The excitement of the season of Christmas
has come and gone, but the birth of Jesus’ purpose and mission continues to be
at work. How would our life be different
if we felt this excitement for Jesus not only during Christmas, but each day of
our lives? Our scripture reading today
in Ephesians 4:12-13 tells us a specific purpose of why Jesus came which is, “To
prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be
built up until we all reach unity in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of
God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of
Christ.” If we truly lived and embodied
the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, how would our life be different?
Paul
shares with us that Christ came with the intention and purpose for each of us
to participate with God’s mission of all creation and humanity healed and
restored. For those of us who say YES to
participate with God’s mission, it says that we will grow in knowledge and
faith becoming MATURE where we will attain the “Whole Measure of the fullness
of Christ.” It does not say that once we
know everything about God, the Bible, or we are comfortable that God will use
us. NO, it says that while we are doing
the work of God, we are growing and attaining maturity.
How
often do we use excuses that, “God can’t
use me because I don’t have a higher education, I don’t know or understand the
bible completely, or one that I hear often, I don’t have enough faith.” If we always wait until we think we are
ready, we would never be ready to minister, to serve or witness to others.
Paul
is revealing to us that right where we are at on our journey, we are to serve
and minister to others. As we are
serving and ministering to others, God is at work in us shaping us into a
spiritually mature individual.
In
a New Testament Commentary by author Tony Merida, he points out 4 Traits of
becoming a spiritually mature person.
1.
Longing individually and as a Church to be “Christ-like.” We can go back to Eph 4:2-3 to hear what Paul
describes as Christ-like qualities:
“humble, gentle, patient, bearing one another in Love, making every
effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. No longer shall we act like infants who are
immature and don’t know any better. When
we are living spiritually immature lives it says we will be tossed back and
forth, we will be blown whichever way the wind blows spiraling out of God’s
will.
2. We
increase our knowledge in the word of TRUTH.
As we increase our knowledge in what the Bible teaches, we gain wisdom
so that we can discern false teachings such as “there is more than one way to
get to heaven, or as long as you believe in God you will go to heaven, or all
religions are the same because there is more than one way to God.” These are all false. Our knowledge in the TRUTH of God’s word
prevents us from being deceived.
3.
TRUTH must be joined with LOVE.
There is a song that I love that says, “The truth is harder than a lie.” As Christians, we are to be truthful in all
of our dealings with others, even when it hurts or is difficult to
confront. 1 Timothy 3:15, shares how we
are to conduct ourselves as a body of Christ which he describes as “the pillar
and foundation of the truth.”
Individually and as a church body we are called to live, act and speak
in TRUTH with LOVE. In truth with
LOVE. 1 Cor 13 begins with Paul stating,
“And now I will show you the excellent way.” The
most excellent way or spiritually mature way is LOVE – TRUTH joined with
LOVE. 1 Cor. 13:1-13
4. We
are to give of ourselves to the service of others as a body of Christ. Each of us has unique gifts and talents. We each are a part of the body of Christ, God
the foundation and Christ the Cornerstone.
We each are necessary in order for each of us to continue to grow where
we build each other up in and through love.
So if one of us falls or is weak, we have each other to carry the burden
or to intercede on behalf of the other.
Gal 6:1-2 states, “Brothers if someone is caught in a sin, you who are
spiritual should restore him gently. But
watch yourself or you also may be tempted.
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of
Christ.”
It
is a time to Arise and Shine for the things that Jesus Christ came to give
us. It is not for just the season of
Christmas, but it is for all days. It is
a time to let our life reflect all that Christ came to do for us. We just celebrated the Birth of Jesus Christ
which is also a celebration of our own lives through Christ. Isaiah, in Isaiah 60 shares God’s promises
and fulfillment to us through Christ. It
says, “Arise and Shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises
upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the
peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.” It further states that, “He has endowed us
with His splendor.”
During
advent, we focused on four promises that Jesus came to give us so that we could
have New opportunities through open doors of heaven coming down to earth: Do you remember them?
·
HOPE that made a way
·
My PEACE I leave with you
·
He fills our hearts with JOY of the Lord
·
We LOVE because He first LOVED us – LOVE
breaks all barriers.
I love that Isaiah 60, that is instructing
us to Arise and Shine, is followed by Isaiah 61 called, “The Year of the Lord’s
Favor.” What exactly does The Year of
the Lord’s Favor mean? It is
RESTORATION. Everything that the enemy
stole, deceived or hindered us from experiencing the fullness Christ, God is
promising to RESTORE it. Restore not
only means that which has been taken from us to be given back, but it also
means that it will be multiplied where “we will receive a double portion from
the Lord’s hand.” As a body of
believers, we do not need to fear whatever circumstances or trials we are faced
with because of the Lord’s promises to us.
It is these moments that is training and equipping us with spiritual
maturity where we are becoming in the likeness of Christ with increased wisdom,
knowledge, truth, and love. Our
relationship with God is an ongoing
tension of experiencing birth pains along with hope. It is in this tension that we know God is
preparing us for a breakthrough.
Something new is about to happen.
Restoration is taking place.
As
most of you know, Kendall is having surgery this week to correct a congenital
heart defect. We were at Johns Hopkins
on Friday for her pre-op and consultation with the surgeon. Kendall has suffered with pain, intense
discomfort, and limited her social outings of things such as simply not being
able to eat out at a restaurant. I was
reflecting on our appointment that we had a Johns Hopkins paralleling to how it
is similar to our relationship with God.
Our appointment at Johns Hopkins was amazing and uplifting giving us
hope for her healing, but it also came with truth from the surgeon about the
risks with any surgery which was emotional also for us. It is the same with our relationship with
God. It is amazing and uplifting because
of the hope that Christ gave us, but it also comes with TRUTH that can be at
times overwhelming and yes, our relationship with God risky.
The
facts about Kendall’s upcoming surgery caused tension of raw emotion and data
of truth from the surgeon. God leads us
to those places of tension. We know that
God has led us to Johns Hopkins, and has revealed signs to us that she is to
have this done, but in our flesh we may fear, have uncertainties or perhaps
even doubt. It is these moments in the
tension that God is deepening our relationship with Him by increasing our
trust, obedience and submission aligning us with God’s will. Our lives are always navigating between that
tension of surrendering our control and plans that can be heart wrenching that
is aligning our will with God’s will for God’s purposes in that His glory may
be shown for all to see.
His
glorious acts are so that we don’t forget, that we remember what God has done
for us. When we remember, then we
willingly tell others about what God has done for us. Our testimony then is showing God’s glory to
others of what we have suffered and endured, but God heard and answered our
prayers. In our submission to God, we
count it all joy with our praises to God knowing that He is working all things
out for His glory for those that LOVE God.
We
see this throughout the Bible with others submission, remembering, obedience,
and praises to the Lord trough Abraham who nearly sacrificed his son,
Isaac. Noah who was ridiculed for
building an ark in the middle of dry land, Hannah who daily prayed for a son
for years at the temple, Daniel who lived in captivity under King
Nebecheneezer, Joseph who was a thrown in a well to die by his brothers, David
often looked foolish for the way he danced and sang before the Lord, the
disciples were martyrs for Christ and then of course, Christ, who was
crucified. What each of these
individuals exhibited (and there are many others not named from the Bible) was
their submission, remembrance, obedience, and praises to the Lord. These individuals found TRUTH, LOVE, GRACE
and MERCY in the midst of their moments by living in that tension of risk,
emotional unrest, as well as uplifting HOPE through their relationship and
commitment to follow God despite their circumstance, trials or pain.
From
that tension, they continued to press forward persevering for the Promises from
the Lord. Their perseverance for the
Lord, found them FAVOR in the eyes of the Lord.
We too are being called to ARISE and SHINE; to step out and live in the
that tension that is asking us to be fools for the Lord, to the Christ-like
examples to profess and proclaim the word of the Lord by speaking TRUTH in love
even when it hurts because we are in desperate times of a world with increased
moral decay, tolerance to sinful actions and behaviors, and signs of humanity
and creation groaning as a result of turning away from God. WE are being called
to walk against the ways of this world and in doing so; we will find FAOR in
the eyes of the Lord.
In
the Lord’s Favor it tells us in Is 61 that “we will have the Spirit of the Lord
upon us who has anointed us for an appointed time. He will use us to share the good news – to be
a testimony to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, those living in
darkness as prisoners to the enemy.
God
is saying that in 2018 no matter what any of us may be faced with in this
moment that we are to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. It is a time for healing and restoration
where we will inherit a double portion with everlasting joy. But there is one thing on our part that we
must do in order to see the breakthrough, and that is we must CONTEND for God’s
promises to us. We must CONTEND,
PERSEVERE and ENDURE because the enemy is lurking to try to delay, hinder or
prevent us from receiving our promises.
You know that your prayers are about to be answered when all hell and
chaos is breaking lose around you. We
have this example with the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for 40
years after Moses leading them out of slavery from Egypt. Our answered prayers often come by contending
for them because we are fighting a spiritual battle that does not want us
operating in our manifested destiny.
Karen
Hardin, a pastor and author gives the account of Jacob in Genesis 32:22-31 who
contended for his miracle and blessing.
It says that Jacob wrestled and he said, “I will not let You go, unless
you bless me.” After Jacob wrestled with
God and man, He was blessed. While we
are contending, God is at work in us and aligning our will to His will by His
divine steps and order. We see this
character of God in the account of Genesis in how he orderly created creation
in six days.
What
promises has God given you? God’s
promises and plans are irrevocable. His
plans do not change; He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He knew the plans he had for each of us
before we were even conceived in our mother’s wombs. He created us for destinies. He gave us those desires to further His
Kingdom work. God wants us to know that
we are to continue to CONTEND for the things he has promised and DO NOT GIVE
UP. 2 Chronicles 15:7 says, “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be
rewarded." RESTORATION is coming, but we must CONTEND for
it. While we are CONTENDING, God is drawing
us in a closer dependence and relationship to Him. He is refining us to be more Christ-like. We will seek more of His TRUTH, WORD,
KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM. With increased
TRUTH, He is softening us with His LOVE so that we may LOVE others which then
propels us into our destiny to serve others.
This is all a part of God’s purposes and mission of equipping us, “so
that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in faith and
in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ.” This is God’s PROMISE that we may live in
the fullness of Christ where all of our needs are met. He does not promise it will be easy, but we
must always CONTEND for it while all along counting it all joy praising our
Savior all the day long. Because He is
victorious, we already have victory!
Don’t stop CONTENDING for the PROMISES.
Amen.
