June 21, 2018 Thursday

“14  For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15  and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. 16 ¶  Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2Corinthians 5:14-17 NKJV)

            We can live as Christians basking in the fellowship and the wonderful “services” a congregation can provide. Sometimes entire congregations can live in this way and then they cease to become a church but instead become a club.

            A true congregation of Christians will be compelled by the death and resurrection of Jesus to realize our response to God’s giving his life for us is to live for him.

            As we realize all Christ has done for us we begin to see people differently. Those who are lost who we used to see as terrible people we should keep away from in Jesus we see them as people who need to receive God’s love in Jesus Christ.

            We also see other Christians as a new “creation” and that through Jesus Christ the old things died with Jesus on the cross and they have been resurrected to a new life. It is a sad thing that in some congregations we still see those who have come to Christ through their old lives rather than as God’s new creation.

            Paul also states what we thought about Jesus before we became a Christian should also pass away and we should come to know Jesus through the spirit of God. Beware if you have been a Christian for decades and still see God the same way as you did in the flesh! We must grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ if we are to grow in our Christian life!

            Have you died to your sins through the death of Jesus Christ and risen to a new life through the resurrection of Jesus? Do you still see people in the same way as you did in the flesh or do you see the lost as those who need to hear the gospel and Christians as those who have become new creations through Jesus Christ? When you go to a worship service is a time for you to be around other people or is a time to spend time worshiping God?