"The Answers Are Not in the Clouds...", photograph, Alex Archer, 2012
I've recently been thinking a lot about how I'm to serve God in this place. In a time where things are a little uncertain, through the help of brothers and sisters in grace I've been convicted lately of how much I need to trust God.
I was frustrated after church on Sunday, because although I want to serve God (or at least I think I do, lest I be deceived by lies) I've seen things within myself where I haven't surrendered to God and in such subtle and consciously unnoticeable ways I have wanted to steal some of His glory for myself - i concur with Pauls dilemma in Romans 7:7-25. Although I have entered into His glory only through Christ, my mission in this life is not to bring glory upon myself, yet to reveal the glorious, sovereign and worthy God in the hope of making DISCIPLES (not just followers) of God in all nations.
The idea of discipleship I believe goes beyond mere following. To be a "follower" implies that one is a supporter or devotee to a cause. One could easily say that they are a follower of the Liberal party, or a follower of Ashton Kutcher on Twitter. In some regard, following is a passive reaction, where discipleship is an assertive and active action. This assertiveness comes not from what we think we should do, but through submission to God, actively working for the sake of His kingdom... not because He needs us, but because He wants us alongside Him (consider John 21:1-14), has prepared us to work for Him and in this manner we receive blessing. (Acts 5:41).
This all comes from a conversation I've had recently about being servants to Christ Jesus. Here are just some of the places I think of that suggest that we are God's servants:
"For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body... I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith." - Philippians 1:21-24, 25b
This is such a trustworthy saying, especially in light of the great commission:
What was alighted to me, was the fact that people are at very different stages of their faith. Some will be able to digest the idea of being servants (even slaves, Romans 6:15-23) to God's way but others will not be in the place to hear it. With prayer and with the study of God's truth, and by His Spirit it is my prayer that people will receive discernment and the fruit of the Spirit by the graciousness of God in order to meet people at the stage they are in (as Christ did). I'm now going to try and explain with a very minimal amount of complexity (as Pastor Steve would say, explaining the unexplainable) the essence of conversion.
How did we get here?
God created the world. It was good.
The Lord created people and they were good.
God gave us free will, in order that we would choose to love Him back (God's not given to dictatorship)
With this free will, we chose to go against what He had told us to do (Adam and Eve in the fall, Genesis 3)
To this day, the world is in a state of brokeness because of that original sin.
What is this sin I'm dealing with?
Sin came to be, because Adam and Eve went against the instruction of God.
God is good (Psalm 119:68, amongst MANY others), and God is just (Job 37:23).
God works for the good of His people (Romans 8:28).
Sin is when we decide that we don't want God.
Sin is when instead of following God, we choose our own way.
Sin is choosing our judgement over His.
Sin is self-centredness
Repentance and Submission
In knowing what sin is, when we convert to God's way, we submit our lives to Him and we repent of the way we have been living. We are no longer denying God, but instead denying ourselves. We are choosing God's way, not our way. A common Christian analogy; you're driving your car down the highway and you see Jesus on the side of the road. You stop to pick Him up. You offer Him the back seat, he declines. You offer him the front passenger seat, He declines. He walks over to your door and says "I will drive".
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works so that no-one may boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9
But when we give our lives to God, we are entering into RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. Before Jesus, we were separated from God. There was separation between us and God, even though He was always there. This separation from God was sin, but when Jesus died, He "bridged the gap" between us and God. You may be familiar that when Jesus died, the curtain in the temple was torn. Previously, behind the curtain was the holiest of places where only those who were counted holy enough could enter on very specific occasions. When Jesus died on the cross, the Earth was shaken and the curtain was torn, signifying that the separation that once existed between us and God had now been dissolved, but only through Christ's death on the cross for our sin.
And when we are found in Christ, we become citizens of His kingdom and have a new place that Jesus prepares for us with Him (John 14:1-4). Through the knowledge of this truth, perseverance is brought about in us, knowing that the race we run is not in vain and that we have an eternal life to look forward to (Hebrews 10:34).
A Poor Attempt to Bring it Together... With Any Form of Coherence
When we repent, we submit our lives to God for we have come to the understanding that Christ died taking on the sins of the world, and that we realise that His way of doing life is infinitely better than our way of doing life.
Ephesians 2:10 reads, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Him (King Jesus) to do good works, that He prepared in advance for us to do."
We were created by God, we were then saved through Jesus, in order that we might do the good works that He planned us for do. The actual "doing" of the works makes sense... here's why.
In our submission, and our turning away from sin, we are in some way turning away from ourselves. We are deciding against our own way of living and instead choosing God's way; and as we learn of God's way, we are shown that we are to serve Him and in His name, serve others. Our own way of living would dictate that we should do things for our self gain, which is in very essence, sin.
Jesus, upon being questioned about the greatest commandment replied "Love the Lord you 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 neighbour as yourself. All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40) Those who are under Christ are no longer condemned by the law (Romans 6:14), but justified (Just-as-if-i'd... never sinned) through Jesus.
When we take our understanding of sin as our own self-centredeness, and then align it with Jesus' command to love God and love others, all things are for the service of God and others to the glory of God.
WE DO NOT DO GOOD STUFF TO GAIN SALVATION, as religion would have us believe. WE DO GOOD WORKS BECAUSE WE ARE FOUND IN CHRIST, who works for the good of His people, and when we vow to live as His people, WE VOW TO WORK FOR THE GOOD OF HIS PEOPLE ALONGSIDE HIM.
This is a long message, and if you find any untruth in it, please by the word rebuke me in love! It is my pray that your hearts may be protected from any false hope or truth, and that by the Spirit you may possess discernment and understanding, and gain wisdom and knowledge.
Peace and Blessings!
