Disgraced for Christ – July 17, 2019

By faith Moses . . . regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt.
Hebrews 11:24,26

Disgraced for Christ

We live in a world that is increasingly anti-Christian. The truths that God speaks in his Word seem to face greater hostility every day.

Christian college students are ridiculed by peers and professors. They are mocked for believing that the world was created by God in six 24-hour days. They are marginalized for believing that the Bible is a reliable source for any truth at all.

Christians are labeled as out-of-touch and unloving for believing and promoting God’s design for marriage, family, and home.

Christian children and their parents face pressure to fill their lives with activities that leave no time for God’s Word.

For the sake of Christ, Christians are ridiculed, disgraced, and marginalized. In some places, they are forced to give up their jobs, their freedom, and even their lives for the sake of confessing the Christ of the Bible.

When Moses faced disgrace for the sake of Christ, he regarded that disgrace “as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt.” It sounds strange, doesn’t it? Who considers disgrace to be something valuable?

But think about this. Christ himself left behind heaven to be mistreated on earth. He gave up the pleasures of life in paradise to endure disgrace and death in our sinful world.

Christ endured that disgrace for our sake and in our place. Christ died for our tendency to turn our backs on him and his truth in order to avoid the disgrace of the world. Then Christ was raised to life to give us the hope and certainty that life waits for us after death too—a life of peace and pleasure, harmony and happiness, treasure and triumph.

Christ did all of that because he knew what life was like without sin and sorrow, disease and death. And he wanted us to have that. He wanted to deliver us from our slavery to disobedience to enjoy the freedom of life with him forever.

Because Christ suffered disgrace for us, we gladly and willingly endure disgrace for his sake, knowing the perfect love we see in his suffering and the freedom we have through him for this life and for eternity.

Prayer:
Thank you for enduring disgrace for me. Lead me to willingly endure disgrace for your sake. Amen.