steve.c

It is why I am a Christian. Reading the Bible convinced me that it must be the Word of God and that Jesus was the Son of God because of the goodness and holiness that radiates from Him. People who decry the Bible and try to find textual inconsistencies simply close their minds to the wonderful message and the essential truth that shines from each page of the New Testament. The more I read and study it, the more I know it is so. The example of Jesus shows how self-regard comes in the way of placing Him at the centre of our lives and really following His teaching in everything, yes everything, we do. Of course, I have answered back, given tit-for-tat and threatened some revenge or at least had the pleasure of fantasising about some vengeful act. How different is Jesus. With every justification He did not speak ill; He did not deceive or misrepresent the facts; He did not retaliate, He was the model of meekness and humility; and He did not threaten. At His trial, He remained silent, except to admit who He was. He put all His trust in God, His Father. What an example, which I must strive harder to follow. This will be a subject of my prayers.

This is very difficult because it is natural that we should grumble and complain if we believe that we are being unfairly treated and there is a whole edifice of employment law and tribunals which serve to encourage complaint. On the other hand Peter tells us to endure it and to suffer it without complaint: to be conscious of God always and to offer it to Him. No a conscious Christian should not complain. I try to do as I am told and to let insults and unfairness run off me; not reacting to them. But there are times when a snide comment comes out or a defiant shrug of the shoulders. There are times also when I share a grumble with fellow workers and criticise working conditions and management decisions. This is something that I should work on so that I become more servile and accept the conditions of my work place and the attitudes of my boss in the service of God because He finds this attitude commendable. Yes, I will just have to try harder.

God enabled His people to sacrifice and animal, rather than themselves, for the forgiveness of their sins. In His mercy He allowed them to substitute the animal for themselves. He did not have to, it was an undeserved gift, which enabled them to receive His mercy and forgiveness.

Paul answers this question rather better than I when he writes, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your hearts, as working for the Lord, not men." [Col. 3:23] In what ever we do we must give of our best because in whatever we do in all our relationships we should bring credit on God. Our character should be exemplary because we are of God. Shoddy work dishonours God.

God is not dependent on us in any way. However, if we have accepted that we are God's children and His heirs, we have also accepted that we are to be obedient to Him and accept His leadership in every aspect of our lives. If this is so, we will radiate the indwelling Jesus that came when we were reborn in Him. Those in the kingdom of God are to be meek and humble; they are to be last and to serve; they are to love their neighbour and their enemy; they are to obey secular authority to the extent it is not in direct conflict with our faith. The more we live righteous lives, the more we reflect the person who is at the centre of it. It is part of our worship. To be rebellious is to put ourselves or the world first, not God. God wants us to come to Him and to stay with Him, because He loves us. When our priorities are wrong, it means we are not being submissive and obedient to Him. It is a rejection of His love and to that extent it hurts.

We should live so that the love of Jesus that is within us radiates from us; it is not us but Him. Practicing a Christian life strictly and constantly is an act of worship and by obeying the teaching of Jesus and His apostles we show to the world the importance of God in our lives. It is the central focus of our lives and we cannot compromise this. Indeed, we are told to do the opposite by letting our light shine forth! If we blend in, we take on the attitudes of unbelievers. We disguise the fact that we are sancified and have the Holy Spirit within us. It is as if we are embarrassed to be God's children and heirs to His inheritance. Our diffidence is not praise (and we have everything to be thankfully about and everything to praise given God's great love and mercy) but an apology, which is an insult given what we have received through grace.

Peter tells us that we are strangers and aliens and are not of the world. This is an aspect of a disciple's life which is often criticised by unbelievers because they say we are stuck up or have some sort of superiority complex. What they do not understand is that the ways of the world are the ways of sin. Peter tells us to abstain from sinful desires. We should not entertain sinful thoughts and we should not put ourselves in a position where we are exposed to behaviour which makes light of , or condones, sinful desires and treats them as natural and acceptable whether this be in places of entertainment, books, films or socialising with people who give full reign to these sinful desires. His reminder helps me because it confirms that my active avoidance of circumstances where I am tempted to give in to sinful or lustful desires is the way properly a Christian should behave.

First it shows that we are placed in a very special position in relationship to God: royal priests. That position of privilege must be earned and maintained. In our every action, we must reflect well on our King. We must also serve Him loyally and without regard for self. We must obey Him without question. It also tells us that we are a community and that community should be important to us. It sets us apart and we must work together. Church is not just a Sunday gathering. We must love, get to know and support our fellow royal priests. It is amongst the priesthood where our closest friends and our spouses will come. If we want to be disciples (and royal priests) we must love one another. Each one of us has a part in the edifice which is the body of Christ. We must work together. When sinners are saved and become priests themselves, we must draw them fully into our church and community.

It makes His gift even greater. The arrest, trial and crucifiction of Jesus was not a series of calamatous events which unfortunately occurred. Jesus volunteered His life; He gave it willingly. How does this encourage me? It makes me want to follow Jesus more earnestly and to thank Him more for His sacrifice for me. It makes the sacrifice even more wonderful, even more loving. It shows how Jesus values each and everyone of us. His love reaches out to us. He will do anything for us even to the extent of volunteering His life for us. Obviously I must reciprocate as best I can. I must submit myself entirely to His will. I must give my all in return.

The purpose is clear. It is a sacrifice "given on behalf of" others, including me. A ransom is a payment made to secure the freedom of someone else. Jesus paid a ransom for me. "It was a ransom for many." Why did he pay it? He paid it "for our sins". "He gave Himself to redeem us...to purify us." He is "the fragrant offering" for us. Through this we are saved and our sins forgiven. He gave this sacrifice so that sin could be overcome and we could be justified.

We should praise God in everything we do. Obviously this means worshipping Him and giving thanks in the formal setting of our church. The focus of our prayers should be more on praise and thanksgiving and resolving to be more obedient to His teaching than on petition. But we should worship with the way we direct our lives; that is praising Him. We must be obedient to His will, not by outward appearance but genuine heart-felt obedience. We praise Him by living according to His Word. We praise Him by proclaiming His Word so that more people can hear it. We support our Church with our own efforts and resources, generously given, thereby praising the capstone of our church. Our shining light is to reflect His shining glory.

Jesus' sacrifice is real. As a man He suffered greatly. We know in the Garden of Gethsemane how anxious He was about what He knew was to happen. He wanted to be relieved of the mission, if God willed it. Jesus as a man also lived like us and understood our humanity. He was tempted as we are tempted. He had a family. He had relationships. He is not remote which is why it is easy to turn to Him because He has experienced what we experience. He is not remote but close and comforting. Christ's suffering and death is at the centre of our faith. Through this sin is conquered and by His resurrection death, the inevitable consequence that follows, is conquered. Jesus' ministry on earth and His sacrifice on the cross show God's great love for us. He ave His only Son. This is why we respond to it. If there was not suffering, if Jesus had not entered into the human condition, the sacrifice would have been symbolic not real. He would be a much more remote figure who does not relate to our fears and weaknesses. Our relationship with Him would be quite different.

The mind set of a priest is to offer service (or sacrifice) and worship to God. It is also to be part of a priesthood which dedicates its life to this and to play what ever designated role that is assigned to them. I must also act in the same way. In my life my sacrifice or service should be living a life based on the teachings of Jesus and His apostles which is worthy of one who is a child or a priest of God. A way of life which brings honour and glory to His name. As a priest I am called to this service as the primary purpose of my life. I have dedicated myself to Him. It is also a mindset which directs my prayer and worship towards God; not as a supplicant but to praise, honour and worship Him. This is a spiritual offering from the heart which I hope will be pleasing to Him. As a member of a priesthood, a living priesthood, I must offer my talents for the use of the church. I must be an active member of my church: one of the rocks out of which it is constructed.

The sacrifice of Jesus was brutal and physical and it was made by someone who was without sin for those that are sinful. When we share in His sacrifice and share His body at the Lord's Supper we should think of the suffering that Jesus suffered underwent on our behalf. The courage with which He bore pain and humiliation. It then brings His gift to us in sharp relief. It helps to remind us exactly what we are sharing.

Directly sharing in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross through participating in the Lord's Supper, draws me more closely to Him and makes His sacrifice personal to me. The Lord's Supper to me is more than just a memorial to a past event, however important. Jesus is present at the Lord';s Supper. The physical sharing of the bread and wine, His body and blood, has a spiritual reality. He is with me and I with Him. This makes the Lord's Supper more important to me. His body and blood are not only an atonement for my sins, they are a source of spiritual sustenance to me. The closer the Lord's Supper brings me to Jesus, as we share His sacrifice of atonement together, the more He nourishes me and gives me strength to do His bidding and to resist the world.

The priests eating a portion of the sacrifice was part of the atonement process. This is how they participated in the scarifice. We do the same when we comsume the bread and wine at the Lord's Supper. We participate in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. It was His sacrifice for us and we must participate in it. This is why the Lord's Supper is such a powerful event each time we participate in it.

Yes, I have and that my life was of no value as I was drifting through it. 1 Peter 1:18-19 says that my salvation was purchased at a very high price, higher than any material thing here on earth; it was purchased by the blood of Jesus. It is the greatest expression of God's love for me that Jesus made such a sacrifice. It tells me that treasure on earth is transient and ultimately valueless. It is treasure in heaven that counts because it endures for ever.

One of the things I had not expected when I became born again was that from some unbelievers there is a hostility. It is as if being a Christian is a threat; it seems to make them uncomfortable. I think there is a realisation that Christians have made a life choice which addresses sin and the sinful state. That they have turned away from it and the kingdom of the world. That is why they are strangers not citizens of the world. Unbelievers know that they haven't made such a life choice but are being carried along by the world even if the Christian is not judging them. There is a divide which can cause a resentment. God loves us which is why He wants us to turn towards Him. He wants us to repent of our sins and to be obedient to the teachings of His Son. That is why He sent His Son to us. He is God and disobedience to Him results in His justifiable wrath. He is just and despenses justice which requires judgement. His judgement is always fair and impartial. His judgement is perfect as He is perfect. We bring upon ourselves His vengance if we turn away from Him. He does not want it; we bring it upon to ourselves. Salvation which is the good news is when those who have turned to Jesus and been obedient to Him will be separated from those who have not. When Jesus returns no one will avoid judgement but everyone can influence its outcome during their lives. Judgement is one of the six principal tenets of our faith [Hebrews 6:1-3]. The Gospel is incomplete without it. It is central to Jesus' message of salvation. If we miss it out or ignor it, we are failing to hold to the teaching of the Gospel and making a religion of our own.

The word "koinonia" means "to participate", "to share with others". At the Lord's Supper it reinforces that we are all members of Jesus' church, brought together because of His sacrifice for us, products of His sacrifice. Then it is a gift by God's grace that He shares with us: salvation and eternal life which He achieved through His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead. Sharing in the blood of Christ is the greatest privilige; it is life giving and it encourages me to witness so that others may share in this incredible gift.

Holiness is at its ultimate is that character of God which makes His morality perfect. It is the chacteristic of the kingdom of God, its focus is on the sacred and spiritual, not on secular, worldly, material values. I am holy because I have been born again in Jesus. I am a new creation in Him. I have turned away from the life of sin, the rejection of God, and the kingdom of the world and entered the kingdom of God. To remain in the kingdom I must be fully obedient to the teachings of Jesus and His apostles. It defines what I must do in every aspect of my life with His Spirit within me as me guide, teacher and inspiration. My biggest struggle with holiness is being destracted and tempted by material things and material comforts. It is so easy for ones attention to be drawn away from our Lord to the satisfaction of worldly pleasures and possessions.

Jesus' second coming is the culmination of His ministry; it is when the promise will be fulfilled; it is when we will receive our salvation. It is the central purpose of our lives here on earth, which is why it should receive our undivided attention. It is to be a glorious time, better than any of us can imagine. The knowledge of this happening in the future is uplifting and motivating. It is clear how the righteous of the kingdom of God are to live. The Bible is our guide on how we should behave. We are not to give in to worldly or bodily passions and lusts but to control ourselves as we have been taught. We must always be ready for His return because Jesus told us to be so. " You must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." [Luke 12:40] If we do not expect his return soon, we may back-slide and are lives become distracted with worldly affairs and our focus becomes blunted.

The dangers to the Christians in Corinth are the same dangers as assail us: it was in large measure an idolatrous, materialistic, pleasure seeking place looking for instant gratification, just like today. Paul could sense the lure and temptations of the kingdom of the world on the Church, tempting its members out of the kingdom of God. We cannot live in both of these worlds, even if the Devil tries to encourage us that this notion is possible. If we want to share in Jesus' body and blood, in His redeeming sacrifice and the salvation that comes from it, we must turn thoroughly way from drinking the cup of demons. The Lord's Supper renews that commitment each time we participate in it.

By proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes, we are proclaiming our faith in Him and our salvation through Him. We are to do this until His second coming. It is made to believers and unbelievers alike. It is essential that everybody in the world hears the gospel of our Lord to bring about the second coming of Jesus. Service in the Kingdom of God demands that we are ambassadors of the Kingdom and witness our faith to those who have not received the good news. If the church has another objective which redirects disciples away from witnessing their faith which is Jesus' direct instruction and church's central theme. "Go make disciples of all nations." We are to be the labourers for His harvest.

By Jesus' death we are saved. Without His sacrifice there would be no forgiveness of our sins. In a state of sin we are cannot come to God and in sin we die, estranged from God. This is the central Christian belief. We believe in our hearts Jesus died for our sins and was raised from the dead, thereby conquering death. We turn away from sin and towards Him. We confess our sins and repent. We are baptised and are born again in Him to enter His kingdom and do be of service to Him. If we neglect to remember this, we neglect the reason for our service and worship. By forgetting God's love and His gift to us of His Son our faith starts to become dim until it eventually dies. We remember to reinvigorate and refresh our faith. We give thanks for it constantly.

It was to celebrate God sparing the Iraelites in Egypt by passing over them which was part of God's intervention in advancing the cause of His chosen people. By repeating the Passover meal each year the Jews were reminded of God's part in the destiny and that they owed all to God. It was also a way of teaching the young members of a Jewish family of God's place in their lives and in their history. If they stopped remembering God's hand in the Exodus they would start to forget and turn away from God. Like the Lord's Supper it is a renewal.