How to Grow in Christ
Christian life begins with two significant events of death. First, death of Christ. Second, death of self. His death on the cross makes possible our new life-free from the dominion of Satan Col 1:13-14 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed [us] into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Next, we have been freed from the condemnation of sin Rom 8:1 “[There is] therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Finally, we have been freed from death, the penalty of sin Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin [is] death, but the gift of God [is] eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Christ death on the cross was our victory. His resurrection was our surety. His high priestly ministry in heaven is our guarantee. His coming is our hope for eternity.
In her poignant (poin-yuhnt) description of Christ, Ellen G. White, the godly messenger of God, writes, “Christ was treated as we deserve that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. With His stripes we are healed.” Desire of Ages, 25.
The cross of Christ full and complete saves those who put self aside and accepted by faith His sacrifice has now invited us to live a new life.
The other significant event in this new life in Christ is death of self. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (dee-trik bawn-hoe-fuhr) in his book, The Cost of Discipleship (COD), 99, forcefully captures this event when he said, “When Christ calls a man, He bids Him come and die.” Paul declares in Gal 2:20,21, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Jesus instructed us, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up His cross and , and follow me Matt 16:24 cf. Luke 9:23.” When we heed the call of Christ our sinful lives must die. Yes, grace is free. But grace cost God His Son’s life. Free grace is not cheap grace. Bonhoeffer succinctly puts it, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Christ, living and incarnate.” COD, 47.
Michael Demastus illustrates Christian life, “The cocoon of the Emperor moth is flask like in shape. To develop into a perfect insect, it must force its way through the neck of the cocoon by hours of intense struggle. Entomologists explain that this pressure to which the moth is subjected is nature’s way of forcing a life giving substance into its wings. Wanting to lessen the seemingly needless trials and struggles of the moth, an observer said, “I’ll lessen the pain and struggles of this helpless creature!” With small scissors he snipped the restraining threads to make the moth’s emergence painless and effortless. The creature never developed wings. For a brief time before its death it simply crawled instead of flying through the air on rainbow colored wings! (By the way…..the struggles of childbirth…i.e., the child squeezing through the birth canal are also a God designed way of forcing liquid out of the newborn’s lungs.)Sorrow, suffering, trials, and tribulations are wisely designed to grow us into Christlikeness. The refining and developing processes are oftentimes slow, but through grace, we emerge triumphant.”
How to grow in Christ:
- Spend time in reading, reflecting and remembering the Word of God- Ps 119:105
- Family worship-Ps 1:1-2
- Prayer- 1 Thess 5:16-17
- Serving- Gal 6:10
- Witnessing- Matt 28:19-20
J. Allan Peterson reads about a small boy who was consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him one day that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless he arrived later than ever. His mother met him at the door and said nothing. At dinner that night, the boy looked at his plate. There was a slice of bread and a glass of water. He looked at his father’s full plate and then at his father, but his father remained silent. The boy was crushed. The father waited for the full impact to sink in, then quietly took the boy’s plate and placed it in front of himself. He took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy, and smiled at his son. When that boy grew to be a man, he said, “All my life I’ve known what God is like by what my father did that night.”