Stephen Williams: All right, the challenge that I’m bringing to you today is from 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 14 through 17.
Just last night actually I was talking to a young man and he was just talking about or asking the question rather of why he needed to change after being saved.
I think he was a little fearful about the changes that might happen in his life and so it caused me to think as I was preparing for this today of you know many of you might be asking the questions, why do I have to live like a Christian?
Why do I have to be different?
Why do I have to be separated?
And the truth is, God’s not going to force you to do anything different after you are saved, but his Holy Spirit certainly is going to lead you to be different.
And in our passage here, in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verses 14 through 17, it says, For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then were all dead, and that he died for all, that they which should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh, yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
Old things are passed away.
Behold, all things are become new.
I just want to point out a few things from this passage.
First of all, I want to point out God’s love for us.
It says in verse 14 that God’s love constraineth us.
This word literally means that his love seizes us or it guards us.
Living for Jesus is not something you do because you have to in order to be a Christian.
It’s not something that you are doing in order to earn your way into being a Christian.
Living for Jesus is because God’s love for you is strong.
It’s a love that seizes you.
It constrains you.
It guards you.
And that love for you should be returned to him.
Not only does his love seize us in that way, but his love guards us from living wrong.
I believe that God’s love is that which keeps us from being able to continue living like we did before we were a Christian.
His love is what enables us to have the desire to live like a Christian.
His love for us is now inside of us, and so it truly does constrain us.
But not only do I want to point out that fact about God’s love, but also we don’t live for ourselves anymore.
As a Christian, as a child of God, you live for Jesus Christ.
In verse 15, it says, And that he died for all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.
Galatians 2.20 talks about this again.
And Paul states it this way.
He says, I’m crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, I live yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
Young people, the truth is your Christian life is something that is not of your own.
Your Christian life is something that comes from Jesus Christ living inside of you.
You don’t live for yourself anymore.
You live for him.
And that’s just something that happens at salvation.
It’s not you doing better.
It’s you simply living the life of Jesus in you.
So living for your father, living as a Christian ought to live, is not, again, not something that, oh man, I’m afraid.
What if I can’t do this?
Or I’m going to change so much.
I don’t necessarily want to change.
I don’t want to change my music.
I don’t want to do these things.
Friends, I have a feeling that as a Christian, there are things that you perhaps desired before you were saved that you don’t desire now.
Things that you never thought you would desire before you say that you do desire now, and that is the work of Jesus Christ in you.
It’s not you anymore.
It’s Jesus living in you.
It’s living unto Jesus.
It’s living for Jesus.
It’s living through his eyes, through his mind, and with his heart.
The love of Christ truly does constrain you, and it is not your own life.
It’s his life.
But the last thing I want to point out here from verse 17, jump down to verse 17.
It says, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he’s a new creature.
Old things are passed away.
Behold, all things are become new.
Young people, God is your father.
And you might be listening to me and not have a home situation that’s ideal.
But you have a father who’s perfect.
You have a father in heaven who loves you more than anything else. 1 John 5, verse 3.
Let me turn over there real quick.
But 1 John 5, verse 3 says, For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments.
Friends, you have a Father in heaven who is perfect.
And if you love him, I have a feeling you will keep his commandments.
Not because it’s just my feeling, but because the Bible says it.
If you love God, you will obey him.
So this whole thing about living the Christian life is not about you just being a religious person and doing what you need to do because you have to.
It’s because you love him.
You have a Father in heaven that loves you.
And friends, if I could just close with this and ask you this question.
Would you love him in return by obeying him, reading your Bible, praying, talking to him, spending time with him, knowing what he wants you to do, and doing it.
That’s how you show your love to your Father in heaven.
