By Staff
It is a great mystery that people who serve a loving God are maligned. Christians who give, care, and share are sometimes victims of horrible atrocities.
In the months and years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christians suffered persecution at the hands of the Jewish leaders, the Roman government, and people who lived in many so-called Gentile countries.
Jesus spoke of the persecution coming to His followers in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake . . .” (Matthew 5:10). The Apostle Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 12, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
The Apostle Peter in his first epistle written to the Christian pilgrims, chapter 4, verses 2-4, drew a distinction between the “will of God” (v. 2) and the “will of the Gentiles” (v. 3).
The will of God is to arm yourself with the mind of Christ and resist the lusts of the flesh or sinful practices.
Peter goes on in verse 3 to describe the “will of the Gentiles.” It was walking in “lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.” Verse 4 of 1 Peter 4 continues, “. . . they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.” The scene Peter describes is people who are living in sinful practices speaking evil of those who are not.
Another factor Peter mentions is in verse 3: “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles.” Most Christians did not start as Christians; they were converted through salvation from doing the will of the Gentiles to doing the will of God.
So, why are authentic Christians hated? It is nothing new. Days after Jesus Christ named His twelve apostles, He sent them out with this word, “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). In verse 17 Jesus said the apostles would be delivered up to councils and scourged. In verse 21 of Matthew 10, Jesus said that families would be divided for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In verse 22, He goes on to say, “You will be hated by all for My name's sake.”
The fact that these followers of Christ were hated is even more amazing when you study what they were told to do. The assignment is given by Jesus in Matthew, chapter 10, verses 7-8: “As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”
The message of divine accountability for your life, and the obvious demonstration of the power of God in the miracles, brought people face to face with the inevitable fact: there is a God, and we will all answer to Him.
Jesus declared in the gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 19, “This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
Jesus is the Light of the world.
Light always penetrates darkness. Darkness does not welcome light. Authentic Christians living godly in Christ Jesus are the light of the world since Jesus has gone back to the Father. Authentic Christians will be hated for being . . . authentic Christians.
Let your light shine.
There is no other hope for a world mired in the “will of the Gentiles.”