Aiming at the Mark

Better.  That seems to be the mantra today.  Why, as Christians, do we have our eyes fixed on the mark of being better?  We are distracted and deluded by this simple, yet malignant word.

To be better is a mark we fall short of daily.  We promise to lead lives devoted to Christ and end each day as failures. Jesus is the mark to which we should live.  He is our role model.  He came as the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53).  Have any of us ever lingered in thought about that title, Suffering Servant?  It's worth a deep thought or two.

Jesus is the exact representation of God in human form.  He is the stamp of God in the flesh.  He came to sacrifice Himself in order to appease His righteousness.  He did not place Himself in what one would naturally assume God would chose.  No, His choice of substitution was to bear the burdens of life and the rejection of others.  He did not desire to be lavished with wealth and position.

Jesus understands rejection--His own received Him not.  He understands the harshness of life and man.  He knows firsthand absence of fairness--socially, economically, and sadly, spiritually.

In His Sovereignty, God showed us how to be better.  By not concentrating on the 'better me' but by living righteously.  In and of ourselves, impossible--in Christ Jesus, more than possible.   Scripture promises us a participation in the divine nature of God Himself with the indwelling Holy Spirit.  This is an amazing reality to the sincerely saved.

I have heard our lives are to prepare us for eternity,  but I tend to disagree.  True,  we prove our loyalty to Jesus by living this life in faith. However, our lives are more than a preparation.  We exist to glorify God,  to live in such a way that brings our heavenly Father honor. This is not realized by a desire to be better than what we were or even better than what we are--it is only done by imitating Jesus Christ.

Christianity is more than a belief in Jesus or His completed work in Calvary.  Satan himself, along with his minions, believe these truths.  No, Christianity is more than belief--it is surrender. The surrender of one's life by kneeling before the King of Kings, by making Jesus the Head of our lives. This is salvation. This is how we become better, by representing Christ in the power of His Spirit.