Living the Life of Christ
Central Thought: Every believer is expected to show forth the life of Christ on a daily basis.
Text: Matthew 2:1, 28:18-20
Jesus Christ is the second person in the Godhead. God the Father sent Him into the world to reconcile us to God. “Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person”, Hebrews 1:3. Christ was with the Father at the beginning. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men”, John 1:1-4. Therefore realizing these facts, it is by being grounded and rooted in Christ that we can live lives well pleasing to God. When we receive Christ into our lives as our Lord, Master and Savior, He empowers us to live the Christian life. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God even to them that believe in His name”, John 1:12. Living the life of Christ entails setting our affections on things above and not on things on the earth. Our lives are hid with Christ in God. Therefore, we must consistently keep our gaze on Christ to be able to live this life. We can achieve this only by looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. When Jesus lived here on earth He went through several challenges but in all He overcame. He has left us an example that we should follow in His steps.
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Who is Jesus from the following Scriptures? Luke 1:26-32, 2:11; 1 Corinthians 1:24, 3:23; Hebrews 13:8; John 4:25-26, 1:1-4, 29 & 36, 10:11; 1 John 5:7
Jesus is the Son of God. He was conceived and born of a virgin named Mary. He is the Savior of the world. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. “But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God”, 1 Corinthians 1:24. Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. He is the good shepherd; the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Christ was with the Father at the beginning and He is the Word made flesh. “In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men”, John 1:1-4. Jesus is in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit and the three are one. 1 John 5:7 states it thus; “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one”. In summary, having understood and know who Jesus is from the various scriptures stated above among others, we can have full assurance that we must fully depend on Him to enable us live lives acceptable in the sight of God.
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Who are those to live the life of Christ? John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 20
Those who are to live the life of Christ are those who have accepted Jesus as their personal Lord, Master and Savior. They must have yielded their all to Christ. They are those that have been born again. In fact being born again is the first step. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name”, John 1:12. We receive newness of life which transforms us to live the life of Christ. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”, 2 Corinthians 5:17. In appreciation of the redemptive work of Christ through His death and resurrection, we are to be the ambassadors of Christ here on earth. Those who will live the life of Christ must be dead to self and the flesh and be alive in the Spirit. They must say like the Apostle Paul, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”, Galatians 2:20.
Living the life of Christ continually and on a daily basis is very imperative for every believer who hopes to spend eternity with God. This is very necessary because it is only in Christ that our lives can find true meaning.
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From the following scriptures, what do you understand by living the life of Christ? 2 Corinthians 3:2-6, 5:14-15, 18-19, 21; Galatians 2:20, 5:22-23
Living the life of Christ implies living out our lives in such a way that people are pointed to Christ by our attitudes and our lifestyle. The first step towards living the life of Christ is to be born again. “. . . verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”, John 3:3. Living the life of Christ entails living out the nature of Christ as evidenced in the life of the believers. When we become born again, the nature and power of sin is broken, and we become partakers of His divine nature. We become those to whom God has committed the word and ministry of reconciliation. Also we are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ. Our sufficiency should be of God and we must be fully dependent on the Holy Spirit. All we do should be motivated by the love of Christ. Our lives must manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
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Examine the following attributes of the character of Christ and what lesson we can learn as believers.
Obedience, Philippians 2:5-8; Matthew 26:36-42; Hebrews 5:8:
Although Jesus is God, He was obedient to the Father in all things. “Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death on the cross”, Philippians 2:5-8. Jesus was obedient to the Father even when He was in agony on the way to the cross. Being in the form of man, He felt the pain and was very sorrowful, yet in obedience He went through it all. At a point Christ prayed to the Father that if it be possible the cup should pass from Him. But in obedience He prayed, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, Thy will be done”, Matthew 26:42. Jesus exhibited obedience to the Father in all areas of His activities on earth and thereby He was able to fulfil His divine mandate. We are also to live in obedience to the Father and the Word, which is the will of the Father; and be subject to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Prayers, Matthew 4:1-2, 26:36-42:
Jesus was a man of prayer throughout His life on earth. The song writer rightly wrote, “Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer”. This was a very regular feature observed in His life. “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed”, Mark 1:35. Christ prayed at every situation. He always committed all things into the hands of the Father, it did not matter how trivial a matter may appear, He always brought them before the Father in prayers. Believers must emulate the life of Christ by committing all aspects of their lives to God in prayers.
Love, John 15:10-13, 11:35-36, 13:34-35
Jesus is the love of God personified. He expressed an unconditional love to all and sundry. He loved all equally; the high or low, the rich or poor, strong or weak. This great love of Christ moved Him to die on the cross. “For God commendeth His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”, Romans 5:8. He taught the disciples the need to love one another. “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in His love”, John 15:9-10. Christ went further to tell the disciples that He was giving them a new commandment that they love one another, as He had loved them. The Lord Jesus Christ emphasized the importance of love among them by saying, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”, John 13:35. Furthermore we should express the love of Christ toward all mankind.
Authority / Power, John 11:43; Mark 5:1-19, 4:34-41:
All powers in heaven and on earth have been given to Christ. He was very mindful of this at all situations and circumstances. He declared that all power in heaven and in earth has been given to Him. He exercised this power or authority over all situations.
When Jesus Christ got to the tomb of Lazarus who had been buried and had been in the grave for four days, He just exclaimed with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus come forth’ and he that was dead came forth. In another occasion, Christ and His disciples were in a ship and there arose a great storm of wind that the wind and the waves beat into the ship that it was now full. Meanwhile Christ was at the hinder side of the ship asleep on a pillow. Out of fear, the disciples woke Him out of sleep. He woke up and rebuked the wind and just said ‘peace be still’, and there was a great calm. The disciples were exceedingly fearful, and said one to another, “what manner of man is this, that even the wind and sea obey Him”, Mark 4:41. The believer should be conscious of the authority available to him in the use of the Name of Jesus, and the power received from the Holy Spirit on a daily basis.
Humility, Isaiah 53:7, Philippians 2:5-8:
Humility is a character attribute of Jesus Christ. Throughout His stay here on earth, He was an embodiment of humility. Despite the fact that He is God, Christ humbled Himself to the extent of dying on the cross. Christ’s unprecedented humility was evident in the way He related with people without discrimination. He also exhibited humility by washing the feet of the disciples. He emphasized the issue of humility by teaching this to His disciples. “But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister”, Matthew 20:25-26. Believers are admonished to be subject to one another in the fear of God, and be clothed with humility, Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 5:5.
The members should mention and discuss other character attributes of Christ.
The major lesson we can learn from this is that every believer must also exhibit these character attributes of Christ. It is possible for every one of us to live acceptable lives. If we commit our lives fully to Christ He is able to work these out in our lives through His Holy Spirit which has been freely given unto us.
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What are the benefits of living the life of Christ? Matthew 19:29; Mark 10:21; Philippians 2:9-11
There are many benefits that believers living the life of Christ will enjoy both here on earth and in the world to come. Jesus declared this by saying “and every one that hath forsaken house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life”, Matthew 19:29. Another benefit of living the life of Christ is that we shall have treasures in heaven. Other benefits include peace, divine provision, answers to prayers, joy, deliverance, divine protection and many more. The ultimate benefit is that such persons will spend eternity with God.
Daily Living Application:
Every believer is an ambassador of Christ. In other words, we are Christ’s representatives here on earth. He has equipped us to be able to carry on that which He has committed into our hands even the ministry of reconciliation. God’s desire is that as we carry out our daily activities wherever we may find ourselves; be it in our homes, our offices or places of business, school, or church and in the society at large, we must endeavor to exhibit lives patterned after the life of Christ. We are the epistles written for men to read. We can only accomplish this by consistently looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Living the life of Christ continually and on a daily basis is very imperative for every believer who hopes to spend eternity with God. This is very necessary because it is only in Christ that our lives can find true meaning.
Memory Verse:
Galatians 2:20 – “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”