Alive: The Truth of Us Being Alive

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The Truth of Us Being Alive

Message by Jeremy Sanchez

Written by Sholeh Alodia Ensafian

Going to parties and getting drunk may be fun at first, but once the haze is lifted and your hangover creeps in, it’s not fun after all, is it?

Doing crazy things to fit in and “belong” to a world that is ruled by sin is not a good picture of Christianity; it’s the opposite of it. We are too engrossed to live to the fullest that we set aside the One who gave us that life in the first place.

We can feel that rush again against our skin, we can live happily ever after like those fairytales, if we are one and in-line with the One who invented these- God.

What does being ALIVE really mean?

“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us. Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

Colossians 3:5-14

For those who don’t know, the book of Colossians is written by Paul while he was in prison. And in this chapter he wanted to relay the message that “Jesus died for us so we could be ALIVE again.”

“So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires.”

Here, it clearly states that we must forget, abandon, and kill all the earthly things that lurk within us, that these habits are nothing but distractions and hindrances that would keep you from being completely alive.

"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"

2 Corinthians 5:17

 Christ didn’t make us better people, he made us BRAND NEW people.

"Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world."

Colossians 3:5-6

Being selfish and greedy would make us idolaters, even having an obsession over the things of this world can take us further away from a relationship with Him. Let’s admit it, we have sinned at least once in our lives, but that is the past, we have accepted God as our saviour and it comes hand-in-hand with a new you. We need to put to death our old self.

BEFORE CHRIST WE WERE DEAD IN SIN but IN CHRIST, WE ARE DEAD TO SIN

Sin’s presence is still there, but if we remain in Him, it will have no power over us.

"So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace."

Romans 6:11-14

DON’T SAY I CAN’T, SAY I DON’T TO SIN .

Imagine being an athlete for your university, you become really famous and you get offered to play for the Olympics after you graduate. You are now wearing a different jersey, playing for a different team and therefore, your old team can’t dictate rules to you anymore.

Same goes for our Christian life, when we accepted Christ we’ve been totally changed for the better, we can no longer obey what our past tells use, moreover, do what we used to.

“OU’RE IN GOD’S TEAM NOW SO PUT ON YOUR JERSEY AND PLAY FOR HIM.

“But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.”

Colossians 3:8

The Bible teaches us to be patient, understanding, responsible, to not gossip and be pure with our words we say, to be honest and keep on practicing these for we are now another person. You are now part of the Olympics, not your University’s team.

“Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like Him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us. Since God chose you to be the holy people He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender-hearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.”

Colossians 3:10-13

And since you’re now a pro, you need to act like one; counterpart with Christianity. We can’t be that mediocre-type player- we are now new creations. A Christian is approachable, kind, gentle, and most of all patient. If we convey these, we emulate the values of Christ, we reflect Him. These are what set us apart, from the rest of the world.

“Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

Colossians 3:13b-14

Let’s pause. Ponder how we got to play in the Olympics in the first place, ‘cause there was a chance and because it existed. Who made it possible for us to be saved and become Christians?

“We love, because He first loved us.”

1 John 4:19

If we want to stay an Olympic player, we have to be close to the Source of all of these:  through devotion, joining a ministry, your break-out group, through PRAYERS. They remind us of why we’re here and it keeps us close to the source.

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.”

John 15:5

You might have all these crazy questions in your head like “What if I sin (fail to become patient or  commit a wrong doing) , am I out of the Olympics?”

 NO.

Our God is a merciful God, He forgives and guides us to our better selves. Sinning is not a bait, that once you fall for it, you’re doomed. It remains to exist yet we have the power to battle it- through prayer and devotion. Think of this quote from Augustus Waters (The Fault in our Stars) revised a little, “You coexist with the thing that kills, but you don’t give it the power to do its killing.”

IN JESUS, YOU HAVE NEW CLOTHES SO WEAR THEM EVERYDAY AND BE ALIVE!

Alive: Alive in Christ

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Alive in Christ

Message by Daniel Carandang

Written by Ashley Petallano

It's April again.

In the Philippines, it's that time of the year the people talk more about Christ's death on the cross. We celebrate the tradition of taking the week off in remembrance of His death. Some people annually nail themselves on wooden crosses as a symbol of their dedication to the cause. 

For a number of us, Christ's death is the end of His story. He died- that's it. But the truth is, there's more to His death. In fact, HE LIVED AGAIN! He is alive more than ever after He was resurrected from the grave. 

Unfortunately, most of us take His Resurrection for granted. Many of us don't really hold His rising from the dead as something dear to our hearts because we may be thinking that this has little-no effect to us. But the truth is that His resurrection from the dead has life-changing implications to all those who understand its implications and by His power live them out.

Today, a number of people are physically ALIVE but in retrospect, live spiritually dead lives because they remain unsure of how Christ being alive has made them alive also. We've heard news of celebrities who look as if they have everything in the world. They live rich lives but they end their lives, dying poorly. Surely, we do not want to end up like that.  

We should stop living dead lives and instead, be raised and be ALIVE.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”

Colossians 3:1-4

Little background about this verse: Paul wrote this letter to the be believers in Colossae. This letter was also done when he was in prison, therefore, we call it a prison epistle. Another reason why Paul wrote this letter was to fortify it against false teachers who might try to impose strict rules about eating and drinking and religious festivals, worship of angelic beings. The first two chapters of the letter discuss Christ and His supremacy.

"...you have been raised with Christ..."

Death is an inevitable reality around us. It's an event that's bound to happen sooner or later. Some of us might have even have family members or friends die. No person's life is complete if he or she has never attended a funeral. When we do, what we commonly do is we pay our respects to the family of the deceased before we approach the casket and look at the dead.

When we're physically dead, our bodies just lie there. When we look inside the casket, we see a stiff body. Surely, if we took that body out (but hopefully, we never will) we can make the body do whatever we want. We can bend it, twist or just let it stand. 

Before any of us met Christ, we were dead. Not physically, of course, but spiritually. 

“ You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away.”

Colossians 2:13a

Our sins have killed us. Like a disease that weakens our bodies, sin fools us into believing that nothing is wrong with us when in fact, it's killing us inside. Many people are physically alive but because they don't have Christ in their lives, they are spiritually dead. 

When we say spiritually dead people, these are people who remain powerless to sin. They are enslaved by it. A mannequin, because of its lack of life, is powerless to the decisions of its store owner. If the owner decides to dress the mannequin in a revolting pair of sweats or the likes. 

Sin separates us from God. We are alienated because of our sinful natures. Because we are spiritually dead, we cannot relate to those who are connected to Him. We don't read our Bibles, fellowship with others or even pray to Him anymore. Basically, we can't do anything about our situation- helpless like a corpse. The dead can't bring themselves, they can't do anything. 

That's why Christianity is:

- NOT about mere external behavior modification.

- NOT about mere knowledge accumulation.

- NOT about religious rituals and obligations.

Christianity is about being raised from being spiritually spiritually dead and being made ALIVE. Louie Giglio once said: “God did not come to make bad people good people. He came to make dead people come alive!” 

"...you have been raised with Christ..."

We are identified with Jesus, from His death to His resurrection, to His ascension. It's like becoming part of a group work. If the other members get a low score, you can expect that your score will also be low. If they get high marks, so will you.

When Jesus died, He broke the power of sin and achieved victory over sin and death. Because we are "in Christ" through the work of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), this means that we share Christ's victory over sin and death.

If we have Christ, we have already died to our sinful nature.

“For [as far as this world is concerned] you have died, and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God."

Colossians 3:3

Dead people do not react to stimulus. No matter what we do, they would not and cannot respond. Same applies when we're spiritually dead. Instead of being dead towards God, you have been made alive and have a relationship with Him. Now, you are dead to the world. When you accept Christ, you die to the lusts of this world. It's still there but you are free from it. 

If you are in Christ, you're no longer dead. You are now alive.

Now, live according to who you are now in God- ALIVE.

Unfortunately, there is still a huge number of people living spiritually dead lives. Some of us live with sin still mastering our lives. It's either they don't know or they've forgotten that they’re alive! In their minds, they’re still dead, in their old dead lives. Their identity, how they see themselves, who they believe they are—is that they’re still DEAD when they have already become ALIVE!!!

How should we live then?

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

Colossians 3:1-4

When you like someone, you constantly think of that person, right? You act accordingly. Your focus is not directed on other people but on that mere person alone. Our constant pre-occupation should not be on the temporary things of this world; it should be set on heaven and on God. 

The spirit of God is not telling us to do something weird and strange, he is simply saying, "let your preoccupation with heaven govern your earthly responses.”

We must view life with a heavenly perspective. Our strength and motivation has to come from above. One day, there will be none of the pain or the suffering. We should persevere and endure! There will also come a day when our deeds will be judged. Therefore, no compromise! God will forever sit on His throne, we shan't worry.

The world will strive to keep us pre-occupied with this life—pre-occupied with, but the truth is our life has already in Christ! There once was a time when the people thought the planets revolved around the Earth. They believed it for 1300 years! Until Ptolemy proved them wrong and they realized that the Earth revolved around the sun. Sometimes, we have this mindset that believes everything revolves around us- that we are the center of the universe. The world should not be the center of our lives- Jesus is!

We should not busy ourselves with the temporary things of this world. This is not our permanent home. Let your future in heaven be your perspective in making decisions.

Instead of allowing our sinful natures to continuously kill us, we should remind ourselves that if we have Christ, we have the capability to be ALIVE in Him. With Him, we are alive, alive, ALIVE!