Theme: You are a chosen vessel of Christ
Text: Acts 10:44-48; 1 Jn. 5:1-6; Jn. 15:9-17
The root of many problems in the life of believers is the lack of knowledge concerning their identity and their abilities. Adam yielded to sin because he did not know who he was and what he was capable of doing. It took another man, our Lord Jesus Christ, who knew His identity and His capabilities to restore to mankind what Adam had given away. No matter how hard the enemy tried to make Jesus doubt His identity as the Son of God he failed because Jesus totally believed the Word of God. The first temptation Jesus faced after His forty day fast in the wilderness was about His identity. “If you are the Son of God command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Matt. 4:3) Jesus knew He was God’s beloved Son and did not yield to the enemy as Adam did when he doubted his identity. As believers, Jesus Christ has restored our identity and our abilities but do we know who we are. You are a chosen vessel of Christ.
We have been chosen to have the Spirit of God. When we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and confess Him as Saviour and Lord we are saved and receive a new spirit. He chose us when He became the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty for our sin and “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God”. 1 John 5:1 When Christ took our place on the cross and paid the penalty for sin, He not only took our sins upon Himself, He also made His righteousness available to us. Our sin separated Him from His father and His righteousness brought us to Him. He has not only reconciled us to God but created a new spirit in us where the Holy Spirit can live. Our spirit has been made whole and when God sees us He sees Christ in us.
Do we know who we as saved believers? Do we believe that “As He is in heaven so are we here on earth” (1 John 4:17). If not how can we get to know who we are in Him? We all know how we look physically having spent a lot of time looking at our reflections in mirrors. Who has not looked into a mirror today? The Scriptures however tell us that we are spiritual beings who posses a soul and live in a body. To know who we really are means we have to take a look at our spirit. It is impossible to see our spiritual nature from our physical perspective. We can only do so from God’s divine perspective by looking into God’s mirror, the Word of God. In God’s Word we see our spiritual nature and it is the spiritual that should manifest in the physical. Our spiritual life from God’s perspective is a life of fulfilment, a life of victory, a life of abundance, and a life of prosperity. God desires that we manifest the full stature of the man or woman He has chosen us to be. He wants us to overcome life’s challenges, lead a successful life and become a source of blessing to our generation.
As believers our spirits have been renewed and made whole. However, we were used to doing a lot of things that were contrary to the Word of God before our salvation and these habits do not just go away. We still rely on the flesh although we have been spiritually renewed. These habits have resulted in a mindset that acts contrary to the spirit of God. The only way to overcome the flesh is to renew our minds. We renew our minds by believing and depending on the Word of God. As we study, understand and apply the Word of God it will lead to a renewal of our minds and to total trust and obedience in the Word of God. When our minds are renewed the effects will be evident in our lives. It is only then that we will be able to physically manifest the life of Christ in our lives. We will love as Christ loved us and become a blessing to those around us as we share with them their need for salvation.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was perfect in every area of His being and demonstrated His perfect love for us by meeting our greatest need – our need for forgiveness. To do this Jesus had to pay a great price. It took the cross to reconcile us to God for us to experience peace with God and the peace of God. The cross is the highest demonstration of God’s love. Jesus, who says that he loved us as his heavenly Father loved him, loved us more than his own life. Our response to such love is to remain in His love and love as He has loved us.
Christ has chosen us to be a blessing and “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” Eph. 1:3. We are to declare the Word of God to see its manifestation. Jesus declares “the words that I speak to you, they are Spirit and they are life”. We can declare the Word of God and not believe it. We need to believe the Word of God and keep it within us for the Scriptures declare “Out of the heart flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). To act on the Word of God is to exercise faith. It is taking hold of what one can not see yet and believing that he already has it.
“God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” Eph. 1:3. All the blessings are spiritual and can be found in the spirit and if they are to be of benefit to us then that is the place to be if we want those blessings. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit” (John 3:6) so the only way to contact our spirit is through the spirit. The renewed mind acts according to the Word of God and is therefore spirit and is able to draw the spiritual blessings into the physical world. The renewed mind is our link between the spiritual supply and the physical need. Walking in the Spirit, believing God’s Word and having a way of thinking that is in accordance with God’s word, gives us access to Christ’s abundant spiritual supply. When we need love there is a spiritual supply in our spirit already. We only need to access it and draw on the supply that is already there. As chosen vessels of Christ do we believe the Word of God and act on it? Are we still asking for those things that Christ says He has already given to us?
Love manifests the presence of Christ and is the hallmark of the chosen vessels of Christ. This love is not only loving those who love us but also loving those who do not deserve our love. This is the best way to let the world see Christ through us. We have been so conditioned by the world that we cannot realise our full potential as a Church because the Spirit of God’s love is missing in our lives. Christ has revealed who our Father is and what we are capable of doing when we love one another as Christ has loved us. The late mother Theresa demonstrated the love of Christ through her work. A reporter once observed her cleaning a destitute poor filthy person from the slums of Calcutta with her bare hands. He remarked “I would not do that for a million dollars.” “Neither would I,” she replied. Mother Theresa was able to do what she did because of the love of Christ. Christ has chosen us to demonstrate His love through us. It is only when we portray this love that we can impact the world. There is no person who will not positively respond to genuine love. Let us know our identity as chosen vessels of Christ so that we can realise our full potential and fulfil God’s divine Will concerning our lives. Let us be a blessing to others and through our love glorify our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen!
