Culture of Christ

Culture of Christ

What is Culture & Why does it exist?

Culture is defined as ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society.

This leads us to understand that culture ultimately exists to maintain - the ideas, customs and social behaviour of a particular people or society - throughout the generations.

Doctrine is defined as a belief or a set of beliefs held and taught by a Church, political party, or other group.

Today we will be discussing the culture contained within Jesus. In this discussion we will look at past, present and future understandings of the culture of Christ, via the biblical text. The culture of Jesus is contained within biblical doctrine past, present and future. Therefore If we truly wish to understand the culture of Christ, we can only view it through what the bible shows us about Jesus, past, present and future.

Why is this important?

Let us start, in the beginning.

God’s reveals the sinful nature of man through man.

The following scriptures identify humanity’s inescapable tendency towards sin and disobedience, establishing a culture of violence, confusion and an overall subversive society. Humanity has always been a product of the ideas, customs and social behaviours we accept and promote throughout time. Where a sinful nature is acceptable and cultivated these ideas, customs and or behaviours there will always lead to the same outcome, destruction.

Let’s read the scriptures.

Genesis Chapter 3 [Fall of Man]

Genesis 4: 3 -12 [Cain & Abel] Come back to Verse 13-16 onwards (Cain leaves the presence of God)

Genesis 4:26 – [Lineage of God established]

Genesis 6:5 – [Culture of man completely evil]

Genesis 6:9 - [Noah, is favoured as righteous]

Genesis 12:1-4 [Abraham, called Abram leaves home]

Genesis 15:6 - [Abraham, credited with righteousness] Genesis Chapter 22:1-15 Confirmation of Abraham - This leads to the affirmation of the original covenant with Abraham and the establishment of God’s people.

So, in our reading above we can see the beginnings of many ideas, behaviours and or customs displayed. With Cain and Abel, we see the idea of doing all things in truth or as God explains in the text, the behaviour of doing what is right. This is initially displayed through what would become a custom of offering to God. While Cain and Abel both present offerings to God, God rejects the offering of Cain and favours the offering of Abel.

Cains offering was rejected as it was substandard, in that Cain offered his offering without sacrifice. [Example 1Chronicles 21:21-24] The text lends that Cain presented some of the fruits of the soil while Abel produced the fat portions of the firstborn of His flocks. The different characterization of what was presented indicates Cain offered something menial, while Abel gave his best. This resulted in different outcomes from God.

The subsequent reaction from Cain only reaffirms that his understanding was confused. Cain was angry that God favoured his brother’s offering yet when God speaks with Cain, he has no point of reference to refer to God about his anger. God is not the author of confusion [1Corinthians 14:33], sin is. Sin creates confusion as it blinds us to the truth of our situation and creates a feeling of instability.

God explained to Cain his error in truth, attempting to correct this instability created by sin, yet Cain persisted in his anger, rejecting the truth, and killing his brother. The doctrine we must learn from Cain is that this instability exists in all of us. As God instructed Cain, sin is always there, and it desires to have us, but we must master it.

If we learn to do what is right from the beginning, then sin has no opportunity to do anything, in any situation. This should be our culture. This should be our doctrine.

This is clearly demonstrated in our reading about Abraham, when he is asked to sacrifice his only son. Abraham receives the direction from God to sacrifice Isaac and he immediately sets out to accomplish the task. How do I know of the immediacy in his actions? The text states that Abraham got up early the next morning and started to the task. Abraham was obedient to the point of God having to stop him from performing the sacrifice. This means that God knew Abraham would follow through and sacrifice Isaac.

In truth Abraham loved his son just like we all would love our kids, Abraham did not want to sacrifice his son, but Abraham also understood the issue he was facing. Nothing can ever come before God. God establishes all things, God protects all the things, God gives, stakes, shapes, remakes, creates and eliminates all things, within all things.

Abraham’s understanding was aligned with God. His belief was in God and his behaviour was set on his belief and understanding.

This should be our culture. This should be our doctrine.

Throughout our initial reading we find a doctrine that is repeated over and over again, from Noah to Abraham, righteousness is found in the ability to believe in God. In believing, we must then allow that belief to manifest in our everyday behaviour.

Therefore, in looking at humanity through the lens of Adam to Abraham we can start to see how the shaping of our current ideas, customs and or social behaviours, were established. We can see that in man the only account of righteousness was found through the belief in God.

Let us continue.

Our everyday culture, what is it and why is it important?

As we continue through the scriptures, we must follow the path of Abraham to Isaac to Jacob being called Israel.

Jacob’s name is changed by God to Israel [Genesis 35:10] and the subsequent events that led to Joseph and all the children of Israel moving to Egypt [if you have time please read (Genesis 37 to Exodus)]. These events and stories provide us with a basis for understanding the nature of God and how, circumstances, ideas, customs and or social behaviours shape the overall picture of how our lives unfold.

Joseph rightly understood that at the end of all things, God will use all things for the good of those who love and follow Him [Romans 8:28]. Joseph’s life and reconciliation with his brothers begins to lay the framework for a central idea within Christianity. Reconciliation through forgiveness.

His life and relocation to Egypt also opens the door to our next stop in this study.

God’s reveals the sinful nature of man through the Law.

Joseph brought his family to Egypt by the working of God and the twelve tribes of Israel were established in the sons of Israel Genesis 49:1-28, the twelve sons of Israel.

Let’s read the scriptures.

Exodus 1:1-12 - Oppression of Israel (Corrupt Culture) Oppression created even greater prosperity as a people

Exodus 2:1-15 - Moses the Man [Tribe of Levi]

Exodus Chapter 20 - The law given to Moses

Moses was used by God with many signs and wonders to bring about the release of Israel from Egypt. For this study I want to focus on what came after their release. In particular, I would like to focus on the law that was given to Moses for his people, Israel.

So, in reading the scriptures above we start to understand that God is now beginning to revise the culture of humanity. God uses Israel as an example to extend understanding to all of humanity. God wants humanity to know the ideas, customs, and social behaviours that are acceptable to Him. God delivers a doctrine contained in the Law that cannot be subverted, contravened, or eradicated.

In reading the law we come to understand exactly what is expected of us. God lays out line by line the agony of our nature, in that every item requires penalty upon contravention. Every line indicates the level of our depravity that these things must be written down to elicit compliance and obedience.

But the law did not accomplish this, why?

It’s simple because the bible classifies even the exemplary Israel as a stiff-necked people. In truth, by nature, we all are a stiff-necked people.

Let’s read the scriptures.

Acts 7:39-53 [Stephen’s testimony of how we are]

Romans 7:7-25 [Paul talks of the law] Paul wrestles with the understanding that as the law was given it proclaimed death to those who sin against it, yet he is powerless to fight against it within himself.

The scriptures above highlight the point I am making in this section. Humanity has never cultivated a culture or a doctrine that is pleasing to God, even when given the exact ideas, customs and or social behaviours. If we were able to keep God’s law, then we would be able to be called righteous within our own selves.

Jesus would not be necessary as we would be justified in God’s eyes by our own righteous acts. God gave us His laws to expose us, to us. God wants you to understand that just like Paul, you can have every intention or want to do good with all your might, your power, your striving, your strength but in the end it will never happen.

Let’s read the scriptures.

Isaiah 64:5-6 [Culture of the Unrighteous]

Romans 3:19-26 [Justification in Christ]

The nature of sin is too prevalent in all of us. The bible tells us our righteousness is like filthy rags. This is why Jesus came, because we need a saviour.

This brings us to the final point in this study.

Cultural Shift in Jesus

God reconciles the sinful nature of man through Himself.

Let’s read the scriptures.

John 1:1-17 [The cultural divide between children of God & children of the world is like the divide between the light & the dark.] Verse 17 Highlights that the understanding of Jesus moves us to a position of grace and mercy

Romans 5:8 [Sinners]

Romans 10:1-4 [Christ the end of the Law]

2 Corinthians 5:21 [Righteousness]

Romans 5:19 [Disobedience & Obedience]

John 8:3 -11 [No condemnation in Christ] Example

Romans 8:1-4 [No condemnation in Christ]

We have finally made it to our final destination. The proof of Jesus Christ. In reading the above scriptures we should gain a clear idea of Jesus’s role in our salvation. As Jesus came into this world He had one focus, one mission, and one goal, reconciliation.

Reconciliation with God.

What was culturally missing before Jesus?

The doctrine of Jesus, contentious and disputed in His time, was found to be in direct opposition to the presiding religious doctrine or culture of His day. Jesus’s ideas, customs and social behaviours were unrecognizable to the religious hierarchy of this world.

The scriptures say Jesus came to this world, and having created all things within the world, and yet in still we as the world did not recognize Him.

Jesus did exactly what He came here to do, be rejected, be tortured, be mocked, and subsequently be killed. Jesus endured all the violence, abuse, and hate while supplying love, forgiveness and redemption.

Before Jesus, we had the word, but we didn’t have the Spirit (John 16:5-16). Jesus opened the path to God allowing us to see who God is, in truth and in spirit. (John 4:21-24) Jesus showed us what God expects of us, and how we can be reconciled to that expectation.

Jesus did this by living with us, by eating with us, by walking and talking with us. Jesus did this by healing our sickness, by removing our fears, by providing acceptance. Jesus did this by praying with us, by praying for us, by relentlessly and passionately preaching to us.

Jesus did this by being here with us and by reminding us to be here for each other. Jesus is our teacher, our preacher, our friend, our creator and He is the living word of God.

Jesus is greater than any idea, more powerful than any custom, and beyond any behaviour. Jesus is my culture, not because I have become what I am supposed to be but rather because I continue to recognize, how far I am, from where I am supposed to be.

In closing I would like to conclude that the culture of Christ is best described in 2Timothy 2:1-15 with its doctrinal foundation in 2Timothy 3:16.  

Jesus is the living example that is used to teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness.

The culture of the world will continue to proceed forward, until it returns to the same culture that was present before the flood. As the bible identifies a culture having a form of godliness but denying the power.2Timothy 3:1-5 [Last Days]

The Culture of Christ is eternal and will be with us for forever.

So as far as culture is a phenomenon of man, The Culture of Christ will forever be the doctrine by which we must measure.

God Bless and Keep You always

JASONRapz