Christ Revealed In Us

Many in the body of Christ [the Church] today are all about me. Believers are no longer different from the world, they think, talk, and conduct themselves like those in the world. We are saved by God’s grace for a purpose. Titus 2:11-12, tells us what God’s grace teaches us, saying "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age".

God’s saving grace teaches us to deny or to say "no" to ungodliness (those things that are not pleasing to God) and worldly lust and/or desires; to live soberly by exercising self-restraint over all our passions and desires, enabling us to develop the mind of Christ; to live righteously and godly by living in obedience and doing those things that are pleasing to God; and to walk in love toward both God and man. We are to do all of these things right here, right now in this present world we live in today. James 1:22 tells us, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." We must commit to being doers of the Word today, and live it out every day for the rest of our lives.

Let’s look at the grace of God in the life of the apostle Paul. He said in Galatians 1:15-16, "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles,…" God calls us through His divine grace for the purpose of revealing His Son Jesus Christ in us. We must seek to truly know Jesus Christ intimately and give ourselves to be conformed into His image and likeness. Jesus reveals himself to us, transforms us into His image, and enables and empowers us to be witnesses to preach and teach for His glory. All of this is done so He can reveal Himself to others through us. We are to be the examples of how the gospel is being lived out daily in our lives, and by proclaiming Him through our words. We are the vessels, His instruments of righteousness, through which He chooses to reveal Himself.

As Christians we need to understand our purpose in life, just as the apostle Paul understood his. In Romans we learn that those whom God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed into the image of His Son. Your purpose, dear Christian, is to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ (Rom.8:29). This call on your life, this purpose is to be your aim, focus and the main goal of your life. The only way to be like Jesus ultimately is to love like He did, which is to walk perfectly before the Father as He did. As a true born again believers in Jesus Christ, our purpose is to reveal Christ in us both individually and corporately as the Church.

Our desire to know Jesus Christ intimately and to be conformed into His image and likeness by walking in obedience should be our main desire and the focus of our prayers. Paul prayed for the Galatians believers, "My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you". All true ministers lead people to Christ, teach them to count the cost of being a disciple, teach them to obey and grow in Christ to become like Him (Matt. 28:20; Rom.16:25-26). All true believers who minister teach other believers to "…put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts" (Rom.13:14).

Every member in the body of Christ, the Church, must understand their purpose to walk in obedience to the Lord and to grow up into Jesus Christ (Eph.4:11-15). The Lord knows our hearts and knows whether we truly love and obey Him or not. As Christians, we must repent and turn away from anything that would hinder or prevent us from walking in love and obedience to Him. We must seek to please Him by doing His will in our lives and become more and more like Him every day. We will never reach perfection in our lifetime. However, we can experience a blessedness of obedience and experience the kingdom of God in our lives filled with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Matt.5:3-12; Rom. 14:17).

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