Identity in Christ - 18 (Devil's Enemy)

The Bible urges us to keep prepared and alert for Satan's attacks. Satan wants to entice us to sin, to discourage us, to make us miserable. All of this, to convince us that it is not worth it to follow God. To get us to quit.

It seems a little far-fetched to conclude that Satan is exerting a tremendous amount of time, energy and resources to cause the downfall of one lowly individual. 

"I am no high powered Christian. I am not a pastor. I hardly shared the gospel or pray. I forget to read the Bible most days. Why does Satan seem so worked up?"

(1) God's mission in the world is to restore his glory by re-establishing his kingdom. He accomplishes this by renewing relationships with people, transforming their lives, so they live as they were designed to live, and mobilize his family as his agents. As the members of his family love, share his message, and demonstrate his nature, many will be motivated to join his family.

If Satan can bring pressure on God's children, he might be able to short circuit the process. If a person does not follow God any longer, he does not act as God's agent. There is less love, less evangelism, and less demonstration of God's nature., Or better, there are distortions of these behaviors in God's agents. Lives are not transformed. People are not stirred to consider beginning a relationship with the Father.

The ultimate aim of Satan is to hinder the expansion and restoration of God's kingdom. And with it, the magnification of God's glory. Satan began to be Satan, when he decided that he wanted the glory that only God deserved. If he couldn't have it, he made sure God couldn't have it either. Satan seeks to disrupt the restoration of God's kingdom, because he believes it robs God of glory.

(2) There is a phenomena happening in different parts of the world. And there are people studying it. The name that they give this phenomena is "Church Planting Movements." (CPM)

CPM's occur when the gospel is introduced to an area, impacting the people, and there is a massive proliferation of churches, involving tens of thousands of people in a short time. It is a multi-megaton nuclear explosion of God's kingdom.

This explosion begins with one person. And that is what Satan is afraid of. Each explosion brings God tremendous glory. Each person who chooses to give their allegiance to Jesus (even each person who becomes open to Jesus) has the potential to set off a movement that will sweep a whole people group into God's kingdom.

• God's Perspective

Each person was designed originally by God to live like Jesus. And, though, each person is unique (different gifts, perspectives and motivations), each person has the potential to turn society and culture upside down. All that is required is faith, love, the Holy Spirit in a person's heart and an active relationship with the Father.

•  Living My Life

I'm sure the Father would like all of us to ignite an explosion of the gospel in, at least, one people group in the world. Certainly, if a person does not start his own fire, he would like him to add to the conflagration. To position ourselves to complete this type of work:

•  Participate in a relationship with the Father. Last entry, I mentioned the idea of focusing one's heart on the Father. This focus creates a channel between a person's heart and the Father's heart. Love and grace flow from the Father's heart to the person's heart, healing and strengthening our lives. We give God the opportunity to work in our hearts as he wills.
• Act in faith and love. These two take truth, as God sees it, and the flow of God's heart, grace and love, and introduce them to the world.
• Cooperate with the Spirit. People have no power over the human heart. It is the Spirit who takes the flow from the Father's heart, expressed in faith and love by God's family, and creates impact in human hearts. 

In this way, the Father impacts the world, expands his kingdom, receives glory, and his family puts the fear of God into Satan's heart.

Identity in Christ - 17b (Dearly Loved)

In the passage I referred to in the last post, the writer points out that the process we discussed (perseverance, character, hope) is powered by the Holy Spirit. He guides and enables. He encourages and motivates. He corrects and reproves.

The Father works continuously to help us live as we were meant to. He is always speaking to us. And the Spirit is his willing and ever ready partner in this. He is working deep in the core of our being to produce good in us. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts is one of the foremost demonstrations of the Father's total, sold-out love for us.

• God's Perspective

The Spirit is given to reside in the hearts of human beings for a number of reasons:

• Power and guidance for service.
• Instruction for transformation.
• Relationship building.

Specifically, the Spirit dwells in us to communicate God's love straight to our hearts. God's love is the primary motivation to pursue God's mission. God's love is the primary force behind our transformation. God's love is the primary thing God want people to know about him.

The world was not created for sin; therefore, the world was not created for judgment. The world was a place where God's love -- and therefore, God's glory -- ought to be on display.

God's love is displayed -- in Jesus, on the cross. God shows his love. But because of sin, people are cut off from God's love. 

Receiving Christ is important. Just as a baby being born is important. But it is only the start. God intended to communicate his love to us 24 x 7 x 365 from eternity past. And he could not until we were born. At the point of salvation, God is now in the position he wanted to be in from the beginning.

And the Spirit becomes God's channel of love to our hearts.

• Living My Life

I mentioned an idea promoted by Mike Bickle earlier this year. When we focus our hearts on the Father, the Father focuses his heart on us. And he begins causing a flow of grace and love to our hearts, filling our hearts. with both.

Given this, prayer and meditation take on a whole new meaning. Prayer and meditation (and worship -- as a type of combination of the two) become major channels of growth, healing and transformation. And God's love becomes the catalyst of wholeness and restoration.

Perseverance

One passage of Scripture begins by reminding us that we can rejoice, because we have been placed into Christ, a unique and favorable position. And we can rejoice as we anticipate God revealing his glory. And we can rejoice when we encounter trouble.

We do not rejoice because we encounter trouble; we rejoice because of what God will accomplish in us and through us. We will all experience trouble of one sort or another: sickness, unemployment, bad relationships, accidents. We will all need to deal with the fall out of trouble.

People deal with trouble in all sorts of ways. They flee – avoiding anything and anyone involved. They explode – attacking anything and anyone involved. The solution given in Scripture … persevere.

“Perseverance” is a patient pursuit of goals or objectives in spite of  difficulty, obstacles or discouragement. It is important in life to put first things first. It sounds sort of unspiritual, but people need to know their priorities. Priorities are not unspiritual. The first priority is “put God first.” The Bible uses other language to express this, but the message comes down to this. Fleeing or exploding puts something else first.

We know from other parts of Scripture that perseverance is part of God’s nature. When we patiently persist in the face of a negative force or environment, we are expressing God’s nature. We are living out our original design. Perseverance is more than keeping one’s priorities. It is also demonstrating God’s nature.

Maintaining our priorities (putting God first) can have a number of practical results. There can be a temptation to avoid practices that are intended to build our relationship with the Father: worship, prayer, reading and meditating on Scripture, gathering with members of the family. There can be a temptation to postpone pursuing assignments that complete God’s mission.

If a person continues to pursue their relationship with the Father, to pursue God’s mission and the place in the mission in the face of trouble, they take steps in building habits and practices that flow from how the Father designed people. The word that is used to describe these habits and practices is “character.”

Character, especially in the face of trouble, demonstrates God’s character and God’s reality. It gives us confidence in God’s words – it works the way it says it does. So, we have a positive expectation of the future – God will continue to do and to work as he said he will. So, we will never be disappointed in him, or in our life with him.

Identity in Christ - 17a (Dearly Loved)

I have been becoming convinced over the last few months that the most fundamental fact is "God is love." God created the universe to show his glory. But God created people to show his love ... which does show his glory. (I have read recently, at least according to one person, that God's holiness, justice and punishment of sin is really a demonstration of his love.)

I have previously said that I was given this list of identity traits. Each trait had a Bible verse associated with it. When I first read the Bible passage for this trait, I wondered if it was a misprint of the reference.  As a result,  I looked for another verse.  But I also thought about the given passage. Ergo, 17a and 17b.

 

The passage begins by reminding us that, although Jesus had lived among us, he is no longer here. He is with the Father in heaven.

 

When we gave our allegiance to Jesus, we were placed in him. Our position is in Christ. So, our position is "where" he is. He is in God's kingdom,  seated with the Father. We are in God's kingdom, seated with the Father. Since, we are with the Father, we are not in the world. So, we should not think like we are in the world. 

 

The passage continues by stressing that we are separated from the world.  The separation is so total and complete that it can only be compared to death. And to the same extent that we are separated from the world, we are connected to Christ. The separation is total and final.  The connection is total and final. Scripture goes one step further.  We are concealed in Christ. The Father declares how much he values his children by creating them like buried treasure.

• God's Perspective

 

Our lives are concealed in Christ.  People do not put valuable items in insecure places. People put valuable items in safe places, so they won't be lost, stolen, damaged, or  misused. The more valuable the object is the safer the place it gets put.

 

Collectors put unique, valuable art in vaults that have strong locked doors, are temperature, humidity and UV controlled. Procedures for allowing people into the vaults are developed. Is there anywhere safer than next to the Creator of the universe, on the throne with the Son, surrounded by millions of angels?

The Father demonstrates his love for his children by treating them as if they were more valuable than Rembrandt's and Van Gogh's It says in another place that we are his masterpieces. He treats us like masterpieces because he loves us.

• Living My Life

The passage says that since we are concealed in Christ, we need, first of all, to develop different patterns of thinking. We have a new life. We are no longer citizens of the world system. We need to learn the standards and expectations of our new home, God's kingdom. We need to learn the behaviors that flow from those standards and expectations.

 

If we are in Christ, seated on the throne at God the Father's right hand, then access to the Father is easy, immediate and complete. The Father is close to Jesus, and always listens to him with 100% focus and attention, and will act on his behalf. So, the Father will listen and do for us.

 

If we are God's valuable and beloved masterpiece:

1. We need to remember that God has gone to extraordinary lengths to protect and preserve us. We should be wise in what we give ourselves to. 
2. We need to hold God’s opinion of us. We are his masterpiece. It is impossible for him to lie. 
3. We need to hold to God’s view for failure and discipline. They are not for making our lives miserable, but to purify and facilitate our growth. God sees us the same way in success or failure.

Identity in Christ - 16 (Chosen in Christ)

Here is a mystery. At times, Scripture says things like this, and people can only go "huh?" Humans are limited by time and space. God exists outside of both. So, he knows what happens at one end. He knows what exists at the other end.

When we looked at "adopted by God," we saw that God chose us to be his children. Scripture also says he chose us "in Christ." He did not choose us, because we were the best behaved, or the cutest. We were chosen based on our response to Jesus.

The confusion stems from the fact that God saw of time from outside of time, and before any process of history. God knew everyone's choice before they made it. God could have written the Book of Life before the creation of the universe.

God saw us, knew us, loved us and chose us before creation.

• God's Perspective

This gives a lot of people problems. If God saw, knew, loved and chose those who responded to Jesus, he also saw, knew and did not choose those who rejected Jesus. To many, that means God did not love them.

Love does seek inclusion. Love does not guarantee it. Ask anyone who has experienced unrequited love.

Still, many ask some version of the question: if a person knows something bad will happen, as a result of their action, should not common decency indicate the person should choose a different action? When such a question is applied to God, with such things as love, eternal judgment, and eternal blessing taken into consideration, a person find themselves stepping into a quagmire. I am not going to deal with such questions here. Others do a much better job of it than I would do. (for example)

I would to consider me though. There are times I consider my life and I am amazed at how black my heart is. Most people would generally consider me a pretty good guy. Yet, I see bad things no one else sees. And God, who sees much more clearly and completely than I do, must see much more.

So, the amazing thing is that he still chose me. Given what I know of my failures, I don't know if I would choose me. He still affirms his choice, his love and his acceptance of me. He still works to bless, to strengthen, to help me grow and to use me as his agent in the world.

• Living My Life

Knowing that God sees and knows me, and still loves and chooses me, in spite off what he knows fills me with amazement.

The fact that God does not give up on me is one of the main motivation factors of my life. I submit my life to his expectations, training and discipline. I choose to embrace my role as his agent and representative. I organize my life to pursue worship, learning, transformation, prayer and service.

His choice before the creation of the world that he is totally committed to his children, his plan and his purposes. Which means among other things, he is totally sold out for me.

Identity in Christ - 15 (Complete in Christ)

Scripture says that when we are seeing Jesus, we are seeing the Father. We don't physically see the Father, but we do see Jesus. So, one way to know what the Father is like is to look at Jesus. They have the same attitudes, motivations, habits and goals.

When Jesus lived in the world, he had the same personality as the Father, but he lived a human life. He lived a life in submission to the Father, in dependence, by faith. All that he accomplished in life, he did in faith, in the authority granted to him by the Father. And because we have given Jesus our allegiance, we are united with him before the Father. And because we are united with him, all the resources available to him are available to us.

● God's Perspective

We have stated here beflre, the key component of our identity is: we are "in Christ." God the Father sees us, treats us and reguards us through Jesus. It is like we are in an airplane. If we are in an airplane and it's flying, we are flying, but it's not really us. It is the airplane. So, whatever Jesus u dergoes, we undergo. Whatever Jesus receives, we receive. Jesus died, was buried, was raised and went to heaven. And we went with him. Jesus had a close relationship to the Father. We have one available. Jesus had all the resources of heaven available to him.  So do we. He was complete. So are we.

● Living My Life

We are complete. We need nothing, because God has given everything. But we will probably not experience everything, because creation is still broken. God is restoring it, but it is still not complete. We live in a "here, but not yet" kingdom.

Part of "not yet" is: we are learning to approprate God's grace.  It is available,  but we have hearts that cannot receive. We don't have faith for it.

Part of "not yet" is: the world is in rebellion. We are at war.

There are no doubt other factors involved in "no yet" that I don't know, perhaps no one does. The question becomes: how do we live in completeness?

Scripture says Jesus gave his disciples authority to do what he did, live as he lived, to become like him. We can pursue that. Pursue:
● our relationship with the Father.
● transformation of heart.
● keeping our hearts tuned to his voice, his guidance.
● walking in love and faith.
● praying BIG.
● obeying BIG.

And living with failure, realizing that we are partners with God. The plan is his. The strategy is his. The results are his.

Identity in Christ - 14 (Circumcized in Christ)

"Circumcision" is a surgical procedure. It is a removal of skin. God commanded Israel to follow this procedure to make them district from the people groups around them.

But it is not obvious.  You can't walk down the street and see that someone is circumcised; and that someone else is not. God directed Israel to institute an un-obvious distinction.

If God wanted everyone to see this distinction, he would have done something else.  Israel would have had a different hairstyle or clothing. The distinction is not obvious for a purpose. The distinction is communicated to the hearts of Israel. Distinction based on undergoing a surgical procedure is no different than a distinction based on a different hairstyle. If it doesn't get into the heart, there is no difference.

The distinction was not obvious, but each Jew knew it was there. And that was the point. It was intended to create that awareness. The mark in the flesh was designed to make a mark in the heart.

● God's Perspective

Israel was chosen as God's people to demonstrate his character to the world. God worked in Israel's history, in their culture,  so he would become more real, and his works would become more real. As he becomes more real, more solid,  we learn to lean on him, trust in him, and live in obedience to him. We confidently live out his purposes.

Does God want us to speak to those, who have no relationship with him, about him? Of course he does. When was the last time? When it comes down to it, there are very few reasons why people do not obey God in this.  It comes down to love (God and people) and trust (God).

I am not accusing. I am just as guilty. It is just obvious that if we loved him, knew and trusted him, and believed what he said, we would move naturally into situations where revealing Jesus to people would be as easy as falling off a log, as simple as ABC, and as natural as organic granola.

● Living My Life

Scripture says anyone, who gives his allegiance to Jesus, is circumcised with Christ -- whether they have undergone the surgical procedure or not. Anyone in Christ undergoes a procedure of the heart. There is a removing of "flesh" from the heart.

The process of being identified in Christ's death (crucifiction, burial and resurrection) is a metaphor of how sin's power is crushed in our lives. Circumcision is another metaphor of sin's defeat. Just as flesh is removed from a human body, sin's power is also separated from us.

We will always live with sin's presence. We will unfortunately also sin. But without the defeat of its power,  any hope of growth is in vain.

The penalty of sin is paid. The power of sin is defeated. Only the presence of sin remains. It will be defeated, but only in the fullness of God's kingdom.

We now have the authority to choose. We can choose love, trust and obedience. We can choose humility and generosity. Right choices breed right choices. Which breeds right character. Which breeds fruit in our lives and the lives of others.

Identity in Christ - 13 (Crucified with Christ)

It seems like the main concept of our identity in Christ: "being in Christ." Since, we are following quasi-alphabetical order, this main concept is in the "I's" and it will be a while before we tackle it head on. But we are considering many facets derive from that. It could be compared to cutting limbs from a tree, perhaps to get at the root more easily.

Scripture says we are crucified with Christ. Even though we did not feel the pain or experience the shame, we do experience the consequences of Jesus on the cross. He died satisfying God's justice, restoring God's honor. My life is tied to that. God's justice is satisfied in my life. God's glory shines brighter and clearer.

Moreover, the person I was is gone. When Jesus died, sin was expunged; and the people who in Jesus died with him. When Jesus rose, he demonstrated that sin and death had no power over him. And for those in Jesus, sin and death have no power over them either. It is the Spirit who powers the resurrected Jesus. It is the Spirit who powers us.

• God's Perspective

God deals with sin on the cross. The cross is the final solution. When Jesus died, God's dilemma of being holy and just or loving and merciful is no longer a problem. He is both.

When Jesus died, God's dilemma of judging and condemning men for sin, or loving and blessing men is no longer a problem. Jesus was substituted for one, and we are invited to accept and live in the other. It does not become man's by default. Jesus lit a candle in the darkness. Like moths, we are all drawn to the flame. When we get to the light, we can live in the light, or go back into the darkness.

• Living My Life

I come to Jesus; I immerse myself in his death; I rise with him as a new person. I am powered by the Spirit. The life I live agrees with what I believe. By faith, I reach out and lay hold of God's promises. By faith, I reach out and lay hold of God's resources, cease practicing words, deeds and thoughts that dishonor God, practicing different words, deeds and thoughts that do honor God, show God's image and complete his mission and purposes.

Lying hold of Christ by faith puts me in the correct position, in him. And being him releases me to live as God designed me to live.

Identity in Christ - 12 (Called by God)

“Called” can be translated as “invited.” We have been invited by God to live eternal life. It is our choice to join him.

I have recently read that one of the problems communicating the gospel to Buddhists is this term “eternal life.” “Life” to Buddhists is an existence of suffering and trouble. That is the prime character trait of life. Who would want to live forever in an existence of pain and suffering?  Implied in the Christian concept is a restoration of Eden. Life, as we know it, is not how life is intended to be … Eden is. We are not invited to normal life; we are invited to live in Eden, in the new Jerusalem.

• God’s Perspective

God create a world to create a family. And his family collapsed. Not through his doing or his desire. It collapsed because of decisions be family members. Foremost, we need to see that God wants his family back.

He has acted to remove the barriers to allow a reunion. The only barrier remaining is: the children need to choose to come home. Once, they come home, they are part of the family again. And the Father empowers “eternal life.” Not just forever life with him – in joy, in peace, without pain, without suffering and without sorrow. To live, now, a life that renewed, characterized by the perfected life of heaven.

• Living My Life

Life, to which we have been invited to live, is a now, but not yet life. We will never live fully and completely as we were designed to live, as we will when we join the Father in heaven. Yet we are meant to:

1. In a true relationship and communication with the Father. 
2. In a growing lifestyle that comforts with Jesus’ life, in thought, word, deed, motivation and intention.

Identity in Christ - 11 (Child of God)

Jesus died so the penalty and power of sin might be done away with. Jesus died so the way might be opened for us to join God’s family.

When we gave Jesus our allegiance, the Father adopted us, brought us home to live with him and his family. He made us his own. Now, like all good fathers, he is concerned about caring for us, guiding us and providing for us. He wants us to develop, grow, achieve our potential, live our dreams and make decisions that bring good into the world. He will work with us, walk with us every step of the way, to make certain these things happen. He speaks to us all the time. However, we aren’t always tuned in.

We do not know what the final result should be. We do know the Father wants us to be like Jesus. We have a hazy picture of what that is. But he is making it clearer and clearer.

•  God’s Perspective

We are members of his family. Each of us have a unique and special relationship with our Father. Even though his children number in the hundreds of millions, he is able to given each child 100% focused attention. He is able to work in the minute details of each child’s life.

We have all heard of stories about terrible fathers. They are cruel. They are selfish. They make awful decisions that have a 100-megaton impact on their children’s lives. We, as children of the All-Good Father, may experience bad things. But it will never be at the hand of a cruel, selfish, unwise father. His goals and intentions have always been from eternity past, from the time he designed us, our good, our joy and our peace. He is always 100% sold out for us.

• Living My Life

Realizing God’s attitude about us and for us, should give his children an amazing life posture. Again, I don’t think God takes sin lightly; I don’t think his children should take sin lightly. I am beginning to think for too many give it more importance than it should. Our hearts are given to avoid dis-pleasing God. We should focus our hearts on pleasing God.

Focusing on “not displeasing” leads to a life of making sure we are keeping the rules. And we can never keep the rules. (NOTE: do not use this as a license to break the rules. That is not the point.) We go from sin, to guilt trip, to resolution to do better, to sin … in a never ending spiral.

We need to focus on resting and relying on his love and provision. We need to trust in his intentions and work, which he has shown and proven time and again. We need to be grateful for what he has done, knowing that his actions demonstrate his absolute support for his children. He has already given us what we need, and made available everything else we might need. We need to cooperate with his purposes for us, realizing it entails some way of sharing love.

Living as God’s child means refraining giving too much time and energy to failures, when the major portion of both should be our relationship with our Father, and the natural expression of love, that should be the outcome of the relationship.

Heart and Sin

{NOTE: Theorizing alert.} I sometimes think that people are more upset by sin in God’s children than God is. Don’t misunderstand. I don’t think God takes sin lightly. But in light of Jesus’ death, he takes it seriously for different reasons.

Before we gave our allegiance to Jesus, we gave our hearts to sin. Sin was our life. When we gave our allegiance to Jesus, we gave our hearts to him. He was our life.

Before Jesus, we were God’s enemies, because we broke God’s law with rebellious hearts. After Jesus, we were God’s children. We broke God’s law, but not with rebellious hearts. We had chosen to submit our hearts to him.

Continued sin has many reasons. Some are expressing habits learned through a lifetime. Some are using old ways to fill heart-holes. So, after Jesus, God’s primary concern with sin is behavior that goes contrary to our design. Yes, sin breaks God’s law. But Jesus died to overcome the penalty of sin. Now God can focus on “healthy living.” God tells us not to sin, not because he will condemn us, but because it interferes with our relationship with him, our growth and our ability to demonstrate his nature to the world.

God and Holes in the Heart

God designed people to run on certain fuels. Just as the human body needs a number of different nutrients, the human spirit also needs a number of different “nutrients.” (I use the term “fuels.”) One of the primary fuels is our relationship with God. We could even consider it the first fuel, because the others need to rest on it. For example, love from other people is another primary fuel. Our love-relationship with God is the foundation that our love-relationship rests on. It is not that a relationship with people, without God, will not provide power. But the relationship with God is a key catalyst that magnifies the effects of the relationship with people. The relationship with people is processed better. Purpose is another primary fuel. The relationship with God provides a channel to focus the effects of purpose through.

Sin broke the relationship with God. Before Jesus, we live without this primary fuel. And each person’s heart has holes with no way to fill them. When we give Jesus our allegiance, God comes into relationship with us, and he begins supplying the fuel and filling the holes.

Often, without a God-relationship, people try to use other fuels as the first fuel. This fails, of course. The human body needs both salt and water. But it does no good to overdose on one, in hopes it will make up for a lack of the other.

Even with a God-relationship, people will still try to use other fuels in the wrong way. God made male and female. God made them so that together they might represent him, to display his nature. So, in most cases, he will put one male and one female together, forming this wonderful thing called family. The male/female combination is good. Family is good. But we all know people who believe that what is required for them to achieve eternal bliss, heaven on earth, irrepressible joy, is involvement in their own male/female combination. As anyone who has been married for a while will tell you, it’s a lie. (I am married. I like being married. My wife is wonderful. I cannot conceive of any circumstances that would convince me to become un-married.) But I am beginning to wonder if, overall, there are not more problems as a result of marriage. Many problems occur as a result of relationship issues. More relationships, more problems. Do people have more relationships before or after they get married? And let us understand, problems do not necessarily mean there is animosity between people in a relationship.

Because people misuse these other fuels, when we accept Jesus, when the Holy Spirit takes up residence, a person’s heart can be really messed up. Even with our Father, who loves us, properly applying this first fuel, there is still a lot of cleaning, repairing and restoring to make an individual heart the way it should be.

And some people do not seem to get past this misuse. They do not seem to learn how sold out their Father is for them, for their good and they do not learn how to correctly utilize the first fuel that their Father gives them.

And sometimes, this misuse spreads to things that are not fuel at all.

Identity in Christ - 10 (Citizen of Heaven)

In the passage where Paul proclaims we are citizens of heaven, he is urging followers of Christ to live a new lifestyle. Live a lifestyle that he himself models. There are many who proclaim their allegiance to Jesus, but they do not have a lifestyle that demonstrates it. If our allegiance is to Jesus, our first consideration is Jesus. Does our lifestyle agree with Jesus? Does it honor Jesus? Does it present him positively? There are people who say they are aligned with Jesus, but their behavior shows their primary pursuit is their own appetites.

The passage says that such people are headed for destruction. Many interpret this as such people will receive God's divine judgment. This is a logical conclusion, but not the only conclusion. Because we are designed for relationship with the Father, we know that obedience to him is the best way to pursue that relationship. To pursue anything else, we are headed in a direction that goes against our design. If we change the oil in our car in agreement with its design specs, we increase its life and efficiency. If not, we introduce destruction.

The passage also says we are citizens of heaven. We are citizens of the kingdom where Jesus is living now. Our home is not where we are living now. Our home is in heaven with our Father and Jesus the Lord.

● God's Perspective

God considers us citizens of his kingdom already. Even if we are not living in the land, we have the rights and privileges of citizens. We have protection under God's law of love and provision in grace. We have 24x7x365 access to the king, and he gives us 100% focused attention. We are the Father's children and heirs. We have authority to change the landscape of the world, if we understand his heart and learn to trust him to work.

● Living My Life

Of course, citizens of all kingdoms have responsibilities as citizens. But citizens of God's kingdom have more, because they are not just citizens. They are God's diplomatic corps. They are God's representatives.

Identity in Christ - 9 (Blessed)

It should be obvious when someone begins going through a quasi-alphabetical list that eventually one will come across an object that presents more of a mystery. "Blessed" is one such.

One, it seems too general. Being "adopted" is a blessing. Being "appointed" is a blessing. All parts of identity in Christ are blessings.

Two, I have a Bible passage associated with each identity trait. The passage associated with "blessed" uses the same word from the original language three times. Well, not the same word precisely. The first "blessed" is related to the Father. The intent is giving thanks or praise. It is a celebration of God's generosity to us.

The second two are used together. One is in verb form; one is in noun form. And I'm sorry, but "being blessed with blessings" just sounds foreign to this English speaker. The verb refers to generous giving,  producing prosperity and happiness. The noun refers to numerous benefits given to us.  The passage actually says "all the blessings. "

When we gave our allegiance to Jesus, we became citizens of his kingdom and members of his family. Right at that moment, all the privileges of citizenship become ours. Right at that moment, all the privileges of family became ours. We were given our own set of keys to the house. If God's family had a family car, we would be given keys to it too. If God's kingdom had elections, we would have gotten our polling place card.

● God's Perspective

We are given all the blessings. It is true,  we may not be experiencing all the blessings. But we do have the right and authority to reach out and access them.  If we are a member of the country club, we have a right to golf. We also have the right to use a golf cart. Because we like to walk, or don't know where the golf cart garage is, does not mean that we are not allowed to use one. Maybe we need to ask a question. Like "Where is the garage?" And "how do I get the keys? "

We are members of the family. It doesn't matter who we were or are, we are not cut off from the blessing of God. We are not banned from access to blessing, because of age, gender, ethnicity, religious affiliation, position or title (or lack of position or title) or education. We gain access to the blessings of the Father, based on the fact that we are members of the family of God, and how much trust we put in the generosity of our Father. I need to recognize my need for what God has to give, and to recognize his willingness and desire to give it.

● Living My Life

Many of God's children live like orphans. They assume they need to go through life using their will power, their resources and their strength.

This is especially true regarding making changes to their life to live in agreement with God's design. The more deeply rooted a pattern (sin or otherwise) is in their life, the more fixed it is in their hearts. And all of our strength and will power has no effect on our hearts. We might be able to say "no" to something for a while, but we will always fall back into old patterns and failures.

The Father has what we need to live out our decisions. He has resources to restore our hearts. And he wants to make these resources available. We need to trust his generosity. We need to trust that what he makes available is sufficient.

Maybe we need to be given more to prayer -- to identify the holes in our hearts, to request the resources to fill them. Maybe we need to trust his generosity more.

If a father, who is perfectly faithful and trustworthy, promises to deposit some money in their child's account to provide for a need, should the child wait for some outside confirmation? Or should the child just write the check? It is human to wait for confirmation. It is trust to write the check.

Identity in Christ - 8 (Baptized into Christ)

I sometimes wonder if "died with Christ," "buried with Christ" and "raised with Christ" ought to be done as a unit.  I am sure that there are details that are true in each item, that are valuable to understand.  But all three items form a continuum in our spiritual experience.

But it is "baptism into Christ" that actualizes all three items. "To baptize" means "to immerse" or "to place into" in the original language.  Linguists have found a pickle recipe where the vegetable should be baptized in vinegar. It is also used for "submerged" as in "sunken ships."

The Bible says we are "baptized into Christ." This is a process of identification.  When we give Jesus our allegiance,  the Bible says we were placed into his family,  and we were also placed into his body. It is as though we were inserted into Jesus' being.

It would perhaps be more accurate to say that the Father no longer views us without Jesus being in the picture. God views us with Jesus-colored lenses. We are Jesus-colored. We are continually followed around by a bright neon sign, with an arrow pointing down, that says "Jesus here."

● God's Perspective

As far as the Father is concerned,  when he looks at us, he sees Jesus. He sees his son, his heir,  his beloved.  He sees the one he will have a relationship of joy with forever.

He does not overlook or ignore our behavior.  But it is not the basis for how he treats us. The basis for how he treats us is Jesus, who is in us,  and who we are in. We will continue to look at how God treats our behavior,  but suffice it to say here, (since we just looked at "buried with Christ") that our old life, our old behavior, is dead and buried. God's concern is energizing and empowering our righteous behavior.

● Living My Life

We have an interesting contrast. We have many people who have given their allegiance to Jesus, and are attempting to follow him. They gave all their attention to that behavior that died and was buried with Jesus. Our Father gives all his attention to behavior that accompanies the new life that Jesus gave us.

We focus all our time and energy on stopping behavior that displeases God. God focuses his time and energy on promoting new behavior that agrees with our new nature, because the old is dead.

It seems to me that our thinking is backwards.  It is not that God wants us to continue engaging in sinful behavior.  We should both stop doing bad stuff and start doing good stuff. But too many people give all their attention to the stopping part.

It will never be enough to just stop.  Life, growth and renewal will always have a doing part. And it is always a 180° reversal of the stopping. Some of these are obvious. (Stop stealing; start being generous. ) Some will not be so obvious. But the result will always be a life more like Jesus.

Identity in Christ - 7 (Buried with Christ)

Our lives were designed to live in relationship and obedience to God.  God's commands weren't given to be a burden. The Bible says love keeps all the commands. God's commands have become a burden,  because of sin.  It is hard to obey God,  because sin has diverted us from our design.  Instead of impulses to love, we experience impulses to act in pride or selfishness.

So, when we give our allegiance to Jesus, the Father first acts to negate the punishment we should experience, because of our sin. He judged us.  He ruled that we were guilty. And he ruled that our punishment was paid in full.  All sin -- past, present and future -- was paid in full.

Then, he acted to break the power of sin in our lives.  Sin derives its power to condemn, to produce guilt and shame,  from  the Law. So, when we were baptized  -- ie. placed into Christ, into his death,  and into his resurrection -- we died with him. And the Law has no effect on anyone after they die.

● God's Perspective

Jesus talked about being born again.  If we are being born into a new life, then the old life is over.  Being "buried with Christ" is an expression of the total, irrevocable separation of us from our old lives. He took our old life out into the field,  dug a hole, stuck our old life into the hole, and buried it where even he can't find it again. He took our old life out in aboat, to the Marianas trench, and tossed overboard. He put it on a rocket ship and shot it into space. The God who knows everything, remembers everything, has chosen to "un-create" the brain cells in his own brain, where the memory of our sin was stored.

● Living My Life

Why do I feel like God has given me a blank check? We have gotten a bill for a billion dollars., and we have no hope of repying it, and he paid it. We could continue to run our tab, with every expectation of continuing to "spend like there is no tomorrow" and he will still continue to pay.

Not that God desires us to "break the bank" -- as if we ever could. God knows that this addiction to "spending" is contrary to our nature, our health, and our good. He plans on restoring ourhearts, minds and lives to follow our original design.  He plans on his children living like his Son.

If the goal is living like Jesus, and we are buried to the Law, out of its power,  how do we get turned around?  It is a restoration of our hearts. It is a transformation of our nature.  We live out of his Spirit, his love,  and his power. Our "want-to's" are changed. His motivations become our motivations, and as a consequence,  our actions become his actions.

The Bible says the Law makes nothing perfect. The Law reveals our sin and our need.  We are not required to keep the Law of Moses. We are required to keep the Law of Christ. This is more difficult, more foreign to our flesh. This puts us in greater reliance on his Spirit,  and a transformation of heart and mind.

We need again to focus on our relationship with the Father,  so our hearts are filled with him,  and we become more like him, as his nature takes hold.

Identity in Christ - 6 (Born of God)

There are two metaphors God uses to describe our becoming part of his family. We have discussed one already. It is adoption. We are orphaned, then chosen by God to be brought into his home, to become part of his family.

The other is "born of God." Like a baby is an expression of a father and mother's love, and an outworking of their nature (their DNA combined together and displayed in this new person) his children are an expression of the Father's love and an outworking of his nature.

Unlike physical birth, in which a person begins completely new, a spiritual begins broken. God injects his Spirit and new DNA into his heart. Thereby, begins a process of re-creation. With the Father's training, the Father's nurturing, and the spread of this new DNA, people begin to live as he designed them to live. People begin to love like Jesus.

• God's Perspective

God is delighted when a new "baby" is born into his family; as much as when a baby is born into a human family. There is so much hope and expectation with each child. There is so much potential. Each parent wants their child to grow, to experience more success, more happiness than they did; each parent wants their to have less trouble and less pain. They rejoice when there is growth, success and happiness. They mourn when there is trouble, sorrow and pain.

Parents have a tremendous heart investment in their children. And the Father has a tremendous heart investment in his children. And he is Father of us all.

• Living My Life

First, we must wake up to how much God values us. Most of us can't even come close to what God thinks of us. Most of us do not have even an approximation of our Father's heart for us.

"The key to breakthrough is how we see God." - Graham Cooke

Second, I should be motivated to encounter God. Knowledge and experience need to work together. Relationship with God is more than prayer and reading the Bible. It is more than going forward and kneeling at an altar, receiving prayer or prophecy. It is more than miracles. It might be all of the above. It might be what happens deep in each individual person's heart.

Life in Christ and with the Father must take place within community. But it also takes place between one single, beating heart to another. It is love and faith acting alone and within community.

As we pursue relationship with God, he will lead us. and we need to follow. His imparted DNA will renew our hearts. His revelation will renew our thinking. Our hearts and minds will move together to renew our lives, our families, our communities, our societies, and our cultures. He will lead us into following our design and our potential. And this growth in us should cause growth in his family and kingdom.

The Father's Love and the Son's Love

Many Christians have this idea that Jesus loves them. After all, that is why he went to the cross. But the Father is a celestial meanie. His purpose is to watch us like a hawk, and slap us down when we mess up. (Then, there is the judgment at the end of the age. He must be licking his chops, waiting for that to come.)

But that’s not what the Bible says. It says that the Father is sold out for each of us. He is so sold out, that it was his desire and his idea, to sacrifice that which was closest, dearest and most valuable to him, for our sake and our benefit.

Moreover, it says that Jesus totally shows us what the Father is like. If we want to know the Father’s heart, if we want to know what he thinks, feels and would do in a certain situation, we should look at Jesus, and see what he thought, felt or did. If we are convinced that Jesus loves us unconditionally, then we ought to be convinced that the Father loves us unconditionally.

Christmas - III

PART I: Yes, Christmas is not in the Bible. Yes, a lot of its practices are derived from pagan practices. But this is true of a lot of “Christian” holidays. And this is true of a lot of church practices, that pretty much everyone who attends church accepts. If we are going to make changes in our practices based on this reasoning, then there is a whole lot of stuff we should stop practicing.

PART II: God created culture, so it is good. Moreover, there is no “Christian” culture. Sin taints all culture. More, God has planted seeds in every culture to reveal himself to people. The gospel has elements that are beyond cultural expression, but it can be put into the context of any culture. Each people group needs to implement Christian practice within the context of its culture.

PART III: There are a lot of things the Bible does not talk about. It does not say if someone should go to college. It does not say if someone is in college, that he should get a PhD in physics. It does not tell someone what job to take, let alone what job to apply for. It does not tell someone who to marry. (It does give guidance as to what type of person one should marry. But if Mary is that type of person, and Karen is that type of person …)

In many ways, God gives considerable freedom to us. Scripture is like a road. We can walk on the right side. We can walk on the left side. We can walk in the middle. We just need to make sure we stay on the road.

As a result of this space on the “road,” there are all sorts of beliefs, given various degrees of importance by those who hold them. And there are disagreements. And there is looking down, and condemnation, on ones holding different beliefs. And there is “shaking heads” because people don’t see things the way we do. (And we know whose way is right, of course.)

Does the Bible say anything about the “space,” the differences and the feelings of superiority that may result? Yes, it does. It says don’t argue about these differences. It says don’t feel superior about your views. It says we need to have three attitudes:

(1) We need to believe the best about those with different opinions than ours. We must accept them, believing they have good motives and good reasons for believing what they do. We need to assume, or at least, grant the possibility that whatever they are doing, they are doing it to honor God.

(2) We need to realize that we are not the boss. Whoever this person is, wherever he comes from, if he is one of God’s children, he is accepted by God, he is led by God, and he is loved by God. It is God, who is the master and the judge. It is God who approves/disapproves. It is God who enables. And it is neither wise nor right to usurp God’s place.

(3) We belong to God. He is our Creator and our Father. When we face an issue of what practice to follow, we need to be fully convinced, and be motivated to honor God by our decisions and practices. God’s kingdom is characterized by (and therefore, our lives should be characterized by) doing good, giving love, exercising faith and experiencing peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Our goals in the family of God are harmony and edification.

Christmas - II

We all live in culture. We are immersed in it; we breathe it in; we barely realize it’s there. We read in Scripture how God created languages. With new languages and the resulting differences in thinking, plus the space between different people groups, God created cultures. Different cultures are his idea. Culture per se is good, because all things he creates are good. And like all created things, it is tainted by sin.

When a group connects with a people group and introduces Jesus Christ to them, and there is success, there is always a resulting tension between the cultures of the two groups. As I have said, every culture is created by God, but it is tainted with sin. So, it cannot be wholeheartedly embrace, but neither can it be completely rejected. It is the gospel of Jesus that is the transforming power in all cultures.

The church has responded to new cultures in different ways, at different times. It has decided its original culture was superior to the new one, and worked to suppress the new culture. It has tried to flow with the new cultures rhythms, but sanctify its practices. Hence, the reinterpretation of holidays. Or the invention of holidays.

There was a tribe in the south Pacific that believed they need to appease the spirit world. To do that, they needed to maintain a parity in honor killings. If someone in another village killed someone in your village, you had to kill someone in their village. Then, they had to. Then, you had to. And if you could do it by deceit and treachery, that was wa-a-ay better.

So, when missionaries found them they were locked in a continual state of war. And when the missionaries told them the story about Jesus, they cheered Judas, who by deceit and treachery got his “friend” Jesus killed.

It looked pretty bleak for any chance of the gospel taking hold among this people, until they discovered another custom, the “peace child.” If two villages were at war, and it looked like they were going to wiped each other out, one village could give an infant to the other village. The other village could do anything they wanted to the infant (mostly, they raised it as part of the “family”) but it was believed that this sacrifice by a father appeased the spirits and the blood-shed could stop. The missionaries declared that Jesus was God’s “Peace Child” and a tremendous move toward God among this people occurred.

The Bible says that God has left “sign posts” to himself outside of Scripture, outside of the people of God. Each cultures has its “sign posts” embedded in it. God’s people need to be aware of the “sign posts” in their community.

The point of part II: God is the inventor of culture, but at this time, no culture really honors him. And just because something originates in a culture that historically did not honor him, does not mean that he has not put his hand on it to point to himself and his way, and to bring honor to himself.