Do Not Leave Jesus Christ Behind

When we ask people today what is the center of their religion, they will offer various good sounding subjects. Things like living right or serving the church. These are good but they should not be the main thing in our life. Jesus Christ, our crucified and resurrected Lord is the absolute need of our life. We know this because His Spirit came back to earth specifically to live in the body of a Christian. When we allow our focus to be on anything, other than Christ, we run the risk of leaving Jesus out of our daily life. Many Christians have drifted away from the fold while dedicating their time to some good work. They have forgotten that their own life depends on Jesus living in them. We must stay in Christ continually. Our Church today is sometimes called the Laodicean Church because of what Jesus said about them:  I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! Rev 3:15 (NLT) The only way for us to stay “Hot” is to allow Jesus to control us. It is every Christian’s job to stay alert and with the help of Jesus we will not become lukewarm.

The world around us will go to great lengths to distract Christians from their focus on Jesus. Remember that Satan attempts to deceive every Christian with something worldly. When Paul was in prison he wrote this: I want you to know how much I have agonized for you (Colossians) and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other believers who have never met me personally. Col 2:1 (NLT) Why did Paul agonize for the Laodiceans and those of us that never met him? He was worried that we would leave Jesus behind by mistake. This can happen if we become involved with the worldly church today. Here is his warning: Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. Col 2:8 (NLT) Paul gives us two things that will delude our dedication to Jesus and make us lukewarm. These are our natural reasoning and the spiritual powers that are not of God. These two things are very devious and deceitful. Many times people who are captured by them are not even aware of it.

Our natural reasoning will never work in the plan of God. Paul mentions more than once that our old nature is no good and that we are to reckon it as dead, after we are living in Christ. This is why he condemns the empty philosophies of natural men. Sometimes their words may sound as if they are leading toward God but it is an illusion that misleads people who do not stay in Jesus continually. Christians have been raised above all human thinking just as surely as Jesus was raised up out of death. All the spiritual powers that are against God tried to keep Jesus in the grave but could not. Many religious experts in the church will attempt to take away our freedom in Jesus. Paul said: So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. Col 2:16-17 (NLT) Many times in our history, religious leaders have tried to substitute rules in place of Jesus living in us. Today there are people who rely on church teachings to take them to Heaven.

Paul warns Christians about another subject that has drawn many people away from placing Jesus as the center of their life. It may sound a little odd at first but here is what he said: Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Col 2:18 (NLT) This is the worship of “fallen” angels and today we call it mysticism. Today people can develop their own spirituality while ignoring Christ. There may be more female spiritualist because of their extra sensitivity to the spirit-world. This spiritually can include the zodiac studies and anything that does not focus on Jesus to fulfill our spiritual needs. A male, on the other hand, is more likely to dedicate himself to pious self-denial. There are many kinds of so called “holy men” in the world who believe that they deserve Heaven because they have denied some things of the world. Some men in our churches today will deny themselves a TV for example and think they deserve Heaven. This can be a mild form of self-denial. Whether we use celestial exaltation or self-denial the answer is the same. Jesus must be the center of our life if we want to please God.  

Only as we yield every moment of our life to Jesus will we be pleasing to our Lord. When we allow anything to distract us from our new life in Christ, trouble will follow. Our own pride will always show its ugly head without Jesus. Paul finished his warning about these things by saying: sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it. Col 2:18-19 (NLT) Our pride in any form will separate us from God. We have all seen what pride will do to the body of Christ; it tears it all apart.  So every Christian must humble themselves in order to take their place in the body. By putting all our attention on Jesus, the things that please God will come naturally to our new life. We must guard against philosophies, false spirituality, or various religious rules being brought into our churches. Any spiritual powers that draw us away from making Jesus central in our life automatically becomes a sin that is fatal to us. It is vital that we do not leave Jesus behind as we travel life’s road.

 

Amazing Grace

Learning about the Grace of God is a wonderful experience. One great painting in Rome shows the hand of God reaching down for the hand of humanity. It is difficult for us to understand how our most Holy, Holy, Holy, God can connect with such sinful beings as ourselves. If it were not for His amazing Grace, no human could understand anything about our Creator. We would all live in the darkness of sin for eternity. Thankfully, we do have a Holy God who is reaching down to us in love. This is showing His Grace, which means favor for us. Grace takes different forms here on earth but “favor” all begins with our God. This is mentioned by Peter; The God of all grace(favor), who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus 1 Peter 5:10 (KJV) God has always extended grace to humans but when the rules of His Law could not be kept by human powers, our God sent His Son to die and be resurrected. This was the greatest act of favor toward us that has ever been done. For 2000 years, humans have had the unparalleled opportunity to become a child of God simply by faith in the Savior. This is the “age” of Grace.

Paul tells us he was given the understanding of God’s favor: ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: …this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Eph 3:2-8 (KJV) God’s favor through Jesus Christ is the New Covenant in a nutshell. However, there is another side to God’s grace. When the Holy Spirit of God was sent to live in Christians it became possible for us to return some grace back to God through our worship of Him. This includes our faith, any of our righteousness and our new life entirely. We were created to return favor back to our Creator.  Serving God is out of our reverence: Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear Heb 12:28 (KJV) There were times Paul would say “thanks be to God” which in Greek would be “favor be to God”. Sometimes we can feel our “favor” for God rising inside of us. A song or a sermon can cause this feeling. How can we help but feel favor toward God?

The favor we return to God should also be expressed in our service to other people. In other words, the Grace that God gives us should be returned in two directions; first upward to God and then outward to other people. A good example of this is shown in Paul’s letters to Timothy. I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 2 Tim 1:5-6 (NLT) In the original language it says “grace-gift” or “favor-gift. If our faith is strong and healthy, the favor-gift that God has given us can be used to aid other people. This of course is under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The word “favor” in English does not tell the whole story of Grace. Grace includes a power given to us by God and it lives inside of a Christian. This power flows into us at conversion and will remain with us our whole life. The power of Grace is what enables us to live a godly life. Someday it will also carry us to Heaven. No wonder the Christian life is full of joy. The amazing grace of God raises us from our old natural life into a wondrous new life.