Well I got myself a T-shirt
that says what I believe
I got letters on my bracelet
to serve as my ID
I got the necklace and the
key chain
And almost everything a good
Christian needs yeah
I got the little Bible
magnets on my refrigerator door
And a welcome mat to bless
you before you walk across my floor
I got a Jesus bumper sticker
And the outline of a fish
stuck on my car
And even though this stuff’s
all well and good yeah
I cannot help but ask myself
What about the change
What about the difference
What about the grace
What about forgiveness
What about a life that’s
showing
I’m undergoing the change
yeah
I’m undergoing the change
Well I’ve got this way of
thinking that comes so naturally
Where I believe the whole
world is revolving around me
And I got this way of living
that I have to die to every single day
’cause if God’s Spirit lives
inside of me yeah
I’m gonna live life
differently
I’m gonna have the change
I’m gonna have the difference
I’m gonna have the grace
I’m gonna have forgiveness
I’m gonna live a life that’s
showing
I’m undergoing the change
What about the change
What about the difference
What about the grace
What about forgiveness
I want to live a life that’s
showing
I’m undergoing the change
(the Change, Steven Curtis Chapman)
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Cor 5:17)
In this verse, the image Paul
is conveying is a complex and complete description of a believer’s
identity. It’s a conditional phrase: a
man must be in Christ in order to have this new spiritual
identity.
So what does it mean to be in
Christ ? I’ve heard it
described in this fashion. In Roman
times, sailing craft had a tall, stout timber serving as the mast that ran
through the deck, down to the keel of the boat where it was embraced in a
socket. Held in the socket with dowels,
connected to the keel of the boat with dowels – this was the strongest point in
the boat. It had to be – because if the
mast failed, the boat would be lost.
Archeologists have found remains of Roman galleys wherein the only
in-tact feature that survived was this socket – still connected to a piece of
the keel, still holding the base of the mast.
That is what this phrase means.
To be in Christ means He holds us firm and will not let us
go. That mast can’t hold itself to the
Roman boat and you and I cannot hold ourselves close to Christ.
Just as a mast would is held
fast at its base – below decks, unseen by nearly everyone – so a Christian is
held firmly in the grip of God’s grace – in the spiritual realm, unseen by the
physical world.
In the natural world, an
observed, tested, law of God – discovered by Isaac Newton – describes “entropy”:
left alone – with no outside influence – matter falls apart, loses energy.
A human being is not a
physical being that has occasional spiritual experiences. A human being is a spiritual being who has a
temporary physical experience. When we
disregard the Truth of God’s Word, the leading of His Spirit – we lose our
spiritual equilibrium. Left to his own,
a man will follow his sinful flesh.
Even a Christian man – if he hardens his heart and mind to God – will
follow his sinful flesh. Too often,
this Christian man will think he can regain his spiritual equilibrium by
working harder to be a “good Christian”, striving to demonstrate some of the
coveted “fruit of the Spirit”.
But the paradox is this: we
cannot bear this spiritual fruit by working for it. As Christ states in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that
ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.”
If we believe on and in Jesus the Christ, we will bear spiritual
fruit.
Tony Evans has said that
everything physical is preceded and superseded by something spiritual. If you want to fix a physical problem – a sin
you commit, you will fail if you focus on the physical problem. Because sin isn’t a physical problem. It’s a spiritual problem that manifests
itself physically. So to fix a sinful
behavior, you and I need to focus on the spiritual root cause – an ungrateful
heart and a wondering eye.
Scripture tells us to “walk
in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” (Gal 5:16)
The fix to sin is to walk in the Spirit, to fix your eyes on the unseen
God who created you and snatched you from the claws of hell.
As Paul tells us in
Colossians 3:1 – 3, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on
things on the earth. For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God.”
And in Philippians 4, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say
rejoice! … Be anxious for nothing, but
in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests
be made known unto God. And the peace
of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.”
The peace craved by every human
being cannot be obtained by behavior modification or collecting more
stuff. The God-shaped hole in a man’s
heart can only be filled by God; the hunger for acceptance can only be
satisfied when you and I are satisfied that Christ Jesus is sufficient and we
look to Him for everything. “Beware
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the
Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in
him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Col 2:8 –
10). Complete only in Christ. Justified only in Christ. Redeemed only in Christ. Held in the grip of grace that will never
let you go.
“My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand
My Father, which gave them
me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's
hand. I and my Father are one.” (John 10:27
– 30)
That’s the God in whom you
and I must trust and live; this is the God in whom we can rest and be
satisfied. Don’t let the world lead you
down another path. Don’t buy the message
of the carnal culture – the right beer and a hot car will not satisfy your need
of Christ. Following the right list of
rules will not put your heart and mind at peace. You and I must trust in Christ, believe in Christ, walk in the
Spirit, and rest in the completed work of salvation.
“And you hath he
quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom
also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the
children of wrath, even as others. But
God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are
saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man
should boast. For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them.”
(Ephesians 2:1 – 10)
What about the change? What about the difference? Do you want to live life differently? Lose your life and seek after Christ. For whoever would find his life must lose
it. And the only place to find the life
that demonstrates the change is one that is lived in Christ.