Rebels for God

Tonight we bring to a conclusion our Rebel series. We’ve been looking at the lies of our culture and bringing the light of Scripture counter these lies. Way back in the Garden of Eden, God said that “it is not good for man to be alone” and therefore made Adam a helpmeet, a companion, in Eve. An essential part of what makes us human, created in the image of God is relationship. The desire to know and be known is at our very core of our identity. It is at this very core that the enemy of our souls, Satan and his forces, attack us. Our culture has been ravaged by his wicked plans to distort the beauty of sex and meaningful relationships in healthy marriages by creating sexual immorality and promiscuity at the norm.

It is only when we can step back from our music, media, social media and current situation and peer long at the Bible that we can begin to bring things into focus. As the Truth of Scripture begins to pour into our lives we quickly begin to see the sea of people around us as lemmings running blindly at the cliffs ahead. Only when we stop following the crowd, rebel against the norm and stand up for the truth will we see real change in our relationships.

Though tonight is our last lesson in this series, after 6 weeks studying this, I still feel like there is so much to say. Why? Because we are all sinners and because we are sinners our relationships are broken. We quickly turn to relationships to fix us, but then we cause more pain and harm then before. Relationships without Christ at the center will only leave us emptier then before.

Just a few thoughts for tonight and then question and answer time:

1.     Run (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)

In this past year I have picked up the sport of running. I’ve actually begun to love it and now that I am nursing an injury, I miss it. Never thought that would happen. I used to make up jokes about running, like miss quoting the Proverb “only the wicked run when nobody is chasing him.” Or looking for the 0.0 sticker for my car. But now I value running.

The real truth is that we have an enemy chasing us with one of the most dangerous and destructive weapons we may ever encounter. It’s so dangerous because it is attractive. Satan is chasing us with the allure of sexual immorality. Sexual immorality is a broad sweeping word to describe any and all sexual interactions outside of the covenant of marriage. It’s a weapon that involves all of our emotions and fears. Yet we have to remember it is a loaded weapon that he is using to destroy our souls.

Paul is telling the Corinthians to strap on their running shoes and gear up for a marathon and run from this enemy. It is a sin like no other sin, where you sin against your own body. Therefore run!

In my preparations for the half marathon last year, what helped me run was to focus on the goal. My goal was to finish a half marathon, and I did. When people use to question why I haven’t had sex yet, I used to answer “because I love my future wife so much I want to save myself for her.” That’s a good answer, because I had a goal. Yet it was not the best answer. Today I would answer it “because Jesus loved me so much to die for me, I want to obey Him and bring glory to His name.” In obeying and loving Jesus I still am keeping my previous goal, to love my future wife and save myself for her, however she is not my god, Jesus is.

2.     Control (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8)

How many times have you ever said you want to know God’s will for your life? I’ve found myself saying, “if God could just give me the blueprint for my life that would be great!” However, when I think back to my high school paper in which I had to answer, “where am I going to be in 10 years,” nothing on that paper came true. Yet I don’t regret that at all, because God is doing something in my life that I wouldn’t have understood then.

Yet in the Scriptures, God has given us a few places will it actually says, “this is God’s will for you!” I’m warning you, this is dangerous because now you will know specifically what God wants you to do. God’s will for you is sanctification, specifically that you avoid sexual immorality. Sanctification is to be set apart. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, He sets us a part for His service, and that means that we are to avoid sex before marriage.

Back to running, a runner needs to control several things in her life if she wants to succeed, right? Among those is sleep, diet and training. When I run I can feel the food I ate. It will either give me energy or make me feel sluggish.

As a believer we need to learn how to control our body in holiness and honor. That we respect others and our own body because God has made it and gave it to us to steward. Impurity in any form makes running harder. However, developing an holy life cause running to get easier and easier and you begin to enjoy it more and more.

3.     Choose (1 Corinthians 15:33-34)

As I began to take on the running lifestyle, many of my friends responded differently. I’m so thankful for the ones who turned into encouraging partners. They were the ones who fought their own demons and were running or exercising already, they were further down the road and coached me. Others began to chide me, teasing me and making fun of me. These were the nay sayers, the ones who said I was working too hard. I had to choose who I was going to listen to and I began gravitating to the ones who encouraged me, who were like-minded and helped me pursue my goal. The end result was success on so many levels.

Who we choose to hangout with will affect us. If you are a Christian and you have developed good morals, don’t think you can stand on your own. Hanging out with others who don’t value God’s Word and His commands will ultimately lead you down the road of disobedience. Gather to yourself those who are running the race too, who will encourage you and you will find those who will keep you on the right path.

We’ve already talked about it, but only date believers in Jesus. Surround your dating relationship with strong believers and couples who are more spiritually mature then you. Find Christian couples who have learned how to navigate the trails in holiness and purity. Let them speak into your life and relationships.

Even in your friendships you need to be careful who you hangout with. Listen to yourself and hear if you start compromising to fit in with the crowd. If so, you need to change things up. Keep your eyes on Christ and stop fall into sin. Others are watching you and your sin maybe the reason they haven’t trusted Christ yet.

We are on mission. We are rebels who can no longer afford to follow the pattern of this world. We need to go against the flow and others will see Christ in us and glorify Him.