Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
Continuing, Pastor Kyle explains that God did all the redemption, transformation, reconciliation and salvation work at the Cross, but still requires a living sacrifice from us as we commit our lives to Him in worship and obedience for the rest of our lives. One of the tangible actions that God calls every Believer to do after they are saved, transformed and sanctified, is to be baptized with water. When we get baptized, we identify with Jesus’ death on the Cross and His resurrection from the grave. As Romans 6:4 says, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Colossians 2:11-14 tells us that, “When you became a Christian, you were set free from the sinful things of the world. This was not done by human hands. You were set free from the sins of your old self by what was done in Christ’s body. When you were baptized, you were buried as Christ was buried. When you were raised up in baptism, you were raised as Christ was raised. You were raised to a new life by putting your trust in God. It was God Who raised Jesus from the dead. When you were dead in your sins, you were not set free from the sinful things of the world. But God forgave your sins and gave you new life through Christ. We had broken the Law many ways. Those sins were held against us by the Law. That Law had writings which said we were sinners. But now He has destroyed that writing by nailing it to the cross.” In baptism, we commit to walk in newness of life, aligned with God’s perfect Word, Will and Way. The Christian life is challenging, but natural to the new heart and equipped to live it out.
There are other times in our life when the sacrifice of obedience that God calls us to take, feels like we are being ripped apart to do it. Lately, our society has become more polarized than known in recent history, even within the Christian church, and are dealing with moral, ethical and justice challenges in our culture, pulling Believers in opposite directions. In reality, they are issues of obedience. The Christian redemption story is one where freedom from injustice is directly connected to freedom to obey God. The Exodus story tells us the pain of oppression, the dangers of compromise, of idolatry, and of immorality. So, there is little point in being free from serving the modern-day unjust Pharaohs of the world, if we are not free to serve the Lord. We are not defined by conservative or progressive politics, we pursue true freedom, knowing that if the Son has set us free, then we are free indeed. Doing what is right by God is sometimes hard.
Hebrews 4:12 “God’s Word is living and powerful. It is sharper than a sword that cuts both ways. It cuts straight into where the soul and spirit meet and it divides them. It cuts into the joints and bones. It tells what the heart is thinking about and what it wants to do.”
In Luke 12:51, Jesus asks, “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.” The Bible tells us to be peacemakers as much as possible, not divisive. Romans 12:18 says, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” Part of being followers of Jesus Christ is that we are ministers of reconciliation. Only a Christian can realize that there are two aspects of freedom; freedom from one thing and freedom to something better. The same God that demands justice is the same One who says: “Be holy as I am holy”. One of the oldest tricks in the devil’s book is to divide Christ’s church, because it works.
We have the indwelling Holy Spirit today, so that we have the counsel and strength to obey the Lord. When God asks us to do hard things, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that is going to stretch you to accomplish something in your life that is bigger than you. Obedience to God is what leads to lasting freedom.
Fourthly, we are freed for a hope and a future. The most important future that God frees us to experience is a future in Heaven. One day, we shall die. Today, if you surrender your sinful life to Christ – the risen Savior, you can live with absolute confidence that when you pass away on earth, you will walk safely into the arms of your Savior. God frees the repentant Believer from the grasp of our sin and eternal separation from God, so that we live the abundant life that Jesus promises us in John 10:10 and that abundant life starts the moment you first believe.
God wanted Moses and the Israelites to get into the Promised Land, but they didn’t because they grumbled, gripped, doubted, and disobeyed. Then we do not live the obedience life that God wants from us, we will miss the abundant life God wants us to experience here. The most amazing thing from the abundant life in Christ is the peace of the eternal perspective of knowing where we are going when we die and that Father God will meet and exceed every need while we are here. God doesn’t promise that everything on this side of Heaven would be perfect. God says that He will meet your needs, gives you an abundant life and a fullness of joy, provides and takes care of you here, and then safely lead you to the shores of eternity in Heaven. Because of the empty tomb, we have the building blocks of life for a bright and better future.
Ephesians 1:3-7 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”
In Christ, Brian
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