What
It Means To Be A Christian (e)
Jim
Davis
Amidst our space age
technology, millions are searching for meaning. Very few are finding it.
Humanity has always sought fulfillment through knowledge, materialism,
power and pleasure. Solomon explored these avenues and concluded, "All
is vanity and a striving after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:11)
This is not to say that
there is not a certain amount of joy to be had through an accumulation
of knowledge, wealth, pleasure and power. It is not to say that there is
no pleasure in the physical world. But if one or more of these areas become
the chief goal in life, one is destined for disappointment. There is a
legitimate place for each, but not as the central focal point of our lives.
If one is to find meaning
and direction for living, one must understand that a meaningful life is
bound up in relationships. A relationship with God, with one's neighbor,
a healthy relationship with self and the material world.
The primary focus of
Christianity is relationships. It has to do with a relationship with God,
with one's neighbor, and with God's creation.
Life Is Unavoidably
Tied to God
Psalms 139:7-14
Where can I go from
your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens,
you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise
on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even
there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I
say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around
me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like
the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully
and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
(NIV)
The Psalmist recognizes
that there is no getting away from God. You could take a spaceship and
travel 3 billion miles into outer space and God would be there.
It is when we lose sight
of God that real trouble begins. This is seen as early as Eden. Notice
the quality of relationship that Adam sustained with God, his wife, with
the created physical world and ultimately with himself. They were both
naked and knew it not, even as they walked and talked with God. When sin
entered into the garden, flourishing relationships wilted through shame
and pain.
Read Paul's description
of the Gentile world, which had forgotten God.
Romans 1:20-32
It is little wonder
that Jesus pointed out that a relationship with God was the first and greatest
commandment.
Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus replied: "'Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second
is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets
hang on these two commandments." (NIV)
The word "salvation"
in its broadest sense means to bring to wholeness. It's interchangeable
with the word healing. We read, "And the prayer of faith shall save the
sick." (James 5:15 KJV) The same Greek word rendered save here is translated
heal elsewhere. The NIV says, "Will make the sick person well."
Jesus said, "Behold
I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door
. . . " (Revelation 3:20) When we open that door Jesus enters not as an
intruder to an already ordered life, but as one who desires to help us
bring about wholeness to our lives -- to our relationships -- to give meaning
and wholeness to life.
In the word salvation,
I see the word salvage. I see God salvaging Peter's life in order to bring
about wholeness. Jesus told him "come and I will make you a fisher of men."
(Luke 5:1-11) Peter started becoming what Jesus saw in him that day.
God wants us to become
what he sees in us. I come to God just as I am. But I come for the purpose
of becoming what God sees in me. There lies the secret to every meaningful
relationship, and ultimately to a meaningful life.
The amazing thing is
that God takes the initiative in the relationship by guaranteeing us that
no matter what we have done his love is constant. When he forgives us,
there will be no bitter taste left in his mouth. He promises us that we
will be totally accepted without reservation. He guarantees us that no
matter how miserably we fail or how blatantly we sin, unreserved forgiveness
is ours for the asking.
The beauty of it all
is that God has made us accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:4-6
According as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein
he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (KJV)
Ephesians 2:4-9
But because of his
great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ
even when we were dead in transgressions-- it is by grace you have been
saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly
realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show
the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in
Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that
no one can boast. (NIV)
A Relationship with
God Affects All Our Personal Relationships
Once we have a relationship
with God, there is no way that fellowship can be maintained apart from
a relationship with our neighbors. If we breathe in air, we must exhale
it in order to live. The same is true with our relationship with God. It
is impossible to take God in without allowing him to affect every earthly
relationship.
I John 3:16-17
This is how we know
what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay
down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and
sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God
be in him? (NIV)
In John's passage above,
we see a relationship with Christ affecting one's relationship with material
possessions and one's fellowman.
Jesus demonstrated this
principle in his own life. He took God in and manifested him to the world.
Philip came to Jesus asking to see God. Jesus said, "If you have seen me,
you have seen the Father." (John 14:1-9) Christ demonstrated God's willingness
to serve humanity. He came to serve, not to be served. (Matthew 20:28)
That is why we see God on his knees in the upper room washing the disciples
feet, even the feet of the one about to betray him. You see God talking
to the Samaritan woman who had been married five times and is now shacked
up the sixth man in her life. That is why you see God at the house of Levi,
the publican. (Luke 5:27-31)
Luke 5:27-32
And after these things
he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of
custom: and he said unto him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and
followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there
was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them.
But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying,
Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering
said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that
are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
(KJV)
That is why you see
God at the temple teaching the hypocrite.
This world leads us
to love when we are loved. Even when we extend love, we expect it to be
reciprocated. Too often, we look for what a relationship has to offer as
we network our way through humanity. However, God's order of things is
much different. God is focused on what he has to offer us. That was Jesus'
mentality also. He is looking to help us reach our God-given potential.
He wants to help us see what God sees in us, something of worth and value
to a world which he created. God desires to enter our lives to make us
whole.
God's kingdom love is
much different from worldly love. It is something that operates independent
of how we feel. In God's kingdom we first love. That love is the guiding
force as we get acquainted. In the world, we first get acquainted and then
decide if the person is worth loving. Most people have a few friends and
many acquaintances but are starving for love.
When we have a relationship
with God, our relationship with our fellowman takes on new meaning. We
begin to look at others as God looks at us. It is then that we can begin
to help others discover what God sees in them.
A Changed Relationship
with Our World
Nothing changes our
world view more dramatically than a relationship with God. It gives life
a renewed meaning. Christianity does not isolate us from our world. Jesus
said, " . . . I say these things while I am still in the world, so that
they may have the full measure of my joy within them . . . my prayer is
not that you would take them out of the world but that you protect them
from the evil one." (John 17:13,15)
Isolation is not the
answer. It is making God the center of our universe that makes the difference.
It is great that God has given us intelligence. Man is literally searching
the far reaches of the universe for knowledge. But it is God that gives
meaning to life. Jesus said, " . . . the only true knowledge is to know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3
KJV)
Philosophers have sought
to change our worldview. Yet, it is Christ revelation of God through himself
that overshadowed all the sages of the past. Aristotle, Plato and Socrates
pale into insignificance in shadow. The knowledge of God through his Son
continues to overshadow all the philosophies since his coming.
We find ourselves studying
psychology, monkeys, fish, reptiles, etc., in an effort to gain a better
understanding of self. But the knowledge of God is the key to us understanding
and knowing self and our world.
Philippians 3:7-11
But whatever was to
my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider
everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish,
that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness
of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--
the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ
and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain
to the resurrection from the dead. (NIV)
A Changed Relationship
with Ourselves
God has placed within
each of us something much like a homing device to direct our thoughts toward
our creator. And from within us, he calls us to work with him in making
our lives, our relationships and our world what he intended them to be.
But we must cooperate
with God in establishing his kingdom within our hearts, in all of our affairs,
all of our personal relationships and our society.
It really matters little
how much we accomplish during the years of our existence, because unless
we have a relationship with God through Christ nothing else really matters.
We must seek to do his will in all of life and test everything according
to his purpose, in order to find healing and fulfillment.
It is in forming a right
relationship with God, our fellowman and our world that we discover a relationship
with ourselves. There is really no way to know oneself apart from God.
There is no other way to discovering spiritual healing.
Conclusion:
God is asking us to
give him our lives, relinquish control of our possessions and seek his
will in all things.
This is what it means
to be a Christian.!
