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DESTINY AND REWARD

Philippians 2:10,11 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; [11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. “Every knee should bow . . . every tongue should confess,” They should as a result of Philippians 2:6-8.

Christ is exalted because He voluntarily went lower. God has already exalted Him; one proof being that God has accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as complete payment for the debt of sin.

Now He is being blasphemed by His enemies. And it might seem unusual that those who are the most serious blasphemers are those that give lip service to Him. One American cult is called “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.” While they will acknowledge the epithet “Mormon,” they no longer use this as the desired title of their belief system.

The point is that they brazenly claim to be a church “of Jesus Chrst,” yet the Christ they preach is definitely not the Christ of the Bible. Numerous writers have pointed out the glaring differences.

Another cult that presents a different Christ is Roman Catholicism. They at least get His conception correct, but their allegiance to Mary as a sinless one distorts the actual birth of Jesus. While virginal conception is admitted by evangelicals and Catholics as correct, a normal birth would annul virginity as the child passed through the birth canal, disrupting biological virginity.

Catholic writers go to excesses trying to explain the actual birth of Jesus in a way that would not, using a biblical phrase, “open the womb,” which is given in as the definition of a first born. If Jesus “opened Mary’s womb” on his way into the world, her virginity would have been ended.

One Catholic writer tells us Mary was sitting in the cave talking to Joseph when suddenly Jesus appeared sitting on her lap. Another says Jesus came into the world as a laser beam, or as a ray of light coming through a window without breaking the window pane. Another says Jesus came out of the side of Mary. All of this as a way of promoting His mother to a practical (not theological) elevation of Mary in Catholic thought, resulting in her position greater than that of her Son.

Catholicism’s primary blasphemy, however, is in failing to preach the absolute sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. They will admit to Calvary’s sufficiency IF the individual Catholic cooperates with Him in sacraments and good works, but a finished work, testified to by each Person in the Trinity, is unknown.

Jesus Christ is being blasphemed in the house of His enemies.

That is to be expected. Satan would destroy his own belief system should it contain an adequate Saviour. The unexpected and uncalled for is that Christ is being severely maligned in the house of His friends. One facet of this is explained by A.W. To zer in The Old Cross and the New (page 4). Some have gone to an unbiblical extreme in advocation the Lordship Salvation theory . Others, in their preaching have told converts they can accept Jesus as their Saviour one night and, several months or years later, can accept Him as Lord.

The Lordship of Christ is a fact, not an elective. Acknowledging it and living in the light of it, however, is an elective which many Christians have failed to meaningfully adopt in their life style.

Your eternal destiny is determined by your relationship to Jesus Christ as your Saviour.

Your rewards are determined by your attitude concerning His Lordship over your life.

His demands are not unreasonable. Paul in Romans 12 calls them “your reasonable service.”

His Lordship demands total surrender. We must be brought to the conclusion that we have nothing of intrinsic worth in and of ourselves. “What do we have,” asks the Apostle, “that we have not received.”

Martin Luther put is succinctly. “God,” he said, “makes something out of nothing; therefore, until we become nothing, He can not make anything out of us.

We must have implicit faith. The old saying goes, “He said it, I believe it, and that settles it.” We could leave the middle portion out and it would still be true. When we believe God it does not enhance His Word. It is true if no one believes it. However, our implicit faith in Him is a sign that we own His Lordship.

He asks for unconditional obedience. The three Hebrew children and the fiery furnace are a great reminder. They stated that God was able to save them from the fiery furnace, but even if He did not, they were not going to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. We march obediently to Jordan. If the waters part for us, we go to the other side dryshod. If they don’t we drown. Either is acceptable; all that is important is our obedience to His Will.

He must be the Lord of our aims, The hymn writer has said, “My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself my God.”

There are Christians who are running well, but they are pursuing the wrong goal. One young preacher in Texas told me his aim was to have the largest church in Texas. Another told me his aim was to be Christ-like, One of then will probably be featured in some fundamental magazine; the other will hear his Saviour say “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

A lot of the success of your Christian life depends on where you want to hear the verdict that your life really counted for God. We must shun the unequal yoke in ministry, business and marriage.

We must be wiling to challenge ourselves. Don’t let yourself become satisfied with a mediocre Christian life. Strive for full obedience, implicit faith and absolute surrender. You may come up short, for you are human.

“But if you try and fail in your trying; Hands sore and scarred with the work you’ve begun; Take up your cross, run quickly to meet Him He’ll understand and say ‘Well done.’”

He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust (Psalm 103:14)