Living For Christ

Good morning, children of God! I am excited this morning! We are here together again this morning, welcoming Holy Spirit into our presence, lifting our voices to the LORD, and continuing our walk with Christ together.

We are going to look at “Living For Christ” this morning. We talk a lot about living for Christ, but what does that mean? Believe it or not, for some of us, this is a difficult topic. There are a good number of us who get tied up in our heads, wondering if we are truly living for the LORD. What I want to do today is give us three simple points that serve as biblical instruction and a daily reminder for each of us.

Look to Christ

Learn From Christ

Lean on Christ

Some may look at those three points and say, “That is basic Christianity, Bob.” Okay, then why are we not doing these things and living them out more often? We are the ones who over-complicate His Word and become overly critical of ourselves and others. There are so many opinions, theologies, and church doctrines that come our way that we can get lost and confused in it all. I choose the Word of God to answer the question “What does Living For Christ Mean?” The first thing we need to do is Look to Christ:

Look to Christ

Hebrews 12:1–2 NLT

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.

I love the visual the Apostle Paul gives us here. Now, I am not a runner, but this makes sense to me. We are running a race in which a huge crowd surrounds us. Picture a coliseum of people surrounding you as you run. That crowd is the people in this room, other true believers, as well as those who have completed the Christian race throughout history. Each of those people inspire us and help us along the way.

The Apostle goes on to tell us that If we are burdened with sin, it will trip us up. That is truth. Think about this for a minute: If you start a race weighed down with a heavy backpack, you are not able to move as freely or easily because you are focused on the weight you are carrying. You are going to struggle.

Now keep adding weight to your backpack. It become increasingly difficult to move forward or to move at all. We start stumbling and falling until we can’t even get up. That is a picture of what sin and the other things we allow to weigh us down in this life will do to us. We lose our focus on the finish line, on the Kingdom, because we are so focused on what is weighing us down.

Hebrews 12:2 tells us something so important. We all face sin and pain in this life. We all fall into sin and experience pain in this life. WE DO NOT QUIT! We stay focused on Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ ran the race of faith when he was on earth. He ran with every intention of winning, and he won! He was crowned Champion over sin and death. He put Satan to shame at the cross.

If you think your life is tough, look at what Jesus endured, all so that you and I would not have to endure eternal separation from the Father. Jesus went through all of it for the joy that now awaits all believers at the finish line. He did it all for you and for me.

As disciples of Christ, we are called to live our lives in the same way that Jesus lived. He disciplined himself. He was obedient to God. We have to keep our eyes and minds fixed on him. That is how we shed the sin, fear, anxiety, depression, anger, and un-forgiveness in our lives. He already won the race! Jesus is right there with us, encouraging us, and helping us strip anything away that is weighing us down, and to finish our race well.

Your path is going to look different than anybody else’s, but the finish line remains the same. I don’t know if you ever thought about this, but Jesus overcame this world and MOVED that finish line for us. Our finish line no longer ends with separation from God or hopelessness; Jesus moved our finish line to the throne room of the Kingdom of Glory. Into the very presence of God.

You may be struggling in your race this morning. You are not alone. How many among us are willing to admit we have struggles in our walks? You are not alone this morning. Reach out to someone. Reach out to me, to Paul, a brother or sister in this room. The body of Christ is meant to edify, build up, and help one another. We are all looking to Christ together. He is with you. Look to him!

As we continue to look to Christ individually and as a body, we continue to learn from Christ. We must always be willing to Learn From Christ.

Learn From Christ

Some believers think they get to a certain point, and the learning is done. I heard about a woman who retired and stopped attending church. A sister in Christ went to check on her. The lady was okay, but here is how the retired woman responded to this sister in Christ - “I did my time in church, now I am going to live for me.”

Hearing that broke my heart. Believe it or not, coming to church is not about you or me. It is about Him. How much wisdom, how much love, how much life experience were others missing out on because of her decision? There is no telling.

We come together to learn from one another, to counsel one another, to love one another, but mostly to learn from Christ and His Word. There is no retirement in our walk; there is never a time when we have learned or shared enough about God. Our walks continue until the day we walk into the Throne Room of Glory. The day you hear “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

The Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 3:16 -

Colossians 3:16 NLT

16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

Learning from Christ is a choice. Where the NLT tells us to “Let the message about Christ fill our lives,” the Greek word is enoikeo (een-oo-kay-oh), which means to dwell, to make a home, to abide, to live within. We are responsible for cleaning out the old things in our hearts so that His Word settles into our hearts and takes up permanent residence there.

I want to add something here. It is crucial to stay in the Word, but this is not about memorizing scripture. There are a good number of us who struggle with memorizing scripture, and many who struggle to understand scripture. The point the Apostle is making here is that it is not about how much you read, it is not about memorizing the Word, it is not about memorizing a sermon; it is about living out the Word, it is about living out the sermon.

Whether you can recite the Bible or a few verses, when His Word is written on your heart, He takes up residence in your heart. Your testimony becomes His testimony. Your life becomes His life. Holy Spirit guides you in teaching and counseling other believers. I don’t know about you, but I never want to stop learning about my LORD and my God. I want to share Him with anybody who will listen.

The Apostle Paul points out that one of the ways we do that is when we individually and corporately lift our voices in praise to the LORD. I know there are a lot of people who are uncomfortable singing out to the LORD. I want to encourage you this morning, the LORD wants to hear you sing His praises. All throughout scripture, His people are commanded to sing unto the LORD. The Apostle Paul just told us that. When we praise Him in song, it is a form of prayer. Singing unites us, teaches us, and declares the Gospel message to one another and the world.

I know two things. When we come face to face with the Lord, we are all going to sing His praises, and second, there will not be a test of our scriptural knowledge. Remember Jesus’ parable of The Final Judgement? “And He will place the sheep to his right, and the goats to his left.” In Matthew 25:34, Jesus says this:

Matthew 25:34 NLT

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.’”

The sheep are the believers who live out the Word written on their hearts. Those who produce the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. Helping those in need, serving others, loving as Christ loves. But then Jesus says this in Matthew 25:41:

Matthew 25:41 NIV

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

This is a picture of those who did not place their faith in Christ. Those who believed themselves righteous. Those who know the Word but never show the fruit of the Spirit. They talk the talk, but do not walk the walk. Now, you tell me: Which is more important to God? Being a Bible scholar or living out His Word? Jesus was the greatest Bible scholar in History, He wrote the Good Book, but he never flaunted it. He lived it!

The third thing we need to do, and never lose sight of, is to Lean on Christ.

Lean on Christ

To lean on means to support yourself on something. We make the decision to lean on ourselves, lean on imperfect people, or to lean on the perfecter of our faith, Jesus Christ. If I had to lean on myself, I would be done. Our human understanding is darkened by our sin-nature, spiritual blindness, and hard hearts. Without Jesus, I know we would all be cooked!

There are times we all get lost in the ups and downs of life. We have brothers and sisters in this church who are facing some serious life-changing circumstances. I watch as they continue to lean on Christ through all of it.

What I find interesting is that believers who consistently lean on Christ, through the good, the bad, and the ugly, are more resilient and remain more positive when things do go wrong. I call it “inspiring faith.” There are many people here today whose faith inspires those around them. Trusting in God through the GOOD and the bad! Proverbs 3:5 tells us:

Proverbs 3:5 NLT

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

We lean on and trust God when things are good and when they do not seem so good. The wise believer knows that it is not blind trust that we have in God; It is proven trust. I do not know about you, but God has proven He is who He says He is numerous times in my life, Amen? Amen. We trust in a covenant-keeping God, the God who cannot lie. The Great Promise Keeper!

When we lean on our own understanding, we start seeing things through the world’s corrupted lenses rather than God’s perfect lenses. We start running worst-case scenarios through our minds, marinating in the negative, and get lost in our heads. We will do all that before we take the first step in a situation. Leaning on Christ, trusting God should always be our first step.

Trust is an all-or-nothing proposal: “Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart.” Partial trust is not trust at all. Either God is trustworthy, or He is not. If God cannot be trusted with everything, God cannot be trusted with anything.

The truth is that none of us know what will happen in the next moment. We can guess, we can use previous experience, but only God knows, without doubt, what happens next. I do know that when we lean on Christ, when we trust in Him, the outcome is always going to be better than what this world has for me. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33:

Matthew 6:33 NLT

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

As we continue to look to Christ, as we learn from Christ, and as we lean on Christ, we are seeking the Kingdom of God. We are not seeking something that is lost or something that is not present. The Kingdom of God lives within us through Holy Spirit. Jesus is telling us to make God the very center of our lives.

Those whose faith is in Christ are already citizens of Heaven. We live that reality, asking Him to order our lives, to direct our steps, and convict our hearts. In doing so, we are seeking after His righteousness.

We are going to take communion together this morning. As brothers and sisters in Christ. As disciples of Christ. As children of God. As the worship team makes their way up, I am going to ask that we all close our eyes and go before the Father.

As we remember our Lord and Savior this morning, let us give him the praise he is worthy of. His body was broken for you. His blood poured out for your sins and my sins. Do not take communion lightly. It is a reverent opportunity for you to remember and experience the incredible mercy and Grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is a time to bring those things before Him that you are struggling with, and to lay them before the throne. It is a time to give thanks for all that He has done and continues to do.

Prayer

LORD, we thank you this morning. We thank you for your son, Jesus Christ. The one who came to take our place, the one we look to, learn from, and lean on. We ask you, Holy Spirit, to direct our steps, our hearts, and minds. Help us to remove the sin in our lives that is weighing us down. Teach us how to let go of the things in our lives that are holding us back from best glorifying the LORD. Make in us clean hearts, help us to leave those things with you that we are not meant to carry. We thank you LORD, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Will you come and receive this morning?