Romans 1:1
when we began studying first corinthians as a church during the summer, we spent several weeks talking about our identity in Christ. we spoke of all the glorious facets of the new identity that God has given to us in Christ Jesus - we've been "enriched in him," "not lacking any spiritual gift," etc. we talked about what our lives would look life if our primary identity, the identity by which we thought of ourselves as, was the identity given to us by Jesus.
i was struck by Paul's primary identity as i started reading Romans yesterday. he refers to himself as, first a servant, then an apostle, and finally as set apart for the gospel. this is not the only time that Paul starts out a letter with these words. just look at the introduction to any of his other letters and these will pop up. therefore, it seems reasonable to think that Paul first thought of himself in these three manners.
these three words are loaded with meaning...
first, Paul refers to himself as a servant. this is the response to the gospel that we must all take on. Jesus came among us as one who serves (John 13). he came off of his glorious throne, and instead of hearing the songs of angels, he chose to endure the taunts of his creation. he came to serve us all in the greatest way by dying for our sins on the cross and giving us new life through his resurrection.
Jesus called Paul to the same life that he lived. he gave Paul a new identity. instead of being a slave of religion and a slave of sin, he became a slave of righteousness. this is the only reasonable response to the one who bought us out of slavery to sin by his blood. we become servants of God.
do you see how that carries over for us? when we repent and submit to God as Lord, we are his servants. this isn't a burdensome affair but instead a great joy.
think of your dream job, whatever it may be. for me, one of the things i have always wanted to do is play soccer professionally. well, that didn't work out, but i now am a coach...and that's my job. i get paid to coach. in one way i am a servant of the club that i work for. i serve the players on my team and the parents of those players. this is no burden. it is an incredible honor to do the thing that i love and get paid for it. i look forward to practices and games, and i enjoy the time that i am working.
in the same way, being a servant of Jesus is way better than anything else we could ever even imagine. think about having a master that literally died in your place so that you may live. and now he wants you to do his work! this is how it worked for Paul.
it wasn't his glory that he was working for - it was the glory of God.
it wasn't his work that he was doing - it was the work of God.
it wasn't even his strength by which he was doing the work - it was the power of God.
what would it look like if the way you thought of yourself most often was as a "servant of Christ Jesus?" how would your motivations change, and what would your attitude be toward prayer, evangelism, service, etc.?
my prayer is that my life would be marked by the identity of servant....that i would be "collin, a servant of Christ Jesus..."
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