Obedience in the Life of Christ
Written By: Nathan Crawley
Obedience is the key In all things that we as Christians do, to pleasing they should be done as Christ would do them and so to bring the Father. honor and glory to God our Father. The bible says in 1st Corinthians 10:31, “Whether there-fore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the honor and glory of God.” We as Christians are saved to bring honor and glory to God in everything that we do and there is no better way to please God, to honor Him, or to prove our love to Him than to obey what He has written in His word. Obedience is the key to pleasing the Father. The obedience that is found in the life of Christ is the pattern that must be followed if we are to please our Father as He did in Mathew 4:17, Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22 and 2nd Peter 1:17. Christ who had left His Thrown on high, left all of His Glory above, left the presence of the father, left the angelic host that proclaims His holiness has now descended to earth to do not His will But the will of the Father. Christ’s obedience is always preceded by humility. The bible says in Philippians 2:7,8 (7) “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” In verse seven Christ is no longer equal with God but has now been made a little lower than the angels to become a servant subject to the law. In this the obedience of Christ
rings out through the ages as an old church bell signifying time to worship for we see Christ who was God in Deity, in obedience to the Fathers will, leaves the glorious splendor of heaven to take upon flesh and be fashioned as a man that through obedience He would reconcile man back to God the Father. Our reconciliation and all things we know as Christians whether it be justification, sanctification, or regeneration all stem from Christ’s perfect obedience or fulfillment of the law. (Rom 5:19 KJV) For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. You will find no boundaries in the obedience of Christ, no banks to hold the river of His love . We find in verse eight of Philippians chapter two that He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death. Christ’s love for His Father and His love for sinners was so great that he put no limitations on what He was willing to go through to please God and to redeem man. Christ’s obedience is and obedience motivated by love, the love that he had for the Father and the love that he had for sinners. Christ’s obedience is an act of the heart it is a perfect obedience in which that can only be possessed by a Holy God who knows no sin. Christ, God in Deity is love and only He himself can know a perfect obedience that is motivated by a perfect love that resides
in a perfect heart. Obedience in the life of Christ is a perfect obedience one that will never be obtained by man here on this earth but it is most definitely the obedience that should be strived for by every believer that professes Christ as their Lord and Savior. Christ had no reservations in His obedience no restriction do to race, color, creed, or cause. He was willing to die for all that would reject Him knowing the suffering, shame, and separation that He would face. Oh that we as Christians could see the obedience of Christ in all His glory and act upon our hearts motivated by His love and obey the Fathers will. Christ’s obedience should motivate us to obey. You do not have to look very close to see the great love that motivated Christ to obey. That love was directed toward you and me as sinners on our way to a hell. But Christ, full of obedience acted with His perfect heart motivated by His perfect love and gave Himself to be sacrificed for all mankind. My friends, thinking of the price of His obedience should cause we as Christians to be motivated enough to act upon that love and obey the revealed truth of the word of God. With the price of His obedience in view our obedience to Him should be our utmost desire knowing that His obedience cost Him all.
Oh my friends, my heart overflows with a love that is unable to be described just to know that Jesus loved me enough to die. What a wonderful Savior we serve and may the obedience in the life of Christ cause us to obey as we think of the price of His. Our success as Christians in the area of obedience will depend on our love for God. Christ said in John 14:15 “if you love me, keep my commandments.” In John 14:21 he continues, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” Furthermore in John 15:10 He elaborates on the condition of success “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.” Christ’s pattern of obedience to God is that it is motivated out of love. We should obey God the Father because we love Him and if we love Him we will keep His commandments. This should not come as a shock but the bible says that all commandments rest upon two found in Matt 22:37-40, (37) “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind.(38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” In conclusion of this chapter let me summarize the thought. Our goal is to please God and to have an intimate relationship with him. An intimate relationship can’t exist without love. Christ’s obedience unto death is His proof unto us of the love that He possesses. Our love to Him and to God the Father is proven when we obey. May we learn obedience through our sufferings and prove our love to God that in our obedience we may have an intimate unbroken relationship with Him. (Heb 5:8-9 KJV) Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; (9)And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;