A WORTHY CALLED LIFE (PART 4)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received... There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:1, 4-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance for others born out of love, and unity.

These are all behavioral indicators that a Christian is living in a way worthy of the calling they have received from God.

Today, we will finish this series by looking at the matter of hope, a hope that we have been given and are required to share with others in the way we live our lives for Christ. Look again at these words from the Apostle Paul:

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received... There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:1. 4-6

In yesterday’s message, we looked at how Christian believers are expected to be united with Jesus being the great Uniter. Instead of focusing on ways that Jesus followers are different from one another, like the church has become today with its myriad of denominations that too often choose to segregate, the scriptures call the church to be one in Christ.

All Christians have one God, one Savior Jesus, and one Holy Spirit. The call is to stand together in all parts of the Holy Trinity. This leads to one Christian body bound collectively by one faith and one baptism, a body filled with believers who have a single significant hope of eternal life through Christ that no one can ever take away. Here’s what God’s word commands when it comes to how we are to put this hope to work:

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. 1 Peter 3:15

A Christ follower who is living in a way that shows he or she is worthy of the calling God has given will always be ready to share the hope they have in Jesus, whether solicited or not. Every person a Christian encounters in any one day is an opportunity to share the good news of the Gospel, the good news that brings hope to the hopeless.

We should all be united in this matter of sharing hope but we aren’t. Yes, we are all different. No two people are the same anymore than there are two identical snowflakes that fall from the winter sky. But Jesus transcends our differences. He is the One who is our hope and allows us to unify as one people under God, saved by His Son. This is one true God is the Father of all, the Maker and Master of all creation, the Lord who is over all, through all, and in all. He is the God who so loved the world so much that He chose to make a way to save people instead of destroy them. We are only Christians because He made it possible.  

So why aren’t we united today?

It’s because we have a lot of work to do when it comes to being worthy of the calling we have received from our God. It’s time to start now and join hands with other Christ believers outside of our church walls. We are called to ecumenicalism, not isolation. We’re not to bracket the Christian church off into compartments, comfortable within the confines of our congregations. Rather, we are commanded to be united as one body of Christ, made up with its multitudes of parts, a single entity with a single eternal hope.

Friends, we have a lot of work to do in this regard and the scriptures are demanding we get to work now. It’s time for the church to show it is worthy of the calling it has received and it starts with every Christian coming together as one in Jesus.    

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com