"This message was kept secret for centuries past, but now it has been revealed to God's people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you gentiles too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory" - Colossians 1:26-27
As I meditate on this verse, one phrase strikes in my heart and spirit: "Christ lives in you". As Born again Christians we all know that once we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we are saved, He resides in us and guides our daily life. In Colossians 1:15 says: "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God" so if Christ lives in us, we can also say that we are the visible image of the invisible God. Many Christians today are entangled in a situation called "Identity Crisis". Instead they show that they are the follower of Jesus Christ, they compromise their faith through the way they think, speak, manner of dressing, etc. Romans 12:2 says: "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect". How can we live in Christ like image? 1. The Christ like image will grow in us by reading and meditating God's word. "Three days later they finally discovered him in the temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers" - Luke 2:46-47 It is very evident that the young boy Jesus sets an example in reading and meditating the word of God. He sits among the religious teachers and they are discussing the word of God. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding. Jesus, even though he is the Son of God sets an example for us to follow. As a human, he fills his mind with the knowledge that comes from the word of God. As a result: "Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people" - Luke 2:52 We must fill our mind with the knowledge that comes from the word of God as Jesus did. "To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them" - Matthew 13:12 It is our benefit if we meditate on God's word daily for it gives us victory in our daily life. "Study this book of instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do" - Joshua 1:8 God promise us a victorious living, we are the head not the tail. But other believers became defeated because they don't know the word of God. "Your mistake is that you don't know the scriptures, and you don't know the power of God" - Matthew 22:29 "My people are being destroyed because they don't know me" - Hosea 4:6 Is it possible that a person who is a "Christian" that "Serve" God but actually doesn't know who he is serving? YES! the bible has an example: "Meanwhile, the boy Samuel served the Lord by assisting Eli" - 1 Samuel 3:1a In this verse, the young boy Samuel is "serving" God by assisting Eli in the temple. But in verse 7... "Samuel did not yet know the Lord because he had never had a message from the Lord before" - 1 Samuel 3:7 The word of God is very important in our life. Because God reveals who he is through his word. We cannot say that we serve God but we are not connected to his word. The word of God is Jesus himself. "In the beginning the word already existed. The word was with God and the word was God" - John 1:1 "So the word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only son" - John 1:14 "People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" - Matthew 4:4 2. "I" must die so that the fullness of Christ may live. "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" - Galatians 2:20 Who is this "I" that must die? It is our flesh who always contradicts the will of God in our lives. It is not literally that we kill ourselves and end up this life God gave us, this is a big NO! don't mis-interpret me! What I mean is... like Paul, he forgets his personal desires and principles in order for him to follow Christ and fully control his life. He is totally surrendered to God. He crucified his old life, his old nature, and starts living in Christ likeness. "Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your creator, and become like him" - Colossians 3:10 "Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them" -2 Corinthians 5:14-15 "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17 "For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better" -Philippians 1:21 In Isaiah 14:13-14, this passage is the word of Lucifer when he starts rebellion against God. Notice that the "I" is always on his words as an evident sign of pride. "For you said to yourself I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the North. I will climb to the highest heavens and be the most high" - Isaiah 14:13-14 As a result, Lucifer who once an angel of God, becomes Satan God's enemy. 3. The Christ like image will grow in us by obeying God's word. "Jesus replied: All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them" - John 14:23 It is our privilege to be God's home. Surely we will experience heaven while we are still here on earth. Obeying God's word will bring heaven here on earth. In Genesis 3:1-7 is the story when the serpent deceives eve by disobeying God's word and eat the forbidden fruit. In our present time, we can compare eve to "Christians" who are compromising their faith in exchange of the things that this world offers. They are disregarding the word of God for their own sake. "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever" - 1 John 2:15-17 In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus fasted for 40 days & nights. As a human being, he became hungry. The devil came and tempted him to make the stones into bread, but Jesus rebuked the devil and said: "People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" - John 4:4 As the scripture continues, Satan tempted Jesus for the second and third time. But one thing that you should see in the story, Jesus has the power to turn those stones into bread but he did not do it. Why? because the word does not come from God... It is the word of Satan. Jesus always do what pleases God. "...I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me. And the one who sent me is with me - he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him" - John 8:28b-29 This must be the pattern of our church today. To raise up Christians living in Christ like image in order for us to take dominion and become rulers of the nations to fulfill God's original plan since the beginning. "Then God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth and the small animals that scurry along the ground. So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them, Male and Female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it" - Genesis 1;26-28a
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AuthorWarren Jhun Ocampo Archives
September 2017
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