The reason why many Christians, who claim to be holy, look miserable and depressed and long-faced is that they try to produce a sort of holiness by themselves through some rules made by men. They live again under law.
The happiest person ever walked on the face of this earth is Jesus Christ. This doesn’t mean that He was the wealthiest, healthiest, most handsome and most influential person ever lived! But the joy of his life was centred completely on his trust in his Father (God Almighty). Jesus was not moved by any of those worldly factors which we often consider to be the reasons for someone to be happy or sad. Though Jesus was living in this world, he was motivated and driven by another principle that was not of this world. He had lived in this world as a normal human being though He was God, forsaking all godly resources he had, to become a forerunner for us to follow (Hebrews 6:20).
The Bible says, “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 of the cross” (Philippians 2:6-8). So, God, the Father, has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name! If Jesus had used his divine power for himself to live, He would not have been our example. He used it to bless many people at different occasions whenever it was needed. The Bible says, he was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). God has revealed to us the mystery of living a holy life through the life of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:21).
We have an example to look up on. In the old covenant, they had written word and commandments to follow. Those were like a map or guidelines for someone to journey towards a certain place. In the new covenant, we have a person as a role model who walked before us to the destination. What would be easy, to follow a person or to follow a map? Jesus was never seen gloomy, long faced, depressed or upset, seeking honour of men, loose talking, worrying about one hundred or more things including money, when he was in the flesh. He was at perfect rest. He was the humblest man that ever walked on the face of the earth. He taught us how to live an overcoming life. A life of perpetual joy and humility.
No religion in the world can teach us how to be holy. They would probably succeed in making a person externally good but could never make a person inwardly holy and humble. This is not about a personality development programme. What I am talking is about the total transformation of a person inwardly and outwardly. No human invented psychological techniques can do it but only the Almighty God can make it. No other book on the face of this earth teaches it but only the BIBLE.
Let us look at some facts of the old covenant (before Jesus Christ).
None of the great men of God who lived in the old covenant could ever claim that they were holy and godly inwardly. They were very often defeated terribly in their private lives by anger, depression, fear, lust of all kinds, approval and honour of men, love of money and pleasures, etc. They could keep a very good external testimony before the world because they honoured the Law of God. The nation of Israel was highly disciplined in moral values in the whole world because of the commandments God had given to them. But the Law could not make anyone holy or humble inwardly (Romans 8:3). God had tried them for 1500 years (approx.) in the old covenant. They could not produce themselves what God wanted from them. That is the reason God has promised another covenant through His prophets in the old covenant (Hebrews 8:7-9).
The Scripture says, “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33). In Exodus 20 we read about the Ten Commandments of God, all of them start with ‘Thou (you)’ but in the new covenant we read it in Hebrews 8:10-12 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more”. Notice the difference here, where God used ‘Thou’ in the old covenant, He used ‘I (God)’ in the new covenant.
In the old covenant God expected us to live by His law, but in the new covenant God Himself will work in us to produce the desired qualities in us. In the old covenant, the commandments were engraved on the tablets of stone but in the new covenant the commandments were written by God in our hearts. This makes a person new with a new heart as He promised to Israel through prophet Ezekiel, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
New Covenant blessings
God has made the old covenant obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). He expects us to live by the principles of new covenant. The reason why many Christians, who claim to be holy, look miserable and depressed and long-faced is that they try to produce a sort of holiness by themselves through some rules made by men. They live again under law. The Bible warns them, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4). God wants us to allow Him to work in us, to break our self-will so that He can impart His will in us. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23/Mathew 10:38/16:24/Mark 8:36).
The life of a Christian must come out of a constant walk of him with Jesus in a continual dependence on Him. It is like a branch abides in the main tree. The branch can’t produce any fruit by itself. It must abide in the tree to bear the fruit. If a branch is cut off from the tree for a fraction of a second, it would lose its life and cease producing the fruit, no matter 25-35 years that branch was bearing fruits. So, Christian life is as easy as a branch permanently abiding in the tree producing the fruits. It is absolutely effort-less, because it is nothing to do with us but to do with Him who work in us.
To many people the word ‘holiness’ looks heavy. Holiness is better than perfect health. For perfect health, we need to do many things. But for holiness, we need to do nothing, but to live in total dependence on God. This is the beauty of Christian life. If you are a Christian who is constantly defeated by bad mood, depression, anger, love of money, lust of any kind, any sin which is deep rooted in you, I can guarantee you in the mighty name of Jesus, you can overcome them just by depending on the Holy Spirit of God. You can’t fight them by yourself. Those great men in the old covenant fought for 1500 years for victory over sin, they could not make it. Neither you can do it. But Jesus can give you victory, provided you allow Him to be your Lord and allow Him to break your self- confidence. There is a wonderful promise in Romans 6:14 “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace”.
When we face temptation, seek to trust in the Lord for His grace. His grace will strengthen us to hate the sin and overcome the temptation. Temptation is not sin. Sin is born when we yield to our temptations (James 1:14-15). Jesus was tempted many times (Hebrews 4:15), but He overcame them with the power of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t matter you have failed a million times; you can make it one day if you continually fight it. God sees your attitude to sin. If we secretly enjoy the pleasures of sin, we will not be able to overcome them in a million of years!
If we are serious about overcoming sin, God will be on our side, and He will help us to overcome them. The more we walk with the Lord, the more we become aware of our sin. God will give light in different areas of our life and show us the un-Christlikeness in our life. What is our destination? Our goal and destination are clearly mentioned in Romans 8:29 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…”
In the old covenant, nobody ever could call God their Father. They prayed as, God of our father Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
But in the new covenant the Lord taught us to pray as ‘our Father’ in heaven (Mathew 6/ Luke 11). Notice the privilege we have in Christ, which is mentioned in Romans 8:14-17 “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory”.
God as our Father brings us intimacy with God and provides tremendous comfort to us. When we believe that our father is the maker and the ruler of this universe, how much peace and rest that could bring into our hearts! This is one of the secrets of the victory of Christian life. We have a Father in Heaven, who is Holy, Sovereign and Almighty and a Lord to plead for us at the right side of the Father and a mighty master Holy Spirit to guide us to the purposes of God. We have no effort to take…but just to lean on to Him…just to submit to Him…Just to allow Him to work in us…What a wonderful life!
My friend, you may think that you are a failure…you may have failed 10000 times. Why can’t you make the 10001st time attempt? Do not give up…Success is only with them who do not give up…You can’t make it…Ask the Lord to make it in you… You will be victorious! You will live the life of Jesus Christ.
Scriptures: 1 Peter 2:21, Exodus 20, Ezekiel 36:26, Galatians 5:4, Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 6:20, Hebrews 8:10-12, Hebrews 8:13, Hebrews 8:7-9, James 1:14-15, Jeremiah 31:33, Luke 11, Luke 9:23, Mark 8:36, Philippians 2:6-8, Romans 6:14, Romans 8:14-17, Romans 8:29, Romans 8:3
Sermon Topics: Beauty, New Covenant, Example, True Christianity, Followers Of Christ, New Covenant Blessings
By Pastor Renji George
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