Friends,
If you have been watching the news, and you have an
interest in science…particularly astronomy…then you are likely aware that
astronomers believe that they have found a star and planet similar to our sun
and earth. The planet is called Kepler
452b (after famous astronomer Johannes Kepler). Both star and planet are
slightly larger than our version of “home”, but this is interesting news for
those who would like to escape this world. The universe is a really big
place…so large, that we can’t really begin to comprehend it. As one person shared…one way to try to grasp
it is that the earth is like a grain of sand, and the universe of other stars,
planets and galaxies would be all of the sand on all of the beaches of the
world. And even this wouldn’t even begin
to be enough. That is difficult to wrap the mind around if you are a typical
human being. Some scientists try to tell
us that everything that we know came into existence via some cataclysmic event called
“the Big Bang.” I experienced a big bang
one time when I walked near a significantly large firework blast that went off
by me when I was a kid. :-) What I do know, and understand by faith, is
that God created the universe. And, if He chose to do so through the process of
some sort of big bang then that is His business. What I also know is that God created
“light.” And He has been sending His
light into the world ever since. He did
so via the sun. Then, at the appointed
time, He did so through His Son. Now,
God sends us out as His instruments to be light to the world. We do not have to light up the entire
universe…but, you and I have the ability and responsibility to light our
world. As such, Paul tells the believers
in Philippi that, as Jesus was the Light, they also must shine like lights in
the darkness of the world. We do indeed
have the same responsibility!
Paul wants us to know that we need to continually strive
to be like Christ. This requires
obedience and effort, or as he tells the Philippians…”work out your own salvation” (Philippians 2:12-18). This is not to be confused with any mistaken
concept of “working for or to salvation.”
I knew a lady one time that when I explained this principle, it was like
a light went on. She had never considered that she couldn’t do enough or be good
enough to be a Christian. This was sad
in one sense, but good in another. She began to understand that it is all about
what Jesus has done, and our connection to it.
There is no way that we can work for, do enough, be good enough in order
to gain salvation. It is the free gift
of grace from God through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is precisely Jesus’ point with the rich,
young ruler (Matthew 19).
Paul is dealing with people who are Christians already,
but some seem to be struggling and have quit growing to be like Jesus. He continues to help them, and all of us, to
continue to meet the challenge of growing in Christ by contrasting the life of
believers with those of unbelievers. God’s
purpose for us, His people, is to achieve Christ-likeness. Church and Christian living is never to be
about you or me or anyone else…it is all about Jesus. He is to be our all in
all! Paul says that those who belong to
the world make it a course of their lives to grumble and find fault, but not
those in Christ. We are to rejoice and
give thanks at all times. How can this
be so? We understand that we are not
working to grab hold of some sort of victory, but that we are living our lives in
Christ striving from victory. We have every opportunity to be able to enjoy
our salvation with fellow believers…those we meet with on Sundays…and those who
we meet with at other times. We have the
greatest principle in common -- grace and thanksgiving as the result of what
Jesus has done for each and every one of us in setting us free from sin, death
and the world! We have a unity in this
which no one can take away.
And what is even more interesting is that grace,
thanksgiving and joy all have the same root in the original language –
char. This is where our English words
charity, charisma, and character find their meaning. In this, we continue to work out God’s
purposes for our lives, spiritually, charitably living as His witnesses…shining
in the world around us. As we are
confronted with the needs and the difficulties of real life, we continue to
grow and become more Christ-like. The
struggles we face make us better, stronger for Him. We can offer thanksgiving to the Lord for the
opportunity to continue to grow and become more like His Son.
Another principle that Paul wants us to understand is
that it is God who is at work in us,
and He must be doing this before He can work through us. Some people obey
God because of pressures from the outside (people, circumstances), and not from
the power that comes from within us (the Holy Spirit). And this
is to be the power working in us, the Holy Spirit…God’s personal
presence. The power is at our disposal
-- truly “greater is He (Spirit) who is within us that He who is in the world”
(1 John 4:4). God uses “tools” such as
the Word, prayer, suffering and fellowship in order to bear fruit in the lives of
His people. We discover that as we continue to grow that all of these virtues
on earth are transforming our spirits in order for us to be ready for the glory
in heaven being prepared for us. We
receive eternal life and joy because of our submission. Just as Jesus submitted Himself to the will
of the Father and was exalted, so will we be one day.
The beauty of the spiritual struggle is that we are not
left to simply muster more of our strength, but we are invited to tap into
His! It is only through surrender to His
will, and allowing His Spirit to work in us that we are able to grow and
understand spiritual matters. This all
means that the victories and accomplishments that we have in the spiritual
realm should be acknowledged as coming from the Lord…and we should give Him the
glory. We cannot do good enough or be
good enough to achieve this victory.
But, we need to be surrendered enough, committed enough to be able to
live out our Christian lives abundantly from victory. When we have spiritual character, charisma,
we understand that grace, thanksgiving, unity isn’t something that we do…it is
who we are! It all simply means that we
can live the Christian life, free from negative attitudes such as fear,
bitterness, self-sufficiency, because our dependence is on Him. And this is precisely why we can be grace-filled,
Spirit-filled, thankful, united people…because it is not about us -- it is all
about what Jesus has done on our behalf!
Blessings, Don
