Who Are We?

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

I heard a snippet of a teaching on the radio the other day, and the Bible teacher was teaching on the tongue, and he made this statement that has stuck with me for a couple days: We have forgotten who we are. Now, as many people who know me understand, my short-term memory has some serious problems. For someone my age, I think that it is terrible. So I have to write everything down, or, you guessed it, I forget. But as I pondered the statement of "we have forgotten who we are," I think as believers in Jesus Christ, perhaps we too, have forgotten some things.
1. We have forgotten who is in control. In our verse today, the "He" in the phrase "For He" is none other than God Almighty. Big G. Creator of the Universe. Father in Heaven. I AM that I AM. It is "He" that set the whole thing in motion. He always was. He always is. And He always will be. He is eternal. Sometimes, we start looking at our surroundings and our circumstances, and all we see if the physical realities of the situations we are in, and we say, to ourselves, or even out loud, "Where are You, God?!" Fear not, oh Christian, God is in control. And even though it may not seem like it, He is working behind the scenes to bring about His will in our lives, whether we like it or not. When Jonah was in the belly of the great fish, which we often refer to as the whale, all that time that Jonah was there, the fish was moving toward the place that God intended. God was working, even though Jonah could not see. God is in control. He was then, and He is now.
2. We have forgotten the sacrifice made for us. It is hard for me, and I believe most of us, to comprehend being totally without sin. I don't just mean for a few seconds, or a few minutes, or even hours. I am talking about for our entire lives. Perfect. Jesus Christ lived on this earth just as we are living on this earth, and He knew no sin. But then again, He is God, right? Well, He did leave the perfect presence of the Most High, to take on flesh to do this deed. He is God. And He is 100% man. That is what blows our minds...well, some of your minds...the fact that Jesus was a man and didn't sin. But, as we all know, Jesus didn't drive. I think if He drove around on the streets and roads of this city, He would at least be tempted. But I digress. You get the point. Jesus was a man and He did not sin. He gave up the splendor of heaven and the perfect, awesome, glorious presence of God the Father, to become a man. On our own, in our flesh, it is easy to slip back into that old way of just "doing what comes natural," or as I put it, "flesh out." It is our default. We were born with it. But Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords left heaven to give us an example. No, we won't be perfect this side of heaven, but just knowing that He was gives me aspiration to hang on until He comes for me.
3. We have forgotten the price that was paid. Many Christian people, I believe, have forgotten that we are bought with a price. That there was actual blood shed, and someone had to die for us. We have forgotten that Jesus Christ paid with His life. "Oh yes, but He was God," some people might say. Yes that is true. But we have also forgotten that He was a man. Many times He referred to Himself as the Son of Man. That was to fulfill prophecy (see Daniel 7:13), but also, I believe, to remind us that we don't get to "cop out" by saying, "Yes but He was God," because He was also a man. He was tempted in all things, and yet did not sin. If He were not in the form of a man, He would not be tempted by fleshly things. Fleshly temptations have a hold on the flesh. That is why you can feel the pull of the flesh when you are tempted by this world, and the things of this world. Follow? We have forgotten that this Man died for us. To follow Christ, and the fellowship of His suffering, someone has to die. He did it for us, on the cross. Let us not forget that. He took upon Himself, our sin, so that we would not have to. He became sin for us. Why? So that we might become the righteousness of God, in Him. You and I, the Church, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, are now the righteousness of Christ, because He took our sin upon Himself, so that we would be declared righteous before God, because we are found in Him. We are blood bought, paid for with a price, the only begotten Son of God. This is not "easy-believe-ism" here. Jesus Christ died for us. Now, to follow Him, we too, must die, to our self, and follow Him. We become a living sacrifice, as we place our lives on the altar every day, dying to self, and following Him. Jesus gave His body, and He gave His blood, literally, on the cross that day, so that you and I would not have to die twice, once physically and once spiritually. When He said, "It is finished," it truly is. There is not one more thing that needs to be done. Salvation, provided to us through the sacrifice He made for us, is a gift from God. We cannot do anything to earn it. We can never be "good enough" to earn it. We can only accept it and be thankful.
4. We have forgotten why we gather. We, as believers, have forgotten why we come together on Sunday mornings as part of a local body. Some think that it is because, well, we are just supposed to, that's all. But there is more to it than that. As a pastor, I have heard many excuses as reasons why people have left our fellowship. Some leave without saying a word, because they are mad at me or someone else in the fellowship. But some actually call me up and tell me that the reason they are leaving the church is because they are looking for a dynamic children's ministry. I think to myself, "Why not stay and help our children's ministry become dynamic?" Some tell me, "There is nothing there for the women to get plugged into," which is totally untrue (see previous excuse). Some tell me that there is not this, or there is not that, and all the time I am thinking, "What is the real reason why you are leaving?" Some tell me that it is too far to drive, or not far enough to drive (no, not really), or this reason or that reason. Some people tell me all kinds of things, but one thing they never tell me, is that we never teach the Word of God here. So I am amazed to find out some of the places that people "land" after they have left. Some land at churches where you don't even have to bring your Bible to church, let alone actually open it and study it. Some land at churches where there is an emphasis on positive confession and "name it/claim it" theology. My problem with all this is not that they go some place else. My problem is I wonder if it is really the Holy Spirit leading them to that church or this church, or is it an emphasis on the wrong thing. We, the Church, have gotten so consumer oriented, that we go to church not to encourage one another, not to come alongside another brother or sister; not to collectively lift up our hands and voices to corporately praise the Lord; not to study the Word, or to pray. We go to church for what it can do for us, what it can do for me. We go for the children's ministry, or the music, or the fish aquarium in the lobby, or it has all the bells and whistles like the church we used to know back home, instead of coming together, first of all, because the Word tells us to do so, but also to realize, that we, true believers in Jesus Christ, WE are the church, not some building, nor some ministry of the church. If a church isn't dynamic enough, a lot of times it isn't because of the pastor, but because the rest of the body is content to let the poor soul do all the work himself.

Please take this in the spirit in which it is written. I am not complaining about one single thing. I love my calling, I love the church, and I love the people whom God has brought to sit under my teaching of the Word. I just get baffled by the excuses. I find that because pastors in the Church have gotten away from the Word of God, we have created "hybrids" if you will. A friend of mine, another pastor, and I were talking about this subject. He used the word "freaks." People going to church for the wrong reasons, or not even knowing why they go to "church" on Sunday mornings. It should always be about Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says that he determined not to know anything except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Jesus said that if He were lifted up, He would draw all people unto Himself. Let us then, lift up Jesus Christ. As a pastor, I don't teach anything that will drive you away, and I don't teach anything that will keep you in our fellowship. I just teach the Word of God. A church building can't save you. A body of believers can't save you. Only Jesus Christ can save your soul. So, beloved, let us be about lifting Him up, and let the other "stuff" fall away.

So, who are we? We are the Body of Christ. We are the Bride of Christ. We are blood bought. We are bought with a price. We are the righteousness of Christ. We are the hands and feet of our Lord, doing the kingdom's business until He comes. We are the local church, the representatives of Christ on this earth. We are His ambassadors. We are witnesses. We are salt. We are light. We are the Church (the building is not the church). Let us not forget who we are. Shalom.