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The Perfect Sacrifice

7/28/2015

Have you ever wondered why Jesus had to be perfect?

There is a sense in which the perfection of Jesus is simply assumed. Hebrews 4:15 says, "We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who is in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." There is a reason for it...

To help you understand the nature of why Jesus needed to be sinless, perfect in all His ways, I want to take you into a courtroom. Imagine for a moment that you are guilty of a crime - a capital crime - and your life is now subject to the full extent of the law. The judge hands down the sentence and you are going to be led away to your final end. Then... one steps up and declares that he will take your place!

But what if that person was guilty of the same crime? There is no way he could take your place for he, himself, must be punished for his own crime. He could never be your substitute and bear your punishment for he must endure his own.

Do you see? Every person on the planet is guilty before God of a crime called sin. The ONLY person who could ever take their place, be the substitution for all mankind, is someone who is perfect. If Jesus had been guilty of any sin He could never be the propitiation for such sin for He must then be punished for His own. But Jesus IS perfect in all His ways, He is without sin and can be the sacrifice for anyone... anyone who believes.

© 2015 Michael Duncan

If you are looking for a study to help you understand your life if Christ, I encourage you to pick up the study guide: "Starting Out: A Study Guide for New Believers"
available at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Out-Study-Guide-Believers/dp/1482694328/

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Christian Employment

7/18/2015

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"What are you going to do for the LORD?"

That was the question I received from the pastor when I walked the isle at the church to confess my faith in Christ. I was three days old in my new-found faith and it seemed that all-of-a-sudden I had to "get a job" for Jesus. I remembered that I mumbled some potential directions for my life, but I was uncertain and too young in my faith for such a question.

Not too many months after that moment, I ultimately switched churches, was baptized in Christ, and began to discover that being a Christian was more about my relationship with Jesus than my "employment" for Him. Yet, I find, that many take their Christian faith and morph it into work rather than embrace as their life.

Let me explain what I mean...

Have you ever heard the phrase concerning your job, "Don't take your work home with you?" This is a very real and time-honored reality for those who have stressful jobs. They want to leave their work behind when they go home - and understandably so. Home should be that place where you find the rest and repose needed to recover from a hard-day's work. Home is a haven, a respite of love and peace, a place where you can shut out the rest of the world for a time and simply exist without the pressures of work. So most people don't take their work home.

But what about the Christian life? After more than two decades preaching and teaching God's word, I'm coming to discover that many people view their Christian life as a "job." That is, they go to church and get involved in some task. Perhaps they take on a project or do a ministry--but their work for the LORD is just that: work. And no one wants to take their work home with them! They got saved, got a job for Jesus, and that is the entirety of their Christian life.

Being busy, then, becomes the means by which the level of the Christian life is measured. There are workaholics, steady employees, part-time workers, temps, and the spiritually unemployed. I don't know if you see the proverbial "red flag" in this, but I do: BURNOUT! The Christian life becomes less and less about having a growing, vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus and it descends into the muddled tedium of having to do your job. Dull, lifeless, banality is the Christian life for some--but it's not meant to be that way!

Jesus said He came to give us life - and that, abundantly! John 10:10 reads, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

So, a simple question for you... Have you let your Christian faith become little more than your church job? You may be a pastor, Sunday school teacher, missionary, custodian, musician, etc., or maybe you're just one who attends on a regular basis - but there is little life in what you do. You go to church, do your part, and that's it.

If that's the case, I want to encourage you with the words of Jesus from Revelation 2:4-5, "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first."

Do you remember the day you became a Christian? How about the day you were baptized? Do you remember the joy and enthusiasm, the life and love that you had for the Savior? Has it waned in the work-life of your Christian walk? If so, take time to remember. Listen to those Christian songs that you heard at first. Re-read those passages again, slowly and thoughtfully, that brought you to deep communion with Jesus. Recall the great love you have for Jesus and be brought back in grateful repentance to the one who saved your soul.

© 2015 Michael Duncan

For further reading: pick up the book - A Life Worth Living
Available in Kindle and print at Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HVI3XTY/

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