Do we fear God’s Authority? (Part III)

By Odon Bulamba (7th June 2002)

Ephesians 4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

We have to get rid of the old nature. Unfortunately as Christians today we don’t change. When we talk about the new birth it means that we become a new creation, but many Christians are not born again to become new creations. They don’t even want to be a new creation and prefer to stay like the old self they were years before. For example, someone who used to slander since the age of 10 is still doing the same thing today. For example you will find a child who was saved at the age of 15 and now at the age of 50 keeps on lying.

So where is the new creation in all of this? Will you be able to proclaim that you are a Christian? Jesus says if you have an old piece of fabric you cannot sew a new piece of fabric on it. You cannot take old wine and mix it with new wine. But today we keep mixing things. We take a part of the old nature and put it with the new one. Sometimes when we are together, we are Christians but when we are not together, we are not Christians. When we talk together we are Christians but our actions clearly show that we are not Christians.

The Bible says that we have to be completely transformed. It is not a suggestion that God gives us but it is compulsory and it means that whoever won’t be transformed will lose eternal life. The Bible says that our hearts and our spirits must be renewed. That is what it means to have a new nature in Jesus Christ. We have to reject any kind of sin that is in us such as anger or lies and give God first place in our lives. Once you will do this, God will come close to you and help you to discover His authority.

From time to time we forget that our life will end. Very few people think today they might die in 2 minutes. God always measures us through small things and if God sees that we are not faithful in small things, He will never give us big things. Our life on earth is very short and if you are not faithful in this life on earth you will never inherit the life in heaven. Because this life is so short and small, if you are not able to control it, how will you be able to control eternal life?

I remember when my father was alive he would often say that if you are not careful you will regret it one day because I won’t be here anymore to help you and you will have to find out for yourself what you must do. He said this to many people because many people depended on him.

It is true that when he passed on it was like a flock without a Shepard. People would say that since he is not here let’s try to do this or that or let’s do some trading? There was a lot of agitation and people would try to find out the right way. I gave this example because when God gives up on us, we will be in darkness. When God is far from us, our lives become a life of hesitation, we try to do something but it doesn’t work. It is like a Christian who reads the word and says no, I don’t like this I will read something else. When a Christian lives a life of hesitation without God, it is like a flashing light that is in the darkness, and the devil can see that a Christian is trying to find his way. Everybody knows what a flash is. A flash is a light that doesn’t last, it just goes pop and then it is gone. It is like a Christian who is trying to find his way. Christians today are like a flash, when it flashes in the dark the devil knows that there is danger, but if he keeps attacking this person he will be his. So as Christians we have to be a lasting light.

For example, car has light that comes from a battery but a man needs to turn the light off and on. We need God in our lives. Imagine that you are a driver and you turn the light on, if the light doesn’t come on, what will you do? You need the light to know where you are going and if the light doesn’t work, you know there is a problem. Maybe there is a problem with the bulbs or maybe the battery, but as the driver you will know because what you are doing is not faulty. Our God represents the driver; He has eyes and can see everything. Our actions represent the bulbs, and if our actions are dead, although the battery good (that is the Holy Spirit) nothing will work. God will tell you that it is not His fault because He gave you the power to work but because you do not change your bulbs, it will never work.

We cannot drive a car without lights, so to avoid any danger we see a mechanic. The driver leaves the car with the battery still in the car. This is what it means when the Holy Spirit is grieved by sin and cannot work, the Holy Spirit is in us but cannot work because it is shocked by sin, and then God will go away from us. So we have to do everything to remember from time to time God’s presence in our lives, we have to remember His authority in our lives and we must acknowledge our lives are limited because today or tomorrow you might die or Jesus might come back.

Imagine how many people died since the creation of the world? There were those who were more beautiful than us and there were giants that knew the word, however their lives have gone. As I always say, the earth needs to swallow our bodies, there are millions of people who are already buried but the earth keeps asking for us who are so little. On the other hand God keeps asking for our souls and He asks that we might acknowledge His authority.

There is a man named Eddie Murphy who starred in a movie called “Coming to America”, and was the son of a king. He left his country to go to the United States but nobody acknowledged that he was a prince. When his father came to see him in the States nobody acknowledged him as a king. For us as princes and princesses, our acts will make people acknowledge us if we are really princes and princesses. The crowns that we will wear on our heads will prove to people that we are from a kingly family. Eddie Murphy wasn’t acknowledged as a prince, neither his father as a king because they didn’t wear a crown or kingly garments. So we as Christians have to wear the crown and clothes of a king (our actions) so that the world will recognise us.

It is difficult to have an egg without a bird but if you see an egg you will be sure that there is a bird that made this egg. So when people look at us they must know that God exists and He made us. So the authority of God is very useful in our group, God really needs us to recognise who He is. When you go back home try to look at the names of God and meditate on them to discover the authority that is in all His names and titles, so that you might live a new nature and reject the old one which is 30% Christian and 70% non-Christian or vice versa.