What should be like a life
after being converted and transformed in Christ? There may a thousand and one
different answers to that. But one thing to which everyone surely agrees is
that it shouldn’t be the same as before. Something must be different from the
past. What is it? Apostle Peter says, “Be holy, because I am holy.” How can we
be holy? That’s a big challenge. Note that it is a commandment, not an option,
but requirement. That makes us more challenging to be holy. Here holiness means
not outward appearance, but wholeness, standing firm and secure in all
circumstances. One thing many a Christians have been confused is that they blindly
try harder to keep the commandments of God, thinking that it would results in
being holy. The commandment of “Be holy” originates from the Law of Moses. “You
are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart
from the nations to be my own.” (Leviticus 20:26) It is true that if we don’t
keep up with the Law of Moses we cannot live but be punished to die. That’s
what the Law says. But the problem is that there is no one who can keep up with
it. Violating one law out of the hundreds and thousands makes anyone a
lawbreaker, even though keeping all the rest. Nevertheless, the Scripture is
firmly telling us that we shall keep up with all the laws of God. That’s the
meaning of saying, “Be holy because I am holy.” It is a mystery of God which
tells how we may able to keep them. Let’s listen to Apostle Peter who is
telling us how.
“Therefore, with minds that are
alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when
Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to
the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called
you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I
am holy.’ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially,
live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it
was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed
from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the
precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen
before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your
sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and
glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have
purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each
other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again,
not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring
word of God. For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the
flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of
the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.” (1
Peter 1:13-25)
No one can keep up with the Law
of God. Then, why did God give them? To tell us that the Law of God must be
kept in perfection and that we may realize the reality and truth that we are totally
inadequate to meet the law requirements. Something has terribly gone wrong in
humanity since Adam fell. So, trying harder to keep the laws never works, never
will. Then, there should be a new way in keeping the commandments of God, which
comes from heaven above. It is the way of the cross which our Lord Jesus Christ
demonstrated on the cross of Calvary. On the cross Christ shed his blood and
died to atone the sins of the world. He did not die for himself because he was
sinless. He died for the sin of Adam and paid the full ransom price to
reconcile with God. Through the faith in Christ Jesus we’ve been made new and
changed because we died to sin and no longer under the law and remain forever
under his grace. The things which we cannot do have been done by the blood of
Christ and the faith in him. In Adam, all humanity fell into the darkness and
blindness deceived and trapped by the devil. The seriousness of fallen race is
that they do not even know that they are lost and fallen, thinking that they
can fix the world and build a paradise on earth. History tells simply it is not
true. The same old problems are recurring over and over again. What man cannot
do has been done by God in his infinite wisdom and faithful love and grace
through the Son Jesus Christ. He took up the transgressions and iniquities of
humanity upon himself and died to pay the price for the redemption of mankind.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) The Son’s death was not for
himself. There is no reason to die for the Son of God. But he died for us, the
sinful world because only his blood can quench the wrath of God and hence
deliver from the bondage of deep dark evil. So, Christ’s death is our death,
his burial is ours, and his resurrection is ours. By faith only! By faith, we
believe that Christ died, was buried and raised from the dead on the third day
instead of us who are in Christ. That’s the way how we’ve been made completely
new and transformed in Christ.
“What shall we say, then? Shall
we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have
died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us
who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were
therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as
Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may
live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we
will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know
that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be
done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who
has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe
that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from
the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death
he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.”
(Romans 6:1-10)
God has done a wonderful and
marvelous thing for all humanity to be able to keep up with the Law in holiness
and perfection. It is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus Christ is. It is
not working and never will do by any means other than Jesus and the work done
on the cross. In fact, all humanity desires to live a holy and fulfilled life.
But they don’t know how because of blindness and darkness since Adam fell. The
blindness and darkness of man must be lifted up to have a true life which God
intended man to have before the time began. The life has been hidden and veiled
for ages and generations, but now revealed in light by Christ Jesus the Lord.
It is the mystery of Christ which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The
old has gone in Christ and the new has arrived in God. The good news has come!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has
gone, the new is here! “ (2 Corinthians 5:17) Since we’ve been made new and
transformed from the enslavement of blindness and darkness by the power of God,
we can now live a new life. The new life is from heaven above, not from the
earth. It is not purchasable with money or status. Nor is obtainable with all-in
commitment and dedication.
How can we show that we have
been changed and transformed? What is the manifest of a new life in Christ? So
that, we are obeying God to be holy as he is holy. To love one another. That’s
right, the four words. The Ten Commandments are summarized into two by the Lord
Jesus Christ—first, love God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your strength and with all your mind, and second, love your neighbors
as yourself. Jesus gave his disciples the new commandment which is the same as
the old one except the phrase, “as I have loved you.” It is recorded in John’s
Gospel Chapter 13. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved
you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) Love one another means
just like that. Love our enemies, says the Scriptures. Truly it means loving
the unlovable and forgiving the unforgivable! How can we love our enemies? It
is impossible with the old nature. Just try it! Try to love someone who annoys
you with no cause or no reason to think of. We do not want to love our enemies.
In fact, we cannot. However, our God so loved the world that he sent his Son
and whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God
demonstrated his unfailing love while we were still sinners, God’s enemies.
Instead of punishing mankind, the fallen race, he let his Son die in our place.
Jesus shed his blood for man as the atoning sacrifice. Jesus Christ not only
died but also rose again from the dead on the third day by the power of
resurrection. No power, even death cannot hold of him in the tomb. In Christ,
we’ve been clothed with the righteousness of Christ and the power of
resurrection through the faith in him. So that, we may live a revolutionary
life in God on earth and in heaven forever.
That’s how God has made man new
and transformed in Christ. Demolishing the old and creating a new life in them.
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in
three days." (John 2:19) The old was destroyed on a cross and the new was
born with his resurrection as the firstfruits. Apostle Paul says in the Letter
to Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) Our old self
has died through the faith in Christ and the new self has come through the
grace in God. It’s new, a revolutionarily new life, completely different from
the old. The old has in entirety no value or credit before God. There is no one
righteous in the sight of God. All is guilty and wicked and evil under the sun.
The old must be demolished in order to create the new. The old was cursed and
condemned under the law but the new has been freed from the law and put under
the grace of God forever. “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive
to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so
that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an
instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have
been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an
instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because
you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:11-14)
So, we can love one another
with the power of God given through the faith in Christ. That’s the only way! In
fact, in Christ, we live and do all things through the power of resurrection. From
washing dishes, working all day long, going vacation, traveling to loving one
another, we do all with the power of God. It is possible because we’ve been
made new and given access to the throne of grace anytime anywhere forever. Jesus
was giving a Samaritan woman the living water welling up to eternal life. “Everyone
who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I
give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them
a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14) Jesus is the
living water. That’s how we live now and forevermore in Christ. Keep on
drinking the living water through the faith in him, ten times, hundred times,
even thousand times a day. It is true that we’re struggling in obeying the new
command, “Love each other.” But we know that there is no partial obedience in
loving one another like we love all but someone. We must obey Christ and love
everyone including our enemies. Someone who hurts us. Someone who accuses us. Someone
who cheats us. Even someone who strikes us. There is no exception. That’s what
God did. He so loved the world that he gave his Son and that whoever believes
in him should not be punished but have eternal life. The Son died for us while
we’re still his enemies. So, God has equipped us with the power of resurrection
by sending the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Truly loving one another can be
done not by us but by the Spirit. What we do is to let the Spirit who indwells
within do and manifest his unfailing love.
How can we be sure of this
after all? We are all foreigners and sojourners on the earth, preparing and being
ready for the life to come, eternal life. The word of God is imperishable and
eternal. It will be fulfilled, even not a single letter would fall to the ground.
Whereas, mankind is like the flowers of the field and grass. It works, will
work because the word of God says so. The word of God is true and faithful
forever. “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the
smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear
from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside
one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be
called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these
commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:18-19) It
is confirmed again in the Last Book of the Scripture, the Revelation by John. That’s
why we can trust and believe in God. It takes a while, most likely our whole
life long days. It is worthwhile and only acceptable to God that we invest our
time and mind to learn how to obey the new command step by step, buying out the
opportunities and times in the midst of trials and sufferings.
“I warn everyone who hears the
words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will
add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes
words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person
any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this
scroll.” (Revelation 22:18-19)
March
19, 2018
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2015-2018 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
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