CHRISTIANS SERVING CHRIST (Part 2)
Bible Passage: I Chron. 29: 3-19.
Memory Verse: “But
you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging
to God, that you may declare the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness
into His wonderful light.” I Peter 2: 9. (NIV).
LESSON
OBJECTIVE
We should, at the end
of the Study, be able to show genuine love to God for our salvation, and
genuine love to others too.
LESSON
INTRODUCTION
Our lesson of last
week showed us the close link between worshipping and serving God. This week we
shall see something similar between loving God and obeying Him.
LESSON
OUTLINE 1: AN EXPRESSION OF LOVE FOR GOD
i). We can express
our love for God through wholehearted (as opposed to reluctant or complaining
type of) obedience to His word. John 14:
15.
And this includes the
times when we think His word does not make sense in the light of our ability to
think and reason, or we have the mistaken idea that we “know better”. See John 2: 1-7, and note particularly vs. 5 & 7 in the light of the
problem at hand.
ii). One way of
expressing our love to God is through our obedience to His command to preach
the Gospel. See Matth. 28:19.
iii). Yet another
way is through giving our substance to God and others.
I Chron. 29: 6,9; 2 Cor. 8: 11-12; 9: 7-8; Psalm 37: 21(b).
LESSON
OUTLINE 2: THANKSGIVING TO JESUS FOR OUR SALVATION
i). Our salvation
cost Jesus His life. 2 Cor. 5: 15; 8: 9;
I Peter 3: 18(a).
If we truly
understand what salvation is all about, what the Lord Jesus has done in saving
us from God’s wrath and judgment, and
instead making us God’s children, the apple of His eye and His special
possession, then the least we can do is to give Him sincere and wholehearted
thanks and praise. I Peter 1: 2: 9-10.
ii). Thanking
God on behalf of others is also a way of expressing our love to Christ.
See I Thess. 1: 2-3; I Tim. 1: 12-15.
LESSON
OUTLINE 3: SHARING IN THE DIVINE BURDEN
i). Serving God
affords the believer the opportunity to identify with the divine burden, to
identify with that which is closest to God’s heart. See Matth. 9: 37-38.
We thereby become
God’s “fellow workers”, I Cor. 3: 6-9.
ii). Isaiah, Paul,
etc, offered themselves willingly to share in carrying God’s burden. See Isa. 6: 8; Acts 13: 1-3.
LESSON
OUTLINE 4: SHOWING LOVE FOR HUMANITY
i).
The Lord wants believers to be
deeply concerned about the salvation of the lost around us, and particularly so
in the light of the privileges they may have but have not utilised (e.g.
freedom to assemble and worship God). See Rom. 9: 1-5.
ii).
The Lord Jesus has committed a
trust to us, and that trust is to preach the gospel to the lost. I Cor. 9: 16.
In which other
ways can we render service to Christ?
SUMMARY
We have been chosen
to serve Christ. We serve Him as we express our love to Him in various ways, as
we obey Him with wholehearted love.