Galatians 4.6-7
“Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
One of the most important things I have learned about the Christian faith over the many years of being a follower of Jesus is how incredibly real Christianity is. The Lord is intimately concerned with the everyday realities of the rough and tumble world in which we live. He is concerned about the people, processes, and issues in your work. He cares about the goals, tasks, plans, and problems that you deal with every day. The Lord wants to be fully connected to what you do, how you do it, why you do it, and with whom.
Same with your home life. The Lord wants to be fully engaged in how you and your family go about life together every day.
We serve a God who understands. The Lord not only created the physical world, he also took on human form and lived and worked in the world for three decades. He was a carpenter, a builder of houses and furniture. He worked with a measuring device, a saw, and hammer and nails. He fixed broken things.
Sometimes he hit his thumb. He got splinters. Sometimes he had to work in difficult, inclement conditions. He had to compete with other carpenters for business, and then deliver to the satisfaction of his customers. Since people are people, he had to deal with a wide variety of customers: some friendly and appreciative, others grumpy, demanding, and impossible to please. At some point, someone tried to cheat him. He got up early, worked hard all day, and went to bed late. Some days (probably many days) he went to bed exhausted, knowing that when the sun rose in the east he had to get up and go to work again.
Jesus calls us to real life in the real world, not to some fantasy life in a fantasy world. When he called us he warned us it wouldn’t be easy. Yes, we are “blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” as Paul says in Ephesians, but that does not mean we are exempt from difficulties, challenges, and adversity.
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12)
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2-3)
“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
“…everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Tim. 3:12)
As followers of Christ we are heirs of the kingdom of God, but that does not mean we are exempt from the adversity and difficulty of a fallen world. In fact, being a follower of Christ means living the truth and grace of God’s kingdom in the midst of a fallen world. Jesus calls us to himself, redeems us, and then sends us back into the broken world to be salt and light in the midst of the brokenness.
Jesus made the mission clear in the Upper Room Discourse:
“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:14-18)
God sent Jesus into the fallen world, and likewise Jesus sends us. This is our calling. Our mission. Our purpose. Let us not diminish the mission or disrespect the Lord by seeking the blessings of our inheritance but neglecting the responsibilities.
