Have you ever thought about what Christ means to you? From time to time we should reflect on what we have because of what Jesus was willing to give up for us. As Paul said, “…he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). In what way are we rich because of Christ? That question can be answered by reflecting on what Christ is to us. Let us thankfully consider the following:
1. Christ is our Savior (Acts 5:31). By giving His life as a ransom for our sins, Jesus delivered us from the darkness of sin’s corruption (Colossians 1:13). Nothing else could wash our sins away and unite us with our God. The blood of animals could not do it (Hebrews 10:1-4). Only the blood of our perfect Savior could make us whole again before God. Listen to what Christ did for us:
“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us; for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 10:12-17). Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world, and no man can get to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
2. Christ is our hope (1 Timothy 1:1). Our hope as Christians is to make it to heaven where we will spend eternity with God. That is the prize we are striving to obtain at the end of this race of Christianity. Remember, hope is confident expectation along with desire. Not only do we desire heaven, but we are also confident about making it there if our minds are in the right place. You see, Christians are not to rely on their own ability alone to get to heaven. That would mean certain disaster. We all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23); but, we have hope because we rely on Jesus, our perfect Savior. That does not mean we sit back and do nothing as Christians. We will not go to heaven apart from some effort on our part. No one makes it to heaven by accident. We must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). However, when we fall, we need someone stronger than we are to pick us up. That Someone is Christ. He is our advocate when we sin against God (1 John 2:1). He is our propitiation when we stumble (1 John 2:2). He is our High Priest, Who makes intercession for us when we are guilty of a transgression (Hebrews 7:25). With this kind of help, it is no wonder we have confidence that we are going to heaven. To miss heaven, we would have to almost do it on purpose. To make it, all we have to do is listen to God and obey Him, for Christ has prepared the way for us.
3. Christ is our Lord (Acts 2:36). The word Lord conjures up thoughts of submission in our minds, and well it should. The Greek word for Lord is kurios, and means, “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding; the owner; one who has control of the person; the master” (Thayer). As servants of Christ, we belong to Him. He bought us with His blood (Acts 20:28). It is no wonder that He once said, “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).
While the fact that Jesus is our Lord points to our responsibility to submit to Him in all things, it also points to how blessed we are to have such a one to rule over us. We should feel honored to have such a great Master to direct our path and show us the way to God, the Father (Jn. 14:1-3). After all, think of the alternative to not having Jesus as Lord. If Jesus is not our Master, then Satan is, and he cares nothing for us. Jesus loves us and wants to lead us to heaven. Satan only wants to see us burn in hell for all eternity. That is what we get for serving him. For serving Christ, we get the eternal blessing of being with God and the host of heaven. To me, this makes having Jesus as my Lord pretty appealing. What do you think?