Sermon Central
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The Attributes Of The Bride Of Christ - 3
Contributed by James Snyder on Mar 7, 2016 (message contributor)
Summary: There are so many things about me that I do not understand, but behind everything in me is God, the master artist, at work. The great joy of my life is discovering what it means to be a part of the Bride of Christ. Celebrating that truth every day.
The Attributes Of Christ’s Bride - 3
To really understand a great piece of art you need to know the artist. Only the artist can give you the significance behind every brush stroke.
Take Thomas Kincaid, for example. I enjoy very much his paintings and would have liked very much to sit down with him and have him talk to me about his painting. Everything in a painting of his has significance. There was a story behind every aspect of that canvas.
I was privileged to have someone at his art museum in St. Augustine explain to me the paintings of his. No paintings are just paintings. Behind every painting is a story and sometimes one painting has a story that covers many years.
The important thing about his paintings is there is significance that he has put into every brush-stroke. If I am going to understand his paintings, I need to have him explain it to me. That is not going to happen because he is deceased.
I am sure this can be said of all of the great painters throughout history. It is interesting to get the back story to some of these great pieces of art.
When we come to the Bride of Christ, which is the Church of Christ, we come to the very same thing.
Just like somebody who knows nothing of the artist can try to explain to me what a piece of art is but they have no concept of the artist behind the painting, so, people try to explain to me what the Church is but they have no comprehension of the person behind the Church.
If I am really going to understand everything about the Church, I need to know the person who designed it and why he designed it and for whom he design it.
If I am to understand who I am as a Christian, I need to understand the person behind my Christianity. And I also need to understand his purpose in designing me.
This kicks evolution to the curb.
Too many people are very careless in their understanding of what it means to be a Christian. Some people have the idea that being a Christian means that God has forgiven me my sins and one day I’m going to go zooming off into heaven. In the meantime, I can do as I please. It is a very shallow concept of what being a Christian is all about.
Why am I a Christian?
What makes me different and stand out from the world?
Who am I finally responsible to?
To answer these questions is going to take a lot of disciplined work on my part. One of the easiest things in the world to do is to become a Christian, but one of the most difficult things in the world is to live the Christian life.
The reason most people cannot live the Christian life is because they do not know what is the back story. They do not know the whole purpose of what it means to be a Christian.
Solomon in Proverbs 31 outlines for us the attributes of the Bride of Christ. To go through that very diligently is to bring us to the point of understanding what it really means to be part of Christ. I am not just a “Lone Ranger” Christian trying to make it through another day.
Behind everything I do is significance that relates to the one who created me and redeemed me.
Also, when I really relate to that aspect, it puts me in connection with others who are part of the Bride of Christ. Fellowship is the key aspect of this relationship. My fellowship with God determines my fellowship with brothers and sisters in the Lord.
If you are having trouble fellowshipping with brothers and sisters in the Lord, something is wrong with your relationship and fellowship with God.
What can I do, as a member of the Bride of Christ, to maximize this fellowship? My love for God is reflected in my love for the brethren.
Several things are available to me with regard to maximizing this fellowship. I believe these things should be daily disciplines for us.
I. The Bride Of Christ Needs To
Understand Her Priority.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Everybody has a priority whether they acknowledge it or not. Everybody’s life is built upon that priority. For some people, they really have not discovered their priority, which explains a lot of the confusion in our world today.
As the Bride of Christ, I need to understand what my priority is. For many Christians, this is a great challenge.
Some have wrong ideas about what their priority should be.
