What Does It Mean to be a Christian?

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
-- John 3:16-17

John 3:16 - probably the best known of all verses in the Christian Bible. While it could just as easily speak of the greatest love that mankind could ever be shown, it also gives testimony to what it means to be a Christian.

As I began preparing this message, I immediately thought of the "You might be a redneck" comedy routine made famous by Jeff Foxworthy. You know how it goes... "If your hound dog gets the queen-size bed all to himself while you and the wife share the pullout sofa, you might be a redneck." Here's what I had in mind:

If you help feed the hungry, you might be a Christian. Jesus Himself said this, as recorded in Chapter 25 of Matthew, verse 35: "for I was hungry and you gave Me food".

If you give a glass of water to someone thirsting, you might be a Christian. That's from Jesus again: "I was thirsty and you gave Me drink".

If you take in a stranger in need and provide shelter for them, you might be a Christian. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Jesus yet again: "I was a stranger and you took Me in".

If you offer clothing to the needy, visit the sick, homebound, and infirm, or give hope and inspiration to those incarcerated in jail or in prison, you just might be a Christian. Why do I say this? Matthew saved for us the words of the Christ as He related to His disciples some of the events that will occur at the end of days, when Jesus shall serve as Judge of man:

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'" -- Matthew 25:31-40

Christ is telling us right there that He fully expects us take care of all of mankind to the best of our ability and capability to do so. Those hungry, those thirsty, those poor, those ill, those incarcerated. None are beneath us. None are any less deserving of our compassion and caring and love. For how we treat even the very least of these our brothers and sisters, that is how our wonderful Savior sees us treating Him. For we are all His children, all of us. Those of us more able to help others less capable are called upon to do so. And you'll notice that Matthew did not quote Jesus as making exceptions for those who may have had it coming to them, or those who brought it all upon themselves, or those who deserved whatever they got. When you care about even those some might consider the worst of human trash and filth, you care about your Savior.

And that is why I say you might be a Christian if you do these things. I would tell you that there are many people in this world who do great works for their fellow man, who feed the hungry and clothe the naked and give aid and comfort to the neediest of mankind. Yet they are not Christians, and they will not take their place at the throne of glory Jesus spoke of. Why not? Simply put, they do not accept John 3:16.

The Gospel as recorded for us by John, perhaps more so than any other book, overflows with examples of God's love for His children. And in verse 16 of chapter 3, he gives us the best expression of this: "God so loved the world". Can you even begin to imagine how terrible it would be to watch as your only child, tried in a farce of a court of law, found guilty without benefit of defense, humiliated, tortured, beaten, and finally put to death in a horrible, most painful manner? How would you feel? What would you do? And what if, all the time this was happening, you had the power to stop it, but knew in your heart that you must allow these events to transpire for the good of all those you love? This is God's love, that He would offer up His only Son as the ultimate sacrifice, place all the sins of the world upon the One without sin.

So, what does it take to be a Christian? There are a few things we must understand. First, we must remember what Jesus instructed us while He still walked among us. John, in the 34th verse of his 13th chapter, relays this instruction to us, telling us Jesus said: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." So there is the first phrase of the definition of a Christian: that we love others the way that Jesus loves us. Of course, simply loving others is not a sure sign of a Christian, but it is definitely a requisite.

A more important requirement is to understand that we are sinners. All of us. We are born into sin because of our heritage, as the offspring of Adam and Eve. We sin when we knowingly and willfully do others harm. We sin when we think ourselves better than others, and by doing so think we know more than God, who created us all and loves us all. We carry the original sin with us as baggage through the airport. Unfortunately, we collect and amass even more baggage as we walk along through life. We Christians know we are sinners. But we also know how to get rid of all that unsightly luggage.

We must understand that Jesus was persecuted, beaten, nailed to a cross, and died so that His blood could wash away our sins, so that we might stand pure and clean before the throne of God on the day we are judged. This is the crux of John 3:16, that we believe, truly believe that Christ died for us, that He sacrificed Himself that we might live forever in His Father's house in heaven. If we only believe. Jesus did all of this for you and for me. He gave completely of Himself, for you and for me. Believe it.

Next we must realize that our Savior defeated death, rose from the depths of hell, and lives to this day. Not only did He die for us, but He came back from death to prove to all who would see that we too can live forever! He told us that we need not fear death, for a greater life awaits us. He showed us that this is not all there is, that the grave is not permanent. All the promises He made while walking among us were immediately and thoroughly authenticated by the act of His fulfilling just this one of them. The very fact that He rose from the dead, just like He said He would, proves that we can trust everything else He told us. In His Father's house are many rooms, and He has already prepared one for us, where we will dwell with Him forever.

And finally, we have been charged by Jesus to spread the good word. Mark, in chapter 1 verse 17, and Matthew, in chapter 4 verse 19, both recorded the words of Christ as He directed them: "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." The emphasis and importance of being repeated in two Gospels clearly marks our Lord's expectations, that His followers help bring in the greatest catch of all - His children back to His arms. Of course, He did not mean for them to cast nets over the heads of people and drag them off to church. No, their task was to go out into the world, sharing Christ's message with all they contact. Mark confirms this in the 15th verse of his 16th chapter, quoting Jesus as directing "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." John puts a slightly different spin on this in chapter 17, verse 18, as Jesus prayed to His Father: "Just as You sent Me into the world, I am sending them into the world." And John reports on Jesus speaking to the disciples in chapter 20 verse 21: "As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you." And in chapter 1 verse 8 of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul relates Jesus saying "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

In the Greek language, the word "martyr" is derived from the word for "witness". During the first century AD, those who dared serve as witnesses to the risen Christ were persecuted, jailed, and often killed for their beliefs. Jesus calls each of us to be His witness. He knows there are potentially deadly ramifications to doing so, but He promises great rewards. Today, for most of us here in Mt. Pleasant, we will never have to face death for our belief in the Lord. The worst we may experience is embarrassment from facing a group of people, or ridicule from those who serve Satan. But being a witness is more than just seeing, in it also reporting what has been seen. Being a Christian means you have seen the truth, that Jesus is your risen Savior. Now complete the task and report to others what you have seen.

Christ has risen! Jesus lives! Hallelujah!! Amen.

A New Creation

If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new.

-- 2 Corinthians 5:17

When writing his second letter to the people of the church in Corinth, Paul tried to explain the permanence of the next life that awaits us as compared to the fragility of this life on earth. He wants to assure them that even "if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1) He wants to comfort them, to help them understand that no matter what happens in this life, that what is to come will be all new, not formed by human hands, not subject to rot or decay or erosion. All we have to do is believe in Christ as our Savior and follow His commandment to love each other, and we will be recreated anew! We don't even have to wait for the next life, it happens as soon as we become one in Christ.

Think about that a moment. Let me repeat this simple sentence. When we are in Christ, when we know Him as our Savior, the true Messiah, then we become a new creation. The old us is gone and a new person stands in our place. Now, of course, this does not mean that we change dramatically physically, although we will be prone to smile more often, to weep more often, to show care and feelings on our faces more often. No, the change occurs within us. We are new, no longer created by hands, but formed of heaven. Our souls are no longer subject to the rot and decay that is the domain of Lucifer, but can better resist his attempts to erode our faith in the Lord.

This eloquent verse carries even more beauty in other translations. The New Living Translation of the Bible gives it as "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" This tells us that our old life, our old ways, are over. What we did in the past is long gone. We have begun a new life, and with it come new ways of dealing with life, of treating our brothers and sisters in this walk upon the earth. When we are filled with Jesus, when we follow His commandment, we must look upon others with a new heart. We feel the blessings of our Lord, and the urge to share those blessings grows ever stronger with our love of Christ, with our new life in Him.

The Contemporary English Version offers blessed assurance when it presents this verse as "Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new." This carries the addition, and most wonderful message that all our past sins are not only forgiven once we truly proclaim our faith in Jesus, but they are also forgotten! Jesus has stood for us and God will now not even remember our past failures! By our Savior's grace we are made clean, fresh, and new before His Father.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for making of me a new creation! Amen!

Up To Jerusalem

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again."

-- Luke 18:31-33

In the first chapter of his book of Revelation, John speaks of Jesus as "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8b) In previous books, by other authors, God is often referred to in this manner, as being the beginning and the end and all in between. But John makes the definite correlation between God and His Son, describing Christ in the same words as those used to describe God. By this, then, we are made aware that Jesus knew everything that was to happen to Him long before it occurred. He knew of His capture, torture, and death, and why events had to unfold as they did.

In our reference scripture, Luke gives further evidence that Jesus knew exactly what He was doing, and the consequences His actions would bring. This exchange took place after He and the disciples left the area of Samaria and Galilee, after He had healed the ten lepers yet only one returned to give thanks. He taught with the parable of the persistent widow and the humble tax collector. He rebuked His followers to let the small children come to Him, He admonished the wealthy man to sell all he had and give it to the poor so that he might find treasure in heaven. He assured all who listened that with God all things are possible. And then He took the twelve aside, and gave them a glimpse of the future.

Jesus, ever the Teacher, spent His last days on His journey to Jerusalem and His fate trying to give His disciples the understanding they needed so that they could continue His works, teach His word, start and nourish His church. As usual, they could not fully comprehend the full extent of what the Son of Man planned for Himself and for them. No mortal could, as Christ knew. Yet just as He could foretell what Jerusalem held in store for Him, He was also aware that His followers would indeed understand their role, and His, once He returned to His Father and they were left to tend His fields and see to His flock.

Our Christ knew. Before the first hand raised the first palm branch, before the first Hosanna lifted into the sky, Jesus knew how this trip to Jerusalem would end. Before the crowd could even begin to think that the Son of Man would free them from the hands of the Romans, He understood that He must die at the hands of man to free them from death. He knew the heartbreak and humiliation and suffering that lay at the end of this dusty path. But on He continued. His feet never once shuffled, His step never once showed a moment of hesitation, He never evinced a second thought as He and His beloved disciples strode through the gates of Jerusalem. Only He realized this triumphant entry into the city could only truly be deemed a victory when viewed from the cross.

And still He came. With holy men and leaders just waiting to take Him captive and make an example of Him, still He came. Even as a man of flesh that can be torn and bones that can be crushed and muscle that can be strained beyond endurance, even with the absolute knowledge of just how much this would hurt, physically and emotionally, still He came. Our Savior loves us so much, just as His Father loves us. He understood only the greatest sacrifice would be worthy before God to redeem us of our lives of sin. Only the blood of the Lamb could prove sufficient to wash us clean enough to stand before the throne of His Father.

So still He came. Up to Jerusalem He came, to die so we may live.

Hosannas to our Savior! Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!

Thank you, sweet Jesus! Amen.