Pleasing Christ

(2 Corinthians 5:8-10)

It goes without saying that our desire as Christians is to please Christ. It is Christ that we serve and the work of a servant is to please the one who he or she serves.

These few verses show us the importance of pleasing Christ. It is important not only just for this life, but for the eternity we all seek with Christ Jesus.

It is by living IN Christ and walking with Him that we will receive the promise of eternity. So the question that immediately comes to mind is, “How do we please Christ?”

Pleasing Christ

What are the things that will please Christ and please God the Father? There are two key things we should keep in mind that will enable us to please both God the Father and Jesus Christ.

First, we must believe. Faith is the first and most important thing that will enable us to please Christ.

We must believe that God exists and that He has sent His Son into the world to redeem man from sin and death. When we believe these things we make a start towards His kingdom and pleasing Christ.

The challenge is for all of us to learn what to believe. There are many things that are taught in the name of Jesus Christ that are NOT the truth of His gospel of salvation. Many lies, falsehoods and half-truths that have infiltrated the teachings of the church over the past two millennia through the hand of Satan who drives his people through the desires of the flesh. Men have sought power in the church and succumbed to the evil of the devil to gain it, rather than following the truth of Jesus that leads to the power of God.

How will we find the truth? Through obedience to the word of the Lord that was written down for our instruction.

Which brings us to the second key to pleasing Christ. We must first believe and learn the truth, then we must follow the truth as laid down in the teachings of Jesus and His disciples in the bible.

He gave us an example in His life that we are to follow. He showed us what it means to please God through faith, mercy, justice, compassion and love. We find in His example the pathway to the kingdom of God.

And we learn from God that when we believe in the working God the Father wrought in Jesus Christ, He gives us His holy spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance, and to guide us into all the truth.

Our Aim Is To Please Christ

Paul makes the point in this scripture that whatever our state and wherever we are, our aim is to please the Lord. He says,

8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. – (2 Corinthians 5:8-9)

It is not enough to just do what is pleasing to Christ on a part-time basis. We can’t just show up to church on a Sunday to warm a pew but live a life of sinfulness for the rest of the week and presume that this will please God or be pleasing to Christ.

What they are seeking is people who follow in the ways of the Lord 24/7. Church or Christianity is not something we do. Christianity is a way of life that is an all of life commitment.

And it is not a hard thing to do when our desire is to please Christ. As we grow we learn the benefits of pleasing Him. We live a better life and receive the blessings of a life in Christ that is pleasing to Him.

When we follow His ways as He prescribed in the bible and through His own example, we are greatly blessed. We do not have to fear whatever happens in this world because we know there is a better place. And when we do what is right in this world, no one can condemn us because we are doing what is good both in the sight of God and of men.

Sure there will be persecutions because we are opposing the spiritual ruler of this world (the devil) and he hates what we stand for. But for the most part, we do live a peaceful life as Christians.

Judgement Day

The final verse in this section cuts right to the heart of why we need to please Christ. And I should add that we do not aim to please Christ through the requirement to comply for fear of retribution. We aim to please Christ through love because we are committed to love in Christ Jesus.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. – (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Here is the final point about the need to please Christ. Every person who has ever lived or will ever live on this earth is going to stand before the Judgement seat of Christ and will be judged. The sentence will be passed on every person for what they have done in the body, whether it is good or evil. They will be weighed and measured in terms of their faith and the actions that match their faith or lack of it.

No one will escape judgement and all will receive the due reward or penalty for what they have done in the flesh.

Those who have been judged to have pleased Christ will receive the reward of the righteous. They will be given a place in the final kingdom of God to live with Him for eternity in a place without sin, sickness, evil or death.

As for those who fail to meet God’s standard and have not done what is pleasing to Christ, they will be judged harshly and will suffer the second death, which is the destruction of the spirit.

Do you seek to enter into Gods’ eternal kingdom? Then seek to do what is pleasing to Christ. There is no other way to life other than by pleasing Christ, so we all must learn His ways as He set them down, and then follow them.

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