Joy and Peace in Believing

“For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“’Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,

    and sing to your name.

“And again it is said,

“’Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.’

“And again,

“’Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

    and let all the peoples extol him.’

“And again Isaiah says,

“’The root of Jesse will come,

    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;

in him will the Gentiles hope.’

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:8-13 ESV)

Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the promise of God to the Jews that God would send them a deliverer, their Messiah, the Christ, i.e. Jesus was the promised seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:16). But he also came in fulfillment of many prophecies concerning him being a light to the Gentiles (non-Jews). For Jesus Christ came to this earth to bring salvation to all people. And when he died on that cross, he died for all people. He died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us (1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21).

True belief in Jesus Christ is God-given, God-inspired, and God-persuaded. We believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, which is divinely persuaded as to his righteousness and holiness, and as to his will and purposes for our lives. Thus, we submit to God’s will for our lives, and we surrender to his purposes, and we yield to the control of the Holy Spirit and to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, by genuine God-persuaded faith in our Lord Jesus.

[Hebrews 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-10; John 1:12-13; John 6:44]

True belief in Jesus Christ also turns us from lifestyles of sin to walking in fellowship with our Lord in obedience to his commands. And this is because we have been divinely persuaded as to God’s will for our lives. And we want to follow our Lord in obedience. In the power of the Holy Spirit we have been translated from death to life, from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that we receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 26:18).

True belief in Jesus Christ, thus, results in death to sin and in living to righteousness, of the Spirit of God. This is called being “born again,” or “born of the Spirit,” for we are given new lives to be lived in the Spirit, for God, and for his will and purposes for our lives. And, in this we have hope, not just the hope of heaven when we die, but the hope of eternal life with God from the moment we believe and on forward; the hope that we can now be free from the control of sin and we can now live for God in his holiness.

So, what is the gospel message? It is that Jesus Christ, God the Son, left his throne in heaven, came to earth, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer, and was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin. He preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins, death to sin, living to righteousness, and obedience to his commands. And He said that if we want to come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self), and follow (obey) him (Luke 9:23-26).

While he was on this earth, he ministered to the needy, the afflicted, the sick and the sorrowful. He brought hope and healing to many. And many people initially followed him. But many of the Jews, in particular among the leadership within the temple, hated him, were jealous of him, and so they made it their mission to try to take him down. When they couldn’t, they decided to put him to death on a cross, which they accomplished.

But, in his death, Jesus took upon himself the sins of the entire world, and he put those sins to death. Then, he was resurrected from the dead victorious over sin, hell, Satan and death, on our behalf. 

And because of what he did for us via his death and resurrection, through faith in him we can be delivered from our slavery (addictions) to sin, and be set free to now live to his righteousness. We can be filled with his Holy Spirit, who lives within Jesus’ followers. And via the Holy Spirit, God now lives within us giving us comfort, encouragement, hope, healing, guidance, wisdom and strength to live godly and holy lives pleasing to Him.

But holy living is not optional for the believer in Jesus Christ. We must deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands (New Covenant), in practice. For if obedience to our Lord and if righteous living are not what we practice, and if sin is what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what we profess with our lips. So we must walk the walk and not just talk it if we want genuine salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

[Isaiah 53:1-12; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 26:26-29; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 17:25; Jn 1:1-36; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 8:24,58; Jn 10:27-33; Jn 20:28-29; Rom 5:8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 9:5; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 11:23-32; 1 Co 15:1-8; 2 Co 5:15,21; Eph 4:17-24; Php 2:5-11; Col 2:9; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 1:8-9; Heb 2:14-15; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 John 3:4-10]  

Here I Am To Worship 

Songwriter: Tim Hughes

Light of the world

You stepped down into darkness.

Opened my eyes, let me see.

Beauty that made this heart adore You

Hope of a life spent with You

I'll never know how much it cost

To see my sin upon that cross

Here I am to worship,

Here I am to bow down,

Here I am to say that You're my God

You're altogether lovely

Altogether worthy,

Altogether wonderful to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaUTv1pXRyU 

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