What Does God’s Love Have to Do With my Behavior?

I have been thinking about some personal observations about one of the attributes ascribed to God by theological writers and thinkers.  In fact, what I am sharing has to do with one of the most magnified and talked about attributes of God in the 21^st century.  When I consider what people believe about the love of God, I realize that it is an attribute that is probably the most misunderstood by most people.  In fact, this is seen  specifically in the way the attribute of love is applied to the manner that people choose to express individual behaviors. An important matter that should be considered is how our view of God’s love affects our relationship to Him, as well as, how behavior affects that relationship.  In I John 4:16 it says, “We know and rely on the love God has for us”.  Very simply, “God is love; therefore we can rely on Him”.  However, while we understand that we can rely on God; we should not get confused when the Bible says, “God is love”. A distinction that needs to be made is that it does not mean, “Love is God”.  There is a big difference between the two phrases.  For instance, it would be the same difference as saying, “My dog is a girl” or “My girl is a dog.” 

When God is described as love, this does not mean that because God is love and cares for everyone that I can get away with murder, living in open adultery, or some other unhealthy way of existing.  Nor does it mean that I can do anything I want to and because God is love and He just slaps me on the wrist while we continue doing the same things over and over.  In contrast, what His love indicates is that God wants what is best for you, and because of His grace, He has provided power to form a spiritual relationship with God, a pathway to receive forgiveness, as well as, the method to obtain redemption.  In short, it means He is for you and that He is not against you– He has provided the power to live in ways that bring positive effect in your life.  However, that does not imply that He is for the ways that we choose to express ourselves through every behavior chosen in life.

Think about this:  the greatest expression of God’s love unfolds in a Divine paradox of God’s love juxtaposed against His hatred for sin.  The love of a God manifests itself in His pouring out wrath upon sin on the Cross-where Jesus died as the suffering servant, who bore the pain for the penalty for sin.  On one side, the love of God is revealed to sinful humans, in the provision of salvation, while the hatred of God deposits wrath upon an innocent Savior who died because of depravity and sin within humans existence bringing the penalty of death for all.  In fact, the Divine relief provided reveals God’s love for humanity, but at the same time reveals a hatred for the effect that depravity brought in robbing man of His greatest potential. The apparent truth presented is how that we can rely on God’s love because in His Grace He provided redemption, acceptance, and freedom for those who believe unto salvation.

Consider this: If it is true, that God loves us and provides giving  acceptance, identity, and power to live; then why do so many people avoid a relationship with God?  A possible answer is that many people avoid dealing with God in their life because it means that they must think about themselves as sinners, accepting responsibility for things out of God has will, or changing something that is out of order in the events of life.  Therefore, many will turn away and run from Him because they want to dismiss any uncomfortable feelings of guilt leading to conviction that they feel when they have an encounter with God or the presence of a reminder of Him in their lives.

As a result, one of the reasons that people react with avoidance is that there is fundamental fear of giving up control of patterns of behavior that have become comfortable in life and validated as acceptable by those around us. In fact, the current attitude in the 21st century that many people reflect is  that” I am entitled to be like I am and if anyone calls attention to something that is out of balance, I am justified in expressing anger”.  Unfortunately, the feeling of entitlement is the result of a faulty view of the love of God, which equates acceptance of the person with approval of behavior.

The truth is that many people are simply afraid of what might happen if they really commit to a life changing relationship with God.  When people feel that they will have to change their character or behavior,  that possibility brings a feeling of uncertainty triggering efforts to control the way we think about God in order to validate what we do.  So, because people are hesitant and they want to keep a safe distance between life and change, they continue to affirm a belief that God’s love means it is okay to go on living in rebellion to right ways of living and what is commonly known to  be out of sync with a spiritual relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Consequently, what many people do not understand is that change comes from within by experiencing spiritual transformation, a renewed mind and regenerated character.

Therefore, we know that we can rely on God and His love because He provides a way of redemption and forgiveness, not because He validates pet behaviors inconsistent with His character.  In the end of the matter, the attribute of love should not be confused with the mercy that God extends while drawing people to Him in order to experience effective change that brings spiritual success in life.  If you think that God does not care about your behavior, think about the Cross-and the wrath expressed toward Him in His crucifixion.  It is there on the Cross- with Jesus suffering, bleeding, and dying that the attribute of love is clarified in the most succinct way.

Related articles

• God is Love (faithfuldailyread.wordpress.com)
• God Already Loves You Completely (dianasymons.com)
• Reflections on Love (poemsbymichelleyee.wordpress.com)
• Loving the Unloved (theangelzone.wordpress.com)
• 15 Things Jesus Did Say (halati.wordpress.com)
• LETTER: God loves us all, including atheists (courierpress.com)
• Seventeen (trulypettythoughts.wordpress.com)
• Famine for the Word of God (tenthbeatitude.wordpress.com)
• A New Commandment? (isaiah532.wordpress.com)
• Session 5: What is Christian Revelation according to Hurs Van Balthasar? (kking0209.wordpress.com)

Being Who God Created You to Be –The Reason for Existence (Part A)

Many theories suggest a rationale for the existence of human life that offers explanations about the origins of life.  Accordingly, Christian apologists and theologians argue that the origin of life was through special creation.  In other words, God created life from the ex-nihilo with the dust of the earth. In the same creative act the life created was material and spiritual; therefore, creation was with purpose, design, and intentional.  However, while many Christians accept the fact of creation, there are variant ways that the post-creation experience of existence explained to support views of life development.  As a result, an important point to consider about creation is if God created human beings, then a logical assumption follows that God had a reason in existence and goals to be accomplished in His acts.

Some things to consider about existence:

For those who believe that the biblical story of creation is factual, it is important to recognize that God, not only created life, but He also sustains life.  Therefore, God has diagramed a divine purpose into human existence.  Unquestionably, purposeful creation reinforces a view of life that emphasizes the confidence that God is the central equation of existence.  In fact, purposeful creation provides a clear reason for existence and instills a logical equilibrium for life reflecting reasonable belief in God as creator, sustainer, and source of human life.  Consequently, God’s intention is at the center of the initial act of creating life and is the active force before and after everything occurring in life.

An important model from a Christian world-view providing definition to this proposition is intelligent design, which “is a theory that rejects the theory of natural selection, arguing that the complexities of the universe and of all life suggest an intelligent cause in the form of a supreme creator.  It’s all for him” (intelligent design) .  Making application of belief in intelligent design in creation presupposes that God existed before creation and is the designer, as well as, catalyst for design and creation of the world where humans exist.  As a result, the basic assumption in the argument for a supreme creator suggests reason for creation lay within the creator of humans and not with the creation.  Therefore, intelligent design implicates a watershed principle that God is the imperative reason for existence of all living creatures and inanimate matter.  Consequently, among those who believe in creation, recognizing God at the center of all creation moderates a rationale for life on based purpose –design not on random chance, which sustains belief in purposeful existence and an objective through existence.

Making sense of the rationale for existence:

On the other hand, if you are the person who believes natural selection governs existence or the result of biological migration from one life form to the next, here is something to consider.  It will be hard to envision any reason for existence other than the biological, physical, and random events in present experience of life contained within the choices and goals we set for accomplishment.  Within this point of view, a central theme is that humanity is at the center of existence.  Therefore, life purpose finds expression through the power of the will, beliefs, and choices exercised to create purposeful or meaningful existence.  Indeed, it is a view of life, which puts forward an opinion that the substance of life is like a game of biological and humanistic chance.  A belief in humanistic philosophy (4.Humanism) holds a very limited hope for effective outcome without the good fortune from choices.  As a result, life experience is lessens in scope to random choice predicted by biology, individual choices, and timing of events.  The outcome is a life with a sort of a fatalistic outlook where human ingenuity, genetic structure, and random events forecast an inevitable life within certain circumstances.  Undoubtedly then, existence functions in a manner that is limited to a subset of systems on different levels at work in human existence.  Therefore, existence, by this definition, is an existence within a given culture, time, and environment that is limited to humanity apart from intelligent design.  Unquestionably, the rationale for existence is reduced to a quantifiable product of random events intersecting with biological human experience in a set of unknowable variables in life.

In contrast to humanism, the content of conservative Christian Theology advocates for meaning and purpose intricately related to God’s intention within His Divine reason for human existence.  The contrast to natural selection is the point of view within Christian Theology This point of view states unequivocally that life is a unique creation of God with divinely inspired reason as a basis for existence.  To be sure, at a very basic level, the elementary reasoning communicates that there is an intended purposeful relationship.  It is an intended –purposeful relationship revealed through the redemptive power of a relationship to God in Jesus Christ resulting in a transformational life that is both spiritual and eternal.  Consequently, the work of God performed in Christ to achieve a purpose that biological function cannot achieve for man at his highest level of functioning, chances, or choices.

Consider what John, the Apostle said about God’s reasoning in existence:

In contrast to a secular world-view, there is a well-reasoned rationale within the Christian world-view for believing that life and existence are not an accident of biology, but rather a product of reasoning originating with God.  In support of this perspective, John 1:1 refers to the Logos of God, which delineates, “a word, being the expression of a thought …a broad term meaning, ‘reasoning expressed by words”.  Furthermore, John 1:1, ff. says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.”  An essential conclusion in the record of John is that the reasoning of God is the rationale beneath “making” all things. Therefore, in John’s record, the preceding idea that predates creation is the Logos (reasoning) of God.

Accordingly, it is reasoning expressed in the choice of words selected to portray God’s concept that describe purpose and design in creation.  For this reason, the selection of words and arrangement of concept through language uses a picture portrayed that describes Christ, as the reason that stands above.  Furthermore, Christ’s description is with language indicating His preexistence before and beyond time as the very substance of creation, as well as, creation that initiated the concept of existential time.  Indeed, the suggestion is that reasoning by words command the interpretation that delineate that the Logos of God predated time, creation, the earth, and existence of humanity.  Without a doubt, by words and concept His reasoning express a purpose –design by God presented through creation and revealed in the disclosure of Christ.  In support of this, John asserts several important factors about God’s reasoning.

First, a fundamental reason declared by John is that the purpose for creation correlates to God’s purpose in Christ in a cohesive concept and executed plan.  The concept and plan reveal redemption as objective truth, which preexisted time and human creation as an essential reason within the plan of God for creation.  Therefore, the logical rationale introduced by John is that the activity in creation is as central to God’s purpose in creation, as redemption is to God’s purpose in Christ.  Therefore, John concludes that creation is not a random accident of molecular mutation, but a purposeful expression of the creator revealing His purpose in the creation demonstrating a rationale for revealing God’s purpose in redemption.

Obviously, the point made is that His Spirit intimately connects God’s general purpose in human creation to God’s specific purpose in drawing people into a relationship with a sovereign and eternal God that brings glory to Him.  When John speaks of Christ, He speaks of Him as the light of men, as well as, the light of the world.  In consideration of the light that is spoken of, a “light, a source of light, radiance” that brings spiritual illumination to existence in an understanding of God’s glorious purpose for the believer.  Therefore, the life that God purposes through Christ is a life motivated by a spiritual life that a believer grows into through the process of discipleship and personal development.  Accordingly, the object of God’s design is switching from a life lived for self interest to a life that is lived by God’s design being revealed through a life of surrender, sacrifice, and service.

Living For God’s Glory Is The Greatest Achievement We Can Accomplish With Our Lives.

In like manner, the position that a person must take in life leads to the place where the light comes on and revelation enables spiritual awakening to come.  It is in that moment that believers come alive spiritually because there is a realization that life is not about following some biological urge or environment conditioning to achieve some temporal goal.  On the other hand, the awareness comes that the central reason for existence suddenly focuses upon God and His plan.  From that moment on, everything that happens in our existence is because of Him, by Him, and through Him, and for His glory.  As a result, life importance and events translate into one simple statement, “That it is all about Him”.  For this reason, Theologians label this a theocentric view of existence, which situates God at the center of everything in our world.  What is evident is the only sound reason for existence and the only meaningful way to organize life into a purposeful existence centers in a relationship with God.  Consequently, in this moment that connects unique creation and the ultimate goal of life leads back to the principle that is man’s chief aim, “To bring glory to God and enjoy him forever” (Baptist Catechism).  Consequently, the rationale of God centered faith and trust infuses life with intentionality to fulfill the purpose of creation.

 

References

intelligent design. (n.d.). Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved February 08, 2013, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/intelligent design

Related articles

• Meaning of Icons in the Greek East (jkarblog.wordpress.com)
• Stephen C. Meyer and Keith Fox debate intelligent design and evolution (winteryknight.wordpress.com)
• An Ark-Load from Answers in Genesis (sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com)
• Evolution Issue of the Month 9: Recognizing Darwin Day Would Violate Religion-State Separation (prweb.com)
• GOP War on Science Continues (boomantribune.com)
• Autonomy in the Age of Anthropocene (veraqivas.wordpress.com)
• Flowers Use Electricity to Talk With Bees (newser.com)

 

Being Who God Created You to Be –The Reason for Existence (Part B)

When anything in creation fulfills its purpose, it brings glory to God

“He has shown you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you? But to act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8KJV).

 Clear thinking about spiritual living and fruitful existence

 One of the great challenges for many Christians is to get their head out of the box of performance-based spirituality.  For instance, religious legalism results in people trying to bring glory to God by doing religious things.  As a result, doing religious things produces religious conformity motivated by expectations focused upon performance, outcome, and conformity, rather than spiritual transformation through grace.  Unfortunately, while rigid conformity to what is required may produce results, the results may not be a genuine expression of attitudes born out of spiritual conversion.  To be precise, spiritual transformation results in the most effective natural spiritual expression of purpose.  Further, when the character of God infuses the heart of the believer with life from the vine, the believer produces lasting fruit (John 15:16).  Indeed, when people attempt to be something that they are not, the impression may make an impact, but unfortunately, it will not last long.

For this cause, understanding “what is good” is not the process of developing controlled behavior.  Rather, understanding “what is good” is the natural fruit of a character that is holy.  When God’s character fills the heart, the evidence will show a changed motivation for acting justly, loving, and with humility.  Without a doubt, it is a life experience that is consistent with whom God created believers to be in Him.  Think about the characteristics Micah identifies and where the source of “what is good” originates from to produce natural behavior.  The truth is that following specific requirements, as a legal stipulation, brings glory to the person.  However, when life is lived with a heart tuned to the desires of God; then a believer can be who God created them to be in a spiritual existence bringing glory to God –being the natural, transparent reflection of God’s purpose in the work of grace.

For this reason, the greatest testimony to the rationale of God in creation is when creation surrenders to the unique purpose placed within the distinctive creative design for life.  In fact, once surrender occurs, creation is in the best possible position to align with a natural and spontaneous ability to fulfill the greatest level of effectiveness in the activities of creation in a manner that brings glory to God.

 Consider the words of the psalmist about the purpose of creation

 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1)

 Worshiping and enjoying God through being whom God created

The words of the psalmist emphatically state that the heavens bring glory to God by fulfilling the natural purpose for the heavens.  Further, the psalmist states that the physical presence of the clouds in the sky performing the natural function of clouds are a testimony that brings reverence and worship to the wonder of a creator. The creator, with a rationale and intelligent design called the heavens into existence with purpose and reason.  Therefore, worshiping Him is the objective reason inherent within a life of purposeful existence.  As a result, when life is a natural demonstration of reflecting His glory through being God’s creation, there is celebration of the reason for existence.  When we can settle into a life focused on the person God created and engages life through our unique gifts, the “state of being” turns from earthly, fleshly pursuits to a life of worship that brings glory to Him.  C.S. Lewis stated it this way, “In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him” (Lewis).  In effect, worship is more than just praising, singing, and feeling, “Worship is a lifestyle of enjoying God, loving him, and giving ourselves to be used for his purposes” (Warren, 2002 p.56).  Loving God and enjoying him results in a second step in purposeful existence, loving others, as a natural function of purposeful spiritual existence.

Consider how John describes love as a natural manifestation of a relationship with God

 “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7, NIV).

John expresses a central attribute of God’s preference and character by using, “agápē – properly, love which centers in moral preference” (agape, Strong’s 26).  Just as the sky was created to provide an atmosphere that humans live and thrive in, love as a moral preference –choice, between believers enables an environment that spiritual life thrives within.  Spiritual prosperity is natural because love is an innate characteristic of God revealed through spiritual purpose in transformational change.  Transformation is a spiritual work of God who opens a darkened mind with a novel idea that values the freedom to choose the high road in relationships with others.

Think about this for a moment, “When you learn to appreciate everything around you that is when you have found the true meaning of life.  But when you have learned to love another with all your heart, that is when you have finally understood and start to actually fulfill the purpose of your existence” (Testy McTesterson).  On the contrary, Christians who choose to live in unloving ways demonstrate the antithesis of God’s moral preference in a way that elevates depravity, which in turn elevates an immoral preference.  In effect, living in conflict with the true self in a life of expressing love magnifies the age-old conflict with the natural order of creation that God designed to be released. Consequently, the result of disconnect from the love of God disables man’s greatest potential for existence. Therefore, the great goal of existence in loving and enjoying God is enhanced when believers are so affected by His love that love becomes an outer expression of our innermost relationship to God compelling a life of service.

 Becoming like Christ may mean something different than we imagined

 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29, KJV).  When the mind imagines what it really means to be a Christian, conformity is a word that expresses how some people attempt to legislate artificial fruit.  The process produces the external religious substitute for an internal life of transparency and surrender to God.  Think about this for a moment, “To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life” (Robert Louis Stevenson).  Undoubtedly, if a person believes that God created humans through intelligent design; then there is an inherent capability in our makeup that gives physical and human potential. In addition, design implies that there is a spiritual potential that Paul expresses as “conformity to the image of His Son”. The very idea suggests that it is not a materialistic human accomplishment to be conformed to in a set of procedures, but rather an internal process of surrender to a life of servanthood that utilizes development of the gifts that God has given us in Christ.  

The affirmation of purposeful existence through surrender to servanthood

When anything in creation fulfills its purpose, it brings glory to God

 When a believer comes to grips with the idea that God has created each person with the ultimate goal of being like him, the affirmation resounds a message that says to become, as Christ is to take on the mantle of a servant.  Therefore, the object of God’s love characterizes a life of ministry motivated by love for God that brings enjoyment and fulfillment.  It is a life-demonstrating ministry loving and serving others with the gift that God has bestowed within a life of surrender.  In fact, when the creation surrenders, then a spiritual manifestation of the glory of God causes life to align with the greatest potential for meaningful service.  Unquestionably, service is executed in a life of serving performed out of love for God, fellow man, and through selfless service. Without a doubt, the acts of surrendered existence form a doxology of existential activity giving a voice of praise to the works of God through creation.

Consider the words of the Apostle Paul about the rationale of God in His wisdom

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has been his counselor?  Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?’  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33-36, NIV).

There is no doubt that, Paul is describing the revelation of God challenging believers to worship God by ascribing a doxology of praise to God the wise creator. In support of Paul’s words, C. S. Lewis says, “In commanding us to glorify him, God is inviting us to enjoy him” (C. S. Lewis 1998, pp. 94-95). Therefore, Lewis’s observation fits marvelously with the first commandment of God.  Obviously, both make the point that to love God is to delight in Him and to enjoy relationship with Him.  A point well taken affirms that when you love God, you worship Him, for as Lewis observes, “all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise.  …  We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation” (Lewis).

To be sure, when we “believe in Jesus”, we do not just believe facts about His deity or even His resurrection.  On the other hand, we believe that He is the only way to God, that His sacrifice is the only atonement God will accept, and that He is the only solution to our desperate need for salvation from the wrath of God we justly deserve.  Consequently, real existence –a life of purpose, begins when a commitment to Jesus Christ completely.  The Bible promises, “To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12, NIV).  The personal application is possible to those who believe and are able to receive the intelligent design created by God for a holy life made possible through spiritual transformation.

 

References

C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms [New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1958], 94-95.

Related articles

• How to Live in the Glory Every Day (evangelist91.wordpress.com)
• Contemplative Practices and the Apostolic Church, Part 3: Worship (contemplativechristians.com)
• Oh Glory! (ccalachua.wordpress.com)
• What is Your Purpose in Life? (christianitymatters.com)
• God’s choice of you (dailymedit.wordpress.com)
• This Old Book (fromthepreacherspc.org)
• Father John’s word to clergy (johnmeunier.wordpress.com)
• COTHA, Church of the Holy Apostles, Welcomes Antoinette Chew as Children’s Pastor (prweb.com)

Being Who God Created You to Be: Life on Earth Is a Temporary Assignment

It is an interesting to watch how people in the 21st century occupy life with so much activity focused upon self-absorbed experiences that adds little lasting value to any future life.  Many people pursue a life without any defined existence coupled with a belief that life will go on forever as it is today.  In the culture of the church, this is most evident in the dramatic shift to blending contemporary idealism, music, and teaching.  At the same time, a predominant perspective emphasizes the importance of life in the present more so than past generations.  Some of the themes that characterized recent past generations are expressed in the songs people sang about heaven, eternal life, and overcoming trials in the present.  The obvious theme expressed resonates that that the experience and decisions made in daily life occurrences have a real connection to eternity.  The paradigm shift has resulted in a secularization of popular ideals moving life focus away from an eternal perspective to a collaboration of ideals about current existence. While the content of life today is important, there is the danger that God has been exiled to the corner of private religion and is not a consideration in the real nuts and bolts of everyday life or public dialogue.  In fact, there has been a fundamental shift in the emphasis away from thinking of life in eternal terms to a life of what matters now to the experience of me in the 21st century. As a result, this radical shift in attitude demonstrates a critical change in how personal meaning relates to daily life experience.

Furthermore, there is a deeply engrained preoccupation with significance built upon the immediate value of experience to self, instant gratification, and what personal benefit is gained. The system of this world-view is focused upon a temporal advantage to the immediate, rather than the long term benefit of future value. The result demonstrates a defective understanding of life obsessed with the present coupled to feelings of entitlement. The outcome that must be coped with is emptiness and an experience of building an occurrence of life filled with circular efforts to fill the void left by abdicating a life built upon eternal values. An important point of reference is the present day high focus upon pluralism in spiritual ideals and how values are re-spun from collaboration into a collective thought that express generic view of spirituality.  An example of pluralism in today’s culture can be seen through a view of life that is very much influenced by eastern philosophy. The predominant preponderance of ideas about life today has moved away from “sweet by and by” idealism to an emphasis upon the here and now.  The idea seems to support the notion of being effective with as little difficulty as possible. However, in the present atmosphere the importance of the cumulative experiences of life in being who God created you to be loses its meaning and purpose when life is reduced to the present momentary conditions of existence.

Consider the impact of valuing the present without consideration of the past and future.  The value that it expresses is that the measuring stick of life is the value of a present tense experience.  Unfortunately, an attitude about life that is disconnected from the past and detached from the future translates into a life that measures meaning through life in the moment.  Unfortunately, this particular view of life has transient, as well as, ever changing values, worth, and meaning that are never constant.  For instance, a factor in this way of thinking that may not be clearly understood limits every present moment to the temporary and in a moment be the past; then in another moment is the future.  Therefore, life only connected to the moment can only be measured by the value or wisdom the moment brings.  It is because life in the moment has no influence from the past and the present has no concern toward the future.  An example of a similar attitude is reflected upon in the writings of Buddhism, “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly” (Buddha).  Other common expressions expressing similar ideas like, “Live, Love, and Laugh”.  The thought of this motto expresses a concern for the greatest good in present pursuit as a utopian maxim of the pleasure principle with no connection to the past with an absence of thought about an obtainable future.  It is just to relax in the moment and enjoy life to the fullest as if tomorrow has no significance.  The goal expressed is to produce the most pleasant existence that has vacated thoughts about the past complexities of life, what they mean in today’s experience, or what influence our life map has upon life in the future.  An application of this perspective summed up in a general way deposits a belief that purports life-philosophy, which states that a healthy balance in life is achieved by measuring existence in accordance with peace/harmony in the present moment. It is through a wise and sincere way of living that is disconnected with concerns about the past, as well as, an absence of worry about the future that makes life harmonious and peaceful.  However, the idea presented leaves a fundamental question about whom, how, or what determines what is wise without inclusion of a reflective process about life as a whole. The whole of life includes developmental experiences from the past and life experience today as a precursor to how life will be experienced in the future.

Considering the reality that every moment of life is a temporary assignment and life experiences are only here for a moment, it seems there is something larger that needs consideration.  For instance, examining life from a Christian point of view contextualizes life events in the terminology and perspective of a God.  The language and semantics of Christianity describes God as eternal, immutable, and not a momentary spiritual flash on the radar screen of time.  Consequently, when Jesus spoke of life that is potentially possible, He depicted life with words like eternal to describe life.

Listen to he words that Jesus spoke to those who listen to his message and believe in God.

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life.  They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life”. (John 5:24, New Living Translation)

Without a doubt, Jesus spoke of life as eternal, not just a momentary experience, or a fleeting existence.  One of the questions contained in the thoughts of Jesus about life relates to who is shaping your view of existence.  Therefore, the question that is important to understanding why people live in the moment instead of with an eternal perspective is: who or what will determine our view of the human experience?  When we break the question down into a personal challenge, it is important to know whether we are measuring life in the moment, the experience, or the pleasure or pain of life experience.  On the other hand, we need to determine if we really understand the temporal nature of life and how everything in the present will, one day be, immersed into everlasting life prepared before the foundation of the earth.  It is a progression of life provided for in Christ’s redemption provided on the Cross, realized through spiritual transformation, and actualized in a life of faith through practical sanctification.  The importance of the question is that it reveals a deeper issue of concern for Christians.  The concern is directed toward the content of a Christian world-view and the message about the transient nature of the past, present and future life in the grander scheme of God who created us to live through eternity.

Your identity is settled in eternity, and your homeland is heaven.

The answer to who God created us to be does not lay within the temporary assignment of this life, but in the eternal purpose of God. The life that God gives in the creative act of spiritual transformation is an abundant life.  Transformation through Christ provides the opportunity for a life of quality, but also, a life quantified by the eternity that God has designed.  Spiritual life is a sovereign work of grace that provides the pathway to life everlasting in a relationship forged by the spiritual birth.  Because life is a temporary assignment, it is difficult to find a lasting attachment or permanent identity in what is fading away every day.  When we come to the place of transformation and realize that who we are is not defined by an earthly tabernacle, but that the earthly tabernacle is the dress rehearsal for an eternity that is settled by the mediation of God to prepare us for eternity.

Earthly existence is compared to a tent that will one day be folded up and put away.

“For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade—and we’ll never have to relocate our ‘tents again” (2 Corinthians 5:1, The Message).

The temporary will be replaced with the eternal and the permanent.  In the words of Paul, there is coming a day when the identity that has been formed in a fleshly existence will evaporate in the presence of what is eternal and reveals the true identity.  A new existence that will not be described by the temporary, but expressed in a descript identity revealing the person that God has uniquely prepared in a post human replacement of what we now see.  What we see now is temporary and what we will realize in translation is eternal and imperishable.  The point that is well taken is that our understanding of who God created us to be will be realized as we step into the existence that we earnestly groan for in our desire to be changed as we submit ourselves to the process of surrender to the true self.  What we realize in the present is that all of this that we struggle with is temporary and one day it will fold up and be put away for something far better and a life that is everlasting.

Earth is not our final home; we were created for something much better.

“But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own” (Philippians 3:20-21).

Much of life is consumed with the efforts to make a better life in the present, but as Paul writes,”there’s far more to life for us”.  Something that is important to remember in all of the important things that we spend our time on is that this is not all there is and something far better is available.  It is available to provide hope in the present and expectation for a future beyond anything we can imagine.  Earthly life is only a temporary assignment and our real homeland is in the eternal purpose of God because our citizenship is in Heaven. An affirmation comes by “Realizing that life on earth is just a temporary assignment should radically alter your values [:] Eternal values, not temporal ones, should become the deciding factors for your decisions” (Warren 2002, p 50). Summing up the experience of our lives compared with earlier centuries, life has never been easier than it is today for most of the people in Western Civilization.  Life is filled with constant entertainment, amusement, and activity that accommodate an immediate and felt need for gratifying pleasure.  Considering all of the captivating attractions, attention-grabbing media entertainment, and pleasurable experiences available today, it is easy to forget that the pursuit of happiness is not the primary purpose for existence.

 What is the primary purpose for man in existence?

A reminder from the Baptist Catechism explains man’s primary purpose in an end state for existence, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” A question that arises from man’s chief end is what does it mean to glorify God?  The term, “Glorify” does not mean make glorious because God is already glorious. Rather, it means to reflect or display as glorious. Other words you could use for “end” are “goal” or “purpose”. Therefore the “end or purpose” is to live in such a way that displays God’s purpose of grace in how we express who He has created us to become.

Glorifying God also implies using the resources, which grace has dispensed into our temporary assignment in this life.  In reference to this stewardship of glory and purpose, Paul gives the example of the end state of behaviors in life that is enabled by an attitude that is directed through purposeful living.  He says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). The point of reference is that in whatever we do, it should reflect an end, goal, or purpose reflecting an outcome elevating His purpose in how He has created us individually.

The end state gives testimony to the sovereign plan of God to reveal Himself through our purposeful existence reflecting a life of worship and reverence.  Therefore, in a life of glorifying God there is satisfying pleasure of following the direction that enhances life’s purpose bringing spiritual satisfaction.  The object is to enjoy God and bring pleasure through knowing that life is aligned with the purpose of God for creation, which brings harmony to existence.

Listen to the Psalmist’s words,  “You make known to me the path of life, in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” ( Psalm 16:11). The object is to understand that we are God’s people and the sheep of his pasture that are created by Him.  Even as Isaiah wrote, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah43:7) reminds the reader of the sovereign God who actively created and called His sheep unto Him to live beyond the temporary assignment of today in a life of glorifying and enjoying the creator in a life of worship and reverence.

The pursuit of happiness in God is the purpose for which God made us and is what life is about. The man who pursues his happiness in God will find the attractions, media, and experiences of this life clanging bangles and contemptible bobbles whose attraction grows pale in comparison to the pleasure God offers to those who seek Him.

Related articles

• Eternal Life (oliverbernardbrown.wordpress.com)
• Seeing Jesus in the Gospel of John (insightscoop.typepad.com)
• God is Bigger than Today (fathersembracekw.com)
• Who Is Jesus? (slapioneer.wordpress.com)
• The Living Bread (shelleywilliamsblog.com)
• Recovery Without the Cross (menofmud.org)
• Learning to please God (2) (Charles Box) (fellowshiproom.org)
• Your God-Assigned Sphere of Influence: Your influence is given (Part 2) (pastorjonev.typepad.com)
• Presbyterian “Rev” John Shuck: Undermining The Authority of the Bible AND The Credibility of Atheist Dr. Michael Zimmerman (kcsg.wordpress.com)
• Kids Have Big Questions about Heaven; Now They Can Have Real Answers (prweb.com)

Being Who God Created You to Be: You Were Made to Last Forever

Sooner or later everyone is faced with the absolute certainty that mortal life will end.  Indeed, life is a constantly evolving process that will culminate in an ultimate experience that ushers existence into a new reality called eternity.  A natural phenomenon of life-experience and awareness of conscious life is continually developing and ending simultaneously. This experience is a non-tangible present reality that is happening, as we experience it each waking moment of life.  One of the important certainties that we quite often lose touch with is that every experience of life is the staging ground for an eternity that is yet unrealized.  Something that needs to be considered is looking at life with the view that God has from now into eternity.

What a Spiritual Life of Purpose Looks Like From God’s Perspective.

“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter.  He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good” (Romans 8:26-28, The Message).

A Spiritual Reality is That We Really Do Not Understand, But He is at Work.

 Many people tend to hold a view of life that has a deeply embedded belief that the experience of today is fixed, set, and the expectation that life will always look as it does today brings disappointment when it is disconnected from a spiritual life. At the same time, a faulty perspective of life built around present experience tends to cause acceptance of the comfort or pain of the moment as a normal expectation in life. The reality of a life of surrender to a sovereign God is within the struggle.  Therefore, in the process, He hears our groans and struggles and works to make sense of something that is so confusing to comprehend in our humanity.

Tragically, without spiritual transformation an existence is constructed where hope is absent for anything in life better than present experiences, i.e., what is presently seen.  This type of perspective limits life to a purpose built on present or upon negative experience instead of eternal purpose designed by God.  Therefore, the reality, pain, or joy of the moment constantly acquiesces to expectation set by an event, experience, or impression from a millisecond instead of purpose driven by a firm faith and hope of the Spirit of God who is working out an eternal purpose through us in our experiences.

God’s Perspective About Earthly, Fleshly, Soulish People Who are Governed By Passions of the Present Instead of Focus Upon the Eternal.

“they think only about this life here on earth.  But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.  (Philippians 3:19b-20 NLT)

The indicative message is that a relationship with God that think about life with a different goal in mind that earthly minded people.  “God says His children are think differently about life from the way unbelievers do” (Rick Warren, 2002).

Unfortunately, mortal human beings tend to look at life like a picture of a moment recording only a solitary moment, not the larger picture.  It is a just a still frame expressing life captured in an immobile fixed moment of the present, which many people internalize and script expectations, hope, and dreams apart from an eternal purpose that is set in the mind of God to always work into something good for those who He has called.  Therefore, the present becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that predicts our future and limit our potential to the beliefs held about present realities.  Consequently, the unrealized potential of a future that God has written upon our hearts and lives cannot come to fruition because we are trapped in the prison of the present and has no pathway to the future.

Gaining God’s Perspective Reduces The Anxiety of the Moment and Releases us to See the Process of Becoming God’s Unique Creation.

In the flurry of our daily crisis, an important reality that is not being processed into our temporal experience is that life is quickly passing us by at such a rapid rate of speed that we do not realize that eternity is just a step ahead.  It is true that we shall soon enter eternity, sooner than we realize, through God’s grace into a life prepared for God’s children..  Unfortunately, human beings have to learn the value of eternity and God’s purpose through the broken experiences in life before they get a glimpse of eternity.  It is when, something happens that turns life upside down, changes the way life is experienced,  and shatters our expectations that we are forced to re-evaluate life with a view that is finite.  A fortunate value of a crisis is that it is an opportunity exercise faith and to put our trust in God to discover that God is using this present experience to develop a character that is pure, a trust that is firm, and a perspective that values the moment. It is an awakening, a moment of revelation about life  and experience that tells us in a still small voice  that  God’s hand is developing His eternal purpose in us.  Consequently, there comes  an undeniable and inevitable movement to life that it is so subtle that we may not even realize, in the present moment that life has changed, God has spoken, and nothing will ever be the same since you began reading this article.

We often lose touch with the reality that life is a process of development with periods of time that possess life span experiences, which eventually catch up with no matter how much we dislike it.  As we progress and age, things like our vision grows dim, the body wrinkles, sickness comes and one day all of the things that we have known in the life through momentary experiences will be absorbed into eternity.  Through the experiences of life, we learn that life is just a temporary assignment that could change any moment; then suddenly we will be faced with life developments that are natural and normal in the human experience of life.  The unfortunate reality that many of us have difficulty realizing is that the way that the way we look at life today is not what life will always be and we hang on to the moment in hope that it will never end, but it will and it does.  Then what should we do?

Think About What The Psalmist Said:

 “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
Remind me that my days are numbered—
how fleeting my life is” (Psalm 39:4; New Living Translation).

A life lesson that stands out from the psalmist is that life on earth is brief: therefore we d we need to be reminded that every day life is a wonder of existence. It is a divinely given opportunity to exercise effective stewardship and use the opportunity to live by eternal purpose, instead of extraneous circumstances.  While in the moment, the reality that life is slipping through our fingers like the sands of time is an well hidden that must be understood to gain an effective life of purposeful living and being the person that God created us to be.  What we invest our time in does matter now and will matter more once we enter into eternity.  The question the psalmist asks of God reminds us that mortality means that there are a limited number of days to live and to use in preparation for eternity.  Reading the words written, it seems that the psalmist is concerned that life should be invested in things that really matter, things of significance, and that will affect eternal existence in positive and meaningful ways.

Here Is Another Request From The Psalmist That Relates To Eternity:

“I am here on earth for just a little while; do not hide your commands from me” (Psalms 119:19 Good News Translation)

A principle that resonates from the words that relate to God’s eternal purpose is the reality that we must make the best of our lives, while you have life to live because we are here for such a short period of time.  What stands out here is that we should not get too attached to anything in this life because it will soon be gone.  An important point to grasp here is that we need to see life, particularly our life as God sees it, looking at life from God’s perspective.  “Our identity is in eternity and our homeland is heaven” (Rick Warren, 2002).

Remember that there is a solitary principle that stands out in being who God designed us to be: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever” (The Baptist Catechism).  The profound spiritual truth is that we must organize our lives by

keeping first things first.  Because life, as we know it, is  is not all that there is; it drives home the point that life will not end at the termination of physical life.  What the message of God says to us is that we  are made to last forever. Therefore, how we invest our life here and now is life is preparation for the next.  Consequently, when you live our lives in the shadow of this life and the light of eternity, your values change about how to be who God created you to be.

 God Gives us the Affirmation to Embrace our Purpose with a View of the Future in Sight by Faith.

 “ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”  (2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV).

We can capitulate to life or live life in hope of what God has prepared and realize that eternity offers only two choices: heaven or hell.  The message is that we are living in the light of eternity, which is a powerful concept taught throughout the Bible. That teaches aa poignant lesson, we should live each day so that if it were the last day of our lives, we would be ready for eternity. An important facet of being who God created us to be is that there are eternal consequences to everything to do on earth.

 Listen to the Words of Solomon: Cherish Life and Use it in the Light of Etenity...

You who are young, make the most of your youth.
Relish your youthful vigor.
Follow the impulses of your heart.
If something looks good to you, pursue it.
But know also that not just anything goes;
You have to answer to God for every last bit of it.

 (Ecclesiates. 11:9, The Message).

An important application to be made is that we will be rewarded for our faithfulness on earth and reassigned to do work that we will enjoy doing.  We won’t lie around on clouds with halos playing harps!  God has a purpose for your life on earth, but it doesn’t end here.Yes, I must serve God in my generation, but my service here is preparation for greater service to come because I was made for eternity.

Related articles

• Sharing some Spiritual Thoughts and Principles on Jesus from Neale Donald Walsh’s book ‘Tomorrow’s God’ (sharefaith.wordpress.com)
• Accepting the moment (starrystez.com)
• Eternity (beautyandthebeastlovers.wordpress.com)
• A Sensory Encounter with my Book (cerkas.wordpress.com)
• the moment of blooming into surrender… (makebelieveboutique.com)
• A Critical Decision That Every Believer Must Make: To Live or to Die (organizationalchangesolutions.wordpress.com)

 

Who God Created Me to Be: What Drives Your Life?

“Everyone’s life is driven by something: many are driven by things like guilt, resentment, anger, fear, materialism, and the need for approval” (Rick Warren, 2002).

 Who is Driving the Bus?

 A dictionary definition of drive is to guide, to control, or to direct.  One of the questions that we are focusing on today is what the driving force in our life is.  Having a focused, central purpose to life that is rooted in a relationship with Him translates into a way of living that places God at the center of existence.  The thought that comes to mind is that God calls us in to a life to be who we are in terms of a relationship with Him.  At this point I am reminded again of the fact that, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever” (The Baptist Catechism).  So, in other words, a primary goal of being a innately –natural, authentic Christian who is driven by purpose is that a relationship with Him needs to be the defining characteristic of what drives the bus.  Unfortunately, most of us have grown up in a world where we have told to conform, forced to conform, and expected to conform.  The environmental invalidation stifles creativity within  and individuals become programmed by society and cultural expectations and we live a life of being driven by things, people, and expectations instead of purpose.

Reflection about Spiritual Direction: What or Who is Pushing Your Buttons?

 Have you ever taken time to think reflectively about what is driving your behavior in life?  It is an interesting question because I see people every day who are getting their buttons pushed by something or someone and they spend their time living a reactive rather than a proactive life.  In a life of being who God created you to be, is important to understand that the reason why we are just reacting is that we have not developed a comfort level with the way God made them and confidence enough to act beyond the influence and expectations of others.  Therefore, they get in the trap of conformity and are afraid to color outside the lines because of what others expect, a desire to please, and the fear of personal rejection.

What does the Bible say about drive and motivation for behavior?

 “Then I observed that most people are motivated to success by their envy of their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless, like chasing the wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:4Living Bible).

 The answer is that any efforts to live a life of trying to be like others or being driven by anything less than the purpose of God for life is spending time, effort, energy, resources, and time on something that will never be achieved.  Solomon called it “chasing the wind”.  When things outside of their purpose in life drive people, the person God created them to be, life turns into an empty pursuit that is never satisfying, stressful, and is not true to our true nature.  Therefore the key to harnessing the drives that lead to chasing to wind is to begin with a discovery process of individual purpose and who God created us to be.

Purpose provides a place to harness and direct the thing that will drive us forward.

“The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder – waif, a nothing, a no man. Have a purpose in life, and, having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you” (Thomas Carlyle).

 The truth is that nothing matters more than knowing God’s purpose for your life, and nothing can bring satisfaction and wholeness in life like knowing who God created you to be a s an individual creation of God.

Some of the benefits of living to be what God created you to be in a a purpose-driven life is that it:

Gives meaning to your life and defines where to put your energy..

Simplifies your life and keeps you from chasing the wind.

Focuses your life on what is important to magnify your relationship with God.

It motivates you to live with an upward and inward focus that leads you to the future that God has for your life.

A central component of purpose is that it prepares you in this life to be fully developed as you enter eternity.  Remember that you were not put on earth to be creating an image for others to commit to memory.  Every believer was put in this world to “glorify God and to enjoy him forever” (The Baptist Catechism).  Surrendering to who you are in Christ in a life of discipleship and purpose is so that we will be conformed to the image of Christ in this life to enter the next life with a clear knowledge of who God created us to be now and then.

Affirmation

Everyone suffers with the problem of being driven by the wrong thing at times.  What we can remember is that “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.” This is such a significant point and intentional statement.  It is important because it magnifies the dual responsibility to surrender to having a purpose, but also acting in faith and knowledge in response to who God is in reality.  Each person must live for the purpose for which God has designed; otherwise, whatever meaning seems to be obtained through living for lesser purposes will evaporate in eternity ahead.

Something that may important to remember is that people who don’t know their purpose try to do too much and that causes the elevation of stress, fatigue, and conflict. Indeed it is tempting to have one’s finger in many pies, but are they our pies to have our fingers in all of the time?  What we will discover is that when we have stripped life of the inessentials that do not contribute to who God created us to be and aligns with purpose, life will become more productive and satisfied.

When the right thing drives us we will discover that purpose always produces passion and that nothing energizes a life like a clear sense of purpose.  Perhaps this is why most of the Christians I meet have so little passion for the Kingdom of God. They are not living with a clear vision of the purpose for which God has created them or functioning in that purpose.

An important fact to accept is that given enough time, all your trophies will be trashed.  If that strikes you as negative and pessimistic; then, you have not read Ecclesiastes enough to understand the importance of a life without a purpose.  If reading the message of Ecclesiastes depresses you, it must be because you do  not understand what Solomon is saying. In a simple statement of truth, the message of Ecclesiastes is “Meaning and satisfaction are not found in any of life’s components; they are found only in life’s Creator”.

Related articles

• Book Review: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (saltthroughlight.wordpress.com)
• It’s Not About YOU! (vetview.wordpress.com)
• Purge with Purpose ~ Sculpting a Life of Less (lifeschoolinc.wordpress.com)
• DJ Grothe on An Atheist’s Purpose in Life (patheos.com)
• Rick Warren’s ‘Purpose Driven Life’ Quote Featured on Starbucks Cups (christculturenews.com)
• 10 Things You Need to Know About Purpose … (aliveatwork.wordpress.com)
• It takes Adversities in LIFE to discover our True Purpose in LIFE… (stervelim.com)
• Book Review: The Purpose Driven Life (debrakb.blogspot.com)

 

Who were you created to be? You Are Not an Accident

Think about this for a moment: “there is a God who created you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning” (Rick Warren, 2002).

A beginning statement to ponder is that we can only really be the person God created us to be when God is the focal point of our existence and we surrender to His purpose for existence.  The Bible says it this way,  “The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him” (Romans 12:3, The Message). The truth is that we can never be who God created us to be until we are willing to surrender the life that we have created, are maintaining, and enduring to the potential life, which is possible by recognizing that God is the center of existence.  It is all about God.

Have you ever wondered why you are who you are and why you are different from others around you?  Read this poem and listen to the words as you say them aloud.

You are who you are for a reason by *Russell Kelfer

You are who you are for a reason.
You’re part of an intricate plan.
You’re a precious and perfect unique design,
Called God’s special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.
Our God made no mistake.
He knit you together within the womb.
You’re just what He wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones He chose,
And no matter how you may feel,
They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind,
And they bear the Master’s seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.
And God wept that it hurt you so;
But it was allowed to shape your heart
So that into His likeness you’d grow.

You are who you are for a reason,
You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod.
You are who you are, beloved,
Because there is a God! (http://www.donnarosestewart.com/other/kelfer.html)

There are two important things to think about within these ideas.  One is the issue of reason.  God has a purpose for your life, but your purpose can only be found through surrendering to Him, not surrender to circumstances, sociology, or opinion –yours or others.  Closely related is how some people see themselves or acquiesce to the status quo.  As a result, many people see themselves as a failure   or as a mistake.  Therefore, the second issue that we need to understand about who God created us to be is that your conception, birth, life development, and challenges are not the result of a mistake of nature.  Believe me, no matter what you see in the mirror or feel in your private thoughts; you are not an accident of biology, environment, or experiences.  In the last post, “Why do you Exist”, the core question about why we exist presents a theme that life can be built around s the central purpose for existence.

Man’s First Purpose in Creation

 From my personal spiritual background, I am reminded, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.  [Scriptures that supports this position  are found in]: 1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 16:11; 37:4; 73:25-26; and  Isaiah43:7.  [The application of] To ‘Glorify’ does not mean make glorious.  It means [to] reflect or display as glorious.  Other words you could use for ‘end’ are ‘goal’ or ‘purpose’” (A Baptist Catechism).

How Did God Create Man?

The next question that relates to who God created us to be is answer in how God created people. “God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.  [Scriptures to support this position are in] Genesis 1:27-28; Colossians 3:10; and  Ephesians 4:24. [To understand this better,] In saying that we were created after his image ‘in knowledge, righteousness and holiness,’ we do not mean we know all God knows, nor that we are a fountain of righteousness and holiness the way he is.  We mean that we were capable of sharing his knowledge and righteousness and holiness in a relationship of trust and love unlike any other creature under the angels” (A Baptist Catechism).

Therefore, what we understand from scripture is that God had a plan, a purpose, and a design, which was not an accident of nature, events, or mistakes.  The importance of who God created us to be was initiated long before we were conceived by our parents –you were conceived in the mind of God.

Affirmation of Faith

What the scripture teaches us about being who God created us to be is that while there are illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate children.  This is an important and  helpful distinction for those of us who feel like we are the product of a mistake made by someone else! Therefore, the use of scriptures like Deuteronomy 23:2 to support illegitimacy in birth, “A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD”, clearly is not a reference to physical birth, parents, and marriage.  Obviously, Deuteronomy 23:2  is a reference to someone who does not have a covenant relationship to God, which is a indication of an illegitimate connection to the church, religion, and spiritual life, as stated in Hebrews 13.  As a point of reference to remind us who created believers to be in a familial relationship with Him, “They are reborn–not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God” (John 1:13, NLT).

Clearly this is an indication that we are not a mistake, freak of nature, or an aberration of evolution: we are God’s special creation.  Therefore, we can be reminded that the person that God has created us to be, specifically disavows atheistic evolution.  If you are wondering about who God created you to be, remember the first purpose for existence; “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever”.  Therefore, be assured that it is abundantly clear that God is the reason alone for purposeful, divine creation.

Related articles

• “Their Condemnation is Just”: Thoughts on Romans 3:1-8 (gracesatisfies.wordpress.com)
• Poem of Encouragement (saltthroughlight.wordpress.com)
• Shield- day 7 (theforgottenbattle.wordpress.com)
• I Am a Soldier in an Unseen War With an Unseen Enemy (coyfeetalksitup.wordpress.com)
• Genesis 1; Matthew 1; Ezra 1; Acts 1 (66books.wordpress.com)
• The World Was Made For You (corynikkel.com)
• “The Mystery Made Present To Us” by Fr. Alfred Delp, S.J. (insightscoop.typepad.com)
• Be Free of Satan’s False Accusations in 2013 (promisebook.net)

Why Do I Exist?

One of the important questions related to discovering who God created us to be has to do with what we spend our life pursuing.  For many, the chief pursuit of life is the acquisition of things and the pursuit of things to bring pleasure.  To address this hedonistic principle of humanity, Solomon wrote and said, “A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree” (The Message Proverbs 11:28).

People who are devoted to things often are people who do not really know who they are and acquiesce to a life in search of identity and importance by defining existence by the things that surround them.

A great discovery to make about existence is that it is not about you.  Focusing on things or ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.  The reality is that you were made by God and for God—and until you understand that, life will never make sense.

Affirmation of Faith

Our affirmation of faith from the scripture resonates with me an important message that needs to be understood, even after having read it multiple times: that “It’s purpose is not about you.”  The reason for this truth is that this truth never loses its importance because it is timeless truth.

This assertion is hardly new in the history of Christian faith. The reason for our existence is as old as Wesley who said, “God made us to be happy in Him.”  In Baptist history,  it is as old as the Westminster Catechism which affirms that “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”  Furthermore, in Jewish history, it is as old as David who said, “It is He that hath made us and not we ourselves.  We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”  It is as old as Moses who said, “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”  What do these examples have in common?  The central theme is reverence and life of worship that brings an understanding of why we exist.  Life and more particularly, my life is not about me.  The affirmations and history are spiritual markers that reveal that all of life is about God, not about finding ourselves.

APPLICATION OF FAITH

Our origin, identity, meaning, purpose, destiny all originate and are completed in relationship to God.  As a result, I cannot help but think embracing life with this perspective would revolutionize everything that we do in life and the choices we make.  I can remember the frustration of many people who have shared their never-ending search to find what they want to do in life.  Obviously, this common mistake is the wrong approach to life because it reduces why we exist to a simple human endeavor to do something in our own power to create an identity and a purpose to feel significance in life.

The place to begin is that understanding why we  exist will only find significance when we gain the insight that identity and purpose are found only through relationship with Jesus Christ. Anything else will leave us to the task of creating a purpose that is simply the natural part of a human life apart from God.  When God reveals to us and we understand in our heart of hearts that God planned the purpose of our life and intends for it to last into eternity.  Then, our lives and purpose for existence aligns with the eternal plan of God and has the potential to be effective and produce lasting fruit now and in the future.  When we realize that, we will find that we understand existence from God’s perspective and we have found something worth living for and someone worth dying with because it is eternal.

Final thoughts

Some of you upon reading this may get the idea that determining your life purpose has nothing to do with you or the choices you make.  Obviously, that is not the case, because what happens in our life depends upon responding to God and reverencing Him in worship through obedience The problem exists that we start with us and what we want; then we tell God what we’ll do.  To understand why we exist, God wants us to start with Him—His Kingdom, His Will—and then ask how we can use the gifts and abilities He has given us to participate in His plan.

Related articles

• Secret to Success – A Devotion (lthomason.wordpress.com)
• 2013, Time to Arise and build the ruined house of the Lord (franschhoekimpact.wordpress.com)
• Out With the Old…… (deenaroseministries.wordpress.com)
• Yule Blog 2012-2013: Personal Meaning (blogs.the-american-interest.com)
• The True God (raymondjclements.wordpress.com)

A Critical Decision That Every Believer Must Make: To Live or to Die

God forbid that I should boast         

Except in the cross of our Lord  Jesus Christ…  (Galatians 6:14).

 In the life of every believer, there comes a time when belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ forces a crisis of faith and belief.  In the crisis, a decision is required that will lead to surrender of our will about present and eternal matters.

In the language of religion, there are many different expressions to describe this Divine appointment with the creator.  This is not a social or corporate event, but it is a private and solitary moment between and individual believer and God.  It is that moment of Divine Grace when we decide in our heart of hearts that has been set free from the power of sin and death that we will trust in Him, no matter what circumstances engulf our life.  Some people call it, the second blessing, others call it praying through; however,  the scripture calls it surrender. It is such an important moment that we cannot ignore it, neglect it, or refuse to pay attention to it.  Like a magnetic force drawing us to an eternal God, the Spirit of God draws us to the moment of surrender and what will you do?

The important question in the moment is what will we do in response to God calling to us through the circumstance of life we are experiencing today?  It may be important to note that how we respond will have an effect upon how we experience life today, what will we become in the future, and our experience throughout eternity.  In fact, all that we can be and that we potentially can become is a result of an act of spiritual surrender.  It is simply agreeing with what God has said about us in Christ as God’s unique workmanship.  The act of surrender is a moment when we surrender to our identity and purpose.  At this moment, we truly are free to exercise our God given will by coming into agreement with God’s personal call, design, and purpose for life.

How does this work?  In Romans chapter 6, Paul says that we are to reckon ourselves dead unto sin.  The word “sin” describes a legal status associated with penalty that people are bound under prior to receiving life through Christ and the removal of that judicial penalty.  Therefore, living the Christ-Life is what Paul is describing in accounting terms in which the individual “reckons”, surrenders to the free life. This means that we must identify with Christ in both his death and resurrection to experience the effect of surrender.  It is in the sublime act of surrender; the recognition that everything that we were and hoped to be must be surrendered, reckoned to be dead, and all that we will be—will develop is a result of the Spirit of God in the act of surrender empowering Christ who lives within to cause life to be fruitful.

Can we answer God’s call?  An important and very personal answer to a question that is critical to solving and maintaining a spiritual identity crisis awaits an answer to the call of the Holy Spirit.  Have we accepted God’s verdict on sin, as judged on the Cross of Christ?  On the other hand, do we have even the slightest interest in the death of Jesus and the personal impact upon our life and existence?  Further, do we really want to identify with His death–to be completely dead to all self-interest in self-promotion?  Finally, do we long to so closely identify with Jesus that we are of no value for anything except Him and His purposes?  The answers to these questions may reveal an important conundrum that we find ourselves forced to face.  It is not the question of whether or not we can exercise the will.  The more important question is whether   we, without the assistance of the Spirit of God, yield ourselves beyond self to become the disciple of the Lord in life and death.

Have we accepted the gift of discipleship?  The great privilege of discipleship is that we can follow in a committed life empowered by the majestic power dispensed by the life of the Cross exercising a life of freedom through mortifying the power of sin.  It is up to you.  A decision must be made: You must get alone with Jesus and either decide to tell Him that you do not want sin to die out in you, or that at any cost you want to be identified with His death.  When you act in confident faith in what our Lord did on the cross, a supernatural identification with His death takes place immediately; then you will come to know through a higher knowledge that your old life was crucified with Him (Romans 6:6).

The proof that your old life is dead, having been crucified with Christ(Galatians 2:20), is the amazing ease with which the life of God in you now enables you to obey the voice of Jesus Christ.

There are times when our Lord gives us a glimpse of what life would be like if it were not for Him.  This is a confirmation of what He said– without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

That is why the underlying foundation of Christianity is personal, passionate devotion to the Lord Jesus.  When we mistake the joy of our first introduction into God’s kingdom as His purpose for getting us there, we will never experience the fullness of a Spirit led life.  Nevertheless, God’s purpose for introducing us into His kingdom is that we may realize all that identification with Jesus Christ means so we can experience the power of a surrendered life that brings the ability to live an effective and empowered life.

Related articles

• Jesus Is Lord of Unbelievers (airocross.com)
• The Only Real Change You Can Believe is in Jesus Christ (gracemeasured.wordpress.com)
• My Boast in Christ (Galatians 6) (edevotional.com)
• Yes, Virginia…There Is a Jesus Christ (tammykennington.wordpress.com)
• Should We Stop Asking Jesus Into Our Hearts? (graceindallas.wordpress.com)
• It’s amazing… (greatriversofhope.wordpress.com)
• God Sent Forth His Son (mccatholic.com)
• Train up a child in the way they should go. (alookintomymind.wordpress.com)

What is Most Important?

The most important thing not obvious in the heat of life; creating urgency in the moment is not what people fret about, nor what is possessed, certainly, it is what is absent–what is needed to filled the emptiness of pressing, unmet emotional needs to bring focus clarity, and peace.  (RLM)

Related Articles

• Peace and Serenity (theorganicchickenlady.wordpress.com)
• Christchurch earthquake: Where two minutes’ silence being observed – New Zealand Herald (news.google.com)
• BOJ accomplishes one goal, one left unmet (forexlive.com)
• Happiness & Peace (h3artfeltwordz.wordpress.com)
• Learning Self-Awareness and Self-Control While Developing Empathy (angerblog.wordpress.com)