Belonging to God primarily influences the way we treat people. It is only through the way we treat others that we can respond to God's love for us. Knowledge of the Holy God always has that influence. Consider some obvious illustrations. (1) The Ten Commandments. When God spoke the Ten Commandments to Israel from Mount Sinai, four of those commandments dealt with the way they treated God, and six dealt with the way they treated people (Exodus 20:1-17). If they understood Who God was, they would treat people differently. (2) Israel's insulting worship. Israel's worship was reduced to a meaningless offense against God through their unjust treatment of others (Isaiah 1:10-17). (3) Jesus' definition of neighbor in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). (4) James' statement on personal favoritism in James 2:1-9. (5) James' statement on cursing people in James 3:9-12.
Consider Philippians 2:1-11: Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
To Christians in every age, is there encouragement in Christ? It is enormous! To Christians in every age, is there consolation in God's love? Without God's love, we could not endure! To Christians in every age, is there fellowship with God through the Spirit? The Spirit actively blesses us and serves as evidence we belong to God! To the Christian in every age, is there affection and compassion to be discovered in what God does through Jesus for us? There would be neither salvation nor grace, neither mercy nor forgiveness, neither sanctification nor cleansing were it not for the love of a compassionate God and compassionate Savior! To those in Christ, each of the qualities listed by Paul are undeniable! The Christians at Philippi had no desire to deny any of them! They would affirm the existence of these qualities without hesitation! Paul knew they would!
Paul's challenge: "Since you would affirm these qualities without hesitation, in the same unhesitant spirit accept some specific responsibilities." What responsibilities? (1) A commitment to unity among yourselves in understanding and accepting Jesus' identify. (2) A commitment to love among yourselves [which would include loving and lovable behavior]. (3) A commitment to a uniting spirit in their Christian community. (4) A commitment to a common purpose in Jesus Christ.
If living in Christ produced these four commitments, how would these commitments be expressed in their lives? (1) The motivations for their behavior would never arise from selfishness or conceit. (2) Their genuine humility honestly would place importance on others rather than self. (3) Their concerns would not be limited to personal interests [self-advancement] but genuinely would be widened to include concern for the interest of others.
Who would be their example to mold them from the inside out? Jesus Christ! Why? In demanding circumstances, Jesus did (in incredible ways!) the things Paul requested of the Philippian Christians. In declaring his unity with the Father, in a love for us beyond comprehension, in the spirit that should obsess the Christian community, in total commitment to the divine purpose, he was unselfish in ways humans do not understand. Totally void of conceit, he was so concerned about human needs that he who helped create forsook his divine position to be a creature he helped make! As if that were not enough, he assumed a lowly position among those creatures--that of a servant! He totally emptied himself! As though it was not enough to be a serving creature, he went further. He surrendered to a painful, shameful death! Note that he did not exalt himself--God exalted him! God did more than resurrect him! God also conferred on him a position unequaled among humans! God enthroned him!
The moment and event will come when Jesus' position and authority are undeniably obvious to all. In the event of judgment, even Jesus' greatest critics and harshest enemies will be humbled by the position God conferred on him. Those who by faith "see" what God did in the event of Jesus' crucifixion and "see" what God continued to do as they existed as God's "new creatures" recognized Jesus Christ for who he is long before the judgment. With humble but triumphant joy they gladly bow before him--as they did prior to the judgment!
Remarkably, even his enemies and critics will bow themselves before him. This bowing will not be the result of a faith-filled response, but the product of the conquered bowing before the conqueror. All will bow! Some will bow as those who long understood who Jesus was. Some will bow as the conquered. All tongues will confess that he is Lord! Some will confess again what they long confessed. Some will confess for the first time. For some it will be a confession of joy, and for some it will be the conquered's confession.
The end result will be the same. Whether it is a bowing and confession of joy or of defeat, God the Father will be glorified. Bowing before and confessing the identity of Jesus will honor the Holy God Who sent Jesus and raised him from the dead.
In judgment, God's holiness will be vindicated beyond challenge. Evil will be defeated and destroyed. The ultimate objective of Jesus' ministry, death, and resurrection will be achieved. The Holy God will be the All in All.
How can those in Christ right now declare the holiness of God? We will keep unity among ourselves. We will not allow selfishness and conceit to motivate our behavior. We will maintain love among ourselves. We will allow Jesus Christ to be our common purpose. Only in these ways can we verify the holiness of God.
Thought Question:
When Christians promote discord, act on selfish motives, are unconcerned about others, and are unloving as a people, how do we obscure God's holiness? How did Jesus' life verify God's holiness?
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 10