You can read Part I here.
Last time, I talked about how our lives ought to be a legacy for Christ, and that when the time comes to go home to the Lord, we ought to leave no doubt about what we believed and where we are going after slipping through the door of death. We could do this by living a life based on the Bible, working hard, living humbly, being wise, and generally living with integrity.
As I’ve been finishing up my reading through the New Testament, I’ve been noticing that there is a strong emphasis on living a holy life, especially in the writings of Peter. In mulling about holy living, I’ve realized it needs to be something that we Christians need to work very hard toward and a very important legacy that we also leave behind to our children and our children’s children. Why?
Simply put: Because God is holy. If we, as Christians, take on a true understanding of Christianity, we understand that not only does Christianity demand that we believe in Jesus Christ’s Godhood (that is to say, He was God in the flesh) and in His sinlessness and in His sacrifice for all sinners on the cross, it also demands that we pursue becoming like God in every passing day. I’m not talking about becoming God, but emulating Him. I am talking about abandoning evil and becoming holy.
God is the perfect standard of holiness. Holiness demands respect, dwells in the sacred, lives in confidence, and understands justice. It repels darkness and rises above dirt and filth. It is also whole; one cannot be partly holy. Holiness allows a life lived without regret and sorrow for committed sins.
This is what God wants for all of us to be. This is why God spilled the holy blood of Christ – not silver, not gold, not any other precious minerals or items, but the blood of His son – over our heads with the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. How can we accept this awesome gift of becoming holy, but continue to live a life filled with sin and evil? We can’t. It’s either one or the other. Either we gossip or we don’t. Either we look at “those pictures” or we don’t. Either we’re not faithful or we are. And on and so on. We need to make a choice daily – even hourly – what kind of life we want to live and what kind of legacy we want to leave behind for others to look at.
Will we succeed every day? No. But we certainly can make progress. The older I get, the more I’m understanding that life is a constant battle of inches. Each inch won is a victory for us and it will bring us closer to God, closer to understanding Him, and closer to what we were originally made to be.
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.'” – 1 Peter 1:14-16
– Matt
1 PeterbloodChristChristianconfidencecrossGodholyinchjusticelegacylivingrespectsacred
The Legacy of a Christian, Pt. II
September 15, 2011
Calvary
Comments Off on The Legacy of a Christian, Pt. II
Matt
You can read Part I here.
Last time, I talked about how our lives ought to be a legacy for Christ, and that when the time comes to go home to the Lord, we ought to leave no doubt about what we believed and where we are going after slipping through the door of death. We could do this by living a life based on the Bible, working hard, living humbly, being wise, and generally living with integrity.
As I’ve been finishing up my reading through the New Testament, I’ve been noticing that there is a strong emphasis on living a holy life, especially in the writings of Peter. In mulling about holy living, I’ve realized it needs to be something that we Christians need to work very hard toward and a very important legacy that we also leave behind to our children and our children’s children. Why?
Simply put: Because God is holy. If we, as Christians, take on a true understanding of Christianity, we understand that not only does Christianity demand that we believe in Jesus Christ’s Godhood (that is to say, He was God in the flesh) and in His sinlessness and in His sacrifice for all sinners on the cross, it also demands that we pursue becoming like God in every passing day. I’m not talking about becoming God, but emulating Him. I am talking about abandoning evil and becoming holy.
God is the perfect standard of holiness. Holiness demands respect, dwells in the sacred, lives in confidence, and understands justice. It repels darkness and rises above dirt and filth. It is also whole; one cannot be partly holy. Holiness allows a life lived without regret and sorrow for committed sins.
This is what God wants for all of us to be. This is why God spilled the holy blood of Christ – not silver, not gold, not any other precious minerals or items, but the blood of His son – over our heads with the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. How can we accept this awesome gift of becoming holy, but continue to live a life filled with sin and evil? We can’t. It’s either one or the other. Either we gossip or we don’t. Either we look at “those pictures” or we don’t. Either we’re not faithful or we are. And on and so on. We need to make a choice daily – even hourly – what kind of life we want to live and what kind of legacy we want to leave behind for others to look at.
Will we succeed every day? No. But we certainly can make progress. The older I get, the more I’m understanding that life is a constant battle of inches. Each inch won is a victory for us and it will bring us closer to God, closer to understanding Him, and closer to what we were originally made to be.
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.'” – 1 Peter 1:14-16
– Matt
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