God the Son--We're Christians

What does it mean to be a Christian? How much thought have you given it? Being a Christian is something we are. I confess my faith in Jesus Christ, therefore I am a Christian. That’s what it means. Sometimes though, people treat it as something they’ve inherited, “because my parents went to church, I’m a Christian. It’s something people identify themselves with only at census time. They mark the spot, Christian because well, maybe they’re not sure they really are that, but they know they’re not Buddhist or Hindu.

You are called Christian because you are a member of Christ by faith. What does that mean? It means that you’ve accepted Christ’s promises. Membership in Christ is not like membership to club med, American Express, or anything like that. You are a member by accepting Christ’s promises. Jesus promised, “If you believe in me, you will have everlasting life. I am going to prepare a place for you. You are in me as I am in my Father.

Now, this also means that we share in Christ’s anointing. Christ was anointed to seek and save the lost. He did this by being born of a woman, by living, suffering, dying and rising again. Now, we can’t live and die for others, only Christ can do that. But we share in his anointing, in that we also seek out others so that we can introduce them to Christ.

If you’ve already read the Banner, then you’re familiar with the humorous story of the son travelling on a plane with his mom. He asked her to not talk about her faith, because she always went out of her way to talk to everyone about Jesus. She promised that she’d only talk if someone brought it up first. Well, they’d just taken their seats when a man came up to their row, pointed to the seat next to the mom and asked, “Is this seat saved?” To which she replied, “I don’t know about the seat, but let me tell you about me!”

As anointed people, we share in what we looked at last time, Christ’s ongoing work of prophet, priest and king. As prophets, we call people to repent, as priests, we point people to the high priest Jesus, who takes away their sin once and for all, as kings, we live out our lives in obedience to our High King.

Specifically, we see our anointing as: confessing our faith in Christ, presenting our lives as living sacrifices of thanksgiving, striving in a good conscience against sin and the devil, looking forward to reigning eternally with Christ.

All our life is a confession of our faith in Jesus. It is not something we merely recite together on Sundays. We confess our faith, like that woman who can’t help talking about her salvation. We confess our faith in Jesus’ name, the name by which we are saved. We speak about Jesus to co-workers, friends, neighbours and the like.

Furthermore, we present our entire lives as a living sacrifice. When you live at home, you live by the house rules. You obey your parents. If you go to college, you have to live by the college dorm rules. When you go to summer camp, you have to obey the camp rules. When you get married, you live in mutual respect and submission to your spouse. No matter what, there never really comes a time when you can do whatever you want to do.

This is particularly true for Christians. We are always living according to God’s rules. We live in his house continually. We understand that he’s our master and we’re our servants. But because Christ has transformed our hearts, our desire for personal independence diminishes over time. The Holy Spirit transforms us to think of God first, to think of others ahead of ourselves. The result is a living sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God.

On beautiful days such as today, it is not hard to give praise. But what about tough days? What about when things aren’t going well, what about when it is just pouring rain down in our hearts? What then? Then we need to be familiar with scripture. We need to speak the words of the Psalms and the saints to our hearts. The Psalms are full of real expressions of pain, sorrow, loss and agony. The Psalms talk about praising God because though the situations are bad, God hasn’t changed. The Psalmists remind us that God is constant, our feelings, our emotions, our thinking, our attentions are not. And so, on those hard days, we need to remind ourselves of God’s eternal, perfect, powerful promises and give ourselves over to Him.

Living sacrifices are not merely passive receivers. We actively live out our trust in Christ. We do this, as we saw this morning, by thinking right. Part of thinking right, is living by the Spirit, as our passage states. Right thinking, is living under the Holy Spirit’s influence.

There are many areas longing to be of chief influence in our lives. If we begin each day with prayer, reminding ourselves of our identity, welcoming the Spirit to lead and guide us, we will seek righteousness. Then, when temptations come, we’ll be prepared to meet them.

I’ve probably used this illustration before, but it helps me so much, that I keep coming back to it in my own mind. Back when I took driving lessons, they taught us to “Aim high in our steering.” In other words, we need to look up where we want to be, not look down at where we’re going.

If you’ve travelled with a famer, you know how dangerous they can be behind the wheel, especially now. As they drive, they’re looking at and checking out all the farms around them. And so they weave all over.

Temptations are like that, they call for our attention, trying to take our eyes away from Christ and to focus on other things. And when they succeed, we end up looking like a farmer driver. And if we give into the temptation, then it gets even worse, we either end up causing an accident or driving into the ditch.

Think about the analogy in terms of a relationship. If a spouse is unable to control a wandering eye, by taking every thought captive to Christ, then they will begin to entertain unhealthy thoughts toward people who are not their spouse. Then, with their defenses down already, they will turn be less resistant to sinful opportunities. You can apply this to any temptation.

We’re often good at justifying all kinds of things. We try to take stuff that is really black and white in God’s word, and we try to make them grey. But God is clear, the sinful nature is contrary to the Spirit. The Spirit desires that which is contrary to the sinful nature. If we find ourselves justifying something, we have to fess up, we have to own up to not living by the Spirit. For this is why we’re not under the law, if we live by the Spirit, the Spirit will lead us in full obedience to the law, for the Spirit desires the law.

We need to remember that the law shows us God’s perfect moral character. We need to remember that our keeping the law is a response to the new life we have in Christ. This is the picture, or the training, if you will, for the glorious future with Christ.

All of our life is a moving toward what will one day be reality. Right now, we’re living in the already but not yet. An example is getting your learners permit. You’re already able to drive, but until you get your G2, you’re not yet totally able to drive. There are limits and restrictions now, but one day, those will be gone.

That’s how we’re living now. We’re able to do much, but we’re limited by our still present sinful natures. We’re made right with Christ, but we’re not yet able to be fully obedient.

Praise God, that he’s so longsufferingly patient! Let us also, then, be like God in our patience with others. Sometimes, when God’s people hurt others, it feels worse, because they ought to know better. Nevertheless, we have to look at ourselves first, realise that we’re not there yet either, and extend to them as much grace as we’ve received, in other words, limitless grace!

In this life, we struggle along, keeping our eyes on the prize! Like runners in a gruelling race, we keep up our efforts, knowing that the end is coming. And when Christ returns, he will make us entirely new, able to really live, as we were created to live in the beginning! Amen.

16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.