Free in the Lord Jesus, we praise God for who He is and for what He has done in us. No longer bound to sin and death, we are alive in Christ evermore. Without Christ, the human specie is bound to eternal death because of the fall in the Garden. We took the reigns for our existence from God, thinking we could run our lives better than God could direct them. Humanity fell into such depravity that during Noah’s time, God elected to destroy all of humanity except for Noah’s family. God repented of that action and has allowed humankind to exist from that time on, even though God said their wickedness is embedded in their very existence. “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21) Man’s wicked nature remained in him without any control to alter or direct his behavior positively. Eventually God chose a man to bless, Abram, from the land of the Chaldeans. Because of Abram’s faith in what God said to him, God gave him a special mission. Abram’s belief was accounted to him as righteousness, and He alone would be blessed by God in a mighty way. The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12: 1-3) God’s covenant with Abram made him Abraham: a father of many nations. More than 400 years later under the tutelage of Moses in the wilderness, Abraham’s genetic people, the Jews, received the law to control their nature. Obeying the words of God in the written law and making continuous offerings of sacrifices were to keep God’s judgement of sin away from the people. As long as the people obediently followed God’s commandments, they were free from the judgment that was meted out in Noah’s time: death and destruction. Of course this “experiment,” so to say, was in God’s eternal plan for bringing back his image into mankind, to make them new creatures. Eventually, through the genealogy of the people of the law came the Messiah, the Christ. The plan of salvation, establishing a new, righteous people for the whole world, would be initiated and implemented through the man, Jesus Christ. The angels addressed God’s intention to restore all mankind to his image in their presentation to the shepherds on the night of Jesus’ birth. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:9-12) Jesus is the culmination of God’s plan to bring all people to himself, completing his promise to Abraham and the patriarchs. As we read in today’s verses, Christ came to the Jews, fulfilling the promises of God for the Gentiles to glorify God for his mercy. As the prophet foretold, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.”
The blood of Jesus was shed for all people: the whole earth is covered by the blood of Jesus. This covering is once and for all, given to free people from the sentence of sin and eternal judgment. People who desire to know God and his righteousness must accept the Lord’s sacrifice for their sins. Anyone from any country, any tribe, can find God through the name of Jesus Christ. If anyone accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, a new creature will come alive, free from sin and death, never again bound by the shackles of Satan. You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. (Galatians 5:14) As new creatures we live for Christ. His blood has freed us from judgment, made us righteous, and made us acceptable to the Creator of all things. However, now as living Godly creatures, we should display God’s image here on Earth. We should be doing God’s will joyfully, not our own. If we are new creatures, the image of God in us should become clearer to those around us. Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Philippians 2:1-4) As today’s focus scripture reveals, we should be as God, filled with encouragement and help. Our lives should be oriented towards his will at all times and not towards our own selfish inclinations. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. As we overlook each other’s faults and weaknesses, we accept wholeheartedly the new creature God has established in our fellow brothers and sisters. We are not to judge outward appearances, but accept what the Bible says about us: we are born again by the blood of Jesus Christ. If we set ourselves up as judges of people rather than as healers of people’s hearts, we will once again become as those that God destroyed in Noah’s time. We will be people of chaos rather than people of unity. Chaos is the devil’s workshop. He will exploit Christians, damage them, destroy their faith, especially the weak in the darkness of disruption and judgment. Christ came to set everyone free from such judgement and hate. He has come to give all an abundant life full of joy and peace in him. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you is the key to living successfully in the community of God. Without accepting others as brothers and sisters in Christ, we become sowers of discord, dissensions, factions, and jealousies. These divisive spirits can lead to hatred, selfish ambition, envy, and even impurity in our spirit. Accepting others because Christ has accepted them is essential to unity. Without doing so, we stand aloof, believing we have the right to determine the validity of someone’s walk with Christ. The Bible says for us not to judge someone else’s servant. We know Christ is the master of each of us. We are his servants. Consequently, as God’s servant through Christ, we must be very careful about judging someone else in the body of Christ. We are free indeed, but we still should feel a strong obligation to other believers. Our actions and our thoughts should be positive toward others. Others should feel confident they can come to us with their problems and weaknesses, finding someone who will pray with them for victory in Christ. If someone’s weakness is detrimental to the body, we should go to our knees in prayer, believing for deliverance for that person. If things are not rectified, we should approach the fellow brother or sister, together with others, with sensitivity and tenderness, always seeking for unity and for love. Nothing should be done out of selfish ambition or selfish motives. Evident in every action with the church should be the fruit of the Spirit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:22-25) God’s plan from the beginning of creation was to make humans in his image, not just to walk with them in the Garden, but to be with them as his children, in his likeness. The body of Christ should reveal God’s nature, his will. All people have this opportunity to know God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. God is full of mercy; his plan of restoration has been carried out through the cross. The world is blind, even dead in their sins, but Jesus is passing by in everyone’s life. Each of us must cry out to him for mercy. As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. (Matthew 20: 29-34) When we cry out, his mercy is there for us. We will receive the plan of God; we will see. When the plan of God has come to us, when our eyes are restored to sight, we will also have mercy on others, we will treat them with compassion, and then the plan of God will be implemented in all the earth. Amen!
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