Journey in Christ

A Vicarious Life

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ ,

“…that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them…” 2 Corinthians 5:19 (NASB).

recon

The entire life of Jesus Christ is more than any one event or situation. For many believers, we seem to focus on his miracles, teachings, death, and resurrection. All these are important as they reveal what Jesus’ believed as He fulfilled Scripture as the Messiah. Yet when we focus only on portions of a person’s life, we may often leave out the larger impact they leave behind.

As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, God was reconciling the world to Himself through Jesus’ life. Theologians call this the vicarious life – living life as a substitute for another. In Jesus’ case, God became man clothing himself with humanity’s flesh and blood. He took on mankind’s skin.

What this means is that everything he did he did so for you and I. As he worked, played, prayed,  taught, and served others, he did so as our substitute and for our sake. For example, His obedience toward our heavenly Father’s Will He did for our sake. The faith he exercised, he did so for you and I. The love he shared with others, he did so for you and I. Ultimately, even his death he did for you and I. Everything he did, he did so as humanity’s substitute before the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

So now when our heavenly Father looks at you and I, He does so through the prism of Jesus’ life. It is not solely our obedience or faith he sees, but the obedience and faith of Jesus Christ. Even when we pray, Jesus being our High Priest, takes those prayers before His Father who hears them through the words of Jesus himself. Again, it is not our righteousness that the Father witnesses, but the righteousness of Jesus Christ that He sees.

Jesus Christ lived the vicarious life for you and I. Everything he did, he did so you and I can participate through Him with the Triune God in their eternal plan for mankind.  C.S. Lewis called it the great dance. Two beings, one leading and the other following to the rhythm of the music around life’s dance floor; life the way God originally created it to be. And we don’t have to be expert dancers to enjoy the journey. For He made it all possible. This is why we are thankful for the vicarious life Jesus lived for you and I.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Discipleship 360
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

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Copyright 2017 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

 

 

What Is Worship?

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ, Kingdom Paradigms, Life in Christ
“We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.” John 9:31 ESV.

worship-1

Worship is the outer expression of your inner values. Jesus taught “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (MT. 6:21).” Therefore, worship is expressing what you value most. The question is then: Who or what do you worship?

Every person worships someone or something. If you listen to yourself talk, you will quickly discover what you worship. If your conversations are always recurrently filtered with family, money, movies, people, sex, sports, self, business or whatever, you may have a hint toward what you consider most important in your life.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, our primarily focus is Him. As we invest more and more time with Him, we naturally find ourselves speaking about Him or his Domain or his Spirit. We become more and more attuned to his ways and can’t shut up if we tried. We want everyone to know Him and make Him known to others.

Whether we praise him in church services, through our work, or in our relationship with others, Christ-centered worship is simply recognizing God in the situation you are in and giving him the glory He deserves. When He is the center of every aspect of our life, then our life becomes a living sacrifice of worship to Him (Romans 12:1).

We worship Him as we pursue His Truth. We worship Him as we share our testimony with others. We worship Him as we surrender our lives to Him in service for others. As He matures us, we worship Him as His witness before others. Whatever we do in His Will, wherever we do it, and whenever we do it, we do so for His glory. This is our outer expression of the treasury in our inner heart toward Him. This is worship.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Discipleship 360
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

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Copyright 2017 Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

 

 

 

What Is Your Story?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions, Journey in Christ , ,
(John)who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Revelations 1:2 ESV.

story 1

We all have a story to tell. You and I, our parents and their parents, our friends and neighbors, all have a story worth sharing with others.

The apostle John also had his story to share with others. His story was a living witness to the word of God and about the life of Jesus Christ. It was his testimony of Jesus Christ that finally resulted in his exile to the remote island of Patmos. The legend is the authorities tried to execute him several different ways but failed. Therefore, they simply expelled him to an isolated island where he spent the remaining portion of his life.

John, like many others who have encountered Jesus Christ, couldn’t shut up but had the driving force within them to share the message with others. So do you and I.

The fact is when one encounters Jesus, one’s life is never the same. Whether we disregard Him or ignore Him, He will not allow Himself to be treated indifferently. One must choose.

Either he is Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Savior of Saviors, or he is not. You may consider him a liar, a lunatic, or a loser, but you cannot come face-to-face with him and avoid an answer.

Whenever we tell something about our lives to others, doesn’t it include what Jesus has done for us? Isn’t He the reason we now live and breathe and have our hope? Isn’t He the central core of our life? How can we not share our story with others and not include Him?

In fact, isn’t that what evangelism is all about? One beggar sharing his story with another? So the next time someone wants to know something about you, how about including a portion of HIS story with YOUR story. Or in other words, how has Jesus Christ impacted your life?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Does a Friend Need Encouragement…Share Today’s Message!