Become who you already are – in Christ.

 

Our biggest challenge as followers of Jesus is: To become what we are in Christ.

 

Listen to these passages which talk about who we are, in Christ:

(Col 3:9-10) You have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self.

(Eph 5:8) You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

(Rom 6:11) Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

(Rom 6:2,4) We died to sin ... just as Christ was raised from the dead ... we too may live a new life.

(2 Cor 5:17) If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

 

Repeatedly the Bible calls God's children to live the new life because, in Christ and through the Spirit, they have been delivered from the slavery of sin. In Christ we are new or renewed. In Christ the old self of sin has been demolished.

 

Think of what we are in Christ: a new self, raised with Christ, light in the Lord, alive to God, a new creation. This new person that we are in Christ hates sin, strives for holiness, and has the life of Christ himself. This new person that we are in Christ, is indwelt by the Spirit.

 

But if all of this is true – and it is – then why do we Christians still do evil things? The Bible says it is because we are still “in the flesh”! We are still human. And “our weak flesh” clings to even our best works for God.

 

In our flesh there is a slumbering tendency which is both unexpected and fierce. With great power it seizes us. All at once a secret, smouldering fire is kindled. It makes no difference whether it is ambition, or vanity, or desire for revenge, or love of fame and power, or greed for money. God becomes unreal to us. God loses all reality, and the only real thing is the desire to sin.

 

Even in a Christian’s life, sin is horribly displeasing to God. In fact, in the eyes of God the sins of Christian are worse than the sins of the world, because the Christian knows better and is supposed to be dead to these dreadful desires.

We have to fight the enemy within!

 

God doesn't want us to tolerate sin or be complacent about it. He says: (Col 3:5,12) Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature (“flesh”), sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry ... Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

 

God wants us to become what we are. We are new people, raised with Christ, a new creation. Now, we must live and act what we are. We must become what we are in Christ.

 

We must humble ourselves before God. We have no reason to be proud and we have every reason to be small. We cannot defend our sins in any way. We must be humble about our sins.

 

And we must flee for refuge to Christ crucified. We need Christ every hour of every day. We need what only Christ can give: His blood, his grace, his power, his forgiveness. We need Christ and must turn to him, every day.

 

And we must pray. We have to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

 

Finally, the Christian is to be faithful in seeking holiness. We are to seek God’s will in the same way that the athlete strains for the finish line.

 

We seek to become what we already are in Christ: a new person, raised with Christ!

Victorious Jesus, in his mercy, will do the rest.