Bishop-Elect Dr. Monterey D. Lee, Sr.
If you were asked, ‘What is the goal of your life?’, how would you respond? Would it be to be happy? To have a healthy life? A happy family? To be a success in business? To be wealthy? To serve others? To find the right mate? To be fulfilled in your profession? The list goes on and on…
What would be your response?
“And you, He made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead through our sins, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved, and raised up with Him, and made us sit with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the coming ages, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His knowledge towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them,” Ephesians 2:1-2, 4-10.
The goal of the Christian life is salvation. History has proven that one who lives a certain life will have the passion of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit. Your journey will be of great riches where you need not ask what my purpose in life is. Salvation fulfills the vision of God for everyone. We are not made righteous on our own. None is righteous, no not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God all by themselves. All have turned aside and have gone in the wrong direction. No one does good, not even one. Your thoughts are an open grave and your tongue can be very deceived which can lead you in the wrong direction.
Paul informs the Church at Ephesus that all people, both Jews and Greeks, are under positive or negative influence. “For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God, but being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus who has set us free,” Romans 3:23-24.
The Greek phrase that is used by the Apostle Paul for this state of being under sin when we are without Christ was ‘hupo hamartian’ (under the power of another influence; miss the mark). Paul uses these words many times as he ministered to the different churches (Galatians 3:25; 1 Timothy, 6:1; Romans3:22-23). What influence are you under? Are you missing the mark of the ‘high calling’ of God which is in Christ Jesus? How do you see yourself? Do you sometimes think more highly of yourself than you ought to think? Is there any person of whom you are jealous? Do you occasionally look at a person of the opposite sex and feel lust in your heart? Do you sometimes hate people of other races or nationalities? Do you get apprehensive about the future, because you feel you don’t have enough financial security? Do you judge others by what they have? These questions should challenge you to evaluate yourself and to focus on living the Christian life.
How do we get there? There is no ‘answer’ to how we get there. It is given. In Romans 3:23-25, Paul states that salvation is a gift from God. Since all have missed the mark and fallen short of the glory of God, the grace of God is justified in the life of the believer as a gift through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as an example by His blood, to be received by faith. As believers, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and the love of God is shared abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who is given to us. Let your life fulfill the will of God by knowing that in order to live the Christian life, one must receive the gift of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Knowing that you have been set free from your past and given a great opportunity to move forward and live the Christian life, your ‘new life.’
