FORUM 7
"Jesus has purchased us with His own blood. We are not our own, we are bought with a price, and our time, our intrusted capabilities, belong to God. He has given His only begotten Son to a life of humiliation and shameful death for us, and in return He has asked us to give ourselves to Him. And through the grace of God, let us do this. The Lord help us to plant our feet on the solid Rock." --Review and Herald, March 21, 1893.
"Every man, woman, and child is God's property, and has been bought with a price, even with the infinite price of the precious blood of the Son of God. God will not tolerate injustice from man to his fellow-men." --Review and Herald, October 1, 1895.
He has purchased us, so we belong to Him. Moreover, He wants to make something of us. "Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:14.
How does this happen?
We must let Him act! And in Biblical language, it is expressed as dying to oneself or surrendering to God--meaning that we let Him take our life in His hands and transform it according to His principles, His law. There is no need to stress that if we let Him drive the "vehicle" of our life, we must not take over the steering wheel and act according to our sinful ways.
"The Lord Jesus loves His people, and when they put their trust in Him, depending wholly upon Him, He strengthens them. He will live through them, giving them the inspiration of His sanctifying Spirit, imparting to the soul a vital transfusion of Himself. He acts through their faculties, and causes them to choose His will and to act out His character. With the apostle Paul they then may say. 'I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.' Christ impresses upon the mind of believers the fact that they are to have the glory which the Father has given Him, in order that all who love and serve Him may be one with God." --Sabbath School Worker, February 1, 1896.
"Christ, the precious Saviour, is to be the Christian's all in all. Every holy thought, every pure desire, every godlike purpose is from Him who is the light, the truth, and the way. Christ is to live in His representatives by the spirit of truth. Jesus said, 'Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come.' " --Review and Herald, April 4, 1893.
"When a soul receives Christ, he receives His righteousness. He lives the life of Christ. As he trains himself to behold Christ, to study His life and practice His virtues, he eats the flesh and drinks the blood of the Son of God. When this experience is his, he can declare, with the apostle Paul: 'I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.' [Galatians 2:20.]" --Review and Herald, November 23, 1897.
"The true Christian keeps the windows of the soul open heavenward. He lives in fellowship with Christ. His will is conformed to the will of Christ. His highest desire is to become more and more Christlike,… [Galatians 2:20 quoted.]
"Earnestly and untiringly we are to strive to reach God's ideal for us. Not as a penance are we to do this, but as the only means of gaining true happiness. The only way to gain peace and joy is to have a living connection with Him who gave His life for us, who died that we might live, and who lives to unite His power with the efforts of those who are striving to overcome." --Review and Herald, May 16, 1907.
"Christ acknowledged Himself subject to the law. If this were not so, He could not be our Saviour. And God designs that man shall live up to every specification of the law, that he may reveal a character after the pattern given him by Christ. He desires that while in the world, His followers shall not be of the world. Their experience may find expression in the words, 'I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.'
"In His Son, God has placed before man the life he is to live. It is not for him to be constantly branching out in lines of his own choosing, and placing his will in opposition to the will of God." --Signs of the Times, July 22, 1897.
So, the meaning of our life is to find and discover Christ--His life and His character--and allow Him through His Spirit to take our lives into His own. Centuries ago, mankind lost its sense of righteousness, self-denial and perfect obedience. Jesus came to show us how things were meant to be. He alone makes it possible for us to progress in sanctification.
"John was a teacher of holiness, and in his letters to the church he laid down unerring rules for the conduct of Christians. 'Every man that hath this hope in him,' he wrote, 'purifieth himself, even as He is pure.' 'He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.' 1 John 3:3; 2:6. He taught that the Christian must be pure in heart and life. Never should he be satisfied with an empty profession. As God is holy in His sphere, so fallen man, through faith in Christ, is to be holy in his sphere." --The Acts of the Apostles, p. 559.
"He suffered, resisting His temptations, and He knows what man will meet in resisting evil. He gives encouragement to the souls who trust in Him as their Saviour, promising that they shall not be tempted above that which they are able to bear. 'With every temptation,' He says, 'I, your Lord and Saviour, have made for you a way of escape.' " --Signs of the Times, October 3, 1895.
"To be a child of God means to be perfectly obedient to His words, to learn of Christ, and to teach others that which you have been taught. To be a child of God means to be constantly receiving grace, and constantly imparting it to others. You will then understand what these words mean, 'grace for grace.' " --Review and Herald, January 8, 1895.
"While possessing man's nature, Christ kept the Ten Commandments. Thus He proved to the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds and to human beings that it is possible for man perfectly to obey the law. He vindicated God's justice in demanding obedience to His law. Those who accept Christ as their Saviour, becoming partakers of the divine nature, are enabled to follow His example of obedience to every divine precept." --Signs of the Times, May 14, 1902.
Thus, when it is made new, we will be able to live on the earth by the same principles that were valid in the beginning. "Those principles that were made known to man in Paradise as the great law of life will exist unchanged in Paradise restored. When Eden shall bloom on earth again, God's law of love will be obeyed by all beneath the sun." --Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, pp. 50, 51.
According to God's incomprehensible love, this magnificent Paradise will be even more beautiful than before. "But in the final restitution, when there shall be 'a new heaven and a new earth' (Revelation 21:1), it is to be restored more gloriously adorned than at the beginning." --Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 62.
Who will be there?
"Then they that have kept God's commandments shall breathe in immortal vigor beneath the tree of life; and through unending ages the inhabitants of sinless worlds shall behold, in that garden of delight, a sample of the perfect work of God's creation, untouched by the curse of sin--a sample of what the whole earth would have become, had man but fulfilled the Creator's glorious plan." --Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 62.
And what will we have allowed God to bring about in our hearts for us to live in that wonderful place?
"All blemishes and deformity will be left in the grave, and the body will be restored to its original perfection. We shall wear the spotless image of our Lord, for 'He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.'
"The development of Christian character, tending toward this state of perfection, is a growth toward beauty. The character is expressed in the countenance. The evil that is in the heart hangs out its sign, and we read at a glance coarseness, unrest, selfishness, cunning, deceit, lust, falsehood, envy, pride, and malice. As the heart becomes transformed by the renewing of the mind, the graces of the Spirit leave their impress on the face, and it expresses the refinement, delicacy, peace, benevolence, and pure and tender love, that reign in the heart, and constitute the inward 'adorning,' which is in the sight of God of 'great price.' " --Signs of the Times, February 12, 1885.
Therefore, when God whispers into our hearts, "Give Me your heart, your life, for your eternal happiness," let us say, "I'm listening, Lord. Please teach me!"
| Discussion questions |
| 1. |
How does the world think to have peace? Just how different is that for the Christian? |
| 2. |
Where do you think true happiness can be found? Contrast that with the "happiness" of (for example) soccer (football), being first, or having lots of money. |
| 3. |
What is the meaning of your life? Are you brave enough to put that in writing? (If you are, don't be afraid to make improvements in your "meaning of my life" statement. As you grow, you will see new things, and your vision should expand with your experiences and opportunities.) |
One final thought
"Our work is to place our will on the side of God's will." --Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 741. (See Romans 6:16; 2 Peter 2:19.)
Whom am I serving?
Am I serving God?
If the answer is Yes, perhaps the most important question is: Why am I serving Him?
To earn His favor, to do penance for my sins?
For what I want to get, to earn heaven?
Because of what He has done?
Whom am I serving, and why?
