“Go Ahead…
...Make Your Mark!"
Some of us may remember watching the moon landing many years ago. It was a great accomplishment for those American astronauts to be the first to step foot on a place where no one had been before. The video and pictures of Neil Armstrong being the first to walk on the surface of the moon are constant reminders for future generations that what may seem impossible to some can be achieved by others. The images of the footsteps imbedded in the moon’s surface as well as the American flag placed in the ground are demonstrations of marks that were never before made.
Much like the first mission to the moon, Jesus Christ came into the earth to “make a mark” that would make a lasting impact on the world. Thousands of years before man went to the moon Jesus was doing things never before dreamed of. His ministry of preaching, teaching and healing not only impacted thousands of people in His day, but billions of lives in the centuries to follow. And that same mark He left, which has been made permanent by the written Word of God and the testimony of those who call Him Lord and Savior, is to be the mark that we as His chosen people are to make as well. A mark is defined as a “visible impression, a distinctive trait or characteristic, an object aimed at, an end desired or striven for, to be a distinguishing feature of.”
Everyone will have a different way of leaving their mark on the world, but the “visible impression” which should always be left is that of Christ. Never should our mark be showing our own image. Jesus said that if you “have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). His purpose was to show us who God the Father is. Our mark will reveal to the world who Jesus Christ is, the Son of God. In order to leave our mark, we must have a strategy to go about doing it. In the next few weeks, we will look at a way of accomplishing this through the use of a simple illustration and the Word of God.
The illustration is that of running a race. Most of us have watched a race run on a track, maybe when we were in school or maybe on television. The runners walk to the starting line and the starter gives them instructions over the loud speaker. Can you recall what the starter says? “On your marks, get set, go!” This first command to the runners to “get on their marks” illustrates the first part of our strategy to make our mark for Christ. We’ll take a look at the remaining two in the coming week.
The runners in a race are told to get on their marks. That is the place at the starting line where they are to begin the race. It is where they get their feet set, preparing to hear the next instruction. Similarly, God wants us to be in a place where we can get our feet planted. In what way should we as Christians “take our place”? There are 3 ways to take our place:
1) Take our place as sons and daughters of God. We must first be born again to be in God’s family (John 3:3). We must believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus according to Romans 10:9,10. The knowledge that we are children of God must gain the ascendancy in us or we will not make a mark.
2) Take our place in the authority that Christ has given us. Jesus says in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you”. He also tells us in Acts 1:8 that he gives us power to be witnesses. This authority and power must be active in the life of a believer in order to be in our place.
3) Take our place in the righteousness of God. According to 2 Corinthians 5:21, we are “made the righteousness of God in Christ”. This is great news! Through our faith in Christ, God looks at us in a right standing. We are in the same good standing in God’s eyes as His own Son. When we realize that God is not mad at us, but loves us and believes in us, we can then begin to take our place.
Now that we know where our place is and have taken it, we are ready to hear the next command from the starter: “get set!” Check back next week for the continuation of “Make Your Mark”!
