The Life and Work of Christ (Part III)

This is the conclusion to messages The life and Work of Christ Part I and Part II

How can all this be done? First we must Live Matthew 16:24 and Philemon 1:6. Matthew 16-24 "Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." Philemon 1:6 "That the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus." This is done through faith, discipline in the renewal of mind, laboring, and profession.

It all starts with faith and faith may be the hardest part. Faith is nothing more than absolute trust. To put faith in God is to trust Him completely with EVERYTHING. 1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” To "fight the good fight," is to persevere in faith. Faith perpetuates the Christian walk, without it we are dead weight.

To have Absolute trust and faith forces ones mind to go into a state of logistical delirium. Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is irrational to the logistical mind. For this reason we must discipline our mind to accept and believe what does not seem to be physically attainable. Romans 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Here we see, the more we feed our mind spiritual meat the greater our faith. Our mind must be made subject to the things of God in order to have absolute faith.

We must also labor towards the things of God. This is done through a few vehicles: Holy Sacraments, service, and perseverance. This helps us to live Philemon 1:6 and confines our spiritual gifts, wisdom and faith. Another thing we may labor with is the exercise of Profession. This uses our faith, the fruits of disciplining the mind, and laboring to build our faith up. Confusing? Titus 3:8, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” Profession is a tool used in our daily walk with Christ. It includes: confession, corresponding actions, affirmation, reckoning or counting, acknowledgment, audible and quiet meditation, seeing what God sees, quiet or audible agreement, audible and mental thanks, thanksgivings through giving, and praising God for what He has done. All of these things exercise ones faith through the meditation of God's Word, reflection and thanksgiving as well as claiming the promises of God with authority.

With a firm understanding of the foundation and work of Christ' Work and love; Christians may have a clear view of life as well as enter into rest. We have reviewed near every aspect of Christ' Work and the application therein, now go and labor towards rest. As a Christ said.... "It is Finished."