We’ve been looking at God, Jehovah Sikdeno, as our righteousness this month. According to God’s word, when Jesus’ righteousness was delivered to us, the honor that we deserved was exchanged for the honor that we received through Mercy through the Lord Jesus, and that honor was restored. Jesus paid the sacrifice so that the honor of God’s children could be restored.
The first week, we looked at what actually happened in the Garden of Eden; scripture says that what led to the fall was man seeking to change God’s will or substituting God’s will for his own, and he opted not to trust God’s word. When the word of God came to them, they elected not to listen to what God’s tongue conveyed; instead, they chose to follow the lies that the devil’s tongue presented, and thus honor was taken away from them.
We looked at the origins of sin the second week and discovered that it always begins at the mental level and that you cannot genuinely pray yourself into holiness. What you need to do is get to the bottom of the problem and cleanse yourself, because if you think evil, you will live bad. You can’t despise evil and live a life that stinks.
Last Sunday, we discussed how you were made to be an ambassador for Christ wherever you go. We desire a brand new world, but that is impossible without brand new people, and in order for brand new people to come, you must have a brand new spirit, and in order to have a brand new spirit, you must come to Jesus. So everything begins with a fresh start.
Today, we’ll look at the component of relationship, or the connection between righteousness and relationship. Religion has taught us to judge people’s spirituality based on how many hours they can pray, how many hours they can speak in the Holy Spirit, or how frequently they attend church, but all of these things are merely means to an end, and the true test of spiritual development is your behavior. When they saw them in Antioch, they didn’t call them Christians because of the size of their Bible; they were called Christians because they were Christ-like; their actions were consistent with Christ. As a result, they concluded that this individual must be a miniature Christ or an image of Christ. You were not formed to go to church on Sunday, because in order for us to reflect the splendor of God, we must have a fresh new Mind and also belong to Jesus. They were dubbed Christians because they considered themselves as Christ’s ambassadors. They exemplified Christ’s character.
We are assessing your level of Christlikeness or spirituality. When people see you, you don’t have to tell them you’re a Christian before they notice. Your behavior is your proof of Christianity or maturity. We were made so that heaven could be replicated here.
…to be continued