Tuesday, July 26, 2011
1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
LIVE FOR "THE DAY" (2)
To live for "The Day" is to live in Christ and for Christ. This was not a choice we made or can make. We didn't have enough sense or the spiritual ability to make that choice. Thankfully it is a choice God made. He chose us and, as we read, "God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him."
God chose us to live with Him, therefore, by the power of the Spirit given to us, we have "put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation" (1 Thessalonians 5:8). Faith in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins is what protects us from all accusations and condemnation. It is our forgiveness in Christ that prepares us to stand on that great day -- for Christ makes us to stand in His righteousness. Therefore to live for the Day is to live a life of repentant faith.
Such faith also seeks to live for Christ, exercising our faith and love as we look forward to the eternal salvation that Christ has given. The people of the world, who will be met with "sudden destruction" when Christ returns, live only for themselves. But Christ "died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:15).
As "Children of light" who keep the Day of Christ's return before our eyes, we are not to live in the drunkenness and debauchery that the world finds so much pleasure in -- but only leads to their destruction. Rather we are to "walk in the light as He is in the light" (1 John 1:7). We are to live in spiritual wakefulness and sobriety, with our mind and heart attuned to our Savior and His will for us.
To live for the Day is to live with our focus on Christ who has given us life. "Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing" (Matthew 24:46).
