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Christ is the Answer We
come to Jesus in excitement and joy. The
flush of having our sins washed away when we submit ourselves to Jesus in
baptism; the anticipation of our new life in His service; the initial euphoria
of our new brothers and sisters in this wonderful household of God.
Then the reality of discipleship begins to set in.
We find that living for Jesus is not always easy (Matt 10:24).
It actually leads to difficulties we never experienced before (1 Pet
4:12-19). If our confession of
Christ is what brought on these troubles, how can Christ be the answer to them? Let
us look at some areas in which Christ is the answer.
Much of the world struggles mightily – yet in vain – to reverse or
delay the aging process. Billions of
dollars are spent on treatment of physical afflictions.
Yet, people still get sick, get old, and die.
What does Christ have to offer for that?
Do Christians get sick less, grow older more slowly, or live longer than
the rest of the world? Perhaps, but
other religious groups can make the same statistical claim.
For that matter, it is a fact that rich people live longer and suffer
less than poor people. Does that
mean we should all strive to be rich? (1 Tim 6:9)
No, the answer is Christ, but not that being a disciple of Jesus makes
this physical life better. The
answer is that being a disciple of Jesus shows us that this life is
insignificant in comparison to the promise of eternal redemption.
The weakness of the fleshly body just emphasizes the power of God (2 Cor
12:7-10). What
about our weakness of will? How can
Christ be the answer for me when I continue to sin AFTER I have given my life to
Him? We find the answer in
understanding the true nature of forgiveness.
We are not forgiven BECAUSE we have gotten our lives straitened out; we
are forgiven to accomplish that purpose. We
tend to forget that Christ came to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15 – notice Paul uses
the present tense in describing himself as the foremost sinner).
All of us continue to need the grace of Christ, which God knows (1 John
1:7-2:1). Christ is the answer to
strengthening our opposition to Satan (Jas 4:7,8). “It
seems like I have so many duties to Christ.
How can I fulfill them all?” “Our
lives are so busy it seems now-a-days. In
the ‘good ole days’ life wasn’t so complicated.”
These are the sort of things we often hear from people today.
Is it really true? I don’t
believe so for a couple of reasons. First
is the widespread use of labor-saving devices.
Today we pop dinner from the freezer into the microwave and it is ready
to eat in five minutes. Laundry is
washed and dried automatically while we watch television or do another job.
Automobiles rush us to distant places much more quickly and comfortably
than horses ever could. Some will
argue that we must work longer now than before, but that does not hold up when
we consider the dawn-to-dusk workday of the farmer, or the 80-hour work week of
the factory worker from previous centuries.
Yes, now both spouses work more outside the home than anytime after the
war. Why?
Is it literally to “keep food on the table”, or is it to maintain a
certain standard of living the world has rarely seen?
How can being a servant for Christ help alleviate the strain?
Simply because our allegiance to Christ helps to refocus our priorities
away from material possessions to more fulfilling pursuits. It
is so disappointing when one that I have always thought of as a brother or
sister does not have the kind of Christian spirit that they ought.
How can Christ be the answer for me when He isn’t for them?
We see in the story of Peter and Barnabus in The point of all of this is to affirm that Christ is the answer to every question, problem, issue, or concern that we will ever have in our lives. We must remind ourselves of that daily, not just on Sundays. When we truly believe that Jesus is the answer for everything, we will know eternal life. --Eddie Pagan _Home Page |