Theme: You are called to a life of righteousness
Text: Lev. 19:1-2, 17-18; 1 Cor. 3:16-23; John 3:7-14
One important question that affects the quality of our life and that has been asked in every age and generation is where do I come from? Why am I here? And where am I going? Unfortunately many people still do not know the answer or have been deceived and as a result go through life experiencing untold hardships, problems and difficulties that are totally unnecessary. The right answer would not only lead us to our roots but also help us discover our true identity and the purpose and meaning of life. In his bestseller novel ‘Roots’ Alex Hailey, an African-American traces his roots to Africa. This knowledge was enough to change his mindset and the nature of his relationship to people of other races. It gave him an identity and a sense of self-worth. He no longer saw himself as a descendant of slaves ruled by a slave mentality but as a valued member of the society. Psychologists confirm that not knowing your roots results in an identity crisis that manifests itself in broken relationships, drugs, alcohol, suicide, crime and violence. It is therefore not surprising that we are confronted with these evils in our world today. We do not know our true identity although the Scriptures clearly reveal that we come from God because He created us and that He desires that we return to Him after living for Him here on earth in a way that glorifies Him. This is why God has placed something valuable in every human heart to witness about Him. Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, had this inner witness and wanted to find out the truth about God. He came to Jesus at night, learnt from Him and left a changed man with a new understanding of God and of himself. He learnt the truth that the only way to approach and know a righteous God is to be righteous and this is why you are called to a life of righteousness.
God is righteous, created man righteous and demands a life of righteousness. This was necessary for a relationship with God because an unrighteous person has no access to the presence of a righteous God. When man sinned his covering of righteousness was stained and he could no longer enter God’s presence. Although God is righteous and hates sin, He is also love and this love was demonstrated in His provision to make it possible for man to come into His presence. God through Christ has restored man’s righteousness, first by covering man’s sin with the blood of sacrificed animals and then removing it completely with the eternal blood of His Son Jesus Christ. This has been clearly illustrated in the Scriptures. In the Old Testament a veil separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies signifying that unrighteous man had been separated from a righteous God. In spite of that one person, the High Priest was allowed into God’s presence once a year with the blood of sacrificed animals that covered his sin and that of the nation for a further year. The application of the blood of sacrificed animals on the mercy seat had to be repeated yearly and it is for this reason that the High Priest never sat down in the Holy of Holies. All this pointed to the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ who after He had offered His eternal blood sat down at the right hand of the Father signifying that the sacrifice was complete and that no other sacrifice will ever be needed again. This was clearly demonstrated in the Temple when the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, unholy man from a Holy God, was rent in two from top to bottom signifying that it was an act of God and not of man. God, through Christ, has paid man’s penalty for sin and restored man’s righteousness. The price has been paid and righteousness restored but to benefit from Christ’s provision we must accept His sacrifice on our behalf and confess Him as Saviour and Lord.
A life of righteousness is only possible with a new birth. Christ refers to this as being born again or being born from above. This new birth is necessary to deal with the nature of sin and the tendency to sin that is a normal consequence of normal birth because of the sin of Adam and Eve. What a person is incapable of doing because of his physical birth he can accomplish because of his spiritual birth. Everyone comes into the world after the breaking of the water. When a woman says, “my water broke” it is an indication that the time of delivery is near. And just as we are born into this physical world so we also need to be born into the spiritual world. We are all born spiritually dead and need to be born of the Spirit if we are to deal with the sin element in our lives by becoming alive spiritually and living a life of righteousness. Real life is a life lived in the spirit and begins with being born again. It is coming into a new realm of life - the realm of the Spirit. An unborn baby has no knowledge or contact with the outside world. In the same way every individual who has not been born of the Spirit of God has no knowledge or contact with God, and with the things of heaven and eternity. Without normal birth a baby has no ability to use all the potentials of life within it and without spiritual birth a person will have no ability to understand the things of God. Imagine if two unborn babies could communicate with each other, and one said to the other, ‘I don’t believe in what I have heard about this life after birth’. To us that may seem ridiculous when we realize all the tremendous possibilities that lie before a young life as it is born into the world. But the same thing is true of spiritual life. The unborn baby has ears but it cannot hear and a mouth but it cannot speak. It has the potential of hearing and speech before it is born but has no ability to communicate. In the same way there is the ability to hear God through spiritual ears and communicate with Him. God has always desired to communicate with us so He makes us alive in the Spirit so that we can hear Him and talk to Him. The first thing a baby does when it is born is cry. It breathes air for the first time. In the same way when we receive Christ God breathes His Spirit into us. And just as a baby is washed after birth, so also after spiritual birth a cleansing takes place in our souls. All the dirt is washed away and we are clothed with new garments – garments of righteousness. This is the only way we can enter heaven. Even Nicodemus with all his religion, piety and learning needed to be born again to enter heaven. Being religious is not enough to get us to Heaven. It is not enough coming to Church on Sundays, neither is it enough when we do not lie, steal or drink. There is only one way to Heaven and that is God’s way – by being born again. Have you been born again?
The new birth empowers a life of righteousness as to be born again is to have the Holy Spirit living in you. The Holy Spirit changes you on the inside thereby also changing your character, behaviour and actions. Without the change on the inside, all external changes would merely be superficial. A direct outcome of a life of righteousness is love and this leads us to take a stand against sin. We cannot claim to be righteous or holy and yet hate our brother or fail to warn a neighbour about sin. We are accountable and responsible for everything that happens around us and we are responsible to influence and make an impact on our society.
Today where most people are self-centred and concerned only about themselves, the world cannot fail to notice the changed life of a true believer. This is described in the passage from Ezekiel when God spoke to him saying, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” Ezekiel 36:26. This Scripture refers to the same concept and the same promise of regeneration of the new birth. Believers will be noticed by their transformation through the new birth and not because they go to church, give offerings, pray, and read the Bible. They will be noticed because of their righteousness and love for one another that is demonstrated by caring for those in need, encouraging those who have lost hope and warning and rescuing those who are lost and showing them the way to Christ. Only someone with genuine love will treat their neighbour, as they would want to be treated showing concern for their well-being, protection and security. We can only attain the righteousness of God by being born again. When this happens the divinely ordained exchange that took place on Calvary when Christ was made sin with our sinfulness so that we might be made righteous with His righteousness is manifested in our lives.
No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born again. Whereas the first birth is physical and can be seen, the second birth is spiritual and cannot be seen. It is an inner transformation and although we cannot see it happen or control it we can see its effect. Just as the effects of the wind can be totally unexpected and blow where it will so are the effects of the Spirit. The new birth makes it possible for us to have access to heaven and it is the only way. Unfortunately many people do not want to accept this although the Bible makes it clear. God made this way possible because we are very valuable to Him - so valuable that Christ died for us to make all God’s blessings available to us as His children. Just as we are born into earthly families through physical birth we are also born into God’s family through spiritual birth. Unless we are born again we cannot enter the Kingdom of God even when we go to Church regularly, pay our tithes and are active in all Church activities. If we are born again we will only die once because we have been born twice whereas if we are not born again we will die twice because we have only been born once. We did not have any say about being born physically and dying physically but we do have a say about being born again and living eternally. We make the choice whether to be born again and have eternal life or be separated from God forever. Have you been born again? Heaven is so near and it is God’s desire that we all belong there “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. You can have this life today and experience God’s forgiveness, peace and lasting joy by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and Lord. Amen!
