"Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5:17
Paul was no hypocrite when he wrote these words to the Corinthians. No one in the Bible, except perhaps Moses, experienced a more miraculous conversion as Paul did. Walking down the road to Damascus, fresh from watching the death of the first Christian martyr Stephen, he had a first-hand encounter with the Lord. "...suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" Acts 9: 3-6. A man who was previously "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" went on to become the most famous apostle of all, whose writings constitute the greatest part of our New Testament. Why? How?
No one who really meets Jesus can ever be the same. However we can be lulled into thinking that transformation or change in the Christian life is reserved for those who have dramatic, out-of-this-world encounters with the Lord, just like Paul. There are many in this world who do; but transformation is not exclusive- it is for every single person who believes in Christ. Read the above verse carefully. The moment we accept His love into our life, we have had an encounter with Him; it need not be a bright shining light or a thunderous voice from heaven. The moment His love enters our hearts, there must be a change from deep within, because no matter how perfect a person may be, his earthly nature can never be compatible with the indescribable love of God. Jesus gave a stunning analogy- "No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." Matthew 9: 16-17.
At the very bottom of our hearts there must be a change in the purpose of our lives. I say this because the purpose of our lives is what drives us to do the things that we do; no man ever became a disciple of Christ without purposing to do so. Daniel lived in a pagan world estranged from God, surrounded by vices that he knew God would not approve of; what was his reaction? "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine that he drank." Daniel 1:8. At the start he had already purposed to obey and honour God, and his purpose translated into real actions. Is it any different from us? We live in a world terrible estranged from God; day in day out we feel the pressures to conform and perform, in a society driven by material wealth and comfort. If we do not purpose in our hearts to be different and to honour God, how will we ever be the salt and the light that he has prescribed? We find it easy to purpose to study hard, to purpose to enjoy life, and so forth; above all other purposes, can we purpose to serve God?
And this purpose cannot be just one among others; our daily priority list cannot read "Today I'm going to study for my physics test, go for training, talk to my friends, and serve God." It must read, "Today I'm going to honour God and serve Him in everything I do." Serving God must be our supreme purpose, the one thing that we live for. Jesus outlined this very clearly, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24. I know many people feel intimidated or afraid when they read this verse; it reads like a lifetime contract of suffering and surrender. But this impression could not be any more wrong. Jesus loved His disciples dearly, and this command was a command of love, designed to bring them closer to Him and help them find the joy that He longed to give. Living with Jesus as our supreme purpose is not a way to suffering, it is the way to life. And we as Christians must understand and believe in this. Allow me to try and help in that area.
First of all, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold on to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24. I know that if I were to try to explain this I would take many words, but Jesus put it so succintly for us. So long as we are still clinging on to things of the world, purposes of the world, we will never be able to love and serve God fully. It is like the feeling of being unable to sink into sleep and yet desperate not to stay awake- a most unpleasant one, which army boys would know quite well, one that leaves you unsatisfied and even more tired than before. We cannot be neither here nor there; we cannot profess to serve God's purposes- love, joy and peace- and the world's purposes - money, success, and fame- at the same time because they are worlds apart and grossly incompatible. It would be like comforting a man while stabbing him in the back.
Going back to a historical perspective, the Biblical recount of Creation makes it clear that man was made to walk with God. "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..." Genesis 3:8. God actually walked with Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden! God blessed Adam and Eve with a fruitful and splendid earth, and even more important than that, His personal presence with them, but they chose to turn away to their own desires and purposes. This sums of the history of man in the Bible- time and time again God would call them to live for His purposes and to obey him, and time and time again they would turn away to their own purposes, to their doom. Just look at the Israelites. "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way. and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deuteronomy 6: 5-7. God was reestablishing, after the fall of Adam and Eve, the purpose for which man was created- to honour and love God, in the hearts of the Israelites. And consequently what did the Israelites do? "And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers: and this people will rise up, and go awhoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them." Deuteronomy 31:16. God's purpose is and has always been the highest purpose, the highest calling! When man turned to other gods, other desires, he was not finding something better or something more fulfilling- he was sinking down to lower purposes.
Jesus came to take away our sins, but nowhere did he ever say that we could continue living lives as we pleased. Throughout his ministry he preached a life of total devotion and surrender, no different from what Moses preached in the desert. "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Matthew 9:13. The very act of repentance is not just feeling sorry; it is a turning away from our previous ways of life to those of God. If He came just to forgive us our sins so that we could continue freely living for our own purposes without condemnation, then why did He bother preaching His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)? Why did he bother telling His disciples to take up their cross and follow him wholeheartedly, and then tell them after His resurrection to go and "teach all nations... teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you"? Matthew 28: 19-20. No, He came to reconcile our entire lives to Him, that we may turn completely away from our former lives and live for Him and Him alone. "All things are become new". Why? Because He is God, and this is the purpose for which we were created!
And it is fundamentally different from any other purpose because it is an eternal one. When we look back on life we often feel that time passes so quickly, and it was only yesterday that we were running around in our diapers, taking the first step into secondary school, or taking our O Levels. I believe this is because the things of this world are so temporal, and as time passes by the memory of them inevitably fades away, as does their effects. The joys of life are so fleeting, that sometimes we have barely enjoyed them before we wonder where they have gone. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away..." 1 Peter 1:24. We may be content with these earthly joys, and with living life for the present, but the fact remains that God has something much greater in store- an eternal purpose, one that is far more worthwhile. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." Matthew 6: 19-20. God intended for us to live this eternal purpose because it is the one that will bring us true, everlasting joy and contentment. I want to testify, in my life I have found that whenever I have looked to anything else besides God for purpose in life, I have always been disappointed. Do not mistake me, I would never discount the joys of material comforts, of hobbies, of friendship, of family, of human love. But all these things pale in comparison with living for God, in the same way that the stars in the sky are eclipsed when the sun rises. In living for God we know that everything we do is allowing God's love to shine through to a world desperately in need of light, to people who are in need of love, to sinners who are in need of Christ, and we are honouring and pleasing our Father whom we will someday meet in heaven. What would you give to hear these words from Jesus Himself, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant...enter thou into the joy of thy lord." (Matthew 25:21)?
Is all this possible? Is it practical, and applicable to our daily lives? Many people can grasp the importance of it, but do not believe that it is relevant to our everyday lives. Can God's calling be compatible with our mundane existences? And is it relevant to everybody, since people live very different lives? Looking at the Old Testament, the pillars of faith lived in a wide range of environments. Some, in Christian surroundings, like Moses, David and Solomon. Others, in secular, pagan surroundings, like Daniel, Joseph, and some of the Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah. Yet no one would deny that they were living for God's purpose. How? Each person must find his or her own calling in life, and it is undeniable that some have less choices than others. But what is important is that wherever we are, God's purpose is foremost on our minds. It is what we think about constantly, what we meditate upon daily, what we put into action wholeheartedly; it is the one thing we live for. "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Romans 8:6. And again, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Colossians 3:2. We must be willing to purpose, like Daniel, to honour God even when there are temptations around us; to remain faithful to God, like Moses, even when his own people were falling away in sin; to cry out, like Jeremiah, what God has placed in our hearts, even when people around us don't want to listen; and to obey God, like Jesus, even if it costs us our lives.
But I have reserved the most important point till last. "And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could move mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:2. We may understand all this, and believe in the importance of living for God's purpose, but if we have not God's love in us, it all comes to nought. Christianity, from front to back, in and out, is all about God's love. It is because God loves us that he paid the ultimate cost for us- His own Son. It is because He loves us that He wants so desperately to reconcile us to Him that we may know Him and live His purpose. Can we ignore such an awesome love? Can we let it fall on stone hearts and deaf ears? No! We respond by loving Him with all our hearts, and more. "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." 1 Corinthians 5:14. If there's one thing you take away, let it be this- we live our lives for God because we love Him more than anything else in the world, and "we love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19), with a love that our words could never describe. Amen.
Paul was no hypocrite when he wrote these words to the Corinthians. No one in the Bible, except perhaps Moses, experienced a more miraculous conversion as Paul did. Walking down the road to Damascus, fresh from watching the death of the first Christian martyr Stephen, he had a first-hand encounter with the Lord. "...suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" Acts 9: 3-6. A man who was previously "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" went on to become the most famous apostle of all, whose writings constitute the greatest part of our New Testament. Why? How?
No one who really meets Jesus can ever be the same. However we can be lulled into thinking that transformation or change in the Christian life is reserved for those who have dramatic, out-of-this-world encounters with the Lord, just like Paul. There are many in this world who do; but transformation is not exclusive- it is for every single person who believes in Christ. Read the above verse carefully. The moment we accept His love into our life, we have had an encounter with Him; it need not be a bright shining light or a thunderous voice from heaven. The moment His love enters our hearts, there must be a change from deep within, because no matter how perfect a person may be, his earthly nature can never be compatible with the indescribable love of God. Jesus gave a stunning analogy- "No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." Matthew 9: 16-17.
At the very bottom of our hearts there must be a change in the purpose of our lives. I say this because the purpose of our lives is what drives us to do the things that we do; no man ever became a disciple of Christ without purposing to do so. Daniel lived in a pagan world estranged from God, surrounded by vices that he knew God would not approve of; what was his reaction? "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine that he drank." Daniel 1:8. At the start he had already purposed to obey and honour God, and his purpose translated into real actions. Is it any different from us? We live in a world terrible estranged from God; day in day out we feel the pressures to conform and perform, in a society driven by material wealth and comfort. If we do not purpose in our hearts to be different and to honour God, how will we ever be the salt and the light that he has prescribed? We find it easy to purpose to study hard, to purpose to enjoy life, and so forth; above all other purposes, can we purpose to serve God?
And this purpose cannot be just one among others; our daily priority list cannot read "Today I'm going to study for my physics test, go for training, talk to my friends, and serve God." It must read, "Today I'm going to honour God and serve Him in everything I do." Serving God must be our supreme purpose, the one thing that we live for. Jesus outlined this very clearly, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matthew 16:24. I know many people feel intimidated or afraid when they read this verse; it reads like a lifetime contract of suffering and surrender. But this impression could not be any more wrong. Jesus loved His disciples dearly, and this command was a command of love, designed to bring them closer to Him and help them find the joy that He longed to give. Living with Jesus as our supreme purpose is not a way to suffering, it is the way to life. And we as Christians must understand and believe in this. Allow me to try and help in that area.
First of all, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold on to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24. I know that if I were to try to explain this I would take many words, but Jesus put it so succintly for us. So long as we are still clinging on to things of the world, purposes of the world, we will never be able to love and serve God fully. It is like the feeling of being unable to sink into sleep and yet desperate not to stay awake- a most unpleasant one, which army boys would know quite well, one that leaves you unsatisfied and even more tired than before. We cannot be neither here nor there; we cannot profess to serve God's purposes- love, joy and peace- and the world's purposes - money, success, and fame- at the same time because they are worlds apart and grossly incompatible. It would be like comforting a man while stabbing him in the back.
Going back to a historical perspective, the Biblical recount of Creation makes it clear that man was made to walk with God. "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..." Genesis 3:8. God actually walked with Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden! God blessed Adam and Eve with a fruitful and splendid earth, and even more important than that, His personal presence with them, but they chose to turn away to their own desires and purposes. This sums of the history of man in the Bible- time and time again God would call them to live for His purposes and to obey him, and time and time again they would turn away to their own purposes, to their doom. Just look at the Israelites. "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way. and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deuteronomy 6: 5-7. God was reestablishing, after the fall of Adam and Eve, the purpose for which man was created- to honour and love God, in the hearts of the Israelites. And consequently what did the Israelites do? "And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers: and this people will rise up, and go awhoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them." Deuteronomy 31:16. God's purpose is and has always been the highest purpose, the highest calling! When man turned to other gods, other desires, he was not finding something better or something more fulfilling- he was sinking down to lower purposes.
Jesus came to take away our sins, but nowhere did he ever say that we could continue living lives as we pleased. Throughout his ministry he preached a life of total devotion and surrender, no different from what Moses preached in the desert. "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Matthew 9:13. The very act of repentance is not just feeling sorry; it is a turning away from our previous ways of life to those of God. If He came just to forgive us our sins so that we could continue freely living for our own purposes without condemnation, then why did He bother preaching His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)? Why did he bother telling His disciples to take up their cross and follow him wholeheartedly, and then tell them after His resurrection to go and "teach all nations... teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you"? Matthew 28: 19-20. No, He came to reconcile our entire lives to Him, that we may turn completely away from our former lives and live for Him and Him alone. "All things are become new". Why? Because He is God, and this is the purpose for which we were created!
And it is fundamentally different from any other purpose because it is an eternal one. When we look back on life we often feel that time passes so quickly, and it was only yesterday that we were running around in our diapers, taking the first step into secondary school, or taking our O Levels. I believe this is because the things of this world are so temporal, and as time passes by the memory of them inevitably fades away, as does their effects. The joys of life are so fleeting, that sometimes we have barely enjoyed them before we wonder where they have gone. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away..." 1 Peter 1:24. We may be content with these earthly joys, and with living life for the present, but the fact remains that God has something much greater in store- an eternal purpose, one that is far more worthwhile. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal." Matthew 6: 19-20. God intended for us to live this eternal purpose because it is the one that will bring us true, everlasting joy and contentment. I want to testify, in my life I have found that whenever I have looked to anything else besides God for purpose in life, I have always been disappointed. Do not mistake me, I would never discount the joys of material comforts, of hobbies, of friendship, of family, of human love. But all these things pale in comparison with living for God, in the same way that the stars in the sky are eclipsed when the sun rises. In living for God we know that everything we do is allowing God's love to shine through to a world desperately in need of light, to people who are in need of love, to sinners who are in need of Christ, and we are honouring and pleasing our Father whom we will someday meet in heaven. What would you give to hear these words from Jesus Himself, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant...enter thou into the joy of thy lord." (Matthew 25:21)?
Is all this possible? Is it practical, and applicable to our daily lives? Many people can grasp the importance of it, but do not believe that it is relevant to our everyday lives. Can God's calling be compatible with our mundane existences? And is it relevant to everybody, since people live very different lives? Looking at the Old Testament, the pillars of faith lived in a wide range of environments. Some, in Christian surroundings, like Moses, David and Solomon. Others, in secular, pagan surroundings, like Daniel, Joseph, and some of the Prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah. Yet no one would deny that they were living for God's purpose. How? Each person must find his or her own calling in life, and it is undeniable that some have less choices than others. But what is important is that wherever we are, God's purpose is foremost on our minds. It is what we think about constantly, what we meditate upon daily, what we put into action wholeheartedly; it is the one thing we live for. "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Romans 8:6. And again, "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." Colossians 3:2. We must be willing to purpose, like Daniel, to honour God even when there are temptations around us; to remain faithful to God, like Moses, even when his own people were falling away in sin; to cry out, like Jeremiah, what God has placed in our hearts, even when people around us don't want to listen; and to obey God, like Jesus, even if it costs us our lives.
But I have reserved the most important point till last. "And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could move mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:2. We may understand all this, and believe in the importance of living for God's purpose, but if we have not God's love in us, it all comes to nought. Christianity, from front to back, in and out, is all about God's love. It is because God loves us that he paid the ultimate cost for us- His own Son. It is because He loves us that He wants so desperately to reconcile us to Him that we may know Him and live His purpose. Can we ignore such an awesome love? Can we let it fall on stone hearts and deaf ears? No! We respond by loving Him with all our hearts, and more. "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." 1 Corinthians 5:14. If there's one thing you take away, let it be this- we live our lives for God because we love Him more than anything else in the world, and "we love him, because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19), with a love that our words could never describe. Amen.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home