As we start a new year, I think there is much to be gained in asking yourself this question:
who am I going to live for?
Let’s think about the Gospel in relation to that question: The Gospel says: you are not good enough – but God has come and made you good enough. And because He has given His life for you – your response is to live for Him.
We see this in the New Testament:
Romans 12:1
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
A sacrifice was something that was offered up to be burned. You lost sacrifices. Meaning – God calls us to offer our bodies (or our very lives) up to Him to be used by Him in the way that He deems best.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
You are not your own! You were bought with a price. God purchased you from the slavery of satan with His own blood. Your response: GLORIFY GOD in your body!
Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
God basically says to us. ‘Christ died for you – so that you could live. He gave His life so that you could know Me and be with Me and know Me. Jesus suffered so that you wouldn’t have to. The only appropriate response to that news is for you to live for Him.’
There is a vivid parallel to this when God brought Israel up out of slavery in Egypt. The final plague on Egypt was that all the firstborn were killed. Yet – God had the children of Israel put blood on their doorposts and when He saw the blood, He remembered them and the destroyer passed-over those homes and the firstborn were spared. After the Israelites leave Egypt, God says something very important to the people.
Exodus 13:1-2
1 “The LORD said to Moses, “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. 2 The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether human or animal.”
God says – they are mine! They belong to me. I control them. And why does He choose the firstborn? Because they are the very ones who were spared in the last plague. They were the ones who would have died had He not been gracious and merciful and loving by giving them the sign of the Passover. God spared them – and because He spared them He had the right to have them. They belonged to Him. I think of a mother who would be more than happy to agree to this arrangement considering that her son was just spared of being killed during the last plague.
It is the same with us. If you think about it – Christ died for you and by doing that He purchased for you all the gifts of this life, He purchased for you all the mercies of this life, and all the great benefits of the life to come. Christ died on your behalf – He basically bought you a new life. And you are now living that new life – and who are you going to live it for? Are you going to continue to live for yourself and just do the minimum that is required of you? Are you going to keep doing all the things that you want to do?
Or – are you going to recognize the grace of the Gospel, and the goodness of the gift He offers and in loving response to His grace live for Him.
So – to answer our question:
who am I going to live for? (not for myself, but for the One who died for me!)
This verse (Romans 12:1) became real to me when I was having children and is apropos to this season when we're thinking of the millions of mothers who have committed unrighteous acts against not only their bodies, but that of their unborn's (and ultimately claiming that Christ's death has no real bearing on their need). In order to ascertain "who I am going to live for" I also think of this verse: "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." The culture we live in today accentuates the sensual, sacrificing the eternal to satisfy the lusts of the flesh. But as God's image bearers it is wonderful to know that we are not beholden to the flesh for our satisfaction because our greatest fulfillment is in knowing Christ--and we know He will provide for all of our needs, even those needs of our bodies. Mothers do have to sacrifice when bearing children, no question about it--but it is "a reasonable service" and I believe a tremendous blessing to God! Thank you, Jesus, for making me a mother.
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