One Heart at a Time

By:  Dale Weckbacher

John 10:10

 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

(ESV)

We live in a world where image is viewed as important.  Those working in media living by ratings are overly concerned with how others view them.  With the emergence of social media that concern with image has come to all of us as we are interested in gaining more friends and followers.  The problem, however, with being overly concerned with image is that often the standard of image we strive to live up to is distorted and even founded in lies. 

There is a distortion of the image of what it is to be a Christian in our world today.  Unfortunately, this distortion of image is not only among non-Christians but also among Christians.  It is therefore important for us living in our image conscience world to define what it is to be a Christian.

1)      Christianity is about living abundantly (John10:10) – Many in the world view Christianity as a life governed by a restrictive set of rules.  They read the 10 Commandments and see a bunch of restrictive thou shalt and thou shalt nots.  With this image, these individuals believe Christians are a bunch of people that believe people should not have any fun in their lives.  With this image, they view God as some angry taskmaster and not as a God who loves them.  If this were what being a Christian truly meant, why would anyone want to follow Christ.  Fortunately, however, John 10:10 tells us that it is the thief or Satan that is the true robber of fun in our lives for his purpose is to kill steal and destroy us and reminds us that Jesus came to provide abundant life.  Granted, God’s Word does provide Commandments and guidelines for our lives but the purpose of these are not to rob us of fun and enjoyment in our lives but to prevent the enemy from stealing from us, killing us, or destroying us.

2)      Abundant living does not however guarantee material wealth in this world (John 16:33) – Unfortunately there are well meaning Christians that interpret John 10:10 to mean living for Christ means abundant living free of any material needs or wants.  While this may entice some to follow Christ, the truth is that even Christians experience trouble in the world for we still live in a world where the thief attempts to steal, kill, and destroy people, including those following Christ.  The word translated abundant in John 10:10 is perissoj which means abundance in both quantity and quality. (1) God did promise to meet our needs (Philippians 4:19) but there is a stark difference between what we need and what we want.  Abundant Christian living is living a life of abundant quality and not material wealth.  It is living a life that can endure the troubles of life knowing Jesus has overcome the world and will provide for what we need. 

3)      Knowing the purpose of Jesus’ first and second comings – The main reason God evicted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden was so they did not partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life and thus be eternally condemned to their sin (Genesis 3:22).  While many in Jesus time believed he would come and establish the Kingdom of God on earth at that time, to do so without first dealing with the sin issue in everyone’s heart would have caused everyone to live eternally with the stain of sin in their lives.  Therefore, Jesus came the first time to make a way for each of us to be cleansed of the sin in our lives and will then come again to establish his millennial kingdom on earth for those who have had the sin in their lives cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.  All the trouble in the world will not end until the second coming of Christ and explains why we still see evil and destruction in our world.  Living as a Christian means living with the knowledge and hope of the second coming of Christ to rid the world of its evil and destruction (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). 

Jesus came on the first Christmas with the purpose of dying and resurrecting from the dead to provide salvation for every individual choosing to believe in Him (John 3:16).  While this coming did not bring an end to the troubles we experience in the world, it did come with the hope of Jesus returning to bring an end to these troubles.  Jesus came the first time to provide salvation one heart at a time for individuals by providing the opportunity to have his blood cleanse them of their sins.  Let us therefore dedicate ourselves to living out the gospel in both our words and deeds so the hearts of those we encounter in our daily lives will have the opportunity to be part of God’s Kingdom free from the troubles of this world for this is the true image of Christianity our image conscience world must see.   

1. godrules.net. Perissoj. www.godrules.net. [Online] BibleExplore.com. [Cited: December 10, 2016.] http://www.godrules.net/library/strongs2b/gre4053.htm.