John 1:9-13 (NIV) 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
From Ephesians 2 (NIV) But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
In the push and pull of life the understanding of what it means to be a Christian has a way of getting distorted. It is easy to drift away from a primary commitment in our life. There are crosscurrents we must battle to stay on course in our understanding of and commitment to being a Christian. The strength and genius of the Christian faith is not that we all agree or are always right, but that we are frequently corrected by that abiding Presence. Christianity is not a forced truth, but there is truth to what we believe that can be good for all people.
Inwardly, a Christian is someone who has experienced a change in his or her relationship to God because of Jesus Christ. When the Scripture speaks basically about being a Christian it speaks about a basic change. Becoming a Christian is like moving from the orphanage into the home of God. Outwardly, a Christian is someone who expresses this change by a heartfelt commitment to Jesus Christ, to have an exclusive commitment to Jesus. It is a priority commitment that gives first place to Jesus and not to anyone or anything else. It rules out a commitment to the religion of money or to other religions.
Christianity is seen in our commitment to Jesus Christ who has bestowed upon us this gift. The channel God uses to reach us is different, but always there is the same truth that comes to us. It is the truth of God’s care and compassion and commitment to us seen in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope January 10, 1993
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell
No comments:
Post a Comment