Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Have you ever noticed in a moment of enlightenment, that the answers you had been unsuccessfully searching for were actually right in front of you all the time? Such was the case with the topic for today’s blog. I struggled with a topic for about a week, then I actually jumped in and started my own journey, thinking it would eventually take shape. To be honest, It was a struggle from the first word! Finally, after quite a few hours of total frustration, I had a brilliant thought; perhaps I should check in with the Holy Spirit. That is usually my first stop, but for some reason, I just passed over that step and landed in an inspirational wasteland. But when I came to my senses, I was immediately drawn to today’s topic because I have been stressing the importance of knowing our identity in Christ, and understanding the power that comes from that identity with my “Freedom in Christ” class at Seaglass Church in Apollo Beach, FL.
Since I was involved with music education for most of my previous career, I understand the importance of fundamental principles when learning to play a wind instrument. If one begins with a faulty embouchure, or doesn’t understand how to properly use the air stream, or doesn’t master the importance of hand and finger position, or posture, it can hinder the budding young muscian from ever reaching full potential. Such is the case when learning what it really means to be in Christ.
Unfortunately, too many Christians think that if they say, “I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior”, their life will change for the better; they’ll be happier; they’ll be more confident; they’ll be blessed, and they will achieve the abundant life that Jesus talked about. No doubt, all of that is possible, but it requires more than just saying the words. 2 Peter 1: 3-4 clarifies this error: “The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus, His divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly live. He has called us to receive His own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, He has given us all of His rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that we will escape the decadence all around us caused by evil desires, and that we will share in His divine nature.”
No doubt, people are drawn to Christianity because they’ve heard that their sins will be forgiven and that they will inherit eternal life. “Fire insurance” is a good motivator, but it is not to be confused with developing a relationship with Jesus Christ. Not that I mean to be judgmental, but that defines a large segment of the Christians I know, and about all of the Christians with whom I have the privilege of counseling. They have accepted God’s Gift of Grace, but they never intended to let that decision interfere with the life-style they had been enjoying. Many, not all, go to church, and a few even become involved in church activities. But they have little interest in growing in their relationship with Christ, and a few have even expressed their concern about becoming a “Jesus Freak”. After all, would their friends still like them? Would they think they were weird?
When people turn to God, it is usually in a state of brokenness or because of an epiphany. But regardless of the reason, God Jehovah of the Holy Bible will meet us wherever we are, but then He leads us to His Son, Jesus Christ. Why? Because that was His plan for our salvation even before the world, and Man, were created. This is explained very clearly in Ephesians 1:3-4: “Long ago, even before the world was created, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and this gave Him great pleasure!” Notice two things here: even before He created us, He loved us…but not as the world loves. His love is unconditional, unending and unfailing because that is the very essence of God. (Ref. 1John 4:7: “God IS love!” …my emphasis.) That love is reflected in the fact that He also chose us in Christ.
Because one of God’s majestic qualities is omniscience, meaning He can look into the future, He knew, even before He created us, that we were going to be problem children; He knew that Adam and Ever were going to be disobedient in the Garden and would fall into satan’s trap. But none-the-less, He created us. How awesome is that?! But He also “chose us in Christ”. To “be chosen” means” to be set aside for a sacred purpose”, and in Christ refers to His plan to provide a Redeemer to do for us what He already knew we could not do for ourselves. Again, another example of His unconditional, unending and unfailing love for His proudest creation.
So, Fundamental Principle # 1 is this: God is Love; He created us for a relationship with Himself. But in order for a relationship to develop, He had to give us “free-will” at the outset so we could choose to enter into that relationship. And therein lies the problem. Man can choose to use his free-will to engage in a relationship with God, or he can choose to focus on “self-fulfillment”, “self-pleasure” and “self-promotion”. Well, we all know how that turned out.
Ephesians 1:10-11 tells us: “And this was His plan: At just the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ- everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God (forgiveness of our sins and eternal life), for He chose us (in Christ) from the beginning and all things happen just as He decided long ago.” The fulfillment of that promise can be found in Romans 5:6: “When we (Mankind) were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time, and died for us sinners.” And what was “just the right time”? When we proved ourselves to be “utterly helpless.” This “Gift of Grace” was God’s ultimate love offerng to us.
Fundamental Principle #2 is this: “God’s plan was always to send a Redeemer, Jesus Christ, to save us from ourselves. This is why that is so important. God wanted a relationship with His proudest creation, and not just a here-and-now relationship, but an eternal relationship. God already had set the standard for entering into eternity when He proclaimed in 1Peter1:16: “You must be holy because I am holy.” (Holy means to be sin-free, and set aside for a sacred purpose) That presented a problem for Mankind, since from Creation until 2021 years ago, we proved ourselves to be “utterly helpless” to overcome the dilemma of Sin. But the good news is… God already had a plan to redeem us; Jesus Christ would become the sacrificial lamb who would shed His blood to pay OUR sin ransom.
It is important to notice that God did not wait for us to clean up our act before He offered His Gift of Grace. Romans 5:6 (listed two paragraphs above) tells us that Christ came to die for us while we were still sinners. This is just one more reinforcement of God’s unconditional, unending love!
To be in Christ means to be born again, or to be saved. 2 Corinthians 5:17 explains this supernatural transformation: “We become a new creation in Christ; the old is gone (meaning we are no longer slaves to our sin-nature); the new has come. (the Holy Spirit)” Prior to this transformation, we too, were unsaved. In the third paragraph of this blog when I referenced 2 Peter 1:3, the Scripture stated, “His divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life”. That divine power is the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is a gift from God so we can become the people He created us to be.
These two fundamental truths are the very essence of Christianity: God is love, and His plan was always to provide a Redeemer to set us free from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 6:23 provides this truth: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” No doubt we will all die physically, but for those who are in Christ, our spirits will live forever. Apostle Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 5:8: “When we are absent from these bodies, we will then be in the presence of the Lord.”
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May God Bless Y’all…
Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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