Everyone be sure to check out our new church website cfctaylor.com. One of the many cool things about it is that you can listen to and download the messages and the message guides. That is especially awesome to think about when we understand what the Bible says in Gal. 2:20, “…the life i now live in the flesh, i live by faith in the Son of God.” and then what Rom. 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.”
Check it out and be challenged!
My life for Christ vs. Not I, but Christ
Gal. 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” This is truth, this is the reality, but do we really understand this reality? At times it may even seem as though there is no difference between the two.
Let’s start with us…
When it’s us living for Christ:
We can’t help but live by the lists, the do’s and the do not’s. So what happens is as time goes by and cultures change and technology and information evolve and progress, so do our lists. Besides that, even on our best day we aren’t and can’t be good enough!
We must note Isaiah 64:6 which says, “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
Also, Luke 18:9-14, 9And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: 10“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector 11“The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner! 14“I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
To do or not to do… is that the question? Looking at these two passages it goes to say that even if we “are righteous” we still have a problem. The problem ultimately is that we are simply of the wrong kind. It is like saying i can perfectly imitate a dog but i still won’t be a dog. I won’t be able to run like a dog runs or smell like a dog smells or hear like a dog can hear. The point is our imitations no matter how accurate still don’t make us of the acceptable kind.
Moving on now to Christ…
When it is not us, but Christ:
We’re the ground; He’s the seed.
We’re the body parts; He’s the head.
We’re the vessels; He’s the treasure.
Ok so we already know all of that, right? That’s why we are supposed to live our lives for God isn’t it? Think for a moment about our roles here, the vessel, the body parts, and the ground. We are worthless, lifeless, and useless without HIM! Let’s briefly take a closer look at us as the ground…
/// we the ground, drink up the rain! – Heb. 6:7
/// super spiritual?!? – NO!
/// God gives rain to EVERYONE!!! – Mt. 5:45
/// the difference = what’s IN us: Christ!
the perfect seed, the perfect mind & the most valuable treasure
Drinking up the rain is not some super spiritual act, it is simply our existence, the good the bad and the ugly. But when we allow this existence to manifest Christ, we realize the very purpose the human race was created, to bear the image, and be the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 1:23, “the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all”)
This concept of “not i, but Christ” (otherwise known as the Gospel) is simply an understanding of the reality that someone OTHER THAN yourself now lives IN YOU and that life is Christ. We don’t ourselves become Jesus Christ, we become His fullness, or in other words, His full expression! We put off the old and it’s fleshly manifestations and perverted images, and we put on the New Man, who is Christ, and naturally the outcome is the pure manifestation of HIS ABUNDANT LIFE! Amen.
So it is almost next year as i sit here at a quarter till 7 on December 31, 2008 and i have just been thinking: what is the big deal with these new years? I mean honestly we have to buy new calenders and sign some things a little differently, and i am sure there are some other things but i bet if we are honest with ourselves we wouldn’t be able to think of anything, of real weight or substance that this new year actually is. Honestly the new year only represents certain, specific things in an individual’s mind. We call them by nice, important sounding names like resolutions, goals, or strategies but what are they really besides our own personal resolutions, goals, or strategies… these are just words, put together to motivate us emotionally. Here i will prove it, they go something like this: “My new year’s resolutions are: words, words, words!“, or “My strategy for this year is: words, words, and more words!” Now think about that, you the individual can put any words you want there! And if you the individual can put anything that you want, however big or small, right or wrong, serious or stupid, spiritual or secular, then how important can this new year actually be? I know that some of you are probably quoting some scriputres at me or something like “your words have life or death power” or “if we don’t have vision we perish” and i am certianly not going to argue with those. But i just want you to answer me this: does the new year actually represent anything besides a mindset? No! So as someone in Christ (a Christian), who has the mind of Christ, what is any different tonight at midnight than any other night at midnight… or any time for that matter!?!? Nothing! In fact when Christ was raised up on that cross and drew all men to Himself, the calendar that we are celebrating tonight wasn’t even a thought in anyone’s head yet!
The point i am making is this, we must be careful not to get caught up in the externals, the temporal things. I hate seeing believers at these new years putting all their hope and trust on their words, on their diligence or discipline, on their strength and power.
Check out what the Apostle Paul says to the Church in Corinth about this in 1 Corinthians 4:6-20…
6 so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.
7 For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
8 You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you.
9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.
11 To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless;
12 and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure;
13 when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.
14 I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
15 For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
16 Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.
17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church.
18 Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.
19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power.
20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.
You see it isn’t about us at all, our resolutions, goals, or strategies, for all we have is words that lead to death. That is the reality outside of Christ. Power is only found in Christ which is exactly where the believer is found. If we are to build up this Kingdom as we glorify our King then our words are useless, as the Kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power!
As we change out our calendars and have to akwardly adjust to now writing 2009 instead of the familiar 2008, let us grow in the knowledge and understanding of Christ. Let us understand that our ways are found in Christ! Amen.
So just to be clear, these morning epiphanies aren’t necessarily a usual occurrence for me although i surely wouldn’t complain if they were… It’s going to sound cliche and incredibly cheesy but i am going to share it just how it happened.
I was in between asleep and fully coherent and i don’t even remember thinking about anything particular but just out of nowhere i thought about church, my own specific Christ Fellowship Church. I suddenly realized that the church (little “c”, as in the institution) along with all of its programs ect. is supposed to be a tool in the Church’s (big “C”, as in the body of Christ made up of many members) hands. So obviously this is common knowledge or at least it should be, but as i began to narrow my thoughts down to the individual programs or “ministries” in which the leadership of the church is constantly pushing new and fresh recruits and never ending demands for shallow excellence as manifested in their showing up on time or how enthusiastic they appear to be when they finally get there.
No matter how much we would like to believe that this is the right way or the only way, this mindset is diametrically opposed to reality. The reality that is we the people are the church! Everything else, the programs, ministries, land, buildings, and yes even the money are simply the tools or instruments. Yes i know what you’re thinking, “wow caleb you are just figuring this out?!?” and don’t get me wrong i thought i did know this… But if i really understood this reality then why am i still playing the part of the tool in the iron fist of the institution?
I guess i just realized that it’s well past time for the many members to breakout and take up our tools and build the Kingdom of which Jesus is the head, not the pastors or the ministry leaders or not even the volunteer coordinators.
Seek first the Kingdom! Amen.