Words.
They come with emotions.
Objects.
They come with emotions.
“Deadly”
Where you are from. Your circle of friends. All of these will impact what this word means.
Dangerous. Brilliant. Uneventful.
All meanings of the word “deadly”, but all very different from the other. And all impacting your emotions in different ways.
The wooden spoon.
Your history, your lived experience. This will determine your emotions when you see a wooden spoon, or someone is talking about a wooden spoon.
“Reverence for Christ”
How do you go with that?
Emotions… Good? Bad? Ugly?
Because this is the point where the rubber hits the road for the Christian.
This is where the Christian’s faith, life, hope becomes either a reality or a convenience.
The Christian who has decided to revere Jesus Christ, holds their Saviour in the place of highest honour.
Some people use the word fear. Fear of God, or fear of Christ.
A deep respect. An honouring of the Creator of heaven and earth.
Both words, fear and revere, put the hearer or reader in the same space and, I would suggest, demands a response.
A response from deep within. A response which completely and wholly transforms the way we live life.
If we revere Jesus Christ, then we listen to His words. We choose to lay down our opinions which oppose His. We place His plans and purposes above our own. We honour His Word, the Bible.
The emotions attached to words and objects become secondary to how Christians are told to live through the words of the Bible.
I preached from Ephesians last Sunday.
From chapter five, beginning at verse twenty-one.
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
And this word, submit, may have emotions attached to it for you.
Maybe good. Maybe bad.
But the second part of the verse is the reason why we are told submit to one another in the body of Christ.
Out of reverence for Christ.
The Christian is to revere, to honour Christ.
And one of the ways we do this is by submitting to one another.
We don’t submit because they deserve it, or because they are so nice, or so we can get leverage out of the situation.
We submit to one another because we revere, we honour, Jesus Christ.
I was encouraged as I remembered the disciples of Jesus.
One of the last things Jesus said to them was, Wait.
Wait.
Wait for the gift my Father promised (Acts 1:4-5)
The baptism of the Holy Spirit.
These words of Jesus were not written in law.
But for those disciples that waited…
Those disciples that revered Jesus’ words…
Acts 2:1-4 [NIV]
1 …they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
For those disciples, Jesus’ earlier promise was realised when He said:
Acts 1:8 [NIV] – But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Will we, will you, submit to one another out of deep respect for Jesus?
Because it is from this place of submission, of deep care, of selflessness…
From this place the followers of Jesus will truly become the Church that Christ intended us to be.
We will be empowered to become the witnesses of Christ all over the world.
Why?
Because we put Christ above ourselves.
His opinions above our own.
His desires above our own.
His beliefs above our own.
Is this a position of safety?
Absolutely not!
You will receive the same treatment all people who follow the God of the Bible received.
They were, and are, misunderstood, slandered, mocked, ridiculed, beaten, tortured, killed, taken for granted, shunned, belittled…
Just read your Bible for a more in-depth list.
But the position of safety isn’t why one follows Jesus Christ.
One follows Jesus Christ because you believe that He is Lord and Saviour of the world.
You follow Jesus Christ out of obedience and all you do is pulled into alignment with His plans and His desires.
The more you pray, read your Bible, and adore/worship Jesus, the more you fall in love with Him.
And the more you realise that it is in Him that true life is found.
And this new life, found only in Jesus Christ, leads us to a place of true reverence, of true respect.
So let us submit to one another, out of reverence of Jesus Christ.
Our lives, and all around us, will be transformed because our life will become shaped by the Author of Life.
God bless you mightily
In Christ
Ben
