«Christ in you, the hope of glory.» (Colossians 1:27)
You have a mission in life and this is it: you. Your mission is not only your story, though that is part of it, it is you, because Christ is in you. You were made to be a vessel to carry him and reflect him through your personality as he lives his life through yours. You are the temple, the dwelling place of the most high. You are a carrier of Christ; he lives again in you. Jesus died, rose again, and went to heaven in his new body, but he lives on through his Spirit in us. You could say he never really left; he just took up residence in us.
The Bible calls you lots of things, but they all underline this point. You are a fragrance of Christ wherever you go (2 Corinthians 2:17). You are a letter known and read by everyone (2 Corinthians 3:1-2). You are a vessel carrying around a treasure – «the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.» (2 Corinthians 4:6-7) And all of us together form the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12). All this to say that you and I are God's greatest statement. It's why he made us.
Wait a minute. «Doesn't that put a lot of pressure on me?» you ask. «How can I possibly be the equivalent of Christ walking around on earth? How can I do justice to this task?» Here's the deal. You aren't Christ all by yourself. We together form the Body of Christ. All of us. Each one with a gift; each one needing the others to show the full character of Jesus.
And we aren't perfect, either; we are in process. And this is OK. Your slip-ups and failures and sins don't negate the presence of Christ in your life. They show why you have him – why you need him. He is still perfectly capable of being all these things in us, in spite of us.
The process, in fact, is the story we tell. Your life makes up the pages on which the story of Christ's redemption of you is told. It's a story in process. If we were complete and perfect, we wouldn't have much to tell and no one could relate to us. As it is, we can tell new parts of the story every day as those around us witness the story unfolding.
All of this means that you are the evidence of the reality of Christ to the world, because God has a mission, and the mission is you.
John Fischer resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.
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Es esposo de la mejor mujer, padre de 2 hijos maravillosos, pastor y director de Desafío Joven. En los últimos 12 años ha trabajado con jóvenes, padres y líderes juveniles. Estudio en Rhema Bible Training Center. Su servicio con la palabra de Dios se ha extendido por más de 27 países en 13 idiomas. Es director ejecutivo y consultor de varios ministerios cristianos, desarrollando conferencias, cursos bíblicos, libros, estudios, devocionales, vídeos y recursos para la vida espiritual.
V. EL SUICIDIO EN LA BIBLIA
Hay siete citas en la Biblia que nos hablan del suicidio:
1. Sansón.
Ciego, derrotado y encadenado por los filisteos debido a su propio pecado en contra de su voto nazareo a Dios, se mato a él y a sus enemigos derrumbando el templo sobre ellos (Jueces 16:30).
2. Saúl.
Derrotado por sus enemigos, y tomando posturas de loco, luchando por mantener su posición aunque Dios lo había rechazado para darle el lugar a David, se dejó caer sobre su propia espada (1 Samuel 31:5).
3. El escudero de Saúl.
En otra parte dice: «¿No sabéis que la amistad del mundo es enemistad contra Dios? El que quiere ser amigo del mundo, se constituye en enemigo de Dios» (Sant. 4: 4). No puede existir coexistencia pacífica entre el cristiano y las cosas del mundo. Amar el mundo, ir tras sus placeres, deleites, pasatiempos, es ir en contra de Dios. Por otra parte, seguir fielmente a Dios es, de modo inevitable, ir contra el mundo y hacerse enemigo de él.Esa es una de las grandes pruebas, especialmente para los jóvenes cristianos.
