How to Live in Christ in a Fallen World - Live in Christ, part 1
What choices are you making this year? Will you choose to live God’s best for you, no matter the circumstances? This week’s message teaches us how to live for Christ in a fallen world.
Living in Christ in a fallen world is not always easy. It is difficult. We can learn from Hezekiah’s decision to stand firm in faith. Choose to live in Christ and for Christ. This new year, decide to put Jesus first no matter what may come. Choose to fully embrace Jesus with all your heart and soul. Victory, spiritual victory, is yours in Christ the Lord as you live God’s best in the world, today and always.
Spiritual Victory Is Yours as You Live God’s Best
What will you choose this new year?
Every believer has the blessed hope of eternal life with Christ in glory. Every believer, every child of God will find that living in Christ in a fallen world is not always easy. It is difficult. Temptation to compromise, false teaching, worldly philosophy, and sin is all around. Each person must decide for themselves how they will live. Each person has a choice to decide for themselves what they will believe and make choices how they will live in a fallen world.
Choose to live in Christ and for Christ.
Either a person will follow the way of the fallen world and live in rebellion towards God and the things of God, or live in Christ.
What will you choose this new year? This new year, decide to put Jesus first no matter what may come. Make the decision to live in Christ. Remember who’s you are. Being a believer in Christ, you are a child of God. Knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior, you are a child of God. You have a blessed hope of eternity with Christ in glory.
Decide to remove those things in your life that prompt or tempt you to live according to the world and turn your back on God. Instead, choose to fully embrace Jesus with all your heart and soul. Refuse to believe or listen to worldly philosophy and false teaching that deny God. Let your faith in Christ arise in your heart no matter the circumstance.
Victory, spiritual victory, is yours in Christ the Lord as you live God’s best in the world, today and always.
You Have a Hope and a Future in Christ
The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Colossians and wanted to encourage them to remain faithful to the teaching of Christ. False teaching, worldly philosophy, religious and human traditions that are based upon man’s works and not God will take you captive and keep you from living God’s best in Christ.
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8, NIV).
As we live in Christ in a fallen world, we should consider the words of the apostle Paul.
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, 8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit” (Colossians 1:1-8).
Paul encourages the Colossians by telling them that he is praying for them and calls them holy and faithful brothers in Christ. Paul reminds the reader that they are holy, meaning set apart and faithful followers of Christ.
Notice the words holy people in Colossae. This is who Paul is addressing this letter to (believers) and where they lived (Colossae). They had a faith in Christ that was demonstrated by their love for all the saints (for all believers in Christ).
The believers’ faith and love springs from the hope that is stored up for them in heaven and that they had already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel. Paul tells them that this gospel is bearing fruit and growing all over the world, just as it has been doing in them since the day they heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth.
Paul wanted the believers to remember who they were and how the word of God made such a difference in their lives. No matter what they might face in life, they had a hope and a future in Christ. The truth of the gospel and their faith in Christ was real.
Make God First in Your Life
The gospel was making a difference in lives all around the world. Yet Paul found it necessary to warn the believers not to stray from the gospel. Church, nice sounding words, worldly ideas and teaching may sound good or fair to a person’s ears, but that does not make them something a person in Christ should embrace or live according to. If the teaching is contrary to the Word of God, it doesn’t matter how reasonable or nice it sounds. Just because the idea or political philosophy appears good at some level, doesn’t make it right.
The enemy of your soul can twist God’s teaching and cause you to doubt. The enemy of your soul can make things sound reasonable. He knows how to entice your selfish, sinful desires in such a way that, even when you know what you are about to do is wrong, it doesn’t keep you from doing it.
Stop living as the world does and choose to live in Christ. Be a person of faith in Christ as you live in this fallen society and world.
Hezekiah Turned to God in Difficult & Threatening Circumstances
In 2 kings 18-20 you will find Hezekiah, the king of Judah, follows his father as king of Judah, and he is king for some 29 years. In his 14 years of reign as king, Hezekiah is threatened by Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, to surrender and be taken into captivity.
Remember, the nation of Israel had split in two after King Solomon died; the northern kingdom of Israel having 10 tribes; the southern kingdom of Judah with two tribes. The northern kingdom of Israel had already fallen to the previous king of Assyria seven years earlier. I am sure Sennacherib’s threat was not taken lightly by King Hezekiah because the Assyrians had already conquered the southern kingdom.
In chapter 17 you will find the reason for Israel’s exile was due to their sin and rebellion. They had turned their backs toward God and served other gods.
In 2 kings 17 you will find:
All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt.
They worshiped and served other gods and followed the practices of other nations.
The Israelites did things against the Lord.
They had set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree.
They burned incense to other gods, as the other nations had done, whom the Lord had driven out of the promised land.
The things they did, like worshipping idols, provoked the Lord to anger. The Lord had warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets to turn from their evil ways.
However, the people refused to listen. They were stiff-necked like their fathers, who did not trust in the Lord their God.
However, when Hezekiah became king, he chose to turn to the Lord.
“He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)
5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him” (2 kings 18:3-7).
In 2 Kings chapter 18 we learn that King Hezekiah attempted to appease the king of Assyria by paying tribute to him and giving him 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. All the money that King Hezekiah gave to the Assyrians would not buy their freedom. Sennacherib still wanted the nation to be enslaved and under his authority.
Will You Trust In & Turn to God, or Believe the Lies of the Enemy?
The same can be said of the enemy of your soul. No matter what you do, nothing will be enough. The enemy wants your soul and to keep you in spiritual bondage. You will never appease or buy your spiritual freedom from sin and death yourself.
True victory and freedom from sin and death is only possible with choosing Jesus and walking in faith and victory.
The world today will have you work harder and sacrifice more. You can give all you have, and it will not be enough. Sinning and living according to the fallen world will cost you everything: your marriage, your relationships with your children, your friends, your health, and your soul. Whatever you do will never be enough. The more a person succeeds according to what a fallen world claims to be success, the more society and the fallen world demands and will take from you. The enemy of your soul will strip you of everything and it will still not be enough.
The lies of the enemy will tell you to choose pleasure; to choose the so-called freedom it offers; to choose the fallen world’s way of life. To turn your back to God rather than trusting in God.
The words of those who would have you to believe that God does not exist or care about you, or that God can do nothing to alter the present course of the events in your life are false.
The world will say, “live for the present, live a little; choose to have fun; choose life today and do not to listen to what the Word of God or what other Christians say. Don’t waste your time with faith in Christ and believing that God can save you.”
Hezekiah’s Decision to Stand Firm in Faith
That is exactly what the Assyrians were telling the people of the northern kingdom. They were saying, “do not listen to King Hezekiah; his words will only lead to your death.”
“Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, 32 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death! Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ 33 Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?” (2 kings 18:31-33).
Hezekiah knew what had happened to the other nations and how the Assyrians took them captive and killed many; but that did not matter to him. Hezekiah still trusted God. No matter how things looked in the natural, Hezekiah was going to trust God.
Hezekiah knew what happened to the northern kingdom of Israel and he was going to continue to stand firm in his faith and encouraged the others to do the same. Hezekiah understood that the reason the northern kingdom of Israel had been invaded and taken captive was that they had turned away from following the Lord. They had not obeyed the Lord their God and, instead, worshiped other gods.
Hezekiah was not about to shrink from his faith or devotion to God. Hezekiah revealed in his heart to be a person of faith who displayed Godly principles and character in his life for all to see. That set him apart from most of the other kings of Judah and Israel.
Hezekiah Proved His Faith
First, Hezekiah removed all the idol worship from the kingdom. He smashed the sacred stones and removed the high places of worship. He took steps to destroy the idol worship and lead the nation to trust God. Hezekiah led by example and followed the commands of God, and he was successful.
Second, Hezekiah trusted God and prayed. He knew God was God, no matter what others might say. Hezekiah chose to believe the Word of the Lord rather than the empty words of the enemy. The situation before Hezekiah and the people of Judah looked impossible and yet they believed and trusted God.
Third, Hezekiah did not allow the threats of the enemy to change his mind regarding God. Hezekiah remained faithful to the Lord. Hezekiah did not let fear override his faith. Hezekiah did not deny the power or threats of the enemy. He knew the possible outcome; however, he chose to wait upon God’s deliverance and that, through God’s deliverance, others would see the power of God and know that God was God over all things.
Hezekiah’s Faith Should Be an Encouragement to Us
I believe we can learn from Hezekiah’s decision to stand firm in faith. His faith in God and God’s ability to do the impossible should be an encouragement and an inspiration for each of us.
Today we are living in a time when many have rejected God. Some people have never believed in God. Others have strayed and have placed their faith in other gods such as money, self, pleasure, a “higher power”, horoscopes, or gods of other religions and cultures. Still others have twisted the truth of scripture to fit what they want to believe.
Some people say and believe false ideas such as: God is a loving God, and he would not send anyone to hell, everyone is going to heaven; All paths lead to God and heaven; If a person does good, they will make it into heaven. These ideas may sound nice and comforting to a person living in a fallen world, but they are untrue.
Just because a person does good does not mean the person will make it into heaven unless they have faith in Christ. All paths do not lead to God. Every religion is not worshiping or praying to the same god.
We are living in a time that, as Christians, if we stand on what we believe and what the bible teaches, we may be called intolerant, legalistic, racist, sexist, homophobic, or other names that a person may want to use to discredit and label us in a negative way. We need to stand for the truth of the gospel and live in Christ no matter what others might say or do.
In the Midst of Today’s Cancel Culture, Will You Trust God Like Hezekiah?
The world needs to see Jesus in you. The world needs to know the blessed hope you have in Christ; the hope of glory that no one can take away from you.
I believe you can look at the news and see a person call another person a racist or sexist simply because they disagree or have a different viewpoint from the other person. A person will say things in the attempt to disgrace and discredit the other person and to verbally bully them to compromise what they know to be true in their hearts. Many will use slanderous terms to label, threaten, or badger a person into submission or discredit them in other peoples’ eyes, even when the accusations are unfounded and untrue. Society will use any tactic to get a person to compromise what they believe; and that includes compromising their faith in God.
Fear, threats, an act of violence, the removal from a position, and attempts to discredit are only a few ways a person might employ to get someone to compromise what they believe.
Hezekiah chose to trust God and he laid it all on the line. He chose to believe that God was able to deliver them from the hands of the enemy. Hezekiah did not know how. He did not have a plan to follow. Everything appeared hopeless and yet he chose to believe that God would deliver them.
Hezekiah began to cry out to God. He began to pray. He admitted how things looked in the natural and yet refused to give in to the attacks and threats of the enemy. Hezekiah chose to believe the promises of God rather than the lies of the enemy.
Hezekiah’s choices displayed:
A godly character of faith and trust in God.
A godly character of waiting upon the Lord.
A godly character of believing that with God all things are possible.
A godly character that encouraged others to follow and believe.
How Can You Live God’s Best for Your Life?
Hezekiah tried to deal with the Assyrians himself (in his own strength) by giving them 50 million dollars’ worth of gold and silver. Do not waste your time or effort fighting the enemy yourself.
If we are going to live God’s best in a fallen world, we must choose to walk in faith no matter what the enemy threatens. We must choose to live in Christ and not as the world. Like the Colossians, we are to live in Christ where we are.
We can have the tendency to try to change things in our own strength; but we shouldn’t. It will never work. We will always fail. It will not last. It is one of the enemies’ lies. Hezekiah tried once and then he chose to trust God, and God delivered them from Sennacherib’s attack.
The enemy of your soul will not give up and he will always want more.
How can you live for Christ in a fallen world?
Call out to the Lord.
Declare your faith in the one who holds all things in his hands.
Walk in faith and obedience.
Wait upon the Lord for his deliverance.
And believe that, with God, all things are possible and look for God’s deliverance.
Then begin to thank him, even before you see God moving in your situation, and declare the power of God to all who will listen.
Remember, as a Christian, you are holy (set apart). Live as a faithful believer. Allow your love for Christ be seen in your love for all the saints. Choose today, to live in Christ, in whatever place or situation you find yourself. Choose today to live in Christ.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine” (Proverbs 3:5-10).
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