The Reward is Life and More Life!
To say that the
last few years have been wild is grossly understated. They’ve been unprecedented,
and we’ve had to navigate loss, anxiety, isolation, stress, frustration, all
while having a keen awareness that all the institutions we’ve counted in the
past are fragmented and corrupting. This and more has been playing out as many
of us have had to come to terms with all our isms. As disturbing as this
backdrop is, our precious Lord and Savior entered the world with none of our
modern conveniences and a climate and environment that was even more wicked,
chaotic, and ruthless than ours today. Luke 2:7 tells us that he was born and
laid in a manger, a trough where animals were fed, because there was no room
for him in the inn. This verse gives us all we need to know about the humility
of God, and how He reveals what is important in life through the birth of His
only begotten Son.
We live in a
society that is enamored with material things. The higher the price, the more
we covet and seek them. Designer brands and extravagance are must haves for the
wealthy and famous, and because so many of us, believers too, want that
lifestyle, we will spend our hard-earned dollars on things we can’t afford. We
think these things represent the best, but we must contrast society’s notion of
the best with God’s standard of the best. The two are often completely different,
and a huge chasm exists between them.
Jesus Christ is
our King! The Kingdom he belongs to is eternal, and it will never end.
1Corinthians 4:20(NLT) declares, “For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God's power.” There is no treasure on
earth that compares to the treasures of God’s Kingdom. Its wealth is
inexplicable, its power is unlimited, and its glory is unfathomable. This
is the Kingdom that Jesus Christ left in order to come to the earth. He came
here to carry out God’s mission. And this mission was to rescue us from the
kingdom darkness and bondage of satan, so we could become God’s children of
light.
During the time in
which Jesus Christ was born, there were many kings and kingdoms in the earth.
Although none of them could hold a candle to the Kingdom of God, these earthly
kingdoms were still abundantly supplied with opulence and wealth. The kings and
kingdoms were adorned with silver, gold, rubies, emeralds, and many other
treasures that people considered precious and rare. Yet, none of these earthly
kingdoms sent greetings and tidings, none came to pay homage to the birth of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. He was
deserving of the greatest tributes humanly possible, but they didn’t lavish him
with gifts of silver or gold or throw extravagant celebrations in honor of his
birth.
During the time that Jesus lived on the earth, people that were in poverty, downtrodden, sick and diseased, were often treated with disdain and disgust by those in power. And as it is in today’s modern society, there were disproportionately more of them than there were of those that had wealth. Jesus Christ was born to a young virgin, Mary, and his foster-father, Joseph, was a carpenter, a trade that Jesus no doubt picked up. They didn’t live an opulent or lavish lifestyle but worked hard and lived humbly. Hebrews 4:15(NLT) tells us, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” We must understand that Jesus Christ was not exempt from our struggles. He faced all the hardships we experience. We can be confident that he knows how difficult and challenging life can be, and he has tremendous compassion for us all.
God requires us to
demonstrate this same compassion to others. We often complain about the
struggles we face day to day. We don’t like the discomfort of it all, and some
of us even blame Heavenly Father for the harshness we endure. 1John 1:5(NLT)
declares, “This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you:
God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.” God is
love and He does not punish us. 1John 4:18(NLT), “Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are
afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully
experienced his perfect love.” God’s love is perfect, and
His love cancels out fear. Heavenly Father doesn’t cause our problems, but He
has given us a way to resolve them through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:3(NLT) says, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and
trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.” Most of us see
this and think to ourselves, “How can anyone rejoice or be joyful about
their problems and issues?” Heavenly Father is revealing the importance of
patience and endurance in this verse. Patience and endurance are qualities that
are important to God, because they are necessary to grow in Christ and become
the person that He wants us to be. He doesn’t want us to have problems or to be
tested by the enemy. He wants us to recognize that we can overcome those things
by putting on the example of Jesus Christ. This means we must have more of the
love of Christ in our hearts. We must increase in more of his example, so we
develop more spiritual strength. Philippians 4:13 declares that we can do all
things through Jesus Christ who gives us strength, and we must trust this truth
and witness it as we walk it out daily in our lives.
Jesus Christ is the King of kings, yet our Heavenly Father chose to send him
to the earth with humble beginnings. God is demonstrating what we, as His
children of light, should value most. It’s nice to have treasures and opulence,
but that stuff is temporary, and if we get caught up in it, we’ll lose sight of
why God put us on this earth. We must have compassion, endurance, patience, and
spiritual maturity and strength to please God and to live life through His
love. This is what our troubles and problems in life teach us. They press us to
patiently endure as we keep our eyes on God through Jesus Christ. James 1:12
the Message (MSG) tells us that if we stick it out and trust in God, “For such persons loyally in love with God, the
reward is life and more life.”■
Scripture
quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture
taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002.
Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
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