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11 Jan:
As New Creatures: What is Our “Calling”?
1 Peter 2:21 “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.
2 Tim 1:9 “He has saved us and called us to a holy life . . . .”
Now HOW do we accomplish the will of the Father?
So, what is the purpose or goal of a Christian? To model and follow the example of Christ Jesus in doing the will of the Father.
So, what does doing the will of the Father mean?
- Doing the will of the Father means Self-Denial: Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Gal 5:22 “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Rom 8:12-14 modified “So then, brethren, we are under obligation – not to the flesh – but living by the Spirit whereby we are putting to death the deeds of the body, for all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” Eph 4:22-24 “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 1 Peter 4:2 “so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. Col 3:1,2 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above . . . . Set your mind on the things above, not on the things of earth.”
- Doing the will of the Father means being willing to Suffer: Rom 8:35-37 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written: ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” Mt 5:11 ““Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Mt 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. 2 Cor 11: 23-28 “Are they servants of Christ? I more so – in far more labors, more imprisonments, beaten without number, often in danger. Five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes, 3 times beaten with rods, stoned, 3 times shipwrecked, . . . . Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.” 2 Cor 12:10 “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” “Thorn in the flesh”
- Doing the will of the Father means bringing Him glory: John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent me.” John 17:3,4 “I glorified you on the earth, having accomplished the work which you have given Me to do.” Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” 1 Cor 6:20 “For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.” Eph 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” 1 Peter 2:12 “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
- Doing the will of the Father means Imitating Christ: I Cor 11:1 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” Luke 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” John 13:14 “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” Eph 5:2 “And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
An impossible number of Scriptures mention how we are to live our lives. But simply put, our lives are to pattern themselves after that of the Lord. We are to serve first and foremost in the Lord’s kingdom completing those works which the Lord has created us to do.
CONCLUSION: What is Our Calling? To do the Will of the Father and Glorify Him!
1 Thess 1:11,12 “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 Jan: What Kind of “NEW CREATURE” Are WE To Be???
2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature”
Given that this is the first Sunday of a new year I chose this topic to coincide with the idea of being a NEW creature in the Lord. In this verse Paul tells us that those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior will become a new person. The old things that use to define us and control us no longer do so and instead there are now new things which guide us and direct us.
I want to look at two aspects of our lives today – those things of this world which were in our lives and also those things which MIGHT be in our lives today.
In order to understand being “in Christ” we need to look at a couple of verses:
- I Cor 6:11 “Such were some of you in this world, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. You see in this verse three verbs: washed, sanctified and justified – ALL in the name of the Lord. This means our being sanctified or set apart and our being justified, which is being made right in the sight of God, all happens because we can claim the name of our Lord as our Savior. This situation occurs because we are first – washed in the name of the Lord:
- Rom 6:3,4,5 “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father; so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.” It is our being united with Him in baptism that we have become sanctified and justified.
In Him we are sanctified and justified before God and NEW CREATURES.
- SO, our being “in Christ” is by following the prescription of hearing, believing, repenting and being baptized as prescribed in Acts 2:38
So lets go back to our first verse and look at the whole passage: 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” In order to see how it is that old things pass and become new – we need to go back to a previous verse: 2 Cor 5:4 “For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.” Paul has indicated here that what we know on this earth, the days that we live here are often times very difficult and that we want to be SWALLOWED up by LIFE!!! I believe that is a reference to Jesus’ promise to bring us an ABUNDANT LIFE!! But what does this mean or how does it happen? The next verse gives us a good indication: 2 Cor 5:5 “Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge -- verse 9 “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.” WHY do we want to be pleasing to Him? Rom 8:15,16 “…you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God”. We want to be pleasing to Him because we are no longer children of Adam and of this world – we are children of God. Gal 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. 2 Cor 5:9 “We also have as our ambition to be pleasing to Him.”
We have been washed, cleansed, united with Christ and therefore we are sanctified and justified.
Now lets look at the whole verse in today’s passage:
2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, new things have come.”
In order for us to be this “New Creature” two things must happen:
We must: 1) removing the old things and we must 2) bring in new things.
WHAT “OLD” things have passed away??
1 Cor 6:9,10 “Or do you not know the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. “
There are a host of scriptures listing the sins of this world: 2 Cor 12:20 Eph 4:31 Col 3:8 1 Tim 3:11 5:13 Tit 2:3 Jas 2:11 1 Pe 2:1, 12 Rev 21:8 22:15
These are a whole host of verses which condemn the way the world operates – and THESE are the old things that have passed away.
Now like breaking any habit – when old things are removed they need to be replaced by other things. This is where becoming a new creature comes into play.
As we read the Word, meditate, study and open ourselves to His Spirit – as we begin to pray, listen and better understand what God wants from us and who he wants us to be – we can begin to fulfill the expectation stated in Romans 12:1,2 “Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and prefect.”
The desire to be transformed and be a living sacrifice WITH Him is motivated by the love and sacrifice He made for us! 2 Cor 5:14,15 “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” The LOVE OF CHRIST controls us because we give ourselves over to Him and no longer live for ourselves – BUT FOR HIM!!!
And that allows us to wrap this section up with two verses:
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them”.
2 Tim 1:9 echoes this: 2 Tim 1:9 “God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not because of anything we have done to deserve it, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity”
Col 3:1,2 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above …. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things of earth.”
Verse after verse refers to our being called for the purpose of doing His will and producing good works. Being His ambassador NOT out of compulsion but out of love and being led by the Holy Spirit.
So, as we enter into this New Year I would encourage you NOT to make some crazy wild religious or even earthly resolution. INSTEAD, resolve to be more open to His Spirit, immerse yourself in His Scriptures and the doing of His good works. We are not working to earn salvation but rather because we want to be pleasing to Him as any child does for their parent. This will then bring us into a enriched, fulfilled and joyous life that He has promised us.