2019-08-09
Good Morning Dear Ones,
There is nothing more important than our relationships with God vertically and other people horizontally. This compelling subject is taken up in on-going fashion, as I present supporting Scriptures to the book of Colossians. Let’s begin by looking at 1 JN 3: 1-10. We are born with sin, inherited from the original sin [GN 3: 1-6] and add to it with our own sinning. This makes it quite necessary for us to turn away from our inbred propensity to sin by the wisdom of God acquired from learning His word [Bible truth] and living by it. Moreover, it is not until Christ’s Atonement on the cross that we are given the opportunity to choose if we continue sinning, taking that one-way path to spiritual death. With faithful obedience to God’s teaching, given to us through learning Biblical truths, we are choosing not to sin and to go through the “narrow gate that leads to the hard path to eternal life” [MT 7: 13-14]. 1 JN 3: 1-2 begins with a reminder of the Father’s love for us. “See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God’s children-and so, in fact, we are. This fact is why the world does not know us; it has not known God. My dear friends, we are now God’s children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He really is.” When we read COL 3: 3-4, we see from this that “appearing with Him and sharing in His glory” has been further clarified. Instead of dying from seeing God’s face as it would have been in OT times [EX 33: 18-23], we will not have “to hide in the cleft of a Rock like Moses was instructed by Him to do.” We will have made the choice “to keep ourselves pure, just as Christ is pure” (3).
Christ will appear in order to take away sins and has no sin in Him. Whoever lives in union with Christ chooses not to sin. Those who don’t know Christ continue to sin, taking themselves on that one-way trip to spiritual death (5). The latter don’t know Christ and have never seen Him. Those who continue to sin belong to the evil one. Christ appeared to destroy what the devil has done (8). Serial sinners don’t know what love is and are not adopted into the family of God (10). In a very clear way, this gives us the foundation for the hope of eternal life that all faithfully obedient Christians and Messianic Jews have. This hope is at the very core of thoughts, decisions, and actions that believers in Christ have and exhibit. As for the decision we must make not to sin, it must be made with the Holy Spirit in leadership, or as RO 12: 2 tells us, having had our minds renewed by the inward, spiritual transformation that only the Father can bring about.
The Reagan family depicted in the TV program “Blue Bloods” is like many good families of believers. The family’s welfare comes first, over all other loyalties. In one episode, the middle-aged police detective, “Danny,” had to safely deliver his car as a get-away vehicle for the perpetrators in this important court case. The bad guys wanted to prevent their leader from going to jail. In the meanwhile, pandemonium had broken out in the courtroom, and the assistant district attorney (“Danny’s” sister, “Erin,”) had been shot (but not fatally). “Erin” was being taken at gunpoint as a hostage. “Danny” found himself hit and shot at by the bad guys on the way. Even though his car was seriously damaged, he and his partner weren’t hurt, so they hurried their way though traffic and into the courthouse receiving area. Shots were fired at him, despite that “Danny” didn’t shoot back. Then suddenly, as his father, “Frank,” the police commissioner, looked on from a video screen in his office, “Danny” said, “Don’t hurt my family!” Every family member at the courthouse ducked down, and “Danny,” (who had hidden a gun in the wheel well of his police car) shot the perpetrator dead, thus saving his sister, “Erin.” This was a signal to protect family members passed down from his grandfather and carefully taught each family member confronted with peril.
I relate this story as a way of demonstrating how families devise ways to protect each other. The kind of loyalty that families have amongst their members is the same loyalty and protection that our Father in heaven has for all His children. For us, serial sinning is the main peril; and the Father, through His Son’s Atonement and Resurrection has provided for our protection. PS 96: 1, “God is our Shelter and our Strength, always ready to help us in times of trouble.” PS 31: 19, “How wonderful are the good things You keep for those who honor You; everyone knows how good You are, how securely You protect everyone who trusts in You.”
PRAYER: O Lord, we are honored to be adopted into Your family. It means so much to us, that we try every day to be faithful to Your Son, Jesus Christ, and to study Your word. We offer You love and praise for always listening to our prayers, for sharing Your wisdom with us through Your word, and for taking the time to know us as well as You do. Moreover, we are forever grateful for the sacrifice of His physical life that Your Son, Jesus, made, so that we can be free of sin forever. His presence and intervention in our lives are protection for us from it, when we learn to obey Your commands. You commanded Your Holy Spirit to dwell in our souls, so that we might have access to Your wise ways and help with controversial decisions. Your enemies are ours; Your goals are also ours. We pledge faith that You will one day end evil and will bring us to a sweet and eternal fellowship with You in heaven. Yes, we will see You as You really are! Yes, we will enter that place where no evil can exist! It is in Christ’s holy/mighty name, our Kinsman Redeemer, that we offer this acknowledgement of Your will and ability to protect us and guide us to eternal life with You. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’ve been commanded to write about renewal and the “world family” next week, as we continue examining our relationships with God and other people. We’ll look at COL 3: 11-12 and its relationship to REV 7: 7-17, “the enormous crowd.” The latter is the collection of different groups of believers in heaven. One’s nationality, gender, culture, education, race, religion, age, politics, manner of dress, etc. are all ways that humans separate themselves. Those who don’t have the Holy Spirit in leadership in their lives act on snap judgments based on these groups. I’m well- educated, white, female, Eastern European Jewish with a little North African and Italian mixed in, senior citizen, Conservative Republican, heterosexual, and dress conservatively. As such, I’m a minority. And, to boot, an American believer in Christ! Over the 75 years of my life, I have learned to be who I am and feel “comfortable in my self-image.” That’s one of the two most important gifts being a believer in Christ has given me. The other is that I am part of both a human family and God’s family. And yes, I am richly blessed! It’s the experience of serving others in ministry and knowing the love that the Father has for me that helps me to live with the inner peace that I have. Like all believers, I choose to avoid sinning whenever I can and to hold the hope of eternal life that I have. Am I perfect? By no means! I’m still capable of sin, just like all other believers in Christ are. But, as the above Scriptures offered, I try to improve on what is sinful about me as much as I can. It is my hope that each of you, dear readers, is doing the same. We are one in God’s family as we all hold that important hope that He has given us. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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