Our greatest challenge
Man’s
greatest challenge is indeed his main objective in life, and that is to,
fulfill the will of God as we have been duly admonished saying; “Finally then,
brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and
more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for
you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
For this is the will of God, your
sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of
you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not
in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should
take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is
the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did
not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness: Therefore he who rejects this does
not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit” (1Thesolanians
4:1-8).
What
is of paramount importance to know is that, the reason for Christ’s death and
resurrection is to do away with the body of sin as we have been duly instructed
saying; “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death,
certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this,
that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done
away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin: For he who has died has
been freed from sin” (Romans 6:5-7).
Sin as we all should know is this powerful
insatiable desire of the flesh for self- gratification, it is the nature we
inherited from the first Adam which has the capability of deciding for itself
what is right and what is wrong and described as; being deceitful above all
things and desperately wicked, it is defined as, the transgression of God’s
laws, all unrighteousness, the omission of duty, not acting from faith and the
thoughts of foolishness (Jeremiah 17:9; 1John 3:4). (Proverbs
24:9; James 4:17; Romans14:23).
This
sinful nature manifests itself in what is termed; “The works of the flesh” which
according to the apostle Paul; “are evident, which are: adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I
also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not
inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).
It
also manifests itself it what is termed; “The wisdom of men” as alluded to by
the apostle James who wrote; “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him
show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if
you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie
against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly,
sensual and demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every
evil thing are there” (James 3:13-16).
Sin,
the passion and desires of the flesh and worldly wisdom, is what competes with
God: This is what we all give precedence before and above God. Hence the reason
why sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, faith in human
wisdom are all idolatrous. And it is certain that, “No immoral, impure or
greedy person who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ
and of God.
We
do not need anyone to judge us, in fact we have been duly admonished saying; “Examine
yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know
yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified: But
I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified” (2Corinthians
13:5-6).
The
crux of the matter is, “if Christ is in us, the body (sensual desires) is dead
because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” And so the
admonition is; “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors --- not to the flesh, to
live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will
die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live”
(Romans
8:10; 12-13).
There
are two very important things one should note carefully with reference to being
a new creation which are;
a. a. The way of life in the Spirit is known
as the way of righteousness, which according to the Psalmist David; “My tongue
shall speak of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness.” On the other
hand the way of life in the flesh is known as sin which according to the
apostle John is the transgression of God’s law, because he wrote; “Whoever
commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” Two distinct
practical ways of life that are diametrically opposite to each another (Psalms
119:172; 1 John 3:4).
b. b. Being a new creation due to the spiritual mutation between the Spirit of God and the spirit of man has produced a completely new creature.
A A literal and practical example of this new creation is the end result of having a donkey to mate with a horse and produces a new breed known as a mule. Now we have been admonished saying; “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).
But unfortunately, due to the lack of
knowledge, understanding and belief of who we are as the new creation we rather
continue serving our fleshly desires rather than serving God, and so, we have
been duly admonished saying; “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for
because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience: Therefore,
do not be partakers with them” (Colossians 3:5; Ephesians 5:5-7).
Most
people are ignorant of who we really are since the advent of the last Adam Who
gave us a new life in the Spirit. Most people still perceive themselves only as
what David described stating; “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the
time my mother conceived me” (Psalms 51:5).
And so naturally, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” What has eluded the minds of many people is the fact that Jesus Christ at His death and resurrection created a new generation of mankind in Himself. He gave humanity a new life in the Spirit
.
To be continued
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
No comments:
Post a Comment