Expansion.
I wanted to expand on the lesson I mentioned in my last post.
Last week our speaker said, "You can be saved but still waste your life by not building up the the Kingdom of God." His words have really stuck with me and they are words that I have been ruminating on ever since. The speaker had a really unique perspective on the vision of greatness that God has for us (as illustrated in John the Baptist's life). He expanded on the above statement using 1 Corinthians 3:15, "If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss, yet be will be saved--but only as one escaping through the flames." (If you don't know the context of this verse I would suggest reading the whole chapter by clicking on the link above). See, many people are saved, but not all are great. I, like many other Christians, have been sucked into the trap of simplifying the journey of following Christ to a single event, salvation. And man, have we been sucked in because following Christ is about so much more!!!
Although I've heard many sermons/lectures on the importance of having a deeper relationship with Christ, I don't feel like anyone has ever really been explain to me why we need that deeper relationship. I have always used John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey my commands" as justification for following Christ. As I mentioned earlier, however, its never been a convincing argument for a deeper "die to self" relationship with Christ because it is still dependent on our immature love. When looking at 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, we can see that its about more than just putting down the cornerstone of a building, or salvation. The work of salvation is already done, Christ put down the cornerstone for us. Getting into heaven is based solely on the acceptance or rejection of that work. Do we acknowledge the existence of the cornerstone or do we pretend it isn't there? That doesn't mean that after salvation the work is done!
As the speaker said, God has a vision of greatness for each one of our lives. If we don't strive/work toward that vision, than our eternal reward will be diminished. I kind of see it like this...Everyone who accepts Christ's work in his/her life gets to place a cornerstone for their house down in heaven, but those who go through life and never seek a deeper relationship with God will have just that--a glorious, perfect cornerstone to rest upon for all of eternity. Those who choose to strive for Christ's vision of greatness, however, are those who not only lay down a cornerstone and a firm foundation, but they continue building a mansion! There are too many people who are content with thier cornerstone; they live in apathy knowing they are saved. Which is true. God's grace covers all.
But I am not content. And I don't think God wants us to be content either. I want to build a mansion. I want to know the fullness of God. I want to seek greatness, which means seeking humility, meekness, love. I want to stand before god and say with confidence that I strived for HIS vision of greatness for my entire life. I don't want to waste my life. I want the secret desires of my heart to be overflowing with the desires of God's heart. And I am so thankful that our speaker was able to give me the words to express this desire.
So what about you? Are you content with your cornerstone? Are you wasting your life?
Or are you seeking more?
Peace and love :)
Last week our speaker said, "You can be saved but still waste your life by not building up the the Kingdom of God." His words have really stuck with me and they are words that I have been ruminating on ever since. The speaker had a really unique perspective on the vision of greatness that God has for us (as illustrated in John the Baptist's life). He expanded on the above statement using 1 Corinthians 3:15, "If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss, yet be will be saved--but only as one escaping through the flames." (If you don't know the context of this verse I would suggest reading the whole chapter by clicking on the link above). See, many people are saved, but not all are great. I, like many other Christians, have been sucked into the trap of simplifying the journey of following Christ to a single event, salvation. And man, have we been sucked in because following Christ is about so much more!!!
Although I've heard many sermons/lectures on the importance of having a deeper relationship with Christ, I don't feel like anyone has ever really been explain to me why we need that deeper relationship. I have always used John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey my commands" as justification for following Christ. As I mentioned earlier, however, its never been a convincing argument for a deeper "die to self" relationship with Christ because it is still dependent on our immature love. When looking at 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, we can see that its about more than just putting down the cornerstone of a building, or salvation. The work of salvation is already done, Christ put down the cornerstone for us. Getting into heaven is based solely on the acceptance or rejection of that work. Do we acknowledge the existence of the cornerstone or do we pretend it isn't there? That doesn't mean that after salvation the work is done!
As the speaker said, God has a vision of greatness for each one of our lives. If we don't strive/work toward that vision, than our eternal reward will be diminished. I kind of see it like this...Everyone who accepts Christ's work in his/her life gets to place a cornerstone for their house down in heaven, but those who go through life and never seek a deeper relationship with God will have just that--a glorious, perfect cornerstone to rest upon for all of eternity. Those who choose to strive for Christ's vision of greatness, however, are those who not only lay down a cornerstone and a firm foundation, but they continue building a mansion! There are too many people who are content with thier cornerstone; they live in apathy knowing they are saved. Which is true. God's grace covers all.
But I am not content. And I don't think God wants us to be content either. I want to build a mansion. I want to know the fullness of God. I want to seek greatness, which means seeking humility, meekness, love. I want to stand before god and say with confidence that I strived for HIS vision of greatness for my entire life. I don't want to waste my life. I want the secret desires of my heart to be overflowing with the desires of God's heart. And I am so thankful that our speaker was able to give me the words to express this desire.
So what about you? Are you content with your cornerstone? Are you wasting your life?
Or are you seeking more?
Peace and love :)
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