Messaage

 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation ; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  2 Corinthians 5:17

Dearly beloved in Christ,

I greet you in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ. My New Year Greetings to you. May the Lord fill this New Year with plenteous blessings! Life in Christ itself means a blessed life of good things. In it we are blessed at all levels with peace and joy. There is a great difference between a life in Christ and a life without Christ. In my life, I knew about Christ. I knew that He is a living God. He is great, and is worthy of praise and glory. So I took part in the worship on Sundays as I knew that He was worthy of worship. I enthusiastically took part in the choir. I was involved in all church activities. In those days I was appointed by the Bishop to the Diocesan Council as a member. But I was not in Christ. I was a Christian for name’s sake. I was involved in all worldly fights and problems. I was tenaciously following all traditional practices without knowing the truth. In my life I lied and lived as a debtor. I spent my life and money in my own way pleasing myself. I was totally involved in sports. As I was worldly, I played Playing Cards, Carom Board and other games. I also made other Christians play them. I thought that only debauchery is sin. Thus I was living in a wrong way.  A life in Christ is just the opposite of the life I lived and practised, and the attributes I had. In my old life I used to be quarrelsome, and would debate issues vainly knowing full well that what I did was wrong. But a life in Christ is totally different from the way I lived. It is a life separated from such a life.

LIFE IN CHRIST

1. Baptism

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” Galatians 3:27

A life in Christ is one in which we put on Christ. Who has this privilege? All those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, repent and get baptised. This is the beginning of the life in Christ. In this life we can taste and see that the Lord is good. Some grudge that they have not been blessed in spite of the fact that they go to church regularly and worship the Lord. They question what the Lord has done in their lives. Their son lives a different style of life. The marriage of their daughter gets delayed. They do not own a house. On the other hand, others who were similarly placed in life own more than three houses. He doesn’t even possess a good vehicle. Dear child of God, when we put on Christ, we have peace and joy that fill our hearts with contentment and create in us the blessings of the Word. Our life which was filled with enmity and hatred and anger gets transformed by removing those ill feelings and we become people who do only good things. Our heart is not disturbed or perturbed by anything that happens.

2. Joy In Christ

“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:18

Today we do need a joyous life. It is needed in the body and soul. “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” (Prov. 15:13). A reason for mental diseases is worries in the heart. When our spirit is broken, our life is totally disturbed. Joy in the heart is a good medicine. In a life in Christ, lack of anything does not in any way affect our happiness. We do rejoice in Christ at all times. It is joy that comes from the presence of God which does not change with circumstances. Our strength is in Christ. Dear Brother / Sister, do not be disturbed by failures and defeats and disappointments in life, but devote to live in Christ. Happiness is essential for our health. This rejoicing will manifest in all your good qualities. It will make you live with confidence in all circumstances. You would not take wrong decisions, but it would enable you to work with a good heart. A life in Christ gives true happiness.

3. Victory In Christ

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” 2 Corinthians 2:14

A life in Christ brings about victory. We need victory in everything we do. When we fail, we get disappointed and take wrong decisions. There are people who earnestly desire victory in every walk of life but have none and are anxious. Some take wrong decisions in the midst of defeats. We should know one thing. “The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but deliverance is of the LORD” (Prov. 21:31). In all things, whether it is small or big, it is the Lord who makes things happen. He only gives us victory. He gives us victory over diseases, financial crises in business, and all forces that act against us, and thus blesses us. Paul tells us in Romans 8:37, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” We should be worthy of the love of Jesus Christ by living a life pleasing the Lord and obeying His commandments. Then we shall be conquerors. Dear Brother/ Sister, are you sad that you have met with defeats in life? The Lord who crowns your life with success lives. Give room for living in Him. He will crown you with success. Your family will become a blessed one. Your children will be exalted with victory.

4. Glory in Christ

“In the LORD all the descendants of Israel shall be justified, and shall glory.” Isaiah 45:25

A life in Christ is a glorious one too. This is a blessing assured to the descendants of Israel. Then, who are Israelites? They do not refer to the citizens of Israel. Only a person who repents and believes in Jesus Christ is called an Israelite, according to the Bible. Everyone on earth is worldly as Jacob was. We have certain undesirable qualities of Jacob. Jacob had no love for his brother. He cheated his blind father telling a lie that he was Esau. Such a man was changed into Israel. This change happens in the life of a person who is in the Lord to be righteous. Now you may be living as an ignored insignificant person. You may be living depressed or disheartened as you have been disregarded. If you devote your life to live in Christ, then you would have exaltation and glory that is not due to your righteousness but due to His mercy. The day I devoted to live in Christ, He began to lead me. I stopped taking loans. In a short time, debt burden disappeared. Not that I had better income, but He blessed what I had. The Lord multiplied what I had. When five loaves of bread and two fish were blessed, they multiplied and five thousand persons were fed and 12 baskets of excess stuff were gathered. Similar thing happened in my life. As I began to grow up in this new life in Christ, I began to experience His love and power. I began to share about His love and power. Many came seeking me. The Lord graciously enabled me to see miracle after miracle. I did not accept any offering from anyone. But I was able to buy two plots of land before resigning my job. The Lord enabled me to live without any debt and to share His love travelling to different places. As I devoted to live in Christ, the Lord graciously enabled me to experience miracles. The Lord God who hears the prayers of the righteous opens doors leading to exaltation. When we begin to live in Christ and live for Christ, we have joy, success and exaltation. We regain the lost health, peace, and joy in full measure. Yes, when we start devoting to live in Christ, some changes do happen in our body, soul and spirit. Thus we are moved to grow in the love of Christ and to do the ministry. Along with this desire for ministry, the gifts of the Spirit are also given. This new change also results in new contacts in ministry. As new things take shape, old things disappear. We should know what these old things are. In the old life, we continued with certain evil qualities alien to the Lord. We did not realize that those are evil or wrong. Now after this change in our attitude and approach, we realize our faults and start to give them up. We regret for the mistakes in former life with regard to our acts, thoughts and feelings.

THINGS THAT SHOULD PASS AWAY

1. Lying

“Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds” Colossians 3:9

Telling lies is very common. In business, lying is a part of it. In arranging marriages, false reports are given about the bride or bridegroom. A drunkard is portrayed as a good person. Even relationship with the opposite sex are suppressed. They utter lies from birth and go astray. Psalm 58:3 says: “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.” They utter lies with their friends. The Bible says that the Lord abhors lying lips. In Isaiah 57:11, the Lord regrets, “And of whom have you been afraid, or feared, that you have lied and not remembered Me, nor taken it to your heart? Is it not because I have held My peace from of old That you do not fear Me?” In 1 Kings 13:18-24, we read how a true prophet lost his life because of lying words of another man. There are many who bear false witness. Lying starts from early life. Once a teacher while teaching about animals asked his students whether anyone had seen an elephant. One student said that he did. She asked him where he had seen it. Then he replied that his father reared an elephant at home. Then she said that she could take the other students to his house for seeing that elephant. Then he said that the elephant had been killed and eaten the day before that. Lying spirit is present everywhere all over the world. Ladies are easily cheated with lies. Satan is said to be the father of lies. He cheated Eve in the Garden of Eden by telling lies and made her eat the forbidden fruit. We should hate that lying, as the Lord is against it.

2. Lust

“that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts” Ephesians 4:22

Lust separates man from the Lord. It is of this world. This wars against the soul and leads to destruction. James 1:14-15 states “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” The Bible teaches how Achan sinned: “And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done: When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it” (Josh. 7:20-21). This led to the defeat of the Israelites. One man’s actions resulted in the destruction of a community. Some fall to the love of money. All these are acts of the old man. We should shun them. David fell in sin because of the lust of his eyes. He saw a woman taking bath. Then he continued to commit sins one after the other. Then there was a curse and death. Dear child of God, let us give up the lusts that the Lord detests. Let us crucify them on the cross.

3. Old Leaven

“Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our passover, was sacrificed for us” 1 Corinthians 5:7

Old leaven refers to the wicked qualities in man. Even a little of it can spoil all the new lump. Evil qualities remain hidden deep inside. Such people are selfish. It leads to evil acts that harm others. They give instruction to others as well to err. They would do any evil thing for a little gain. But the Bible teaches that we should not do evil to others. They have a tendency to do wrong to others. They always do something that erupts into a fight between two individuals around them. So such tendencies should be done away with and we should become a new creation in Christ.

4. Ancient Hatred

“Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end” Ezekiel 35:5

Hatred sustains an enmity between individuals that reflects in the activities of inflicting some harm to the other. Those who worship the Lord of lords in the same church have this tendencies to do tit for tat. This leads to infighting in the church. There will be constant opposition to whatever is done in the church. According to the Bible, punishment is of the Lord. Hatred lingers in families too. In my life, I always had difference of opinion with my mother and so I used to tell her only about some of the things. But the day I submitted to live in Christ, the Lord filled me with His Spirit and love and I got reconciled with my mother. Peace prevailed between us. Old hatred often leads to commit even murder. Restraint exercised on others result in hatred. This is the basis for horrible actions. Murders do happen. This even happened recently in a church where the head Pastor restrained the others. Old hatred makes individuals to inflict constant wounds on their spouses. This is everyday news. Dear Brother/ Sister, you may have this old hatred even against members of your family. This hatred spoils our spiritual life itself. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ because the devil entered him. All those who nurture hatred in them should get transformed to live in Christ. This new life in Christ makes life joyful and peaceful.

NEW THINGS

1. New Strength

“But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” Isaiah 40:31

We need strength for doing anything. This strength is needed in the body, soul and spirit. Without strength in the body, we have to be dependent on others for each and everything. Once a husband asked his wife to bring this and that. She got irritated and asked him whether she was a child to run about doing everything for him. When I heard it, I prayed to the Lord for strength in the body even in old age till the end. I have seen an old servant of God in a foreign land staggering and stumbling as if he were a toddler. His wife supported him so that he might not fall. Only when we have strength, we can do household work or office work. We need strength in our soul too. When there is strength in the soul, we have the courage to carry forward. David speaks about it in Psalm 138:3: “In the day when I cried out, You answered me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.” As he was thus strengthened in the soul, he could face Goliath who was stronger bodily than him. Thus he had victory over him. Yes, the strength in the soul makes us bold. Today we find many youth who have no strength in the soul having fear to get married. Fear torments. The strength in the soul enables us to face the devil and his vile designs. We also need this strength in the soul to bear witness about Christ. Jesus said: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). This strength of the Holy Spirit is needed to live as witnesses for Christ. Paul the apostle prays in Ephesians 3:16, “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.” Let us commit to be thus strengthened in the spirit. When we rejoice in the Lord, we are strengthened.

2. Lord’s Mercies

“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” Lam. 3:22,23

Yes, the Lord is merciful and there is no end to it. It is new every morning. His mercy delivers us. In Nehemiah 9:28 it is written: “But after they had rest, they again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried out to You, you heard from heaven; and many times You delivered them according to Your mercies.” Therefore Job says, “For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge” (Job 9:15). The Lord was merciful in the case of Lot. The Bible says, “And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city” (Gen. 19:16). The Lord delivers us in the midst of diseases, accidents, and problems by His immeasurable mercies. He protects us. Without knowing that, people say that they escaped ‘fortunately.’ If we fear the Lord and live, He will have mercy on us. Psalm 103:13 says, “As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him.” Dear Brother/ Sister, we need His mercy for our sins to be forgiven. Proverbs 28:13 tells us, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” Let us thus have mercy. Once a brother applied for visa to go to the U.S. But twice or thrice it was rejected. He was distressed and came for prayer. I suggested him to confess his sins and to give them up. The Lord had mercy on him. Through His mercy, we are blessed.

3. New Heart

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” Ezek. 36:26

The Lord who sanctifies us fills us with His Holy Spirit to stabilise us and enable us to live a holy life. This Holy Spirit remains in us and delivers us. “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17). Paul so says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). According to His mercies, he regenerated us into a new creation by His Spirit. We are, as Paul says, “renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph. 4:23). He also helps us to pray. The Spirit makes it possible for us to be filled with His love. The Spirit also convinces of our sins to remain untainted by it. Thus our life in Christ is renewed.

4. Shapes You

“Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, And make the hills like chaff” Isaiah 41:15

The Lord totally transforms us to do His ministry. He sharpens the blunt conscience. Even our other traits are changed to live a new way of life and He strengthens us to face any situation. Being filled with the Spirit of encouragement, we can intercede for those who are backslidden and the Spirit makes us speak comforting words. Thus He enables us in the ministry and guides us. All sinful thoughts are removed and there is a desire to meditate His word. Thus He makes us a blessing to others. “Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Tim 2:21). Everything is thus renewed in us to exalt us.

May the Lord bless us!

In the service of Christ Jesus,

Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.