how in a marriage the wife submits and humbles herself to her husband, and if the husband was to relocate to a different city because of his Job she would move with him… Christianity is an act of submission to God’s loving guidance and authority over us and an act of moving with Him.
It is important to know that if Christianity is a marriage and a union with God, then God is the head of that marriage, the leader, provider and protector. The relationship is guided by Him, we do not guide Him. So take the idea you have that says that it’s your role to guide your christian relationship… It is not! Your role is to humbly submit to the will of God and do what He tells us to do. Oh how loved are we to be engaged with our true love forever! A love inseparable by circumstanced or pain, suffering and death. Love beyond the graves and love that heals all wounds.
"ለዘለዓለም እንደ ባለቤቴ አደርግሻለሁ፤ በጽድቅ፥ በፍትሕ፥ በዘለዓለማዊ ፍቅርና በምሕረት እንደ ባለቤቴ እንድትሆኚ አደርጋለሁ። ቃል ኪዳኔን በመጠበቅ እንደ ባለቤቴ አደርግሻለሁ፤ አንቺም እኔ እግዚአብሔር እንደ ሆንኩ ታውቂያለሽ።" — ትንቢተ ሆሴዕ 2:19 - 20
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: The old has gone, the new is here!” — 1 Corinthians 5:17
"And you belong to Christ” — 1 Corinthians 3:23
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 8:38-39
“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,” — Romans 4:16
“Whoever claims to live in God must also live as Jesus did.” — 1 John 2:6
“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” — John 14:23
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” — Isaiah 43:1-3