Believe it or not there is a difference between Christianity and Christians.
Christianity is the full account of the life and works of Jesus Christ. Jesus emptied Himself of any Godly powers while here on earth. This is called gnosis (Philippians 2:7). He operated not as God but as you and I operate, as humans. Jesus was tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning (Hebrews 4:15). Thus Jesus was perfect in all ways for us.
Why would Jesus have to come to earth to be perfect in all ways for us?
First you must know God is love (1John 4:16). Love desires fellowship, connection, bonding. God who is perfect in all ways is referred to as a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). If we were to step into His presence with all of our imperfections (sins), we would literally be toast. This leaves us with no way to connect with God. This love God, however, made a way for us to connect with Him. That way is through His perfect son.
Secondly, we already know, yet we must take seriously, that we are imperfect (sinners). The great forefathers of us all, Adam and Eve, were created to live and walk in perfect harmony with God forever. We do not know how long the three of them walked in perfect harmony, yet we do know they eventually transgressed the one and only boundary set by God. They ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warned them that “in the day you eat of this fruit you will surely die.” Now we need to understand what the word die means. It means to be cut off from "Life" - the life flowing connection to God.
Prior to that day Adam and Eve had no knowledge of good or evil. They were innocent children, so to speak, enjoying life, enjoying God with no cares or foreboding conscience+ to hound them. They were free of all restrictions but one. They eventually caved in to that one restriction. They ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and then they had to live with that knowledge. That knowledge is repressive and heavy to live under- knowing that the world, the people of earth, and even yourself, are not as you should be or could be. Our conscience can and does harass us, judge us, and condemn us. We lie, steal, cheat, manipulate, puff ourselves up believing we are better than others, murder, embezzle, gossip, stir up trouble and on and on.
So what did God do about our disconnection from Him? When the perfect "Jesus" was crucified on the cross, Romans (2 Corinthians 5:21) tells us, "He (Jesus) who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus." Prior to the moment of Jesus' death, Jesus literally became sin for every person who ever lived or was to live. He took your sins, my sins, everyone's' sins onto Himself. His Father departed from that sin and Jesus cried out, "Why oh why have you forsaken me (Mark 15:34).” At this very same moment all of us people - past, present, and future - were given Jesus' righteousness. We call this the Great Exchange. Jesus got our sins. We got His righteousness.
Now we are free to have an intimate relationship with God again. Why? Because of Jesus' sacrifice for us we are not only forgiven, but no longer judged. We are the children of God, loved and accepted in the beloved. All anyone has to do to have this relationship with God is to desire to have a relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Then ask and accept this free gift God in Christ has already prepared for you and He will give it all to you.
What is the truth about those of us who do accept and ask to have a relationship with God; those of us who are called Christians? Having a relationship with God is like the beginning of a new marriage. We come into this new relationship with all of our family of origin baggage. A teacher once said, "If you are squirrely the day before you ask Christ into your life then you are squirrely the day after you ask Christ into your life.”
Christians are in process from the day they become believers until the day they die. We never reach perfection this side of Heaven. We screw up every day and sin in a many diverse ways. People look at us and think, "You tell us you are a Christian. Aren't you supposed to be perfect, no longer sinners? You project to us (the non-Christian) that you are better than we are because you are so very perfect and we are the sinners, but I see your imperfections. You are nothing but a hypocrite."
I will admit that this is the way many Christians conduct themselves. It breaks my heart. They are sinning when this is their attitude. This way of being is not God's desire for us. Mature Christians know if it were not for Jesus they would have zero reason to have a relationship with God. Mature Christians know it is only because of God's grace that we can say, "I am loved. I am accepted by God not because of anything I did or could do. My acceptance is totally dependent on God's merciful grace.” We know we have nothing to offer God. We operate out of humility due to this knowledge, not arrogance. This is the heart of a true Christian. I am broken and God is fixing me. Thank you Lord for doing what I cannot do for myself.).”
I often say I live at the first step of AA. Some of the additional steps are slightly modified for Christian purposes. This is the outline of where we start as Christians and where we are headed as Christians. "God who began a good work in us will complete it (Philippians 1:6).
• Step 1- I admit I am powerless over my (sin) addiction- that my life has become unmanageable (in some particular area de jour)
• Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves (Jesus Christ )could restore us to sanity
• Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God
• Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
• Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
• Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
• Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or othe
• Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted i
• Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out
• Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other (sin) addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs
0 comments:
Post a Comment