1If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)
We are to seek those things that are above. What are those things? May I suggest they are things which we cannot see – that which is spiritual.
17For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he says, 1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)
We are to surrender to God our bodies as a living sacrifice and undergo a transformation by the renewing of our minds.
If we are truly a Christian, is not Jesus our Lord? Have we not surrendered our life to him?
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46)
Our life is not our own – we are bought with a price, and we are to glorify God in it.
19What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
If we have been “bought” doesn’t that mean someone owns us? Yes! We just read that we are to glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are God’s.
Are we following Christ? That is what a disciple is – a follower of Christ.
Are we following His steps? He is our example… the one to follow, to emulate.
21For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: (1Peter 2:21)
Are we living for others or just ourselves?
Remember in Mark’s Gospel in chapter 10, James and John asked that they may sit with the Lord in glory – one on his right hand and the other on his left. He replied that “it is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.” (verse 40) He further went on to say “…whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: 44And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. 45For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:43-45)
Here are additional verses that speak to who we have become, whom we serve and the life we are to live.
17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
“… yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” (Romans 6:13)
20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
24Then said Jesus unto his disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. (Matthew 16:24-27)
“… they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. (2 Corinthians 5:15)
A few verses later it says, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…” (2 Corinthians 5:20)
What is an ambassador? One who represents another country and their policies but lives in a foreign land. How true is that! The Christian is in the world, but not of the world – “For our citizenship is in heaven;…” (Philippians 3:20)
How are we doing? How well are we representing our country, “heaven?” Is how we speak and act reflective of the Head, our Lord Jesus Christ?
How effective we are as an ambassador is in direct proportion of our surrendering our lives to the Lord, and promoting His interests in this world. Having “received Christ Jesus the Lord,” (Colossians 2:6), we have surrendered our will and have committed to follow HIS will for our life, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)
We surrendered to Jesus when we first became saved by embracing Him as our Saviour and Lord. At that moment, by faith, we became a child of God, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26) That is permanent and never can change. However, we need to continually surrender daily to our Lord Jesus Christ, to follow his steps as his servant and disciple while seeking to be an effective “ambassador” to this world.
May the blessed Spirit of God help us to do so.
I Surrender All
- All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.- Refrain:
I surrender all,
I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
- Refrain:
- All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me, Jesus, take me now. - All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine. - All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power,
Let Thy blessing fall on me. - All to Jesus I surrender,
Now I feel the sacred flame;
Oh, the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!
(Lyrics by Judson W. Van DeVenter)