Practical Application on the Unsearchable Riches of Christ (part 1/3)

Practical Application on the Unsearchable Riches of Christ (Part 1/3)

   The person of Christ has always been controversial. He is either loved or hated, adored or despised, worshiped or blasphemed, followed or spurned. It has been this way since the beginning. Some brought gifts to the newborn King while others sought to kill him. A few believed him to be the long awaited Messiah, and others thought he was possessed by Satan himself. A handful worshiped Jesus as Lord and cried tears of joy, but most just cried “crucify him.” A small number obeyed Christ, but the majority hurled insults and reviled him.

    Yet, martyrs die for him, the timid confess him, the weary run to him, and the lost trust him. Whatever the case may be, you may hate him or love him, but you cannot, however, ignore him! All of history revolves around Christ. He is at the center of everything. His person, life, and death are monumental. He changed everything by coming in the flesh, teaching what he taught, doing what he did, dying the death he died, rising from the grave as predicted, and then ascending to the Father, but that is not all. He commissioned a band of men to preach his message to the world, and preach they did! The entire known world was turned upside down in a matter of years.

     The importance of Christ, his person and work, cannot be underestimated. Since his death and resurrection, the world is different. Christians, his followers, are willing to die for Christ. They do all things in his name, for his glory, and for the good of mankind. It is, for the most part, Christians who started schools, built hospitals, provided orphanages for children, helped the poor and hungry, erected shelters for the homeless, and a number of other ministries. Granted, non-Christians do these things, but it is not as consistent and worldwide. Believers go all around the world to minister.

     Christ is a believer's all. He is our identity! Christ is our everything. With that said, what do we now do? These next points should summarize what we do as Christians. These ought to define who we are. Nonetheless, we are imperfect and fail often, but, we should be motivated to repent and strive to glorify God in all things. We don't do anything perfectly, and that includes living the Christian life. There should be growth and maturity, though; we should desire to live in such a way that Christ is honored. We should be inclined to: believe on Christ, preach Christ, teach Christ, obey Christ, grow in Christ, meditate on Christ, evangelize for Christ, minister in the name of Christ, put on Christ, walk in Christ, commune with Christ, rejoice in Christ, and persevere in Christ.

Believe

    First, believe on Christ. Trust him. Look at all that the word has revealed about him. He is God and man. He lived and died for sinners. He taught and preached astounding messages. Disease and death were no match for the Lord; he healed the afflicted and raised the dead. Christ is perfect, holy, gracious, just, faithful, and loving. He fulfilled the entire Old Testament. Christ saves his people; he is salvation. Christ gives eternal life and forgiveness to those who repent and believe on him. Think about this, Christ actually saves his people from the just penalty of their sin. He wipes their sin away and removes the wrath of God from them. Christ is amazing. He is believable. Even when it is dark and life seems unlivable, believe on Christ. His grace is sufficient. Your problems may not vanish, but Christ will be with you and see you through. Don't trust yourself or others, trust Christ. He cannot fail.

     “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (Jn. 3:36). “Jesus answered them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent'” (Jn. 6:29). “Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst'” (Jn. 6:35). “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (Jn. 6:40). “To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43). “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life” (1Jn. 5:13).

Worship

     Second, worship Christ. Those who have believed on Christ, assuming that they have been regenerated by the Spirit and converted, cannot but worship Christ. How does a person not worship the one who took their place on the cross, absorbing the wrath of God for their sin? How can a believer not adore the one who put on flesh, hungered, thirsted, sweated, and bled; him who was tempted, mocked, blasphemed, hated without cause, watched, examined, judged, persecuted, tortured, cursed, beaten, slapped, tormented, and murdered? We have to worship Christ because we have been transformed. We used to be natural, dead in our sin, and separated from God. Nevertheless, God did a supernatural work in us, and now it is natural to worship Christ. It is our nature. We can do nothing less.

     The amazing thing is that even if Christ did not come to earth and die, he would still be worthy of all worship and praise because of who he is. He is worthy! He does not have to do a thing, nothing is diminished, nothing is taken away, and he is still beyond words! He is God. That says it all. As God, he deserves every verse of song, every utterance of prayer, every syllable of praise, every note of music, and every joy-filled exultation simply because he is.

     “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col.3:17). “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11). “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks the oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies- in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1Pet. 4:10-11).

Preach

     Third, preach Christ. If Christ is our Savior and Master, then he must also be our message. We are to proclaim Christ and tell of his excellent greatness. Share with others his splendor and majesty. Tell of how he saves from sin and its penalty, brings life out of death, gives gifts of repentance and faith, feeds the spiritually hungry, blesses with eternal life, imparts peace and purpose, and renders joy unspeakable to them who trust and believe on him. We are to preach at work, in the streets, to our children, in the church, and as we walk and talk; everywhere and anywhere is our venue.

     It is because of who he is that we believe in and worship him. Because we believe and worship him, we also preach him. All of these go hand in hand. Something is not right if one of these is missing. We proclaim what we believe and worship. You do not have to be an ordained minister to proclaim the message of Christ and witness for him. We are ambassadors for Christ. We speak his gospel on his behalf. We are diplomats and representatives of the King. We have to speak about him; we are compelled. If we don't preach about Christ, the very rocks will cry out. Go proclaim!

     “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent” (Rom. 10:14-15)? “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1Cor. 1:22-24). “For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake” (2Cor. 4:5). “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem'” (Lk. 24:45-47). “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2Cor. 5:20).

Teach

     Fourth, teach Christ. It follows that if we are saved by Christ, we are to worship him. Then, since we worship him, it follows that we seek to worship him in all things in everything we do. To do this, we preach and teach Christ. We not only teach Christ as an act of worship, we teach Christ because of who he is and what he has done for us, in us, and through us. Teaching Christ ought to summarize our lives. We can teach Christ at home, to our kids, at work, at church, at the ball field- anywhere can be a schoolhouse in which Christ is taught. And since he is infinite and eternal, you will never run out of things to teach about. Learn and teach; teach of his existence and work in the Old Testament, his names and attributes, his doctrine and ministry, his deity and humanity, teach of his amazing salvation.

     Teach Christ to those who do not know him. Teach him to them that do. Christ is to be taught in order to remove errors from people's thinking. Teach Christ in order to warn of the judgment to come and the salvation that is in his name. Teach Christ to the young and old alike. Teach Christ to combat all the false teachings of today. Teach Christ so that others will be equipped to teach him. Teach Christ because he is the Truth, and a world that is consumed by lies needs truth.

     “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1Cor. 2:2). “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16). “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2Tim. 3:16-4:4).