Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Act like a Christian

I read a story in the book ‘Secrets of the Ninja” by Ashida Kim about the nature of things.

The story goes that once upon a time a tiger was chasing some goats, trying to catch one for dinner. During the chase the tiger was injured and, as she lay dying, gave birth to a Tiger cub. The goats, having never seen a baby tiger before, adopted it into the herd. As he grew, the cub was not a very good goat. He didn’t have the right kind of teeth for chewing grass, and he liked to climb up in the trees and sleep, which made the other goats jealous.

One day, another tiger came along and started trying to catch one for dinner as before.
He came upon the young tiger, cowering in the brush.

"What are you doing? Asked the old tiger.
"Hiding," replied the younger.
"Why?"
"I’m afraid you’ll eat me," answered the young tiger.

"Come with me." Laughed the old tiger. Whereupon he took the young tiger to his cave and bade him eat of a freshly killed antelope. The young tiger told him he was a vegetarian. But the old tiger made him eat; telling him the meat would make him strong. After a while, he took the young tiger to the lake and told him to look at his reflection before he took a drink.

"You see, your face is the same as mine. You are not a goat. You are a tiger. You must act like a tiger. That is the nature of things."


“…See, your face is the same as mine…”

You know in
Genesis 1:26-28 God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

One of the definitions of the word image that I like is Prototype. I like because I believe it helps to represent though we are not God how close to him we are. In the design world a prototype looks and for the most part functions the way the final product does and is for showing the general public and or client what the product will look like and or can do though it does not have all the functions (or power) of the final product.

By definition the word prototype is:
an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category. The word derives from the Greek (prototypon), "archetype, original", neutral of , "original, primitive", from "first" "impression".

So we are in the form of God or first impression of God to the world.

“…That is the nature of things…”

What is your nature? I know the first instinct is to say evil, but is that truly our nature today, now that we’ve been redeemed? When Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 he said “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” So I say your new nature is or should be Righteous and Holy. Your spirit is your nature and your flesh is just a distraction you must overcome. ”But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.” Romans 8:10

Being a Christian means striving to be Christ like. Christ was blameless, spotless, holy and righteous before God. So we too must be blameless, spotless, holy and righteous before God.

Act like a Christian!

Another letter from our brother Paul, this time to the Church in Thessalonica he says in
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 “Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.”
And if the God that we profess to serve will not place anything on us that we cannot handle, then this directive to live righteous must be attainable.

So I beg of you my beloved brothers and sisters to take head to the words of
2 Peter 3:10-15 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation…

…Just a thought…

“Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go; keep her; for she is thy life.”
Proverbs 4:13 (kjv)

Amen.