When we read Paul’s letter to the Corinthians we find that many members of the church were divided among themselves. Their division originated out of their arguments over which preacher they should follow and which one they felt was the greatest. He explained to the Corinthians that their focus was on the wrong person.

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?

Paul explained that no man, no preacher, including himself, was crucified for them, but Jesus was! He reminded them that they should not be trying to uphold the greatness of Paul, or any other leader in the body of Christ, but the greatness of Jesus. He said this because he knew that if the church was focused on the greatness of the preacher (or a ministry, or a denomination or anything else within the Christian framework) then they would always be divided, but if they focused on the greatness of Christ they would once again be united in love.

Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.
Luke 22:24

Which one of us is the greatest? This question is most probably one of the driving forces behind division in the body of Christ today. Is our denomination the greatest? Is our church the greatest? Is our preacher the greatest? Is our ministry the greatest? The problem with this perspective is that it ultimately focuses the attention on ourselves, highlighting in our own accomplishments, efforts and spiritual superiority. The result is a confidence in our works, instead of what we all should joyfully have: a confidence in the finished work of Christ.

What the disciples needed to learn, is the same lesson we also need to learn—it is not our greatness that should be our focus, it is Jesus’ greatness. Our focus is not meant to be our good works and how we are more ‘spiritual’ or more ‘on fire’ than other Christians; our focus is meant to be on Christ’s perfect finished work that he accomplished for all of us upon the cross! (And what a glorious boast that is!)

When we can take our eyes off of ourselves, and fix them once again upon Jesus, the result is glorious. We actually start having the desire to know our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of any program or particular movement. Our faith stops being about ‘the programs we are in’ and starts to be about ‘the Christ we are in’! We feel the bond of peace with all who have a love for Christ.

When Christ is our focus then our heart’s desire can finally become a reality: The body of Christ being perfectly united in love. It is our awe of Christ and seeing the fullness of who he is in our lives that brings unity, and the Holy Spirit also gives us a supernatural love for each other.

The truth is we don’t need to try to prove our greatness in the kingdom of God; rather, we can rest in the truth that from God’s perspective we are already great because we are his beloved children. Nothing could be greater than that, and, by the grace of God, that is what we are!

(This blog post is an excerpt from my book “Look! The finished work of Jesus”. You can download a free copy here. or order a copy on Amazon here.)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Sometimes, even as Christians, we face really hard seasons in our life. Sometimes it feels like nobody could possibly understand what we are going through and what we may be suffering with. Even in times when it feels like fellow brothers and sisters in Christ might not be able to understand, we always need to remember that God understands us. Man sees the outside of a person, but God knows our hearts. God knows our struggles and our pain. When you belong to Christ and believe upon him, God is committed to being your constant help in your times of need.

There are times when you may try to explain yourself to others but they can’t understand you or the reasons for certain situations that you have found yourself in. When people misunderstand you, always remember Christ doesn’t; he always understands. You can always come before God and receive comfort. He loves you. He knows you; your weaknesses don’t scare God away. He sees the burden you are wrestling with and he wants to empower you to be free from it. He is willing to sit and cry with you. He is willing to walk slowly with you; he cares deeply for you. Look to Jesus, and to what he accomplished on the cross for you, and let him be your strength.

God loves us perfectly, not because of our performance, but because we belong to the one who is perfect in his performance. Because of what Christ has accomplished, we can have assurance that God is forever with us, he forever understands us and he is forever committed to us as his beloved children.

Because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’
Hebrews 13:5-6

Even when we are in the lowest point of our lives, we need to remember to fix our eyes once more upon the beauty of our Saviour. We need to remember that he is still with us because he has promised us that he will never leave us nor forsake us. Lift up your eyes and place them once again upon Jesus and allow God to transform your life. He sees you as perfect – even now, even in the pit, even in your weakness and humanity, even with your burden, because you believe upon the perfect finished work of your redeemer. Look to Jesus and allow God to freely give you his grace and love in your time of need.

Knowing that it is Jesus who justifies us releases us from always trying to hide ourselves and the situations we find ourselves in from God. It is the fear of condemnation that pushes us further away from God. We feel fear of condemnation because of the sin and weakness in our Christian lives. Yet it was fear and condemnation that Christ came to destroy in the Christian life! He loves us perfectly; he proved his perfect love for us by dying upon the cross.

He cares for you so much that he embraces you each day to help you in your weakness and times of need. Christ loves you perfectly; this love will never fail you. It is his perfect love that drives out all fear. You can rest in assurance that by the blood of Christ and his perfect finished work of the cross, you can also be free of condemnation.

The simple gospel truth is that you have been made perfect in God’s love through your faith in Jesus, and you can live a life without fear, for God is with you and God loves you forever. As a follower of Christ you need to understand that by the work of Christ you are now completely justified in him. When you believe this, you truly begin to live in freedom. You can come before God with freedom and confidence in your weakness to ask ‘Lord, I am in need of your grace and mercy, help me in my time of need.’

When we know we are always justified, even when we are caught in sin and struggles, we can always stand in the presence of God and know that he will help us. It is only by receiving God’s grace that we can overcome sin in the first place. In theory, it seems so easy not to sin, but in reality we will always be mastered by sin if we try to overcome it in our own efforts.

Allow yourself to live under Gods grace; it is the good news for your life as a believer. God does not want you trapped in sin; he wants you trapped in his love! Allow yourself to live in God’s grace and watch God set you free from all of the things that you may have spent years trying to overcome in your own efforts. Your heavenly Father understands you, he knows you, and he loves you dearly.

(This blog post is an excerpt from my book “Look! The finished work of Jesus”. You can download a free copy here. or order a copy on Amazon here.)