How Then Shall We Live?

Today I’m preaching, and the title of the message, or the theme I’m picking up is in the lines of the question, ‘How Shall We Live Then?’

The main brunt of the message outline places focus, once again, on what people should be doing. There is the prevalent piece of advice which suggests that we should not live in the past, nor should we live in the future… there’s even a bit of Master Oogway thrown in, as it had to be said, that we ought to live in the now, which is why it is called the present.

There’s talk on how we should enjoy life, and how we shouldn’t endure it… and the secret there is to (1) expect God’s goodness, (2) recognize God’s goodness in all things, and (3) give thanks for God’s goodness.

Yes, I personally agree that this is definitely a good approach to getting the most out of life, but I don’t really think I have the right to impose any sort of method or approach to how you should be living your life.

There are moments that life should be endured. Consequently, these are the moments when we have trouble giving thanks to God for His goodness. We will have moments involving overbearing circumstances which hinder us from seeing, much less expecting God’s goodness.

I propose that it is in these moments that we would refrain from asking ‘What Would Jesus Do?’, to give way to taking time to realize, and to remind ourselves, ‘What Did Jesus Do?’

Do you see the difference? When you ask, ‘WWJD?’ you’re looking to Christ as an example for how you should live. Asking ‘WDJD?’ directs you to how you even had your life to begin with.

And what DID Jesus do, anyway? It’s a process. You followed a process to get to the service. Consequently, the salvation we have in Christ underwent a process that only He could pull off.

Let’s have a look at Romans 6:3-11:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self[a] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free[b] from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

See, as we continue to hear more and more about Christ, and as we continue to learn more and more about His goodness and grace, eventually the power of the Holy Spirit just comes alive in us in perfect timing, to understand that there’s so much more to the salvation we have in Christ, so much more than what we already know.

Simply put, when we say we are saved, we are saying the following, based on what we just read in Romans 6:

(1) As Christ died, so we died to sin. Because we died to sin, we are free from sin, absolutely.

(2) As Christ rose from the dead, so we were born again, new creations; we are in Christ, and Christ is alive in us. 

When we understand that we are dead to sin, any temptation that would have easily preyed upon us before Christ is seen as inferior and ultimately unappealing compared to what life we have in Him.

Fear loses its grip and love becomes our drive, our motivation, and our goal. Knowing who we belong to and what we are dead to changes our perception of reality, from the highest of scales down to the most minute of details.

How, then, shall we live, considering what Christ has done for us?

How Then Shall We Live, knowing the true salvation we have in Christ is truly life, and life abundant?

You tell me.
*this article was cut short; I’m not sure if you can notice what part was written before and after my actual preaching.