The Holy Spirit and Living as Children of God
The life that God has given us is one that requires, on our part, obedience to Him and His will. Because the world calls the sinful nature into immediate satisfaction, there is a draw toward that conformity as a moth to a flame. This is the deception of the world. Satan wants nothing more than to draw you away from God. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind and heart so that you live the life your Father in heaven has called you to live. So, allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life so you can give God the glory in all things and in all ways. Live your life as a child of the Living God and He will lift you up.
Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
(Ephesians 5:1-2 NKJV)
The belief that when you go to the altar and give your life to Jesus Christ as your savior and your done is not totally true. The believer must live up to their side of the covenant. When you go to the altar, wherever that may be, and give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, you are making a covenant with the Trinity. He will gladly forgive your sins, but you need to live a life of obedience to Him. It is a given! Jesus did not precisely say this, but this seems to be the natural flow. After all, He has given you eternal life! Most Christians believe that when you kneel and give your life to the Lord, then you can walk away and live the way you wish. Your life should be changed! You should not want to live like the heathen you once were. But once your “ticket is punched” or your “fire insurance is paid,” then you don’t have to worry, right? Far be it for me to judge, but did not Jesus say that “many will come to Me and say Lord, Lord. And He will say depart from Me for I never knew you.” Also, He said that wide is way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to eternal life. Reflect on your “Christian” life. Do you live as a child of God?
The one who imitates God is one who truly lives completely in His ways and obeys His commands and statutes. It does not say, live the best that you can. It says to be imitators of God as dear children. When we were children, as young boys, we looked up to our fathers. Most people, of there are always exceptions. We want to be like them when we grow up. At least that should be the model. God wants us to imitate Him and follow in His footsteps. He truly knows what is best for us because He knows us better than we know ourselves. The next statement tells us how to do it. He says to “walk in love.” The qualifier is the next statement. He says that we should love as Christ has loved us and gave Himself for us. This is not some ordinary love. It is deeper than even the love for a family member or child, even your spouse. Just so there is no confusion, Paul says that this love of Christ is an offering and sacrifice as a sweet-smelling aroma to God, not to man. We are to live to love God! When we do this, then we can love one another the way we are to love. Are you an imitator of the Living God or man?
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
(Matthew 5:14-16)
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught His newly found disciples everything they needed to know concerning Him, the teachings of the Father and the Kingdom of Heaven. In the beatitudes, He set in place the structural framework for a life as imitators of God. The light mentioned here is the light that is given as the image of God into which we were created. Striving to live up to the life in the beatitudes, we need to understand the possible “why” in the equation. The “why” is because we are the light of the world. Jesus shines through us and the light of God is in us. If we live like the world and say that we are Christians, we are trying to serve two masters. Remember that Jesus said, you cannot serve two masters, you will either love the one and hate the other. In doing this, how can you imitate God? How can you live as a child of the living God? People in the world live to find fault in your walk with Christ to justify their own godless living. Do not give them reason to question your faith, but give them reason to want to live the life you live.
The misconception of this whole idea of sharing the light is not to make you look more holy than those around you. The whole reason for God the Father calling you to share His light with others is to glorify Him. Do not play into the hands of the devil and celebrate “your” success or “your” winning of so many souls for the kingdom. It is not you but the light of Christ that shines in you. Your greatest achievement is your obedience and that is between you and God. The light that He says you are to shine before men is not your light but it is the light of God that should draw men unto Him, not you. If you are in the ministry for fame and fortune, then you are being led and deceived down the path to destruction. But, Jesus tells us that if you live a life of humility, repentance, meekness, love, mercy and the like, toward others, then you will be imitators and therefore children of the Living God. What a beautiful, life is it not?
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
(Romans 12:1-2)
We are to offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices. We cannot do this apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We cannot be holy before a Holy God without the work of His Spirit every moment of every day. He also says that this is the only way to be acceptable to God. The interesting part is that Paul say this your reasonable service. This means that it is the least you can do considering what God has done for you. The sacrifice we give to God is not one that we do before men but toward God. Jesus spoke against the Pharisees concerning this boasting of self. He told the disciples not to do as they do and admonish yourself on the street corners, but glorify God and He will lift you up. The Holy Spirit leads and guides you, if you allow Him, into a life that is glorifying to God as holy and acceptable to Him.
The sacrifices we need to be is contingent on the transformation of our minds and hearts. Paul tells us not to be conformed to the world. We are a part of the world because we are living in the world, but we don’t have to conform to the ways of the world. When you give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, your way of thinking is being transformed by the Spirit of God to be renewed once again in His image. The reason for this is that you will then be able to prove, without any doubt in your mind or anybody else, the perfect will of God. It is only through work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we can accomplish this and live it to the glory of God the Father. Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to transform you so you can be an imitator of your Father in heaven? Is your body and mind a living sacrifice that is holy and acceptable to God? When looking into your spiritual mirror, who do you see? Is it Jesus Christ or is it you?
Let us pray
Most Gracious Heavenly Father, forgive me of my unbelief and the hindrances I put in my life between you and me. Lord, may I show mercy, love and compassion on others as You have shown on me. Transform me into the Godly person You need me to be for You that I may glorify You in all that I say and do. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for sending the Holy Spirit to guide me and lead me in Your ways. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.