Brian Hopkins – Mt Freedom Baptist Church

n his first letter to the churches, Peter encourages believers to live lives of honor among ourselves and among the non-believers of the world. We are to honor not only our brothers and sisters in Christ, but also those in the world around us including the authorities of worldly governments. In so doing, everyone will take note and glorify God. It is important for us to remember that honoring others doesn’t always mean that we approve of their own behavior. We offer them our honor in obedience to God’s command regardless of whether we approve of their words and deeds.

In Matthew 15 Jesus teaches that we honor him by serving those whom He called “the least of these” – feeding and clothing those in need and visiting those who are suffering. Conversely, He says that when we do not help others in need, we dishonor Him. But honoring others isn’t something we should do out of a sense of duty to “check a box.” It must start with an a genuine desire to serve others born from gratitude when we remember how Jesus demonstrated His love for His children by His sacrifices on our behalf.

Christ followers understand God’s call to honor Him in the things we do, say, and think throughout every day of our lives in Christ. We are to show honor to God in our worship, by our obedience to His commands and calling, in our relationships with our fellow human beings, in everything we say, in our daily work to the glory of God, in our stewardship of the blessings God has bestowed on our lives, in living lives of holiness, in thankfulness for God’s presence and work in our lives – especially our salvation through Christ out of death in our sins into eternal life in His glorious presence, and in fulfillment by His empowerment of the mission(s) He has assigned to us.

As we celebrate Mothers’ Day this year, we begin a new message series – Called to Honor. How appropriate that we should begin this series with God’s commandment for us to – “Honor Your Father and Your Mother.” (Deuteronomy 5:16). God’s call for us to lives of honor begins with us seeing our fellow creatures as God sees us – His beloved children created in His own image. When we view those around us in this light, we are filled with the desire to honor and serve them as we do our beloved God Himself.

Jesus’ so-called “Great Commission” that we find in Matthew 28:18-20 is a familiar passage. In it Jesus commands His followers to “Go.” Jesus received the authority to give this command from His Father, and He endows His followers with His authority to carry the command out boldly and confidently. Jesus command carries with it the promise that we do not “go” alone to fulfill His command, but that He will be with us always.

In Galatians 2:20, Paul explains how our faith in Jesus’ resurrection means that we have died to our old life of sin and now live the new life of Christ within us. Furthermore, Paul tells us that abiding in this new life in Christ calls us to submit ourselves in obedience to Him and to allow Him to lead us in a new direction of service in His Name.

Our confession of faith in Jesus’ resurrection is how we are saved from death in our sins into eternal life in the presence of God. But if our profession of faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is genuine, His Spirit dwelling in us will bring about a change in us. He will draw us into sacrificial service for others – making our faith alive through the works we do by His power in obedience to His call.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time riding on a donkey, the crowd awaiting His arrival called for Him to save them, shouting Hosanna. Almost every one of them recognized that Jesus’ arrival fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 about a coming King who would come riding on a donkey to bring them salvation. But the hope that Jesus came to fulfill wasn’t political salvation for Israel from the oppression of their Roman occupiers as most of His greeters expected, but spiritual salvation for all mankind out of death in our sins and into eternal life in the glory of God’s presence.

All of us encounter difficulties in life. Some suddenly severely impact the course of our lives and may even shake the foundation of our faith. Sometimes the hits just keep coming one after another and wear our faith down slowly until we simply give up. But God gives us many promises in His Word to secure our faith and strongly anchor our hope. Speaking of the divine hope we have through faith in Jesus’ Gospel, the writer of Hebrews succinctly affirms the surety of God’s promises – “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf…” (Hebrews 6:19-20a [ESV]).

Life is difficult in our fallen world – so much so that all creation groans. In his letter to the Roman church, the apostle Paul compared this groaning to the pain of childbirth. Yet Christian believers do not despair as if we had no hope. Instead, we eagerly await the fulfillment of the hope that is founded on the promises of God. God’s Spirit dwelling in the hearts of His children nurtures and strengthens the hope within us even through our inevitable seasons of difficulty and desperation. Therefore we know as Paul wrote to the Romans that God is working all things together for good for those who love God and are called in accordance with His purpose.

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