Belonging to The Lord - Part Two

The Significance Of Being A Christian
Belonging To The Lord - Part Two

In Part One of this lesson we looked at the principal of "Belonging to the Lord"; which has many connotations attached to it. One is that a Christian is God’s special person. Christians are now God’s own special people. In Part Two we will now turn our attention to the blessings and responsibilities we have in "Belonging to the Lord".

As God’s Children we have blessings and responsibilities. We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ - Ga 4:7 "You are no longer slaves. You are God's children, and you will be given what he has promised."; Ro 8:16-17 "God's Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him." For we are heirs according to the promise of God - Ga 3:29 "So if you belong to Christ, you are now part of Abraham's family, and you will be given what God has promised." It is an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, that does not fade, and is reserved for us in heaven - 1 Pe 1:4 "God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear." As heirs, we have many responsibilities, including:
Being thankful for the inheritance we have - Co 1:12 "I pray that you will be grateful to God for letting you have part in what he has promised his people in the kingdom of light."
Abstaining from the works of the flesh - Ga 5:19-21 "People's desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God's kingdom."

Perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord - 2 Co 6:17-7:1 "The Lord also says, "Leave them and stay away! Don't touch anything that isn't clean. Then I will welcome you and be your Father. You will be my sons and my daughters, as surely as I am God, the All-Powerful." My friends, God has made us these promises. So we should stay away from everything that keeps our bodies and spirits from being clean. We should honor God and try to be completely like him."
If we wish to receive the promised blessings, we need to patiently carry out our responsibilities with an enduring faith - He 10:35-39 "Keep on being brave! It will bring you great rewards. Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what he has promised. As the Scriptures say, "God is coming soon! It won't be very long. The people God accepts will live because of their faith. But he isn't pleased with anyone who turns back." We are not like those people who turn back and get destroyed. We will keep on having faith until we are saved."

Besides being God’s special person and God’s child, a Christian who "belongs to the Lord" also has a special relationship to the world in which he or she lives as God’s pilgrim. Christians are in the world, but not of the world. As Jesus mentioned in His prayer for His disciples - Jn 17:15-16 "Father, I don't ask you to take my followers out of the world, but keep them safe from the evil one. They don't belong to this world, and neither do I." Like Abraham, a Christian is a sojourner, a pilgrim - He 11:13 "Every one of those people died. But they still had faith, even though they had not received what they had been promised. They were glad just to see these things from far away, and they agreed that they were only strangers and foreigners on this earth."; 13:14 "On this earth we don't have a city that lasts forever, but we are waiting for such a city." We are fellow citizens with members of God’s family - Ep 2:19 "You Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens with everyone else who belongs to the family of God."
As such, our true citizenship lies in heaven, not here on earth - Ph 3:20 "But we are citizens of heaven and are eagerly waiting for our Savior to come from there."

As God’s pilgrims, we have special obligations to conduct our sojourn on earth with fear - 1 Pe 1:17 "You say that God is your Father, but God doesn't have favorites! He judges all people by what they do. So you must honor God while you live as strangers here on earth." We have an obligation to abstain from worldly lusts - 1 Pe 2:11 "Dear friends, you are foreigners and strangers on this earth. So I beg you not to surrender to those desires that fight against you."; 1 Jn 2:15-17 "Don't love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you cannot love the Father. Our foolish pride comes from this world, and so do our selfish desires and our desire to have everything we see. None of this comes from the Father. The world and the desires it causes are disappearing. But if we obey God, we will live forever." We are obligated to keep our conduct honorable, filled with good works - 1 Pe 2:12 "Always let others see you behaving properly, even though they may still accuse you of doing wrong. Then on the day of judgment, they will honor God by telling the good things they saw you do." We are also tlineobligated while here on earth to obey the laws, and respect the leaders, of the countries in which we sojourn - 1 Pe 2:13-17 "The Lord wants you to obey all human authorities, especially the Emperor, who rules over everyone. You must also obey governors, because they are sent by the Emperor to punish criminals and to praise good citizens. God wants you to silence stupid and ignorant people by doing right. You are free, but still you are God's servants, and you must not use your freedom as an excuse for doing wrong. Respect everyone and show special love for God's people. Honor God and respect the Emperor."

We have seen that a Christian is a person who "belongs to the Lord", one who is God’s special person, God’s child and God’s pilgrim. The more we understand the significance of such privileges we ought to be filled with gratitude and humility. We ought to be moved to be the kind of people God intended. Are we living and conducting ourselves as those who "belong to the Lord"?. Are we acting like a special people?. Do we live like a child of God should?. Is our life truly a sojourn, or are we living like we want to make this earth our permanent home? As we saw in our beginning text:
"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Co 6:19-20)
May the significance of belonging to God prompt us to always glorify God in our bodies and our
spirits!

May the promise of a new creation and a new life in Christ remind us of "The Significance Of Being A Christian", and challenge us to examine our loyalties if we do not see in our lives the evidence of "A Person Reborn" That Belong’s To The Lord then we need to repent and take advantage of the wonderful blessings from our Lord and Savior. Have you taken advantage of this wonderful gift, by responding to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Would you like to be reborn in Christ to be a new creature with a new life? If you have not responded to the gospel message and would like to do so, by all means please contact me directly at jnlnewsted@nts-online.net

This material is from ExecutableOutlines.com, a web site containing sermon outlines and Bible studies by Mark A. Copeland. Visit the web site to browse or download additional material for church or personal use. The outlines were developed in the course of my ministry as a preacher of the gospel. Feel free to use them as they are, or adapt them to suit your own personal style. To God be the glory!
Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2002