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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16 The two main phrases in this passage are "you are the light of the world," and, "glorify your Father." The rest is explaining how we are special and that we should show our Christ-like lifestyle.
Do not love the world nor the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. - 1 John 2:15-17 This is like a continuation of the previous entry. "Do not love the world." That's pretty much straight forward. By world, it means this world, the world we are living in. It is corrupt and is not of God. There are only bad things, evil things, in the world. This world will end, but "whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life," like John 3:16 states.
Do not be envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; for their minds devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble. - Proverbs 24:1-2 Has there ever been a time where you envied a person because they had something you wanted? Here, God states not to envy sinners. Just because right now it may seem as though they have all the fun, that doesn't mean that what they do is correct. For example, drugs. It may seem fun or it may make someone feel good or cool, but the very next second that person will feel crappy all over again. Why? It is because it wasn't meant to fill them up. We as Christians shouldn't want to be with people like that. Why do some Christians fall out of the glory of God? Most likely, it's because they became distracted with the things of this world and decided to "live freely"; they wanted to have fun and enjoy life. God says we shouldn't want to be like them. In the end, what happens to people that are not of the Lord? They . . . are eternally punished in hell.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." - John 3:16 Many people have heard about John 3:16, and maybe they know what it says, but do they really know what it means . . . how deep it is? How much does God love us? Apparently, a whole lot because He sent His son to die for us, sinners, on the cross in order for our sins (sins of the past, present, and future) to be washed away, so that we will be able to go to heaven. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. And, if we believe in Christ and what he did for us, we will have the gift of eternal life (not this worldly life, but the one destined for us in heaven).
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. - Philippians 1:21 In other words, a true Christian will live life according to God. "To live is Christ . . ." Their entire life will be in His hands, and when they die, they will finally come home. " . . . and to die is gain." They'll be in heaven where they were meant to be, to praise and worship the Lord.
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