Practical Application on the Unsearchable Riches of Christ (Part 2/3)

Practical Application on the Unsearchable Riches of Christ (Part 2/3)

Obey

    Fifth, obey Christ. Christ is to be obeyed. He is God and King, Lord and Savior. He is worthy of perfect submission and obedience. Our desire should be to obey our Christ. He is a good, loving, gracious, merciful, patient, and kind God. Why wouldn't we obey him? Christ makes it extremely easy to obey him. Our flesh, on the other hand, makes it difficult, but praise God for his grace that conforms us into the image of Christ.

    We obey Christ because he is our master. Upon conversion, we become slaves of Christ. This is not slavery as we think of it. On the contrary, we as slaves of Christ enjoy freedom which was provided by our great God. We are now free from sin and its penalty and free to worship our Creator and Savior. Before, we hated God and could not approach him. Since Christ has saved us, we have been ushered into his presence and reconciled by Christ's blood. Now we serve and obey him out of a grateful and transformed heart. It is not burdensome. It is a joy.

    “Jesus answered him, 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him'” (Jn. 14:23). “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith- to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen” (Rom. 16:25-27). “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you” (1Pet. 1:1-2).

Grow

    Sixth, grow in Christ. When Christ saves us, he doesn't save us so we can remain unchanged. We are to grow, to mature, to develop, and to make progress. A tree must grow and produce fruit. No growth equals no life. We grow in our love for God and our hatred of sin. We grow in Christlikeness. We are to mature and not act as we once did. Christians must increase in their love for the word of God and communion with him.

     As we grow, we learn how sinful the world is, so we try to be in the world but not of it. Some other areas of growth are: love for fellow believers, a desire to sacrifice and serve, growing in grace, grow in holiness, growing in knowledge of Christ and Christianity, learning from failures and mistakes, learning how to pray, learning how to trust no matter the circumstance, seeking to glorify God in all things, renewing our minds, mortifying our flesh, not worrying, recognizing pride and other sinful tendencies, and sharing what Christ has done. Christ is the key. Believers, Christians, are to be like Christ. Pray that God will grow you. We have a responsibility to grow, so grow by praying and studying the word of God. Pray for conviction, illumination, and guidance.

    “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2Cor. 3:18). “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:15). “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29). “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2Pet. 3:18). “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1Jn. 3:2-3).

Meditate

    Seventh, meditate on Christ. A big part, an often underrated aspect, of the Christian life is the mind. Believers are to be thinkers. Our thoughts must be transformed and conformed to Christ. We think when we read the word. We think about our salvation. We think about our great God and all of his wonders. Christians often think through their day and ponder where they sinned and how they disgraced Christ. At other times, believers think about how they served or glorified Christ. We think.

     Perhaps one of the most profitable exercises we can do as believers is to meditate on Christ. This is not Eastern meditation. We don't repeat a mantra over and over, neither do we empty our minds. No, Christians think about Christ and fill their minds with scripture. Meditation is deep and contemplative thought. We concentrate on Christ. We may read and reread a passage in the Bible to seek to better understand it, then we think about the verses and its application. We may ask questions to think about the text such as: what does this verse teach about Christ? Does this reveal anything about man or sin? How may I glorify Christ with this text in mind? Am I to obey or do something; is the text calling me to an action?

     Another approach is to simply think about Christ. Just stopping, being alone and in the quiet, and thinking about the Lord is a great way to grow and worship. What should you think about? Some suggestions are: think about the person and work of Christ, think on how he has gotten you to this point in your life, ponder his providence, think about your testimony and how Christ made himself known to you, focus on the cross, meditate on the enormity of your sin and the vastness of God's grace, think of ways you could serve Christ and honor him, rehearse the gospel and how you could share it, or contemplate a doctrine or teaching of Christ. There is always something to meditate on; we cannot exhaust or infinite Savior. Just think about something.

     “But that is not the way you learned Christ!- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:20-24). “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil. 4:8). “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:1-2).

Evangelize

    Eighth, evangelize for Christ. Evangelism is sharing the gospel with others. It is telling people that mankind is fallen, hopeless, doomed, and cannot please God. It is also proclaiming that what man could not do, God did by sending his Son to take on flesh and become a substitutionary sacrifice for sinners. Now, sinners are commanded to repent and trust Christ for salvation. Sinners have to hear the gospel, the good news, in order to know that they offended a holy God and to repent and have faith in Christ. God has ordained the preaching of his gospel to call sinners to believe. No proclamation means no salvation.

     “How then shall 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). “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). “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12).

Minister

    Ninth, minister in the name of Christ. Christians are to do everything in the name of Christ. One enormous task we have is to minister. Believers are to serve other people, and by serving others, God is glorified. This can be done in a myriad of ways. Actually, anything we do can be viewed as ministry. We are ministering to people all the time- it just might not be a good ministry. So, in the name of Christ and for his glory, serve other people. Give of your time and use your gifts to benefit others. Help other people. Pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Minister by sharing the gospel (what could possibly be more important?). Serve anyway that you know how, just do it unto the Lord.

     “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” (Lk. 24:46-47). “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2Cor. 5:18-20). “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12). “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).