1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
Continuing Pastor Kyle’s message, he points out that the Apostle Paul here rebukes Christians for being spiritual babies too long. He was frustrated that he could not feed them solid spiritual food for growth because they were too immature in their faith development as Christians to be able to understand. The spiritual “steak” that God wants to get into you and your life is not just content, but how the content gets apploied into your life. That is what turns milk into solid food.
Royal priests are God-reliant and self-motivated in terms of their spiritual growthy. We should always be interdependent with the church; seeking input from brothers and sisters in the faith, from pastors, spiritual leaders and teachers, yet most of our growth should be self-motivated. When anyone states that church is boring or irrelevant and they are being spiritually fed, then the issue is that they are not self-motivatively feeding themselves there in the presence of almighty God; the awesome Creator of Heaven and Earth. Open the Word of God, Praise Him, Pray with Him, and share your life with others. Start serving and get outside of yourself. As you do that, you will grow spiritually, because that is the way that God designed us to operate. God is the One who grows us spiritually, but the process on how that happens is up to us.
With time and familiarity, we can mistakenly believe that “Bible knowledge” automatically means “spiritual transformation”. Don’t get me wrong, Bible knowledge is vitally important, but knowledge in and of itself is not transformative. A good priest undoubtedly knows the Word of God and is a crucial part of every Believer’s life, but most importantly, a good priest knows how to apply that bible that they know to their life. The content needs to get into our heart and our life. A good priest’s life looks more and more like Jesus, the great High Priest.
Royal priests learn to proclaim the excellencies of God over their failures and disappointments. Being a good priest is about living a lifestyle of worship and obedience of God. 1 Peter 2:6&9 tells us, therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.” But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. No priest is perfect. That is why Jesus Christ, our Great Priest, had to come, to be our ‘once and for all” sacrifice for our sins, so that we could be a part of the family of God. John 1:12-13 confirms, “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The Lord Jesus shields His people from the perilous effects of our sin’s shame and disappointment. It doesn’t mean that we will not feel shame and disappointed. It means that we learn to overcome those things by the truth of God’s power.
Let the light of Christ squelch out that darkness of your past failures and disappointments in life. Once the situation is out there in the open and in the light, we can begin the healing process and start to proclaim the excellencies of God over them. Right now with this COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, we all are dealing with massive disappointments. Year 2020 is beyond what anyone of us could have imagined. You could probably list 100 or more things in your routine life, society and country that have drastically changed or are gone. But, a good priest learns to proclaim the excellences of God over the situation, failures and disappointments. Hopefully, this virus comes and goes, the world bounces back, we all move on to a space and place of normalcy and joy. 2020 may be tough, but God is greater. Our sins and mistakes may be a part of our past, but by God’s power and grace, they will not be a part of our future.
God is using the moments and experiences in our life to transform us into the person that He wants us to be. And as wee become more of who He wants us to be, we will be more of the person that others around us need. God will speak to them through us also. Our life may not look very exciting now, but we can tap into God’s joy today. God has promised to supply our every need according to His great riches in Christ Jesus. Let steadfastness have its full affect that you may be perfect and complete in spirit and soul, lacking in nothing. God keeps us in perfect peace through the storms of life as long as our mind’s eye is fixed on Him. This is what it looks like to proclaim the excellencies of Him who calls you and I out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. Welcome to the royal priesthood!
In Christ, Brian
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