Better Flesh?
I am not a strong as Dwayne Johnson, the rock.
I am not as rich as Bill Gates, who is currently worth over $79 billion.
I am not as smart as Terrance Tau, who has an IQ of 230 and earned a doctorate by age 20.
I am not, nor will I ever be, as tall, dark, and handsome as Tom Selleck.
But so what! Jesus said, "the flesh profits nothing." (John 6:63)
"Nothing" means nothing, regardless of the advantage we might enjoy over others. When we boast of our
superiority in the flesh, we are still just boasting in the flesh!
The world is very concerned with the four B's: Braun, Bucks, Brains, and Beauty.
But only God, the one who conceived of us before the foundation of the world, has the right to give us our value.
"There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28, NRSV)
Neither our nationality or our social status or even our gender determines our value. It is our bond in Christ that gains us true value.
I Know My Rights
With the rise of the American cop dramas in the 1990s came an interesting trickle down (or should we say trickle "over" effect) on foreign cultures across the Pond. "American TV crime dramas such as "Law & Order" and NYPD Blue" are taking a toll in France," reports Gail Russell Chaddock in THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR:
According to pollsters, the French began thinking that a judge in a courtroom should be addressed as "Your Honor"--rather than the traditionally acceptable "Mr. President." And many routinely began demanding to see a warrant when police wanted to search their homes--something that isn't always required in that country. * "It's a cultural catastrophe! French citizens don't even understand their own legal system anymore," said a top official.
*"In France the police have extensive powers of search and seizure in the case of flagrant offense and when a crime is being committed or has just been committed …" (per Britannica.com).
To live as a Christian is to live with a clash of cultures between our earthly and our heavenly citizenships. If we're not careful, we can easily be confused about which laws apply to us, about which set of rights we should claim.
Do you ever lose track of your rights as a citizen of God's Kingdom?
"Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls" (1 Peter 2:11).
Once a Child of God . . .
Once you become a child of God you will always be a child of God. God has never torn up a Christian's birth certificate!
As exciting as this thought should be, it is bothersome to some. That's because there are those who fear that such a state of assurance would naturally lead to license. They fear that such a certainty would serve to undermine the Christian's motivation for doing the right things. They assume that obedience would no longer matter.
But being secure in one's relationship with God shouldn't serve to undermine that relationship. Quite the contrary. Possessing a strong assurance of God's love should elevate our devotion, not diminish it. While it's true that being secure in one's salvation will take fear and shame off the table, we must not forget the motive it leaves in their place--love! Replacing fear and guilt with love should not be construed to be a bad thing. And although it leaves open the possibility that the believer might be less moved by love than he was be fear, this is a risk that God is willing to take. Apparently, God considers the payoff to be well worth the risk.
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).