Introduction:
The Christian is a called out person. God has called him out of the world into a personal relationship with Himself (God). He is to be totally separated from the world and unto God. Friendliness with the world is enmity with God – James 4:4. God demands an intimate relationship with the Christian. His desire is to empower him spiritually because God is Spirit- John 4:23-24, & 1 Corinthians 2:10-12.
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity who is sent by God the Father in the name of God the Son to the Christian for spiritual empowerment, enlightenment, and as a companion – John 14:15-17,25-26. St Paul did a contrast between the life that is governed by the natural man and the spiritual man in Romans 8:1-16. The Christian is controlled by the Holy Spirit and therefore able to please God.
Jesus Christ educates us on the Christian’s relationship with both Himself and God the Father in John 15:1-8. He explains that He is the vine while God is the vinedresser and Christians are the branches. The vine ( Jesus) is planted and looked after by God and the branches are sustained by abiding firmly in the vine. The ability of the Christian to survive and bear fruit is totally dependent on his attachment to the vine. Failure to firmly remain in the vine will lead to separation and then death. Jesus also uses the metaphor of a vine tree to explain that the relationship is a fruit bearing one. The vine tree is a commercial tree that produces fruits t for the owner and God expects us to bear fruit. We are enjoined in Hebrews 12:1-2 to fix our eyes on Jesus Christ who is the pioneer and apex of our faith. The story is told about the ability of Peter to walk on the water when he fixed his eyes of faith on Jesus Christ, but started sinking when he allowed doubt in his life-Matthew 14:22-32. We can only produce fruits if we abide in Jesus Christ and accept that we a special treasure unto God.
We have the story of the Lord’s vineyard in Isaiah 5:1-7. The vineyard/garden was well looked after but in the end produced bitter grapes. God then pronounced punishment on it, just like Jesus said in John 15:2 that God cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit.
In Matthew 7:15-20, Jesus taught us that a tree is identified by its fruits. A good tree can only produce good fruit while a bad tree can also only produce bad fruit. Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. We will identify people through their character. In 1John 3:7-10, the Bible distinguishes between children of God and children of the devil. When people perpetuate sin, it means that they belong to the devil who has been sinning since the beginning. Those who have been born into God’s family do not continue to sin or have the habit of sinning because God’s seed/life (the Holy Spirit) is in them.
St Paul draws our attention to the types of things that are prevalent in the lives of natural/carnal Man and the inherent punishment in Galatians 5:19-21. He also enumerates the fruit of the Holy Spirit in verses 22-26. These are : Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Note that the domineering fruit is LOVE and it produces all the other ones. That is why the word ‘ fruit ‘ is in singular form. All the other ones are ingredients of LOVE as enumerated in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7.
Study Questions:
1a. Who is the Holy Spirit ? See John 14:15-18, 16:6-15, Joel 2:28-29.
b. What is your understanding of the word ‘manifestation’ as used in our theme for this year ? See Matthew 5:13-16, 1John 3:7-10 & Matthew 7:15-20
2. How can a Christian abide in Christ ? See John 15:1-5, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 & Joshua 1:8.
3. Can you contrast between the carnal/natural man and the spiritual man explained in Romans 8:1-10 & Galatians 5:19-23 ?
4. Give us some tips on how we can live a successful Practical Christian Life.
Conclusion:
Our focus this year is on ‘ Practical Christian Living ‘ because the creation waits in eager expectation for the manifestation of the children of God- Romans 8:19. There is wickedness, corruption, egocentricity, segregation, sectarianism and division all over the world and it is also affecting the growth and mission of the church. If this is true, it then means that we who are Christians should live up to the expectations of God who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. We must show forth the glory of Him who called us. Jesus said that we are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. We are also the light of the earth and we should be careful lest we lose our saltiness. Therefore, we should let our light shine before all people so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven- Matthew 5:13-16. We are a people separated unto God and we must always distinguish ourselves. The blessings are unquantifiable and they transcend this world. Let us live out our faith like Daniel and his three Hebrews friends in a corrupt and crooked generation. Our prayer and resolution should be to say like St Paul that “ we have fought the good fight and we have finished the race and we have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits us-the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give us on the day of His return.”- 2Timothy 4;7-8.