In Search Of A Better Tomorrow

Daily Devotion: As You Have Received Christ

Message by Wil Pounds

As You Have Received Christ
The only way you can live the Christian life is by divine provision. Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).

The apostle Paul wrote, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him (Colossians 2:6).

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord…”

How did you receive Him? There is only one way as taught in scripture. It is by grace through faith in Christ (Acts 4:12).

Phillips translates Colossians 2:6, “Just as you received Christ, so go on living in Him – simple faith.”

The apostle John said, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12, NASB 1995).

You receive “Jesus Christ the Lord” by believing on His name. “As many as received Him, as many as have believed on Him.” To have faith in Him is to receive Him.

Do you have that attitude of faith and trust in Jesus Christ? Faith indicates a relation to Christ as Savior. It is submission to His Lordship as King of our lives and confidence in Him as our high priest. Do I conduct my life in submission to the king of my life?

Have you received Jesus Christ the Lord? “Jesus” is the name given to Him at His birth meaning “Yahweh saves,” “Jehovah saves.” That is why the apostle Peter declared there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Calling on all other names for eternal salvation will send you to an eternal hell. There is salvation and eternal life only in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Savior who came to this earth to die for our sins and give us God’s kind of life. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me” (John 14:6). “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (v.9).

This same “Jesus” of Nazareth is the Messiah, the anointed King and High Priest. The Messiah to the Hebrew people was the King – Priest. He is both the One who reigns as sovereign over our lives and the One who intercedes on our behalf. The King is also the Priest. The King who has supreme authority is also the Priest who offers the one perfect sacrifice of Himself on behalf of His people.

Has Jesus Christ become your Lord? “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11, NASB 1995). Have you bowed to that name?

If you have never “received” Him as “Jesus Christ the Lord,” you cannot “so walk in Him.” Do you have this kind of a relationship with Him? Have you surrendered your soul to Him?

The comparison the apostle is bringing out in Colossians 2:6 is the fact that we have been saved by grace through faith is the same way we live the Christian life. We are saved and sustained by that same kind of faith in our Lord.

“Just as you received Christ, so go on living in Him – simple faith.” Taylor paraphrased, “And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust Him too for each day’s problems; live in vital union with Him.”

The word “walk” (peripateo) is figurative of “the walk of life,” or your life conduct. Make the Lord Jesus Christ truly “Lord” and Master of each day you live. Maintain a close personal fellowship with Christ; your very life depends on it. We must conduct our lives as men and women who have been united with Christ deriving our life from Him. Because of this living relationship with Him, we are to conduct our lives in dependence upon Him (Jn. 15:5).

As you have received Him, keep on walking.

Selah!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

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