THE CHRISTIAN JOURNEY 6
CHAPTER SIX
What does the bible say we
are?
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any people including Christians worry too much about what
others say about them, without even trying to find out what the God says about
them. The bible is the word of God. We must read the bible in order to truly
understand who we are. If only they knew what the bible say about us they will
not have any reason to worry.
We have an obligation to read the bible regularly. But why
should we do that? We read it to remind ourselves of the race ahead of us, to
strengthen our faith, to better understand what God wants us to do and more
especially to know who we really are.
Actually we are extraordinary people doing extraordinary
things. The bible tells us more and more of who we truly are. Some of which are
stated below.
1)
We are different
If anyone is in Christ he is a new
creation. Since decided to follow Jesus Christ we were transformed, we are now
exceptional. The book of (Eph 4:24) says “and you must put on the new self which
is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is
upright and Holy”. If we are in the likeness of God; we are like God, so if we
are like God, living an upright and holy life then we are not ordinary. We are
god’s living in human body just as our lord Jesus Christ lived.
The scriptures says “now we have
received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, that we
might understand the things freely given us by God”. We now see that, though we
are in the world, we are not from the world. For “who knows the deep sacred of
a person except the spirit of that person which is in him? So also no one
comprehends the thoughts of God except the spirit of God” (1Cor 2:11). So now
if we have the spirit of God then we will be able to comprehend the thoughts of
God and become exceedingly wise, filled with knowledge, since all knowledge and
wisdom comes from God. What Grace, we have received. What love, we are blessed
with every spiritual blessing; opened to the thoughts of our creator.
2)
We are not our own
One thing that a true Christian
must bear in mind is that, the life we live is not our own, we are the temple
of the Holy Spirit. If you find yourself saying “it’s my life, so I can do whatever
I want with it”, just know that it is an evil spirit talking not the spirit of
God. (1Cor 6:19) plainly warns us “or do you not know that your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit within you; whom you received from God? You are not
your own.”
Christ came to die for us; to make
us his people, he died so we can become children of God, “for as many as are
led by the spirit of God, are sons of God” (Ron 8:14).
From the very beginning God created
mankind in his own image and gave us the ability to rule over all things and to
make choices for ourselves. However we have decided to take advantage of these
qualities to think that we belong to ourselves.
As children of God we must submit
our will totally to God. The power of obedience is in the will, if we surrender
our will then we surrender our heart. What prevents most people from doing this
is ego, we must learn to get rid of our ego and do the right thing according to
the will of God. God is willing to use us as his children, all he needs from us
is our availability; complete dependence on him and not our abilities.
It is crucial that we never forget
that we are a holy temple and as such we should by all means abstain from any
sinful and ungodly acts which may defy us. Flee from the desires of the world
and cling to God.
3)
Joy during trial
“Count it all joy my brothers, when
you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith
produces steadfastness” (James 1:2-3). Here we are enlightened that the trials
we often face are meant for the purpose our growth. Our faith; when tested
makes us stronger and more valuable in the hands of God. Unlike unbelievers we
can be certain that no matter our present condition, it is for our very own
benefit.
But how can we be joyful in times
of trials and perilous circumstances? One may ask. Take for example when Christ
was to be crucified, he was beaten and he suffered severely for the sins he
never committed; beaten by the sinners. He was condemned to death for being innocent;
but he did not complain, why? This was because his heart was filled with joy.
Even to the cross, soaked up in his blood, Christ was not discouraged; there
was still hope and joy. But one would say, what is the joy in being humiliated
and nailed to the cross?
However the joy we speak about is
beyond human understanding. Christ was seeing beyond the present into the
future, he looked right through the physical into the spiritual and was happy
that he was going to die for the ones he so much loved, this explains why he
said “Father forgive them….” ( )
before falling asleep.
Christ is our role model; we have
his spirit in us so
we ought to be like him. When we face trials
and temptations let us try our very best look beyond the physical into the
spiritual and set our hope on God. “For we know that all things work together
for good to those that love God, to those who are called according to his
purpose” (Rom 8:28). The same God who exalted Christ will exalts us as well
because he has not changed. All hope will never be lost for us because Christ
is our hope and as long as he is alive, our hope will remain alive.
That is who we are, happy and
joyful in otherwise sad circumstances, this again goes further to prove that we
are exceptional and different.
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