By Paul Kusiak
STUDYING THE
BIBLE FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
When you study
an event in the Bible you can often study it on two levels
lets call it a practical level and a
spiritual level. The practical level teaches us
something we can apply to our everyday lives whereas the
spiritual level gives us a glimpse into something a bit deeper.
For example,
when studying the account of Abraham offering his son Isaac as a
sacrifice, on a practical level we learn the importance of faith
and trusting God completely. Studying the same story on a
spiritual level we discover that Abraham represents God the
Father and Isaac represents Jesus; and this account is a
foreshadowing of how God would offer His Son as a Sacrifice
(remarkably, Jesus was crucified at the very same place Abraham
brought Isaac).
TAKING A DEEPER
LOOK AT JOHN 11:44
Keeping all this
in mind lets look at John 11. There we find Jesus raising Lazarus
back to life. On a practical level this is a wonderful example of
Jesus power over death. Now lets take a look from a
spiritual level. John 11:44 is the verse were going to
focus on. It says:
The
man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings,
and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them,
Unbind him, and let him go.'' John 11:44
(NASB)
If we break this
verse down we find four types of Christians.
#1 - THE DEAD CHRISTIAN
The man who had died
came forth,
The first type of Christian we find is The Dead
Christian. Interestingly enough,the dead Christian isn't a
Christian at all. Jesus was talking to dead Christians in
Revelation 3:1 when He said to them, "I know your works,
that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
When Jesus says they have a name that
you are alive He means they call themselves Christians
(Christian means one who follows Christ), but in
reality they are dead because they dont follow
Christ in their hearts. Perhaps they call themselves Christians
because their parents make them or its tradition or
whatever.
There are many dead Christians out there
today, but Jesus offers them hope. He ended His conversation with
these Dead Christians in Revelation 3 by saying if they could
overcome their sin He would make sure their name was in the Book
Of Life and would confess their names before the Father and His
angels. But how does one overcome? 1 John 5:5 tells us:
Who is the one who overcomes the
world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
(See also 1 John 4:15 & 1 John 5:1)
Once a person believes in, and follows
Jesus with their heart, they are in Christs love and
forgiveness. And all who are in Christ shall be made
alive (1 Cor 15:22).
#2
- THE BOUND CHRISTIAN
bound hand and foot
with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a
cloth.
The second type of Christian
we find is The Bound Christian. This is a Christian
who is alive in Christ, but one who is bound by their sin. Romans
6 is a great chapter for gaining insight into this. Listen to
what Paul says in verse 16:
Do
you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as
slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey,
either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in
righteousness? (See also John 8:34)
We can follow
sin or we can follow God. The first leads to breaking fellowship
with God, the second leads to a wonderful relationship with Him
(John 15:10).
So how does the
Bound Christian become free? First, he applies 1 John 1:9 to his
life:
If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (See
also Psalm 32:5 & Proverbs 28:13)
If you confess
your sins Jesus will forgive you. When you do that you are set
free from sin. And if the Son makes you free, you will be
free indeed (John 8:36).
Second,
we pray a prayer like we find in Psalm 25:4:
"Show
me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.
We
ask God to teach us His ways, to help us follow His commands.
Yes, there will be times when we stumble, but we dont have
to be slaves to sin. We can be slaves to righteousness. When this
happens we can rejoice they way Paul did when in Romans 6:17-18
he said:
Thanks
be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient
from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were
committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of
righteousness.
#3
- THE FREE CHRISTIAN
Jesus said to them,
Unbind him,
The third type of Christian is the Free Christian.
The free Christian is alive in Christ, and is free from sin and
that allows him to enjoy fellowship with God. His life is full of
blessings. So whats missing? Just one thing: The free
Christian is keeping his blessings to himself.
Let me explain.
First look at John 21:17 Jesus is talking to Peter:
Do
you love Me? And Peter said to Him, Lord, You know
all things; You know that I love You. Jesus said to him,
Tend My sheep.
We are all
blessed with some sort of gift. Some are good at encouraging,
others are able to teach, and still others have the gift of
compassion. There are many other gifts as well and as you study
them youll notice that all the gifts God gives are designed
to serve others.
Thats what
Jesus is saying in the verse above: If you love Me serve
others. This stands in sharp contrast to the world which
put its emphasis on serving yourself.
And that brings
us the final type of Christian
#4 - THE
COMPLETE CHRISTIAN
and let him
go.''
The fourth and final type of Christian we find is the
Complete Christian. We call him complete because he
alive in Christ, freed from sin, has a wonderful relationship
with God, and is a blessing to everyone around him.
Look
what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16:
"Let
your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
What
this verse means is we should live our lives in a way that when
people se us, they see Jesus. When we took the name Christian we
took all the blessings that go along with it. Forgiveness from
sin, Freedom from sin, Fellowship with God and the honor of
representing the living God to the dying world.
BACK TO BIBLE STUDY PLANET