Sunday, February 5, 2012

February 6, 2012

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ." Philippians 2:5
In real estate they say it is "location, location, location". For believers it is "attitude, attitude, attitude." And, I guess you could say that your attitude has a lot to do with your spiritual location!

This verse is the hinge point of this portion of Scripture. After exhorting us about our attitudes, Paul points to the example of Jesus and says in essence, "Here's your attitude!"
That begs the question, "What IS the attitude of Christ?"
Obviously, there was obedience and there was humility but the BIG attitude here is GRACE.
It was grace that THOUGHT the plan of salvation. When Adam selfishly chose to rebel against God and wreck paradise, God could have been justified in vaporing them and starting over. But His response was not vindictive or vengeful - it was gracious. He launched a plan to send a Second Adam to redeem the damage of the first Adam.
It was grace that WROUGHT it. God began to unfold His marvelous plan as history became the record of HIS story! Through Abraham, God raised up a nation through whom a Savior would arise. His grace orchestrated all the people and all the events that set the stage for a teen-age Jewish girl to give birth to Jesus in a manger in the stable of Bethlehem.
It was grace that BOUGHT it. Grace is free but it wasn't cheap! It cost God all that He had. Jesus demonstrated the divine attitudes of surrender, sacrifice, selflessness and servanthood. The Sinless One resisted all the temptations of the human experience, especially that which brought down the first Adam - selfish desire. Ultimately, the reward for His perfection was death on a cruel cross. In His sinlessness He was able to assume our sin, our shame, our guilt and our sickness and defeat them on the cross. As the words of the song express, "We'll never know how much it cost to see our sins upon His cross".
And, perhaps most amzing is His grace that SOUGHT us! He pursues you and me with His Spirit. He proclaims His love and grace through His Word. He presents His grace through people who have been touched and transformed by His grace. And that IS the challenge that comes to you and me. Will we surrender to His grace? Will we be saved and sanctified by His grace? Will we become living examples of His grace through our attitudes and actions? Can He use us to seek others? Will others be amazed by the grace they see in us?
If your attitude is like that of Jesus you will grace your world. If not you will dis-grace it.