When somebody dies, it is customary that their children receive an inheritance. This usually includes property, possessions, or sometimes money depending on how well the deceased did in life. Whatever the case, it is rare that their children don’t receive something as a token of their parent’s life and death.

The downside to this is that earthly inheritances are, well…earthly. As it says in Ecclesiastes 5:14  “those riches perish…”, and will probably end up being passed down to our children when we die. On the other hand, however, we as Christians have received and inheritance that is far better than any earthly treasure.

Through the death and resurrection of our Lord, He secured for us the promise of eternal life. This is our inheritance. And though there are a number of things that come along with it, nothing else could be of more value. Streets of gold, gates of pearl, a crown of life…while all part of our inheritance, none of those things would be very meaningful if you only got to enjoy them for a short time. Eternal life means that we get to enjoy all the glory of heaven for ever and ever. 10,000 years with our Lord isn’t even a drop in the ocean in contrast with eternity, and the concept of time will vanish from memory as we enjoy all God has has prepared for us.

“For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.”

                                                     -Hebrews 9:16-17

In our culture, somebody has to die before any inheritances are given or any wills enforced. In the same way, the death of Christ was a necessary part of us receiving everlasting life. Without His death, we would still be dead in sin. But through His death, we can be made alive. What an inheritance!

 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”

                  -I Peter 1:3-4

When God saves somebody, He does much more than turn a sinner into a saint, or a bad person into a good person. The change is far more drastic than that, for He takes a dead person and makes them live! Contrary to what we often hear, we were not drowning in our sins; we’d already lost the fight. We had long since drowned and sunk to the bottom, yet Christ in His mercy raised us from our spiritual death. He didn’t rescue us from potential death, but delivered us from a death we’d already experienced. He brought us from death to life, from darkness to light, and from hopelessness to salvation.

You see, if we were not 100% dead in our sins, then God would not deserve 100% percent of the glory for bringing us back to life. But since we were fully dead, and now are fully alive in Christ, He can rightfully receive every bit of the praise for this miraculous change. It wasn’t a partial transformation; it was complete.

"But if any man love God, the same is known of him."

                              -I Corinthians 8:3

When somebody is alive, you can usually tell. Without even thinking about it, you can look at them and know immediately that they are not dead. So it should be in our lives, that when we come in contact with the world they immediately notice something different about us. Perhaps they don’t understand the concept of spiritual death and life, but they can sense a difference in us when we are around them that is unlike anything they’ve ever felt before – whether it’s the things we say, the way we act, or even the smile on our face. There should be no need for speculation.

While our human nature usually doesn’t want to be singled out as being different or “weird”, the Lord never promised His children acceptance from anybody other than Him. In reality, how can the living mix in with the dead and not be noticed?

Many of you will remember Chris Sligh from season 6 of American Idol. Even if you’re not an AI fan, you might be more familiar with his song “Empty Me”, which was a big hit on Christian radio stations for a while, and his more recent single “Only You Can Save.”

Anyway, I went to one of his shows this week and had a blast! Other than getting to meet him after the show, my favorite part of the night had to be him singing “Vessel.” Unless you have his first CD you’ve probably never heard it, but it is an amazing song nonetheless that talks about surrendering to God and allowing Him to use us as He sees fit. I know that at some point we’ve probably all had a desire to be used by the Lord in a special way, and this song reminds us of the proper mindset to have: complete surrender. An attitude that says, “God, I’ll serve You no matter what.” Somebody with this mentality is the type of person God looks for when He needs a vessel to use, and it’s the type of attitude we should all have as Christians. Anyway, if I keep rambling on there’ll be no need for you to watch the video, so I guess I’ll stop talking and just let you enjoy the song!

Though always worthwhile, waiting on God can be one of the hardest things we ever have to do. In a culture where everything is available to us at DSL speeds, we aren’t accustomed to waiting for anything. Whether it’s microwave popcorn, lightning fast computers, or even simply turning on the light when you come into a room, we can usually get what we want fairly quickly and without much hassle.

Yet despite our “I want it now” mentality, God often calls us to slow down and wait upon Him. There’s no such thing as  “microwave Christianity!” We can’t expect to push a button and have God make everything perfect in less than 60 seconds. For that matter, we can’t expect Him to transform us into anything close to perfection in that amount of time either. No, the Christian walk would be better compared to a “crock-pot experience”, where we must patiently wait for His perfect will to be revealed, and His perfect plan to be accomplished.  As convenient as it would be if things were otherwise, convenience is not what God is seeking; He does things the right way, regardless of how much longer it might take.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but one downside to microwaves is that, when heating large items, their job is usually not very thorough. Despite it feeling warm on the outside, a few bites into your meal you realize it’s still half-frozen in the middle. In the same way, God undertook a huge task when He adopted us into His family. Yes, we’re forgiven of our past; but our future is still a work in progress. In fact, it’s such a large task that if God were to do things the quick and easy way, the job would end up only half-done. It would appear fine on the outside – but only on the outside.  That’s not what we want, and it’s certainly not what God wants.

Perhaps you’ve been waiting on God for a long time. You’ve prayed, and you’ve prayed, and you’ve prayed, but nothing happens. If this is you, just remember that God is still there. He’s always been there. He’s just making sure that, when all is said and done, everything will have worked together to accomplish His perfect will in your life (Romans 8:28).

A few days ago I asked you guys to briefly define Christianity in your own words. I had five great responses, with each one touching on a different aspect of our faith. But the truth is, as one follower stated, “…Christianity is a small term that defines a big thing.” In light of this, I think it would be very difficult (if not impossible!) to condense the Christian faith  into one comment or blog post. But as difficult as it’s going to be, I’m going to try it anyway!

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

          -1 Corinthians 15:3, 4

First of all, Christianity is putting into action your belief in these truths. After all, faith without works is dead (James 2:17), and so “believing” it without putting it into action is worthless. A true belief that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” will do more than just permeate our mind; it will affect the very way we live our life. To take it a step further, if we truly believe that Christ indeed rose from the dead, why do we so often live as if He is still dead? As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words, and God doesn’t care about what we profess with our mouth nearly as much as He cares about what we are professing with our our actions.

“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

                                                            -Luke 13:3

Secondly,  Christianity is much more than just a decision. Modern-day ministers often urge their congregations to “make a decision for Christ” without ever mentioning the need for repentance or Godly sorrow (II Cor. 7:10). They might speak of “being saved”, yet people leave without an understanding of what they even need to be saved from (i. e. sin and its consequences) . This type of “Christianity” might draw a larger crowd and appear to bring about more conversions, but it is without Biblical foundation and thus is not Christianity at all.

Finally, Christianity is (or at least should be) a lens through which we look at life. Those who have received salvation through the blood of Christ shouldn’t confine their faith to the four walls of their church, but instead allow it to shape every part of their new life. It should alter the way we view issues such as abortion and homosexuality, and even who we vote for in political elections. Not only that, but we should allow it to determine where we work, who we hang out with, and the amount of time and money we spend on nonessential things. You see, Christianity is more than simply a religion or a political standpoint; it is a way of life that we should be living out from day to day.

I know this is a somewhat of a broad definition, but I did my best to cover it as well as possible in a single post. Thank you guys for your input, as it helped me tremendously in putting this together. I hope that we all gained a deeper understanding of what Christianity is all about, and the weight of our words when we claim the name of a Christian. 

 

No, I haven’t forgotten about the post I promised you on the definition of Christianity! In fact, I have it partially drafted already and just need to finish working on it. I hope to have it live by tomorrow evening, so be checking back soon!

I thought, though, that in the meantime you guys might enjoy this video I put together with some of my nature photos  set to music by Chris Tomlin. After all, who doesn’t like Chris Tomlin? Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. You might consider checking out my photography blog by clicking the button on my sidebar if so.