Week 6 – Thursday – Believing for Christ’s sake

Read Philippians 1:29. Now go read Psalm 23:3, 106:8, Romans 1:5, and Ephesians 1:11-14.

We’re going to do that NASB thing again for Philippians 1:29 -
“For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”

Did you notice a theme in those verses? We need to clear up a misconception. Jesus didn’t die because of you. His sacrifice is offered to you. But it wasn’t because of you that Christ died on the cross. He didn’t need to reconcile Himself to you. He wasn’t lonely. He isn’t needy.

Jesus died on the cross because of Himself.

Why Does it Matter?
Without understanding that Christ’s death on the cross and our belief in Him is for His glory – we are in incredible danger. We are in danger of thinking that life is all about ourselves. The only problem with that is that it’s what we already thought.

Jesus is not in the business of letting us think that life is about us. When we take the cross and make it about us, the very thing that should kill our pride convinces us to have more.

<> In what areas of your life do you struggle with pride?
<> What are ways that we make the cross out to be about us instead of Jesus?
<> How does the cross destroy your pride?

Believing for Christ’s Sake
It’s not too hard to think of the ways we think that Christ died for our sake. He is our way into heaven. He promises us life abundant. He gives us comfort. He is satisfying. He is our portion. He is our hope. Some false teachers would even argue that He desires for us to be wealthy and healthy for all our days.

<> But what would it look like for our belief to be for Christ’s sake?

The idea of His sake or His name’s sake is the idea of Christ’s fame. According to Philippians our belief in Christ is for the sake of Christ. Here’s how it works: When our lives become radically transformed by the gospel, two things happen. 1.) We worship and 2.) other people notice and over time they come to worship.

By both of those processes, Christ is glorified and made famous. Louie Giglio once told a story of two teenage guys who camped out for multiple nights in order to buy the brand new Xbox 360. The newspaper covered the story and had Bill Gates face on the front page as the creator of the system. Their lives were changed in a peculiar way and the creator of that change received the glory.