Tag Archives: transformation

KINGDOM CHARACTERISTICS

Christian Life, ,

KINGDOM CHARACTERISTICS

‘If you hold to my teaching’ Jesus said, ‘then you are really my disciples…’ (John 8:31)

It stands to reason, then, that to be a disciple of Jesus, we must first know what He taught. Jesus began to teach His disciples, according to Matthew, by giving them some principles of attitude and behaviour that should be the characteristics of those who live in the kingdom of God.

Matthew wanted his Jewish readers to be convinced that Jesus was the king of the Jews. The focus of his writing was Jesus as Messiah and especially the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy regarding Messiah’s role as king. Even when Matthew recorded the events around His crucifixion, it was always with the understanding that Jesus died as the king of the Jews. He did not ignore the prophecies about Jesus as the Suffering Servant. He presented them in the context of His royal office and calling.

However, Jesus was a very different king from those who ruled in Israel and those who ruled over the surrounding nations. He was not a king who lorded it over His people. He was a king in the nature of God, one who loved, and one who always showed mercy to the extent that He gave His life to rescue His people from the plight of their sin. He characterised Himself as one who was gentle and humble in heart (Matt. 11:29).

Some people say that they live by the Sermon on the Mount without giving allegiance to Jesus as Lord. This is impossible without the presence of the Holy Spirit within. Jesus gives new life to those who believe in Him, and this life is lived only through the power of His Spirit. The Sermon on the Mount is not a new set of rules; it is a new way of life – internalising God’s instructions given to His people in the Old Testament so that the very disposition of Jesus, gentleness and humility, is the new disposition of the believer.

Jesus was the perfect expression of the Father in the flesh. He was bold enough to say to Philip and his fellow disciples,

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father (John 14: 9).

On many occasions, Jesus enraged the Pharisees by claiming, “I and the Father are one.” They understood very well what He meant because they recited the Sh’mah, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut. 6:4) at least twice a day and had done so for as long as they could remember. For Jesus to say that He and the Father were one meant only one thing – He was God – so He said. What was worse was that He produced the evidence although they refused to accept it.

As a Jewish rabbi, He insisted that His disciples be like Him. This was a particularly tall order for them because Jesus was unlike any other rabbi who ever walked the earth. His disciples recognised and confessed that He was indeed the Son of God (Matt. 16:16). And He wanted them to be like Him?

He gave them the prescription for having a disposition like His and acting towards people as He did. His first teaching, according to Matthew (in Matt 5), was about having a disposition of humility and mercy so that they would bend their energies towards reconciling man to God and man to man even if it brought the hatred of God’s enemies down on them.

The so-called “Beatitudes” are not meant to make His followers morbidly introspective. The devil is good at provoking us to self-condemnation. Jesus wanted His followers to understand that His life, and following Him, was a life of self-forgetful and loving service to others from a heart of mercy. We are to be generous and show mercy because of what God has done for us.

How do we hold to Jesus’ teaching? Paul explained it this way:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12: 2a).

The transformation of our disposition from selfishness and greed to generosity and mercy is a slow process. It happens as we contemplate the Lord’s glory in the Word. The more we gaze at Jesus, the more we are enthralled with His glory and the more we become like Him.

It’s a principle of life. We will eventually become like the people we watch closely. Isn’t that why Hollywood has such a powerful influence on the world? People hero worship the stars. Soon enough they begin to copy them. They don’t need help, either, because their corrupt nature is already at work in them.

The same principle is at work when we gaze at Jesus, assisted by the Holy Spirit whom God has given to every believer, to reveal the glory of Jesus and to lead us into all truth. Our part is to give Him every opportunity to change us into His image as we respond to His promptings, learning from Jesus and being empowered by the Holy Spirit to be a true follower.

Being a disciple of Jesus is certainly not about obeying a new set of rules. It’s about subduing the old selfish nature by submitting to a new Master and responding to the heart of His teaching –believing in Him and loving one another (1 John 3:23). 

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

How to Deal With Enemies – Part 2

Christian Life, , ,

HOW TO DEAL WITH ENEMIES (PART 2)

“Here is a simple rule of thumb for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for them; then grab the initiative and do it for them!” Luke 6:31 (The Message).

What on earth was Jesus saying? How did this fall on the ears of His hearers? He was demanding a complete transformation in their philosophy of life, a radical paradigm shift from, “What can you do for me?” to “What can I do for you?” It involved disregarding external differences and relating to all people from a new identity and a new disposition.

In the natural world people react or respond according to the attitude or behaviour of “the other person”. If people treat me well, I treat them well. If they misuse me, I misuse them. Jesus said, “No more of that. Live out of who my Father is because you are His sons and you have been given His nature.” To treat or respond according to the way people treat us is to mirror people who have never encountered and been transformed by the power of God.

But then He takes another jump forward. This is the tough part. “Take an active step towards those who hate you.” Our human nature requires a return for what we put into someone else, a sort of “tit-for-tat” philosophy. If I actively reach out to someone who dislikes me, I expect some sort of positive response – even if it’s only a “thank you”. Why do I do it? Do I want them to like me?

Jesus never courted the favour of His enemies but He reached out to them in mercy. If I recognise someone’s need, even if he doesn’t like me, and do something about it, just because it’s the right thing to do, that is righteousness. When I do that, something happens on the inside of me. I have a better understanding of my Father’s heart! I am getting to know God.

It is God’s passion that we put His splendour on display. What is that? His capacity to look beyond the flaws and failures of the people He created in His image, and to see their potential to become mirrors of His disposition and active participants in a life of generosity and kindness to everyone, regardless of their responses, because that’s the way He treats us.

This is revolutionary stuff! No other rabbi represented God like this. It was an “in your face” revelation they had to grapple with.
What about you?