Fulfillment in Christ

With the help of good preaching and the holy spirit, I had a thought that I would like to share with you.

One of the youth pastors at my church, Joe, talked on "over-coming temptation" and used the temptation of Christ as a model. We looked at how each of the temptations that Christ faced is routed back to different desires that everyone faces. The desires such as food, acceptance, power, and ultimately pride of life - a good and happy life.

As the talk continued and Joe gave more examples, I made a connection. As obvious as it was, I found it very interesting at the time. That is, all of our depravities are fulfilled in Christ. Stated another way, all that we inherited from walking away from God, we receive when we come to Christ.

Let me explain. I want to be accepted. So I will often show off, make poor choices and hang around with the "cool kids" so others will accept me. They might, they might not. Even if they do, that desire for acceptance won't be fulfilled. Yet Christ says, "Come to me all of you who are weary..." We have acceptance in Christ.

Another one, love. Girls and guys both want to give and receive love. I have looked for that in a girlfriend, best friends, and a lot of other places. There is a longing to be cherished and to care for someone as well. I have even thought, if I could just get that girl to date me, then I would be happy. The reality is that we are to love Christ and Christ loves us. That depravity is cared for in the character of Christ.

And the list goes on. Every area of our depravity is completed in the character of Christ. Forgiveness, justice, peaces, love, acceptance, joy, etc. Just think of the area in your life, that thing you want more than anything. I'll bet you my college loans that they can find fulfillment in Christ.

My big one is independence. I don't want to need anyone else. At the core, I have this desire to be able to do things on my own and be self-reliant. I think that relying on other people is weak or something, and so I will often push people away. Yet Christ, who is truly self-reliant shows me two things. First, independence is weak, not the other way around. Second, Christ shows his true power as he relies on the Father for power.

Like I said, I always knew that that Christ fulfills our depravity, but I never realized it in a practical setting. That the desires we have, such as love and acceptance, are the very things that Christ wants to fulfill in our lives. The same desires that lead us toward sin and rebellion against God, can be found in the person of Christ.

Later